Lind usually had black out sleep after long sessions with Younger Twin. His Qi was wiped out, his mental focus was burned down, and his body ached all over. Meditation could help him recover his Qi easily but real sleep was still needed at times for Soul Realm cultivators. It was only in the World Realm that reliance on food and sleep became far less.
Thus, after the longest session ever, Lind expected to sleep like the dead. Strangely, he felt like he could not relax even as he lay in his comfortable bed. He was between asleep and awake, yet he could not truly stand in either. Several attempts to push his body to sleep failed, therefore LInd was about to force himself to get up and do a tempering session but found himself restricted.
He was about to see if a blanket had gotten tangled up but the sleep that evaded him came crashing down all at once. For a moment, he thought he heard a voice say something but it was too faint to make out as blackness closed in.
The chirping of birds and several bars of sunlight filtered through the gaps in his drawn curtains brought Lind back to the land of the living. He felt greatly invigorated but also groggy as he woke up. He tried to remember the last thing before he passed out but his mind felt like it was full of cotton despite his body being energetic.
Lind went to wipe the last of his tiredness from his eyes and found his arm hit something warm that did not belong to him. His mind went from slowly rousing to full awake instantly! Lind whipped his eyes to a slim but well toned lavender arm hugging him gently across his chest. His bare chest!
Lind quickly assessed his condition and felt relief his pants were still on! What in the Hell was going on?! Lind glanced to his left and saw a head of silver hair around a dark lavender face he did not recognize at all! Lind also felt his blood drain from his face to realize his 'guest' had no clothes at all as he could see them draped lazily on the nearby chair!
Lind felt shocked to realize he could not see the woman's dantian but the Qi around her was extremely high quality. He carefully extricated himself without waking her before swiftly searching for his missing robes. A careful search found them suspiciously left on the floor which he never did. Lind was not a neat freak but he did not just toss his clothes on the ground!
Lind stretched his senses and found 2 ripples outside his main doorway that were not there last night. A quick glance out the window showed it was mid-morning at the earliest but Lind had no time to worry about lectures or his duties as he had been gone over a month already.
A high level World Realm demon was in his room naked and had guards with her. This did not bode well on many levels! Lind suddenly wished he was back to being ignored. Several attempts to pinch himself did not make the 2 presences vanish nor the woman disappear in the haze of a dream. Lind hated that cultivation made his senses sharper as he could still smell the rather pleasing scent on his body.
Thanking Shoti for all her teasing helped Lind recenter himself. Although he doubted these people were here with pure intentions, it was impossible to ignore them. Lind also wanted to know how they got into his rooms in the first place as he definitely remembered closing his door behind him and being alone!
Lind walked into the main area and found 2 more demons, both women as well, but garbed in woolen clothes tightly wrapped around them. Although she had been face down, Lind's sense gave him a rough idea of the voluptuous dimensions of his 'guest' whereas these 2 were closer to Cyntilla's physique. Still beautiful but very deadly.
"G-good morning. I don't suppose either of you can tell me what is going on?" One pair of obsidian and another crimson stared back at him in silence. Lind did not have enough experience with demons to know what they were thinking but he knew they were also World Realms. "I beg pardon seniors, do you like tea?"
His question and politeness seemed to catch them off guard but that was all. Silence. LInd felt a cold sweat start to form on his back, but just as he turned to his kitchen, his right cheek suddenly burned but not uncomfortably so. He instantly turned to his main door in confusion as he felt a tug in that direction.
"He is marked." One of the women made a comment about a subject Lind wanted to ask but he quickly went to his door and pulled it open to find Cyntilla staring a hole where it had been before. Relief was short lived as his right cheek now burned more intensely.
"You are worse than any demon!" Cyntilla was screaming at him but Lind was purely confused about so many things that he had no idea where to begin. He had, however, seen enough rom coms to know he had to clear this up now.
"I swear before Heaven and Earth I came home to sleep alone and woke up to find these 3 people here." Lind had no idea if people would go this far to prove their innocence but for the first time he inspired shock on the faces of the 2 guards he presumed the women to be. The burning sensation in his cheek instantly vanished as Cyntilla looked teary eyed at him but no longer in anger.
A bag dangled from her right hand and the large shape looked like another puzzle. Lind was about to invite Cyntilla inside when the last thing in the universe Lind wanted to happen occurred.
"Who is making so much noise this early in the mo-o-o-orning?" A completely nude demoness walked out of Lind's bedroom. Had this been the moment canned laughter started or some kind of audience response, Lind would have been actually glad to hear it as it meant he was dreaming and he swore to never push himself so far ever again.
Her voice, however, triggered the memory that was so foggy in his memory.
'Sleep now my little dumpling. I will eat you if you wake up now.' Lind suddenly felt rage. He had been off kilter since waking up, but he now knew his instincts had been trying to rouse him due to danger and this woman had put him to sleep. Nothing had happened as he had learned there were signs a cultivator had been first taken, but she could have done anything to him.
Emerald flames exploded around Lind as the sound of crashing followed before a staff flew into his hands. He had never summoned the staff before but the sensation was imprinted sharply onto his finally clear head. Drugged. He had been drugged. He could vaguely hear voices but that fact kept repeating in his head.
Something snapped inside his chest and the flames vanished from the staff and filled his blood. Lind felt something wrong, but it was like he was no longer in control of himself. He simply fell into a deep dark place and had no idea what was going on in the world anymore.
****
Cyntilla had been enraged when her mark informed her another demon was with Lind. She knew nothing had happened as the mark would have shattered at that moment, but she could not fully control her emotions. When Lind swore so vehemently to Heaven and Earth, she reminded herself that over the past year, Lind had never done things like that.
There had been rumors he was going to the Stone Ward, but all her investigations confirmed something very strange as no resident recognized him. He went in for hours to days but always came out depleted of Qi and exhausted. She knew the signs of intensive training but not what it specifically was, but this was the first time she felt fear from a junior.
His staff had somehow crossed the rooms into his hand. A bound item might be able to do that, but it took very fine control. Lind's mid tier 5 cultivation was becoming chaotic before it was like his body was bathed in emerald flames instead of the staff.
The dark green eyes she had wished to see again suddenly were a stranger to her. The kindness was gone and only a cold rage was left, but it was not directed at her, but the naked demoness and her companions. Cyntilla recognized the distinctive dress of assassins from the Demon Empire.
What were they doing here?
She had no time to even ask as suddenly Lind changed. Gone was the timid and laid back person she had known, and a pressure unlike anything she had felt from him exuded out of his body. A cultivator burning their foundation might feel like this but that would only skip up to 1 major realm. This felt like far more.
"Interesting. You grow interesting even more, Lind Frey. Still, letting a heart demon take you this far and still control your Qi flow? Not very impressive little boy." The naked woman did not seem afraid, only disappointed but shadows engulfed her body. Cyntilla had seen similar techniques that would allow a demon to slip from one shadow to the next.
A blazing sun suddenly filled the room and blinded all of them. By the time Cyntilla got her sight back she saw something impossible. Lind was channeling his elements in tandem like he had been struggling to for so long! Without the 6 element staff, Lind could never blend any of his elements without a backlash. She had heard about him at the training fields many times trying to learn how but to no avail.
Lind was using the staff now as a true weapon. It was glowing with earth and light. Lind was negating the elements of the World Realms! How was he doing this?! The cold look in his eyes never stopped and she grew afraid. The woman had said heart demon, right? Possession, this was possession. How badly was Lind scarred?
Cyntilla had heard of possession affecting much higher realm cultivators and leading to lethal Qi deviation but she saw none of that here. Somehow, Lind was channeling Qi at a level no one could resist head on. The 3 demons were well coordinated but they could not seem to stop him. She was stunned to see World Realms stuck like that!
"This is no longer amusing lil man. I planned to have some fun with you but you are pushing my bottom line!" A bracelet glowed on the naked demon's left ankle but whatever was supposed to happen never did. True shock showed on all their faces now. He had stopped the manifestation from the storage space!
"Bottom line?" An extremely cold and cruel voice came from LInd. "You invade my home, drug me, and say you will have fun with me? People are not things!" The feeling of pressure was no longer just coming from Lind. The Heavens were now included. Tribulation, it was tribulation but why? A dark smile crossed Lind's face as earth Qi suddenly flooded the rooms.
The once forming tribulation suddenly seemed confused. It was as if it could no longer find its target. The demoness suddenly looked pale as she realized this was not a simple possession. There was something more going on with that boy!
"Your mother has become a peak grade 2 alchemist! Teyla Frey's wedding will be held in the autumn with Teylin already married this summer!" Cyntilla began yelling. She had been learning about Lind and how he ended up so isolated by Darkmoor decree. She had been horrified at what her network revealed after 6 months of digging but she also learned about his family.
"Kang Li has been studying ways to help 6 elementals breakthrough to the World Realm. Kor, Seyla, and Nya have been fully initiated as Frey Clan members. They all speak of growing strong enough to defy Darkmoor to see you again!" Cyntilla could only yell and hope her news got through to the real Lind. The possession had 2 weaknesses. One was the cultivator themselves could seize control if they were strong enough, the other was to distract the heart demon with hope. Hope could shatter a heart demon.
The cold eyes stared at her in hate but Lind did not raise his staff against her, instead the aura dissipated and returned to the Soul Realm but all the Qi was gone! Blood started to flow from his mouth as he began to cry. Lind finally looked out at her from his face and smiled a bloody smile.
"Thank you." He only spoke 2 words but the gratitude in them was felt by all. The staff retracted and he collapsed as blood began to flow from his eyes, ears, and nose as well. His body was covered in burst blood vessels. His cultivation was somehow still intact but his body had paid the price!
Cyntilla whipped across the room but was stopped by one of the assassins. They looked with fear upon Lind but the naked woman knelt down and for the first time looked at Lind in pity.
"What did they do to you, First Prince of Altair?" The words made Cyntilla's blood run cold. That was not supposed to be Lind's title. He had been very clear on that and all she had learned told her he despised that kingdom from the bottom of his heart. She then saw the demoness' hand begin to glow and Cyntilla felt her heart freeze. Surely not?!
"I am taking this boy from here. You all have done enough." Cyntillla felt her poison and acid flare but she could not do anything to these 3 people. Just as she prepared herself to feel the pain of the bond breaking, a bloody hand firmly grasped the glowing hand of the demoness.
"Do not ever touch me!" Rage, pure rage made Lind slowly move. "Get out, everyone get out!" Cyntilla was amazed as she watched his wounds heal. She saw an empty vial on the floor but it was marked strangely from the normal pill vials. The smirk on the demoness told Cyntilla this recovery would not stop her but then a new aura crushed all by her and Lind in the room.
"I suggest you leave little girls, while I am feeling generous." A voice that brought pain to all of them but Lind spoke but Cyntilla could not locate and had never felt someone so powerful in her life. Who was this? "I am afraid that includes you, young lady but I thank you for saving my disciple."
Left with no way to resist, all 4 demons left once the cause of everything collected her clothes. Cyntilla was about to walk out but then stopped. She turned around and placed the bag next to Lind with a smile. He looked up at her, clearly still wiped out, but he smiled up at her and she knew they were still close.
The last thing she saw before the door closed was Lind gently holding the new puzzle box with joy on his face and she saw the shelf of all of the ones previous. He kept them all. It made her feel warm in her heart.