Diana noticed a lack of reaction on both their faces to the news.

“I mean,” Alicia said. “I'm already relying on Jack to prevent the collapse of my soul so...”

Jack shrugged his shoulders.

“Yeah, I kind of figured it was something like that, ”Jack said. “The bond didn't like it when I thought about giving her a little... taste of mortality. Oh well. We can still get it removed eventually, right? Come on. Can I get some good news about this bond or was everything just a lie?”

Diana's eyes widened, turning to the Goddesses like a nervous schoolgirl looking for answers.

“The bond is quite extreme but not without its own benefits,” Lisaseron said. “The Heartwoven Lives Bond is one of the few things that can improve your affinity to parts of the Akasha with minimal risk. It's not much compared to other methods but Usually one would have to brave cosmic horrors, malicious eternals or risk the corruption of your body and mind to do so.”

“Lisaseron,” Jack said. “You dodged the question. Give it to me straight. How long will it take for us to undo our soul bond?”

The Goddess hesitated.

“I am not deeply versed in the soul or soul bonds,” Lisaseron said. “But I would not plan on being rid of your bond within this century or the following ones. If both of you advance your Innate to the seventh Rank, you would have the bare minimum soul strength to attempt it. At the eighth Rank, I imagine you could do it with a good chance of success, although it would still make both of you feel profoundly... wrong, not to mention it would require an extensive recovery period. This is just theory of course, we have no data on the subject as no one has ever willingly broken their own Heartwoven Bond. Also, if The Weaver has modified your bond to be stronger, it would naturally take longer. As you might have guessed from the name, the Weaver was the one who invented the bond. If she had modified it... you may have to reach the Eternal level to safely extract yourselves from the bond.”

Syraviel watched Jack and Alicia deflate, slumping over, their eyes without luster.

“Don't worry you two,” Syraviel said. “The Heartwoven Lives Bond has made many unlikely and even ill advised pairings work. After a few years, they all end up working out. In fact, I don't think I've seen a Heartwoven couple not get along after longer than twenty years. As I'm sure you've both noticed, the soul bond is very proactive about resolving tensions and promoting... harmony. You two will definitely get along. Eventually.”

“Do not dwell on these matters now,” Lisaseron said. “All three of you have not slept for a full day now. Rest. You will be safe with us watching over you.”

Lisaseron threw out three bedrolls she'd pulled from thin air. Syraviel cleansed the blood and sweat from their bodies with a pulse of dark mana.

“Nighty night, kids,” Syraviel said. “Sleep tight.”

As much as he wanted to dwell on the disturbing revelations the Goddesses shared with him, Jack's adrenaline had long faded. The Exhaustion hit him like a locomotive made of pillows. He was ready to collapse, until he felt the pain he'd been ignoring from the several runepatches within him trying to heal his multiple broken bones . The boy clenched his teeth, breathing hard, then trying to slow his breaths down when he realized they made the pain in his ribs worse. He turned to his mostly ignored notifications, hoping they'd distract him from the pain.

Soul Perception Lvl 7 → Soul Perception Lvl 10

Empowered Bones Lvl 2 → Empowered Bones Lvl 7

Pain Resistance Lvl 4 → Pain Resistance Lvl 9

The Will to Resist Lvl 3 → The Will to Resist Lvl 5

Footwork Lvl 6 → Footwork Lvl 8

Mana Manipulation Lvl 1→ Mana Manipulation Lvl 3

A grim satisfaction came over him, dulling the ache with a shot of dopamine for a moment before the agony built again.

Alicia felt Jack's pain growing as she laid out her bedroll. She looked over at the boy. Even though Syraviel had just magically cleaned them all, cold sweat was covering him.

She released a drawn out breath with great reluctance. If they were going to spend the next couple centuries together, they'd need to work together better, she thought. Especially with her soul as messed up as it was. She moved her bedroll over to his and laid her hand against his shoulder. She pushed the aura of her Innate through their bond, ignoring the added pain it brought her. Jack's body tightened up, shuddering like a bucket of cold water had just been dropped on him. She flinched back from Jack's glare, pulling her hand away.

“Sorry,”Alicia said. “I was just trying to... you know the same thing Syraviel taught you. I... thought it would make you feel better. I should have thought it through. Obviously my aura would hurt.”

The boy took a deep breath. Alicia's aura felt like surprise acupuncture, it was sharp and unexpected, yet it oddly made him feel better. He sighed and gave the girl a small smile.

“It's fine,” he said. “You can put your hand back. Don't push your Innate aura through. Your soul's already a mess. Let me.”

Alicia did so, feeling him push his own aura through their bond. Her body tingled with warmth, while her soul practically squealed in delight. The change in quality of his Innate's aura after ranking up was far more than she'd expected.

She fought the urge to hop inside of his bedroll and have as much contact with him as possible. If this was what it felt like with just her hand, she could imagine it would be even better if they were in much closer contact.

“I- It's a lot stronger now,” she managed to say. “T-thanks...”

His Innate's aura was intermingling with the dregs of Alicia's aura, stimulating the boy. He pushed his aura deeper and harder with his newfound strength, seeking out the areas of her soul he hadn't felt yet.

The girl stared at him like a moth enraptured by flame, greedily drawing his aura deeper into her soul and drinking up his aura. He felt her lightly using the aura of her Innate to guide him further in. Jack frowned, looking closer within the girl's soul. That couldn't be right, he thought. But he couldn't deny what he saw. Alicia was gently using her own Innate to weaken the defenses of her own soul without damaging it, just so his aura could reach further in.

That realization of her small, but willing submission drove him off the edge. Even though he'd emptied load after load into her several hours ago, even though he was exhausted and in serious pain; he was rock hard again. All he could think about was pumping her full to the brim, physically and spiritually.

***

Alicia knew deep down what she was doing probably wasn't a great idea. On the bright side, he seemed to have completely forgotten about his pain and she felt incredible while getting her soul healed. It was probably fine, she thought. I'm still a virgin, right? In fact, this isn't sexual at all, it's just... intimate and extremely comfortable. Isn't this better than calling him Master and being physically dominated by him?

She felt his hand cover hers.

“If you come a little closer, the effect is better,” he whispered.

Alicia gulped. She could feel the naked earnestness of his desires surging towards her. She knew he wanted to lure her in. He wanted to pull her close and make her give in. He wanted to make her lose her mind to pleasure and submission. 

A wry smile crept over her face. Of course, she thought. Not that she could blame him. She was already in the mood too. Despite being magically cleaned, her pussy was slick with desire once again. She couldn't help it. Especially when she could feel his more hidden thoughts through the echoes in the aura he pushed inside her soul.

I want to cuddle her when she acts cute. I want to hold her in my arms again and see her blush. I want to take her on that date she asked for. I want to make a mess out of her.

Alicia went beet red. She noticed him rolling himself and his bedroll over to her until their faces were less than a foot apart.

“I'm not doing anything,” he said. “Promise.”

Alicia's heart was pounding, she couldn't even bring herself to look at him as she heard the sweet and naughty thoughts in his head coming towards her one after the other.

“Face the other direction,” she said quietly.

The boy winced but did so. Disappointment came over him as he felt the girl pull her hand away from him. He shrugged. He probably pushed too hard, he thought. Even if she seemed ready to go, she was still a girl concerned with her purity. He heard her leave her bedroll and then he felt someone slip into his own bedding, wrapping a warm, slender arm around his chest while pressing her modest breasts against his back.

“Y-you promised you wouldn't do anything,” Alicia whispered into his ear. “You weren't lying to me, right?”

Jack sighed. He supposed he was just meant to suffer today.

“Fine,” he said. “You win. It's not like I could do anything covered in all these runepatches anyway. Just moving hurts like hell, and unlike you,  I'm not into that shit. ”

Jack grumpily supported Alicia's soul until sleep took him. Through the night, he could hear slicing blades and worm parts falling onto the disk but paid them no mind.

For awhile, things were quiet. There was only soft and contented breathing and the hum of the Void Disk as it harmonized with the ever changing background frequency of the Void.

The colors of the void shifted throughout their passage, usually pitch black, interspersed with dull blues but flashes of grey grew more prominent as they neared their destination. 

The Goddesses finally woke them. While the other two girls were still grumpy and groggy, Jack felt better than ever, pain-free and completely rejuvenated. Diana noticed his state and sloppily grabbed onto him.

“Why are you the most rested, when you were the most fucked up last night?” she complained. “It's not fair! Give me your energy! Please Jack!”

Jack gently pushed the girl off of him.

“It's my regeneration, Diana,” he said. “Jealous? My sleep is twice as effective as your sleep.”

“That's such bullshit,” Alicia said. “Shouldn't I be feeling better, if it's your Innate doing that?”

Jack raised his eyebrows.

“You're telling me you didn't feel better from that?”

The girl paused for a moment. Alicia gave him a falsely cheery smile and stuck her tongue out at him.

Syraviel passed them a breakfast of breadrolls with a tangy berry jam and ring shaped fried sausages. As they ate, they realized the oddness of the Void around them. It was much less empty than before, with all sorts of asteroids and other phenomena floating around, although there wasn't a void worm in sight. Jack saw a lake surrounded by grassy knolls which abruptly terminated into the Void and the sawed off head of a massive bug-like monster slowly orbiting around a multicolored star. He squinted looking at the star, realizing it was misshapen with a jagged gap as if something had taken a large bite out of it.

Lisaseron noticed his gaze at the star and smiled.

“Like I said before,” she said. “Sharks.”

The other humans turned to look at the star, sucking in a breath when they realized what they were seeing.

“If our true bodies were here, the thing that caused it wouldn't be much of a fight,”Syraviel said. “Most Void Behemoths are big, strong and fast and that's all they have going for them.”

“Some of the weakest eternal level beings I have fought were Void Behemoths,” Lisaseron said. “Of course if we run into them in open space, we will be quite outmatched. Even the weakest of them are physically near Eternal level regardless of the strength of their Innate.”

“Do you think we'll run into any?” Alicia asked.

“Oh absolutely,” Lisaseron said. “In fact, I am hoping we do.”

The humans immediately looked over at Lisaseron.

“We require four Void Behemoths for our plan to work,” The Goddess said. “Worry not, it will be Shadow and myself handling the mission until we arrive in the Unceasing's realm. You three just sit tight.”

The humans traded nervous glances.

“But didn't you say the Void Behemoths were too much too for you to handle?”

“In open space, yes,” Lisaseron said. “That is why I will not be matching them in open but space but over there.”

Lisaseron pointed to a mostly empty stretch of Void. The more Jack looked at it, the more he felt something was off. What little light passed through the area seemed to shimmer more than natural and there was a faint presence that Jack noticed.

“Is that the Brawler over there?” he asked. “Is he going to take care of the Void Behemoths for us?”

“Good eye but not quite,” Lisaseron said. “What you're sensing is not the Brawler but his Collateral Calamity aura rampaging through the Incursion's void tunnel all the way from Licirmon. It would seem he has indeed provided us with an opportunity.”

After an hour of travel, the Brawler's aura and the instability of the space around the void tunnel grew even more apparent. Void tunnel grew more ominous to Jack's eyes, the closer they got. Initially, all he could see was just the space was slightly off. Now, from the few faint purplish white edges he could see, the Void tunnel was at least as wide as two football fields and brimming with magic even to his low Mana Detection. He felt like he was staring at a pit full of snakes. Even after a full ten minutes, the alarm bells in his mind were still going off. He turned his head, trying to ignore it.

“Alright, everyone to the center of the disk,” Syraviel said.

The humans obliged. Lisaseron collapsed the expansive void disk down to a couple of meters in width. Syraviel's shadow expanded to cover the smaller Void Disk.

“All you, Void,” Syraviel said. “You've got my stealth. Work your magic.”

“Thank you, Shadow.”

Lisaseron's body blurred with intense speed. Thin streams of purple energy flowed out of her hands, turning into runes and formulae with the lightest flick of her fingers. Spell formations lit up the darkness of the void.

Diana's eyes and head moved back and forth trying to capture as much of Lisaseron's formations. Jack wondered how the girl wasn't cross-eyed and suffering whiplash from the unnerving enthusiasm behind her movements.

Lisaseron arranged the spell formations in vast arc over her head, finally stopping making new formations. She moved the disk around the Void Tunnel examining it thoroughly. After a few minutes, she gave a satisfied nod and the spell formations twisted around the void tunnel in a single helix arrangement.

She put her hand out towards the Void Tunnel, slowly rotating her hand, causing the helix of spell formations to revolve around the void tunnel.

“One thing that is difficult to avoid with high speed travel is the effect of resistance,” Lisaseron mused aloud. “Air resistance, water resistance... such things only become more cumbersome as you move faster. One of the reasons spatial magic is so swift is because it circumvents most types of resistance. But with a few adjustements, resistance can be added back into the equation.”

Lisaseron gently closed her hand. The formation helix tightened around the void tunnel, hovering just barely over it without touching. Lisaseron moved the Void disk back. Jack could see some of the Goddess's formations shuddering and swelling as they retreated further. Diana let out a gasp.

“They're growing!” Diana said. “The formations are leeching the Void Tunnel's mana!”

“Indeed,” Lisaseron said. “But this is only the first part. For now, we wait.”

Lisaseron's hands blurred into action again. The runes formed strange wave patterns around the Void Disk. Lisaseron created the same wave pattern over and over again, changing little but the length of the wave. The waves connected with another but were overlain and offset at seemingly random angles, turning the simple yet elegant wave into a tangle even a bird wouldn't call a nest.

Syraviel looked at the formation in distaste before weaving her shadow tendrils throughout the formation.

“See that kids, there's always room to grow.” Syraviel said. “Void is one of the best formation mages in all of Licirmon and even she can still create a hideous illusion formation like this.”

“It is an effective formation for our purposes, Shadow.” Lisaseron said. “The Void Behemoths will not notice our presence and it is very mana efficient.”

“True. It's also hideous and only blocks out spatial and magical forms of detection.”

“That is why I have you, no?”

“Yes, but the internal effect leaves a lot to be desired.”

Lisaseron lifted her hands in surrender.

“It is a bit troublesome,” Lisaseron said. “But we will still be able to sense things, even if the humans struggle.”

Syraviel's shadows finished embedding themselves into the formation and Jack felt his aura soften and smooth out. He could barely make out the girls and the Goddesses, even his own body seemed to blend in to the surroundings. Jack tried to say something but found his voice weirdly distorted. He stumbled over his words, finding it difficult to speak coherently while listening to the dyslexic alphabet soup spilling out of his mouth.

Giving up on doing or seeing anything inside the Void Disk, he turned his attention back to the Void Tunnel. He could see more edges of the tunnel than earlier, looking like less of an idle sketch and more like a half materialized spectre of a bridge, haunting and deadly.

A pulse of force washed over their formation, turning into a disharmonic echo within their mirage formation. The two Goddesses turned their heads towards the source of it, looking relieved.

It was another void worm but instead of being the size of a small elephant, its body stretched for miles.

“That's one down,” Syraviel said.

“Indeed,” Lisaseron said. “The beacon formation was a bit more effective than I thought. But as useful as it might be, the best thing to attract sharks is blood in the water.”

Syraviel grinned.

Lisaseron crushed her hand into a fist. The formation helix tightened on the Void Tunnel . The space around the Void Tunnel stretched and twisted, releasing pulses of force and magic that hit their mirage formation like a galeforce wind, whirling their surroundings into a kaleidoscope of sound and color.

Jack couldn't make out anything with his eyes or ears but he could feel powerful presences exploding out in the void and aftershocks from their fighting rattle their formation. The mirage formation only grew hazier, filled with static and distorted echoes.

***

Alicia felt like she was trapped in a nightmare, malicious auras around her clashed while her senses were bombarded with senseless noise and blurs. Despite that, what really had her attenetion was the hot ball of lust burning in her stomach. After last night, she was so pent-up and sensitive, she could barely think.

Already on edge, Alicia drew her sword halfway out of her sheath when a hand touched her shoulder..

“Easy now,” Jack thought. “It's me.”

Alicia stopped drawing her blade but didn't sheath it either.

“What do you want, Jack?” Alicia thought.

“I healed your soul all night,” he thought. “Is that any way to speak to your benefactor?”

Alicia turned around to glare at him but could barely even see his face, save for the slight arc of a smirk on his mouth.

“Don't pretend we're close,”Alicia thought. “I hate you. You hate me. You've got something to say or you wouldn't be doing this.”

She saw his smirk stiffen, or at least she thought she did. Jack shrugged his shoulders, sitting down next to the girl.

“I just wanted to make amends” he thought. “You know, extend an olive branch.”

“An olive branch?” she thought.

“I'm okay with us fighting and not getting along,” he thought. “We're fire and water, that's fine. What I'm not fine with, is both of us being horny out of our minds and driving each other insane with our cravings. This bond shit isn't going away anytime soon. I know that little bit of soul healing last night was good for getting your soul healed but it has both of us riled up like spring bunnies. It's not sustainable. I think we should pick a time every night and set aside our differences so we can at least function like normal people.”

For a brief second, the heat in her stomach she'd been ignoring flared up, sending a thrill through her body. Alicia turned her head away from him, crossing her arms.

“If that's all you have to say, then you can fuck off, Jack,” she thought. “I'm not going to roll over for you just because you helped heal my soul a couple times.”

“Of course not,” Jack thought. “Healing your soul doesn't factor in to this. That's just my duty, to keep both of us alive. You see, I want to offer a few concessions you might be interested in.”