Chapter 360: Breaking in the Island

Kai raced through the ancient mansion’s corridors, wondering what Omilaena could possibly have discovered that made her so serious. More importantly, why would the elves have acted against them? This was a hidden location, maybe, but much less secure than acting in the Elven Wilds. And why not let Zae Zin Nim know? None of it made any sense.

Omilaena led him to an isolated corner of the mansion, far from the sounds of others. They turned a corner and reached... a dead end. Kai examined it, looking for some sort of secret or hidden switch, and gradually saw Omilaena’s smirk.

"What’s the emergency?" he asked warily.

"The elves are conspiring to be the first ones to fuck in the mansion," Omilaena told him, dead serious. "We can’t let that happen."

"Seriously?" Kai threw up his hands.

"Oh, come on, you were only worried for a minute or two."

"Maybe so, but what if we’d been interrupted? I could have ended up being worried over nothing for a day or more."

"Bah, you’re too upright." Omilaena flattened a hand against his chest and pushed him up against the wall, then sauntered closer. "But I was completely serious about wanting to christen our new house. So if you need to relax and calm down, let me help with that."

Kai couldn’t help but let out a strangled laugh. "Are you kidding?"

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..

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She was not kidding. Kai emerged from the hallway with shaky knees, the loose pleasure still coursing through him. It took serious force of will to turn his thoughts back to setting up their house, which was made all the more difficult when Zae Zin Nim showed up.

"Kai, come help me with the Immortal’s Cave," she said. "There’s a seal on it and the elves aren’t up to the task."

"I’ll help if I can," Kai said, automatically following her, "but I don’t know what that is."

"It’s just a place for cultivators to meditate or seek enlightenment. Not strictly necessary, but it’s a... prudent cultural practice. But only trained cultivators can undo the qi locking it closed."

He nodded agreeably and followed her out one of the side doors that he hadn’t noticed priorly. A stone pathway led further around the side of the house, cutting deeper into the hill until at last it came out on one side. This area had been shielded by a wall previously, but now he could see a cave entrance that led into the hill underneath the mansion.

Complex glowing seals around the edge seemed to keep it closed, so he couldn’t see further inside. The elves backed off as they approached, then Kai followed Zae Zin Nim’s lead to remove the seals. It just required circulating qi in the same way she had taught him, like turning a key slowly in a very heavy lock.

As they worked, he looked over at Zae Zin Nim as she knelt in front of the seal. Despite having just been with Omilaena, or perhaps because of it, Kai found his gaze wandering over her. Once the elves were gone, he wondered if he could take her to a quiet corner of the cave...

But no, Zae Zin Nim seemed very focused, scowling as she worked on the seal. He’d noticed that she took a while to feel comfortable in a new place, which would probably be even more the case here on a strange island.

When the seal gave way, she looked over at him and smiled warmly. There was an intimacy there, hard-won over the years, that he valued just as much.

Inside the "Immortal’s Cave" there wasn’t much of interest except the abundant qi. It clearly wasn’t a natural cavern, instead a carved space with a flat floor and whitened walls. Something about them must help contain the qi which he felt leaking up through the floor. Whatever the details, Zae Zin Nim flitted around the cave, examining aspects and restraining a smile.

"It works?" Kai asked.

"This is better than I expected," she said with a curt nod. "It will do. Of course one source of qi is nowhere near enough to reach Sky Soul, but I will be able to cultivate productively here for a long time."

Then she sat down and folded her legs, as if she hoped to get started right then. Kai hoped that she would relax at some point and enjoy her time with them, because she could be obsessive when it came to cultivation. But given that the threat of her father still loomed, he couldn’t blame her for wanting to prepare as much as possible, so he backed out of the cave.

"There’s actually something for you as well, my lord," one of the elves said.

"Oh? What’s that?" Kai followed them as they retraced their steps and then climbed stairs around the side of the mansion. What he’d taken for some kind of outpost on the top proved to be more of a shrine, with a massive brazier in the center.

"This place is used for mana cultivation," the elven woman explained. "You can use the shrine for anything, of course, but the traditional method is to cut some of the local wood and burn it here. We’ve taken the liberty of collecting some for you..."

Kai helped her shovel the pile of logs into the brazier, which was then lit with a spark of mana that set the entire thing ablaze in green flame. The result was almost pure mana, yet unlike most fire elements, when he reached out he could draw on it, almost like a potion.

Forgetting about the elves, Kai spent hours experimenting with the shrine. Not only did it have the central brazier designed for maintaining a mana flame, there was a channel to a recess that could be used to create a mana pool - he recognized the design, even though he didn’t know the technique himself. There was also a metal housing to the other side that elven symbols labeled as a "Mana Furnace." Even if he didn’t know exactly what that was or how it was used, the methods of operation reminded him of Deadwaste and he enjoyed working with it.

When Kai started to feel hungry, he realized just how long it had been. Strange that no one had checked up on him or he hadn’t been called to eat. Kai wandered back down into the main mansion and saw elves working on repair, but neither of his wives. He half-expected Omilaena to pop up from behind a corner, but she was nowhere to be found.

As he searched for her, finding her missing in place after place, Kai started to get anxious despite himself. Since this island seemed so isolated, he’d become complacent, but that was no excuse to get careless. They hadn’t even fully explored the place, so maybe it had been premature to split up so quickly. With the dim sky overhead, it was easy to believe some evil might lurk here.

Growing increasingly agitated, Kai paced around the mansion again and then just decided to find Zae Zin Nim. She would definitely be cultivating in her cave... unless something had gone wrong. There were no elves anywhere near the cave entrance, and the absence made Kai speed up. When he heard a cry, he leapt forward, his hands instinctively tightening into claws.

Even as he moved, he realized that it was the wrong kind of cry, but it was too late.

Zae Zin Nim was still seated in the Immortal’s Cave, but now she was seated in Omilaena’s lap. The other woman had her robes pulled open to tease one breast and her other arm was working in between Zae Zin Nim’s legs. She squirmed and moaned, but not uncomfortably, only pushing back against Omilaena... at least until Kai rushed in.

"Ah!" Zae Zin Nim instinctively started to pull her robe closed, despite everything they’d done together.

Omilaena just chuckled. "There you are. Want to join in? Our yin could use a little yang."

"Don’t use cultivation terms as innuendo!"

The sight of the two of them together awoke a different hunger in Kai, but he hesitated. No doubt they’d welcome him if he joined, but there was something about Zae Zin Nim’s shyness... he thought she might want some time with just the two of them. Besides, it seemed only fair after his encounter with Omilaena earlier.

"I’ll catch up to you later." Kai stepped in enough to kiss each of them, then pulled back. "Have fun."

He loped away from the cave, intending to leave them their privacy, but his enhanced hearing remained fixated on their sounds of pleasure until he was further away. Instead of thinking about that, Kai helped the elves pull together a meal for everyone and ate his fill. After that, he spent the evening helping out with construction work - he might not have the artisanal skills, but they needed some heavy objects moved into place.

In his time alone, Kai was able to search the grounds thoroughly. The forested area proved to be an orchard filled with chakra fruit that he was sure Omilaena would love. Most regions were just security or amenities, but the hedges proved to lead into a mist-filled maze that the elves said was some sort of challenge. Kai couldn’t figure it out immediately and kept searching.

Using Thunderbird’s Wings he was able to do a cursory search of the island, but the sun set earlier than usual due to the caldera walls and he felt a bit weary after all the activity. Kai headed back, hoping to find his wives, but the main bedroom was still a mess and they both seemed to have gone to sleep. He shrugged and curled up in one of the guest rooms - too small, but comfortable enough otherwise.

In the morning, Kai slept in and awoke surprisingly refreshed. Still feeling strangely languid, he ambled around to check on the others. Zae Zin Nim was actually not in her cave, shockingly, but he discovered Omilaena in the orchard.

"This is potent chakra," she said as he entered. She had her goggles on and used them to examine one of the deep purple fruits. "This place has run wild, which usually makes the chakra harder to absorb, but it will be effective if we can purify it."

"Are you going to take up horticulture, then?" Kai moved up behind her and let his hands rest on her hips.

"While there’s a discipline to that, it’s slower and more of a pain than I want to get into. No, I need to test and see if the different pieces - core, seeds, peel, etc - have concentrated different types of chakra. We might be able to refine them into a juice of some kind."

"Uh huh." Kai pulled her back against him and began kissing her neck.

Omilaena turned back to meet his lips with hers, but it was perfunctory compared to her usual sloppy kisses. "Kai, if you really want to rail me against one of these trees, I could go for that, but if you’re being your usual considerate self, I have a lot of experiments I want to run."

"Actually, I was thinking you could get up on my shoulders to pick some of the higher fruits. And if you wanted to flip around to ride my shoulders the other way, I wouldn’t complain."

"Ooh, you’re tempting me, but fucking is probably less time-sensitive than the experiments."

"Fine." Kai kissed her cheek one more time and let her go. He resisted the urge to grind against her ass, since it looked like he might have to wait a while.

Even so, he went back to look for Zae Zin Nim again and was surprised to find that she still wasn’t cultivating. Very uncharacteristic of her. Since he was apparently out of luck, Kai decided that he might as well get back to training. He hadn’t been able to do all his physical exercises during the ocean voyage, so he headed out to a courtyard that would work for training and began running through the old rhythms.

Now that his body had mana, qi, and chakra all reinforcing it, he felt sure that he could make progress. D rank progressed very slowly, and C rank was still impossibly out of reach, but there was no reason not to push as hard as he could. Besides, going through all the old exercises did a lot to take the edge off.

Toward the end all his muscles were straining and he could barely focus on anything but the magic coursing through them. He could tell that someone was watching him, but didn’t care about the elves at the moment.

When he finally straightened up, his muscles aching, he saw Zae Zin Nim watching him quietly from the doorway to the courtyard.

"Are you finished?" she asked as she padded closer. She knew his routines by now, so she was just being polite.

"Completely done," he said. "Everything okay?"

"Everything is fine. I was merely... Omilaena is very focused on her work... I am finished with my cultivation for now, so I thought..."

Kai blinked as he realized what she meant, but smiled. "Sure. I’m stinking like a pig right now, so we should probably find one of the pools, but-"

To his surprise, Zae Zin Nim stepped even closer and reached out to touch his sweaty chest. "It isn’t a... bad smell. Very strong but it, umm, smells like you. Can you just come this way?"

It seemed like she had a specific plan in mind: Zae Zin Nim advanced directly to one of the nearest small bedrooms, and when they arrived he found that it had been arranged with pillows on one side. The fact that his wife had specifically set this up and went to find him for sex sent a surge of desire straight to his hips and he swept her into his arms.

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..

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Eventually Zae Zin Nim pulled back, keeping her face close to his, practically breathing the same air.

"You... you may call me Zin Nim now," she said quietly. "I would like it if you would."

"I’ve gotten used to you having three names, but I’ll try... Zin Nim." Kai kissed her again, but couldn’t help but smile playfully as he pulled back. "We’re already married, so what do I have to do to call you just ‘Nim’?"

She shook her head. "That is too much of a pet name. Zin Nim is more intimate."

So he kissed her again and held her close as he whispered her name into her ear. It was just a name, which didn’t mean much in Goralia, but she quivered every time she heard it. Kai continued kissing her and repeating her name until she she melted.

When it was over his arms fell off her, limp against the bed. Zae Zin Nim remained there, flattened against him and just struggling to catch her breath. They were both sweaty now, he realized. He ran a hand over her back and enjoyed how she gasped.

"Where now? I’d love to take you to the main bed, but it’s still..."

"I could just sleep here." Zae Zin Nim flopped against his chest, completely limp.

"You can if you want."

She lay still for several slow breaths, which made her chest swell against him, then she shook her head. "No, I want to cultivate again. Can you... can you just take me there?"

He glanced down at her, wondering what she meant. That was strange for her, maybe shy but also potentially playful. As well as he’d gotten to know her since their marriage, this was a side of her he wasn’t sure he fully knew.

Well, he could try. Kai pulled free one of the blankets and then wrapped it around Zae Zin Nim, rolling her into a bundle. His wife yelped, but didn’t struggle, especially once he pulled her back against his chest. He scooped up her robes and carried the cultivator bundle in one arm. Even though he took a route he thought would avoid any elves, she still hid her face against his chest.

Once they reached the Immortal’s Cave, Kai gentled eased her into what he hoped was a comfortable position and laid her clothes beside her. To his surprise, Zae Zin Nim remained bundled up in the sheet.

"Are you just going to stay there?" Kai asked.

"The pose is an advised aid to concentration, but it is not required." Zae Zin Nim nodded very seriously for a woman who had just been thoroughly fucked and then rolled into a sheet. "I feel... very relaxed, like it would be best to simply continue this way."

"Whatever you want, Zin Nim." He kissed her flushed cheek and left her there with a smile.

(I'd say "I'm sorry" for the fake cliffhanger, but I absolutely am not. Won't do it again, though.)