15 - How to play the game - REINA (1)

The bed was shaking, waking me from my dreams. My body that was sore and tired from the night before was completely fine, better than fine even.

My eyes soon fixed on Ocien who was shaking with tears streaming down his twisted face.

My heart fluttered and instinctively a fear that he had regretted the night before grew in my chest.

At that moment a genderless voice sounded in my mind.

[Diviner System started]

A panel appeared projected a few centimeters in front of my eyes.

[Congratulations on awakening this Era's Diviner System]

[Your goal is to gather 8 Patrons and lead the world to rediscover lost paths.

Divinante is one of the 2 Absolutes.

The Diviner's companions can reach the pinnacle of the world.

Among the companions, those pure of heart who devote their lives to the Divine have the chance to become Patron of one of the energetic forces of the world.

But the Diviner needs to be careful, the other Absolute also has the ability to make his followers Patrons.

While the Diviner grows alongside his companions, the Equalant abuses his authority as an Absolute by using his followers as cultivation tools.]

As soon as I finished reading, the panel gave way to 6 word boxes.

[ Status ] [ Library ]

[ Store ] [ Companions ]

[ Quests ] [ Inventory ]

I left all this strangeness aside and ran to hug Ocien. Time wasted reading that text could make the situation even worse.

I hugged him as tight as possible, trying to convey all the affection we cultivated together.

Yesterday had been a magical day, despite all my nervousness, and now he seemed in violent conflict with his own thoughts.

"What happened Ocien?" – I asked after minutes of trying to calm him down without success.

He remained silent, but soon his body seemed to regain control of the tremors and tears.

"We are being used as pawns in a game." – he whispered in a desperate tone.

Confusion filled my mind and without me realizing it, I tightened my arms around him even more.

"Someone with nothing better to do decided to use our lives as a source of entertainment." – he continued, going from despair to anger.

"What are you talking about?" – I asked worriedly.

Ocien finally stopped shaking. Slowly he contorted his body and returned my tight hug.

"I will not let others decide who I should love and who I should hate." – he whispered in my ear full of conviction.

My confusion only increased. Until my focus returned to the system and the text boxes, the only thing out of the ordinary that was happening.

Instinctively I opened the list of companions.

[ Companions ]

Ocien Debulis / Ocien Equalante: Boyfriend (temporary status)

In the system introduction dialogue, Equalante was placed as my opponent…

Understanding part of what was happening, I remained quiet in his arms until he finished expressing his feelings.

When he finally loosened the hug, Ocien guided his face in front of mine.

"Until this moment I was hesitating to say this, but I love you." – he declared firmly, looking deeply into my eyes.

Ocien then cupped my face with both hands gently.

"I owe my life to you, but it was what we experienced together that made me sure of that." – He continued conveying the feeling through his actions.

My heart shook and at that moment I felt the same certainty as him.

I closed my eyes instinctively savoring the feeling of being loved for the first time in my life.

Soon my lips felt a delicate kiss and surrendering to that sensation, it quickly evolved into a passionate kiss.

The air ran out of both my lungs and I had to stop the kiss. When I opened my eyes I saw Ocien staring at me and I couldn't help but feel embarrassed.

"I love you too." – I replied, trying to hide my red face.

Our relationship has probably evolved in the best possible way. Everything happened very quickly at first, but he had all the calm in the world not to force anything on me.

Even the pressures I suffered at work were nothing more than necessary pushes to resolve my confused mind.

I was really happy that my first time was with someone who really cared about me.

"You're late for work." – he said as if he had remembered something important.

I looked out the window confirming the position of the sun and momentarily despaired.

I jumped out of bed without realizing that I still had no clothes on and when I noticed this I let out a cry of shame.

"Aaahh!" – It slipped out of my mouth.

Ocien got out of bed and threw the blanket over my shoulders.

"I'll prepare water for your bath, while you prepare breakfast." – he said with an enigmatic smile.

I knew the previous moment had passed. His convictions wouldn't let the mess we were in get in the way of our relationship.

As soon as he left the room, I threw an old dress over my body and went to the kitchen to make breakfast.

I was finishing frying them when Ocien joined me, he hugged me from behind and kissed my neck.

"The water is already heating up." – he said in my ear.

The change that occurred in our intimacy was visible. The distance he kept from me up until that point basically disappeared.

That gesture alone made my face flush and my heart race.

"Tell me more about all this that is happening." – I asked, trying to change the subject.

As much as I was loving that moment, I didn't want him to see how embarrassed I was by his touch. Probably something feminine about not handing over all the cards and keeping the partner looking for a way to please us.

If Ocien really knew how much this was affecting me he might be convinced that he no longer needed to try to win me over.

He kissed my cheek and tightened his arms around my waist.

"Someone created a game that takes place every 100,000 years, we are the main players and we need to find 8 Patrons to help us in the final game." – he began to explain calmly in my ear.

Even though he was hugging my waist with his chin on my shoulder, he followed my movements fluidly, basically not making the process of making breakfast difficult at all.

"I acquire, must acquire, followers through a mental and spiritual connection, while you do the same, in essence the connection is bodily and spiritual." – he continued.

A pause took over the atmosphere and the hug that previously didn't stop me from moving around the kitchen became static.

"Open your system and review your Diviner technique." – he asked fearfully.

Finding his behavior strange, I decided not to delay in doing what he asked. I concentrated and asked the library to open.

[Library]

Historical knowledge.

Divine;

Equalant;

The game;

Techniques

Handbook of the Primal Sex Divinity;

Basic Warrior Breathing;

Skills

[ None ]

Reading the name of the technique was enough to understand Ocien's concerns.

The Diviner had companions, not in the sense of camaraderie, but in the sense of carnal relationship.

I hesitated for a moment, not wanting to accept the situation.

"Is your technique related to sex?" – he asked when he saw that I was silent.

I took a deep breath, gaining the courage to respond.

"Yes, but I'm not going to go around looking for others to get stronger." – I said, trying to appease both him and myself.

He tightened his arms around my waist and sighed.

"We don't know what will happen in the future, we will live our lives as we want, I also don't want a bunch of followers disrupting our daily lives for a mission that we didn't choose to accept." – he declared, accepting the possibility that we will not be able to escape this in the future.

Taking the food from the stove, I turned my body so we were facing each other.

"I don't need anyone else but you." – I said reinforcing while caressing his face.