William found he no longer had any complaints about it being cold at night. Surprisingly, though, he found he wanted a bigger bedroll. It was just too small for two people… and it restricted them to a few sleeping positions. None of them were particularly comfortable, at least not for long.

Waking up in the morning was less awkward. At least when he woke up he could enjoy Lorelei’s warmth. Though, it still remained slightly awkward. This morning, he kissed her to wake her up. Her eyes still snapped open, but then his kiss was returned.

William had never considered himself an expert kisser, and he was significantly out of practice, but there was a whole new challenge he hadn’t really anticipated. Horns made things especially awkward. Careless motion would cause a collision of horns, if lucky, and horns and someone’s head if unlucky. This shed some light on William’s parents. He had avoided spending too much time around them kissing, but had noticed that one of them always had their head angled significantly. That introduced a different sort of awkwardness… but one less likely to end up with someone losing an eye.

-----

The journey through the mountains was easy. Though the path was narrow and contained quite a bit of up and down hill, even with occasional climbing, it was still easy. Perhaps a larger group or one carrying large amounts of supplies would have issue, but for a pair in great physical condition, it was almost trivial. There hadn’t even been any magical beasts, though there was nothing worthwhile for them to come out to defend either besides rocks and dirt. William stared at a cave. “Do you know how to tan a hide?”

Lorelei nodded, “Of course I do. However, if you’re asking if I can do so here… I don’t have most of the required materials, and magic is not an acceptable substitute.”

“Too bad. There’s a bear in that cave, hibernating.”

“A bear? Not a dire bear or anything?”

William shook his head, “Seems to be a regular bear.”

“We should be reaching the end of the mountains then. I must say, this has been the most pleasant trip through the mountains I have taken.”

“Having taken just one other… I would still have to agree.”

-----

In most ways, William found his relationship with Lorelei wasn’t any different. Perhaps it was because it had been only a few days, but as William thought about it, he realized it should stay mostly the same. After all, he liked her the way she was, and she felt the same way about him. Lorelei wasn’t the type to hang all over someone either, so there weren’t very many changes that outside observers would see. William knew he was grinning more, and he thought he saw more sly smiles on Lorelei’s face.

“Should I call you something else now?”

Lorelei looked over at him, “You brought this up before. Why would it change now?”

“Well because…”

“We’re lovers? Names are just names. I’ve already long grown used to used to it. Most people just call me Archmage, if they’re being pleasant, or various obscenities if they are not. The only one who still calls me my birth name is my brother or stuffy old nobles.”

“What about your friends?”

“I don’t have any friends. They’re all dead.”

“Hmm. Sorry to bring it up.”

Lorelei shrugged, “It happens. I’ll probably make new friends. Well, I suppose Lila might count. And you.” She turned toward him and her face grew serious. “You’re not allowed to die, alright? Not just because you’re the only one who can definitely destroy the Demon King’s fragments. I will be very upset if you let yourself die, and I’ll never let you hear the end of it.”

“But if I die-”

“Don’t start. You’ll reincarnate. That’s pretty much guaranteed at this point.” She glared at him, “And you wouldn’t be stupid enough to get your soul destroyed, would you?”

William grinned sheepishly, “Of course not.”

“Good. I bring this up because you’ll probably be in danger soon. The nobles are getting antsy, and that means trouble for all gevai. I suppose you could run and hide and do nothing, but it is much better to gain some sort of status. Besides the title of “mage”. In addition to that, I doubt “Archmage’s Lover” will get you anywhere. You’ll have to show you can handle yourself. I know you can, but others won’t. Though they make many stupid decisions, the nobles are all competent in some manner… and always including some level of combat prowess.”

William nodded, “That reminds me. I had a thought. I’ve been growing stronger… too quickly. Not that I’m complaining… but gevai are supposed to grow stronger at a measured pace, correct?”

“Well, normally, yes. However, you have a large amount of experience and good resources and teachers… and bits of other souls including the Demon King’s.”

“There’s more. I feel… not smarter exactly, but like my brain runs faster. My body is very strong, and I can tell that has nothing to do with the soul thing…”

“Except it makes you better at magic. It’s normal. The Demon King experienced rapid growth as well.”

“Fine, then what about my brother? He is… far too intelligent. He learned how to make magical formations from me at around six, with no prior foundation. By the time he was a dozen years old, he could work as a professional.”

“So you’re brother’s a genius,” Lorelei shrugged, “It happens.”

“Fine, but… Lila is not suited for ki cultivation.”

“Well, yeah.”

“Before my communication disk broke, she mentioned breaking through the third level of the technique from Marek. It’s simple, but not that simple, and it hasn’t been long enough.”

“So, it’s something about reincarnated people?”

“As far as I could tell, my brother had no prior memories. He was a normal baby. Maybe I’m just seeing things though. How about your training? How is it going?”

“Slowly. I occasionally make leaps forward, but other than that my progress has been very steady.”

“Alright. When is the last time you seriously trained… say… ki cultivation? You haven’t really progressed since I was Yu Hui’Lam, at least.”

Lorelei frowned, “I know, that’s my weak point. Why bring it up?”

“But seriously, when? Because you seem like you’re about ready to make a breakthrough.”

“What?” Lorelei frowned and concentrated, “So it seems. It had been a while. Umm… maybe… since that time, actually.”

“Are you seriously telling me you haven’t really trained in ki in almost a gross and a half worth of years?”

“Ah… maybe.”

William sighed.