Just after some time passed since David left with Judy some people in black costumes and white masks came to their location.
They try to find the fallen Judy but can not get anything to lead them anywhere.
They tried several methods but all failed. Suddenly a man with the same outfit but a different mask color appeared out of the bushes and approached the group of white mask people.
Seeing the person with the red mask everyone wearing a white mask knelt. The man did not pay any attention to them and waved his hand in the air. An arrow made of mana appeared in the red mask man's hand and it kept pointing in the current position.
The red mask person frowned and crushed the arrow. Then he looked at the still kneeling white mask people and spoke in a harsh voice.
" get up you a bunch of useless shits. I give you a single task and you failed to complete it. If not I need you now I would have killed you all. Now spread out and search for that officer Judy. You must find her alive. Are you sure you have secured this whole area and no other person besides us is present in this area? Answer me now." ( red mask )
A person with no 1 on his white mask came forward and spoke to the red-mask man.
" leader we have fully secured the whole area using the treasure you have given us. We have eliminated all the possible dangers and rankers in this area. Now only us in this 5 km area. Due to the ban, all communication with the outside world is forbidden so even if someone tries to report it to authorities they can not contact anybody. Any other instruction leader?" ( white mask 1)
" you have completed one task accurately. Now go and search for Judy and bring her to me." ( red mask man)
All white masked men scattered in all different directions leaving only red masked men standing in bright moonlight.
" how long can you escape Judy. Sooner or later I will catch you. *cough*" ( red mask man)
" Using that treasure comes with its price but I can deal with this much. The price I paid is nothing compared to the reward I might get from my lord." (Red Mask Man)
Saying this red mask man walked away from the moonlight and vanished into the shadows.
***
< Back to the present time >
" ....." ( Judy )
" ....." ( David )
A deadly silence falls inside the cave after David completes his sentence. After some seconds this silence breaks down with a harsh scream of Judy.
" whatttttttttttttttttttt" ( judy)
"Are you out of your mind? Do you think I am a fool? Now I get it. You never know the cure you just want to take advantage of me. You dirty bastard. I should know from the start how can a teenager know the cure for a curse that is said to be uncurable by most powerful doctors and rankers. This was all part of your strategy to take advantage of me and I am like a fool who believed your nonsense. Let me go right now. I rather die than stay in the same place as you." ( Judy )
David does not stop the non-stop insults coming from Judy's mouth as he is also equally helpless as the system says this is the only way. If not this method then we have to get connected physically like that dual cultivation thing in the novel for devour skill to work without damaging the other person deep body contact is needed. I again asked the system if there was any other way.
[ nope. Only this way or sex. Choose which way you want to di..*cough* save this lady.]
'You useless system. You were saying the way to die right? Do not meet me in reality or I don't know what I will do with you. Now I need to stop this jumping lioness from forcefully going out.' ( David )
Fortunately, David laid various strong barriers if not this lioness will reveal their location to the whole forest with her loud voice.
David inserted his sword in front of Judy which made her shut her mouth but her determined expression told David even if he used force she would die than kissing him.
" I know this sounds vulgar and dirty but this is the only way. For my method to work, we need deep body contact. So either we have sex or we kiss. So now the choice is yours. Think about it if I want to do something bad to you I can just give you strong sleeping drugs instead of some restricting drugs. Even if the method fails which will not, kissing is a lot better choice compared to sex right? So now either you trust me and follow my method or I give you anti-drug and leave you to your situation. Trust me second is the most correct choice for me." ( David )
David has given his best explanation. If Judy still denies then he will directly kick out this walking troubleseeker. Judy gets lost in her thoughts. Yes if you look from her saviour's view if he wants to take advantage of her he can give her other drugs. Judy remembered the pain she felt due to the curse and her father's disappointed and sad gaze.
He always blamed himself for not protecting her and her curse always makes him remember his pain. He has tried everything in his power to find a method or cure for her curse but still got nothing. If there is even a 0.00001 % chance of success Judy will take it even if she has to sacrifice her life. Kissing is nothing compared to her father's happiness.
Judy gets ready to trust this stranger and follow his method for the tiny ray of hope.
" Okay I decided to follow your method but be warned if this method fails I will kill you even if you hide in the most unfindable place in the world." ( Judy)
" no need to get this far I know my method will work but we need to sign a contract." ( David )
" contract?" ( Judy )
" yes, a contract. The terms and conditions are.
Party A which is me or you can call me shadow and party B which is you must not attack or harm each other in any circumstances.
Party B will obey all the commands of Party A till the ritual is completed.
Party B will owe a favour to Party A.
Party B can not tell anybody directly or indirectly who lifted her curse.
Party B will keep the identity of Party A hidden from everybody.
If any of the parties violate the above conditions they will receive the death penalty.
Are these conditions okay with you?" ( David )
Judy thought for a while before responding.
" I can agree to these terms but add one more thing.
Party A must use the best of its capabilities without risking his life to escort Party B to a safe location outside the shadow forest.
Do not be in a hurry to decline. This whole area is sealed by them so even if you want to leave this area you have to face them. Instead of facing them alone why not work together with me and escape this situation? Two is always better than one in facing dangers. Anyway, if you face a life-threatening situation you can always escape." ( Judy )
David thought about this condition. It is true that even if he has to leave this area he has to cross paths with those unknown enemies so working with Judy is better than the solo journey.
David added these terms to the mana contract and they both signed the contract at the same time. Mana contract is the most trusted contract in all races as they write the contract with their mana as a guarantee. If any party violates the contract they will face very harsh penalties written in the contract.
David let the judy take antidote of the secret medicine and prepared some things needed for the ritual. David followed the system's instructions and made a complicated mana circle with some strange symbols written in it.
David accepted the quest damsel in distress as things were fully set and no going back. David asked Judy to sit in the centre of the mana circle facing toward him. Judy gathered her courage and sat down in a circle.
It has been very hard for women like her to do this since childhood she has never been close to the opposite gender much less than having any intimate contact with them. So deep kissing someone of the opposite gender and a stranger made it a very difficult thing for her but for her future, she decided to take the gamble.
Judy closed her eyes and tied a black cloth around her eyes as her saviour did not want her to see him. It is better for her too as she also does not want to see anything. Suddenly she felt something soft touch her face and pull force.
Her lips touched something equally soft thing. An electric current runs through her whole body. She wants to push the person away but somehow holds on with her strong determination. First, only lips touch each other.
As time passed Judy felt something trying to enter her mouth. Judy realized what it was and felt very embarrassed. But with great determination, she opened her cherry lips and welcomed a shameless intruder.
The intruder directly attacked her tongue and kept on getting entangled with it. Poor Judy, this is way out of her limit so she pushed away the person in front of her.
" hold on I think I need some time to cool myself. Please wait for some time as this was my first kiss. I beg of you please wait." ( Judy )
David gets confused by the sudden push but listens to Judy's explanation. David has taken off his mask and his whole face is fully shown. David did not want Judy to know his true face which is also a fake face compared to his real face after the bloodline awakening. Involving yourself with big guys while being an ant is not good for your health.
David is also not in any better state compared to Judy as it was also his first kiss but due to his experience of both lives, he is still in controllable range. David also stabilized his mood and waited for Judy to start.
Judy composed herself and got ready for battle. She speaks in a very shy voice.
" you can start and please be gentle." ( Judy )
Hearing the soft voice of Judy David felt an unknown fire in his body but he suppressed his rising hormones and started kissing Judy.
Like before first kissing lips they slowly push his tongue inside the tiny mouth of Judy. After entering inside David touched something equally soft as his tongue. He realized what it was and slowly tried to entangle it.
As they kissed for some seconds they let go of their initial rigidness. Conforming the pose is correct David started the skill devour. The mana circle let out a strong purple light.
A suction appeared inside David's mouth which seems to be sucking something out of Judy's body through her mouth. As this suction appeared both David and Judy felt like they formed some sort of special connection.
Their kissing turned more natural and Judy even held David's hair to get a better grip. Without realizing it both lost get lost in kissing. Time seemed to have stopped as both continued to kiss each other with passion.
Their body temperature started to rise and their brains become rigid. Before they crossed the forbidden line system message awakened David. Hurridly he read the system message.
[ quest damsel in distress is completed. The host can receive his reward anytime he wants.]
Reading the system message David stopped kissing Judy and separated himself from her. Mana circle also stopped glowing. David wore his mask and changed back to his previous look. He then speaks to Judy.
" ritual is done. Your curse is gone now. Try to feel your changes and restore your lost strength as much as you can. Do not waste this chance." ( David )
Judy felt a sense of loss as David parted himself. She gets confused about her feelings but hearing David's reminder she regained her lost focus. Judy looked at her body and found her curse was gone.
A clear line of tears flowed from her eyes. All of her pain, suffering, and constant nightmares are gone. She is free now. Suddenly she feels like something burst from her blood.
Before Judy understand anything an unknown force erupted from her heart. Her heart started to beat at a very fast rate. A powerful aura surrounds her. Changes started to happen inside and outside of her body.
David gets pushed away by some sort of power. He sees Judy floating in the air surrounded by dense shadow elements. David asked the system why these changes happened to Judy. The system said that the sealed bloodline was awakened due to the curse being lifted.
David decided not to disturb Judy and started collecting his gains.
[ drawing the reward for quest damsel in distress.....]
[congratulations to the host for receiving 4% growth in the bloodline and 5 skill points]
[Congratulations to the host for gaining 50 points from devouring the curse.]
[ new quest appered ...….]
[ quest name - escort the damsel in distress
Description - do not leave something half-done.
Condition - escort Judy or Nora Smith outside the shadow forest and eliminate all enemies.
Reward - points. ( based on your performance.)
Time limit - none
Punishment - none]
'Another quest? the system is being too nice to me.' ( David )
David accepted this quest.
The previous quest has given David lots of good stuff. David's bloodline reached 5 %. David has enough points to learn the manual skill of shadow art.
David takes out the manual skill of shadow art and chooses to learn it. David has to face unknown enemies so every small difference makes a big change in battle.
Lots of data appeared in David's mind. System message floated in front of him.
=========
Manual skill shadow art learned. Currently in the beginner stage.
=========
David looked at the info on the skill. David took out his sword and practised the newly added shadow art technique with great interest. This technique is his hidden card. After practicing some moves David put away the sword.
David decided to keep the remaining points in case of an emergency.
As David checked everything Judy's transformation also finished. Her original black hair becomes purple and her ears become pointed like those elves but the height of her ear is half compared to normal elves. David assumed it was due to her human part.
Judy opened her eyes and looked in David's direction. She gives David a smile filled with pure bliss. Seeing that smile David's heart skipped a beat. Suppressing his desire David looked into the now purple eyes of Judy.
Judy's body becomes more mature compared to before while her beauty is raised by a level. Judy suppressed her rising excitement and returned to her cold self. Her cold look truly made her look like a true elf.
Judy knelt in front of David and spoke in a firm voice.
" thank you for lifting my curse and giving me another life. I can not use any words to show my gratitude but if you ever need me in the future please let me know. Even if I have to risk my life I will do it." ( down )
" no need to be this formal. We both got what we want. Now take some rest. We should set off in the morning so try to get some rest." ( David )
Saying this David returned Judy's belongings to her except her armour which has a tracking spell on it. David gives his tent to Judy and he sleeps on the bed Judy laid before.
David smelled a sweet aroma and fell asleep.
***
I woke up early in the morning and found out Judy was still sleeping. Looks like she was under a lot of tension yesterday which is now lifted so she slept like this. I decided to make some breakfast first and then wake her up.
I make a simple breakfast and then I pack all things inside my ring. I wake up Judy for breakfast. Judy gets ready in 5 minutes and we have our breakfast. I eat my breakfast without taking off my mask.
Judy said due to her bloodline awakening all of her injuries healed and her rank also increased by a small level. Now she is < C > rank. We both packed our stuff and set out for our journey.
While traveling I asked Judy the information about our enemies.
" our enemies are the robbers who robbed the museum some days ago and recently ran into the shadow forest to hide. I don't know if you know about that robbery but it was breaking news for all channels so I assume you know about it." ( Judy)
I nodded indicating I knew about the robbery and motioned her to continue.
"We managed to track down robbers and decided to ambush them. We have a strong force but the robbers were stronger than we or I say they have various props. We managed to kill some of them but in return, our whole team except for me and Officer Ross died. I was able to survive because I was the only archer on our team and only provided long-distance support. Finding the situation is not right Officer Ross holds the robbers to give me precious time to escape. I do not know what happened to him. Due to injuries I also fainted. You know the rest." ( Judy )
" so how many enemies are left now? Do you know their ranks?" ( David )
Judy thought for a while and replied.
" There should be 7 of them left. 2 in < C > rank others in < D > rank. What do you want to do?" ( Judy )
I whispered my plan in Judy's ear who seemed to be shocked by my plan.
" Are you sure you want to do it. This plan has high risk and your life will be in danger too." ( Judy )
" playing on the defensive is not my style. So are you in for it." ( David )
After thinking for some time Judy decided to go with David's plan. We prepared the trap for our enemies and placed the armour with a tracking spell on the ground.
We hid and waited for our enemies to take the bait. After an hour I heard some movement in the tress. Suddenly some people in black clothes appeared at our marked location. There were 8 of them one more than we thought but it does not matter.
Every person's face is covered with a white mask except one person who has a red mask. They moved closer to the fallen armor and about to pick it I pressed a button on the controller. A series of loud explosions erupted at the place of armour.
I have a simple rule if one explosion can not do the task then add more explosives.
As the dust settled we got a clear view of the damage. Every person is thrown away due to an explosion but nobody dies. Some are seriously injured while some can still fight.
The most undamaged person is the one with the red mask as that person was the most distance away from the explosion source. But that person also gets some damage due to explosive force. That person used some sort of barrier to protect himself but as the barrier vanished red mask covering that man's face broke into many parts and fell to the ground.
Looking at the face under the mask my eyes get contracted to their limit.