We stay in a passionate kiss for several moments, our lips flexing and pushing against each other’s, our tongues colliding in a soft wrestling match periodically. The feathery weightlessness of release, of not having to try and hold down how I’m feeling and just accept it instead, makes my head fizz and pop with the pink sparks of adoration. I moan out as I feel one of Akiko’s gentle yet powerful hands come down to grip my ass in a vice, using the leverage to push me even further into her, like she is trying to meld our two bodies together in paradise. I fully submit to the emotions of it all, the physicality of her leading us to some promised land that we now share as we stand underneath the crystalline curtains of water, the light splashing of its falls the only sound between our hums and gasps of pleasure.
I lose sense of time as we lock into each other, drowning in all of these effervescent feelings being my one and only concern. However, always the reasonable one, Akiko finally breaks off our pairing and instead moves to nuzzle playfully against my face. I swear I actually hear her start purring too, which almost threatens to send my throbbing heart into another spiral~. I chuckle at her clingy affections, an always welcome attention, and do my best to nuzzle back into her in turn.
Finally, the drought of words between us is broken as she speaks up in a husky, lower than usual timbre, “I love you as well, my Amelia~. I believe I have for some time now, these feelings likely starting when you shared your charming words and peck on my cheek at the sunrise we watched together. The more you grew, and the rate you grew at, only drove that sensation further to truth for me as I watched and aided your progress. Watching you adapt and succeed, unfettered by your abnormal situation and multitude of limitations. You are a dazzlingly kind and bright soul, full of empathy and compassion, understanding and wit. I would truly be a fool to not fall into admiration and appreciation of you.”
She leans down, her dripping wet white hair falling in layers around my face as she ties our lips together once more, albeit much more briefly than before. As we break apart, I stare into her gorgeous violet eyes, my voice coming out softly against the beating of the shower above us with my heart still thudding loudly in my chest, “You don’t think it’s too fast? I… I know I fall pretty hard and quick, and I do love you, but this is quite the speed run, even for me…”
A firm finger places itself under my chin as I begin to look down – catching a nice view of her body as I do~ – as she raises my face to look upon hers once more. “Perhaps on Earth, this would be considered quite the expedited affair, but on Mara it is far from uncommon. One of the side effects of having to involve yourself with dangerous entities and other cultivators seeking you harm is that you learn to identify and follow your instincts. Trusting them to lead you to the best outcome, when paired with logic and experience of course. To say nothing of things such as fated lovers, soulmates, or reincarnated halves reuniting, of which I am quite sure you are familiar with by now~.
No, my sweet, precious girl. On Mara, this is nothing out of the ordinary. I fell for Jun Li at first sight, although we did fall into a teacher – student relationship first, for a time. And it honestly was about this rapid with Samantha and Gerra as well. I hope that eases your concerns, darling~.” She nuzzles me one more time, even playfully nipping ticklishly against my neck which makes me squeal in laughter as I try and return the favor. It’s the perfect trick, as soon we are playing and giggling happily, my worries and woes escaping me with each delighted exhale of breath.
We wrap up not long after the tickle fight – which I soundly lost, of course – and dry ourselves off with another pair of fancy talismans. I go through and finish getting ready, namely brushing my teeth and hair. Oh god… I should have done that first!! We kissed so much, I hope I wasn’t too gross! I look back to Akiko who seems to still be on cloud 9, her freshly poofed tails wagging behind her joyously as stands to my side, eyes squinted and smile threatening to break her rosy cheeks as she hums some foreign tune. I mentally breathe out a sigh of relief, promising to be more considerate next time.
After everything is taken care of, we walk out of the bathroom and I pick up my discarded clothing, slipping on the underwear and then the battle dress back to its rightful spot. I really like this thing, but I seriously can’t wait for more clothes, I feel so naked – ironically – with just having one thing to wear. Although, I guess I have the robe Akiko gave me when we first met too. I shrug, maybe when Sam comes back with the other stuff I can mix and match a bit more. I’m brought out of my ponderings as I feel myself being scooped up, a small “Eep!” of surprise at the floating feeling coming out of me, before I am placed once more on the plush and comfy lap of Akiko, the both of us now occupying a chair at the table.
“Hi girls~. Looks like you two worked everything out~!” The familiar and chirpy voice of Ios says, projecting herself across from us after we get situated, “I’m glad, for both of you~. About time you started being true to your feelings Aims! Hehe~! Anyways, now that I’ve made you blush~, we should probably talk about the last elephant in the room: Amelia’s soul, and the issues we all know are present now.”
Well, that’s one way to kill a mood. I sigh against the crook of Akiko’s neck, still not really wanting to confront or discuss what may or may not have happened that got me the soul technique. “Do we have to?” I ask out quietly, my subdued voice drawing both women’s attention, “I mean… Can’t I just not work on soul stuff for now and promise not to feed it like that again, however I even did that? We have loads of other weapon, armor, and crafting quests to work through, not to mention Sandra’s recovery.”
Ios’ voice chimes out much closer than her previous location, and I poke my head up out of my foxy safety blanket to see that she has shifted to be right next to the two of us, “Aims, I know that this is going to be an unpleasant and possibly scary topic to discuss, but we all need to come to an agreement about what to do and try to figure out what happened. And we can’t neglect one of your paths, your strongest one mind you. Akiko?” Ios finishes as she looks up slightly to the kitsune’s face.
I feel one of her tails come to gently brush against my back, the firm pressure helping me stay calm and grounded. I plant a quick kiss against her collarbone, prompting a small chuckle before she agrees with Ios, “Spirit Ios is correct, my sweet. Your progress will certainly be hindered or slowed if we do not address this issue while it is still nascent and forming. We both will be here for you through it all. I propose we return to a training room, one that I can setup to help us monitor Qi fluctuation levels as well as engineer a suppressing field so that we need not resort to a violent means to stop you again, should the worst come to pass.”
Oh right. I forgot she… what, karate chopped me or something? I think to ask for specifics, but end up deciding that ignorance is bliss and soul hijacked Amelia got what was coming to her~. I also can’t really fault their logic in this too, much as my mind wants to just hide away from this. I sigh out loud, seeing a few strands of snow-white hair dance from the force of my breath before I respond, “…Alright. If you two think it’s best, then. I’m still wildly uncomfortable about the whole idea that I… I let that happen, but its a part of me now. *Sigh* The sooner I get a handle on it, the better, I suppose.”
“That’s the spirit honey! Alright, how much time do you need to modify the room Akiko?” Ios cheerfully smiles out after my acceptance.
The fox woman ponders for a moment before she answers, “It should not take me long to modify, perhaps two hours, maybe four at the most if the formations do not synch well together.”
Thats… fast? I really need to get back to inscriptions so that I can branch off to the other crafting paths. Ios nods her holographic head, her high-pitched tone ringing out, “Perfect~ Why don’t you get started on that and then Aims and I can work on getting those 50 inscriptions whittled down some? If you’re still fine with me supervising her?”
Holy shit, its been awhile since Ios has read my mind like that, but its always kinda scary when it happens! I feel Akiko nod above me, her chin lightly touching down on my hair as she says, “That would be perfectly fine, spirit Ios. In fact, I was about to recommend it. I will also leave you some food, Amelia, as you will surely feel the pang of hunger once your emotions from this morning settle.” I give her a big smile as I press into her with my thanks, her hand coming up to stroke my back in lieu of the tail.
“Very well,” Akiko says after she returns the hug, “I shall be off then. Do not make anything too wildly dangerous, and be sure to deactivate that Luck skill like we did the last time so that you do not accidentally anger the Heavens.” She picks me up and plops me down, a bead of cold sweat running down my spine as I realize I totally did forget to do that when we were making inscriptions a few days ago! I flick my eyes to Ios, who is watching me like a smiling hawk, even going so far as to send me a playful wink once she sees me cast my vision to her. Oh thank Heaven, she must have disabled it on her own for me. Pays to have a copilot in my silly brain sometimes~!
Akiko produces a small spread of amazingly delicious smelling food, a pot pie of some kind with a small cup of soup and a slice of bread to the side. I use [Appraise] on it all, ticking the skill up to level 6.
[Wonderfully Baked Dreroth Pot Pie (Peak Heaven Rank)]: This delicious meat and vegetable pie was baked by a world class spiritual chef. Its creamy sauce, exquisitely cooked Dreroth breast chunks, and diced and minced vegetables create the perfect, homey sensation when consumed. Additionally, when consumed, for the next 24 hours all mental stats and Health and Stamina regen rates will increase by 10%.
[Elegant Dreroth Broth Stew (Peak Heaven Rank)]: A masterfully crafted broth that was created by a world class spiritual chef. It has the perfect balance between thin and thickness, and pairs well with any other arrangement on the table. Its floral notes and taste belies a rich, filling sensation to its humble appearance. Additionally, when consumed, for the next 24 hours all mental stats and Health and Stamina regen rates will increase by 10%.
[Divinely Baked Valley Bread Slice (Peak Heaven Rank)]: This slice of bread was baked with love and care by a world class spiritual chef. Its whole form is long and elegantly toasted to perfection, with butter, herbs, and spices glazed on top of the loaf as soon as it comes out of the oven. It has a beyond satisfying crunch to the crust, with pillow like softness to the inner fluff, while the taste of all of those seasonings mixes perfectly together while consuming it. Additionally, when consumed, for the next 24 hours experience gain and Qi accumulation rate will increase by 10%, and stamina costs for actions will be reduced by 5%.
Seems to be a bit poultry heavy today, but I’ll take it! And it looks like they stack buffs, going by my status screen~. I barely constrain myself from diving into all that amazing food so that I can give Akiko one more hug and a kiss to send her off before she gets to the doorway. I giggle as a tail comes up to tickle my face when she turns around after our embrace, to which she turns at the door, gives me a wink, then slides it open and closed behind her. I sigh out dreamily, feeling the amazingly warm beam of acceptance filling my core.
Sadly, my stomach decides I’ve been neglecting it enough as it growls out mightily, annoyed at further being denied its meal as I bask in my emotions. Ios chuckles to my side, “Eat first, then we can get to the fun stuff sweetie~!”
I nod happily, skipping back over to the table and digging into the delicious meal~. With my tastebuds in rapture, I conquer the spread before me handily in record time, turning back to Ios as she sits across from me with a smile on her lips. “You are quite fascinating to watch when you eat~! It’s like a force of nature, chaotic and beautiful all in the same moment~! Hehe!”
I blush a bit from embarrassment, but I do still manage to stick my tounge out at her which makes both of us laugh. “Alright honey, enough playing around now~! Let’s get down to it. You need to make 50 viable inscriptions on any material… so we can do this one of two ways. You can find the simplest inscription that you can bust out reliably and quickly on the paper that we still have, or I can walk you through how to draw more symbols and combinations. What do you want to do?”
Shit, that is tempting. I forgot that having Ios as a teacher means she’ll know exactly what to do for me to power level like mad! I honestly debate the choice for a moment, nearly giving in to the lust for power that the added numbers would bring, before I shake off that thought. “I want to do this as by the book as possible. It’d defeat the purpose of learning the dang craft if I basically cheat my way through it. Also, thanks for deactivating Luck last time, I totally had a brain fart and forgot about that~.”
Ios gives me a kind smile and a nod, “I knew you’d pick the right option~. Okay, I’ll come up with some stuff for you to inscribe, you do your best to make it a functional glyph. And don’t worry about it honey, you were pretty excited to get started so I’m not surprised it slipped your mind~. Right! Here’s the first one: Explosion!”
I glance at her warily, the hesitation mounting as my hands stop midway to grabbing the pen and paper. “Seriously?” I ask out in a deadpan.
“Oh come on, it’ll be fine!! Just don’t push a lot of Qi into it and it’ll be nothing worse than a little firecracker! Plus, it’ll be bad ass to learn, you can inscribe it on bolts or arrows or something!” Ios excitedly responds, the gleam of madness dancing behind her illusory green eyes.
Well, it has been quite the morning, and past few days for that matter. Maybe I should humor her since she’s been so worried about me? “Fine, but I’m making it as small as possible and putting it in the shower, or something, just in case it starts a fire.”
A quadruple fist pump from my spirit companion later, and we dive in to making the – arguably dangerous – inscription. Time passes by quickly after that, with my second attempt being successful and not needing a fire extinguisher after activating it. It was pretty powerful still, the force and pressure even from a baby glyph making me raise my eyes in surprise. I see her logic about adding it to ammunition… At any rate, after we succeeded there, she went on to show me several more symbols of varying complexity and purpose, and by the end of the second hour of work we were actually nearly done with the quest~!
“Holy shit Aims, Akiko wasn’t kidding when she said you were going to be a monster at this craft! Even with your buffs, titles, skills, whatever, you are learning and adapting to this way too fucking fast!” Ios says as she rubs a hand across her chin, like a teacher wondering if a student is cheating.
I gulp down a bit of nervousness, the previous conversations about my soul springing up into my mind. My voice comes out in a whisper, my hands clenched together as I ask, “You don’t think… its because of the soul stuff do you?”
Ios moves next to me and considers things for a moment, her green orbs looking deeply at me, and then I can feel her actually start inspecting my soul inside of me, which is a trippy as hell sensation. Eventually, she breaks her stupor and gives me a shake of her head, “I don’t think so, sweetheart. I don’t sense any of that foreign influence meddling with you, either now or while you were working. Now that Akiko and I have experienced it personally and not under a time dilation, its easy enough to identify. No, I think that on top of all the other craziness about you – the system, reincarnator, intertwined soul – you also just happen to be a genius in this craft. Well, like, a genius in terms of what folks here on Mara define the word as. You are just naturally, amazingly gifted at this.”
Huh… “Why didn’t I have a skill for it? Or still don’t? I’ve done a few hidden quests now, you’d figure one of them would have popped up by now to… I don’t know, quantify it to some degree?”
Ios thinks to herself once more, her eyes taking on the falling numbers cadence signaling her dip into the system proper. I kick my feet a little, waiting for her to come back up as I ponder my own views on the matter. With a slight startle, she returns to normal – or as normal as she gets – before she says quickly, “You do have a title for inscriptions, its just locked for now though. Looks like you’ll need to get further into the craft before it’ll activate~.”
This massive troll, just tell me!! “Is there a reason you left out what I need to do to get said title, Ios?” I glare at her with a hint of annoyance.
With a coy look, she smirks and responds, “You’re the one who said you wanted to do all of this by the book~! Wouldn’t part of that be to navigate and expand your knowledge until you discovered it on your own honey~? Why, I basically already cheated you by telling you it exists in the first place! Teehee!” She even went so far as to wink and stick her tounge out at me on the little taunt!
“You’re such an unapologetic troll sometimes, you know that?? Are you really not going to tell me?? It could be important to know what I need to do to plan for the future!” I huff out in frustration to her. Thankfully, it seems she was just fucking with me, again, as she doubles over in laughter before looking back up to me.
“Sorry, sorry, I just haven’t messed with you like that in a while, figured I could get one in~! So the title is called [Master of Inscriptions], I can’t see what the effects on it will be since its locked, but I can tell that you need to reach master level in each of the written paths for it to unlock. So base inscriptions, formations, runic arrays, and talismans. Quite the tall order, even with your insane learning speed, but that just tells me that it’s going to be a massively beneficial perk for your crafting!”
That does indeed sound pretty powerful, needing to get to such a high level across the board for it to even unlock! As I’m about to start pondering about what the possible effects of the title could be, Ios brings me back to reality. “So, we need to knock out about ten more for you to complete the quest. Akiko looks to still be fiddling with the training room, want to wrap this up and then take a breather until she’s ready for us?”
I eagerly nod, renewed purpose burning through my veins like liquid determination as we once again resume the crash course on inscriptions. I wrap up the last one as the clock chimes out its passing of a third hour, paired nicely with a knock on the door.
[Quest Completed! Become a Journeyman Level Inscription Creator!
Gain enough knowledge to be considered a journeymen level inscription creator on Mara.
Reward: 250 Ability Points, 1000 Shop Points, 25 Skill Points, 100 points into Dexterity, Intelligence and Wisdom
Rewards will increase as your crafting rank increases.
Remaining Tasks: None.
Completed tasks: Create 50 viable inscriptions on any material. Learn at least 2,500 different glyphs, symbols, or structures.]
[Progress: 100%]
Dexterity is now 1,000!
Intelligence is now 700!
Widom is now 700!
Available Ability Points: 1,232
Available Shop Points: 7,050
Available Skill Points: 262
[Quest Started: Become a Master Level Inscription Creator!
Gain enough knowledge to be considered a master level inscription creator on Mara.
Reward: 1000 Ability Points, 2500 Shop Points, 100 Skill Points, 500 points into Dexterity, Intelligence and Wisdom
Rewards will increase as your crafting rank increases.
Remaining Tasks: Create 200 viable inscriptions on any material. Learn at least 5,000 different glyphs, symbols, or structures.
Completed tasks: 3,587 / 5,000 glyphs, symbols, or structures learned.]
[Progress: 46%]
The… the points… The snowball is truly beginning~!! I laugh out somewhat manically as the door opens, revealing a curious faced Akiko as she takes in my evil scientist laughter. I turn to her in my slightly dazed and exuberant expression, my voice only adding to the crazed atmosphere, “The points Akiko!! I have so many points!! If I spent them all and then used my techniques, I could out stat any peak 4th Realm! This is amazing!!” I feel the flare of the Berserker part of me begin to dance in glee, hand in hand with my currently raving mind, as Akiko glides over to me and pets my head.
“That is wonderful news dear~! However, we should not be so hasty as to spend those valuable resources so frivolously. Come, let’s you, I, and spirit Ios discuss the matter once we have addressed the issue with your soul path, hmm?” Her motherly voice finally breaks through the fun of the situation, making me pout slightly as the euphoria ebbs away from me.
“Fine,” I huff out with a stiff lower lip, “Be all smart, and hot, and mature about it.” Ios and Akiko devolve into a laughing fit, and I join them soon after before we collect ourselves and I remember something that Jun Li had said to me the other day. “Oh, by the way, Jun Li mentioned you and her knew of cultivation adjacent ways to strengthen your identity and soul presence? Should I try learning that too?”
“Indeed,” Akiko nods, wiping a small tear from the corner of her eye from the most recent bout of mirth, “That is one of the things I was going to explain to you, but I am glad some of the groundwork has been laid by my darling girl~! Come, we shall discuss it downstairs, my love.” She reaches forward a hand for me to grasp, ready to start the next portion of my training.
I nod merrily, Akiko calling me ‘her love’ unleashing infinite butterflies through my stomach and up to my heart as I take her smooth, soft hand in mine. She lifts me to my feet with subtle but certain stength, hooks our arms together, and then leads us out of the room once more toward the lower section of the estate.
