Chapter 129 A Normal Couple Bonding Session
Despite this, I reiterated, "Yes, I want you to emulate every aspect of me - my appearance, behaviour, powers, and abilities."
She gazed at me in disbelief, her face clearing of confusion and doubt before she dramatically shook her head and let out a heavy sigh.
I mean, yes! I was the only one excited about this and for a good reason too!!
She stood still and stared at me unmovingly. Suddenly, her appearance began to morph. Like waves of ripples caused by a pebble thrown into a river, her hair, body, height, weight, and clothes all changed, into my appearance. It was as though I was looking at a mirror reflection of myself.
As I examined every part of her being, I couldn\'t help by drawn towards her crouch.
"Nina"
"Yes, husband"
I rose a brow.
Nina immediately drew her attention to somewhere else when she noticed my stare. "Didn\'t you say this was a …. husband-wife bonding ..a-activity" She spoke hesitantly, yet fumbled on her words.
Yes. Her words are partly the reason for my surprise since I never imagined that one day -after that incident, someone would ever call me \'Husband\'.
A wave in my heart caused it to drum with a rhythm. But I suppressed it by diverting my thoughts somewhere else.
"Don\'t worry, that isn\'t the reason" Even if I was called husband by a mirror image of myself, it wasn\'t.
I asked the same question that\'s been plaguing my mind since the start "When you transform into a man, do you also get his manhood and other manly physical features" This was a path ability after all, so I needed to be sure.
She gave me a dull look, as though somehow, she had predicted my question "No, when I transformed into you, the only features I can copy are you and everything else that I can see" She paused, and looked at her body before she continued "As such, if I do this" She grabbed a piece of her -\'my\' brown leather coat and tore it off, revealing the side of my toned stomach.
Wait!!
"Exactly" She nodded, affirmative at my reaction. "I know that you are wearing something underneath, but since I can\'t see it, then I can\'t copy it" The torn coat in her hand scattered into several specks of light, and the patch beside her stomach also reformed until the coat was fixed as though her previous actions were all but merely an illusion.
"Fascinating" I couldn\'t help but mutter. Even if I could summon fireballs, bathe in raging flames, heal my injuries and fatigue with water, talk and command mythical creatures, and bond with a rat, this world never ceases to amaze me.
"So does that mean that it isn\'t impossible?" I questioned.
"No" She shook her head "Back when I attended the Mage tower, I have heard stories of a Rank 5 Trickster -a man being able to transform into a woman, and possess her womanhood and other feminine features…. As for me, I\'m just a Rank 2, First Circle Trickster. My transformations are nothing more than illusions, but the higher I ascend, the more realistic they become, to an extent that my mana would only need to probe you once, and I could potentially become an identical copy of you."
"Anything else?"
"Not really, but I heard that at Rank 8 or Rank 9, Tricksters have the incredible ability to transform into inanimate objects, and can even replicate the abilities of enchanted weapons.".
Okay, I know that I have said it before, but the ascendant path\'s abilities are ridiculous!
Still, I suppose that it made sense!
"So when you become a Rank 5 Trickster, you will be able to grow a dick?".
She rose a brow. "Well, if you put it that way, then yes".
I quickly jotted everything down into my memories. Satisfied with the answers I had received, I gazed at Nina and said "Nina?"
"Yes, husband" She responded with my voice, facial appearance and everything, making my emotional butterflies a little less appealing.
"Never you transform into a man" I stressed my words. Sure, I was a little - I was depraved, but seeing my woman with a dick isn\'t something that appealed to my sexual preference.
She frowned "But, wouldn\'t that be restricting my capabilities".
"Ahem!" I cleared my throat. "Let me rephrase that. What I meant is that I want you to never grow a dick whether you transform into a man or not".
At this point, I began to doubt whether Tricksters had more than one sexuality.
I shook my head, inwardly.
Probably, with their abilities, they do!
Seriously, these guys can take a familiar relationship with an animal to the next level. Just thinking about the amount of dog or cat owners in my former world, having the ability to transform into one sent a shiver down my spine.
She retorted "Bu…".
"Nina!" However, I interrupted her. I know that they are certain curiosities ingrained into us as human beings, but, sometimes, there are some roads that you can walk into, but never turn back from.
And I am a living example of one of them.
Once you fall into the depths of depravity, there\'s no turning back. It changes you at your very core, both mentally and physically. I knew I had a problem, but you can\'t expect someone who has straddled the line between a virtuous monk and debased rebel to just snap back to normalcy with a new lease on life, can you?
The first thing I did alone after discovering I had a dick was masturbate for goodness sake!
So I needed to make it clear.
I expressed "I want you to never g….."
She interrupted "I understand, b….."
"Shut up!" I ordered.
Her mouth clamped shut. The order was followed. She stood there and stared at me irritatedly.
What happened?
I gazed at her and watched as her lips twitched. A sudden thought passed my mind.
"You can talk" I said.
She breathed out in relief.
"What happened?" I asked, immediately.
Her eyes left mine and trialled down my legs, halting at the snow beneath our feet. "I vowed to be faithful, to be honest, and to be loyal to you. To never betray or depart from your side through better or worst" She explained.
To my surprise, she gave a bow and declared "I will do as you command, no matter what you ask of me. If you tell me to stay here, I will not move. If you tell me to face down a horde of magical beasts, I will not hesitate. If you ask me to take an arrow for you, I will do so without question. And should you choose to end my life with a sword, I will accept it without retaliation"
I couldn\'t help but wince at the manner she uttered those words. Nonetheless, I responded, "So what you mean i.."
"Yes. I am at your beck and call, whether you realize it or not" she emphasized. "Your every instruction and order is mine to follow".
"Even if I order you to jump and drown yourself in a pool of sizzling hot oil?" I asked, fully understanding the gravity of her words.
Her expression was torn.
"Yes, and I will not hesitate" She responded. "Because I didn\'t want to die, I clung to the contract with everything I had, so the power of our contract was amplified by my intense desire to stay alive. While your..." She paused and continued "Yours was fueled by your burning passion to have me as your spouse. That\'s why the effects are so strong".
"So, apart from strength and mutual agreement, emotions and feelings also play a big part in forming a contract?"
"Yes. because, normally, I am supposed to only possess the level of loyalty and honesty that a knight has towards his king. But for you, it\'s different. I will only meet my end if I were to renounce you or betray you in a way that is akin to a child turning on their loving father with a blade"
"Hahh!" She laughed. "My betrayal would have only been judged by my actions" Her eyes never left the snow as she remained bowed before me. "And not as something trivial as refusing to comply with every word that comes out of your mouth".
"I see" Was the only word I could utter. So, throughout all this time, all my instructions and orders whether I was aware of it or not, were indirectly a death threat to her.
"Stand up, and look at me" I ordered.
She straightened her back and stared at me blankly.
"Are those all your orders, husband?" She asked.
A sigh escaped my lips as I asked "Are you being sarcastic?".
"Yes, I am" She answered, honestly.
Another longer sigh escaped my lips "You know this isn\'t exactly the type of husband-wife bonding activity I had in mind".
"..... What did you have in mind, then?" She asked.