Their wagon veered onto a side route leading to the temple's rear. It halted just fifty meters from the main building in front of a two-story house nestled amidst the temple grounds' sprawling greenery.
"We're home, Nero," Rafaella announced, taking her handbag in her left hand and jumping off the wagon with practiced ease.
Nero followed suit and stretched his stiff limbs after the day's journey. His gaze then drifted across, eager to inspect where he would spend his time.
The first thing he noticed was the drop in temperature within the temple grounds. Although the village was cold, a misty chill hung over this place making it feel especially frigid.
The nearest civilian house was at quite far away, so the giant piece of land exuded an eerie isolation. The house, constructed from polished black stone, loomed with an imposing solemnity in stark contrast to the intricate wooden homes scattered throughout the village.
His eyes wandered to Alvin, who was appreciatively patting the Taurus's flank before unhitching the beast from the wagon. Then, he guided the beast toward what appeared to be a cattle shed further down the estate.
Right then, Rafaella walked ahead, and Nero, as if bewitched, pushed aside all other inspections and concentrated only on her.
She wore an austere, full-length leafy gown with an embellished girdle fastened to her waist. The dress clung to her body, perfectly highlighting her curves.
As his eyes drifted down, her voluptuous ass gently swaying in the light green ankle-length gown got his attention. He felt himself getting hypnotized and stirring with forbidden desires just by gazing at them.
He suddenly realized that his gaze at Rafaella now differed from how he had gazed at her.
The couple used to come to Agroville after assuming the position here when they were not caught between their kids and work. Back then, he used to cling to the hem of her dress as a boy, calling her "Big Sis" and basking in her kind attention.
But those innocent days now felt a lifetime away.
When his memories of other life started surfacing, he put everyone except Granny at a distance. Not intentionally to hurt anyone, but just scared of people mistaking him to be possessed and start burning him in a pyre.
He was still not confident what people would choose between believing in his memories of a different world called 'earth' or calculating how much holy water is required to purify his corpse.
Granny had coaxed him out of his turtle shell and helped him recognize that his decision to stonewall others would come off as suspicious, just as much as it would be detrimental to his development. But the damage was already done, and his behavior drove off everyone. Rafaella was a person among them.
And now he couldn't return to being the innocent boy who clung to the hem of her dress. No, he was long gone replaced by a man who had tasted the pleasures of a woman's body. Now, every fleeting moment he missed that taste, a dark urge to devour this woman was gnawing at him.
Rafaella, on reaching the house, paused at the threshold and called out to him in a polite tone, "Don't dawdle, come inside, Nero."
Startled, he snapped out of his crazy thoughts and averted his gaze just in time.
"Admiring the craftsmanship. You don't see this kind of work in Agroville." He spoke, plastering a half-smile while casually walking towards the glamorous wife.
"You'll have plenty of time to admire it from now on." She said nonchalantly, mimicking his casual tone.
Nero nodded with a grin and followed Rafaella as she pushed open the heavy wooden door.
The moment he stepped inside, a faint scent of lavender curled around him, subtle yet deliberate, mixing with the cool air of the house. He placed his bag down in the entryway, his gaze roaming across the interior.
The estate's grandeur was undeniable. The polished black stone walls contrasted with spotless crimson rugs in geometric patterns. An ornate chandelier hung overhead, illuminating the room in a soft, warm glow that eliminated every shadow. Along the walls, paintings and sparkling decorations lined the space, some fitting seamlessly into the noble aesthetic, while others stood out with an almost bizarre mismatch.
Catching his inquisitive look, Rafaella spoke, "The first group of clergy assigned to Crafts Wood was from the nobility, and this estate was built to their tastes. Even though servants of the Goddess from all walks of life later came to serve here, they maintained the original style. Some left their touches before moving on, but the foundation has remained unchanged."
"There's a beauty in it," Nero replied, offering a polite nod. "Unique compared to the village's style."
As his eyes wandered further, they landed on a peculiar device mounted on a sleek, metallic stand.
A communication device.
Unlike the rudimentary communication devices used within cities or local settlements, this one stood as a lantern of hope. It was directly linked between Crafts Wood, the three neighboring villages, the city, and Alvin, the Guardian patrolling between them.
The Temple had to pay quite a sum to install such equipment in this remote area because most communication devices only work smoothly within the confines of a local zone, like a city or a village like this one.
Communication between settlements was notoriously unreliable.
Setting up stable connections required intermediary relay points, which were frequently threatened by wandering beasts and awful weather conditions. Fluctuating mana disturbances could also scramble signals, turning transmissions into garbled nonsense.
To counteract these limitations, the authorities had structured communication in selective nodes rather than a fully interconnected system.
For example, Crafts Wood acted as a regional hub, relaying messages between its sister villages, the nearest city, and Alvin when he patrolled out of the village. In an emergency where a beast tide or monster attack, a rogue Ascender, or an anomaly is detected by Alvin or the other village heads, they would send a distress signal here. The receiver would then relay the message to the city for reinforcements or take appropriate actions.
Of course, this wasn't great. The transmission capability between these dedicated channels was still pathetic. That's why the temple would dispatch guardians from the cities to have routine checkups at intervals to ensure everything was working properly while collecting things.
In these parts, it was still more reliable to get information from other settlements by letters, trading caravans, or from adventurers who passed by once in a blue moon.
Well, he had heard that the authorities were pumping absurd amounts of money into advancing these devices and making them widespread. So maybe things will get better in the coming years.
"Granny still refuses to get one, doesn't she?" Rafaella, watching him stare with curiosity, asked with amusement laced in her voice
Hearing her question, Nero felt embarrassed.
As someone who remembered the digital age, he was always fascinated by such devices, and each advancement would hype him up, but his old fossil was exactly the opposite. She had a million things to complain about regarding communication devices.
'They will never replace the sacredness of writing a letter!'
'When you write, you think deeply and put emotion in every word you scribble down. Why? Because you cherish every letter since it might take weeks, even months, to reach your loved one and receive a response.'
'People used to be careful before they speak and used to care for their conversation partner. Look at them now, already glued to these things like dogs on a leash! When you speak to someone face to face, you listen patiently and respectfully. But these? These things make them careless, blabbering without thought, without weight. They can't read body language in person, they can't listen, and they can't even speak properly face-to-face anymore! Just you wait, soon they'll lose the ability to hold a proper conversation in public!'
'Blah, blah, blah.'
Nero rubbed his temple at the memory.
"Yeah, let's just say she believes letter-writing will never be replaced, and these devices would wipe out the human ability to hold a real conversation," he repeated wryly.
"At least, she is consistent in her ways," Rafaella said with a chuckle and picked up his bag with the left hand already holding onto her handbag. She said as she climbed the stairs before him. "Follow me. Your room is upstairs."
Nero wanted to take it from her, but before he could, she turned and started climbing the wooden staircase, leaving him with no choice but to follow.
The old wooden stairs creaked beneath their weight as she continued, "Don't think of this place as some ancient, run-down estate. The past residents, seniors who once served here, preserved everything, from simple flower patches to rare trees anyone planted. Since this piece of land belongs to 'Her', her presence ensures everything thrives."
Her voice carried a hint of pride. "If you explore the estate properly, you'll find everything. Rare fruits bearing plants, medicinal herbs, poisonous flora, even something valuable enough to sell in the square. There's even a pond—"
But Nero wasn't listening anymore.
His mind had drifted elsewhere.
Specifically, onto the swaying figure just inches ahead of him.
Her tunic, though modest, clung in just the right places. With every step, the fabric shifted, subtly emphasizing her curvy butt beneath. The faint jingle of silver anklets accompanied her movements, adding a soft rhythm that further fixated his attention.
The outline of her panties that were subtly visible beneath the light green tunic helped him confirm she wasn't wearing her chemise inside. That got his blood rushing because he only remembered seeing that juicy ass behind her thick, modest clothing when she visited Agroville occasionally.
Damn.
Somewhere, deep inside, he knew this was not how he should be looking at her.
Not at the woman he once called Big Sis.
Not at the woman who had once ruffled his hair and cradled him with warmth.
But that only added to the forbidden thrill.
The more looked, the more he found himself locked onto her curvy ass, swaying hypnotically in the light green tunic. It felt as if those soft peaches were teasing him with each step she took.
Seeing them this close made his throat dry and his mouth water. He had a deep urge to stuff his face in that softness and sniff it out. Something snapped in him and he gave in to the impulse.
Without thinking, his body moved.
Leaning in, he inhaled.
A deep, silent sniff.
Lavender. Sweet. Warm.
A scent that made his mouth water.
And then—
"NERO!"
He barely had time to register what had happened before he saw her head snap around, eyes burning with murderous rage.
Shit.
When the impact of what he had done and that she had also caught him settled in, he felt like vaporizing into thin air.
"I—uh—" Nero scrambled for an excuse, but before anything intelligible left his lips, she shut him down.
"Walk in the front!" she barked, pressing herself against the wall to let him pass.
"Y-yes," Hearing her words dripping with intensity, he gulped and obeyed without protest.
Unfortunately, his luck seemed to have gone down the drain.
As he hurried past, the narrow staircase betrayed him. His elbow unintentionally brushed at her bulging tits in that cramped space.
His heart froze.
It was a fatal mistake, but he desperately hoped she would recognize that as an accidental mishap.
"Degenerate."
Hearing her hissing with venom, Nero crumbled like a house of cards in shame. Humiliated, he dragged himself up the rest of the steps, like a guilty heretic who sold his humanity to the evil god's temptation.
There were two rooms opposite each other and a balcony on the second floor. He just wanted to know which one was his so he could enter inside and end himself in there.
"The room on the left," Rafaella spoke as she walked into the room. "I already cleaned it. The cupboard should be enough for your things. There's a futon in the closet. Lay it out if you want to rest. Don't come downstairs until I call you for you."
Nero nodded at her outburst while gluing his eyes on the polished floor, feeling like a complete failure.
Finished saying her piece, she left the room, her angry strides down the stairs echoing in the hall.
Only then did Nero even let out a sigh.
Slumping onto the futon, he gazed at the ceiling.
Today's events had shattered his previous record for humiliation.
This was worse than the time Sharron caught me with that ero book.
He couldn't stop berating himself and regretting the moment he decided to sniff her curvy ass.
Yet, despite the shame burning inside him, the image of Rafaella refused to leave his mind. The mesmerizing sway of her hips, the curve of her ass, and the faint outline of her panties. Just the thought of it made his mouth water.
He could feel his dick bulging hard in his pants for a release, but he chose to ignore it and focus on his current state.
The dark desires within him had been heightened in recent months, making it hard to have control over his impulses, and Nero knew exactly what was behind it.
His Incubi bloodline.
He focused on his tattoo, opening the hologram and studying it.
————————————————————————
Name: Nero Orias Lilin
Affinity: Life
Job: Alchemist
SP: 201
Charm demon (25%)
————————————————————————-
Stare at the abyss, and the abyss stares back at you.
The more he embraced and honed his demonic bloodline, the stronger it became, granting him more of its power. However, it wasn't a one-sided exchange. As he molded himself to fit the Incubi bloodline, it also shaped him personally. The more he progressed, the more extreme these changes became.
Even if these were all within his expectations, he still couldn't stop himself from lamenting over it. The only silver lining was he wasn't aiming to be a full-blown Incubus, and these were all temporary misfortunes until he learned to have control over them. He still hadn't given up on his idea of becoming a dual-path Ascender. Nero knew it was possible with his talent, the resources available, and most importantly, because he was a human.
The Charm Demon path would serve as his support path in the future, but until he finds a combat-oriented primary path that doesn't conflict with it, his Incubi powers will be his bread and butter. So he had to continue advancing his bloodline, regardless of consequences, to make his incubi prowess more potent. And now he was ready to take the next step.
Nero assumed a lotus position on the futon, propping up the Ascension technique panel.
————————————————————————-
[Baron of Corruption]-200SP
[Bone-Flesh Scholar]-200SP
[Frenzied Butcher]-200SP
[Blood fiend]-200SP
[Spirit Devourer]-200SP
————————————————————————-
Among the techniques listed, he could only determine that the "Baron of Corruption" was meant for the Charm demon path because of the subtle pull he felt from the Incubi senses towards it and taking a hint from the technique's name, exactly the word corruption.
He knew that the rest of these techniques had a chance to be combat-oriented, but Nero couldn't bring himself to take a gamble on them yet.
For example, the 'Frenzied Butcher' technique practically screamed combat, but he wasn't sure if his life affinity, bloodline, or alchemist job would synergize. It would be worse if any of them conflicted with each other.
There was also the question of whether the required resources were hard to obtain or if practicing the technique was impossible under the current circumstances.
What was he supposed to do if the technique required him to kill everyone around him like a lunatic? It was hard to do that in the Crafts Wood village, and he would end up with an Ascension technique that was useless to him.
Starting over from scratch to gain 200 SP would be too grueling so it was best to stick with the Charm demon's path. This way, he could gain SP faster by focusing on awakening more of his bloodline rather than killing creatures, allowing him time to practice alchemy and healing skills.
Nero knew that advancing his bloodline progression or practicing the 'Baron of Corruption' technique would give him some combat ability, even if they weren't strong battle skills.
His current plan was to get admitted to an academy displaying his healing and alchemy skills, join a squad, and start monster hunting as early as possible to grind more SP. He would buy the remaining Ascension techniques individually to see which suited him best.
Things would be different in an academy. Most types of resources wouldn't be that hard to get as long as he demonstrated potential or had enough money to buy them from sellers in the city. There would be plenty of room to practice an eccentric Ascension technique and pull off crazy stunts in the city compared to this village under Alvin and Rafaella.
If an Ascension technique proved unsuitable, he could sell it off to the highest bidder and start grinding SP for another one.
In the city, he could hunt for monsters and women without hindrance, so earning SP shouldn't be a problem.
Nero lost himself fantasizing about teachers and fellow students but promptly redirected his focus to the panel.
Taking a deep breath, he willed himself to get the Ascension technique and soon felt a rush of information flooding his mind. Remaining seated in the lotus position, he exhaled deeply, sifting through the layers of knowledge.
Phew… that was something. Is it bad or good that my guess is accurate?
The central motto of the Charm demon path was simply to ascend by wielding others. Whether through charisma, seduction, or manipulation, the practitioner thrived on reshaping desires, beliefs, and willpower to suit their needs. But the 'Baron of Corruption', as he guessed, elevated this to something far more insidious.
Corruption was the keystone.
The Ascension technique requires the practitioner to twist emotions and thoughts and use their desires to benefit from them. It was about corrupting the fundamental values of other people and leading them by hand towards evil. Worst of all, its vileness lies in its need to corrupt someone who has virtue within them.
There will be no point in encouraging more bloodshed from a serial killer on his bidding, but if the serial killer had a creed not to harm children and Nero made him do exactly that, then it was a different story.
It was about corrupting the things people held sacred or dear to them and thriving off it, exactly like he did with Sharron.
Nero could've spiked Carlos' drink or waited until Carlos was asleep to make a move for his needs. Instead, he had made Sharron do it because she cared a lot about the sanctity of her marriage. Even when she shattered it by having an affair with him, she deluded herself by planting a false curtain around everything and acting like everything was okay. He had ripped apart all her illusions to make her realize the nature of her marriage and tainted it further with his actions. And behold, it earned him a whooping 2% bloodline progression.
The part he didn't understand till now was the noble title in the Ascension technique.
The title "Baron" was more than symbolic nobility. The technique revolved around harvesting corrupted spirit mana from those he twisted and solidifying a 'land holding' in the spiritual plane. The further he progresses in the Ascension technique, the more corrupted spirit mana he can tax, and the more 'land' he will have.
Crystalizing corrupted spirit mana to form false cores was the main ability of the technique. This false core would be the energy source for all the rune scripts, spells, vessel enhancements, and gears listed in the Ascension technique.
Nero's heart quickened. Ignoring the potential of having a temporary reservoir mana source that would be strategic in battle, he was more intrigued that this would serve as a subpar version of Dao essence for this path. Surely making these seemed very similar to how Dao essence is formed in nature. Of course, this one might never be as pure or potent as a naturally forming one. But it was essentially his refined mana stored temporarily elsewhere, so at least in theory reabsorbing them should be faster than the natural recovery he gains once he forms a core for himself.
Regardless of any other benefit, practicing the technique would be the closest thing equivalent to practicing how to form a core inside him. This would ensure he would have a better time during awakening. Just that made it outstanding.
One had to know that the first thing that put most people off awakening was how dangerous it was to form a new organ inside them while burdening the vessel, mind, and spirit. The second thing might be finding a reliable power source which was a minor burden on pockets. This technique covered both aspects.
But Nero was worried about whether his lackluster talent which made him give up on being a mage would haunt him again. He could only hope furthering his bloodline would compensate for any limitations.
He let out a long, weary sigh. Whether it was farming SP to buy more Ascension techniques, gaining corrupt spirit mana, or advancing his bloodline, he had much to do.
"Nero!"
Hearing Rafaella calling out for him from downstairs, he sprung to his feet and moved towards the stairs.
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