Bloodline

Pef chose to land into the sea this time, and avoid more embarrassing landings.

That cursed glove kept disrupting his timing, trying to 'kill' him 800 more times.

As he sunk to the bottom, he noticed water moved too easy around him.

'Could it be? I have water bending?'

'Very common ability on this continent. At high levels can be versatile. Healing and defense mostly'

'Or high pressure water jets?' Pef asked hopeful.

'Or that, if you reach Sky rank, and Practice compressing space for decades.' the glove allowed in a flat tone.

'I need to figure out how to breathe underwater'

'Just push your Spirit out, and form a barrier. There will be air inside'

Pef listened and obeyed, sitting down on sand and watching the sea flow around him like in an aquarium. The beautiful colored fish and the mesmerizing sun rays filtering through the waves were so captivating. Half an hour later, he fainted.

The glove sighed inward and waited for the Guardian to rescue them.

It was only 50 meters to the shore, and his user managed to drown. Almost.

The kid wasn't clever enough, ignoring monoxide accumulation in an enclosed space.

Did they teach that in the neolithic? The glove didn't know.

Pef woke up later, being slapped by a huge palm.

"Oi, don't die on me now, you hear me?" Chief yelled as he slapped him again.

"I'm awake boss."

"I said don't die on me!" the Guardian insisted and slapped him again.

Pef sighed and caught the next slap, resisting the man's force with equal force.

"Dear gods, Spirit rank already?"

"Yes boss. I killed a Sky rank beast." Pef said weakly.

"Get out of here!" the man exclaimed in disbelief.

"I brought back the body..."

"Oh. Well done then. You lucky bastard!" He exclaimed in genuine praise.

"I tried testing water bending, but I blacked out" Pef mumbled as he rose from the sand and coughed out his lungs.

"I know that. The Oracle told me where to find you"

"Okay then. I'll head home now..." Pef said tiredly and stumbled a little.

"There's a midget druid living in your house now..."

"That's fine. We're old friends" Pef muttered as he dragged himself in a shamble of a walk.

"Of course the midget has midget friends...why did Mia think she has a chance..."

"I like Mia too. But she is only a Core. Can't have a weak wife among my..." Pef explained as he fell asleep.

The Guardian stared at the reckless boy and cried inside. Who tries water magic out in the sea? Even a bucket of water was hard to move...

The man picked up the drowned pup and ran towards his house.

At least Mia was set. A Xi husband was worth more than all the town had and ever had.

Even half dead the boy was stronger than he was.

Soon he'll have to call him boss. He idly wondered what kind of Sky beast the boy had killed. A small one no doubt, but perhaps he could get a bone too.

Pef woke up in his bed, with a green haired woman staring at him from above.

"Hey there..." he said at a loss for words.

A slow punch came down on his face. He let it hit.

"Oww! Your face is even harder! What is wrong with you?" the druid cried nursing a bleeding fist.

"Don't punch a Spirit rank, green girl. You'll only hurt yourself." our hero said with a smirk.

"What? It hasn't been 3 years yet! Barely two years, at most..."

"In two years, I'll be Earth rank" Pef explained gently, while patting the wondrous green hair. It felt like corn silk, somehow.

'Scanning genome. Allele sigma/21104019 detected, Veridian Legion, tier 7, presumed extinct'

'Oh, another Legion?'

'Long ago, a group of eco-friendly gods made a gardening Legion. They got eaten soon after by a Tier 8 Abomination.'

'And that Tier 8?'

'Presumed pacified by our General. No records exist though.'

'What is a pacified target?'

'Depends on the user, generally include mind wipe, behavior control, amnesia, catatonia or personality rewrite'

'Got it. Not so dangerous or under our control'

'Exactly, sir. Also monoxide poisoning is a danger in closed spaces.'

'Right. Like an air bubble' Pef said with an inner sigh. Physics and magic shouldn't mix.

"Pef, I'm hungry. And how will you increase my rank?" the guest complained aloud.

"Okay. Food, sounds nice. I'll cook something. And for your rank, well you have to stop getting younger."

"What? I'll get old and die!" she exclaimed outraged.

"You can start again when you look around 20. But your soul needs a mature body for an anchor."

"Oh. I'll grow boobs and stuff. Gross" the girl said with a disgusted face.

"They'll be fine. Kids need them, so they can feed, you know?"

"Oh. Kids...you mean like...oh. Doesn't it hurt?" she wondered out loud.

Our hero sighed. How would he know?

Pef turned the meat on the other side, smelling the amazing scents. He will need to give her Legion maize though, she seemed to have plenty deficiencies.

"Not at all. It's sort of the best pleasure you can get on this world. Even better than food." Pef replied after flipping a mental coin. Making babies was supposed to be fun.

"Really?" The young woman mused as she nibbled on grilled tuna.

Pef sighed and wolfed his meal in silence. Neolithic women were strange.

As evening came, the green girl laid comfortably in Pef's bed and closed her eyes.

'How do I spike someone?'

'Point and shoot. It works by itself' the smug glove answered with a shrug.

Pef made a finger pistol and fired.

Twin spikes, white and silver shot and collided with the Nascent soul of his home invader. She didn't wake up.

Pef made a small pile of hay and laid the tiny woman on it.

No point wasting space on his bed. Not yet anyway. She still had years to grow.

The next day, Pef went to thank the Oracle for his life.

"Thanks, Aunt Ching. I almost drowned" Pef said with a small bow.

"Nonsense. That glove is a better Oracle than me. It's heavier than our planet and more powerful than a god." The old woman snorted as she poured tea for both of them.

"Really?" Pef wondered as he lifted his fist and stared at the old leather glove.

"Ask it what leather it is made of" the old Oracle demanded in a tired voice.

'Well? Say it?' Pef demanded of his glove.

'Scanning database. Information missing. Extrapolating. Tier 8 entity. Possibly our General's own skin'

'Huh. She would regenerate a patch of skin in milliseconds or such...' Pef mused with his eyes closed.

'Much faster. Even Tier 5s can regenerate completely in less than a second'

'And she makes a billion of gloves and guns every day'

'Veritas guns...possibly. No information is recorded'

'Yet they posses a Tier 8 attributes. Words of Power, like Power Word Kill or Let there be light!'

'As you say sir. I'd be nice if it was true. I would be a Hand of God' the glove agreed.

Pef drank his tea in silence, considering what the poor Goddess who lead the Legion must go through every day, flaying herself to save untold trillions.

A God Smith, using her own flesh to craft for her Legion. No wonder she deleted all the records. The knives were possibly her fingernails, ripped out and made into blades.

"It's most likely a god's flayed skin" Pef said after a long silence.

"Let's visit my garden, Quing wants to see the Sky beast" the Oracle spoke softly and walked slowly towards the back garden.

'This will be fun' Pef thought to himself.

As expected, the Chief and his daughter were already waiting in the garden.

Pef looked around for enough room, then unfolded the Ice King Morse over the flowers.

The icy smell of dead beast filled the garden.

"That's not a small beast!" Mia yelled in half panic trying to measure the Beast with her eyes, and failing.

"Haha! Amazing catch, my boy." the Guardian chief laughed in unrestrained glee.

Pef shrugged and stored the Morse into the glove again.

"I got lucky." he explained with a straight face.

"You'll get even luckier if you visit smith Lin now. She'll jump your bones for free." the Oracle said in a fake whisper.

Pef nodded absently. That was the plan anyway. He wanted Lady Lin to reach Earth rank as soon as possible.

"Well then. I am satisfied. You may kiss the bride!" The Chief proclaimed and gently pushing Mia towards him.

Pef looked at the young(ish) woman for confirmation. Mia was over 100 years old anyway, but seemed quite willing.

Soon they embraced and kissed, as the nearby Spirit ranks cheered.

"I'll move my things to your house then, husband" Mia whispered in his hair. She was still a head taller than Pef, for now.

"Okay. But I'll be away to smith Lin till I gain my own Earth rank. You should wait till I come back"

"Hmpf. At least give me a week to know you." Mia demanded with a petulant voice.

"We already know each other, for a year. We even lived in the same house." Pef said in a flat tone.

"But not like...you're too young, aren't you?" she realized after a minute.

"That too. Some things are still growing." Pef muttered in shame.

"I will try to reach my Nascent soul in two years. But..." Mia complained with her head hung.

"You're a Xi now. Come to the house for tonight, you'll receive my cultivation method."

"Really?"

"Yes. We are married, aren't we?" Pef asked rhetorically.

"Oh. That's great!"

"It will hurt you, quite badly." Pef explained with a sad voice.

"I don't care if it hurts. I want it!" Mia yelled out loud, making her father look strangely at them.

And so, the new couple made their way to Pef's house, and had a small ceremony involving dancing and kissing.

Then Pef took off his glove and wrapped it around the recruit's hand.

A minute later, the Legion had two comrades in this universe, although only recruits.

"That didn't hurt at all" Mia observed with surprise.

"Well, I don't want Aria to wake from your screams. Go home, prepare yourself for a month of pain, along with a maid to care for you. And keep in mind, I lasted a year and a half. A month should be bearable"

"Oh, your tiny green girlfriend?" Mia asked, pointing at the sleeping midget.

"She's 200 years old. Just pretends to be a kid, for free food"

"Oh, that's kinda clever" Mia acknowledged with a smile.

"She'll grow back in two years or so. Suppressing the age is not same thing as real childhood"

"I see. More wives..." She realized with some jealousy.

"Yes, many more. Although Aria is not certain yet. Her bloodline is peculiar" Pef admitted, with a hand wave.

"You don't get to call other bloodlines peculiar, mister Xi"

"Haha! That's also true. Now go. We'll meet again, dear wife" Pef replied with a poke to the airbags. No air leaked out, so she'll do fine.

Mia kissed him again, then turned around with her face red. She then took off at speed, a spring in her steps.

Pef stared after the recruit, with some pain in his heart. His wife will suffer horribly for a month, but he didn't have a choice. The Legion's manual demanded it.