Chapter 43
Eight points. That’s my current value. And the challenges come only from those with higher point values than me.
Although I aim to accept only fights with those below level three, it’s getting harder and harder to do so.
I curse softly at this maddening conundrum as I sharpen my blade on a piece of metal.
There’s a sudden movement at the door of the room.
I raise my head and meet Moe’s gaze.
She smiles brightly and skips over to me.
“Here.” She hands me a book.
“What’s this?”
“I finished transcribing the domains so I returned the book. I found one that mentioned levels and thought it might help. I’ll transcribe this, too.”
I take the book from her and flip through it. It has the names of each level but only some basic information since for every domain, the levels can manifest differently.
She sits by my side and leans over my shoulder to read.
“The first level is called Awakening. That’s quite fitting.”
“If only I could get that Awakening faster,” I mumble.
Her eyes widen and she bites her lip. “I’m sorry,” she whispers.
“Huh?”
“I… This was insensitive of me, wasn’t it? You’ve been wanting so badly to reach the first level and here I am mentioning it carelessly.”
“No, no! That’s not the case at all. Yes I’m frustrated that I’m not advancing as fast as I want to, but that’s not on you. In fact, this is a great idea. At least then I’ll know what to expect when I face higher levels.”
“Have you thought that perhaps…” She nibbles at her lip nervously.
“What?”
“Nothing.” She smiles. “It was nothing.”
“No. Tell me,” I urge. “I don’t want you to hide your thoughts from me just because I might get not like to hear them. We’re a team, remember?”
She nods thoughtfully. “I’ve been thinking about your fights. You’ve been battling individuals at level one and two. And you said Zarek was close to level three, no?”
“Yes,” I say and I point to the definition of level three in the book.
Domain abilities become stable and usable in combat, but they consume a lot of energy and can only be maintained for short periods of time.
“He fit the definition of a level three.”
“How could you, who hasn’t even reached level one, defeat people so much stronger?”
Her question catches me by surprise, but I can’t say I haven’t thought about it myself, too.
“I don’t know.” I sigh. “You’re right that theoretically I shouldn’t be able to defeat even a level one. Considering the fact that I only began consuming energy recently, I should not stand a chance in any battle. Yet somehow I’ve won every single one.”
“Maybe you have awakened something but you’re not aware of it?” She suggests.
I shrug and shake my head. “If we weren’t stuck here, I would have tried to find a master to guide me and answer my questions. As it stands…”
“Trial and error,” she completes my sentence.
I nod. “We keep going. Even if we don’t have all the answers, we do all we can with what we do have.”
Her lips curl up and she shifts closer to me, her hand lightly touching my back.
“I like that,” she says in a soft voice. “We do what we can with what we have.”
Her breath fans over my face, warm and pleasant. I turn my head slightly. She’s closer now, resting her chin on my shoulder.
My eyes meet hers and I swallow nervously. It dawns on me just how close we are.
Even though we sleep in the same bed every night, I always place a pillow in between us for her sake—the last thing I want is for her to feel uncomfortable being near me in such a vulnerable state.
But now…
She licks her lips as her eyes move from my mouth to my eyes. She stares at me intently.
My heart thuds in my chest. Should I ask her if I can kiss her? Should I just do it? Move closer, hover a little, see if she moves away?
What the hell should I do in this situation?
The uncertainty is killing me.
Neither of us moves, our eyes still locked.
That’s it! Next time I need to read some of her books, perhaps they have an answer to my dilemma.
As for this moment…
She lets out a soft sigh. And perhaps it’s my skewed perception, but it seems as though she moved a tiny bit closer?
I do the same, holding my breath for what’s to come.
Should I be brave and just… do it?
What if this isn’t what she wants?
What if she gets mad at me and tells me to sleep on the floor?
More thoughts rush through my mind as I picture all types of scenarios. In the end, my desire for her wins over my caution.
I guess I’ll sleep on the floor if she asks me to.
Leaning in, I wet my lips slightly.
I hope she won’t mind how dry they are.
She closes her eyes, tips her head backward a little and pouts her lips.
This is it! The moment I’ve been waiting for.
My chest is about to explode. My nether region is already under a flurry of activity, overstimulated by my imagination.
By the Seven! I hope there won’t be any accident when I actually kiss her.
Bit by bit, the distance between us becomes nonexistent. My eyes snap shut too, my lips ready to meet hers.
Warmth spreads through my body. It feels as though the blood in my veins is on fire. Ah, sweet, sweet kiss, and my even sweeter Moe.
“Nyk?” Moe asks, suddenly getting to her feet. “Nyk, where are you?”
“What are you talking about?” I ask with a frown.
When did the kiss stop? Wait, it didn’t even start, did it? Then why do I feel so warm and restless and—
“This isn’t funny, Nyk. I can’t see you.”
“What are you talking about? I’m right in front of you!”
“No. You’re not.”
“Yes. I am,” I protest.
She turns around, her brows knit together in confusion. She looks everywhere. “Keep talking.”
“You’re joking with me, no?” I ask now.
“Let’s say I am. Keep talking.”
“What should I say? That I was expecting this to go a little different?” I ask, a little frustrated, both at myself and at the situation. Perhaps I let my imagination go too far and I read into our interaction more than I should have.
Hands on her hips, Moe stands in front of me, her head moving from side to side. She makes a tsk sound and then laughs softly.
“Nyk,” she starts. “Say something.”
“What?”
She looks down, at me. Wait… Down?
Dropping to her knees, she places her hands on the floor and leans closer.
W-what’s happening? Something is wrong. Why am I watching her from the ground up?
She stops right before her lips touch the floor. She stifles a laugh.
“There you are,” she whispers and winks at me.
“I—” I clear my throat. “What’s going on?”
“You tell me, Nyk. Why are you inside my shadow?”
I blink. Then blink again. Then blink some more.
“I am…where? What?” Panic laces my voice.
Moe’s response is to continue laughing.
“Moe! What? What’s happening?” I move wildly around, feeling free and contained at the same time.
“I can’t exactly see you, but you’re here, aren’t you you?”
She reaches forward, touching her own shadow and to my shock, I can feel it. The issue is that she’s touching in a very sensitive spot right now. I don’t know whether she can feel it or not, but the moment her dainty, slender fingers touch the center of the shadow, my entire body jerks forward.
Goosebumps erupt all over my skin as my mind goes blank.
Fuck!
Just as bliss is about to envelop me, I feel the hard, cold floor under my body. Moe is on tops of me, her face hovering over mine as she continues to giggle.
“I spoke too soon, Nyk. I think you just found your domain”
I stare at her, barely able to hear her words because I’m too distracted by her beauty. There’s even a small mole under her lower lip. It’s only visible from up close, but it’s so cute, I want to—
“Now we just need to figure out how to control it,” she continues.
Right. Domain. I got my domain?
“We need to do some testing—”
She can test anything she wants as long as she does it on top of me.
“Shadow Domain. That’s quite interesting, isn’t it? It’s a primordial domain, too.”
Her mouth keeps moving. Words are coming out of there—I think. My mind is far too busy imagining all the little spots on her face I can kiss and trace with my tongue.
“Right… Shadow Domain,” I mutter.
Couldn’t my domain manifest itself at any other time, though? Why did it have to be when I was so damn close to kissing her?
Alas. This is quite good news.
Although I think I would have preferred a kiss.
It takes three days before I dare test my powers properly. Or, better said, three days before I stop resenting that wretched timing that robbed me of our first kiss.
Moe is even more excited than me as she keeps a small diary where she writes all her observations regarding my abilities.
At level one, the domain is weak—frustratingly so. I cannot create shadows where none exist, nor can I manipulate them freely. I can only seize what is already present and shape it within limits.
The shadow of a chair may lengthen.The shadow cast by a cup may sharpen. The darkness beneath the bed may crawl a few feet farther than it should.
Nothing more.
When I first awakened my domain, I briefly inhabited Moe’s shadow. That means I could, technically, do it again—move between shadows and hide in them at will.
But I can’t. I have no idea how to do it.
Moe, with her inquisitive mind, suggested we redo the moment when it first happened—try to find which circumstances led me to awaken my powers.
And like the fucking wretch that I am, I lied to her and told her I was just thinking of the last battle.
How could I tell her all the thoughts that were going through my mind in that moment?
Or that I was so fucking hard, I was about to come in my pants and embarrass myself.
Or, how could I even mention that when she touched that shadow, it felt as though she touched me—or rather a certain part of me—and I was once more on the verge of exploding.
By the Seven! If I told her that at that particular moment I wanted to both kiss her and fuck her, she’d have slapped me and ordered me to sleep on the floor for an eternity. And I would have obeyed like the good male that I am.