Chapter 136: Astraea Noctis Sylvermoon 1 (R18)

"I understand better now why Selene talks so much about your meals."

Adam blinked.

"She’s been talking about my cooking so far?"

Lyriana replied:

"A lot."

"How much exactly?"

Elaria looked up.

"More than fighting."

Adam remained silent.

"I don’t know if I should take that as a compliment."

"It is," Lyriana replied.

They cleared the table.

Adam cleaned up quickly.

Then the four of them returned to the living room.

Astraea made more tea.

This time...

The conversation became much calmer.

The light outside gradually faded.

Eight kilometers above the ground, in the very heart of the World Tree, Adam had almost forgotten that they were at such an absurdly high altitude.

Through one of the large openings...

He could see a part of Sylvaris.

A sea of ??leaves.

Colossal branches.

Small lights from the dwellings.

Further on...

Nothing but the sky.

Adam remained silent for a few moments.

"This view is incredible."

Astraea followed his gaze.

"I’ve gotten used to it."

"I don’t think I ever will."

Lyriana smiled.

"You say that now."

They talked some more.

About the next day’s plans.

About the World Tree.

About the Technology Fragment.

About the different places Astraea wanted to show them.

About how the platforms worked.

Then, gradually...

Fatigue began to set in.

Lyriana put down her cup.

"I’m going to sleep."

Elaria stood up as well.

"Me too."

Adam looked at them both.

"Already?"

Lyriana nodded.

"We’ve been walking a lot these past few days."

It was true.

But something in her expression seemed...

Suspicious.

Elaria also avoided his gaze.

Adam narrowed his eyes.

"Why do I get the feeling you’re deliberately leaving me somewhere?"

"Imagination," Elaria replied.

Adam remained silent.

He knew this group well enough by now to know that when Elaria said things like that...

They were almost always untrue.

Lyriana gave her mother a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Goodnight, Mother."

"Goodnight."

Then she looked at Adam.

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight..."

Elaria simply waved her hand.

"See you tomorrow."

The two left the living room.

Adam watched them go.

Then he waited.

One second.

Two.

Three.

He turned slowly toward Astraea.

She was already looking at him.

Adam pointed toward the hallway.

"They’ve really just left."

"Yes."

"Together."

"Yes."

"Without me."

Astraea smiled.

"Apparently."

Adam sighed.

"Traitors."

Astraea stood up.

Then she approached.

She instinctively took his arm.

Adam looked at her.

No embarrassment.

No hesitation.

As if the decision had been made long ago.

Astraea began to lead him toward the hallway.

"Come on."

Adam raised an eyebrow slightly.

"Where?"

She turned her head toward him.

A smile appeared on her face.

This time...

Not the kind that foreshadowed a suplex.

Thankfully.

"To my room."

Adam immediately understood why Lyriana and Elaria had vanished so easily.

"They planned it."

"Probably."

"And no one warned me."

Astraea continued walking.

"What would you have done if they had warned you?"

Adam thought for a moment.

Then he admitted:

"Probably nothing different."

Astraea chuckled softly.

They arrived at a large door carved directly from the living wood of the World Tree.

Astraea placed a hand on it.

Then she looked at Adam.

"I can’t wait."

Adam smiled slightly.

"You’re really not embarrassed at all."

"Why should I be?"

The door opened.

Astraea stepped inside with him.

Then it closed gently behind them.

The rest of their evening remained private.

Adam followed Astraea down the corridor.

She walked with the same confidence.

No hesitation.

No embarrassment.

As if everything that had just happened in the living room had simply led naturally to this place.

After a few steps, Astraea opened a second door.

Adam went in behind it.

Then he stopped.

The room was much simpler than he had imagined.

Not poor.

Not empty.

Simple.

Almost minimalist.

The walls were formed directly from the living wood of the World Tree.

Shades of warm brown dominated the room, mingled with various touches of green from the plants that grew naturally in several alcoves.

Just a few pieces of furniture.

A large bed.

A small table.

Two armchairs.

A bookcase.

A few shelves.

And a large opening to the outside.

Adam moved slightly closer.

Eight kilometers above the ground, the view was even more impressive from this part of the house.

In the distance...

Sylvaris resembled a vast ocean of vegetation.

"Do you really live like this every day?"

Astraea stopped beside him.

"For a very long time."

"I think I’ll need several more weeks before I stop looking outside every five minutes."

She laughed softly.

"It eventually becomes normal."

Adam looked around.

The light also caught his attention.

There were practically no luminous crystals like in Valoria.

Instead...

Small mushrooms grew on various sections of the walls.

Their caps emitted a soft, slightly greenish light.

Not bright enough to be harsh.

But enough to illuminate the entire room.

Adam approached one of them.

"Natural?"

"Yes."

"Not enchanted?"

"Not directly." They naturally absorb a small amount of mana from the World Tree and release it as light."

Adam nodded.

"So even your lamps grow on their own."

Astraea smiled.

"In a way."

He looked around the room again.

Everything seemed to have been designed with the same philosophy as the rest of Sylvaris.

Don’t force nature.

Working with her.

The wood’s shape itself created some of the shelves.

Plants were part of the decor.

Even the furniture primarily used simple forms.

"It suits you quite well."

Astraea turned her head.

"What do you mean?"

Adam thought for a moment.

"Calm down."

He looked at the wood.

"Natural."

Then his gaze returned to her.

"And much more dangerous than it looks."

Astraea remained silent for a second.

Then she burst out laughing.

"Lyriana really told you too much."

"I mostly saw the demonstration earlier."

She smiled.

"They deserved it."

Adam raised both hands.

"I’m still not taking sides."

"Wise decision." "

Astraea then indicated a side door.

"Come on. After several days of traveling, you must want to wash properly."

Adam immediately agreed.

"There’s no question about it."

The bathroom followed the exact same principle as the bedroom.

Living wood.

Light-colored stone.

Plants.

And a soft light emanating from the same small, bioluminescent mushrooms.

The water came directly from a system integrated into the World Tree.

Adam didn’t even ask how it worked.

He already knew the answer would likely lead to ten more questions.

They took their time washing and relaxing.

There was no rush.

After several days spent on the roads, in the forests, and in the mountains...

Simply being under the warm water was already pleasant.

Astraea stayed close to Adam, much more relaxed than she had been during their long conversation in the living room.

For a moment...

They barely spoke.

Then Astraea asked:

"Well?"

Adam glanced up slightly.

"Well what?"

"This world."

She remained silent for a few seconds.

"Have you gotten used to it?"

The question surprised him slightly.

Since his arrival...

Many people had asked him where he came from.

What he could do.

How certain things worked on Earth.

But far fewer had simply asked him if he had adapted to his new life.

Adam really thought about it.

"Yes."

Then he corrected himself:

"Well... I think so."

Astraea waited.

Adam continued:

"At first, everything was strange."

He looked at the water.

"Magic. The races. The monsters. The guilds. Even the social rules."

A small smile appeared.

"And now I can ride through a forest on a Windsteed, fight a goblin colony, and end the day chatting eight kilometers above the ground in a tree that distributes mana to the entire planet."

Astraea laughed.

"Put like that..."

"Yes. My definition of ’normal’ has changed a lot."

She then asked another question.

"Do you miss your old world?"

Adam remained silent for a while longer.

"Some things."

He didn’t try to deny it.

"Certain habits. Certain knowledge that I no longer have easy access to. Very simple things that I didn’t even think about before losing them."

Then he shrugged slightly.

"But I don’t spend all my time looking back either."

Astraea nodded.

"It’s probably better that way."

"I think so too."

They continued for a while longer.

Astraea asked him what he found most difficult in this world.

What had surprised him the most.

What he liked best now.

Adam sometimes answered seriously.

Sometimes humorously.

And the conversation gradually became much more natural.

After a while, Adam looked at Astraea.

He had noticed since their first meeting how striking the resemblance to Lyriana was.

The silver hair.

The violet eyes.

Certain gestures.

Even certain expressions.

But Astraea possessed a much more pronounced self-assurance.

A tranquility born of far more experience.

Adam finally said:

"You know..."

"Yes?"

"You’re much bolder than your daughter."

Astraea paused.

Then an amused smile appeared.

"Lyriana?"

"Yes."

Adam chuckled.

"The first time, she was much more timid."

Astraea burst out laughing.

"That doesn’t surprise me at all."

"Really?"

"She was already like that when she was little."

Astraea shook her head slightly.

"She can walk into a place full of enemies on her own without hesitating..."

Adam smiled.

"I’ve noticed."

"But as soon as something becomes personal, she starts overthinking things."

"I’ve noticed that too."

Astraea continued:

"Give her time."

She smiled slightly mockingly.

"The longer she spends with you, the less reserved she’ll be."

Adam nodded.

"I think it’s already started."

For the past few days...

Lyriana was indeed taking his arm much more readily.

She snuggled up to him without hesitation.

She teased him more.

And she expressed her thoughts much more directly.

"So you see?"

Astraea seemed particularly pleased.

"I know my daughter."

Adam smiled.

"I had no doubt."

They finally left the bathroom.

After drying themselves, they quietly returned to the bedroom.

The greenish light from the mushrooms was even softer now that night had completely fallen.

No other outside light disturbed the room.

Astraea stopped by the bed.

Then she turned around.

For a few seconds...

No one spoke.

The lighthearted tone of their conversation had naturally vanished.

Astraea moved closer.

This time, she wasn’t joking.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.

Long. Deep. As if she had been waiting for this exact moment since she had first seen him.

Adam responded immediately.

His hands slid down his back, then settled firmly on his buttocks. He lifted her in one swift motion.

Astraea wrapped her legs around his waist without hesitation, clinging to him with surprising strength. Her breasts pressed against his chest. Their kiss didn’t break.

His penis, already erect, pressed between Astraea’s buttocks, and her clear juices showed how eager she was to continue.

Adam continued kissing her while rubbing his penis against her vulva and buttocks.

Astraea sensed this and stopped kissing him to say:

"The girls weren’t lying to me, you have a hell of a penis! I can feel it against me now. I can’t wait to get down to business."

Before continuing to kiss him while moving her buttocks, her vulva became increasingly wet.