Lord Have Mercy.

"Eve..."

[Master?]

" Can you elaborate some more?"

Ash knew that Eve was an airhead, and he embraced this "quality" of her with an open heart, but even he had his limits.

So far, the knowledge he had about this connection was so ambiguous that any other person in his shoes would undoubtedly feel suspicious towards this entity named Eve. Even he was surprised at his ability to accept the fact that this connection was a real thing in the first place.

He couldn't explain it, but he knew Eve was not an enemy or someone to be wary of since the moment he met her.

Surely, he acted with caution at first, but over the few years of interacting with her any wariness that he could have vanished as their relationship deepened.

He was also taken back since this 'connection' was sort of a sensitive topic for Eve.

Anytime he voiced his curiosity about what this connection with her could be he would feel a palpable tension coming from her. It was obvious to Ash that this was one of the many secrets she was keeping from him.

So, when she asked to unlock the restrictions of their connection not only was he confused, since he didn't know what she meant by that, but he also felt a sense of unease growing within him, knowing that whatever she was asking for was no small matter he could just ignore.

Though, thinking more deeply about it, he didn't have anything to lose, and he doubted that Eve would ask for something that would put him on a disadvantageous position.

Also, anything that could make him stronger would be welcomed.

As it is now, apart from showing him his Soul's Window and detecting life forms in his surroundings in a crazily precise manner, there wasn't much she could offer for him.

'Will the range of things she can do increase?'

So far, detection was the only skill she provided that was somehow helpful in combat.

Along with his [Mark] sub-trait, which he acquired from MINE, Eve could multiply the range of his skill by several times, with the only limitation being that he couldn't detect the targets himself, only Eve could.

In this way, no matter how far his targets were, as long as they were withing the same city, Eve would always be able to give him reports of their position.

A tactic that he was currently using on a certain group he encountered on his trip from the Elven Kingdom.

'Let's see how it goes.'

Eve seemed to be confused by his question. 'Isn't obvious?' was the kind of phrase her current facial expression implied, and although he couldn't see her, he knew the girl too much already to know what she was thinking.

" If 'someone' wasn't so insistent on keeping things to herself then I would know what you meant, dear."

[!]

For some reason that last 'dear' didn't sound as lovely as the one from earlier, if the imaginary jolt of electricity she felt going through her spine was anything to go by.

[*Cough, Cough*. R-right, let me explain myself.]

Taking a deep breath Eve stood up from her couch and adopted a straight standing position. Any trace of playfulness in her tone was replaced by a stern one, as she proceeded to explain the reasoning behind her request.

[Currently, although our connection is undoubtedly strong, the range of the things that we can do is far greater than this.]

Ash listened attentively. Although hearing Eve speaking in such a serious manner was new for him, to the point it made him feel uncomfortable, he knew it would be stupid to interrupt her right now.

[I can't give you the details, as you are not yet qualified enough to know them, but the power I hold is unmeasurable, while the current you are barely at the peak of D Rank. Since this is the case, a type of balance is needed, even I can't break this balance, hence why I limit myself so much.]

To say that he was surprised would be an understatement.

Just how powerful would one have to be to classify their strength as 'unmeasurable'?

He had his theories that Eve was some higher Ranked person residing in a different dimension, but the weight of her words made him rethink this idea.

" Why are you telling me this now?

And, how powerful exactly are you?"

[ Because it won't take long before you break through D Rank and become an Advanced Rank Magi. The stronger you get, the stronger my influence will become, until you reach a point where you surpass me. Only then will I be able to fully support you as your servant. Since I haven't increased my influence from when you were an F Rank, I found it appropriate to request for it now. I hope that answers your first question.]

"It does. Although that still doesn't explain why you termed it as "full connection" when I'm clearly 'not yet qualified', as you said earlier."

Ash noticed how she ignored his second question but decided to let it pass, he didn't want to disrupt the flow of the conversation.

[Master, when I said, "full connection", I didn't mean that I would be able to use my full power, that will progressively increase along with your growth, what I meant was something else...]

Eve trailed off as she looked down, adverting her gaze from the panoramic screen that depicted Ash's vision. She could clearly see everything he was seeing. As he stood up from the pool-like hot spring in his bathroom, naked, she had no other option than that.

" What did you mean then, Eve?"

With a slight blush, she shook her head and continued.

[ I meant to enable the full functionality of our connection. When you were an F rank you were too weak to manifest it properly, but now that you have trained on mana control and have a considerable large mana pool, it should be fine.]

" Just spit it out already for god's sake!"

[I will just show you !!]

"U-ugh!"

Ash felt a burning sensation in his navel. Well, calling it "burning sensation" was downplaying it. He felt like his core had turned into pure lava and this heat was spreading all around his body.

He fought to stay conscious as the pain he felt was unlike anything he had ever experienced. The beatings from Ingrid's training sessions were child's play in comparison.

[It's going to hurt a little at first only. Don't try to resist, it won't work otherwise.]

"Y-you could've warned me damn it!"

Even saying a short sentence was incredibly hard for him at the moment.

[I-i got nervous because you rushed me and forgot to tell you!]

'The spanking that awaits her in the future just became more certain.'

She felt a chill for some unknown reason but quickly ignored that sensation and focused on unlocking the connection.

['I'm so glad Master allowed me to have the authority of this sub-seal'.]

When the pain was about to become unbearable, an explosion of white light that originated from his navel area blinded Ash's surroundings with a flash, just when he was about to enter his bedroom from the bathroom.

He wanted to at least reach his bed in case he passed out from the pain, but alas, he didn't make it.

Thankfully, as soon as the light came out of him, the pain disappeared as if it was an illusion all this time.

Still blinded by the aftereffects of the now diminishing light, Ash stood up with some difficulty after he had fell from the sudden pain.

In an attempt to find the door's handle and exit the bathroom once and for all his hand wondered around awkwardly until he grabbed something.

*Squeeze*

"Mmh?"

'This sensation feels oddly familiar...'

*Squeeze* X2

"Aww~"

'Did my door always make these sounds?'

"M-master, please be gentler~"

"EH!!"

Ash spread his closed eyes wide open as he unconsciously dashed backwards. By then, the length of his white hair had already reached the floor and his muscles pulsated with a dark red energy, characteristics associated to the manifestation of 'Essence', in other words, a Hunter's Power.

On his right hand an ice great sword that was at least twice his height was created out of thin air, as he adopted a crouched martial art's position, readying himself to confront the assailant who dared to invade his room when he was going through a very complicated process that left him vulnerable for a few seconds.

"Who sent you?"

Ash asked with a chilling tone as he scrutinized the intruder that was in front of him.

He was still adapting his vision to his surroundings after the sudden flash took place.

Ash was very close to the explosion when it happened, in a sense he was the source of said explosion, so his eyes took a direct hit and although he was starting to see again it was quite blurry.

'From her voice she should be a woman.'

Ash was too surprised by the sudden voice that he missed two important details.

The familiarity of the voice, and the use of the word "Master".

Thinking back to it, Ash froze in place.

The person in question never answered his question, as she was too embarrassed at the moment due to the 'unfortunate' incident that had just transpired.

"M-my heart is not ready yet Master~"

'No way...'

His vision returned after a few seconds, seconds in which he disactivated his essence and the ice great sword he created with his Ice Law.

(A/N: Laws and True laws will be explained later on in the series, most likely in the next few chapters. I might even make a Vol 0 chapter going through all these terms and going a bit deeper on some concepts I haven't fully explained yet.)

What he saw, was a breath-taking beauty of the likes he could only compare to Ingrid, his mother, or the young girl he had met earlier.

She was holding her face with both hands, as if trying to contain the flush that was spreading throughout her face.

Her long, blue hair fell elegantly on her back, with some strands falling on her shoulders. The smoothness from said hair was unlike anything he had ever seen. The thought of patting the girl's head and feeling that smoothness for himself was killing him in ways he had yet to come across before.

Although her eyes were partially closed due to her recurring embarrassment, it was hard to hide their crystalline blue colour. A sparkle of innocence was ever present in them.

Ash had to pinch his leg to prevent himself from getting lost in those eyes.

Although her face was cute and angel-like her body was the total opposite. Her naked body was in plain sight for him to appreciate and once again he had to fight his racing desires to remain unmoving.

Contrary to the mature aura that Ingrid's naked body released, Eve's resembled that of a young girl who just entered adulthood.

Her curves were not scandalous or luscious, but delicate yet accentuated.

Blue strands of hair tried but failed miserably to hide her perky bottom that was fully displayed for him to see. So were her breasts, which although not as big as Ingrid's were still on the big side, showing a firmness and bounciness that aroused him to no end.

He closed and opened his right hand, as if reminiscing on the heavenly squeeze he took from those same breasts earlier.

" Eve?"

He pushed himself to call out her name, knowing fully well that if he stared for too long, he would surely lose himself in lust.

" Y-yes?"

Eve opened her eyes wider and looked at her Master, up until now she could only see through his eyes so unless he looked at his own reflection it was odd to see him so clearly. Yet, seeing him in person like this was a whole different experience and, in an instant, she forgot about the embarrassment she was vividly feeling up until that point.

"Master!"

Unable to keep up with her sudden dash, probably due to the many emotions that his heart was feeling at the moment, Ash fell to the ground as Eve pushed herself on him, hugging his body tightly as if to make sure he wouldn't leave her side.

"E-eve."

Ash tried to leave her embrace but when he felt some wetness on his neck, he halted his intentions.

'Just what are you hiding from me Eve?'

The tears could be explained as her emotions taking the best out of her since she was meeting her master for the first time but,

'Is the same feeling that I got from mother and that girl.'

His heart did not lie.

The throb he felt, although different in a whole new way, was undeniably a consequence of his soul screaming at him that the person he was hugging was special to him. So special that it hurt.

As if it was the most natural thing in the world, he returned the hug.

It was a beautiful scene to see...

Or it would've been if not for the fact that they were both naked and Eve was basically mounting his pelvis in the middle of his room's floor, right outside the bathroom from which some steam kept coming out.

His erection, that was bursting with power, was also fully on display, pressing right behind her perky ass.

As his intoxicated state was yet to pass, and he was starting to get worried, he opted to tell Eve to stop hugging and get dressed for now but...

Fate seemed to have different plans for him.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me."

At the entrance of his room stood four women, all of them with a wide variety of expressions.

His mother, who was holding hands with a girl he didn't recognize held her free hand on top of her mouth with wide open eyes.

The girl with short black hair had a slight blush as she looked directly between Ash's legs, an unsettling smile formed on her face as her thighs squeezed together in an almost frenetic way.

Eliza-... Betty, had lifeless eyes, killing intent was rapidly spreading throughout the room with her as the source.

A killing intent that was shared at the same intensity by the woman that was standing next to her, Ingrid, who's eyes were emitting an icy glint that sent shivers down Ash's spine.

"I-i can explain!"

Was the first sentence that came out of his mouth.

"Oh my! My baby has grown so fast it almost saddens me~." (Clarice)

"I can clearly see the 'growth' you are talking about my dear niece. Though I can't share your sadness~." (Maria)

" Ashborne Dorian, explain, now." X2 (Ingrid and Elizabeth.)

'Lord have mercy.'

Ash felt oddly religious today.