Lifespan Burning System: Master Everything by Burning Lifespan!
Chapter 33: Yuki

Chapter 33: Yuki

Rhys was stunned by the girl’s request. Her floating head looked at him with teary, expectant eyes.

"Feed you?" Rhys asked. He felt completely bewildered.

"What does that even mean? Are we just going to ignore the fact that I just... no, that you tried to kill me, and so I defended myself?"

The girl’s head sniffled. "But you said you forgave me," she said, her voice soft and a little shaky. \

"And you said you were a magnificent man. Magnificent men keep their promises. You promised to write off our enmity."

She was using his own words against him. Rhys felt cornered by his own clever trick. He had tried to manipulate her, but now he was the one being manipulated.

"That doesn’t mean I’m your personal food supply!" he argued. He felt very foolish.

The girl looked genuinely confused. "But I am weak," she said. "My body is losing energy. If I turn back into... that... I cannot talk to you anymore. And you will be all alone." She said this with a real hint of sadness in her voice.

It made Rhys feel strangely guilty.

[You are under the influence of mind magic.]

A warm current rushed through his body, clearing his foggy mind. Only then did he understand that he had just been manipulated by the girl.

He did not show it on the outside, but he cursed mentally.

’What kind of element is this?’

[More like a Trait...]

Rhys stared at the floating head. Her teary eyes were expectant. If not for the System’s warning that he had just been almost manipulated by her, she looked harmless; cute, if he had to say so.

Her face also showed confusion at his silence. He sighed. He knew he had to make a deal. Violence was not working. Arguing was not working. He needed a new plan.

’System,’ he thought. ’Is there a way to make a contract? Something she can’t break?’

[System analysing: We do not know her nature, form, or even if she is real, or just like every other monster here. A normal contract would be meaningless.

However, a contract bound by the Host’s own life force could create a tether. She is drawn to your lifespan. We can use that attraction to create a rule she must follow.]

’So, a contract she won’t want to break because it would cut off her food supply?’

[Precisely. A tactical manipulation based on her primary need.]

Rhys felt a new sense of confidence. "Okay. Fine," he said. "You want to be fed. I want to survive. Let’s make a contract. A real one."

The girl’s floating head tilted. "Contract?" she asked, the word sounding new to her.

"Yes," Rhys said, trying to sound very official. "A set of rules that we both have to follow. If either of us breaks the rules, the deal is off. And you won’t get any more of my... energy."

Her eyes widened slightly. She seemed to understand. "Okay," she said eagerly. "A contract."

Rhys laid out the terms of the contract the System had sent to his mind. "First: You will not try to drain my lifespan without my permission. The feeding must be consensual."

She nodded.

"Second: You will never hurt me in this labyrinth." She nodded again, more eagerly this time.

"Third: You will answer my questions about this place when I ask them. No more secrets."

"I agree!" she said, her tears stopping instantly.

"But I have terms too."

"First," she said quickly, "you will provide me with life energy when I ask for it. If I run out of power, I will have to sleep again, and then I cannot protect you."

"Second," she continued, her gaze becoming sharp, "you will not try to kill me again. It was very rude. If you are rude again, our contract is broken."

Rhys nodded slowly. "Deal."

[Contract parameters confirmed,] the System announced in his mind.

[Binding the agreement to the Host’s lifespan flow. The contract will remain active until the Labyrinth is completed. Any breach will sever the connection. The consequencess will be death.]

It was perfect. Now for the most dangerous part.

"Now," the girl’s head said, her voice bright and cheerful, "release my body so you can feed me!"

Rhys felt a surge of fear. Deactivating the formation was a huge risk. The moment she was free, she could kill him.

He would be completely at her mercy. He looked at her floating head. Her expression was now one of pure, innocent expectation.

He had no other choice. He had to trust the contract. He took a deep breath.

[Host, you know a contract cannot be broken. You are safe from her, at least inside this labyrinth.]

’Why didn’t you make it broader? Like, so she can’t hurt me even when we are outside?’

[Every contract is valid only in the world where it is formed. A labyrinth is a new world, so contracts made here are valid only here.]

’So that’s it.’

He made a small gesture with his hand. The invisible energy of the Soul-flow regulation array dissolved. The effect was immediate.

The girl’s headless body on the ground glowed with a soft light. Her floating head drifted back towards it. It settled onto her neck seamlessly.

The deep cut from his dagger vanished. The hole in her chest where he stabbed her heart closed up. In a second, she was whole again.

She stood up, pulling the robe around herself more securely this time. The immediate threat was gone, but the tension in the air was still thick.

"The contract is sealed," she said happily. "Now, it is time for the first payment. I am very hungry."

She walked up to him. Rhys instinctively tensed up. Instead of grabbing his neck as he had imagined, she gently took his hand.

She looked up at him, her furry ears twitching.

"Is this okay?" she asked, her voice soft.

[You are under the influence of mind magic.]

"Y-yes," Rhys acted, as if affected.

’Why can she still use mind magic on me?’

[Well, it is considered harmless.]

She smiled. It was a genuine, beautiful smile that lit up her face. She brought his hand to her lips and gently bit his finger. Rhys felt a sharp prick.

’The fuck, she bit me!’

[It seems she is using seduction on you.]

The familiar, controlled draining of his lifespan began. It was not painful, just strange. He watched, mesmerised, as a faint, golden light flowed from his finger into her mouth.

After a few moments, she let go. She licked her lips.

"Delicious," she said, her cheeks slightly flushed. "You taste much better than the old man."

’I choose to believe the owner of this labyrinth was dried clean by this girl,’ Rhys shook his head.

"We still need a name for you," Rhys said, changing the subject. "I can’t keep calling you ’you’."

He looked at her snow-white skin and silver hair. "I’ll call you Yuki."

"Yuki," she repeated, testing the name. She smiled again. "I like it."

"So, Yuki," he said. "Where are all the Feral monsters? I came here to hunt them." Yuki looked around the empty clearing.

"Oh, them," she said, her voice casual. "I wanted their life energy. So I killed them all."

Rhys stared at her. He felt his plans for evolving his profession core crumble into dust. She had wiped out every Feral in the area.

He had no choice.

"Then we have to go deeper into the Labyrinth," he said with a sigh.

They started to walk. On the way, as they reached the edge of the ash plains, Rhys saw something in the distance.

It was a shape on the horizon. It was huge. It looked like a mountain. But it was moving. It was a slow, lumbering shape made of black rock.

The ground shook with each of its heavy steps. It was a Golem, but it was bigger than anything Rhys could have imagined.

Yuki saw it too. She immediately grabbed his arm and pulled him back behind a large rock formation. Her face was serious for the first time.

"Do not let it see you," she whispered.

Rhys stared in awe at the moving mountain.

’System, what is that?’

[Ash Golem detected.]

[Bloodline: Titan.]

[Cultivation: Stage 1.]

Rhys felt his blood run cold.

’A Titan?’ What kind of entity was that? Could a human even fight against it? But the System’s next notifications were even more horrifying.

[Status: Deceased.]

[Warning: The entity is dead. The ash that covers these plains is the result of its body slowly decaying over centuries. The process is not yet complete.]

[Estimated time until complete decomposition and cessation of ash fall: 347 years.]