Evalyn stared at him in disbelief. "Kaze, please. Who was I to you?"
Kaze turned to her with a slight smile and complex eyes.
"Were." He said softly before turning back into his pose, closing his eyes, and cultivating.
As before, his meridians pulled thousands of grey lines of Qi toward him, but his warping aura twisted the Qi in a beautiful, lonely dance.
"I… want the divine-technique." Evalyn said after a period of silence.
Kaze opened his eyes and gave her a sidelong glance. "Are you sure? You can't back out, or it will permanently cripple your meridians. So you only have five seconds to change your mind."
She closed her eyes. "What would the old me have done?" free(w)ebnov(e)l
"The old you?" He laughed heartily, wiping slight tears from his eyes.
Evalyn turned to him in interest.
"The old you would have killed 50,000 people for this technique." Kaze chuckled, "And then she'd tell me to kill my self when I offered to heal her during it."
"Hmmm. That's not really my style. Are you transposing your arrogance on my past self, mayhaps?" Evalyn asked in a cute voice while blinking twice.
"No." Kaze laughed, flashing her charming smile, "I'm telling you a true story. Only it was a celestial technique."
The blonde's eyes widened as far as physically possible, but he clapped his hands to free her from her confusion.
"Yep, the old you was tough as nails." Kaze laughed, "So I'm certain the current you can handle it with divine-grade healing. If I coddle you any more than I have, your past self will break through death, space, and time to murder me."
Evalyn gave the man a warm smile. His slight amount of vulnerability made him more attractive in her eyes.
"I'd wipe that smile off your face." Kaze said with a grin while waving his hand. The space in the room warped, and a twisting dome barrier encased them.
"What did you just do?" She asked.
"Keep focused." He replied while touching her forehead, "Just getting this technique will hurt, so you have to prepare."
"Wait, what—"
Evalyn screamed in pain as a never-ending torrent of profound information poured into her mind like a massive waterfall crashing against rocks.
She fell to the floor and crawled into a ball, grabbing her head as forced tears streamed from her eyes.
Kaze closed his eyes and listened with a pained expression. There was an insurmountable difference between the Evalyn Skye he knew and the one before him.
The former was forged from the flames of the apocalypse; the current was still a college girl in a peaceful world.
The same scene with her past self would leave him with respect for her resolve; the current sight made him feel like he was stealing the last bit of happiness she'd have left.
Watching her crying on the ground, he determined he'd build a faction where she wouldn't have to become the ruthless, cunning woman she used to be.
"What happened to letting me prepare, you arrogant ass!?" Evalyn yelled while pushing herself from the floor, "If you do that shit again, I'll cultivate this technique until I'm strong enough to kill you, then wear your teeth around my necklace."
Or maybe not.
"Come now, love." Kaze replied with a grin, "I just thought I'd bring out your past self. That way you'll have someone to hate me with for the next eighteen hours."
"Heh. I guess I never asked." Evalyn scoff-laughed, "Did the old me find you as irritating as I do?"
"Oh, love." He laughed with a huge grin, "So much more, and I didn't have half the charm, power, or sexual talent to compensate."
Evalyn stared at him in confusion. "Then how the hell did she handle you?"
"The same reason you are." Kaze replied with a mocking smile.
She blushed and turned away bitterly. "Why can't I hate you?"
"Because I won't let you." He replied with a magnetic voice.
"I wish you would. But help me with this technique first." Evalyn grumbled.
Kaze smiled and swiped his finger in the air. "Paradox of Healing."
A warm feeling washed over Evalyn as his technique mended her torn muscle fibers like instant anabolic steroids.
Parts of her that she didn't think were discomforting became obvious once healed.
"What are you doing?" She asked in confusion.
"I'm bringing your body to the top condition." He replied, "That way, you can focus your energy on your meridians."
Evalyn moved around her arms and legs in disbelief. "Just how powerful are you?"
"When you wake up two days from now, you'll get an idea." Kaze replied with a smile.
"T-Two days?" She stuttered, "What about your clients?"
"Don't worry." He chuckled, "Two days is enough to make their offers skyrocket."
Evalyn gave him an amused grin. "Fair enough. I'm ready."
Kaze raised his right hand in a sphere of water materialized in his hand. When Evalyn saw it, she stared in shock. Not because she was surprised by his power but because she understood its relevance.
He waved his left hand, and the water sphere boiled and exploded into steam.
"Begin." Kaze said with a serious voice.
She closed her eyes and began cultivating. Her body illuminated in a crystal blue aura, and the grey Qi lines pulled to her in a blizzard flurry.
As the Qi interacted with the water, it turned white and pulled freezing water molecules to her body. Evalyn screamed in pain as her body instantly developed frostbite.
As soon as the maximum amount of Qi she could receive entered her body, golden light illuminated her meridians, thawing the ice and healing her skin.
The cultivation technique, Crystal Divinity, was meant for rare ice physiques. Evalyn's Frost Tempering Physique allowed Qi to turn water molecules into frost and temper her body simultaneously.
Body tempering makes people powerful. However, body tempering was dangerous, and giving her a divine grade technique that pulled more Qi to her meridians would instantly kill her without healing.
GIving Evalyn the technique was a testament to the extreme level of faith and respect that he had for her.
The healing and thawing process continued for eighteen hours, as Kaze promised. It was excruciating for both of them. freew(e)bnove(l)
…
Evelyn woke up feeling refreshed. She didn't know how much time had passed, but she was comfortable.
The blonde turned on her back to see what was happening and found a comforter printed with a strange anime girl on her. "W-Wait. Am I in his bed!?"
She turned her head to the other side with a mortified, blushing face. However, she didn't find Kaze next to her.
Her face filled with perplexion, and she immediately shot up to look for the man. When she did, her eyes widened in terror.
"Kaze!" Evelyn screamed while jumping out of the bed and rushing to his side. He was on the ground with black frostbite all over his body. His body was shivering uncontrollably.
"Talk to me!" She exclaimed breathlessly while deciding whether to touch him.
"Keep it down." Kaze laugh-scoffed, "I'm trying to sleep, woman."
He immediately started coughing and shivering.
"Kaze, this isn't a time to joke around!" Evelyn cried, "You're really hurt. You need to wake up and heal yourself."
Kaze laughed with a weak voice. "Do you think I wouldn't do that if I could?"
She froze in fear and disbelief, "Why can't you?"
"The Qi here is thin. We consumed all of it in a thirty-mile radius or more." He replied.
"You saw how competing forces consume Qi, did you not? Such are the consequences of divine techniques on the Mortal Plane."
"So what? You used the Qi to heal me as your body suffered?" Evalyn asked in disbelief.
"Of course I did." Kaze scoffed, "Do you think I'd lead a woman into death?"
Her eyes trembled at his words. "You could have at least let me share part of the burden. You could die right now!"
"Do you take me for a weak lamb?" He scoffed before coughing, "If I can't survive this much, I deserve to die."
"Don't joke about that!" She snapped in panic.
"I'm not joking. Now let me sleep so I can recover." He instructed in a weak voice.
"I'm not letting you die." Evalyn growled while pushing her arms under his body.
Kaze groaned in pain. "Put me down, woman!"
"No. You told me to shed my weakness, so don't complain." She snapped.
"Hah." Kaze coughed, wheezing in pain, "Fair enough."
Evalyn carried him to his bed and laid him down. After a moment of staring at him, she stripped her shirt and black leggings off without hesitation.
She then removed her pink cotton bra and matching set of fullback panties, symbols of her belief in practical simplicity.
Kaze had fallen unconscious before her slender body lay next to him, wrapped around his chest and legs, and he didn't wake up after.
Evalyn listened to his heartbeat diligently until the strong rhythm of resolve within guided her to sleep.
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