Go! Fragile Broken Eyes!
Smiling at the sight of his little, submissive kitten, Tongqiu went forwards as he stood beside the bed.
He gently moved his right arm in a hook shape that went below her neck and side of her face as the other hand cupped her free cheek as he slowly elevated her head and moved her back a little in order to sit on the bed. Once he sat up, he realized he barely moved her body, as such, he decided to place her head on his folded leg's thigh.
Once he finished accommodating his little kitten, Tongqiu whispered as he blowed at her ear: "Wake up Irllytia, I know you've been awake ever since feeling my presence as well as smelling my scent."
With a couple of kisses on the side of her forehead, and seeing her not respond, Tongqiu similarly said nothing and merely enjoyed the sight of his beloved be that of a sleepy kitten being way too adamant on her rest.
After half-an-hour, she quickly opened her eyes and booped Tongqiu's nose with her left index finger, causing him to speechlessly stare at the naughty Demonic Irllytia.
Shaking his head as she slowly moved to a better sitting position with her back on his lap as she blatantly layed down on him, fully exposing her entire upper body at him, for whatever he wanted to do with it.
Her body arched, Irllytia had an impossible to resist angle as Tongqiu caressed her extremely slim tummy, then ribs before finally kindly 'molesting' her chest. Charming, demonic grins surfaced on her face over and over again. After unexpectedly squirming, seemingly convulsing, she relaxed at last as she allowed her back to properly rest on his lap with Tongqiu placing a pillow underneath her head for better support.
Gazing at her with eyes full of affection, Tongqiu spoke towards her with his hand cupping her slightly bigger head on her Demon form: "I've though about it for some time."
With only a lightly smiling expression in calmness, Irllytia waited for her man to continue speaking, not an ounce of suspicion or fear across her pure black eyes.
"First, let me know of your past, your life. I'd like to hear it a lot, okay?"
"Mn."
Nodding gently a couple of times, Irllytia began speaking: "I never knew the rest of my family... or any. I grew up with that old man you've seen before..."
"As a little kid, I only had animals as friends, hehehe... once there was this almost 4 meters tall wolf that scared my grandpa silly hahaha..."
"I actually had my first kiss stolen by a blue-haired little girl when I was 8 waaaah, it was really weird, you know? It was also by accident, oh no! Why did I have to say that?!"
"I don't like vegetables or fruit, really. Husband, when we get pregnant, give me lots of yummy dishes! Okay?"
"Then there was this trip on a ship that traveled across the ocean, waah! I still remember the enormous beast that almost killed us all! Mn, it suddenly departed by no reason after almost attacking us, phew. If I had died, I wouldn't have met my husband, what a terrifying thought!"
"I really like dragons, but lions are just as cute!"
Many, many and many more old stories and recounting from Irllytia's life was exposed to the knowledge-consumer Tongqiu just became. Some times he'd be smiling out of joy, that's right, joy- coming from Tongqiu. Some other times he'd frown a little and become somewhat irked up. Some other times he'd just grin at Irllytia's antics and expressions when speaking her memories out or when the stories were a bit too silly, or even both!
Through the entire time, Tongqiu had his eyes set on the red skinned beauty that was all smiles and affection, easily exposing her everything to him, he couldn't take an eye off her as even such a thought was inexistent. Only her and her low toned voice remained in his existence.
At some point, Irllytia had already finished speaking her heart out. Her mind relaxed and her body became soft and boneless as she guided Tongqiu's arms into an 'X' in front of her chest, right below her jawline. Her eyes narrowed as they turned glossy, and Tongqiu found himself willing to lose himself on the calmness of their moment.
Then he spoke out: "Then about your demon form, how did it happened?"
"Mn." Once again nodding obediently, Irllytia began the retelling of her marvelous discovery.
"I entered the training grounds for... the sake of accompanying husband, not being a bother-" Tongqiu's hand covered her mouth gently as he interrupted her out of heartache: "You are dumb, sigh, that would never have changed anything."
"I know, husband, I was silly. Too childish, but, it ended well, didn't it?" Seeing her be all well-behaved and mature even though she was quite young, Tongqiu comforted her back: "Yes, it ended perfectly. You went back to your roots and more than anything, you are all well with not a single strand of your hair. Everything is alright."
Engulfed by warmth, Irllytia calmly accepted it as her heart throbbed and her pores itched for some more Tongqiu. She raised her head a little but for some reason, she stopped doing so not even midway from reaching his lips.
Seeing her act all spoiled and bratty made Tongqiu feel somewhat exasperated at her incredibly needy and girly self, he unnaturally lowered his head himself as he felt a kind of duty completed out of devotion. Finishing their little peck and moving slightly away, he saw her eyes become soft to an unbelievable degree and yearn for more.
"Mn, tell me more, about how it exactly happened. What you felt, and the like, how about it?"
Eyes becoming visibly excited, Irllytia changed her posture to that of having her tummy rest on the bed, her entire naked body showing off at that instant. Tongqiu followed suit, though he had simple clothes that she bought for him long ago instead, fully clothed.
"It's like this! I was soooo afraid at first, I haven't even seen a single enemy yet I was with my arms shielding me from whatever I could face. Then, a bad, ugly wolf-like man with horrible clothes appeared!"
"Irllytia, honey, that's a werewolf, hmph~."
"Ah! Right... Werewolf..."
"Hmph~..." After involuntarily snorting out of uncontrollable joy for a couple of times, Tongqiu lowered his hand slightly and...
Slap!
"EEEH!" A little charming, sexy yelp came from Irllytia's mouth.
"Continue." Commanded Tongqiu as he then proceeded to softly rub around, which made the already pleased Irllytia to become even more pleased.
"Mn. The moment I saw the ugly werewolf, I just stopped, entirely. Then, the next instant I was already charging at it! I had my hands taking a gesture like, like having a pair of claws instead. Like these!" She then showed her claw-less hands to Tongqiu before a 'Tshin~' sounded and sharp, dangerous claw-like nails protruded from her fingers.
It reminded him of his transformation, though his were clearly more ethereal and less real-like, they were as imposing and dangerous as hers.
Mistaking his gaze as a worried one, she kept her claw-like nails out as she grazed through his hair while softly muttering, her lips dangerously close to his eyes: "Don't worry, it doesn't hurt, it doesn't harm me anywhere. I even feel a kind of thirst for battle, hehehe."
"Oh right, ahem. At the moment I didn't notice, but I definitely had claws on the tips of my fingers. Strangely, I didn't felt anything wrong with myself, instead I felt as if I became aware of the wonderful emotions from having found myself... The ugly werewolf ended becoming uglier! And my hands were full of animal's blood. Even then, I continued, I wanted to battle and I wanted to... to... kill. It was, like an instinct. Right, it was my instincts that allowed me to keep on hunting and becoming stronger. At some point, I was already so tall and even had a strange yet familiar feeling, as if arms had grown from my back. Look, look, they were these little babies! They're still in need of honing and polishing through battles, but they already allow me to glide. I can even last a long time in the air, as if I was about to fly by myself!"
'Well, at least one of us can fly. Wings, tsk, tsk.'
Listening her go at it, Tongqiu became both intrigued and envious. Intrigued at her transformation that reminded him of that one he more or less 'has', whenever he enters that 'abnormal' state; he didn't know whether it was him that had something like that, hidden within his status window, or if it was the nameless bow or nameless arrow, or even both! That bestowed upon him such a 'transformation'. It could even be his 'Evil Saint' class for all he knew!
"Oh, tell me that about your 'instincts', maybe I could even help with that."
Torrential joy invading her senses, Irllytia looked to the side at the laying down Tongqiu beside her, she bit his cheek a little before hitting his head with hers as she then replied: "It was like a kind of feeling like, 'I already know what to do' as I even had this kind of image where I could see myself from afar..."
What happened next was Tongqiu acting as a teacher to allow Irllytia to become more knowledgeable and understanding of her own capabilities. It was the first time Tongqiu heard someone speak of their instincts kicking in, without falseness to it, so when he heard Irllytia mention it so naturally and proud, he had his ear tingle a little before the small idea of guiding her crossed his mind.
He began giving her his own share of experience on the matter but didn't directed her as if she was supposed to follow his path or his own personal feelings. Allowing for Irllytia to have her own path on this matter, on her life and her future. It may have sound silly and unnecessary for others, but to him who could more or less have a inkling to the future of Rising Essence, would not expend less effort on helping her build her foundations and basics.
If he's strong, he's strong, even powerful. But isn't it great if she could become powerful with him?
. . .
Azure Dragon City. Back of the blacksmith's shop.
Tongqiu had come back and began disassembling the 'trash' he hadn't time to get rid of or rather, for materials to get back from, the timer on the door was that of 00:31:53 and decreasing.
He was fully focused on the disassembler, he wasn't so because of the difficulty, hell no. It was because he just couldn't do it any other way, even if he tried to be 'lazy' and 'reckless' about it, he'd go back to seriously proceed with the necessary steps to perfectly use the thing.
At that moment, he received an exterior call from Rising Essence, Natalia's voice was immediately heard as he did not need to even question it or hesitate and with the system knowing their host's feelings and emotions to such responses, he didn't even need to configure it himself to have such things happen. Technology was at its best thanks to Crestfallen Industry.
"Hello? Tongqiu~~?"
"Ah yes, what is a little Naty doing calling the big bad Tongqiu that I am?"
"Hehehe. You want to know something? Alright I'll tell you! Little Diana is participating on a tournament hosted by many players! It is set at LV30 and it's to see who can be the best 1v1, at the apex and before the first update is released. But guess what, hmmm?" Her sweet voice tried to be as professional and mysterious, but with how the nature of such gentle being was, it was impossible as she herself 'answered' to her teasing and spilled the beans faster than she had her eyes go round whenever they talked about life.
"Hmm, does my little Diana needs a good pair of gloves? To beat up people and put them in their place?" Tongqiu was no green pepper, he was a big, veiny and sinewy eggplant that could pluck her tender flower like there's no tomorrow.
Murmurs of hidden anguish at being stolen of the limelight and restrained yells, Natalia then spoke again through the call: "Dammit Tongqiu!! You'll see, gentle Naty will become naughty Naty once you stop playing, you hear me?! Hm, hm! You're gonna become my little, obedient Tongqiu, hmph!"
With that, she ended the call as a rather devilish and expecting smile formed at his face, along with his now hungry expression plastered all over his face as well.
'There's still thirty minutes left... I can go for an almost Magical item!" His eyes becoming increasingly serene and extremely focused at this moment, Tongqiu moved at not great speeds, but rather, at perfect synchronization with his body, tools and the room itself. It was showtime.
He took quite the highest grade of minerals and materials he could play with as of currently and also had them all go into the forge at once. Those placed at the deepest, hottest spot of the forge were taken out as soon as they started melting; he began by hitting down as hard as he could until it became all flat, then he started maniacally peining but even more so was he upsetting the mineral in his hands. Over and over and over, until a corresponding shape to his requirements was met. Right away, the next few melted minerals were worked with. Some were primarily being peined or upset by his hammering as the structure of some soft from the inside but undeniably ruthless, heavy yet fastest from the outside pair of gloves wouldn't be made out of fashion design. Even more so if it they were to be made for his dear Diana, they could not be afforded to be even slightly below 'almost Magical grade', or else he'd have to rig the tournament with threats himself out of shame.
There was not a great need of shaping the molds for when creating certain 'parts' and complements of the desired weaponry, even less for that of the main structure of the gloves but even then, Tongqiu did everything exquisitely refined modifications to each.
To other materials, he heat them a lot before putting them to work; namely drawing and peining it out a lot before slightly upsetting it, then leaving the end of it for the shaping, the mold. Some other minerals he'd just straight up melt entirely and put them to the mold right away, before hammering them down until their shape was complete and solid enough, enough for Tongqiu to decide to stop his ruthless creations.
Some entirely melted materials/minerals would be added to the mold that the previously highly upset and/or peined minerals/materials from earlier or just be mixed with other such entirely melted items on the mold. He was continuously inserting them in the mobile pool and taking some others out while still hammering down sometimes and solidifying some other items in the molds. Continuous movement, not stopping for even seconds, his mind was fully attended to the making of this wonder.
The time came to be at last, all of the previous materials and minerals brought to be as items after being solidified and then hammered down some more before being submitted to the inside of the mobile pool and taken out only to be heated again to add it to the principal body, while some others were added as soon as they were solidified, being hammered down right then and there.
He placed the entirety of his work in progress, still heated, inside the mobile pool and waited, felt, sensed, and heard. Then...
SPLASH!
He took it out at once as the incredible, magical snowflakes floated all around the mid-small room. Timer at the door, as if gazing at him in fervor, reminded Tongqiu as he only had left 00:01:30.
"Huff, huff... huff, huff, huff... ssuu, sigh." Without words, merely expectation, Tongqiu observed his creation become visible at last. He could already 'see' it prior this, but the system wouldn't take it as an already forged item, so he waited.
*PING*...you've successfully forged: Nightmarish Funeral Gaze, result is as follows: quantity: 1, quality: Top, difficulty: Intermediate-intermediate.
[Nightmarish Funeral Gaze]: Type: Dual-Handed, Grade: Powerful(pseudo-Magical), Equipment Requirements: LV30, 90+STR, 30+REC and 30+LCK. Attributes: Physical Power+155, STR+29 and LCK+12. Effect: 12% chance of having the left glove inflict Confused state for 3 upon hitting a target and 25% chance of inflicting Stun for 1 second upon hitting a target.
'Heh, she better win now, eh?' Foolishly smiling, Tongqiu got out of the mid-small room as the timer went 00:00:03, 02 and finally, 01.
Thud!
The big fat old man from before was right outside his door. As soon as Tongqiu came out, he became astounded, Tongqiu was still shirtless and he didn't even bother covering as he felt rather familiar after so much time spent in the forging room.
"Oh hey Baiy, I'm done with this. Thank you~." Leaving the man with a casual wave of his right hand, Tongqiu left the blacksmith's shop and went ahead towards the small coliseum made for players to do some little tournaments, just like the one Diana was about to participate in. Except, those random ones from before were nothing compared to the entire Azure Dragon City's competition for the best 1v1. And since Diana opted to compete for it, he'd give him such a nice surprise gift.
It was a pity though, taking Diana's nature in consideration, she would only not tell him about this either because she though shit of such little tournament or because she wanted to surprise him!
If it was the former, then it'd be embarrassing if she doesn't likes them. If it was the latter, he was afraid of ruining her expectations, his little, shrunk and blackened heart could not tolerate it.
'Ah, fuck it. I won't let her fight without proper armament, as my future wife, she deserves it!'
With kind thoughts in mind, Tongqiu went inside the coliseum after paying up 500 gold coins, those fuckers organizing this set the fee at the highest possible to rob everyone here of their dignity. He'd have to check upon what assholes planned this thing and if they also had a fee to participate on it, tsk tsk, good, obedient Tongqiu was no more when dealing with outsiders.
As soon as he entered, what he saw next made him befuddled, albeit for a couple of seconds only.
Hundreds of thousands of players were all around the seats, the audience was heavy but barely cheery. Maybe they were bored and didn't care that much for the little tournament, maybe they felt like fuck from the over expensive shit of a fee or maybe they just wanted to see real combat.
Tongqiu immediately went forwards right at the moment he discovered Diana's position. After sending a notification to her and the system asking her to decide whether or not to allow this full suit player 'Tongqiu' to enter her personal space as a competitor for the upcoming little tournament.
After accepting, Tongqiu went forwards only to see a Diana with her head lowered slightly and her cheeks shyly blushing.
'Aw, she wanted to make it a surprise, sigh~ sorry sorry.' Inclining his head backwards to the side, he then went ahead to hug her endearingly before whispering in her ear, teasingly and affectionately.
"Put on your mask, I have a gift for you."
...
V2: #1 1/10
