Level 1 to Infinity: My Bloodline Is the Ultimate Cheat - Chapter 735

Chapter 735: Is This Fate
Victor and the others, moving at high speed on their mounts, soon caught up to Leafshade’s main force, which was still trudging along on foot.

“Hey guys, we’re heading on ahead! The boss’s orders—Leafshade, you’re to see the Honorary Leader about getting everyone mounts once we’re back!” Victor called out as he and the others sped past the column.

Leafshade, being the leader of a three-hundred-person team, at least had the privilege of his own mount and was ambling along at a leisurely pace.

After delivering the message, Victor’s group didn’t slow down, pushing their mounts into a full gallop and quickly vanishing from the sight of the twelve-hundred-strong force, leaving behind a crowd of envious stares.

But then, Victor’s words sank in. It seemed the boss’s earlier promise wasn’t a joke. Providing a 100% speed mount for every one of the twelve hundred people… The boss was about to shell out over twenty-four thousand gold for this. The sheer scale of the gesture filled them with a sense of pride and loyalty. Following a leader like that was the best decision they’d made since entering Ethereal.

Most of these twelve hundred players were the very same people Ethan had led out of the Starter Zone. Forget the total sum of twenty-four thousand gold for a moment… just doing the math for themselves, a single 100% speed mount cost twenty gold. At the current exchange rate offered by the gold sellers, that one mount was equivalent to over twenty-four thousand dollars. That was about five months salary for the average person in the real world.

***

“Ethan… slow down!” Lyla’s voice was a mix of exhilaration and protest, carried away on the wind.

“We only have an hour. If we go slow, we’ll waste it all flying,” he reasoned, his voice rumbling through his Eagle form.

“You’re awful… You only ever think about that…” she complained, though her tone lacked any real conviction.

“Heh, are you sure it’s just me? Don’t tell me you’re not thinking about it too,” he teased.

“You… you’re the worst!” Lyla retorted, squirming slightly on his back.

The feeling of her movement, the warmth of her against him… Ethan felt a surge of heat. ‘Keep wriggling like that, girl, and I’ll log out, march next door, and pull you right out of your VR capsule!’

The thought was too much. “Screw flying, it’s taking too long anyway,” he grunted. Abruptly, he banked, diving towards a secluded mountain peak. The moment his talons touched the rocky surface, he shifted back to his Human Form, catching Lyla in his arms as she tumbled into his embrace.

A faint, familiar fragrance wafted from her. Holding her captivating form close, Ethan’s heart swelled with affection. Even through the soft leather of her armor, he could feel the outline of her slender frame.

This was Ethereal, not reality. Here, Lyla was clad in the standard Marksman’s gear, which happened to be the most revealing set in the game. Unlike the full, body-concealing robes of Mages or the bulky, spike-adorned Plate armor of Warriors, the Marksman’s Leather armor was designed for agility. The female version, in particular, was notoriously comprised of a tiny miniskirt and a cropped top.

Ethan held her, gently pinning her arms behind her back. His mind, unbidden, flashed back to their time in the wooden lodge, and further back, to memories from his past life—of the two of them together under the open sky, on a mountain peak much like this one. He remembered the blazing sun overhead, and how Lyla, her head tilted back, couldn’t see his face, only the silhouette of the man shielding her from the light.

“Ethan… you’re not thinking of doing it here, are you?” Lyla murmured, her voice muffled against his chest as she inhaled his scent, listening to his strong heartbeat and ragged breathing. Her own heart began to flutter nervously. He occupied an ever-growing space in her world. They’d been a couple for a while now, and what happened earlier today in the lodge had solidified things in a new way.

It all felt connected to the strange, disjointed memory that had flooded her mind when she awoke on the ocean floor—a memory of Ethan and Amber on the cruise ship, but seen from Amber’s perspective. By all rights, she should have been furious. Yet, she felt no anger at all. Instead, trapped in that borrowed point of view, she had felt the raw, overwhelming intensity of the moment, a sensation that had, to her confusion, left her feeling strangely mesmerized and weak.

When the memory first surfaced, she hadn’t known how to process it, or even where it came from. She couldn’t possibly fathom her own former identity, nor was she aware that while she was unconscious, her soul from a past life had merged with fragments belonging to Amber and Rainie Chen. As the primary consciousness, she had inherited all their memories, while Amber and Rainie remained unaware. Perhaps only when her soul fully awakened would she understand why she alone retained these memories.

Surprisingly, she felt no resentment even towards Rainie’s presence in their lives. At first, Lyla had pretended to know nothing. The three of them had talked for a long time, and they were stunned to discover that Rainie’s birthday was the exact same day, month, and year as Lyla’s. She already knew Amber’s was identical. It was part of why the two of them had been so close since childhood, a fact that now seemed like fate. Learning about Rainie, Lyla had sighed inwardly. ‘Is this destiny?’ The three of them, born at the exact same second, had all ended up falling for the same man.

Later, when she was alone with Amber, Lyla couldn’t hold back any longer and asked about the incident on the yacht. After a moment of hesitation, Amber confessed everything. Hearing the story aloud, even though she already knew the details from the memory, was still a shock. She kept telling herself it might have been a dream, a fantasy, that maybe it never happened. But as Amber spoke, wracked with guilt and repeatedly apologizing, Lyla found, to her own astonishment, that she didn’t blame her. Stranger still, she found it impossible to summon any hatred. She even ended up comforting Amber.

Their conversation eventually turned to Ethan. When Lyla asked Amber what they should do, the other woman gave a wry smile and said something that left Lyla utterly speechless: “I can’t handle him by myself. So… what if we tried together? He looks like he’s suffering quite a bit.”

The memory of that bold suggestion made Lyla’s cheeks burn anew. “You’re insane, you crazy girl!” she had retorted…

Now, lost in her whirlwind of thoughts, Ethan’s face drew closer. She didn’t know why, but ever since they reunited in this life, every time he was this near, she couldn’t suppress the nervous flutter in her chest.

Ethan gazed at her flawless face, so close he could feel her breath becoming uneven. “Ethan…” she whispered, a soft plea.

Her body had gone limp, all strength leaving her. Ethan tightened his hold, pulling her upright and releasing her hands. Her arms instinctively snaked around his neck. Just as she found her balance, a sensation on her chest made her whole body stiffen.

Ethan’s right hand had begun to wander. The soft leather of her armor was a pitiful defense against his exploring touch. Lyla was generously endowed, and in Ethereal, there were no such things as bras. The form-fitting leather cupped her tightly, and the strange, thrilling sensation of his touch through the thin material made her gasp.