The dried bark hanging onto the branch of a tree began burning as a lightning bolt struck it, coming straight out of my hands.
"Congratulations! You have learned a new skill: Lightning Bolt.
Lightning Bolt (Lvl 1): Host can generate an intense lightning pulse and throw it at a target."
"Huff... I finally got some control over my attribute," I muttered, wiping the sweat from my face with my hand.
I moved inside the house, grabbed an arrow from the quiver, and made another small straight line, digging into the wooden wall, marking my seventy fifth night in this world.
It was just an assumption. The count wasn't accurate, as there was no way of knowing the exact time here, since the sun never dawned here. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ novᴇlfire.net
I just followed the lunar cycle of this world to predict the beginning and ending of a night.
But the lunar cycle was complex in itself.
The night I reached here, it was a complete full moon—where both the moons fully glowed, making a pinkish glow in the forest. It was rather warm on that night.
For the first month, the red moon followed the lunar cycle—but the white moon remained unchanged, making the nights colder and brighter for the first half cycle and turning warmer as the red moon appeared again for the second half.
In the next month, the red moon remained the same and the white moon followed the lunar cycle. Nights again became colder as one of the moons began to vanish, but this time the nights became more and more reddish, and after half a lunar cycle, the night turned completely crimson with the glow of only the bloody moon.
But in this month, surprisingly, both the moons followed the lunar cycle and began to fade as time passed. And tonight was the new moon phase—the night was completely dark without the glow of the moons, and it was bone-chilling here.
The cold wasn't a problem for me, as I kept my body warm by training to the absolute limit.
But there was someone else I was worried about.
I moved out of the house and reached closer to the bonfire burning near the Amrita water, where the white lady lay peacefully in the bedsheet.
It had already been six nights since I brought her here, and she still lay cold.
Every one hour I would turn her blanket, warming the outer side with fire. I had already put her clothes back on her two nights ago after completely drying them with the heat of the bonfire.
I put my hand on her cold head and spoke, "Vivi, analyse subject's condition."
"Analysing subject's condition...
The subject's condition has become more critical due to continuous exposure to cold.
Immediate caution is recommended, or the subject might suffer permanent damages."
"Tch, shit man, her condition worsened due to my stubbornness," I muttered, clenching my fist.
"Oh Lord Shiva, please forgive me. I'm only doing this to help this lady recover," I prayed, joining my hands.
I took my jacket off and climbed into the bedsheet.
Then I untied her cloth belt and opened her robe.
I took her hands out from the robe and removed her undergarment.
Then I moved one of my hands to her lower back and pulled her closer to me.
Her cold, soft breast pressed against my chest. At this moment, I should have been taken over by my instincts, but strangely, I wasn't the least bit aroused. It might be the guilt of touching a woman without consent taking over my consciousness.
I gently placed her face above mine as our cheeks touched each other. I covered the other side of her cheek with my hand, covering her face entirely.
It was bone-chilling weather outside, and her body was as cold as ice—yet I wasn't feeling any cold at all.
In fact, my body was burning like lava, and my heart was beating like crazy due to the nervousness I was feeling.
But it was better the more my body heated up so that she could feel better.
Forgetting about everything, I just lay there like a statue to let her absorb all the heat from my body.
Without knowing, my eyes closed, and I fell asleep.
When I opened my eyes, I was the only one in the bedsheet. I got up and inspected the surroundings with my eyes. She was standing at front of amrita water a few feet away from me.
I couldn't see what she was doing because her back was facing me.
I cautiously moved towards her, taking light steps.
"I can hear your footsteps," she said, her voice carried a gentle but cold elegance.
"Umm... Hello again, pretty lady," I replied with an awkward tone. She didn't respond.
The silence was embarrassing me further, so I spoke again, "How are you feeling?"
"Are you asking this question to the woman you slept with naked without her consent?" she replied in a colder voice.
"Well... I understand your resentment, but truthfully, I didn't have any other option," I responded, my voice carrying a hint of guilt.
"I know that. Otherwise, I would have already beheaded you," she replied, and then, with a little pause, she spoke further, "And I do carry some resentment that you touched and might have seen everything, but still..."
She slowly turned towards me as she spoke,
"Thanks for saving me."
It was the first time I saw her eyes. They were white as frost, and her pupils had a light creamy color that set them apart from her irises.
"I-I-I didn't touch or see anything below your waist," I blurted without thinking.
"So you're telling me you have touched everything above, huanh?" she asked as she gracefully moved towards me.
"Umm... Now that I think about it, we haven't even exchanged our names yet. You can call me Raj," I responded quickly, trying to change the topic.
"Dodging the arrow, huh? Well, I'm letting you off the hook for now. And as for my name, I am Nymeria el Snowbane. I have a lot of questions for you, Raj," she said, leaning in and pulling me by the collar of the jacket.
"Likewise... likewise," I replied, gulping in nervousness.