Broken Core [LitRPG • Cultivation • Post Apocalyptic • Romance]

James watched the stars dim as Luna curled into his side. Her face was set into a near permanent grimace as she rode out the pain of the burning night. Blood seeped from wounds as they healed before his eyes. Slowly, her skills were leveling and if she stayed with it, she would stop being hurt at night within a week.

"I hate you…" she murmured through clenched teeth.

"I know."

The broken moon finished its descent and the sun peeked over the horizon, bringing an end to the heat. Luna took a deep breath as she finished healing and sat up.

"This is how you leveled your skills?" she questioned. "You are a masochist!"

"Am not!" he argued back.

"I need a bath." Grumbling, she stood and wiped the fresh blood from her face. "I really hate you."

"I love you too," he said with a wink. "But you can't have a bath before tonight. You'll be killing more monsters today and will likely bleed a lot."

"I'll show you!"

"I have no faith that you will not get injured," he admitted while getting up. Stretching his arms above his head, he smiled at her.

Huffing, she wrapped her arms around his waist. "But, dear husband, I thought you were going to protect me?" Batting her lashes at him, she brought tears to her eyes.

Savoring the feeling of her arms around him, he didn't give in. "Can't level your skills without bleeding. I have faith you won't die."

Letting him go, she growled. "So much for my strong man taking care of me!"

"It takes all of my strength to let you get injured." Holding his fist to his chest, added, "alas, I do this for your own good. Don't see me as cruel, young maiden."

Snorting a laugh, she turned and hit him with her tail. "Behold, my knight in shining armor. Caring for me through the pain and misery."

Cupping her cheek, he looked deep in her eyes. "This hurts me more than it does you."

Rolling her eyes, she pulled away. "You're such an idiot. But you're my idiot."

"Of course. I married you after all. It took all of my nerves to propose to you that summer night, so long ago."

Nebra took that moment to peek out. "We can you hear you, you know."

Getting down on one knee, he took Luna's hand. "We have an audience, My Love. Shall I rehash our tale?"

Holding her hand to her cheek, she glanced at Nebra. "I don't know, Honey. It's my first time with a voyeur." Licking her lips, she added, "there's something about it that's getting me hot and bothered."

Nebra threw up her hands and walked back down the stairs. "Freaks!"

Laughing, James stood and pulled Luna into him. Wrapping his arms around her back, he said, "now that we are alone, how about we sneak off and let the sounds of our passion drive them wild."

Humming, her ears twitched. "We can't go far, Honey. The children might need us."

Smirking, he held her tight. "Are you ready to grow stronger?"

Still smiling, she nodded. "With you watching my back, I feel safe."

"It's a nice ass," he said while glancing away.

"My ass? Who said anything about that?" Poking his cheek, she growled. "Have you been checking me out while I bathe?"

"No, my dear woman. I would never stoop so low as to watching you bathe. When you dance around your enemies however…"

Giggling, she pulled away. Lowering her voice, she whispered, "thanks, James. I haven't had this much fun in a very long time."

"You're welcome," he whispered back.

Stretching her arms above her head, she yawned one last time before turning east. "There should be a few more towns roughly in the direction we are heading. If we hurry, we can clean one of them out before Nebra and them arrive."

"I'll get them." Leaving the wolf where she was, he entered the basement and found the cultivators eating.

"I heard you had an audience this morning," Mender teased.

Smirking, he met Nebra's eye. "I didn't know Nebra was into that. The more you learn about someone…"

"Screw you," she grumbled.

Clapping his hands, James changed subjects. "I'm heading out. Luna says there is a town nearby that we are going to clear out. Meet us there for the night."

Jamie glanced up from her plate. "Why do you kill so many Forsaken?"

James didn't answer right away. He dropped his happy smile before saying, "they are monsters. Nothing more. I can't improve my fighting skills against humanity anymore than I already have. Monsters fight different. They have poisons and toxins. Rot and decay. They are a challenge, and I grow stronger. I also remove them from this world one body at a time."

Nodding, Jamie went back to her food as if his answer solved a world of problems. Turning, he left the basement. Luna was stretching out her muscles as she noticed him. Once she had his attention, she turned and bent over, showing off the ass they were talking about earlier.

"Come on!" he protested. "Now you are just flaunting it!"

Laughing, she straightened up. "But, Honey, I know how you love watching me. You can touch it tonight if you want. How about when you wash my tail. Sneak a little feel."

Face falling blank, he walked past her. When she matched his stride, he refused to look her way.

"Come on, Honey," she pouted. "I just want to feel your big strong hands on my body."

"You're enjoying this a little too much," he commented. "Besides. I have never touched a woman like that. Vixen."

Taking his hand, she started pulling it to her chest. "We'll start you off slow."

Yanking his hand out of hers, he glared at her.

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Laughing again, she started jogging away. "Let's hurry!"

Taking a deep breath, he started after her, picking up his pace until he was ahead, and she had to push her body to the limit to keep up.

"I thought you were fast!" he called out to her.

Growling, she leapt into the air and transformed into her wolf form. With increased speed, she caught up to him and pushed past. Mouth open, panting, she changed their direction as they angled towards the next town.

The trip only took half an hour at their pace. His flock of vultures were already circling the town when he arrived, their large bodies no more than dots in the sky.

"Are they avoiding the town?" he asked as they slowed.

Luna stayed in her wolf form as she nodded.

"Not going to talk to me," he teased.

Narrowing her eyes, she chuffed before walking into the town.

"How am I supposed to watch you dance around if you don't change back?" he called out. "Are you going to deny me?"

Glancing over her shoulder, she stuck out her tongue.

Laughing, he followed her into town. The streets were broken and overgrown with black grass. Nearby houses were shuddering with movement as Forsaken listened to them approach. Glass crunched underfoot and claws raked the wood and tile floors. Luna's ears twitched as she scanned the empty street, waiting for the monsters to come out.

James pulled in his soul as tight as he could, deadening the area from his influence. Luna's soul flickered in her body, barely more than a small fire as she snapped her attention to the left.

The wooden house shattered as a Forsaken the size of a grizzly bear stormed into the open. The monstrosity had six legs with razor sharp claws and a head that was little more than a gaping mouth. Its long body stretched in an unnatural way as it bent more like a snake than the solid beast it was.

Growling, Luna focused her entire attention on the monster as a thin strand of its soul connected with her. Her Siphon made the monster drag its head across the ground as it howled. Rage filled its eyes as it charged her.

Preparing to step in, James watched as Luna's claws glowed white and flickered with flames. Leaping to the side, she lashed out, dragging her claws against the side of the beast. Its soul exploded, shredding from her touch as a huge chunk was pulled into her flames. The wound didn't bleed more than a sliver of blood, but its soul continued to ooze out, thickening her Siphon.

"Damn," he muttered in surprise.

Luna didn't let up as she raced in and dragged her claws across the Forsaken again. The glowing flames around her claws flickered out, her energy spent as the last of the monster's soul exploded.

Padding over to him, she couldn't have looked more smug. Cocking his brow, he said, "you spent all of your energy on one monster. How are you going to kill the rest?"

Turning away, she huffed. Clearly that wasn't the reaction she wanted.

Chuckling, he tossed a rock towards the next house and watched it explode as another beast rushed out. Stepping back, he let Luna take charge of the fight. Racing in, she was deft as she avoided two legs slashing at her. With her Siphon active, she latched onto the creature's side, dragging her sharp claws through its flesh.

A back leg kicked her off, shredding her chest as she rolled across the ground. Whimpering, her wound started to heal as she struggled to dodge the next attack. He watched patiently as she drained the monster while her flesh was shredded. Her snow-white fur was stained red before the monster collapsed.

Laying where she was, he walked over.

"Not bad," he said. "You should have received a new resistance for slashing."

Nodding, she looked up at him with teary eyes.

"The pain is good. If I remember correctly, you always liked when I tied you up and pleasured you roughly."

Growling, she shook her head.

Holding up his hands, he stepped back. "I don't kink shame!"

Getting to her feet, she walked towards the next building, her wounds had largely healed as he felt the shift in her soul. It was growing stronger, pushing her closer to the fourth level. The large beasts were harder than what she should be fighting. Compared to where he was at in her shoes, he was lucky to gain as much as she was. His journey was slow and filled with hundreds of Forsaken to increase. But alas, he had reached level five in about a week. Reaching six and seven took months. That was her future as well.

Trailing behind her, he crossed his arms. "You know, this wouldn't be so boring if you turned back to your human form."

Huffing, she transformed back and marched over to him. "Happy now?" Poking his chest, she added, "I better see your eyes on me, mister."

"Should I undress you while I'm at it? I'm pretty sure I can imagine you fully."

Rolling her eyes, she turned away. "If you grow bored again, I'll lift my tail and dance around for you. After all, you like both holes."

Chuckling, he pushed her shoulder and hurried her to the next house. Before she left, she stopped at the large beast and waved him over. "I need the monster's leg bone."

Frowning, he pulled his knife free and started cutting the bone out of the monster. Its femur was several feet long and she held it reverently before shoving it into his chest.

"Carve it," she ordered. "I need a spear and this will work."

"I'm not your slave, you know."

Smirking, she patted her leg. "Who's a good boy? You're a good boy!"

Raising his brow, he tapped her head with the bone. "Behave. You're the only dog in this relationship."

Ignoring her pout, he used his knife to carve away the end of the bone, sharpening it into a blade. Once he had the rough design, he coated his fingers in flames and smoothed out the blade and sharpened it. His Soul Crafting skill was perfect for working the material.

Clapping her hands, she yanked the bone from his grip. "Amazing! How do you do that?"

"I pushed my soul to learn it," he answered. "You can learn new Soul Skills as well. You just have to work at them."

Beaming, she spun and whacked him with her tail. "Whoops! I forgot you get off on my tail. I'll be more careful next time."

Sighing, he pushed her away. "Go kill something."

Giggling, she jogged towards the next house and he could feel her push out with her soul. Once the Forsaken felt her, it rushed through the wall, sending wood over the street. Luna leapt to the side, avoiding the monster while Siphoning its soul.

James rubbed his chin while watching her dance around the beast. Without her wind Qi, she was slower and the twisting monster proved to be nearly too much for her. It bent at odd angles and struck with tooth and claw as she stabbed and carved into its body. Minutes passed before it fell dead.

Wiping the blood from her stomach, she walked back over to him as the wound sealed shut. "Was it this hard for you as well?"

"It was," he admitted. "Although, I usually had to fight multiple monsters at once. Normal groups were two dozen or so."

Eyes wide, she glanced at the Forsaken and then back at him. "You're a monster!"

"That's not nice," he teased. "That word is only reserved for when we are in bed together."

Laughing, she quickly covered her mouth. "Thanks, James. I never had anyone to banter like this with."

"You're welcome." Rubbing the back of his neck, he let out an awkward chuckle. "If I'm being honest, it feels odd to me. I never really had friends growing up. Everyone bent over backwards for me in the sect. It wasn't always the most enjoyable."

Frowning, she touched his arm. "I'm glad you consider me your friend. But I'm more than that. I'm your wife." Snickering, her frown slipped into a smile. "After all of these years together, you would think you would remember that."

Rolling his eyes, he rested his hand over hers. "You've always been a pain in the ass."

"I really want to comment on that." Letting him go, she started walking down the street.

Keeping his distance, he prepared for her to start another fight.

Nebra trudged through the wasteland, her feet shuffling across the packed soil and gnarly roots. "Can you believe them?"

Mender groaned by her side. "Again, with this? They are only talking like that to get a rise out of you."

"I know that!" she snapped.

Jamie hummed as she fingered her bow. "I wonder what the stars are like."

Nebra turned on the woman. "Why don't you ask them? You seem to watch that wolf close enough, I'm starting to think you are jealous of him."

Shrugging, Jamie didn't try to deny it.

Shu Wei, the remaining member of their team grunted. He barely ever spoke, but he was their best front line fighter. His use of a greatsword was unparalleled in the sect.

"I don't know how much more I can handle," Nebra complained.

"Nebra…" Mender droned. "Just tell them off. What's the worst that can happen?"

Everyone stopped and looked at the man.

"Seriously?" Nebra questioned. "Have you felt how powerful he is?"

"He's also timid," Mender reminded her. "You can see it in his eyes. He's not heartless like our elders."

Jamie giggled. "I'm pretty sure Luna starts the trouble more often than not. The glint in her eyes is perfect."

"Stop crushing on her," Nebra groaned. "She's not into you."

"They're going to make trouble in the city," Shu stated.

Everyone turned to him with troubled expressions.

"He's right," Nebra admitted. "I don't know how, but he's suppressing his core. So is she. They are strong enough to kill the monsters out here without trouble. He never has blood on him either. And that armor…"

"The feathers are neat," Jamie commented. "Who do you think made it?"

"Hard to know. I assume he gets the feathers from his vultures. What sort of power does he hold that Forsaken follow him around in a mutual agreement?"

Mender sighed and walked off. "We are never going to reach the town if you continue to drag your feet."

"We could just not show up," Nebra suggested.

"And have him hunt us down?" Shivering, Mender didn't look back as he picked up his pace.

"I didn't believe it either," Nebra muttered.