Lunar Year 665, Day: 30 of (Yud Bet)
Morning.
Ren stood at the boundary of dry and grass lands.
The day of the event has already come, from this moment on, as he crossed the boundary, he felt intense heat.
"I understand that this is because of the event, but this...." Ren commented with a hint of disbelief in his voice. It's like rain on earth, where sometimes you could see that in just a couple of meters a way, there is no rain, while your area is raining.
This time, instead of rain, it's the heat of the sun. Ren stepped back, and just like that, he couldn't feel the heat anymore.
"What are you doing?" Freya asked him with a weird expression.
'Why did this brat become stupid all of a sudden?'
"Oh, it's nothing." Ren shook his head, "Let's proceed."
"...Okay."
The fire resistance charm has a form of a necklace, Ren didn't forget to wore it on his neck.
...
An hour have gone by since the two started.
"I underestimated the intensity of the heat, one fire charm could only last for at most ten minutes before it disappear." Ren sighed, all this while he kept on replacing the fire charms each time it disappeared.
Currently, he was wearing the seventh one.
"We still have a long way to go." Freya smiled, looked toward the horizon. She was capable of knowing what was up ahead.
"Right. With our current pace, we should arrive before noon, as planned." Ren nodded. He decided to start the journey in the morning, so that they would arrive before the event started.
...
Two more hours passed.
"My god! The fire charm won't even last a minute, now." Ren exclaimed. He already stopped counting how many fire charms he had used by far.
"Mhm." Freya nodded, putting a new fire charm on his neck. She volunteered to do so.
"Sorry for the trouble." It was not only Ren that needs to wear a fire charm, Freya does too. Although the heat seems to have no affect on her, Ren was having doubts.
It's not like they would run out of fire charms, even if there were five of them. All of his fire charms on hand would still suffice. The number is in the thousands after all.
"I'm fine, I like taking care of you... do you wanna drink water?" Freya passed him a water.
"Yes, please." Ren raised his head, opened his mouth.
"Oh my... do you want to drink water mouth to mouth?" Freya chuckled.
"Yeah, it'd be great, but I'm sure you won't do it." Ren said, signalled her to hurry.
Freya assisted him in drinking the water, after closing the bottle, she said.
"Well, it is still too early."
...
One hour left before the event.
"... I've noticed for quite a while, what's with that stupid grin on your face?" Ren asked with a wry smile. He didn't even have time to be happy, afraid of the bleak future as the fire charms could only last 30 seconds.
As they get closer and closer to the core, the more the heat became hotter.
"Hm? Nothing in particular." Unlike Ren, who was full of sweat, Freya was the same as before, her body being so fresh.
"Is that so... well, do you think we could make it?"
"Yes? I guess."
"That stupid smile of yours is really suspicious, as if you are happy making use of the current situation."
"Hm, I wonder."
...
30 minutes later.
Ren and Freya arrived at the periphery, a new mark where the heat would become even more fiercer.
"Fuck! I don't think we could reach it without burning to ashes." Ren commented grievously.
"Fufu... enough, Let's speed up" Freya chuckled and a transparent barrier appeared to cover the two.
Ren felt the heat disappeared, it was actually isolated outside the barrier.
"Freya... what is this?" Ren slowly turned his head to ask Freya with a dark look on his face.
"Pfft. You suffering like that was just so cute, your reaction was priceless, especially." Freya explained with a laugh.
"Shit! Are you a sadist or something?" Ren shivered, even with all the heat in the place, his skin felt cold.
"But...! It was so good! I did think of stopping, but your reaction made me think otherwise."
"This woman, I can't believe it. You're having fun while watching me suffer, what a sadist. Tell the truth, you planned this from the start did you? If not, why in the hell did you not mention that you won't get affected." Ren complained and acted as if the whole world was falling apart, his knees gave up.
'Where did I go wrong? Why am I here? Just to suffer?'' He actually have noticed her irregularity but he chose to ignore it.
"Okay, don't be so dramatic. Isn't it your fault for judging that I can't take the heat without asking me." Freya quickly help him stood up, her face full of smiles. "I'm sorry, okay?"
"...I wasted a lot of fire charms for you, and you think a mere sorry would be enough?"
"Then, what should I do?"
"Kiss me."
"What?!"
"What's what? Obviously, you need to heal the time I spend suffering all this while. My body, my heart, and even my soul was burning. What other way to soothe me, but a kiss."
"Humph, you want to take advantage of me? In your dreams. Come on, let's go it's almost noon."
"...Are you actually just going to pretend nothing happened. What about me?"
"Don't think I don't know? You're not even suffering any pain, I made sure of that. The only thing that was wasted was the time and the fire charms, and it can easily be made up."
"Time is precious, you know. In that couple of hours we wasted, I could have done a lot of things. I could have fun with a woman ten times in the bed within that time frame."
"Hey! You are already that dirty-minded as a kid, as your guardian and mother I worry for you!"
"When in the hell did you become my mother... Wait! Damn, not only are you a sadist you also have the kink of mother-son play. Don't Tell me when we do it in the future, you would beg me to call you mother?"
"No! Enough! Stop playing around, I'm warning you."
"...Yes ma'am."
Ren stopped joking, anymore. Well, she was getting serious. It was fun talking with her, but it could wait after they return.
Ren turned to look forward. His eyes widened, rubbed his eyes, and took a second look.
"Freya, am I dreaming? I seem to see two Suns?" He asked. Unlike before where it was covered with brilliance, like one experienced when looking at the sun early in the morning, after waking up.
His case was several times more, so on the way, he couldn't see very well. However, with Freya's barrier on. It was another matter altogether.
"Is it supposed to be only one?"