Refusing My God’s Advances

As she did, a glowing green light appeared in her palm. I tried to concentrate on the mote of light, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't make out any more than light. I assumed a tiny body would be in the glow, but that didn’t seem to be the cause.

“Spirits are the same as the souls you have in your inventory, but they have not been summoned to a world yet. You have a great number that follows you,” Luminara explained, but when I looked around, I didn’t see any more motes of light. Doing this made Luminara laugh, and then she smiled warmly. “They will show themselves in time. They are waiting to see what you do with Vaedos.”

I turned back around with a frown. “Jeez. Pardon me for being so direct here, but how the hell do you know so much about my soul inventory? Very few people could know that information, and you have not met any of them, to my knowledge.”

Now, it was my turn to be suspicious, but the smile on Luminara’s face never faltered. “Let me reintroduce myself. My name is Luminara, Goddess of the Lantern. The reality that I rule over is the home to all the monster's souls that are used to populate dungeons in the other realities. I know all souls, and Vaedos was a special soul that had great potential. Many wonder what will happen to him now that he has willingly given his soul to you. I can even speak to him, but for some reason, he says that he is not concerned for his fate. This makes you that much more interesting to me, which is why I am inviting you for tea.”

That was a bit to take in, but it answered my question and rested my suspicions. I had been curious about where monsters came from and how their souls entered the dungeons. Considering that all the time that mattered to me was frozen, this was a perfect chance to get some answers.

“Alright, I’ll bite and come for that cup of tea. Considering my Soulforge Artisan is about shaping souls, you could probably tell me what I need to know to help me. If Everyone is worried about what I will do with Vaedos, then I should get my bases covered before attempting anything crazy,” I said with a grin, making Luminara smile with her eyes closed.

Then she opened them again, but this time, they were filled with galaxies. I couldn’t break my eyes from them as Luminara advanced until she was so close that our noses touched, and I could feel the press of her ample chest warm against my own.

“I am sorry for getting so close, but please hold my body close to yours. This next part will be tough on your stomach and body. Heroes normally have to be at least level 450 to travel between realities. Still, your resilience is acceptable since you could defeat someone like Vaedos, who had been given a divine rating,” Luminara explained, and I wrapped her body in my arms. She was soft, and the material of her dress gave me an otherworldly feeling that I couldn't put a finger on.

Though, before I could even try to reason out what the feeling reminded me of, my body was violently sucked into a single point. Instantly, I was spat back out, still holding onto Luminara. She caught me as my body gave out, and she gently lowered me to the floor of a small boat we had appeared on. My body was on fire, but I had started to get used to getting hurt, so my mind raced and targeted anything that felt bruised or broken. There was a lot.

“Just take your time… or not?” Luminara said to me in a confused voice as I stood back up, wiping my mouth and rolling my shoulder.

“I'm fine, but that was wild. I don’t think a hug from Aria could have done this much damage at this point!” I chuckled as I finished targeting everything that hurt, but then I got a notification.

[Your skill, Restore, has evolved into Full Restore]

“Aye! Finally! My damn broken skill finally evolved into something even more broken!” I cheered as I looked over the skill. It still wouldn't let me target others yet, but the skill was already incredibly broken. Still, gone were the days of targeting individual boo boos now!

“You have a skill that heals your injuries instantly?” Luminara asked me, but I shook my head.

“It isn't really healing. It is more like a localized time reversal. I can restore my body to a point before it was hurt. There is a time limit, but I have become adept at restoring my body before the pain catches up with my adrenaline,” I explained, and then I took a good look around.

There wasn't much to look at—just dark water with mist rolling across it as we floated along. I looked up, but everything was covered in a veil of mist. The only light came from a lantern hanging at the front of the boat we stood on.

“I have never heard of a skill like that,” Luminara said quietly, but that statement felt profound for some reason. “I am sure you are wondering where we are, but this is the only path to my realm. There are dark spirits that strive to upset the balance of souls. I am not only the goddess of this reality but also the soul protector,” Luminara explained, but the pun wasn't lost on me, and I had to smirk.

While the pun was horrible, like any good one was, I was starting to get a bad vibe from this conversation. I felt comfortable around Luminara, just like Hades and Argrum, but I also felt like something was coming. A big but waiting to be dropped.

“So,” I started. “You inviting me to your world doesn't happen to come with a request, does it?”

There was a pause as we stared at each other, but natural light suddenly came from behind me. I was forced to grab the side of the small boat as I felt us hit something, and I turned around. The sight that greeted me temporarily pushed any questions out of my mind.