I tried not to⦠But I couldnât help myself from looking, scanning over his body, and tracing the numerous bite marks my fangs had left. âOh⦠oh noâ¦â
He let out a soft muffled growl, his jaw staying stern as he spoke. âIâll take that as a yes⦠It seems youâre back to your sensesâ¦â He grabbed my waist, but let go instantly when I let out a sudden squeak. Hesitating, he followed through and lifted me off of him, placing me on the ground as he sat up. My body was still numb though, so my knees buckled and I ended up sitting on the ground instead, like a timid cat waiting for punishment. Rather than receiving any though, he didnât so much as look at me.
Taking off what was left of the rags of his shirt he walked across the room to find a new one and quickly put it on. âYou should leave nowâ¦â
I was sure it was dark for him to see⦠But somehow that knowledge didnât make his eyes seem any less cold as they stared off into the darkness to the side, instead of back at me. My head was so empty I almost didnât even hear his words at all, unable to process anything.
âGET!â He took a deep breath, closing his eyes entirely. âGet out⦠Now.â
I flinched at his yell and tried my best. My legs shook as I tried to stand, unable to hold my weight, barely letting me turn around. âI canât moveâ¦â I muttered, feeling so embarrassed I started to cry. I thought for sure he was going to lose it. In the end, his face went completely cold and he slowly walked outside, taking the alternative of leaving himself insteadâ¦
Sometime after, Izy came in and carried me back to her tent, laying in bed next to me and holding onto me so tightly it felt like she was trying to stop me from escapingâ¦
Everything after that felt hazy. Apparently, I spent the whole night silently crying into Isyâs arms, shifting around like I was covered in ants⦠But I donât remember any of it. She said my whole body was covered in slime too. But apparently, she washed me off at some point or another because when I woke up it certainly wasnât⦠Ironically I was practically glowing, though my mind of course was anything but.
All that aside⦠I still remember waking up on top of Kal⦠And⦠although I donât remember what happened before that⦠I can still guess⦠It made it impossible to look him in the eye⦠And even harder to bear him looking even in my direction. Fritz felt it too and took off ahead of everyone else so I wouldnât have to ride in the same group as him as we returnedâ¦
It might have just been because I read too many⦠romance⦠novels, in my past life, or because of my interactions with him immediately prior, but regardless of the reason I couldnât stop thinking about the situation in a certain way⦠Though⦠from his perspective it was much more likely he was afraid for his life, considering how much he ended up bleeding⦠Then again, none of the bite marks were that deepâ¦
I spent the next three days locked in my room thinking about such things. Finally, at the end of the third day, Mo returned from her estate.
Isy had been intentionally giving me space, but Mo didnât even know anything was wrong. Because she acted normal, it helped me to finally start getting over myself⦠At least enough to take a shower⦠When I got out I sat back down on my bed with a heavy sigh.
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âI took care of everything just as you said, it was surprisingly easy, and everyone seemed rather cooperative, even if they were⦠Well, never mind. Whatâs our next move?â
âNext move? Yeah⦠The end goal was always to become king, not waste time in school attending classesâ¦â I lifted my thumb up to my teeth and pressed it against my fangs. âTheyâre starting to ache again⦠Thatâs not good. I already bruised my arm from gnawing on it, itâs been like this ever since that nightâ¦â I glanced down at my left arm. I never used magic to heal myself, so I could still see marks from where I had bit myself. âWell⦠if nothing else itâs comforting to know I was just teething instead of tryingâ¦â I shook my head violently, letting out a sharp breath of air as my face started to heat up and putting a stop to my own thoughts.
âFirst we tie me up with chains so I can force a chat with the dragon sharing my soul⦠Or at least properly lock it up again⦠After that, I need to finish developing a specific skill, and then I need to find and kill the demon that rules over this region in the abyssal plain⦠Letâs see, honestly by the time I do that Iâm sure some other crazy thing will have happened⦠So letâs just start there.â
âOk. Iâll go get the chains.â She quickly left.
âI love how she never asks questions⦠But⦠I really just want to stay tucked away here a while longer⦠Itâs not that Iâm scared of the dragon⦠Butâ¦â letting out a heavy sigh I fell onto my bed and hugged my pillow. âWould it be awkward if I asked for a hug? Er⦠Yeah, the least it would do is make everyone worriedâ¦â
Isy hesitantly entered smiling brightly when she saw my wet hair and the towel around my neck. âOh, youâre up. Does that meanââ
âIt doesnât mean anything⦠Itâs just easier to control your thoughts when your body is cleanâ¦â
She sighed. âWell, I ran into the teacher while I was picking up some food. He said if you didnât show up to class tomorrow he would have to come check up on you in person.â
âBut he said!â I froze stiff, calming my voice. âSo much for not coming by my room anymoreâ¦â âWell⦠It makes sense⦠Guess thereâs no more avoiding him unless I run away. Well⦠I could go hang out at Bearâs house, but there's no point⦠Logically, facing the music is the best option⦠Even ifâ¦â I looked down to see my left leg shaking. âEven if I really donât want toâ¦â I sighed trying to release some of my pent-up tension before taking time to eat with her, despite really not being hungry. By the Time Mo got back with the chains I had lost all motivation to do anything, and went back to bed. Before I knew it, it was morning, and I was being woken up by Isy of all people to get ready for morning training. I was slightly confused by her having more energy than me, just enough to wake up my mind for a moment before wanting to go back to sleep.
I just sighed, rolling over on my bed. âIâm skippingâ¦â I muttered, turning towards the wall and closing my eyes again.
âWhat? But you canât! The teacher said heâdââ
âAs long as I go to class after training it should be fine, and if itâs not⦠Whatever, screw him. Iâm not goingâ¦â
I heard her slowly try to laugh, only making her confused nervousness audible.
âIsy⦠Just let her be. We will just say sheâs still recovering, so sheâs holding back from anything physical⦠She got stabbed twice, severely burned, and who knows what else.â
I sighed again as they opened the door and quickly left. âThanks, Moâ¦â I was already awake though, and I had slept so much over the past several days that there was no way I was going to get back to sleep, so it felt like a waste to stay in bed⦠Not that said feeling actually stopped me from doing so for the first half hour before I actually got upâ¦
âAll things considered, even though I feel like trash Iâm fairly healthy right now⦠So I might as well test out that manna soul-merging technique again⦠Total rest was actually really good for my body, soul, and manna circuits, so Iâm in good shape physically⦠Even if my hands feel weak I think that's just a mental thingâ¦
I sighed again, staring out the window. âwhat kind of magic should I use to test it?â I walked into the bathroom and grabbed the shower head sending my soul out slightly around the water pipes and then flooding my manna into it on the inside. Unironically it was the perfect metaphor for what I was doing. I heated up the pipes until they were like a smoking gun barrel and then tried to pull it all back in but it still didnât work. âWell⦠At least I can take a hot shower nowâ¦â
By the time I was done with that another 20 minutes had gone by, longer if you counted me taking time to dry my hair. âNow I feel like I melted my brain⦠Well, letâs try it again, this time Iâll create a sheet of ice. The problem before was that I was simply encasing my manna. I managed to invert the layers from how they are naturally in my body with the soul underneath, but I need to combine themâ¦â I walked back to the main room and opened the window to feel a cool breeze. âOk, letâs try it.â