18 Departure (1/2)

On a secluded hill away from any sign of civilization, two people sparred relentlessly. The bright sun shone radiantly, emitting light and heavy heat. Sweat formed on her flawless jade skin as she contemplated which move to use against her opponent.

Propelling herself forward, she feinted a direct thrust, only to proceed with an upwards slash. Predicting the action, he avoided it through a sidestep and countered with a strike. Pivoting her nimble physique to dodge the air piercing strike, she then rushed forward. With astonis.h.i.+ng speed, she manipulated the momentum of her body to enrich the force of her blow. As the steel reached the top of head, he drew his blade and negated the strike. The resulting shock wave tore through the terrain, cracking the earth, and generated high velocity winds.

Failing another session, she stumbled a bit before smirking. She then tackled Atlas who willingly fell on the gra.s.s. She could feel the earthy scent of dirt, the piney scent of gra.s.s, and Atlas' unique smell calm her down.

”I'm exhausted”, she muttered.

”We've barely warmed up”, Atlas retorted.

”You just have too much stamina. In and out of bed”, she said somewhat resentfully while rubbing her sore waist.

Atlas could only smile awkwardly before trying to convince her again, ”Come on, get up. You have less than 3 years”.

She then pouted, ”Since we only have 3 years together. Why not spend it leisurely?”.

After using the talisman, the Ring of Resolve informed her of her peculiar condition and that she had to journey in other worlds to heal. This was her tribulation and Atlas could not go with her yet. It was all due to her decision to sacrifice memories instead of power which meant she would forget specific information about Atlas and memories of her would also be affected.

Remembering this made her depressed again and he could feel her pervading melancholy. Sighing as this became a reoccurring issue, he caressed her newly braided hair.

”I would've chose power as well. What you learn right now can carry over and our bond won't break this easily”, Atlas said trying to console her.

Enjoying his touch, she was tempted to purr but that would be too embarra.s.sing so she laid on his lap instead.

”What was your life like in your original world?”, she asked wanting to know more about him.

”Hmm. Boring and dull”, he stated without hesitation.

”That's too vague. What about your family? What was the world like?”

”I destroyed them. The world though... lacked excitement and only had the development of technology as its sole merit”

”Technology?”

”You could call it the evolution of tools”

”Lacked excitement... Was it too peaceful for you?”, she asked.

He nodded slightly surprised by her insight.

Noticing his subtle reaction, she kissed him to elicit a reaction. Seeing him reflexively avert his eyes made her grin in satisfaction.

”You seemed to be experienced in teaching. Did you have any disciples in your past lives?”

He nodded as he thought of Riri who he a.s.sumed should be the Empress by now.

”Was she female?”

Atlas nodded again, oblivious to her chilling smile.

Grasping his hand, she then demanded, ”Teach me what you taught her”

Motivated to claim dominance over Atlas, she couldn't help but feel wary of her Senior. In another world, Riri sneezed as she played with her little Shen.

”Are you sick, mother?”, the little boy asked.

Riri shook her head and said, ”I just thought I felt your predecessor's presence” and gave her son a head pat.

”Sure”, she was going to have to learn how to survive on her own anyways, he thought.

A week later, he reviewed her progress. Compared to Riri, she was a heaven defying genius but then again she wasn't pampered in the same manner that Riri was which dampened the magnitude of the achievement.

Self-defense lessons were pointless as she already had the capacity to kill. Through their sparring, she had already mastered the basics of swordplay. Surprisingly, she was better than him at hand to hand combat which was an awkward revelation that excited her. He soon realized that Combat referred to adaptability and instinct in battle rather than general skill in combat.

[Skill Unveiled: Martial Arts C]

With a swift kick, he attempted to disrupt her balance. She smirked as she effortlessly somersaulted over him. Being unable to react fast enough, he then felt her headlock him using her legs.

He then decided to modify her learning regimen.

”Teaching you what I taught her is pointless as you're not pampered like she was”

”Then pamper me in the same way she was pampered”, Kirei jested.

”...You would have to ask her servants for that”, he honestly replied.

”Now time for payback”, he said with a sinister grin as he brandished a wooden sword.

As the kegare left by Haruto's defeat interfered with the influence of demons over this human realm, the nights were no longer as long and varied while days became warmer than usual. This was good for the human economy, however it still took a toll on those not used to the unprecedented heat.