God Of Crafting

The ringing of the phone woke me up from the sweet, sweet slumber.

I had no idea at what time we went to sleep. Due to the exhaustion that came as a price of our great efforts that came before, I couldn't really remember the timing of anything.

It was as if the whole procession of events starting with Claire going with me to the zone and ending on our passionate night existed in some sort of limbo, a time hidden away from my perception, eluding any attempts of proper framing.

That left me with absolutely no clue what time it was, or what it could even be, leaving me extremely confused as I moved up and grabbed the phone, only to almost doze off just by staring at its glaring screen.

'How the hell am I so tired?'

Sure, between all the edging and then the intense payback that followed, I've exerted quite a chunk of my general strength. And yet, my body was sluggish, my thoughts hardly operated…

It is quite a surprising position to be in for a sixth-stage cultivator!

'Maybe it's the burden of what we did back then finally catching up to me?' I thought, ignoring the ringing of the phone in my hand as I closed my eyes in an attempt to study my cultivation, just in case.

The phone finally cut off, both the bright flashing of its screen and its blaring alarm finally coming to a stop and removing a layer of burden that only further limited my mental capacity.

'Wait, maybe it's a hangover from pushing so much spiritual energy into my brain for so long?' I attempted to reason the shit out of yet another guess.

And this time, it only made more sense the more I thought about it.

From the moment the battle started, I unknowingly kept the process going for quite a while. And now that I thought back, I've only ever let go when my consciousness faded into oblivion as I sank into Claire's soft, sweaty embrace.

It was only now that I woke up that I've likely come to pay the price of abusing my very brain so much!

'This innate ability or whatever else it is…' I thought, looking down at my chest for some unknown reason given how the organ in question could be only looked at through a reflection. 'It's not as danger-free as I somehow ended up assuming it to be.'

I took a deep breath before blinking my eyes a few times to get them used to the dim light coming from below the door's edge and giving the room just enough light to highlight the outline of the furniture inside of it. Then I looked down, to my hand, where the notification of a missed call forcibly reminded me of the reality.

Mental hungover or not, this wasn't the call I was willing or able to ignore. And while there was no point in me answering it before, now that I took a moment, the only thing I could do was unlock the screen and call right back.

"I'm sorry, just woke up, and didn't get to the phone in time," I threw in a short explanation as soon as I heard the ringing music cut off.

"Ah, it's fine, don't worry about it," Clayton quickly dismissed my attitude. "I've got news, interested?"

'Straight to the point as always, huh?' I thought, rolling my eyes on this reminder of the bygone era of my life.

"Sure, hit me."

I could hear my uncle taking a breath as he prepared to quickly pass over all the important bits of the info.

"I've secured the site. A warehouse according to the details I've discussed with your…" Clayton hesitated for a bit, only for his voice to then change so much, I could hear it even through the phone, "sponsor? Or maybe a father-in-law?"

At the very least, the first part of his guess wasn't sexually charged…

"When can we visit?"

"Two days. There are still some things for me to take care of to make you untouchable," Clayton said nonchalantly, as if fixing the law to make someone pretty much immune to it was just a common occurrence of a politician of his level.

"Two days it is," I muttered, closing my eyes to quickly run through all the things I might need to mention in this call. "Right, what about the supplies?"

"Who do you take me for?"

Clearly, my uncle didn't take my question well.

"Everything is going to be ready in two days. But I will need some sort of an exhibition in a month, two tops, so keep that in mind."

'So he's not strong enough to make all of it happen… just by himself?' I raised my eyebrow at the sight of this delicious piece of information…

Only for my face to contort as another thought appeared in my head.

'Wait, what are the chances he would let something like that slip just like that?'

Even if it was just a small thing, a single word, a mere mention… I knew my uncle to be better than that!

He wasn't someone intentionally giving ground to the other side… Not unless he was the one to ultimately profit out of it!

"Sure thing," whether this was a genuine slip that I could make use of or merely a trap Clayton was setting… I decided not to care in the slightest and just go along with it.

My job was to focus on crafting, not wasting time on some stupid internal politics… Especially when I had a much bigger horse than myself to bet on!

"I will mention it when I meet my father-in-law," I added up to my reply… Only to smile affectionately when I felt Claire grabbing onto my hand and then moving her arms up as she wrapped herself around it.

Looking down, I saw Claire's peaceful, exhausted… but satisfied face as she silently purred through her sleep, happily snuggling her face up to my forearm as she pressed it against her soft cheek.

"Let's meet in two days, then," Clayton threw into the phone before cutting the call, allowing me to finally lower my hand down as I put the phone aside. chapter-source-MvLeMpYr

"An important call?" Claire asked with her eyes still closed shut, proving she likely woke up along with me when my uncle first called.

"Well, both yes and no," I threw out casually in the air before sliding back down under the covers, only to reach out, grab Claire by her waist before pulling her closer to my chest and ultimately burying her face down against my throat.

"Your uncle?" Claire asked, raising her head as she looked up.

"Yeah. In two days, we will be able to start the project," I dutifully reported.

"That's great," she commented as she brought her hands up before cutely, gently scratching my neck as she locked her vibrant eyes onto my face from so close, that I could see them even through the darkness in the room.

"We are finally going to take a serious step ahead…" I admitted, only for the look on my face to then sour by quite a lot. "And I'm well aware it means that we are painting a target on our backs for all sorts of new threats."

I gritted my teeth…

Only to see movement down below, right before Claire swept both of her hands away before giving the spot below which ran my vein a quick, snappy lick.

'Huh?'

Before I could even look down, Claire pushed her mouth open, only to then collapse her lips down on the very spot she just licked, closing it away from the world only to then… bite down on it.

'What is she even doing?' More puzzled than scared or shocked, I soon squinted my eyes only to then lean my head away, strangely stretching the very vein Claire was biting down at as if to make it easier for her.

As the waves of these strange, extremely amusing feelings continued to rush through every inch of my body, Claire only further wrapped herself around me, soon turning her play-bite into something between an actual bite, a kiss, and a hickey-making attempt.

Either way, having her latch onto me like that felt… otherworldly. And while I had no idea why she decided to just go for it… Who was there to stop me from, at the very least, enjoying it to the fullest?

"Do you remember how I bit you like that before?" Claire asked when she suddenly pulled away from my neck, but not before slowly dragging her lips across my irritated skin all the way to the point where she gave the spot a kiss and then properly pulled out.

"I sort of do…?"

Still wrapping her hands around my neck, Clarie wiggled within my hug a little, switching over so that she could look me straight in the face… Even if it meant pretty much climbing on top of me and then bearing down on my face.

"So you still didn't notice it…" Claire muttered after giving me a rather lengthy stare. She then reached down and grabbed my left wrist, only to bring it up and lay it down over my heart.

"Focus on your cultivation and tap this hand once you are ready. Then, keep observing it."

Not wasting any time, Claire switched from playful to a teaching mode.

A change… I would have to lie to claim I didn't welcome.

Still, following her advice, I took a breath and leaned over my cultivation to inspect it closely…

Only to finally realize Claire's meaning.

My cultivation didn't grow. No, in fact, I could argue it, in fact, greatly regressed!

But that was only the case when it came to the reserves of spiritual energy. Those have already reached their rock bottom, leaving me with only the slight bit that I passively gathered from the air around… a small bit that instantly evaporated into fuel fumes when my body fizzled it away to deal with the burden of not having almost any spiritual power left…

It was a vicious circle and likely the reason behind my extreme, unnatural exhaustion.

Yet, just as I cracked the case and realized how bad and desperate the situation actually was…

Claire grabbed my right wrist, only to pull it up and press it against her naked breast.