Leveling Up by Seducing Milfs-Chapter 201. A Kiss in the Abyss
Nerissa laughed a little, and Rick could feel it in his chest where her face was still pressed against him. It wasn’t much, just a little huff of laughter, but it was the first time he had heard her really laugh at something.
Rick then felt it... A familiar tingling at the edge of his mind caused his heart to race.
The system notification appeared in his line of sight. It was clear enough that he could still see Nerissa, but it was also clear enough that he couldn’t miss it.
[AFFECTION GAINED: NERISSA ABYSSRYN]
[Current Affection: 1/10]
Rick’s eyes got a little bigger. After everything that had happened, after seeing her whole sad story, after watching her break down and holding her through it, the affection counter finally started to move.
But that wasn’t the end of it.
[Current Affection: 2/10]
Nerissa moved around in his arms so that she could see his face better. There was something in her eyes that hadn’t been there before.
There was not just sadness or pain in her eyes, but also a tentative hope, akin to a flower trying to bloom after a long winter.
[Current Affection: 3/10]
"You really meant everything you said, didn’t you?" Nerissa asked. "Everything you said wasn’t just to get me to help you."
"You really think I can change from being the broken shell I’ve been."
"Of course I meant it," Rick said. "I don’t say things I don’t mean."
"That kind of bullshark shit is not worth your time... wait, do sharks shit?"
"Hehehe... yes, they are."
[Current Affection: 4/10]
Nerissa’s face softened even more, and one of her hands moved from holding his shirt to resting on his chest, right over his heart. "By my standards, you’re very young..."
"Twenty-four years is nothing compared to the eight hundred years I’ve lived, but you seem to know things about grief and healing that I’ve been too afraid to face for years..."
[Current Affection: 5/10]
Rick said, "Sometimes you need someone from the outside to see what you’re too close to see."
"And sometimes being young means you haven’t learned to let go of people yet."
[Current Affection: 6/10]
As she talked, Nerissa’s fingers made small patterns on Rick’s chest. "I thought you were crazy when you jumped in front of that attack..."
"No one in all of human history gives up their life for someone who just turned them down, refused their help, and chose to be alone over being saved."
"Rick smiled a little and said, "I’m pretty sure insane is a good way to put it."
"Normal humans who are sane don’t throw themselves at corrupted Guardians."
[Current Affection: 7/10]
"But you did it anyway," Nerissa said. "And when we got stuck in here, you didn’t blame me for it..."
"You didn’t stop or give up..."
"You kept trying to reach me even when I was in the depths of my own despair."
[Current Affection: 8/10]
She leaned up a little, and her face was now very close to Rick’s. "I haven’t let myself feel anything real in fifty years..."
"I definitely haven’t let myself trust anyone, especially not someone I barely know who lives on the surface... but at this very moment, I feel safer than I have in years..."
"And it’s all your fault."
[Current Affection: 9/10]
Rick’s breath got stuck in his throat. The feelings that Nerissa sent out through their touch were too much to handle.
Thankfulness, hope, trust, and a deeper connection that was just beginning to develop.
Rick started to say, "Nerissa, I—," but his Thalassic Crystal suddenly went off, cutting him off.
The sapphire stone in his chest flickered, and its light became less steady. Rick experienced a sudden difficulty in breathing, as if the crystal was struggling to maintain the magic spell that allowed him to survive underwater.
"W-What’s the problem?" Nerissa asked, noticing the change right away.
Rick gasped as he felt pressure building in his lungs. "The crystal...! It’s losing power!"
"Zephyra said it only lasts seventy-two hours, and we must be getting close to that limit...!"
[Current Affection: 10/10 - MAXIMUM]
[Spirit Bond Now Available - Awaiting Consent]
"N-No...! Please no!" Nerissa’s voice was full of fear. "How much time do you have?!"
Rick tried to do the math, but the pressure in his chest made it hard to think. "Minutes, maybe..."
"The fighting and the exposure to corruption had already put a lot of stress on the crystal... and being inside the Leviathan’s stomach full of acid probably isn’t helping...!"
He could feel himself going down. His body was getting heavier in the water without the crystal’s help.
At this depth, the pressure was starting to crush him, even inside the Leviathan’s body.
Nerissa caught him before he could fall and held him up with her arms around his waist. "No, no, Rick...! Please... I’m begging you to be strong...!"
"You can’t die after everything we’ve been through...! I won’t let it happen again!"
Rick tried to talk, but it was too hard. His lungs were being squeezed, so he couldn’t breathe even if there was air to breathe.
He reached up with one shaking hand and touched Nerissa’s cheek, trying to say everything he couldn’t say with words.
Nerissa understands it right away. She could see it in his eyes, in the way his hand shook against her skin, and in the sad smile that crossed his face as he began to pass out.
"I... know what to do," Nerissa said, and her voice was full of confidence. "I know what to do to save you...!"
"But... Rick, you need to know what this means for us..."
She brought her face closer to his until their lips almost touched. "Being in a Spirit Bond isn’t the same as being in a partnership..."
"It will last forever because it’s tying our souls together in a way that can’t be broken..."
"Are you sure you want to do that with me? With everything I’ve done and everything I am?"
Rick’s vision was getting blurry around the edges, but he was able to nod. His hand on her cheek pulled her a little closer, and even though he couldn’t say it, he gave her his answer.
"Then let me save you," Nerissa said softly. "The same way... you saved me."
She closed the last gap and kissed Rick on the lips.
When their lips met, a surge of power coursed through both of them. Rick sensed the Spirit Bond beginning to take shape.
It was a connection that transcended any he had experienced with his previous partners. This wasn’t merely a union of souls.
This involved mending the wounds they had both endured and relying on one another for healing.
Their bodies joined together and released a golden light that was so bright that it lit up the whole inside of the Leviathan’s stomach. The corrupted purple veins in the walls pulled back from the light, and the acidic pools started to dry up.
Rick could breathe again, but it wasn’t because of the Thalassic Crystal. The Spirit Bond was giving him everything he needed, using Nerissa’s ocean-like nature to keep him alive in this place.
Nerissa gave everything she had to the kiss and the bond. Nerissa’s eight hundred years of power, fifty years of hidden feelings, and the desperate need to save this young man, who had refused to give up on her when everyone else had, were all part of the bond.
The light got even brighter, and Rick’s partners could feel it through the bond network, even though they were far away from the Leviathan’s body. When a sixth bond was added, all five of the existing ones lit up with new energy, making a harmony that had never been there before.
Rick and Nerissa held the kiss, and their bodies glowed like a star trapped inside the flesh of a corrupted Guardian.
And in that moment...
The both saved themselves, even though they were stuck in the dark and surrounded by the light they had made...
