Chun and Sariah fell asleep shortly after their intercouse. Sariah had slipped back into her underwear while Chun simply decided to take off the rest of his clothes and let the large woman snuggle up to him. Her body was warm, and surprisingly soft. Her arms wrapped around him like a momma-bear would hug a cub.
It didn’t take long to fall asleep.
Ethan woke up in the same room as the last time he had slept. He sat up to find himself next to a low table which Chun leaned against, seemingly waiting for him to wake up.
“Hey,” Ethan said, slightly surprised to see his other half staring right at him. It was going to take some time to get used to.
Chun just nodded as a greeting. “You should probably not show off your power as much as you have previously. It could aid you in getting materials to enhance yourself as well as your martial stage- well, I suppose you have Sariah for that for now- but that isn’t a good long term solution. Even by stripping parts of her internal energy, you will only be able to grow so much.”
“I don’t see the issue. We enjoy the sex, and it makes us stronger. Plus, with all the modifiers I gave us, who knows how much we will grow by increasing just a single martial stage. We only became one a few days ago and we have killed one martial artist three stages above us, and defeated one that was five above us.” Ethan argued.
“And you think there aren’t martial artists in the Sapphire Port alone who could kill us?” Chun’s brow rose.
“Well, yeah. I know that. But they have no reason to kill me, not yet.” Ethan said.
Chun simply looked at Ethan like he was an idiot before sighing. “You need to stop thinking of this world with your old world’s morals. Most martial artists here would kill you for looking at them wrong. And at least half aren’t above harming innocence to get to us. That means The Studded Pearl, Pairu, Baek, and everyone in it. That even means Kanta and her entire company, if they have the power to do so. Even if you’re heartless, that is at least a great loss of potential resources for us to grow.”
“I’m not heartless,” Ethan nearly shouted, slamming a hand on the table.
“Then act like you have one.” Chun slammed his hand down even harder, this time making the table shake. “We can’t have conflicting ideals. Not anymore. We can’t be reckless. It is so frustrating at how reckless you make me. Out there, we are an amalgam of the both of us. Did you even think about what you were making when you wanted to enter this world?”
Ethan opened his mouth to speak, but didn’t. Chun was technically right. He hadn’t thought about the person he was making. Largely, this was due to him not knowing exactly what he was getting into. He didn’t know the character he was making would have a definite past, whether fabricated or not. He didn’t know who he was going to have emotions other than his own. He didn’t know who he was making was going to be so… human.
“Wealth of the Mind told me that this was an incredibly advanced simulation. That I could make it how I want, and be who I wanted. It just feels so… odd that I personally altered the world before even stepping into it, yet it feels so deep. Rich. So… real. Even though I know it’s not.” Ethan opened his hand to look at his palm, the hand that had made the choices of not only Chun, but the realm itself. “I even made you. I may not have specifically made your past, but I made who you are. Your body type, your gender, your bloodlines. Your strengths and weaknesses. To think I would be taking over someone else’s life didn’t cross my mind.”
Chun stayed silent longer than Ethan expected him to. Rather than answering immediately, Chun stood up and walked over to the map of the world on the wall. He touched a section of it with his finger, zooming in on the Eastern Lakes region. With another tap, he zoomed in on the Sapphire Lake and its surrounding lands. And with a final tap he zoomed in on the Sapphire Port itself. “I cannot fault your naivety. I wouldn’t believe it either were I in your shoes. Heavens, my world may not even be truly real to your world. But it’s real to your life now. We can’t communicate nor separate our thoughts while you are awake, so we best do it now.” Chun then turned back to the map. “So far, you have killed or injured two martial artists of the Iron Spider Gang. Killed one member of the Pearl Wave Company. And likely pissed the Laughing Mask Gang on in some way due to taking a potential recruit from them in the form of that muscular woman you- we, whatever- we just fucked. So in the short span of about four days, you have made two, possibly three, enemies within the Sapphire Port. Fortunately, you have made an ally in the form of the Rose Treasury Pavillion, and Ms. Kanta. But she cannot protect you if all three of your enemies decide to attack you.” He explained. “Fortunetly, you might have a chance to make the second ally.”
He looked at Ethan expecting him to ask a question, but when he didn’t Chun continued. “During the underground tournament, you killed a woman- the sponsor of the Pearl Wave Company- who embarrassed the sponsor of the Black Tiger Company, and likely has injured him for at least several weeks as he pushes the poison from his system. The point being, is that you two have a common enemy. The Pearl Wave Company embarrassed the gang, and the Pearl Wave Company will likely seek to kill, or at least harm, you for killing someone they have likely put no small amount of resources into.”
“So what do you want us to do then? What is our plan for the coming days?” Ethan asked.
“For now, assuming no one tries to interfere, lay low. Go to our job as normal, make pills with the new ingredients we’ve gotten, and try to reach the next martial stage- at least- by taking fragments of Sariah’s internal energy. On that note, though, don’t take too much. Doing so could harm her at her current martial stage and her general lack of internal energy control would make it practically impossible to prevent you from doing so. But disregarding that for now,”
Ethan opened his mouth to comment on that last part, but let his other half continue speaking.
“But overall, grow in strength with what you currently have. Don’t reach out to others yet, unless they come to you. And let us both hope they take their time.”
***
Chun’s eyes opened as the sun rose. He was hot, and covered in a thin layer of sweat. Sariah’s large arms were still around him, and he could feel her chest gently moving up and down in the rhythm of sleep.
Chun moved the woman’s arms and shuffled his way out of bed, doing his best to not disturb the woman. He glanced out the window to his room to see the morning sun beginning to rise from the horizon. He let out a short sigh as he looked at his storage ring. “Time to start the day.”
He put on his apothecary robes from his storage ring and double checked he had his extra alchemy supplies, new hanfu, and sword on him just in case. His “self-cleaning” modifier had fortunately cleaned all the sweat off of him, making him feel like he’d just gotten out of the shower, but without the moistness of his skin.
The journey from his home to work was as uneventful as ever. He still used the Light Jump technique to leap along building’s roofs. In the distance, at the edge of the horizon, Chun could see the massive pagoda that Kanta was likely in, doing whatever the head of a mercantile company did.
As he leapt across the city, he thought back to his dream-if he could call it that- between himself and his old life. He was right, he needed to slow down. Who knew when the enemies he made would strike? He would need to grow strong enough to not get stomped out in an instant if they decided to do so.
As he went through the city, he slowed briefly at the large square where some of the local prisoners were set on display. He only scanned it over for a brief moment, finding nothing of note at first. But then he noticed a vaguely familiar face. A woman with a large chest and fiery red hair stood tied to a wooden pole. Her feet were solidly on the ground but tied to the pole at the ankles. Her wrists were tied above her head, not letting her cover herself. The next thing he noticed is that the woman was completely naked, not even the typical prisoner uniform was on her. She seemed to be getting stared at most out of other various prisoners in the display area. Fortunately such an area was guarded from civilians getting too close. But before moving on, Chun noticed one last thing he hadn’t before due to the woman wearing a prisoner’s uniform. Across her heart was a tattoo of a tiger’s head. It was black with golden stripes and fully milk-white eyes.
Chun noted the woman into his mind more solidly, if he ever saw her, or would need to speak to her. But for now, he had work to do, literally.
The Studded Pearl hadn’t changed much, if at all. Pairu greeted him when he entered, as did many others of the staff. For most of his shift, things went by simply. Even as an apothecary he didn’t do much, especially recently. Assumedly his interaction with Heyin had stalled any other customers from laying a harmful hand on anyone within the building. As such Chun had ample time to set up his alchemy supplies and open up one of his martial technique manuals while he waited for his various pills to refine. He managed to craft a total of five before he was interrupted. Though he was pleasantly surprised at his increase in strength.
Ox Pill of the Awakened Hybrid consumed.
Progress to the next point of all physical statistics: 20%
Ox Pill of the Awakened Hybrid consumed.
Progress to the next point of all physical statistics: 15%
Ox Pill of the Awakened Hybrid consumed.
Progress to the next point of all physical statistics: 13%
Ox Pill of the Awakened Hybrid consumed.
Progress to the next point of all physical statistics: 18%
Ox Pill of the Awakened Hybrid consumed.
Progress to the next point of all physical statistics: 19%
Strength +1
Speed +2 (+1 From Special Physique)
Endurance +1
Chun was in the process of mixing up the ingredients for his sixth pill when a knock echoed through the room. “Come in,” Chun called, not bothering to look up as the door opened.
“You’re Chun?” An unfamiliar woman’s voice spoke from the doorway.
Chun looked up to see a somewhat short woman, only a few inches taller than him. Her skin was pale and smooth, and she wore black-and-gold martial arts robes. Her brown hair was tied back in a ponytail at the back of her head. Her eyes were a nice hazel color, and there was a faint black spot under her left eye. She didn’t visibly carry any weapons, but a ring on her finger let Chun guess she wasn’t technically unarmed. The woman was somewhat thinner than what he’d seen of most women in this world. She was still beautiful, but not quite in the sense of her petite body, but rather her face, and a rather demanding voice.
Chun didn’t answer immediately, but instead scanned the woman’s body. He stopped mixing his various ingredients and leaned forward slightly in his chair. “Customers aren’t allowed back here unless you are injured?” He posed the second half of the sentence as a question, raising a brow. Though he didn’t imagine this woman was injured. He couldn’t sense exactly how strong the woman before him was, but it was roughly within the fourth martial stage; something he could handle if he needed to, but would rather not have to with so many civilians nearby.
“I am not, Mr. Hyang.” The woman said, reaching behind her and shutting the door. She took a few steps forward until she was in the center of the room, then bowed slightly to him. “My name is Rin Rin. I come on behalf of the Black Tiger Gang. We saw your skills in the tournament yesterday, and the gang leader was impressed. We would like to offer you a deal. One which, I assure you, will be of your interest.”