The hot spring was still reserved for the two as they lay there. Kush had finally stepped into adulthood (he thought) and Sylvie caught a break. Sylvie lay there her back against his chest and her breast in his hand. Her breasts were like catnip stuffed in a ball of yarn to Kush as he kept playing with it.

He asked her “What do you intend to do from now on?”

“I would have liked to follow my father’s footsteps and hand the power over to the council, but now that only 2 people from the council are remaining and they too… hehe… want to retire now. I don’t think it will be possible, not atleast for the next few of decades”

“If you wanted to handover why didn’t you do it 12 years ago?” he said while letting go of breasts and running his hands along her body, her toned flat belly, the inside of her thighs, pulling her closer.

She replied with shrug “Cause then it would just be me shirking my responsibility. I mean we had a monster intent on destroying the country” He then went from between her legs and grabbed her ass while continuing

“So any plans for the future?” he said while using his middle and ring finger to rub between her butt crack rubbing from her pussy to her asshole

Sylvie straitened her back against his chest, she was feeling it. She said “Uncle Marcus left his entire fortune to the throne. He told me the location of his property and asked me start the re-building process using it. I conducted an agricultural survey in the regions around the capital and results seem… favourable…” spreading her legs more, as if giving better access to his hands. Kush let go just when she was starting to enjoy it and came back to her breasts and played with it. Tugged on her nipples lightly

With a bit of disappointment in her voice she continued “I am sorry about not being able to give you anything for what you have done for us” putting her right hand behind her butt and cradling his balls. His penis was hard against the her which put a smile on her face

Kush said with a smile “Nah… not really interested in money, atleast not right now”. As he said this she pulled her ass closer to his penis so that now his erect member pressed up against the small of her back.

She said “You know if you stay here this coul…”

Kush immediately replied “No I can’t, I have goal I have been working towards. Staying here would probably…”

Sylvie nodded but since she had her back to him he couldn’t see her expression. He thought, he wouldn’t get lucky anymore so he let go of her breast and slowly started taking his hand away, though will power required to do this was really… really great. He didn’t want overstay his welcome, which his answer had cut-short to ‘right now’ he assumed. But before he could pull his hands back, he felt the petite hands of the queen grabbing onto chair sized palms. She craned her neck and looked towards him. She kissed him on lips and said “Let’s go for a few more rounds” and Kush acquiesced happily.

It was the sixteenth day since the fight ended. Sylvie had told him about the curse associated with using the armband and apologised to him about using it on him. At first Kush didn’t understand what the curse was and was really scared cause of the fact so he inspected all 89 of his mana veins, right 89… the large amount of mana from the arm band helped him open up even more mana veins. This was a legendary achievement for his age and he was excited but he didn’t say anything to anyone. He picked up the axe and requested the use of the royal gym. He tested his strength out but didn’t see any problem nor was he feeling any strength loss. He even felt stronger which was expected since the fight against Brutus had made him stronger. He put the curse off his mind for now and decided to tell his father if he sees a problem.

Actually the curse on the arm band was sealing away of the user’s Karmic power which was the more precious to some people than their life but it was nothing to Kush who didn’t have one.

Kush’s arm had almost healed and he had decided on moving on. He put on his braces and said his goodbyes to all, he waited for Tara for three days but started to realize he might not meet her again so he headed to port and asked for directions again. Right now he was the most popular person in the country. A lot of independent chronicalizers had published his chronicles and images, though there was no official ceremony to recognize his contribution. He never complained about it cause he understood that they were strapped for cash and couldn’t spare any for holding a ceremony. The dock workers were weirded out again by the question “direction to the mainland”, but still replied since they recognised Kush to be the hero who saved their country.

Kush saw the large population of people coming out of the port, ships carrying hundreds of thousands of people returning to their homeland after the exodus which happened a few weeks ago. He took the sight in and took a deep breath, he didn’t really have any strong feelings for the country but was happy he was able to help out. He then started swimming in the direction the dock worker had pointed him. Once again the continuous mana expulsion was tough for him but it was part of his training.

“Ugh… I really hate this part of the training” He said to himself. This was one of toughest training he had ever done; he never really disobeyed his father but it looked his father just was making him do this just to spite him.

Kush then shut up and like a good soldier continued swimming his way across the ocean. After swimming for about three days continuously he heard someone call out. “Hey big guy!!”

His first reaction was to ignore the call; but… there was something about the voice... it somehow felt really familiar… a voice which he longed to hear… so he turned around and saw a figure standing on a what seemed like a small boat. Standing near the horizon infront of the sun he couldn’t make out who it was but against all hope his heart was astir. He stopped mid swim and kept on looking at the lone boat as it took a turn of large radius making its apparent way towards him and visage of the person who had called out to him kept on growing. Her bronze skin glistening with sweat, her long exposed legs, her massive cleavage visible through the loose red dress with a plunging neck line going all the way below her navel, her beautiful black eyes and gorgeous face whose beauty was accentuated by the tiny bindi she wore between her brows, helm of dress which stopped right above the end of her butt left little to the imagination but the beauty of which could not be estimated by a mere mortal. She was an angel descended from heaven inciting primal feeling in any human who put his or her eyes on her. Kush was stunned by her beauty every time he saw her. As she approached him in her boat, he kept on staring at her. He almost lost concentration a couple of times which could have caused him to sink but he didn’t care, cause he was happy to die with such a view.

Tara was happy to elicit such a reaction from him and beamed a smile so beautiful it sent Kush spiralling further down and he neared the edge of losing control on mana expulsion but still managed to keep it in. When the boat neared him he could see that it was on the smaller side then what he had generally seen, but considering it was only meant for one person, a 75 m by 30m ship seemed appropriate (for rich people).

On reaching talking distance she said “Hey need a lift?”

“Nah… I told you right, this is part of my training need to finish this”

She paused for a moment and then said “How about this? You come onboard and I will make it up to you for your lost training time” with half sile and half closed eyes. The sexy expression on her face gave Kush some ideas regarding his compensation but he still said.

“I am sorry but, like I told you my braces weigh 50 tons and I am not always in control of my mana. Any misstep on my end and I may end up sinking you whole ship”

She giggled to herself and said “don’t worry, this ship is a bit special so 50 tons should be doable, now come onboard don’t make a woman beg”

Kush on hearing her lack of apprehension listening to his arguments gave his worries to the wind and used the monkey ladder to climb to the deck of the vessel. He was all wet and clothed in dhoti from the waist down. It stuck to his body cause of the wetness and outlined his body. He was in an awkward situation cause he came onboard with great expectations for “compensation” for missing out on his training, but now the he was on, he didn’t how to initiate the conversation.

Tara amused by the poor kid’s plight said “So big guy… where do you want to go?”

Kush too calmed himself and put the matter of “Compensation” out of his mind and said “Anywhere on the mainland will be fine. I will make my way from there. My ultimate destination is Kashi” he said politely not overextending the other person’s generosity.

Tara looked at the bridge of the boat where a person was standing with a wheel in hand and nodded. On receiving the instruction, the boat started its journey and Tara said “We are headed towards Thar, you can get off there and make you journey to Kashi from there. It will take us 3 weeks, this boat is slow but is a nice place to be on”

Kush didn’t really care where he was dropped off and nodded without any objections. He had been to Thar once, a desert with sand extending all across the horizon. Difficult journey to clear obviously sans water and regular source of food but part of nature nonetheless. He just said “Thank you for ride”

Tara then took him around the ship and showed him around like proper hostess. It was a beautiful thing that boat, like a retired person’s retreat, complete with swimming pool, hot water bath, recreational room and servants just for one single person. It was like a private floating resort and hostess was… hostess was still the most beautiful thing on it. After showing him around the boat she took him to his room which was the guest room. It was sprawling masterpiece with the bed covered in violet sheets against the opposite wall. She entered the room ahead of him and sat on the edge of the bed facing him. Kush’s mind sped towards “compensation” so he slowly made his way towards her. A little more confidence in himself since he had had his first time in Bhasmachal with the gorgeous queen no less. Tara understanding his intention gave a knowing smile and just as he was about 3 ft from her she asked “So when do you want to start your training she asked?”

That single line sent all of Kush’s hopes crashing and burning down a cliff; he wanted to continue where the two had left off in Bhasmachal but it seemed like a onetime offer only…

He was at a loss of words about what to say, Tara burst out laughing on seeing his reaction, her exaggerated reaction added to his embarrassment so did her loose fitting clothes which couldn’t protect any part of her body from Kush’s view. Kush was annoyed by this and said in fit of rage “I am always ready for training, what will it be?”

Tara took a few moments to contain her laughter and said “Why… it will be hand to hand combat ofcourse”

Kush was surprised by the comment and said “You saw me fight in Bhasmachal right? You think you have someone who can face me in battle?”

Tara was amused by the comment and said “It’ll be me you will be facing in combat”

Kush was surprised by the answer and said “You?” clearly underestimating her strength by several degrees

Tara had a mysterious grin on her face and said “Why you can’t fight a woman?”

Kush was very well versed with fact that though not physically large; woman or any opponent for that matter couldn’t be underestimated. His mother for example, save his father who was freak of nature, was the strongest being in this world. While Rhodos and Gauri kicked his butt on a regular basis. But Tara was different, he had seen her fight and didn’t acknowledge her strength.

Kush thought this endeavour was a waste to time and she had insulted him in the process as well so he simply said “No that is not true. Since young I have only had sparring sessions with women and never have I won against them but I will pass up your offer. Thank you for your hospitality Tara, if you could point me in the direction to the mainland I will swim my way there” and turned around to head out of the room.

Miffed Tara at being underestimated so severely said to his back with a straight face “You manage to land one hit on me. One hit and I’ll fuck you brains out where you want, when you want and how you want it. And this can happen every day”

Kush stopped midway, he did severely underestimate her and really… really wanted to fuck her. There was no reason for him to ignore this challenge so he accepted the challenge saying “So when do we start?”

Current stats

Mana veins open: 89

Strength: 4900*

Speed: 1000*

Agility: 270*

Regen: 9004*

Magic Regen: 30209*

Toughness: 6703*

Skills:

Heavy Swing* Dodge* Horizontal Slash* ???* ****