31 - Landing

This was the first time he had let himself be in such a situation.

In the ancient past, he had gone as far as avoiding any form of hugs like it was a plague.

Of course, not many could understand this, but it was the most responsible thing to do when he recognized the weakness within him. It was deplorable to many and he was best described as a creepy weirdo.

He didn't know why but he was sensitive to touch. It was to a point when the claim that a person could hug or cuddle with the opposite gender and not have any biological response was a magical power to him.

And the fact he didn’t have to dread finding himself or waking up to a very awkward and embarrassing moment was an unbelievably huge relief. He was so grateful until the bane of his manhood existence, the [Hexed Libido], seemed like a blessing. The Hex was the only reason Ake could drift to sleep while the cute snores tickled his ears like a lullaby.

He half expected to wake up on the floor in the middle of the night, but it was oddly comfortable sharing the small bed meant for one person. It would be embarrassing to admit, but this was his first platonic sleepover.

And it was a wonderful experience waking up.

The girl amiably brought him breakfast in the morning before she left to act like she was working hard. Nisha was back by afternoon to practice her [Gale] elemental shard innate ability, [Wind Draft]. Ake played along as the girl tried to impress him and used the chance to ask the questions that had long bothered him.

According to her, the innate ability materialized right after she absorbed the shard. Unlike other shard types, all elemental types came with an innate ability. Ake didn’t need anyone to tell him that all elemental shards were pricier for this reason, but he didn’t stop her. Nisha was pretty excited, and he didn’t want to ruin the mood.

And it also made sense for anyone with multiple elemental affinities to be a prodigy. Nisha’s eyes twinkled when the girl talked about one man with such a gift. It was pretty clear the girl had a huge crush on the other young man and might still holding on to those feelings.

Ake wasn’t surprised she had fallen head over heels for the prodigy. The trope was an all-time favorite for a reason. He rather not, but one way or the other, he would meet and have to deal with such people.

Nisha stole a kiss on his lips when he was daydreaming. The girl bit her lips when he stared at her, and he pulled the naughty girl for fun making out.

Neither of them made any attempt to throw their clothes off even after finding themselves tussling on the bed. He enjoyed the change of pace as much as the girl reveled in every second of it. Perhaps this was how young lovers felt.

The next few days were a blur of non-activity, at least, on his part. He spent the long days staring off into the distance, relaxing and enjoying the view right in front of the room.

The new world he was living in was as or more beautiful than the last. The absence of smoky towers and tall buildings contaminating the view helped. He couldn’t wait to be able to roam its land, and by that, he meant when he didn’t need to worry about becoming a random monster’s dinner.

Nisha spent each night in his arms so that her sleep went undisturbed, and thanks to the lips-smacking they shared, the girl grew more comfortable and bold by the day. One night, she barely had any clothes on, and she took her top off while complaining it was a hot night. The same excuse that he had heard plenty of times already.

Of course, she was only testing his reaction, but it didn’t feel the same when Liara was doing the same thing. Nisha was more reserved despite her being half-naked, and it didn’t feel like she was going all the way.

Regardless, Ake let himself grow when the young lady pushed the envelope. He had to when she reached down to grab him as they made out.

“And here I thought you didn’t even see me as a girl or something,” she said as she noticed the girth in her hand.

“Don’t blame the man when a pretty girl is kissing him on the bed with barely any clothes on,” Ake countered.

“I’m glad to hear that, especially from you,” Nisha blushed hard. “I don’t know if I can even be compared to the Lady, but I-” the girl bit her lip.

“But you’re not really into me,” Ake continued.

“How did you know?” the girl asked.

“Well, an experienced enough guy will just know,” Ake shrugged. “Does this mean whatever happens here, on the airship, will stay here?”

The girl nodded, “Yes,” she said in relief.

“Then, it won’t bother you if you let me rest in your chest.”

“O-okay, I, we can do that,” Nisha said.

He didn’t miss the tone that told him she was a little disappointed. Ake acted like he didn’t know any better and lowered his head to listen to her heartbeat.

The girl felt safe in his company, which was clear. She also yearned for it but didn’t dare to give the green light for whatever reason. The girl had held herself back probably because she tried to reserve that kind of intimacy for her crush.

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It was not that strange, but who was he to judge? She probably wanted to get the experience without getting pummeled by a man she just met.

Most men would be frustrated when the girl held back as it would feel like she was just trying to dangle the intimacy as a huge bait. Ake didn’t mind if she was playing such a game as this would work for him. He didn’t want her or anyone else to get involved in his risky quest for vengeance, and she was already too close for comfort.

It was hard, but he eventually fell asleep in her arms. He half expected to wake up with her riding the morning stick, but the young lady didn’t.

Of course, he could have easily turned things around, but he didn’t want any chance of that action backfiring. The last thing he wanted was for Nisha to think he was just using her to get what he wanted.

Ake planned to get him under another person’s roof for a few days before moving on to an inn. This level of intimacy was already more than he had planned, but it would be odd if it didn’t happen.

All these hoops were designed to throw off any potential people who were interested enough in him. He might be overly paranoid, but this part of his plan should have benefited her plan when Lady Rinia had immediately agreed.

The airship encountered a severe storm that night. Nisha's task was to divert the worst wind, and she had worked hard. It significantly reduced her time to spend with him, but again, it worked just fine for him.

Two days of terrible weather later, the airship finally arrived at its destination by late noon.

The ancient capital was huge. Layers of tall circular walls surrounded the city center, built by the side of a mountain range. All kinds of growing crops and orchards filled between the two of the largest rings of skyscraping walls.

The layers of walls made sense as the walls prevented the monsters from destroying the crops. It also added to its defense the monsters had to go through three thick walls to get to the heavily populated area.

The wide river running through the old-fashioned mega-city couldn’t be the only water source. That much was clear from above as a network of aqueducts extended out from the inner part of the walls.

The landing wasn’t as smooth as he had expected even with the ground assistance pulling the airship aground. Magically winding wince pulled the airship down gradually until it was low enough for people to step on the ramp.

There was not much crowd or excitement, and the reason was obvious when there were quite a few similar aircraft around. Unlike the unnamed town, the airships were a common sight to the local denizens.

Ake watched from afar as Rinia was welcomed home by her family. A few people gave her hearty hugs, and he noticed the two. The said sibling-daughters were present and bowed low, but the two girls didn’t offer the lady any hugs as she had probably expected.

Only later he learned about the taboo she broke which caused such estrangement.

The Guildmaster had the biggest group and grandest welcoming party. The popular [SpellBlade] should be the most important person among all the survivors. Rows of similarly gorgeous ladies gave him a deep bow as the two of the most beautiful and shapely were hogging the man’s arms.

But if he had to put a ranking number on it, the [Mage] with the [Teleport] shard was third in place. Many ladies in various clothing welcomed him home like he was a superstar. The guy acted regal while stealing looks at Lady Rinia’s exposed sexy back.

Ake couldn’t blame the man as the sight had separated him from reality.

Nisha grabbed his hand and pulled him away right in front of the captain down the airship, the stage, and into the commoner crowd. Everyone on the airship had heard about the terrible false rumor which Nisha had never denied.

The other man could do nothing but grit his teeth at the sight.

Regardless, arriving at Nisha’s home was awkward. He was fine when one of the toddlers screamed that their sister had brought a boyfriend home. What perplexed him was when Nisha hadn’t denied it while she blushed red.

He didn’t know what was going on. They both had already agreed that what happened in the airship stayed in the airship. He was expecting a blunt denial but it never came.

It was strange when he couldn’t find any other adult male in the modest home. Everywhere he turned he just found older females and toddlers around. It couldn’t be that the man of the house was working the night shift, right?

“You won’t find the Man of the house if you even search the whole place,” said the eldest female.

“That spot is vacant if you have to ask, none of us are that lucky,” said the second eldest woman whom Nisha called mom with a whiny tone.

“To them, adventures are more rewarding than us. We only lived on whatever the Queen thought we deserved,” said the third with a baby tucked in her arms.

Nisha’s mom chuckled, “No one will want us old scarred rejects.”

“Moooommm,” Nisha dragged the word as she whined.

“Our eldest girl brought a nasty one home,” said lovely lady number two. “They both deserved to be scared off.”

Ake chuckled, “Too bad, I’m not that easy to be scared away, and besides, I can see where Nisha gets her charms from.”

Luckily, the self-claimed retired adventurers were not what anyone from the old Earth would have expected. Their faces weren’t as perfectly sculpted as the Lady's, but these were still Sharded and leveled middle-aged women.

Their smooth, flawless skin contours varied, but the three moms had maintained different but very nice, hourglass figures. Unmarried ladies like them would have been the talk of the town back in the old world.

Of course, the Lady was incomparable to three together, but he wasn’t the kind of man who forgot where he came from. He was still the average guy inside.

If he had met these ladies before the girl, he wouldn’t mind spending a night or two with any of them. It would be a good thing as it would lower his already ruined beauty standard.

Anthon had made it crystal clear to him. He wouldn’t be able to get anywhere close to a noble like Lady Rinia in this city. Their time on the airship was the last time he would be able to enjoy her hospitality. It was better for him to get used to normal Sharded ladies.

The dinner was modest but filling, and he had no complaints when it was free meals. Despite the teases and what he was expecting, Nisha had dragged him into her room.

The night was spent in the girl’s arms as they always did. The make-out session was much more intense than before, and Ake noticed the dreamy hopeful look in her eyes. It was the same eyes Lady Rinia had when she silently begged for it.

A chilling scream echoed in the night, coming from the house across the street.

Ake was forced to react as soon as the [Ethreal Sense] was within range.

He was somewhat thankful, but the dark and gooey aura gave him goosebumps. Whatever was being radiated out made something inside his head scream.

He knew he had to do something when he noticed the terrified look on Nisha’s face.