I was stuck.
First, on the physical level, I was stuck within the domain of Fay's hair and aura, surrounded by nothing but the platinum white of her hair and the sparkles of her divine aura.
I could still feel her body within my embrace. The way her hands locked behind my back, how her breath stuck my chest, how the top of her head brushed against the bottom of my chin...
I could feel all of that, and yet, I could not see her, only able to perceive the colors of her domain.
Then, I was stuck on a mental level.
'Should I proceed? Another rebirth is what I wanted anyway, so why not? And we are not in any particular danger right now, so it's as good of a time as any...'
The possibility of the rebirth this time didn't come with the pressure to do it. With my free points barely going beyond what I could consume with just my attributes alone, the pressure of having more aura than my body could handle wasn't all that great.
In fact, it was barely noticeable for now, something that was sure to change once my power grew even further.
But still...
'The last time I went through the rebirth, it was pretty painful, wasn't it?'
Just the memory of what had happened back then... Just the memory of it was enough to shake me all the way up to my core. It was the kind of pain that I could never forget. And theoretically speaking, with how every last cell of my body literally went through a total reconstruction...
Was it actually possible to experience an even greater pain?
Still, as scary... no, as terrifying the prospect of going through this damned process again could be, it wasn't something I would allow to stop my progress. If pain was the prize I had to pay to grow strong enough to keep Fay safe from whatever dangers lurked in either of the worlds, then so be it!
But right now, between sinking into Fay's domain, our bond opening up to its full potential and its inherence putting the two of us in quite a sensitive mood...
How could I subject Fay to experiencing the same pain I would have to go through?
'I guess I will have to put it for later, when...'
My thought formed before I could realize that with our connection... Fay would sense it the very moment it appeared.
'I guess I'm still not all that used to operating while under our bond,' I thought, averting my eyes to the side even though I couldn't even see Fay's face within the platinum-white world she created.
"That's right."
I couldn't really tell whether it was Fay's thought... or if she spoke out.
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Given the synchronization of our souls, a tiny bit of excitement instantly sparked in Fay's soul. As this spark transmitted back to my own heart, it ignited a small fire of lust in it, which then transmitted to Fay's consciousness, only serving to blow more air into the growing blaze of her intimate affection...
In short, it was a positive reinforcement feedback loop that took even the tiniest amount of our mutual lust and multiplied it to no end, quickly making it one hell of a challenge for me to think of anything else but how fun it would be to play with Fay while in this strange domain of hers.
"Hon, I will be okay," Fay's inner voice sounded in my soul, clearly strained by the feelings she was trying her best to hold back. "So, before we lose this chance..."
I couldn't see Fay's face, but I could sense the determination burning in her soul. I had no idea what kind of face she made, what kind of expression appeared on this lovely head of hers...
But she was just like me. We both realized that it was only a matter of time, extremely short time in fact before we would succumb to the inherence of our bond.
From our experience, putting my rebirth for later would only result in a much more painful experience given the overabundance of aura trying to fit within my limited soul.
"You sure?"
My hold over the girl tightened.
"Mhmm."
I was scared of the pain of the rebirth. I was terrified beyond any measure of forcing Fay to go through this kind of awful experience.
But I could also feel the softness of her flesh flattening against mine, the warmth of her breath, the affection underlying every tiniest piece of her soul...
And I wasn't going to disrespect the determination that burned bright like a signal flare in her heart.
'Since I can, then let's not put it off for later,' I thought, somehow reverting back from the mind speech we used with Fay just now to simply thinking my thoughts out as we did before. 'System-kun, do you worst!'
Just like with summoning my portal where a mere hand gesture was enough to put it in motion, interacting with my system only ever required a single thought of me.
[The rebirth will now commence]
My hold over Fay's feeble body tightened at the very same moment as her hold over mine grew tighter as well.
We could both sense that whatever my system was going to do to me was coming.
But this feeling came... and went.
And without even the tiniest bit of pain, the entire world suddenly turned into an even more intense shade of white... Before the bright white disappeared, replaced by the endless, unfathomable, ancient darkness.