Break's over

Half an hour passed, and Seth awoke to a worried Maya caressing his face. Seeing him open his eyes, she smiled and asked: “What happened?”

Seth winced as he supported himself in his hand and looked around the clean room. Sophie was still asleep, covered with a small blanket on the sofa and the entire room had no traces left of the earlier endeavors.

‘System?’

<It is as host expected. Your destruction divinity activated on its own and repelled the lust influencing host’s body. Your lust source got slightly injured in the process, but the damage is still in an acceptable range.>

Heaving a sigh of relief, Seth turned towards the worried Maya and fixed the frown on her face with his hand as he said: “My lust source finally bared its teeth.”

“I don’t understand what that means.”

“You know how sources influence their owner, don’t you?” after Maya nodded, Seth continued: “Since my soul has a divinity, their influence is somewhat restricted. With others ascended, the influence would build up slowly over time, but my lust source went all in to pass the restriction of my divinity. The loss of control and the damage came from my divinity fighting back. I’m fine now.”

“But what if it happens in combat and you remain defenseless?” asked Maya, her worry easing slightly.

“It won’t. I let my lust source act up myself. I can still suppress it if I want to. I let it free this time since there was something I wanted to know, but now that I got my answer, I won’t allow it to run wild so easily.”

Maya was about to ask what he wanted to find out, but Seth turned his eyes to the sleeping Sophie and asked: “How is she?”

Maya swallowed her question and smiled wryly: “She’s slightly injured from what I can tell, but nothing major. Most of all, she’s exhausted from all the hard pounding since she’s only a normal human.”

Seth nodded and asked the system: ‘Is Caitlin in portal range?’

<Affirmative. Caitlin is in the marketplace.>

Seth opened a portal next to Caitlin and poked his head out: “Come, Cait. I need your help with something.”

Caitlin seemed quite reluctant as she was munching on some local fast food, but she didn’t say anything as she stepped inside the portal.

When she spotted Seth and Maya naked, she blushed and looked around the room, looking for her patient. When her eyes landed on the sleeping Sophie, her face turned awkward as she asked: “Her?”

After Seth nodded, Caitlin walked and hovered her hand over Sophie’s privates. She felt the damage right away and healed it in an instant. Once she was done, Seth teleported her back and turned towards Maya: “We lost quite a lot of time, so I need to go speak to Cain. Can you look over her for me and ensure she’s alright?”

After Maya nodded with a sigh, Seth kissed her lips and teleported away, heading straight to Cain’s house.

Cain didn’t seem surprised to see Seth appear out of nowhere, looking like he was expecting him as he extended a small cup towards him.

Seth smiled and took the cup, taking a sip of the wine inside.

“So all those rich-looking people that suddenly appeared around the town were indeed some of yours.”, said Cain, pouring himself a drink.

“They are. We’re traveling south to the Blood Kingdom. They are mostly nobles from the capital, my students, and a few ascended teachers.”

“Hmm, are you running away?” asked Cain, an indifferent look in his eyes.

Seth smiled, already expecting a question like that. “Not really. I plan on taking over Blood and using it as a starting point to build my own empire. Oath was my initial starting point, but things got slightly… complicated.”

Cain chuckled and took a sip of his drink: “So, you want me there to keep the criminals in check? Or why did you pass by here?”

Seth shook his head, his eyes turning slightly cold as he said: “I’m not keeping them alive. I want you there since I know I can trust you to keep your word. The more people like you I have working for me, the better.”

Cain sighed and looked towards the north through the small window of his rundown building. Shaking his head, he said: “I wish I could come as well since it sounds fun, but I still have unfinished business. Now that I’m an ascended, there are some debts I must collect in the capital.”

“So you’re finally making your move?” asked Seth with a sigh of his own, knowing by the look in Cain’s eyes that there was no convincing him to change his mind.

“I will. I’ve been looking for an opportunity, but I guess my chance is finally here now that you did so much damage, stealing even academy teachers from Oath.”

“That’s fine as well, but, whatever you do in the capital, try not to create too many ripples. The academy’s headmistress is probably in quite a foul mood, so she will kill you before asking you any questions. It would be better if you looked for Necros or Ghost and told them I sent you before coordinating with them to fulfill your plan.”

Cain nodded and down his cup. “Sure. Maybe, once I’m done, I’ll come to visit your empire.”

Seth smiled as he downed his cup as well. “I could always use men like you, so feel free to come. Good luck on your endeavors, Cain.”

“Same to you, Seth. Be careful of the blood moon.”, said Cain, eliciting a small chuckle from Seth as he teleported away.

Arriving at the official thieves guild, he walked up to the innkeeper and had a few words with him as well before getting ready to teleport back to Sophie’s place.

Just as he started spinning his source, a notification appeared in his vision.

<Ella is currently inside the capital, working in the gambling den.>

Seth frowned, taking a moment to remember the name until the image of a tall and skinny girl with salt and paper hair appeared in his mind.

‘Why are you telling me this?’

<She returned to working there after her father’s death, looking for host. She still hoped to get the chance to thank you for you saving her life back then and allowing her to spend her father’s last days with him.>

Seth pondered for a moment and figured he might visit her as well. With a quick warp, he appeared inside one of the private rooms of the gambling den.

Sending a tendril of destruction energy, he broke the lock on the door and walked into the corridor, heading for the blackjack room, where she was currently working as a server.

The blackjack room was just as crowded as the last time, with people yelling bets left and right. With the system’s help, Seth headed towards a large table in the center.

It was a two-gold table, and two men were already betting there. Ella was sitting on the side of a good-looking man, carrying a tray with his drink while watching him play. Her expression was slightly bored, but the man was quite excited and kept talking to her.

Seth approaching the table didn’t raise anyone’s attention since they had their backs on him. Waving his hand, Seth placed two coins on the table and called loudly: “9”

The two men already playing, and the dealer had no reaction, used to people joining tables and calling bets, but Ella’s body shook, dropping the tray she was holding on the ground.

“Ella, are you alright?” asked the man she was accompanying, his face covered in worry, before turning towards Seth: “Why are you yelling like that? Can’t you see you scared her?”

Seth ignored the man and kept his eyes on Ella’s back. Ella also seemed to have not heard the other man’s words, her body turning mechanically to look at Seth.

Once they landed on him, the rims of her eyes turned red, and she jumped towards him, arms outstretched. Seth was somewhat surprised but still caught her in his arms.

“Thank you. Thank you so much.” She muttered through sobs, her head buried in Seth’s shoulder.

Seth didn’t say anything back and just massaged her back while letting her cry her worries out.

“Who are you?” asked the man with a jealous look. He’s been trying to woo Ella for quite a while, but she always refused. Since the boss of the gambling parlor also appeared to be having her back, he couldn’t do anything else besides try to convince her.

Seth didn’t feel like killing the poor idiot, so her just teleported himself and Ella to one of the empty rooms. Ella didn’t even notice the teleportation as she continued crying in Seth’s arms.

It took over ten minutes until she finally calmed down and released Seth, leaving his arms with a red face. Wiping the tear stains on Seth’s shirt, she said meekly: “I’m sorry.”

Seth smiled and stopped her from trying to clean him up as he shook his head: “Don’t worry. I don’t mind it. How are you, Ella?”

Ella nodded, wishing to tell him she was okay when she noticed they were not inside the blackjack room anymore but in one of the private rooms. She blushed but didn’t say anything about it as she answered his question: “I’m fine. I’ve been working here for quite a while, and the boss treats me great. I think I should also thank you for that.”

“No need to thank me, I’m just glad things have been working out for you.” Replied Seth, already aware of what fate she had in the previous timeline. Something about changing someone’s destiny like this made his perception source spin in excitement, and a feeling of satisfaction bloomed inside him.

“I still want to thank you. That’s also why I moved to the city since I didn’t know where I could find you and hoped you would show up here again. I was about to give up, but you eventually came, so I’m glad I didn’t.”

Seth nodded and replied: “You’re welcome then, Ella, but sadly I won’t be able to stay here for long. I’m just passing by.”

“You’re leaving again?” asked Ella, a somewhat downcast look on her face.

“Yes. I’m heading for the Blood Kingdom.”

“Blood Kingdom?” asked Ella, unaware of such a place. “Is that far?”

Smiling wryly, Seth nodded and said: “Quite far. It would take someone at least half a year to reach it from here if they went by foot.”

“Can - can you take me as well? There’s nothing left for me here.”

Seth looked into her pale-gray eyes before shaking his head: “It’s too dangerous for you at the moment. That place is infested with criminals, and I won’t be able to protect you at all times.” Seth added, seeing her look somewhat downcast, “I’ll pass by again in a few years. I’ll take you with me if you still feel the same way.”

Ella’s mood improved slightly, but she was still gloomy as they continued chatting for almost half an hour. She tried to convince Seth to take her with him a couple more times, but Seth declined every time.

 When Seth told her it was time for him to go, Ella gathered the courage and hugged him again before Seth teleported away.

<Why didn’t host take her as well?>

‘Because the feelings she developed out of gratitude didn’t feel right. I did a good deed in the passing, and she built upon that good deed to create an almost perfect image for me in her head and fall in love with it.’

‘There’s a high chance that she will either regret her choice or develop bitter jealousy towards the others once she meets the other girls and gets to know me better.’

‘If I happen to pass by here and she still feels the same, I don’t mind taking her in, but for now, she should remain here. Plus, what I said is not wrong. My world is too dangerous for her at the moment.’

The system fell silent, and Seth looked at the chatting Maya and Sophie. Putting on a wry smile, Seth apologized to Sophie for his wild behavior.

After chatting with Sophie a bit more, Seth and Maya said their goodbyes and returned to the ship, where everyone was already gathered for departure.