I repeatedly leaped off of the platforms of air and made my way up into the sky, holding Darkeria's hand tightly. I looked down at the ceiling, the hole being a lot bigger than i thought it might be. I sighed a little and focused my mana, drawing it up into my mind and focusing on the open roof. I pictured the roof as how it was before Darkeria blew a hole in it and i forced the mana forwards.
After seeing the roof slowly repair itself and completely revert to how it was before, i smiled a little and created wings of air behind my back. "..!" I suddenly realized what i had done and trembled a little.
"Nick... Such a large waste of mana... But I'm surprised you could make wings with such detail." She pulled her hand out from mine gently and took a few steps distance from me, carefully inspecting my wings. "... It was so natural... does he..." The last part was said too softly for me to make it out properly.
I looked at my wings and opened my mouth wide, unable to mutter a sound. The sight was breathtaking to behold and if anyone were to ask if they had always been there, the answer no would seem like a very poor lie.
The wings were just large enough to go from above my head to just below my knees and were a faint lime green that shimmered softly in the sunlight. The feathers were thin and sharp like knives but still soft enough to stroke them.
I emptied my thoughts and let my mind wander for a few moments before i could feel the wings as part of my body. ... hmm... I focused on my wings a little and pictured myself opening and closing them on my back.
"Whoa!" Almost too fast to capture with the eyes, my wings opened and closed at an extremely fast speed. My body titled forward a little and i re postured myself and breathed a sigh of relief as i brought my focus back to my wings.
After a few failed attempts i decided to close my eyes and focus on the mana in my surroundings, pulling a few earth mana particles towards me and fusing them with my wings.
A streak of brown was added to the tips of all my feathers and i felt a little extra weight on my wings.
Satisfied with the attempt, i once again tried to move my wings open and closed.
It was still fairly fast but this time i didn't tilt forward and get thrown off balance. I kept up my practice silently while Darkeria watched me with a smile on her lips.
After another few attempts i had finally grasped the fine details of the muscles and nerves in my wings, and could control them the way i wanted to. I smiled brightly at Darkeria and flew over to her, grabbing her hand and twirling around in the air a few times.
I took her other hand in mine and began to twirl around and giggle in joy, bringing us close and apart a few times as we twirled in a make shift dance of sorts.
"Haha this is so fun. You get to do this all the time? Wow i can't believe what I've been missing out on~" I could feel a rush of energy take over me and i began to fly higher and released her hands, doing a few loops and twirls in the air.
"I know you're excited and all but i think you should stop. You'll get sick if you keep this up." She warned me gently before laying on her stomach and drifting casually through the air near my side. I slowly stopped doing all my neat tricks and copied her, slowly drifting around on my stomach. After around 20 minutes of aimless drifting, Darkeria drifted over to my side and hugged me softly, burying her head in my neck and nuzzling me.
"Hey Darkeria i was wondering... Why do you love me so much?" I queried as she began to inhale my scent.
"Hmm... what if i said "refer to the previous chapter"?"
"..." I turned my head to her and breathed out. "Is this gonna be a 4th wall breaking story or what?"
"Ehhh... Maybe? Anyway..." She began to explain about the time difference in the spirit worlds and about how long she had waited for me.
"... Well... i can see how that "sudden development" could be rationalized. And i suppose... I have feelings for you too. I find you cute and i love to be around you..." I started to blush and i could feel Darkeria shifting restlessly by my side.
I pulled away from her and turned to the side, seeing her fidgeting and tapping her two index finger together while blushing.
So cute... I reached out towards her and grabbed one of her hands before pulling her to my side again, placing my lips on hers and kissing her.
I slowly brought my arms around her and held her gently in my arms, letting her warmth surround me. As we kissed i could feel her hand slowly tracing circles around my chest and then slowly coming around to my neck to pull me in to deepen the kiss. We slowly entwined our tongues together and began to drift downwards slowly toward the city. When we got closer to ground level, i separated from Darkeria and held one of her hands, creating a tail and ears of green as i did so.
We hit the ground and leaped back upwards, skyrocketing upwards again and up above the clouds. I smiled at her and then looked at the city below us, looking for somewhere we could eat. I zoomed my eyesight as far as i could and looked for anyone who may be holding a form of currency in their hands.
"Success~" I muttered as i saw someone in a food stall opening a cash register of sorts.
Inside were various gold and silver coins with a Bladeheart motif etched onto them.
"Hah~" I sighed. "So it uses gold and silver coins huh... Another wonderful cliche~" I made a small pouch in my hands and created a few gold and silver coins inside of it.
"Shall we go down and get something to eat?" I turned back to look at her and she smiled at me.
"Yeah sure~ I am getting a little hungry now that you mention it."
We slowly drifted back down to the ground and began to walk around the streets. I could see many different cat people walking around of all ages and even a few fox-like people as well. After a few minutes of aimless wandering, we came across a small street stall selling something that i remember from Iyagi.
"Hoh~ Taiyaki huh? I wasn't expecting this." The stall was selling a kind of sweet cake like food that was from a country in the east of Iyagi. Taiyaki was a fish-shaped cake. It was usually filled with a red bean paste made from sweetened azuki beans. But could also have other various fillings as well.
I looked up at the sign behind the counter and saw the menu selection, filled with a few different fillings.
"Hmm." I could see a few different flavours that were clearly from Aevolia but there were also a few i was used to.
Chocolate, vanilla or custard~ what to choose. I looked towards Darkeria and i could see she was watching me expectantly.
"Yo chef-San, 2 of each, custard and chocolate please." I said while holding out 8 silver coins. It seemed like they were worth 2 silver each but i couldn't tell if that was cheap or expensive since i could see a few people holding copper coins as well.
After a few minutes, the Taiyaki were finished and then wrapped in a big leaf like thing each and handed to us.
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"Thanks for the purchase." He said and bowed to us before turning back and sorting out the ingredients.
I handed 1 of the custard and chocolate Taiyaki to Darkeria before we took to the sky again.
We slowly flew up a few hundred meters before taking seating positions in the air and blowing on a Taiyaki each.
"I guess in this situation we would say... what was it..? Oh yes! Itadakimasu~" I said that foreign word and took a bite of the chocoyaki (temp) and moaned from the wonderful taste. "Mmm~ Tasty~" I slowly ate the chocoyaki and a grin spread to my face.
I heard a faint "Itadakimasu~?" And small munching sounds wafted into my ears.
"Wow. This is incredible~" I heard her exclaim after a few moments and i replied, "Right?"
We slowly ate both our Taiyaki's and when we were finished i said the other foreign phrase i remembered.
"Gochisou-Sama deshita~" I heard Darkeria quietly mimic me close by. "...Gochisou-Sama ... deshita..."
We cleaned off our mouths and hands and grabbed each others hands and began to drift down to the city again. I noticed a hotel nearby and tilted my head to the side before i looked at Darkeria out of the corner of my eye. ...Nope i don't trust my chastity with her at the moment. I shook my head and looked around near the castle area in the middle of the city.
That will do just nicely. I saw an inn just inside the castle walls near the north entrance and i brought us down to the ground inside the city by the north gate.
We slowly walked forward towards the gates and lined up behind the various people that had formed a line. It seems there was a checkpoint up ahead that was checking id's and belongings. I was a little hesitant as we got closer and i began to sweat.
But my fears were unnecessary as we got closer to the checkpoint. A small commotion started up above on the walls and the guard tower which spread down to the checkpoint. A single guard came running from the checkpoint zone and stopped in front of us before bowing and speaking in a VERY polite manner.
"Nick-Sama, Darkeria-Sama, it is an honor to be able to serve you. Are you here to enter the town?" He stayed in a bowing position and waited for an answer.
"Yeah we are. I was thinking of using the services of the inn just inside the walls here at the north gate. Is there a toll to enter the town?"
He raised his head and saluted us, one hand forming a fist over his chest and the other straight by his side.
"For our most esteemed guests, you may enter free of charge and without a check. It is the will of his and her highness at the castle." He slowly bowed again and then gestured us to follow him to the gate.
I looked at Darkeria and shrugged before starting forward after him, slowly walking forward with a casual gait. Darkeria slowly walked by my side and we arrived at the tall gate that was wide enough to fit 5 cars side by side and tall enough to fit a 3 story building.
Just inside the wall was an office with various computers and shelves and other office type things. A few official-looking cat girl people were tolling away at the various computers and paperwork. Once we walked through to the other side of the gate, the guard bowed to us once again and saluted us before turning around and leaving.
"Well then shall we go?" We flew up into the air a few meters and speedily flew in the direction of the inn.
It was a 2 story old stone brick building with open air windows and a separate bathroom building a few meters to the side behind the building. I saw a signpost hanging above the front entrance that read;
Hailgate Inn
Board/tavern/bathing
Current vacancies (3)
I pulled Darkeria with me inside and we walked up to the counter that was set at the far back of the room.
The room itself combined a tavern and a bar into one with a general inquires desk situated where the bar was.
I pulled out my pouch and asked the tall dark skinned man behind the counter how much for one room for one night.
He was around 6 foot 5 maybe taller and had 2 horns growing from his forehead. The so-called "demon race" most likely.
He smiled a little and spoke in a deep booming voice, "It's 20 silver for a shared room per night including bathing and meals."
"Hmm~ That seems rather cheap." I said with a smile on my face.
"Cheap? That's a fairly expensive price for most people little boy~." He said with a slight twitch in his eyebrow.
"Really? Hmm" I pondered for a moment before asking him, "How many silvers in a gold coin Mr?"
He looked at me puzzled for a few moments before telling me that it was 100 coppers per silver and 100 silver per gold and that i was an idiot if i didn't know that. I placed the pouch down on the counter and pulled out a single gold coin and 10 silver coins.
"Then... 5 nights please Keeper-San and have a little bonus on me~" I smiled brightly and put on my best innocent expression. He looked surprised but smiled brightly after pocketing the 10 silver coins and handing me a small gold key.
"Thanks for the tip kid. You're in room 209, the last room on the second floor to your right after the stairs."
I thanked him and we began walking towards the stairs over near the tavern side of the building. I felt a lot of stares on me but decided to ignore it as we slowly ascended to the second floor and arrived at our room.
I placed the key in the lock and turned it, hearing a -click- as the lock was undone and i opened the door. Inside was a fairly spacious room with black carpet, walls and ceiling and a bed frame made with black crystal. The mattress was thick and looked rather squishy and was fitted with black sheets and a black feathered quilt. There was a desk to one side of the room with an ope framed window above it and small walk in cupboard to the other side of the room. I looked up and saw a chandelier dangling from the ceiling and checked beside me for a switch.
After turning on the lights, i walked up to the bed flopped down before closing my eyes, the fatigue that had been building up in me made me close my eyes.
I heard Darkeria close the door and walk up to the bed before flopping down next to me.
"..."
"..."
We both crawled up into the bed and faced each other before kissing and falling asleep as is.
SURPRISE~ 2 chapters in one day~ and both were fairly big compared to previous chapters~
Anyway thanks again for reading my series and i hope you enjoyed it~ Once again any feedback would be appreciated and i'll get around to rereading my earlier chapters tomorrow and doing some editing~
See you next chapter~ <3