Death... and me

Xiria was puzzled by Frandin's words, prompting her to ask.

"What do you mean by that?"

Frandin shrugged his shoulders as he replied.

"Oh, it's nothing. I just meant that we're quite similar. I do like my humans as well. Then again, I guess you've noticed that by now."

Xiria nodded as she said.

"I see..."

She then changed the topic as she asked.

"By the way, Young Master Gian. I wasn't lying before.  We'll do anything in our power if we can get our hands on the method to use the Soul Stone."

Frandin bitterly smiled in response. Method? What method? He was truly lying about that part. He had no method whatsoever at hand. Well, there probably existed multiple methods out there, but neither of them had any idea on how to do it. The only ones who might be able to use it were Rean and Roan, but Sister Orb made it clear that it would be risky.

"Ahem... I think you're getting the wrong idea here. Sure, there's a method to use these stones, but the ones who know about it are my elders, not me. I only obtained the part regarding the absorption of the Soul Power. I asked them about it in the past, but those old geezers are pretty tight-lipped. Even if you beg, there's nothing I can do. In fact, I thought you guys would know something since you brought one out yourselves."

Xiria was taken aback for a moment. Didn't that mean she almost lost her virginity for nothing? Of course, she also considered that Frandin might be lying. It's just that it didn't look like he was lying that he didn't know the method.

"With that, you indeed bet your body on a lost cause. You should be grateful that I'm a magnanimous Zasfin. Hahaha!"

Xiria's expression went bright red after hearing that. Some anger could also be seen on her face. Then again, he could have put it in a better way, right? She then spread her Soul Power to check Malaka and Calina. She wanted to make sure that those two were also virgins, just like Frandin had mentioned. Obviously, she just checked if their hymens were intact. Sure enough, he was correct. Those two were also virgins.

"Sigh... I feel like an idiot."

Frandin shook his head as he replied.

"It's fine. The fact still stands that nothing happened. Besides, I had the chance to see your figure, so I'm quite happy already."

Roan and the others knew that Frandin was acting. His real personality was a lot more restrained and composed. However, Xiria didn't know that, so she felt a bit more furious as he kept mentioning the last event.

"C-Can you stop saying that? I'm already dying of embarrassment as it is. Anyway, I'm leaving."

Roan then glanced at Frandin, who understood his meaning. Not long after, Frandin called Xiria's attention before she left.

"Oh, by the way. There's something I would like to discuss with you or someone else in the clan with the same mind."

"What do you mean by that?"

Frandin then pointed at Roan and the girls.

"I want to make an offer to someone who treats humans like you do. Gender doesn't matter, but the Zasfin has to be ready to leave this city."

Xiria was taken aback once again, becoming silent after that.

"This..."

To be honest, her clan had no lack of Zasfins who thought the same way she did. Even the clan head was no exception. She realized that what Gian(Frandin) wanted was someone with a Rank Five Bloodline Mark. Whether it was an earned one or passed down by their elders didn't matter. In that case, she was also a possibility. However...

"What do you mean by leaving the city?"

Frandin then continued.

"I meant what I said. It has something to do with a very, very long journey. I told you, didn't I? I'm on a test given by my elders. Whoever I chose, he or she will have to come with me. Of course, I won't force anyone, so make sure that whoever you sent out is willing to move out."

"Also, let me be sincere here. It WILL be dangerous. However, with great risk comes great rewards, especially on the cultivation of Spiritual Energy and the Soul Power side. It's a give-and-take situation."

Xiria pondered over his statement for a bit before nodding.

"I need to talk with my father and the elders. However, we do have a lot of people, so someone would most likely try it. I'll make sure they understand that it will be very dangerous as well."

Frandin was satisfied with that answer.

"Very well. In exchange for this chance, I want to ask something from your clan as well."

Xiria nodded as she responded.

"As long as it isn't too overboard, we can see what we can do for you."

Frandin smiled with a satisfied expression as he said.

"That shouldn't be much of an issue. I have a Lightning Element Affinity, so I'm after a Lightning Element Cultivation Technique that allows gathering of Yang Energy. I'm trying to get as many of these as I can to work on a cultivation technique for myself."

The first part was true, while the second was just him blabbering away. After all, Frandin had no idea how to create a cultivation technique, let alone one with Yang Energy in the mix. Still, the second part was the part that made it look like Frandin's request wasn't a big deal with his status as a 'Celestial Land Member.'

Xiria narrowed her eyes as she pondered over it. Frandin made it look easy, but it was anything but that. If it was a Yin Energy technique, she might be able to do so, but Yang Energy cultivation techniques were rare in this world. As mentioned before, this was a world where everything was covered in ice almost all year long. The living beings adapted to that mostly have Yin-related affinities and elements.

"That... would be complicated. I'll need to talk with the others first."

Frandin wasn't in a hurry, so he just nodded in response. With that out of the way, he then entered the last topic.

"I still have one more thing to ask. I heard from the Portin Clan ancestor that they have a way to call the Soul Rulers out if they find a compatible human. Does your ancestor have something similar to that?"

Xiria was instantly confused. Soul Rulers? Compatible humans? What the hell was he talking about?

Frandin smiled in response, understanding that she was kept in the dark just like the other members of the Portin Clan.

"Don't worry, just tell someone else to pass this message to your ancestor. That's all."

This was a decision made in conjunction with Roan's group. If they could choose which clan to use for that, this Asume Clan was obviously a better choice.

Xiria nodded as she left the room with a pensive expression. She decided that she might as well ask what Frandin was talking about.

Frandin's group was then left alone in the room. Sister Orb already checked the room as well, and it was similar to what they got in the Portin Clan. Nevertheless, they only kept using Spiritual Sense messages just like before.

At the moment Xiria left, Calina couldn't hold back anymore.

'What were they thinking? They wanted Frandin to have sex with everyone?

Roan snorted as he replied.

'What do you think? Sex has always been a very strong driving force in the universe. Not only here, but in the other half as well. As far as I can see, it's a very effective strategy. I've seen it work way too many times. Besides, what's the problem? It's just some useless exchange of fluids with a very high reward if it works. If it doesn't, will you really lose anything?'

Qia immediately exclaimed.

'Of course, you will! She was giving away her virginity!'

Malaka and Calina nodded vigorously in response to Qia's words. For women, that was a very serious topic. Men also understood that point. Unfortunately, Roan had never cared about it before.

'Her virginity? What's the use of that? If you're afraid of losing this useless thing to someone you don't want, just get some hard rod and stick it inside. Done! You'll never have to care about it again. The only reason I have in mind for keeping it is in case you can exchange it like what Xiria was intending to do. As a bargaining chip, then I can agree it has some use.'

The girls, especially Calina, felt helpless.

However, Frandin saw a chance to finally get back at Roan.

'Hey, Roan. That doesn't make sense. If you really thought of it like that, why did you feel like killing everyone when they told Calina to join in on the sex party? When Xiria and the other human girls took off their clothes, you completely ignored all of that, not minding that at all. I don't believe you don't care that 'your' Calina would lose her virginity with just anyone.'

Qia and Malaka couldn't help but show a bright smile in response. As for Calina, she was the one to go bright red this time. Then again... she was happy... really, really happy since she didn't notice it before.

'Well done, Frandin!' thought the three girls in unison.

As for Roan, Dark Element began to radiate out of his body as he looked at Frandin like he was a dead man.

'Did you say something?'

Frandin looked away as if he didn't notice, though.

'The weather's quite nice outside if I do say so myself. Beautiful, right?'

Their room was located inside the Asume Clan estate. There were no windows, so it was obviously impossible to see the weather.

Calina then held Roan's hand while he was paying attention to Frandin.

'Did you really care?'

Roan's killing intent instantly dissipated like smoke when that happened. He quickly changed the topic as if he didn't hear anything as well.

'Indeed, the weather's very nice.'

It was a shame that Rean wasn't here. He definitely would have loved it. Of course, Sister Orb made sure to report everything to him, knowing his personality.