Robotically I forced my body to a standing position. Sweat dripped down my face and soaked my undershirt and pants. My robe had long been discarded on the bench. However, before I could grab the staff again, I fell backwards onto my bottom. The sky had long since darkened as the blue was replaced with a fiery orange.
The pain from my efforts had left its effects on my body. I looked at my hands for the first time since I started this self-destructive training. They were shaking, and I could see goosebumps running along my arm. A quick examination confirmed that most of my body was currently in this state. It was as if my body were giving me a warning that it was at its limit.
'Well, that is it for today.' I thought as I took a look at the upgrade task in the left corner of my vision.
[Current Progress: 10/10,000]
The numbers on the screen hovering in front of me took away most of my self-satisfaction. It was less than half of the amount I was intending. At this rate I could forget about completing this upgrade mission in a year. Heck, it would take me almost three years to do so.
"Whatever. What is important is that I made progress." I allowed myself to speak aloud. As the shaking in my limbs faded, I stood up and began to pat the dirt off me. As I was heading over to grab my staff that had rolled away when I fell, I suddenly had a thought.
'Don't I have another skill to try out?'
I navigated through my interface until I arrived at my skill window. Under active skills was the skill that I had ignored until now
[Summon/Recall: By focusing, the user can summon their artifact from long distances or store the artifact within their body.]
As I began thinking about using the skill, I felt that familiar itchiness inside my torso, and suddenly the staff that was lying on the ground rocketed towards me. Quickly my hands flew up to protect my face, only for the staff to accurately land directly into the palm of my right hand. I felt the force of the impact in my hand from the speed, but there was no pain.
"That's convenient."
With another thought, the rod disappeared as if it were never there, and I could feel a weight settle in my chest.
I grabbed my discarded outer robe from the bench and began to make my way back towards the bath. On the way I ran into another maid that I didn't recognize. Seeing my stop in front of her, she immediately stood at attention and lowered herself into a professional bow.
"Good evening, Lord Meng. I hope that your day has been going well." The woman spoke with confidence perfectly tinged with trained submissiveness. A professional among professionals.
"My day is going well," I replied with a nod. Before I could say more, she spoke up once more.
"Lord Meng, I have prepared the bath for you along with a change of clothes. Dinner will be ready when you exit." She stated calmly.
A smile slowly grew on my face. I instantly had a positive impression of this maid. After all, what manager would dislike a competent subordinate? Especially one who could predict their bosses' needs.
For the first time since arriving in this world, I asked the question. "What is your name?"
I took in her appearance in the moment between my question and her answer. She appeared to be in her thirties and of average height. Her black hair was short; her equally black eyes weren't much to write home about. Her appearance was simply average for me, if a bit homely.
Other than a slight widening of the eyes, no surprise showed on her face.
"This maid is called Shi."
"Well, Maid Shi, I would like to eat dinner with my family, so arrange my food to be delivered to the nursery." As I spoke, I repeated the maid's name multiple times so I would not forget it. It would be a shame to forget such a competent employee.
"Yes sir." Her reply was swift, and after a reflexive nod from me, she quickly left.
I then continued on my way to the bath to freshen up. After about ten minutes of freshening up, I was dressed in nightwear, walking to the nursery where my wife and son were currently staying.
As I arrived in front of the familiar black door with golden trim, I felt a sense of trepidation. For the first time I would be having a real conversation with someone who is supposed to be my wife. Normally one would think I could just leverage my memories to converse with her.
However, the strange thing is that even after receiving Meng Tao's memories last night, I only have vague memories of the "Lady Meng." I remember meeting her at the bar, flirting, doing battle with her at night once, and then getting married a few weeks later when her pregnancy was confirmed. After that, I only have memories of being buried in work in my office or occasionally reading in my spare downtime. That means that in the course of almost a year I had little to no contact with my wife.
"This is getting me nowhere," I muttered while rubbing my temples. Right when I was going to knock on the door, I heard a melodious voice coming from the other side.
"Come in." Echoed the voice. The voice was pleasant, but I sensed a hint of indifference.
Filing that information away for later, I opened the door and a familiar scene greeted me. Meng Mei was sitting in a chair at a table by the window, the same position I saw her in when I was training. The only difference was that our son was no longer in her arms. Unconsciously my eyes darted around the room until I saw him sleeping in a crib close to the bed.
After a few seconds, I looked back towards Ming Mei, noticing that the table in front of her had plates of still steaming food on it along with a teapot. I took several steps towards the table and then sat down across from her.
"How was your day?" I asked her. The first step in any relationship is to establish rapport.
"Fine." She responded coldly. After I sat down, she took that as a signal to start eating as if to dissuade me from asking further questions.
I tried to break the ice by asking a few more questions but only received a few perfunctory responses and a slight glare. I supposed it was a bit rude to keep asking questions while eating.
I put it out of my mind and began to eat myself. The dinner in front of me was some sort of pasta dish with meat and some kind of green sauce. I looked across from me and could see that my wife was eating the same thing. After taking a bite, I experienced a delightful blend of sweetness and spiciness. The food somehow even surpassed what I had eaten for lunch. At this point, the meal completely captured my attention, leaving no desire for further conversation.
Before I knew it, the plate in front of me was empty, and I could not help but lick my lips of any remaining sauce. When I brought my attention back to Meng Mei, I could see that she was still in the process of eating. However, perhaps distracted by me, she froze while staring at me in a peculiar way.
I had always been a fast eater in my last life whenever I ate something delicious. Surprisingly, I felt a twinge of embarrassment at her intense gaze.
I cleared my throat and spoke. "Sorry about that; the food was so good I couldn't help myself."
"Was it really that good?" She questioned with an unreadable look in her eyes.
With this being the first time since she named Feng that she took the initiative to speak up, I quickly responded to this chance to break the ice.
"Absolutely! Whoever made this meal definitely needs a promotion." I spoke with passion. It is not often that I consume a meal I know I will remember for a long time. Reaching out, I grabbed two cups from the tea set and began to pour some of the tea into both of them. I then place one in front of me and Meng Mei.
Grabbing my cup of tea, I took a sip, and the familiar feeling of relaxation filled my head. A part of me wondered if they added some kind of drug in this tea. The much larger part of my mind doesn't care and refuses to investigate further. I closed my eyes while taking small sips, enjoying the flavors dancing on my tounge.
"How was your day?" Meng Mei's cool voice echoed through the room. I opened my eyes in slight confusion. However, instead of asking questions like an idiot, I took the bone she threw me.
"Well, I spent a good portion of time training in the yard today." I spoke, recounting the most memorable (traumatic) part of my day. I noticed her shaking her head at that.
"I saw that. I mean, what were you doing before that?" She spoke while taking a sip of tea from her cup.
"Before that?" My fingers drummed lightly on the table as I pondered her question for a second before remembering.
"Oh yeah. I mostly did some paperwork with Cao Peng." I said while snapping my fingers.
"Hmm?" She let out a hum, inviting me to elaborate.
"Today he brought in the monthly report, and we went over a few of the more pressing concerns." I took a much bigger gulp from the tea before letting out a sigh.
"There was far too much paperwork for one person. I spoke to Cao Peng and decided to form a council."
She seemed quite interested in this line of discussion, judging by how her eyes seemed to focus on me the moment she heard the word "council." The look in her eye was very familiar to me. It was the same look I or my colleagues would have whenever a promotion became available. To put it in simply, the look on her face was barely concealed ambition.
Seeing her interest, I elaborated on the conversation that Cao Peng and I had during lunch. After hearing everything I had to say, she spoke up once more.
"Wouldn't a council weaken your position?" She asked. The expression on her face was neutral, but the eye never lied. I was starting to get a slight grasp on her personality.
Unconsciously, I felt the corners of my lips lift into a smile. I loved these types of conversations the most.
"You sound like Cao Peng." I let out a bit of a laugh before continuing.
"It might, but by developing Skyfall City properly, I will have more power over time." I spoke with enthusiasm.
"How does the saying go? Better a medium fish in a river than a big fish in a pond." Purposefully butchering the saying, I managed to spot a grin on her face.
I noticed that night had fully arrived when I saw the moon's light reflect off her eyes.
"You are a bit interesting, Meng Tao." She replied simply with the grin still on her face. Her finger gently circling the rim of her cup.
The rest of the night was spent discussing potential power struggles and the council positions and responsibilities. And even potential responses to rebellion. It was the most fun I've had in years.