Eve came out of the bath, a thick white towel wrapped around her body, water dripping down her smooth pale legs. Her wet hair, damp with sweat and the water of the bath, clung to the skin of her neck and her back, making her body glisten in sunlight. Although it was new, having servants help her with her bath, but it was best when she had a bath by herself.
Her bare feet padded softly on the floor as she made her way towards her room. She fell forward on the bed, relaxing, thinking to herself, 'finally...some time for myself...'
Ever since she awakened her memories, it was a roller coaster ride. She had to get engaged in the first week, and by the third month it was her marriage, so everything had to be like her dream marriage. She wanted to make it better than King's first marriage in the novel. She thought she would gain some peace after marriage, but King was too playful. She couldn't believe he hadn't run out of ideas when toying with her. If he wasn't dragged away by his secretary to work, then she wouldn't have been able to hold on any longer.
It was mentioned in the novel that the King went through women like clothes, at one point, even the Queen couldn't deal with him any longer and left him. He married a few more times before giving up the idea of marriage, 'if I don't want to be devoured by the King then I need to do something.'
In her previous life, she dreamt of the day when she could marry, have kids, a simpler life. But she possessed too much strength. Despite her beauty, it turned men off when they stood in front of her. It was like she was a walking debuff giver. The moment they stood in front of her, they would get inflicted by inferiority, insecurity, and a few more debuffs.
She had given up hope to find love or family long ago, 'Now I have big brother Augustus and His Majesty Aurum. I have a family now.'
Eve closed her eyes, sensing the traces of aura inside her body. The humans practiced Aura in the purest form. The humans were only taking starting steps and the Author that wrote the novel left a note that it was too complicated and there had never been a concrete system. Since the Author kept the similar system as humans.
"You are meditating?"
Eve opened her eyes and saw the tall man with dark blue hair, drying his wet hair with a towel, looking at her in a surprised look, "I am, big brother..."
"Hm," Augustus sat down beside her, "Why didn't you tell me you can practise aura. You have been waiting for it for so long."
Eve lowered her eyes. As a child, she couldn't practice aura. In the Caelum Family, that was unusually strict with its children, she should have been thrown away but her father treated her like a treasure. Before she regained her memories, she felt she didn't deserve his love and wanted to practise aura. After she regained her memories, it was a completely different story. She didn't want to practise aura and regain her strength.
She was only training enough to not get devoured by the King, "Sorry..." that was all she could say to him.
Augustus patted her head, "Doesn't matter. It's good that you can practise Aura Arts now. Is there anything you want to know?"
She thought for a moment. She sneakily crawled over, resting her head on his leg, pressing her palm against his muscular thigh, "Big brother...how do you divide Aura Masters?"
"Aura Users. There are Four Phases. Each Phase is further divided into Ranks," Augustus lovingly stroked her head, "Phase 1 has different Ranks. Initiates are beginners who have stepped onto the path of aura mastery. Above them are Apprentices, Vanguards, Veterans."
'Mm, Initiates should be F Rank, barely stronger than humans, but that barely is an enormous difference since they are stronger than strongest man or faster than fastest human,' Eve curiously blinked, "How strong are Apprentices?"
"How strong...? They usually are the infantry soldiers who can fight against low-level monsters," Augustus thought and answered.
'That should be E and D Rank,' Eve thought, 'then Vanguards should correspond Aboud C and B. While Veterans might be A Rank,' she had an idea about how strong the army of Demon World was. A Rank was the highest known Rank, and above them were Awakeners who carried Demon Embryo.
"Above that..." "What about Phase 2?"
Augustus paused, interrupted by Eve, while Eve froze up, having mistakingly interrupted him. She sat up, shocked to her core, "Veterans aren't the strongest?!"
"Strongest? Nowhere near close," Augustus shook his head, "Though they are Legendary Realms. Impossible to achieve. Should I tell you about Phase 2?"
"No, please! I want to hear," Eve grabbed his palm, pressing it against the bed. There was a tinge of worry and haste in her voice.
Augustus stroked her shoulder, trying to calm her down, "Ok, ok. There was once a Human who fell into the Demon World. He didn't fit with Demons, his views and values were completely different from Demons. He fell in love with an Elf, but then one day he found her in the arms of another. Some say that she asked his agreement, and he gave it without realising. It was miscommunication. They tried to explain him, but he became paranoid, unable to understand. He thought the world was against him and his Human Aura transformed into Demonic one."
Augustus continued, having personal interest in the story, "He trained and trained, wanting nothing more than to leave our world. Go against Chaos, and one day he broke through the physical shackles. He was the First to achieve that Rank. Because of the insanity needed to reach this Rank. Out of respect for him, those who achieve this Rank are called Inhumans."
'Poor guy,' Eve pitied the man in the story, 'maybe he was why the Author started writing about the Demon World so people could be more informed if they ever fell into the Demon World.'
She wasn't sure how she would have reacted if she came to this world as a pure human, 'I'll be so jealous right now. I'd go insane too.'
She chuckled to herself when Augustus gave her another shock, "That wasn't the end of it. Because a human came to our world and surpassed all the Demons. Most Demons wanted to show him they could do the same. Madmen started appearing, men who broke through the Inhuman Rank. But there was one who went beyond them all. A Dwarf. He refined his body like body, from his bones to his flesh. He lost his sight, his hearing, his sense of taste and touch. He paid the price and surpassed all Inhumans. He came out of the furnace and shouted..."
"Now I have surpassed Dragons!" Augustus narrowed his eyes, "His declaration reached the Dragons ears and the Dragon King came to him, challenging him to prove his mantle. That day, the Dragon King didn't use any magic. He only fought with his physical body against the Dwarf, and that was the first time in his life that he lost to another. He used his Draconic Magic to heal the Dwarf. The Dwarf could see again, touch again, hear and smell again. Feeling blessed, he said to the Dragon."
"I am grateful. In my madness, I lost myself. I was going to name this Rank Eternal Dwarf or something, but I knew the moment it was done. Dragon! That is the only portrayal worthy of this Rank!"
"Proud to have his Race represent the Apex of Demons, the Dragon King left. Allowing others to use their Race as a goal to reach this Rank."
"Allowing...how domineering," Eve sighed, 'To think there are two Ranks above A. The power of Demon World is too high.'
Just when she thought it was over, Augustus continued, "That wasn't the end of it."
"It wasn't?!" Eve fell face forward on the bed. She puffed her cheeks, "How could there be anyone more insane than those people!"
"There weren't," Augustus patted her head, "Though the Titans came out. The Titan King fought against the Dragon King, defeating him and declaring that if anyone surpassed the Dragon Rank, they might be worthy of calling themselves Titans. Though no one ever did."
"Hah. Makes sense," Eve breathed out in relief.
Augustus stroked her cheek, chuckling, "No one ever reached Titan Rank. But someone appeared who surpassed it. That's the only reason Titan is counted in the Ascended Four."
Eve parted her lips, closing them. She understood how strong A-Rankers were. She was A-Ranker in her human life. She didn't know about Inhumans, but Dragons were beings that needed hundreds of Awakened A-Rankers to take on one. If she had to guess, then Awakened A-Rankers were the same as Demons who reached Phase 2. It was already too much to imagine a Human or Demon with the power of Dragon. Let alone Titan who were Demi-Gods. Let alone someone who surpassed them all. It short-circuited her brain.
She stammered, "A-Ascended Four?"
"Demon Four and Ascended/Divine-Demon Four. That is the True Division in Phase 1."
Eve sighed, "Who stands at the top?"
Augustus hesitated, "Deva."
"Deva?" Eve tilted her head, 'I think I have heard that before.'
She was racking her brain to remember what it meant when Augustus said the rest of it, "Deva - The King. Aurum."
Eve tensed up. Her eyes wide from the sudden shock. She had so much to say, but all that left her mouth was, "No...how could..."
Augustus shrugged, "No one knows. It is a famous story. King Uther had enslaved a Red Dragon. It was his trump card that no one knew about. When the Prince was about to kill him, King Uther released the Dragon. Since the Prince didn't want to kill the Dragon, he didn't use Aura. He used pure physical strength to put him down."
"When the Titan King heard how effortlessly Prince did that, he thought someone worthy of being called a Titan was born among the mortal races. Instead. Young Prince, who was sad about having killed his Father, and preparing for a war against the Aristocrats wasn't in the mood to play games."
Augustus sighed in disbelief , "Legends are exaggerated. They say that the Young Prince flicked his finger and sent the Titan King flying across the Kingdom, throwing him out of Camelot. It wasn't until a few years later that the rest of the world learned of this through Titan King's daughter."
"Titan King's pride was shattered, but he laughed. He went back home and started training, promising surpass the limits of his Race like the King had done his. It might be another century before he challenges the King."
He looked up at Eve, knowing she would be shocked, instead, she was sitting with her cheeks puffed up in anger. It confused him, it wasn't the reaction he was expecting, "You okay?"
Eve puffed her cheeks even more, lying down on the bed, sulking, 'this is so unfair! I am an Awakened A-Ranker! I probably reached the edge of Phase 3! I thought I was strong and once I regain even a portion of my strength I can be a good Queen! How am I supposed to be the Queen for someone who can send a Titan flying across a country with a flick of his finger!'
She buried her face in the mattress, groaning, 'Now that I think about it. The Author sounded frustrated when he tried to describe King's strength. He wrote a side note to explain - He's strong. Keep reading. I only remember it because it was so funny. It's not funny!'
"Eve, you don't have to feel so much pressure. Since the Trail Blazers, there are many who have reached Inhuman or Dragon Rank. Be it through their Bloodline or because of Demonic Aura Attribute," Augustus whispered, "I'll help you."
"Thank you, big brother," Eve closed her eyes, trying to calm herself, sliding into his arms. He started stroking her body, pulling her already loose towel off. He pushed her down, lying down on her, her breast against his chest. Augustus kissed her neck, his fingers brushing over her breasts, making her sigh in pleasure. She tilted her neck, her voice growing hot, "Big brother..."
"I am helping you train."
"Yes," Eve closed her eyes, stroking his dark blue hair. There were a few ways to train the aura. Humans trained it by training, every time they used all their aura and filled it back, their vessel expanded. Demons did the opposite. Since they could feed on emotions, they used lust to generate sexual aura and fed on it, increasing their vessel.
As the aura flowed into Eve's body, she started trembling, "B-big brother...why does it feel good?"
Augustus smiled against her neck, "You haven't cultivated the aura. Since it's a new experience for you, you will be sensitive to it."
"O-oh," Eve gasped. Her breathing became shallow, she bit her lip to not moan loudly. She pressed her thighs together as her core throbbed with arousal, the sensation growing hotter, "please...fill me up with your aura..."