The response was immediate, even just the touch was enough to stir the energy inside his core like a storm, it wasn't a surprise since it was Vanessa's ass. She was one of the hottest girls Ash had the pleasure of knowing and kissing.
But after that storm of energy ended and he removed his hand a different feeling arose in his chest. This was something else, it was suttle but still powerful enough to made him take a step back even when Vanessa reacted positively to his previous action.
"I need a glass of water, I'll be right back" he said and left downstairs to the kitchen.
On the way he touched his chest, right over the middle, over his heart.
"Relik, what is this?" he asked Relik.
"What? I don't sense anything new?" said Relik.
"It sort of feels empty" said Ash.
"I don't know what you mean, the previous stir of energy was common and it happened before too remember, and anyways it never feels like emptiness" said Relik.
Ash nodded and went to the kitchen but the feeling was still there, it was like a small pressure was being placed somewhere inside him, he just couldn't get a handle on where exactly it was and whether it was pushing outwards or inwards.
It could have been just his reaction to the changes in his body, which wouldn't be a surprise since he had been through a lot of new experiences. But a small feeling of worry still remained in the back of his mind which he for now tried to forget about and move on.
So he drank a glass of water and went back.
By that time the door bell rang and came in the voice of Kara and Runi. They seemed excited, Kara was definitely since she had finally quit her job at the university.
"It's done, I am unemployed now! " announced Kara proudly making them laugh.
"Welcome to the club" said Vanessa. Making Ash realize that she was unemployed too like him. Runi was technically not but she was a psychic so not much better than them.
"So what are we doing then, what did Relik say about our problem, what does he think we should do?" asked Runi.
"According to Relik, we are no match for the shadow spirit, and we'll be dead in a flash if we went up against him on our own" said Ash. He decided a he had to tell them a few things so that they don't do anything stupid and stay away from real danger especially Vanessa.
"So what does he reckon we should do?" asked Vanessa.
"Get as much information and clues as we can, well as much as you guys can" said Ash.
"What do you mean? What will you be doing?" asked Vanessa.
"I'll be going on a trip, to Relik's old masters town and find something we can use to kill it, like a weapon or something" said Ash, hoping his lie will hold.
"And you need to go alone on this trip?" asked Vanessa.
"Well the town is sort of a secret hideout of old wizardy people, Relik says they won't allow anyone in, only I can go since I have Relik with me, he is like our only ticket to the underworld" said Ash. Relik in his mind praised him for his quick lies.
Vanessa was clearly bothered by this news but she was also too proud to say anything out loud, and for once Ash hoped to use her bravado in his favour.
"Oh fine then, I guess it will be us girls only to the haunted estate" said Kara.
"It's not haunted" said Vanessa, but Kara was obviously hoping for something else.
They discussed more about the specifics of their plan for a little while, some questions flew at Ash too about his trip mostly from Vanessa but Ash managed to answer them fine, Relik remained much quieter, it seemed he was somewhat excited to travel to Orion, and didn't want to delay there departure by talking too much.
There meeting ended, they said goodbye, Ash stayed back a little, but didn't stay for long since he didn't want to give too many chances to Vanessa to ask any serious questions. He knew he was living things unfinished but he didn't had any other choice it was all for there protection.
So as the sun started to set, Ash reached his home.
"What should I say to my mom? How long will it take?" asked Ash.
"Well the time scale is a bit different in Orion from here, a little bit faster, but still we can't be sure, we'll just make a pit stop in a week or something" said Relik.
Fortunately Sarah was still not back yet. The talk with his mom went fine too, he told her he will be living early morning so don't worry about him and that the reception on his phone might be bad. She seemed fine and happy that he was finally living the house.
Ash ate a nice dinner, he filled up his stomach, since he was anyways more hungry than before and he wasn't sure what kind of food he will find in Orion.
So as the darkness fell, he locked himself in his room. He heard Sarah came in and went to her room. She didn't make any reappearance after that.
He waited till it was midnight and the house was quiet.
"Should we start now?" asked Ash.
"Yes, it should be morning in Orion by now, I'll teleport us near the capital, we can't jump in the middle of the city since that might get us unwanted attention" said Relik.
Ash had to trust Relik on that.
Relik started chanting slowly, a rhythmic spell, this time there was a blue glow around Relik, then Ash felt him suck in some of his energy and then the glow encircled him too. It felt like the temperature suddenly got warmer to Ash and the light increased around him only for him to realise this was because he was somewhere else now.
It wasn't night anymore rather a much larger sun was glowing bright in the sky, the season here was definitely summer, and he was standing under a green tree. He knew he was someplace real, since all his senses were feeling something he was definitely not dreaming just like in the library. But it seemed like the textures of this world was a bit different, the colors were brighter, the air more clearer. He could feel now the difference in the spiritual energy from earth.
"And here we are, Orion!" announced Relik.
"It's a bit bright isn't it?" remarked Ash.
"The more light there is in one corner, the more dark it is on the other" said Relik feeling proud.
"Where is the capital?" asked Ash.
"Behind us" said Relik.
Ash turned at once and the first thing he noticeeand shouted out aloud was "There is a castle! ".
There was indeed in the middle of the gigantic city a towering castle, made out of different colored stones and marbles.
"Yeah so what? That's where the king lives" said Relik.
The capital was definitely whatmade him realize that he was in a fantasy world, he saw the weirdly shaped houses and buildings leaning at dangerous angles clearly supported by something invisible. He couldn't wait to see it closer so he started walking towards it.
"That's the North gate" said Relik indicating the wall that was circling the city. As they descended the small hill they were on, the wall came closer, and the city hid more and more only living the tall castle.
There was more commotion in one part of the wall, there seemed to be a long line of people entering the city. Ash was reminded of many scenes from the comics he had read.
"Do we have to shows some kind of identification? Wait how will i understand there language?" asked Ash slowing his walk.
"Don't worry, I'll put on a translation spell and my emblem will work fine in getting us inside the city" said Relik.
As Ash approached the back of the line it became clear that this was not going to be all super easy, as he saw the weirdly shaped horse and the weird clothes the man riding on it was wearing, he realised how little he knew, it would take a lot of time to understand the culture here and he knew from his social experiences that how set in there ways people can be, and it's very hard for an outsider to get things done.