"Now tell me, old warrior…
…what do you desire in return?"
In return? Was he being granted a wish from a god?
The goddess also mentioned something about being able to satisfy her, what exactly did she mean by that? Did it have something to do with the endless supply of water that —
And then, a possible conclusion entered Zac's mind; his eyes, instantly widening at the thought. It seemed impossible, but this is a Curtain — the laws of men do not apply here.
"..." Zac then once again looked the goddess straight in the eyes, trying to see if there was any semblance of emotion he could read. It… was possible. The thundering wail he heard earlier did sound like a moan now that he was collecting the scenario in his mind.
It would also explain everything — how the water endlessly flowed. The only thing not setting his conclusion into stone was the taste of the juice; it didn't taste like it should. But of course, Zac was not arrogant enough to know the biology of a god.
"Hm… your gaze is intense," the goddess let out a strong breathe, causing Zac's red hair to flutter violently,
"Never once has a creature intentionally dared to look me in the eye. Most bow and cower in fear."
"Fear…" A small smile crawled on Zac's face as he heard the goddess' words, "I lost the capability of feeling that a long time ago… and I'm good at pretending to be calm."
"Am I lucky that the thing you lost is your fear?" Another playful giggle fettered from the goddess' lips. 'Playful' — perhaps that was the best term Zac could come up with; because the goddess could truly squash him like an insect, he was smaller than an ant compared to her,
"Because you certainly have not lost your carnal drive."
So Zac was right — he truly was pleasuring the goddess.
"I take no credit in that, I had no idea I was doing it," Zac also let out a small chuckle, "Forgive me."
"Oh?"
"If I knew what I was doing, then I would have probably turned this entire pocket dimension of yours into an ocean."
"Oh?" The goddess slightly leaned her head closer to Zac, causing the air around her to burn, "You want to do it again?"
"I'm just kidding," Zac burst out in laughter as he took a seat on the goddess' palm, "Now that I know what it is, I know I would unconsciously do a shit job about it — I… didn't get much action during the apocalypse, as you may very well imagine since you're a god."
"I actually can not imagine, no. I only know what is happening now at this instance."
"Huh, weird," Zac breathed out, "Then can I ask you questions about the Curtain? About where we are?"
"No," the goddess answered without pause.
"Hm," Zac only nodded and sighed, "If I want you to answer it… will that count as my desire?"
"Only if you wish to waste this gift I am willing to give you," the lips of the goddess started to form into a smile.
"Then…" Zac then once again looked the goddess straight in the eyes; the look on his face, unwavering, "Can… I wish for the Curtains to disappear from my world?"
"I am afraid that is well beyond my power," the goddess let out another sigh, once again causing Zac to almost be blown away like a leaf.
"Can you give me a hundred powerful Class Tomes so I can distribute it to other people?"
"No, I dislike my gifts being shared."
And for the first time, the tone of goddess' voice shift; her eyebrows, slightly lowering as the smile on her face disappeared,
"One would think a warrior of your age would have learned to be selfish and keep things to himself. Do you not want to be regarded as a sole hero?"
"Oh," Zac once again suddenly burst out in laughter; causing the goddess to lower her eyebrows even further,
"I passed that edgy phase somewhere in the middle of the apocalypse when all the men under me died," Zac then said as he looked down; the smile on his face, also fading away,
"I'd like to think I'm not a degenerate… at least not anymore. Those were dark times… I wish to do better — be better this time around."
"Hm. Time is ticking, weary warrior. What is it you desire?"
"Oh? I thought we were chatting."
"We were."
"Have I managed to offend you in any way?" Zac let out a sigh as he closed his eyes, "I imagine it would be a while until another life comes here to talk to you. It's a shame…
…I believe this will probably also be the last time I will be having a proper conversation with someone older than me."
"Well…" And once again, a small hint of a smile could be seen on the goddess' face, "...I believe we will meet again very soon."
"My 'soon', or your 'soon'?"
"Pft," a giggle then escaped from the goddess' lips, "Soon. Now tell me…
…what do you desire?"
Zac took in a deep breath as he covered his face; lightly rubbing it before brushing his lush-red hair back. He then stood up; once again locking gazes with the colossal goddess in front of him.
"Power. I desire power."
"Oh, quite a mundane and common desire," the goddess closed her eyes, "I thought a warrior like you would—"
"A power that would make even a god like you kneel."
And as soon as Zac interrupted the goddess' words, her eyes quickly opened — a long, and very loud breath escaped from her mouth as the very world they stood on started to tremble. The goddess seemed to want to say something, as the glare in her eyes was almost enough to turn mountains into a puddle of mud.
Still, Zac remained absolutely still — the only one not moving in this shivering world.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"...Very well."
And then, the smile returned on the goddess' face as the world stopped trembling, "Look behind you."
"..." Zac carefully turned around as he heard a rustle behind him, only to see something growing out of the goddess' palm — a small tree, and on top of it, lies some sort of chalice.
The chalice held some sort of liquid gold in it; moving, as if it was being boiled.
"...This isn't your pee, is it?" Zac then glanced at the goddess.
"Would you drink it if it was?"
"I've had weirder things, much worse."
"You really are amusing," the goddess once again giggled, "It's my blood. Drink it, and everyone will learn to kneel before you. Someday…
…maybe even me."
And as soon as Zac heard those words, he quickly grabbed the chalice and drank it without any hesitation. And with it passing through his throat, he felt a certain pain starting to crawl from his stomach.
And soon, it started burning him from the inside out.
"!!!"
Zac had experienced all kinds of pain — stabbing, drowning, even burning. But this? This is different.
It felt like every inch of his flesh and bones were being grinded and shredded by a blunt grater.
"Kh!" Zac gritted his teeth as the veins on his body showed themselves; he fell down, never once, however, did he scream in pain.
And soon, symbols started to appear on his chest — tattoos, similar to the ones the goddess has.
"Now then…" And very slowly, the goddess started to close her palm,
"I'll be waiting, weary warrior. Waiting…
…for you to make the world kneel.."
***
"Gah!"
Zac then stood up — blowing away all the rubble and debris he found himself covered in. He quickly looked up towards the sky. And finally, he finds a familiar sky welcoming him; the haunting beauty of the sky blanketed by the Curtains' ashes.
He then looked at his chest, only to see the weird tribal-looking tattoo was still there. He only examined it for a few seconds, before shrugging his shoulders and started looking around.
"..."
"..."
A desert. A concrete desert filled with nothing but rubble. Some of the buildings near him looked like they would already fall with just a single tap. Zac was already expecting damage, of course…
…but this much? There should at least be a couple of people running for their lives here and there. Yet he found himself surrounded by nothing but a barren grey desert seemingly devoid of life.
"..." Zac started walking around, but after a few minutes of not seeing even a single person, he just let out a sigh and gave up.
"Open Status Window."
[Zac Baker, Level 4 | Class: Eros
Strength: 15
Vitality: 27
Stamina: 20
Dexterity: 20
Mana: 5
Remaining Status Points: 11]
Most of his stats remained unchanged, he placed some points on Vitality and Stamina to prolong his life in the Curtain. There was, however, one noticeable change —
"...Eros?" Zac slightly blinked several times as he stared at his Class; his face, showing utter confusion.
What… sort of Class is this? The Class usually represents what type of System a person has. In his last run, Zac started as a Mage, which evolved into an Archmage as he grew stronger. It was a very simple… system — and it was the same for everyone.
"Eros… isn't that the Greek God of Love?" Zac furrowed his eyebrows, "Cupid? Just what kind of…"
The slightly excitement on Zac's face slowly disappeared,
"No…" He then forced a small chuckle, before taking in a small gulp, "Can't be…"
Eros is a god. So this should be a very strong System — but why does it feel like something was wrong?
Surely… the goddess wouldn't do that to him.
"Open… Open Skill Window."
[Passive Skills:
Basic Info: Once an intelligent life form intentionally, voluntarily, knowingly, willfully, and genuinely comes in contact with your bodily fluids, their Affection level towards you will increase. The effects will vary depending on the type of bodily fluid and where it touches > More skills will be unlocked once you reach a certain level.] "This… isn't fucking happening." "..." "..." "No… …No!"