For some reason, I kinda didn't like the seriousness in Man's voice right now; it felt like he's a bit displeased with me. I looked at Eagle and subtly gestured my head to point at Man, wordlessly asking what's wrong with him. Eagles managed to understand the message that I'm trying to convey and gave a simple answer by merely looking at my bulge. I rolled my eyes and sighed.
"Understandable." I then carried Man's extremely light body and placed
"I thought you hated the horny shit?"
"I don't hate it, but I don't like it either. I'm not like one of those snobs and prudes on Virtue's island. We do a lot of touchy stuff like this where I came from, and I'm okay with doing more for you as long as you ask for my consent next time.
"Ahh... I understand; that's my bad. I'll be mindful of your feelings next time."
"No, you won't," I grumbled with a defeated chuckle while imagining the time I spent with him in my head.
"Yeah, I won't count on it either, pal," Eagle screamed with his grungy voice; it felt like I heard the voice of rust. " This guy is your worst nightmare."
"I can tell."
"Alright, alright, you two. I get it! You wanna tag team me! Whatever! I'm okay with that too." Man chuckled while shaking his head. "So, on behalf of all four of us, we would like to meet you, Aleph Von Erich."
"A pleasure to make your acquaintance." Ox bowed.
"You're a good guy, pal!" Eagle cackled.
Lion bowed her head and continued reading.
As I looked at the four people and wordlessly returned their greetings with a few nods, a textbox slowly fades into my vision.
"DOMINION BOND LEVEL RAISED: RANK 1"
"What's this?" I asked while pulling Man closer to me and watching him kneel in front of me with an excited expression.
"Ah... That's your bond." Man replied in between moans.
"What does it do?"
"It means you've established a bond with someone."
"Okay? Is that it?"
Man looked at me with a solemn expression as he suddenly stopped moving. "As the Praeceptor of the God of Charm, you will meet many people in the world, but not all of them will be of use to you. If you raise your bond with someone, you will gain their trust, and they will be easily manipulated."
"I see..."
"Remember this, Aleph. Everyone loves a charming man, and you will soon have heaps of charm once I grant you a portion of my divinity. But there's nothing more hateful than a charming man either. If used well, Charm will gain you influence over your realm, but once the people realize that you're nothing but an ineffective leader, your charm would feel like an insult that would provoke a revolution. You need to be smart; the people need to regard your charm as a positive aspect, not the mark of an ineffective himbo."
"And the bond levels ensure that the people won't go against me. Is that it?"
"Precisely. The bond level exists so that your people would like you through their leaders. If you assign a minister to lead, let's say, the Keep after this war, make sure the Vyurs like them. I suggest General Times. The higher your bond is to your appointed minister, the easier it would be for them to respect your decisions, and as an effect, it would be easier to implement rules on the people the minister is leading. The higher your bond is to a minister, the easier it would be to lead. Do you understand?"
"I think I do. But if the bond level is made to empower my influence over my people, how come I need to raise my bond level with you too? Will it increase my influence over everyone in the world or something?"
"Well... No. It's only here for the interest of the avatars."
"I don't understand."
"It's necessary, my guy." Eagle's familiar raspy voice responded to my confusion on Man's behalf. "Let's face it, pal. You're new around this joint; we ain't seen shit from you yet. And frankly, I don't trust you! So why should I give you MY power? You ain't proven shit, you know what I'm sayin'?"
"Forgive our rudeness, but it is the truth, Praeceptor." Ox suddenly stopped chopping to voice out his thoughts as well. "We are simply not comfortable with relinquishing the entirety of our powers to a man we don't believe in."
"A test is required to gauge if you truly are worthy of the sovereign god's power." Lion flipped through the pages of her book and continued reading while speaking. "It is merely a coincidence that the Command: Bond Level is the finest grading system we have to inform you of how favorable you are in our eyes. The assessment process differs from each of the four Aspect of Dominion, but though our methods lack similitude, we all wish to test the same thing: how good you are as a Praeceptor."
"And what if I failed your assessment?" I asked as I slowly pulled Man closer to my chest, caressing his auburn hair.
"It's simple." Man responded this time. "We'll kill you."
I nodded. "Straightforward. Just how I like it."
"We do not like to fuck around." Man chuckled upon hearing my response. "You don't seem very nervous."
"How did you know?"
"Your heart didn't skip a beat or race."
"Well, you've already reminded me time and time again while we're walking in Dead Gardens. If I fail, I will die; if you hate my performance, you will kill me. I'm already aware of the consequences. But I'm still here."
"That's great to hear... Can I kiss you?"
"Sure."
"If you ever want to know more about Bonds, just ask me." Man raised his head and pecked my lips. "It's my power, after all. Lion won't explain it better than I do. I give it to you willingly as long as you treat it as a part of me."
"So there won't be any Archive reviews with Lion about Bonds then?"
"I won't allow it." Man pouted. "It's mine. And I get to explain it by right!"
I chuckled. "Now, you're finally turning me on."
"You have a shitty kink, Aleph." Man once again pecked my lips. "Can I lick you?"
"I don't mind."
Man licked my lips, pecked it, and inserted his tongue in my mouth, letting it loose inside of me, making me feel... things... I mean, yes, I am finally feeling good about his advances, but the things I'm feeling now are different. It's like a mighty chunk of energy flowing from my heart and spilling out of my body. And as that particular energy leaves my insides, something else takes over its place, a different energy coming from Man's lips.
"There you go." Man giggled as he licked his upper lip. "That should wake you up."
"What?"
"As much as I enjoy draining your mana, this meeting must end now. We're done here, Aleph. You need to wake up."
"Am I dreaming?
Man chuckled. "We'll explain later."
"Don't worry about the deets, pal. We'll meet again." Eagle whispered before soaring back to his bird swing. "But for now, how about you keep this feather?" A rather large father then fell to my open hands. "Use it when you want to touch the clouds."
"I have already prepared your breakfast, Praeceptor." Ox bowed. "May you have a peaceful awakening."
"Fare thee well." Lion smiled, and this time, she spoke at me without looking at her book.
"You need to wake up now, Aleph. You still have a world to conquer." Man then covered my eyes with his cold wispy hands. "Can I kiss you?"
"Yes," I whispered as darkness enveloped my vision again. Something soft and wet collided with my lips paired with the sticky and soft and warm sensation traveling in my mouth, playing with my mouth.
Then it disappears.
When I opened my eyes, all I saw were cobblestones and bricks.