Chapter 261: Sloth

I let out a weary yawn as I stared up at the ceiling sleepily, before glancing to my left, Aria snuggled up to my arm, fast asleep and quietly snoring peacefully.About three hours have passed since we cleared the Calamity Level Dungeon. We met back up with the rest of the party shortly after we defeated the Lightning Dragon, Isla then teleported all of us out and we headed back to the Sanctuary.

Isla went to the Guild to write up the report, and the rest of us headed straight back home...well, at least, Aria and I did.

I doubt any of the others had the energy to do anything else though.

Aria and I cleaned ourselves up, and she asked me to sleep with her again.

We were in my room this time, and she’d passed out pretty much the instant her head hit the pillow.

I’m pretty exhausted myself, but I couldn’t sleep, I have a lot on my mind. Particularly, regarding how Ai took control of my body.

I’ll get to it in a moment, first I’ll distribute the points I earned.

There we go, that should do it:

HP: 1085 -> 1155

MP: 2144 -> 2409

Strength: 1085 -> 1155

Agility: 1560 -> 1665

Vitality: 1085 -> 1155

Perception: 1560 -> 1665

Power Level: 1,419,800 -> 1,534,000

I got a solid chunk of points from this raid, as expected of a Calamity Level Dungeon.

Consuming so many Critical Levels with the Wyverns got me a good chunk of points, and Acedia alone netted me over fifty points. All in all, pretty solid gains this time around.

Now, then, Ai.

How’d you do that, swap control of my body with Aria?

<After the Dragon switched everyone’s bodies, a new function unlocked when Ariella ended up in your body>

<It’s called Transfer>

<By requesting transfer of control, I can control your body for five minutes>

<And I can request extensions to get another five minutes>

<That pretty much sums it up>

I see, that’s pretty cool. It’s good that function unlocked, we’d almost definitely be dead otherwise.

<Yes, I estimate a 99.985% chance that you and Ariella, and me by extension, would’ve been killed>

Mhm, yeah, sounds about right. How did it feel, by the way? Having a body?

<Hard to put into words>

<It’s difficult to process the experience>

Yeah, that’s understandable. Was it a good experience, or...?

<Well, considering that I was preoccupied by trying to survive and win the death match we were stuck in, I’d say more bad than good>

Heh, fair enough.

I don’t mind letting you take over every now and then-...in calmer settings, of course...-and let you experience it again. And hey, maybe we’ll eventually figure out a way to get you in a body of your own.

<I’m not sure how I feel about that, but it is an intriguing notion>

<But then, you’d be helpless without me>

Yeah, yeah.

Alright, the exhaustion’s really starting to get to me, I should go to sleep. Oh, I should have a talk with Acedia tomorrow, set ground rules and whatnot.

But for now, time to sleep...I can barely keep my eyelids open anymore, everything’s starting to go dark. Goodnight...

...

...

"Alright, here goes...<Emerge, Apostle of Sloth: Acedia>," I chanted, a burst of energy erupting in front of me as he appeared before me, kneeling down on one knee with his head bowed.

"<Yes, my Lord, how may I serve you>?"

"Oh, I just wanted to have a bit of a chat. To start with, considering that I played a significant role in killing you, do you have any objections to working under me?" I asked him.

"<No, none whatsoever, my Lord. I quite like this body...it may be a bit weaker, but it cannot die, I no longer need to worry about getting injured. Moreover, I have never slept so peacefully when I was alive, it was quite pleasant>," He replied gratefully.

Huh? Oh, he’s talking about the dormant state my Apostles of Sin are in when they’re withdrawn inside me.

Come to think of it, he did seem pretty lazy and lethargic before he started fighting.

Though, he didn’t seem to embody sloth as obviously as Luxuria embodied lust and Invidia embodied envy.

But it’s different now, he’s absolutely exuding laziness right now.

"Okay, great. Feel free to voice any concerns, or if there’s anything you want, ask without any reservations. Now, then, I’m going to need to set some ground rules, make sure we’re on the same page and whatnot.

After that, you’re free to stick around and relax out here if you want, or go back to sleep in me if you’d prefer that inside," I informed him.

"<Oh, the latter, please, my Lord>."

"Uh, right, sure...if that’s what you want. Now, then, as for the ground rules...," I began, before giving him a rundown of everything I wanted him to keep in mind going forward.

I covered everything I’d already told Luxuria, like don’t attack other humans unless I specifically say otherwise, act respectfully towards those that I respect, especially Aria, and stuff like that.

Speaking of whom, she’s still asleep, it’s around 2 PM right now. I’ll let her sleep, the raid was pretty exhausting, after all.

Anyway, I soon wrapped up with setting the ground rules for Acedia, making sure I’d covered everything I need to.

"<Understood, my Lord, I shall abide by your instructions. Do not hesitate to summon me whenever necessary...but until then, may I go back to sleep>?" He requested, a hopeful look in his eyes.

"Yeah, of course, if that’s what you want. Alright, then...<Withdraw, Apostle of Sloth: Acedia>," I chanted, before he dissipated and flowed back into me.

Alright, what should I do for the rest of the day?

Hm...maybe I’ll go ahead and indulge in my own sense of sloth too. Yeah, that sounds pretty good.

<You say that like it’s unusual, but you’re pretty lazy a lot of the time>

Yeah, and? I don’t see the problem.