Chapter Six: A honeyed tongue…
"Hey! Are you okay?"
Greg's face must have betrayed the mix of shock, fear, and excitement he felt at that moment. The shock and fear came from the realization that all this time, despite everything seeming like it was okay, his life had still been hanging in the balance. Greg didn't need any explanations to know what the system meant by soul stabilization. He wasn't from this world. He didn't even belong in the body he was currently in. He could still vaguely remember the void that he'd been in after he died on earth. Whatever it was, some powerful external force must have taken his soul from there and placed it within this body. All this time since he woke up in this body close to ten days ago, his soul had been slowly acclimatizing to it.
Going by the alert from the system and what he himself was feeling, his soul seems to have established a stable connection with the body he was now in. Greg had no idea what any of the soul maladies listed were. He, however, couldn't shake the feeling that regardless of the state of his body, any single one of them would have meant another death for him. Now that his soul's connection to this body was stable, it wasn't just death that had stopped looming over him. Even his connection with this world had in a way grown much stronger. Greg couldn't exactly put it in words. The closest he could come to it was to say that he'd been interacting with the world with clear glass in between. No matter how clear the glass, there had always been a separation between him and the world. All of a sudden, however, that glass had been shattered and now the world felt a lot more vivid and real!
"Is something wrong?"
Although only one line had been used to address his physical condition, Greg couldn't help the suspicion that it was just as important as his soul. No matter how well the soul stabilization went, if the physical vessel that it was supposed to anchor to had died, then it would have been game over. Especially because this body had already been injured bad enough for the previous owner to lose his life. Looking at the wounds spread out all across his body, Greg could understand why. And yet, despite all that, the healer had quite literally pulled this body back from death and in so doing, granted Greg another lease on life.
"HEY!"
The healer's more forceful tone broke Greg out of his shocked stupor. From the look of concern on her face, the healer was uncertain what to make of his sudden look of shock. He had to pacify her somehow. "Th… The Beyond… it… it no longer calls… calls to me!" Greg stammered and stumbled through the statement. After ten days of silence, his voice was croaky and scratchy. His throat was hoarse and dry. Greg, however, barely noticed any of this. Instead, he was awash with relief and joy as one of his fears was quelled. All through the past ten days, Greg had been worried about something that most people didn't even think about. Language. He was an earthling born and raised in an English-speaking country. His soul had been thrown into the body of someone, not from a foreign country, but an entirely different world where he doubted there was even a trace of English. As he responded to the healer, however, the local language that the previous owner of this body spoke came to him as naturally as breathing.
The brows of the healer rose as she regarded him. From the look in her eyes, Greg couldn't tell what she made of his statement. She, however, began to move her hands once more to weave together the healing rune. It seems that the look of shock on Greg's face had caused her to pause the healing process. Greg could see a note of curious anticipation in her eyes as she moved her hands. From the moment she began healing him more than a week ago, it had been an uphill climb. Now that Greg had reported that he'd crossed some kind of threshold in his recovery, the healer seemed curious to see how this would be reflected in his healing.
The announcement from the system was still covering most of his vision. As such, Greg didn't have to waste any time looking at the edge of his vision to launch the system. He simply moved to the page where the distribution of magic received from the healer could be adjusted. Without hesitation, he moved the pointer such that the distribution was fifty-fifty between healing and magic points. After what he'd told the healer, it would be odd if she tried to heal him and there was no significant change. Besides, the system seemed to be indicating that the reason more features hadn't been unlocked before was because he was in too precarious a state. The healthier both his soul and body were, the more of the system he could handle it seems. No wonder the first deployment of the system had been a single page with just five lines on it. This was the much that his body and soul had been able to handle at the time.
Before, when the green light from the healing rune washed over his body, Greg usually felt like a cool viscous liquid was flowing over and covering every inch of him. That feeling was now much more intensified and its effect even more so. Before, the rune's light only soothed the pain he felt from the wounds but barely had any effect on the wounds themselves. This time, however, Greg could see it with his eyes as the wounds that had only moments ago been crisscrossing his body slowly began to pull together and close up. In an odd twist of fate, the wounds that had been hardest to heal before now closed up without a trace that they'd ever been there. On the other hand, the wounds that had already healed before were the only ones to leave scars. Seeing as the scars weren't actual injuries, the healing couldn't do anything about them.
Greg would have never, even in his wildest dreams, have thought that just a thirty percent change would have such a drastic difference. Greg had changed the distribution of incoming magic from an eighty-twenty distribution to fifty-fifty. The effects of the healing after this small change, however, turned out to be night and day compared to what it had been before. Out of pure curiosity, Greg checked to see how many magic points he got this time. Greg's eyes went wide as saucers when he saw the numbers. Given that the healer had already spent some time healing him, she only spent a minute and a half healing him after the second time around. According to the system, however, his magic points now stood at one point eight three magic points.
On other days, a full session of healing would grant him between seventy-five and seventy-seven magical points. Today, however, just a minute and a half of healing had granted him a whole two hundred thousand points! And this was with the amount going towards magical points reduced by thirty percent! Greg had initially been of the mind that his healing was slow because of the system's distribution of the incoming magic. Looking at the numbers, however, this explanation just simply couldn't explain it. By Greg's calculations, more than three-quarters of the magic that the healer had been pouring into healing him was being lost. Given how broken it was, Greg's body had been like a bucket full of holes. Greg couldn't help but shudder as he realized despite losing a majority of the magic, ninety percent of the remaining quarter had still been taken by the system. With just ten percent of a quarter, the healer had managed to sustain his life! Greg couldn't even begin to imagine how powerful the healer had to be for that small portion of her power to be the difference between life and death!
"I've saved several lives over the years, " The healer spoke in a tone that relayed that she too was unsure what to make of what had just taken place. "I must say, yours is probably the second most remarkable recovery that I've ever seen," The healer stated.
A brow arched on Greg's face as he heard the healer's words. "Who was the first?" He couldn't help but ask.
Despite the smile that remained on the healer's lips, Greg couldn't help but feel like he'd been thrown into an icebox at the dangerous gleam that crossed her eyes. The only other time Greg had so clearly felt the threat of death, was right before he died in his previous life. The threat wasn't even directed at him and yet Greg felt like a sharp blade was pressing against his neck. It was only at this moment that Greg keenly understood why the system considered it to be suicidal to mess with this woman. "I was," The healer answered calmly. Despite not knowing anything about what had happened to the woman, Greg couldn't help but feel sorry for anyone who was behind it.
"I… I owe… owe you… my life," Greg spoke intermittently. It sounded cheesy, but it was the only thing he could think of to steer the woman away from thoughts of murder.
From the way the look of murder slowly left her eyes, Greg seemed to have succeeded. "I'm a healer, saving lives is what I do," She offered in the calm tone of one who'd been in this position many times. "Now," She said, turning to the water in the basin that had been boiling for a couple of minutes now. "The herbs might no longer be necessary, but you still need a bath," She stated as she crouched down, dismissed the rune that had been boiling the water, and started to weave the rune that would cool it back down.
Perhaps it was because his soul hadn't been stabilized that Greg's senses hadn't been able to pick up on the dangerous aura around the woman. Now that he had, however, Greg wasn't willing to take the gamble. He might have gotten away with some things when he was bedridden and on the edge of death, but now that he was much better, he'd have to tread more carefully. "I'll do it myself," Greg said as he tried to push himself up off the bed. The effort, however, turned out to be more than his body could handle. Greg only managed to get his head and chest off the bed before he fell back into it, losing all strength.
The healer, who was by now turning the used herbs into ash, didn't even look in his direction as she explained. "You haven't eaten or drunk anything over the past ten days. My magic is all that's been sustaining you," She stated. Greg's eyes went wide as it hit him. Ever since he'd woken up, he'd never felt hungry or thirsty. For whatever reason, this oddity had never occurred to him until the healer pointed it out. It seems that he was more disconnected from this body than he'd initially imagined. "You are too weak to sit up, let alone clean yourself," the healer went on, her hands dipping the white cloth into the now mint green but still clear water. "Just lay back down. After two or three days of feeding you, you should be strong enough to go home," She stated.
A sigh left Greg as he acquiesced to the healer's instructions. Part of him was happy to still receive her attention. An even larger part of him, however, was simply relieved that she wouldn't have any reason to…
"You are quite the excited young man, aren't you," The healer spoke up, causing Greg's gaze to turn to her.
When he saw her looking at his lower body, Greg couldn't stop himself from letting out a sigh. He could feel it even without turning to look. Part of him wanted to panic. Greg, however, forced himself to remember the first time that she saw his hard-on. 'The woman's dangerous, about that, there's no question,' Greg found himself thinking.. 'She, however, isn't a psychopath,' he mentally reminded himself. Rather than act like a rabbit faced with a wolf, Greg had resolved to act normal around her. Until he had reason to do otherwise, that's exactly what he'd do. Allowing a slightly shy smile to cross his face, Greg replied. "There is an honest answer to that statement and a polite one," Greg did his best to keep both his voice and words steady as he spoke. "Which would you prefer?" He posed with the air of a young man who was trying to act calm despite his fears.
From the slight smile that crossed her face, the healer was amused by his antics. She, however, threw him a curve ball. "There is also the option to just remain quiet," She stated.
From the look in her eyes, Greg could see that she expected him to panic and get flustered. He, however, immediately shot back. "That's the coward's answer," He stated. "I didn't suggest it because no one likes a coward," He went on, making sure to add the right amount of challenge into his voice.
The healer's smile widened slightly telling Greg that he'd passed the small test she'd just set out for him. "True," She answered. "However, I like false politeness even less," She went on. "So how about you give me the truth," She challenged.
"The truth," Greg repeated, allowing himself a quick glance at the healer's body. Something that she didn't miss. "The truth is that only the dead wouldn't be excited by a body like yours," He stated. "Trust me, I'd know," He went on. "I was half dead and even then I wasn't immune to your charm," he declared with a smile.
A chuckle left the healer as she started wiping him down. "Keep that honeyed tongue and I'm sure you'll have all the girls in town falling head over heels for you," She quipped, unable to hide the slightly pleased smile on her face.
Greg couldn't help his smile at the fact that his gamble had paid off. The healer seemed to like him more, even if just a little bit. "I don't know anything about a honeyed tongue," Greg said with a shrug. "I only spoke the truth," he stated causing her smile to further widen. It seems that no matter how powerful they are, no woman hates being complimented. The healer, however, didn't respond, she just went on wiping him down. Feeling that he'd pushed his luck far enough Greg also chose to keep silent and leave the amiable air between them as is.
As always, the healer was nothing if not diligent in her work. As such, Greg wasn't as surprised as he was the first time when the healer wrapped both the soft cloth and her hand around his hard dick and began to wipe it down. Now that his body was largely healed and had more mobility, weak as he was, Greg couldn't keep himself from reflexively thrusting his hips forward slightly every time her dainty hand glided down his cock. Tendrils of pleasure were coursing through him threatening to overwhelm him. Still, even in the throes of pleasure, at some point, it became clear to Greg that the healer was spending a lot more time on his cock than she usually would.
Greg opened his eyes to find her looking him straight in the eyes. This was no accident, she knew what she was doing. Clearly, his honeyed tongue had paid out more dividends than even he would have thought it capable of. Greg wasn't stupid enough to try and talk and ruin the mood. He, instead, took advantage of the situation and allowed his gaze to slowly drop from her eyes down to her ample bust. His thrusting slowly picked up pace as he lost himself in the bottomless chasm that was the healer's cleavage. Much to Greg's pleasure, the healer's hand tightened around his cock and then stopped moving, allowing him to fuck her hand. The healer's hidden strength was put on display as, unlike most women whose hand would have been pushed back and forth along with his thrusts, hers remained as unmovable as a mountain, pushing the pleasure of the whole experience even higher. Even though he couldn't see any runes, Greg was certain that she was using some kind of magic on him. There's no way a simple handjob could be this mind-bendingly pleasurable.
The room was full of the slick sounds of Greg's dick thrusting in and out of the healer's closed hand. At some point, Greg's eyes had drifted closed as he lost himself in the pleasure. Before Greg even knew it, he crested over the peak of pleasure. Like a shotgun going off, a torrent of cum blasted forth from his cock. The healer couldn't help but look up at the thick white viscous fluid, marveling at just how high the boy had sent it. By looking up, however, she had set herself at the perfect angle. Drawing an arc in the air, the wad of cum landed right on the healer's face. The healer froze, not having expected this turn of events. But while she had momentarily blanked out, the boy continued to send arc after arc of jizm through the air. Bit by bit, the healer's face and cleavage were painted white by the boy. His body might have been broken but clearly, his balls must have been working overtime for the whole of the past week, given how much he produced. With his eyes closed and his mind addled by the pleasure, however, Greg didn't even notice. His whole world had shrunk down to the healer's hand wrapped around his cock.
Eventually, however, Greg came down from the orgasmic high and weakly lay back down on the bed. His cock was slowly softening in the healer's grip. A smile was plastered on Greg's face as he opened his eyes to wordlessly thank the healer for 'attending' to his needs. He, however, froze when he was met by the healer covered in his cum slowly coming back to herself. Greg couldn't help but have a mini panic attack as he wondered if, maybe, he had crossed a line that the healer wouldn't tolerate. What made the situation even worse for him, was the fact that Greg was turned on by the sight of her covered by his cum. His dick, which had been softening in her hand, immediately began to grow again and stiffen again. Something that she was sure to pick up on, given that she was quite literally holding it.
When the healer waved her hand, Greg felt like it was the grim reaper's scythe ready to reap his life. The spell, however, wasn't aimed at him. Like it had a mind of its own, all the cum that had covered the woman's face and bosom rose off her. The healer was left no different from how she had been before Greg gave her the impromptu cum shower. Even her clothes were left dry and unstained. Meanwhile, the cum had clumped together into a ball floating in the air before the woman. "You won't tell anyone about this, will you?" the healer spoke in a sweet tone with a smile on her face.
Greg, however, had never been more aware of death than at this moment. If he gave the wrong answer, there was no question about what his fate would be. Shaking his head from side to side, he spoke. "I wouldn't even dream of it," He said with a shaky laugh.
The ball of cum that had been floating in the air burst into flames. "Good," The healer replied. Like the ash left behind by the herbs, the black glob left behind by the flames was also sent out the window. And as if nothing had happened, the healer continued to calmly wipe him down.
Greg didn't say anything else and let her continue. Part of him was still unable to believe that he'd gotten an actual handjob from the healer as opposed to the brief contact he usually got during normal cleaning. The healer appeared calm and collected as she continued with her work. Greg, however, couldn't shake the feeling that even she wasn't entirely sure why she had done it. Whether it was a spur-of-the-moment thing or she had actually been taken in by Greg's glib tongue, neither one of them knew. Greg painting her in his cum, however, seemed to have jolted her out of whatever state she had been in. Greg could only thank his lucky stars that she didn't seem to blame him for what had happened. She only sought discretion from him. Which, as far as Greg was concerned, she needn't have asked as he wasn't about to tell anyone about it…