Glenn, even in the haze of that mont, searched in vain for so rational explanation for what he felt. It wasn’t just the intoxicating scent that emanated from Selene, nor the warmth of her skin that seed woven from the heavens’ own silk; it wasn’t the sweet breath, the shivering touch, or the hair that fell like sacred veils around his face—it was all of that, and more. It was as if every particle of her body emitted a unique frequency that resonated directly with his soul. As if Selene were an elegant, voracious, eternal black hole that had waited for eons for the exact approach of the star that would finally be pulled in without resistance, without struggle, with the tragic beauty of sothing that had always been destined to happen.
But it wasn’t just him. The soft flush on her cheeks, the feverish gleam in her eyes, the faint tremor in the fingers resting against his nape... everything about her scread that the mont burned inside her too. Glenn could feel her heart—not racing in desperation, but steady, intense, beating with the rhythm of soone who holds the world in her arms. They were two opposite poles, magnetized by different destinies, and through so impossible cosmic dance they had crossed layers of ti, pain, and silence until they collided. And now, this collision caused no destruction, and honestly, he had no idea what it was causing.
It was as if their inner universes, vast and chaotic, had squeezed together, aligned, fused. The touch of their lips wasn’t just physical: it was a fusion of wills, of unspoken desires, of parallel lives that finally converged. Glenn didn’t know if Selene was his end or his beginning—he only knew she was important, far too important not to have a place within him. And before that truth, all the other truths of the world felt small, fragile, foolish. Because there, in that silent exchange between two worlds recognizing each other, there was sothing greater. Sothing that burned, healed, and consud all at once.
Selene’s eyes glead as if searching for truth behind invisible veils. She drew a little closer and, with a low but charged voice, asked:
"Did you miss ?"
The question didn’t co as provocation, but as a subtle confession, wrapped in raw tenderness. Glenn swallowed hard. Among all the thoughts that had haunted him in the past days—the wounded companions, the battles, the mysteries—he hadn’t set aside ti to understand what he felt. But now, before that gaze that disard walls and ignited volcanoes, the answer rose with the clarity of dawn: yes, he had missed her. Missed her as if a part of him had been torn away and was only now returning to its place.
"Aaah..." Glenn cursed as Selene playfully struck him.
"Took you long enough," Selene teased, poking his ribs lightly with her elbow, her lips curving into a smile that even gods would envy. "I was timing you in my head."
Glenn smiled back, surrendering to that sudden lightness that broke the weight of the world. Without thinking, as if instinct spoke louder than reason, he leaned in and kissed her again—this ti without fear, without hesitation. The kiss wasn’t just heat. It was an answer. It was presence. It was longing, desire, admiration, veiled apologies, and silent confessions entwined in a single gesture. As if, in that instant, everything left unsaid could be felt. And understood.
As much as I longed to dive into that ocean of desire, to drown in the warmth of Selene’s lips and let the world dissolve behind my closed eyelids, the weight of her aura pressed down on like a rciless vice.
On top of that, there was the long wear on my body after two uninterrupted days of travel, muscles still aching from battles and wounds barely healed. It felt as if the very sky lay upon my shoulders, and every touch, every sigh, every gesture that bound to her pushed my world closer to collapse.
This passion—wild, dense, dangerous—ca at a cost.
As her delicate hands slid across my skin and her mouth aligned so naturally with my soul, I felt as if my entire body were on the verge of breaking apart. Like an ancient wall holding up centuries of storm, I trembled. Not outwardly—not yet—but inside. Inside, my veins scread, my bones groaned like old wood under the weight of the impossible. The aura that radiated from Selene could hardly be nad, it was too supernatural, too intricate, too bound to the totality of who she was. Almost like a goddess dancing among mortals, with eyes made of tides and a presence pulsing like constellations far too close to touch.
And even so, there I was. Touching. Kissing.
It was she who gently pushed back, with a tenderness almost maternal, yet never losing the burning spark in her eyes. Her hand caressed my neck as if she knew the exact spot where the thread of my consciousness began to unravel. Her lips brushed the curve between my shoulder and neck and rested there with reverence—like a seal, a brief farewell, a postponed promise.
The wind swept between us in that exact mont.
It ca from the north, cold, sharp, damp. The breeze that had only stirred the low foliage now carried tiny white crystals. Snowflakes, fragile as sighs, began to fall hesitantly on Selene’s shoulders, lting instantly as they touched her warm skin.
The shift of seasons gave its first signs, and with it ca that strange lancholy of things that change without asking permission. The moonlight, once clear, now filtered through thin clouds, and everything looked more silver, more dreamlike, more ethereal. As if the world wished to fall silent so only our hearts could be heard.
Selene let out a small sigh, almost amused, and with half-closed eyes murmured:
"Glenn... you need a bath."
Those words—so unexpected, so human—cut through the tension like a ray of sunlight breaking through fog.
I blinked, confused, as if only then I had returned to my own body. My eyes fell on my clothes, filthy with dirt, soot, and sweat. My skin still carried the scent of the rainforest, a scent that until now had been masked by Selene’s intoxicating perfu, but was now invading my senses with brutal honesty. And everything made sense.
I was far from my best state.
I pulled back a little, and she let go. Her eyes still glowed with that dangerous radiance, the kind that told she could claim at any mont... but for now, she chose to let go. A crooked, miserable smile of sha and surrender crept across my lips as I scratched the back of my neck and nodded.
"Yeah... you’re right. I... I... I’ll... be right back," I said awkwardly, hurrying off to the room’s bath.
The wind blew again, stronger this ti, scattering flakes around us. Selene’s silhouette, frad against the faint snow and moonlight, looked like it was woven from dream and power.
**
As much as he wanted to hurry back to Selene’s company— and by all the gods, he wanted to— Glenn found himself facing a situation impossible to put off: a proper bath.
But this was no ordinary bath.
No matter how long he had stayed in Atlas, the bath annexed to his chambers was nearly a sanctuary, impossible to ignore. Carved directly into the living rock, with a natural and enchanting design, half the space was taken up by an imnse hot spring pool. Warm water gushed endlessly from a cascade spilling out of a fissure in the rocky wall, as if the mountain itself breathed life and heat. Steam drifted lazily across the surface, carrying a faintly sweet, earthy scent, natural and unforced, like the breath of forest roots whispering promises of healing.
The walls, sculpted into soft curves, still bore the texture and color of the original stone, streaked with mineral veins that shimred under the glow of enchanted lamps set around the room. The floor was ward with subtle magic, keeping the chill of stone at bay, and petals floated on the edges of the pool, as if the place were eternally prepared for so ancestral rite of purification.
Glenn rested beneath the cascade, arms sprawled on the stone ledges, head tilted back, eyes shut. He let the hot water pour down directly onto his shoulders and chest, where the tension of the past days—maybe weeks—finally surrendered to the truce. The fall’s pressure kneaded each vertebra, each rigid fiber, while his body drank in the heat and minerals seeping across his skin.
The sound of the waterfall drowned the world outside. And still, his mind refused to quiet down.
As he ran soap between his toes, behind his ears, and in places he’d rather not na, his thoughts—stubborn as ever—flew to Selene. More precisely, to the mont he tried to kiss her before his presentation banquet. The mory was as vivid as the water on his skin.
That day, at the re touch of her lips, I had been crushed. Selene’s aura, even restrained, hit like a divine wall. A suffocating heat, a tide of ancient, refined power hurled painfully into reality. And the maddest part was knowing that it wasn’t even her true aura, but rely a passive, controlled fraction—leakage of a power I couldn’t even begin to asure.
It all beca clearer after the attack on Vex and Athena, when Selene intervened and revealed her majestic aura. Everything seed to bow to her will, and even figures of authority bent to her presence. The difference was staggering. She wasn’t just a queen; she was an entity that bent reality with nothing but her existence.
Glenn sank for a mont, lowering himself until only his eyes broke the water’s line, letting it flow over his brow as his thoughts resettled. He erged again with a sigh, leaning back against the warm stone.
Yes, things had changed since that failed attempt.
He had saturated his prana core with his three affinities—gravity, lightning, and space. A process that should have taken at least a year, but had been accelerated by two factors: the cursed artifact he wore on his finger, and the anomalous collapse of the corrupted dungeon that had nearly killed him.
As if that weren’t enough, his mana core now pulsed with gravity and lightning already saturated, leaving only about 70% of the energy required to finish the last: space. That put him at a stage most cultivators would only dream of reaching in so little ti.
He had advanced. That was undeniable. Selene herself had admitted it, looking at him that night with hungry, curious eyes.
On the last occasion, I collapsed under only 19% of her passive aura. I rembered well the aftermath, and had calculated that, for this kind of closeness to be safe, I’d need to endure around 30%. And that happened much sooner than expected.
I endured. I didn’t faint. I didn’t fall. I didn’t implode.
And more than that: I took the initiative and kissed her.
That, in itself, was a psychological victory worth savoring.
The question now burning hotter than the thermal waters I was subrged in was simple:
Why?
Theoretically, I shouldn’t have endured it. Not yet. None of my technical paraters justified this newfound tolerance to Selene’s presence. No equation, no training, no specific advancent. This level of resistance should only be attainable once I broke through to Full Awakened.
So sothing else was still happening inside that no one understood. In the end, just being here on this plane was already too great an enigma for sothing so small to shake .
Maybe it was emotional. Or spiritual.
But I didn’t yet have the certainty of an answer.
And maybe, for now, that was better.
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