The Zephyr forest at night was filled with shadows, strange animal calls and danger lurking everywhere. It was filled with the wet, coppery taste of earth from the air they breathed and the thick scent of beasts.
However, Asura and Mu Xue were calm and collected, using lanterns to guide their path as they moved deeper into the forest.
'This armour feels so comfortable and fits perfectly.'
Asura wore the armour Mu Xue gifted him, enjoying its perfect fit as they delved deeper into the forest, his eyes able to see without the torches, but Mu Xue was being considerate to him to help his eyes adjust.
She watched ahead with both eyes shining with icy blue light alternating between the natural purple and this colour.
He always felt that the changing colour of her eyes was beautiful. The natural purple colour filled him with a sense of calm, while her icy blue eyes were so beautiful and sharp when using magic or cultivating with him.
'She can see in the darkness, too.'
They came to a small fork in the path. While the darkness surrounded us with bushes rustling and branches snapping, she turned to me with a gentle smile.
"Asura, you want to train and become stronger, so I will only help if you are in mortal danger; these lights are a nuisance, so accept the last part of my gift..."
She skipped to his front, placing her hands on his cheeks and pressing her soft pink lips to his, her tongue entering Asura's mouth as a strange icy energy flowed into his body.
'So sweet.'
Mu Xue's tongue played with his as the energy flowed before she seemed to pull something from the item storage she owned... it was black, red and cold. Her lips curved into a smile as her tongue dripped with saliva, and she placed it on Asura's head.
A dark helmet that finished the entire set and made him look like an evil knight.
He was stunned momentarily because the helmet was strange as it covered his entire head and face. There was no visible gap for his mouth or nose, yet he could breathe easily and felt a cooling temperature along his skin like ice magic was maintaining the air.
"Xue'er?"
"Eh?"
Asura was stunned at his voice, distorted and deeper like a monster or devil from the depths of hell as the tone vibrated the very particles of air.
'This is pretty cool.'
He thought, moving his arm and realising there was no restriction to his movements, vision, hearing or depth perception despite covering his face.
Mu Xue snorted with a bright smile, "Fufu, Asura sounds so dangerous and sexy... I like it."
"What is this Xue'er?"
"Hehe, the last part of your armour, a helmet that will keep your air cool and safe to breathe, hide your identity should you need it, allows you to see in all terrain or battle, be it darkness or underwater."
"Xue'er... I can't kiss you or love you any more than this..."
She seemed happy at his words, slowly stepping forward before whispering the instructions for him to open the mouth part of his eyes. His lower jaw appeared as the black metal folded open.
Mu Xue pressed her lips to his, giggling as their tongues intertwined, and Asura embraced her tightly.
"Mmmn~"
'Her love is far too deep... I know this was made for me without the ability to use mana. This girl's heart and affection is too passionate!'
'How did I not see her love and affection in our last life?'
Asura felt guilty for not seeing her feelings sooner, believing Mu Xue was acting out of her service as his maid until they began to show mutual attraction. Nevertheless, her gift showed him everything he needed about her feelings.
Like magic, the black steel closed, expelling some warm air through small gaps in the cheeks and eye rings, seeming to help restore the cool temperature.
[No wonder she's only stage two...]
[The amount of mana she used to help make this helmet is enough to advance to the late stages of this world's third stage and the cultivation realm's second layer.]
'Is that so amazing?'
'I don't know what this cultivation is compared to what we already know, but how will we change now on this path?'
[For you, I can help adjust everything if you will exceed the limits of this world.]
[To reach a new height and become what you were meant to be.]
[There is a reason you couldn't use mana or form a mana core. It is fate.]
Asura felt Brian's words were always grand, but there was never a time he lied so far.
He couldn't deny the allure of those words about exceeding the world's limits. His life before this one was so pathetic below that even worms wriggling in the dirt as they could evolve into different creatures if bathed in mana-enriched soil.
'How, teach me. I want to become strong!'
A low growl sounded from the bushes as golden eyes began to shine from their dark flora.
Mu Xue's body was already sitting more than forty feet above them to avoid her magical aura, causing them to flee as she watched Asura with both hands under her chin and an enchanted smile.
[I will teach you while you devour these beasts' inferior life essence.]
'Life Essence?'
[What your world calls mana, or what eastern warriors call qi or Aura.]
Doesn't that just mean that life essence is Anima? He wondered to himself, still new to this strange element.
"Haa..."
The wolves began to growl, their bodies low to the ground as more than six wrapped around Asura's body, their glowing eyes and dark fur shimmering under the sun.
However, his eyes were completely illuminated as the helmet's eyes glistened red with a trail of light with each of his movements.
Dark grey fur, long white canines and long floppy ears.
They were a breed of monsters that resembled wolves called Gale Wolves.
Asura spread his legs around shoulder distance, lowering his hips as he held out his right hand with an elegant movement. He called out to his soul weapons.
'Lumeris Nova! Manifest and serve your master.'
***
Inside the Soul Palace.
The beautiful woman was sitting under the black, untranslated monolith with a huge book in her hands, weathered and old, yet each page blank.
Her black phoenix wings folded and used as a cushion while her long silvery white hair glistened like snow to make her raven-black ahoge plume that bounced around more distinct.
"Let me write the techniques, path and way for you to learn."
She then pierced her fingertip on the monolith's sharp stone base, blood seeping from her fingertips with black embers and flames flickering from the dark red blood as she began to write in this world's common language for Asura to learn more.
The beauty pressed on her voice box as she watched his scarlet sword lance appear, changing her voice and sending it to his conscious mind while writing her words and the method in this book with her blood.
Her special blood then soaked and burned the wisdom from her mind into the old parchment as if to block others from reading the words and text.
"This is something only for you."
[Listen to me as you fight.]
[I will teach you the basics, help your Life Essence flow in the right pathway, and help you form the first layer of cultivation.]