But she also wanted to become an explorer, with him, and it seemed that this class was in their way, but was it really?
Elara grabbed his hands. "It's okay, Asher. I'm with you, and we can handle this. We'll make it work at the Academy."
Asher looked at her with a weird look. "I'm going to be useless, no team will want me, and if you insist on it, they'll not take you too." Elara wanted to correct her hair, but when she took her hands from his, she saw the pained expression on his face, and realized that he was reading it wrong.
She grabbed his hands again. "We'll find a team, and you can't have a completely useless class. It might be weird, but we'll make it work. It must offer something." Asher looked at her, shocked, and then looked down with a flushed face.
"There is one more skill," he said. Elara found it odd, all people get three skills at level one. But that was one of the less weird things about his class, so she just ignored it.
"Partner Enhancement," Elara listened more carefully, that sounded like something that might be useful. But when he paused, she realized that the name implied he could only boost his partners, which meant people in his harem, and that he'd need to add all of their teammates to it if they'd want to make use of this skill.
"Master can boost one of his partners one stat by one point. All of the ones possibly upgradable," he continued, stopping her from thinking about him building his harem.
She considered that. One point wasn't a lot, but it could be upgraded. The question was to what value, and when he'd upgrade to boost more than one partner, then he could give even more boosts, possibly boosting all team members.
A team of girls that he has... in his harem. She sighed. They sat there in silence as she was considering all of this. Could she really agree to this? That he'll have his harem? And she'd be part of it?
What would that mean? Him being intimate with other women. But she had read an erotic story once about a man who had a harem, and the women in it all slept with each other too. And they often slept with the man more than one at a time.
Could she do something like that? She had never considered herself sleeping with other women, but now when she thought about it. Her, Asher and some other girl. It sounded exciting.
She shook her head. They had never done anything as a pair, and now she was considering a threesome. All because of his class, something that he didn't have a choice about. And he wanted to give up his dream for her.
Not becoming an explorer to avoid hurting her with his class. She decided that they were going to become explorers together, no matter what. Even if she'd need to... She stopped herself, not wanting to fully think about it right now.
"Okay, but even considering all of this, and making full use of your class, you still will get like five percent of stats, and you could boost one person by one stat. That's..." she stopped, and saw that he looked sad.
That was another thing, it really looked like he was weak, and it'd make it hard for him to find a team if people'd get to know about this.
For us.
She corrected herself. They'd be a team, and she was going to make it happen. Elara didn't know right now if he'd get more partners, maybe she'd be his harem only member, and the rest of the team wouldn't join it.
Elara realized that she had just accepted, in her mind, that she was going to be part of his harem, and she smiled lightly to herself.
"Maybe I shouldn't go to the Academy with you," Asher whispered.
She looked firmly at him until their eyes locked. "Stop thinking like that. We're going there together. We're going to team up together. And we're going to become strong explorers together," she emphasized every sentence.
Asher looked at her and after a moment smiled. "I love you, El. But this class is weak and weird. No one will want me on their team. I can't offer anything to them, and even the boost that I could give to you is not so good."
Elara's heart broke seeing him in a state of mind like this. She leaned forward and hugged him. Her lips met his, and she kissed him for a long time.
Asher was passive at first, but she didn't relent, and he eventually returned her kiss. They sat there for a moment, lost in their kiss. She moved to sit in his lap sideways without breaking the connection between them.
Only when she felt that she was lacking oxygen did she break the kiss. "You don't know if your class doesn't scale well." She pecked him lightly. "It must be scaling well. It's impossible to be otherwise."
Asher looked at her and moved to kiss her. She felt his tongue on her lips, and she let him into her mouth. She fought with her own tongue against his, but after a moment, she moved back. "If this boost will enhance more stats and more partners at the same time, it could be a strong boost for the whole team."
Asher's eyes opened wide in surprise. Elara realized just after a moment what she had just suggested and wasn't sure what to say. She hugged him so he couldn't see her eyes. She needed to think about this. She needed time.
It wasn't a simple decision. Half an hour ago, she'd never have even thought about considering this, and now... She had to, his class forced her to.
But she also knew that he needed her now and that he'd get into an even worse state of mind if she told him to leave now. Elara didn't mind. She wanted to be with him, to spend time with him, to hug him, and now that both of them were eighteen, maybe even more in the future.
She bit her lip, considering how to word it properly. "I need to think about all of it," she paused and moved out of his lap. "Can we just cuddle for a bit?"
Asher nodded, and she laid herself on the bed. He moved behind her and took her in his arms. Elara pressed her body against him.
She loved feeling his body against hers, his muscular arms around her, hugging her to his chest. Elara relaxed in his arms for a moment before she returned to considering things about his class.
She needed about fifteen minutes lying together, until she came up with some conclusion. Elara tried to think about the good and bad sides of the situation. She tried to predict how she'd handle all of this, to think what her life would look like with different decisions that she could make today.
Elara considered that maybe he could go without more partners. But that'd mean not using the full potential of his class and probably being a bad explorer. It seemed like an awful option, and she knew that they couldn't proceed with it.
Ultimately, Elara just knew that she loved him and wanted to be with him. So she came up with some sort of decision, unsure what the future would bring. But they'd be together, and they could handle everything. She'd support him, and he'd support her.
Even if this meant that he'd have a harem. She was aware that it was easy to think about it right now. But when he'd actually sleep with someone else, it could get worse. How would she feel with it? Could she really accept that?
She'd need to. There wasn't another solution. Elara laid there trying to come up with something, but every other possibility had significant downsides. Maybe him sleeping with other girls wasn't so bad?
Elara pushed his hands away. Turning around, she sat in front of him. Asher got into a sitting position, and she could tell that he was worried. Elara locked eyes with him.
"Do you love me?" she asked him directly.
His eyes widened. "Of course, I love you, El. How can you even ask something like this?"
She ignored the question. "Would you like to have sex with another woman?"
"Wha-What?" he stammered.
"Do you want to have a harem? To have five women, with me among them, belonging to your harem, being our team, fighting together in the dungeon, and also together we would... explore your class possibilities."
Elara looked at him expectantly until he realized that she was asking seriously. A frown crossed his face. "No, El, I love you," he said firmly.
Elara smiled in response. She knew that he loved her, but it was still good to hear that.
"And you're more important to me than having a strong class, or being an explorer. We can just forget all about this, about my class, about the harem. Pretend that I don't have a class. You'll go to the Academy. I'll wait for you. We can make it work like this."
She looked at him affectionately. He'd sacrifice his lifelong dream because he was worried that it could ruin their relationship. She felt a warm feeling spread inside her, realizing how much he loved her. Asher was willing to sacrifice his dream for her, which confirmed Elara in her decision.
"You didn't answer my question." Without giving him a chance to respond, she continued. "Will you love me forever? No matter what happens in the future?" she asked, knowing the answers to these questions but wanting to make him understand why she made her choice.
He grabbed her hands. "Of course, El, always, no matter what."
She stopped herself from smirking. "Even if you'll have sex with another woman?"
He looked shocked at her, and this time she couldn't stop herself from smiling slyly.
"Come on, Asher, we've got to make the most of this class. We both know it'll be fucking hard if I'm an explorer and you're not. You've got to be an explorer too. Help me figure out a way through this."
He gazed at her, without saying anything. She must have really shocked him by offering that she'd be fine with his harem. "Asher, talk with me, tell me what you are thinking, and we'll go through it together," she pleaded, wanting him to share his thoughts.
"I'm worried that you aren't aware of what you are offering. You can say it now, but when it happens, it'll destroy our relationship. It'll be better if I don't become an explorer," he said, looking subdued at her.
"And we'll spend most of our time apart? And how long are you going to withstand staying at home, and worrying that I'll never come back this time?"
Asher wanted to say something but stopped with his mouth open. He closed it and thought for a moment. He took a deep breath and exhaled loudly. "You're right. It's not going to work."
Elara nodded. "Exactly, so we need to try and deal with your class." She wasn't sure herself if it'd work out, but she really wanted it to.
"You really set your mind on it? Didn't you?" Asher asked, and she nodded. He was joking sometimes that when she focused on something, there was no power to stop her, and he probably realized now that he couldn't really take her mind off this.
"Okay then," he said, sighing.