Mature themes involve. Proceed at your own risk. Well, not much as you'd think :P

Well, that's all from me. Hope you enjoy reading this chapter.

Chapter 10: Spirit Weapon

I open my eyes to answer the heat bathing my eyelids.

The peaceful singing of the birds and the beautiful sunlight streaming from outside the window—it is such a refreshing morning.

For some reason, my mind drifts into the distant past, which was filled with darkness and consequences. The cold disbelief. My denial to accept the reality. For three years now, I am haunted by the sight of my childhood friend’s unmoving corpse bathed in blood. It’s been a year since I last had these nightmares... Why now? But there’s no use on musing about this now I’m in a different world.

Experiencing the soft sensation a warm and fluffy bed can bring to my back is really pleasing. Compare to the cold hard floor, this bed is like a sea of clouds.

I smile. Finally a good night sleep for what seemed like an eternity. But there’s more than one problem.

I’m lying on a bed too huge for a single person with my arms spread out wide.

Currently, both of my arms are being used as an “arm pillow”.

I can understand Celes on my right since we did slept together in the end, after arguing for a few hours. But when I look at my left side, there’s a girl snuggling my arm for her own convenience without even asking for my permission.

When I look further down, I see… cherries?

I’m positive I’ve seen it before.

Ah, I remember now. It was in the bath last night. But damn, she should’ve returned to her spirit form. Why is she here naked in bed with us? I need her to get out of here before Celes wakes up.

With all my strength, I try moving my left arm, but it was futile.

This is bad.

I’m quite confident with my physical abilities lately, but I guess once you stop the blood from properly flowing through, it will result in this senseless feeling.

I move my fingers energetically, tickling her beautiful curves.

“Ehehe, it tickles,” she giggles in delight.

Conclusion: I couldn’t wake her up.

At a time like this is where one gives up and wait for the other person to open their eyes.

An hour later……

My reaper flutters her eyes in a daze.

A moment later, she decide to stand up and free my poor right arm who barely survived the lack of blood flow. Her nightgown in shambles and so is her leaf colored hair that I’ve grown to love.

“Yo, Celes~ Goodmorning?”

She stoops down to give me a morning kiss, but then her eyes widens. Oh no, I’m toast.

“Ehh… Why is she…?”

What comes next is the shouting I suppose?

But Celes just yawned and carefully observe us to assess the situation.

“What is she doing here?” she asks, folding her arms over her chest.

“Beats me. When I woke up, she was already using my arm as a pillow.”

“Hmm… Should I wake her up?”

“Please do.”

After giving me a look of disgust, Celes violently shrug this girl’s shoulders, as if she is a jealous housewife. Anyone would surely wake up with such intense shaking, but this girl is still sound asleep!

“Psst! Cliona, wake up!!”

Surprisingly, that’s all I need to say to wake up this sleeping beauty. She arises from my arm, rubbing her eyelids to adjust to the sudden brightness. And as soon as she does, delicate pink cherries were bathed under the sunlight.

“Aaaaahhh… That was such a good night. Thanks for the meal, Reimuz~”

“You’re welcome… Wait, what did you do?”

“You mean, what did -you- do, right?”

“What did I do?”

I don’t remember anything!

I hold my head that’s about to burst as I sit back up.

Cliona waves at me with a smile and returns to her spiritual substance. She dissipates into thin air, to the point where she completely disappeared. Although I can’t see her anymore, it’s making me feel uncomfortable knowing that someone is watching us.

“Cliona’s quite the joker, huh?”

I turn to Celes and she looks at me with deadpan eyes.

Damn, early morning and I made her upset again.

I scratch my head and drag myself upright from the bed. Grabbing her arm, I drag her towards my lap, my arms around her and my nose on her hair. She rests her head against my chest and I kiss her hair repeatedly.

“Celes, won’t you trust me?” I say, my voice soft and pleasing. “And you should know that I’m too tired to do anything else after last night. Look, this red mark on my chest is the proof of that,” I show her the marks on my skin where she broke my blood vessels.

Celes shyly turns away and points to her neck. “Idiot. Just look at mine then,” Celes says with a stiffened smile.

I fear her shifting moods. They show me something is unstable inside of her, and instability is dangerous. I push the straight bangs covering her forehead and kissed her there for a very long time.

“Well, let’s finish what we came here to begin with, okay?”

Celes nods. She reaches to my face and kisses the side of my mouth, trailing her lips down to my throat. I smile and tip my head back a little, giving her easier access on my neck, and she bombards me with kisses.

“Hey, Celes,” I blink, bewildered at her boldness.

“Stay still,” she orders, and I acquiesce.

Thus, another morning in my life started in a very unusual manner.

After finishing my preparations, I set my sights to my clients house—which is the biggest mansion in this city.

Cliona merrily came back to us carrying a set of meat sticks.

“Thanks.”

I heard that when she materializes like this, she’s burning her fuel at a faster rate.

So why is it does she has so much energy?

And for her to materialize, she needs my mana. But since we haven’t formed the contract yet, she’s been sucking my blood little by little last night. Magic power is said to originate from a person’s soul after all.

“Just behave when we get inside,” I remind them both.

They nod their heads and we continue walking up the stone stairs to reach the mansion.

The mansion was built with a white frame and white painted brick, with long brick terraces across the front. I pass the letter I received from my Master to the man wearing a heavy set of armor.

All he did is take a glance and he showed a bewildered expression. It must be because of the insignia stamped on the bottom.

He rush back inside and we waited a few minutes before a maid in a black uniform greets us back on the gate. Fluffy brown hair paired by a petite frame and an innocent face—she’s quite the high level maid in terms of cuteness.

“Master Reimuz I presume?”

“Yes, on behalf of my Master, Freks, I am here to see Sir Ramburg. And these two are my companions.”

Her smiling face rest at my eyes and although I cannot discern what she’s thinking, it seems like she’s observing my credibility. Not as a man, but probably as a blacksmith.

“Very well. Please follow me inside.”

The maid gestures us to enter and the three of us step across the giant gate.

The first thing I notice inside is the large well kept garden on both ends.

“It’s beautiful…”

“Indeed, it’s similar to Altea’s.”

The two forest dwellers on my side couldn’t hide their astonishment.

It’s like a mini forest beyond these stone walls after all.

“Who takes care of these?” I asked the maid beside me.

She didn’t make eye contact, but she conveyed what I wanted to know.

“Master Ramburg’s daughters takes care of the flowers around here. Each and every single one of them.”

“I see… They must be some well disciplined ladies then,” I stare at their beautiful garden, pondering the images of his daughters in my head.

“Disciplined indeed. But it’s better to make that assumption once you’ve actually met them yourself.”

For some reason, her remark made me laugh.

Is she even allowed to say those type of things?

Continuing on, we enter through what seem to be the main door, and trudged on the white carpeting as thick and pristine as a heavy layer of snow. The maid then instructed us to sit on the comfortable sofas lined up on our side.

“From here on, only Master Reimuz may accompany me.”

“And why is that?” Celes rudely asks with her legs folded and her arms crossed.

“That’s fine,” I slap my thighs and stand on my feet. “My master had warned me about this already.”

I turn to Celes, grab her hands, and slap them both on my cheeks.

“For good luck charm,” I say with a smile.

Her lips twitch. “Fine, I’ll wait patiently.”

“Keep an eye on Cliona…? Wait, where is she?”

“She probably ran out of energy.”

“Ah.”

I make a face as if I understood and gesture the maid to carry on.

We walk down a hallway large enough for giants to enter. The maid pauses in front of a door substantially larger compared to the one in the main entrance. She knock once and wait for a minute to pass by without saying anything.

“Are you tense?” She hesitantly asks after noticing that I can’t seem to stand still.

Her reaction basically tells me she knows what’s going on behind this door. I feel a weird chill in the air as if someone is waiting for me right across this hall. And that certain someone is not friendly.

While the maid is waiting, I spin around and check my status screen.

Status-Screen

Reimuz: LvL[09]

Class: Manipulator

Title: Smithing-Neet

Alignment: Neutral

Skill-List

All-A [Type: Absorption Skill],[Passive]

Wind-Cutter [Type: Blessing Skill],[Active]

It’s been a while.

I wish my titles would at least provide some useful passive abilities however, in this world, it’s just useless decoration it seems.

I push the panel for “Wind Cutter” and a smaller window explaining the skill’s detail pops up.

Wind Cutter [Type: Blessing Skill], [Active]

Info 1: Generate a wind shield around the user to negate any form of attack the user deemed as dangerous. Number of shields increases with level.

Info 2: Number of uses remaining: 9.

Info 3: Skill reset point: Midnight.

I’m still getting accustomed to living life regularly, let alone fight, but well, this skill should be enough to compensate for that weakness.

Let’s calmly think about the situation.

If they’re here to hire me, that means they’re here to find out about my skills. The moment I step inside that door, I’ll no doubt get attacked. But no matter what happens, I should limit the usage of this skill until I’ve fully confirmed their intent. One does not carelessly reveal their trump card, especially when entering a lion’s den.

“Master Reimuz, it’s time,” the maid taps my shoulder.

“Alright,” I turn around and walk in front of this menacing door.

Suddenly, it’s as if Cliona’s whisper ring inside my head, and at the same time, my right arm erupted in flames.

What the…?

It’s a scary sight, as if this huge flame would devour me completely, but rather than pain and discomfort, there is only that pleasant sensation gathering in my chest.

I confirm that feeling in my heart and the bursting flames covering the entirety of my right arm materializes a single edge sword. It isn’t such a fancy looking weapon but, as soon as I take a hold of this sword, I can feel some unknown power surging from deep inside me.

‘Nice to meet you again, Reimuz. I belong to you now, and with it, my power as a spirit as well. P.S. I performed the partial contract while you were asleep,’ she whispers in my head, playfully.

‘Cliona? Is this… telepathy? Wait, what do you mean partial contract? Oh my God…’

‘Do you really want to know? In human terms, it’s like a marriage ceremony~’

Don’t fucking tell me… I sigh and forgo her nonsense for now.

“Umm, Master Reimuz, would you head inside already?”

The maid urge me to press on. I forgot she can’t hear Cliona’s voice.

“Hahaha, sorry…”

I take a deep breath and slowly make my way inside.

*Creak………and Bam!*

The door behind me was shut tight and I found myself inside an unnaturally darkened room. Perhaps it’s due to this mysterious sword that I’m holding, but I immediately feel sharp gazes all over me. One on each side, one further in the back, and the last one is hiding somewhere.

*Tap… Tap…*

I tap the metal surface of my arm guards.

With that, they should know that I’ve sensed them already.

Carelessly attacking now would only lead to you people getting hurt.

So come on, don’t be shy…

*Twang!*

The person in front released his bowstring, firing me a shot aiming down low, probably my legs. I’m not sure why, but the arrow traveled slower than what I had expected it to.

I simply follow the trajectory, placing Cliona’s edge to guard me, and with a single clang, the arrow is easily repelled.

“What the… In this darkness?”

A surprised voice of a woman echoes in this dark room.

I should be the one surprised! Even though being healed by magic is quite convenient, the wound still hurts! They better offer me a huge payment after this.

*Tap… Tap…*

I tap the metal surface of my arm guards one more time as I cautiously move forward, aiming for this person who just fired an arrow.