69 A Blink Of An Eye (1)

"Won't you stay with me?~ Because you're~ All I need~" A melodic singing greeted Zel as soon as he woke up. He kept his eye close while thinking of what happened last night. A smile dawned upon his face while taking a deep breathe.

'Yeah, that's the smell.' Zel's eyes were kept close but he didn't need to open them to see who was singing. The weight on his right arm and the finger that played with his chest were everyday luxuries that made him know that he was where he needed to be.

"Open your eyes~ Look up to the skies and see~" Zel didn't know what came over him but he fell asleep for a while, not knowing when she changed the song she was singing. He was so out of it that he hurriedly opened his eyes to check on what time of day it is. The white ceiling was the first thing that he saw, a bright lightbulb was the second.

"Ahh... Damn it." Zel complained as he got blinded for a second, only to feel a hand rummage through his hair after he spoke. A smooth and gentle hand that made him feel safe.

"Good morning, tiger. You slept quite a while, haven't you?" A brightly smiling Emilia showed up from Zel's side as she laid her head on his extended arm. Her eyes were back to their natural blue, her aura as calm as he was accustomed to and her smile just as beautiful as they had always been.

"Good morning, tigress." Zel kissed Emilia's forehead in response to her smile, to which the woman giggled adorably. Right now, the two were lying on their bed while wearing their usual attire when on it. Absolutely nothing.

"You feel like getting up?" Zel asked Emilia while playing with her back with his fingers. The soft skin made him feel warm, while their soft breathing noises made him feel connected with her somewhat.

"I don't know... Do we have to, boss?" Emilia's placed her hand on Zel's chest while drawing circles. Her eyes were looking at Zel with an innocent air, but hey playful smile made it clear she had other ideas.

"Oh? Who dares make my woman work!" Zel took Emilia into his arms and made her lie facing down on top of him. The two faced each other while looking at each other's eyes, but soon after, the two shared a deep kiss.

"Moan." Emilia, who was focusing on the kiss, was caught off guard when a hand placed itself on her buttocks. What was unfair was that Zel used his mana to create weak vibrations that enhanced the sensation.

"Ahh." When the pleasure was too much, she ended up having to take a moment to breathe through her mouth. But soon after she was done, an assault was done on her mouth as Zel's tongue made its way into it. Playing with her body, making her reach a height of pleasure and take control from there on. That's Zel's usual plans when Zel wanted to spoil the love of his life.

But just as the two were about to go to the next phase of their morning, a ringing came from outside their room. The three ringing sounds followed by silence caused the mood to turn less enticing and fun. Zel immediately saw the sinking expression of Emilia who was still lying on top of him.

"I'll go check it out, you stay here." Zel didn't want to ruin her mood any more so he switched their positions to make him the one on top.

He gave her a short kiss and took out his clothes from his ring. He was walking to the door when he heard a small humming sound from behind him. When he looked back, the bed was empty while everything in the room was neat and tidy. Unlike the mess it was just a while ago.

"Don't take too long. I'm VERY hungry right now." A seductive voice came from the direction of their bed, even though there was no one there. Emilia's mind barrier is getting stronger every day, even Zel would find it hard to guard against her mind energy now.

"Whoosh." Zel immediately opened the door to get things done with as soon as possible. Though it seemed as if they were back inside their home, they were still in the Tower.

"Toph, what is it?" Zel walked down a hall with glass walls, transparent glass walls. If one looked back to where Zel was previously at, they would see that there was nothing but a door there. The door was stuck in between similarly transparent glass walls, but one couldn't see the inside of the room.

It was at this time that a silhouette of a woman came to be in front of Zel. She didn't have any signs of life in her, but her appearance was that of an elegant and beautiful woman. She was wearing a decent white blouse and black skirt with black stockings, a typical business wear that is always enhanced by a pair of high heels. Her charming smile would have made many men want to stare, but she kept a cool demeanor that made her hard to approach if one didn't have any existing connection with her.

Zel had taken a year since he had ended up in here to create this artificial soul, dubbing her an 'Intelligent Manager'. The reason for her personality is because Zel wanted an intelligent manager that isn't so dreadful to listen to. Meanwhile, the reason for her beauty was because of the model used when she was created, the Queen herself, Emilia Halsey.

"Lord Tiger, the update to the system has been successfully completed. The mana core is now ready for integration, but permission to proceed is needed." A cool voice was heard from the intelligent manager, Toph. While she looked like a twin of Emilia, she was an entirely different kind of personality.

"Stop calling me Tiger! I told you, Zel is just fine!" Zel was still struggling with making this creation of his listen to him. The process of creating an artificial soul has never been an easy job, mostly because there is no knowing of how it would turn out.

First thing that should be done is to set a purpose for the artificial soul, giving it a general goal and a specific code of conduct is a must before proceeding. For Toph, her goal is to accompany Zel as his companion and manage all the information in his mind palace. As for specific code of conduct, those can be added as time passed. For now, the only code of conduct Zel gave her was to learn and obey.

The code itself isn't a bad idea, but the problem was that she could only learn from one person in the Tower. As the one whose likeness it was based on, Toph decided to follow in Emilia's footsteps and act as she does.

Calling him Tiger, being quite touchy and even making inappropriate jokes were things that Emilia does when it was only the two of them. Now, even Toph was doing the same. Emili wasn't helping as well since she finds the situation hilarious, even adding fuel to the flame by encouraging the intelligent manager.

But while Zel has spoken the first thing that came to his mind, he took a while longer before fully digesting the information he was given. "What did you say!?"

"The system is completed; Would you give this servant your permission to integrate it?" Toph gave her response with a small smile. Raising her hand to show Zel the mana core that has been under production for five years now.

She had only been 'alive' for seven years, but she had grown fond of her lord. It was due to having access to his memories that she knew how many people treat others. If she had to judge her lord with her own parameters, she could easily say that he's a good man.

"Haha! Good, integrate it to- Wait, how much gas do we have left?" Zel was about to proceed with the plan when he remembered about the Primal Force. The energy that run the Tower turned out to be the energy that is needed to create the system. All this time, Zel and Emilia had created a tremendous change with the system that took a lot of the Tower's reserves.

"There are 625,234 units of Primal Force left. It is able to sustain the Tower at full operations for 62 days, 12 hours and 33 minutes." Toph's raised her hands and showed Zel a screen with details regarding the Tower. The full operations included many things, but it is mainly the size of the Tower that made it take that much energy. 

"Give me an estimation when Power Save mode is activated." Zel looked at the information with a calm gaze. He had already expected them to have little time left, but things weren't as bleak as it indicates. He had already planned for this ahead of time.

"Conducting simulations... Deactivating all life sustaining facilities and functions, maintaining dimensional insulation. Estimated time before shut down is 17 years, 3 days, 6 hours and 45 minutes." Toph spoke while the graph on the screen she was displaying changed to accommodate Zel's instructions.

"It's better than last time, I have more time now. Thank you, Toph. Keep a close eye on the Tower for me, will you?" Zel waved his hand to show Toph that he was satisfied with her report.

"At your service, Lord Tiger." The intelligent manager smilingly bowed her head without a complaint and turned around. Presumably to place the mana core back to storage, allowing it to preserve the Primal Force that it housed.

"Sigh." Zel watched as Toph walk away, giving Zel a wink when she turned her head for a second. She carried the mana core with her with the utmost care, but there was no danger here in the Tower. Even if the whole dimension collapsed, this place would be just as safe as it was now. If only they could keep it that way, they wouldn't have to do any of this.