Chapter 291

"... so, you're saying I'm now an actual divine entity," Helga murmured as she lay in front of me, while I massaged her body. Partially to help her merge with her divine spark successfully, but more to continue touching her after our intense embrace.

As much as I wanted to continue, she needed a break. Not physically, as that was easy to bypass with magic, but mentally. As much as meeting again was elating for her, she still needed to process living in magical suspension for months, and experienced a close call with death due to an unforeseen magical complication with the wards.

So, while I massaged her naked body, I had given her a breakdown of my experiences, both the events that happened since my disappearance, and some of the pertinent details I had hidden from her during our encounters.

She took them better than I expected, which implied that their lives hadn't been particularly easy in my absence — not that I needed evidence for that with the state of Silver Spires.

"Oh, you have always been a goddess for me," I answered, which made her chuckle.

"You are a shameless flatterer," she said, trying to complain, but it was hard to do with my hand caressing her sides gently. "I'm sure I can't compare to that elven goddess."

"Oh, someone is feeling jealous," I said with a chuckle, leaning down to kiss her neck, and making her moan. "So cute," I murmured as I pulled back, enjoying her shuffle. "But no need to be jealous. You're already a pseudo-goddess, and we just need to find a location for you to complete the transformation to get away."

"Does that mean we need to escape this plane?" she asked.

I frowned. 'That, I don't know yet. Running away is certainly safer, but that also means months of travel at best. Primordial Aether is not the friendliest place. Maybe hiding in plain sight is the better option, but for that, I need to know what exactly happened after my disappearance."

"Actually, there's not much I could tell," Helga admitted. "We pulled back to Silver Spires after your warning, and organized the defenses. It was a good thing that we did, as it took just a day for the biggest monster horde we had seen to attack, sieging us nonstop for a month, and the moment we defeated it, they were replaced by the royal army."

"Let me guess, they were much stronger than you expected," I added.

"Yes, it was probably the Eternals supporting them directly," Helga admitted. "That was much harder to defeat, but somehow, we still managed to do so ... but then, the System changed a month ago, giving us several levels, a lot of achievements, enhanced mana and HP regeneration, and promises for even more."

"As long as you provided Divine Spark to it," I said. Helga nodded. "I'm guessing you were the one that discovered the true source of Divine Spark and built that ward to steal the generated fragments from the main System."

"Yes," Helga said proudly, then wilted. "But it backfired. When we started absorbing the sparks directly, the Eternals decided to take a direct approach, and attacked with a small army of level-forty soldiers, each carrying weapons we had never seen before. Our wards were strong, and we managed to resist at first... But then, the System stopped."

"Yes, that's a nasty trick they have," I said.

"I was in the middle of casting a Spark-Powered ward, so the sudden loss hit me particularly hard. I barely managed to ask the Princess to bring me to the safe house and set the wards, and I lost consciousness before I could arrive. The last thing I remember is a magical message from Titania, saying that they were trying to escape."

"They are still alive. I can still feel them," I explained. "I'm hoping that they are also free, as the search for them is still ongoing, but that, we can't be sure about. It's also likely that the Eternals captured them but didn't bother actually informing the source."

"And what are we going to do?" she asked.

I sighed even as I caressed her spine, making her shiver. "It's your call. Retreating and finding a fragmented plane is the safest option. We can make your bond with the plane and strengthen you slowly, safe from intervention."

"But it's not the only option," she commented, too smart not to notice my phrasing.

"No, we can also stay here, and you can bond with the area under the darkness ward. It should be enough to empower you to the next stage, and we could enhance the current ward to be more efficient and provide you with constant Divine Sparks from the school, especially if go and focus on the recovery of the school. But there are a lot of risks in doing so. I don't know what would happen if the darkness ward ever breaks down, but I can't imagine it being pretty."

"We're going to stay and save them," Helga declared bravely, not waiting for even a second.

"My brave goddess," I said as I kissed her. I wasn't surprised by her decision, but that didn't mean I wasn't impressed. Not everyone could risk their lives directly for their friends — and I had no doubt that, they become even better friends under the constant siege.

"It's only right—" she started, only to gasp as I flipped her, and she ended up on her back, her beautiful breasts once again in my sight.

"Just because it's right doesn't mean people would do it," I said even as I cupped her breasts, enjoying her moan. "It means you deserve a reward."

"Oh, a reward," she whispered. "Is it any better than your earlier reward?"

"Certainly," I said as I caressed her curves, her stomach contracting as her body trembled in anticipation. "Earlier was a frantic greeting because I missed you. This is going to be a reward for my most beautiful and most knowledgeable goddess."

"You're exaggerating," she whispered, followed by a moan as I tweaked her nipple.

"Oh, really? The only way to bond with a divine spark is to have the perfect alignment with it," I explained. "Consider what it says about you to have such a unique alignment with something that I could only classify as the Spark of Knowledge."

"I ... I don't know," she whispered, blushing shyly. It was good to see that, despite everything that happened, she was still shy enough to maintain her cuteness.

"Now, to the reward," I said as I caressed her breasts before moving down, my movements getting less erotic and more patient. Her eyes widened as she realized what would follow. "That doesn't feel like a reward," she whispered.

"Nonsense, you'll relax, and we'll make sure you're properly bonded with your Spark in the process. Don't you want to be healthy so I won't worry?"

"You're playing dirty," she growled.

I just chuckled. "Oh, sweetie. Did you forget? I always play dirty." She moaned. "And, why are you complaining? It's not like you don't like it."

"... maybe," she whispered, followed by another moan. As my hands danced on her body, Tantric mana infused her body, not only allowing the Divine Spark to meld into her body perfectly, but also resolving the tightness of her muscles and healing the hidden dangers and blockages.

And, as I worked her body, Helga moaned repeatedly, but stayed passive, letting me enjoy the show of her naked body once more. Soon, my focus was on the light perspiration she was developing, highlighting the beautiful contours of her curvy body, from her pouty lips to her shapely hips.

Pity I had already committed to teasing her, as I was already raging for another taste. "Now, let's change your pose," I said as I flipped her once more, but this time, I didn't let her lay. Instead, I let her tense her arms and legs while pulling her up, making her create a triangle.

A very sexy, naked triangle, with her hips tensing even further. "Now, don't move," I warned her as I dragged my fingers along her inner thigh, close to her core. The way her legs trembled tempted me to cut this little game close, but I managed to reject that call.

Barely.

"Slide your foot further," I told her instead while I caressed her inner thigh again, my mana circling inside her, removing the remaining signs of System from her body. I doubted that those fragments would do anything, but it was always better safe than sorry.

Though, I didn't keep myself from teasing her. I pushed her to more and more tempting poses, which challenged me more than I was expecting, but it was good to see her frustrated expression.

I missed teasing her.

Ten minutes later, her beautiful slender fingers curled over my shoulders and pushed me down. Her strength was barely more than an ordinary person, which was shocking considering she had already bounded with her Divine Spark, and it should have worked enough to empower her.

But it seemed that the distorted nature of her spark didn't enhance her physically, leaving her vulnerable.

However, she was quick to show that while the physical enhancement might have been limited, the exact opposite worked for her magical attitude. Two magical chains appeared and pulled me down, pinning me on the ground, their structure completely novel ... and more importantly, rapidly shifting as she experimented on them.

Her experimental capabilities had enhanced greatly, but I wasn't able to talk about that, as she used my bound state to climb on top of me. "My turn," she growled as she pushed herself down, her warmth wrapping around my girth.

She was impatient.

—

{Strength: 45 Charisma: 45

Precision: 45 Perception: 45

Agility: 45 Manipulation: 45

Speed: 45 Intelligence: 45

Endurance: 60 Wisdom: 45}

{Purified Divine Spark: 33269}

{Pseudo-HP: 700 Mana: 2000}

{ADDITIONAL SPARKS

Light - Chosen 7.4

Nature - Chosen 10}

{MINIONS

GODDESSES

Elven Goddess

Goddess of Knowledge}