Order is how things should progress. In a perfect world, people would follow predestined paths and live out their lives taking the steps they should take. The reason why chaos is seen as evil by mortals and gods is that it disrupts that order. Ironically, chaos still remains one of the most powerful forces because it represents freedom and choice.

~Balor, The Primordial God of Chaos

A year later, the day after Yuletide…

Chains swung listlessly from the ceiling. Remnants of the lights they used to hold scattered across the floor. Now and then, a chain would touch an old trap, and lighting would arc. The bolts of electricity would jump from chain to chain until—

Thrump!

A barrier rippled into life, and the bolt disappeared as if absorbed. The purplish light of the barrier glowed a little brighter before fading from sight once more. At that moment, the hall lit up. Debris, chunks of charred stone, and bones of man and beast littered the floor.

“How can that be?” Crow asked rhetorically.

“What?”

“Huh?” He looked over and saw that Mara had joined him at some point. “Oh, that barrier is a formation. Just wondering how it’s still operating. Everything in this place has been looted or destroyed, but this is the only active formation I’ve seen in this place.”

“Well, aren’t you the formations expert? Break it!” Mara laughed and nudged him.

“Of course, I’m the brains, and you’re the brawn.” Crow grinned.

“Pfft, you weren’t using your brain last night,” Mara chuckled. It had taken her this entire year to get him into her bed, and although she was sore today, she didn’t regret it.

“Look at you, looking like a lost puppy.” Crow’s mouth twitched, trying not to laugh. “If I had known you’d be this docile after doing… that, I’d have given in months ago.”

“You dare call me docile? If I recall, your master said that I had to train you every morning and run you through his grueling exercises. You sure you want to push your luck, bub?” Mara asked, tossing in ‘bub’ which was a word she learned a few months back. A village idiot used it when talking to Crow. She asked the villagers and discovered it was short for ‘Bubby,’ which was the simpleton’s stuffed toy. She thought it was hilarious, so she started using it.

Crow was glad for the darkness because he was sure she couldn’t see his pale face—mostly sure. Nervously he glanced over, and her smiling face was almost pressed against his—not sure at all. Nope, she knew, and she knew he knew.

“Uh, let’s break this formation. Yeah, we should do that.” Crow coughed and was shocked when her soft, full lips pressed against his. Her hand slipped through the hair on the back of his head, causing goosebumps to rise along his spine.

“Go on, break it then,” she said breathlessly and moved back, so she partially hid in the shadows once more.

Crow shook his head, trying to regain clarity before approaching the barrier. He used his mana sense, which had grown more sensitive and reached a greater distance. Because of their constant tomb raiding, Crow had created a method of using his mana sense like a thin blanket. He’d toss it out over an area and let it settled down without forcing it in any way. Like this, he could search for the critical points of a formation triggering none of its defensive mechanism. It didn’t work for every formation, because highly complex formations were sensitive to mana.

This was something he’d perfected in the last year, and Torcail spent a small fortune making sure Crow was able to learn from experts related to formations. Even went so far as to find him tomes filled with related knowledge. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that his gains in formations far surpassed anything else he’d learned since leaving Oiche. Crow knew it was all in preparation for Torcail’s true goal, which he hadn’t revealed yet.

Crow’s other significant achievement was opening his Manipura. The Manipura was his third chakra and was directly linked to the element of fire. Based on the information the Song sisters gave him, it was related to energy, willpower, and the digestive system. The biggest change was his toughened Source, which meant his Spirit, Mind, and Body had undergone significant changes. So much so that he felt it should’ve been noted, but the provided information never mentioned anything like it. He suspected the reason for the change was because the chakra was located in his solar plexus. The exact location as his Source and the gap in his Scarification tattoo on his back.

Opening the chakra had withered his body, and the events that occurred during those three days weren’t something he could recall. Mara told him later that a yellowish fire spewed forth from his chest, burning away his clothes and forming a cocoon around his body. She worriedly brought Torcail over, and they observed him for those three days. The first day proceeded normally, but the yellow fire was consumed by his Night Flames during the dawn of the second day. Crow realized he’d still underestimated his curse and the black fire’s potential. Now that it had taken over his third chakra, he noticed a subtle difference between the fires in his chakra and the ones surrounding his Source. Namely, the fires in his chakra felt connected with him.

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It wasn’t anything he could directly notice about the two fires, but it was something he felt. Now that he had two flames to compare, he realized why he struggled to use the fire from his curse. There was a force surrounding it that suppressed him when he tried to call on it. A prohibitive force that didn’t exist with the flame in his chakra.

After he broke out of his fiery cocoon, he felt more alive. In fact, his internal energy using Qi had grown tremendously because his Manipura chakra had a seemingly endless supply of flames to feed off of—his curse! It was to the point that curse practically cowered within his body, refusing to act out. It still purified all the mana entering his body and slowed his cultivation to a crawl. However, it didn’t impact his ability to cultivate as a Druid any longer. He could now use his spells and techniques too. It wasn’t that it didn’t burn, but that it was only an issue if the energy in his Source dropped below a fourth of its capacity.

There was one more significant event, but it wasn’t related to his cultivation. It happened yesterday, at the village not far from the tomb they were currently in. A town that shouldn’t have existed that deep in the jungle, especially considering the number of dangerous beasts that lived there. Strangely, the holiday the village celebrated coincided with Yuletide, so Mara and Crow decided to celebrate with them.

The food and wine that was served didn’t seem strange at first. It wasn’t until Crow threw his shirt into a bonfire that he realized they’d been drugged. Not just him, but the entire village. Later they said it allowed one to free their mind and find enlightenment but also lowered inhibitions. However, it didn’t take away rationality… it just exposed desires and brought them to the surface.

Crow wasn’t the only person that was half-naked. Men and women danced around the fire while the rhythmic beat of beast-skin drums set the tempo. Before long, he’d worked up a sweat and realized he’d pulled Mara toward him. In his drugged state, he found her freckled face and strawberry blonde hair to be alluring. She was built broad and sturdy, but it in no way took away from her womanly figure. He couldn’t fight off the desire that had long burned in him, and she met him halfway. Their first kiss was sloppy and uncoordinated, but they balanced that with passion and desire. The awkwardness seemed less awkward, and unbeknownst to them, an elder led them back toward the guest hut they were staying at.

Clarity only returned when he felt his manhood enter Mara. He froze, but she grasped his buttocks and pushed him down while arching her stomach up to meet him. She barely felt the loss of her hymen, so caught up in the throes of passion.

It wasn’t anything like his time with Song Lin because Mara was aggressive and not reserved. She wasn’t afraid to tell him what she wanted, even going as far as taking control to direct his actions. Mara explored everything and felt guilty about none of it. It wasn’t necessarily better or worse than his first time with Song Lin, just different. Then again, Crow’s mentality was different—he wasn’t the out-of-control sex demon he’d been during his first time. This time, he was able to thoroughly enjoy the moment. Sure, the drugs helped loosen him up, but that had mostly worn off after the first time. Between bouts in the bed, they laid in bed and joked. Mara was laughing and smiling more than she had in the last year and a half. Crow knew the weight and guilt that had been holding her back had finally dissipated.

“Now, whose daydreaming about last night?” Mara giggled from beside him.

“That-how—fine, yes. I was thinking about it, and tonight, you’ll be begging me to stop. I won’t. Every time you ask, I’ll punish you.”

“Do that, and maybe I will allow you to claim me as your woman,” Mara whispered into his ear. Her body exuded more heat than usual. Crow’s sensitivity to heat had grown tremendously since his transformation, and he could sense her arousal.

Distracted, Crow realized he had to do something. Focusing on the formation was nearly impossible in this state, and he felt out of sorts because he didn’t know how his mind became so messy. He turned toward her and pushed her against the corridor’s wall, and pinned her with his body. His mouth devoured hers. Their kisses were wild and wet, and her teeth drew blood from his lip. This time, it wasn’t as awkward as last night, as their mouths practically melded to each other.

Crow knew that his wild abandon came from opening his second chakra. It had turned his libido into an inexhaustible furnace. Its intensity had tested his willpower to the extreme. For the last year, he used every bit of it to keep his sexual desires under control. The problem was, the more he fought against it, the worse it got. Even his thoughts were starting to warp. Looking at anything with soft curves brought about a surge of blood.

The villager’s drug broke the dam. That final barrier that he’d erected between him and Mara disappeared as if it never existed. Coupling with Mara was something they both strongly desired, which is why it was so intense and furious. And her beauty wasn’t any less than the Song sisters, but where they were ethereal, she was primal.

“Uhnn,” she moaned when their mouths finally parted. Crow unapologetically ripped through her clothes, exposing her tanned body and firm breasts. They both quickly removed their pants, and their mouths met once more, this time when Crow pushed her against the wall, he entered her. Taking her inside a tomb felt wrong, but he was young and filled with fire.

One hand gripped and lifted her right leg so that he could penetrate deep into her body. His other arm went around her body, and his hand curled over the back of her shoulder. It prevented her from rising upward during his thrust. Completely at his mercy, she didn’t mind letting him take control.

The only sounds in the hall were Mara’s barely contained screams and the slapping of bare flesh. If anyone had entered the tomb, they’d be scared to death because, in a different light, those screams, moans, and other sexual sounds could be mistaken for ghosts. The smell of sex filled the narrow corridor, and only after Crow released and left Mara twitching in her third and final orgasm did they stop. Both of them collapsed to the ground panting.

“Damn, you ruined this mommy…” Mara chuckled. Her large breasts lacked any form of sagging and sat up on her chest like small mountains. They quivered with each breath she took. A perk of being a cultivator, the body kept its best shape.

Crow burst out laughing. “Damn you, you asked for this. Don’t make me the villain.”

Neither said anything for a while. Mara eventually pulled a shirt out of her ring, the one Crow’s grandpa gave him. Since he had the Vortex Pin, he thought it was best if she took the ring.

“Alright, I’m going to take a nap. You get back to work,” Mara commanded, but it lacked any heat, and seconds later, her breathing steadied. She’d really fallen asleep. Crow snorted and shook his head. Standing up, he took out a pillow and placed it under Mara’s head. As he shifted her, she murmured in her sleep and nestled her head into the softness under it. A smile settled on her face, and Crow tenderly placed a blanket over her sleeping form. Even though cultivators didn’t need much sleep, last night’s events had exhausted her.

Crow could only lament about how life was strange as he went back to observing the formation.