The Eternal Family

"So, how do we do it? Do we make her fall for me first, or do we use the Gu first and make her fall for me then?" rang Harry's voice as he stood beside the bed, his hands holding Emma's hands as she slept serenely.

"First, make her fall for you," said Verma with boredom as she slung sideways on the couch. This should take time...

Then thought of something and asked,

"So, do you have any plan on dealing with Emma's issue of not seeing one of her babies?" asked Verma, curious.

"What? You think your man is so dependent on you, he can't do simple things now? Watch as he works wonders," chuckled Harry mysteriously as he looked towards his system.

[Pleasure Points: 47]

"So, the marathon of 10 beauties, with some giving me 4 points and some 5, alongside my and Verma's side business, gave just this much?" he thought. He seemed to have even had some leftovers from the previous points too. Did I cross 100 points total? No, it doesn't seem so. Even if I added the points from my previous timeline, it is just below a hundred. There should have been more points. What happened?

He pondered and pondered, yet no answers came to mind. Frowning, he started to think about it even more deeply.

Verma frowned herself, seeing his reaction, and asked, concerned, "What happened?"

"My pleasure points seem to be lesser than what I should have gotten," came a reply from a deeply thoughtful Harry. "Do you have any idea?"

The future him should have faced the same scenario, after all! But Verma shook her head and said, "I have no clue... The system is always the most accurate, right? You always used to say that to me."

Clenching his jaws, he thought deeper.

What was it?

What was the new change he had forgotten?

Was it the pseudo rank 1 situation?

"What is pseudo stage 1? Why am I at that stage in all the abilities I have?" he asked, and Verma smiled. Finally, she can be of further help.

"Pseudo stage 1 to pseudo rank 5, it's the uniqueness of your ability. At the base stage of your ability, you absorb other abilities at the base stage. At stage 1 of Lustful Absorption, you can use others' abilities at a pseudo stage 1 level. At stage 5, you use pseudo stage 5... Pseudo stages are essentially end stages that appear to have all the abilities and capabilities of stage 1. Yet, up against real stage 1 abilities, pseudo stage pales in comparison. At stage 5, I can use Wood Sense for 10 kilometers, whereas pseudo stage 5 could barely sense 7 kilometers. There is the difference. The absorbed abilities are weaker than the original."

"So is there a way to make the pseudo become true stages?" asked Harry, sounding rather annoyed. It would have been much easier to have all the abilities at their true potential in his hands...

"Just understand that ability deeply, and it will automatically turn into true stages. Use it enough to make it yours, I guess," Verma explained.

Harry nodded, finding the explanation reasonable. 'So, that too was not the reason for my loss of points. Then, what could have been the reason? Did I really go past a hundred? Did some of the women I had been with not give as much as I expected? No, that's impossible...' Otherwise, how can their abilities be absorbed?

Harry thought and thought, then left it at that. It's just some bit of points in the end. He would check on it later. For now, he focused on what he had. [Pleasure Points: 47]. He pondered it for a second before dividing it equally among his attributes, except for the soul limit. His body tightened, and all his muscles started shifting as energy poured in.

As a chilling sensation of a watery wave passed through him, he exhaled and looked at his stats:

- Strength: 15.00 + 9.4

- Defense: 16 + 9.4

- Agility: 15.00 + 9.4

- Stamina: 15 + 9.4

- Soul limit: 22 (no change)

His stats blinked once, and the status changed again:

- Strength: 24.4

- Defense: 25.4

- Agility: 24.4

- Stamina: 24.4

- Soul limit: 22

Then, slightly clenching Emma's hands in his own, he smirked. "Getting stronger and more powerful always feels good," he said, and Verma nodded, it sure did.

However, Harry realized that his newfound strength was a bit out of control. He didn't yet possess the Dream Walker ability to control it effortlessly. But that was a challenge he was determined to overcome.

Or else, why would he add currently useless strength on himself?

"Verma," he called.

"Yes, hubby," replied Verma. He seemed to have something in mind.

"You are my aunt, right?" Harry asked.

"Hmm... Yes?"

"And she is my mother!"

"Sure..."

"You are gonna love what we do tonight! By the way, only call me nephew for today, okay Aunt?"

"Mm... I don't like where this is going, Nephew."

"You don't like it?"

"I want you solely for myself in the bed at least, Harry. Can't I even have that?"

Harry blinked, taken aback. "What are you talking about?"

"The three people thing!"

"Pfftwahahhahaha, your mind sure is weird to think of lustful things all the time... Verma, you–"

Yet his words were broken in between by a sound of the bed rustling as Emma woke up groggily, her eyes clearing up as she looked at the two people, one her step-sister, and another, a stranger bickering inside her room.

Staring ahead, her mind froze, and her body immediately transformed into solid jade, encasing Lily in a tight ball of shimmering green alongside her, protecting the infant. Yet, Panic surged through her veins as her heart skipped a beat, realizing the grave situation. Inside the jade prison, she could only sense the presence of one baby, causing her face to turn pallid and her eyes to blaze with fear. As her desperation intensified, even the ground beneath them began to succumb to the jade's influence, transforming into an otherworldly crystalline substance.

Harry stood there, his mind in a state of disbelief, rendered powerless by the sudden turn of events. Before he could react, a hand casted in jade was infront of him, mere inches away from his face, ready to tear him apart,

Yet, a delicate hand made of wooden scales came out of nowhere as it caught the hand effortlessly, halting it's movements in midair...

The room filled with an eerie silence as the two forces clashed.

"Calm down, Emma," the icy voice of Verma commanded, her tone laced with both authority and warning. "Or you may lose more than just control."

The air crackled with tension as the room became a battlefield of conflicting forces.

The room seemed to hold its breath, the atmosphere heavy with panic and fear.

In the midst of this chaos, Verma, her hand covered in wooden scales, had emerged like a guardian from the shadows. Her movements were swift and precise as she intercepted the jade hand, freezing it in its tracks. The clash of their opposing forces sent ripples of power reverberating through the room, a tangible manifestation of the struggle that unfolded before them.

An eery silence descended as time stood still,

Yet,

The silence was broken by the sound of a mother's panicked heartbeat, amplified by the jade state. It echoed through the room like a desperate plea, a haunting reminder of the dire mental state that she was in. The walls seemed to resonate with her anguish, as if absorbing and magnifying her distress.

As Emma's bloodshot eyes locked onto Harry's, the intensity of her emotions bore into his soul. He could feel the weight of her desperation, her fear, and her unyielding determination. It was a stare that threatened to unravel the very fabric of his being, sending chills down his spine.

As the room pulsated with energy, Harry's mind raced to comprehend the gravity of the situation. His senses heightened, he could almost taste the metallic tang of fear in the air, mingling with the earthy scent of wood and the coolness of the jade. The symphony of visual and auditory sensations painted a vivid picture of the battle that raged within the confines of the room.

Time seemed to stand really still, the world narrowing down to the clash of wills and the fragile equilibrium between Verma's stronghanded intervention and Emma's desperate attempt to maintain control. The room, once a sanctuary of peace, had transformed into a stage for a primal struggle, where the stakes were high and the outcome uncertain.

Harry's heart pounded in his chest as he confronted the consequences of his actions. The weight of his mistake settled upon him like a heavy burden,

In that moment, time seemed to regain its momentum, and the room trembled with the intensity of the conflict.

"Mom..." Whispered Harry as his heart shook,

He had messed up!