"You're late, again. I was worried—" Aisnam started the moment I arrived, but I silenced her with a kiss.
"Sorry, sweetie, but the chaos in the capital had complicated things a bit, so the trade had been delayed," I said. "But it was worth the wait."
"I have to see to —" she started as she unfurled the fabric, only for her eyes to widen. "Is that…"
"A complete book on formations, yes," I said, my arms still around her waist. "It's written especially for beginners. I'm sure you'll be very helpful to the Queen once you learn it successfully," I added immediately. "And, we can study together, with me practicing my Calligraphy while you work on your formations."
"I don't know…" she started, but I kissed her neck, just the way she liked it.
"It would give you a reason to spend even more of your day together with me. Of course, if you don't want to do that…" I whispered, then continued to kiss her neck, using my literal magical talents to great effect.
There was a reason honey traps had been a devastating tool forever…
"I'm sure — Her Highness would find that acceptable," she whispered. "Now, let me go so I can explain it to her."
"Of course," I said, but I didn't let her go for another ten minutes, and she didn't mention anything about letting her go, at the risk of angering her imaginary boss.
When she went upstairs, I visited my room first and hid the storage ring. Luckily, it was very difficult to detect in its dormant state, and its small size made it even easier to hide. Then, I visited the kitchen, prepared a nice snack board with some drinks, and visited the study room, which hadn't been used much since my return.
I had been prioritizing gathering Qi over my skills, which, I had to admit, was a bit of an oversight. I have been neglecting to work our skills together, too focused on improving my Qi. Hopefully, it would be enough to push my critical skills like calligraphy and talisman-making to Major Immersion.
Hopefully, to an even higher degree.
Aisnam returned several minutes later, using her time to categorize other items I had brought her to facilitate her deal. I didn't know exactly where she would be trading them, or even whether she had been planning to travel, or using one of her contacts to arrange some kind of pickup.
Either way, she was here, nestled against me as she read her book, while I worked on my Calligraphy. She often commented on my work. And, since I made sure to work on letters that could be used for Talismans and Formations, I was able to use them as an excuse to squeeze more questions about talismans and formations, which she answered despite fully expecting them to be useless.
I had been using the same trick to get lessons from her since our meeting, and at this point, she was used to answering my inane, disconnected questions. It hurt her focus significantly as she tried to study, but luckily, at this point, in her isolation, I was the only source of entertainment, and she was willing to make some sacrifices to keep me happy.
Benefits of being a good boy toy.
Honestly, the success of this tactic was making me question just how well-thought-out the rules of the System were. That immortal woman was very annoyed when she sent me to this world … and I was wondering maybe, in her anger, she didn't exactly consider the full implications of what even being a freeloader meant, and how easy it was to abuse the gaps.
Of course, just because I could improve far more rapidly than the others didn't mean much. Yes, I could spend days improving faster than an ordinary cultivator that started at the same time, but I wasn't the only freak of nature in this world. Pearyin, was one extraordinary example I had seen with my own eyes, and that crazy swordsman Xantum was another.
Who knew how many other freaks in this world. Worse, even discounting them, there were many Golden Core elders spread across many sects, each able to kill me with a flick of their fingers, and they were following the orders of even stronger cultivators… This world was a nesting Russian doll, mixed with a particularly innovative variant of Russian Roulette.
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Touch the wrong thing, and it would reveal more and more enemies, until one strong enough to kill me.
I sighed, wondering why I was feeling pensive, then I realized. The encounter at the stone door, with the forced imparting of the cultivation technique, left me unsettled.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"Nothing, just getting frustrated by my lack of progress," I muttered as I drew a symbol from the formations book, which could be used for many different formations. Of course, without proper materials, and without imbuing it with Qi, it was useless.
"It's because you're trying to draw a very complicated letter once again," she said as she took my brush. "The sequence for this letter is not intuitive," she said, first drawing one as I did, then drawing the second one properly. "This is how you draw it for a talisman." She drew another one. "And, this is how you draw for a formation."
"Why the difference?" I asked.
"It's complicated. Why do you insist on drawing such difficult stuff? " she complained playfully.
"I love a challenge," I whispered as I wrapped my arms around her waist, rubbing her belly softly to pamper her. It worked perfectly as a counter-argument. "But, if you insist on not explaining, you can brush back and return to your book. I'm sure I could manage on my own."
She chuckled, amused by my passive-aggressive needling. I used it sparingly. Passive aggressive behavior from a lover was cute and entertaining when used rarely, but as the frequency increased, it briefly touched the point of annoyance before escalating to the point of repulsiveness.
"The first thing you need to know is that it's not a mere word, but a fundamental vessel that holds and channels Qi. The way it's drawn affects the way it interacts with Qi, and its nature…" she started, her beautiful voice dancing in my ear while my lips danced on her neck, keeping her happy during the class.
It gave sucking up to the teacher a new meaning.
What followed was an hour-long lecture about talismans and formations. Talisman lessons were, as usual, quite intuitive. She wasn't as good as me — inevitable considering my cheat worked based on her skill level — but her talent was still impressive. She had made considerable progress since our last talisman lesson. It was far more than any improvement I could achieve through self-study, that much was clear.
What surprised me was her insights on formations. It was hard to assess her true level with my lack of knowledge — as my knowledge of formations was limited to four hours of self-study — but at this point, I was familiar with her general attitude, and knew when she was talking about something she learned, and when she was sharing general guesswork.
And, her teachings on formations felt much like the first one. I was curious, but not enough to interrupt her lesson about formations, particularly since its importance had just risen to another level when the being that was locked behind the stone door went to sleep and stopped radiating cursed Qi.
Only after she had finished her extensive lesson on the differences, I poked that particular topic. "Have you studied Formations before? Because you sound like an expert when you talk about it," I said, then chuckled. "It makes you very sexy."
She chuckled, which turned into a moan as I bit her ear gently. "Not much, barely enough to see if I had any talent. I would have loved to learn more, but lessons on talisman making were expensive enough to take my contribution points already?"
"Really, you have to pay for the techniques as well," I asked.
"Of course. Every technique is a secret. Accessing a book like this probably requires ten years of non-stop missions with serious danger."
I didn't need to fake my eyes widening. Here I was, thinking college was too expensive. "No wonder Tiger Fist are ready to siege the royal palace for it," I said.
"Not my problem," she said, showing no interest in that.
I decided to ask another question, even though I already guessed the answer. "So, do you think you can repair that stone door if you study that book?"
She chuckled. "Maybe if I have ten years, and ten more books like this…" she answered.
I said nothing else, letting her continue with her studying. Her answer didn't surprise me. If the book could have solved her biggest problem in a reasonable timeframe, she wouldn't have been indulging me here but instead stayed upstairs and focused on her studies.
I was a good boy toy, but not that good.
Not that I was complaining, because when the dawn arrived and she left to 'attend' her Queen — after a brief but very intense celebration — I was looking for a long line of notifications, with a new one earning a particularly beautiful honor.
[Cultivation Difference Bonus - 50; Pampering Bonus - 75 (Capped)]
[125x Return - Calligraphy Lesson- Minor Immersion, Major Immersion]
[125x Return - Verdant Brush Talisman Technique Lesson - Perfection, Minor Immersion]
[125x Return - Nataba Formation Technique Lesson - Beginner, Major Familiarity]
[125x Return - 129 Qi Strands]
Just like that, my biggest problem turned into less of a problem.
Hopefully. And, if not, convincing Aisnam to another study session wouldn't be particularly hard considering the beautiful smile she departed with…