Selling Drugs in the Dungeon should be a profitable business, no? Chapter 23 (Patreon)

Their blades were a flurry of steel and sparks, each clash backed by enormous amounts of force, causing the land to quake and the air to boom.

Their arms were a blur, their legs locked into a dance of blood, excitement and death.

Their blades rent the air, each swing leaving behind super-heated air and a distant ear-piercing howl, showcasing the amount of power and speed backed behind their weapons.

Yet neither of them gave in, forcing the land around them to collapse and be torn asunder with each clash.

A beautiful swordplay that balanced speed, power and technique clashed against a deadly swordplay meant to take lives, to only make rivers of blood flows.

No defense. No evasion. No blocking.

Just pure. Offensive. Power.

There was no technique backing it, yet it forced a seasoned warrior on the backfoot as her opponent did not even glance at her blade. His eyes kept locked upon her and her alone.

And this forced her on the backfoot, as she could not afford to exchange injury for injury.

Her blade will leave a gash across his chest. His will reap her life.

Her blade will reap a limb from his body. His will reap her life.

Her blade will cleave his head off his shoulders.

His. Will. Take. Her. Life.

It was a law. An indisputable fact. As if a God himself had made this Edict and forced Reality to comply.

If his blade lands, she dies. Simple as that.

With each of their steps, stone turned into debris and dust. The full moon hung high in the sky, casting down its radiance upon their deadly dance of sword and sparks.

Alfia's lungs ached. Her heart hammered slowly and painfully. Her sickness – which she had now grown used to thinking it didn't exist due to Riley's pills – now bared its fangs once more with a never before seen ferocity.

Each of her breaths took a considerable amount of energy to draw in, her lungs feeling like they were being squeezed down by something. Yet she persisted and kept taking slow and long deep breaths.

With air came a surge of unknown energy. The energy she had seen Riley wield countless times now.

She could feel it inside her, being gathered and condensed, breath after breath.

Her first use with Gospel left an enormous ravine behind, but also took an immense toll upon her body, nothing she had ever experienced before.

So now she simply stored it, waiting for a chance to make use of it within this fast paced deadly battle.

Her eyes, slightly hazy from the slow intake of oxygen, remained fixed upon her opponent and lover.

Unlike her, he wielding his blade with a single arm, each of his swings making her ears ring and arms feel numb.

His sunset-like eyes, once always warm and beautiful, now cold and sharp as he answered her request.

Fighting her with the intent to kill.

And Alfia felt the scythe of the Grim Reaper loom over her throat constantly since the battle resumed.

This was her lover.

This was the man that fought Black Dragon and brought the beast down from the Heavens.

This was what the Leviathan was terrified of facing and fled.

Despite being tired and seemingly on the verge of passing out back then, both she and the Leviathan could tell that Riley could force himself to go further.

That the man before her could unleash an even deadlier attack if the Great Beast decided to press with the assault.

Back then, the Leviathan must have felt even worse than she does right now.

The once mighty beast cowered at the thought of pressing forth… Against the opponent that held back during the whole fight.

"Focus!" Riley's voice sharply cut in, drawing her out of her thoughts with a sharp intake of air and a sloppy block that made her hands ache painfully.

Their fast paced battle grew to a still at that, their blades humming and purring as the air around them warped from heat, the sharp edges of their weapons glowing a noticeable white-hot color.

Cold and sharp eyes regard Alfia quietly as she breathes heavily, a pit forming within her stomach.

He utterly broke her down. The moment he grasped and noticed her sheer, terrifying talent in mastering everything within just a few exchanges, he started to make it so she could not afford to do so.

He gave her no time to adapt. No time to copy his technique. No time to prepare her body to do so.

Instead, he forced her on her defensive. She couldn't bring herself to willingly attack or counter-attack. There was only defense.

What a monster.

But now she has time to go through what she witnessed and to let her body adapt.

His gaze shifts when her body does the same, her stance slowly growing the same as his.

Her heart flutters when a smile tugs at his lips. "Even with that, do you think you can contend with me?" He asks her, not in a cocky way but in a genuine question.

Alfia breathes in through her nostrils and ignores the aching of her lungs, "No." Her head shakes, her long hair shining under the moonlight fluttering in the wind currently carrying away the dust clouds they left behind.

"And why is that?"

Her heterochromatic eyes remain upon him, studying him like she has always done since he made her heart of stone quiver during their first bout. "There is something missing."

She could feel it, but not see it. It was there, right before her, somewhere, but her eyes could not grasp it.

Riley's smile resurfaces momentarily, "Look at my sword wielding arm." He instructs, and she does so.

She looks at his, then she studies her own. She looks from the tip of his terrifying blade all the way up to his wide and muscular shoulder.

Relaxed grip, relaxed arm, seemingly completely open to all attacks yet she knows for a fact that it's just a ruse.

"Right there." He speaks up after a few quiet seconds, pointing at her eyes with his blade, "You made a mistake right there." She blinks in confusion at him.

"When you looked at my arm, you subconsciously looked at my sword too." He points out with a smile, "But when you looked at yours, you did not include your own blade within your studying gaze." She freezes.

That's… true.

Why did she do that?

"When it comes to me and fighting, you could say I am fighting unharmed." Riley grins at her as he rests his blade on his shoulder, "My sword becomes an extension of me. Not a tool to cut, or a weapon to kill."

"But another arm, another hand, another set of fingers." His eyes flicker down to her pitch black blade, "Remember, my sword is Alive."

Her wide eyes gaze down at her own sword while Riley turned around and started walking away from her. "You can awaken yours too. But can you handle it?"

Once more, two dozen meters of emptiness stood between them.

Alfia stared down at her pitch black blade, fingers brushing against the once super-heated metal.

A blade forged from the scales of the strongest being walking the earth. A calamity given form, flesh and blood.

And a God of the Forge shaped one of that calamity's scales into a blade, putting her everything in doing so.

The blade that cut that very scale, against the blade forged with it.

Now… How should she go about waking the Soul within a sword?

Her stance relaxes, her breath flows out, and her eyes lock upon the sparkling blade within her lover's hand.

That has to be it.

"I want to win against him." She whispers to herself. To her sword. "And I know you wish to win against his blade." Her grip tightens, "So we need to work together."

Silence was her answer, and the dark clouds above cover the veil of moonlight cast upon the ruined valley.

The earth sinks, then blows skyward as she rushes forward to restart the battle.

The strange new energy she learned to harness bubbles up, then ignites and overflows through her whole body. Then through her arm.

And finally, to her sword.

A pair of sword crash together with a deafening metallic crash. Her stance mimics Riley's, her blows mimic his style.

With a single arm, she swings her sword the same way he does. With every last ounce of her strength backing it.

Her arm goes numb after the first exchange. Then starts hurting after the third.

She grits her teeth and sharpens her eyes, she fills her lungs with air, ignites more of that energy, then pushes forth, unwilling to back down even a single step.

Riley matches her blow for blow, gaze cold and calculating, his swings free and powerful, his steps like a graceful death and his long hair bouncing within the wind and shock-waves of his sword swings.

A clash, sparks fill her vision, then Alfia feels it.

Another clash, and the feeling grows stronger.

A connection. A surging savagery and blood-thirst.

Each clash seemed to make that feeling surge, as if it was stirring a sleeping beast.

Riley suddenly presses forward, that formless energy surges and flows through her body like an overflowing river- And her sword sucks it all up.

Two blades howl through the air. And Alfia's blade suddenly roars and explodes forth with a wave of blood-red light.

And in this clash, she gains the upper-hand.

Riley's eyes widen as he is forced back a few stops, and Alfia grins and presses forth, unwilling to let that go.

She felt it. A connection. A desire for victory shared both by her and her sword.

"Finally woke up, huh?" Her lover muses, lips twitching slightly upward, "Bladey, looks like you have a new friend." His sword lights up with a brilliance that could put the sun to shame, and that seemed to only spur her own weapon's fighting will.

The blood-red light surged with fury, a dragon's roar of unyielding might echoing from the depths of her blade as it stirred awake from the presence of its 'rival'.

A soaring sun of blackish-gold light surges forth to match and fight against the roaring blood-red light, pushing it back with ease and only spurring her blade's anger and desire to fight.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Riley muses as he brandishes his weapon. His companion.

Alfia smiles beautifully at him as she brandishes her own, her eyes all but sparkling as she watches the two blades contend with each other.

It may be her imagination, it may not be… But for a second, she could see the two swords in their real forms.

A massive dragon that has never known defeat.

And an enormous whale-like fish with titanic eagle wings whose existence the very Heavens rejected.

Both mighty existences in their own right. One, but a simple myth.

The other, but a grim reality of this world.

Both opponents take a step forward, and a pair of blades rumble through the air.

Their collision was akin to a star exploding, turning night into day as the valley all but collapses beneath them, stunning the faraway spectators as they could feel the immense tremors nearly topple them off their feet.

A supernova of colors and force. Of two rampaging foes trying to tear at each other and two humans supporting them.

Despite the high stake battle, despite her body feeling oh so tired and heavy… Alfia couldn't remove the massive grin from her face.

It's all his fault.

Their roaring blades clash, and her tired, numb arm goes wide, leaving her open.

A strong arm reaches forth and wraps around her hips, bringing her close to a strong and hard chest. "Damn…" Riley whispers, his once cold eyes filled with a warmth that she had seen when they slept together in the Dungeon, "You are already breathtaking… But that grin of yours makes you perfect."

Oh, how her loins burned and ached for his touch.

How could his smile and gaze be far more dangerous than the blade within his hands?

Never before did she feel so alive. So free.

She was unleashing all of herself against an opponent that can take and dish out even more.

She wanted this. She needed this.

She felt stifled. Like a bird in a cage unable to spread its wings and fly, and could only longingly look at the enormous world beyond the bars.

Never before did she fight an opponent that actually made her blood boil. Never before did she want to fight someone so much.

There was a time, a battle a year ago, where she was thoroughly thwarted. A mistake on her part led to that woman finding her and 'teaching her a lesson' for bringing one of her brats to harm.

It wasn't even a fight. She was completely destroyed. Treated like a child, even.

In fact, they are one and the same…

The Knave and Riley, both survivors of the Black Dragon. Both terrifying monsters in their own right.

It felt connected, somehow. That the two people the Dragon seemingly spared – as she remembers Riley saying how he and the Dragon stared at one another after the beast destroyed his village – turned out to become beasts no one could match.

And she is supposed to be the 'Monster of Talent'?

The man before her doesn't even have a Falna!

Still, her gloved hand comes up to shove him back, their grins never faltering and hers only radiating out the love she felt for the man before her.

For her Hero, and even if he denies it, in her heart he will always be that.

Distance is made between them, and his sword soon cleaves through the air with the might to shatter mountains.

Alfia's eyes widen and her trained instincts all but scream at her as the air booms and explodes forth.

Without thinking twice, she hacks the air before her with her rumbling blade and instantly feels as if she slashed something apart.

Her pupils dilated and her focus sharpened, the world around her being sliced to smithereens while her arm blurred through the air, hacking away at the hundreds of invisible blades trying to slash at her.

Despite her speed and impressive instincts, some invisible blades still managed to fly through, cutting at her dress and leaving faint scratches and cuts on her body, while instead they left enormous gouges and cleaved pits into the ground behind her.

Her blade's blood-red light surges with a devastating blast that ruffles her hair and destroys the incoming waves of invisible blades, but her instincts did not calm down.

Swiftly, she takes note that her lover is nowhere in sight, and the hair on the back of her neck stand on end.

Her left leg comes up, then smashes down into the earth below her with all of her might, causing it to erupt and sink in with a loud rumble and groan.

Her body sinks downward, allowing her to dodge the blade that would have cleaved her head off her shoulders were she a second slower.

A long breath of turbid air flows out of her lips as her gaze grows blurrier, her body starting to feel like it was on fire while her ears started to ring.

Her sickness turned into a Skill. The longer she fights, the more Status Ailments will be inflicted upon her, and their potency grows with time.

She was tiring, and fast. Plus, her reserves of that strange energy will also be drained in a few more exchanges.

Still, she flips around and flings her blade upward, unleashing an arc of light that forces her lover to disengage and jump away.

Her blade's blood-red light stirs, and Alfia's eyes widen when she feels a connection with it. A sort of understanding.

It too just woke up, and it too will quickly get drained.

So it wants to go all outs to finish things off.

Her gaze locks upon that savage blade radiating blood-thirst, and her mind is made up.

Breathing in, she drags herself out of the rubble and turns to fully face her opponent with sharp yet tired eyes.

Riley's eyes widen, clearly understanding her intentions, yet he does not move to interrupt her.

So Alfia breathes out, then she breathes in. A glowing and bright silver magic circle appears right below her feet.

She was going to use everything she had left. All of her strength, all of her magic, all of her left-over energy, and unleash it all with the assistance of her eager blade.

Her stance lowers, and her aching lugs are filled with air as she draws her blade back, tip aimed towards her lover.

Straightening himself, Riley grips Bladey with both of his hands, the air around him warping as a flame-like coat of blackish-gold energy envelops his body like an ethereal suit of armor.

Slowly, he raises his blade high towards the skies above, clearly planning to unleash the same attack that made the Dragon plummet from the skies.

Alfia's magic circle unleashes a blinding silver glow that fills the dark valley with its radiance.

The new energy in her body is ignited. All of it. Every single drop of it unleashes enormous amounts of energy through her body.

Her lips part, her legs bend, and she shatters the sound-barrier on take off.

The pitch-black blade gobbles up all of her energy greedily, the surging blood-red energy condensing around its sharp edges and gaining a flame-like appearance.

A silver hue appears at the edge of those flowing ethereal flames as Alfia grits her teeth, her hand clenching and creaking from all the energy flowing into her sword-wielding arm.

Then, finally, she chants.

"Gospel!"

And lets all of her Mana overflow out like a raging flood as she stabs forward.

A booming silver-blood star of pure sound blooms to life, atomizing the surrounding earth and debris from the sheer force and power backed behind the initial sound-wave.

And to meet its unstoppable charge was a blade coated in starlight.

It does not glow. It does not roar.

The blade just falls.

Bringing the very Heavens down with it.

"Via Lactea."

Riley's voice was calm, his chant but a breeze in the wind.

His blade instead was like a meteor falling with the weight of the entire cosmos behind it.

A star made of sound and a meteor coated in starlight collide, and the light from their collision turns night into day.

The tremors could be felt all the way to Orario, unleashing an earthquake across the land that could be felt for miles upon miles.

The spectators had to shield themselves from the immense shock-wave that battered them, with some wisely taking cover while Atalanta had to hold onto Meteria lest she flies off due to the power behind the raging wind gales.

Far into the distance, the enormous Black Dragon had also been watching the battle by simply raising its head up high, lone eyes narrowed as he quietly lay there.

Slowly, the dust settles, showing the immense pit left behind by the clash.

Dozens of meters wide, and with its depths shrouded in darkness. Rubble at the edges kept breaking and falling, disappearing within the abyss below without making a sound.

At the very edge of it was Alfia, on her knees, and panting heavily. Her sword was scattered to the ground beside her, having gone still and dormant.

Her heart ached and throbbed painfully, her lungs flexed slowly to try and contain any amount of oxygen.

A glimmering blade rests against her neck, naught an injury over her body aside from a few cuts.

Riley instead grunts and rolls his left shoulder, a nasty bleeding cut over said shoulder. Yet he ignored it, his worried gaze never leaving Alfia's panting form.

"You…" The woman starts, forcing air in her lungs so to speak with a rough voice, "You still held back." She seemingly whines.

Riley tilts his head, "Not really. I just avoided hurting you." He shrugs, drawing back his blade so to rest it on his shoulder, "I do not take pleasure in hurting one of the women I love." Plus, Meteria was likely to make him pay in her own annoying way.

His words make a warm smile bloom on Alfia's face, and Riley offers his hand to her so to let her stand.

With a grunt and tired groan, Alfia slowly stands on shaky legs, feeling the effects of her Skill quickly fade away now that she isn't fighting anymore.

"So… Satisfied?" Riley asks with a grin.

Alfia stares at his handsome face for a good few seconds, then makes up her mind once more. "Not yet."

"But I know how you can help me."

….

Her naked back hits the wall with a pleased gasp, her fingers flowing through his long hair while his strong hands hold her shapely waists firmly.

Her bare legs wrap around around him as his shaft spread her welcoming insides, enticing a jubilant moan from her, her nails scratching his muscular back as her back arcs from the pleasure.

She needed this, and wanted this. She had been holding herself back for a long while, especially with how chatty her damnable sister is about her sessions with Riley.

Meteria always shared one too many details with that annoying smug look on her face. The damn gremlin.

And now, Alfia barely managed to hold herself back until they finally reached their home, where she literally dragged Riley back to his room without words.

She needed to feel his love on her flesh again, and experience sleeping with him once more.

She wanted this, and so did he. He may hide it, but her lover is quite the passionate man.

"I love you.." Alfia pants out, cheeks flushed and toes curling as her inner walls were stretched and filled in a way that made her mind go blank.

Riley lets out a hearty chuckle, voice rough and heavy, heightening Alfia's arousal by a great deal, "I love you too, princess." She laughs softly at the nickname, especially considering the 'Gremlin' nickname he has for her sister.

Something that by now everyone in the Hera Familia has started using.

Her lips find his, her once tired body now alight with pleasure and energy after getting another one of his Pills.

Their tongues meet and resume their previous clash, fighting for dominance over each other even as Alfia gasps, pants and moans as her lover thrusts his shaft into her over and over.

It takes a while for them to reach the bed, but once they do Alfia swiftly pushes her lover down, resting her hands upon his muscular chests, a jubilant smile on her breathtaking face as she lifts her hips up and down.

The sound of his grunts please her ears, becoming one of her favorite sounds ever as she licks her lips, her modest chest bouncing together with her body.

His touch sends sparks across her skin, his hands traveling up her long legs, her hips and then to her chest so to fondle her bouncing breasts.

Then his gaze flickers to the side and instantly grows exasperated.

"Having sex without me? For shame, Big Sis!" Alfia yelps, face turning a burning red as her arms come up to instantly cover her chest.

Riley merely sighs and palms his face as a dress is tossed through the air, and another weight is added to the bed.

Alfia gulps as a giggling Meteria puts her hands on her hips, forcing her to move and roll her hips, forcing a gasp out of her older sister and making her flush darken more and more.

"M-Meteria-Nnh!" Alfia moans as Riley starts moving, thrusting his hips upward and filling her insides so thoroughly. She'd send the man a betrayed look if it didn't feel so good.

Meteria giggles and hugs her sister from behind even as her moans and gasps flow out of her supple lips, "Aren't you glad I went out that day, Big Sis?" The younger yet far more curvaceous twin asks, "You scolded me so much after that day, but now look at us, pleasing our Hero."

Alfia bites her lower lip, her heated gaze locking with Riley's as she shakes her hips and lifts them up and down to further please the man. Her man. Her lover.

"Y-You better marry the both of us!" Alfia gasps out, earning a soft chuckle and grunt from Riley as he grips her hips.

"Trust me, I'm not going anywhere without you two." Those words make her heart soar and melt, and Alfia lets herself be lost to the pleasure.

"Ah, but no getting pregnant before me!" Meteria huffs out as she holds her sister close, helping her bounce on Riley's throbbing mast at greater speed.

Panting, Alfia plasters a teasing grin on her face, "No promises!" Meteria lets out an aggravated gasp, but could only whine and do nothing as her sister leans forward and rests her hands on Riley's chest, her hips rising and falling faster and faster.

She could feel him throbbing inside her, and she could feel the knot in her belly slowly coming undone.

Greedy for that wondrous pleasure, she speeds up, panting and moaning and smiling until finally, her lover's warm seed spills inside her, bringing out a much louder moan than usual as her orgasm ravages through her body, forcing her back to arc from the immense pleasure.

Raising himself up, Riley kisses her deeply while palming her shapely behind, making her mewl and melt against him before he gently lets her take a break on the bed beside her.

And instantly, Meteria feels like she is in danger from the hungry look Riley gives her and her body.

Still, she plasters an excited and confident smile on her face, "Come at me, you stud!"

….

"Oooh! Ooh-! Nn-Fuck! Faster! Harder!" Meteria's screams and moans of ecstasy fill the room together with the sound of flesh slapping against flesh.

Her teeth bite down on the pillow before her, her huge breasts remain squished against the bed as her lower body is bent upward, her hips willingly smashing back and forth to meet her lover's rough and quick thrusts as his cock fills her soaked core over and over.

Her eyes cross, her moans and screams being both muffled and loud when she lets go of the pillow to let her voice free.

Her large ass shakes with each impact, rippling like waves on the beach shore as Riley grips her hips with a lone hand, his other one delivering a rough and resounding spank that leaves a vibrant red mark and makes the woman mewl in pleasure.

Alfia could only stare with wide eyes and flushed cheeks at how vulgar her sister was, and at how she loved being rough and wild with Riley.

"Where did all that big talk go, huh?" Riley questions with a grunt, a pleased grin on his face.

Meteria lifts her head with a loud moan, "I got a big thing plowing my insides to worry about now!" The woman moans out before screaming, legs tensing and toes curling as yet another orgasm wracks through her body.

Yet Riley does not stop and simply keeps going, nearly making Meteria's throat go sore from how loud her screams were getting.

Gulping, Alfia rubs her legs together, feeling herself wanting more attention and be ready for another round once Meteria got her literal filling.

Still, unwilling to wait without doing anything, she sits up on her knees and pushes her body against Riley's side, one of her hands resting on his muscular chest while her lips met his in a soft yet loving kiss.

She did not expect the night to end like this, but she wasn't complaining one bit.

Hopefully, it was going to be a long, long night.

xxxXXXxxx

I barely got a wink of sleep.

Which… Isn't surprising, but after a straining fight and many hours of plenty of sex and pleasing two wonderful women, even the energy Qi can offer me starts to wane and lag a bit behind.

Still, I managed to leave the two sisters very pleased, sore and downright glowing once the sun started rising, and they soon fell asleep and allowed me to go and grab a long and warm bath.

I also had to run the fuck away from the Hera Mansion because it became clear that quite a few women heard Meteria's loud screams and moans and… word got around.

I felt like a poor little lamb being gazed by wolves within that mansion, I swear…

"A lamb that can throw down with a Dragon." Ning Guang helpfully adds, amusement filling her voice.

I am glad that my suffering amuses you, woman.

"What suffering? Don't be a baby." Then shall I be a Young Master? "Now you are just being an ass." You dare!?

Her loud groan of shame pleases me immensely. I should really be a little shit more often.

Still… "I wanted to ask something." I start, deciding to use this chance now that I am alone within my soon to be shop. I'll probably open up within the next few days. Maybe even tomorrow.

"Shoot." I pause and consider my words carefully.

I had promised myself I'd stop once I reached this level… But I clearly need more for the future that is to come.

I have a feeling that much worse is in store… And it's all right below my feet.

"What Realm do I need to reach for me to face everything that is to come?"

Ning Guang falls quiet, her very presence stilling at my question.

There is this fore-bonding feeling inside of me, a dark pit in my stomach that just will not leave.

I am not strong enough to face what is to come.

I am not strong enough to protect Meteria, Alfia, Ei and the others.

I won't stand by and lose even one of them, so if I need immense strength to protect them and finish the job that Hera came down to the mortal world to finish, then I will gain that strength. No matter how much I dislike it.

"The next Realm." Ning Guang finally answers, her voice quiet and soft, "You are a monster in your own right, so… Once you reach that Realm, you will be the strongest mortal being on this planet."

The Qi Halo Realm, huh?

Qi Palace, Qi Veins, and finally, Qi Halo. The first is to strengthen the Qi, improve the body, and improve the Palace so to make it store more abundant Qi.

The second is to help the usage of Qi and fix the immense waste from the previous uses by creating Qi Veins that go through the body, removing the waste and adding far greater potency and accuracy in using every last bit of offered energy.

It also grants the Qi Cloak ability for when the Qi Veins are overcharged, so they expel the excess that can be dangerous in the form of an ethereal suit of armor which becomes more compact and less ethereal with each upgrade to the Qi Veins.

And finally, the Qi Halo, which manifests a Halo of Qi behind the Cultivator that actively devours the Qi of the World and fuels it to the Cultivator, while also granting them the capabilities of controlling the Qi of the outside world instead of just the Qi inside their body.

There are more Realms beyond that, but I have no interest in them. The Qi Halo Realm is what I need to achieve to be able to protect those I wish to build a family with, so that is what I shall strive for.

Means I'll have to go and spend a few hours in the Dungeon, maybe prepare some Gold Grade Qi Gathering Pills so to help me speed up the process.

After all, I need somewhere around ten-thousand or so Qi Strands to fully upgrade my Qi Veins and access the next Realm, then condense the Qi Halo.

And have enough spare Qi for any emergencies, of course. Though it won't be much of a problem once I'll have the Halo.

I should also teach Alfia how to wield Qi. That fantastic woman went and learned how to gather and use it just by watching me.

Fucking insane…

"But are you sure you wish to go through with that, Riley?" The Goddess in my Soul asks softly, worry evident in her voice.

Alas, i do not have a choice. I must and want to protect them. I cannot lose someone else again. I won't be able to take it.

"I know, it's just..." Her voice falters, then she breathes out, "The Tribulations are not just test. That lighting does not just make you stronger... It takes away bits of your humanity away with each strike."

"It might change you."

I breathe out, then breathe in with a smile. "I got you to look out for me thought, no?"

Warmth fills the bond between me and her, and Ning Guang falls quiet.

Is she shy? Heh.

I shake away those thoughts with a sigh and smile, then focus my attention on the glowing potions left behind by Agnodice.

Now, to study these puppies- I pause when a knock resounds from the main doors, making me tilt my head.

My senses stretch, and a familiar presence enters my range.

Who is this?

It feels familiar, meaning I've interacted with them once before, but I can't put my finger on it.

With a shrug, I rest Bladey against the table and walk to the front of the store, then open the doors to a rather… surprising sight.

Long and flowing crimson hair, a tall and muscular build with near-glowing bright eyes and an emotionless face staring back at me.

All clad in a suit of radiant white armor, making him far more imposing than normal.

He stares at me, and I stare at him quietly for several long seconds.

Until finally, he closes his eyes, breathes in, then breathes out as his shoulders sag.

And finally, the Captain of the Zeus Familia, Maxim, speaks up.

"May I come in? I'd like to talk… If possible."

A.N. I feel like I am apologizing a lot each chapter.

Still, sorry again on the wait.

But also, small announcement; I finished writing the story for Drugs and fully working out the plot and everything else.

So now I just need to write the chapters, with the story slowly drawing to a close.

Gods, this shit makes me so sad…

Either way, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, even though I am terrified of writing lewds due to and its consent thing.

The next few ones are or will be short, mostly more character interactions and setting things up for the future.

Until then, take care!

Toodles!