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When I woke up, I found Benladann at my side.
"Ahh… D-Drake!"
She jumped over me and hugged me tightly.
She was crying over my chest.
"W-We are back…" I sighed in relief.
"Yeah… It was so weird, and scary! Who was that!? It can't be venerable of dreams, she was dead, right? And what are the odds of us meeting her from all things?" she asked.
"Well, it's a long story…"
I dedicated a bit of time to explain to Benladann who was that fox woman and what was going on now.
It was a bit complicated to explain this to her… But I managed to get out everything. From my first meeting with her, to how I completed her dream and got a mana core of her element, and all of that.
"Oh right! You were asleep for like four days…" sighed Benladann.
"F-Four days?!"
"And yeah, now I kind of understand it better… that woman is evil! She wasn't a Demon Venerable for nothing! She might try to capture us again… S-She wants to use me because I have chaos in my soul… I-I don't want to be a test subject again… I don't…" cried Benladann.
"I will never let anyone take you away from me… And I won't let anyone use you… We'll get through all of this together… I promise." I said as I held Benladann's tightly.
"Drake… I missed you… Why did you sacrifice so much of your soul to heal mine?" asked Benladann.
"I had to, you're… You're my wife, and the child inside of you… I couldn't possibly let you two end up even more weakened. If I failed to create the membrane, it would have broken, and your soul would have continued to worsen. I miscalculated the quantity… But it wasn't much of a problem to use a bit of my soul if it is for you… For you and the baby… I am willing to give my life, Benladann… I don't regret what I did."
"D-Drake… Sniff… But don't do that again! I don't want you to sacrifice yourself… I want you to stay with me… I-I don't know what would I even do if I were to lose you, you know? I don't even know… Sniff… What I would become…"
"Ah… My precious little treasure… I love you more than anything… Don't worry, we are together now."
"I love you too… you're also my most precious treasure…"
Benladann kissed me as she moved her lips closer to mine, it was a warm kiss filled with emotions.
We looked at each other's eyes, as we hugged tightly.
I began to conjure dream attribute magic.
I knew this spell should work to guard off against dreams that can abduct a soul. It is a simple spell, but it is still of a pretty high cost, but as long as I activate it, it should work.
"Dream Guard."
I spent approximately 90k Mana to make it, it was costly, and it left me with almost no mana, it began to recover though, slowly.
FLASH!
Pink colors coated Benladann's soul, as a rune emerged within her soul.
"Eh? What is this?" she asked.
"A Dream Guard, it will fend off bad dreams, and it can also help you not be abducted by malicious dreams or those that want to take you away from other dreams…" I said.
"A-Amazing, you can use dream magic now… She really made a mistake by gifting you such a power!" said Benladann.
"Indeed. She didn't know we were related until later."
We rested over the bed while I waited for my Mana to refill. She told me about how she fed my soul with soul sprinkle, how she developed some new soul abilities similar to mine, and more.
It seems that fusing my soul piece into her made her capable of develop powers I have but adjusted to her own. Although it is still yet to awaken, I think that by doing that, I've given even more potential to my beloved Benladann.
"I missed you so much… I want to stay like this forever, with you and nothing else…" she sighed.
"We'll be together, don't worry. But we cannot slack off yet… This incident only gave me more drive to grow stronger and find ways to do so. I've been doing a lot of investigation. Although some clones fused back with me, the ones in my underground laboratory are still working diligently, what I will develop could revolutionize the world, but it will be only something for our own Sect!" I said.
"Oh? W-What is it?" asked Benladann.
"Cultivation Potions!"
"Eh?!"
"Cultivation Potions, special potions that will increase cultivation slowly by drinking them while also cultivating normally through Group Cultivation. They're very special, you see! It will be similar to my ability to eat Mana Cores, after eating many of the same rank or lower, my abilities are enhanced, and my cultivation increases. So, Rank 1 in her will has to drink a dozen of these potions while working hard in group cultivation and in some days, they'll be able to break through into higher ranks!" I said.
"T-That's too broken!" said Benladann.
"That's the power of Alchemy!" I said while laughing.
Indeed, although it won't be as fast as my own ability, these potions could hasten the cultivation of everyone a lot. Of course, they will only work for potions of the same rank as the user, and possibly of the same stage, but lower stages can work. Of course, someone at Rank 2 will only be able to get a boost by drinking Rank 2, and someone at Rank 3 will require Rank 3 potions, and so on… Due to that, the demand for more mana cores has increased a lot.
"We should go down to tell everyone you're back!" said Benladann.
"Indeed, let's go, I am quite hungry myself… I feel like my stomach has been eating itself." I sighed.
"E-Eh? That's gross…" said Benladann.
<Alert: Your stomach will begin self-digestion in 10 minutes.>
What?! System? Is this true?
<Answer: No, I was joking.>
O-Oh…
<I am glad you're back, Drake>
Thanks, glad to have you at my side too.
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