The hivemind is conquering for me?

”Ow!”

I said and fell backwards to the ground, holding my abdomen as Nerissa pulled out of me. ”Are you ok Apollo?” She asked, like she had not just stabbed me.

”I’ll live, though could you have chosen a different spot? I swear this is the same spot as last time.” I could feel her smirk behind her helmet as she said this before extending her hand down towards me.

”You suggested wearing no armour, I saw an opening and took it. Now are you ready to continue?” Being helped up, I did a little wiggle to make sure everything was ok before nodding my head.

Nerissa then turned to Janine and shook her head. ”Janine you are a mercenary, you should know better not to be distracted by an ally going down, you should have attacked me when you had the chance, your stealth is enough of a hindrance to my capabilities when utilised properly.

Janine then undid her Psionics showing her now stood beside Apollo, the mace Nerissa had made for her strewn to the side. She then proceeded to look away embarrassed. ”I know... But it’s hard when the one going down is someone you love dearly. It is going to take some getting used to.”

Nerissa nodded her head. ”Then it’s a good thing we have all night. I shall continue to riddle Apollo with holes until the lesson sticks. Now, let’s begin.”

”Woah, wait what? oh shit!” I said, just managing to raise Zircon up to block an arm shattering strike from Nerissa’s spear before being kicked out at the wound I just received by the Nymph, sending me flying backwards.

’Great, just great.’

...

Millie woke up early and felt wonderful. Ever since finding out about Apollo, it’s like she has been living a dream, like a part of her that she had lost had returned. She also liked that they were keeping their relationship casual, being called grandma so abruptly would have sent her into an early life crisis. Just knowing she had family and that he was doing his own thing filled her with delight.

Speaking of own things, Millie took a day off from the bakery yesterday to have some time relaxing, pampering herself and today she woke up feeling like she was fresh out of the womb. But with that being said, she needed to work today, not for herself, but for her little addicts who loved her sweet treats. The last time she had a day off, there was almost a riot.

Millie chuckled to herself as she lay in bed a few moments longer, the fact her simple baking could bring smiles and pleasure to people warmed her heart. Others in this galaxy might have loftier ambitions than her, but she liked her bakery, her slice of paradise.

’Hehehe. It’s even better now knowing my daughter’s child loves my cookies. I should make a batch special for him. just in case he comes today.’

With that thought, Millie sprang out of bed and performed her morning rituals before taking the tunnel from her house to her bakery. She giggled to herself as she entered the kitchen to put her apron on; She could hear a commotion coming from the front of the bakery already.

She didn’t dare showing her face up front just yet, hungry women were almost as bad as men affected by her power. No, she needed to begin baking first.

Judging by the commotion she was hearing there were at least fifty people outside. And with how much of her food these psionic individuals consume, she decided to heat up all her ovens.

Once she did that she began prepping, getting her dry and wet ingredients ready for cookies and other assorted pastries. Once everything was assigned to a station she began.

Millie fell into a rhythm of someone that had perfected their craft, she hummed along to a tune in her head as her Psionics began subconsciously pouring out of herself and into the food she was making, giving it that extra oomph that enriched all the flavours that already existed in the foods to greater heights.

It wasn’t long till Millie finally made her way to the front of the shop and began filling up the counter with her goodies. Her presence had caused a stir outside, prompting her to simply smile.

Once she was done and prepared for the customers, she signalled to one of her guards and the doors opened.

The first one to enter the store was a first timer from what she recalled. A gorgeous woman with dark purple hair. Millie was about to greet her as she stepped up to the counter, but the woman turned right into the shop, staring at Millie the entire time before sitting down in a chair and continued to stare.

’That was odd. I hope she realises I don’t have servers. Oh well.’ Millie then turned to the next customer who slammed her cred chip down in front of her. ”Hi, how can I help-”

”Cookies!”

...

”Ah, that’s better. Thank you Ness.” I said tapping the hand that was slowly making its way across my body as Nerissa healed me. I had lost track of time of our training, but considering I saw the Colleges lights all turn on in the distance, it was now ’daytime’ meaning we were at it all night.

I then looked down at my body, pocked so much anyone with trichophobia would have nightmares looking at me. And all the holes were surgically precise. Nerissa was not holding back teaching Janine to get over her hesitation. Each stab was just deep enough to hurt, but not enough to cause any actual injury to my body with my healing factor.

”For someone on the defensive all night, even I have to admit your stamina is truly admirable Apollo. It explains a lot of things.” She then turned to Janine who was sprawled on the floor, barely conscious. ”You also did admirable Janine. Your drive to improve yourself puts most of these humans to shame.”

”Mheh thn yh.” Janine mumbled incoherently and waved her arm before she began to lightly snore.

I sat up with a slight wince and looked over to Janine. ”Best get her back. How long till I have to meet up with Kathrine?”

”Two hours.” Nerissa replied calmly, prompting me to light up with delight.

”Perfect! Enough time for breakfast and a nap!”

...

After taking Janine home and making sure the others had finished cleaning up the mess they had made, I tucked her in and after destroying the interior of our fridge, I headed back out. Thanks to Nerissa’s life force and the thousands of calories I just inhaled I was feeling much better as I made my way to where Valerica had told me to wait for her.

Making my way to the field where we had the tests, I was surprised to find a group of individuals running around it. It looked like a lesson was taking place as every so often a large pillar of dirt would erupt from the ground, forcing the runner to dodge.

’looks fun.’

I then made my way to a tree nearby and lay down beneath it watching the group for a little while before I felt nap time calling me.

...

Upon entering my Mindspace, I was planning on doing a full system shutdown and enjoy a pure black rest for a short while to boost recovery, but I had a visitor I did not realise was here, most likely due to my previous training.

”Kat! What a surprise I am so glad-”

”-Apollo, respectfully, shut up.” Kathrine said and dropped to her knees before my avatar. ”My fixation is going crazy and deepthroating popsicles aren’t enough anymore. Do we have unlimited time or am I working on a time crunch here?”

Knowing how bad her fixation can get when she... Fixates on it, I didn’t mind she wanted to get right into it and told her. ”An hour and a half before I am supposed to meet with Valerica. I’m already at the meeting spot, but I’m in public so I can’t finish... So go slow.”

Kathrine at this point had already gotten my avatar excited and hearing that her brain basically flooded with dopamine. ”Perfect. Just what I wanted to hear~”

...

Almost an hour and a half later of Kathrine impaling her head on my flesh pike, we were cuddling as we enjoyed each others company where she finally spoke. ”So, where have you been all night? I have been waiting for hours. I kept feeling like you were in pain? Is everything alright?”

I stroked Kathrine’s hair and planted a kiss on her forehead. ”I am fine. I was just training all night with Janine and Nerissa.”

”I see, don’t push yourself too hard, ok? Just because I am not there with you, doesn’t mean I am not worrying constantly about you.”

”Likewise, my love.” I told her before kissing her passionately. Once we pulled away, I suddenly realised something.

”Oh, by the way, there is something I need to tell you.”