Summertime Fun

Issei spent most of his remaining summer break with Aika.

One of the very first topics that he taught her was about the culture and practices of immortal cultivators.

Or at least he tried to.

Unfortunately, Issei wasn't very good at explaining things, and Ddraig still wasn't quite willing to interact with their new recruit. Instead, Issei simply pointed the girl to a very valuable resource that would expose Aika to the general ideas involved with Immortal Cultivation.

In short, he made her read web novels.

"How accurate are these things?" Aika questioned with a slightly conflicted expression on her face. She was currently browsing through a particular website that Issei used to frequent prior to his experience with the real thing. Fortunately for her wallet, it was one of the free ones.

"Fairly accurate." Issei shrugged nonchalantly. "Although one word of advice. Read these stories only for the information that they provide. Never, under any circumstances, should you emulate any of the characters."

"Even the protagonists?"

"Especially the protagonists. The authors might not acknowledge it, but as a reader, I can tell you with certainty that most Xianxia protagonists have several screws loose in their heads."

It took some effort, but he was eventually able to convince Aika to heed his advice, which was a huge load off his shoulders. The last thing he wanted was to turn this not-so-innocent girl into a cold-blooded murderous psychopath with a penchant for clan exterminations.

Outside of the sagely advice he gave to his first recruit, he also convinced Aika to accompany him on his day trips.

Issei was still on the lookout for potential sites for his impending breakthrough. While exploring the city provided its own flavor of fun, it could get pretty boring. especially when you had to do it all by yourself (Ddraig didn't count). Fortunately, Aika was a very willing volunteer.

In the mornings, the duo toured the city of Kuoh.

They mainly stuck to the fringes of the city, where the forests and extra warehouses were located. They also occasionally visited the more populated parts of Kuoh, such as the downtown and the various shopping centers sprinkled near the urban housing districts. These visits were purely for recreational fun.

Truth be told, they were doing less scouting and more just hanging out with each other. Issei partly blamed Aika. She had a habit of making things less boring.

Along the way, he learned a lot about his new recruit. Inversely, she learned a lot about him.

For example, he learned that Aika was a very big pervert.

Granted, she wasn't as bad as him, but she was still a pervert nonetheless. Issei was a bit shocked when he first discovered this. He had heard legends of female perverts roaming the streets of Akihabara, but he had never met one in real life.

It was certainly very eye-opening.

Maybe it was because she was a pervert, but unlike most normal girls, Aika wasn't afraid to play along with some of Issei's more 'lewd' jokes. This came as a bit of a relief to him, as not even his guy friends could keep up with Issei's brand of raunchy humor.

In addition, she also possessed a special ability that may have been linked to her hidden physique. It was a frightening ability that she called the Size Scouter. With the Size Scouter, Aika was able to calculate the size of a man's manhood just by looking at their crotch.

When she first told him about this ability, Issei's heart had practically leapt out of his chest. Never had he felt so exposed before… although it did explain why Aika frequently stared at his pelvic region.

Still, as frightening as the Size Scouter was, it did give him some ideas as to the truth regarding Aika's physique.

It was just as he had predicted. Her physique appeared to be related to discerning the truth, or maybe 'seeing past the veil'.

There was a similar physique in the Immortal World called the Third Eye Samsara. It was a physique with very potent capabilities. Namely, it could instantly see through the intricacies of any array formation, identify rare illnesses with but a single glance, and even grant its holder the ability to copy any martial arts skill that they see.

The owner of that particular physique was a well-regarded Array Master from the Immortal World. Too bad he also happened to be a giant prick…

In either case, it helped Issei with determining what cultivation technique was best for Aika.

Speaking of which, he began instructing her in cultivation during the afternoons, usually after their day trips.

Since he had yet to fully grasp what type of hidden physique Aika possessed, Issei decided to teach her a cultivation technique called the Nine Pulses Five Pillars Tempering Art, or as he often liked to call it: the 9-to-5 Art.

The 9-to-5 was only a Saint-ranked technique, but in terms of building a solid foundation at the Qi Condensation realm, it was as good as any of his Void-ranked techniques. The main benefit of this technique was its flexibility. The 9-to-5 was a transitionary technique, meaning that one could change cultivation techniques at any time and the cultivator's overall cultivation would face little to no setbacks.

In fact, before Issei stumbled into the Burning Tempest Divine Art, the 9-to-5 had been his primary cultivation technique.

Until he fully figured out Aika's physique, it was best to stick to this sort of well-rounded and flexible technique.

Now, learning how to cultivate wasn't as simple as simply picking up a manual and going from there. It was more complicated than that, and often required a senior cultivator's assistance to properly work. The process of learning how to cultivate could be broken down into three steps: initial exposure, absorption, and independence.

First, the body must be introduced to the feeling of Qi. This was a relatively easy step, as all Issei needed to do was carefully send some of his True Qi into Aika's body.

First-time reactions to Qi were a bit mixed. Some were as indifferent as stone, others felt nausea, dizziness, and other symptoms of sickness. For Aika, she let out a sound that greatly resembled a woman's pleasured moans. It was highly erotic.

The second step was absorption. Here, the cultivation technique comes into play.

The process of absorption is initiated by the senior cultivator. While the senior cultivator slowly funnels ambient Qi into the newbie's body, the newbie begins following the step-by-step instructions of their chosen cultivation technique. Thanks to Issei's own experience with the 9-to-5 Art, this step went without a hitch.

The last step was pretty self-explanatory. The Senior Cultivator takes a step back and allows the newbie to cultivate all on their own. If they succeed, then that means that the newbie has properly learned how to cultivate.

Aika was a fast learner. It only took her one hour to complete all three steps. By the end of her second day cultivating, she had successfully broken through to the first stage.

It was indeed a commendable effort.

****

Aika slowly opened her eyes as the feeling of breaking through washed over her. It was unlike anything she had ever experienced before. She felt stronger, her mind more stimulated, and her senses heightened to a degree that she did not even know was possible.

And to think, this was only the first step. What would it feel like when her cultivation grew even deeper and more profound?

Unfortunately, her satisfaction did not last long.

As she awakened from her state of meditation, the rest of the world quickly came rushing back in. Her senses buzzed with activity, almost to the point of discomfort. Aika was distinctly aware of something wet and slimy clinging to her skin.

She looked down at herself and noticed a black, sludge-like substance all over her body.

"Ugh, what the hell is this stuff?" She almost gagged as the putrid stench hit her nose.

"Your worldly impurities," Issei answered succinctly.

Compared to his own breakthrough, Aika's did not produce nearly as much. Still, it was a pretty sizeable amount, more than most breakthroughs.

"The stuff's pretty nasty." Issei subconsciously wrinkled his nose in disgust.

"Well, at least that explains why we were in the bathroom."

It was true. Issei had learned from his previous mistake. This time around, he had instructed Aika to cultivate in a bathroom. She was currently seated inside an empty tub. Well, it was empty a few hours ago. Now, nearly an inch of black sludge pooled beneath her crossed legs.

Issei also happened to be in the bathroom. He sat on a stool a couple of feet away from her.

Speaking of which, the two were currently inside Aika's house.

Her parents had apparently decided to extend their vacation at the last minute, and since Issei had yet to create a proper base for his sect, the duo had decided to just do things at her place.

Issei would have normally invited Aika over to his home, but he was deathly afraid of the girl somehow finding his entire porn stash. The last thing he wanted was for her to air out all of his fetishes. He was not quite ready to tank such levels of mental damage.

While Aika cultivated, Issei had busied himself with a couple volumes of manga. Right now, he was currently reading Drag-So Ball, which just so happened to be his favorite series.

"Does this stuff even come off?" She questioned as she flicked a particular piece of sludge away from her shirt and into the tub below.

Issei lowered his book and looked up at her. A rather mischievous idea formed in his head. "Well, want to find out if it does?"

"What?" Aika scrunched up her face in confusion.

Just as she was about to respond, she quickly noticed Issei suddenly getting up from his spot. The young man walked towards the bathtub. To be more precise, he was walking straight towards the showerhead.

"W-wait a second, you better not be planning to— Issei, I swear to god, don't—!"

By then, it was already too late.

Issei turned the knob. Water sprayed out from above like heavenly rainfall. In a matter of seconds, Aika was completely soaked to the bone. The girl let out a surprised yelp due to the sudden cold.

The transmigrator took a moment to enjoy the view.

Aika had been wearing nothing but a simple combination of an oversized white t-shirt and black hot pants. The water turned her shirt semi-transparent and caused it to cling to her body like a second layer of skin.

A slight blush colored his cheeks. This girl… she wasn't wearing a bra.

Issei let the water flow for fifteen more seconds. When most of the black sludge had been washed away, he finally turned it off.

Aika glared at him like an aggrieved housewife. She shivered, kind of like a wet rat. Issei simply watched as her chest heaved up and down from exertion. Even with the shirt, the color of her areolas was starting to show through; two faded splotches of pink that reminded Issei of freshly bloomed cherry blossoms.

"You dick." She groused at him.

Issei simply smiled. Even though the two had only really known each other for a couple of days, he was already starting to adjust to Aika's personality.

"Well, you did ask," he reminded her. "Besides, at least it's all gone now, right?"

"Uh-huh, and I'm sure you didn't do that just because you wanted to live out your wet t-shirt fantasies." She pointed out.

He let out an awkward cough. "That is neither here nor there."

"Right…" She shook her head and let out a sigh. Issei thought he was slick, but she had noticed all the 'discrete' glances that he shot her way. It was kind of cute really. He was like a horny little puppy. Although there was nothing little about that thing he hid in his pants…

Suffice to say, he was not subtle. Then again, neither was she.

Aika sniffed her arm and immediately recoiled. The sludge might be gone, but the smell was definitely still there.

She thought for a moment, looked over at Issei, then slowly began taking off her shirt.

"W-what the hell are you doing!?" As expected, Issei was shocked. The blush on his cheeks spread down to his ears and neck.

Aika already had the shirt halfway up her torso when she stopped. She lowered her shirt back down, just enough for her to peer up at the young man. A playful smirk stretched her lips. "Thanks to a certain someone, I'm all wet now. I don't want to get a cold, so I'm going to get a proper shower."

"Can't you at least wait until I get out?" He complained. Despite his words, Issei was quite openly ogling her exposed midriff.

"Oh?" She raised her brow. "I would have thought that you'd want to stay and watch. Wasn't that why you got me all wet and bothered in the first place?"

"Th-that is…" Issei sputtered. Aika's all-out attacks were still just as dangerous as ever.

'Partner, don't falter! Remember to go on the offensive!' The sagely advice of the one true bro Ddraig once again echoed through his head.

In a weak attempt to compose himself, Issei let out a short cough. "W-well, are you offering?"

Aika's flashed a beatific smile. A slight flush had crawled its way up to her cheeks. "As tempting as that sounds, that's moving a bit too fast, even for me. So for now, please get out."

With those last words, Aika used her newfound abilities to swiftly remove her shirt. Issei had merely blinked, but by the time he re-opened his eyes, the shirt was already off. Unfortunately, Aika's body was slightly turned away from him, so he had been unable to see anything.

He opened his mouth to say something, but before he could get so much as a word out, Aika suddenly tossed her wet shirt directly at his face.

Issei let out a sputtering cough as he stumbled backward. Coincidentally, he stumbled past the entrance and into the adjacent hallway. Unfortunately, the freshly worn t-shirt of a cute girl was not as enjoyable as he had hoped. Instead of the heavenly scent of female pheromones, the shirt was practically enveloped with the distinct stench of freshly expelled impurities.

In short, it was far from a pleasant experience. Issei would need to wash his tongue with bleach just to get rid of the taste.

By the time he managed to pull the shirt away from his face, the door to the bathroom had been slammed shut.

"Can you put my shirt in the wash for me? Thanks!" Came Aika's muffled request. A few seconds later, he heard the shower turn on.

Issei breathed out a sigh. He glanced down at the sopping wet shirt in his hands.

Courting someone was surprisingly difficult.