Chapter Three

Senex

Fermboi walked along the streets of the southern docks, his light blue attire representing his mood. The smell of rotting waste and new, butchered meat of the place did not take away from his joyful state. It was the only area where his family’s control was still present, but it did not matter. He just needed to buy something from the most expensive but lawful place in the city.

“Young lad, I got a special item, come and see!” an old man croaked.

Fermboi turned around to see whom was being called. Although he had ignored the cries of beggars, this was the first time someone had tried to haggle a naive person for the day. He wanted to see which fool was going to get duped. The old man pointed towards him. Fermboi looked behind. He only found dockworkers. He pointed at himself as he looked at the old man. The old man nodded. He decided to entertain the old man.

“Yes you, young man,” the old man said. “Come here, I’ve got exactly what you need.”

Fermboi walked towards the old man located between two almost torn down houses. The area looked dark and Fermboi kept his senses wary just in case the old man was part of a thieving group. The man looked ancient and tattered, blending with the cobblestone alley. His clothes looked to be torn by some decently sized parvasaberas. “You got some ancient books?” Fermboi asked with a loose smile. “I’m heading to the Aevorum to find some new material.”

He expected the elder to chuckle and go on to a pitch. Fermboi earned a wide grin instead. “Tell you what boy,” the old man began. “If you buy this special item, I’ll give you an ancient book. Deal?”

Fermboi eyed the old man with disbelief. “Come on gramps,” Fermboi said. “Are you real? I thought you were gonna do a funny presentation.”

The old man reached into his robe. Now that Fermboi had less of an amused mind, he swore that the robe the old man wore was a similar type to the ones worn by the aristocracy back in Eteria. He shook off the thought. Clothes were not metal, they disintegrate with time. The old man stood up. “This book is from an ancient library that is now inaccessible,” the old man stated as he took out a damaged book, its leather cover had scratch marks that further emphasized its lightening color as well as blots of stains not alike of brown. “It contains—”

“Are you talking about the Basileus’ Library in Sulenia?” Fermboi interrupted with wide eyes.

“Let me finish, boy,” the old man said with an agitated tone. Fermboi noticed that the old man widened the grin. “Habit interrupting,” the old man muttered under his breath. Fermboi could not make out the rest of what the old man said because he had an accent Fermboi had not heard before. It sounded like the old pronunciations of Ancient Eterian mixed with the current, more or less Eterian standard that people in Bayla were speaking in. Fermboi determined the man had the possibility of being from some remote mountain area. “It contains techniques on how to perform certain martial actions. You look like a boy about to enter the annual martial test, right?”

“Mhm,” Fermboi agreed. The annual martial test in Bayla was soon approaching.

“Okay, so this book talks about the various techniques and skills one needs to use in order to be effective,” the old man declared as he opened the book. Fermboi relished on the smell even though it looked to have been spilled and battered upon.

“Pst Boya,” Fermboi heard Alyana’s familiar angelic voice. “I don’t have a good feeling about this man. He doesn’t feel normal to me.”

The old man was continuing to summarize the book’s content and Fermboi drowned it out. “What do you mean?”

“I’m saying he doesn’t feel like an ant,” Alyana clarified. “He feels confusing, as if he’s even surpassed—”

“Boy,” the old man said with a stern voice. “Are you paying attention? This book will help you in the upcoming month and it comes free with my special item.”

Fermboi groaned. “Okay, old man, what is this special item you want me to buy.”

The old man reached into his robes once more and produced a colorful spherical object that blinded Fermboi’s eyes. It was the size of the old man’s palm and it had many colors between red, green, and blue. The old man chuckled. “Aha, boy,” the old man said. “I finally got your attention. Interested now, are ya?”

Fermboi looked at the old man with a disapproving face. The object the old man held was a stark contrast to what he looked like. Dirty and with tattered clothes, the old man was every bit of a beggar seniors without caring families become. If the old man had that object and brandished it outside the relatively dark alley they were in, no doubt the old man would have been murdered on the spot. Fermboi considered it for a split second but decided he was not even that cunning before; he did not want to change now. “How much, old man?” Fermboi reached into his money bag and fingered a couple coins. He liked the intricate decorations of the sphere-like object.

The old man clicked his tongue. “Not so fast boy,” the old man said as he waved his right index finger in front of Fermboi. “You have to do me a favor.”

Fermboi sighed. “Okay gramps,” Fermboi said. “First of all, I only want that object because it’s shiny. Can you tell me a little bit more before I blindly accept your offer.”

The old man chuckled again. “Ah, of course boy,” the old man said. “This here is a special object masterfully crafted by me when I was still in the crafting business. For the past years I’ve forgotten my memories and I think that’s how I ended up this way,” the old man said as he brushed his tattered robe. “In short, I do not know what this object is.”

Fermboi looked hard at the old man’s black eyes. Fermboi spat air. He swore he could see a smirk on the old man’s face. “Old man, I don’t know what you’re giving me but I’ll take it,” Fermboi said after some thoughts. “How much?” He still had his fingers inside the money bag.

“The favor boy, that’s the only cost,” the old man said.

Fermboi took a deep sigh and closed his eyes before opening them again. “Okay gramps, what do you want me to do?”

The old man stood up and approached Fermboi. A feeling of uneasiness swept over Fermboi, but he ignored it as what can a frail, old man do to a healthy, young man. “I want you to join the Arktos Super School.”

“The Arktos Super School?” Fermboi asked. Fermboi reached into his mind and searched for the word or anything similar to it.

“You don’t know about the Arktos Super School,” the old man stated with confidence. “That’s okay. The super school is one of its kind. You may know its sub schools: Saharmi, Otari, Foka, and Medeve.”

“Oh,” Fermboi recognized. “You’re talking about the recommended way of how to get into the Medeve School.”

The old man raised his eyebrows. “Uh, sure boy,” the old man said. “Anyway, I was once part of the Saharmi School but sadly I couldn’t pass the Mearte rank.”

“Huh,” Fermboi said. He still had no idea about the martial schools.

“Boy,” the old man said, touching Fermboi’s right shoulder. “I want you to continue on what legacy I should have had,” the old man proclaimed. “I want you to carry on my dreams.”

“Okay sure,” Fermboi said. “I mean I was contemplating on joining the Medeve School anyway since it’s supposedly second only to the Saberacat School.”

“Good lad,” the old man said as he patted Fermboi’s shoulder. “Okay, take care of this special item for me.” The old man handed the spherical object onto Fermboi’s right hand.

Fermboi stared at the spherical object. It looked like the material it was made out of contained detailed art images. He tried analyzing what the symbols and depictions were.

“Boya,” Alyana said. “The old man disappeared.”

“Huh,” Fermboi muttered as he traced his fingers along the lines of the spherical object.

“Not even concerned that you didn’t notice his disappearing presence?” Alyana asked. “And that he didn’t give you the promised book?”

Fermboi placed the spherical object inside his jacket. “Nope,” he said. “Let’s go to Aevo now, I need that language book.”

Fermboi walked back to the road and headed to his intended direction. As he passed by, he heard the usual disagreements between various parties and calls for fish food by the merchants. He was nearing the edge of the southern docks when he was greeted by a large sign that had a quill above an opened book.

Fermboi wondered why the symbol was not accompanied by words or made out of them entirely. The only people who can read would be the ones going into a bookstore. Fish-shaped signs and balance scale images were understandable and needed by peasants who are lost or maybe unfamiliar with the city but books were not needed by anyone aside from the interested, and those did not include peasants. They neither read nor write, all they do is work. It has not changed, and Fermboi had started to notice he empathized with them less. Fermboi shook his head, took a deep breath, and opened the large wooden door to the left of the sign.

The bookstore was the only one in Bayla and its status was demonstrated through the saberacat carpet right after the front door. Several saberacats were needed to make it and its existence was only possible through some type of monopoly or old, accumulated wealth. Fermboi looked up and was greeted by the powerful smell of books. He heard a person to his right take a deep exhale. It was a middle-aged man behind a wooden table filled with carvings related to books. Several quills, dozens of books, and hundreds of letters coalesced to form an image that took many days to carve.

“What can I do for you, young mister?” the middle-aged man asked. “We just had a new selection arrive today from Igenis. Copies of the academic works by legends such as Sarius, Teyalo, and King Akerius the First himself!”

“Is one the famous Nueter Foundation?” Fermboi asked, his eyes enlarged. The book “Nueter Foundation” was one of the books King Akerius the First wrote and it specified how Nueter, the only Eterian city in the continent of Indigenia, came to be. Although some literary experts doubted the authenticity of King Akerius’ firsthand experience in founding Nueter, by tradition and respect for the ancient Kings of Eteria, most educated people celebrated the book as one of the finest in the Eterian language. The Royal Library of Bayla had a copy of the newer translations of the book until Fermboi was ten years old, but it was said to be lost after the constant flooding that year. Fermboi did not plan on bothering one of the clerks for his visit but he had to get his fingers on a book he wanted yet never started.

“Yes mister,” the clerk replied. “Would you like to buy it?”

“Hell yes I do!” Fermboi exclaimed, his voice coming out louder than usual. The clerk gave a disapproving frown but smiled right back. “Sorry if I offended you mister, I was just excited.”

“No need to call me mister, mister,” the clerk said with a bow. “You’re our guest here and the one who should be called mister. Okay, please follow me.”

The clerk left his station and snapped with his right middle finger and thumb. Another clerk arrived with the same black shirt and pants and positioned himself behind the greeting table. The clerk who welcomed Fermboi earlier made a gesture to follow to the right.

Fermboi and the clerk passed through bookshelves that were about the size of the ones in the royal library. The bookshelves were twice Fermboi’s height and he recalled not long ago that they were thrice his height before. Fermboi inhaled the stronger smell of the books and felt his mind clear. They stopped at the end of a row and the clerk pulled out a massive tome that required two hands to hold.

“Mister, if you want to take a look at the book before you buy, we have a private room for our guests in our basement past that door,” the clerk pointed to the right. “Would you like to have a sample?”

“Of course!” Fermboi blurt out, this time quieter. He walked towards the wooden door and opened it for the clerk.

“Thank you, mister.” Fermboi followed the clerk downstairs and passed several empty rooms before the clerk stopped walking. Fermboi figured the occupants of the rooms liked to read in their minds. His new mother, although not a regular reader, often read by saying the words out loud. Sir Kahayte was the same, and Fermboi figured out how to read in his mind when he found himself talking to Alyana about the ludicrousness of saberacat portrayals in books. The Baron of Fero had once told him that reading inside the mind was a learned trait that took years, but Fermboi had mastered it within a day. “If you would open the door for me again, mister.”

Fermboi turned the metallic spherical handles of the wooden door to the right. He was greeted by a sight that displayed the height and might of reading: a room filled with nothing but exotic-looking table and chair. A long painting hung in front of the door’s entrance at the back wall, accentuated by the tall candle on top of the table as if it were a snake constricting a prey. Although it was not as tall or as wide as the candles in the hallways of the basement, the candle still lit the room with enough light to feel adequate.

Fermboi took the book from the clerk’s hands. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, mister,” the clerk said as he brushed his hands. Fermboi raised his eyebrows at the practice for a moment before turning to move towards the chair. “If you are staying late, don’t hesitate to call one of us and have you prepared some fine dinner.”

Fermboi closed the door and sat down on the chair. He touched the brown leather cover of Nueter Foundation and flipped it to the left. “A foreword on the blasphemers of this world and the many sinners of sins. This book was compiled after my return to Eteria and consists the many entries I wrote as I was in Indigenia. While I miss the jungles and forests of Indigenia, I find the surrounding forests of Eteria quite nice from atop my castle. That is why I have returned, aside from the fact that I have an obligation to rule. Now, I know you all will find it hard to believe, but I truly did go to Indigenia and am willing to confess to sex before marriage in order to add merit to it. For you non-followers of our royal church, I hope you know this does not make me a member of your stubbornness.”

Fermboi spat air. “Here we go,” he muttered as he flipped through the pages. Arkerius the First was often called “The Artist” or “The Cultured” for his vivid descriptions of what he wrote down. It was even said that the masterful painting above the Basileus’ golden throne in Sulenia was created by Akerius. Fermboi did not know what the painting looked like, but Sir Kahayte had said that it was more than twice of Fermboi’s skill. As Fermboi flipped through pages of words and detailed pictures, he forgot time existed.

“The Coastal Sohols have this odd object where it is said to have the power to expunge the spirit inside a person. I personally held it in my hands when I was visiting one of their villages and I’m pretty sure nothing has come close to it in terms of intricacy and detail. The spherical item shines brightly even with little light. Its beautiful multicolored appearance is further emphasized by the mosaic-like glass that the object is composed of. At first I thought it was some sort of device that recorded their history, but after one of the Coastal Sohols’ fearsome king assured me that even he used it to rid himself of a demon, I knew then that it was a religious property. The fearsome king, Yoruba Itsakar, told me to utter the words “Sha-so-li-shon-tur-pa-yo-ra” and at first I thought it was a religious blessing but I felt a heavy feeling leaving my body after saying those words. It was a truly magical object that I wish I had been able to return with me.”

Over his green silken jacket, Fermboi gripped the spherical object he had gotten from the old man. “Eh, why not,” Fermboi said out loud. “Might as well do this before I leave.” Fermboi took the object out of his jacket and focused his eyes on it. “Sha-so-li-shon-tur-pa-yo-ra.” Fermboi placed it on the table. “Well that was fun.”

“I knew that old man was an interesting fellow,” a familiar voice said behind Fermboi. He felt her arms envelope his neck. A nibble on his left ear followed. Fermboi winced, an action he had not done in a while. “Boya, turn your head. I wanna see what I look like here.”

Fermboi turned his head to the left and faced Alyana. Without question, her face defined beauty in and out of the spirit world. Her wide grin only amplified it. He would have fainted right there if he was not feeling a forbidding vibe. “H-How the hell did you come outside?”

“That object is truly—” Alyana began but her grey eyes darted to the right. The spherical object had become ashes and singed the top of the table where it rested. Her smile melted away. “What happened?”

“I-I-I don’t know,” Fermboi muttered as he looked at the same spot Alyana’s gaze fell on.

“Oh Boya, I can feel my strength vanish,” Alyana declared. “Oh what shall I do. What should I do.”

Hearing her voice outside his spiritual domain and mind made Fermboi mad. It was simply too sweet and soothing. The volaticats’ somewhat loud mating calls outside the windows were drowned. The scent of the candle in the room dissipated. Alyana’s voice was better outside his spiritual domain.

“Stop flattering me, Boya,” Alyana said as she freed Fermboi from her hold. “Get up.” Fermboi stood up with haste and made the chair creak. He looked at Alyana with expanded eyes and uttered unintelligible words in disbelief. It was the exact same body she had in his spiritual domain. “Get this up,” Alyana said as she walked towards Fermboi. She dipped her right hand inside Fermboi’s pants.

“Y-You want to fuck?” Fermboi asked, his voice still quivering.

Alyana grinned and planted her lips on Fermboi’s. Fermboi grabbed the back of her head with his right hand and used his left hand to grope her right breast. He closed his eyes in pleasure. “Of course, it’s my gift for letting me out in this world,” she communicated in their minds. “I would feel bad if I killed you without thanks. You’ve been a good man.”

Fermboi stopped his movement and broke away from the kiss. “Oh no, no, no,” he said, backing onto the wall behind him.

“Yes, Boya,” Alyana confirmed as she walked towards him. She walked at a snail’s pace, but Fermboi knew she could go faster than anything. “I’m pretty sure I’m gonna die without that device. So now I need a host and you’re the closest human.”

“Holy shit,” Fermboi said as Alyana pressed his hands on her breasts. “Aren’t you a human right now though?”

“No, not really,” Alyana said. She placed her lips on his once more and he did not move his tongue like usual. “Did you not hear me? I can feel my strength vanishing.”

“C-Come on now,” Fermboi uttered as he broke away from the kiss again. Alyana’s hands kept his head in place and she forced her tongue deep into his mouth. Several moments passed. He was forced to use his mind. “I was gonna do everything in my ability to help you find a way to leave my spiritual domain.”

“I know, Boya,” she responded as she laid back against the table. “That’s why we’re doing this first. I’ve taken a liking to you.”

Fermboi felt her hand touch his penis. He looked away from Alyana’s face and down her body. It was bristled. It was never there. Fermboi entered a jungle that was not there from before and gesturing like a creator, he separated it into two before plunging into a now-exposed deep cavern. Alyana’s hands gripped his back. “F-Fuck.”

The hardened candle wax had halved the size of the candle.

“Come on Boya,” Alyana said in a teasing tone. She had clung onto a standing Fermboi. “I’m giving you free reins of your body. Give it to me!” Fermboi hands stopped supporting Alyana’s body but she did not fall. “Boya, come on now, what are you doing?”

Tears had started to form on the corners of Fermboi’s eyes. Although he would have loved to weave his fingers through Alyana’s grey curtains and drapes, he knew that the second chance of life he was given was going to be over soon. It was almost as short as his previous one. Four years shorter.

Alyana unhinged herself and cupped Fermboi’s chin. “Don’t guilt me, Boya,” she declared as she squatted. “It wasn’t that bad, you got to spend most of your time with me, the most beautiful creature in the whole world!”

“It isn’t that,” Fermboi began, but he was soon interrupted. “Ah. Stop.” For several moments, the only sounds Fermboi had heard were the sticky, wet sounds that Alyana emitted from her engulfed mouth. He had even put his right hand on top of her head out of habit. “Fuck it.”

Fermboi was not expecting Alyana to be so easy to push down on the marbled ground, but he knew it only happened because she allowed it. He placed his right hand on the center dip of her back and guided with his left. Alyana’s silver wilderness was again entered by Fermboi. He lowered his chest to her back and seized her breasts with his hands. Alyana had turned her head towards him and he shoved his lips on hers. Like snakes in the mating season, Fermboi and Alyana’s tongues twisted and turned to tighten their grasp. For a long while, aside from the moist noises their mouths made, a rhythmic slap dominated the room.

Fermboi felt his climax approach and hastened his pounding. He felt Alyana’s walls tighten and he accelerated even more. He bit on Alyana’s lips and aggravated his tongue’s movement. “Holy fuck, you’re so beautiful!” Fermboi yelled in his mind. “I love you.”

“Your seed feels amazing,” Alyana announced with a blissful voice as she moved her lips away from his. Fermboi had collapsed on the ground, his eyes closed shut. Little bits of his seed spreading by the drip. “Oh no.”

Fermboi opened his eyes with haste. “Y-You’re disappearing?” he managed to say. “Wait, are you taking over my body already?”

“No,” Alyana said, her voice low.

“W-What the hell?” Fermboi asked and he lunged towards her face. “Don’t leave me, Alyana!” Fermboi cupped her chin, closed his eyes, and pushed her lips against hers. Fermboi had more tears this time around. It seemed his own death was not worth the torrent of salty fluid eroding the marbled floor. He felt her lips disappear.

“Ever the dramatic,” he heard Alyana say. He opened his eyes. She was nowhere to be found. “I’m back inside you, idiot.”

“Alyana?” Fermboi asked as his eyes widened.

“Yes?” Alyana’s tone was of irritation.

Fermboi stood up and grabbed the book on the table. “I’m coming in there?”

“No,” Alyana replied with chagrin.

“Why not?”

“I’ll hate you.”

“Really?”

“No.”

“Okay,” Fermboi said as he headed outside the room. The rest of his walk towards the stairs was silent aside from the cold gust of wind coming from one of the doors left opened in the dozens of rooms of the basement. The door being opened was not a bother, it was the window in the room. Fermboi ascended the stairs and took a deep breath. The clerk before was just finishing with another customer on recommendations of the bookshelf in front of them. He tapped the clerk on the shoulder.

“Mister,” Fermboi said as he ran his right hand through his money sack. “This is worth a gold coin, right?” Fermboi raised the book in his hand to his chest height.

“Why yes, mister,” the clerk said after turning around. “You’ve enjoyed the sample time?”

Fermboi pulled out his right hand with one gold coin and ten silver coins. “Have the ten as my appreciation for amazing service,” Fermboi said as he grabbed the clerk’s hand and placed the coins. “Have a good night. You too, milady.”

“Thank you, mister,” the clerk said as Fermboi walked away. “Pleasure doing business with you. Come again in the future.”

Fermboi trod past the long bookshelf alley and the different clerk on the exotic front desk. He opened the over-sized wooden doors with his right hand. Fermboi opened his book and had his eyes down on the last page of Nueter Foundation where he left off. Not a moment after, he felt his head come between two large, spaced objects.

“Boya,” Alyana said with an alerting tone. “That woman is in the third level of Imperator Dominion.”

Fermboi looked up and met the light brown eyes of a woman just a bit taller than him. It was somewhat too horizontal for him. He looked down back on his book and positioned to resume his walk. The full moon above had betrayed him, instead of leading him to safety, he had been led to calamity.

“Boya, you have to apologize to that lady before she obliterates you!” Alyana warned. “What are you doing?”

Before Fermboi could take another step, he felt a hand grip his right arm. He looked back and saw it was the previous woman’s hand.

“My boy dear,” the woman called, her voice was mocking the idea of caring. Fermboi found it nonetheless sweet. “Why don’t you apologize to your beautiful sister here?”

“And that’s how it starts,” Alyana muttered to his mind. “You’re getting fucked, Boya. If I was out right now, I’d slam her mouth to the ground.”

“And I wouldn’t be living right now,” Fermboi replied.

“At least I would have been the only one for you,” Alyana retorted with an irritated tone.

“Do you know the words I, love, and you?” Fermboi asked as he looked up and down the woman’s body. To say she was the most beautiful woman in the world would be a lie because that woman resided deep within Fermboi. He did find her short, light brown hair somewhat attractive. It was his first time seeing a woman’s hair just above the bottom of her ears. The woman’s high cheekbones exceeded Alyana’s and he was not sure whether he liked that. Her lips came a thousandth close to Alyana’s and that was Fermboi being generous. The rest of her body was covered in a fine, red silk except for her breasts, which Fermboi thought exposed too much cleavage for a proper woman. “I think I poured it out just a while ago.”

“Damn Boya, have you grasp the concept beyond thousand?” Alyana asked.

“No,” Fermboi replied. “Why?”

“Because I’m a thousand thousand thousand thousand thousand times more beautiful than that woman in front of you,” Alyana said with a smug voice. “I probably fuck better too.”

“Right, because we had literally thousands of years to practice instead of her pathetic what,” Fermboi said as he looked at the woman with greater focus. “She couldn’t be that much older than me. A decade or so under.”

“Okay, but she’s interesting because she’s at the third level of the Imperator Dominion,” Alyana stated.

“So?” Fermboi asked.

“You never let me finish,” Alyana said. “She’s at the third level of Imperator Dominion but is detectable only as the fifth level of Rang Dominion.”

“She has her true strength concealed?” Fermboi asked.

“Mhm,” Alyana replied. “You see her pearl necklace? That hides her ranking by one hundred seventy-eight levels.”

“Wait, what does she gain by hiding her power?” Fermboi questioned. “Is that the only one of its kind? She’s the only one we’ve met so far with that ability.”

“I don’t know, but I guess you’ll find out soon enough,” Alyana answered.

Fermboi bowed his head and clasp the woman’s hand with his left hand. “Sorry, Big Sister, I was too busy reading my book,” Fermboi replied to the woman. “It won’t happen again.”

“That’s “Nueter Foundation,” right?” the woman asked as she walked closer to Fermboi.

“Yes, Big Sister,” Fermboi said. “How did you know?”

“I’ve read that book many times,” the woman said, pointing at the book. “I also like that image.”

Fermboi looked down on the book and saw that it had been flipped a couple pages forward. The image drawn by Akerius depicted the position of a man and woman, the one he and Alyana were in a long while ago. Fermboi had a chopped laughed before flipping back to his last known page. “’Tis a funny picture, yes.”

“Yeah, that’s one of the copies I donated here,” the woman remarked as she turned her head to see the sign above them.

Fermboi tried to remove her grip as he turned back to move away. “Not so fast boy,” the woman said, refusing to budge. “You’re coming back to my camp.”

“Your camp?”

“Mhm, I’m visiting for the annual martial test,” the woman said. “Surely you’re participating in that, no?”

“Yes,” Fermboi replied.

“Good, you’ll be one of my beneficiaries,” the woman said.

“Your what?” Fermboi asked. He did not know the word she just said.

“I’ll sponsor you,” the woman declared. “It’s not every day that you see someone from outside the capital interested in His Majesty’s finest work.”

“Huh,” Fermboi uttered. He thought the book was quite a common book to read by people.

“Besides, you knowing how to read probably means you’re a noble’s son, right?” the woman assumed.

“Mhm,” Fermboi replied.

“Who?” the woman asked.

“Uh,” Fermboi began.

“Don’t worry boy,” the woman said. “I know every noble in this city.”

Fermboi bit his lip. “Amaru Shapak,” he answered.

“The former tyrant?” the woman asked.

“Yes,” Fermboi affirmed.

“Are you like your father?” the woman asked. “Actually, don’t answer that, he died just about twice your age. My condolences.”

“It’s okay,” Fermboi said as he lowered his head.

“You do cultivation, right?” the woman questioned. “Your father wasn’t remotely strong but he still practiced. Your family line has special origins, you know that right?”

“Yes, madame,” Fermboi replied.

“Hmm, that’s good,” the woman said as she let go of her grip. “Follow my behind, boy. I got things that will help you attain a high score on the test.”

“Uh miss, I have to go home now,” Fermboi said as he turned the other way. “It’s nearing midnight, madame, I have to sleep.”

“No,” the woman said without turning around. “Follow me, boy, if you want a chance in getting the first spot in the test.”

Before leaving the front of the Aevorum, a red parrot landed on the woman’s right shoulder. Then it left as quick as it had come. The woman strutted forward and had her dress scrape the small rocks on the road. Fermboi recalled the dress of the young Torean princess who accompanied the King of Eteria before the battle. She was at most ten years old from what Fermboi remembers of her tallness but her clothes were already three times as long as her height. She had also served him bread, then fruits, then the rare bugtiansa thigh.

“You know that “girl” you’re thinking about just now is your dead father’s distant relative, right?” Alyana stated.

“My what?” Fermboi asked with disbelief.

“Boya, are you daft?” Alyana asked. “Did you not read the genealogy books in the royal library?”

“Yeah, I did,” Fermboi replied. “They didn’t fucking say how the Royal Family of Eteria is related to my current family though.”

Fermboi heard Alyana spit on something. “How do you remember your past memories so clearly and have barely any recollection of the stuff you’re learning now?”

“I don’t know, maybe—”

“It was a rhetorical question, Boya,” Alyana declared. “Anyway, there are two branches stemming from the uniter of the Eterian continent, the one who killed you.”

“Hold up,” Fermboi interrupted. “I never got his actual name.”

“I know,” Alyana said. “I can read your mind. Stop interrupting me. Okay, so Petera or Pereta Eter had two wives. One is the little princess you saw before death and the other is another princess that he married fifteen years after your death. This other princess was from Abaria, or Ambria, whichever it is, and she’s the progenitor of all the current kings of Eteria. You know the Baselius? He’s descended from her, albeit remotely. Now this Torean princess of yours, she is the ancestor of the second mainline of the royal family who were appointed as sub-kings of some sort in Torea. Well, one of Nandeska’s son, Nayomi, decided to accompany his younger cousin, King Seratius the First, on the conquest of Magiara. Now this guy’s descendants married their way into the cadet branches of the Erean royal family before one of them, Uwemur, decided to become an adventurer and set south past the Osmaniyan lands. He had three sons, the oldest of which went east to Rutinia and eventually founded the current royal family of Saporia. The middle one went south and founded the Kingdom of Parkorner near the Kingdom of Tsin, from which I’ve no doubt you heard about, right?”

“The current Basilissa’s mother is a princess of both, no?” Fermboi responded. “Well, she’s the daughter of the King of Tsin and his Parkornerian princess wife.”

“Yes, okay good, you do remember some,” Alyana said. “Uwemur’s last son went west against his other brothers’ wishes. This was because their father had already explored the Beduwin Peninsula and found nothing but endless sand there. He married into one of the local tribes and gave birth to the only blue-eyes-bearing people in that region, like most of the royal family Eteria usually do. This far branch of the royal family is the poorest and they’re mostly confined to their village of now blue-eyed people.

“Batuta Shapak, your ancestor that decided the family must head for Basilyarhemain, was fourteen years old, two years younger than you are now, when he was exiled deep into the Beduwin Peninsula for being too lazy to inherit the position as tribal head. So your ancestor was about to die when he came across a jamal with a waterskin near an oasis. He had been walking to the oasis for some time to drink the water, but he saw a couple of travelers take a shit in the water before he arrived. He waited until they left, and with his remaining strength, sprinted to the water source even though it was just defiled. He had no other choice. Fortunately, just before he lowered his head, he remembered the waterskin and snagged it from the jamal’s hind.

“As I said, he was saved by the waterskin-bearing jamal because he would have probably died from the diseases brought from the feces of the previous travelers. He had thought he was the only one in the oasis for some time but quickly realized that if a jamal was with a waterskin, a person must still be nearby. So after gulping down the water in the waterskin, he sneaked around the oasis to find the other person. He found a girl not one year younger than him resting by a palm tree with her clothes tattered and resting on a pool of blood. He went back to the jamal to get the waterskin and poured it over the girl’s bruised mouth. This made the girl open her eyes and that was when Batuta Shapak turned his life around.”

“What the hell?” Fermboi asked. “Why are you stopping there.”

“You sure Boya?” Alyana replied. “Follow that woman, and I’ll continue.”

“Why?”

“Because you’ll see during this story I’m telling you.”

Fermboi sighed. “Okay,” he said as he followed the woman in front of him.

“So, Batuta Shapak and the majority of the people in the Beduwin Peninsula are brown or black-eyed,” Alyana stated. “Just like everywhere else. Blue and violet eyes are only from Eteria, specifically the royal family and their blue-eyed nomadic cousins to their north, yes?”

“Mhm,” Fermboi uttered and recalled his reading on a book about the royal family’s origins. The reason most people in Seschan and the other Eterian regions found the royal family interesting was because of their blonde hair and blue eyes. Most people bore brown and black eyes and it was said that the blue eyes of the royal family came from their status as members of the nomads in the north. Their blonde hair were also due to this heritage. Eter, the legendary founder of the Royal House of Eteria, was the first of the nomadic Flavians to rule over all tribes. This was due to his taming of huge saberacats that overpowered many of his opponents. He systematically ventured south and founded the Eterian civilization along the middle of the largest river in the world. Some of his Flavian followers returned back to the northern lands when Eter laid down his spear. This signaled the widening distance between the upcoming royal family of Eteria and their Flavian brethren. Eter adopted the language of the people around the site of his capital and that would become the Eterian tongue that further distanced him from his home people who spoke an entirely different language.

To fix this distancing, Eter had proclaimed that his male descendants would be married to the daughters of whoever was the strongest of the Flavian chiefs. Eter had granted his fellow Flavians autonomy while he focused on his newly carved kingdom because he knew that only Flavian chiefs would be able to contest him. This was because he had taught almost all of the Flavian chiefs how to tame saberacats. This practice persisted to the day Fermboi died, when no one in Eterian continent could realistically challenge the King of Eteria’s armies. This meant that aside from the royal family and the Flavians to the northern fringes, no one had seen or will see a person with blue eyes or blonde hair. Fermboi had read that the royal family also acquired violet eyes after he died and inherited it from the Abarians across the northern sea. The Abarian princess that Alyana was talking about brought the violet eyes from her own family to the Kings of Eteria. Fermboi recalled that even the Abarian princess’ family trait was unique among the Abarians.

The book he read, “Family History” by Anatio the First, went on to great lengths of how no matter the begging, Anatio the First’s mother refused to let him marry one of her nieces, distant or not. Anatio the First was taken to the Abarian continent when he was twelve years old and introduced to his grandfather which, like Petera Eter, had complete control of the people in the continent. This meant that all members of House Avrea had to come to the capital of Abaria to see him be blessed by his grandfather as custom in the continent.

Fermboi did not like it when Anatio the First went into fantastical detail of how the capital was at an enormous island inside a sea completely surrounded by land. Fermboi would not have even taken the book seriously if he did not have firsthand experience of the royalty. Anatio the First went to absolute detail of how one of the ships carrying his distant relatives had crashed before the shore and forced its passengers to walk through the neck-high water, causing every female formerly aboard to have their bodies completely exposed. Their dresses had been the traditional thin white garbs of the family and when Anatio the First saw several of them just over two dozen steps away, he became a man and was taken back into the castle to have his trousers changed. Then Anatio the First went on a whole discourse of how the pointy ears of the Abarians should truly and only be appreciated with violet eyes. Anatio the First lamented on the fact that some of the non-royal noblewomen in attendance were comparable to their servants in terms of attractiveness as they lacked the violet eyes that he possessed. Fermboi had stopped reading there as he found Anatio the First’s visit to the land of Abaria too far-fetched and a young boy’s ultimate dream. Sometimes acceptance has its limits.

“Well, this girl, Naruhita, had light blue eyes,” Alyana revealed. “She was part of the village which were all related to Uwemur’s youngest son, Eyzabur. Their village, aptly named Eyzaral, was attacked by one of the many tribes under the Arahbi High Chief and she was taken as one of the trophy slaves. She was growing sick as they gave little food and water to their captives, and so her captors were forced to abandon her in the oasis. Batuta and the majority of the Shapak family ate the berries of the sereshka shrub as a tradition. In fact, the only time the Shapak family has not eaten the berries was after the family arrived in Basilyarhemain. This berry is bitter-tasting and poisonous when not prepared properly but they did make for a good snack. A large waterskin and pouch of these berries were the only things Batuta carried aside from his clothes when he was banished and he finished both a day before this event. He had lost his personal waterskin in a fit of desert dreaming. But, when the water passed through the opening of the new waterskin, it brushed the saliva residue that Batuta left. This meant that when it entered Naruhita’s body, the healing properties of the berries helped her a little bit.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Fermboi said. “Wouldn’t that be good for my cultivation?”

“Yes, Boya,” Alyana responded. “But there are other plants that grow here that have the same healing qualities. You want me to continue with the story?” Fermboi nodded. “Idiot Boya, you’re gonna look like an idiot with your nodding there. Nobody is talking to you right now.”

Fermboi chuckled in short, weak bursts. “Okay, I won’t do it again. Continue with the story, this woman’s camp must be a day away from the city or so,” Fermboi remarked as he continued his steps after the red-silk-wearing woman. “Taking too long.”

“Impatient Boya, always wanting things done as quick as possible,” Alyana stated. “Anyway, through the somewhat close relationship of the Arahbi and Jorahbi languages, Batuta had managed to bring Naruhita back to the village. Now, like most societies, when Naruhita was brought back to the village with marks of being defiled, the majority of the people did not want her back even though she was the village chief’s oldest daughter. The village did thank Batuta for saving her and asked him to be her bride.

“Now this was a couple of weeks after they had been attacked and they had managed to get things back to the way they were, so they had some spare food and other gifts to give as Naruhita’s dowry. I forgot to mention that Batuta and Naruhita stayed in the oasis for a day because Batuta had to track a wild jamal for their food supply. Like all members of your family back then, Batuta knew how to ride jamals as they were required to travel long distances for trade. What he didn’t know was how to survive for himself without other people’s help. Thankfully, he wasn’t a brain-dead idiot like you.” Fermboi frowned. Alyana sighed. “Batuta had created a makeshift spear from one of the palm trees surrounding the oasis. He took the leaves and wove them. He snapped the branches and bounded them. Then he took a flint and completed the weapon to set out hunting wild jamals. That my Boya, is an example of cultivation.”

Fermboi was confused. “You mean cultivation of knowledge or martial?”

“No Boya,” Alyana answered. “It is an example of how martial cultivation is important. If he had been cultivating with martial practices, he would have been able to carry that girl without the need for wild jamals. He could have killed the domesticated jamal near them and saved time.”

“What the hell?” Fermboi asked. “How were they supposed to get food mobile for their journey?”

“He could have carried a jamal or kamin, or any other animal on his back along with the girl.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“Huh.”

“Yeah, and that’s why weak martial cultivators such as you should always strive to be better,” Alyana stated. “You’ll never know when you need the physical strength.”

“Okay, you’ve been badgering me about that ever since I sprang forth from my mother’s womb,” Fermboi voice’s had traces of irritation. “What was the point in telling me that I’m now related to the Eterian royal family. That happened over a thousand years ago, I’m pretty sure I can’t claim any of the kingdoms held by their branches.”

“Boya, you truly need to brush up on your martial cultivation knowledge,” Alyana declared. “I’m not gonna be telling you shit all the time.”

“Why not?” Fermboi asked. “It’d be easier if you just told me since time slows when I’m in my spiritual domain, no? Why should I read books when I can have you read the key points directly?”

Fermboi heard Alyana sigh. “Because, Boya,” she began. “It’s not fun watching something completely annihilate its surroundings. Besides, I like seeing you beat up.” Fermboi heard a light laugh from Alyana and knew she was grinning in his spiritual domain.

“Really?” Fermboi said with a dejected tone. “How do you not like a saberacat’s utter obliteration of a large prey with their sword-like teeth?”

“It’s not like that, Boya,” Alyana clarified.

“Then how is it?” Fermboi asked in confusion and closed his eyes to think of another interpretation.

“Damn you Boya, are you half genius and idiot?” Alyana said with building annoyance.

“Huh?”

“Forget it, Boya,” Alyana commanded. “What a dumb idiot.”

“Hey now, stop making fun—”

“Boya, why the hell did you close your eyes!” Alyana yelled. “Look what’s gonna happen!”

Fermboi opened his eyes but it was too late. “How did you know she stopped moving?” Fermboi asked as he bumped to the red-silk-wearing woman’s back and caused their fall to the ground.

“You dumb idiot!” Alyana yelled with a lower tone. “Can you not hear when the shoes of a person stops stamping on the ground? This is why you need to be a strong cultivator!”

“Oh my,” the woman said. She had turned her body around to face Fermboi.

“How the hell did she do that?” Fermboi asked as the woman raised her eyebrows.

“Boya, I told you she’s in the third level of Imperator Domain,” Alyana reminded. “Your eyes are too slow for her movements.”

“But I thought she was hiding her true rank?” Fermboi questioned.

“That sea-born necklace conceals her rank and doesn’t lower actual strength,” Alyana muttered. “Interesting. You should steal that.”

“How the hell am I gonna steal it from her?” Fermboi asked with disbelief.

Alyana clicked her tongue. “Or you could just make a similar one.”

“How?”

“I don’t know.”

“Then how am I—” Fermboi began but he stopped communicating with Alyana because he felt a hand wandering down his pants.

“Oh look,” the woman said as she gripped Fermboi’s penis. “It’s bigger than Marty’s!”

Fermboi had a deep frown on his face. He had just emptied himself in Alyana.

“Boya, stop those thoughts,” Alyana warned.

“How can I ever stop thinking about the shit I do with you?” Fermboi asked with a playful tone.

“Holy shit, Boya,” Alyana said. “You really a freak.”

“Freak?”

“A true freak.”

“You’re the one who kept begging for my dick,” Fermboi stated, his voice filled with pride. “And I’m the freak?”

Alyana did not reply for a while. “Well, it was a natural need and I was trying to see if your body would give me powers to escape.”

“You know I’ll remember what you did today, right?” Fermboi asked, his tone darkening.

“No,” Alyana said with a dismissing tone. “I got you under my hand, so you’ll overlook it.”

“Under your hand?”

“Yeah, it means instead of me choking on your dick, you’re the one choking on my eyes,” Alyana stated.

“H-Hold up,” Fermboi said. “How is my dick comparable to your eyes?”

“You truly are an idiot, huh?” Alyana remarked.

“No seriously—”

“Don’t say it, Boya,” Alyana said. “Every damn day, you think about me and how I’m the most perfect creature in the world and how you’re going to marry me one day or some shit like it. Stop, Boya. Just stop. Think about that again when you’ve reached the August Domain.”

“You’re August Domain, right?” Fermboi asked after some silence. “You never told me your true rank.”

“Hmph!” Alyana sounded. “As if.”

“Then what rank are you?”

“You’ll believe it.”

“Of course, I’ll believe it.”

“That’s what I just said, Boya,” Alyana said with a sigh. “You truly are an idiot. I read your mind. I know you believe every word I say.”

“Of course I do, you’re the most—”

“There you are again,” Alyana interrupted. “Boya, this woman in front of you wants your dick, why won’t you divert your sexual thoughts on her?”

“How could I?” Fermboi asked in a confident tone. “When she doesn’t even reach a comparable distance towards you?”

“Boya, just shut up and entertain this woman so you can get some bonuses,” Alyana commanded.

“Uh, Big Sister,” Fermboi began. “What are you doing?” The woman had started undressing her red silk dress. She tapped Fermboi’s chest and lowered him to the carpeted marble ground, it was another carpet made from saberacat hide. “I don’t think this is a good idea,” Fermboi stated, knowing it would have no effect.

“Shh,” the woman said as she positioned her mouth over. “Let me take care of your gift here.”

Fermboi heard Alyana cough. “Does it remind you of your actual elder sister?” she asked in a curious tone.

Fermboi frowned. “If you can read my mind, why even ask such questions?” he asked in a dejected tone.

“I don’t know, I like seeing the results,” Alyana said. “Remember when I tricked you literally moments after you were born?”

“And reminded me of how I used to rape and shit?”

“Yes,” Alyana said. “You’ll do it soon enough too.”

“How do you figure?”

“Well, this woman is raping you right now,” Alyana remarked. “Natural reaction would be is if you do the same to some poor girl.”

Fermboi sighed. “I don’t know, I don’t think I’ll do it again with such malicious intent,” he said after a while. “Maybe when I’m angry at them for some reason.”

“Like against this woman?”

“You dare me to attack a person in the third level of Imperator Dominion?” Fermboi asked, surprised.

“Why not?” Alyana said. “She’s letting you fuck her, so I’m assuming she’s going to let you be rougher.”

“Uh,” Fermbo uttered. “I don’t think that’s how it works.”

“How what works?”

“Raping being a rougher form of regular sex.”

“No, no, no,” Alyana said with a carefree voice. “You misunderstand. I’m saying rape is another form of sex, just rougher.”

“What,” was all Fermboi could respond with.

“If her juices are leaking, that means she likes it, no?” Alyana asked in a singsong tone.

“Oh no,” Fermboi realized. “Don’t tell me you’re arguing semantics with me while I get violated?”

“Who says you’re getting violated?”

“Me?”

“How can a woman obviously richer and more powerful than you, violate you?”

“What the hell, that’s what violate means, to take advantage of you because of their own advantage.”

“No, violate means that—”

“Stop Alyana, you’re making me have a headache here,” Fermboi’s voice imitated the sickly.

“Want to fuck to cure it?”

“While she fucks me?” Fermboi asked in cheered up tone.

“You’ve been wanting it since I left the reading room,” Alyana said in a disappointed voice. “You’re wanting for it to last for eternity.”

“You’re talking about our current situation, right?”

“What else?”

“How can I not with such a beauti—”

“You treat me like an object.”

“You are a spirit, a tool.”

“You’re a tool?”

“How am I tool?”

“Your mother is sending you to this test so you can help with the business.”

“And?”

“That’s more of being a tool than being to force fuck your captor because you got nothing else to do inside his spiritual domain,” Alyana said with an angry voice. Fermboi would have shuddered before if he were not used to it.

“Are you angry, my dear love?” Fermboi asked in a happier voice. “You need a little cooling off?”

“I invited you moments ago,” Alyana stated.

“I don’t want to come though,” Fermboi said. “This woman is interesting.”

“I know, I pointed it out to you.”

“No, I mean she sucks better dick than you,” Fermboi said. He then laughed. “Closed mouth or left hanging?”

“Neither.”

“Then what the hell is it?”

“Gas,” Alyana said. “I’m just a spirit, remember?”

Fermboi said. “When do I hear the words I, love, and you, from you?”

“Never?”

“Why.”

“Because I don’t love you?” Alyana said with an irritated tone. “I’m a spirit, remember?”

“You always use that excuse,” Fermboi said in a worn out tone. “It was my mistake to use it.”

“No it wasn’t,” Alyana replied. “It’s the truth.”

“And you’re gonna kill me once I let you out, right?”

“Of course, I’m a demonic spirit.”

“I love you.”

“While you fuck that woman.”

“No, while I get raped by this woman.”

“Oh?”

“Am I still invited?”

“You come whenever you like.”

“I want your permission though.”

“You have it already.”

“Great!” Fermboi shouted. “Do you like diamond or gold more?”

Alyana spat on air. “Boya, unless you find another one of those spherical objects, and I happen to be in the mood for entertaining your shit, I am not tying myself down to you.”

“You like me though.”

“Like, not love.”

“But I love you.”

“Fuck, Boya!” Alyana snapped. “Are you coming or not? Stop with this game.”

“I’m not coming.”

The woman looked up at Fermboi and removed her mouth. “Oh?”

“Uh, sorry, I was talking to myself,” Fermboi said as he made an awkward smile.

“You’re a crazy boy,” the woman said. “No one has lasted this long before.”

Fermboi laughed in random intervals. “Y-You’re very beautiful!”

“You only release with the actual prize?” the woman asked as she stood up. Fermboi admired the way she raised herself up. It was elegant.

“I think this woman is gonna take a long time for me,” Fermboi said. “You never revoke your offers, eh?”

“No,” Alyana replied. “Are you coming in here or not?”

Fermboi focused on getting inside his spiritual domain. When the surge of light finished, he had his mouth agape. “No.”

“Yes?” Alyana said in an annoyed tone.

“You are,” Fermboi began, “I-I smell something.”

“What?”

“I can smell it.”

“What?” Alyana repeated.

“Nothing.”

“What is it, Boya?” Alyana asked with a pout. “Is it the preg—”

“It’s the candle’s fragrance, wait what?” Fermboi asked in disbelief. “You’re pregnant? How the hell?”

“No,” Alyana smiled in a way Fermboi did not like. Fermboi knew she was hiding something with the smile. Fermboi could not believe she was pregnant as she was a spirit and he was a human. Fermboi knew she would ask a favor as the conversation goes on. “The pregnaski flower actually grows here.”

“The candle’s scent?”

“Mhm.”

“So you’re putting on the fragrance.”

“Yeah, so?”

“That’s like our only human interaction.”

“And?”

“You liked it.”

“Of course I liked it.”

Fermboi sprinted towards Alyana and tackled her to the ground. “You love me, no?” Fermboi asked as he grabbed Alyana’s right breast.

“No,” Alyana replied as she brought Fermboi’s head closer to hers.

“Praise everything!” Fermboi shouted. “You do! I can see it in your eyes.”

“These eyes have lied before,” Alyana stated. “Remember?”

“No,” Fermboi said in a defeated tone.

“Yes.”

“What do you want now then?” Fermboi asked, disappointed at her denial.

Alyana brought Fermboi’s right ear close to her lips. “I want you to fuck that woman like you fuck me.”

Fermboi lifted himself off Alyana and stepped back. “What the hell, why?”

Alyana stood up. “She’s powerful, you’ll need her.”

“So you’re only fucking me this time so that I can fuck that woman to see what happens?” Fermboi said with a frown.

“What else, Boya?” Alyana asked with a mischievous smile. “You’ve now realize that every fuck I give to you has some use?”

“Fuck,” Fermboi uttered. “You’re in my place and yet I’m the one following your shit.”

“What choice do you have?” Alyana asked as she cupped Fermboi’s chin. “We both know nothing about this world aside from me having a bunch of extra knowledge.”

Fermboi placed his right hand on her left cheek. “I’m being used by a succubus.”

“Mhm,” Alyana said as she ran her hand down Fermboi’s crotch.

Fermboi placed both his hand on Alyana’s collar bone. “I’m fucking powerless here,” Fermboi said as he spat on the ground. “Thankfully I can’t die.”

Alyana smirked as she bent down. “Thankfully, the most beautiful creature in the world likes you.”

“Likes me enough that as soon as she gets the opportunity to become human, she decides to have a farewell sex.”

“Mhm,” Alyana sounded, her mouth full.

Fermboi stood just staring at Alyana’s upward-looking grey eyes. The spiritual domain sun rose and set a thousand times with just Alyana’s head bobbing as the only movement in Fermboi’s eyes. “How many more?”

“A thousand more thousand sets and rises,” Alyana mumbled.

“I wonder how the hell my body out there is dealing with that woman,” Fermboi said as he looked up at the sun.

“You’re fine,” Alyana said, communicating with their minds. “She’s just done one full pump.”

“Huh,” Fermboi said with raised eyebrows. “How do you know?”

“I see what your body sees,” Alyana stated. “Even right now.”

The sun set for the thousandth thousand time. Fermboi muttered incoherent mumbles and grabbed Alyana’s head to bring it closer to the base. They locked eyes. He ruffled her grey hair and brought several strands up near his nose to smell. “Huh,” he said as he felt Alyana remove herself and begin to stand up. “Who is in control of my body though?”

Alyana kissed the left side of Fermboi’s neck. “As far as I know, that body is currently brain-dead,” Alyana said as she bit on Fermboi’s neck.

“Huh, that’s weird, I thought nothing worked but that sphere,” Fermboi said as he pulled on Alyana’s hair to remove her from his neck. “You’re doing this?” He stared deep into her eyes.

Alyana batted her grey eyelashes while running her left fingers on Fermboi’s lips. “I like your taste,” she said, returning on the bleeding part of Fermboi’s neck. Fermboi’s hand could not stop her.

Fermboi sighed. “What do I have to do to earn your love?” he asked in a solemn tone. Tears had started forming on the corners of his eyes.

The sun set another thousand times. “Let me free from this place,” Alyana said with a wide smile. “Then, we’ll talk.” Alyana placed her right index finger on the middle of Fermboi’s lips and stared at his eyes.

“You’ll kill me again though,” Fermboi said as he averted her gaze by looking to the right. He felt Alyana’s left hand. He was forced to look at her grey eyes.

A male mironga had arrived on the beach and interrupted the quietness that lasted for a thousand sunsets. Soon the females would arrive and so will the challenger males. “Maybe I will,” Alyana said as she maintained the eye contact. “Maybe I won’t. I said I like you. What more could you want?”

“Your love!” Fermboi blurted out. Alyana pushed him away and he landed on the water behind.

“Fuck Boya,” Alyana said. “I’m not doing it.”

“With all the things I do for you?” Fermboi was raging as he stood up from the water.

“Like what?” Alyana asked with an angry face Fermboi wished he never saw. Her nose wrinkled to the point where he found her looking like the demons he dreamt of as a child. Her now sword-like tooth further emphasized the image.

“Holy shit, you truly are a demon,” Fermboi said under his breath.

Alyana’s eyes were enlarged and Fermboi blinked to find himself under the water. His instincts kicked in and he tried wrangling free of Alyana’s chokehold. “Say it again,” Alyana said with a seething voice. It was through their minds and Fermboi could feel the anger. “Say. It. Again.”

After several attempts of removing Alyana’s hands on his neck, Fermboi rested the back of his head on the sand below. “You’re a fucking demon, spirit fuck.”

Fermboi felt his body being pushed down for what seemed to be eternity as Alyana sat on top of him. Bubbles, scattered sand, and rock littered his vision as he looked at Alyana’s eyes. He had seen it several times from Alyana but never to the current intensity. “I love you.”

Fermboi felt a punch to his left jaw that would have no doubt dislocated it from the rest of his head and flown it a couple of continents away. Fermboi felt a flurry of punches soon after and although it did not pain him, it still left tears on his eyes. He focused his mind and returned to the mortal realm.

The speed at which the woman thrust herself at on Fermboi increased as he regained control of his body. Fermboi locked eyes with the woman as he brought his upper body halfway up. For a while nothing happened but the repeated up and down motion of the woman’s squatting. The woman refused to make eye contact with Fermboi after he returned. Fermboi had his eyes looking soulless.

The woman looked at Fermboi’s eyes as her whole body shivered. Fermboi felt his pubic hairs become engrossed with more viscous fluids. “Alright, alright, my niece,” the woman said between breaths. “Vazaral, come here.” The woman looked over Fermboi’s shoulders.

Fermboi turned his head. A girl, around his age, with long, smooth-flowing blonde hair walked towards his location. He met her dark blue eyes. She was wearing a light blue dress that contrasted her eyes. It was not as formal as some other dresses as it had a large hood that looked to be twice the girl’s head size in width. Still maintaining eye contact, Fermboi brought his eyes for a quick glimpse on the girl’s chest. Both mounds were nearly the size of her aunt’s and they were not held by the dress at all. The link between their eyes only broke when the girl lowered her head to the carpet along with the rest of her upper body. Her hands were above her head in terms of horizontal position against the carpet and her knees kept her hips above. The hood had covered most of her hair, the rest having flowed on top of the ground with no resistance. “Aunt,” the girl had raised her head up to look at her aunt’s eyes. Fermboi had a weak smile.

“I’m an ordained minister,” the woman said as she lifted herself up from Fermboi, causing fluid to dot the carpet. “Fatumoyira Shapak and Vazaral va Vafia, I pronounce you wedded,” the woman said as she made a couple of hand gestures. “Vazaral, you saw how I mounted him, no?” the woman asked as she gestured for the girl to come closer. “Actually, if young Fatumoyira would kindly stand up here, it’d be easier for both of you.”

Fermboi did not question how the woman knew his own name. He guessed it was due to his father only leaving one heir in the world. He started to stand up. “Fuck,” he uttered after fully standing up. His back had hurt from his previous position.

“Now, now,” the aunt of Vazaral said as she wrapped Fermboi’s waist with her right arm. Vazaral was at the left of her aunt, enveloped by her aunt’s left arm. “That’s not how you introduce yourself to the young princess here.” Vazaral, and Fermboi were led by her aunt to a large wooden bed decorated with red silk all over. “You guys can use my bed,” Vazaral’s aunt said as she nudged the two onto the left side of the bed.

Vazaral turned to the right to look at Fermboi. He was not there as he had moved behind her. Fermboi pushed Vazaral down on the bed and he was not surprised when she did not complain. Her chest faced towards the soft down of the bed while her legs remained connected to the carpet. Her hips were leveled with the surface of the bed’s height from the floor. He placed his fingers on her shoulders and lowered the dress halfway down to her elbow. Vazaral made her arms closer to her torso. Fermboi continued to pull down until Vazaral’s behind was exposed. Most of the dress lingered just above Vazaral’s knees. Fermboi saw it was already moist and the smell had reached his nose. Fermboi grabbed each of Vazaral’s ass mounds. He slowed his entrance for a moment before adding fresh dye to the bed. Fermboi moved his hands upwards to Vazaral’s armpits and established a strong grip.

Fermboi turned his head to the right and looked at the girl’s aunt. The woman met his eyes and moved closer. “You want me behind you?” the woman asked as she wrapped her arms around Fermboi from behind. “It’ll slow your thrusting and I want my niece to have an amazing first time.” The woman kissed Fermboi on the lips. When she pulled away, Fermboi turned his head back to Vazaral’s hind. Vazaral had turned her head to look behind. Fermboi saw a peeved face. Fermboi stopped thrusting and brought his chest down on Vazaral’s back. He then flipped her over. Her hands reached for his head. Vazaral’s dark blue eyes yearned and closed. Fermboi brought his lips to Vazaral’s and closed his eyes.