NIP Chapter 486: On the floor
Chapter 486: On the floor
"Maa, did you know Raj has girlfriends. Two of them," Aryan casually revealed, chewing his rice.
"Khwak!" The food flew out of my mouth from his sudden reveal. The fucker had decided on this method to take revenge on me.
"Aryan! Did you think I will laugh at your silly jokes and forgive you?" Maa retorted before continuing with dinner. She and Sister Aisha didn’t even give a second thought to Aryan’s claim, as if it was too ridiculous to be true.
"Maa, I’m serious. You saw those two women on the TV that stopped the missile. They are his girlfriends. They were even staying tog—"
"Haha...my elder brother seems quite tired. He has started talking nonsense," I said, clutching his mouth tight from behind.
"Dear Lord! When did you get there?" Maa gasped, taken aback. I had been sitting before her just a moment ago.
"Just now. But that’s the least of our worries. I think my dear brother got struck hard on the head. Let me put him to sleep... permanently."
Only Aryan heard the last word. His eyes widened as he repeatedly tapped on my hand to break free.
"Raj, remove your hand from Aryan’s mouth," Maa ordered, her eyes narrowing at me.
’Crap, she is suspicious,’ I exclaimed inwardly.
"Maa, he will only say something useless again."
"Raj. Your hand."
"Y-yes, Maa."
I removed my hand.
"Hah...hah...hah....I thought I was a goner," Aryan gasped, breathing heavily.
He immediately jumped from the bed, ignoring all the pain from his injuries as his survival instincts kicked in.
He only stopped after reaching behind Maa, the ultimate and final defence.
"Maa, look at him. He only got a little stronger and he’s already trying to kill me," Aryan blurted. "He has no respect for his elder brother at all."
"Brother Raj, is what this man said true?" Sister Aisha asked, her tone serious.
"Th-this man?" Aryan whimpered, looking at her with puppy eyes.
"Go on, Raj. Answer her," Maa also pressed as both of them stared at me intently.
"O...of course it’s a lie...haha, me, having two girlfriends? That’s just ridiculous. Might as well say that I’m a god and not from this world...hahaha...that might be more believable than this," I blurted out, rubbing the back of my head.
"Hey, you clearly told me that they were your girlfrie—"
"Since Brother Raj objects to it so strongly, it must not be true," Sister Aisha said calmly, stopping Aryan mid-sentence and putting an end to the discussion.
I returned to my seat and finished my dinner. Strangely, everyone stayed unusually silent for the rest of the meal.
Although I had avoided the immediate crisis, an ominous feeling kept creeping up on me. No matter how I looked at it, they had all believed me quite easily, not to mention the smug look of victory Aryan was throwing my way.
’Maybe I’m just overthinking it,’ I sighed inwardly as I went to my room.
"Why did you lie to them?"
I was instantly attacked with the question by Ume the moment I stepped in.
"Are we not your girl...friends?" Nymeria demanded, her arms folded.
They were both sitting on the bed, their eyes staring right into my soul.
"W-well, I th-think it’s not the right time to reveal it yet. Y-you know they were already quite shocked from what happened in San Francisco," I said, trying to convince them. "I will tell them once everything settles down and we return to our home in India."
"Hmm, so our relationship with you will come as a shock to your family," Nymeria concluded, nodding. "Alright, I understand."
She pulled the blanket over herself and lay down on the bed.
"N-no, that’s not what I meant, baby."
I turned to Ume and continued, "Ume, you know what I meant, right? Help me convince her."
"She didn’t say anything wrong, though," she answered before covering herself with the blanket as well.
I pressed my temples between my thumb and fingers.
’I will convince them in the morning,’ I decided as I moved toward the bed.
Just as I lowered myself, Nymeria stopped me by placing her foot on my face.
"Just so we are clear, you are sleeping on the floor," she ordered, her expression brooking no defiance.
I turned to Ume for support, only to receive a similar glare from her.
’Well, I do deserve this,’ I sighed inwardly before asking, "At least give me a pill—"
A pillow hit me square in the face.
"You are sleeping on the floor for a whole week!" Nymeria declared, appearing even more furious than before.
"Make it two weeks, Sister Nym," Ume added, equally furious.
"Two weeks then!"
"Guys, aren’t you being too cruel?" I whimpered, feeling close to tears.
"On the floor this instant, or I will confiscate your pillow as well!" Nymeria hissed, pushing me back with her foot.
’Dammit, Aryan! You pulled this on me just when I shared a priceless piece of advice to save your married life,’ I muttered inwardly, retreating to the floor.
"Hah! I’m a god. As if sleeping on the floor is any trouble for me," I announced with a retort, throwing the pillow down.
Just as I lay down, the floor turned freezing cold, sending shivers through my whole body.
"Hey, Nymeria. You are being too mean," I snapped, jolting to my feet.
She had frozen the entire floor.
"Aren’t you a god? This much should be nothing for you," Nymeria said from beneath the blanket.
"And just so you know, if you use Soulforce to warm yourself or melt the ice, I will freeze you in a coffin," she declared, reading my intentions without even looking at me.
’Dammit...dammit, Aryan! I will certainly get back at you for this!’ I snarled inwardly as I dropped to the cold floor in frustration.
Now that sleeping was completely out of the question given the freezing floor, I decided to look into the unclaimed rewards.
"Vivi, show my stats."
"Initialising Host’s request..."
"Host Name: Taranis El Thunderbane
Physical Age: 26
Mental Age: 25
Realm: Level Nine Awakened Sage
Stats:
Strength: 1107 Agility: 1090
Stamina: 1073 Defense: 1068
Attribute: Yin-Yang
Yin Energy: 17.3m/20m
Yang Energy: 17.4m/20m
Non-offensive Techniques:
– All-Devouring Breathing Technique (Evolved)
– Voice of Tranquility: Level 2
– Pain Tolerance (Passive): Max Level
– Unshakable Mind (Passive): Max Level
– Divine Sense: Level 9
– Phantom Simulator: Level 1
– Inventory: Level 5
– Avatar Login
Weapon Techniques:
– Infinite Thrust: Max Level
– Advanced Mace Skill: Max Level
– Expert Sword Skill (Sword Aura: Max Level)
– Sword of Thunderbane: Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5 [Locked]
– Blade of Death: Angry Soul
Attribute-Based Skills:
– Yang Blazing Fist: Level 8
– Pure Yang Orb: Level 8
– Breath of the Grave: Level 7
– Void Step: Level 6
– Yin-Yang Soul Conjuration: Level 2
– Extreme Yin Transformation
– Shadow Switch
– Absorb"
"The fuck? Last time I checked, my Yin-Yang energy was at 400k," I gasped, keeping my voice down. I hadn’t looked at my stats after breaking through five levels at once, so I hadn’t been aware that the limit had already climbed into the millions.
And here I was wondering if I had received enough yin energy to reach the True Sage Realm. Even after absorbing all the yin energy from the Dungeon of San Francisco, I was still two million seven hundred thousand yin energy short.
The other thing I noticed was the addition of two more techniques in the Attribute-Based Skills section.
Shadow Switch and Absorb. I had instinctively learned these skills when I activated Extreme Yin Transformation. The former allowed me to switch places with my Shadow Summon, while the latter was used to absorb Yin Energy from any object or creature with a mere touch.
The Absorb skill was far more dangerous than it seemed. Since every living creature existed through a balance of Yin and Yang, draining every last trace of Yin energy from their body was no different from killing them.
After analysing the status window thoroughly, I ordered, "Vivi, claim the first reward of the main quest."
"Initialising Host’s request...."
"Congratulations! You have received a new skill: Extreme Yang Transformation!
Description: A legendary transformation that can only be accessed by cultivators possessing the Extreme Yang or Yin-Yang attribute.
Upon activation:
1. All Yang skills will be temporarily increased by two levels.
2. The Host’s understanding of Yang will be significantly increased.
3. The Host’s physical capabilities will undergo a temporary explosive evolution, greatly enhancing physical stats and regeneration.
4. All yin-type abilities below the Host’s level will be partially suppressed."
"Alright! Another broken ability!" I clenched my fists in excitement.
Before I moved to the second reward, I noticed something strange that had occurred to my body after I defeated the Death Knight.
"Vivi, show me the Corruption of Death status."
"Corruption of Death
Current progress: 70%"
"No wonder the voices of death weren’t as overbearing as before," I mumbled, a satisfied smile forming on my face.
I had two theories for this sudden reduction in Corruption.
The first was that the Corruption had been absorbed by the Yin Energy in my body during Extreme Yin Transformation. But that was very unlikely, because my Yin Energy reserves hadn’t increased after the transformation. Moreover, my understanding of Yin wasn’t high enough to absorb something touched by death, which led me to the second theory.
My karma had increased significantly after defeating the Death Knight, who had carried enormous negative karma.
Well, whichever it was, I was glad to have a peace of mind, even if only a little.
"Let’s see what the Soul Conjuration has in store for me," I snickered, an eager smile forming on my face. "Vivi, claim the second reward from the quest...ugh...it’s too cold."