16

Pef walked around the lumber yards, examining the trees here and there, while calculating some mysterious formulas with his left hand. Behind him, Jian and Qin, the Core rank apprentice followed and observed the madman with obvious frowns.

"Senior, are you sure this boy is the one? Well, beside his great cooking..." the younger woman wondered in a whisper.

The Senior Sister poked her cheek "Do not doubt our god, Qin. He is a bit strange, but also a Sky rank at barely 17. You're 86 years old, and barely formed your Core."

"And you used to praise me, for being a hard worker and a genius. But now..." the apprentice complained and kicked a stone in a fit.

"You're doing better than I was, at your age. Took me 88 years to form my Core." Jian answered with a pat on her head.

"This boy reached Spirit rank at 14. And now..."

Jain smiled wryly "Oh, you're jealous? Is that it?"

"Well, Sister Jian is now married...and won't have time for me. My future is bleak..." Qin complained with a fake sob.

Then bumped into Pef who was spying on their whispers for some time. Our hero stepped closer and cupped the apprentice's face, peering deeply into her soul.

"Red aura helps with fire, right? Do you like men or women, sister Qin?" Pef asked bluntly.

"W-what? I'm not...I like men!" Qin stuttered while blushing fiercely.

"Got any boy friends, perhaps a lover somewhere?" he whispered while stepping really, really close.

"Ahhhh. I sometimes speak with Disciple Feng. And... I train really hard." she muttered while looking down, trying to stop tears from appearing.

"Hmmm. Husband material, this Feng guy?" Pef inquired while glancing towards Jian. His wife shrugged.

"N-never. He just helps me with chores. I will pick a strong husband. When I form my Spirit!" the apprentice said with a sob.

"I see. You will pick some 500 years old Spirit master, have a child or two, if he's still able. Then die of old age, before you see your grandchildren" Pef mused out loud, then turned away and continued marking logs and computing numbers, his actions unfathomable and mysterious.

Jian stared after her husband, and for once he didn't seem moron anymore. She couldn't imagine what rank this boy could achieve in 500 years. Emperor or even Tyrant probably. With his water magic, he will be able to summon rain or storms.

"Sister? Am I wasting my life now?" the apprentice asked in between tears.

"This was an offer, I think. You want a strong husband, right?" Jian whispered while hugging the crying girl.

"But, isn't he yours? How would it work?" the woman asked a bit confused.

"I am only his seventh wife. And you're my junior sister. It would be like summer camp, again"

The women considered the events of that camp and giggled. A dozen wet women sharing a tent while it rained outside, and they had no fire.

"Haha, it would be a bit steamy..." Qin laughed and wiped her tears.

"So, you don't like disciple Feng?"

"Nah. He's scared of spiders" the junior sister replied with a dismissive hand wave.

They both giggled again, looking at the hero who cooked spiders for a living.

"Spiders are kinda scary though..." Jian admitted with a shudder.

"They taste amazingly though. Especially if your husband cooks them"

"Hmmm. I'll ask him to cook more for me" Jian decided, licking her lips in anticipation.

Qin bit her finger, hesitating to ask.

Pef jumped and floated next to them, while rolling a scroll filed with magical symbols.

"Hungry already?" he asked looking from one woman to the other.

They both nodded helplessly.

"Ah, but I can only cook for my wives now. And I get paid in hugs" Pef demanded while opening his arms towards Jian.

The sage nodded to herself and stepped into the hug, while Qin looked in from the outside.

"Pef, be nice and invite Qin too. She isn't strong yet, but..." Jian whispered in his ear.

"Well? Do you want me or not?" Pef asked while glancing towards Qin. The younger sister bit her lip for a second, then joined the hug as well.

'Well done, Aspirant. This is the wife I told you about'

'Really? But she's just a Core...'

'In a decade she will be Sky rank. And very strong later. Fire gods are scary'

Pef jumped and landed on the airship, the women still in his arms, and then sat the new wives down, then began cooking more spiders legs.

As he offered a delicious morsel to Qin, he also placed a ring on her finger, just to make sure the woman won't change her mind.

"A brass ring! I can buy a house with this..." Qin whispered to herself, trying to approximate the value of her gift.

"You mean a large stone mansion. Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, and doesn't oxidize with air. About ten times more valuable" Pef explained while offering the next spider leg to Jian.

"You have to teach us how to smelt these metals. I bet my fire qi can help" Jian demanded while examining her own ring.

"Of course. That was my plan anyway, for the Volcanis adepts. My empire needs more smiths and your talents make metal smithing much better" Pef replied after he blew a bit over his hot meal.

Pef continued working on his scroll afterwards, planning a modern city and a paper mill.

The river would make motive forces easy, for big wheels to drive gears and pulp wood.

'I guess I'll start the glass factory in Port Li. They have plenty of sand there...' Pef mused while checking his calculations with his glove.

'As you say, Aspirant. Trade and commerce will rapidly expand your empire across the continent.'

'For some time. We lack other minerals'

'Thus more trade, with other continents'

'When I'm able to fly, you mean'

'Precisely. More Practice for now'

"So, you like the view from up here, my ladies?" Pef asked with a mischievous smile.

His new wives nodded cautiously.

"Group hug! Time to land" Pef exclaimed while holding their waists. And then they fell, much slower than normal.

"We're falling, very slowly..." Jian observed with a controlled tone.

"It is kinda exciting" Qin said with a bright grin.

"Want us to fall faster?" Pef asked curious.

"No, don't you dare..."

"Aaaaaa. I'm dying. Damn idiot!"

"Stop hitting me, not the eyes!" Pef complained.

"Even his ears are too hard to bite!"

"Is that a sewing needle? Why is it on fire? Don't poke me with that! Ouch!"

A minute later, Pef reached the ground with various injuries, mostly of the domestic abuse kind.

His wives kicked his burned corpse a few times, then gave up since their feet hurt.

"Damn moron. Let's head back to the fort, Qin"

"Yeah. I knew I hated men for some reason..." Qin admitted while leaning on his big sister.

The abused husband rose a minute later, his skin already healed.

He rubbed his hands, looking around, as the locals pretended they haven't seen a thing.

'Fiery women' Pef mused wisely to himself.

'Start buying land already. You had enough fun for today'

Pef nodded to himself, as he made his way to the stone square, the central place of the city, and where the nobles lived and congregated.

A month later, the first attempts at paper and ink began appearing in Stoneport, and thousands of people had well-paid jobs in the new industries.

His wives moved with him in the new stone mansion, and were slowly warming up to him. Very slowly.

Until one day, Qin leaned in and tested a kiss, which became more.

The next morning, Pef woke up smothered by two hot pillows. He poked them, but no air leaked out.

"Mou...stop poking me idiot..." a loving voice moaned.

"Right, so you don't want breakfast, Qin?"

"I do! But, I feel bad for sister Jian. You should be nicer to her"

"One must not force love, dear lady. When she's ready, she ready" Pef explained in a stoic voice.

They found Jian in the kitchen, making tea. Her face was puffy, like she had cried.

"Jian dear, a hug for breakfast?" Pef asked gently.

The sage rose slowly and offered a halfhearted hug.

Pef held her and patted her back. "What's wrong?"

"Disciple Bing killed herself. One you saved"

"And the other?" Pef asked with a sad voice.

"Won't last very long either"

Pef sighed and kept hugging his wife.

Qin joined the hug, while sobbing softly. "It isn't his fault, sister..."

"Yeah, I know it is not Pef's fault. I just wish, I could..." Jian whispered in a cold voice.

"We'll talk about it tonight. There is a way...but it hurts" Pef answered, before slipping away to make maize porridge and fried locusts.

When Pef returned home that evening, Jian wordlessly took off her clothes and joined Pef in bed, in need for comfort and closeness.

At last, their marriage had become real, joined by affection and similar goals, and not by higher orders.

"So, what can you do, my not so moron husband?" Jian asked some time later.

"The Xi method can Awaken cultivators again. Hurts for one year, then you'll be like me. I started cultivating 10 years ago."

"Very fast indeed. But if god doesn't approve?" Jian asked with some doubt.

"Oh. Who told you to become my wife? That naturally makes you a Xi. Plus it makes sense. Gaia gave me her druid, Aria.

Volcanis gave me a fire bender. The gods expect us to help them, once we become strong enough. We have maybe a thousand years to reach divinity. And, we don't want Arachne to win this war, do we?" the hero asked rhetorically.

"Damn. Of course, now it makes sense. I think you may be right husband. I will be able to help god directly, punching that Arachne bitch with my own fists" The Spirit rank sage realized as she considered the implications.

"Good night Jian. Say hi to god, from me" Pef muttered as he drifted to sleep.

Jian sighed and drew some fire essence qi, descending into communion with the god of fire.

She will ask, of course. But she expected her husband was right. Pef was not always a moron.

Just, sometimes. Often. Daily.