Elemental Seed

Yang Hao's breath hitched as a warmth unfurled in his core, spiraling outward like liquid fire. His fingers trembled against his stomach, where the heat condensed into a pulsing knot—the Element Seed.

In this world, the person with an Element Seed could practice and become a powerful warrior, and the only reason Yang Hao was mortal was because he didn't have an Element Seed but now he has it.

"It's… real," he murmured, voice cracking. His gaze lifted to Seisa, who stood up, her brown hair catching the last amber rays of sunset.

Yang Hao stepped closer, "Thank you," he said. He looked at her, and she might be unattractive or ugly, but Yang Hao found her beautiful at that moment.

Seisa stiffened. "Don't. This was a transaction. You gained your Seed. We gained…" She trailed off, her throat working as she glanced toward her sister.

Meisa knelt a few paces away, her hands fluttering over a crescent-shaped necklace laid on a mossy stone. The artifact glimmered faintly, its surface etched with runes. Her lips moved soundlessly, and sweat dripped from her brow despite the evening chill.

"What's she doing?" Yang Hao asked, frowning.

"Activating the Moondust Pendant," Seisa replied flatly. "It's a storage-type artifact for living beings. But it requires energy—something we don't have." Bitterness seeped into her words. "So she's burning what lifespan she has left."

Yang Hao's stomach dropped. "Lifespan?"

"A year to ignite it. Maybe more."

"And how much did you take from me earlier?" The question slipped out before he could temper it.

"One year," she said indifferently, "Each time you… finish inside me, I get a year. If you'd do it again, then a year more."

Yang Hao blinked. He knew that she must be angry. From what he saw and heard, they must have fought against someone but lost and even lost all their lifespan by using some sort of technique like what Meisa was doing. Now, they were using him to recover but this made Seisa lose her virginity.

The pendant flared, its light washing the clearing in sapphire. Meisa swayed, her hair streaked suddenly with strands of white. Deep lines carved themselves around her eyes as she slumped forward.

Seisa walked to her, and looked at her, "How much lifespan did you use?"

Meisa chuckled weakly, her voice a rasp. "One year." She lifted the necklace, its chain dripping like liquid starlight. "Yang Hao."

He approached. The artifact felt alive. As he clasped it, heat seared his palm. The chain slithered around his neck, and the pendant fused against his sternum. Fire raced across his skin, and he gritted his teeth as a tattoo bloomed over his chest—a crescent moon cradling a twisting vine.

Meisa pressed a trembling finger to the mark. Her touch was ice. "Home," she whispered. Then she vanished.

Yang Hao staggered. "What the—?"

"She is in the pendant now," Seisa said, "We can't stay outside, so it's our home."

She pressed her palm to the tattoo. Her form dissolved into silver mist, absorbed into the ink.

"Wait!" Yang Hao gripped the empty air. "How do I talk to you? How do you—"

"Focus on the mark," Seisa's voice echoed in his skull, "We'll hear."

He hesitated, then prodded the tattoo. "Why didn't Meisa have to… you know. With me?"

Yang Hao thought since Seisa only takes a year, then what about Meisa?

Silence for a while before Seisa said, "Because she doesn't have a technique to get your lifespan, and she can't learn it."

Yang Hao felt that it would be more than that it. A technique that steals lifespan through sex, something he heard about it before, a demon or evil people have these skills. So it means Seisa was from evil and Meisa from good, or something else, and he felt that both of them seemed to hate each other, or something happened between them. It felt as if Meisa didn't care about Seisa and the same with Seisa.

Yang Hao shakes her head, not caring about this. All he needs to know is that he has to provide them with a lifespan for them to recover.

"Seisa?"

"What?"

"I know it's a deal to you but for me, it's more than that. So, I will become strong and help you to recover, it's my oath I'm taking."

After a brief silence, Seisa said, "Okay. Don't die before completing your oath."