Alpha Realm (OP.MC.|Harem|NSFW)

Name: Aizel Kadashi | Age: 19 | Level: 15

Title: Bronze-rank Hunter (D+)

SE: 0 | HP: 285

Race: Crimson Were-Dragon

Bonded Souls: Lisa Kadashi

Lisa came back; she was more tired than Aizel thought she would be. And the reason seemed to be a large anvil on a stick that she was carrying.

"What the fuck is that?" Aizel asked.

"Your. New. Weapon. Silly Dragon." Lisa said as she panted

Aizel went to grab the tool.

"Do you think I'm a fucking Dwa—" Aizel began speaking, as the thing looked extremely heavy, but he picked it up with more ease than he thought he should.

It was almost an anvil on a stick. A long metal pole with a large piece of metal that had a spike on one end and the other was flat. It was as tall as he was, with the head being as long as his chest from shoulder to shoulder, and as wide as his head, with the long handle being almost as thick as his erect dick.

'Yeah, you can't reach around it and touch your thumb and middle finger with that one… At least she liked it… I almost fucked up. Aizel Kadashi, too thick for sex…'

Forged from a single piece of metal, and with a wave pattern similar to Damascus steel, it offered many of the benefits of postindustrial Earth, with medieval techniques.

He let it fall on the dirt, and it made a dry, thump sound that could be felt, as if an elephant had stomped. It was dense; he could almost not believe that he could move it around as if it was a heavy firefighter axe, not easily or with finesse, but it was dangerous.

'HP is really pulling its weight; makes sense, brutes, and tanks are HP heavy. How did she even carry that from Redvelia?'

Then he used (Telekinesis) and (Poltergeist); one modified the weight and the other added leverage. He did a wide swing, and then a few tricks by spinning in like a Bō staff.

"I knew it would be perfect for you!" Lisa cheered as he practiced.

"I won't deny that this will make turning a gobo into paste trivial. What worries me is the pattern… This amount of metal and this forging technique were not cheap; I'm sure of it."

"Here's your change!" Lisa chirpily replied and gave him four silver pennies.

"Now we are truly broke… Did you at least buy your spear?"

'We have like a single goblin mana crystal left, not counting the loot from this mission,' Aizel thought.

"Yes!"

She pointed to the side where she had thrown her backpack. There was a simple wooden spear with a metal head. Nothing fancy. It was similar to what some hunters on guard duty used, unlike the giant war hammer that looked like it was the lost thick sibling of Mjölnir and Stormbreaker, but with a pointy end instead of an axe head.

'She paid the Orc Shaman crystal, and then some, on my War Hammer… This idiot.'

"… You could have bought something simpler for me and gone with a better tool, woman."

"About that… I saw one, but it costs as much as your heavy war hammer. So I thought it would be better to just use this for practice and wait until I go back to get mine, since you said we were going to exterminate the gobos."

"Fine… But next time, buy something nice for you too. I already told you that I would fight better if I knew you were safe, or at least being as safe as I can make you be."

"Soo…" Vanessa was feeling horny because she was giving Aizel fuck me eyes and did not even comment on how Lisa's had a completely opposite view of money than he did.

"So?" Lisa asked.

"Aizel told me that he would… you know… if you…" She began but could not utter the words.

"Oh! Yes! Totally…" replied Lisa with excitement.

"Why?" Aizel asked, not understanding how she could be excited at the prospect of him being with another woman less than a day cycle after they fucked. Was she just a cuckquean?

"Because I want to see you fuck her lights out!"

'The fuck happened to the whole self-control thing? This bipolar slut…'

"First of all, that is not what she meant; she just wanted to kiss. And second, that was not my question… I want to know why you want me to do that. You are not acting like you were when you wanted me; that time you were aroused. Right now, you are just acting like someone with a new toy, and not in a sexual way."

"I just want you to do her…"

"(Be truthful.)" He said using (Command), not understanding the dissonance. She was not even horny, just hyperactive.

"It-It's a power thing," Lisa said.

He was about to ask her to elaborate when Vanessa went pale and almost threw up.

"What happened to her?" Aizel asked

"Your aura, as you spoke, it resonated with our minds… yes, both of us…"

"Vanessa, are you okay?" Aizel asked.

"Give me a moment…" She breathed in deeply and bent forward. It took her a few seconds to compose herself before speaking, "What did you do? I got dizzy… As if I wanted to reply to what you asked her? But I could not find the meaning behind what you wanted from me… So I got confused?"

Aizel and Lisa shared a look; this was not normal.

(Focus)

〔 System:_ 〕

〔 Aizel Kadashi: Nerd. The (Command) skill is acting up. 〕

〔 D33zN3rd: … 〕

〔 D33zN3rd: What the fuck? 〕

〔 Aizel Kadashi: Care to let me in on the fun? 〕

〔 D33zN3rd: This is why I pay you, nice find… Weird find… The skill is working as intended… For you… What does not make sense are the logs of other users; way too many users. Unlike you, they are only using it… on bonded slaves?... You just used it on the redhead, as intended. 〕

〔 D33zN3rd: But… the skill is too powerful to be gained so easily as it is with a simple (Bind)… It should be much more complex than (Cook), or even (Sharpen). 〕

〔 D33zN3rd: It is a basic one, but only because the evolutions are… stronger. This will take me a while to fix. 〕

〔 D33zN3rd: … … … What a cluster-fuck … 〕

〔 D33zN3rd: Thankfully, only you have used it in the correct way in centuries… Its mana requirement for the correct use case has been increased to compensate. Be careful. You are a blood-mage. 〕

〔 SE: 0 ► 20 〕

〔 D33zN3rd: An idiot messed with the acquisition method with the inclusion of (Bind)… Could have been disastrous. The extra SE comes from the idiot who made the mistake. 〕

(Focus)

"~Your HP went up… did you?" Lisa whispered while covering her mouth.

Aizel just nodded.

"Is everything alright?" Lisa asked out loud, looking a little scared.

"It should be now." He said.

"Are you okay, Vanessa?" Lisa asked

"Y-Yes, What was that?" Vanessa asked

"I can't use the skill too well; it's because I'm a blood-mage and was not taught how to."

"~Liar," Lisa whispered again so only he could hear.

"So. Care to explain what this 'power' thing is about?" Aizel asked and placed his Heavy War Hammer over his shoulders as if it was a simple broom.

'Oh yes, I like this one; I can't wait to play baseball with a hobgoblin's head'

"It's what it sounds like… Being with a powerful man makes me feel… Validated… Like one that can seduce any woman, or like when I saw the way you humiliated Duncan… I was watching from the temple's window…" She explained.

"Okay, but please do not use our friends to get off on your fetishes. And weren't you the one who said that I needed 'self-control' after… you know. And besides, did you even ask Vanessa if she was okay with it?" He said.

"I did, and she said that she did not want to share. But her body told another story. And yes, you 'could' hurt her, but then I gave it some more thought and… well, she was going to do it anyways from the beginning."

"What?" Aizel asked, too stunned to begin to unpack what she said.

The girls looked at him funny, and then at each other.

"It is an assumed thing, ~Silly Dragon. When a male and female hunter go alone on a mission…" She gave Vanessa a knowing look. "Or if a single member of a party is of the opposite gender…"

"So people must think we are out here fucking?" He asked—they were—and not that he cared much what people thought of him in the first place, but it still felt weird.

"No. They probably assume that if one of us—your seniors, by the way, at least in their eyes, on both age and hunting experience and expeditions—gets horny, we will get off on you. We do look similar to a sisterhood with their young male for comfort"

"Why does sex play such a big roll you people's life…" He said to no one in particular.

"What else is there to do?" Vanessa was the one who replied this time.

"Fair."

〔 D33zN3rd: By the way, there is a side gig for you, from the idiot. Use the command skill on a monster. No need to report back… Payment of 10 SE afterward. 〕

Aizel read the messages. It was not that hard, and the Nerd did not give any time window to do it, or that he had to in the first place, and he called side-gig, not a mission or job.

"Anyway… how were things in town? Are they preparing the pitchforks to kill the evil dragon?" Aizel asked Lisa.

"Quite calm, actually. Morph had my stuff ready; I sold most of it… And there was a set of cheap panties missing. The rest I packed in the backpack: a couple of changes of clothes and a few books." Lisa said

"Why did you sell it? And are you okay with that weirdo sniffing your underwear? Vanessa asked.

"It was not much, just some fiction books… that I don't need anymore. And clothes related to the temple that Morph bought back. He was understanding of me when he saw me alone, probably because if Aizel had forced me, he never would have given me the freedom to be by myself… And he will not sniff anything; I keep my clothes (Clean)."

"I agree with that, the understanding part. The first thing a shady slaver would do is to command you to never leave their sight… and you arrived flying… how was that, by the way?" Vanessa said.

"The guards did not even notice me entering Redvelia. I popped right in front of the Hunter's Guild, and there were just some people a bit scared, but nothing too crazy. The guild master was the one who was a little angry because now they would have to use Morph with a truth-seeking crystal for recruiting people and other stuff. But he looked more sad than mad… However, I'm pretty sure that sadness is going to turn into anger when he sees Aizel again."

"You could bet on that." Vanessa chuckled

"Then I just went to buy the Hammer; they gave me a huge discount!"

"Gee, I wonder why." Aizel teased. The only better thing to haggle than hunter tags was probably a tight ass. No wonder Vanessa got so many good deals; she had both, and now, without her scar, she would be running businesses into the ground.

"Anyway, I will go look for the incoming hunting party. Rest up; we will have a busy afternoon." Aizel walked back and materialized his wings and tail; he pressed his new hammer against his chest and did a little hop.

"Wait, what about… Cowaaard!" Vanessa screamed at him as he left her hanging and just took off into the distance.

— — —

Aizel came back two hours later. At his speed, it was not that hard to go to the White Shield and back within the hour, but it took him some time to find the party during the day.

He did a three-point landing aided by his skills to not fuck himself up in the process. He wanted to put on a show for the ladies and try an Idea he had in mind for later in the day.

Thump! "Found 'em."

"Yiii~" Vanessa stepped back awkwardly.

"If I had not seen your aura piercing the air from far away, I would have stabbed you. Stupid Dragon." Lisa was startled, despite claiming she saw him coming.

"They are around 30 clicks away, give or take. Probably picked up the pace once they reached the northern wilds, or is it south from their POV? Anyway, we can reach them in about two or three hours." Aizel reported.

"How in the Sun's name do you suggest us crossing that distance in that time? Lisa can fly, sure, but we will be carrying all of our gear, which just increased because of her stuff and your massive thing." Vanessa said as she looked around at their three backpacks that already had all of their stuff ready to travel.

Aizel smirked and raised an eyebrow at the last part of her sentence.

"Oh no—you don't! You can't leave me hanging just to make a dick joke later," Vanessa pouted in fake anger.

"I think we will manage. I can carry a lot of weight if I push my skills, and I only saw small clusters of goblins tracking them from far away. If we rest in their camp the rest of the day, Lis and I can go hunting them at night," Aizel explained, ignoring her little show.

"If you say so… but are you sure? I can carry mine and Vanessa's stuff. But you will be carrying Vanessa, your backpack, and your ~massive thing." Lisa teased him a bit, but her question was sincere.

"That's why I said two or three hours. I can reach them in half an hour or less at my top speed, but I would be trading speed for carry capacity."

"Wait. Why is he the one that will carry me!?" Vanessa turned red and asked.

"Because I can't fly that well. I can just strap the backpacks to my front and back, but I have no experience flying with skills or carrying people like him, and if you fall, I would not know what to do. Aizel already proved that he can carry people and catch them in the air, and he just flew the equivalent of going all the way to the white shield while carrying his massive thing." Lisa said.

'She could just not help but tease, could she.'

"What she said. Oh! And there's another thing I want to try. I really do not want to be dealing with questions about why or how I do what I do, so hear me out…"

— — —

Name: Vex | Age: 32 | Level: 39

Title: Silver-rank Hunter (B-)

SE: 4 | HP: 127 | MP: 90

Race: Were-Dog

Vex was relieved that they had finally made it back into Redvelia's northern wilds. But he could not rest, no matter how much his legs burned. They had to keep walking, almost jogging. Their mission had gone according to plan, even better in some areas. Sure, they had lost some bronze hunters, but that much was expected when you are under-leveled and jump face-first into Goblinoid territory.

They had taken an emergency Gold rank mission; it would require some silver led hunting parties with at least one Gold rank leading them, and not one huge silver led brotherhood with no Gold rank among them. But the situation was dire.

Goblins had been spotted closer and closer to what was normal for the season. And then there was the Hobgoblin sighting; they were in dire need of scouting the Death Valley to see how bad it was. And it was bad.

What should happen at the beginning of winter was happening mid-summer. When the town was at its weakest, because of hunter parties migrating to better hunting grounds, and they were already lacking in the hunter department when they were at full capacity. This was expected because of how new and not developed Redvelia was.

Everything had been going great until it wasn't. They managed to avoid most large goblin camps, only engaging when it was necessary to keep advancing, and only one or two gobos at a time. They only lost a bronze hunter every few encounters, and the musketeer had not been needed to intervene, so more silver for them.

The problem was that they began to attract attention; the more they harvested, loosed man, and kept overexerting themselves, the more their smell footprint and trail grew.

Vex had picked up the scent of a hobgoblin-led group following them every time the wind changed direction. They were being followed.

Fortunately, just as he could not determine the exact direction from which the monster group was coming, neither could they find the party; if they could, they would already have sprinted towards them, and all hell would have broken loose.

They were prepared to deal with a hobgoblin camp, but that was at the beginning of the mission; now that they were at the end of it, they were all tired, and the hunters were slowly being hunted.

But there was probably someone out there keeping an eye on them; maybe the Moon took pity on her children, or maybe the Sun decided they already had enough. Because one afternoon. When they were close to making camp, everything changed.

Like a storming bird of prey, something large flew above them at high speeds. It was so fast that if it wanted to hurt them, someone would have died at that moment.

"What the hell was that!" One bronze cried out.

"Father Sun, giver of all, taker of…" Another bronze prayed.

"Positions!" Argo, their leader, screamed. And they all obeyed, making the circle defense that had kept most of them alive all this time.

"Musketeer, at the ready!" Argo roared.

"Boss. In position, Boss." The musketeer assumed the center spot of the formation and began scanning the skies.

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh. The slingers prepared to unleash hell on whatever came.

'There are no aerial predators in this area… nor monsters; both of them are to the East of here on the plains.' Vex thought.

Thankfully, it was not either of those things; it was someone they all knew very well. High Priestess Lisa.

Being true to her immortal race name, she slowly descended from the heavens; two beautiful white feathered wings manifested on her back, and she touched the ground softly in front of them. She carried a backpack on her back and looked a little winded. But not even tiredness could hide her beauty and elegance, as for once, she was without her veil.

White, wavy hair tied back in a ponytail. Long, delicate ears. Two crystal-like gray eyes that reflected the afternoon light like a beautiful piece of jewelry. Her signature white attire with tight pants and jacket, made by the best tailors and fabrics the Temple of the Sun had to offer, down in the Duchy Capital.

"Identify yourselves! Who's leading this hunting party!?" She ordered as she dropped her backpack to the floor and pulled a waterskin to refresh herself. She took a spear from her things and stood before them, her imposing presence and beauty. Silencing them. As it demanded respect and awe.

"At ease, man. She's a friend. I'm leading this party, High Priestess Lisa. I hope you have not forgotten about me already, Hunter Argo, Silver rank, at your service." Argo ordered his man and identified himself with a respectful bow. The priestess probably had known all the hunters at one point or another; she assisted the Guild when recruiting them, so it was not expected of her to remember all of their names.

"Good. And it's just Lisa; I'm not a High Priestess anymore. You may refer to me as Miss Lisa or Mistress Kadashi." She said, and before the murmuring could start, she pulled her small wand from a side pocket of her pants and aimed at the sky.

"Fomes!" She yelled, and a blue spark left her wand and shot in the air.

"High- Miss Lisa, what are you doing?"

"Summoning my Master and Lover, Hunter Aizel Kadashi. He's been sent by the guild to make sure you all return safely to Redvelia." She declared

It was a lot of information to be processed in just the two short sentences she had uttered. The most important one was that the guild had sent them assistance. Said assistance had to be powerful enough not only to command a High Priestess, but for her to share their last name.

Before they could finish thinking about what to ask first. Her call was answered, and a second figure descended on them. This one demanded not only respect and awe, but fear. A massive set of wings flanked the figure of a man. He slowly reached the floor and removed his winged limbs.

'Were-Dragon,' Vex thought.

The most impressive feat was not that he was probably part of one of the strongest and most feared of the immortal races. But that he looked almost bored as he carried a backpack and a Heavy War Hammer on his back. And even a red-headed woman that he knew very well, in front.

"Lis," The man said after dropping his things with a loud and muffled sound that they felt in the ground and air. He softly released the woman for her to stand. Only to walk up to the angel and give her a deep and passionate kiss as if no one else was there with them.

"My love. This is Hunter Argo, Silver rank. He's in charge of the hunting party. Argo's Brotherhood." Miss Lisa said once he released her lips.

"Zup, Arg. My name is Hunter Aizel Kadashi, high Bronze rank. Call me Aizel. The Dwarf sent me to clear the way from the green shit. This is a good place to make camp; Lis and I will deal with the ugly fucks later. I already scouted the surroundings; we will clean this whole area after dark."

The young man might be a lower rank than Vex or Argo, but his presence demanded the same respect and authority as the guild master, and without throwing tantrums in between. The hunters visibly relaxed and gave thanks to their gods, as the Dragon and the Human went to the side to speak with more privacy.

"Vex!" The voice of the red-headed one called from where the ex-priestess stood.

"Vanessa! What are you doing here, you stupid woman? This is too deep inside the wild lands for you!" Vex said once he saw her.

They were an old flame, something that was not meant to be; maybe it was the age difference, maybe it was something else. At least they were both mature and were good friends, even after the flames of passion were nothing more than smoke and memories.

"I know, don't worry. Aizel was assigned an assistance mission, but we got bored and decided to help you out in a more direct way. Argo will probably explain it to you later if he agrees, but I don't think he won't." She said.

"Who is he? He can't be a bronze rank; just as a scout alone, he should be a high silver ranker, and he can also carry you, a heavy war hammer, and provisions!" Vex asked her. Her response was what he already expected, with the happy and reckless attitude that he used to be in love with, and now felt like a warm spring breeze after a long and harsh winter.

"He is bronze, but just because the cranky dwarf needs to see him in action before giving him more responsibility," Vanessa replied.

"Crank— you need to watch your tongue, woman. He is still our boss even if he's not here, and these hunters are tired; they could badmouth you just to have some fun."

"It's alright, we will already be… how would Aizel say it? In deep shit, once we return. I don't know if you noticed, but the high priestess is not so holy anymore." She explained.

"How could anyone not notice… Are they?"

"It's a short but complicated story, but yes, they are together…" Vanessa replied.

"Why do you look so down? What is he to you?" Vex asked, noticing how depressed she became all of a sudden.

"We are just friends… He has made that very clear despite my insistence."

"I—" He was about to reply when Argo interrupted as he yelled. "Gather 'round!"

The hunting party and the new party all surrounded Argo.

"Good news, hunters, our prayers have been answered. This is Hunter Aizel, He and High— He and Miss Lisa will be doing a sweep of the surrounding forest at night; we will assist them with harvesting and will sleep as the Moon Mother intended!" Argo began explaining, and his message was received with roars and cheers.

He lifted his hand and calmed them down. "He might be a bronze rank, but we all know not to piss off a Dragon, especially one that is a Blood-Mage…" He took a small pause, and the man just murmured. "So we will treat Mas— We will give Aizel and his party the hospitality they deserve. Now Make Camp!"

The man started going around and preparing the camp; a few of them offered to assist the trio with their tents, and they accepted. Then Vex closed in on Argo and the new party, as he was the second in command and main scout of the overgrown hunting party.

"Master Aizel, this is the hobgoblin we found," Argo said as he released the hobgoblin corpse from his ring.

"Call me Aizel. Only Lis can call me master when we fuck."

The Young Dragon said something so outlandish in such a natural way. Argo and Vex were stunned for a moment; Vanessa seemed to blush, and Miss Lisa did not care and apparently was even happy at his declaration. Seeing how her ears wiggled.

Before they had finished processing what was going on, the crazy dragon continued speaking as he knelt before the body of the hobgoblin. It was still in the state they found it because of the ring.

"Hey! I remember this ugly freak. Yeah, I killed this one, one of my firsts, Hobgos on Death Valley. I exploded its crystal after I ran out of Aura"

"That last part was a lie," Miss Lisa said. It was good to see that at least she had not changed that much, despite being corrupted by the Were-Dragon.

"What? Oh! Right. I was still using MP at the time… Fucker almost broke my arm in a single swing," Aizel said.

They glanced at Miss Lisa, and she ignored them, almost restoring the image of the refined Priestess he had of her. Almost. So he must be telling the truth.

"The fact that you lived after taking a swing from a hobgoblin is impressive enough; the fact that you killed it…" Argo said.

"How did you?… Weren't you half naked all the time?" Asked Vanessa.

"Oh, my scales. Motherfucker broke a lot of scales." He raised his arm and manifested a set of red scales and sharp black claws; the scales covered his naked forearm, and his claws grew from his nails. He wiggled his claws and then removed them with ease. Vex had to train for many winters just to manifest his fangs; the fact that this young man could manifest so much of his dragon blood at such a young age was placing a lot of pressure on his pride.

"They were sexy blue at the time, and used MP." He explained to Vanessa with such ease and familiarity that now Vex knew why he felt the pressure.

Jealousy, he taught himself, over the young redhead, but now…

Vex glanced at her, and it was only now that he realized that her scar was gone. He had always believed that the scar did not take away from her beauty, and the fact that he was only now noticing was proof of that. But it was bad manners to speak of such things; hunters had a certain standard to maintain.

"That a ring of whatever thing?" The Dragon asked.

"Timeless Holding." Lisa corrected him.

"Whatever, if we go get the fuck face that is following them, we can sell its entire body for more than this one, right? Seeing how I exploded most of this one's ugly mug." The dragon replied and directed his question towards the Angel and Their Leader.

"Yes, any hobgoblin will do as proof. And we will share the spoils if you do what you say you are going to do." Argo replied.

"I don't see how you will get a body in a better state with your weapon, no offense." Vex finally managed to gather the courage to speak up to the Dragon.

"None taken. I'm actually more of a dagger guy. This thing was a wedding gift, bought with my own money by this one; she likes large things." He said as he pointed at Miss Lisa and winked at Vex after shrugging. She blushed but did not reply and maintained a Stoic demeanor.

"Well, harvest this one then, if there's even anything valuable, or burn it; I really don't care. We'll be resting by our tent; I see that your guys are really efficient at making camp… Lis," He just said her name, and she followed behind. Now envy was boiling alongside Jealousy.

"He's… quite eccentric, isn't he?" Argo said to Vanessa, who stayed with them.

"Yeah, you'll get used to it. If he has his way, he'll probably be leading the next mission." Vanessa replied in a melancholic way.

"I'll go organize the camp. Huntress Vanessa, Vex." Argo nodded and left them.

"I've seen you like this only once before, and it was because of me. Are you fine?" Vex asked Vanessa once they were left alone. They walked towards his tent to not have a conversation in front of the cadaver of the large monster. As soon as they left, a small group of bronzes started to carve up the body before it got harder to do so than it already was.

"I will be. At least I can say that I tried. But he's right; what I do not understand is why I fell so fast for him. At first, I liked him. Then he got with the creepy priestess, and I lost interest. After that she told me that she was willing to share him, and it lit that flame again…" She explained; it felt weird to be speaking about this with her. But he loved her once, and he owed her friendship after all they went through together.

"Can I say something, but only if you promise me not to get mad at me and walk away?" Vex asked her.

"Sure. I Vanessa, clear of—"

"No! You crazy woman… Ugh. Just… It's a vulgar thing." Vex stopped her vow; he knew she was joking, but he hated when she did that.

"Fine. What is it?"

"You have always been a knot slut. All your exes are Canine-Kin. Including me." He said seriously. Seeing how she was either in shock or thinking seriously about his affirmation, he just continued before she could scream at him, "And you just found the race with the biggest—"

"Enough!" She yelled, but he got the message across; he needed her to see that it was not love. In his mind, there was no such thing as love at first sight. And this Aizel was the embodiment of all he knew she lusted after in a man. Tall, good-looking, uncaring, strong, and with a knotted dick. It was no mystery to him; he knew the Were-Wolf and Dragon books she loved. But that was all it was, lust.

"I-I see what you mean, I… I agree. It still makes it hard to work with him. When all he has to do is look at me for me to get all flustered and start fantasizing in my head." She bit her thumbnail as she thought; they glanced at the Dragon who was laughing with the Angel, sitting on small logs in front of their little love nest.

She turned towards him and gave him a look that he knew all too well, and his blood rushed to his lower head as he heard her say, "For old times' sake?"