Kasumi and Athena hugged each other as they descended from the mountains of Gilbor. Valerian walked slightly in front of them.

The first-year students were waiting for them at the foot of the mountain. The camp was abruptly canceled, and buses arrived at the scene to take them home.

They were not alone, though. Scores of reporters surrounded the area, and the police had trouble keeping the reporters out.

When the trio drew near, the reporters broke free from the police and surrounded them. Valerian desperately tried to keep the reporters away from the girls.

"Mr. Valerian, is it true that you met a monster up there? We've heard you've defeated the monster as well!"

Valerian had no mood to entertain the reporters, so he kept quiet.

Victor and the other combat instructors helped to keep the reporters away from the trio, and Clere and Jacinta ran up to Kasumi to ask about Gale.

But tears formed in the corners of Kasumi's eyes, and she started weeping. "What is the meaning of this, sis? Where is Gale?" Clere and Jacinta demanded.

Athena spoke with tears in her eyes. "Gale fell off the cliff when he saved Kasumi."

Clere and Jacinta were shocked! Eventually, sorrow filled their hearts, and tears began to fall from their cheeks. Hideki heard about Gale's plight, and he felt sorry.

Agatha drove her car to the scene and was waiting to bring her daughters home. However, she saw Athena and Clere crying as they drew near.

"What's wrong?"

They didn't say a word, and Agatha offered to send Kasumi and Hideki home as well. They obliged.

In the car, Athena mentioned to Agatha that Gale fell off a cliff, but Agatha wasn't upset about it.

"Is that so? How unfortunate."

Hideki and the girls were surprised by Agatha's reaction, but they had no mood to comment anything about it.

The Mizushima's house was only a stone throw away from the Sigrun's home. As the car neared the house, they noticed a man and a girl was standing outside Kasumi's house.

"That's Uncle Kenji!" Hideki said.

Agatha sighed as she got out of the car. Athena and Clere quickly returned home, but Agatha lingered near Kasumi's house.

Kasumi struggled to wipe away her tears before meeting her uncle. Kenji said, "Kasumi? Why are you crying?"

"One of my students fell off the cliff," Kasumi said.

"Is that so? How unfortunate. Take some time to wash your face. You must've had a long day. Naomi and I will visit another day."

"What brings you here, Uncle Kenji?" Kasumi asked.

Kenji said, "Hideki mentioned that you had someone in your heart other than Valerian Tze, so I came to introduce myself to him as one of your kin.

But we'll do it another day when you're ready."

Kasumi's heart broke because there was no chance to show Gale to her uncle. Agatha knew Kenji's timing was too impeccable, and so she softly said to Kasumi.

"Dear, you're in such a bad shape, and your face is swollen. Let me get something for you at my house before you return home."

Kenji turned and greeted Agatha. "Ah, Agatha! Nice to see you!"

Agatha went forward to greet Kenji. "It's been some time, Kenji! I'll bring Kasumi to my house for a while before bringing her back. Perhaps you can have tea with your uncle, Hideki."

"It's fine. We'll visit again when Kasumi's ready," Kenji said. "Hideki must be tired too. I'll call again soon."

Kenji and Naomi walked away, and Hideki returned home. Kasumi leaned onto Agatha and started crying again.

"There there, darling. My house is very near."

As Agatha walked with Kasumi, she called Aunt May, "Can you come over now?"

----------

Agatha called Athena, Clere, and Kasumi in the living room with Aunt May. After Athena related the incident at the campsite and how Gale fell off the cliff, Aunt May said in a straight face, "I used to throw Gale off a cliff once a week for training. He's not dead."

The girls' eyes perked up and looked at Aunt May. "What?!"

"You said it yourself. Gale had the strength to jump off the cliff and push Kasumi up. If he had so much power left, he's not going to die.

I used to throw him off a cliff once a week to get rid of his fear of heights. The worst case was a couple of broken bones, but outside of that, Gale knows how to break his fall with ninjutsu or his abilities. The valleys of Gilbor isn't as dangerous as some of the cliffs that I used to train him in."

Kasumi stood up and said, "what are we waiting for?! Shouldn't we search for him?!"

Aunt May went to Kasumi and pushed her back to her seat. "Relax. That boy goes adventuring with me every so often. He's not going to die in the wild.

The bigger problem right now is at your doorstep, Kasumi."

"My doorstep?" Kasumi asked.

"Your uncle with your cousin. And sadly, your brother too," May replied.

"What do you mean?!"

Aunt May told Kasumi how she found Kenji and Naomi at the foot of mount Gilbor, and how they set up the [Mysterous Allure] drug with Hideki's help. Kasumi was deeply troubled when she heard it.

"What?! Uncle Kenji appeared right after our camp ended! But our camp wasn't supposed to end today!" Kasumi exclaimed.

"Precisely," Aunt May said. "He knew you wouldn't be able to show him the love of your life. If you can't, you'll have to accept Valerian Tze for an arranged marriage."

After Kasumi connected the dots, she felt betrayed by Hideki. "How could you, Hideki?!"

"Let's not be too quick to judge Hideki. Perhaps he has his reasons," Agatha said. "In the meanwhile, could you pretend and not let your family know what we've discussed here? I'll like to see what Kenji is really up to."

"Okay," Kasumi said.

Agatha turned to Clere and asked, "Kenji will come to me to discuss an arranged marriage with Hideki and you. What do you say?"

Clere's eyes widened. "What?!"

"It's been on the cards before Kasumi and Hideki left this place some years ago. Before Kenji brought them away, he asked me to honor a request from him," Agatha said.

"Honor a request? Why?"

"Besides May, who always comes to our family's rescue after the Hidden War, Kenji offered his help. I took his help a couple of times, and he notes it down as debt to him," Agatha said. "Between May and I, we keep no such records when we help each other. But it's different with Kenji. I've never asked him for a favor if I can help it."

Clere thought for a while. "You're saying Uncle Kenji is going to force you to give me to Hideki?!"

"Exactly. So what do you say?"

Clere didn't hesitate a single moment. "Of course not!"

"Didn't you have a crush on Hideki before?" Agatha asked.

Clere paused for a moment. "That was some time ago. But marriage is for life, and I'll like to make my own choice."

Aunt May and Agatha stole a glance at each other with Clere's answer. Agatha then asked, "Kenji might ask for you too, Athena. What do you say?"

Athena returned a disgusted look, and Agatha laughed.

"So I'll need to think of a way to reject Kenji. Meanwhile, keep yourselves alert, girls. All of you are hot, and many people will be scheming to win your favor. May and I will do our best to make sure you ladies marry the right person."

----------

Early morning, news of a mad man in Mount Gilbor rocked Aelfsige City. That crazy man was a missing martial arts master from Nevarre for ten years, and the media credited Valerian for subduing the threat.

Principal Stella held an emergency meeting with the combat instructors and Vanessa Cyneburg in Aelfsige Academy.

"Right now, we haven't told the media about Gale. In all normal circumstances, we should at least report him as a casualty from the incident," Stella said. "But you're requesting me not to say anything when Gale fell off a cliff. Do you realize what kind of a backlash I'll face if I wait too long?!"

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Kasumi answered, "Gale isn't dead yet! I'm sure he will be back!"

"Why do you say that? Where does your confidence come from?" Stella said. "I know Gale is your student, but I can't support your statement without any evidence!"

Kasumi couldn't muster a response, and Victor stepped in.

"Principal, Kasumi must've been very emotional because Gale is her student. Maybe we should leave her out of this and —"

"No!" Kasumi protested. "I'm sure Gale is alive!"

Valerian said, "Kasumi, Gale fell off a very high cliff over twenty thousand feet. No matter how strong you think he is, no expert is going survive that kind of height!"

"And Gale has made the impossible possible, isn't it?!" Kasumi retorted. "He was the one who slew the madman!"

Valerian began, "we all contributed to the fight together —"

"Alright, I've heard enough," Stella interrupted. "I'll give at most two weeks. We'll report Gale as missing in the mountains of Gilbor during the incident and not mention anything about him falling off a cliff.

Besides, we'll send a search team to look for him in the valleys. If Gale doesn't come back by two weeks, he will be regarded as a casualty from the incident."

"But does it matter whether Gale is reported as missing or otherwise?" Allan Mckenzie asked.

Stella looked at Allan. "Were you there when Princess Reyna was taken?"

"Yes."

"If we report Gale as dead, Princess Reyna would've lost hope, and Prince Regulus would've won. Princess Reyna is a student of Aelfsige Academy, and I intend to support my students as much as I can," Stella said. "Therefore, none of you are to mention anything about Gale falling off a cliff until two weeks later. If the students ask, tell them, we've sent a search team to find out Gale's whereabouts. They don't need to know the details."

It was an acceptable compromise from Principal Stella, so the combat instructors kept silent. Ayumi Sato said, "I would like to lead the search team."

"Of course, Ms. Ayumi. This is your expertise. Go and do whatever it takes," Stella said.

Stella dismissed the combat instructors, and Vanessa was left in Stella's office.

Vanessa asked, "What do you think? Is Gale dead or alive?"

Stella replied. "Do you need to ask? Alive, of course. Agatha is too calm about Gale's plight, and she hasn't contacted me.

However, I'm surprised by your reaction. It's as though it doesn't matter to you."

"Gale is my fiance. He matters a lot to me," Vanessa said. "But he will be around because of the blood covenant that he signed with Rei."

That sentence piqued Stella's interest. "Oh? Tell me more about it."

----------

After Gale sent Kasumi back up to the cliff with his [Fire Cloud Fist], he took the sword he had and stabbed it into the stone walls to decelerate his fall. It broke his fall, and he was hanging on his sword sticking to the walls of the cliff. As he looked around, he noticed a cave near him and jumped into it.

Gale was confident that he would survive the fall by himself, but he didn't want to risk it with Kasumi, and so he sent her back to the cliff.

"That was close," Gale exclaimed. "That mad man was so strong! Prince Regulus certainly has some tricks up his sleeves. Looks like the marriage duel isn't going to be easy."

Gale took a few pills he had with him to recover his strength. Jacinta and Clere made those pills to help Gale improve his [qi] during his battles, and it proved handy because Lycan heavily injured him.

Gale wanted to spend some time to recover by meditation, but the cave was foreign to him, and he needed to explore to see if it happened to be a nest of a wild animal. Cautiously, he hid his presence by making his footsteps imperceptible and held his breathe with his [Turtle Breathing Technique].

As Gale walked into the deep recesses of the cave, the temperature dropped drastically. He mused, "it shouldn't be this cold here." And he quickened his pace to find out the source of the freezing temperature.

A luminous light source lit the next section of the cave, and Gale cautiously inched closer. He held his sword tightly and readied himself to attack at the slightest hint of aggression.

Gale peeked a little into the next room, and he saw a silhouette of a person meditating with a complex set of breathing techniques. Instead of breathing through the nose, the person breathed through its stomach, and Gale knew the person in there was an expert.

Gale tiptoed into the next room, and he saw a beautiful naked lady sitting upright with her eyes closed. Her hair covered her shapely breast, and a visible cold vapor was circulating her. His eyes widened as he exclaimed in his mind. 'Lucy Adamas! Why is she here?!'

Gale's heartbeat started to accelerate, and he knew he was in trouble. Lucy noticed a heat source near her, and she immediately shot an energy blast in Gale's direction with her right palm.

Gale dodged the attack, and when the energy blast collided into the wall, it froze the wall and formed icicles.

"Hold it! I'm Gale Gainsborough!" Gale yelled.

Lucy opened her eyes and attacked Gale again. "That's even worse! How dare you see my naked body?!"

Lucy rushed up and thrust her palms toward Gale, and Gale dodged. Her palms froze the wall behind Gale upon impact, and she swept her palms to the side to slap Gale on the face.

Gale didn't dare to touch Lucy's palms as it was brimming with power, so he tried to deflect her attack by knocking her wrists to change its trajectory. "It was an honest mistake! How do I know you're here?!"

"Excuses!"

Lucy shifted the angle of her palms and sent a barrage of attacks with her palms. Gale became weaker and weaker as he tried to counter-attack, and Lucy's palms struck Gale's chest hard! Gale coughed blood immediately as his chest suffered severe frostbites, and he realized Lucy was determined to kill him!

"Hmpf! Die like the insect you are — "Lucy said. However, she couldn't complete her sentence, and she coughed blood instead!

Lucy collapsed, and Gale hurriedly threw himself forward to catch her. Both Gale and Lucy coughed blood together, and Gale checked her pulse on her neck with his finger.

"My bad! I interrupted your meditation, and your overwhelming powers are running amok in your body!" Gale said. "Let me try to stabilize your powers with mine!"

Gale quickly took out his outer garment and wrapped Lucy to hide her nakedness. He then transferred his powers to her by pressing the acupuncture point on her wrist.

However, Gale's power dissolved under Lucy's [qi] because it wasn't enough, so he tried to awake her by pressing the acupuncture points on her neck with his [Heaven And Earth Acupuncture Fingers][1].

Through the acupuncture points on Lucy's neck, Gale sent signals to her nerves, and it forced Lucy awake. With all his might, Gale tried to send all his power into Lucy to save her.

"Lucy, you've got to wake up and tell me how is your [qi] supposed to flow in your body! If you don't, I can't channel enough power to save you, and you'll freeze to death!"

Lucy said weakly, "i-it's i-impossible. I-I w-won't be a-able to t-tell you in t-time. B-But t-there is s-something y-you can d-do!"

"Well, what is it?!"

With all her strength, Lucy caught Gale's neck and thrust her lips into Gale's lips! Gale fell backward with Lucy on top of him, and her tongue wrestled with Gale's tongue!

Gale struggled to speak. "W-What a-are y-you d-doing — "

Lucy exerted more strength in kissing Gale, and then poured her [Black Ice Energy] into Gale's body through her mouth!

Lucy had too much power in her body, and her body struggled to adapt to her [qi]. She trained in the cave to strengthen her body, but Gale distracted her and caused her power to run amok. Hence, the only way Lucy could save herself was to transfer her power to someone else, and the quickest way to do it was through the mouth!

However, Lucy knew this could kill Gale in an instant if her powers overwhelmed him as she transferred her excess powers. His internal organs might freeze instantly as a result!

Gale realized Lucy's intention, and he tried to garner his strength to resist her powers that were flooding into him. His skin started to freeze, and his body turned cold.

At the moment when Lucy thought Gale was going to die, Gale's body erupted with heat from his stomach! The heat absorbed the [Black Ice Energy] and assimilated it into Gale's [qi]!

Lucy felt a comforting warmness on Gale's body and began to kiss him even more passionately. She liked the warmth feeling, and their tongues passionate interaction aroused her even more! Subconsciously, her hands were rubbing all over Gale's body, and her hands searched all over to undress him!

Gale was alarmed as he tried to resist Lucy's hands, but she was stronger as his weakness to girls crept in. He moaned with her sensual hands and could only resist weakly.

"N-No!"

"You're so delicious, Gale!" Lucy whispered. "Why does it feel so sweet kissing you?!"

Lucy's powers gradually stabilized as Gale took in all her excess energy, and she was entirely in control with her energy. However, she didn't want the warmness from Gale's body to end and continued to undress him.

Gale pulled away from her mouth to catch a breather and said, "your powers have stabilized! Stop!"

"No. My powers are still running amok," Lucy lied as she took Gale's head and thrust her tongue into his mouth. Her legs rubbed Gale's inner thighs sensually, and Gale didn't expect Lucy would want to take his virginity.

A voice called out to Lucy from a distance. "Lucy? Is it the right time to come in? Food is here!"

Lucy stopped attacking Gale with her tongue and whispered, "That's Selphie, my secretary. Keep quiet because I don't want her to know you're here."

Gale nodded in obedience, and Lucy replied.

"Just leave the food out there, and I'll grab it later. This room is full of [Black Ice] at the moment, and I don't want to hurt you."

Selphie replied. "Sounds like your training is proceeding well. I have some news for you."

"What happened?" Lucy asked.

"Aelfsige Academy was holding an annual camp above us, and Prince Regulus' royal assassins attacked them," Selphie said.

Lucy was shocked. "Prince Regulus?! Why would he send royal assassins into a school camp?!"

"His bride-to-be disguised herself as Reynard Gebhard with magic, and no one knew he was a girl," Selphie explained. "She was none other than Princess Reyna Aragon."

Lucy looked at Gale, and the latter nodded. "Tell me more, what happened then?"

"Princess Reyna left the camp to avoid bloodshed, but she confessed her love to Gale Gainsborough. Prince Regulus heard about it and sent his royal assassins to destroy him," Selphie said. "They had a massive battle, and the royal assassins couldn't win, so Prince Regulus sent a mad man to fight them. In the process of killing the mad man, Gale fell from a cliff, and your bodyguard is most likely dead."

Lucy grinned at Gale, and the latter shrugged. "Ah, I see. That's a pity. My bodyguard did so well at the City Plaza battle."

"How would you want to reward Gale's contribution to the Black Diamond Syndicate? His sister and aunt are living in his house right now," Selphie asked. "Perhaps we should do something for the living in honor of Gale."

"Let's see," Lucy said as she looked into Gale's eyes. "If Gale were alive, I probably would lick him all over and consummate our relationship in passionate love for a few days. Now that he's dead, perhaps we'll make sure his sister gets a good guy who will take care of her for the rest of her life."

"T-That's not something we can do immediately," Selphie said. "Besides, do you truly like Gale? You said you wanted to use him as bait only."

"I didn't initially, but now I do," Lucy grinned as she looked at Gale. "He took my first kiss after all, and he was such a good kisser, I remember it even now."

"Surely you jest," Selphie said. "I'll look out for any potential good guys out there, but it will take time."

"Good. Make sure Gale's sister doesn't know the guy is from us. We don't want her to think we caused his demise."

As soon as Selphie walked away, Lucy said to Gale, "and you're alive in front of me right now. Shall I reward you now?"

"No. And what's this about finding a good guy for my sister?! Are you even serious?" Gale said.

"You heard Selphie," Lucy said. "She's serious, and she'll get it done."

Gale sighed. "You seem alright now, Can you get off me?"

Gale tried to get up, but Lucy continued to pin him down.

"No. Answer my question. How do you absorb my powers without any problems? No one could absorb my [Black Ice Energy] and assimilate my powers as his own!"

Gale was silent, and Lucy slowly pulled his pants down as a threat. He tried to resist, but he was weaker than Lucy, and Lucy pinned his arms above his head with one hand.

"It's fine, Gale. Don't tell me. I prefer to eat you right now anyway. Blame yourself for being so delicious!"

"Hold it! I will tell you!" Gale pleaded.

Lucy looked at Gale while she licked his chest and explored his body with her tongue. She held his pants hostage, and Gale had no choice but to tell her his secret.

"I learned a secret art called the [Sacred Blood Technique]. Magicians developed it for a king who wanted to live forever, and the purpose of his technique was to rejuvenate his cells perpetually," Gale said. "But rejuvenating cells perpetually is something only a god can do. Eventually, the technique became a way to replicate the good properties of blood and DNA from another person, and assimilate it as your own."

Lucy stopped licking and exclaimed. "I thought the [Sacred Blood Technique] is only a myth! How did you even find it?!"

"I'm a part-time treasure hunter, and I found it in a king's tomb," Gale explained.

Lucy mused for a while. "So you tasted my blood in my mouth when we kissed, and your powers activated. Your body received the important attributes of my blood, and it resisted my [Black Ice]?"

"That's the simple explanation. I don't suppose you're interested in all the details," Gale said.

"This means I can use you for training!" Lucy remarked. "I didn't realize you're so valuable to me!"

"Training?!"

"My predecessors bequeathed their powers to me, and it got to a point where I have more power than I can handle. But I can dump all this power into you without repercussions while I strengthen my body," Lucy said. "My energy grows unconsciously every day because of my breathing techniques, and I'm still not out of the woods yet. My powers could run amok at any time."

Gale didn't mind helping Lucy out, but he had to save Reyna too.

"How long do you think it will take to help you out?"

"A month!" Lucy cheekily said.

"I can't take too long! You heard Selphie; I have to save Reyna!" Gale said.

Lucy's expression changed, and she looked at Gale sternly. "Does it mean you're going to marry Princess Reyna?! That's a marriage duel, and you can't simply annul a royal's marriage agreement without a proper reason!"

Gale laid his head back on the ground in exasperation. "I'll cross that bridge when I come to it, but I won't forgive myself if I don't save Reyna. She's been training so hard to get out of her marriage agreement, and I promised her that I will fight for her when she was still Reynard."

Lucy didn't like to hear that there were other girls in Gale's life. "And what about me?! You saw me naked, and you kissed me so passionately!"

"I'm already dating someone, Lucy," Gale said. "That's why I can't let you eat me, and that's why I'm so frustrated because I don't know what to do for Reyna. All I know is that I need to save her."

Lucy glared at Gale. "You can't let me eat you?! I will have a sumptuous feast of you!"

"No! Please, don't!" Gale pleaded.

"You have to take responsibility! You saw my naked body!" Lucy yelled.

"I — "

Lucy didn't want to hear Gale's excuses, and she plunged her lips into Gale. She undressed Gale while she pinned him down, and Gale was a helpless lamb before her as his weakness to girls kicked in.

Hours have passed, and Lucy had many meals of Gale. Her vociferous appetite forced Gale into ecstasy. Though he struggled under Lucy's aggressiveness, his body enjoyed every moment of it.

Slowly but surely, Gale's resistance became weaker and weaker. From trying to push Lucy off weakly, his movements gradually coordinated with Lucy's, and they played a beautiful symphony of love as they drown themselves in intimacy.

It got to a point where Lucy submitted herself into Gale's hands, and Gale dominated every inch of her body.

"Don't stop, Gale!" Lucy pleaded. "Keep moving!"

As the lovebirds played together, Lucy's powers coordinated with Gale, and she realized their powers were complementary. Lucy breathed her [Black Ice Energy] into Gale, and Gale's energy regulated her powers as he poured his [qi] into her.

Both Lucy and Gale grew in strength in leaps and bounds through lovemaking. And both reached the pinnacle of the ecstasies of lovemaking.

"I-I can't get enough of you, Gale!" Lucy panted. "Just why are you so delicious?!"

Gale was guilt-stricken because of Kasumi, but his body refused to heed him. "I-I don't know, but you're so beautiful!"

Half a day has passed, and footsteps could be heard from a distance. Lucy rested her head on Gale's chest as she whispered to him to be quiet.

"Lucy?! You haven't eaten the food which I got you! Are you alright?!"

"I'm fine, Selphie. I'm just engrossed over my training," Lucy said as she gave Gale a cheeky smile.

"Don't forget your meals! If you trained without eating, it's going to do more harm than good!" Selphie said.

"I'll be fine! Trust me. Leave the food there, and I will come out to grab it," Lucy said.

"Alright. Please eat, and I'll check on you later."

Selphie left the cave, and Lucy asked Gale.

"Darling, are you hungry?"

"… I'll go get the food."

Lucy kissed Gale's lips before getting up.

"No, silly. What if Selphie finds you? You did so well today, and I'll be looking forward to round two!"