I reincarnated into a fantasy world, huh? The realisation caused Ku Lo's mind to become disturbed. He became so confused that he, in his lightheaded state, wobbled to a couch next to the stairs and crashed onto it.
After a moment of staring blankly at the ceiling, he assumed a normal sitting position and then sat there, pondering in silence.
He exhaled before concluding, Well, this isn't a world I would want to be in; however, what can I do? Maybe there's a way back? Surely no one, in all seriousness, would want to live in a fantasy world where your death would happen due to some guy getting irritated and destroying the country you happen to live in…
On the other hand… it isn't like there's nothing to gain. He heard Rin Tin Tin descend the stairs, and so looked at the girl who had the sharp facial features of a model.
"Found your stuff?" Ku Lo asked, trying to stay calm as possible while she took a seat next to him.
"Un." She nodded while taking out something from a leather pouch she had brought from upstairs. "This will reveal if we are compatible." She presented him with a board much larger than the pouch, before placing the board on the floor. "By the way, what's your zodiac?"
What the fuck was my zodiac… Ku Lo had heard his zodiac maybe two or three times in his entire life, so he didn't remember!
"Can't you find it out?" Instead of answering at random, he would let Rin Tin Tin decide. If luck was on his side, she would interpret her stars and moons in a favourable way. Or that was his bet. "I don't think they would let just anyone in, so you must know something."
"Of course I can!" From the pouch, she took out another wooden board and what appeared to Ku Lo as a crystal shard.
While Rin Tin Tin placed the wooden board resembling an ouija board into the small gap between them on the couch and the crystal shard atop it, she spoke, "Place your middle finger on the White Shard."
Ku Lo did so. "Then?"
Rin Tin Tin didn't speak. She closed her eyes.
"Quiet, I'm listening."
Right… Even if this were a fantasy world where beasts could talk and so on, he was sure that interpreting something concrete from the positions of heavenly bodies wasn't a thing. Nevertheless, due to his aim being fixed on buttering her up, Ku Lo didn't show any frustration with her and allowed her to move the White Shard on which his finger laid.
She moved the White Shard over Libra. Hovered past Leo. Stayed a while on Taurus before moving onto Capricorn.
"Capricorn," Rin Tin Tin mumbled. "You are a Capricorn." She opened her amber eyes, which now glimmered as she waited for an answer.
"Yes," he said, his hope of remembering the answer once told vanishing. "You are very good at this."
"Heh," she giggled.
"So how does that other board work? Does it even have a name?" Ku Lo pointed his finger at the board she had taken out first from the pouch that held more than physics would allow. Her bag must be a magical item. Now that he was in a land of magic, he shouldn't be surprised seeing as those things were quite common in fantasy settings.
"A Cultivation Partner Assessment Tool, of course. Are you silly?" she laughed again.
What a bewitching laugh. Every time he heard her laugh, pleasant shudders galloped through his body in a wave.
"They come in so many forms. I didn't recognise this one." He grabbed the 'Cultivation Partner Assessment Tool' from the floor.
I should watch my words, Ku Lo noted. Asking strange questions too many times might blow my cover.
"Your thing, you know what to do." Still, he needed Rin Tin Tin to have the lead in everything.
"Sure." Rin Tin Tin found nothing suspicious in most of his actions, or at least she wasn't concluding anything from them.
Unlike the Zodiac board, the Cultivation Partner Assessment Tool was placed atop their laps.
Wait… Only from that did Ku Lo notice how Rin Tin Tin had moved her body closer to his.
This made him take a quick peek at Rin Tin Tin. Her face had a red hue and hot air escaped her slightly open lips. Not that he was fairing better as the white robe he wore was boiling him.
Ku Lo gulped.
"So, I place my hands here," Rin Tin Tin began. "And you place yours opposite of mine. Our fingers mustn't touch though." She placed her fair hands on the Cultivation Partner Assessment Tool.
Without delay, he did as told.
"Now we wait."
"Right," Ku Lo confirmed, trying to gain some credibility.
They waited in silence as both pairs of hands laid on the Cultivation Partner Assessment Tool, their eyes fixated on the space between their hands.
The silence continued for an entire minute.
Is there something wrong with me? Don't tell me I'm a glitch or something in this world. Ku Lo began sweating, even more than Rin Tin Tin.
C'mon. C'mon.
Minutes passed.
Ku Lo wouldn't be the first one to give up. No way! If there was something wrong, Rin Tin Tin would've let him know in some way already. And what if this ritual took hours to activate? Or the correct alignment of stars? He knew nothing concerning this world, much less about Cultivation Partner Assessment Tools and their inner workings.
Ten minutes passed.
During this time, Ku Lo had begun to reminisce of the world he had left behind. Family. Responsibilities and Obligations. Safety. All of those were now gone, changed to this, a world which he knew nothing about for sure.
If this didn't work out it could be the end!
"Hmm," Rin Tin Tin hummed.
Good? Bad? Her action made him panicky. His heart pounded like never before.
When the panic eased, his eyes focused onto the space between their fingers again.
Oh?!
Their fingers were connected by something, and although it was barely noticeable, he could see movement. Whatever it was, at least the possibility of him having no supernatural aptitude became a lot less real.
He wasn't a total failure? Maybe?!
Ku Lo kept his head in place while his eyes peeked at Rin Tin Tin's face.
Smile? Her thin lips were curled into a lovely smile. Good… this is good.
With a little more confidence, he returned to staring at the space between their fingers. In that time — he didn't know how long her smile had mesmerised him — a change had occurred in the flow.
Orange, black, brown. Between their fingers, the 'strands' had gained some faint colours. Are these like aptitudes or something? To see this further, he stared at the very tip of his fingers.
As he had guessed, his side sent out much more black.
Completed the same research on her fingertips, hidden below her white nails, he concluded. She has much more bright colours.
But if our colours are different, are we incompatible?
He spent an entire minute on this.
No, I just found out a factor in a large equation… In the end, his efforts had opened much more questions than answered. He was back to square one.
"Wow!" Rin Tin Tin exclaimed as she lifted her hands and shook them. "That was… I don't know…"
Ku Lo shuddered. The time for answers has arrived.
"In my opinion, it went fine." He too retreated his hands before cleaning the sweat in his palms to his pants.
"Fine?" Rin Tin Tin leaned forward. "You think it went fine?"
Ku Lo leaned back. "Yeah." He kept his stance, though his tone wasn't so confident anymore.
"I wouldn't dare to say 'it went fine'." She shook her head in a downward angle. "Between 'it went fine' and 'something incredible' there is a large gap, you know?"
"What a tease!" he blurted out.
"Had it coming for you," she said, laughing. "You should've seen your face!"
Ku Lo dragged a palm across his own face while at the same time rolling eyes. "Funny. Very funny."
"Now, now. Remember, the best part comes now." Her words came with a blush, an even brighter one than the last.
Hihihihi, Ku Lo had a devilish snicker in his head. Jackpot!
"Well, then." He shifted his hand around her shoulder the way he had seen in movies. "Shall we begin?" He closed the distance between their faces.
"mmm." The only response was a nigh silent agreement.
He didn't waste another blink before closing the remaining space between their lips.
A cacophony of sensations rushed into his mind the very moment their lips met. Maybe I'm wrong? This still might be heaven.
The kiss was a quick one, and soon their lips parted.
"Are we compatible in this regard?" he asked.
"Oh, yes~" she answered while coming for him.