Light is a special kind of energy with a dual nature—it acts like both particles and waves as it moves. It doesn’t have its own temperature, but we generally associate it with warmth since it can be converted to heat quite easily and back again.
The medium that carries it also affects the temperature it displays. Just like this night, when the cool ambiance of the brisk breeze flowed alongside the moonlight into a room of a wooden building, settling on a bed where a woman perched above the shadow of a figure.
As the moonlight, which appeared cold and serene, fell on the body of the woman wearing a very thin nightdress, it failed to provide any coldness to her body, which grew warmer with each passing moment, her breath gasping.
“It should be enough, right?” Lying on the bed with his robe opened from the front, Ryuk looked towards Esme, who was seated on his abdomen while a thin strand of saliva had just broken between her lips and his as she gasped.
“No, it will never be enough.” With Esme’s lips parting, offering soft, warm breaths, her face leaned forward while her eyes reflected his impassive face, adorned by those deep amber orbs mirroring her image, as if she were the only one in his gaze, and her eyes tried to embed his image into her heart.
“Umh… don’t move.” With those words, as Ryuk lay trapped with her folded knees resting on his hands, leaving his upper body completely exposed, the woman hugged him and, instead of giving a kiss, went for his neck.
“Hhh… hey, are you a vampire or something?” Ryuk slightly nudged her ears with his chin as he felt her literally biting near his neck. Unlike the moment before, when they kissed, she was now biting him.
“Close your eyes and sleep, good night.” Esme, while lying on his chest, brought her hand above his face, her palm resting over his eyes while her delicate fingers lightly guided him to close his eyes, as it appeared Esme was kissing near his neck.
Naturally, he was also a man and definitely wanted to retaliate, but hearing her commands, he followed along without using force, lying down nonchalantly.
[ Host, you have just manifested your 207th bone. 𓂸 ]
‘…Cover this room from that woman’s eyes,’ Ryuk commanded, knowing full well that Drishti, lacking any sense of shame, would definitely be observing everything that was happening inside this room. Even though she couldn’t see him, it wasn’t the same for Esme; she could at least see her.
[ The dome is formed, host, but are you really going to be one-sidedly assaulted like this? (ー_ー゛) ]
‘….’ Hearing the system, Ryuk looked toward the ceiling while feeling the soft, silken, and smooth body of her, pressing against his. He said, “Stop, Esme, or you will regret it.”
He directly warned the woman who was testing his patience, clearly making him want to retaliate against her assault, feeling his own body heating up.
‘?!’
Swish
With a swift motion, creating a ripple in the nearby air due to her speed, Esme pushed her body away from him, abruptly gesturing with her hand as she stood on the floor while he lay on the bed, shaking and stammering, “Wait, wait, not now, I was just teasing you!”
As she spoke, she dashed over to the bed next to Ryuk’s, leaping onto it before cocooning herself in a blanket. Her heart raced, and her thoughts grew foggy as she recalled how she had lost control just moments before.
With her hand gently moving between her legs, she sought to soothe the heat rising within her, biting her lips to control herself, remembering how her jealousy toward those women had pushed her to act out of bounds.
Normally, since the moment she met him, her attachment had been growing due to her bloodline curse, making her restless whenever he was away from her.
But during their journey, this had never happened when they were outside; even in Titanotra, most individuals were male, and among the 188 soldiers from the Devereaux family on the battleships, there were hardly any women.
Considering all this, it wasn’t possible for her to feel conscious, but since the moment she arrived here and saw him entangled with a naked woman in Lower Town, her situation had deteriorated until today. She felt jealous and wanted to claim him, forgetting her grandmother’s words.
Esme was well aware that for a man who possessed such perfection, it would be inevitable that he would attract many women, and she understood that not all those women would be weak.
She even imagined how someone like Drishti Devereaux, if she somehow became romantically interested, could easily kidnap him from her. She needed to at least provide him enough strength to defend himself.
After all, her physique was itself possessed, something far purer and more potent among all the Tenebri bloodline, which could even provide an awakening while sharing her own ability with her partner once she reached adulthood.
‘Yes, this is for him; you can do it, Esme.’ Esme bit the blanket with her teeth, tightly shutting her eyes, which seemed slightly damp with annoyance and anger at having to control herself like this.
In the end, she needed to sacrifice her desires to ensure that her man remained strong enough to always be by her side.
[….Host, you keep making her flee. Should I look into downloading a dual cultivation system add-on? It could offer a shop for purchasing pink handcuffs or collars to bind—]
‘Wait, dual cultivation?’, Ryuk inquired about the term which wasn’t much foreign to him, considering this was a normal occurrence in the stories of his past world.
[ Yes, Dual cultivation is a process where two individuals exchange energy and harmonize their spiritual or life forces through intimate contact. This combined flow of energy refines their internal power, clears blockages, and strengthens their bodies and minds, though it will not work with you, Host ]
‘Why?’, Ryuk was lying on the bed, looking towards the ceiling with hope that he had finally found a way to train Esme and make her stronger. He felt slightly confused when he heard the system mention that dual cultivation would not work with him.
[ It requires internal energy or mana. (￣ヘ￣;) ]
‘….’ Receiving a clear response, Ryuk realized that he had overlooked the truth that each time he utilized internal energy—similar to his earlier experience with the Talisman—he had employed the system to transform his own Ether into internal energy, leading him to forget that he actually lacked any internal energy of his own.
However, in dual cultivation, the process involves harmonizing each other’s energy. And Ryuk possessed a type of energy that was not compatible with a human body—Ether.
He certainly cannot possess any mana at this moment, as it would only weaken his strength and react violently with the ether within him. This leaves him no choice but to consider internal energy as a viable alternative.
Ryuk raised his head slightly to get up, but as he did, a noticeable bulge near his crotch came into view, where the black fabric was pulled tight, seemingly on the verge of ripping apart. This prompted him to glance over at Esme, who had averted her face, hidden beneath the blanket.
He kept looking at her for a brief moment before turning his eyes towards the balcony, where the night was still long. He commanded, ‘Simply download the dual cultivation add-on and activate my Devereaux Bloodline, as it appears I must learn cultivation on her behalf.’
[ Huh? Host, are you saying you will do the hard work in her place? ]
‘Isn’t she weak and has less potential for mana growth? It’s better for Esme to learn about internal energy.’ Ryuk tied his robe before taking out his mask, covering his face. He knew well that this wasn’t a place where he could just sleep, so he kept his guard up. While wearing the mask, his gaze settled on Esme’s blanket, adding, ‘And it’s not like I will just give her strength for free; she will need to do more intense exercise too.’
[ Understood, you can count on me to provide the highest quality dual cultivation add-on, which also offers special options. >.< ]
