Lurking danger

On the second day of our honeymoon, we ran into a small problem. Once we explored the cavern behind the waterfall and swam a few times in the water, we started getting bored. Our first thought was that we could indulge in pleasure, but neither of us came out here in the wild to fuck all day, so we decided against it.

Rolling to her side, Lien grumbled, “Aaaah, what should we do? Aren’t we supposed to have fun during our honeymoon, but the only thing coming to my mind is learning and practising magic!”

Lowering her voice, she muttered, “And sex.”

“I know, dear. I’m trying to think of something, though it’s hard when you look like this,” I replied, shaking my head. There was one more problem. After the wedding ceremony ended, we left the house and came straight to this place and I happened to forget our luggage in the house. Lien didn’t blame me since she also forgot about it, but that didn’t make our situation any better.

She had only her wedding dress with her, while I had only my suit. Since neither of us wanted to waltz around in clothes like that, we were left with our underwears. It was only the two of us in the area anyway and it wasn’t like monsters mattered, even if they found a way in. I had to admit that walking around in our underwears was quite daring and exciting to some point, even if it was a bad idea.

“Just so you know, it isn’t easy for me either. I love you and your looks so… anyway. Keep your little brother in your pants and then we’ll be fine. I think,” she cleared her throat, her face a bit red.

“Are you provoking me to do something to you or are you discouraging me? Because this totally sounded like an invitation to me,” I remarked, placing my hand on hers.

“No, I wasn’t inviting you anywhere. Haah- I think I had the most fun building our house,” she sighed.

Sitting up, I looked at the blue water with a sudden idea emerging in my mind. “Hey, how about we build something?” Crossing my legs, I leaned over her and continued, “We could turn this into some kind of hidden village which would be ours, don’t you think? I’m quite sure that we’d have fun building and it would be neither perverted nor practise related.”

Rolling to her front, she put her chin on my knee and smiled at me, “That sounds like fun.”

“Then how about we get started? Though I have a small request,” I added, peeking into the soft valley in front of my eyes.

“You can ask anything,” she said playfully, knowing exactly what I was looking at. I felt tempted to ask her to do something lewd, but I kept my thoughts to myself and used nature magic to create two giant leaves.

Finally averting my eyes, I awkwardly handed over the leaves as I said, “These are mana enchanted so they won’t tear easily and they should provide you with some defense as well, but that’s obviously not why I made them. Cover your chest and your lower half with these, if possible.”

“Haha, I didn’t think that I’d ever meet a man who told me to wear more clothes other than my father, especially not at a moment like this, but okay,” she smiled at me as she took the leaves. “To be honest, I’ve been worrying about my attire for a while now and even I thought about going home to get my clothes. It’s thrilling to walk around like this, but it’s also worrying,” she continued.

“Well, it’s not that I want you to wear more clothes. I’ve undressed you way too many times with my eyes today. It’s just that I don’t want to spend our honeymoon lusting after you all day and if you look like this, I can’t help but do it,” I shook my head helplessly.

While I was explaining myself, she fiddled around with the leaves and turned them into a top and a skirt. After tying it around her body, she stood up and made a few squats to test its elasticity. “Hmm, it’s easy to move around in and it really doesn’t tear. I think I’ll be fine with this,” she said with a smile and then kissed my face to show her thanks.

Her leaf clothes couldn’t hide her amazing rack and her sexy thighs, so she was still a feast for my eyes, but it was a notch better than seeing her in her sexy black underwear. Reaching towards me, she said, “Let’s go then. I’ve got some plans as for what to build and how!”

Seeing that she was excited about it, I took her hand and followed her back to our hut. She told me to create some paper and a pencil for her with my alchemy. As it turned out, she was quite skilled when it came to drawing, unlike me.

She drew the island where we stood with a beautiful wooden mansion on it and a few huts around the lake, all connected by arching bridges over the blue water. As I imagined her drawing in reality and all the buildings made from dark wood, even I understood that it’d make this place look much nicer.

“You’re great when it comes to designing, though if we want to build something like a village, we should make a sewer. I don’t want to shit in bushes every time and then accidentally step in my own… ‘brown bear’,” I murmured.

“Hahaha, that’s one way to call it. Well, could you do that while I start building the houses?” she asked, raising a brow.

Nodding my head, I waved my hand and pointed towards the ground beneath my feet. The earth split in two and revealed a circular hole which started going deeper and deeper under my control. Once I reached a depth of thirty meters, I created a bulb of light with light magic and then picked a random direction. With the help of earth magic, I easily moved underground and created a few tunnels. Since we wanted to make something like a hidden village and build a few houses around the lake, I had to connect the sewers to all the buildings.

When I finished making the main routes, I used my alchemy and telekinesis to create PVC pipes which were as thick as my waist and then filled every tunnel with it. Although the tunnels decreased in size to a diameter of two meters, they were strong enough to withstand an earthquake since I went ahead and enhanced the PVC pipes with mana. I didn’t plan coming back down here, ever.

I had to admit, walking so deep underground all alone in dark and empty tunnels which were wide enough to fit in a car was quite creepy. My footsteps echoed in the tunnels, making the place even creepier. It felt unpleasant to stay there any longer, so as soon as I finished filling the tunnels with the pipes, I went back to the hole where I came down and then flew back to the surface. After decreasing its diameter to thirty centimeters, I created a thirty meters long pipe and connected it to the main tunnel.

Looking around, I could see twenty pipes sticking out of the ground around the lake, all of them as wide as my arm. I was about to look for Lien when I noticed her presence behind my back. “You’re already done?” she asked, seemingly amazed by my speed.

“Yes, the tunnels deep underground lead to a chasm which would be surely enough to fit a few generations’ worth of poop, so all is fine!” I stuck out my chest, proud of my creation.

“Hahaha, fine then. I’ve also progressed a bit,” she said with a smile, pointing upwards.

Following her finger, I finally realised what was ‘wrong’ all along and why was it so dark even though I was on the surface. Well, my eyes got used to the minimal amount of light so I didn’t really notice it until now. There was a large platform built from dark wood right above my head. Peering at Lien, I walked to the side of the platform only to realise that it wasn’t a platform. It was the foundation of the mansion she built.

“So?” she looked at me with a smile.

Raising my hands, I nodded, “That was unexpected. Did you mix some advanced magic with your nature magic to finish this quickly?”

“Of course, who do you think I am? With the help of chemistry magic, I could create planks and trees much quicker than before so I had enough time to play around with the layout as well,” she replied. Looking towards the hole where I came up, she added, “I’d go down and look at what you did, but I don’t feel like going into dark tunnels deep underground and there is no hole to go down so…” she averted her eyes. She seemed to feel bad about not checking out what I built, though she had no reason to mind it. Even I felt creeped out by that place.

“Haha, I know that feel, don’t worry. It was creepy enough down there and there is nothing much to see, really,” I patted her shoulder.

“Are you sure it’s fine? I’m curious about it but-”

“I told you. It doesn’t matter,” I pressed on.

“Fine then. By the way, I don’t know how large you made it but-”

Placing my finger on her lips, I said, “It covers the area of the lake and I also made numerous tunnels which are closer to the surface. For now, only twenty pipes were connected to the mid-level system, as you can see,” I pointed towards the pipes sticking out of the ground on the shore.

Raising her brows, she turned back towards me, “Woah. So why were you praising me when you built a whole sewer system while I built nothing but a simple mansion?”

“Dear, you know that you shouldn’t compare your magic to mine for now. The difference in experience is too much between us. What causes you trouble in advanced magic is like breathing to me,” I smiled at her as I started caressing her face.

“Bah- curse you,” she shook her head. Turning around, she pointed at me, “One day, I’ll stand by your side as an equal. Don’t forget this, you can take this as a promise.” Met with her strong gaze and her unmoving face, I knew she was talking seriously this time.

“I’m looking forward to it,” I replied, excited to see the coming days.

“You better. Oh, one more thing. I don’t care about it at this point, but if you ever want to lighten up someone’s mood in the future because they realised their magic was no match to yours, don’t say stuff like this,” she added.

“Like what?” I asked.

Rolling her eyes, she replied, “Stuff like what’s hard for you is like breathing to me and whatnot. I’ve known you since childhood and I know all your secrets, but if you said this to someone else, they’d probably feel crushed by your words.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, I’ll choose my words better in case I say stuff like this again,” I nodded.

“Good. Now then, I think I’ll build the remaining houses and you should strengthen the barrier and stuff like that. However much it hurts, I have to admit I don’t have the slightest clue about barriers and formations.”

Embracing her from behind, I asked, “Do you want to learn?”

Turning around in my arms, she raised to her toes and kissed me before replying, “It seems to be really useful, so yes.”

“Are you feeling down? I hope it doesn’t bother you,” I said as I put my hand on the back of her head.

“I don’t think I’ll have that kind of problem ever again. I may not be your match in magic, but I believe I have nothing to be ashamed of compared to my peers. I’ll be seventeen next year and thanks to your guidance, I’m quite sure that I could beat all the nobles in the city. I’m still young so I should have plenty of time to catch up to the god incarnations, no? However I look at it, I’m doing well for being a ‘common human’,” she replied.

“Mhm, that’s the right way to think about it. By the way, if I remember correctly from our childhood, your birthday was the 19th of May, right?” I asked for confirmation.

Tilting her head to the side, she nodded, “I’m surprised that you actually remember. Aren’t you really bad with dates? Especially with birth dates and stuff. You don’t even know your father’s birth date, do you?” she asked.

Averting my eyes, I muttered, “That’s… right.”

“Haha, I guess I was special to you even in our childhood,” she said playfully as she pressed her finger against my lips. Taking a step back, she winked at me, “And yours is on the 14th of May.”

“That’s right,” I nodded, expecting that much from her, though I never cared about my own birthday. If not for my mother always making a cake, I’d have forgotten how old I was, probably. “I’m starting to realise that you’ve always meant more to me than I thought in my childhood,” I muttered and then jumped towards the barrier.

I could see her standing there for a few seconds before she left to do her job. I was quite sure that she heard what I said, but I never said things only to please her. I always said what was on my heart when I was talking with her.

Since we finished building everything in a single day, even a fold for animals, we spent the next three days training. We knew that it was our honeymoon, but it was better spent doing something we enjoyed than doing nothing, even if that something was ‘work’. Of course, we had our fair share of fun at night, but we made sure to hold back ourselves at daytime. Well, a morning round always slipped in, but that was inevitable.

It happened at the fifth day of our honeymoon that Lien came up with an idea. “I’ve got a question. How about I go out to fight some real monsters? I should practise what I learned before cramming even more knowledge into my head.”

“Of course, I don't want to do something that you wouldn't enjoy and going alone to somewhere else on my honeymoon would be stupid as well,” she added. “So tell me if you don't want to go.”

“Hmm, I think I’ll have fun watching you, so why not?” I shrugged.

“Watching? Won't you help your cute wife even if she gets in trouble?” she gasped playfully.

Winking at her, I made my way towards the eastern side of the barrier. Our village was north from the city and we met Cayn northeast to Balan, which meant that if we went towards the east, we had a chance to run into Light city. Of course, our chances were minuscule and I didn’t intend to visit it until Lien learned how to use WORD magic.

“Why are you going that way?” she asked as she started following me.

“I just picked a direction randomly.”

Rushing to my side, she embraced my arm and pressed her breasts against me as she asked, “Hmm~ Did you? Really?”

Averting my eyes, I muttered, “No, I hoped we’d run into Light city.”

“Haha, I knew it,” she laughed at me. “I know that you want me to be stronger before visiting it, but I also know that you’re too curious to refrain from going there. I’m also curious so we could go if you-”

“No. I’ll wait until you become stronger and you shouldn’t feel pressured to train more. Just go at your own pace,” I cut into her words. Thinking about it with a clear mind, I knew I should prioritise her safety over my curiosity and I never intended to go far enough to see it. I decided to come this way because I hoped I’d be able to sense it.

“Fine, if that’s what you want,” she grumbled, seemingly unhappy with my decision.

“I know how you feel, I also want to see what’s in that city, but I don’t want to risk getting into the kind of trouble I wouldn’t be able to fix,” I remarked.

“I know,” she replied. “Whatever, let’s hurry up, I can sense a few powerful monsters nearby.”

“Can you?” I raised my brows.

“Of course, who do you think I am?” she stuck out her chest. I’d rather not see her doing that in her attire, though it wasn’t like either of us had other options. The fact that she could sense S ranked monsters and above meant that her mana and soul reached their level or became even stronger. She was progressing smoothly, which I was happy to see.

After finding an SS ranked Silver Ape, she finished the monster in a few seconds and then moved on as if nothing happened. I realised I had no time to slack off if she was progressing this quickly else she’d really overtake me in a few years. Well, saying a few years was a bit of an exaggeration, but about eight years should be enough for her with my guidance. Maybe even less!

I started out as a child and had to run many test to learn the things I knew while she wouldn’t have to bother with stuff like that, so about eight years should be enough.

She killed another four monsters when I noticed two presences charging towards our village. Taking Lien into my arms, I covered her mouth and hid our presence until the other two ran past us and stopped in front of my barrier.

“Wlat ish ith?” her muffled voice came from my hand.

“Ah, sorry, I forgot my hand. There are two intruders,” I replied.

“So they weren’t monsters?” she raised her brows, implying that she could sense them. Once again surprised, I nodded my head.

“Do you want to meet them?” she asked.

“I want because one of them started playing around with my barrier. They aren’t strong anyway,” I replied as I took hold of her hand and used WORD magic to appear behind the duo without making a sound.

A black haired guy was sitting on the ground, his glowing blue hand on the barrier I set up. He was trying to unfold the mana lines weaved into it for some reason, instead of simply breaking it. I was surprised to see him doing something so troublesome, though he probably wasn’t strong enough to break it if he decided to do it the hard way. At least, it helped me in understanding his level in magic to some degree.

His clothing was kind of unusual compared to the fashion in Balan city. He was wearing something like a ninja’s clothes, though his head wasn’t wrapped around.

There was another red-haired guy who was also showing his back to me, though he was about to turn around. For some reason, I was startled when I realised that he’d notice me, so I acted before thinking and used my soul force to knock him unconscious. It was a rather brute way of beating someone down, but it was the most effective when the opponent was much weaker.

I caught his body before he fell and then gently laid him on the ground. Looking at Lien, I pointed at the guy who was still focused on my barrier and then sat on the Reddie’s back. He made a good chair.

Lien leaned over the black haired guy and kept staring at him in silence until he finally noticed that something was amiss and looked around. As their eyes met, Lien asked, “Would you fucking stop?”

Turning towards me, he spotted his friend lying unconscious under my ass and opened his eyes wide. Raising both of his hands, he said, “We mean no harm.”

“Me neither,” I replied as I stood up and walked over to Lien’s side. He didn’t even dare to look at her, afraid that he’d offend me.

Running over to his friend’s side, he put his finger on his neck and then looked at me in wonder. “Why did you knock him out then?” he asked.

I guess I shouldn’t tell him that he startled me and it was out of impulse.

“Well, I thought you were enemies but then I realised that wasn’t the case so I didn’t hit you,” I replied. “He should wake up in about an hour,” I added.

“Huh? One hour? What did you do to him?” he frowned.

“That should stay my secret,” I smiled at him.

“Ah, right, I’m sorry for asking,” he nodded his head, giving up on the matter surprisingly quickly.

“Where are you from and why did you want to break through my barrier?” I asked.

His eyes opened wide upon hearing my question and then he pointed at me, “Was it your doing?”

“I’ve just told you,” I rolled my eyes.

Clearing his throat, he bowed down all of a sudden and said, “I apologise for offending you, Grandmaster.”

Looking at Lien, I raised my brows and found her doing the same. Turning back towards him, I asked, “I’m not offended but what is a Grandmaster? Also, you haven’t answered my question.”

Raising a brow, he asked, “Aren’t you from Light city? I’m from there and we were out on a mission when I sensed magical activity in the area so we came here to check it out. I thought we found a sealed area, but it was your doing as it turned out. I’m sorry for intruding on your territory once again.”

“I have more and more questions,” I told Lien through Link.

“I have even more,” she replied.

Turning towards Lien, he looked at her face and then his eyes inadvertently moved down, even if only for a moment. Raising my hand to cover my mouth, I tried my best to hold back my laughter upon seeing his honest reactions.

“I can’t believe you,” she shook her head as she looked at me.

“What’s it?” I asked as I lowered my hand.

“Once you start raging and you start laughing at other times. You make no sense,” she replied.

“Well, he didn’t start ogling you but that ‘quick peek’ was quite funny,” I chuckled.

“I’m sorry,” the guy averted his eyes, his face a bit red.

Walking over to his side, I picked up the Reddie and threw him over my shoulder. Without saying anything else, I stepped through the barrier and entered our village.

“Come,” Lien motioned for him to follow us. Nodding his head, he put his hand on the barrier and slowly pushed through his body, seemingly amazed by it. Of course, he could enter only because I willed it and let him through.

“What’s your name?” I asked.

“My name is Em, and the guy on your shoulder is Sean,” he replied. “By the way, let me carry-”

“It’s fine,” I waved it off. “My name is Seth and she’s Lien, my wife,” I pointed at her, feeling blissful from saying it aloud. Although she shook her head, she couldn’t hide her smile from me.

“Why are you shaking your head? I know it makes you happy,” I remarked.

“It does, I’ve always dreamed about the day you’d call me your wife, I just find it silly,” she replied, showing me an even nicer smile.

“So Em, could you tell me more about this Light city?” Lien turned around and asked, though Em stopped in place and froze upon our village.

“Beautiful,” he muttered. Realising that Lien was talking to him, he shook his head and then said, “Pardon me?”

Once she repeated her question, he made a surprised face but replied nonetheless, “I’m surprised you haven’t heard of Light city. Could it be that you’re coming from a far away land? Anyway, it’s a city where thousands of god incarnations, champions, and heroes of this age have gathered. There are some demi-humans as well, though they’re few in number since it hasn’t been long that humans started mutating.”

Biting her lower lip, she pondered for a moment before saying, “I’ve heard of Light city but I’ve never been to it. I haven’t heard of demi-humans, though.”

Tilting his head to the side, he looked back and forth between Lien and me before asking, “Could it be you’ve lived your life in a common city and moved to this place recently?”

“Yes, we’re on our honeymoon, but we were getting bored and set up this little village in a hurry,” I replied.

“Ah, I understand. Oh, but I wasn’t trying to say that it’s a shame. I was just surprised to see a magician as powerful as you not knowing about Light city and other common- knowledge,” he said, almost biting his tongue. He really didn’t want to say that last part, but realising that it was too late to stop, he finished his sentence. Even I knew people who’d be offended by something this simple, though I didn’t even understand what was offensive in his sentence.

“Em, right? You don’t have to worry about your language,” I said with a smile.

“Yes, and I understand,” he nodded. “Oh, silly me. You have my congratulations,” he caught to his head.

“Thank you,” we said at the same time.

“Are you in a hurry?” I asked.

“Although we’re on a mission, it’s not an urgent one and Sean is unconscious anyway so…”

“Good then, are you interested in telling us more about Light city and a few other things?” Lien continued where I left off. She seemed to be eager to get her answers, even more so than me.

Em’s hazel eyes lit up upon hearing her question. “Of course! I’ll gladly tell you everything you want to know,” he smiled at her. The only reason I could imagine for his happiness was that he wanted to form a good relationship with me. Considering that he called me a ‘Grandmaster’ earlier and that it seemed like an important position, I was quite sure that having a ‘friend’ like me would be useful for anyone.

Obviously, not because of who I was but because of my abilities and my knowledge. It wasn’t even the strongest type of barrier I knew yet he was amazed by it, which made me understand more about the power levels of Light city. If I wanted to understand it even more, I had to find out who were these Grandmasters and what position they held.

They could be teachers, principals, or people like nobles in Balan. I was sure common people wouldn’t hold that kind of fancy title, but before I could ask my question, Lien asked her own.

“What are demihumans and what did you mean by mutation?”

When he was about to answer, I raised my hand and interrupted them, “Wait a moment. Shouldn’t we sit down to talk about these kinds of things? Standing here is rather unpleasant,” I pointed at the glaring sun.

“Ah, sorry, you’re right,” Lien nodded and then jumped over the lake. After placing Sean’s body on a bed in one of the wooden houses, I followed after Lien and Em to our mansion.

“What a beautiful building,” he marvelled as Lien opened the main door. The walls were made up of trees packed right next to each other with their branches arching into a smooth ceiling. The trees were enhanced with mana, making them much more resistant to the forces of nature and the attacks of monsters, though it wasn’t like either of them had a chance to get in.

The corridor on the left led to the kitchen with a fancy dining room while the corridor on the right led to a series of bedrooms and a living room. In front of the entrance was a stairway with beautiful arching and wriggling handrails on the sides. We had a separate bathroom, kitchen, and our own bedroom on the upper floor, so the ones downstairs were all free.

After seating ourselves in the living room, Em answered Lien’s question, “You asked about demi humans, right? Pardon me if I’m wrong, but you may don’t know that you can mix elements into the mana residing in your body. By doing this, we can change the properties and behaviour of our mana, but it comes with a price. If we store elemental mana in our bodies for more than a week, our cells will start taking after the elements and transform into something different.”

“The few mutation paths I know are the simplest of all. Nature magic increases regeneration and makes you immune to diseases, sickness, curses, and many other bad things, but you could easily turn into a treant or a Dryad over time.”

“Fire magic makes your mana stronger and increases your mana pool by quite a lot over time, but you may find scales forming on your skin. I think the ‘demons’ from fairy tales would fit the description quite well.”

“The last one I know about is wind because I’m using that element and they may result in feathers…” he said as he pulled up his shirt and showed us his chest.

Although they were tiny, there were a few feathers covering his chest. “At this phase, we still count as humans and this kind of transformation is very common in Light city, but the more extreme ones lose their human flesh completely and are called demi-humans. You may find out more about the evolution paths if you have the chance to talk with them.”

Looking at Lien, I could see her clenching her fists in her excitement. Raising her hand, her hands turned blue as she moved her lightning filled mana towards the tips of her fingers. “Ah, so you knew how to use it,” Em laughed, scratching the back of his head.

“Yeah, but we heard about it not long ago so we started using it only recently. It’s been no more than four days,” she replied, lowering her hand.

“Are you saying that you’ve heard of it only recently?” he raised his brows.

“Yes, only six days ago. Why?” she tilted her head to the side.

Looking at her, Em opened his eyes wide followed by his mouth and then started massaging his temples. “This is something we practise for years in school,” he muttered.

“HAH! My wife is better than these noob god incarnations!” I shouted in Lien’s mind.

“Don’t call them noobs. They might don’t have games and computers in Light city so they wouldn’t even know the meaning of the word,” she retorted.

“Who cares? I’m excited!”

“I’ll help you calm down later,” she replied, obviously provoking me.

“I won’t fall for your provocative remarks… and now let me ask my question,” I said.

“Thanks for telling all that and now I’ve got a question as well. Who are these Grandmasters? You called me that when you found out that I made the barrier around this place,” I asked.

Leaning forward, he said, “Grandmasters are the god incarnations serving under the lord of Light city, whose name is Artemis, the god of hunting.”

Great, I won’t have to ask.

“Uhm, a moment. Why lord if it’s a she?” I asked.

“Oh, that’s the title of the ruler, basically. The gender doesn’t matter,” he replied with a smile and the continued his explanation.

“They’re powerful people, the kind of people who make up the core of Light city. Without them, the whole place would fall apart, even if Artemis stayed in the city forever. I’m not sure how much history you’ve learned in a common city, but they’re something like the advisors of the king in the past. The only difference is that they have the right to make decisions on their own, though only if it’s related to their own field. For example, the Grandmaster responsible for the Treasury could raise the taxes on his own.”

“Mhm, I understand,” I nodded.

It seems I’m stronger than I thought…

“You’re unfair,” Lien murmured in my mind.

“Don’t worry, I’m surprised as well,” I replied.

“I’m so envious! I think the only person I’ve ever been envious of is you,” she sighed loudly.

“What’s the matter?” Em asked nervously, probably misunderstanding it.

“Nothing, I’m just a bit tired,” she replied with a smile. Noticing him staring at our leaf clothes, she explained the situation, “We’re wearing these because we left our baggage at home and I didn’t want to walk around in a wedding dress. Since we didn’t want to go home for our clothes either, we made these for the time being. Our meeting was really… unexpected.”

“Ah, I understand, haha. I can’t say I’ve ever had the luck to run into people in the forest who were at the level of Grandmasters, wearing nothing but leaves either,” he laughed, scratching the back of his head.

“The city we came from is nearby, though,” she muttered as she leaned on my shoulder.

“Are you from Balan city by any chance?” he frowned.

“Yes, why?” I raised my brows.

“Have you met a person called Cayn, by any chance?” he asked.

Giving a small kiss on the top of Lien’s head, I replied with a yes.

“Hahaha, I can’t believe how little the world is! He’s an instructor at the school and he told us about his meeting with a couple. Although he praised your talent, I have a feeling he misjudged your power,” he smiled awkwardly.

I couldn’t help but chuckle upon hearing his opinion, though I didn’t say anything. He was probably expecting some sort of confirmation, but I didn’t feel like telling him. It wasn’t like I wanted him to follow me around and lick my foot hoping that I’d teach him new spells. Of course, I didn’t know him and maybe he wasn’t that kind of person, but I could never be sure. I was quite sure that he wouldn’t go too far with his bootlicking, but I had a feeling he wouldn’t refrain from doing it if he could expect rewards. The little reactions he made up till now told me so. Well, if I misjudged him, it’d be a pleasant surprise. He seemed to be a good guy anyway.

“If you have nothing else to ask, could you point me to a place where I could take a rest?” he asked.

“You can pick any of the houses around the lake,” I replied. Nodding his head, he stood up and then left our house. I could sense him going back to his friend’s side, so I stopped tracking him.

“Lien… I forgot to tell you something,” I started.

“What is it?”

“You see, after learning how to mix elements with our mana, I used my experience and mixed all the elements to create a single one like in advanced elemental magic,” I said.

“Oh, don’t tell me you-”

“Yes, I have eight elements in my mana as one, which means that three days later, I should either go through numerous kinds of mutations or I should go through something entirely different. The question is, should I withdraw the elements from my mana or should I go through with it and see what would become of me?” I asked.

Placing her hand on my face, she replied, “I wouldn’t mind if a few unusual things appeared on your body or mutations like Em’s, but I don’t want you to turn into something inhuman. I don’t mean ‘demons’ and whatnot here. I mean something entirely inhuman and mons-”

“Hey, hey, you’re going too far with that,” I laughed as I patted her head.

“The transformation should be slow and steady, so you don’t have to worry about that. On the other hand… you’ve never seen me being hurt so you don’t know but let’s just say that I could restore my body if the change was unwanted. It’d come with a lot of pain if it was a big change, but that shouldn’t be the case and pain won’t kill me anyway,” I calmed her.

“Is that so?” she looked at me with upturned eyes.

“Yep,” I nodded.

“Fine then,” she leaned back on my shoulder. “Damn it, I’ve just got even more stuff to learn,” she grumbled to herself.

“Hahaha, that’s how it is when you start learning. There’s always more,” I shook my head.

--- Sean’s pov ---

“Ugh, what the fuck happened?” I grunted as I regained my consciousness. My head hurt so much I thought it was about to explode. Surprisingly, the pain started lessening and a few seconds later it disappeared entirely. Sitting up, I opened my eyes and found Em sitting at my legs with his legs crossed, meditating.

“So you woke up,” he said, his eyes still closed.

Rubbing the back of my head, I stood up to look around. “Where the hell is this? What’s this place?” I asked.

Before Em could answer my question, I noticed movements outside so I quickly ran out of the house and found a girl running around a beautiful blue lake. She had long brown hair and an incredibly hot body with nothing but leaves tied around her assets. I felt much better all of a sudden.

I was kind of curious about this place and that girl, so I jumped over the lake and landed in front of her. Looking at me, she stopped running and then turned towards the house I’ve just left.

“Are you feeling well?” she asked, turning back towards me.

“Thanks, I do. What’s your name? Mine is Sean,” I asked with a smile.

“I’m Lien,” she replied.

“Do you mind telling me what’s this place? How did I get here?” I continued as I moved a bit closer to her. I wouldn’t mind her being my girlfriend even if she was a from a common city.

Tilting her head to the side, she kept looking at me in silence for a few seconds until finally saying something, “I built this place with my husband not long ago and he knocked you unconscious when your friend tried to break the barrier he made. We’ve talked things over with Em, so you have nothing to worry about. If you want to know more, just ask him, and now if you don’t mind…” stepping to the side, she continued running.

Looking after her, I bit my lips as I continued looking at her swaying hips. She was a real hottie in every area.

Wait, husband? Did she say, husband? No way, she must have been kidding! I held my head as I realised what she said. If that was true, I lost all my chance even before trying. Going back to Em, I asked, “Hey, Bro, do you know anything about that girl? I tried to get a bit closer to her but she kind of gave me the cold shoulder.”

He sprung up from the bed and grabbed my shirt instantly, glaring at me with bloodshot eyes. “You did what?” he shouted.

“Huh? What’s your problem? I just asked for her name and how I got here and stuff. She seemed to be hard to get close to so I wanted to start out like a gentleman, but she just dodged me and continued jogging after answering me,” I replied, not understanding his freak out.

“Look, let me get this clear before you get yourself killed. You.must.forget.her. You got that? You’ve had no chance to begin with and you better don’t annoy her or her man. He’s a freaking monster.” He was quite panicked, so he probably wasn’t just trying to fool me.

“Did he really knock me out?” I asked, still a bit unbelieving. I was sure that nobody hit me, so there weren’t many ways left.

“Yes, and he did it without my notice. He was also the one who made the barrier, so you really shouldn’t anger him,” he nodded.

“Fine, fine, I get it,” I waved my hands.

Sighing loudly, he shook his head, “I hope that she won’t tell on you. Lien remarked something about Seth becoming angry when someone is ogling her and stuff like that, so I have a feeling he’s the protective type. He’s probably at the level of Grandmasters so I really don’t want enmity between us.”

“Heh, so she’s into old farts as long as they’re strong enough. I should have known,” I shook my head, noticing that Em started flailing his hands in front of his mouth.

“What is it?” I raised my brows. Rubbing his eyes, he just shook his head, seemingly giving up on life.

“Is he behind me?” I asked and saw him nodding a moment later.

“Well, I don’t think I’m old. I’m only sixteen. You’re also really wrong if you think she’s that kind of person,” I heard a gentle but deep voice behind my back. It didn’t have a lot of power and it sounded rather friendly. I couldn’t help but have a good impression of him after hearing his voice.

“I’m sorry, he didn’t mean it that wa-”

“He meant it exactly that way. There is no need to explain things and his behaviour has nothing to do with yours either. I won’t hold a grudge since I understand why’d you think like that. There are those types of women as well so I could have ended up thinking the same way about her in your place, but your words still annoyed me, so I may be in an annoyed state for an unknown period of time. If I react a bit differently, please don’t mind it,” he said.

Am I doomed? I wonder.

“I apologise for saying that,” I slightly bowed in front of him.

“It’ll be fine, though you’re apologising to the wrong person. I just hope that you stop thinking that way about her and if possible, I wouldn’t mind if you stopped trying to get her in your bed,” he replied, pointing at his ear.

What the fuck? Did he hear the whole thing? How did Em not notice him? Is he really that strong? But he’s two years younger than me.

“What about the bed and me?” Lien stepped out from behind the his back.

I’m so screwed. Why did she have to appear now of all times?

Looking at me, she chuckled, “Oh, you’re talking about him. He can keep trying, though his attempts are futile.” Turning around, she left just like that.

AAAAH! Damn it! Did she come here to make fun of me? Just let me get out of here!

“Woah, I can hear that sizzling. You got burnt,” the guy laughed at me as well, followed by my fucking best friend.

“Em, even you?” I snapped at him.

“Haha, but you deserved it,” he replied.

You bastard.

“Well, I’ll let you two fight it out. By the way, my name is Seth,” he said and then ran after Lien.

I tried to look at the bright side of the things, it could have been worse if he was really as powerful as Em said. I really wanted to hear what were they talking about so I used an advanced spell to listen in on their conversation.

“I’m surprised you aren’t angry,” she said.

“Well, he does things in a retarded w- Hahaha, are you kidding me, Sean?”

Turning around, he came back to the house and after taking a quick look at me, he walked up to Em and put his hand on his shoulder. “I have a question. Does he have some hidden power greater than mine or is he this stupid, maybe mentally retarded?” he asked, obviously talking about me.

“What did he do this time?” Em asked, seemingly used to it.

“He started spying on us with wind magic,” he said, making Em break out in a fit of laughter.

Stopping in front of me, he patted my shoulder as he said, “Look, I don’t know what kind of people are controlling Light city, but I know that if you keep living like this, one day someone is going to kill you.” I was surprised to see that he was still calm and took it so lightly. I wanted to see what kind of person he was, but as it turned out, he either had nerves of steel or he was a lighthearted person. Maybe both.

“I’ll remember that,” I smiled at him.

Tilting his head to the side, he kept staring at me and then said, “If you have the brain to learn advanced magic, you surely aren’t stupid enough to do something like this. From your perspective, it’d be risky to offend me so I imagine you wanted to probe for some reason. But if you’re curious, you can ask me anytime and I’ll either answer or ignore your question, okay?”

“Okay,” I nodded my head.

“Hahaha, unbelievable. See? This is what I was talking about,” he said as he went back to Lien’s side. I wasn’t sure why, but he gave off a friendly vibe since the beginning. Em never believed in it, but my instincts were always right, even now. I kind of felt how far I could go without incurring his wrath. If not for that feeling, I wouldn’t have risked spying on them.

Naturally, as soon as he left the house, Em walked over slapped the back of my head while glaring at me, “Are you trying to get yourself killed? You’re lucky enough to live this long. Even I would be annoyed by you if I was in his stead, despite knowing you. I’m surprised he didn’t punch you in the face and sent your head flying.”

“Now, now, I knew he wasn’t that kind of person. I can read between the lines, you know?” I waved my finger.

“You know jackshit,” he shook his head. “I know that you aren’t a complete idiot and that you’re powerful, but believe me when I say that you’re no match for him. They learned how to infuse elements into their mana in two days while it takes years for most people. Also, I can’t even sense Seth’s soul so he must be much stronger than me.”

“Are you kidding me?” I raised my brows.

“No. And although Lien seems to be a bit weaker than us, I’ve seen her practising not long ago and her control is much better than ours. If her mana was stronger, she could be a top student in our school. She’s probably a common human who’s being taught by Seth, who is definitely a powerful god incarnation. Of course, I have no idea what’s his commandment, but you get the point. Considering that Lien became this strong despite being a common human, she should be as talented as Cayn.”

“You can’t be sure about that. What if he started teaching her only three or five years ago?” I pointed out.

“Hmm, true. She’d be even better than Cayn if that was the case and that’d make it even more important to form a good relationship with them. Imagine having a Grandmaster as a friend,” he smiled at me. Even if Seth never helped us with anything, just being his friend would come with many perks.

“I guess that’s true, though I simply want to get to know him instead of the benefits. He made me curious,” I sighed, hoping that they didn’t come to hate me for my wrongdoings. I didn’t think I did anything too outrageous, but maybe they thought otherwise. “What do we do now? Should we continue our mission?” I asked.

“I think I’ll talk with Seth and then we should leave them alone. They probably aren’t happy to have us here since they’re on their honeymoon,” he said as he stood up and made his way towards the door.

“Would you mind if I followed you?” I put my hand on his shoulder.

“No, you can come if you want to,” he replied.

Upon leaving the house, I took a quick look around and found the young couple instantly. Seth was standing behind Lien, covering her eyes with his hands for some reason. Looking at each other with Em, both of us shrugged our shoulders and walked up to them over the bridge. I had to admit, I’d be glad to live in a place like this, though I’d definitely miss the bustling city after living there for eighteen years.

“What can I help you with?” Seth asked, still focused on covering Lien’s eyes.

“What are you doing?” I couldn’t help but ask.

“I’m helping her practising soul sensing and soul force control, but I imagine you didn’t come here to ask that,” he replied. Based on his voice, he seemed to be in a good mood. Since he didn’t become annoyed by my presence, he either wasn’t as bothered by my words as he said or he was hiding it really well.

“No, that’s really not the case,” Em replied. “I was wondering if maybe you were interested in visiting Light city. Although we’re on a mission, we should be able to finish it quickly and then we could guide you there. Are you interested?” he asked.

“Hmm,” Seth started pondering about it, but before he could say anything, Lien pushed his hand away and said, “We’re going!”

Looking at her, he shook his head and said helplessly, “Fine then, you heard her. I wanted to visit the place anyway.”

“Do you want to go dressed like this?” I couldn’t help but point out their leaf clothes.

“Erm, no, I’ll go back for our clothes,” he shook his head.

“Oh, okay then.”

“One more thing. I’m sure you can sense Lien’s power and my question is that is she strong enough compared to the standards of Light city?” he asked as he put his arm around her waist.

Looking into his eyes, I answered his question, “Look, I’m one of those rare people who not only inherited the legacy of a god, even my parents were god incarnations. I don’t know how many spells and tricks she knows, but Em said that her control is superb and considering her age, the power of her mana is about average.”

“Hmm, are you strong compared to others in your age group? Having a nice family and a good backing doesn’t necessarily make you a cut above the rest,” he pressed on with his questioning, making it a bit more personal. I didn’t like that he was trying to creep past the line of my privacy, but I also said something rude earlier so I believed this was my chance to make up for it.

Looking at him meaningfully, I answered, “In the past, I thought that nobody was stronger than me in the same age group, but after meeting Cayn and a few others, I realised that my thought line was completely off. Lien is not only a common person but also two years younger than me and yet she isn’t that much weaker than me. I have to admit that I have no time to slack off if I want to keep up with my generation. My inheritance means nothing if I can’t take advantage of it, but I’m still one of the top ranking students, so my answer is a definite yes. I’m strong and she’s also strong enough to enter the city.”

“Although I’m sorry for saying what I said not long ago, I still want to ask something. Are you really sixteen years old? Both of you?” I raised my brows.

“Yes,” he nodded. “Regarding your little remark, I could understand why you thought that and I was more annoyed by that the first thing you thought of after waking up was to hit on her. As I see it, it’s a lack of self-control,” he replied with a smile.

“I have nothing to say in my defense, but I’m sure you aren’t blind…” I replied, motioning for him to look at his wife.

“I know, that’s why I don’t hold it against you that much,” he muttered, his eyes glued to her chest.

For the first time in my life, I felt that I was really in the way, which prompted me to leave quickly. Looking at Em, I realised he felt the same way so after seeing him nodding his head, I said, “It’s time for us to leave for now. We should be back in a few hours or in a day at most.”

“Before you leave, is your mission a secret one? What do you have to do? It’s fine if you can’t tell me,” Lien asked.

“We just have to check on one of the ruins nearby. We aren’t allowed to enter since we aren’t strong enough, but once we finish mapping its surroundings, we have to get back and then report to the school. They’ll send someone based on the difficulty level we set up for the ruins,” Em explained. “If possible, I wouldn’t mind if you didn’t raid it. If you joined Light city, you could go there without making your relationship bad with Artemis and the other powerful figures,” he added.

Tilting her head to the side, she looked at Seth who just shrugged his shoulders. They were definitely in.

After saying our goodbyes, we left the place behind and went on our own business. The whole encounter happened by chance, but neither of us knew what we had got ourselves into.

Hopefully, it was the beginning of a fruitful relationship between us and a Grandmaster.