The Mistore Forest was a rather peculiar place. Mist would fog up parts or the entire area at random times and there were only a handful of valuable beasts to hunt.  

Due to the abundance of ore and the lack of organic resources, it was hard for common living animals to take root in Mistore Forest. As a result, the few magical beasts that inhabited the forest had adapted to the harsh requirements and got their nutrients through the consumption of minerals and plants instead of preying on wild game. They didn’t regard humans as a possible food source, and wouldn’t attack people unless provoked. 

Therefore, when they heard the Rhikeros’s shout Jiushi assumed that Harem God had ventured too deep into the forest and provoked it by accidentally touching its lair. Yet, when he located him still near the camp, he instantly knew that this couldn’t be the case. The forest clearing was well-known to travelers as it was one of the few natural safety zones of the Mistore Forest. All living beings coexisted there regardless of their species.  

In the first place, the Rhikeros was a magic beast that lived closer to the inner part of the forest and it wasn’t supposed to appear near the outer edge. But what was even more worrisome was the unidentifiable parasitic plant that had infested it.  

Jiushi didn’t engage directly with it; he wasn’t a close-quarter-combatant. Instead, he hit the beast’s back with rocks and wood pieces to occupy the vines and move its attention elsewhere, he then pulled Harem God out of the danger zone.  

Boom! 

Jiushi threw a smoke bomb at the beast. It was the signal to attack. Tommy, who was hidden in the forest, confined the beast into a barrier that reflected all impact dealt to it twofold. 

The beast rammed into the barrier with its horn and let out a deafening shriek from the backlash pain.  

Swoosh! 

Unexpectedly, the vines went through the barrier and slashed at Jiushi, who took its prey away.  

The young man fended off the plants with his arm, but they still left a deep cut that dyed not only him but also Harem God dripping red. Being dragged along like a helpless child, he could only spectate with frustration whereas Jiushi got them out of the vines’ reach.  

Tommy set several elemental arrays ablaze to secure their retreat. The rubicund flames cut off the vines and chipped away at the feet of the monstrosity. It let out a loud shout, but the water walls Tommy had set simultaneously trapped the beast in a vapor prison, and smothered the sounds it let out.  

Harem God swallowed hard as the ferocity of elemental magic unleashed not far from him. They had retreated back into the woods and didn’t stop until they went past three or four rows of trees. Yet, the heatwave of the fire was still reaching him.  

A shadow consumed by flames persisted arduously to survive in the incandescence until it finally suffocated with the lack of oxygen.  

Thump!! 

Their opponent fell to the ground and the weight shook up the surrounding trees. The flames burned out and the vapor rained down on them.  

Gulp. So that is magic… 

Harem God was still paralyzed both physically and mentally from the intense display. So much that he completely blended out the nonexistent distance between him and Jiushi.  

“You two are you al…right?” Tommy looked at the two battered youths that were basically hugging and leaning into each other. He scratched his neck, “Should I come back later?” 

His words finally woke up Harem God. He was partly sitting on Jiushi’s lap, with the latter’s arm still around his waist. The pose was even more ambiguous than when Jiushi had been hugging him from behind. 

F*CK! How did we end up like this? 

Jiushi had felt his body getting sluggish and sloppily escaped with Harem God. Their escape path had been covered by the vapor that Tommy’s spell combination produced, but it inevitably also obstructed their vision. As soon as they were at a safe distance, his legs gave in after he tripped over a tree root. They rolled to the ground and leaned to one of the trees to hide.  

All this while, Jiushi dutifully protected the trouble magnet, but his close friend completely misinterpreted the whole situation. He could only stare at him blankly, “Those vines probably had some narcotics, I can’t move properly, and he can’t either.” 

He lifted his injured arm lightly, “I need a potion.” 

“You two need a detox pill first,” Tommy answered.  

“Whatever! Just free me from this pose,” Jiushi grumbled.  

Harem God couldn’t agree more. They were covered by mud, blood, and the artificial rain had completely soaked them, yet he couldn’t move an inch although the pain had decreased considerably. It turned out the vines were paralyzing him.  

Tommy shoved a pill into their mouth then tended their wounds. It took a while until the narcotic was decomposed and the two could move again. By then the rain shower had also disappeared into the ground; only the corpse and a burned down circular patch remained as evidence of the fight.  

“Is the appearance of this infected variant related to your mission?” Jiushi asked.  

“Most likely.” Tommy kneed down to collect samples of the corpse and ran a scan with his spiritual energy. “Let’s go back, I tell you the details in the camp.” 

He straightened up and wanted to go back but Jiushi grabbed his sleeve his a serious expression, “We don’t have firewood yet.” 

Without waiting for his answer he continued, “I’ll go back with him. I need to talk to him.” 

Tommy nodded, “I see.”  

His understanding expression irked Jiushi for some reason, extremely at that. He stressed, “Don’t misunderstand, there’s really nothing going on between us.”  

Tommy shrugged his shoulders, his little friend always became a bit peevish when he got hurt, so he didn’t take it to heart. The two patients got escorted back to the outer ring of the forest. Tommy went back into the forest for firewood, while the two continued their way to the camp.   

Thanks to the detoxification pill, the two could move again without needing to support each other much. Especially Harem God felt relieved to walk independently again, but the next problem showed up as only the two of them were left. Both of them were injured so they had to rest, together.  

Harem God stood in front of the middle-sized tent. It was barely enough to fit in three people. He would rather sit outside, but his body was aching all over and Jiushi with his bandaged right arm needed some rest too. He hesitated when the hand from behind lead him inside.  

“Lie down. You took quite the beating. Even with your body’s heightened regeneration ability, you’d need some rest to recuperate from the trauma,” Jiushi calmly stated. He sat down and patted the space beside him, “I also need to clear up something for you.” 

Harem God obediently lay down. It was much softer than it looked. He rolled to the side with his back facing Jiushi. A thin fleeced blanket was put over him and covered even his head. He wanted to pull the cloth down, but the hand that placed it over him hadn’t receded yet. 

“I’m pretty sure you’re avoiding me and Ace.” 

Harem God tightened his grip on the blanket. He didn’t think of hiding it, but he wished the other side hadn’t noticed it either.  

“And I can guess why. 

“You think we had sex with each other, right?” Jiushi didn’t wait for an answer as he already knew that this was the case, “You don’t need to answer, just listen.” 

And he listened. 

“We didn’t get intimate. You’d only engage in intimate contact because that’s the easiest and most effective way to exchange and regulate spiritual energy for an untrained ability user, but…that rarely happens. There are more normal methods to do it. You were an emergency case and therefore an exception. 

“I don’t know if it’s because we share similar legacies, but you didn’t reject mine or Ace’s spiritual energy. For that reason, it was not necessary to invade your personal space. Besides, you already had an innate talent for mana circulation.” 

The hand that was gently placed over Harem God’s head slowly moved away. 

“So... we simply helped you calm down the turmoil in your body by injecting our spiritual energy into you through our palms.” He paused, Jiushi couldn’t explain why they had behaved the way they did either, “Apart from kissing you in the heat of it, nothing happened.” 

Harem God listened and his body heated up from embarrassment. All the thinking the past weeks was…pointless? He felt like burying himself in a hole.  

“If you want to forget the whole thing, then you don’t need to do anything. Let’s pretend it never happened.” 

The two remained silent and Jiushi also lay down after finishing what he had to say. His back was facing Harem God, who appreciated the blanket more than anything else at that moment.  

tiaf

*GASP* You all got duped! Harem God still hasn't lost his V-card. I didn't leave out the snusnu because I didn't want to write it, but because there wasn't one.

Just want to clarify that no dubcon or noncon will be between my couples. I like slutty 150% willing pairings.

Hmmmmmmm...

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