Aimless Ascension

Gale got into the bathhouse and found nothing amiss. Nothing but his disciple that was. She was submerged in the water still with a horrified expression on her face.

Gale couldn't fathom the reason behind that. Nothing indicated anything amiss, but something gave her quite a big scare.

"What happened?" he asked.

"My Qi," Xiaolin cried, "it's still the same, it's not recovering."

A frown crept to Gale's brows immediately. He had discussed this with Xiaolin before, mentioning her condition wouldn't be solved with just one advancement, but it surely would diminish the demerits of her constitution.

"Is there no improvement?" Gale asked.

"I don't know," Xiaolin said in her panic, "I can't tell."

"Hmm," Gale hummed in contemplation. He wouldn't get to a solution without some examination, but this was hardly the time or place to do that. "Linlin, how much Qi do you have?"

"I'm two-thirds full," Xiaolin said.

"Okay, clean yourself, spending all your Qi," Gale instructed her. "We'll test a few things after that."

Saying that Gale got out of the bathhouse again. Xiaolin held an expression that told she would like to say something, but she refrained at the last moment.

It took her about another quarter of an hour to clean properly. Done with that, she called after her master as she didn't have the physical power to move on her own.

"Master, I'm done."

"Okay, I'm entering," Gale said first and entered the bathhouse again after a couple of seconds.

He found Xiaolin still submerged in the water with her torn-up wet clothes stuck to her thin frame, displaying the modest texture of her womanly curves. Her skin was even brighter and purer after the cleaning with most of her swelling healing up miraculously.

"Master, it seemed I have some healing power," Xiaolin said with some level of spirit in her tone. "It isn't that good, as I'm still feeling the pain, but all my bruises and torn-up skin had healed."

Gale nodded with interest in his eyes. "You used up all your Qi?"

Xiaolin nodded.

"It seemed your hair has a close tie with your Qi, it stopped glistening after you used up all your Qi," Gale said.

Xiaolin fumbled to draw a few strands of her hair in alarm. The colour was between bleached grey and bleak blonde now, still matching well with her picturesque exterior.

"I didn't even manage to see it properly," Xiaolin whined.

"Well, I think it will glisten in gold if you have some Qi to spare."

Xiaolin was about to start cycling at that very moment to see how much of his hypothesis was true, but she groaned the moment she tried to draw energy into her body.

"Don't be impatient," Gale told her. "Since that mark represents water attribute, it makes sense for you to have some self-healing properties. You'll probably be able to heal others as well after some training. Anyway, give it a rest, your body needs it. In a day or two, you can return to cycling again."

Xiaolin could only nod.

"Wait for a second, I'll move you to the house," Gale said as he crept closer to her.

"Master no," Xiaolin said, "you're still dirty, I don't want to wash up again."

Gale halted and examined himself. Well, he wasn't particularly dirty, though he reeked of her impurities.

"What do you propose then?"

"You clean up, and I'll wait," Xiaolin said with some fluster.

"In the water?"

"Why not? It's not uncomfortable," Xiaolin said.

"If you say so," Gale said and dived into the water. "Do you need a towel?"

"Later."

The barely working construct managed to clean the water after Xiaolin washed, though most of its functions were unavailable currently.

Gale turned over to show his back to Xiaolin and stripped off his tunic. Xiaolin kept on peeping, submerged face down in the water. Her eyes widened as for the first time she laid eyes on the fate mark on Gale's back.

"That is the Stormsong?" She couldn't help but ask, even though the answer should be obvious.

It was a long tattoo of a double-edged spear penned on Gale's spine.

"Cool right?" Gale asked. "That's the fate mark I'm most proud of, but don't tell Vale. Although the Void lock was more on display, it gives a menacing vibe."

"Master, can I see the entire fate mark?" Xiaolin asked as she could barely see a third of the mark, Gale being submerged in the water.

"Sure, let me just. . ." Gale supported himself on the edge of the pool and pull himself up, displaying the entirety of the spear mark on his spine.

Xiaolin was literally ogling at the wide muscular upper body. Her chest heaved as she felt hot inside. Her nostril flared slightly as she felt some connection in the mark in her abdomen.

However, Xiaolin didn't have time to inspect more of the sensation as her attention was drawn to another mark on Gale's waist, not the glorious mark of fate, but a menacing scar that seemed to have gone all the way from his back to the front.

"Master, that scar. . ."

"Oh, that," Gale hesitated, "that's a mark too, not the one I'm proud of, but it became a part of me."

"Part of you?" Xiaolin asked with confusion. "Is that why you didn't heal them?"

Gale laughed. "Let's not talk about that now," he said. "There's a long story behind it, I'll tell you someday."

More importantly, he was interested in the warmth that came through the bond mark a moment ago. It felt like a burst of all fiery emotions.

Anyway, it wasn't the place to think about all that, nor the time. Gale submerged fully into the water and cleaned himself. It didn't take him long, controlling his aura very delicately, he differentiated between himself and the stain as the water cleaned everything up.

Done with cleaning, Gale got up from the bath and brought out two long white towels. He wrapped himself in one first and helped Xiaolin get out of the water. Well, he literally pulled her up using his physical strength and wind Qi.

He wrapped the towel around her even though she was in wet clothes. Xiaolin kept on staring at him, her face red with all sorts of emotion showering from her aura.

Gale frowned, but didn't say anything at that moment.

"Let's go then," Gale said as he pulled her closer to lift her up in a princess carry.

Xiaolin heaved a hot breath on his neck as she snuggled into his chest, shying away to hide her face. Gale could feel her heartbeat rising as fiery emotion blossomed through their bond.

'The bond is more intimate than I thought,' Gale mused as he carried her out of the bathhouse.

It was already in the middle of the night, the metamorphosis took about six hours to complete. Vale already got into the house, to his warm bed after spending much effort to Protect Xiaolin.

Gale carried her slowly just in case of her injury, however, the more they got closer to the house, the more complicated and fiercer Xiaolin's emotions became. Gale didn't know if it was because of the bond or because of the shift in her nature, but she was certainly feeling it.

Xiaolin was full of unbridled desire, the fiery desire for skin texture and warmth, She struggled in his grasp, inhaling and exhaling thickly as if possessed by something.

"Linlin," Gale told her. "Get hold of yourself."

"Mhh," Xiaolin squeaked, barely putting a check on her unbridled emotion.

Thinking silence would make her more uncomfortable, Gale decided to converse with her.

"The bond has changed the relationship dynamics between us," Gale said. "I can clearly feel your emotions through it, your vulnerability and strength, of course, you grew clumsy with your control after your advancement, but it leaves us with much to contemplate over.

Things would go even more complicated if we decided to keep the bond, and if--"

"Master, I don't want to break the bond," Xiaolin cut in, her voice sparked with emotion.

"Do you know what that implies?"

Xiaolin said nothing for some time as finally realisation dawned on her. But with realisation came a resolution.

"I know," she said with eagerness, "it means I can't have a relationship with another person. But I don't want another person, I. . ."

The latter part was left unsaid, but both of them knew what she was supposed to say.

"Linlin, you're still young," Gale advised her as he felt the thump of her heartbeat. "Don't make any decision that you might regret in the long run."

"That's what I'm doing, Master."

In the next moment, Xiaolin drew her lips closer to his, but with her injury and height, she fell short by a nick, kissing only Gale's lower lip.

A fiery burst of emotion spread in Gale's chest, through the bond at Xiaolin's clumsy approach to kissing. Her little nose was touching his upper lip as Xiaolin's chest heaved.

Gale was dumbstruck for a moment and let her do as she pleased. When she finished, he opened his lips to say something, but it remained hung open, lost for words.

Xiaolin's chest heaved up and down as she looked at him with all the flusters and courage she could muster.

"Even if it takes decades, I'll do everything in my power to make you accept me."

Xiaolin snuggled into his chest as she finished what she had to say. She said nothing more and kept her face hidden till Gale brought her into the house.

He put her in her bed slowly and drew his face to her eye level.

"Okay, there are a few things we must discuss if you held onto this belief."