PATH OF THE STAR HUNTER

Despite her childish and clueless attitude, Athena was, after all, a born predator. The cute harpy would have no problem taking the life out of any intruder; as such, her territory was relatively safe. Also, the hypnotic flower garden around Athena’s treehouse functioned as a natural barrier against humans or other sentient beings, so privacy was not an issue.

When the girls led Desmond into the woods in this direction, it didn’t take long for him to realize their fate, and he found it quite curious. To tell the truth, Desmond lacked quality time with girls since, while intimacy at home helped, a relationship couldn’t be based on that alone, so he found the idea of ??spending the day quite appealing.

Anyone would have thought that, given how everyone was dressed, going to the forest was not the best of ideas. Still, no one in the family was a normal existence; each, with their own means, managed to get through the forest without even getting a spot of dirt in their clothes.

Walking through the illusionary labyrinth around the meadow where Athena’s tree stands, Desmond’s greeting was a bit more than he expected. Since neither Kyuru nor Estela was home, it was only to be expected that they would be here. Desmond didn’t foresee that there would be more than a couple of additional guests.

Silvia greeted Desmond politely and extended her congratulations, taking Desmond by surprise. Silvia’s sister would have waved as well, but she was having difficulty escaping from Athena’s wings, which seemed to have grown very fond of her quickly.

As Estela continued to make arrangements for an outdoor breakfast, Kyuru strutted around with undisguised pride in front of the Garden girls; the fairy couldn’t be more pleased with herself for having so much attention.

Natalie and Sara seemed to have fallen victim to how merciful Kyuru’s cuteness was, wanting the fairy to play with them endlessly. Tania was helping Estela with the kitchen chores while she kept part of her attention on the rest of the girls, like an older sister always ready to jump to the rescue. Yulei and Kira were a bit lost in their own world, surrounded by a faint rose-colored air and a bit shy atmosphere.

Noticing Desmond’s arrival, everyone present stopped what they were doing, extending their greetings and congratulations. Desmond had a short circuit at that moment. Everything was so foreign and, at the same time, so comfortable; the notion that all these people were here to celebrate the day of his birth was too much for Desmond’s lonely heart.

.....

One didn’t have to confuse things, Desmond had more than one person in his heart, but his relationship with those people was always of the same nature: lovers. Desmond had never had friends, at least not for many years, and at some point, the notion of friendship became a bit foreign to him. Because of this, Desmond came to value his friendship with Mei Fei Long and Miao Xiauyue, whom he missed from time to time.

Of course, Desmond loved the girls he lived with and could enjoy many things with them, but no matter what they did together and how much it made Desmond happy, a part of his heart remained lonely.

Only now that he had these people in front of him; Desmond realized that he was less alone than he thought. Regardless of the circumstances and the mechanics of their relationships, these people considered Desmond a friend or someone close; they were people Desmond could trust with some of his secrets.

It is worth mentioning that Silvia and her sister were speechless to meet the Garden girls and learn a little about them, especially Silvia, who now understood more of Desmond’s abilities to exert his control over the environment and the direction of the city. However, the cute but not human creatures at the gathering took the spotlight.

As expected, the adorable little Kyuru, the exquisite and hard-working Estela, and the naive but energetic Athena took all the limelight. It wasn’t too hard to believe; it wasn’t every day that humans got the chance to come face to face with other species.

If it weren’t for the fact that humans already knew about the existence of mutated humanoid beasts, things would have been more challenging to explain; after all, in the ancient era, humans believed that they were the only intelligent species in the universe.

Details aside, Desmond was glad to see so many people he was close with, especially in this kind of calm and warm environment. It wasn’t long before the meeting became quite lively.

As a side note, seeing Desmond’s current attire and the air of dominating masculinity around him, the Garden girls had to work very hard to keep their admiration and fascination from becoming painfully obvious.

With their teamwork, Estela and Tania soon filled a large table in the center of the meeting with all kinds of delicious dishes. The grill, the barbecue, and the portable stove brought to this place never stopped producing delicacies; Estela and Tania took into account the tremendous appetite that people develop as their strength grows.

Since it was an informal gathering, the food produced at the culinary duo’s hands was anything but elegant. Still, in terms of taste and nutrition, a professional chef would probably run away in shame if he tried to compete with them. Since it was a central part of the duo’s responsibilities, they had more than a hint of skill.

A gathering full of friends and delicious food could only be complemented by a friendly atmosphere and some alcohol, or so Desmond thought. Not even bothering with the pleasantries, Desmond cracked open a cold beer and drank to the bottom, only to let out a contented sigh at the end.

Soon the drinks also circulated, increasing the atmosphere; although not everyone drank as hard as Desmond, it would be a lie to say that everyone here was a saint. Silvia and Cecilia were perhaps one of the few passive drinkers; both kept themselves satisfied with some sweet wine. To no one’s surprise, Natalie, Desmond, and Revna were among the heaviest drinkers.

In what was an absolute rarity, Revna let go of all her inhibitions and subservience to compete with Desmond to see who could finish a case of beer first. The Norse blood in Revna made her a keen drinker with a high tolerance, and to everyone’s surprise, she actually beat Desmond.

Unknown if it was because she was genuinely happy or if she was taking advantage of the situation, Revna kissed Desmond in front of everyone to celebrate her victory. It was just a short, easy kiss, and given the environment, no one really cared, which worked in Revna’s favor.

Claire watched everything with a smile of absolute happiness while she tried another of the snacks prepared by Tania. Of all the people present, Claire was the one who had known Desmond the longest. It could be said that she had seen almost everything, everything except this. To see Desmond laugh merrily and sincerely, have fun and joke around, compete and lose, eat, drink and share; this was something she had never seen before.

Since childhood, Desmond had carried too many responsibilities on his shoulders, too many expectations, combined with his personality and darker traits that he couldn’t control in his childhood, this kind of fun and friendship is something he never had. Precisely because of that, Desmond could enjoy what was happening wholeheartedly.

Claire wasn’t the only one who noticed how much fun Desmond had; Sasha and Cecilia, both attentive girls, saw how much fun Desmond had. Although they were unaware of Desmond’s entire history, Sasha’s considerate attitude and Cecilia’s protective attitude made them both very aware of certain things. For different reasons, both girls kept the current image in their hearts.

Unknowingly Desmond was doing much more than just having fun and sharing, being free of responsibilities for the first time in a while; that lack of weight combined with the carefree vibe allowed Desmond’s long-stalled understanding of wind mana to move forward a notch.

Since it wouldn’t be a birthday party without a few games and activities, all sorts of weird displays soon developed in the meadow. Truth be told, one could only marvel at Desmond’s control over water mana, as the impromptu volleyball match could only occur because he held steady the ball made of water they used during the game.

Although forced to be the match’s referee for multiple reasons, Desmond still found the whole thing quite amusing. It is worth mentioning that seeing two teams full of beautiful women compete against each other also added to his entertainment. The end of the match was both comical and disappointing, as Athena ended up accidentally destroying the ball with her talons right at the decisive point.

In the end, Desmond declared the match a draw, and everyone took the opportunity to take a break or to ask the troublesome harpy to give them an air ride. Much to the disappointment of many, Athena did not want to carry anyone and argued that she would only fly with Desmond because he was her husband, a comment that earned her many strange looks from Desmond.

A couple of hours passed, and when the atmosphere began to become more relaxed and lazy, Claire started the gift giving. However, she made it clear to everyone that this was done privately by the girls who lived with Desmond, and the rest of the guests did not have to feel pressured by it.

In fact, the Garden girls and the pair of ice sisters each prepared a joint gift, but they would wait until the gift-giving from those closest to Desmond was over. And so the gift-giving began.