Eventually, he said to her, “So how was it? The Burning Steps was the first true contest you were a part of since you joined our family. Was joining Clan Hart everything you imagined it would be?”
Nessa smiled, clinging onto him even more tightly with her snake tail. “So much better. I thought Faye was overselling, but it turns out she was underselling.”
Jake chuckled at that. “She’s a powerful wingwoman and matchmaker. Though I hear you may have her beat in the latter.”
“I do have a bit of a knack for it thanks to my eyes. As for the overall contest, I wish my impact was nearly as high as others, but I have so tough competition. Sati was the dark horse this ti.”
Jake grinned and squeezed her hand. “It’s difficult to compete with destiny and fate like that, and with Champions to boot. Though Tanda said Calix might have gotten away if not for you, and the overall battle on the wind continent was close. You brought him to justice and helped us win, and that’s a big deal.”
“It was a joint effort, but you’re right. If I weren’t present there, he may have escaped and sohow joined the enemy in truth, taking so of his secrets along with him. When enemies can read the future, it gets even more complicated to know how they may have acted.”
Jake ran his fingers through Nessa’s short hair, scratching her scalp with one hand, and running his hand over her snake tail wrapped around him. “Our alliance mbers were about as successful as they could possibly be. Love and Justice the guild, and the clan alliances you ford as you built it have truly fed into Hearthtribe’s success. To , it seems like you’ve exceeded your goals and certainly my expectations.”
Cultivators were definitely strong, but they were also insular. Her ability to rally them to fight alongside Hearthtribe had been a big help. It was true that they only made up a small percentage of their overall fighting force, but they made a big impact with their unique talents and mobility.
Jake felt Nessa’s heart flutter, a warm surge of joy pulsing through their bond as she basked in his silent admiration.
“I’ll never complain about the praise and the pampering,” Nessa murmured, her blue hair brushing against his shoulder. “But I can feel how loud your thoughts are right now. The pride. The respect. Did I do sothing specific to earn all this extra attention?”
Jake trailed a hand down her back, tracing the subtle curve of her spine. “Just reminding you that I see everything you do. You’ve gone above and beyond and proven your worth. I think it’s important to say it out loud, even if you already feel and know it to be true, thanks to our bond. I see you and the things you do.”
She didn't stop her work, her magic still gracefully drawing the stream of energy over from the river god, but she turned her head to capture his lips in a slow, lingering kiss.
“Thank you,” she breathed against his mouth. “I’m just... really glad you and the girls are my life now. I’m never alone anymore. My worries are the family’s worries, and our victories are my victories. Together, we truly achieve much. More than I had ever imagined.”
Jake let his hands slide to her hips, his thumbs brushing the smooth, cool scales of her serpent half. “How about I shoulder a little more of the burden right now?” he suggested, his voice dropping an octave. “Let help you refine this. We might not get through all of it in one sitting, but if we focus on it together, we can clear everything but the core current.”
Nessa paused, her eyes fluttering as she caught the subtle shift in his tone. She tilted her head, a playful frown touching her lips. “You’re already helping a lot. And honestly, just sitting here like this is really comfy. What exactly did you have in mind?”
Jake didn't answer with words. He let his Hearthian bond flare, flooding her senses with a wave of raw, unfiltered desire. He let her feel exactly how much he wanted her–not just the comfort of her company, but the intoxicating, fiery intimacy of their souls and bodies intertwining through dual cultivation.
Nessa gasped softly, her breath hitching as the sheer weight of his need washed over her. Her powerful tail coiled tighter around his waist, drawing him flush against her as she wrapped her arms around his neck. A wicked, beautiful grin spread across her face.
“Well,” she purred, her eyes darkening with a matching hunger. “It's a good thing I was hoping for exactly that.”
With a flick of her wrist, she retrieved a small, glowing vial from her spatial storage and drank it down in one smooth motion.
Jake raised an eyebrow, a grin tugging at his lips as he realized she didn’t seem to be sharing at all what was in it. “What was that?”
“I’ll tell you later,” she whispered, tossing the empty vial aside and pulling his lips down to hers.
Knowing the kinds of things Fhesiah made, that was probably a mystery better left unsolved for now. However, he could only look on with chagrin as she handed him a pill for himself to take as the kiss continued. It was a refined pearl from a giant, benthic clam in the abyssal trenches in the Mystic Expanse, with Aether energy from Aetheris mixed in to elevate it into an even higher energy.
Jake paused to take it, the energy starting to radiate through his body as Nessa ground her hips against him, teasing him before their kiss resud, their hearths connecting as their passion for each other rose.
After just a few seconds, energy started to cycle through his body with a crushing weight. It was an energy of the Abyssal Trench, a grounding force of the deepest ocean. It was highly compatible with Nessa’s Lake and might have been perfect as a cultivation material just for her. However, she was looking to shift away from this, so instead, it beca a tempering agent to improve their bond, as well as elevate this river god water. Thankfully, they had a whole lot of these refined pearls, and Nessa had a whole lot of water to go along with them.
The energy flowed through his chakras, and eventually so of it began to arrive in his Void Furnace. Within, impurities were burned away, leaving the energy purer and increasing their ability to absorb it. It would create actual essence, sothing relatively close to aspected Source Energy–sothing that could allow them to take in the truths of the universe or bring their bodies or spirits closer to the Dao, the heavens themselves.
This was part of the essence crystallization process. When they did the deed in truth, each side of the equation, Jake and Nessa, Yang and Yin, would modify or transform the energy as it tempered them. In this case, Jake was taking in Yin energy, as Nessa was already taking in the Yang-aspected river god water, but each would be transford.
When they transferred the refined energy to each other, the two shifted energies within them would mix, flow through their bodies, and be modified by their chakras a second ti, and in truth, it didn’t even require sex. They could easily transmit the energy through their hands, or, thanks to Jake’s hearth, that way instead.
It just sped it up, increased effectiveness, and was way more intimate and enjoyable. The special, more intimate connection did produce so kind of unique energy type in their chakras, and this simply wouldn’t mix in and elevate the energy without it.
And Jake’s Void Furnace, his Manipura Chakra, was where this energy sat for a while as it was cooked and crystallized into essence. Once Jake had the essence, he combined that essence with a small amount of his hearthfla and let it flow from hearth to hearth. His Void-Divine hearthflas sohow allowed this, nearly no matter what energy they were using.
While it traveled, it bathed their connection in this superior energy, and it would be much like when Jake cultivated with Sati. Both of them would be bathed in the truths of the universe, and their bond would be strengthened at the sa ti.
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Thankfully, Jake could do it relatively on autopilot and didn’t really have to think about it aside from experiencing the unique sensations, and he could just focus on his lover in front of him.
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