"Hold hands? How is that a reward?" Misho asked, taken aback by the embarrassment on her face.
"You won't get a woman's essence by holding my hands, but it will be my first time…" Aphrodite replied with a red face.
"..."
Misho was speechless. Her words sounded misleading, but that won't motivate him enough. He needed something more of value.
"I-Is it not enough?" Aphrodite asked as she looked up at him.
"Look… Wait, how do I get down?"
Misho planned to fall down to the surface of the lake and approach her, but he realized that he didn't know how to. He was floating above the lake like a chandelier.
"Just think about it. The lake is very dense, so you won't sink in it," Aphrodite answered.
Misho focused his mind on falling down, and he rapidly fell. He immediately felt his soul leave his body, and he quickly thought about falling slowly, which caused his fall to slow down.
With his slow speed, he touched the lake. It was warm, and he slowly released his flight. He floated on top like he was stepping on land.
"Look…"
Misho continued his words earlier. He walked towards Aphrodite and grabbed her left hand. He held it in front of her eyes.
"We can hold our hands like this. There's nothing special about it," Misho said seriously.
"But… But… That woman said that only her husband can touch them…" Aphrodite said with her face turning even redder.
"That's not true. In real life, anyone can hold your hand," Misho replied.
"Really?" Aphrodite asked with a shocked expression on her face.
"Yes. I don't know what the developer was thinking, but that's not how it goes in real life," Misho said to reaffirm her.
"I see… Then you're not married to Maisha?" Aphrodite asked as she blinked her eyes.
"Of course not. She's my 3rd Cousin in real life. My parents and her parents would definitely not approve of our relationship," Misho replied.
"I see. Then, yes! Let's hold hands!"
Aphrodite smiled and gripped his hands tighter. The embarrassment on her face earlier was no more.
"So… What will be my reward now?" Misho asked.
"Your reward…"
Aphrodite stared at him in a daze. She was at a loss for words. She had no idea how to reward him anymore.
"Don't you have anything that is beneficial in the game?" Misho asked.
If she could give him a Tier 5 reward, that would be awesome.
"Ah, yes! I can tell you a secret path for cultivation!" Aphrodite said.
"What!? There is a secret path for cultivation?" Misho exclaimed in disbelief.
This was big news to him. If her words were true, and if he managed to cultivate that secret path of cultivation, then he would have an unprecedented advantage over other players.
"Hmmm… Yes. I think I will also tell you after you advance to Essence Sea. I think you will hate me if I don't…" Aphrodite said with her hand under her chin.
"What? Why? I won't hate you," Misho asked in a panic.
He felt bad that she thought of him like that. He wasn't as superficial as that. Even if she did something wrong, he would brush it off as he already thought of her as a friend.
"You will know," Aphrodite said and smiled at him.
Her body suddenly exploded into countless white particles that slowly faded away.
"..."
Misho was left staring at the empty lake with his mouth open. He looked around and saw nothing else interesting in here. He left his dantian and came back to his body.
With the reward she promised, Misho felt motivated. He continued practicing cultivation for several more hours. It was basically the same thing over and over again.
He breathed in the elements in the air, and he would store them in his dantian. It felt slow, but Misho could feel some progress.
When he opened his eyes, it was already dark. He could even hear noisy crickets outside.
"So this is the sound of nature…" Misho muttered.
He stood up and looked outside the window.
The leaves on the trees swayed as the wind blew, and the tall grass scattered about did the same. There were also torches lit up all around the village. It felt very rural and unfamiliar for Misho.
"Misho?"
Misho turned around and saw Maia walking towards him slowly. She was already wearing proper clothing. It was a loose robe with a string that tied it to her waist.
"That looks good on you," Misho said.
It was better than her previous tattered rag-like clothing.
"Thank you," Maia replied with a smile on her face.
"How long was I cultivating for?" Misho asked.
"Hmmm… I don't know. They don't have clocks in this village. I asked Gerald, and he said those are only available in the cities," Maia replied.
As the villagers were rather poor, they couldn't afford the clocks manufactured by the people from the city. They would never consider those outside them. After all, the pricing was set for the people in the city.
"Really? Then, we should find a city soon. It will be better for our development," Misho replied.
"It will take a while. I heard that only Tier 1 Essence Sea cultivators can travel to the city as the journey is very dangerous," Maia answered with a regretful expression on her face.
"Then, I guess we will need to improve our strength first and cultivate more."
With this, Misho got another reason to cultivate to the Essence Sea.
"Wait, what about real-time? How much had passed?"
"Oh, right. Right now, about 2 hours have passed in real-time. You can check it by thinking about it," Maia replied.
"Nice! That means that the game time is faster than in real-time. That makes it more fun," Misho said with a smile on his face.
"Anyways, how did you cultivate so long, Misho?" Maia asked.
"I want to reach Essence Sea!"
"But the villagers said that it takes years…"