"Looking good kid." Lycaon welcomed Ashton with a smile.
"It would have been better if it wasn't skin tight..." Ashton sighed while stretching, "So what's the plan?"
Ashton instantly regretted asking that question, upon seeing the sadistic smile on Lycaon's face. It had been a month since he began his space adventure. Sadly, during all that time none of them had done any 'training' as they were busy getting used to the conditions that came with living in space.
They were forced to stay in the vacuum chamber for at least 10 hours a day. As for Ashton, he had to stay there for twenty hours. His body was the toughest, not to mention with Space-farer genes, he was quick to adjust.
However, for some reason, his reaction speed got terribly slow. His body wasn't obeying his mind, in a way. As if that wasn't a huge problem itself, nausea kicked in over and over. It took well over three days for the nauseating feeling to go away. For the girls, the feeling lasted for a week.
Thankfully, sleeping in zero gravity wasn't much of a problem for him or the twins. They were vampires, hence sleep was like a leisure activity for them. Sadly, the same wasn't true for Anna. The succubus had to suffer a lot before she got used to living in zero gravity.
After a couple of weeks of struggling, Ashton realised Astaroth was messing with his head. Which as a result messed up Ashton's sync with his brain and body. In Astaroth's words, he was rewiring some stuff up but it took longer than he thought it would.
Ashton wasn't pleased with it, but there was little he could do to stop Astaroth.
"Spacesuits are supposed to be skin tight." Aamon interjected, "If they weren't-"
"We'll die in the most horrific way, you have already narrated the entire procedure to us in grotesque details." Irina entered the observation deck along with the rest of the girls.
"Wow."
The word subconsciously escaped Ashton's mouth as soon as he saw them. They were looking wonderful, clad in their black suits which detailed every curve of their body. For some reason, their spacesuits appeared to be much tighter than his. Not that he was complaining.
[I bet you're not complaining now. Try to keep your flagpole in control though, we ain't going for a flag march, are we?]
'I don't wanna hear your advice on this topic. First, get rid of your V-card, then lecture me on what to do and what not to.'
[At least I had a lover.]
'That's even more shameful. You took your shot and still missed, oof.'
[Maybe I should rewire something else in your head.]
'While you're at it, maybe install a debug thingy to get the virgin bug out of there.'
[Touche.]
"I get it we look great, but would you mind not staring at us?" Irina rolled her eyes, but her bright red cheeks gave her true thoughts away.
"I don't mind him looking at me," Verina chuckled, "But if you want to look so bad, all you need is ask. We might even have fun in the shower-"
"Ahem."
Dracula was standing in the corner, completely hidden from them. But when he overheard saying what his granddaughters had to, he couldn't help but step in and stop them before the already indecent conversation took a turn for the worse.
"Let's focus on the training, shall we?" Frank replied, "The place we are headed now, is known as Planet Euphoria. It's a terrestrial planet similar to that of earth, with twice the mass. Also, around 89% of its surface is covered with water."
At that moment, a holographic image of Euphoria appeared in front of them. It was nothing like they had expected. What Frank said about the water was true and the only visible land mass of the planet was a thin strip that ran across the planet's diameter, other than the polar caps.
As for the water... well, it did not appear like water at all. It was a jet black liquid. Honestly... for a planet called Euphoria, the place did not look exciting or happy in the least.
'What even is this place...'
[I remember this planet. One of our mad scientists created it.]
'The fuck? You people have been creating planets?'
[We are self-proclaimed gods, remember? What kind of gods we'd have been if we didn't create a planet here and there. All that aside... I don't think the Xyrans even remember about this planet anymore. It has been thousands of years since this planet was created.]
'Wait... how old are you again?'
[For about a hundred and twelve thousand years? I don't remember clearly, it's been a while after all. Aside from all that, the training in this place might be a bit harsh for the ladies, for you... I don't know. It wouldn't be a walk in a park for sure.]
Astaroth did not say another word. He wanted Ashton to experience the perils of the planet himself. After all, it wouldn't be much of a training if he was continuously guiding him. Ashton could sense what Astaroth was thinking and did not push the subject anymore.
"Let me tell you now, the flow of time on that planet is messed up." Dracula informed them, "Time there flies faster than anywhere else. You'll be training there for five months, but only five weeks would have passed for us. But that isn't the only thing you should be aware of."
Ashton could not believe what he heard next. How could something like what Dracula told them could even be possible? Planet Euphoria was a place overrun by monsters. As if that wasn't enough, every month they spend there... they'd lose one of their senses.
First, it would be their eyesight, then hearing, then touch, followed by smell and finally taste. Thankfully, they can drop out at any time they wanted. But still, the training was a bit absurd. How the fuck were they supposed to hunt monsters and live without their sensory organs working?
"Don't overthink too much." Aamon chimed in while pointing at the progenitors, "You can drop out any time you want. After all, none of these idiots could even make it past the third month. Just think of it as a learning experience and take things slow. There will be people watching over you, just say the words 'I quit', and you'll be teleported out of the trial zone."
He then turned towards Ashton, "Leave your summons here. They can't train there either way so we'll be training them here. Also, we don't want them to unintentionally help you, considering they have a strong bond with you. That's it for the debriefing, we'll land in an hour so prepare what you have to."