Walking Disasters and Me-A Day of Learning, Dinner with Jun Li – Ch 36
Akiko seems stunned by the whiplash of emotions from the sudden revelation that Ios gives her. Huh, so that's what it looks like to be on the receiving end of one of her truth bombs. Neat! I giggle at her befuddled expression before I ask what exactly that news even means, "So I get that once you get to the 6th Realm, you're like a god or something? Maybe demi-god? We haven't really talked about the realms past mortal stuff yet, so I'm just going off context clues really."
Akiko finally seems to come back from her daze as she shakes her head adorably a couple times making her long, white hair ripple behind her in waves as she locks back on to me saying, "No, dear Amelia, not quite. We will go over it more as you progress, simply because there is little need to truly worry about such powerful beings here on the surface of Mara, but suffice to say that once you begin advancing through the Immortal ranks, the scale of power truly is exponential. A fresh 6th Realm cultivator would easily squash any mortal or level a continent, but they are not truly a planetary threat until they start to understand their Domains and new form, which is the purpose of the 4 Ranks of that realm."
Seeing my confused look once again, she kindly takes a moment to side track her explanation with more explanations with an apologetic expression, "Ah, my apologies. A Domain is an evolution of an Intent, but both function on similar principles. You start building your Intents in the 5th Realm and they rank from levels 1 - 9 in strength, although some geniuses can produce them earlier, and they are essentially elements or focuses that resonate so strongly with your will and affinities that you can manifest the pure element of them in a space around you. For me, I have a level 9 Ice Intent, a level 5 Soul Intent, and a level 9 Lust Intent, however since I am restricted to the mortal realms for now I cannot progress those two stronger Intents into full Domains.
The Intents will deepen and gain higher levels as you increase your understanding of the element or facet of your being, and when you ascend to Immortality and begin to develop them into Domains they can become a powerful force multiplier in a battle. Domains can be continent spanning influences and effects driven by your will and nature subconsciously around you, and are one of the necessary things to understand in your progression through the 6th Realm like I had mentioned prior.
At any rate, once a 6th Realm has understood all of those lessons and the other parts of comprehending what it means to be Immortal, they advance to the 7th Realm and start crafting their Laws. A Law is a pure, reality defining effect that speaks so much to the core of its user that it bends the rules of the universe, and sometimes the Heavens, to enact the users will. Unlike Domains and Intents, a Law will simply
be
after it is enacted, and unless another 7th Realm or higher being is around to counteract the Law, the surrounding reality will conform to what has been spoken." Akiko finishes up by placing both her hands in her lap and looking quite pleased with her school lesson.
I struggle to enjoy the adorable display as all I can think is:
Well that's fucking terrifying.
I let the nervous fear fall onto my face as I swallow a hard lump in my throat as I prepare to inflict more pain upon myself, "Okay. Lot to process there. So if 7th Realms are able to bend the universe, then what the hell are 8th Realms out there doing??" The bit of panicky fear must be obvious in my tone, because Akiko reaches one of her tails around, and it can stretch just far enough to gently pat my head with the ice blue hued tip.
"Worry not my dear, higher ranked 6th Realms are far more dangerous and prevalent than any 7th or 8th Realm being. However, I do realize that is a poor reassurance in your mind, apologies again my dear~. But to answer your question, an 8th Realm being is what you thought originally. They are Gods, beings with complete rule and power over aspects of how the universe functions. Truthfully, not much is known of them aside from their existence and a few secret realms in higher Heavenly Layers than this one where former deities hide their legacies or some secret techniques.
Even less so for any being beyond this stage, as already an 8th Realm being nearly defies understanding and logic to the people below them. As such, it can only be theorized that a 9th Realm being is some kind of creature capable of handling the function, form, and creation of entire Heavenly Layers and universes. If what spirit Ios theorizes is true, then she is absolutely correct in saying that you indeed are a
fascinatingly
powerful soul, young Amelia~." Another bop of my head signals her giggle and end of her cultivator lore.
One of these days I'll not get stunned by all of this crazy information, I'll even mark the calendar when it happens! Make a holiday out of it! Sadly, today is not that day as even Akiko's gentle head pat ministrations can't bring me out of my stun locked expression. Ios thinks I used to be.. what? A god?? This is all... This is just too much.
I gentle fall backwards back on to the bed, my crimson hair fanning out behind me as I feel my new chest jiggle with the motion,
which is still an awesome feeling
~! Sadly, the still new sexiness doesn't help with the dazed expression as I stare up at the ceiling with my arms splayed out to my sides. My exacerbated voice fills the room as I call out to these two walking mental dive bombers, "You guys really need to let me have at least one freaking day of not having an existential crisis of some sort. You don't get a free sandwich or something by doing it 9 times in a row!!"
Ios instantly cracks up at my sad plea, her cheery high-pitched laugh filling the space around us. I lean my head up to see Akiko having an amused but slightly clueless expression, probably not
quite
understanding the joke, but knowing that I was being silly regardless. I sigh as I lean back up, as much as I want to I can't throw a fit all day, Akiko needs to go do
actual
work after all. With a slightly mopey tone, I begin the goodbyes of the morning visit, "Well, I guess its just one more thing to put on the list of shit to process now... Thanks for the lesson Akiko, as always. I don't want to keep you longer if you need to go, much as I always enjoy being around you."
It warms my heart a bit to see her also adopt a slightly melancholic set to her features - ears slightly down, tails drooping a tad, shoulders slumped - as she gives a kind smile and nods her head, "Indeed, my dear Amelia, much as I do not want to leave your side as well, I must be off soon. Before I depart, here." She hops up to the table and then produces a few books and scrolls of paper onto the table in the center of my room. "The bound tomes here are mostly introductions to the languages and scripts used widely on this continent that we give to people who are learning to become literate, without the tomes for Common since you seem to know that language already. With spirit Ios' help, you should find no issue becoming fluent in the others before long~.
I have also included this," She says as she taps the cover of a paper scroll that looks like it would fit perfectly in your hands, with two small jade looking rocks affixed to the ends of the wooden rod holding the paper, "for your initial studies. It contains all of the foundational level inscriptions and glyphs that I have learned over my many years of practicing the profession. Simply use some Qi on the jade slip and the information will appear. Watch."
I feel her move some energy around and then into the jade slip, apparently, as she unfurls it just enough so that her hands are shoulder width apart. When she motions to me with her tails to come closer, I peak around her arms, my head hovering slightly above her well endowed chest which makes me blush slightly, and I can see that a bunch of green letters and symbols appear directly above the paper! She shows me how to simply use your mind or eyes to scroll through the text, almost like some kind of reactive VR display, and then sets the little scroll down before motioning to the much bigger scrolls to the side.
"Those last few parchments are nearly all of the Village's information regarding souls that I have either copied in pursuit of aiding the Sect Leader, or compiled yesterday for you specifically. Truthfully, I know not if anything will be of use to you, but I will always stand by my promise to aid you and your sister in her healing journey, and that includes providing you with whatever knowledge I can." She reaches over to stroke the side of my head with her hand this time before giving me a small hug, her tails doing their usual cocoon that I so thoroughly enjoy as I hug her back and enjoy her pleasant scent and warmth all around me.
"Jun Li will be here to attend to anything that you may need, and I have instructed her to stop by on occasion these next few days as you have yet to get used to meditating and can easily let the time slip by you. I should only be gone for three days at the most, but if something happens to change that schedule, I will send word back to let both of you and spirit Ios know. Study and rest, my dear, and we shall discuss things and begin your training in earnest when I return." She grips me a little tighter which makes me give out a small
squeak
and elicits a few more giggles from the cheeky foxy woman.
As we separate, I see she has a playful smirk on her face as she holds my hands between us. I give her hands a gentle squeeze as I respond to her kind, thoughtful words, "Thank you Akiko, if anything comes up I'll ask Jun Li and Ios for help, don't worry. I hope everything goes smoothly for you out there and that you come back to me -
home!
- come back
home
fast!" My cheeks flare up at my slip of the tounge, but I power on like a trooper and don't try to run and hide from the embarrassment this time, even if I do still lower my head down a bit in shame. I feel one of her tails move under my chin and gently raise my view back up to hers.
Her playful grin is still there, but there is mostly kindness to her eyes as she says, "I hope for that as well, my darling Amelia~. I shall see you soon. Be good~!" And with that, she uses that same tail to tickle my nose and face like a cute fluffy troll and then skips back to the door, sliding it open and stepping past the barrier separating the spaces before turning back to Ios and me. With a flirty wink, she quickly and silently shuts the sliding door, and is off on her mission just like that.
The feeling of emptiness that washes down through me after watching the door slide closed makes me let out a melancholic sigh. I really am down bad for that woman, I hope I don't scare her off with my mental issues... Although they seem to be more manageable now, I'm a little scared about what might manifest if we... if we do get together. That thought alone is enough to banish the longing ache that shouldn't even be there yet as a floaty sense of happiness fills me. After basking in the new feeling for a few seconds, I eventually reach a middle ground as the ache at missing Akiko returns to do a wonderful ballet with the hopeful joy inside my mind.
I let out a sigh, seems like my mental state is always going to be a little fucky, but I'll take this over being numb or broken any day of the week. I make my way over to the table to look over the first books that Akiko pointed out, inspecting the spines and feel of the leather bound covers. There is a title, of course, but ironically and obviously I can't read it yet, and as I flip open the front I notice that it is a more adult styled picture book, showing various symbols above objects that would be recognizable to anyone who lives here. Sadly, I am not one of those people either.
With a groan I plop my forehead down on the table dramatically. Oh well, nothing else has been easy so far, why not just keep the trend going?... Alright, c'mon Aims, pull it together girl. Akiko's been gone for like, 5 minutes we can't wallow around so quickly! I move to lay my head flat on the table and decide to rally the forces, "Ios, can you please help me with this? I think Akiko forgot I wouldn't know what half of these pictures even are or are supposed to sound like when spoken."
Ios chirpily laughs into one of her hands before singing out to me, "Of course hun~ I was wondering how long you were going to mope around before asking me~! Honestly, you did a lot better than I thought, I was thinking you'd for sure have another 15-30 of melodrama before locking in again. Here, I'll provide earth based examples of what those pictures mean in a flash card format and then we can work on sounding out the words and practicing how to write them. Alright, so that first one is essentially an..."
And with that, Ios and I spent the majority of the day studying away in companionable teamwork. I took a break a few times to meditate when I would get frustrated with some words, especially trying to get used to the flowing, always connected script they use. Its like all the eastern languages plus cursive tied into one weird amalgamation! Thankfully,
[Advanced Learning]
basically gets power leveled with all this hard core book grinding I'm doing, and by the time Jun Li gently knocks on the door to deliver dinner it has already jumped to level 8.
I quickly hop off my bed where I had moved to be more comfortable while Ios and I practice, my feet lightly bouncing across the floor as I joyfully review my progress so far. I'm far from fluent, but Ios is needing to correct me less and less as I read whole sentences and can even have a few long conversations with her now~. This system really is OP!
I open the sliding door to take in the sexy black haired fox woman again, previous trepidation about her murdery tendencies slowly ebbing away from me as I get more used to her presence, "Hello Jun Li~! It's nice to see you again!" I say in mostly fluid cadence of the true local language here, which is called Zerian I found out!
Her eyes, which are both visible tonight as she has her onyx hair pulled behind her ears now, sparkle in delight as she regards me. She is wearing another similar but different relaxed white robe, her arms laden with a fresh tray of food for two this time. "Oh my~! To think you already are this far along with the local tongue Miss Amelia~! The Madam will be thrilled by your progress, I have no doubt! Congratulations!." Thankfully she speaks slowly, her flowing gentle voice making it easy to understand her as she replies in Zerian as well.
Before I embarrass myself by showing just how much further I have to go with it, I switch back to Common, or what I call English which is weird, while rubbing the back of my head and making way for the voluptuous fox woman to enter the room, "Hehe~ Thank you! Ios and I have been working hard at it all day. Sad to say I'm far from fluent, but I've been making really good progress! Oh that smells so good, what did Gerra make before she headed out with Akiko and Samantha?"
As she passes me by and begins to head to the table, one of her raven colored tails gently bops my head while she turns back to side eye me mid gait, "None of that Miss Amelia! You are indeed working hard, and anyone else would surely not have come as far as you have already. Do not be embarrassed by only being
vastly
more talented than the rest of us~. Hello to you as well spirit Ios" She says with a small smirk on her soft, round face before she continues as she sets the tray down fully and gives her greeting to Ios who simply bows back and smiles. Jun Li adds on, "As for the meal, it is something I have prepared for us, if you would like a break from your studious efforts to share some time with me?"
She phrases it like a question, and I can tell that if I decline she would be understanding, but even more than that I can tell she wants me to say yes by the slightly pleading look in her eyes. Huh, I guess I didn't think that she may also be feeling a tad lonely without all the other girls here. Surely they must have times that they're all alone or separated, but maybe miss J here is like me. A little bit, just a smidge, co-dependent and clingy.
With a gentle smile of my own, I slide into a chair next to the placed food and motion for her to sit as well as my low voice comes out to give a soft reply, "I'd be delighted to have dinner with you Jun Li, and thank you for cooking it! Want to go over what you labored on so kindly for us this evening?" I finish with my elbow resting on top of the table, my face leaning on the hand.
I see her three tails go into overdrive as her face lights up in relief and joy, her hands clapped together in front of her chest which threatens to spill out of her comfortable robe. "Wonderful~ Thank you for accepting my offer, Miss Amelia. It is quite lonely in the estate on my own, and sadly I cannot seclude myself to my projects while I am tasked with overseeing matters and safety here, as well as being available for yourself until the Madam and the others return!" Well, shit. That makes me feel bad! I didn't know she was just... hanging out by herself all day!!
She continues on while I'm beginning to beat myself up for something I didn't know was happening in true Aims fashion, "For dinner tonight I baked us some Dreroth breasts with various herbs and spices over some white grains and I used the bones from them to make a small broth soup to dip some of Gerra's leftover Village Bread into. For dessert, I picked out some nice, naturally sweet assorted fruits and glazed them in a bit of sugar~. I also brought some wine for us to enjoy, but I recommend you let me portion that for you, as anything that can get a 5th realm like myself intoxicated will be quite potent to someone of your rank."
I nod along to her words, the increasing saliva and hunger as I stare at the delightful meal in front of me clouding my mind. The Dreroth is apparently a chicken analog, and the meat is browned and garnished to perfection, while the soup smells divine and has warm steam still rising from the stone bowl of its container. The fruits also look scrumptious, and I see things that look similar to apple slices, blueberries, and bananas in the mix of it. My stomach growls in anticipation, and I realize that I don't think I ate since Jun Li stopped by last time... I turn back to her to give her my reassurance about the wine business, "That's fine Jun Li, whatever you think is best. I trust you! This all looks and smells amazing by the way! I guess all of you are master chefs huh~!"
Jun Li's hiccuping laugh comes through as she pours us both a glass of wine to go with the meal, with mine being very noticeably smaller in volume as she replies, "Thank you Miss Amelia~! Truthfully, we all are decent at the art, but only Gerra has mastered spiritual cooking. What Samantha, I, or the Madam can create is still quite good, in my opinion, but lacking in the additional benefits that one would gain from eating Gerra's creations. Regardless, you are very sweet to think so highly of my attempts. Now! Let us enjoy the meal and then we can converse for a while, if you would like to."
And we do just that. I try my best to be refined, taking cues from how Jun Li is eating and her pacing, but eventually the hunger wins out over her placid manners and my plate soon stands barren and defeated. I lay back in the chair in delight, I don't know what she is talking about, her cooking is right up there with Gerra's! Sure, it's not
quite
the same, but it was wonderful nonetheless! Good to know I'm not going to starve if Gerra is ever gone for more than a day~!
As I'm basking in my food coma afterglow, I eventually start to perk up after I hear a faint shutter sound, like a camera app from back home. Curious, I regretfully open my eyes to investigate, thinking maybe Ios is fucking with me but her projection hasn't been on since Jun Li and I sat down for dinner. I figure I must have just heard the house settle, so to speak, and then turn to Jun Li again who has her usual, gentle look upon her face as she regards me. I do get a little curious at the amount of tail wagging that she is displaying however...
I decide to let my suspicions slide for now, thinking back to how the poor girl has probably been bored and lonely all day. "Hey, Jun Li. I didn't realize that you were just kind of... wandering about the estate while the girls are away. If you want, why don't we have breakfast tomorrow and you can stay and help me with some of my lessons that Ios and I are going over? Unless you have house duties or something to attend to?"
I think she is about to lift off into space with the speed and force of her tails after I get done asking her to hang out, her ruby red eyes opening slightly as she
for sure
lets out a soft squee of excitement. "Yes! That would be most delightful Miss Amelia! Thank you for the offer, and I look forward to spending time with you and helping you in your studies!" With a sudden burst of manic energy, she hops out of the chair and begins plating everything back on the tray as she looks to me and says, "Oh, I didn't realize the hour is this late already, we simply
must
get you to bed! That way we can spend the day together faste-
*Ahem*
that way you can get your much needed rest, like the Madam has been saying!"
She nods her head sagely a few times, her jet black locks falling away from her ears to partially cover the side of her face again in such a cute, adorable display that makes me not even mad at being tucked in early. Because that is exactly what she does as she is rambling on, and before I know it I am laying in bed, comfy and cozy, while Jun Li is standing at the door with the now empty plates and used utensils on the tray she carried in earlier.
"Sweet dreams Miss Amelia~! I will be by on the morrow to fetch you, maybe we can even make breakfast together! Oh what
fun!
Rest well~!" And with a final happy, stuttering giggle, she slides the door closed and leaves the room like a whirlwind of happy energy. I lay in my bed, Ios' laughter echoing through me as she delights in my stunned expression and the situation that just happened no doubt, as a thought comes to my mind clear as day:
Fuck, I think I'm falling for her
to
o!
A Day of Learning, Dinner with Jun Li – Ch 36
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