“Bye, kid.” Malakar said as he nodded in my direction.
The old dude who was the first primordial I talked to in my entire life decided to find me just when I was about to depart.
“Don’t bring shame to your race.” Dragnar commanded.
“Remember, it’s okay to run away, and if the situation demands, you can get on your knees or even spread your legs! It’s not gay if your life depends on it.” Karl left me with his very valuable wisdom. He was promptly beheaded by the giant berserker, but none of us even blinked at the abrupt development.
He would heal soon enough and if not… that was fine too.
Both of my hands were occupied by my mothers, who were clutching at me, refusing to let go. Their eyes were teary with sorrow.
While the past week was about me getting over my mental trauma, I had a strong suspicion that letting these two pamper me in whichever and whatever way they preferred resulted in an incredible healing in their lonely hearts as well, so we all benefited heavily from this abrupt but sweet ‘mothers and their son’ relationship.
After all, before I came, they spent an harrowing amount of years imprisoned in this place without the ability to act motherly, which was at the core of their very being.
“Mothers… I will come back soon enough. A couple months, perhaps a year at most.” I said while quipping their hips in my hands and pulling them into me for a firm hug, letting me feel their extremely generous curves mashing up against my body.
“… Waaaa!!”
Mearie went from muted sobbing to full-blown wailing as she began nuzzling her teary face into my chest.
“You have to level up as soon as possible!!!” Lumi commanded adorably.
“Don’t rush the kid, you two. You already waited millions of years, what’s one more? Think of this instead; the next time he comes back he’ll be able to stay longer due to him acclimating to the divinity in the air to a deeper degree.” Malakar’s wise words managed to calm the rampant emotions ever so slightly. “In the meantime you can knit him a sweater or something.”
His impromptu idea instantly sparked their imagination. “A scarf!” Mearie shouted excitedly.
“Socks…” The busty elf decided on her first creation being the fabric protecting the feet. As the mother of all long-eared species, she entirely refused to wear socks, but she fully embraced her son being a human primordial, so she knew his needs were different from hers.
“I can’t wait to see what you two make for me.” I added just to ascertain the idea in their minds that I was not only eager to come back, but also heavily anticipating to see what presents they would make for me. I hoped that this would let them be occupied with knitting instead of depressedly awaiting my return.
“”Okay!!!””
And with that, I let go of them and they very reluctantly repeated my motions, after which they took a few steps back.
“Give them hell!” Dragnar shouted boisterously.
“I will see you, mothers and seniors, in a bit. Thanks for everything!”
I only needed to think inwardly for the status screen to appear. There, I could see the option to return. I clicked on it with my mind, and the world of white welcomed me for a brief second before I was back exactly where I initiated the Rank-Up mission.
Selene was aiming at me, with her spell already being in mid-cast, meaning I had no time to dodge or cast a counter. It was time to tank.
From the corner of my eye I also saw Seraphiel being in mid-turn as she acted on my order which was to shoot the fire witch down should she act out, but sadly my healer was too late since Selene smartly chose the moment when the elf was busy casting a healing spell.
“[Infernal Onslaught]!” She shouted with a smug, cruel grin adorning her lips. I just displayed the otherworldly feat of being able to cast saber-oriented spells besides my mage ones, making my threat level towards her continued safety skyrocket, so she decided to put me down with a potent backstab before I could bare my fangs at her instead of the members of the Phantom League.
The flaming torrent shot at me and before I could step out of its path I was already hit.
‘Don’t you dare inhale the smoke, Quinlan!’
I reminded myself as spell enveloped my entire form.
My armor was strong but at the end of the day it was just a regular Rare rarity piece, nothing to write home about. It defended her spell for a second or so just before it was caught on fire, making my skin heat up, causing me crippling pain.
Or that’s how it logically should’ve been.
Iris was burned by her cruel father numerous times over the years she spent in captivity, after which she would be healed just for the process to repeat itself. Naturally, I was not immune to flames or burn damage. However, even as my skin was in the midst of being burned off of my body, I only flinched for a second before straightening my spine.
What I gained from Iris and the Soul Records was not some abstract, game-like phenomenon such as ‘damage resistance’. No, what I gained was much primal, much more… normal; ‘pain tolerance’. If the teen Iris had suffered even a third of my current injuries she would’ve long since died, that’s an objective fact.
However, when I was in the simulation, I was the occupant of her fragile, level 1 body. A slap that the current me wouldn’t even feel gave the young Iris a concussion. Being in such a weak vessel allowed me to train for any sort of physical pain my strong primordial body might be assaulted with, which in turn gave me the ability to brush off most injuries that previously would’ve seen my fighting capacity dwindle to a great degree if not make me outright incapacitated.
“[Bubble Snare]” I cast the spell which formed a giant water bubble meant to entrap my enemies in. This time, though, I used it differently than in previous occasions as I calmly stepped into it. It was time to take a bath in the cold water.
“What the?!” Selene screamed just before Seraphiel’s Arcane Arrow hit her squarely in the head, but something – probably a defensive artifact – must’ve activated since she was left without a single injury, let alone a gaping hole in her skull.
However, she clearly understood that the clock was ticking, especially since my devoted Blossom had already disappeared from the enemy lines and was in the middle of ferociously lunging through the air in order to maul the fire mage to her death. “[Infernal Boost]” she hurriedly cast her spell which saw her feet catch on fire, though not in a harmful way. Instead, they acted as if they were boosters for a spacecraft about to launch off of Earth.
In the next moment she was already in the sky, flying towards Cedric to pick him up and escape.