Every day I feel my cultivation getting closer to the fifth stars of both paths, but the guilt still eats at me inside.
We had a plan when it came time to put it into action, but I gave up.
As much as I like him, I'm afraid of things going wrong. The relationship was relatively quick. We spent a month together, after a few weeks we moved to another city and went through our first life and death fight.
I wanted to give him everything he deserved, but I just didn't feel ready to take that step.
Our first time was somewhat impulsive, I had let my colleagues influence me to take that step. I had chosen him and one day it was bound to happen, but we didn't expect everything to change so drastically.
The more we cultivated, the more noticeable the difference in our bodies. As my clothes became increasingly looser and my curves became more defined, Ocien had to buy new clothes because the old ones no longer fit his body.
The change was so drastic that none of us were really believing it.
He gained almost 7 inches in height and the body that was previously almost skin and bones gained muscles worthy of a top-tier Warrior.
I on the other hand lost a few pounds, not that that wasn't impressive, since I didn't change my diet at all.
Almage was basically a village compared to Quakan. The sheer number of restaurants, warehouses, equipment stores, and blacksmiths was enough to employ the entire population of Almage, not counting the adventurers.
Quakan's Adventurers' Guild had over ten thousand registered active adventurers, a number five times that of Almage.
Our favorite mission every Friday was to collect ingredients in the Dior Forest. It got its name because at some point an adventurer thought he was invincible and tried to explore its core alone and never returned.
Local legend is that Dior became king of the forest and rules it to this day.
The day dawned without many disturbances. Since our encounter with the bandits on the road I have slept very little, I spend most of my time in bed enjoying the heat that Ocien transmits to my body, it is the only thing that can make me feel safe.
While I was lost in my thoughts, Ocien's fingers ran through my hair, tucking it behind my ear.
"Did you manage to get any sleep, my love?" – he asked softly in my ear.
I took his hand and brought it to my cheek.
Understanding what I wanted, Ocien spent the next few minutes caressing my cheek with all the love, affection and patience in the world.
"I got enough sleep." – I lied, finally breaking the silence.
He has been very understanding with me, we have been in Quakan for over a month and so far he has kept all the promises he made to me at dinner.
"Let's get ready, we need to get the list of ingredients we need to find today." – he said in an inviting tone.
The forest area we went to was safe, some of the ingredients we needed to collect involved beasts, but they were all unranked.
There were missions that paid better than this, of course, but as we agreed, this period would serve to get us used to the life of an adventurer.
We didn't need to take unnecessary risks, our needs were all covered by the collection missions.
Our room at the inn had a fully equipped bathroom with a bathtub and heater. The water pipe took too long to fill the bathtub so Ocien preferred to fill it himself using magic to create water and heat it with fire magic.
What would take thirty to forty minutes ended up being ready in less than five.
He got into the bathtub and I followed him, sitting and resting my back on his chest. It was part of our morning ritual to relax in the tub before actually showering.
I had lost my shame in being naked in front of him, which made me even more guilty about how the relationship was going. At first, each one took their bath separately, but one day when I wasn't feeling the happiest of the people I asked him to accompany me.
Ocien's eyes shone, but after minutes the brightness gave way to disappointment. All I wanted was for him to hug me while the hot water took care of the problems that clouded my mind.
I invoked the system and called up my status screen to check my earnings.
[Status]
Name: Reina / Reina Divinante
Age: 19
Title: Divine
Cultivation:
Warrior: 1st Circle / 4 Stars
Mage: 1st Circle / 4 Stars
Hunter: None
Walker: None
Charming: None
Elementalist: None
Dreamy: None
Techniques: Basic Warrior Breathing / Basic Mage Breathing
Affiliation:
Almage School (expelled)
Life: 280
Aura: 84
Mana: 66
Strength: 12
Dexterity: 15
Constitution: 14
Intelligence: 11
Will: 10
Wisdom: 12
Charisma: 12
Buy Points: 200
[Extra Information] (Expand)
Without noticing my birthday passed…
"What Day is Today." – I asked Ocien carelessly.
I didn't want him to make much of the missed date, even though deep down I really wanted the opposite.
My cheeks flushed thinking about the childishness of my confused mind. He had done so much for me since we left Almage.
Not only was he understanding, he tried his best to complete the missions in the shortest possible time so that I could cultivate.
He already reached the barrier of both paths a few days ago, that's because he pretended to cultivate more than half the time, when in reality he was just sitting there without absorbing a single particle of Aura or Mana.
My lack of points and talent was slowing us down more than I had planned.
I felt a pang in my heart again when I thought about it.
"Today must be the 25th." – he replied while pulling me closer to him.
I could feel my butt press against him, something common since we started taking showers together. Another common thing at this moment is the unique sensation "it" provides against my skin.
I usually manage not to think about it, but with his answer to my question I became distracted and my attention was sucked into that heat that was hotter than water.
"My birthday was yesterday, do you want to go out for something to eat after the mission?" – I asked, trying to control my voice.
The knowledge that he was that way because of me was flattering, embarrassing and guilty at the same time.
His arms squeezed my body in an unusual way, but one that I was still able to identify. He usually hugs me like this when he doesn't know what else to do or say.
"Yes! We must go." – he finally replied, trying to sound excited.
Breakfast was simple in the inn's lounge, bread, eggs and bacon.
I linked my arm with his and we headed towards the Adventurers Guild.