An Unexpected Incident During Special Training

Chen Rui saw Athena land safely and finally breathed a sigh of relief. He walked over, frowning, and said, "That was too dangerous just now. Even for a demonstration, there was no need for that."

Seeing his nervous expression, Athena suddenly felt a bit happy and laughed, "What are you afraid of? Come up and try. I'll teach you. The back of this Horned Wing Beast is very long; it can easily carry two people."

Chen Rui had originally thought it looked easy and graceful when watching Athena soar through the sky on the Horned Wing Beast from the ground. He didn't think it would be difficult, so he asked her for some pointers and prepared to start his official test flight.

Who would have known that once he tried it, theory and practice were two completely different things. After finally getting the Horned Wing Beast to crouch down and climbing onto its back, the beast stood up and began to run. The speed he experienced firsthand felt much faster than it had looked from the sidelines. Chen Rui, overly nervous, loosened his grip on the beast's feathers, accidentally pulling out two handfuls. His center of gravity shifted, and he fell backward with a jolt.

Athena, who was behind him, hadn't been pressed too close and had maintained a bit of distance. She didn't expect this sudden change and couldn't dodge in time, so he crashed straight into her arms. She instinctively used her hands to brace herself and keep her balance, preventing them both from falling off.

Athena was dressed in a short tunic today; she wasn't wearing her leather armor or carrying her greatsword. Chen Rui felt his head collide with two firm, soft, and warm mounds, and a faint feminine scent filled his nose. With a "thump," his head instantly felt like it was flooded with blood. Athena was stunned for a moment, but the Horned Wing Beast knew nothing of this; it was in pain from having its feathers pulled out and began to run even faster.

Because the Horned Wing Beast was moving so quickly and the inertia was so strong, Chen Rui had no time to explain. He could only keep his head pressed against those two mounds to maintain his balance while desperately grabbing onto whatever he could to keep from falling off. Finally, the Horned Wing Beast took flight into the sky.

The flying novice finally caught his breath, only to hear Athena's teeth-gritting voice from behind him: "You bastard, what do you think you're doing! Let go!"

Only then did Chen Rui realize that not only was his head still resting against those two plump hemispheres, but one of his hands was also tightly gripping her incredibly elastic thigh. Athena's face was beet red; this was the first time she had been in such intimate contact with a male, and he had even buried his head in that spot! Despite the strong high-altitude winds, the warmth and scent of a man made the usually boisterous female swordsman feel a strange, unusual tremor.

Chen Rui wanted to cry but had no tears: This was absolutely an accident! I really didn't do it on purpose!

He truly didn't have any beastly thoughts toward Athena, but in such an ambiguous position with such intense tactile sensations, it was impossible not to have a reaction—unless one was less than a beast...

"I'm sorry!" Chen Rui said, but he didn't dare let go, fearing that if he did, he would lose his balance and fall. He could only slowly shift his head, not realizing that this caused Athena even more stimulation. He could clearly feel the rapid heartbeat coming from behind those proud mounds, and involuntarily, his own heart began to race as well.

"You bastard!" Athena's face was so red it looked like it might bleed. They were in mid-air, and she was afraid he would fall, so she used one hand to support their combined weight and slowly freed the other to push his back forward, finally moving him away from that lethal spot.

Having returned to a normal position, Chen Rui was extremely embarrassed. Although it wasn't intentional, the fragrant and erotic sensation from just a moment ago was impossible to forget. Just as he was about to apologize again, he heard Athena snap, "Enough talk, we're in the air! If you don't want to die, learn how to fly properly!"

Chen Rui forced himself to banish the sensation of those two plump, warm mounds from his mind and began to focus on learning to control the Horned Wing Beast. As a beginner, his commands and the beast's execution were out of sync, and he couldn't get the creature to perform the correct movements according to his will. Just as he was feeling frustrated, he suddenly remembered: the accident had happened so suddenly that he had forgotten to use his Analytical Eye!

Chen Rui immediately activated his Analytical Eye, leaned close to the Horned Wing Beast's ear, and began to communicate. The intelligence of the Horned Wing Beast wasn't very high, and after promising it a pile of food and the like, the human quickly gained its approval.

Gradually, Athena's shy anger turned into surprise. In a short amount of time, Chen Rui, the clumsy flying novice from before, was now able to control the Horned Wing Beast with relative ease! She couldn't spare the energy to be angry about what had happened earlier; she began to emphasize the key points while correcting his mistakes.

After the Horned Wing Beast flew a few circles, it landed steadily on the ground under Chen Rui's command.

Chen Rui noticed that in his Analytical Eye, Athena's overall strength was displayed as E, the same as his own. Clearly, Athena was no match for Joseph. He remembered Athena saying that she had reached the peak of the Mid-tier Demon level. Based on Pagliu's evaluation, the Gang Realm was likely equivalent to a Mid-tier Demon, but even among Mid-tier Demons, the gap in strength could be quite large. At the very least, for now, he was far from being Athena's match.

Athena saw that Chen Rui no longer needed an escort and suggested he try riding alone. With the lesson from his first attempt and his good communication with the Horned Wing Beast, Chen Rui finally managed to fly into the sky on his own.

He excitedly piloted the Horned Wing Beast through the air, looking down at the landscape below, and felt an urge to burst into song. Now, when he tried the flying techniques Athena had described, he found them easy to master.

Watching Chen Rui pilot the Horned Wing Beast through the high sky as if he were a veteran of many years, performing a series of maneuvers with ease, Athena almost thought her eyes were playing tricks on her.

Could this guy have been faking it from the start? Was he trying to take advantage of her on purpose? But looking at the current situation, it was clear he was adapting and becoming proficient step by step, correcting the common mistakes she had pointed out earlier. It seemed the human really was flying for the first time, but this ability to learn and adapt... it was too terrifying!

What was even harder to believe was the most difficult part of beast-taming—the ability to communicate. Yet, this hurdle was no problem at all for Chen Rui. The man and the beast seemed like partners of many years, their coordination becoming increasingly tacit, faintly reaching the state of "man and beast as one" that only master beast-tamers possessed.

"This guy..." Athena rubbed her chest, which still felt a bit strange, feeling her heart beat a little fast, and her face grew slightly warm.

Chen Rui had his fill of flying on the Horned Wing Beast before slowly descending. Athena walked up to him, looked him up and down for a moment, and nodded, "I have to admit, your talent for beast-taming far exceeds mine. Participating in the competition will be no problem at all. But what you've mastered now is only the foundation of flight; the real test is in actual combat. It's a pity it's almost dark, and there's no time for more specialized training. Regardless, even if you have a thorough plan, you must not be careless tomorrow."

Although the female swordsman's expression was tight and her words were cold, Chen Rui could still hear the concern in her tone. He apologetically took out two sugar pills and said, "By the way, this is the antidote I got from the Poison Dragon today. The medicine lasts for three months, so you won't have to go every seven days anymore. The little princess has already taken one; you take one, and give one to Jia. I will find a way to completely cure the poison as soon as possible."

He couldn't have Athena accompanying him to future special training, so he simply extended the duration of the "antidote" to save himself the trouble.

Athena was not just his friend; she was the daughter of the Empire's top general, Alice's best friend, and a person highly regarded by the eldest princess. To prevent an ally of the Symbiotic Contract from facing a life-threatening situation—which was also a way to protect his own life—this little lie had to continue.

Unless... he really "got his hands on her" as Pagliu had plotted, but Chen Rui had long since decided to abandon that plan. He hadn't wanted to deceive Athena in the first place, and now that he possessed power, he should be able to head to the Gloomy Night Wetland on his own in the future, without needing to interact with Athena with a mindset of exploitation.

However, come to think of it, Athena was beautiful, cheerful, generous, and warm-hearted; it was only natural for Chen Rui to develop a fondness for her, but he currently had no extra energy to spare for such things. As for the little lie about the poison, he would ask for her forgiveness after Pagliu lifted the Lock of Light and Darkness.

Seeing Athena silently take the sugar pills, Chen Rui knew she hadn't cooled off yet and quickly apologized, "About that thing just now..."

Just then, the Analytical status that hadn't yet faded from his vision suddenly changed. Athena's original E-level strength instantly rose to D. Chen Rui was startled, and he saw that Athena's skin had turned a pale red and horns were faintly appearing on her head. Before he could react, he was thrown flat on his back by a move similar to a back-body drop.

Chen Rui was shocked, but Athena's control of her strength was incredibly precise. The seemingly fierce and swift move actually just let his body land gently, without hurting his head or neck.

Immediately after, the unexpected happened.

Athena leaped into the air with her back to Chen Rui, and as she landed, her head and back slammed right into his chest. Fortunately, she had already returned to her normal state, otherwise, the two curved horns on her head would have caused Chen Rui great harm. Even so, his chest felt a strong sense of stuffiness, and he almost suffocated, but he managed to hold back from using his Star Power.

Athena's head pounded against Chen Rui's chest, and then she reached out and grabbed his thigh, or more accurately, gave it a hard pinch. She then leaped up, clapped her hands vigorously, and said viciously, "Alright! We're even now! You are absolutely forbidden from telling Alice about what happened today, and you aren't allowed to tell anyone else! Otherwise, I will definitely not let you off!"

Chen Rui stared blankly as Athena led the Horned Wing Beast away in a swaggering manner, forgetting to get up for a moment—she was too fierce! To actually use that method...

He had originally felt that Athena was becoming easier to get along with, but he hadn't expected...

Could it be that the little princess's black-bellied aura had made him ignore Athena's "strength"? It was like Scottie Pippen hiding beside Michael Jordan? No, that analogy was too bizarre. Then, Yang Paifeng beside Mu Guiying? That didn't fit well either, it was a stretch... Chen Rui's mind was in a state of intense chaos, breathing in the faint lingering fragrance on his chest, his thoughts flying wildly. The only feeling he could still be certain of was that, back in the air, those two soft and highly elastic mounds of warmth.

In fact, Chen Rui didn't know that when Athena turned to leave, the tips of her ears were completely red.

If anyone were in front of her right now, they would never believe that the blushing girl before them was Athena, the female demon known throughout Darkmoon City for her ferocity.

"No! The man I, Athena, like must be stronger than me!" Athena kept reminding herself in her heart, her cheeks still burning with heat.