The Protagonist System

I woke up when there was a soft distressed sound from underneath me. I opened my eyes and saw the severely blushing face of a very embarrassed Goddess Hephaestus. It took me a moment to realize why she had made a distress sound. My morning wood had grown inside of her and she was gripping me quite hard down there.

Instead of saying anything, like stupidly apologizing, I gave her a soft and tender kiss. This seemed to set her right back into the mindset that we were having sex and she moaned as her tongue came out to dance with mine. I started to move my hips and she did as well, almost eagerly, and I deepened the kiss and sped up my movements.

Hephaestus moaned and wrapped her arms and legs around me. It was like she was a different person when you brought her emotions out. She was shy, caring, passionate, and desirable. It was almost the complete opposite of how she acted when she was doing business or working in the forges.

Half an hour later, Hephaestus came hard and hugged me tightly as she kissed me passionately. Her arms and legs didn't want to let me go and I wasn't going to ask her to. She looked conflicted enough without me actively trying to turn down her affection. When I placed a gentle kiss on her damaged eye, she stiffened.

“That actually happened?” Hephaestus asked, surprised. “I thought I dreamed that.”

I kissed all around the eye and then kissed her on the lips. I rested my head back on her shoulder and stayed there inside of her, just like I had all night. “I need to sleep with you...” I paused and calculated the Karma points needed in my head. “...four more times to gather enough magic to remove the curse from your eye.”

Hephaestus let out an odd sound. “How... how did you know...”

“Expensive diagnostic spell.” I said and closed my eyes. Her body was surprisingly comfortable to lay on with her muscles in all the right places, which clued me in as to why some girls enjoyed sleeping on me. “It's actually three and a half; but, I'm not stopping halfway with you when we're in bed together. That's just rude.”

Hephaestus didn't say anything at all for several minutes. “Bell...”

“Hestia won't be angry about this. We're the Familia that provides a feeling of warmth and home.” I said.

“But... I thought...” Hephaestus didn't finish that sentence.

“I can still be annoyed at you for your actions, especially when they slighted me. That doesn't mean I can't care about you like my Goddess does. I want what's best for her and that means doing my best for you and your Familia.”

Hephaestus slid an arm up from my back and her calloused hand cupped the side of my face. “I'm sorry about what happened when we first met. I saw something I never saw before and I needed to know how it was possible. I haven't made an entire armored outfit for a single person before, let alone made them all match and look so good. Where did you get it?”

“I suppose I did promise to tell you the secret.” I said and propped myself up on my arms as I lifted my chest off of her. It ground my erection into her a little and she squirmed under me. “You definitely had a great seduction technique that worked like a charm.”

Hephaestus blushed, because her technique had been tossing off her clothes and being naked.

“You're as cute as Hestia when you make faces like that.” I said and pulled out a little, then pushed back in.

Hephaestus moaned and reached down to either help or get me to stop, so I sped up to distract her.

“I bought a bunch of your junk from the floor you store everything in the Tower of Babel and made each piece of my armor from them.” I said and she gasped, which just happened to coincide with me hitting a good spot inside her and she came. “That's right. I took the garbage from your students and made it into what you saw.”

“Why... how... go faster!” Hephaestus shouted and her hands gripped my hips to help.

“There was no way I was getting anywhere near a forge to make it the long way. I was less than a slave because I didn't have a Familia at first. When I did join one, I had no money to rent or buy anything from the cheapest forges in the city. Hell, even the guild charges 3,600 valis for a simple dagger.”

Hephaestus could only nod as she moaned and licked her lips.

I took the hint and kissed her as I kept moving, giving her what she really wanted. She moaned loudly and came again, the intimacy making things that much better for her. I broke the kiss and she was blushing, which made her look as adorable as Lili.

“I checked each piece and nothing was enchanted. They were all simply forged metal, which was probably why they were classed as junk. I got them for a steal...” I said and almost laughed at her wide eye, because she knew I was telling the truth. “...and gathered enough different pieces for what I needed. I used magic to alter and change them into the shape I wanted, then more magic to change the color, then more magic on top of that to give them slight enhancements.”

“OHHH!” Hephaestus gasped as I filled her up again and she came. I didn't stop moving, though.

“After Tsubaki gave me this amulet, I plan to alter them even further. More enchantments, more magic, and more protection. When I'm done, I should be on par with a level 4 or 5.”

Hephaestus came again at my proclamation. She knew Tsubaki and I could delve deep into the dungeon with the both of us with that level of strength and we would unlock all those levels for easy mining for resources. Free resources for her and her Familia.

I wasn't going to tell her that I would also add an armor set completion bonus, thanks to my Karma points. It would make me that much stronger and also help pump my own stats up faster.

“Can you... change things... with enchantments... already on them?” Hephaestus managed to ask between panting moans.

“We can try it this morning. If it works, our Familias can do some more great things together.” I promised and she pulled me down into a searing kiss so full of emotions that it left the both of us panting and blushing.

“You're too loud.” Tsubaki groaned and rolled over to lay against me and her leg went over my back. Her hand easily found and gripped Hephaestus' breast and squeezed, making her Goddess moan and Hephaestus pulled me in and kissed me again.

“What... what's going on?” Lili asked and finally woke up from the bed shaking so much. She opened her eyes and rolled onto her side to face us, only for her eyes to widen when she saw Tsubaki lightly sleeping, half-draped over me, as I thoroughly screwed a moaning Goddess.

“Good morning.” I said and leaned slightly to the side to briefly kiss her.

“What did I get myself into?” Lili whispered and hadn't tried to stop me.

“I told you.” I said and looked back down into Hephaestus' eye. “We are the hearth that will always warm you, the family that will always care about you, and the home that will always welcome you.”

Hephaestus let out a sound that couldn't be categorized as she glowed a little, then she pulled me into another searing kiss that burned from my mouth and all the way down my throat. The feeling kept moving down and settled onto my lower back and the spot tingled for several moments.

I suddenly felt ready to blow and shot the unexpected load into Hephaestus and the Goddess of the Forge screamed her pleasure into my mouth. The sound seemed to reverberate though me like an anvil being struck, which was quite appropriate, all things considered. We both stilled for several seconds until the feeling faded.

Hephaestus broke the kiss and looked embarrassed again. I was sure it was because of my words and she knew I meant them. That had struck a chord within her and her own emotions must have run away from her in that moment. I would have to wait for Hestia to update my Falna before I would find out what happened.

“Only three more times, Goddess Hephaestus.” I whispered in order to dispel any misgivings she had.

Hephaestus blushed and looked at the other two occupants of the bed. “I think I've had two more turns than I should have already.”

Tsubaki answered that comment with a loud snore. I couldn't stop my chuckle from escaping and Lili beside us had both hands over her mouth to muffle a bark of laughter. Hephaestus smiled and understood that she had nothing to worry about, especially in the bed department.

“Breakfast?” I asked to get the morning schedule back on track.

The snoring suddenly cut off and Tsubaki's head lifted up to stare at me with one eye and the other was still closed. “Can you make those egg bread things? Those Froggy Toasty things were really good.”

I laughed at the name and Hephaestus squirmed under me because I was still sheathed inside of her. I eased myself out of her and she blushed at the feeling and then really blushed at the sheer amount of fluids that flowed out of her without me there to plug the hole.

“Wow.” Lili whispered and stared at it.

“How many times did the two of you go at it?” Tsubaki asked and also stared at it.

“S-s-stop l-looking at it!” Hephaestus shakily exclaimed and tried to cover it with her hands.

“Allow me, Goddess Hephaestus.” I said and waved a hand over her crotch and it all disappeared.

Hephaestus sighed with relief with the source of her embarrassment gone. “What was that magic?”

“It's a cleaning spell.” I said and did the same for myself and I was clean down there. I climbed off of the bed and looked at the three very different women. “The three of you are beautiful.”

Hephaestus and Lili blushed again and Tsubaki barked a laugh and stood as well.

“Why would you include me in that? I didn't get a turn.” Tsubaki said and walked over to me, gave my erection a light slap, and went to her closet to grab some new clothes.

“Because you're beautiful, too.” I said and she rolled her eyes.

“We're only taking a quick bath, so have the food ready.” Tsubaki said and pulled out several robes.

I walked over to her and gave her a deep kiss as I gripped her ass hard. She let out a cute gasp and moan, which was what I wanted, and I walked around the bed to my backpack. I quickly dressed in my bodysuit in a moment, to their surprise, and I bent over the bed to give Lili a brief kiss before I looked expectantly at Hephaestus.

“Only in private.” Hephaestus agreed and gave me permission.

“Thank you, Goddess.” I said and leaned over to kiss her and stood up straight. “Praise be to you for your acceptance of this mortal's desire.”

Hephaestus caught her breath when she glowed briefly and felt a surge of warmth. Both Tsubaki and Lili looked shocked at that reaction.

“Enjoy your bath.” I said and left them there to go to the kitchen. I had some Froggy Toasty Things to make and no one asked me why I kept laughing softly under my breath for the entire time I cooked French Toast. They wouldn't have gotten the old joke anyway.

*

Hephaestus had time to recover her emotional balance while in the bath. Or so she thought. When she, Tsubaki, and Lili entered the large room to eat, she blushed a little when she saw Bell happily cooking for her Familia. The warm feeling she felt inside as she watched him talking and joking with her children was oddly comforting.

“You get used to it.” Hestia whispered from beside her.

Hephaestus was too distracted by her feelings to jump at the scare. “I don't know what you mean.”

Hestia took her hand and led her to the head of the table where they both sat and were served a plate of food at the same time. “Bell's faith. It almost makes me cry at how strong it is.”

Hephaestus blinked her eyes at her short friend and wasn't sure what to say to that.

“We can watch him watching Tsubaki forging something after we eat.” Hestia said.

Hephaestus nodded and started to eat, only for her mouth to lock on her fork and she hummed at the taste.

“I found some honey in the cupboard to drizzle over them.” Bell said when almost everyone made the same happy sounds. “With the spices I added to the egg mixture, it made the flavors explode.”

Hephaestus nodded and kept eating the delicious food that was better than the last time. When she was finished her fifth piece, she followed Hestia, Tsubaki, Lili, and Bell to Tsubaki's forge. A simple breastplate was asked for by Bell with whatever enchantment or enhancement Tsubaki wanted on it, since it was only a test.

Half an hour later, Tsubaki had one done, an hour faster than her record. Everyone was shocked by this, especially Tsubaki, because the enchantment infusion alone should have taken half an hour of slowly building up the magic.

Bell reminded them that Tsubaki's transformation made her into who she always wanted to be. The magic of her glowing hammer was much more powerful than her normal blacksmithing hammer. After that reminder, Tsubaki handed the basic breastplate to Bell and both she and Hephaestus watched eagerly.

“My diagnostic spell says this adds 1% to Defense and is a Tier 1 piece of armor. Is that right?” Bell asked and Tsubaki nodded. “How much could you sell it for?”

“It's worth about 12,000 valis.” Lili said before either blacksmith could, then she slapped a hand over her mouth and looked embarrassed.

Bell chuckled and reached over to place a hand on her shoulder. “Thank you for being willing to share such an important secret with your family.”

Lili blushed and looked into his eyes as she nodded.

“Now I'll share one of mine.” Bell said and let her shoulder go and held up the breastplate.

To three of the four women's shock, since Hestia had seen it before, the plain metal seemed to morph and change as the outward rounded parts formed a more feminine shape. It became more ornate with added details as the color changed from bare metal to look like flames, then an embossed Hestia Familia Emblem formed on the front.

“Oh, Goddess.” Lili whispered. “It's... it's about 45,000 valis.”

Bell waved a hand at it to cast the diagnostic spell and nodded. “It still has the 1% to Defense and is a Tier 1.” He told them, then he kept waving his hand over it and cast more spells, this time without keeping within his normal restrictions. Everyone saw him wince each time.

Lili's breath started to come faster and her eyes widened as Bell kept working his magic on it. The plate thickened by an inch, reinforced braces appeared inside and the edges were added to strengthen it further. The thing glowed slightly as more magic was cast on it and Lili almost passed out when he was done.

“I don't know if I like knowing this secret.” Hephaestus said, her sole eye bulging as much as Lili's were.

Bell cast the diagnostic spell again. “Plus 5% to Defense, 10% damage absorption, 5% chance to deflect or redirect both a physical and magical attack, and it's now a Tier 2 with a permanent anti-dirt spell.”

All eyes turned to Lili and she looked nervous. “A-a-about 130,000 v-valis.”

No one spoke for several minutes as they all digested that.

“One last thing.” Bell said and the enchanted breastplate shrunk down to half the size. He created straps for it, attached them, and handed it to Lili. “Welcome to the Familia, Liliruca Arde.”

Lili clutched it to her chest as tears came to her eyes, then they rolled into the back of her head and she fainted. Luckily, her huge backpack easily caught and supported her, so she didn't fall to the floor and just sunk into the cloth a little and hung there.

“I might have to wait to tell her she's getting a full set identical to mine.” Bell said with amusement.

Hestia made an odd sound and she fainted, too.

Hephaestus was next to her and caught her before she fell to the floor. “Bell.”

“If we don't tell anyone, no one will know I can do this.” Bell said and looked at Tsubaki. “Do you want to do the back piece next?”

Tsubaki nodded and went to work.