XXXIX

Rokas read through the Great Splendorous Brahma Shadow's manual in his Inner World, whilst pretending to be napping. Even for him… the complexity of it was on another level. It was like trying to comprehend the drawings of an inked mad spider. After an entire day of concentration with no proper results, he made a deep sigh.

'It's like the creator didn't want anyone to use it… or is there something I'm just not getting? Maybe the lack of any Brahma legacies is screwing me over? Even then, Yun Che had shown to learn the Ice Phoenix's Art without a bloodline. The same logic should apply here… I'm just being impatient.'

"What's this?" Xia Qingyue questioned, observing him sitting alone.

"Some profound art Ying'er used through the Akatsuki… it's perfect invisibility once mastered, essentially. Though, it's a pain in the ass to comprehend let alone master."

"'Ying'er'…" Xia Qingyue furrowed her brows ever so slightly. "That profound art, in particular, would be extremely useful in our circumstances. Can I have a look?"

"Sure. You'd probably have more insight than I did."

A short look after.

"This profound art is truly complicated." Xia Qingyue admitted, glancing at him. "No wonder even you couldn't grasp it in a short period."

"The problem lies in the fact that it's nothing like I've comprehended before, making it that much more difficult. Usually, I'd look for patterns… but this one has none that I recognise."

"Then, we'll simply have to start from the beginning."

Rokas nodded. "Two minds are greater than one."

"Three minds are even greater, right?" Cang Yue stated, floating down.

"Certainly." Rokas agreed with a smile. 'This doubles as a moment together. It's been a good while.'

In the end, the trio went on to have a rather deep and enlightening session that lasted days. He found that they had separate insights that helped form the bigger picture. These insights were like puzzle pieces that he put together one by one alongside his own. Before long, learning the profound art didn't seem like an impossible task.

"Unfortunately, this profound art can only be utilised by one who has the Brahma God Divine Power." Li Suo stated, shaking her head. "It was built upon that requirement."

"Surely, the Brahma Gods were not the only ones in the universe capable of going invisible?" Rokas questioned, stroking his chin. "If the base function of concealment is there, then the Brahma God divine power requirement need only be altered. Or so that's what I think… it's not impossible, is it?"

"It is not nearly as simple as you make it sound. The art itself would have taken millions of years to perfect… never mind learning such a complicated profound art properly, altering it so drastically would be akin to starting from nothing."

"One might think that I should have inherited some form of Brahma Divine Power after so many… entanglements," Rokas remarked, stroking his chin as he observed a slight frown from Cang Yue. "Ideally, my body should be capable of bringing out just about enough to use their profound arts. If not… I'll bite a chunk out of Ying'er."

"I scarcely doubt you'd survive an attempt like that." Cang Yue chuckled in response to his jest.

"I would be stretching my luck a little bit." Rokas smiled, nodding slightly. "So…"

"..."

'Who's touching man up?'

Rokas paused, feeling something odd about his lower regions.

"One moment."

He opened his eyes to the real world only to see Qianye Ying'er laying down beside his dragon rod. It had already been inside of her mouth, leading to a plop sound as he woke. Rokas' eyes widened slightly, completely caught off-guard by this attempt. She had never moved to him like this before.

"May I ask what you're doing?"

"I didn't think you were blind…"

"Maybe I have lost my eyesight… the Ying'er I know certainly wouldn't indulge me in such a manner. I don't recall giving my… permm-ission, either…"

Rokas stuttered slightly as Qianye Ying'er went down on him. He found it hard to complain about such an arrangement. She was, after all, Qianye Ying'er. Just looking at her was a pleasure for any man.

"Take it as a welcome surprise."

"... Listen-"

"You know… before your little temper tantrum, I was intent on doing something just like this. In the end, I am not cruel enough to take away your worthy reward for the diligence and ingenuity that you displayed."

"What about the reward that we agreed upon prior?"

Qianye Ying'er sat up beside him and put up four fingers, smiling slightly. "That isn't much more to ask, is it?"

"Four more Gundams?" Rokas raised an eyebrow.

"Precisely. After you do so, we can go wherever your heart desires."

'We… I don't know about that one.'

"Fine, I can do that. But… you'll need to provide the resources. Gundams like Akatsuki aren't so cheap to make."

"Oh, don't you worry about the resources. They will be provided with plenty to spare for your own needs. That would be… what, a month or two of work? I find this proposition beyond generous."

"Sure… just don't move the line again."

"Or else?" Qianye Ying'er sat up, looking straight into his eyes. "What would you do if I 'moved the line'?"

"..."

After some staring, Rokas shrugged in a joking manner.

"Turn into a little mouse and fly away."

"... That is something to look out for, I suppose." Qianye Ying'er chuckled after a pause. "You wouldn't come to miss me after your brilliant escape, would you??"

'...Hum? Something feels off about that question.'

"I mean…"

She furrowed her brows.

"Honestly… I'm more on the side of saying no. Besides, why would I need to 'escape' if you keep your word?"

"Intriguing." She smiled ever so slightly, leading to Rokas raising an eyebrow.

"What is so intriguing?"

"You, Long Ke."

Rokas frowned slightly as he made a befuddled smile.

'What is that supposed to mean?'

"That doesn't exactly narrow it down… but I'll take the compliment."

"That is one way to see it." Qianye Ying'er's hand graced the side of his face.

"Well, I might as well get to work-"

As Rokas tried to rise, she kept him down.

"Haven't you been holding it in for too long? Whatever fuels your resolve to deny me… is it worthwhile? This fight of yours is truly admirable and valiant but rather pointless, in the end."

"..." Rokas looked into her eyes and, sure enough, felt her enchanting beauty settle into his heart. From there on out, a burning wave of desire emerged.

"The Gundams can wait another day. As for this goddess… I can't say the same."

'Oh…'

She smiled, pushing him down and laying on top of him as she pressed her lips against his. He blushed slightly as the rather bold act caught him off-guard. When someone as gorgeous as her threw herself at him, it was naturally hard to resist. Especially when he hadn't had any in weeks.

He reciprocated her kiss and pushed her down, rising himself.

Through one meticulous stroke, he expected her clothes to split in half. Alas, he didn't cut through it.

"You'll have to try harder than that."

Rokas chuckled after her mocking reply, utilising his clothes beam to instantly change her attire to something more to his liking. A delicate and enticing set of black lingerie. Qianye Ying'er blinked with surprise as her favourite golden leather was replaced within an instant.

"Creation God magic."

Rokas jested as he removed his clothes and observed the delightful goddess beneath him. For a good moment, he found his lust hard to contain.

"You granted me such an indecent set of clothing just to stare?"

"Oh, no… I'm just having a good look before it's torn to shreds."

Rokas pressed his lips against Ying'er's and went even deeper as he stuck his tongue inside with his left hand keeping her head locked. Meanwhile, his right hand slipped up and firmly grasped her perfect breast.

"Mhm…"

A couple of moans escaped her mouth as he kept at it, eventually slipping down and erasing her bra to accommodate her isolated left breast with his tongue. He started slowly with a few licks before passionately sucking on her nipple. She pressed his head down and giggled when he bit her slightly.

"Is this how you treat your wives?" She questioned with a playful tone.

"Only when they're naughty."

With a swift motion, he tore away the soft black lingerie covering her most sacred domain. Rokas then took hold of both of her hands and pressed them down above her head before pushing his throbbing dick inside.

"Oh~… you can do better than that. Don't start going soft on me."

"I thought you learned from the last time."

Rokas' eyes flared crimson red as he quickened his pace rapidly through the berserk attribute. Rough and aggressive were an understatement… his technique was closer to that of a battering ram constantly crashing against the gate of a castle until it broke apart.

And yet… she enjoyed that more. Not that Rokas could complain, it was quite thrilling to fuck the brains out of a goddess. The same prideful goddess who makes a hobby of mocking him, in particular.

As he kept penetrating her walls, she wrapped her legs around him and broke free from his restraints. Using her arms, she pulled him in closer for a kiss just as he was about to release.

The next time he went in… he let it all out, slowly slipping back as the flood followed.

'That felt too good…'

Rokas wiped the sweat off his forehead as he took a few deep breaths.

"That timing… you got it."

"I know my man well enough." She smiled, emphasizing 'my', before pushing him down and taking the lead as she sat on top of him. "It is my turn now."

The dance continued, changing tides more than the Celtics-Bulls in 2009 (a lot).

~

After the three nights, Qianye Ying'er dropped him a golden attire just as he was about to put on some of his drip.

"What is this?"

"The direct disciple's robes." Qianye Ying'er answered plainly. "If you truly want to attain the respect you seek, then you should start presenting yourself as someone worthy of that respect."

"... I'm not wearing that again." Rokas shook his head. "If that thing was any brighter, one might mistake me for a sun. Maybe if it was mostly black and had some gold in there… but this? All gold just looks terrible."

"You're saying it looks awful with your fashion sense?"

"You Brahma people are far too obsessed with gold." Rokas countered "First and foremost, I am Long Ke and not the 'direct disciple'. Therefore, the uniform should represent me instead of me representing the uniform… if that makes sense."

"You're just being foolish. Besides that, no one wants to see your hairy legs."

"Vile…" Rokas chuckled. "Is there some special occasion I don't know about since you're so adamant about my choice of clothing?"

"Just a small test."

"Sounds like fun."

Rokas looked back at the clothes and sighed, deciding to don them for the second time. When he looked in the mirror, he found that he might've been exaggerating slightly.

"You look handsome in gold. Now if only you changed your appearance slightly… those puffy cheeks of yours look far too innocent. The hair colour is also unfitting."

"Some people can't change their face so easily, you know."

"And you're not one of them, are you? I find it strange that you willingly make yourself less attractive."

Rokas shrugged his shoulders, changing his hair to majestic gold. His face became more defined and no longer carried the illusion of innocence it did before. Beside Qianye Ying'er, he almost looked like the perfect male equivalent.

"Is this what you're talking about?"

"Precisely." She nodded, raising an eyebrow. "So… why don't you?"

"A man's value isn't in his appearance," Rokas replied simply as he changed back. "This hair colour came from my mother and father… if anything, these so-called flaws remind me of who I was. If that gives me less attention or adoration from people I don't even care to know, it doesn't matter. I have already found the people whom I love. Shouldn't you, as a person who despises all the men who look upon you, understand this concept rather well?"

"Fair enough." Qianye Ying'er acknowledged, nodding slightly. "Though, did you not have a falling out with your family? If you were so proud of them, you would have kept the surname you inherited."

"Two separate families," Rokas replied, his smile fading. "It's… complicated."

"You know how to pique my interest." Qianye Ying'er remarked, stepping away. "Since you do not wish to tell me, let us move on to the present."

~

Their walk led to a massive hall which had the brilliant Akatsuki stationed in the very middle with several experts examining every tiny detail. Though, in the end, they all seemed rather clueless. Rokas glanced at Qianye Ying'er and couldn't help but be a little smug.

"A commendable effort."

"Leave us."

Upon her order, the group scattered and left. One guy left what seemed to be a report before doing so. She took it and read through everything with a displeased expression.

"I don't know whether to feel triumphant or offended. On one hand, you believe that my creation is worthwhile replicating. On the other…"

"You don't wish to feel replaceable?"

"If you honestly believed that your people were capable enough to replace me, would you have slid into my bed and served me so kindly?" Rokas wondered, stroking his chin. 'Letting those randoms touch up my state-of-the-art Gundam is a vile.'

"Since when was it your bed?"

"When I laid in it." Rokas simply replied with a smile. "Either way, it's true that you didn't act out of love but rather to secure my subordination."

"You are absolutely certain that I did not seek out your company?" She smiled, tilting her head slightly as her hands remained at ease.

"That's just a bonus for you." Rokas shrugged. "Not the main goal…"

After carefully observing his still expression, Qianye Ying'er spoke.

"Despite knowing that, you still faltered?"

"I do not see where I faltered… it was either fuck or get fucked for that yang energy." Rokas grinned slightly. "I chose to fuck, naturally. In the end, how could a mere divine spirit avoid the advances of a passionate goddess?"

"That is one way to see it." Qianye Ying'er chuckled. "So, have you thought of the designs for the other Gundams yet?"

"Had some nice dreams… oh, what about that test you mentioned?"

"I lied." Qianye Ying'er nonchalantly replied.

"Wow." Rokas chuckled. "You know, I'm not that surprised. Man really got dressed in these abysmal robes for nothing."

"Are you always so ungrateful?"

"Only when my hand is forced." Rokas turned to the Akatsuki and flew forward, examining its status. "You overused the Trans-Am System, leading to internal damage of the frame. The drive will also suffer performance-wise due to that overuse. The Akatsuki itself was created with an unstable core… so the use of Trans-Am wasn't exactly ideal."

"Overuse in what was no more than thirty seconds? Maybe your machine shouldn't be so fragile and unstable in the first place."

"In those thirty seconds, you erased a god-emperor alongside those other level ten divine masters." Rokas shrugged his shoulders. "And you thought I was the ungrateful one…"

"So… what can be done?"

"Taking no accountability, isn't that nice?" Rokas turned back to the Akatsuki. "Repairing it to peak condition would be more of a hassle than starting over… so I'm just gonna take it back."

Within a flash, the Akatsuki vanished into his inner world.

"..."

"Don't worry, I'll make another one." Rokas sighed, taking a deep breath. 'This is going to be long.'

~

The biggest problem lay in the matter of condensing the profound energy within my body to the peak of the divine master realm. Not only was it strenuous and took a long time, but the product itself was also unstable. This was, unfortunately, a problem that could not be overcome in short notice given my low profound strength. Alas, I didn't slack off.

First came the Akatsuki… naturally, I wanted to improve on the previous design. Using the strands of Brahma God Divine Power I had gained from Qianye Ying'er, I was able to create a new drive which complimented her profound arts… and, by extension, the other Brahma God Divine Power users. My lazy ass called it the Brahma Drive… I mean it was simple and fit the description so why not?

After improving on its weaponry slightly with some refinement, I moved onto the BMR-02 Buster Gundam. The goal was to recreate the gen 1 team from Gundam Seed, of course. Buster was rather simple, make gundam, get big guns and done. After that, I created the BMR-03 Duel Gundam. Design, rifle and mostly melee options. BMR-04 Aegis was a little trickier with the option to transform but I had experience from my work on Kyrios. BMR-05 Perfect Strike was just me making a shit ton of attachments… of course, that's how it was in the Gundam Seed franchise. How could the main character's Gundam ever be lacking?

Lastly, came the BMR-06 Blitz Gundam. This was my favourite out of the gen 1 Seed Gundams… I mean, it was black, gold and purple (and you know damn well that's the hottest colour) with the special attachments to boot. There was a little red in there too. I promised to make four additional gundams… Blitz wasn't one of them. This one was for me.

I ended up working on the Blitz the most. It had a refined GN Brahma Drive with a GN shield, wings of Freedom (plus dragoons), GN sniper (with a rather overpowered range extender), cannons on its legs, automatic invisibility on its armour (we do a little bit of copy-pasting from Akatsuki) and all of the attachments Blitz originally had (missiles on its hand, grappling hook, sabers.) It had a distinct touch of Exia in its frame as well.

I… admittedly, had too much fun making it overpowered. All in all, the Gundams took a little over three months to create. In between, Qianye Ying'er would remind me of how pleased she was. She definitely got better at using her mouth… and I certainly wasn't complaining. Though, I knew well that Cang Yue and Xia Qingyue were not too pleased with how I was handling myself. But… I liked her, sort of. She was way too sexy and, although she challenged me, it was never dull being around her. Our differences strangely led to this chemistry that we alone shared.

[System: He just gets a turn on for sexy toxic women.]

Truly, she was a Magician of getting her way.

But… deep down, I was still driven to regain my freedom. I just couldn't throw away all else that was important to me just for Qianye Ying'er. Piece by piece, everything was perfectly leading up to my escape. Though, the more I observed, the more I realised just how clingy she was. There wasn't a moment in the day where she wasn't looking over me. I began to suspect that she suspected my intentions… given her backhand comments, it wasn't all that outlandish.

All I needed was a good opportunity at the right time…

But that was easier said than done.