[A/N: A bit of smut down below. It's just a little more than 100 words, nothing much, and nothing entering the R-18 section.]
The birds chirped melodiously. The sun rose brightly and the blue clouds gave way for its presence.
Its ray shined everywhere, particularly on the window of a certain room.
The owner of the room yawned from his sleep on his comfortable bed.
He shifted his position, not wanting to get out of his bed. Turning around, he faced a naked young lady, who wrapped herself around the grey bed comforter.
Still in her sleep, but sensing movement, she flipped and planted her face in the bed, leaving her smooth bareback for the owner of the room to see.
The young owner rubbed his heterochromatic eyes, both the blue and the purple.
He moved closer to the female, tying his long silky jet-black hair, and trailed his index finger down the lady's spine.
This action sent shivers to the lady, who woke up to a pleasurable feeling and moaned, "Ahhh!"
However, she didn't tussle and allowed her male partner to continue pleasuring her.
It didn't take long for the young man to join his index finger with his middle finger and continue trailing her electric spine, showcasing his skill in that aspect.
After five minutes of soft, yet energetic touches, the lady moaned and peaked, draining any potential energy out of her body.
She turned around, facing the young man, and picked up her glasses from the bedside table.
"Jake, you are up early?" asked the lady after fixing her glasses up her nose.
She didn't bother to hide her body, showcasing their intimate relationship.
"Hmmm, I'm going to the library, Myrna," replied the young man.
Yes, it was Jake.
Jake decisively stood up from his bed, revealing his fully naked body to Myrna for her to feast his eyes on.
To her dissatisfaction, he wore a long robe and headed to the bathroom to prepare himself.
"Are you working today?" Jake from the bathroom, while he brushed his teeth.
Myrna laid in the bed comfortably and replied, "No, my shift is tomorrow."
She sighed, "What a pity? We could have had a lot of fun in the library."
"Hmmmm," sounded Jake from the other side of the room.
Having been in a relationship for three months, Myrna already knew the different meanings of each "Hmmm."
She pouted her mouth, "What? You don't believe me."
She had to wait until Jake rinsed his mouth to get her reply, "Did you forget what happened the last time?"
"I remember. We were almost caught, but weren't in the end!!"
Rain of water could be heard from the bathroom, and Jake quipped in, "Actually, we were caught, but the guard just pretended to not see us. He ignored what he saw."
"Well, he would ignore the next time," argued Myrna.
"You work there, so you know, more than I, that it might a different guard next time," reasoned Jake.
His words marked the last exchange of the two as Myrna allowed Jake to finish his bath.
By the time he came out, he saw Myrna still sleeping.
He walked to his dresser, picked a standard shirt and trouser, and wore them.
After that, he wore a massive long jacket to give him warmth in the cold season that was even harsh to cultivators.
Walking up to Myrna, he woke her up with a long erotic kiss.
After they were both done, Myrna mumbled, "You are already going?"
"Yes."
Myrna was already used to the cold side of Jake and took no offense at his brief choice of words.
She stood up and attempted to wear her clothes that laid carelessly on the floor.
However, she was stopped by Jake's words, "You can stay."
"I can stay," beamed Myrna.
"Yes. This isn't your first time, is it?" sighed Jake as he couldn't handle the positivity.
He waited for Myrna to cool down and informed, "You have the keys. You can leave anytime you want."
Walking out the door, he said his last words to a tired Myrna, "I'm out."
*Bang.*
Jake softly closed the doors
...…..
Five minutes later, Jake was outside the guest house, walking towards the library.
He sighed when he realized that it had been three months after the conclusion of the competition.
All the noises had now settled down, and now people had begun to forget his appearance.
He still remembered, a week ago, he saw a kid that recognized him and cried loudly as he was scared of Jake.
It took thirty minutes to diffuse the situation and it didn't end well. The adult threw judgemental gazes at him, despite him doing nothing.
Currently, he could freely walk the streets without anyone thinking that he planned to kill them.
After more than half an hour, Jake found himself inside the library seated at his regular table.
He leaned on the chair and closed his eyes, recounting the past events.
Immediately after the competition, rewards were given out to their respective owners, all the rewards except the techniques and [Cultivation Method].
Those two rewards required him to come to the library and take it, but Jake currently hasn't taken his.
It was not the fault of the referee.
It was purely Jake's decision to not take it. He had some other reasons, but it was mostly because he wanted to concentrate on what he had with him.
Due to this decision, he had massively progressed in various things.
He had achieved [Realm-2] in cultivation. Even going further to reach [Realm-2 Stage-2].
After getting accurate knowledge on [Realm-2], it was moderately easy for him to break through. All it required was for him to change the state of his energy storage to a liquid state that would be kept in his stomach region.
The change of energy storage was basically the transformation of [Spirit Droplet] to [Spirit Pool]. After the first [Spirit Droplet] is changed to [Spirit Pool], it would mark one's entry into [Realm-2].
The stages in this realm would then require one to fully covert all the [Spirit Droplets], making a large [Spirit Pool], and then expanding it, each stage testing one's expansion limit.
Jake had already fully converted his energy storage, that was why he was currently at [Realm-2 Stage-2], the next thing he had to do was to expand, which was no easy feat.
It was akin to planting a seed. It required time and resources to grow to a tree.
Though he was not still good at manipulating his element, he knew that as soon as he got an elemental-attributed technique, his power would skyrocket!
The other major aspect of him that had improved was his [Sword Drawing Technique].
Jake had finally finished the technique, achieving the [Perfect Stage] of it.
However, he wasn't technically done. There was still a theorized stage that only a handful of people had achieved.
Jake has practiced day and night and wasn't able to achieve that stage. It was only after last week's practice that he decided to not try too hard. Enlightenment would come when the mind was ready.
Still, Jake had already written down his experience in the [Sword Drawing Book], keeping the tradition warm.
Another thing that had progressed was his [Akashic Eye].
It seemed that it progresses after each cultivation realm advancement.
Appearance-wise, the eye had not changed much. Only a few stars in the cosmos-looking eye lightened up well.
It made Jake understand that he had not noticed that there were also some bright stars that appeared after his [Realm-1] breakthrough.
Not minding that the real change laid in an ability that Jake called [Information Analysis].
It was a normal ability to a warrior, but the [Akashic Eye]'s version of it heightened the very concept of the ability.
Normally, the ability would manifest as a skill a warrior picks up that allows him to decipher a wide array of information just from the littlest details given.
Such a warrior could predict an attack just by monitoring the body of his opponent.
Jake had displayed this ability when he deciphered the nature of Cheyenne's attack technique just by feeling its effect.
However, the [Akashic Eye] took it multiple steps further!
He was now finetuned to be able to transform any "data" into "information", well…..as long as it was not above his limits.
In layman's terms, he was able to get the best details just by briefly observing...….that might not be in layman's term, but who cares?
Still, the ability was only active when Jake activates his [Akashic Eye].
Upon experimenting on the passive ability, he found out that it was not as exaggerated as it sounded and still needed him to possess enough accurate knowledge to understand what he sees.
At the end of the day, he was the driver of the carriage.
Without a rich experience, he was bound to drive poorly, like a drunk man.
That was why he occasionally visited the library.
With his [Photographic Memory], which he had to say was not that rare, he would be able to absorb and store knowledge easily.
Jake smiled as growth was clearly evident in him.
Also in the course of the three months, Jake had gotten a sexual partner, who was five years older than him.
It was the librarian he had met the first time he visited the library, Myrna, the spectacle lady.
Their relationship was not in any way romantic. It was strictly a consensual sexual relationship.
If push came to shove, Jake would abandon his lover and she knew that. What they both had was a partner they can rely on to quench their sexual drive.
It was not a special relationship and common among the people of the capital.
Some would even go a further length and establish such a relationship with more than one partner.
Jake saw it as nothing bad. He wouldn't hate it even if he was not on the receiving end.
Like he usually says, "The world was free. Free was the world!"
Clearing his thoughts, Jake dived his head in his pile of books.