Mana 4 Chapter 25

I flew forward, aiming to even the odds as quickly as possible. After all, even in the auction house, we were liable to start attracting attention with the display of power we were putting out.

Arriving in front of the spearman, I caught his thrust as the blades of wind tore into the shoulders of my robe. But it failed to penetrate my metal mana and my body, which felt firmer than steel right now.

My other hand grabbed him by his throat and whirled around, using him as a shield against the other two attackers.

Blood sprayed over his shoulder as he took two full force attacks from his compatriots.

“It’s over. Take him with you.” The guard captain demanded as he jumped back.

A brief flicker of resolve crossed the spearman’s face before I could feel the mana swell up inside of him.

I had a bad feeling about what was to come and tried to toss him away, but the archer used his body to keep the spearman close to me, and the two of them swelled with far too much mana to be safe.

Realizing what was coming, I bunkered down, wrapping myself in as much metal mana as I could just before they detonated.

In the brief moment of waiting, my mind whirled through the new tactic, trying to sort it away for future battles.

Then it struck. Wind and earth tore up the auction room.

Powerful blades of mana slammed into me from all sides as they spun out from the spearman. My metal mana held out, but only just barely under the barrage.

As the barrage ramped down, the archer sent a shockwave of exploding spikes of earth. One happened to catch me in the chest, exploding and shredding through my weakened defense, my body recoiling in pain.

Hard earth drilled into my chest as it spun and tore free shallow chunks of flesh. Other spikes exploded around me, tearing my robes further and covering me in small cuts as my defenses failed.

As the dust settled, I stood up with a growl of pain. My chest was a messy swirl of wounds, and the top half of my robe was gone, replaced by dozens of small bleeding cuts.

“That was a neat trick.” I swallowed down the pain, refusing to show weakness to the remaining two opponents. “I’m impressed by their willpower to pull that off.”

“Isaac, are you okay?” Wenxi asked, a glaive out in her hand at the ready.

I didn’t look at her, but I nodded.

“Of course. This will heal within the hour. I’ve got this.” I wasn’t about to have anybody else end this for me.

“You don’t fool me. There’s no way you made it out of that okay.” The captain scowled at me, as if he was trying to figure out a puzzle.

And if I was honest, I was not okay. Externally, I wasn’t so bad. The wound on my chest was messy looking but shallow, and all the cuts across my body looked horrible. But together they were not going to be a big problem.

But the real problem was internally. I could already sense my organs were battered, bruised, and bleeding. I’d need some time to focus on healing after this.

“Fuck it.” The middle-aged auctioneer said, bringing out a sphere that was blindingly bright with mana. “This would have sold for hundreds of thousands, but my life is worth more than that.”

I could feel a sense of danger from it, but Wenxi’s shout confirmed it. “That can take out a fifth rank immortal.”

He twisted the sphere and lobbed it into the air, turning and sprinting away.

Mana was sucked from the air so rapidly that it created a pocket devoid of mana.

The hairs on the back of my neck stood up just thinking about what a powerful blast was coming.

The ring on my chest thumped, and instinctively, I let my mana beast out. We were all either going to make it through this together or not.

Lightning dashed across the space as Lumi snatched the sphere out of the air and twisted it back prior to it being able to do its true damage. Mana poured back out of it hard enough to knock all of us down.

I felt a cold sweat on my back just thinking about the explosive power that Lumi saved us from.

She was back at my side in a flash, tossing me the deactivated device. “Here.” But before I could summon her back in, she bolted off, grabbing the ring off the dead auctioneer and starting to loot the bodies. I let her work, deciding that her speed would be beneficial. Besides, Wenxi had already seen her.

Sure enough, Wenxi’s eyes were wide open once again. Another secret had been revealed to her, but I had a feeling I could trust her.

A pounding on my chest indicated that all my girls wanted out, and I decided I didn’t need to hide them anymore.

Aurora, Mei, and Quinn came out. But instead of fighting, they also started looting. “Mine!” I heard Mei shout as she pounced on a crate.

I just shook my head and focused back on the two remaining combatants as they stood up.

My body creaked with pain as I jumped forward one last time, taking out the middle-aged auctioneer as he stumbled to get his feet back under him.

Landing on his back, I flattened him to the floor and slashed the back of his neck, severing his spine and ensuring he was dead in one swift mood. I didn’t have time to play games anymore.

The captain got to his feet, spitting out blood on the floor as he braced himself against the wall. One of his eyes was dilated to the point that I was sure he had suffered a major head injury.

A blade blossomed in his chest, and he looked down stupefied. Neither of us had anticipated the new attacker.

But as he was kicked forward, a very messy Rachel appeared behind him, her clothes matted with blood and caked with dust. Her chest heaved as she panted. “I got here as quickly as I could.”

“That’s fine.” I grunted, pulling the ring off the middle-aged auctioneer. “Everyone. Five minutes, then we are gone.”

My mana beasts scurried about, snatching everything they could and throwing it in a pile for me. Rachel even took the chance to start looting spatial rings and small, but valuable looking trinkets.

I did my best to shuffle about, sucking things into my spatial ring as Wenxi joined me.

“You aren’t okay.”

She wasn’t wrong. The aborted blast from the device, along with the damage I’d already suffered, had made my internal injuries several times worse. But I wasn’t about to admit it.

“I’ll be fine. We need to clean up and get out of here to someplace safe so I can focus on healing.”

Wenxi shook her head. “If we walk out of here like this, you’ll paint a big target on your back.”

“Agreed. But we can take their own secret exit. Things like that always come out somewhere less conspicuous. I’m hoping it leads outside the city to help make an alibi for us.” I tried to add strength to my voice, but I was feeling weak. The gold dragon bloodline was a big part of what was keeping me moving right now.

“I can’t believe you just up and killed the whole place and are taking their valuables.”

I nodded, not quite seeing the disbelief aspect of it, but the dragon may still be clouding my mind. “I came here to get justice for the wrongs done to me. Now, they get to pay for my freedom.” I grinned. It felt like karma had been settled between us. Bloody karma, but karma regardless.

We ransacked the place, pausing when we heard a thump and shattering of wood, followed by shouting of what sounded like a mob. I waved everyone down and signaled that it was time to go.

We all hurried, shuffling into the bolt hole that was right where Kat said it would be. I tore the shelf from the wall and climbed down the ladder, waiting for everyone to reach the bottom before I collapsed the shaft with a palm strike.

Very few would know where that led, and if they tried to dig it out, it would take hours. That was plenty long enough for us to escape.

“Time to go back in, girls.” I told my mana beasts.

But they shook their heads. “Not until you are safe.”

“And healed!” Mei transformed into her nurse outfit with a big smile. Aurora, Lumi and Quinn even joined the gag, changing into their nurse outfits and supporting me as we followed the long underground tunnel.

“What’s happening?” Rachel asked. “Who, or what, are they?”

Wenxi and Kat looked on with amused smiles, but Kat spoke up. “In the world we come from, we all seal mana beasts inside of us to power our initial cultivation. I think we could cultivate without them now in this world, but these are his sealed mana beasts. And they are powerful enough that they can take on a human form.”

“He couldn’t cultivate without us.” Aurora blew a raspberry over her shoulder, eliciting a chuckle from everyone.

“I wouldn’t dare.” I reassured her.

Wenxi turned to Kat. “I knew something was off. You do know each other.”

“Sorry for the deception. I mean, I didn’t lie. Our whole family has bloodlines that would categorize us as an ancient family in this world. His other wives and kids, I mean.”

Rachel was still catching up to the conversation, while I was content to let the women handle it as my mana beasts supported me and fussed about.

“You’re his wife?” Rachel gasped. “But you’re so beautiful.”

“Hey!” I butted in. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Kat chuckled. “In our world, he is the top expert. It got to the point that we, his wives, pushed him to come to this world. You should have seen how listless he’d become with boredom.”

Wenxi nodded in understanding. “I’ve seen old immortals segregate themselves from the world because they grow tired of it.”

“Exactly. But my husband here once led a life of adventure climbing up to that power. We wanted to see that side of him. Today was completely worth the danger it put him in. I’m so happy to see him thrive again.”

“I’m not sure if he’s exactly thriving.” Rachel frowned. “He looks like he is going to be laid up for a week.”

Kat waved her concern away. “Don’t worry, my husband has vitality like you wouldn’t believe.” Her smile grew wider as she wiggled her eyebrows. “I mean, he keeps nine of us happy, and I’m sure he could even keep another dozen or so happy.”

Wenxi choked in surprise and tried to cover it with a cough. “I’m not sure what you mean.”

“I’ve seen the way you both look at him. My sister wives and I have discussed you both already, and we see potential. They will be coming to this world shortly, but I think you’d get along with them.”

“Kat, now isn’t the time.” I said over my shoulder as I drew heavily on Aurora’s life mana to heal myself.

My lovely wife sighed. “It never seems to be the time with you.”

Aurora piped up. “You turned down all my prospective disciples!”

Shaking my head, I didn’t want to go back to that conversation. “They were all young and inexperienced. Wenxi certainly has a head on her shoulders, and Rachel is learning quickly.”

Both women blushed heavily, and they grabbed Kat’s hands, pulling her back to have a private chat as we walked.

Lumi looked over her shoulder, her ears perking up. “I just want you to know, they can’t cut me in line.”

“Never. I want my fluffy blue wolf as soon as I can. I’ll take them both in time, but not now.” I confirmed. Feeling comfortable and protected, I released my hold on the gold dragon bloodline. The tyrannical power faded far easier than Aurora’s savagery had, but what replaced it was cold pain as my body so kindly reminded me that I was severely injured.

More of my weight pressed down on Quinn and Mei, who held my arms to help support me as we moved our way through the tunnel.

Reaching the end, the tunnel opened up into thick woods, and I turned my head back to see the city wall looming behind us.

“We are in the clear.” I shouted back up the tunnel at the girls, who were still conversing.

“Then let’s get cleaned up and get you walking on your own.” Kat nodded. “Come along, you two. We should bathe separately from him. No doubt his mana beasts will want some alone time with him to tend to him.” Kat tittered and pulled the other two away from me.

Rachel cast one last lip biting look over her shoulder before Kat disappeared with them into the bushes.

I wondered where she was taking them, but then the sound of water reached my ears. We must be close to a river. There had been one next to the city on the map I’d seen, but that was the south side of the city. The tunnel must have brought us that direction, which meant we were definitely away from the scene of the crime.

“Lumi, Aurora, collapse the tunnel behind us. Aurora, if you can grow some plants over the collapsed exit so people have trouble finding it, that would be even better.”

“I got it. Lumi, you go help him.” Aurora waved her fellow mana beast away and several loud booms later, I could hear her getting to work.

Lumi stepped up to my side and replaced Quinn, who stepped further ahead to clear the way. “You look like a mess.”

“Thank you. It was a great fight. The harder the fight, the better learnings you get from it.” Learning to control my bloodlines was invaluable. For now, I was fighting with one at a time, but if I could master each one, I might be able to use them together for even more powerful effects.

Mei jittered at my side. “And we get to nurse him back to health. It’s the best part!”

“I fail to see how his current condition is the best part.” Lumi scowled. Although I noticed she had still donned a similar outfit like the rest.

“It isn’t his condition, but what we get to do.” Mei bounced enough that I winced.

“Maybe we let you play nurse sometime when I’m not injured.” I offered.

Mei pouted at that. “That’s no fun. If you aren’t injured, how am I supposed to be a nurse?” Her ears flopped to one side as she tilted her head. “I’d have to pretend to be something else. Oh! I could be a teacher.”

Lumi looked at me as if I’d be able to translate for her. Truth was, I couldn’t. Mei would always be happy and more than excited to become whatever she thought I needed in the moment. And the others couldn’t help but join in her antics. She was just so enthusiastic that it infected all of them.

We exited the tree line and Quinn was wading out into the water to check it for any predators that might disturb us. “We are clear. Strip him and let’s get him cleaned up.”

Mei didn’t need another request and had my clothes off in a heartbeat, then was at my feet, working on my shoes. It was only a moment before I was naked and hobbling over stones in my bare feet, into the river.

Lumi stayed with me, supporting me as Mei went ahead and started splashing water on me to scrub away dirt and blood. “We just clean him off?”

Aurora came out of the woods, slowing from a run just before she hit the water. “Yes, and we nurture him back to health. He’ll draw on my mana for most of it. Then we can help create mana with him for the rest.”

Lumi’s confusion must have sparked something, because Quinn pulled her away and let me rest in Mei’s care. I had no doubt Quinn was filling Lumi in on the dual cultivation technique we used. Part of me wanted to ease Lumi into all of it more, but another was eager to be with her.

My bubbly Kunpeng bounded into the water to help. “Lumi is ready I think.” She whispered conspiratorially.

I knew the wolf girl could hear us, and I wanted to make sure she felt wanted but able to make her own decision. “It would be an honor for her to open up to me like that, but you need to behave, Aurora. Her first time should be special.”

Aurora’s head bobbed along with me as I spoke. “Of course.”

I eyed her, but she seemed serious. I was relieved; the last thing I needed was Aurora to push Lumi outside her comfort zone. She had indicated some interest in being slapped on the rear and watching Kat. However, I think that was just an interest in the way someone might fantasize about things that they’d never feel comfortable with in real life.

Instead, what stuck out to me about Lumi was that cabin in her soul palace. The focus was more cozy and comfortable. I had a feeling a slow approach would work better with her. Even if she seemed very sexually curious.

The girls washed me and I drew on Aurora’s life mana, stitching back together my organs. Lumi and Quinn returned and I basked in the warmth of my four mana beasts tending to me while I floated in the river. As much as I gravitated to being in charge, letting them take care of me now and then was bliss.

I wasn’t sure how long it had been, but eventually I noticed that the girls had stopped scrubbing and were instead massaging mana into me with their hands. I sat up and let my feet touch the bottom of the river.

“Girls,” I kissed each of them in turn, leaving Lumi for last. “I think I need to move onto the next stage of recovery, and Lumi here has been waiting patiently. Are you interested in helping me?”

I waited to see what Lumi wanted.

“Yes. Quinn told me what to do.” Lumi’s cheeks blushed despite the cold water. Her blue hair was wet and flat against her back. It was the first time I had seen it not rising due to static.

All four of my mana beasts’ nurses outfits were soaked, their nipples showing dark under their nurse outfits.

I could already feel myself starting to rise to the occasion surrounded by them in the water, massaging my body.

Clearing my throat, I grabbed Lumi’s hand and pulled her away from the rest, who were grinning like idiots. We headed towards the shoreline hand in hand.

We were both soaking wet, but that didn’t matter. What did was the hard rocky shore. I pulled out drapes from my spatial ring to throw on the ground, but they still fell over the hard ground and didn’t feel like enough. So next I pulled out an expensive looking plush rug, woven with patterns so intricate it was hard to focus on them.

“Lumi. I didn’t get a chance to thank you; you saved my life today. You saved all of our lives,” I kissed her and pulled her close. “Thank you.”

“I-I was just saving all of us.” She stuttered.

That was all the confirmation that I needed to know that I was right to do this slowly with her. I cradled her and rested her down on the rug, laying my body alongside hers.

My fingers danced over her wet outfit, teasing her soft flesh underneath. “I think we should get you out of these wet clothes before you get sick.” I pulled at the bottom of her shirt.

She nodded silently, her eyes tracking my every movement.

I peeled the wet dress off of her, replacing it with warm kisses up from her waist through her chest, finally reaching the bottom of her jaw.

Lumi tilted her head back, drawing my kisses out along her jaw. I combed my fingers through her wet hair as I held her head further back, opening her up to me in a way I knew was vulnerable to a mana beast.

I’d learned from the others that they still had beastial tendencies and inclinations. Letting me touch her neck with my lips was an wonderful sign that she trusted me and was comfortable with this.

“Yes.” She moaned and grabbed my shoulders as if to keep me from stopping.

My hand came back around and found her nipples hard from the cold water. I brushed off stray droplets and cupped them, squeezing gently.

Lumi let out a panting moan as my fingers pressed into her soft flesh and I dipped my head to join my hand.

“Don’t stop.” Lumi whined, but I had confidence she wouldn’t think that for long as my tongue found her nipple and flicked it gently before I nibbled on the sensitive underside. “That’s… it feels nothing like that when I touch them.”

“That’s because you are just feeling them. I’m savoring them.” I kissed around her chest as my hands wandered in and kneaded at the soft mounds. “Tell me what feels good.”

“All of it.” She said dreamily. “I feel…”

“Tell me.”

“I want you to touch me down there. Aurora showed me how to do it myself, but if it’s like my chest, then I want to feel what it’s like when you touch me.”

I smirked. Aurora was already corrupting poor Lumi. My hand graced down her flank and touched just a hair outside her sex before wiping my hand down the inside of her thigh. “Not yet.”

She let out a frustrated moan and tried to capture my hand with her hips, but I pushed her legs back open and scooted myself up to kiss her lips while my fingers danced around her pelvis, never quite touching her.

Lumi growled and kissed me with absolute hunger, her hands grabbing the back of my head and her nails digging in just slightly as she forced my head into a cadence of rapid sloppy kisses.

My tongue snaked out and cracked open her teeth; we tangled our tongues as I continued to tease her sex. Even now, I could feel the wet heat coming off her.

Part of me wanted to drag it out further, but I was just as eager as Lumi to get to the main event. And she seemed more than ready.

Dipping my fingers into her sex, I finally gave her what she wanted as I swirled her wetness and brought it up to circle her pearl.

Lumi let out a blissful sigh of relief and kissed me once more, her body letting out a small shake. “Yes, I didn’t know how much I needed that.”

“Don’t oversell it.” I chuckled.

“I want more. Playtime is over.” Lumi kissed me once more and spread her legs, grabbing her thighs and displaying herself to me.

“You’ve watched me with the others too much, haven’t you?” I teased, getting my knees into a firm position and holding open her legs.

She blushed. “Enough to know this is the best part.”

Pulling her hips to me, I let my head brush the lubrication I’d brought to the surface and ran the underside of my shaft along her clit as I worked to ready myself. “The best part, you say?”

Lumi just growled and grabbed my head, pulling me down for another encouraging kiss as I sawed myself across her wet sex and her clit.

On the next pass, she curled her hips up and I found myself sinking into her wet paradise.

“You feel amazing.” I groaned, pushing her shoulders back into the expensive rug and plunging myself into her depths. I savored her as I worked myself deeper.

Lumi arched her back under me. “Yes, you can go harder. I’m no weakling.”

Kissing her temple, I smiled. “I don’t think you’re weak, but I want you to enjoy this as much as I do.”

Going slow, I savored her as I pulled her hips up and picked up the pace gradually. I never took my eyes off the beautiful mana beast below me.

Her legs wrapped around my hips and squeezed me close. “Harder.”

I obliged her. Wrapping one arm around the back of her neck, I scooped the other under her hip and started driving myself hard and fast, rocking us both as I pushed so hard on her hips she rolled backwards.

My cock dragged itself through her sex, and with the constant changing of the angle, the friction continued to build as I drove myself in and out of her like I was working to start a fire.

Lumi clung to me, her nails digging into my skin as she tossed her head back. “Yes. Please, more.”

Grunting, I pushed her down, pinning her and wrapping my arms under her shoulders. I pulled her into me with each thrust and pinned her down each time I pulled out.

She felt so damn good; I lost myself in the moment and the bliss as we got rougher and rougher. Her moans continued building up as I smacked into her, ending in a moan of delight as her sex clenched around me like a vice, squeezing me tightly with her orgasm.

I smiled down at her. Lumi was staring back up at me with hazy lust filled eyes and a smile that was too much for me, pushing me over my own peak. Letting myself ride the peak, I unloaded inside of her, planting myself deep for a moment before we both slumped to the rug, panting.

Lumi put her lips to my ear. “That was nice, but can we go slow now? I want to try everything.”

I nodded, already feeling myself recover while I was still inside of her. “You forgot to cultivate with me. We still have to do that.”

She blushed and nodded as I got my legs back under me, and we started to move our hips in tandem to dual cultivate my body into recovery.

AN: Doing the final push today to finish out this story! I think I'll end up doing a short pallet cleanser of some Monstrous Horizons then Dragon's Justice 2 is going to jump Dao in line. I am just very ready to write the next in that series, why wait if I'm feeling inspired?

Also I admittedly enjoy writing cliff hangers between chapters :)