Muspelheim[19]

Inside the spacious living room, two figures could be seen munching on some fried dough sticks. Their eyes glued to the television as they watched the latest news about Gaming.

"The couple who created history! A match where no one had won!"

"The Ice and Fire Duo, with their might, they trampled all over the Beginner's Event!"

"Speculations about the Ice and Fire Duo's true identity!"

Khan almost spat his soymilk when he scanned the comments placed by the other players.

"What's so good about that? Can you see that Fire was camping all the time, and look, he even jumped in the air, he's just practically trying to kill himself."

"But as for Ice, damn her movements really looks fluid and without waste, however, I think she isn't suited for group battles and because of her temperament, she may be hard to control..."

The screen displayed a nimble silhouette leaping in the air, in each time she landed, a mournful cry would echo followed by a system notification.

Khan gulped a mouthful of saliva, he glanced at Lily who just sipped on her soymilk with an innocent look on her face.

She noticed Khan's gaze and irritatingly looked.

"What?"

"Ermm... Nothing..." Khan shook his head in response, he could only smile towards this trait.

"Guys as you can see here, Fire calculated his landing to land behind the stones so that he can easily prone, but to achieve that, he first needed to borrow the power of the almighty Pan, and miraculously the Pan survived his enemies' attack."

"And here, you can see him unsheathing his hidden bolt and killed the guy with a neck strike."

"But here is the fun part, when there were only three people remaining, Fire knew that Player #93 hid on the trench where he planted those camouflaged grenades, and so, he only needed to pull his wrist and the grenade would explode, how unfortunate for that guy."

Khan smiled, "They actually predicted what I was thinking..." Towards this, he didn't really care and just enjoyed their show of dissecting the game.

But he noticed that people actually cursed at him for his conduct of placing a trap, they called him names like a filthy camper and a coward who hides behind a woman.

Lily saw this and went into a fit of laughter, Khan puffed his cheeks in indignance.

"Hmmph, If I wanted to I would've annihilated them."

"Yes, yes, you would..." Lily nodded her head in consent, but in contrast, her eyes gleamed with humor.

"But wait, didn't you lure them towards me? Why did I only encounter one when I arrived?" Khan pondered for a moment before continuing.

"Hahaha, those guys must've thought that you were an easy prey because you're a woman. To belittle my little wife, they deserved it." Khan proudly crossed his arms and declared.

Lily didn't speak, but the crimson hue on her cheeks gave away her thoughts. She didn't dare to look at Khan as she bought the dishes towards the kitchen, Khan continued watching the analysis.

Lily returned to the living room with several books on her hand, she placed it on the table, glanced at Khan with a stern look and said, "We wasted too much time, yesterday, we better study or we'll fail tomorrow's exam.." She sat and opened a book and piously read.

Khan shrugged, however, he also sat down and obediently opened a book, since Khan already grasped most of the concepts that the books contained, he practiced his own knowledge by having Lily create a problem of which he would solve by himself.

Their study session lasted until the middle stages of the afternoon. Khan stretched his tired out body and looked at the somewhat exhausted Lily.

'Damn, this guy is a monster, no matter what problems I throw he can always solve it...' Lily cursed in her mind as she looked at the smug face of Khan.

'Well, he's mine anyway...' Khan didn't know but his proud actions earned him a shackle that would chain him forever in his current life.

Khan looked at the weirdly smiling Lily and suggested, "Can I ask you for a favor?"

Lily's expression became strange, 'When did this annoying guy become so docile?' She thought in her mind, after pondering for a while, she responded.

"Sure, what it is?"

"Do you happen to have a Rune Decipherer? Since I saw that you're quite knowledgeable about it back at Barhan's..." Khan said, prompting Lily to give an interested smile as she stood up and said, "Of course I have one, follow me."

Lily's mysterious smile piqued his interest, and so he followed suit. The couple arrived before a door, Khan smiled upon noticing the plaque on the door.

"Ermm, Miss? I think It's still too early to be doing that kind of thing... Besides, don't you feel tired, we just spent several hours studying..." Khan raised his hands in the air and wore a struggling look.

His eyes blinked for a moment and when he realized it, he only saw the silhouette of a huge fist flying towards his head as a miserable shriek echoed in the mansion.

Inside a lavishly decorated room, Khan sat with a wronged look on his face, Lily wore a cold look and took a briefcase from her cabinet. Khan stared at the room and thought.

'Do every women's bedroom look like this?' His eyes scanned the stuffed toys that laid on the shelf, Khan closed his eyes and he could smell a subtle familiar flavor lingering in it.

He froze for when he opened his eyes, he noticed Lily's cold glare staring at him like she would on a person that was about to die. Khan's lips twitched, he took a deep breath and said, "Hooh, so that's your Rune Decipherer? But how did you get it? As far as I remember, Barhan told me that it acquiring one wasn't so easy..."

Lily's glare dissipated, replaced by a proud look. At the side, Khan sighed in relief, 'Thankfully, I managed to change the topic.'

Lily walked towards the exit with Khan in tow, they arrived in the living room of which Lily placed the briefcase on the table.

She saw Lily tapping the buttons on the briefcase and speaking

"Death is like the wind, always by my side..."

[Password Confirmed]

A mechanical sound said followed by a sound of something being unlocked. Lily opened the case and took a vambrace looking device, Khan stared at it with glittering eyes.

Looking at the curious Khan, Lily declared.

"Not only I'm an expert in Ancient Cultivation, I'm also an expert in Runes!" Khan stared at her with twitching lips, 'This girl... really is...'

Khan praised her by rubbing her head, feeling the rub, Lily's eyes faintly closed as a pinkish blush suffused her cheeks.

"Now that you have your Decipherer, let's commence the experiment!" Khan declared, he ran towards the exit and went towards the open field that surrounded the mansion, to prevent being discovered by the guards, they positioned themselves at the backside of the mansion.

"Then, what should I do?" Lily stared at him with a confused look.

"Simple, I just want you to cast a spell and throw it at me!"

"Huh?! Are you retarded? Did you forget about what happened to you when you did that?" Lily exasperatedly retorted, prompting Khan to freeze as he explained.

"Don't worry, that was a failed experiment, I just miscalculated..."

"Miscalculated your face! I won't participate in this!"

"Okay, okay, just calm down, I won't ask you to throw a spell at me, more like, you can throw it anywhere!" Khan ran towards the fleeing Lily and held her wrist.

Lily pondered for a while before sighing in defeat, she nodded towards Khan's suggestions and distanced herself from him.

"Look closely, I'll just use a simple Tier 1 Fireball Rune." Lily tapped on her wrist as a surge of runes enveloped her body. Khan who stood at the side narrowed his eyes in concentration, he scanned the flowing Runes and searched for flaws.

The flowing Runes on Lily's body condensed in the air before her outstretched palm, but just as she was about to cast it, a wave of soul energy struck the Rune followed by a grating sound akin to a breaking glass as the formed Rune dissipated into nothingness.

This took time to describe but it only happened in an instant.

"Eh?" Lily stared at the dissipated Rune with a blank look, her gaze became filled with an incredulous light, as she stared at the source of the soul energy.

"Wh...what did you do?" Lily uttered, her tone enunciated her words.

"I destroyed it." Khan nonchalantly spoke, causing Lily to run towards him and clutch his shoulders.

"You destroyed it?! How did you destroy it?! A rune is supposed to be intangible so how could you influence it?!" Lily spoke towards him with a voice that a bystander would think that she was panicking, but for Khan who truly knew her, he interpreted this as her being excited by the unknown.

Khan sighed before speaking without lies.

"You do know that Runes are created by layering several instructions to create a single entity for the purpose of creating magic, right?" Khan looked at her for a moment and the latter nodded in return.

"What happens if you interrupt a part of that process?" Khan's words rang across Lily's mind like a roaring thunder, she stared blankly for a moment before speaking in a solemn tone.

"It will be... destroyed..."

"Yeah, it's that simple, right?" Khan winked at her with a cheeky smile. But instead of becoming angry, Lily stared at him as if she was looking at a ghost in broad daylight.

"But to destroy a part of that process, one needs to read such a vast amount of information in an instant and also in entirely... Don't tell me... you..." Lily's mind became filled with a frightening thought, if Khan could really read the split instant gap between Rune activation and materialization and even interrupt it with his own soul energy, that could only mean one thing.

Fighting Khan with magic would be useless, it would be akin to throwing a rock at the ocean and in this world, filled with magicians, Khan would certainly become an existence that no one would be able to ignore.

Lily took a deep breath and calmed her raging nerves, she looked at Khan with a solemn gaze before saying and distancing herself.

"This time, I'll throw the Rune towards you." She tapped on his wrist as a surge of Runes engulfed her body, in the next instant, a glow of materializing Rune abruptly appeared before her palm. She hesitated for a moment before stretching it towards Khan.

Khan looked at the Rune with a concentrated gaze, this time, he would try dissipating the magic itself.

A crackling sound echoed as a heatwave exploded from Lily's Rune, a ball of fire condensed and flew towards Khan's figure. Amidst Lily's shock, she saw Khan forming a palm with his right hand and slapped towards the fireball.

A whizzing sound rang as the fireball crumbled into dust as if it never appeared at all, Lily stared at him, the shock still evident on her face, she gritted her teeth as she consecutively tapped on her wrist and aimed towards Khan.

"Since you're that confident, try this!" Khan's eyes constricted, for a vast amount of Runes materialized in the air before her.

Khan counted, 'three, four, five, no- Six Runes!' To Khan who stood at the peak of Talisman Creation, simultaneously activating several talismans at once wasn't really a feat in itself, but for Lily whom he thought as a person with average soul force, it was evident that she was pushing herself.

A worried look surfaced on his face before being replaced by a solemn face, for the Rune had already sent six roaring fireballs towards his direction. Khan's body bent down, he rushed towards the fireball as he formed a sword with his fingers and slashed at the raging balls of fire.

Several consecutive whizzing sounds echoed in the air as the fireballs dissipated into nothingness, but Khan didn't even look at his own feat as his eyes glued at the wobbly figure of Lily who wore a little smile on her face.

Khan swiftly ran and caught her before she fell. Khan sighed in helplessness as he looked at the feverish figure of Lily.

'She knows about her own soul force capacity, yet she still forces herself, how stubborn.' Although he complained, the gentle smile on his face contrasted his thoughts.

Carrying the beauty in his arms, she placed her in her bedroom and sat beside her, waiting for her to wake up from her slumber.

With a moan, Lily's consciousness gradually woke up, there she found the smiling figure of Khan seating beside her bed. She looked at her wrist and found that it was already nine in the evening.

Thinking that she should prepare dinner, she tried to stand up but found that she was too dizzy to do so. Khan found her actions to be extremely adorable as he couldn't help but pinch her in the cheek.

"The sick should stay in bed!" Khan declared while playing with her plump cheek, towards this playful attitude of his, Lily didn't have the energy to respond, for she only had one thought in her mind, and that was to cook for dinner.

Her nose twitched as a tempting fragrance assaulted her nose, she turned to the source and found several dishes prepared. Upon knowing that Lily noticed the meals, Khan caught her attention with a cough and teased.

"Surprised?"

"..." Lily only stared at him with a glazed look, her cheeks flushed and her eyes drooped down in exhaustion, just as she was about to fall, Khan caught her and said.

"Sleeping with an empty stomach is a no-no for the sick! You should eat first!" Khan shook his head and supported her body, Lily's body emanated a faint alluring fragrance of a woman, which greatly simulated Khan's raging Yang causing a reaction on his lance.

Lily who leaned at him noticed this reaction, but could only sigh in helplessness, towards this pervert of a husband that she had, She didn't really have any choice.

Khan gritted his teeth and tried his best to calm down his raging lance. His face suffused a small awkward smile for he knew that Lily noticed his reaction, down there.

However, upon noticing that Lily didn't seem to have any resistance towards this, Khan's face bloomed with an even more greater smile. He took a bowl of Congee, scooped a mouthful and blew on it.

After confirming that the heat was right, he assisted his little wife and made her open his mouth, towards his gentle actions, Lily's figure trembled, she opened her mouth as tears started to stream down her cheeks.

She smiled, for the simple bowl of Congee felt like the nectar of heavens. Khan looked at the trembling Lily and froze, he hesitated for a while before saying.

"What happened?" The worry in his tone and the frown on his face expressed his current feelings over the matter.

"Nothing... It's just... It's the first time that I felt to be this cherished..." She swallowed the Congee that strangely became the most tastiest Congee that she ever tasted in her life.

Khan's figure trembled, his eyes moistened, his lips leaked a gentle smile as he stared at Lily who continuously trembled in his arms.

"Tell me... Just what did I deserve to be treated like this... I'm violent, I easily get angry over small things and I'm so useless that I fell unconscious just by casting those small spells! I don't even know if I've ever become useful to someone, and I even killed grandpa! If not for this stupid and useless constitution that I have, Grandpa would've lived! We would've been together!"

She endlessly ranted her own powerlessness, Khan embraced her trembling body all the while letting her release her grievances, finally, Khan couldn't take it anymore as he gritted his teeth and retorted.

"So what?! So what If you're useless?! So what if you're powerless?! You're my woman so just shut up and be protected by me!" Lily's trembling figure froze, she hesitated for a moment before lifting her head. She stared at Khan's solemn face and touched it with her hand.

Khan gave a mocking laugh, he sadly smiled and said.

"I'm the one that's useless, a cripple actually declared to protect the Nature Dragon's princess... How laughable..." Lily's countenance froze in shock, she stared at Khan with a dumbfounded look on her face.

"You realized it, haven't you? About how laughable I am for declaring you as mine... " Khan bleakly spoke, Lily's mouth repeatedly closed and opened, as if she was about to say something.

"However, I am not that soft! Since I declared you as mine, I will stand by my principles and protect you for as long as I'm alive, so you... you should also protect me! For my life belongs to you, and without each other, we would be nothing..." Khan declared although he felt shameful about having a woman to protect him, so what? He was hers and she was his, they were together as one.

Streaks of crystalline tears flooded down Lily's cheeks as she felt the sincerity that came from Khan's tone, although he was true that the current him was extremely weak, for her, that didn't matter, for as long as they were together, she would protect him and he would protect her.

"Mhmm... " The beauty nodded in it was at this moment that Lily's resistance towards Khan had dissipated into nothingness. She embraced Khan's trembling figure with her own will and enjoyed the security that he gave.

Khan's eyes turned towards the Lily that stuck on his body, he gently supported her body and returned her embrace, the two cuddled for a moment before deciding to eat.

Khan supported Lily's body in the entire time that they ate. He would carefully blow on the piping hot Congee to ensure that the heat wouldn't scald her, and in each time that a mouthful would enter her mouth, Lily would sweetly smile in response.

The two finished their meals, but Khan didn't return to his room, he decided to cuddle the fragile beauty to sleep, and even though his raging lance protested all the time, he just gritted his teeth and embraced the beauty.

Looking at the satisfied look of Lily as she slept, Khan felt that all the sacrifices that he made all this time were worth it. He wore a small smile on his face and closed his eyes as he drifted into a wonderful sleep.