Chapter 154: Are you.. in love?

"I had a battle. It's only normal to get hurt a bit. It's nothing serious, I will be good in a week." Lisa knew she wasn't lying as most of her bad health was due to overexertion of her mana reserves. Still, she can't seem to pacify her raging blood. She can feel her blood lust take over her mind. Emily sighed watching Lisa's nails grow outwards. She had come to know about this girl's obsession with herself, long back. She never knew that some random act of kindness would become a life-changing event in someone's life.

"Calm down little girl." Lisa felt Emily's hand caressing her head. Looking at the amiable expression from the old woman, Lisa began losing her transformation. Her wings retracted, along with her nails, canines, and horns. After a few minutes, she looked no different than a normal human albeit with wet eyes. Tears began rolling down her eyes "I don't know what to do, master. Even after all these years, I can't control this blood lust that takes over my mind." She looked down to see her hands "I know I can never be like you. That's why I distanced myself from you so that you don't have to be concerned about me always. But still, if that means you getting hurt then what's the use of it? I would much rather be with you if that's the case."

It wasn't Lisa's fault. It was unimaginable for her before this day that even a Grand Magus like Emily could end up injured. "You have not changed a single bit. Like I told you, there is no need for concern. You have your own life to live, little girl. Don't remain stuck up with an old granny like me haha.." She paused before continuing "And don't worry about your blood lust, that is just inherent to your species. You can't go against your very nature. On that from you might not realize it but you have made quite a bit of progress."

Lisa shook her head, unwilling to look back at her master. "You don't understand master. Even right now I want the dig the heart out of the person who hurt you." Emily didn't look discomforted with these words. She wanted to provide some more solace to her but a bluish light glowed beside them as Nerissa appeared, flying through the air. "Huhhh... You want to fight against someone we couldn't defeat? Aren't you overestimating yourself by quite a bit here, little girly?" She admonished Lisa, acting like a senior with her hands on her waist. It was just that her little size made it harder for anyone to take her seriously.

"Shut up, pipsqueak. You must have been the reason why master got injured. I told her many times to drop the contract with you but she doesn't listen." Lisa did not give any face to the little water spirit. Nerissa's face instantly reddened from excessive anger. "What did you call me, you big-chested lust demon?" Once again Emily had to grab onto her to stop her from head bumping Lisa. "You are just jealous of these huh.." The succubus intentionally crushed her tits together, proudly displaying her assets. "Huh.. who needs those pieces of meat? You are just too ugly to rely on those humph.. humph.." Although, Nerissa always brought confrontation in the conversation but her involvement always cools down the tension in the air.

A few minutes later Lisa prepared some drinks for all of them and brought them to the bedroom. "You mean to say even Navera got herself badly injured." Emily nodded her head lightly. Lisa had been with her master for many years. She had known the real power level of the sea serpent. She was easily among the top five summons in all of the Cylon Empire. "What kind of monster did you pick up a fight against?" Lisa had her mouth agape. Nerissa didn't let Emily answer, instead chiming in with a burst of laughter. "Hahaha.. Your master got herself a little lover. It was an intense fight between lovers, you can say haha.." Lisa was skeptical of her claims, choosing to look at Emily for answers.

"Ignore her. You already know how she is." The mage took a sip of her drink before replying. Nerissa saw the dubious look Lisa was giving her. She wasn't going to take this laying down. "Hainn.. you think I am lying? Then why don't you ask your master how she got her butt spared after getting pounded to the ground?" Her words were clearly carrying double meaning with them, making Emily red with shame. "Ohh.. goddess Gaia. Their relationship is taboo at so many different levels." She narrated her story with complete gestures as well as expressions. "Enough you can take a rest now." A circle appeared under the water spirit, pulling her back in her dimension.

Lisa had seen the shame on Emily's face, even though it was just for a fleeting moment. This meant Nerissa was not exactly lying. She didn't know what to feel about this development. On one hand, she was happy that Emily might have found someone she loved in the end. It's been a long period since her husband died and she had never been able to move on ahead in her life. But at the same time, will she remain so close to her, if a man enters her life? "Ahemm.. Master, can I ask you something?" Emily calmly sipped a mouthful of her drink and nodded. "Are you.. in love?" *Puchii* Lisa had her whole face covered in the drink.

**A day ago. In the morning.**

Many miles away from Korua, an individual stood beside a large lake. She had two large swords strapped onto her back, conversed by her long blonde hair. Behind her, one could see a large horse body covered in armored plates. She bent down and picked up a handful of dirt from the ground before smelling it. "I am not sure but a demon might have been involved in a fight here." Demons were not only a bane to humans but rather their existence was a threat to every other species. They were hated by all others with the same passion.

"Are you sure, Mrs. Naila? It is a very big matter, if true." The blonde in question turned around to look at the man, who cowered down his gaze. "Are you sure, you are in a position to doubt me? Take this. Bring it to the notice of the leader, as soon as possible. Like you just told it is not a small matter." The guy took the soil from her hand and he along with the rest of his companions rushed in the opposite direction leaving Naila alone on the shore.

Naila was a bit frustrated. She made a mad dash to this place after her subordinates informed her about a massive battle between experts. The soldiers stationed on the outposts could hear the sounds of clashes, coming from a large distance away from the forested regions. The soldiers panicked since the daughter of the tribe leader had been on a mission in the same forest, that was the reason Naila was called in. She was one of the most powerful warriors in the whole centaur tribe.

Standing to the side of the lake she looked at her visage in the water. "It's been so long sleeve since I had a proper fight." Looking at the scale of destruction done to the complete landscape the opponents must have been equally matched. Also, she had a suspicion that one of the parties involved was the Grand Magus of the Cylon Empire, Emily. Who else can make such a huge water body appear out of nowhere right in the middle of the forest? Naila was frustrated, having missed such a great opportunity to test her might against a Grand Magus. Clenching her fist she began removing her armor plates. Next, she got out of her clothes, leaving her buck naked. Slowly she treads into the cool water to take a relaxing bath and cool her head down.

**Back to current time**

Ryu had returned home late in the evening. Suna had been too wild today, leaving him exhausted and with a body full of scratch and bite marks. Night had fallen on Korua and he had his arms around a naked Dorothea as he slept.

"Wake up kid.. How is it going?" A loud and deep voice managed to wake him up. Finding himself back in the mental space created by the dragon, Ryu was ecstatic. He had been waiting desperately for this guy to contact him. "Fine Mr. Dragon. But first, tell me if there is a way I can initiate a connection with you? Instead of you randomly dropping in my dreams." Once again Ryu heard the familiar laughter. "Hahaha.. kid, you can't try but it will be of no use. What do you think I am doing all day when I am not in contact with you?"

Ryu hesitated for a bit before replying "Sleeping?" His laughter grew even louder "hahaha.. exactly. You can't wake a 'Dragon' up just to discuss your petty issues?" Ryu wanted to facepalm himself so badly right now. He was just kidding when he replied to the arrogant lizard but who knew he was really sleeping all day long.

Waiting for the guy to calm down he asked about the immediate danger hovering over his head. "You told me the woman in that cave was your friend? Why did she attack me then?" Ryu whined. He had been scared shitless, that time when she had grabbed onto him abruptly. It was not good for his heart if random dead bodies began grabbing onto him like this. The dragon got a bit serious "Hmm? Attack you? Let me see." After a few seconds, the dragon roared into another wild laughter "You are a really funny kid. Hahaha.. attacked you? Ahaha.. And how exactly did you survived this 'attack'?"

Didn't this guy just read his memory without his permission? Can there be any bigger case of breach of privacy? Alas, he can't file a lawsuit against the damn lizard. He needs to bring this guy to the point otherwise he will be left hanging once again. "Okay, okay. I will drop that matter, now tell me what should I do with her dead bo.. ahem... I mean her body?" "You don't need to do anything. She is just like me, gravely injured and recovering. Let her heal in the space stone. Don't disturb her." Ryu sighed in relief. If this guy was so sure then he can only leave the matter be and switch to other pressing ones.

"Okay. Then what about a slave spell. I am sure you are already aware of my predicament so I will spare you the explanation." He had to wait for another session of his laugh to end. "About that. I would have given you that even if you hadn't asked. I don't have much time so I will explain briefly. The technique of cultivation you practice is one of the hardest in this world. You have been on a smoother sail for all this while is mostly because of your talent and your puny cultivation level. Once you start growing in real terms, you will need many slaves that can cultivate on your behalf, only then you can maintain a decent level of cultivation speed."

Ryu had to interrupt the guy. "Isn't this method too cruel if I have to have slaves to progress?" "Hmm.. you can't exactly call them a slave since they too benefit from the cultivation. In other words, you can call them cultivation partners. What's more, after getting the slave to mark their talents can grow." This made Ryu open his eyes wide in surprise. Improve someone's talent? Was that even possible? "I know it is hard to believe but that is the truth and yes, it has some trade-offs. The seal will be permanent. You can't free them, even if you want later on. They will have to be loyal to you and follow any orders from you, even if you want them to take their own lives." Ryu nodded, this made sense. The trade-offs of such an enormous benefit were equally huge. You will have to surrender your whole life to someone else.