Chapter 7 Part 3 of 3 (Patreon)

“It is another world up there, one filled with wonders.” She stopped walking and looking at Rugrat. “But, of all the people I met, none of them were you and I never felt for anyone as much as I felt for you.” She smiled, standing on her tiptoes as she reached up with her left hand, pulling his head down for a kiss.

She pulled back biting her lip; a redness on her cheeks.

Rugrat let go of her hand and circled his arm around her back. She let out a noise of shock and giggled as he picked her up easily so she was level with him.

He slipped his calloused hand along her cheek under her hair and kissed her deeply as she looped her hands around his neck.

He pulled back but she surged forward, keeping him locked there as she wrapped her legs around his back kissing him hungrily.

They released, coming up for air, both of them flush as her legs tightened around him more.

“Okay, so, what is your plan?” Rugrat asked.

“I’m not sure. What’s yours?”

Rugrat frowned and looked into the trees, feeling the gentle heat and warmth of the wood floor. “I—” He stalled.

She waited for him.

“I want to adventure, go to higher realms again,” he said in a rush, his shoulders relaxing.

“Okay, so, what realm do you want to go to? I do have a one star hero emblem that will get us into a lot of places. And I can accept missions from the mission hall directly.”

“Wait, hero emblem?”

“Yeah.” Racquel waved her hand. Nine black smaller planets with exquisite detail were welded to a single larger planet in the middle with a single star in its center made from a piece of celestial mana stone.

“There are four stars, well five but you can’t really get the fifth. Rumor is if you get the fifth star then you control the realms. Anyway, people who get a one star hero emblem get it for changing the fate of a city for the better and protecting the people, two star for actions that affect a region, three star a continent, four star a realm and five star is said to be for saving the realms.”

“We got a quest that said we needed to go to a quartermaster to get a hero emblem.”

“Lucky, you must’ve completed a quest set out by the Ten Realms. Getting a one star quest is hard, most common is defending a city against a beast horde. In the Seventh Realm they are a completely different thing from the lower realms. Some of them in the higher realms can be controlled by demi-humans like me. But,” she pressed a finger to his chest. “What do you want to do?”

“I want Alva to be safe. I want to increase my cultivation. I want to see just what the Ten Realms has to offer. I want to reach out to the Tenth Realm and know what is up there. Find out the secrets of the Ten Realms. What about the other races? Why are we here, is there any purpose? Why were we picked, or was it random?”

“So, why don’t we go to the higher realms?” Racquel asked, looping her hands around his neck again.

“I owe these people. They’re under my protection. We just fought against a power stronger than anything we’ve run into before. I can’t run off now.”

“Why don’t you ask them?”

“It’s cowardly. I tried to let go of my position, so has Erik, but they won’t let us leave.”

“Won’t let you leave or won’t let you put down the title?”

“What do you mean?”

“Rugrat, you and Erik built this place. You’re the founders of Alva, and the Vermire Empire. Are you going to forget the people that built the place where you live? Even if they do not have the same role?”

“Well, no,” Rugrat said.

“You are the forefathers of all this.” Racquel waved her hand. “If they were to not pay homage to you then they would lose part of their identity. People in the Ten Realms are used to lords and kings, to emperors and sect leaders. You know that people joke about how you and Erik only accept the title of lord? They smile and joke saying ‘well they might have a king, they might have a sect leader but didn’t our lords defeat them?’”

Rugrat frowned.

“That is part of their identity. The fact that we are a small, well not so small anymore, group of people in the First Realm. They are proud of that identity. They would fight for it and have bled for it. You are constantly stuck between these responsibilities that you place on yourself and what you want to do.” She grabbed his head and stared into his eyes. “Jimmy Rodrigeuz, do what you want to do!”

Rugrat stood there looking up at her as she searched his face, to see if her words had hit home.

“First we stabilize everything. There are still a lot of things I want to work on in the smithy. And I need to increase my mana cultivation, then,” Rugrat let out a powerful breath that came from deep in his stomach. “Then we head to the Seventh Realm. We need more information on these dungeon sects. There’s a lot to learn and we need to train, if we want to make it into the Eighth Realm.”

Racquel smiled and kissed him again. “Good. So I get to call you my boyfriend now?” she asked playfully.

“Uhh, well, what are you doing tomorrow?”

“Training, I guess? Unless you have something you’d prefer to do? I’m always up for some cardio as you call it.” Racquel’s lips formed a coy smirk..

“Would you like to come over to my house. Momma's cooking and she wants to meet you.”

“I’ve met her already a few times.”

“You have?” Rugrat asked.

“Yeah, she came and found me training and I’ve seen her around the city. Delilah rules Alva and wields it like a sword, while Momma is her trusty secretary.”

“I, wait, she works at the food stall.”

“Yeah, she does and she is always wandering around the other floors talking to people, gathering ingredients. She knows all the traders. Has people over to her stall all the time and then eats out at the other stalls. She’s on campus all the time in the cooking classrooms, learning and she’s in the self defense classes and training. I see where you get your work ethic from.” Racquel grinned. “You think that I would turn down an invitation to have a sit down meal with the fourth busiest woman in Alva?”

“Who are the other three?”

“Delilah, Elise and Jia Feng, you idiot!” She bopped him on the head.

“Yeah, but,” Rugrat scratched his face.

“Everyone is working their asses off here. There might only be a few council leaders. And they may only have a small staff, but they only administer to the essential needs of the people. They control people through their actions and words instead of laws and regulations. Seriously, some of the older nations in the higher realms can’t do a damn thing; they are so wrapped up in their own words and restrictions. Took me three weeks to get the paperwork to buy a horse! By then it was sold!”

Rugrat grinned and pulled her close into a kiss.

“Are you trying to distract me from my house paperwork, Jimmy!”

“Yes,” Rugrat pulled her back in more forcefully.

She pushed off as if fighting him.

“Do you mind if I call you Jimmy?”

“It’s a bit strange hearing it.” Rugrat shrugged. “But it is my name and I like the way you say it.”

She grinned and kissed him back.