Lurking enemies

--- Ethan's POV ---

As I stood in front of Seth’s house, I took a deep breath and knocked on the door. I joined Leviathan with the last batch of people, right before they closed the portals to their testing grounds. Things have been calm and silent ever since and after going through some training, I had to start going on missions.

Thanks to working together with other talented members who weren’t trying to show off and do everything alone, I finished each mission successfully. After three months of continuous work, I’ve got the hang of everything and started feeling at home in Leviathan. It was indeed a wonderful place and while I heard that our boss was a reasonable person, I honestly didn’t want to meet him in person since a slight offense could easily get me booted out of Leviathan.

Regardless, there was some trouble during our last mission and after reporting it to Ma’at, she said that I should tell Seth directly. I had a feeling that she just didn’t want to bother coming here so she sent me but she was one of my bosses so I couldn’t help but do as told.

“I’m coming!” a pleasant female voice replied to my knocks and a moment later a young woman opened the door. She wore a rather short, straw coloured dress so I couldn't help but look at her sexy thighs the moment I saw her. Her long dark brown hair was in a loose braid and hung down on her right shoulder, giving a taste of cuteness to her sexy looks.

“Hello, what can I help you with?” she asked with a beautiful smile.

Honestly speaking, I didn’t know much about Seth and his wife since I got wounded by a monster when I was younger and lost my eyesight. Although my wound was healed after I joined Leviathan, I had yet to see my big bosses. But considering that they were the leaders of such a great organisation as Leviathan, I was sure they looked older and I also heard that they had a son and a daughter.

Seeing this beautiful young girl, I couldn’t help but stare at her dumbly while thinking that maybe she was Seth’s daughter. She seemed to be around eighteen or nineteen years old, so she was only two or three years older than me. Considering that I had a thing for older women and that this girl was incredibly gorgeous, I felt a sudden urge to ask her out, even though I knew that she was my boss’s daughter and going out with someone like that wouldn’t be a good idea.

"Uhm- are you there?" she waved her hand in front of me, making me realise that I was standing there and staring in silence like an idiot.

"Hahaha, it seems like this won't be quick so come in," she laughed as she stepped to the side and opened the door.

"No- I'm sorry, I was just…" realising that I couldn't tell her that I was mesmerised by her looks, I shut up as I tried to think of an excuse but nothing came to mind.

“Ah! I came to meet Seth,” I finally managed to say what I was supposed to.

Walking up to my side, she said, "I know. Why else would anyone come here? To see me?"

"I wouldn’t mind coming to see you every day," I blurted out my thoughts.

Stopping in her tracks, she smiled at me and laughed lightly as she said, “Haha, thank you but I don’t think that would be appropriate,” she raised her hand, showing me the ring on her finger.

“Uhm- nice ring?” I replied cluelessly since I had no idea what she meant by showing it to me.

She isn't showing off her wealth or something, is she? That shouldn't be the case so what's with her ring?

“Haah- whatever,” she sighed loudly and waved her hand. She behaved as if she had just given up on something which sort of made me a bit worried.

Did I make a mistake? What’s the meaning of her ring?

“Anyway, you can tell me directly whatever you want to tell Seth,” she said in a different tone, sounding more business-like compared to her kind and gentle tone from earlier.

While I felt prompted to just tell her everything and leave quickly, I wasn’t sure who she was and Ma’at said that I should tell it to Seth directly. Since I didn’t know whether I should keep the information a secret or not, I was forced to refuse her offer, even if she was beautiful and made me interested in her. I wouldn’t make such a dumb mistake to tell everything to anyone just because they were beautiful.

“I’m sorry but Ma’at told me that I should tell it directly to him, so I’m not sure if I’m allowed to share it with you,” I replied.

Massaging her temples, she pointed at the doorway a few steps ahead and said, “Go to the left then.”

“Okay…” I nodded my head and did as told, starting to feel a little anxious all of a sudden. I was pretty sure that Seth and Lien were at least forty years old or even older so having a daughter at this age should be possible.

Could it be that Seth is very overprotective of his daughter and even looking at her offends him? That could be dangerous, I thought, glancing at the girl next to me.

As I stepped into the living room, I saw a young man who barely looked older than me, seemingly matching the age of the girl by my side. There were two kids sitting on the sofa on his left who were playing around with a ball of water, using their magic. While I wanted to feel surprised by the sight and praise them, seeing the man staring at me with a frown and guessing that he was Seth, I was filled with fear instead.

Don’t tell me that I was trying to sweet-talk with Lien…

“Uhm- hello. Are you Seth?” I asked awkwardly, seeing that he was staring at me in silence. His stare didn’t feel too pleasant considering that a moment later his magic power came crashing down on my body, pushing even the air out of my lungs. Although I had never seen him before, after feeling his magic power, I was a hundred percent sure of his identity.

“Yes, and before you say anything or introduce yourself, let me tell you a few things. If you want to live here, I advise you to leave my wife alone. I don’t mean that you must avoid her or can’t talk to her. I mean that I don’t want to see you trying to sweet-talk and flirt with her, especially not in my own fu-” glancing at the kids, he finished without cursing - “house.”

“Secondly, she has the same rights as me so if you’re told to tell me something but you find her sooner than me, you can just tell it to her straight away. In fact, it doesn’t even matter who you tell it to, just make sure it’s either her or me.”

“I’m sorry, I thought that she was your daughter and that it wouldn’t be a problem-” I tried to save the situation by explaining myself, even though I was pretty sure it wouldn’t work. Most people didn’t believe others in these kinds of situations and thinking about what I said, from Seth’s perspective, it definitely sounded like a cheap excuse.

Surprisingly, he pulled back his magic power and raised his brows as muttered to himself, “Huh? How come he isn’t lying?”

“Wait, did you seriously think that she was my daughter?” he asked.

Seeing me nodding, they looked at each other with Lien and both of them started laughing, not minding that I was still present. After a few seconds passed, they finally calmed down and looked at me with a smile.

“I’m sorry, I really didn’t mean to laugh but I could sense that you were telling the truth and I found it too funny. Since you didn’t know, I can’t hate you and I’ll let it slide but still, please remember my words because I meant them regardless of your ignorance.”

“I will…” I muttered, feeling a little hurt to be laughed at.

As if he could read my mind, Seth cleared his throat and added, “I’m sorry if I hurt you in any way. I just couldn’t help it.”

Sighing loudly, I raised my head and said, “It’s fine, I should have known better.”

Why the hell did Ma'at send me here to report to them directly? My heart isn't cut out for this kind of pressure. I'd rather fight to the death with some evil people than to talk with my boss, especially after something like this. I hope that I won't get kicked out if I make another mistake.

Since I was no longer squeezed by Seth’s magic power, I quickly looked around and was a bit surprised to see that their home looked completely normal. Although I wanted to look around some more, I couldn’t stop my eyes from following Lien’s figure as she made her way to the sofa and sat down next to Seth, crossing her right leg over the other. Realising that I was staring at her thighs while Seth was in front of me, I looked up in a hurry only to see both of them staring at me with their brows raised.

"Have you seen enough?" Lien chortled, clearly not taking it seriously.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to,” I lowered my head. I was blaming it on my instincts inwardly but deep inside, I wanted to continue staring at her. Glancing at Seth with fear in my heart, I was pleasantly surprised to see that he just ignored the whole thing and handled it calmly.

“I know it’s hard to control your instincts and I admit that she’s showing a bit more skin than she should but that’s only because she’s at home and only I can see her, normally,” he said.

“And what if I took offense?” Lien asked as she looked at him.

“You? If you took offense every time, there would be no men other than me in Leviathan,” he shook his head.

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” she chortled. Looking at me with a smile, she added, “Seriously, though. You should focus a bit more on what you came for instead of staring at me. And why are you still standing there like a tree? Just sit down already.”

“Ah, right away,” I quickly hopped onto the sofa that was facing them.

“If you don’t mind this question… were you afraid that I’d kick you out of Leviathan or were you afraid because you thought that I’d hurt you?”

“It’s… it’s the former,” I muttered in a low voice.

“Why does every newcomer think that I’d kick them out for making a mistake? Isn’t that stupid? Not to mention that this wasn’t even a ‘mistake’. I just don’t want other men to court my wife, even if they have no chance at her.”

“Stupid? What is that?” his son asked as he looked up at his father.

“It’s a word that describes people who can’t think well or don’t even think,” he replied.

“Is he stupid?” he asked as he pointed at me while I just smiled bitterly, expecting a yes.

“No, he’s probably not. But this mister has something to tell to your father,” he replied as he pulled him into his arms and kissed the top of his head. I could see on the boy's face that he didn't really understand what was going on but he started smiling without his notice.

“Felice, do we go play catch?” the boy turned towards the little girl and asked.

“Yes!” she replied cheerfully and both of them jumped off of the sofa and ran out of the living room.

“I’ll go and watch over them,” Lien said as she stood up and followed the kids. On the way out of the room, I could see Seth staring at her back the whole time. Well, considering the height, I was pretty sure that he was staring at her ass but I didn’t dare turn around to take a look.

Even though I really wanted to.

Just looking at her made my heart race which was a rather strange and unfamiliar feeling to me. I couldn’t help but think that maybe… I fell in love with her at first sight.

Anyway, I could see that she didn’t even put me in her eyes like a man and I also knew that my feelings would never be reciprocated so I decided that it was better to avoid her in the future. Appearing next to me, Seth grabbed my head and that fuzzy feeling disappeared from my body.

Pulling back his hand, he sighed loudly as he said, “There was a bit too much endorphin in your body considering what just happened which makes me think that… you have feelings for Lien?”

Unsure whether I should answer honestly or lie, I just kept silent.

“It’s fine whatever is the case. I’ve done some research regarding this and learned that while it is our body that produces various chemicals when we see the person we love, there is no physical ‘storage’ in your body. In short, it can’t be controlled with magic, you can only suppress the effects by removing the produced chemicals to make yourself feel normal,” he said as he patted my back.

I was surprised by his friendly behavior. He no longer acted offended or angry with me, leaving me with a pretty good impression.

As his eyes lit up in blue light, he looked at me and added, “Interestingly enough, your soul does have signs and marks that store who you have feelings for. You see, souls have the same shape as your body and love-related stuff is stored around your heart. There seems to be some kind of bridge that connects your soul that exists in a separate realm, dimension, or call it whatever you want with your physical body. Isn’t that interesting?”

“It is,” I nodded, quite intrigued by his words. He spoke with a lot of passion so it was clear to me that he loved magic and stuff like that. I wasn’t particularly interested in magic itself, I just needed it to protect myself and those that mattered to me. I was a little surprised to find myself interested in it after seeing him talk with passion about it. It was kind of contagious.

“Well, that is that. Let’s get to the point and tell me what happened,” he leaned back and looked at me.

"Where should I start from? Should I tell you about our whole mission?"

"No, just tell me the strange or troublesome part," he shook his head.

Nodding my head, I started, "Our mission was to get rid of a large group of religious people who were forcing others to follow their god, Set. I’m obviously not talking about you-”

“I know, just continue…” he waved his hand.

“They resorted to murder and blackmailed people with their families’ lives so Tanner was really glad when we arrived and told him about our mission, just like we were instructed. The mission took some a week to finish but when we returned to the city lord to report our  success, he made us wait for half an hour, even though he was supposedly alone in his office.”

“While it was annoying, that’s naturally not what I found suspicious. When he finally allowed us to go to his office, he seemed to be annoyed by our sight. Even after I told him that we got rid of those murderers, he just ‘thanked’ us dismissively and told us that we could leave. I know that the group I led wasn’t as powerful as you and that he had no reason to fear us but when we first met he was still much more respectful towards us.”

"If that wasn’t enough, we were actually led out of the building by his guards like some bad guys and my party member whose senses reached further have also noticed that a person entered his office right after we left the floor. He said that the person was probably a very powerful woman who was even stronger than our group."

"And have you seen her?" Seth asked.

"I'm sorry but we didn't. We would have had to fight the guards to get back to his office and we weren't sure of what to do so instead of possibly offending him, we left. I know that we don't have to fear any of the 'great' cities but at the same time, I didn't want to worsen your relationship with Tanner because of a possibility," I replied.

“Why are you fidgeting?” he asked, noticing that I was moving around my hands a bit too much in my nervousness.

“I’m just nervous,” I replied.

“I know, but you weren’t nervous a few seconds ago. What are you hiding? You better tell me even if it’s embarrassing, shameful, or whatever it may be. I don’t want hidden snakes in my country, do you get it?” he said with a frown.

Biting my lips, I nodded my head, “To be honest, maybe I would have kept this a secret if Ma’at couldn’t have read my thoughts so you may want to punish me for that as well but the biggest problem isn’t that. After leaving the building, we got surrounded by a bunch of beautiful young girls who started asking us about Leviathan and what life was like here.”

“I had seen them in the city hall a week ago so I knew that they were working for Tanner and assumed that they heard of it from him. Since I found it suspicious, I asked them how they found out but their answer was a little different from what I expected. One of the girls said that they knew all of the high-ranking members of their city by face and they had never seen us before. Considering that we were allowed to meet Tanner right away, she said it was obvious where we came from.”

“Well, it’s not like everyone is stupid on this planet. It’s not strange that she found out something like this and this place has been getting more and more famous these days so it’s also not surprising that they wanted to learn some things about it from you,” Seth replied, shrugging his shoulders. “But that doesn’t seem to be the problem…” he added, looking at me.

I’m so going to die for this, I’m the one to blame as the team leader.

“Well, we didn’t want to go with them but they kept pestering us and as one of the girls got a bit more touchy with me, I started feeling really good. It’s probably because of my lack of experience but still, it was my first chance so we ended up going out with them to have dinner in a restaurant and chatted for about half an hour. After that we visited a hotel where things happened… and if I remember correctly, I told the woman many things about Leviathan.”

“Don’t avoid the details, tell me what you felt as she got closer to you, what she looked like, and stuff like that. I need all the information and believe me when I say, I don’t need it just to have some dirty talk with you,” he said with a frown, sounding less patient than earlier.

“Well, she had long black hair and purple eyes. At a first glance her body was similar to Lien’s so you can believe me when I say that she was beautiful. During the dinner she often caressed my arm and my thighs, filling my whole body with excitement and very strong urges. But… that’s pretty normal with me,” I muttered second part in my embarrassment.

“As we got to the hotel, my mind got a little cloudy since I really wanted to go all the way and she seemed to have the same idea so I followed her to a hotel room. She didn’t talk much during the way other than some dirty words and ideas. After entering the room, all I remember is that she kissed me and pushed me on the bed.”

“I honestly don’t remember what exactly she asked and I have no idea why I remember only that much but I know that she asked some things about Leviathan and you during the night. By the time I woke up she was nowhere to be seen and the bed was a complete mess. Let’s just say that there was an unnatural amount of… of my sperm on the bed. But I don’t even remember what exactly happened during the night.”

"Woah, what the hell are you guys talking about? Did you have a wild night?" Lien asked the moment I finished talking. I didn't even notice that she was behind us and after knowing that she heard what I said, I really didn't want to meet her eyes and turn around.

Although I wanted to defend myself, I knew that I fucked up big time and that it would be a reasonable decision for Seth to kick me out. As if all this wasn’t enough, I even tried to sweet-talk his wife and go after her after something like this happened.

I should just cut off my fucking dick, I cursed in my mind for my lack of self-control.

"Oh, so that’s what happened," Lien said as she walked around the sofa and sat down next to Seth, hugging his arm. My head still lowered, I didn’t even dare to look at them.

“Where are the kids? Oh, they are still playing outside,” Seth muttered to himself.

I suppose he doesn’t want them to see as he kills me… I thought, feeling that he grabbed the back of my head.

Forcing me to sit up straight, he made me look into his eyes and said in an angry tone, “How about you stop this useless, regretful self-sorry state and listen to me?”

“Honey, you should be a bit more gentle. He’s still too young,” Lien remarked.

“I know but I tend to get pissed off when I see people in this state,” he replied.

“Not everyone can arrogantly accept their own mistakes and think of a way to fix their wrongdoings right away. He will need some time, and as far as I remember, you were the same when you found out about Sylvanus,” she chuckled as she said.

“…”

“Fine, I’m wrong. I’m sorry, okay?” he shook his head.

“Well, Ethan, right? Let me clarify your situation to you. Based on what you said, I’m a hundred percent sure that you were mind-controlled in one way or the other but what really matters is the method. The first option is that it was a strong magician who has great knowledge of chemistry and knew exactly what to pour into your body to put you into a state where you could still answer her questions but wouldn’t know where you were or what you were doing.”

“This is the unlikely option. The second and more likely one is that you got seduced by a goddess of sex, most probably Ishtar herself. And if it was really her, it would explain your ‘performance spike’ and why you couldn’t control your urges. I’ve trained Lien quite well since we’ve been together so she would easily notice that she was being seduced and could resist it, but you? You shouldn’t even dream about it as you are right now, not to mention that your magic power is also limiting you.”

“What? Why the hell are you using me as an example?” Lien cried out while I was shocked by what I heard. But what I found the most surprising was that Seth seemed to have no intention of killing me.

“Why are you playing the shy card in front of him? Or do you think you can hide your experience by doing so? Even if you want to look shy and behave like a proper, reserved girl, you have this womanly aura around you, you know?” Seth laughed as he continued embarrassing Lien more and more. Well, maybe only I found it embarrassing.

“Bullshit, I don’t have any kind of aura. It’s just your lewd mind that is imagining things,” she grumbled.

“It’s true though,” I muttered to myself but out of my expectations, both of them heard it.

“See? Even he can tell it,” Seth laughed as he slapped my back, almost making me fall off of the sofa.

“Because he is a goddamn pervert as well! All of you are," she snorted.

“Heh, should I take out that drawing and show it around? Your lustful expression on it is something out of this wor-”

“One more word and I’ll tear it into pieces,” she said through her teeth, glaring at Seth.

While they were bickering with each other, I couldn’t help but feel somewhat happier inside as I watched the scene. It was clear to me that it was nothing serious and that they were just playing around. I wasn’t sure if they were doing it consciously to make me feel better or if it was just a side effect, but I definitely felt better. Watching happy things could really make one happier as well.

“Fine then, just stop pretending to be a pure lily when in fact, you are a pervert,” he waved his finger as he replied.

“And who is responsible for tha-hyu~”

What the hell is going on here? Did she just moan? I glanced at Lien secretly and saw her tightly hugging Seth’s arm while the latter was just smiling at me as if nothing happened.

“Unfair bastard,” Lien grumbled a moment later.

After today’s conversation, I was a hundred percent sure that Seth was also the incarnation of a god of sex and considering Lien’s expression and the way their bickering suddenly ended, I was quite sure that he had used one of his abilities.

“Are you okay now? You’re smiling,” Seth asked, raising his brows.

Were they seriously doing this in front of me just to cheer me up and prevent me from thinking about my mistake?

Considering that possibility, I felt blessed to have bosses like them. Even if it wasn't true, just the fact that they behaved this way despite knowing my mistake was enough for me.

“I’ll be fine,” I nodded, still feeling a little bitter about it. If at least I could remember something from that night… but I didn’t gain anything out of it. I just had losses.

Well, maybe I did gain something since I got to know my bosses a bit more than many others and despite their playful and perverted display just now, I had a very good impression of them. I felt that it was worth working for them.

“Alright then. You don’t have to think about what happened for too long. It’s enough if you learn from your mistake and make sure that this doesn’t happen again. The good thing is that you’re quite new here so you probably couldn’t tell her too much and other than the leaders, nobody knows the location of Leviathan so that’s also not a problem. Just to be safe, I’ll move it to another place so you can expect a change of season by the evening.”

“Wait! What do you mean by change of season? I like the lands covered in snow and I don’t want to go to a warm place yet so can you move to another place with snow?” Lien asked.

“Whatever you want,” he smiled at her.

This couple is just too much for me. I swear I can see the air vibrating when they smile at each other. It’s killing me…

Turning towards me once again, Seth asked, “Is there anything else that you should tell me?”

“I can’t think of anything important that could cause trouble to you or anyone else,” I shook my head.

“Alright then. You’re free to go and I hope that you’ve learned from this case. I know you didn’t ask for my advice but I wish to give you some anyway. Being famous isn’t a good thing at all and sooner or later you will all understand it. At first you may think that it’s fun that everyone surrounds you outside and looks up to you but once you realise that they’re just looking for opportunities and ways to kick you down, you won’t desire it any longer.”

“On the other hand, even if you can make a beautiful woman yours just by telling her your identity, I can say with confidence that your relationship would never be truly fulfilling and happy. They’ll never be able to provide you with the warmth and love of a real family, much less a sense of security. They’d just look for even stronger men with more influence and it’s not worth it just for the sex. If you’re patient, you’ll definitely find a proper woman here,” he said as he stood up and stretched his arms.

Glancing at Lien and seeing the way she looked at him, I knew he was right. It would definitely make me much happier to have a woman who looked at me that way than to have many women who just wanted to be with because of my power. Unfortunately, even my ‘power’ was a joke compared to most of the people in Leviathan.

Smiling bitterly at the thought of that, I stood up and thanked him for his advice. After saying my goodbyes, I returned to my home to start training more seriously than ever before. I didn’t want to stay weak and allow something like this to happen ever again.

--- Seth’s pov ---

As Eathan left our house, Lien laid down across the sofa and stretched her limbs, carelessly flashing her pink panties to me. Smiling at her, I leaned on the armrest between her legs and started staring at her place as I replied, “I’m not sure yet. I should meet Tanner and check his soul considering what happened.”

“Stop staring, you idiot,” she laughed as she put her foot on my shoulder and pushed me backwards. Grabbing her ankles, I spread her legs and dragged her to the edge of the sofa while she was just staring at me with her brows raised.

“What are you doing to me? Can’t you see that I’m resting?” she asked, wrapping her legs around my waist.

“Do I look like I care?” I chortled as I grabbed her shoulders and pulled her into my embrace.

“You certainly don’t,” she replied as she threw her arms around my back and started caressing me.

Brushing my fingers through her silky hair, I continued sitting in silence for a few seconds until I finally asked, “Did you hear what Ethan said regarding you?”

“If you mean the time when you were talking about him loving me then yes. I just feel sorry for him since it’s going to remain one-sided for the rest of his life,” she said in a low voice as she rubbed her face against my chest.

“Mmm~ I love that I can bury my face in your large chest. It makes me feel so safe,” she added as she continued her affectionate behaviour.

“You’re like a cat right now,” I laughed, placing my chin on the top of her head.

“But I’m not purring.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

After a few seconds of silent hugging, I said, “I don’t think that he’s going to suffer for long because I’ve removed the excess chemicals quite early on and he seemed to be fine when he left.”

“That’s the best for everyone,” she replied.

“You can’t catch me!” Felice charged into the room, followed by Reiner. After running a few rounds around us, she jumped onto the sofa and climbed between the backrest and Lien, hiding in our embrace.

Running up to the front of the sofa, Reiner put his tiny hands on Lien’s thighs and looked at Felice as he said, “I would have caught you!”

“But you didn’t and the goal was Mom,” Felice laughed. Forced to accept that he lost, he couldn’t say anything in return and looked at his mother and then at me. “Are you showing your love to dad?” he asked.

“Haha, yes, she’s doing just that,”  I replied as I loosened my arms around Lien and put him onto her thighs, right next to Felice. Giving a kiss on the top of their heads, followed by one on Lien’s lips, I straightened my back and looked at my lovely family.

“Dad? Will you teach us more?” Felice asked after seeing that I was smiling at them, probably thinking that it was a good chance to get more mana out of me.

“I can teach you later but I have something to do right now so please behave while I’m gone,” I shook my head.

“Wait,” Lien grabbed my hand and pulled me back as I was about to step away. “It’s been a while since we last went somewhere and I’ve been sitting at home for months so how about the four of us visit a nice place when you are back?” 

“Think about where you want to go in the meantime, I’m fine with anything,” I replied with a smile.

“Great~ I’ll ask the kids as well, you go and do what you have to,” she gave me a kiss in return.

After exchanging a few more sentences with the kids and Lien, I teleported to Washington and used my magic to scan the whole city. Although, I couldn't find anyone suspicious, I was lucky enough to come at a time when Tanner was in his training room, meaning that his office was empty. Since he was under suspicion of colluding with Ishtar and her stupid group, I didn’t feel the need to be polite to him and request a meeting. I teleported straight to his office and started looking for a lead.

Thanks to all the sensor-type formations in Tanner’s office, he didn’t feel the need to station guards inside and left it empty. There was only one elevator that led to this floor which was guarded by two men who were chatting happily during their shift. Using my own magic, I temporarily disabled all of Tanner’s sensing formations and got to work.

First I tried to find some information by going through the files and papers in his table but after a quick look, I realised it was pointless. Well, it was something I expected since nobody was stupid enough to use paper for their dealings. Most deals were done verbally and if one side didn’t keep their word, they could easily lose their lives. I found it a little strange how I got used to all the killing that happened in the world compared to the time I first killed someone.

When was it again? Ah, right, I was in that hidden oasis with Lien not long after we discovered Light city and Valerie came after us. I ended up killing her companions…

I wasn’t fond of killing and I preferred sparing people’s lives but at the same time, I understood that most of the time that wasn’t a good option since the people that became my enemies were evildoers who ruined many people’s lives. If left alive, they would continue causing trouble to many others so I ended up taking my opponents’ lives almost every time.

Seeing that he had a computer on his table, I sat down in his chair and started it up.

Password required… ah, brings me back. It's been so long since I've last touched my PC. I was still living in Balan with my parents and I didn’t have Lien by my side.

After getting together with Lien, I rather spent my free time with her than with playing games and the rest of my time was spent with my family, training, and magic research. Even these days, I was too busy to play games so I couldn't help but feel nostalgic and want to play something again.

I'll ask Lien when I get back. It'd be cool to play together with her, though we don't have any games… Hmm, I'll just tell the AI department to do something fun. Although they’re busy developing the infrastructure and architecture of Leviathan, it shouldn’t take more than a week for them anyway. They surely have a spare AI that can make a two or four person game for me, right?

While I was thinking about that, I used lightning magic to control the electricity in the CPU and unlock Tanner’s password. I just sensed how things changed when I failed to log in with a wrong password and changed the end result a few times to turn the unsuccessful sign into a successful one.

Glancing at my wrist that hid a small chip with a complete artificial intelligence on it, I realised I could have just used it to hack his machine.

"Oh well, this was probably quicker anyway," I shook my head as I tore off a small piece of my skin and took out the chip. With the help of my trait, I created an USB connector and plugged it into Tanner's machine.

"Keep the volume down," I said in a low voice.

"Wait a moment, Master. I'm scanning the system for you," my AI spoke after a few seconds.

"I know."

"I’m done with it~ What do you want to see?"

My AI was the most advanced in Leviathan and it was also the only one that was completely unlocked and had the right to read and write any kind of data. Usually it was connected to my nerve system in a hibernated mode but I obviously needed it this time. It was better to leave things to it than to look for folders and whatnot cluelessly.

"Are there any images or words that include 'Ishtar' or 'Leo'?" I asked.

"I'll also look for members of Arcane Spirits,” it replied using Lien’s voice.

"Good," I nodded, seeing many images and documents flash on the screen as they were opened and closed in short succession. “Also, don’t use my wife’s voice.”

“Stingy…” it remarked, returning to its robotic voice.

"I couldn't find anything with those keywords but there is a hidden ‘Hot Moments' folder where I've noticed a few women that could be Ishtar. Should I open them? I know you're faithful and all," it said.

"Just open it, I must see her if there is something about her," I replied, waving my hand.

“You just want to see the images,” it said as one image after the other appeared on the screen. All of the images were captured by Tanner during his sexy times with his various female partners and I had to admit that his partners were all beautiful, though none of them could reach up to my wife’s body.

“Why the hell are you showing me images with red, blonde, and brown haired women on it? You’re obviously opening all of the erotic images, not just the relevant ones…” I grumbled as I realised what it was doing.

“I thought you would want to see them anyway. Look, this one is quite ho-”

“I don’t care, I can just go and do it with my wife if I want to see stuff like this so stop wasting my time and filter the images properly,” I commanded.

“Fine, fine, you’re no fun…” it complained, still going through with it. "This man seems to love being filmed. Based on my analysis, he has fourteen different partners who visit him regularly. What an old goat."

"Well, he is twice my age and has been in power for who knows how many years so these nine hundred images aren't that much. Some of them were taken at the same time which just means even fewer occurrences," I said.

“You’re right, nobody can beat you when it comes to sex drive. I don’t even understand why you don’t call yourself a rabbit.”

“Are you done making fun of me?” I rolled my eyes, seeing that it closed all the unnecessary ones and left only four images on the screen.

“AI NO.0, System command, personality section, decrease aggressive joke occurrence by fifty percent,” I added, seeing that its current personality was hindering work.

“Complete. These are the images you have requested and the one in the top right corner is the most suspicious,” it said as it finished filtering the images.

After taking a quick look at the other three, I could tell that they were just pictures of common women with black hair so I closed them right away. Putting the one in the top right corner into full-screen mode, I leaned back in my chair and looked at the woman carefully. For one, she was the one on top in the image unlike in all the other cases. Tanner seemed to be the dominant type.

Secondly, the image was definitely taken secretly since a jug covered about one-third of the picture as if the recording device was hidden behind it. Thirdly, the woman had purple eyes and long black hair which matched Dorje's and Ethan’s description. I had to admit that her body was indeed comparable to my wife’s and her face was also equally pretty but that was something to be expected from a goddess of sex.

Sensing that Tanner’s daughter entered the elevator, I quickly unplugged my AI and connected it back to my nerve system, putting it to sleep mode once again. As I leaned back in Tanner’s chair comfortably, I started thinking about how to proceed with things in this situation. I had multiple choices in front of me but I wasn’t sure which one was the best and most optimal.

For one, I could face Tanner directly and ask him to tell me everything he knew about Ishtar, even though I was pretty sure that he didn’t know anything noteworthy. Still, exposing him could bring some benefits in the future, especially if he was affected by magic and I could fix him.

The second option was that I would go back home before Abby entered the room and would secretly start observing Tanner and Washington from now on. It was possible that he would lead me to some clues in the future or even give me a chance to capture my enemies. The only problem was that this could easily lead to him losing his life and also ruining a whole city and millions of people’s lives.

I was quite sure that a single wrong step could lead to the annihilation of the city, just like what happened to Baghdad.

The final and seemingly the best option at the moment was to make an excuse for my visit and secretly check his soul to see whether he was affected by magic or not. If he wasn’t, I had to find out what kind of relationship he had with that woman and how he got to know her.

Now that I think about it, once I checked his soul, I would be able to find out whether he was controlled or not and if he wasn’t, I could just interrogate him like Lien did Dixon in the past. Ah, it would be kind of fun to leave it to her again, she enjoyed playing the bad cop anyway.

Knowing that it wouldn’t do any good if they found me in his office, I quickly teleported to the rooftop and turned back on Tanner’s sensor formations. A few seconds later Abby entered the office and sat down at Tanner’s computer, slurping some hot chocolate. Since I loved hot chocolate and stood outside in the cold and the wind was also pretty strong on the rooftop, I couldn’t help but use my trait to make one portion for myself on the spot. While I followed her example and slurped on it happily, I used my senses to follow every movement of Abby and Tanner.

Well, to be more exact, the latter was busy with his training so I knew it was enough to spy on Abby for the time being.

“Whaa~ nothing beats this,” she shuddered as she reached under the chair and turned on some button that heated up her seat.

“I should ask Father to replace the chair in my room with this kind of model, it’s also much more comfortable than mine,” she talked to herself as she threw her legs onto the table and slid down in the chair.

“Now, if only I could pull the keyboard and mouse into my hands comfortably…” she grumbled as she moved around, realising that she couldn’t reach either of the two. Forgetting about the mug in her hands, she ended up spilling the hot chocolate onto her white shirt, leaving a stain on it.

“Damn it!” she shouted as she jumped up, alerting the guards who were waiting outside the door.

“What happened, Miss?” one of them almost broke through the door in his hurry but seeing that she just spilled her drink on herself, he lowered his head and left the room quietly.

“Wait! Make the receptionist bring me another hot chocolate and tell her to put a cover on top of the mug!” she commanded angrily.

“Yes, Miss,” the guard nodded as he closed the door and left to do her bidding.

Just as I expected, she started playing with some silly old game and once the guard brought in her hot chocolate, she drank it cheerfully. Slapping my forehead, I stopped spying on her for the time being and surrounded the office with my magic power to see if anyone went in or came out.

I’ve been sitting on the rooftop for over ten minutes just to see Abby play games and drink hot chocolate, what a great way to spend my time, I cursed inwardly as I slurped my own drink.

“Honey, I miss you~” I contacted Lien through my soul force as I started to feel bored by myself.

“Haha, what’s up? How come you have the time to miss me?” she asked. Although talking mentally didn’t vibrate our eardrums or anything of the sort, I could hear my wife’s lovely voice. Talking through telepathy and soul force was kind of different than talking normally. The message was directly deciphered by our brains, just like it deciphered what the vibrations of our eardrums meant.

Telepathy could be perceived by others if they were skilled enough in magic because we just sent the same ‘vibrations’ to the target’s brain as the words we wanted to say would produce. With a bit of wind magic, it was easy to copy the same vibrations and listen in on them even if it was directed at someone else. Well, it was possible to ‘mask’ the vibrations with a tunnel of wind around the vibrations to hide it and stuff like that but it was still possible to spy on.

As for soul force, I’d have to directly force myself into someone else’s soul to perceive their messages which would not only hurt a normal person, it could even lead to their death. Basically, I’d have to use ‘bruteforce’ attack on someone’s soul if they used it to communicate and I wanted to listen in on it. Luckily for Lien and me, there weren’t many people whose soul force was comparable to ours so it was obvious that nobody could spy on us or hurt us.

“I’m waiting right now,” I replied.

“Are you telling me that Tanner is daring enough now to make you wait?” she asked, sounding surprised.

“No. I didn’t even try to meet him. Right now I’m sitting on his rooftop and am waiting for him to return to his office from training and maybe do something suspicious. You see, I’ve found a video on his computer as a black haired woman is toying with him and she was most likely Ishtar,” I replied.

“Wait, what? A video? How is that possible? Did she seriously record it or is it Tanner’s…”

“It was recorded by a hidden camera and since Ishtar probably doesn’t know too much about technology, she didn’t think that a small ‘thing’ hidden behind a jug could record their fun time.”

“Hmm- to be honest, I don’t think I would have noticed it either when I’m in the mood, even though I know about cameras and we even have phones, though nobody uses them,” she replied.

“Well, that’s also true. Anyway, it was on Tanner’s machine so he probably has a kink for recording. I mean, that wasn’t the only video there.”

“I see… but it’s up to him what he likes. You also have a kink for high heels and stockings, don’t you? It’s just another type of fetish,” she replied dismissively.

“Oh, I wasn’t trying to make fun of him and I do have a very strong fetish for that. In fact, you’ve been slacking off lately so how about tonight you-”

“Who’s slacking off? It’s you who can’t even wait for me to change these days…” she interrupted me.

Knowing that she was right, I said, “Fine, I’ll be patient tonight, okay?”

“You’re a pig,” she sighed.

“A hungry one at that,” I added.

“Hahaha, yes you are. Anyway, do you know what to do?”

“Yeah, I plan to meet him once he stops training and check his soul to see whether he was affected or not. I’ll decide how to proceed afterwards based on what I find. I wanted to stay in his office until the last moment but Abby came in to play on his computer so now I’m stuck on the roof,” I replied.

“I see, but dear, you’re wearing shirts and a short. I know that you don’t feel cold and hot but I do and just looking at you in this snow makes me freeze…” she said as she appeared right behind me, her front touching my back.

Knowing that my little sun was right behind me, I turned around in a hurry and pulled her into my arms. Feeling the warmth of her body, I said, “Now it’s warm, isn’t it? But you forgot that one part of my body still feels hot and cold. Can you guess which part is that?”

“Hahaha, you perv~ I told you that you’re a pig!”

“Others call me rabbit,” I replied, raising my finger.

“Sure… I could believe that. Anyway, I’ve told the kids that I’m going out just for a moment so I have to go- Mh-” surprised by my sudden kiss, her sentence was cut short but rather than pulling back, she just closed her eyes and put her arms around my neck.

A few seconds later, she pulled away and said, “See you later with a present.”

She went as quickly as she came but I felt energised just by meeting her for a few seconds. My commandment definitely had a hand in my emotional relation to Lien but I honestly didn’t mind it and had no intention of fighting against it. It felt really good for both of us so I could only thank myself.

“I see you’re all warmed up for tonight,” I muttered to myself, probably grinning like an idiot. 

Although she left, her lingering scent caught my nose for a moment which was enough to make my fantasy go wild. Looking at my crotch, I could only cover my face and sigh loudly seeing her ‘effect’.

“I shouldn’t have kissed her…”

“How about a quickie?” I asked her.

“...”

“Is that a no? It’s said that silence should be taken as yes,” I continued with my bullshit.

“No, it shouldn’t be and I’m not going there to do that. The kids are also here-”

“So you would come if they weren’t?” I asked, amused by her rather short and silent reaction.

“No.”

“I know you’re lying.”

“Then yes.”

“Hehe~ that’s enough for me. Take care, my love,” finishing our conversation, I stopped bugging her and continued my boredom. Noticing that Tanner’s magic power started rising rapidly, I realised that he was sort of going through what we called a break through. Just based on his energy, he was about to reach the power of A ranked people in Leviathan.

Those ranks and numbers weren’t just thought of randomly. With each rank-up the mana capacity of the body increases and both the mage’s physical power and magic power becomes greater. Having enough of waiting, I secretly teleported to Tanner’s training room and concealed my presence.

Since his eyes were closed and I had no presence at all, he couldn’t see that I was sitting right behind him in the corner and I also carefully controlled his mana to ‘naturally’ avoid my body and possibly alert him. I just pulled in a bit more mana from my environment and created a small magic flow right in front of me. It would help him in breaking through so he would be happy with it and he also wouldn’t notice me. Two birds with one stone.

Let’s see your soul from closer, I thought as I poured some mana into my eyes and started looking at his soul. Mana not only connected the soul realm with our physical world, but it was also what defined it. We could sort of ‘overwrite’ reality with magic and the manipulation of mana but we couldn’t do that with souls.

Lien, me, and the other people in Leviathan who researched infinite mana were the ones who realised that mana originated from the soul realm and soul force was basically a higher form energy that was unique to everyone. Even the unskilled teachers in Balan knew that our bodies produced manalus during sex, which was a ‘chemical’ that ‘somehow’ ended up producing mana.

The problem was that when I was younger, I couldn’t replicate or create manalus on my own, no matter how I tried. After many years of research, things have changed, though. I learned that the soul realm was akin to an ocean and each human was like a drop in it. Manalus wasn’t a chemical either. It was a condensation of mana drops that turned into a super tiny formation.

These formations drew ‘water’ from the ‘ocean’ that was the soul realm and filled our bodies with it, also giving the natural mana attributes that were unique to the magician. The physical world, in other words, the universe was as large as the soul realm. Mana itself was never ‘consumed’ and it never disappeared. It just turned into different things for some time and then returned to the soul realm.

Even the mana inside my body was something I ‘reserved’ from the ‘ocean’ and held onto for the time being. Once I used it to cast a spell, it would return to the soul realm in its original, weak form. The tiny formation in manalus was also responsible for empowering the mana that came through it to match the magician’s magic power. Naturally, magicians could refine it on their own and condense them to become even more powerful and effective which was what most people did to strengthen their mana veins. Once Lien replicated the formation that formed in manalus, it became easy to ‘create’ mana.

Theoretically speaking, if I became strong enough to reserve the whole ‘ocean’, I could suck away every drop of mana from the world and turn everyone else into a common person since they wouldn’t have anything left to manipulate. The only problem would be my physical body. Even though my evolved body can take in an insane amount of mana and I’m not even close to its limits, I’m sure that I’d hit a wall relatively soon if my scale was the universe.

I had a hunch that what scientists called the ‘Big Bang’ was actually a magician’s attempt to take in more mana than what their body could handle. They probably didn’t make it and ended up dying in the process which led to a giant explosion. It would also explain why mana was many times thicker towards the center of our galaxy and turned thinner the further we were. My last and most convincing proof was that two months ago, I teleported to space and tested what would happen if a large amount of mana was compressed and exploded. 

Out of ten attempts, it created micro-organisms twice. Considering the size of ‘Big Bang’, it definitely created life forms and some of it probably came to life on the Earth.

Thanks to the ‘infinite’ mana source, Leviathan was no longer bound to the planet and I could also leave any time I wanted. While I felt prompted to go on an adventure in the universe in my levitating country, I knew that I had to take care of my enemies first.

With my current magic power and the pressure my mana veins could withstand, I could reserve about as much mana as one half of the Earth. Considering the size of the universe, I was pretty far away from world domination… not that I was interested in it. Regardless, it was enough for me to see through every person’s soul if I was close enough to them.

I was quite sure that Ishtar didn’t know that she got caught on camera and while I initially thought that Tanner wasn’t controlled by mind magic, after seeing that record I felt even more sure of it. As it turned out, my theory was right since he wasn’t controlled or affected by anything or anyone.

They probably didn’t dare ‘charm’ or enslave the leaders of the cities and countries that were related to Leviathan, fearing that I would be able to find them. It kind of sucked that they were so careful but at least now I had some clues about their intentions. The past few days neither of my mana nodes were destroyed and Ishtar secretly came in contact with Tanner.

I didn’t know what she told him but it was definitely something that made him dislike us and I could easily believe that it was the existence of my mana nodes and their ‘enslaving’ effect. Although I wouldn’t use it for anything of the sort, other people would never believe that and I wouldn’t believe it either in their place.

Knowing that he was about to finish his training, I teleported to the front of the building and walked through the front door as if I had just arrived. Since they had seen my face before, the moment the guards and receptionist saw me, both of them sent a representative while the others left to notify Tanner. Although we’ve put an end to our religion, we didn’t wipe people’s memories so they knew how powerful I was and most of them still seemed to look up to me.

In just five minutes, I reached Tanner’s office and he was waiting for me there, even though he surely would have meditated for a bit longer if I hadn’t come.

“Welcome to my humble city. What brought you here, Mr. Seth?” he asked as I sat down facing him and he started tapping his finger on his keyboard. Abby was sitting on the side with a dissatisfied face, often sneaking glances at me.

If I hadn’t known that she was just annoyed because she couldn’t play any longer, I’d have surely thought that she had a problem with me.

“Maybe he came to see me and become my teacher?” she asked hopefully.

“I’m sorry but that’s not going to happen,” I replied, inwardly feeling annoyed just by hearing that question.

“Then become my boyfriend! I don’t mind being the second next to your wife~” she added. She was still the same as last time, pushy, shameless, and daring enough to say whatever she wanted.

“Abby! Stop bothering Mr. Seth. He surely didn’t come here to listen to your bullshit!” Tanner yelled at her, noticing my annoyance.

It seems like in front of power, he is still reasonable and respectful. He’s too afraid to put a front with me.

Considering my lack of interest in respect, face, and other similar things, I found it quite strange to be dealt with in this way. It was kind of alien to me, especially the ‘mister’ in front of my name.

“Why should I leave? He’s very handsome and capable, just my type-”

Abby!” he shouted at her.

“Fine…”

Standing up from her seat, she left grumbling while her father apologised for her behaviour. I’ve told her before that I wasn’t interested so I didn’t quite understand why she still tried considering that she had no special feelings for me. Waving my hand, I quickly brought up what I wanted to talk about, feeling that I’ve already wasted more time than I wanted.

“It doesn’t matter. I came here to ask you about something. The people I sent here to help you said that you were quite cold towards them once they finished their mission and I was wondering why. This isn’t a threat or an interrogation, I’m just curious and want to hear your honest opinion. Did we offend you in any way or did you just have a bad day?” I said in a friendly way, looking carefully for his reactions.

“Ah, I’m very sorry about that and please send my apology to your people. I just felt frustrated that day because of a woman. I can assure you that I’ve got no problems with you,” he replied. Thanks to the soul language, I could see that he was lying but I didn’t reveal him right away and just nodded my head.

“I’m glad to hear that,” I smiled at him. “Well, I may be young but I have a very solid relationship with my wife so if you feel like telling me about that woman, just go ahead… Maybe I can help you with some advice,” I continued, hoping that he would reveal something about Ishtar.

“I thank you but I’m fine. You can’t help my case, I was just dominated…” he whispered to himself towards the end. It was lucky that my ears could still pick up on it and decipher his murmuring.

“Let me tell you that you’re lucky because I can help you with that problem,” I said as I appeared next to him and used a spell on him from my inheritance. It would not only increase his endurance and erection for his next time, but it would also affect the partner’s body in a positive way.

Naturally, I didn’t tell him that I would be able to sense when my spell was activated and if he happened to spend some time with Ishtar, I’d be able to catch her. Although it seemed like an impossible dream as I thought about it, I really hoped that I would be able to catch her.

Still, that was for the future to decide. Knowing that it would be too suspicious if I stayed long or asked too much, I stood up and after chatting a bit more with him, I returned home.

Now I just had to find out what Ishtar wanted from Tanner.