Dawn- An age of Darkness

I woke up in the morning under the sheets. I wasn't alone. Lianne was in my arms and well, neither of us were wearing anything. 

Just as I regained my senses and felt her skin, my member had risen up from its long slumber.

Her scent was too damn alluring. 

It was pressing up directly against her soft warm thigs. 

Yeah, it needed attention but my attention was on Lia and her face. She was sleeping peacefully. I didn't usually see her asleep. She'd sleep after me, and wake up before me. But today, she was sleeping in my arms. She looked beautiful- gorgeous. 

This almost felt surreal but I knew it was real….

Her hair, her nose, her face- her breath, everything about her was charming. I guess this is what they called 'madly in love'. I didn't want to get out of bed yet, so I just hugged her and kept on sleeping. 

Unfortunately, life wasn't so amazing. 

"You know, staring at someone like that is awfully rude, and not to mention your leaking all over my thigs."

To my deepest surprise, she wasn't asleep. 

"Sorry?"

She opened one eye, giggled, and hugged me back. "We could do it again if you want to," she whispered. Her breath was close and boy was she warm.

Judging by the light coming through the window it was already past the time for breakfast- we were late.

"Let's save it for when we actually get together. I'll have a reason to try my best."

I totally wanted to do it and if she said it one more time… yeah. On second thought- 'Let's just say it!'

She was a bit disappointed. But- she kissed me on the cheek and went inside the cover before I could say another word.

Maybe… I messed up.

A second later she emerged with her underwear on and got out of bed.

She picked up her clothes and put them on, playfully- it was a sight for sore eyes. She was definitely teasing me for saying no.

I wholeheartedly regretted my earlier decision. I should have just…sigh.

***

I got fresh and since it was late- skipped breakfast. 

Ve and Alisa were waiting for me in the garden- or so Bryce told me once I'd come out of the royal chamber, aka, Lia's room.

But when I actually went to the garden, I saw Lia there as well, along with Biteria. Well, these girls sure worked fast.

"Alright, we have 56 days remaining and as we've discussed in the past, with your curse fully activated, you can now use risky techniques," Ve said. 

"So, try using Imbuition on your whole body and come fight us-" Alisa smiled. "Let's see how far you've gotten."

Weren't they supposed to know that regardless?

Anyway, I took out a sword from my ring and started Imbuition. Judging by the initial flow of mana, I was at least five times stronger and three times faster than usual- and I could probably maintain this for half an hour or so. 

There were some spectators. Nobles and guards, even maids. This was a large garden and for roughly twenty meters, there wasn't anything other than grass. Not bad for a training session.

"Both of you?"

"Yes." Alisa smiled. 

This was a first. Normally, they'd never cooperate during a fight- unless we were in mortal danger or something. So- this was really rare.

Alisa didn't have a weapon so, if I could just go past Ve, I could win this. 

I smiled. "Alright."

***

I charged forward, straight for Ve. But that was just a ploy. 

Ve, as usual, put up her guard and tried to intercept- but I passed her and went straight for Alisa. 

Alisa mostly used magic in battle, not weapons- so if I could take her out first, the rest of the battle would be far easier. 

"You're too predictable, you know." But- Alisa just smiled and formed a barrier of ice over her- a dome of sorts. How the hell did I forget the very same move we used when we were fighting the dragons? I had no idea. 

And the thing was hard! 

"And you should never look away either." Now, Ve came from behind me and thrust her spear. I dodged at the last second but- her spear scrapped through my cheek.

Neither was messing around, so I shouldn't have either. 

I hadn't fought an actual serious battle in a while. At least not since Xerphas. And along the way, my curse kept getting stronger and stronger, so I never had to put in much effort. 

But- this time, this time I didn't really want to hold back. I didn't have much time and I had to find out my limits.

With a deep breath, I took a stance. I kept my eye on both Ve and Alisa. Alisa was still hidden in the dome but she occasionally threw icicles at me, which I dodged. Ve meanwhile, maintained her distance and waited to strike me. She was an expert at reading the battlefield- a key strength I lacked. 

So far this more or less became a stalemate, but that's when I remembered.

The sword wasn't everything I had. 

It was true, I had better strength and speed right now but- I was forgetting something important: my magic. 

I poured mana in my hand and just as I was about to gather it, Ve charged. 

But I led her to me. This wasn't just any mana, it was holy mana, and that meant excessive light. 

I was resistant to my own light but the same couldn't be said about people around me.

Before Ve reached me, the mana exploded and I saw a path to victory. 

Ve had to shield her eyes and in that time, I slashed her spear- making her fall on her knees. I was more or less out of breath and in that last moment I had to exert way too much mana to achieve even greater speeds. 

But just as I was about to claim my victory over her- an icicle pressed against my neck- a trickle of blood fell. "You know, just because I was hiding, didn't mean, I wasn't in the fight," Alisa whispered. "You lose."

  With a sigh, I dropped my sword. 

'Damn, that's cold!'

I also saw Lia sighing. "Still as naïve as ever." Did she really need to say that? "You have improved though."

Ve got up and picked up her spear. "You have gotten stronger and your mana seemed much more stable than usual. You're also a natural when it comes to trickery- but you're far too simple-minded. And as the elf said, naïve."

Was this guy praising me or dissing me? How could I be a natural at trickery but also simple-minded? Honestly, she didn't make sense. Sense to me, that is.

These guys were really starting to piss me off.  But I couldn't deny that fact that they were in fact, correct. I was really naïve when it came to battle. I came from a rather domesticated society, so the idea of constantly fighting, changing tactics, looking out for feints was new to me. And I was still learning, even now. And perhaps whenever I learned something, I felt like 'maybe I could win now.' But that was just naïve, and I knew that. 

Alisa let out a chuckle. "We'll leave before noon. I'm assuming the elf will come along?"

She did realize she was saying that in front of Lia, right?

Judging by that look on her face, she sure did. 

"No, she will stay here."

"Oh? Really?" Alisa gave a stare at Lia and the two exchanged voiceless glances. "Anyway, I'll be with the minister. Let's meet at the front garden before noon. Oh and-" Alisa came close. "You reek. You should have taken a shower," she whispered.

My face heated up. 

Damn- I'd actually forgotten.