"Mmhmm~"
"How does it feel?"
"G-Good."
Axir drew her closer, the cold spring no longer cold where their bodies met, warmth blooming between them like a shared heartbeat.
Selena's breath hitched, not from touch alone, but from the way he held her, as if the world had narrowed to the space between their chests.
Steam curled upward, hiding details, softening edges. Moonlight fractured across the water, turning movement into suggestion, rhythm into feeling rather than form.
Selena rested her forehead against his, eyes closed, fingers clutching at his shoulders as if anchoring herself.
Axir's hips moved while Selena no longer suppressed her moans as the current of pleasure began to overwhelm her.
Heat and chill. Stillness and motion. The quiet rush of water and the louder rush inside her chest.
Axir murmured her name, low and steady, grounding her.
"I love you."
He made Selena feel special. His center of the universe.
"I love you too."
She also wanted to drown in it.
Time stretched.
What passed between them was unhurried and wordless. The world outside the valley faded entirely.
Only moans and grunts echoed amidst the chirping of birds and the sound of water.
When it was over, there was no sudden break.
Only silence.
Selena lay against him, listening to his breathing slow, feeling it steady beneath her ear. The spring continued to whisper around them, as if nothing extraordinary had happened at all.
Yet everything had changed.
Selena's instincts gave in to the moment.
She loved it, and she attributed this to progressing toward her goal.
Next to her, Axir's amber eyes looked at the sun straight on…with calculated coldness.
Forming a web of revenge and domination, with Selena at its center.
She used his potential and power and then threw him away.
He would do worse.
"Let's do one more round before leaving. It's almost evening." Axir grabbed her breasts, fondling them and her nipples.
Selena hesitated briefly before grabbing his cock and putting it between her legs. "I was thinking the same thing."
…
"They sure are taking their sweet time." Lexi whistled. "It's been over three hours."
"Let's make a bet," Yuta whispered.
Jason's forehead vein popped. "I'll seriously beat you. They just did lunch and stuff."
Right at that moment, the doors opened.
Axir and Selena entered with bags of new clothes.
"Sorry, we took some time shopping." Axir laughed. "I just came back to drop Selena. I'll be leaving now."
"Already?" Aoi blinked.
"Yeah. I have to get back to my sister. Call me if anything comes up."
And so, Axir left.
Selena sat on the sofa and put the bags down.
The eyes of Lexi, Kazuo, Yuta, and Aoi were filled with juicy silence.
Jason broke the silence promptly as the sound of Axir's Rocket Wings faded.
"What did you do?" Jason asked.
"We ate and drank, and did shopping." Selena then chuckled and continued. "Axir brought a helicopter by selling some gold from the game, and you know what? The game's gold is the purest and most precious gold."
"Damn, then people can become rich. Yeah, the economy is going to take a major hit." Kazuo nodded.
"You only realized it now?" Yuta rolled his eyes.
"Wait, so that's all that happened?" Lexi clicked her tongue. "Seriously? Not even sucky sucky?"
Aoi burst into laughter. "Sucky sucky? Pff…"
"That's one way to say it." Kazuo snickered.
Selena puffed. "Of course not. I mean… we kissed, um, a lot. But nothing more than that. I would never let him do that."
"Brother, you really got yourself a good girl." Lexi giggled at Jason.
"Anyway, we went out for a bit and then returned. But it's boring inside, so let's get out again."
"It's weird how we aren't sleepy even though we haven't slept for over 24 hours now."
"Screw sleeping, let's go to the Arena Park. A lot of people are gathered there. It's all over the news in our city."
"Many people are doing it all over the world."
"Bruh, people also died."
"Kazuo, don't tell me you shit your pants because of the little fight we had, that we won?"
While the bickering here continued, Axir arrived at the hotel.
Aunt Kira had finished her run of twelve hours as well and returned, and Mio had woken up.
The helicopter had already arrived, so he promptly left with Aunt Kira and Mio toward his destination. The safest place on Earth.
Being powerful had its perks. The helicopter manual was easy to read and learn.
He finished the entire thing in a minute. As for requiring a license for it, Selena's one phone call was enough.
He already took her virginity and used her connections.
It was good progress, unlike in his past life.
…
Axir didn't buy additional fuel for the helicopter. Instead, he used his Mana as fuel to drive it, making it act like a fuel with stored energy that releases heat and power.
Of course, Axir could do it because he had a certain mastery over Mana already, due to his past life's experience, as Mana was the kind of energy that could easily replace low-level energy resources like fuel.
"This is… the Himalaya Mountains?" Aunt Kira raised her eyebrows.
"How long until we reach your place, brother?" Mio yawned. "I slept so much, but I am bored as hell. There's no network here, either. We are in the middle of nowhere."
"We are almost there." Axir laughed. "There is one particular place in this mountain range, and that's where we are going."
"The weather is harsh. Auntie, use your Mana and make four wall shields around the helicopter and have them maintain three meters of distance from the helicopter. Can you do it?"
Aunt Kira smiled wryly. "I've been practicing as you said while playing the game, but four walls… it sounds hard."
"Don't worry, I got us. Nothing bad will happen."
Mio looked at her mother. "Mom, you can do it! Fighto!"
"Okay, I'll try." Aunt Kira took a deep breath.
The weather was already affecting the helicopter. Visibility was entirely gone. Fortunately, there was radar and a satellite map built into the helicopter, as this Japanese company had its own satellite system covering Asia.
Aunt Kira focused as she spread her Mana outward in a controlled manner to get a constant sense of the surroundings before she began forming the walls.
Mana was flexible energy. Fluid, barbed, liquid, solid, fast, slow, sharp, blunt, and many other applications were possible with just one's imagination and proper control, and their potency depended on the depth of the imagined structure and one's Arcane stat, which was the main determinant of structural integrity.
Based on Aunt Kira's Arcane stat, which she had heavily invested in after acquiring the Rare-rank deck Winter Blood Sorcerer from a Mimic Chest, her Mana walls were strong enough to endure the blizzard.
She formed the first wall in front and two on the sides.
But just as she was forming the fourth wall at the back, it hit the spinning tail fan.
BOOM!
"Oh no, I hit something!" Aunt Kira lost control as the other walls dispersed.
"Mom! I trusted you!"
"Chillax." Axir laughed. "We'll be fine."
"Probably."
"BROTHER!"
"I'm joking, hahaha. We are fine."