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The morning’s sun was coming from the crevices of the tent, and I woke up feeling refreshed—more refreshed than ever before, I believe. Living here with these people has really been healing me more than I imagined, and above all, it has helped me truly relax for once in my entire life.
But above all, what was doing most of the job was Urbosa and Merkite’s love; it was really healing. Though I have to admit their soft black fluff was really nice, I woke up every morning between their chests, feeling their nice, sweet smell and their fluff all over my face.
It was truly a gift from the heavens.
But it was already time to wake up and have breakfast, and perhaps help this village a bit more with a few little things while I had the will to do so.
“Alright, good morning, you two. Time to wakey wakey~” I tried to act cute for them, but I would die of embarrassment as a great venerable if I did this with anybody else.
“Hmm… Come on, let’s cuddle a bit more…” Urbosa groaned, quickly using her arms to wrap around my shoulders, pushing me down over the bed.
“Let’s sleep a bit more; I’m sleepy," Merkite said as she put her legs over my own.
I was trapped!
I had no idea the mighty warriors of this tribe were so lazy in the mornings. It might be a temporary thing while they adapt back to their daily lives, perhaps. I conjured the healing techniques coupled with the healing skill to take away that exhaustion they felt. Golden, sparkling lights covered their bodies momentarily.
FLASH!
“See? All new. You aren’t sleepy anymore.” I smiled, standing up as I freed myself from their entanglement quite easily.
“T-That’s… weirdly nice.” Urbosa gasped as she suddenly sat down. “I don’t feel sleepy at all?!”
“You can do this too? It is as if all the exhaustion was sapped away.” Said Merkite.
“Indeed, it is part of my Healing and Recovery Abilities,” I said. “I spent many years perfecting them so I could continuously cultivate them without needing to sleep. Now I mostly sleep because it feels good.”
“H-How does it work? Is it light magic?” Urbosa tilted her head in confusion.
“Well! I wouldn’t call it "magic." Basically, it is the ability to transform, wield, and manipulate my immortal essence and then transform it into life essence by refining it within my own internal life force. Then I gently inject it into your bodies.”
“So it’s like you shared your HP?” Wondered Merkite.
I guess people born in the tower can only understand through System technicalities, huh? Also, the fact that they have been assimilated by the system is a bit unnerving for me. I definitely need to quickly create a technique to free them from the system without hurting their souls.
“Yeah, I guess it is like I am sharing my HP, I suppose.” I nodded. “I guess I haven’t gone exactly in detail about who I truly am; have you heard the term Returnees or “Lost People”?”
“Hmm, yeah, I believe within our original world, there were some members of other tribes that had said they came back from worlds they were sent to, worlds that didn’t exist in the Tower.” Said Urbosa. “Wait, Bing Xue, you’re one of such people?!”
“They’re said to be always very powerful, bringing from that world tremendous new abilities!” Merkite said.
“Huh, so Floor 2’s world has more Returnees! Now that’s interesting!” I nodded. “Back in my original world, it appears I am the only reported Returnee so far. Though a term for people that disappear inside gates is that of “Lost People”! And yes, I am indeed a Returnee from a world called Murim. Let’s chat about this while we have breakfast, shall we, my dears?”
“S-Sure, now you've got me curious about it,” Urbosa said. “I want to learn more about you.”
“Yeah!” Merkite was wagging her tail. “But first, our morning kissies, alright?”
“Hehe, you two are so lovely; are the women of your tribe all so close with their mates too?” I giggled as the two cutely kissed my cheeks and my lips.
“Yes, in our tribe, physical contact is a must between mates; to make sure to leave each other smell in the other, it means we are mates after all; we belong together in a family.” Urbosa nodded.
“Yep! Now you’re all covered in our smell.” Merkite nodded with a slightly cocky smile.
“Your smell?” I wondered. “Hahaha, I should have guessed it was something like this. You two are so adorable.” I kissed their foreheads. “Now, shall we go eat breakfast? Oh, we must wake up little Hekita too!”
“Sure, you can make something with Merkite; I’ll go wake up that sleepyhead and help her take a bath.” Said Urbosa. "Are my mother-in-law and sister-in-law here too?”
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“I think so- No, only my sister. My mother is... Ah, in another tent over there.” I used my senses to expand my surroundings. I usually had them always on, which I could use to cover the entire Floor 1’s world, but it wouldn’t let me sleep with so much information constantly entering my head, so for the first time in my life, I’ve turned off such senses when I finally returned to Earth, and even in the Tower, I don’t activate them that much.
“Another tent?” Merkite wondered.
“Yes, a gray-furred and blue-eyed wolf girl got together with her and invited her to her tent; I assume both had a good night together.” I giggled.
“Oooh! What joy! It would be incredible if your mother could also find herself a mate here, Bing Xue! More family!” Urbosa was very overjoyed. “And you say gray-furred?”
“Wait, blue eyes?” Wondered Merkite. “That woman would be... grandma?”
“Eh? Your grandmother?!” I asked. “S-She didn’t seem that old.”
“She’s fairly young for a grandmother, at the age of one hundred and twenty-six.” Said Urbosa.
“Wait a second, how long does your kin live?” I wondered.
“Usually up to two hundred years.” Said Merkite.
“Incredible, you live much longer than the average human.” I giggled. “That’s a rather wonderful little thing to know about your tribe. Ah, well, I suppose my mother had a little night with your grandmother; I hope it doesn’t feel odd for you?”
“Nah, don’t worry.” Merkite shrugged. "Since my grandfather passed away, my grandmother has become an active lady of the night, always picking inexperienced young adults who want to have their first time with an expert.”
“So she’s that kind of woman, huh?” I giggled. “Well, I am nobody to judge; after all, I am over eleven thousand years old.”
“T-That much?!” Urbosa muttered.
“So long? Are you not joking with us?” Merkite said.
“Huh? Is it a bad thing?” I wondered, feeling slightly scared.
Maybe I should have kept that a secret?
“A-Ah! No, no, calm down; it isn’t. Sorry if we panicked a bit; it's still a shock." Urbosa patted my shoulders.
“You certainly don’t look your age.” Merkite laughed. “Although you do act very wise most of the time, with us, you mellow down a lot, especially in bed; you act like a young adult girl~”
“E-Enough with the teasing!” I said while blushing a bit. “Anyways, we can chit-chat more while we have breakfast! Let's start the day. I like tidying things up in the morning and having a bit of order. Once we eat, I will dedicate some of my time to cleaning this tent a bit; there are a few messy things I don’t really like. I hope you understand.”
“Y-Yeah, it’s fine. We apologize; we are quite messy…” Urbosa sighed.
“It would be nice if you became our cleaner, though~” Merkite got cocky again.
But I kind of loved their duality.
“Dear, you don’t know that the words you speak to me would easily bring the destruction of anybody... Except for you, I’ll allow such words.” I giggled. “You’re very lovely; I’ll happily clean the house for my two lovers.”
“Aww, isn’t she romantic?” Merkite laughed.
“T-That felt a bit oddly threatening, yet at the same time, not?” Urbosa wondered. “Well, whatever. Hekita! Time to wake up already, daughter.”
As I moved to the kitchen with Merkite and started looking for what to cook, she hugged me from behind and started kissing my neck playfully.
She was getting a bit ahead of herself...
"Come on, let's save this for the night." I said. Merkite quickly felt slightly flustered once I gently moved her hands away. It's not that I didnt like it, but there were other things we had to do now.
"My sister does say I am rough around the edges… I also want this to work, so just tell me if I get ahead of myself. unlike Urbosa, I lack the, err, let’s say, knowledge of how to behave with a mate.”
“Oh?” I didn’t expect such a reaction! “Fine! I guess I’ll tell you then.” I gave her another kiss. “What do you want for breakfast? I’ll make you anything.”
“Meat!” She wagged her tail like a cute puppy.
“I should have guessed!” I laughed. “Fine, I’ll give you some Martial Golden Peak Drake Steak; you’ll love it.”
“A what steak?” Merkite raised an eyebrow.
“Hahaha! I’ll let you know what these beings are, but you’ve seen my Inner Realm before, right? Well, many creatures are born here naturally by the convergence of the Heavenly Essence. Inner Realms are worlds of their own after all; like this, I can get my own supply of materials and food.” I smiled.
“That’s insane,” Merkite said. “You’re so strong and sexy, Bing Xue; you’ve got it all!”
“I… Well, I don’t think I got it all until I met you and Urbosa; I felt rather empty inside, even when I finally met my family.” I sighed as I was cutting a large chunk of meat with my nails, using them as knives.
“Empty?” She asked, slightly worried, while she was peeling potatoes.
“Yeah, it’s a long story, I guess.” I smiled. “I’ll tell you later, but just remember that these eleven thousand years... I spent them trying to survive and grow stronger, almost every second. Times like these, where we can enjoy a day without worries, never truly came to me until now.”
“B-Bing Xue…” Merkite was incredibly empathetic, immediately hugging me from behind. “I-I don’t know exactly the details yet, but as your mate, I will make sure to bring you the company you need, okay?”
“Fufu, okay.” I felt her warmth and love, and my heart only healed even more.
RUMBLE!
However, something happened. My senses activated rapidly; darkness was approaching from every single area, surrounding the invisible barrier of the village. I opened my eyes wide for a split second, stopping what I was doing.
“Hm, I suppose that was expected. This’ll be a nice amount of Experience Points.”
“Huh? Bing Xue?”
“Enemies are coming, surrounding the village. I can see them. Ten black-colored gates opened, bringing Undead and Dark critters of some sort…” I said, analyzing my surroundings.
“EH?!” Merkite panicked. “Wait! What?! Monsters? There’s a Gate Break outside?! W-We need to quickly prepare and…!”
“Worry not, my love; I have that covered. Remember the barrier? They can’t possibly pierce it.” I shrugged. “This is not a crisis, but an opportunity. I think there are at least five thousand foes. More coming! This is actually really good! Let’s eat breakfast and then prepare the warriors of the village. I think I can get them to a really decently high level with this gift from the heavens.”
“Gift… from the heavens?” Merkite had yet to fully get used to my way of thinking.
[The Tower God {Lord Of Deep Darkness} smiles evilly! He says he has prepared a great surprise for you!]
[He laughs, saying he will make sure to destroy that damned village, the city near it, and even the one you come from!]
[He assures you he shall destroy everything you love!]
“Ooh, so scary.” I laughed. “Thank you for the meal, fool.”
Once I’m done with this, I might as well go destroy his whole sect residing inside of his continent, just to make sure to teach him a lesson and weaken him before I go hunt him down.
I plan to leisurely bid my time, but I’ll make sure to kill these two gods on the same day, within a week at most.
Oh, and about New York? Let’s say I got that covered too, despite what he might imagine.
As a Venerable who watches over the entire world of Murim without rest, I can easily be in many places at the same time.
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