The Mage of Primordial Chaos

"Definitely," Feng Mian added with a sigh. "That was… rather unexpected, to say the least."

"…" Meanwhile, Mei Gui was silent, contemplating whether she could use the same tactic when it was her turn.

The girls were currently back at their house in the Long Family residency, having just returned from a long day of discretely following Xuan Kai and Qing Yue on their date. They had came back after the two settled down in the manga cafe, since it was clear they weren\'t going to head anywhere else for the day.

"Who knows? Perhaps, she did it on purpose, fufu…" Ling Xin giggled softly, having joined them shortly after her meeting was over in the morning. "She knew we were watching, so she wanted to encourage us to be more proactive as well by doing that. Of course, I don\'t really understand her motive… I mean, any normal girl wouldn\'t want her boyfriend to be seduced by other women, isn\'t that right?"

"Mm, mm!" Axilia nodded in agreement. "I wish darling was mine and mine alone, fufufu~"

"Erm…" Ignoring the lustful and slightly terrifying look in Axilia\'s eyes, Lan Xiao Su clenched her fists tightly and berated herself. Am I… just not strong enough to be proactive…?

"Okay! That aside, they should be coming home very soon," Feng Mian said, standing up from the chair and stretching her muscles a bit. "Let\'s start preparing dinner. Oh, and don\'t put any aphrodisiacs in it, Axilia, like you did yesterday. Xuan Kai must be tired after such a long day, so he\'ll probably just want to sleep."

"Grr…" Axilia frowned in displeasure as she was caught red-handed, and reluctantly stuffed the vial of libido-boosting substance back into her pocket. Feng Mian, seeing this, gave a sigh, and headed into the kitchen along with the other girls.

*****

(Xuan Kai\'s Perspective)

Soon, Qing Yue and I arrived at our manor in the Long Family residency, which Long Lu had so kindly allowed us to stay in for the duration of this break. Before going in, however, I stopped in my tracks. Since Qing Yue\'s hand was held by mine, she too was pulled to a stop, and tilted her head at me in confusion.

"What\'s the matter, Big Brother Xuan Kai?"

"Before we go in, I just have a quick question I was hoping you could answer," I said awkwardly.

"Hm? What is it?"

"Do you… er, know what kind of things Feng Mian likes? She\'s been with me for a while, but things have been moving so fast that truth to be told, I never got a chance to get to know her that well…"

"Hehe~ that\'s understandable. But in all honesty… I think Feng Mian doesn\'t have that many hobbies, actually," Qing Yue said. "She\'s the type of sweet girl that will just enjoy spending time with you, y\'know? No matter what you do, she\'ll be happy."

"Huh…"

"But… that being said, not having many hobbies doesn\'t mean she\'ll never have any. Maybe you can use the date tomorrow as an opportunity to help her discover some?" Qing Yue shot me a wink. I was still confused on what exactly I should do tomorrow, but Qing Yue wasn\'t just going to give me a clear answer. She was doing this on purpose, to let me become more experienced with things like this and think for myself. I was grateful for that, but at the same time… man, this is hard. I would much rather go kill a dragon or something.

But if it\'s simply helping her discover some hobbies… I guess I could start with the common ones. For example… shopping, or something along those lines…

After a while, I gave up on thinking about it. My mind and body were both exhausted. The girls seemed to understand that, and resorted to simply cuddling with me in bed tonight rather than the more \'intense\' variant. After all, after yesterday, none of them were particularly craving for it.

Peacefully, I fell into sleep, with beauties all around me.

*****

- The Infinite Realm -

Or, at least, I thought I was falling into sleep.

In reality, I just got dragged into the Infinite Realm by none other than its owner, Sylvoir.

"Yo, Sylvie," I said, waving my hand casually at her. "Long time no see, eh?"

"Long time no see indeed," the short Elemental girl spun and glared at me, half her beautiful face covered by the kitsune mask on her head. "Suddenly disappearing off this world like that… what were you thinking?"

"Ah… were you worried about me?" I chuckled charmingly, purposely keeping the conversation as light-hearted as I can despite the full dead seriousness in Sylvoir\'s eyes. "I\'m flattered, really."

"Hmph, in your dreams!" She snapped, suddenly smacking me on the head with a folded fan that seemed to be pulled from thin air. "Answer me, where did you go? Even with my omnipotent sensing abilities, I couldn\'t detect a single trace of you in this world."

"Yeah," I said with a smile. "In this world."

She frowned. "… What?"

"Put frankly, I kind of got myself teleported into the Death Realm," I replied. "I managed to find my way back, but that\'s probably why you couldn\'t sense me in this world—I wasn\'t in it to begin with."

"The Death Realm… and you managed to survive there?"

"It\'s not what you think it is," I explained. "It\'s not like Hell or anything. They have civilization and humans and beasts there just like the Living Realm does, and is far more advanced in terms of magic and power, though technology is still stuck in the Middle Ages era."

"I must say… I did not even know of its existence until now."

"Seriously?" I raised an eyebrow. "I thought you would surely know about the existence of other Realms. I mean, the Realm we\'re in right now is one of them, no?"

But to my surprise, she shook her head.

"The Infinite Realm is not a full-on Realm like the Living one. Instead, it is one of the Living Realm\'s Subrealms."

"A Subrealm…?" I folded my arms. "So, what separates a Subrealm from a full-on Realm?"

Sylvoir sighed. "Well, for one, it\'s a lot smaller. Really, the entire Infinite Realm is just those stone pillars behind you. The library in the distance is but a mere illusion, a cognitive version of the real Library of Infinite Beginnings."

I chuckled. "So much for being \'infinite\'."

"Shut it," Sylvoir snapped coldly, then sighed and folded her arms behind her back, staring out into the beautiful blue horizon. "Another quality of Subrealms, and perhaps the most important one, is that they are closely affected by the Major Realm they are tied to. In other words… if the Living Realm is destroyed, the Infinite Realm will suffer as well."

"Hm… I see."

"Therefore, it is your duty to not only protect the Library, but also the entire Living Realm as a whole. Remember that well."

"Sheesh, relax. The Living Realm is where I live. Of course I\'m going to protect it. But why do you sound like the world\'s going to end or something…"

"…" Sylvoir didn\'t say anything in response to that, and instead merely stared at me uncomfortably for a while. Then, after several seconds, she sighed. "Just try not to leave this Realm in the future. And if you truly have to, let me or one of the other Founders know beforehand. Understand?"

I nodded. "Yes ma\'am."

"Then off you go. And don\'t forget about Count Draculus\'s mission to you."

*****

(Sylvoir\'s Perspective)

After Xuan Kai left, I let out a sigh. 

"I couldn\'t bring myself to tell him about it after all…"

Right now, I was the only one who knew of that. I have refrained from discussing this matter with any of the other Founders, since I didn\'t know if they would take me seriously. However, Xuan Kai was different. He was the type to believe me if I told him \'my instincts\' when he asked how I knew of that. The others would all request proof. Rock, solid, evidence, which I didn\'t have.

So… why? Why couldn\'t I tell him?

"Tch…" Dissatisfied with myself, I bit my nail and sank into deep thought once more.

"But why do you sound like the world\'s going to end or something…" I echoed his words, then shook my head. "It\'s because it is, Xuan Kai."

Indeed, the end was coming.

I could feel it, in a prophecy I was given by my \'instincts\'.

Something dark, powerful, and calamitous would soon arrive in the Living Realm, bringing destruction to all that was in it. There was still some time to prepare—a couple of years, maybe—but it would inevitably come.

Even I myself didn\'t know what it was. All I knew was that if it was not properly defended against… the Living Realm, its Subrealms, and everything within would cease to exist.

As the guardian of Elementals and the Prime existence of this world, it was my duty to protect this realm from the calamity that was going to strike. However, I could not do it alone. Back when I chose Xuan Kai to become one of the Founders of the Library, I had factored this into my plan as well. He wielded a special power—a power that could very well stand against the impending doom.

I could only hope that when the time came, he would lend a hand.