When Immortal Ascension Fails Time Travel to Try Again-AFS 2: Strange Flame Strangeness - (14) - Catching Up (Story End)

I unlocked the door, and it slid open. Spring, who had been sleeping outside, fell down and hit his head on the workshop floor. Since his physique was SSS-rank, the floor took more damage than his head. He opened his eyes and frowned.

I grinned down at him. “You’re still here.” Because my plans changed halfway through, I ended up taking much longer than I thought. It had already been around six hours since I began fixing my core.

He blinked. “I’m very good at waiting.”

“Come on in. I want to test something out.”

He jumped to his feet and walked in. I brought him to the center of the room and sat down cross-legged. “Sit behind me with your back against mine.”

He nodded.

When I felt the warmth of his back, I began to cultivate, really cultivate. Not just refill my energy.

I breathed in the energy of the heavens and the earth, brought it through my meridians and cycled it around my body until it reached my dantian, where it increased my cultivation.

There was a minor bit of pushback from the universe but, between my updated core that more closely matched the story’s theme and having this cannon fodder behind me, it felt a hundred times easier than when I cultivated to Golden Core several months ago.

I breathed out a turbid breath, expelling impurities. After doing that for around four hours, I easily made it to the peak of low Golden Core and neared the middle of the realm. I stopped my cultivation and waited. My dantian retained its new higher level.

I bent over and covered my face with my hands.

Goddamn fucking damn it!

“Fairy Lin. Did you figure it out? I’m about to fall asleep again.”

“Yeah, I figured it out.”

“Is it a good thing?”

I sat back up.

How the hell did I explain to this guy that when I cultivated without him just now, it was three times as hard and none of my new cultivation stayed put? Of course, as soon as I meditated next to him, not only did I get faster, I could easily increase my cultivation by a small realm. I imagined that if he had my same level and cultivated next to me, even that little bit of pushback from the universe would be gone.

Fuck me. Did this have something to do with him being the brother of the protagonist and someone who was supposed to die but lived thanks to me? Or did it have to do with my past life?

Well, either way, I couldn’t find out unless I figured out a way to time travel, which was highly unlikely... but not impossible.

I leaned the back of my head against his neck and sighed.

“I’m going to have to teach you how to cultivate.”

“Well, you already gave me those textbooks to prepare for it.”

“What I mean is that it’s going to be harder for you because you’ll have to learn three major stages all at once. You don’t have the luxury of slowly learning everything from Qi Condensation and practicing until you grow used to things.”

“Hey, I’m not that brilliant, but I’m not stupid. Also, I’m not weak either physically or spiritually. If you want me to cultivate, well, I already have the energy inside me at SS-rank. Just teach me. Haven’t I already told you, if you’re going to walk the path of immortality, I want you to take me with you?”

“Well, you didn’t say it exactly like that before. Actually, when you phrase it like that, it almost sounds like you want to be my platonic Dao companion.”

“What’s that?”

“What? Seriously? That concept doesn’t exist in this universe anymore? Not even in fantasy stories?”

“Not that I know of, but I’m not a fiction expert.”

Right, he was a mech pilot expert.

I cleared my throat. “A Dao companion is supposed to be someone who walks along the path of immortality with you for as long as your Daos align.”

“I can see why you said it was similar.”

“There are two types. The first and most common are two people who are romantically involved. They will dual cultivate together to grow stronger.” I felt his back stiffen behind me. What the hell? The concept of dual cultivation remained, but Dao companions and crabs didn’t?

Of course, I didn’t know a ton about Dao companions since me finding someone who fit my impossible standards wasn’t going to happen. For me, having a romantic-type Dao companion was absolutely impossible. “But the other type is for two people who are platonically so close that they don’t want to live without each other. I don’t think they physically cultivate in the same way as the romantic type, but they likely do it at the same time and possibly in the same immortal cave.”

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“So, are they just really good friends?”

“I’m not sure you’d call it friendship, as it’s probably much closer than that. Maybe like a partnership?”

“A bromance?”

I almost choked. “Eh, whatever. It’s supposed to be someone who has your back through thick and thin. I actually don’t know too much about it since the other variation is way more common. I mean, the scandals that happened when Dao companions cheated or broke up were legendary. They were talked about like the rumors of your star net celebrities. Often the party that was cheated on would go to great lengths to slap the offender's face, and even murder them if necessary.” Ah, the stories I could tell if only I had the time.

“So, is it just a fantasy name for marriage?”

“Nah, in the ancient past, marriage was really shitty for people, especially women. And it was something that almost all mortals were expected to do unless they joined an immortal cultivating clan or sect like I did. Depending on time and place, divorce might not have even been a concept or legal.” By the time I had the power to truly change things for the better in the mortal world, I’d had enough and just wanted to leave and become immortal. “Things are much better in this era where women can become the head of a noble house and inherit.”

Actually, out of all the universes and time periods I’d lived through, this one was the most enjoyable for me, even with the star crab invasion. And to think it was designed to highlight the specialness of some girl named YaoYao.

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I leaned against him a bit harder and got comfortable.

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“So, both types of Dao companions require serious commitments. And obviously it’s not something you meant since the mere concept of it didn’t even come over from the era I time traveled from. And even if you had meant it, you’re too young to make that kind of serious commitment.”

“I am an adult, you know.”

“Barely, and only according to the laws of the empire. Being legally able to make a decision and actually being ready to, are very different things. In my opinion, most people in this universe wouldn’t be ready for the responsibility of that kind of commitment until they’ve reached nearly three hundred years old.”

He sighed. “That’s essentially no one in the interstellar besides grandparents on their deathbeds.”

“I know,” I said, grinning evilly. “I imagine it’s easy to be devoted to someone for the rest of your life if you’re only going to live for a few more years.”

I felt him bend forward. His back shook with laughter. “That’s so cynical.”

“You try living for a thousand years and remaining optimistic.” I got to my feet and put my hands on my hips. “I think it’s likely that you’re not that great when it comes to book learning, so I’ll have to show you by example. Are you feeling up for a lecture?”

He slowly stood up. “As long as I can choose the subject.”

I grinned. “Enthusiastic students are the best. What do you want to learn today?”

“Considering how poorly I did with my close combat, I was thinking that I should learn the sword from you.”

I nodded. Using my spiritual energy, I grabbed two steel bars from the scrap barrel at the side of my workshop.

“Alright, first lesson. Forget everything you’ve ever learned about the sword. It’s wrong. Next, stand like this and swing your weapon like...” I showed him the basic stance and the first downward slash.

He copied me perfectly. I didn’t even have to correct him. I frowned. “Why are you so good? I thought you said you weren’t a genius?”

He set his steel bar down and leaned against it. “I’m very determined to catch up.”

Ha! Being determined and actually doing it were two different things. I’d show him that right now. “Then I guess I’ll have to see exactly how serious you are.” I lowered my stance and connected several moves together, taking a step forward for each movement. “Your turn. Don’t fuck up.”

He frowned.

Muahahaha!

Then he copied me perfectly. Like a motherfucking genius.

Holy shit! At this rate, he might actually do it!

***

Some time after the Survival Challenge…

It was late at night in the school’s near empty mech repair lab. Prince Chad hovered around YaoYao as she pulled an armor panel off his golden panther mech to peer underneath it.

“Is there something wrong?” Chad asked, peering over her shoulder.

She flinched, then set the panel down and breathed in as if gathering all her courage. As she exhaled, she turned to meet the prince’s blue eyes.

“H-h-hold my hand. You can say no and I won’t get offended.” Her face turned bright red. She shakingly pulled her work glove off and invitingly held out her palm.

To Chad she looked so beautiful and adorable he had to look away before the straight face he prided himself on cracked. Was this her way of confessing? If that was the case, what should he say? This was too sudden. Too bold. He’d always known she was brave, intelligent, wonderful and so very... “Oh...”

She must have mistaken his pause as him saying no because she lowered her hand. Startled, and worried that he’d caused a misunderstanding, he grabbed her fingers in between his. Then his face became too warm. They stood like that for a long time, while being uncomfortably hot. Still, they still didn’t want to end it.

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“Prince Chad, I—“

An alarm blared, signaling that they were getting attacked by star bugs.

YaoYao paled, released his hand and rushed to get his mech back in working order. Her ears were bright red.

He stopped himself from asking her what this meant and what she was about to say. Well, he could figure it out later when there wasn’t a star bug invasion. They had time. He’d just have to make sure he came back.