pretty blood carl x elma

Getting to her feet, covered in dirt and sweat, Thera cracked her whips and wrapped them around Cain’s neck and wrist, then pulled. The surface of the water, solid and smooth like polished stone, became rough and sharp like a cheese grater, and as she pulled, it ripped across Cain’s skin. All of her previous opponents had suffered this fate. At best, they received epidermal abrasions similar to a bicycle accident, and at worst, their flesh was peeled off like an orange. However, Cain laughed and snapped the liquid coils. His flesh had been scoured, but it just barely. It wasn’t just the muscles and horn of a rhino; he also had their tough skin.

As he looked into her beautiful blue eyes, saw her adoring smile, and admired the flawless scarlet of her hair, he felt a stirring in his chest. After all of the one-night stands he had experienced, his evening with Sophia at the academy should not have affected him. He stepped aside, letting Alexis be with her as they were meant to be, and yet, at the moment, he found himself longing for her. She was sweet, loving, courageous, and pure of heart while honest about her desires. He wanted to hold her, to kiss her, to caress her, to wake up beside her and see her smile. But was that because of his feelings for her, or his feelings for who she reminded him of?

Noah had already made progress in slowing the flow of his mana and his bodily functions, and the headband was helping. His heart dropped to one beat a minute, and he all but stopped breathing. Typically, such a state would be fatal, but the more he slowed down his mana, the more he could forestall damage. Without mana flowing, his cells would stop processing nourishment and oxygen, but they wouldn’t wither and die, for the molecular processes of cell death were also halted. Caught in a near-perfect state of suspended animation, his physical senses operated at the lowest possible level, and he became more attuned to the flow of mana around him, sharpening his spirit senses.