I laid in my bed, mulling over all kinds of thoughts. Paired Cultivation was sothing I had never heard of - but to be fair, I was pretty sheltered while growing up. The base idea was intriguing enough; two people could Cultivate together for essentially exponential gains. Having four hands to do the work was better than two, obviously.
It was the rest of the situation that gave pause. First was the trust part of it. When two people are Cultivating together, they are actively sharing their Qi and access to their Cores with one another. It ant that if the participants were mismatched in so way, one person could drastically take advantage of the other. Vale even ntioned that this connection is believed to be the basis for so of the demonic techniques that allow one person to steal another's Qi.
In practice, it mostly just ant that you shouldn't Cultivate together with soone you didn't trust, or with soone who far outstripped you in strength.
While this was a minor concern, I didn't think I had that much to worry about on that front from Avuri. She seed straightforward enough, and a good person as well. If she had orchestrated everything up until to make an attempt to steal from with Paired Cultivation, I would be shocked. Impressed, too, admittedly. But mostly shocked.
Ultimately, the more concerning part of the whole thing was the social aspect of it all. Apparently, people who engaged in Paired Cultivation often took part in intense physical acts while Cultivating together. To be clear, it didn't always involve sex. It often did, but physical closeness seed to be more the important part than the more erotic side of things.
The conversation earlier tonight had gotten rather awkward when Vale began assuring the two of us that if we did choose to try this, simply cuddling or hugging one another would more than likely suffice. Avuri and I had looked at each other, our faces both growing scarlet, before we shouted that we'll think about it and split off into different rooms for the night.
I didn't want to make things awkward between us. We didn't have so great, storied friendship between us that we'd be risking by getting a little awkward, but I thought that we got along very well. Maybe so great friendship for the ages was even a possibility. Who knew?
But a larger part of was still focused on the information Avuri brought with her. There was potentially a new demonic sect in the Dying Lands. And they were definitely targeting children. While I would need to get stronger - at least to the Sky Realm - to do anything about it, I wasn't about to sit back and let them continue doing this.
On the upside, I was fairly sure that once I broke through to the Sky Realm and trained myself to handle a Domain, I would be able to match most demonic Cultivators even at the peak of the sa Realm. I had done it before with Earth Realm Cultivators that were far superior to in raw power. As long as I could feasibly defend myself against Domain related attacks, I should be able to handle myself.
Avuri would be in far more danger, and that was sothing we would have to consider when the ti ca - if the ti ca. I wouldn't bet on anyone else except in such a lopsided fight without cause. If Avuri wanted to help, it'd have to be logistical or otherwise, and not in the fray. Or she'd have to prove herself to be able to hold off multiple stronger opponents. At least well enough that I wouldn't worry about her on the field.
I shook my head to get back on track. Regardless of all of that, the main concern right now was what to do about the potential of Paired Cultivation.
I told myself to focus.
If I was honest, the idea of being physically close and in contact with Avuri while Cultivating didn't bother . Not really. She was a pleasant person from what I had seen so far, and looked like she would be just as pleasant to touch. We were both recently bathed, slling fresh, and just generally clean.
And while I was never really one for 'the ends justify the ans', I thought that I could even put up with soone who wasn't pleasant if it ant growing strong enough to save so children from their own personal hells.
But again, the idea of getting close to Avuri was hardly a negative one.
The major hangup was more of an emotional one, I supposed. First, while I certainly thought of myself as a straightforward person, even I drew the line sowhere. And asking soone to engage in…whatever sort of acts may occur in this situation, when I wasn't sure where their own thoughts lay? That was certainly over my line.
And on top of all of that was the potential romantic or erotic complications that apparently went along with Paired Cultivation. I had never been in any sort of relationship of that kind. At least not a real one. I was no stranger to…dalliances on occasion. Traveling got lonely, and spending the night with soone that I'd never see again while tracking a target was an easy way to lessen the burden sowhat.
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The potential gender concern…wasn't really so much a concern. At least not for . Cultivators were a notoriously pretty bunch, and I had never had any difficulties finding won as equally as appealing as n. I wasn't sure if that was common or not, but it didn't seem all that unusual. It was absolutely worth considering how Avuri felt about being physically close to another woman though.
As far as actual 'romance' went…well, that would be a wholly different bridge to cross when and if it materialized. I wasn't so much opposed as inexperienced in that field. But with the potential of hundreds or maybe even thousands of years of life ahead of , actively tracking down a romance was put on the backburner when I had more pressing goals directly before .
I sighed aloud. Laying here in thought would only get so far, and I was pretty sure that I had co to a conclusion for my side at least. If Avuri offered to collaborate on this, I would accept. The potential gains were incredibly tantalizing, and if I went with my gut instinct, I felt like Avuri was a good - maybe great - partner to work with. It really ca down to how Avuri felt about working with . And I wouldn't stick my nose into that situation; the subject matter was too personal to interfere.
I decided I wouldn't get anywhere by sitting here thinking about it. With that decided, I swung my legs out of bed and made my way to the kitchen for a glass of water and a late night snack. As I turned the corner into the kitchen, Avuri greeted with a little wave from the kitchen table, where she sat with a glass of her own.
"Couldn't sleep either?" She asked.
"You say that as if being up in the middle of the night isn't normal for us."
"Fair enough." She chuckled. "Even though I'm physically used to the lesser sleep schedule, it still feels a little weird to need so much less. And it's been years since it changed." She said, staring down at her water. Her finger lightly traced the rim.
I triggered the water Array to fill my glass and leaned against the counter. "I've never been good at sleeping at night." I said wryly. "Needing so much less sleep made actually feel so much better. I wasn't constantly sleep deprived afterward." I laughed, trying to diffuse so of the tension that seed to be forming between us.
Avuri, in response, just suddenly thumped the table with her hands and shot to her feet. "I think we should do it."
I blinked at her sudden movent. "You…what?"
"I think we should try Paired Cultivation…" Avuri said, then muttered, looking unsure of herself. "If…if you want to."
I stared at her for a mont, then laughed. I struggled to keep myself sowhat quiet to avoid waking Cierra a few rooms away, but managed to stifle myself. Avuri looked at , stricken. "What? You don't have to laugh about it like that." She said, starting to look angry.
"No, that's not it." I said, trying to recover my breath. "I thought about it while laying in bed for the last few hours. I decided if you were anable to it, I would be all in." I took a big gulp of water. "You're sure about this?" I asked.
"Not even a little." Avuri laughed. I gave her a concerned look in response, which apparently made her reconsider. "Alright, that's not quite right. I'm sure. My gut has said I could trust you from day one, Ery. And while I'm not sure I want to commit for life or anything, I think pairing with you to help us both reach the Sky Realm is a good idea."
"And you're comfortable with the other stuff?" I asked, wanting to be sure. "I don't want to take part in anything until I'm sure we're both comfortable with it."
Avuri nodded. "Yes. I am comfortable with it." There was a pause before she added. "Just the physical closeness, to be clear."
"Of course." I responded. Our eyes locked for a mont before I went to take another big gulp of water, mostly out of my urge to fidget.
And then the woman across from had the gall to add, "I might be anable to more in a few weeks." And then she gave one of the most suggestive looks I had seen from soone in years.
I coughed and sputtered, rather spectacularly, sending a bunch of water up and out my nose and mouth. Avuri just laughed at , doubled over. While I was recovering, I tried to motion at her to be quiet. To her credit, she glanced down the hall toward Cierra's room and imdiately quieted her laughter.
I hacked and coughed, trying to rid my sinuses of the remaining water. Avuri walked over and rubbed my back and lightly smacked it, trying to assist.
"Are you alright? I didn't an for you to end up coughing so bad."
"Yeah, sure." I said, my voice coming out broken and scratchy. "You absolutely did that on purpose."
Avuri nodded with a grin. "I wanted to see water co out of your nose."
I smiled, finally more or less recovered. "Did you want to go talk to Vale now? Tell him we're interested?"
She considered for a mont, then shook her head. "No, it's been a few hours. I imagine he's in ditation now. We should go to bed."
"Together?" I asked, giving her as suggestive a look as I could manage.
To my dismay, she was not thrown off at all, but instead considered it. "Why not?" She said finally, with a shrug. "If we do this tomorrow, we're gonna be a lot closer than sleeping in the sa bed half clothed. May as well get comfortable."
"I suppose you're right…" I said, then chuckled. "We are doing all of this so far out of order."
"All of what?" Avuri asked, as she began to clean up her late night snack.
I motioned nebulously around us. "I've t you…let's be generous and say four tis. And we've bathed together, are about to share a bed, and have decided to Cultivate together."
Avuri raised a brow at . "So…what? Are you…propositioning , Miss Ery?" She gave a sultry look up and down, and licked her lips. "I could be anable." As her gaze traveled back up to my face, our eyes locked.
And then we both broke out laughing. Still sowhat quietly to avoid bothering Cierra, but whether it was laughing at the joke or to banish the awkwardness of the mont was sothing I wasn't too sure of.
Worse, as we walked toward the master bedroom to try to get a couple hours of sleep, I found myself thinking about whether her statent was genuine or not.
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