Melina stirred behind me. I glanced over my shoulder and watched her scratch her chin. I couldn’t stop thinking about her and our night together. I looked up at the stars and imagined Krajolik staring down at me, snickering. Fuck it. I wouldn’t be held down by my past anymore. In such a shitty world, every moment mattered, and who said that I couldn’t get to my end goal by being together with Melina?
“Why are you staring at me?” she asked as one of her eyes shot open and then was followed by the other.
“Were you watching me?”
She nodded. “I woke up a couple of minutes ago, so yeah.”
I walked back to my recliner slash chair and sat next to her. She just smiled that sheepish, weak smile of hers. It was intoxicating to even just look at her, much less be near her. The woman was heaven itself for such a broken creature like me.
“Don’t you need more time off to retain your beauty? If you slack off on sleeping, you might get wrinkles.”
“Wh… what did you… no! You didn’t just say that!” She scowled and got up in my face. “This skin is perfect! How dare you?”
“Hey, it is now that I helped you with it. Or am I wrong?”
She let out a sigh and looked away, pouting and murmuring something. I got up and knelt next to her, then hugged her tightly. Her hand landed on mine and she snuggled up to me.
“Don’t joke about things like that,” she whispered. “Women don’t like that.”
“I’m sorry, Mel. I’ll try to tone it down next time to just a wrinkle or two.”
“Bah!”
She pushed me off and got up with her hands planted on her hips. The yukata slid aside and revealed she wasn’t wearing anything underneath.
“What? You want to molest me?”
“Huh? What… ugh! Why would I care if you’ve seen all of me already? Idiot. What is it with you this morning?”
I shrugged and got up, swooped her up in my arms, and carried her inside the bedroom as she protested. I put her down gently and knelt next to the bed as she struggled to sit upright.
“I don’t know,” I whispered as I leaned my head against her lap. “My heart is in constant turmoil, waging a never-ending battle.”
“How long were you with her?”
“Three centuries,” Scar replied from the corner of the room.
“Wait, what? He was with her for so long?” she exclaimed. “And you never loved her?”
“No, wait, who said that?” I protested. Luckily Scar took over.
“He shut his feelings off way early when he just started cultivating. All of this is new and strange to him, from what I can feel.”
She chuckled and moved her hand through my hair. “You should never tell your woman that you love her or have feelings for her so easily. They might use it against you.”
Her hand stopped and then moved down my neck and up through my hair again.
“I didn’t say I love you,” I joked.
“No, you didn’t, but do you need to? You’re like a lost soul, aren’t you?”
I felt pathetic, seeing feelings and emotions as useless and only burdensome. But wasn’t it something beautiful as well if it was nourished?
“Aren’t we both? And will you do it?”
“Will I do what? Use it against you?”
I didn’t even need to respond, but I did. “Yeah.”
She stopped moving her hand again and looked out the window. “I don’t know,” she replied honestly. “I hate this feeling of helplessness. I hate this feeling of needing someone near me and not wanting to lose them no matter what. What if I lose you? I’d kill myself.”
I stared up into her eyes and sat back. “So you’d rather push me away and get it over with than risk me staying around and possibly getting hurt later on?”
A single teardrop rolled down her cheek, and then another, and another.
“I can’t do this again, Viktor! I couldn’t stand to lose a loved one again in this life!”
Her voice was laced with fear and anguish. I sat up on the edge of the bed and grabbed her hand, but then froze. There was a trace of an old scar that I hadn’t noticed up until now. It ran along her wrist and didn’t even look so old. She pulled her hand free and looked away.
“Did… you do that to your hand?”
She nodded weakly but refused to meet my eyes.
“Because of him?”
She nodded again.
I let out a deep sigh as I sat there and put my arm around her shoulders. I didn’t speak, I just sat there in the deafening silence that was only broken by her sobs. I would rather have her scream and trash the place than just sit there and cry.
Fucking scum. There was nothing left of him but his rotten bones. He was damn lucky I didn’t get to him earlier or he’d suffer a fate much worse than death.
“What if I can make sure we’ll never be apart?”
The sobbing stopped immediately and her head shot around. “What do you mean?”
“I could take you anywhere with me. As long as we didn’t cross a boss or an army of elites, I’d be confident nothing could harm you.”
“And what if we did?”
“We’d die together. It’s as simple as that.”
“You can also bind your souls together,” Scar chimed in. “He doesn’t have the power or knowledge to do it. At least not yet.”
“And what kind of binding is that?” I asked, equally interested in it as she was.
“If one of you dies or leaves the other for whatever reason, the other will feel immense pain. It would feel like your soul was being pulled for the rest of your life. And you two would go so far?”
I nodded. “I would once I know how,” I said proudly.
A chime rang out just as her watch made a slight sound, interrupting us. It was immediately followed by a notification we were already used to.
Notification:
BEGINNER’S QUEST CHAIN 2
Rewards for quest completion:
1. Level +2
2. Scroll of Binding
3. Random skill scroll
NOTE: Use Scroll of Binding to temporarily bind to any visited domed region.
Notification:
BEGINNER’S CHAIN QUEST START
CHAIN 3: Kill 1 Kobold Lord
COMPLETION: 0/1
I checked my inventory first for the scroll of binding and activated the scroll. A new prompt shot up.
Notification:
DO YOU WANT TO NAME THE CLOSEST DOMED BINDING SPOT? YES / NO?
“Mel, can you activate the binding scroll?”
“Yeah, I already did.” She chuckled. “Seems we had the same thought.”
All sorrow and pain seemed to have evaporated with the announcement of the new rewards. Damn, if only it was always as easy to get rid of women’s tears and my own horrendous pain.
“What are we going to call it?”
She shrugged. “It never had a name. You do it, as I don’t care what it’s called.”
I rolled my eyes. “Why aren’t you asking what the scroll does?”
“I’ll find out once you’ve named it, won’t I?”
“Right, right,” I murmured. “Hmm, how about Ryokan of Fallen Gods?”
“How auspicious. Don’t care, though. If you want to call it that, just do it.”
I didn’t ask her about it a second time, not wanting her to change her mind. I froze. She’d just pulled one on me, and I let it happen. I sighed inwardly and pushed the thought aside for later.
“Yes. Ryokan of Fallen Gods.”
An ethereal glow suddenly appeared from all around us: the walls, the ceiling, the floor, and the furniture. It shifted toward a single point and shot out into the garden. I got up hurriedly and managed to see just in time as all of it slammed into the sakura tree. Then another ball disappeared into the tree trunk from the left and then from the right.
The rooms lit up in both side buildings and were accompanied by the voices of those still sleeping when the notification
came.
Notification:
DO YOU WANT TO ASSIGN THE “RYOKAN OF FALLEN GODS” AS YOUR DESIGNATED BINDING SPOT? YES / NO?
“Yes.”
An overwhelming surge of power washed over me. It was pure bliss, heaven, and fantasy. The feeling lasted for a mere three seconds and then disappeared, but I still felt some residue of power linger inside my body. It wasn’t like Enma, no, it was the bliss I’d felt just moments ago.
“Wh… what is… this?” Melina moaned as she began glowing.
It only lasted three seconds, and she seemed visibly shaken once the light faded. She turned her head my way and gasped as she sat upright.
“You good?”
“Yeah, but what the hell was that?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know what the feeling was, but I know what’s happening. This place—”
I was interrupted by a chime and yet another notification.
Notification:
LIFE SKILL RECEIVED: << HOME >>
DESCRIPTION: Move to designated binding spot once every 24 hours. Resets at 08:00 every day.
“This new skill sure is interesting,” I whispered. “Have you read it?”
Her eyebrows shot up. “So I won’t have to ride that wolf anymore when we go far out, right?”
I shook my head. “No, we’ll be able to get home without any effort whatsoever once a day, from what I understand. Sure beats walking back after going out to farm.”
She grinned and nodded, then looked down at her hand, where another scroll sat.
“Go ahead and activate it. I’ll do the same with mine.”
“Yeah, go ahead. I’ll wait until you’re done.”
I didn’t see why she would do that but decided not to comment on it. Opening the scroll, I activated it.
Notification:
SKILL RECEIVED: << SLASH >>
LEVEL: 1 – 0.0%
DESCRIPTION: Use 60 Enma to add 300%
to Enma Attack on a successful hit and
inflict Bleeding Debuff with 65% chance.
This was welcome news, as you could basically slash any type of sharp weapon, no matter if it was a dagger, a one- or two-handed sword, a halberd, a guandao, or one of the many other types of bladed weapons. The bleeding debuff was insanely overpowered if you wanted to fight a battle of attrition, but it remained to be seen how it would work.
Lastly, I checked my stats. Getting two more levels meant a lot more stats, and I would never say no to stats.
Status:
NAME: Viktor
AGE: 31
LEVEL: 5, REALM: 1, RANK: 4
HEALTH: 540
ENMA: 260
SPEED: 1.9
PHYSICAL ATTACK: 124
ENMA ATTACK: 115
DEFENSE: 89
ENMA SHIELD: 570
The way I was now, I should technically be able to destroy elite kobolds’ shields with a single skill attack. Trying it out would be on the top of my to-do list for today.
I closed my stats window and waited for Melina to show any signs of life. She was still checking her own stuff out, from what I could see, so I let her be for several more seconds. Then she surprised me with a question.
“What do you think I should do with my skill scrolls?”
“What?” I asked, thinking I misunderstood. “You didn’t use the scrolls yet?”
“Yeah, I let them be for the moment.”
“I—don’t know, Melina. Do you like using the tetsubo?”
She shook her head. “No, I don’t want to get close in with the monsters. They’re ugly.”
“Do you have any skills at all?”
“I have one that’s called Bandage.”
“Bandage?”
She nodded. “I hurt myself earlier and used some of the herbs to make a patch and taped it on my back.”
Melina got up and pulled the back of her yukata up, revealing her bare ass and back. There was indeed a white pack plastered just above her left butt cheek.
“How the hell did you… and how didn’t I… nevermind.”
“What? It’s a good skill that helped my shield recover much quicker.”
“Oh?”
She nodded again. “It really did. The first time I needed about an hour to recover most of it; then this time I only needed a few minutes.”
Just then I noticed Sarah standing on the balcony to our left and waving.
“Shit! Put that on!” I hissed as I pulled her around and covered her up. “You want everyone to stare at your naked body?”
“Sorry, I got carried away.” She chuckled and pulled the sash around her waist, then tied it up. “I should put on something else before we go down, right?”
“Yeah. We need to go out and get you some clothing from the store.”
“You want to come with us so you can check up on Jess?”
“Focus, alright? We can fool around later. I want to tackle the boss today.” I stopped for a moment as my mind went a minute back and I just figured out what she said. “You didn’t use your skill scrolls?”
“Yeah, that’s what I said.”
“No, you said you got Bandage.”
“I’ll use the scroll when I need it.”
“Then what will you use as a weapon?”
She shrugged. “Nothing? I have a battle fan downstairs. I’ll keep it with me if I need it as a last resort.”
I sighed and shook my head. “Man, you’re really complicated.”
“Says the man who wants to bind our souls together.” I was about to protest, but she put up her finger and pressed it to my lips. “Let me pick out a kimono and we can go right away.”
I walked back onto the balcony and picked the rest of the tray clean, then gulped down the cold brew. It was perfect minus being slightly too cold, but whatever.
“Can someone clean up the balcony when we’re gone? Please?” I yelled from the balcony. “Thank you!”
I didn’t wait for anyone to reply or to offer because no one would want to suck up. They’d take care of it when we were gone so everyone could share in the benefit.
Walking down the stairs, I thought of the first night here when the messages had appeared and I’d rushed in to see if Melina was alright. Things had really taken a turn for the better for me despite being much worse for everyone in general.
Even if the whole world was against us, I wouldn’t care. As long as we had this place and each other, I thought I wouldn’t mind fighting everyone. I’d go against Krajolik if need be, just as long as no one touched what was mine.
The sound of shoes slamming down on wood overhead caught my attention. She must have finished already, so I waited at the main entrance. It didn’t take long for her to catch up and throw herself at me from the top of the stairs.
“Hey.” I laughed as I caught her in midair. “Why so playful?”
Her beautiful, sparkling eyes stared right into mine just before our lips met. “Because I get to spend all day with you.”
I kissed her back furiously. Her lips were sweet, just like always. “Let’s wake Jess up and catch the dawn with her panties down.”
“Huh? Panties? I’m wearing them now.”
“I didn’t mean you. I meant dawn.”
“And who’s dawn? Another woman you know?”
I stopped and mock-glared at her. “You going to do this all day, huh?”
She nodded excitedly. “Hell yes!”
I groaned and walked past her out into the front yard. “Jess! Wake up and take the keys to the store with you!”
“You think she’ll be up soon?” Melina whispered.
“I give her four minutes. You?”
“Hmm,” she replied, tapping her lower lip with her index finger. “About right.”
It took three minutes for Jess to come running out the door, still tucking her hair into a ponytail.
“Sorry, sorry. I was still asleep.”
I grinned sheepishly. “I’m sorry I had to wake you so early, Jess, especially af
ter staying up for us, but we got a lot of things to do today.”
“Sure thing, but what’s with this quest reward?”
Then it dawned on me that it might be a good idea to tell everyone at the same time and not to repeat it thirty times.
“Everyone! Listen up! Activate the binding scroll and choose the Ryokan of Fallen Gods! Once you do, you’ll get a skill that allows you to teleport over here once a day from wherever you are!”
“Thanks, boss!” Gary called from his balcony. “Was just deliberating what to do!”
“Hah, good man! Oh, and be ready to move out in a few hours! I want to tackle a boss today!”
I didn’t wait for him to reply and instead offered my arms to the ladies. Melina took my right without any hesitation, but when Jess stood there obviously lost, Melina nodded for her to go ahead and take my left arm.
“You’re not doing anything bad, are you? Just take his arm.”
“If you say so, mistress.”
“Oh, come on! Mistress again?” Mel protested. “Whatever.”
I took care of the two elites when we walked out into the park, but neither dropped anything I could use, to my surprise.
“Can you believe this shit?” I cursed as the two were busy kicking the kobolds to death.
“What? Nothing?”
“Yeah, fucking nothing,” I protested.
“Whatever. We had a few duds yesterday as well, didn’t we?”
I shrugged. “Yeah, but that doesn’t change the fact it’s annoying as hell.”
“Maybe we overdid it last night?”
I shrugged and motioned to the street. The girls fell in line quickly, and we left the park, then walked up the street to the main road. I killed another elite without issues, but this one dropped only a crystal again.
We headed right and kept on moving in the direction of the clothes store and bakery. Several smaller groups of kobolds roamed around, but they were just gray and purple ones. No new goldy or elite ones in sight. Maybe it was better like that. At least we wouldn’t waste time on them and could get the clothes issue over with.
Beginner Quest: A LitRPG Cultivation Series (Towers & Rifts Book 1) Page 25
