Love isn’t found... It is born

Hēi Shé’s POV:

------------------------------------------------------

I didn’t wish to jump into this suddenly. I needed time to find my words and think things over. “Please wait for a little,” I replied to her, probably making her feel anxious. Well, I didn’t know what were her feelings for me. I got that she has come here to meet me, her ‘other half’, but she had no real feelings for me. It was too early to say such things.

She is my type. Her personality also seems to match my taste. I could believe that she is my other half, but I shouldn’t forget about my past either. It won’t just go away. And I don’t have any real feelings for her at the moment. Surely, she is very lovely, but life isn’t as simple… Should I tell this to her? But what if she feels otherwise? Would I hurt her?

Sighing loudly, I rubbed my eyes, asking if she wanted me to be honest. Hearing her saying yes, I felt slightly better. This kind of conversation was really… good? I never talked so straightly and openly with anyone. No lies, no underlying meanings. Just the straight truth. I could understand why had she took a liking to this kind of chatting.

“As I see it… you have no real feelings for me. But at the same time, I find you very likable. I don’t know how you feel about me, but I clearly have nothing for you at the moment. Still, like I said, I find you very likable,” telling her the truth, I felt the burden leaving my heart.

“Is it better?” Looking at me, she asked. Not understanding her meaning, I asked what did she mean. “That feeling of being free, right? I had the same feeling when I talked to Hiro and Alice,” smiling, she explained herself.

“Oh… yes, it is interesting by all means,” I admitted with a smile on my face. Seeing me waiting for an answer, she looked away, before turning back to look into my eyes.

“No. I truly don’t have any feelings for you either, but… I found you… handsome!” Quickly exclaiming the end of her sentence, she buried her face in her legs, with a tomato-like head. Laughing at her antics, I felt a strange feeling in my heart. I haven’t laughed so heartily in a very long time. She really livened up my mood.

Could it be that this was what I was missing all this time? Someone who I could talk to freely and unrestrictedly? I feel so weightless. No troubles circling in my mind. No past to cry over. I thought with a slight feeling of realization. Maybe I was just missing a pair, who could understand and love me… but if it is really like that, then I’ll have to move for that to happen. I can’t let a girl do all the work, can I? Almost laughing up, I looked at her.

“And would you mind if… if we tried to know each other?” I questioned her, feeling slightly anxious. The foreshadow of refusal was always standing there…

“I definitely wouldn’t mind it,” snapping her head towards me, she quickly replied.

“Thanks,” I said, looking downward.

The room suddenly turned deathly silent as none of us were talking. Honestly, I don’t understand why, but I didn’t feel awkward. She was just there, sitting silently. But after our conversation, it didn’t feel weird to sit in this kind of silence. It was more… comforting?

Raising her head, she looked at me, asking about a soft spot. “Why are you gritting your teeth?”

Noticing it, I realized that I still had this habit. “Oh… I indeed do. But it’s an old story. I’m sure that you don’t want to hear-” Cutting into my words, she told me that she wanted to hear it. Telling her my tale, she understood the origin of my problem. This was honestly strange. Telling such a thing to a stranger, who I met only today. But I couldn’t stop it. I just felt so comfortable in her company.

The best was that I didn’t have to fear them being some kind of spies… as with their level, they could ground this whole kingdom with a swing of their arms. Ugh… I’m weaker than her. I must work on this! I thought, feeling a new reason to fight, forming in me. What kind of guy wanted to be weaker than a girl? Especially if the person in question could be his girlfriend in the future. Why does this feel so stupid to me?! I thought, not understanding anything!

Seeing my struggling face, she chuckled as she started telling her own tale. It was kind of… average. Although her childhood was sad, she seemed to enjoy her life at the moment, so it was all good.

“And what about that sudden seizure you had?” She asked out of nowhere, looking at me seriously.

“Ah… you know… I rarely talked about this to anyone. But since Xu Min died, I keep having this problem. I feel anxious whenever I think about my past, which happens a lot… or when I’m at crowded places. That’s also one of the reasons why I live on the outskirts of the city,” I replied with a sad smile on my face. I tried to fight it many times, but it always ended with me, falling on the ground.

“Have you ever tried to fight against it? Or anything of the sort?” she asked, conveying a feeling of empathy. She was a nice girl… really.

“Haha, I tried. More times than I should have,” I replied with a clear tone of ridicule. I was ridiculing myself for not being able to win over this shitty seizure.

“Then… would you try something?” Tilting her head to the side, she asked such a thing, waiting for my reply anxiously. I talked to many people, yet no one cured me of this sickness. One more didn’t really matter at this point.

“Sure,” I replied with a smile.

“Then lay down on your bed,” she said, and I followed her instructions. There was a person once who made me do this. And then started babbling about relaxation… it turned into a good sleep… really.

Sitting on the side of my bed, beside me, she leaned over me. Meeting her beautiful eyes, I was mesmerized. With this kind of setup, I couldn’t help but think of different things… Slapping myself, I returned to reality. But she never laughed or said anything. She just kept looking at me. Not with pitying eyes. She didn’t pity me. She didn’t feel sorry for me. At least, that was what her eyes made me feel.

Seeing her lips start moving, I listened eagerly. “You know… I learned a few things from Hiro and Alice as I have spent quite a lot of time with them. They did this many times…”

“They always said that the key to everything was we, ourselves. That we should understand ourselves to solve our own problems. That we, we must find out who we are and what are we living for," emphasizing her last sentences, I felt slightly moved.

“Would you plug your ears?” Taking out a strange device, she held it out for me to grab. Taking it away, I did as told. But there was no sound coming from it and I heard perfectly… What is this good for? I though. Leaning closer to me, she placed her hand on my chest, right over my heart.

“I’ll play a music, Hiro showed me. It can touch your heart if you let it in. So please do that. Let in the music and let out your feelings. Remember your past and cry if you need. Remember the thing that has been hurting you and pulling you down, and release it all with your tears. I’ll leave you alone so that you can concentrate on yourself.”

“Think about why are you afraid of your past. Why would you shrink away? Many people have much more tragical lives, yet they don’t have seizures. Are your past and your body something that can win over you? Think Hēi, think because that is what makes you understand yourself and that is what makes you release you from your cage. As I’ve heard it… you are the one shackling down yourself.”

“So now think, cry, and feel. Just find out who you are,” she talked with great vigor, yet her voice felt soothing at the same time. I couldn’t help but fall into her little mind game. Just as she finished her sentence, the music she mentioned before, started playing in my ears. I felt her hands grabbing my chest, suddenly releasing it. Her hands, along with her presence disappeared.

The music started out silently, just like my life. It was simple and happy. But then I remembered the things that happened in my childhood. I remembered Xu Min. I remembered how he died in my place. My heart started contracted, but it felt as if it turned into a tiny ball. Thinking of her warm hand, I grabbed my chest and thought.

Maybe I could have lived an average life if Xu Min was alive. Maybe I could have lived normally, like everyone else. Fighting alongside friends. Being betrayed by others. Feeling greed and lust over beautiful women. But was that something I wanted? Did I want to be different than who I am? Sure, it would have been nice, but I’d think differently, I’d be another person.

Didn’t I try to save him? He was the one who pushed me away. I should feel grateful for saving my life and enjoy the chance he gave me. I thought vehemently, as the music started intensifying. Should I forget his legacy, my life, and cover in my panic?

Feeling that dark feeling leaving and a sudden burst in my heart, I sat up suddenly, breathing heavily. I felt tears trickling down on my face. Realizing that I cried, I wiped away my tears. Maybe I should feel ashamed, but I didn’t. Tapping my chest, I found my clothes wet from my sweat. Pulling out this thing from my ears, I jumped up and ran towards the door. I’m not sure if her method worked.

It might return in the future. But I won this time. Maybe I’ll win the next time as well. And I must thank her for telling this to me. Almost breaking my door in my hurry, I arrived at the streets. A few people passing by, looked at me as if they were looking at an idiot. But their stares didn’t matter! Their thoughts didn’t matter! I finally found myself!

Running through the streets, I saw her sitting in a restaurant, with a stranger. Leaning over the table, she kissed the guy. On his lips. I felt my heart being crushed. Waking up, I sat up hurriedly, trying to catch my breath. Was this a dream? But how much of it? Or was it all just a dream? Taking off my clothes, I raised out of the bed and walked towards the bathroom.

Whether it was a dream or not, that method worked. I’ll be sure to try out if my seizure happens again, I thought as I walked through the living room. Noticing someone, I turned to the right, only to see Rose lying on the sofa. I was scared shitless at first, but after looking at her more closely, I realized that she was sleeping.

Now that I think about it, the device she gave was in my hand… realizing that it indeed wasn’t a dream, I smiled happily. But the scene where she kissed someone else was a nightmare… But why so? I don’t have any feelings for her… I started thinking, but upon looking at her peacefully sleeping face, I remembered what happened today.

She understood my problems, unlike anyone else before. She was there when I needed her. And even though I’m a stranger, she is still here. Does she believe in Hiro and Alice so much? Should I believe in this other half thing as well? Maybe I didn’t have any feelings for this girl before… now I do. I thought, squatting down beside the sofa.

Looking at her face, she seemed peaceful and beautiful! Her wavy long red hair hid a part of her face. Grabbing those locks of hair, I pulled them aside to see her face. Am I being seduced by her or what? I thought, touching the tips of her horns. Pressing my finger against the tip of her horn, it pierced my finger as easily as a knife would butter.

Sucking on my finger, my bleeding soon stopped. Raising my right arm, I moved it towards her left arm. Poking the scales on the outer half of her arm, I found them truly interesting. They were very smooth to the touch, yet hard at the same time. I bet that she has retractable wings… I couldn’t help but think enviously. Wings were cool.

Fearing that I’d wake her up, I pulled back my hand. Her chest raised up and down as she kept breathing, unconsciously catching my eyes. They seemed really soft… ARGH! What am I? A kid seeing a woman for the first time!? Wait… actually, she is the first I ever looked at so closely, I realized, releasing the sides of my head.

She suddenly turned on her front, leaving her back opened. Her thin black dress coiled around her body, showing me her curves. Seeing her bottom, felt a terribly powerful urge to just smack it. But unless I wanted to turn our relationship towards the wrong way, I knew that I had to hold back. Not to mention that she could kill me with a slap. After finally finding a reason to fight for, I don’t wish to die.

I want to turn into a man! A man who is stronger than his girlfriend! Even though she isn’t my girlfriend… “Do you like the view? A voice resounded from behind me, which somehow left me terrified. It was that blonde girl, Alice.

“A-Ah! I’m sorry. I was just curious of her scales!” I whispered silently.

“I didn’t know that her cleavage and butt had scales. Let me see,” walking towards Rose, she said with a smirk on her face.

“N-no no no! A-Alright… I admit my wrongdoings. I apologize. But she is really captivating!” Seeing that I had no way out, I replied honestly.

“Hahaha, I don’t care, actually. But it was fun to see your reactions,” laughing at me, she said. Turning deadly silent, she smirked while pointing downward. Looking down, I felt terror. Hiding my male part, I quickly rushed towards the bathroom.

NOOOO! I never realized that I was still naked! HELL! FOR FUCK’S SAKE! I shouted in my mind. In all honesty, I liked shy girls because I too was a little shy. Not too much, but standing naked in front of a girl wasn’t something that I would dare to do.

Since I had no clothes, I had to leave the shower, with a towel coiled around my body. I found Alice and Hiro sitting at my table, kissing… they seemed to be really into it as they didn’t even notice me. I went to my room to dress up, but I soon had to find out that I didn’t have anything good looking. Feeling dissatisfied, I wore the best I had.

I’ll have to work hard and earn some money! I thought, feeling fired up. I didn’t want to be supported by the girl I took a liking to. I didn’t want to look bad in front of her. Lying down on my bed, I realized that I can’t sleep. There was a pair of random people in my house and a girl I took a liking to. Maybe I’m even liking her.

Standing up, I went towards the living room. But unlike before, Hiro and Alice were looking at me.

“H-Hi,” I said with a stiff face.

Nodding, “To be honest, I always believed in the success of this little meeting. We never doubted our ability. As I can see it, you also have something for her,” Alice said with a smile on her face. Switching to a serious one, she added, “Now it is your turn to make her fall for you. She is very shy and might have problems admitting her own feelings at some point. At a point where it would be crucial. Don’t force yourself on her, but if fate were to play a prank on you, make her yours. Just don’t hurt her. She is our best friend.”

Finishing her sentence, they disappeared, along with Rose from my sofa. “We will visit you soon enough. Things should calm down for now, or else your relationship will be just a stupid explosion,” her voice resounded in my ears and I couldn’t help but agree. I had to think over what I wanted exactly.

What now? I’ve been living alone for such a long time now, yet this house feels bigger and emptier than ever before… Seeing the house empty, those were my first thoughts. I feel sorry for Xu Min, but he wanted me to enjoy my life. So I should do just that. And however ridiculous it may sound, there is a wonderful girl, who came here only to get know me and love me if possible…

Feeling my pride being moved, I decided to work hard. To work hard to be the man, who Rose could love.

---------------- Rose’s POV: --------------------

Opening the door in front of me, I saw an old man in front of me, standing at a hundred and seventy-seven centimeters tall. But his facial features seemed to be good looking. After Hiro ridiculed me, he turned the person in front of me younger. Looking like a twenty years old guy, I was left flabbergasted. He had long black hair, smooth face, and thin brows. He was wearing a simple T-shirt, and although his body was lean, he was visibly muscular.

Seeing him looking at me with those gunmetal gray eyes, holding his soul in those tints of brownish parts, I was mesmerized. Being shy as I was, I felt my face burning. He wasn’t a simple mortal or a weak cultivator I could play around with as if I was the boss… he was supposedly my other half, which I believed in. After entering and going through a series of events, I’ve got to know him. I know that it was mostly only the surface, but that was much enough.

Trying to help him, I used the knowledge I gained from my friends. When I left him alone to solve his problems, I was hoping that my methods would work. If he was my partner, then I’d have helped them differently. But he wasn’t. I just liked his personality. He had to find his own self before taking me. My half wasn’t a broken man. I liked taking care of those who I loved, which was the reason why I served Hiro and Alice so heartily.

Since I took a liking to Hēi Shé, I wanted to help him from the bottom of my heart. I don’t know why. I just wanted to take care of his soul. Maybe that was what I liked to do in my life? Helping others?

I couldn’t help but laugh upon realizing that I helped not only him but myself as well. I guess this is what I liked and wanted to do. While I sat on the sofa, Alice and Hiro appeared beside me. Leaning over, Hiro looked into my eyes. I raised my brows, not understanding what he wanted. “Your eyes look more resolute. Did you find something to work on?” Sitting back down, he kept looking at me.

I was used to these weird habits of his. Smiling, I nodded.

“Do you feel the need to get to know him? To love him?” Alice questioned with a smile on her face.

“Yes. He is my other half, isn’t he? I should-” I started, but she cut into my words.

“No. You shouldn’t and you are wrong. You don’t have to try loving him. You shouldn’t try to love him because he is your other half. This isn’t about our beliefs or about what you believe in. This is something you should feel. Don’t try to do it, just try to feel it.”

I opened my eyes widely upon hearing her words and realizing how wrong I was. I was trying to love him forcefully, which was impossible. I didn’t have to understand it, just feel it, as she said. Chuckling upon realizing my mistake, I thanked her for enlightening me.

“And now… what am I supposed to do?” Feeling lost, I wanted some guiding.

“Huh? Nothing. Sleep here. We will take you away later. He will need some time to resolve himself. Just sleep,” Hiro said, grabbing my head and gently pushing me onto the sofa. I don’t know what he did, but I felt my consciousness fading as everything turned dark. I fell asleep.

I awoke sometime later, only to sense that someone was squatting beside me. Using my mind power, I felt the person’s body shape. I knew that it was Hēi. Opening my eyes a little, I saw him from the corners of my eyes. He kept looking at my cleavage with lustful eyes. Learning a few things from Alice, I controlled my symbiote to coil tightly around my body.

Turning on my front, I felt his eyes burning a hole in my back. Feeling pleased that he was liking my looks that much, I smiled with my eyes closed. But realizing what did I just do, my face turned completely red. It’s good that I was facing the other way… I’m… I’m such a pervert! This is all Hiro’s and Alice’s fault! I’ve caught them red handed too many times! I should be more careful while being in their world…

Suddenly Alice appeared behind Hēi, but her words surprised me soon enough. What!? H-He was naked!? What the hell! And I… I was showing my body to him!? ARGH! I’m such an idiot! I shouted in my mind, my face red.

“Alice… I can’t look into his eyes now. Please, save me!” I begged her, using my mind power.

“Haha, you little pervert! You shall stay there for a bit more,” she replied, laughing at me. Aww… she is such a bully.

I soon heard Hēi’s footsteps nearing. Without saying anything, he went towards his room. I didn’t even dare to move, fearing that he would find out that I was awake. Knowing that he wasn’t here, I sighed out in relief. Now even if he were to come back, I could feign that I woke up just now! Oh, wait… I could have done the same now as well… Never mind… Realizing the truth, I chuckled.

But Hēi soon came back. Alice told a few things to him, surprising me. I felt touched upon hearing her words. But what was the weirdest… was that Hēi never denied her words! Did he have some feelings for me? I was hoping that he wasn’t just lusting after my body. Ugh… stupid female instincts! We want to look good in front of men. Now I made the same mistake!

Waving her hand, Alice teleported away, taking away me as well. The same night, I didn’t sleep. At my level, it wasn’t necessary anyway… but I couldn’t sleep, to begin with. Lying down in my bed, in my friends’ world, I found myself thinking about this day and our meeting…

----------------------- Hēi Shé’s POV: -----------------------

Looking at the ceiling, I sighed loudly. After they left, I went to bed. But I couldn’t sleep thanks to thinking about Rose. Unlike people above the three-hundredth level, I could feel tired quite easily. Yawning, I got up from my bed since it was pointless to try sleeping. Her eyes, her words, the feeling of her scales and the warmth of her skin.

All of them kept haunting my mind. And when I thought of her cute reddened face, I always found myself grinning like an idiot. But what left the deepest impression in my heart was how I wanted to see her again. Did I fall in love with her? I questioned myself, sitting on the side of my bed. It was nice to talk so freely in her company. Not something I could do with other girls. I always wanted to enjoy my life, but my past pulled me back.

I’m quite sure that with her beside me… I could enjoy it. Am I selfish? Do I want to have her to enjoy my life? But… What if it is like that? I want to have her beside me! So that I could love her and she could love me in return! Realizing my selfish feelings, I decided to fight for what I wanted. I had feelings for her. So it was natural that she should be beside me!

Looking out on the window, I saw the sun slowly rising up. Maybe I dozed off for one or two hours, but it didn’t matter. I wanted to see her! See the girl who helped me with my incurable problem. Though… It isn’t incurable anymore, is it? Haha, I thought, laughing in my mind.

Opening my front door, I walked through the streets aimlessly, hoping that I’d run into her. The worst was that I didn’t know where to look for her! Deciding that I should just go to the forest and fight the monsters, I turned around. In a life and death situation, my Quick Evolution would kick in, resulting in a great increase of my best traits.

But as I neared my house, I saw a group of guards standing in front of it. “You! Come with us!” As soon as they noticed me, they encircled me with incredible speed. These were the elite guards of the king! They were above the three-hundredth level. I had no way to fight them! Grabbing my arms, they forcefully took me towards the palace.

No one stopped us from moving forward in the castle… Opening the huge double doors, leading to the throne room, I was left flabbergasted. Hiro was sitting in the king’s chair, Alice on his lap. Rose was nowhere to be seen to my disappointment. The elite guards released me and left the room.

“Hello,” a familiar voice came from behind me. Turning around, I was stunned. It was Rose, wearing a short, black dress, which was coiling around her body tightly. It left little to my imagination when it came to her curves and I couldn’t help but run my eyes down on her body.

“Hahaha, look at his face. I told you that he would fall for you,” Alice laughed up behind me, but I couldn’t take my eyes off of Rose. Gulping loudly, I forcefully turned away but seeing her looking at me, I finally realized what was she waiting for.

“Y-You look stunning… I’m sorry, you just took my breath away,” I replied with cliche lines. Surprisingly, it worked just fine as her face turned reddish.

“Thanks,” turning to the side, she said with a red face. Forgetting where I was, I really felt like pouncing on her…

“We called you here for a reason,” Hiro’s voice resounded behind me. Rose walked past me and stopped beside them. Conjuring a nice wooden chair out of nothing, I felt slightly disheartened. My control was nowhere near as smooth and good as hers… She took her place and waited silently for something.

Raising a brow, I asked curiously, “And what could that be?”

Hiro pointed at Rose as he replied, “She. We can stay for a few days at most, but we wish to delay no more. You see… there was this prince who took a liking to my wife. So we killed him and devoured his soul. It came as a surprise that we have gained access to the system of this world,” he explained laughing.

“So now we don’t have anything that would make us stay here, other than you. But living far away from the universe we came from would feel weird. And this world is too much different. I and Alice will go around in this world… and we will leave Rose here for the time being. But afterward…” he said. Although he didn’t finish his sentence, I knew his meaning.

I felt panicked upon hearing his words. But at the same time, I had mixed emotions. Looking at Rose, she was so beautiful and wonderful. Was I someone worthy of her? I didn’t believe in that…

“But you have a way to come with us. Do the same as her and turn into our blood servant. Seeing that you can’t fly yet… Rose could carry you around in her arms, but I don’t think that you want such a thing to happen. We are ‘legendary’ beings, but we are different than most. I’m quite sure that you know us a bit more at this point. Honestly, even if you come, you won’t have to do anything. You can move around freely and unrestrictedly.”

“Rose is following us out of her own accord,” he finished his short explanation when two people appeared out of nowhere. One of them was a green haired beauty, who had scales on her body. I’m quite sure that she was a reptilian type, while the other one was a dragonkin, covered in blue scales. His horns gave him away.

Though now that I think about it, the woman had small horns on her forehead. Maybe both of them were dragons or hydras.

“We found what you wanted,” she said with a smile, looking at the couple in the king’s chair.

All of them had terrifying auras even from fifty meters away! This wasn’t my world. They were so out of my league and Rose… she was worthy to walk among them. But for me to do such a thing? Feeling sad and ashamed, I hung my head down.

“Oh, that’s good,” Hiro replied to the woman’s words.

“I’m sorry,” I mumbled silently. “What?” Alice questioned me, not understanding my words.

“I’m sorry! I-I can’t accept this! You people are way too much above me. I don’t believe that we could be the kind of equal partners you talked about,” I explained myself, with a louder voice.

“We aren’t above you. And you are making a terrible mistake,” Alice said, pointing at Rose’s face. She seemed to be really sad upon hearing my words.

“Why? You could catch up with me easily!” Rose exclaimed with hopeful looking eyes.

On one hand, I didn’t feel like serving someone. I was an assassin. I served the night and it served me! But this wasn’t my biggest problem. I saw that they were nice to Rose as well, which came from the bottom of their hearts. I’m sure that they aren’t terrible people. That prince was seeking death for a long time now anyway, so I naturally don’t feel bad for him.

But my main problem was myself. I knew that I shouldn’t think like this, but it was still there in my mind, bothering me and shackling me down. I didn’t feel that I was good enough for such a high-class woman! Seeing me staying silent, Rose’s eyes saddened. Appearing in front of me, she talked.

“Why do you not want me? Why don’t you try to believe in me?” Relatively thinking, she was the weird as we barely met. But for some reason, I felt terrible. I felt as if I hurt her. Something I should never do. Her question tore my heart.

“I-It’s not that I don’t want it. It’s just that I’m not go-” cutting into my words, she turned over the conversation.

“No, it is simple as that. You don’t want to because your soul is still weak. Aren’t you realizing that you are hurting me with your refusal? Who says that we must have the same kind of strength level? But with their help, even that is possible!” She shouted, pointing at Hiro and Alice. She wasn’t as shy as usual… but this side of hers felt strangely refreshing.

“Then why would you go with them, instead of trying to stay with me?” I asked the most important question.

“Why, you ask… They are my first true friends. That is one. Secondly… although they never think of it like that, I feel the need to repay my debt,” she said calmly.

I could say that she wanted to choose her ‘debt’, which no one cared about, instead of me. But it would be pointless. We met only yesterday, so throwing such an argument towards her head would be a terrible mistake from my part. I knew at least that much. I wouldn’t choose a fleeting feeling over long known friends either.

“Just agree…” she added.

“But… do you even have any feelings for me? Is it worth for me to come with you?” as I asked the most important question, I saw her eyes opening widely.

“I do…” turning her head to the side, she mumbled with a red face, surprising me a lot.

“You have?” I asked, wishing to hear her words again.

“D-Damn it, I have! But you keep crushing them by being as miserable as you are. Thanks to you, I found out what I liked to do. I enjoyed learning about your tale. I enjoyed trying to fix it. I enjoyed seeing your happy face afterward. Although you don’t know this, we have been looking at you the whole time by using our mind powers!”

“I find you handsome, I find your normal behavior and personality very attractive. I just don’t like when you go all depressed, trying to bring in facts and strength into our relationship! I made a similar mistake, which is why I am not angry with you. Alice helped me with that. So now I’m also here to help you. You shouldn’t think about reasons if you want to accept me. You should just try to love me!” Panting slightly, she finished her shouting.

Was I wrong all this time? Even though she was so shy, she tried her best to advance our sudden relationship. She tried to do something about it... while I? I was only pitying myself in my own misery. Why would we have to be as powerful as her instantly? I can always catch up to her if I work hard. It will be a hell lot of work, but I’m a hard worker anyway.

I was hurting her all this time by my self-pitying behavior. I accepted that I’d try my best to get my hands on her, yet when it came to the actual thing, I always backed away. Even now… I did the same. Raising my head, I met her eyes. She was looking at me with those expectant eyes. The green tints in that eternal gray shone with an interesting light. Noticing her trembling lips, I decided what I wanted.

This might cause lots of pain on my face in the future… I thought as I quickly grabbed the back of her head and kissed her. Her lips were still closed as I felt her palms touching my chest. I felt a great force pressing against me for the split of a second, but it soon stopped. The strange, invisible wall behind me, only helped my advancement.

Her pushing soon weakened as her lips loosened up. Opening my eyes, I saw hers being widely opened. Seeing the feeling of wanting and the fire in my eyes, she slowly closed her eyes. Following her example, I coiled my arms around her back. Feeling the warmth of her body, I felt happier and calmer than ever before.

How stupid I was. I realized my feelings not long ago, yet I almost pushed them away because of the fear of the unknown. I feared what will happen if I were to come together with such a girl. I would be the weakest in the group. I would be the most useless in the group. I didn’t want that to happen. But it never occurred to me that I was hurting her by refusing the truth, which was her feelings.

Feeling sorry for doing so, I tightened my embrace around her back. I felt surprised to feel her arms coiling around my back, gently. I had no idea how much time passed before we separated. Looking into her eyes, I saw happiness. Turning to the side, neither Hiro and Alice nor the other couple was there.

Noticing the same thing, Rose’s face turned completely red. Maybe realizing what did we just do, had the same effect on her. Stepping back, she asked with a half happy, half embarrassed face, “Will you come with me?”

“I will. If that’s what you want from me?” I replied, adding a question. But honestly, I just wanted to see her blush. Reacting just as I thought my dream woman, my ‘other half’ would… her face turned red as she said that she wanted it.

Whistling loudly, Alice and Hiro stood next to us. We literally jumped in our surprise.

“S-Since when!?” Rose exclaimed in her embarrassment.

“What? We never left. We just came to this side to have a better view on you!” Hiro said, laughing loudly. I felt skeptical… I think that in truth, they left and came back just now. They always left us alone when we needed it.

“I don’t believe you!” I exclaimed with a feeling of self-confidence. I had a lot to work on it, but as time passed by, it would grow anyway.

“Oh? Don't you? Then here, drink this,” giving me a simple wooden bowl, they smiled at me. Looking down, I saw that it was filled with a red liquid, with small tints of green. These people had so many green things…

Green, the color of will, is it? The more self-confident you are, the more you have it. Inspect Will.

Will: 52

Oh? Is it above fifty? I had it on forty for a long time now. Now that I finally resolved myself, it could keep growing easily. I will be the man who Rose could rely on! I thought upon seeing the window.

Taking away that bowl from Alice’s hands, I drank it without any hesitation. A terrible burning feeling spread through my whole body, causing me so much pain that I blanked out. This meant only one thing. The bloodline I was about to inherit was terribly powerful. Before blacking out and falling, I was still able to see Rose catching my body. I’d like to repeat lying in her bosom…

-------------------- Hiro’s POV: ---------------------

Seeing Rose catching her dear lover, I couldn’t help but grin. I felt really happy for some reason. In truth, we never intended to tear them apart. We just said it to make him hurry. Maybe I’m more emotional and sympathetic than I believed myself. [No, you aren’t. You just didn’t use it on anyone for a long while…] Alice replied in my mind, kissing my face.

It was interesting how we found joy in shipping people. Through these two days, we were observing every reaction these two had and tried to lead both of them towards the right way. Whether we did it right or wrong, the end result seems to be good. Now that they also clarified their problems, they can get into a much deeper and honest relationship. They won’t have to try hiding their little things anymore.

We also asked Poirlion and Narihi to catch a few ‘bad people’ with good skills in their possession. It came as a real surprise to us that some random little prince thought that it was a good idea to hit on Alice. Since our auras were hidden, we had no presence to speak of. This was also true for most people above the seventh level.

Since he couldn’t sense anything and took a liking to Alice, he commanded his top-notch guards to capture her. His soul mixed with ours as a result and we were truly surprised to see a window appearing in front of us.

As it turned out, we gained access to the training system of this world, leaving us with tons of abilities. After hiding most of them, leaving only the useful ones, we noticed that our table was the same. But it was understandable as we had everything shared. From the memories of this prince, we knew that Inspect was a common skill here. But we were lacking in that… [Status~] I thought in my mind and my table appeared.

Name: Hiro

Race: Twelve Headed Hydra (Mixed)

Level: 691

Class: Cultivator

Titles: The Sovereign; Bonded; Lover; World Traveler; Love Finder

Temporary Law Knowledge: 91%

Eternal Law Knowledge: 0%

Skills:

Twelve Chains of Bane (Curse) Lv. 100

Inspect Lv. 0 (0%)

Basic Elemental Magic (Completed)

Domain (Incompatible)

Shifting Time (Symbiote)

Other Half (Exclusive, Personal)

Nightmare (Exclusive)

Qi Control Lv. 100

Racial Skills:

Hydra’s Breath Lv. 100

Hydra’s Wings Lv. 100

Hydra’s Paw Strike Lv. 100

Hydra’s Tail Lv. 100

Eyes of Truth Lv. None

Twelve Eternal Chains (Curse) Lv. 100

I didn’t bother with looking at the passive stats. They were just numbers to me anyway… I didn’t need numbers to understand my own strength. The only difference was that Alice’s racial skills were Dragon related… It was interesting that most of our skills didn’t have levels beside them. But we found a serious problem, which has been bugging us for a long while now! We didn’t have a damned surname! What kind of husband and wife were we, without having a real name?!

“Rose!” Alice exclaimed suddenly, startling Rose. She stood at attention out of reflex, releasing Hēi Shé’s body. Using the laws, we held his body in place.

“Ah! Sorry… Why did you surprise me so much?” She said with a frown on her face.

“Oh, we just wanted to announce our new family name. We will also name your and now Hēi Shé’s race! Since we created your kind, we shall name it as well!” Alice replied, coiling her right arm around Rose’s neck. If not for her high-heels, she would be shorter… and noticing this, I couldn’t help but laugh.

“D-Damn you! Why are you laughing at this all the time?! Stupid Hiro!” She burst out with an unbelieving face. Feeling sorry for her, I went over and hugged her tightly.

“So? What have you decided on?” Tilting her head to the side, Rose questioned.

“Our family name will be Ourichi. And we decided to call your race Dre’khan!” Alice exclaimed loudly.

Your name has changed from Hiro to Hiro Ourichi. You share the same surname with your wife, Alice Ourichi from now on.

“Dre’khan? It sounds good on my part. Oh?! This is surprising!” She said as a window appeared in front of her. We too were able to see it since she was our blood servant.

The creators of this new race named it the following: Dre’khan. From now on, your race shall be the one mentioned before.

“Interesting… we created a new race! Hahaha,” Alice mumbled silently before laughing loudly. I felt Narihi tugging on my back, so I turned around to hear what she wanted. As our eyes met, she asked.

“Uhm… C-Can we drink a little from it? I know that this is kind of selfish but look at it the good way. You can make sure that you can command us like-” Hearing her stupid explanation, I held my forehead.

“Poirlion, have you not slapped her too many times? Where is your brain, you stupid girl,” I interrupted her, catching her nose between my fingers.

“Ouch! Let go of my nose!” As I let go of her nose, she started rubbing it. She looked like Rudolph with that red tip… Alice merged with me, which after we cut our wrists and filled up two bowls. Thanks to our high regeneration, our arm grew back in a second. It was truly ridiculous.

Drinking our blood, neither Narihi nor Poirlion collapsed. Their bloodlines weren’t that much weaker, so they were able to handle it. Except for the pain they felt, things went smoothly for them. As everyone entered our world, we teleported to the king’s room and took his soul away. We could use that to make training our body possible.

I believe, these things are regulated by the Abyss. We left the palace and went towards the place Narihi and Poirlion found. But before getting to work, we checked out how things were going. Entering Rose’s house, we saw her sitting on a sofa, Hēi Shé’s head on her lap.

“He will be happy when he wakes up,” I remarked with a smile, knowing what would a guy think.

“You think so?” Tilting her head to the side, she questioned.

Nodding, I stepped closer to examine the changes in his body. His muscles strengthened, his bones hardened. Raising his eyelids, I saw his eyes. There were tints of brown in the center before, but now it was a mix of green and brown. The most interesting was a thin line of green that was only on the edge of his iris, encircling it.

Horns were protruding on his forehead, curving upwards straight. Scales covered his whole arms and the back of his hands. The outer parts of his legs being the same, he was well protected against slashing attacks. Not bothering with Rose, I pulled off his T-shirt. His sides and his chest were covered in scales as well. All of his scales were black, with tints of dark green on them.

“W-W-What are you doing?! I’m still here! Don’t go and strip him like you have done it with me!” Fearing such things from happening, Rose shouted with her arms raised.

Narihi and Poirlion also appeared to show us their changes. Their scales turned darker, the number of their horns increased to four smaller ones. Except for their body strength, it really didn’t have much effect on them.

“Mmm… what is this noise?” mumbling silently, Hēi Shé turned on his front. “Aww, so soft,” not realizing that he was enjoying himself in Rose’s lap, he kept on mumbling. The poor girl’s face turned red as she realized her position.

“Hey, you should look where you are sleeping at,” wishing to fire up the things, Alice pointed out. Hēi Shé opened his eyes with a tired look on his face.

“Huh? Ah! I remember! I drank your blood… but where am I?” looking downward and then towards us, he questioned. Just as he finished his sentence, he turned to the right, only to see Rose’s lap. “Ah!” Looking up, as his eyes met hers, they shouted out at the same time.

It wasn’t a long scream or anything of the sort. Just a simple and short voice of surprise. Wishing to sit up, he unconsciously grabbed the things under him, which were Rose’s thighs. Standing up, he noticed that he was still holding them.

But unlike what I believed would happen, he just stood up with a slightly red face and scratched the back of his head. “I-I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine…” turning away, Rose said with a face, worthy of her name.

“You should just mate already,” Alice said with a skeptical look on her face, intensifying the red color.

“So? How do you feel?” looking at Hēi Shé, she asked.

Moving his arms, his legs, his neck, everything cracked a few times. Clenching his fists, he made a punching movement in the air. “W-What!? This is amazing! I’m much quicker than before!” He exclaimed with a flabbergasted face.

“See? I told you to come with me. You would have been stupid to stay! Hey! Now that I think about it, you can train in this world as well. And I can help you as well,” Rose offered up her help. How lovely…

“Alright, guys. Feel free to do whatever you want to. Just don’t kill every human and monster. It will take a heavy toll on the amount of Soul Force we have,” telling them the only rule we had, we said goodbye and disappeared from our world.

Now that we were the strongest, we were able to teleport the furthest. Out of this reason, it was better for Poirlion and Narihi to stay in our world as well. [People keep building houses on our planet…] Alice thought with a frown on her face.

[Haha, yes. But it is good in a way. We can be close to our friends.] I replied with a smile on my face, adding, [And accidentally feel what they do…]

[Ehm… let’s not mention that. Luckily, we can suppress our senses, so we don’t have to peek on them or the other mortals. It would be quite a challenge to do it with every creature,] Alice thought as we landed in front of a stone building. It was in the middle of the city, the only problem being that the people here were trash in our eyes.

Breaking the door, we were met with groups of people. There weren’t any humans, which was surprising as they were the most widespread race.

“What are humans doing in the city?! We purged all of them long ago! You dared to come here?!” A furry beastman stood up from his chair, alongside an elf. We were in our human forms and our auras were hidden. It was quite a lot of fun to do!

"Greetings simpletons! We are hungry, so we have come to devour your souls! Feel free to resist, but know that it is futile!" I said out of fun, the moment we walked in.

The beastman jumped towards us, trying to kill us with his fist. The elf held up his palms, ready to shoot some kind of magical attack. Not bothering with them, I stood in front of Alice and let their attacks hit my body. I barely felt anything as Blank reacted way before they attacked. His puny fist strike felt like a fly’s fart.

Spotting a hydra, I looked at him. His eyes weren’t as brave as the other people here. His lips trembling, with a terrified face, he ran towards us to kneel before us. But before he could do such a thing, I grabbed his shoulder and threw him outside.

“What are you doing Orauko?! Are you afraid of these idiot humans?” Not even bothering to notice the difference in our strength, they laughed at him.

[Is this for real? There can’t be such stupid people, can there?] I questioned Alice in my mind, shaking my head sideways.

[As you can see… there are,] Sighing loudly, she replied. I stomped on the ground weakly, but even that caused the whole building to tremble and the floor to crack. My aura spread out through the building, crushing the bodies of these weak people. Being at the fifth level, they thought that they could fight against us… Using Soul Eater, we devoured the souls of the most powerful people, while we stored away the rest.

Seeing that we didn’t get anything good, we decided to move on to the next place, Narihi mentioned. But at that place, we found people at the sixth level and a peak of it at that! The problem with this was that they were nobles. But considering that we had many souls in our possession and that we were at the ninth stage… it wouldn’t take much to reach the Eternal Law Realm.

At that time, we could leave anytime we wanted. Entering the luxurious villa, we used Space Lock on the whole area. Sensing it, the owner rushed out, shouting what were we doing. Not bothering with her threatening words, we killed her in a single move. Alice used a soul attack, while I blasted her body into pieces with four stacks of our Martial Art. It was enough to level the whole area. Devouring her soul, we reached the middle of the ninth stage.

After killing a few more people at the sixth level, we finally gained enough souls to reach the threshold. Dark clouds started gathering above us. [What? I thought that it wouldn’t come in this world…] I thought, feeling surprised.

[I guess it will come, no matter where you are… it’s like a creepy cloud! A stalker!] Alice exclaimed, making me laugh.

There was only one noteworthy skill we inherited. It is called Ethereal. Before the storm would arrive, we decided to see the description of this skill.

Ethereal

This skill was invented long ago. It uses Space around you, to make anything go through your body. While using this skill, you can’t be hurt. The downside is that others at your level can understand it easily.

The last sentence obviously meant that this was a trump card. If our opponent didn’t know of this skill and gave his or her all to finish us with that one attack, we could easily get away and kill him or her at the same time.

The wind blew, the sky turned dark, and the bolts of lightning struck our bodies. After the fourth bolt of lightning, we used our attacks as well just to make sure that we wouldn’t be hurt. While the lightning struck our bodies, making them evolve, we also pondered about the eternal laws.

Obviously, they were time, space, life, death. Time was the most crucial, so we decided to pick that one. It could help us a lot at the moment. Especially if we could increase the speed of our world. It would not only grow quicker, the weak cultivators in them would also train quicker than the outside world. The only downside was that it consumed our lives. But we had no problems with losing a few hundred thousands of years, or even millions at that. Considering that we had way more years to live than what we were supposed to…

[What is time? Is it infinite or is it finite? However I think about it, it is both.] Alice thought, but I had a different opinion.

[And what about this loop-like time? What if it was never infinite?] I questioned her with a smile on my face.

[Are you saying that it’s more like an infinitely swirling circle of finite time?] Hugging me, she asked.

[You know me all too well,] I hugged her back as I replied, chuckling. Maybe it was different than what we thought it to be. But these laws were based on our own understanding. If someone had a better concept for the time, the person’s control over it could be better and stronger than ours. These concepts were shared only among the masters and their disciples, families. Maybe many of them were different.

But they all served the same purpose. To understand the time. With the new concept in our minds, we became able to control time to a small degree. If we quickened it in our world, the same things would happen with the people in our world. Mostly with different people, different environment, different characters. But it would still be like an infinite loop of insanity.

But wasn’t everything like that? Our lives? We experience the same things continuously, just with different variants. That’s why we believed in this form of time.

Before we would be caught, we teleported towards the gates of the Abyss. Being able to step through much larger ranges than before, we didn’t need two days but two hours to reach it. It was definitely much better than before.

Appearing in front of the gate, we felt the senses of guards rushing through our bodies. Feeling that we were at the seventh level, they nodded, saying that we could go through. We were quite happy upon seeing that dark Abyss. Somehow it felt more familiar than that world with windows and tables… It was fun, but we wanted to go home. It felt the same when we went on long holidays and wished to go home after some time.

“And where do you want to set up this little kingdom of ours?” I questioned Alice since we weren’t sure about the exact position.

“Well, we decided to do it here… and occupy a place. But we should chase away a weaker group to do that,” she replied, looking towards our future.

“Ah… for now, let’s go back to our world and help out that old lady,” I said laughing, thinking of Gaia. Nodding we teleported towards the universe we came from. As we stepped through the usual portal, we didn’t see anyone nearby.

Appearing in front of Gaia’s house, we found both Sedna and her, sitting on the ground, meditating. The wind blew through the willow trees, rocking them slowly, adding to the image of the environment. The water rippled whenever a leaf fell into the tiny lake nearby and the air felt clear. Sucking in a breath of air, we closed our eyes to enjoy the feeling.

Alice brushed her hand through my brown hair, ruffling it in the process. But I didn’t mind it. Not even opening her eyes, Gaia talked to us, “You are back… What brings you here?”

“Hello to you too… and we came for a simple reason,” Alice replied with a smile on her face.

“I’m all ears,” she said as she opened her eyes, her shoulders slumping down. Seeing that she relaxed, I continued.

“You know, you have this problem of not being able to touch anyone. What-”

“Damn it! You came here to bully me!?” Interrupting me, she jumped up. The whole planet started trembling under the weight of her aura.

Not minding it, I looked into her eyes as I spoke again. “What if I said that we can cure you of this ‘sickness’ of yours?”

“Then I’d be happy enough to… I don’t know… do anything?” She started with great determination, but her voice turned more and more silent towards the end.

“I have a proposal. If we can resolve your problem, you hand over the control of your area in the Abyss and will help in keeping it up if someone stronger than us were to come for it,” I said with a smile on my face.

“Huh? What do you want with that? Do you want to ask for taxes or what?” Raising a brow, she questioned us with her head tilted to the side.

“Nah, we don’t need that. We want to create our own little kingdom. A kingdom of halves!” Alice exclaimed and then told us about our belief. She knew all too well how important it was to get on well with each other and she has seen how good we are at it. So it wasn’t surprising that she didn’t doubt our words.

“And what does your belief have to do with me?” She questioned curiously, feeling interested in our method.

“If you can find your other half and bond with him, you will be able to control Soul Eater. You will be able to touch anyone.” After making a thoughtful face, she nodded. She too knew how it worked.

“Fine. If you can really save me from this trouble of mine, then I’ll go as far as to drink your blood,” she replied with a serious face.

“Eh? No need for that. It would be nice, but-” I started, but she interrupted us, saying that it was her decision, not ours. Even though it was…

“I’ll help you in capturing and occupying the center of the first level of the Abyss. How does it sound? A kingdom of lovers in the middle of a world of death and blood,” she said, laughing ironically at the irony in that.

“Alright,” both of us replied at the same time. Alice held out her hand as her pupils took up that usual heart shape. Smiling at her, we asked at the same time.

“Shall we go?”