Dao 4 Chapter 17 (Patreon)

Tami was passed out on the bed. After the marathon sexipades with Dar, she was absolutely exhausted.

Dar wanted to cuddle up next to her, but unfortunately he didn’t sleep in his inner world.

Scooting himself off the bed, he wrapped Tami in the sheets and kissed her forehead. “Sleep well.”

Grabbing his pants, he snuck out of the room.

As he stepped out the door, he was met by Amber with a fresh set of clothes and a wet wash rag.

“You are getting too good at this.” Dar muttered as he took them.

She bowed low, her braid scraping the floor. “You gave us full permission. Anticipate your every need.”

“Come here.” Dar lifted her by the chin and pulled her up until she was on her tiptoes, planting a kiss on her lips. “Thank you.”

“My pleasure. Now, hold these.” She gave him the clothes and went to work wiping him down with the wet rag, which was still warm.

He smiled, letting himself enjoy the moment and the extra care. Amber clearly enjoyed her job. The only time she’d grown frustrated was when he’d tried to keep her from being able to do it well. He’d always assumed being a servant was degrading, but he had come to realize that Amber didn’t view it that way.

The rag moved over his body, slowly cleaning and massaging him along the way. And Dar noticed that Amber was saving a particular area for last.

She paid special attention to his cock, cleaning it with the rag before using her mouth.

“I need to go cultivate.” Dar groaned.

“Just making sure it is clean.” Amber had a sparkle of mirth in her eyes while she went back to wiping it as it lifted under her attention.

Dar took the pants and shook them out before she tempted him into another of the rooms. “Then thank you.”

She pouted a little as he pulled his pants up. “Would you need anything else, Milord?”

“No, I’ll be out under the dao tree if you need me. Thank you.” Dar didn’t put on the shirt. Instead, he just carried it out as he left the black keep and found himself a nice spot against the frosty patch of the dao tree.

It was quiet in his inner world as he closed his eyes, focusing on his breathing and the large channels that mana flowing through his body. It was the energy that dao used, yet they knew so little about it.

After spending the night with Tami, he felt a strong connection to her and the dao tree behind him. He could feel his dao path winding around hers like a two stranded braid.

Reaching out he grasped her dao path, the most recent section she’d been working on, and let it flow through him.

The dao tree chilled his back as a smattering of characters filled his mind. He focused on the first one.

But that one was complex, and he found his mind recoiling from the shock of pain that blasted through his head.

Wincing, he decided to try a different character first.

Finding a more simple one, he focused on it.

That one came far easier. He moved through a few of the simpler characters, wrapping them around him as he connected with the tree in a new way.

Rather than spinning his mana himself, the tree practically injected him with mana, sending everything into overdrive as blue light shone against his closed eyes.

Dar knew without looking that the runes covering his body were alight. Somehow they and the dao tree were connected, although he still didn’t understand how.

Nobody could explain the dao tree within him.

Several spots on Dar’s body grew so frosty cold as the runes lit up that they started to burn.

The dao characters in his mind latched onto him, growing brighter in his mind and on his body until it was a blinding light and it felt as if his mind was frozen.

Dar thought about stopping, but he was worried that might cause more damage. So he pushed through, the brain freeze growing nearly unbearable before it suddenly receded like it had never been there at all.

Dar took the moment to take a deep breath, but the feeling of the lesser dao on his skin shifting had him instantly alert.

“No.” Dar opened his eyes with difficulty as ice crackled in the corners. The characters on his skin slid around, and the nine lesser dao that the tree had practically injected into him were gathering, while other sets formed and shifted.

On his right side, a familiar character formed. He recognized it. It was the grand dao of lava, made up of all nine lesser dao characters.

Those nine that he had gained from Tami formed on the other side, yet they didn’t connect just yet into greater and a grand dao.

“Okay. So far you haven’t screwed me.” Dar spoke to his runes. “So I’m going to assume that whatever you’re doing is good.”

Too tired to question it, he leaned back against the tree and closed his eyes once more.

Dar took a bundle of three of the dao and, following his instincts, squeezed them together to make a greater dao.

His back burned with the cold from the dao tree and he focused on his cultivation process, spinning the three characters at different speeds to see if they would match up.

Dar coughed up bloody ice as his body complained, but he was growing used to the pain that came from cultivating. His body was strong, and he believed it could do what was needed to grow him to the power level required to complete Lilith’s wish.

Dar focused on the character of regeneration that Lilith had put on his body, trying to restore himself even as he pushed himself far beyond the limits of a typical human body.

His back cracked from the cold as he breathed out more frost and the first greater dao solidified into place.

Frozen, wet and crystallized turned into the dao of snow. And that was just the first. He planned to make two more to be able to form a grand dao.

“You shouldn’t push yourself this hard. You look like a mess.” Cherry’s voice made him crack an eye open.

“And what are you doing?” He asked.

“Making sure you don’t kill yourself.” She scoffed. “Look at you. It is like you just ran through a blizzard.” Her lips couldn’t help but quirk up.

“Been sitting on that one for a while?” He teased, focusing again on the enchantment to regenerate himself. It was slow going, but it was well worth it as his back itched with rapid healing.

“Maybe.” Cherry stuck out her tongue. “Have you mastered the dao of regeneration?”

“Yeah, it was among the ones that I picked out of Lilith’s books. Feels like a good one for life. Especially with the way I live mine.” He gave her an innocent smile.

Cherry hummed, narrowing her eyes at him. “You know my dao isn’t that far from your idea of life. New growth is certainly lively.”

Dar nodded. He’d thought about it, but so far it hadn’t quite fit. “I want life as a whole, not just related to plants. Besides, if I focused just on your dao, that’s where I’d end up. Better to start from somewhere fresh if I want to go somewhere new.”

She flicked him in the forehead. “Dummy. You are supposed to say ‘yes’ when a blushing bride offers herself up.”

He started to laugh and then choked on the pain in his throat.

“Okay, fair. You might not be in the condition for that. Besides, you just enjoyed Tami for a while. How was she?”

“Wonderful.” He grinned. “Really got into it after we got going. She’s got a feisty side hidden under that shy woman exterior.”

“Maybe I should tag team with her some night here soon.” Cherry tapped at her chin. “Bet she’d like that.”

Dar wasn’t so sure, but that was between them. He certainly wasn’t going to get involved. “Thanks, Cherry. But I’m going to get back to cultivating.”

“Like hell you are. I’m supposed to distract you long enough for you to recover. That’s what the maid sent me here to do.” She plopped down in his lap, earning a grunt as his body complained.

“Damn you’re cold. Are you sure you are warm blooded?” Cherry poked at his arm.

“I’ll recover here soon.” Dar promised. He could feel himself slowly healing. Mastering all of those dao at once had frozen some of the liquids in his body, which in turn tore things apart.

“Tell me more about your plans?” Cherry asked, a strange look on her face that he couldn’t decipher.

Rather than question her, Dar played along. “We are going to The White, then hopefully we’ll manage to solve—“

Cherry cleared her throat. “Are we going back to Hearthway? With Valdis here, you can go and hunt down the rest of the Mo. We both know that time is of the essence.”

Dar paused and realized her real concern. “If we go to The White and reveal what I can do, she’ll push to have me destroy the rest of Mo, won’t she?”

Cherry nodded. “Yes. All of the celestials would be impatient to crush the Mo. And it will only become worse once they realize Lilith is gone. But, that shouldn’t be an issue, right? That’s what your plan was when we first met. You wanted to hunt down and kill the Mo.”

Dar didn’t answer her right away.

When he’d first entered the world, that had been all he’d known. He’d been brought to the world and Lilith sacrificed herself for that very reason. But so much had happened since then. It had become more complicated.

He had a town to protect, and so many people he cared about. They’d built up a life that he genuinely enjoyed, and being away from it held little appeal.

But it was possible the two goals could work together. If he could solve the Mo issue, that would get The White as well as other celestials on his side. And if that happened, his town would be well protected.

He’d also have the dao of the Mo, which would protect them as well. And with the fruits he could create, his people would grow at unprecedented rates.

“We might not be heading back to Hearthway any time soon.” Dar sighed, already missing Mika, Blair and Sasha. “If I have the chance to crush the Mo, why wouldn’t I take it?”

Cherry gave him a weak smile. “Then, maybe you should find a chance to take Hearthway with you. If you are going to go after this quest, then you should take in everything in the village. Let them live in your inner world.”

Dar paused, wanting to have all of them with him, but it felt selfish. “That’s no way to live. Would they even want to be cooped up inside my inner world?” Dar frowned. It felt too restrictive to him.

“It’s expanded with the latest Mo. There’s plenty of space. And you’ll have another breakthrough here with your second grand dao. There is more space here than there is inside the walls of Bellhaven.” Cherry pointed out. And she would know better than anybody, she spent the most time in his inner world.

“Should we turn back?”

“No.” Cherry shook her head. “We’ve made great time. But if we have the ability to head back, we should take it. Then we can take the village with us as you go out to destroy the Mo.”

Her words made sense, but the sudden shift in direction still made Dar balk at the idea.

He let his mind process it, growing more comfortable, and loving the idea of being able to protect them all so easily.

“Agreed. Should the opportunity arrive, I will take it.” He was already thinking about what he could make once he was at the top of Frost’s Fang. It wouldn’t be impossible for him to cover a huge stretch of the space between his current location and Hearthway much faster. Going down was easier. He should have asked Sasha to make him a hang glider.

“Good. Now, you are looking less blue in the lips. My distraction has been a success. Get back to training Dar, so we can head home and pick up our people sometime soon.” Cherry got up and knocked the dirt off her dress. “I’m going to go find some food and make sure your maids don't bother you for a little bit.”

Dar shook his head and focused back on his meditation. He was anxious to finish and let his body rest.

Cherry was right. He had a lot to tackle, but it was starting to come together. And for any of it to work, he needed these new dao.

Grabbing the next cluster of lesser dao, Dar focused back on molding them together into a greater dao.

The three lesser dao spun out of control, blurring as they moved faster and faster. His body crackled with electricity.

Dar knew he was rushing it, and he bore the brutal pain until they finally clicked.

He felt the dao tree help him once again solidify the characters into a greater dao as the enchantments on his body shifted to form it as well.

It was easier than learning all nine lesser dao together, but it was still far harder than the grand dao that he knew was to come.

Bracing his back against the tree, Dar grabbed the last cluster and shoved them together. These swirled, but they found their correct orientation quickly, fusing together in a greater dao and chilling Dar to the bone.

Opening his palm, Dar assessed the three greater dao he had formed. It was different than he had expected. He’d formed snow, lighting, and gale.

It wasn’t just a blizzard.

There weren’t the elements available for him to do much with it until he formed them into a grand dao, that was the largest challenge here.

So Dar sank back into his meditation, concentrating on the three greater dao and reaching for Tami’s dao path.

But as he did, he realized he’d deviated from her path. 

The tree pulsed at his back, and a new strand appeared to fill in the gap of Tami’s dao path.

“That’s how it is? You have an opinion in this, little tree?” The dao tree had done nothing but provide for him. He realized he trusted it, and followed where it was leading him.

He poured his efforts into spinning the three greater dao into each other along the path the tree had outlined.

Every time they connected incorrectly, it felt like a gong had been struck in his head, reverberating down through his body with the wrongness of the alignment.

Dar felt himself bend as one struck wrong. It felt like someone had just contorted his body. Doubling down and activating the enchantments on his body, Dar focused on reinforcing his body as he pushed the grand dao forward to completion.

It felt like eternity, but eventually the dao settled into place both in his mind and on his body.

He smiled, knowing its name on instinct..

“Storm.” Dar lifted his hand and a swirling mass of snow and lighting spun in his hand. Then he raised his hand higher. The small storm in his hand faded like a puff of smoke and the entire inner world exploded as the wind howled. Lightning ripped through the sky and snow swirled about.

Dar made a fist and it all disappeared.

“What’s happening!” Neko shouted somewhere in the keep.

Dar cringed, knowing he’d likely freaked out those in his inner world.

He cupped his hands around his mouth. “Sorry Neko. That was me.”

“Dar! Dar bad! Don’t make snow. It is wet.” Neko stuck her head out a window and shouted at him.

Dar laughed, realizing he could mess with Neko anytime he wanted.

She took in his laughter and frowned, making Dar realize he’d really scared her. He’d have to make it up to her later.

Maybe he’d make her a box, he thought to himself, starting to chuckle. But he regretted the movement immediately as pain radiated through his chest.

“Neko, come help me up.”

The cat girl huffed and ducked back into the window only to come sprinting out the front door of the keep and grab Dar. “You made your newest dao?”

“Yup.”

She lifted him off the ground like he didn’t weigh anything. Neko was a greater demon and fairly strong herself, even if she had a sleek feline frame. “Okay. I’ll deliver you to the maid to take care of. Then Cherry will let me watch you outside.”

“Thanks Neko.”

“Just don’t make Neko wet again.” She squinted at him in warning. “You wouldn’t like me when I get wet.”

Dar couldn’t help it. He grinned. “Oh yeah? I’m pretty sure you love being wet.”

Neko frowned and played back her words before it dawned on her. “Hey. No being a pervert. Of course Neko wants kittens, we are talking about water on my hair and in my ears. No, bad Dar. Though if you want to work on kittens, we could do that before you rest.” She added the last with a sly smile.