He could feel the terrifying nature of this Tide of Chaos, and if a normal person were swallowed by it, they would probably be corrupted on the spot.
Looking at the thoughtful Lan Ze, Tiamat put away the Tide of Chaos, and she fluttered toward Lan Ze, then gently touched his head to comfort him.
"Your power is already very impressive."
"Don't comfort me. I finally know just how massive the gap between you and me really is," Lan Ze said helplessly.
He felt that after unleashing his Noble Phantasm twice just moments ago, it seemed not to have consumed much magical energy at all; he was still full of vigor right now.
"Go back to watching your anime, Mother," Lan Ze said. "I want to try again and see if I can create some other weapons."
Tiamat nodded slightly, returned to the laptop, and obediently sat down, her attention quickly captivated by the anime's plot.
Her learning capacity was exceptionally strong, and she possessed a natural talent for languages as well; in a mere half-day, she had already roughly figured out how to watch anime.
Yet in ordinary speech, Tiamat still preferred to use her most primitive utterances—this had already become something of a habit.
Lan Ze recalled the Star Sacred Sword back into the Gate of Babylon, then began conceiving other weapons.
This truly tested his imagination, and at the same time... it severely tested his magical energy reserves.
With his eyes tightly closed, after trying to forge another weapon from myth, his magical energy was already nearly depleted to zero.
"I'm so hungry. I need to replenish my magical energy once more..." Lan Ze clutched his stomach and instinctively glanced at Tiamat.
The woman was currently sitting properly on the ground like a Yamato nadeshiko, her attention entirely focused on the computer screen, seeming not to notice that someone beside her was staring at her.
Lan Ze walked up to Tiamat and murmured, "Mother, I'm hungry again."
Tiamat turned her head, glanced at Lan Ze, and seeing that his magical energy had plummeted like this again, she let out a soft "Aaa" and gently nodded.
Hearing this, Lan Ze felt a surge of joy in his heart, resting the back of his head on her lap as he continuously replenished his magical energy during the enjoyable process.
The speed of this magical energy replenishment was far faster than the Holy Grail... Lan Ze let out a burp, feeling utterly wonderful inside.
"Are you perhaps getting a little too obsessed with games lately?"
Early in the morning, Sajyou Manaka poured a glass of milk and placed it on the dining table, then slammed the freshly toasted tomato toast down heavily onto the table, her face full of lingering resentment.
"Huh?" Lan Ze glanced at the charred bread on the table, hesitated for a moment, and said, "Haven't I been like this since before?"
"That's true, but... I've never seen you get obsessed with any game to this degree before!" Sajyou Manaka said with bitter grievance. "It's simply as if you've found some dream lover, and your whole soul has been hooked away."
"It's just a mere game. Is it really that fun?" She silently vented the grievances she had harbored over this period.
No... I'm not obsessed with a game, I'm obsessed with Mother... Lan Ze muttered inwardly, shaking his head with a smile. "I won't be obsessed anymore once I beat it. It's just like reading a book—you can't wait to know what happens next, so you keep reading on and on until you reach the ending you want, and then you won't be so obsessed anymore."
"Hmm..." Sajyou Manaka startled, then immediately murmured with a thoughtful look, "I get it. This is similar to a boy and a girl in a relationship; both sides are like a book, reading each other's book. Once they read to the end, they get tired of it, and then they break up..."
"You make it sound like a heartless b*tch." Lan Ze retorted.
"After falling in love, you grind against each other; if there are no problems, you can consider marriage. How could it definitely end in breakup?"
"That's what you say, but... very few actually manage to talk about marriage and reach it," Sajyou Manaka said.
"Well... that depends on the situation." Lan Ze pondered for a moment, glanced at the bread on the table, and joked, "Whenever you manage to make breakfast right, I think we can pretty much get married."
"Really?" Sajyou Manaka's eyes brightened slightly.
"Yeah, on the condition that you can actually make it," Lan Ze smiled. "That way I can become your freeloader."
"It's precisely because you always have designs on my family's fortune that I don't want to become lovers with you." Sajyou Manaka pouted unhappily.
"Huh..."
She glanced at the milk on the table that had only had a single sip taken out of it, then looked at Lan Ze, who had already stood up, and asked in confusion, "Aren't you drinking milk this morning?"
"No need, just some water will do." Lan Ze shook his head.
Milk... I'll drink it after logging on.
"Your body's nutrition won't keep up that way," Sajyou Manaka reminded him.
My nutrition is definitely going to keep up... it's even a bit too nourishing.
Lan Ze shook his head with a smile. "This milk doesn't have a strong enough milk flavor."
"Does it?" Sajyou Manaka blinked, picked up the cup of water from the table, and took a small sip.
Then she said in confusion, "It's quite sweet, though."
"Hmm... maybe I'm just a bit picky," Lan Ze smiled.
Sajyou Manaka gazed at Lan Ze as he returned to his room, the young girl's eyes filled with thick incomprehension and perplexity.
"Why does it feel like not only does he have the scent of a beast... but he even has magical energy himself?"
"Is it an illusion...?"
Time passed silently and imperceptibly.
Before he knew it, Lan Ze had spent nearly half a month in this dreamscape once again.
Over these past two half-months, he would use the Illusion Manifestation ability to construct a weapon every day. Whenever he was thirsty he drank some milk, whenever he was hungry he drank some milk, and whenever his magical energy was insufficient... he still drank milk.
All in all, he could be quite certain that his physical fitness had indeed increased by a lot.
Not just within the game, but even in reality as well.
And this allowed Lan Ze to be entirely certain that the game he was playing was actually a genuinely existing world—at least the people and events he saw now were truly happening.
Only, he didn't know why it had become linked with the game CD in his room.
However, Lan Ze didn't care about these things; he just wanted to feed Tiamat Holy Grails.
"Aaaaa!"
Tiamat stood at the edge of the coastline, her hands clasped together in front of her immense chest like a devout prayer, letting out a wonderful song from her mouth.
Her singing was plaintive and poignant, brimming with sorrow.
Lan Ze sat to the side, watching the woman's graceful figure, feeling somewhat helpless.
The reason for Tiamat's sorrow was actually very simple: it was because of that anime she had finished watching just a few days ago.
She had constantly projected herself onto the second female lead, but the one who won in the end was the female protagonist.
This also made Tiamat, who had been engrossed in binge-watching the show, extremely upset. This Creation Mother Goddess was watching anime for the very first time, and such an ending ultimately left her feeling somewhat insecure and melancholic.
"It's fine, the plot was already destined from the very beginning, but I'm different. I won't abandon you," Lan Ze stood nearby and softly comforted Tiamat.
"Aaa~ Aaaaa~" Tiamat turned back to look at her child, then let out two soft cries, as if acting spoiled.
Seeing this, Lan Ze gently opened his arms, smiling as he intended to give her a hug.
Yet the next moment, the back of his head was suddenly pressed down by Tiamat, and then gently pushed against her chest.
"Mm..."
The unexpected embrace nearly suffocated Lan Ze.
He was immersed in Tiamat's grand maternal love, and only after quite a while did he finally leave her embrace, panting heavily with large breaths.
It seemed that rather than being comforted by others, Mother preferred to comfort others even more... especially through that sort of extremely intimate embrace.
This woman is really quite clingy... Looking at Tiamat's gentle gaze, Lan Ze couldn't help sighing inwardly in his heart.
"Aaaa?" Tiamat noticed Lan Ze's gaze, slightly tilting her head as she looked at him in incomprehension.
"It's nothing." Lan Ze shook his head and smiled.
Pausing for a moment, he continued, "That's right, Mother. Do you want to go take a look at the outside world?"
Tiamat's body stiffened noticeably. She lowered her head to look at Lan Ze, and after remaining silent for a long while, she gently shook her head. "Aaa (No need)."
"Aaaa (I'll just stay right here)."
When she said this, she hesitated for a moment, and ultimately still softly began to sing, "Aaaaaa (If you want to leave, I won't stop you)."
"AaaaAAaa (Keeping you with me all this time has caused you a lot of trouble)."
She spoke faster and faster, her tone somewhat hurried, because she thought Lan Ze had actually wanted to leave long ago, and only felt sorry for her, which was why he had waited until now to say it.
"Aaaa (Don't worry about me)."
"Aaaaa (Go do the things you want to do)."
"Aaaaa (... It's fine even if I'm all by myself)."
Lan Ze looked at Tiamat with a mixture of heartache and helplessness; this woman was still comforting him up to this very moment. Although her words of comfort were very clumsy—roughly translating to something like "Child, don't worry about me"—they still made one feel her genuine sincerity.
"I want to leave this place together with you," Lan Ze softly interrupted her words.
"I can let you leave this place while remaining conscious."
At almost the very same time, Tiamat noticeably froze, staring blankly at Lan Ze.
She tilted her head, as if doubting whether she had heard correctly.
At this moment, Lan Ze raised his right hand, placed it on the woman's smooth and tender cheek, and said softly, "I'll take you away from here."
"Let's go to the outside world... and see just how much change this land has undergone nowadays."
"However, before leaving, we need to properly get dressed..."
"And there's also that pair of horns on your head..."
Lan Ze pressed a hand against his chin while appraising the pair of horns on Tiamat's head that she could conceal in no way.
If Tiamat were to leave just like this, would she probably be recognized at a glance?
After all, how could ordinary people possibly grow such a pair of horns on their heads?
He had to find a way to help cover them up... Lan Ze thought for a moment and immediately came up with a solution.
He materialized a wide-brimmed laced top hat and walked over to Tiamat's side, placing it upon her head. In this way, it precisely concealed the pair of horns on her head—though if one looked closely they could still be seen, at least it wouldn't be so obvious anymore.
Right at this moment, Tiamat was sitting at the edge of the coastline, her head of sleek, turquoise long hair hanging down straight to her calves like a waterfall, her expression revealing a sense of unease.
Lan Ze had told her that he could take her away from here together with him, yet she still found it somewhat hard to believe.
Even so, she had very earnestly dressed herself up, donning the dress Lan Ze had prepared for her, with a black cummerbund gently tied around her slender waist, proudly accentuating her full bosom.
A healthy flush tinted her cheeks. Toward the outside world, this Creation Mother Goddess harbored feelings of excitement mingled with a bit of fear.
"Very pretty," Lan Ze appraised her up and down for a long while before praising.
It was worth the effort he took to specially materialize the clothes he had seen in a fashion magazine a few days ago. Although Mother in a student uniform skirt was wonderful, he felt that Mother looking like this was also quite lovely and sexy.
Sure enough, being good-looking meant one could do whatever one pleased.
"Will I really not... be a bother?" Tiamat looked up at Lan Ze.
"No, rest assured." Lan Ze merely smiled.
He reached his hand out toward Tiamat. "Let's go."
This time Tiamat didn't say anything further. She gently rested her hand upon Lan Ze's, and then saw his lips part slightly, seemingly murmuring something softly.
Then the very next moment, the environment before their eyes shattered apart like a fantastical bubble, and Lan Ze only heard an emotionless, cold mechanical voice transmit into his ears:
[Quest completed: bring Mother Tiamat out of the dreamscape, reward: Spirit Core Expansion 20%]
Simultaneously, Lan Ze found that his body seemed to have undergone subtle changes.
He felt that the magical energy which had already been completely replenished now had a large, entire chunk emptied out once more.
Clearly, this was the Spirit Core Expansion the system spoke of.
"It looks like I'll have to find time to replenish my magical energy again..." Lan Ze murmured inwardly to himself, instinctively glancing at Tiamat a couple more times.
The woman at this moment was dressed in a black knee-length skirt, the hem printed with butterflies that seemed to be dancing gracefully. The skirt hem fluttered gently in the breeze, revealing the fair and crystalline skin beneath the skirt.
She seemed not to have appeared upon this land for a very long time. Standing before the mountain peak right now, her usually calm, red, beautiful eyes faintly shimmered with a joyous luster inside.
She gazed out into the land of Mesopotamia, her mouth slightly parted, revealing a cute canine tooth.
And then the next moment, Tiamat clasped her hands together in front of her chest, letting out the wonderful singing of "Aaa".
Before you continue