I opened my eyes. The first thing I saw was complete darkness. When I got up to look at my body, I was able to see myself. Not only that—the hard sensation of the ground beneath my feet and the fact that I could see it made me confused.
My body turned around on its own, my gaze quickly shifting to a figure from afar. My lips parted slightly. My eyes were on the verge of bulging from my sockets. I saw myself—however, this time, I appeared to be a bit older. Our facial features were a match, but the—It was me. That much I figured out without much difficulty.
I recall a past life where I had that same appearance, so this was me. I was surprised with how the first thing he did—or at least after he had died and before reincarnation—was to sit down and meditate. For the past me, that was a difficult thing to do.
Staying still was not exactly an art that I could perform. The only reason he did so was because he had this feeling that this was a great chance to cultivate. Indeed, it was true. There was a lot of energy within this landscape. It was vast, almost infinite. With this knowledge, he decided that he should first reinforce his soul.
At that time, I was aware that I was dead, so I did not have a body. He meditated for a few days, finally being able to control the energy within. The post-reincarnation me found out that the energy was being generated within my heart.
Upon further inspection, he also realised that the energy flowed outside of the soul body. With this discovery, he decided to use this energy to strengthen his body instead. He, of course, was not in a rush—there was nothing at stake.
With that being said, I spent a couple of weeks reinforcing my soul until my body was on par with a physical one. I felt everything he felt. The first heartbeat I felt since the day both of us woke up here, the first signs of hunger, the air filling my lungs for the first time. This made me remember the world of Bleach. People in Rukongai did not have internal organs. They had no need to eat, but they could not produce their own offspring because they did not have the necessary organs for that.
With this complete, I started slowly refining each organ until they were packed with spiritual energy. After I did so, my body could now handle the spiritual energy much better. It flowed within my body, reinforcing it over time. I called this the Soul Tempering Realm. The next realm would be the Spirit Refining Realm. He was excited, pumping up my fists due to the excitement. He had no way to test out his power, but with my accurate judgement, I could tell that he was a High Class being. He was actually at the peak.
I realised why I was able to progress so quickly after I reincarnated. My cultivation in this bizarre world equated to my potential. And just like that, I was abruptly pulled away from that memory. When I woke, the first thing I saw was the fabric of the tent I had gotten familiar with. The futon had done little to make sleeping more comfortable. I had gone unconscious soon after my battle with Rizevim.
I could feel some sort of warmth on my side. It was comforting, reassuring. I turned my head to see black sprawling on my futon. The girl hugged me close, her head resting on my arm.
My hand then fell to her slender waist, smiling at the peaceful expression she had on her face. My heart fluttered a bit. I was moved so much that I planted a kiss on her forehead. Before I even realised it, my lip fell on hers instead. My eyes opened wide a bit, before I closed my eyes, absorbed by the kiss.
As we made out, our tongues eventually wrestled for dominance. This continued until we lost our breath. Her purple eyes looked into my red ones. They were filled with affection, not to mention how cute the blush on her face made her look.
She buried her face into my face before squealing like a little girl. I had to use all my willpower to manage a little smile, and not a full-blown grin. I even thought it was natural due to her childlike body.
As if she could feel the restrained laugh, she punched my chest lightly, "What are you smiling at?! You took my first kiss!"
'Huh?' My mind went blank for a moment before I was back online. The wide smirk was inevitable. With how Serafall swallowed with an audible gulp, she knew she was going to be roasted alive.
"So, you are telling me you have never kissed anyone, Sera-tan."
Serafall knew that when he called her that, it was a bad sign. She had to come up with something fast, or she would never hear the end of it.
"You have never kissed anyone either." She retorted after a short amount of time.
"Yeah, but at least I am not even two decades old. You however..." My grin widened, which immediately caused her to shut up. I brushed her gently as she tightened her grip around me. Honestly, the heat I was feeling on my face made me lament my thin skin. I wonder how those other protagonists I read about developed their thick skin.
I had Hierro and it was not going to solve my problem, even though it translates to Iron Skin.
With a sharp exhale, I spoke. "But still, thank you for taking care of me while I was unconscious and for giving me your first kiss."
She nodded, not lifting her head up to meet my eyes again.
I then added, "But to be fair, that was my first time too, you know. I am glad you were the one."
She then gazed up at me, a smile plastered on her face. "Me too."
"Though I must ask, why are we both naked? What happened to my virginity?"
"Hisashi!"
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