20 - Visit
(NSFW part below)
Ake had paid for a ‘Visit’ a few nights ago and it only caused him trouble. He thought the woman would leave by morning, but it turned out professionalism was not even in their job handbook. She had stayed for two days straight and she was happy to teach him about the difference between Earth days and the local equivalent.
He was right when he felt the night and day were longer and it was already close to ‘dark-light’ or dusk when she left his room. Luckily she agreed to finally leave with his promise to pay her a visit soon at her place of work. He wasn’t planning to visit her, of course, even if she promised it would be on the house.
The gorgeous woman was terribly expensive, almost unaffordable, but he would rather pay his fortune away than risk any kind of otherworldly infection. The woman was awesome on the bed but he had solely paid her to test his theory, whether it worked or not. The house was also already informed and promised to keep it a secret if it turned out bad.
The only thing awkward was her arrival to his room. The whole inn and everyone in it knew when she arrived with only a cloak on her. The whole town probably knew by morning, and he was forced to stay in the room thanks to that shit.
Ake sighed and checked his Soul Ledger.
[Astral Linked - Soul Ledger]
[Ake] [Age: 20 - Race: Human]
[Title: Tribe Chieftain, Initiated]
[Level [1] Citizen]
[Life Essence [2%] to next level]
[-]
[Shards]
[Absorbed: Ether, Strand]
[Corrupted: Flesh IV]
[Evolved: Thread]
[-]
[Attribute]
[Physique: 2],[Resolve: 6]
[Intuition: 8],[Motor: 3]
[Energy: 2]
[-]
[Stats]
[HP: 510/510]
[Mana: 110/110]
[-]
[Traits]
[Life Lease][Hexed Libido]
[-]
[Crystallised Abilities]
[Extract],[Ethereal Arms],
[Arcane Flesh].
[-]
[Skills]
[Astral Transfer],[Mathematic IV],[Meditation]
[-]
[Attention: Class selection available]
[-]
[Oathbearers]
[Liara], [Mars-Sila]
As he had previously figured out, the [Soul Ledger] was not some kind of character sheet but simply a record of himself. His theory was proved to be true when he had leveled up where his attributes were measured and calculated. No intelligence stat in the mix but it totally made sense if anyone had asked him.
Unlike any other virtual experience he had, the level-up process was not in an instant. It was a long process and wouldn’t even trigger if certain steps were taken first.
According to Liara, he had to be at a safe location before he could attempt to spend the collected [Life] essence. The best way to ensure that was to have at least one trusted person guarding the place and the more the better.
He was surprised when an actual detailed character designer came out when he was deep in System induced [Meditation]. Of course, he had a lot of fun in that and a slightly chiseled jaw was not the only thing he customized.
Size, and not especially length, do matter, and the hooker appreciated the change. A man had to do what he had to do, for Science, of course.
The oddest thing was, the whole process involved the shredding of impurities from his physical body. A black smelly gunk surrounded him as soon as he opened his eyes right after he levelled up and there was no surprise on any of the girls’ faces. They gawked at his new looks of course, but no one was surprised at the stench or the black gunk.
It felt like he was suddenly in some kind of cultivation story he had read all too much.
Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
Ake just shook his head at that thought. The invitation he got from the Guildmaster was troubling. It was optional but refusal might as well raise a red flag. He spent the next hours in [Meditation] just to empty his mind from worries and useless thoughts.
Knocking on the door pulled him out of his peace.
Ake groaned. Ever since he had leveled up, he gained more than enough attention for years from both women and surprisingly, even men.
Sure he had customized the character creation to match the build of his favorite popular person, The Dragon, but he hadn’t touched the face that much. He also hadn’t done anything to even remotely suggest he swung that way too.
His skin was fairer, of course, but that was just for him to blend in easier. He didn’t have bulging muscles which was an option, and he had leaned towards speed rather than raw power as the other men had or would usually choose.
Sure, he couldn’t resist having a distinct V-shaped body but pretty much everyone else was the same. He would be more popular back on Earth, but here, he should still be the average.
Another persistent knocking told him that the person wouldn’t give up anytime soon.
Perhaps it was one of those night workers again. He had paid for the service or ‘visit’, and it actually worked, but he never intended to leave an impression.
But who would have suspected that the source of the curse was the answer to it? It wasn’t a cure but good enough for him or anyone suffering from the same thing. He could last indefinitely when he figured he could manually pump his blood using magic to go around the curse.
“Hey,” said the woman as Ake opened the door.
The whole inn was in a quiet rumor as two cloaked ladies came to visit him tonight. Ake was surprised when the smaller lady revealed her face.
“Um, is that you Liara, what are you doing here?”
“Won’t you invite us inside first?”
“Us? Oh, of course, please come in.”
The two cloaked ladies slipped into the room and he closed the door behind them. They chose the bed and so he had the long chair for himself.
“Papa had said not to invite a man to stay with me,” Liara said as if that had anything to do with anything. “It is just better to get a new home together,” she continued.
“Is that why you two are here? Can’t this wait in the morning?” Ake chuckled.
Liara sighed and let down the cloak covering her head.
“No, I’m here to apologize,” she said. “And to beg you to not hate me for hiding this ugly truth from you all this time. You probably have figured it out since you had paid the brothel for a visit rather than returning to us.”
Sila hugged her lover’s shoulder to support her.
Ake was taken aback.
He had not suspected buying a visit would lead to whatever this was.
And what had she had been hiding from him? He certainly had not figured anything out, and why did she even do this after everything that happened?
“I’m doing this anyway for my own sake,” Liara stated and took a breath. “The truth is, the shards we absorb change who we are as humans. It dulls our fear for a good reason but also makes us less human in every way at the same time.”
“What do you mean made us less human?”
Liara blinked a few times in surprise. She stared into his eyes before a breath of relief escaped her. The girl knew him enough to know he had no idea what she was talking about and the relief was shared with Sila too.
“Simply said, the sharded can’t fall in love as humans do, Ake,” Liara said. “Strong emotions like jealousy will feel ridiculous to us and it does to me at this moment. I’m relieved and happy that you are able to enjoy your time with a woman. But a very active shard will also dull whatever is left of our humanity. It is why someone can be as cruel as killing people in the thousands single-handedly.”
“Then you mean, you two?”
“No, we aren't what you probably think we are. We aren’t even close to lovers,” Liara chuckled. “We simply desire each other's company and agree to share each other’s warmth. Believe me when I say this, Ake, even our birth mothers had not shed a tear when they decided it was time for them to leave their own flesh and blood daughters. No normal shardless mother can do that and they’ve left their flesh and blood not for our protection but for their own adventures.”
Liara and Sila leaned on each other’s heads as she revealed their awful past. They weren’t sad but simply accepted it as a fact.
Ake stood up slowly in surprise.
Suddenly it all made sense.
To think he had foolishly concluded that he was able to face the murderous cannibal rabbits because he had naturally adapted. How foolish he had been.
This was not a game!
No normal human was able to grit his teeth and face such a thing the second day he was here. A normal person would have run away or frozen in fear.
He had become not normal when he absorbed those shards in the dark cell. Unknowingly he had traded his humanity with the ability to wield magic. He could tell many would be outraged by this situation and many more would never accept the trade. That was why-
Ake turned towards Liara.
Was it fair for her to hide this from him while asking for his help?
Ake fell to his knees.
Had he traded something he could never get back?
Was magic even worth his humanity?
Ake chuckled derisively. No wonder it was impossible for her to bring up this topic. If it was him, he would have hid forever and never ever talked about it. He would even feign ignorance if he had to.
Losing what made anyone human was not something to even joke about.
A part of him said, yes, the exchange was worth it and more. Now he couldn’t care less whenever he wanted to. He would only need to absorb more and activate everything to feel nothing. No pain and no sadness. No regret.
But he knew that was a huge lie. He would still be sad even if he didn’t feel it.
How did that even make sense?
Ake chuckled again and it almost went into laughter.
Soft warmth filled his face and it felt familiar. Liara didn’t have a single thing under her cloak just like the fine lady he had paid to warm his night.
“I’m really sorry, Ake, please forgive me,” she cooed as she hugged his head.
It was not fair when he calmed down easily.
It was not fair when he loved every second of this.
“I didn’t know,” Sila said as she hugged his back. “I thought you chose this path like I do, as others have done. So, I’m sorry too.”
The buxom girl too offered her bare flesh under her cloak. She was also warm and soft.
Ake didn’t know how to feel about this.
And the whole cloak without anything else was probably some kind of cultural significance behind it.
He wondered how he should react to everything as the girls pulled him up and guided him to bed. Ake just sat there and enjoyed the views as the girls took off their cloaks.
Liara kissed him on the lips as Sila went down to swallow him full.
He let the whores get him bone-hard, and when the time came, he punished Liara from the back. The oversized cock tore the petite hole apart and drilled her up to her chest.
He pulled her red hair back and kissed those small moaning sexy lips.
Since she was asking for it, Ake violated Sila’s depth with his fingers. He rummaged her insides as she got herself hyped for the real one.
He combined the [Thread] and the [Flesh] so he could literally turn into a monster and teach these bitches in the heat a lesson they would never forget. How dare they gang up on him like and more importantly…
He made them promise to never betray him ever again or the world shall suffer his pain.
Fuck, being Chuuni again feels good!