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Chapter 80

“It’s the only chance we have.” I told her. “Don’t worry, I’ll be gentle.”

She shook, but then she nodded, closing her eyes. “Okay, but be quick.”

I nodded, pulling off my shirt. “No chance for foreplay I guess.”

“Huh?” Her eyes snapped back open. “Ah! Wh-why are you stripping!”

I blinked. “Aren’t we going to show our intimacy?”

Her face turned red. “With a kiss! A kiss!”

“Eh? Then why does it matter?” I cocked my head.

“What do you mean does it matter? Of course, it matters! I’m a pure maiden! I’ve never even kissed a boy before. Why? What were you thinking you were going to do to me? What kind of- Mmmm!”

Time was of the essence, and I got irritated, so I immediately grabbed her and kissed her. She let out a noise, but it was muffled between our lips. She tried to push me away, but her hand ended up landing on my bare chest, which she then pulled away from like her hand had been burnt. She remained like that in indecision, her hand wanting to push, but unwilling to touch, while my tongue continued to roam her mouth.

She was an amateur, but her body was surprisingly soft and her breath had a freshness to it. I found myself someone surprised and how novel this all felt. It might have been ages ago, but I had been with countless women in my previous life. None of them felt as good as her. Admittedly, half of them had been street girls of low class, but there was something different about her. I realized it must be her status as a paragon. The act of evolving did change a person. Whether it was her smell, taste, or feel… they were all a step above any woman I had ever had. If that was what an evolved felt like, it left me wondering what a higher evolved must feel like.

As we kissed, there was a click and the patterns I had been breaking my brain trying to decipher spun before the rocky walls split open. She finally managed to get a hold of my arm and push away, thus breaking our kiss. Her face was completely red and she was breathing hard. Her expression started bewildered, but it quickly turned to anger. She hit me once on the shoulder.

“What?” I asked, leaning down and grabbing my shirt. “It worked, didn’t it?”

“You were just taking advantage of me!” She cried out. “I can’t believe you’d kiss… huh, it worked?”

Her anger quickly dissipated as she spun to see the door open.

“We need to go before it’s too late.” I grabbed her and pulled her in.

I could see the lord had arrived in the library and was about to come down the stairway. The spatial storm was already completely gone, and I had no clue when it would return. I was worried we’d be caught up by the lord and his son, but thankfully the door closed rather quickly as soon as we were on the other side. When it slammed shut, we were tossed into darkness.

“Spirit?” Erika gasped, her hand suddenly tightening on mine.

At that moment, a spotlight suddenly shone on both of us. I was trying to spread out my senses as far as I could. Not only could I not find the entrance that we had just come in, but there seemed to be nothing in this place. I didn’t feel teleportation, but it was like we had been shifted to another place in which there was nothing but infinite darkness. That was when a voice started speaking. Erika instinctively moved closer to me.

“I built this palace long ago.” An ancient voice spoke up. “This was created as a gift to my beloved. It’s a center, a library for her. She so loved to read.”

His voice was filled was power, but also sadness. One could almost feel the heartbreak as he spoke of his beloved. I could feel Erika’s hands tightening on my arm, and when I looked over, she was staring out into the darkness with tears in her eyes, almost like she could see their love now.

“Evolution is just the basis… the perquisite… needed to become stronger. True strength comes in technique. A mana is meaningless without spells, and strength is meaningless without techniques. My lover and I spent countless years developing techniques. You must pass three trials. If you meet the conditions, I will provide you with the techniques we spent a lifetime creating together. Furthermore, I will grant you a lover’s tear. You may give up on the trial at any time. If either of you give up, then you both do. Upon leaving this trial, you will be sent back through the way you came.”

“That’s great, we can escape.” I took a breath of relief. “Shall we give up?”

“What about the techniques?” She asked stubbornly. “These are the techniques of an immortal. Such things make or break entire families.”

“You forget, we’re not lovers.” I frowned. “What chance do we have of completing some lover’s trial? We entered because we had no other choice. Now that we can leave and be returned home, why don’t we take that option?”

She looked at how close she had ended up holding me and then parted. “Sorry. You’re right. I’m just being willful.”

“In that case…” I looked around into the darkness. “We would like to give up.”

My words echoed into the darkness, but nothing happened.

“We give up!” Erika shouted much loaded, her voice echoing.

“Very well, you have agreed to the trial.” The voice started.

“What? We didn’t agree.” I shot back. “We give up!”

“The first trial is the trial of unity. You will have your status cut in half.”

Before I could argue more, a wave of light erupted and I let out a grunt. I immediately checked my status, and I could see Erika doing the same, but she was looking at some kind of device she had kept in her ring. Like he had said, my status was now half of what it was.

“You will face a challenge, and only by combining your abilities will you be able to overcome it. Good luck!”

“Good luck, my ass! I said we give up!”

“It’s not used, the magic is broken, he can’t hear us anymore. This trial is ancient.” Erika sighed. “Our only choice is to complete the trial.”

“It’s not used, the magic is broken, he can’t hear us anymore. This trial is ancient.” Erika sighed. “Our only choice is to complete the trial.”

I grimaced. I didn’t like seeing my options cut short. However, I had to admit I was interested in these alleged techniques. This was exactly what I felt like I was missing. I had all of this power, but I didn’t have too many ways of excluding it. It seemed like the people of this world had found ways to utilize their strength and magic.

They developed swordcrafts, formations, magical languages, and spells, all in the name of getting the most out of their evolutionary skills. Regrettably, I had a set of skills that didn’t match most of humanity, because I didn’t start as a human. However, if I could see a few of them, they might help me develop my techniques and increase my power. I wouldn’t need to walk tippytoes around people like Lord Maxwell.

I had read about techniques in the books I had transcribed from the library, but the library itself didn’t contain any of them, only references to them. I had a feeling this was common. Techniques were likely a safely guarded secret. Every family likely had their techniques, which further served to guarantee their strength beyond their evolutionary bloodline.

“Alright, let’s go.”

After the voice had finished speaking, another light had appeared, which shone on a doorway a bit of distance from where we were standing. The ground seemed to hold our feet even between areas of light, so I walked with Erika close behind me until we reached the first doorway. It had a single digit on it indicating the first trial.

“A battlefield?” Erika gasped.

“My lord, my lady! You must fall back!” A man on horseback rode up to us and dismounted. “Here, take my horse. You must- argggg!”

Just as he was heading over, a massive club struck him. Both he and the horse were swept aside by a powerful hit. The man was instantly turned into a bloody mist, and the horse was killed as its lifeless body flew into the distance. A massive green creature stood up in front of us holding a club nearly as big as that horse.

“It’s… an ogre!” Erika cried out. “We need to run!”

Before I could do anything, she grabbed my hand and started running. The ogre grinned as it watched us flee. It seemed like this was the scenario. By working together, we needed to flee the battlegrounds of a losing army while keeping our lives. Furthermore, our strength had been halved. However, I wondered if such a challenge was even intended for someone of my level. Well, for the moment, I’d play along, just in case.