Wrath Domain, The Ashbastion Wall, May 15, 2026
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Thud—
Ashen let his body fall back into the tower room's worn chair, the wood groaning softly beneath him. He tipped his head up. Through the narrow window above, he could see dawn creep in—
Tst… tst… tssssttt…
The Hourvault opened like a tear in space. He summoned a pack of cigarettes… a lighter… The flame flared, then died, leaving smoke in its wake.
Sigh…
The exhale lingered longer than it should have, drifting upward as Ashen remained still with no thoughts and no feeling… There was just that dull hush that followed an endless night spent seeing death at every corner and dealing it at every turn…
For a moment, his vision blurred as he stared into nothing.
Fhhhhhh…
But the next exhale brought him back from the hollow.
He'd noticed that he smoked more lately… a lot more. Thankfully, what he smoked wasn't normal tobacco.
These packets he smoked were actually a gift from Seraphine, the Saintess herself.
The woman never forgot his smoking habit from the tutorial, and since she saw that he wasn't quitting anytime soon, she created this new brand of cigarettes just for him during her time in Paradise.
Unlike the regular ones, these smelled fragrant instead. They also had a relaxing effect on his brain… so much that after each stick, he felt as if he'd just had a good night of sleep.
As for pollution… these things were cleansing his lungs instead.
Ashen didn't know how much effort Seraphine had put into getting this result, but the herbal knowledge needed to conceive this alone was probably nothing to scoff at.
"I can even smell the scent of Veyra leaves mixed in…" She'd even found a way to use those notorious leaves. Ashen was even more impressed.
"I can't be the only one receiving gifts; I should also prepare something for her."
The new brand of cigarettes wasn't even the only thing he'd received from her. Closing his eyes, he could feel the sensation of a faint shard lodged in his heart.
The shard didn't really exist on the physical plane, as no matter how much Ashen used SA to scan his body, he found no sign of it. Seraphine called it Desire Imprint and informed him that he wouldn't be able to actually "see" the imprint since it operated on the soul level.
Ashen was glad to have it either way, since he'd noticed how it amplified all of his body's natural healing and even soothed his weary mind.
He even felt the constant hallucinations recede.
Tak—
The door opened from outside, interrupting the serene moment, but Ashen's lips curved into a smile. Because only three people usually barged into his tower room, which also doubled as his office, unannounced.
One of them was busy praying during this time.
Another was busy avoiding him…
And that only left one. "If it isn't our treasure girl… welcome to my humble abode."
"...Mornin' babe… Huam~" Alice walked in with a sleepy gait and unceremoniously sat on his lap, since it was the only seat available.
Ashen snaked his hand around her waist like a seat belt and straightened up to let her back rest on his chest.
"So… did you come for the usual?"
"Hmm… yeah."
"And here I thought my wifey just missed me… but no, she's just here to work me to death! How sad…"
Alice seemed too lazy to go along with his usual shenanigans, so she just slid her palm to his right cheek and gently caressed it. "Be a good boy and get to work, and we'll play later."
"...What kind of plays?"
"The kind where I can't walk straight afterwards."
"Oh… say no more."
With that, Ashen closed his eyes and dove into his dreamscape. Alice didn't halt her cheek pats, and while she waited for him, she slid her other hand across his veiny forearms until they reached his fingers and snatched the cigarette that was lodged between them.
She brought it to her lips and puffed one out. Phewww… "Mmm… Should I also ask Seraphine for a pack?"
She didn't get to enjoy the fragrance for long, though, as she soon felt herself drifting to sleep.
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When she opened her eyes again, she was dreaming… but not her dreams. The frozen horde of Narkals facing the Pride army greeted her on the horizon, on another stretch of land, countless training spaces scattered about, and when she turned to look back, thousands of black portals, each one bearing a sign next to it, appeared in her vision.
In fact, there was one right behind her with a sign that said: "Wifey ꨄ︎."
This was Ashen's dreamscape.
After diving into countless people's minds, he'd thought, why not try the reverse? At first, it didn't work as intended, as any attempt to pull away the consciousness of others immediately woke them up.
It still worked for Alice, though, since with their affinity, it seemed that even her consciousness didn't stir when it was he pulling at it.
He was sure he could make it work on others without the affinity trick. He just had to increase his mastery of the skill even further and make the process even stealthier. But for that, he had to first figure out the condition to advance beyond Masterful+.
"Welcome to my dreams." Ashen appeared beside her suddenly, but she was accustomed to his pranks by this point since it wasn't her first time here.
"Stop the theatrics~ let's start."
"...Aye, aye."
With that, his face took a serious countenance. He summoned his spear and got into his basic and most familiar stance.
And as he started executing attacks left and right, displaying everything for her to see, she absorbed every movement and muscle contraction in her Mind Repository.
{Activated Path Skill: Fixation Mark}
[Model Completion: 63%]
Of course, who else would she choose as her fixation target besides her man?
And so far, her choice hadn't failed her. His model completion was going abnormally fast, not only because Ashen was completely cooperative with the process, but also because she knew him best.
To complete a model, it wasn't only the physical motions that she had to memorize, but also the mindset, the personality, and even the disposition.
But for Alice and her gift of seeing reality in patterns and formulas, this was just a regular task for her.
It didn't mean that it wasn't progress for embodying her Sin, however.
No… it could even be said that he was the muse to her Clockwork Muse…
She watched him step, and her world broke into ticks: His ankle angle, his breath microbeat, the silent hitch in his shoulder before a sweep… motions were broken down into vectors that were further broken down into memory lines to be filed into her mind palace.
[Model Completion: 64%]
By now, she could even imagine another silhouette moving in perfect synchronization with him.
"Shirt."
Ashen let the shirt dissolve when he heard her, as he continued displaying his techniques at a pace she could follow. He even summoned monsters for a practical demonstration.
The intensity behind Alice's golden eyes shone even brighter.
Anyone who looked at this scene from a more neutral, objective perspective would judge, without a single doubt, that that look could only be born from obsession bordering on madness.
[Model Completion: 66%]
But it was that same obsession that allowed her to model him in such a short time.
For Alice though… it was simply love. Obsession? Fixation? Madness? No… that was only her way of expressing love.
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Four hours passed in the dreamscape, which amounted to only two in reality, but the couple had long stopped their training and opted for another kind of "training."
"Ah! Yes! Right there!"
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"Hmm!! Good!"
"Fuck me harder!"
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"Ah~~~ so full ♡"
With a last thrust, they hugged each other while still connected and fell to the soft ground of the dreamscape.
The two stayed silent for a moment, basking in the afterglow of the pleasure before Alice let out a contented sigh. "...Baby, what time is it?"
"...6:44 AM."
"...Ah fuck… I have to go."
"...Well, it can't be helped. Your cannons are contributing as much as the whole army right now. I can't even understand how you even get free time…"
"...What do you mean?"
"I mean, if I were in the higher-ups' place, I'd have you work every waking moment. Heh." He gently caressed her silky black hair.
Playing lazy circles on his chest, Alice answered, "You know how fast I work… there's not even enough materials to realize half my projects, so that's how it is. As for forcing me…? Hmph! They can try."
"Okay, tigress… I understand, so please release that nipple."
"...As long as you know."
"...Yep yep. No one forces you, I understand."
"...Except you in bed," she muttered.
"Well, that's a husband's privilege."
"...Whatever." With that, she reluctantly got up with a lazy pandiculation. "Alright, let's meet up later, along with Sera."
"Sure, stay safe, love."
"You too…"
Before she reached the portal with the wifey tag, Alice turned around, suddenly remembering something. "By the way, Ash… that recruiter of yours, Lucia. She's making waves recently. Catching cultists left and right, like she has a personal vendetta against them. I'd check on that if I were you."
"Oh? Alright. Thanks."
Alice merely did a lazy wave and reached for the portal that brought her consciousness back to her body.
Ashen, though, stayed back for a few more moments. His thoughts drifted to the pink-haired woman.
In fact, he'd tried to contact her multiple times in the last few days, but he couldn't find her. It was obvious that she was avoiding him.
At first, when she'd accepted his request to send those letters, he thought she wasn't angry, but now, with her obvious avoidance, he wasn't so sure anymore.
Her sudden move on the cultists was probably also because of him… making Ashen even more confused.
"Are you mad or are you not…?" Ashen roughly scratched his head. "Ahh… I just hope you don't do anything stupid and stay safe…"
She was always the voice of reason in their dynamic, after all. If she followed him in his stupidity, he wouldn't know how to react.
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