The Drunken Embrace and the Awakening

As the banquet drew to a close, the assembled guests began to disperse.

Noren and Tolke made their way back to the living quarters on the third floor of the castle.

Once the door was securely shut, Noren spoke in a hushed tone, “Do you recall our conversation from this afternoon?”

Tolke, his head still reeling slightly, roused himself with a conscious effort. “I do,” he affirmed, “You suggested we should re-examine the architectural layout within the castle’s main keep tonight.”

Noren nodded in agreement. “However, it is still too early,” she cautioned. “We shall proceed with our plan after the stroke of midnight.”

“Very well,” Tolke mumbled, “I find myself rather drowsy at the moment. I’ll rest for a while; wake me when it’s time to move.” No sooner had the words left his lips than he promptly collapsed onto the bed, succumbing to sleep.

“Damn it all!” Noren exclaimed, her mind working swiftly. “My agreeing to share a room with you does not, by any stretch of the imagination, equate to an invitation to share my bed!”

“Oh, never mind,” she sighed, resigning herself. “Sleep if you must.”

****

“Tolke, rouse yourself, it’s time to move!” Noren delivered two sharp slaps to Tolke’s face, jolting him awake, before she herself crouched by the narrow slit window, meticulously observing the castle’s patrol routes.

Peering through the window, Noren observed the castle walls, where torches blazed from every other merlon. The number of patrolling soldiers had significantly dwindled, a clear indication that the guards within the main keep would be similarly sparse.

“Tolke?”

Hearing no stir behind her, Noren wondered if Tolke had drifted back to sleep. Yet, before she could even turn to investigate…

A towering, dark silhouette materialized silently behind her.

The shadowy figure spread its broad arms, and slowly, menacingly, extended a large, wicked hand towards her…

“Eek!” Noren let out an abrupt, high-pitched shriek, reminiscent of a wailing cat, a sound that instantly ignited a furious blush of shame within her!

She had been embraced, caught completely off guard, without the slightest warning. The person’s hand had found its way to her most sensitive spot: her waist.

Noren’s greatest vulnerability was being tickled on her side, and this audacious individual was now shamelessly sliding their fingertips across her skin, mercilessly tickling her.

Suppressing the tremors that wracked her body from the unbearable tickling, she managed to brace her arm, intending to deliver a devastating elbow strike straight to the heart of her assailant, ensuring they would regret their insolence.

Such an elbow strike, she knew, would undoubtedly shatter their sternum, snap every rib, and leave them no chance of survival!

Before Noren could fully unleash her stored power, a soft murmur from the person behind her instantly froze her actions.

“Mmm… Noren, you smell so lovely…” The voice was undeniably Tolke’s.

“Tolke? Is that you?” Noren’s expression shifted to one of utter astonishment. She had never anticipated that the assailant who had ambushed her from behind would be Tolke.

Tolke rested his chin upon her shoulder, his breath, heavy with the scent of wine, brushed against Noren’s earlobe. An electric current, sparked by the contact, surged outward from her ear, rendering half her body delightfully numb.

“How dare you!” Noren, utterly taken aback, blurted out a phrase in English, a language utterly anachronistic for the medieval era.

“Mmm… sniff, sniff!… Noren, you truly are fragrant…” Tolke’s nose pressed against her neck, and the warm gusts of his breath streamed down her skin, disappearing beneath her collar.

The fine hairs on her neck instantly prickled, standing on end!

“What in the heavens?! To-Tolke, what has gotten into you!” She snatched at a mischievous hand that sought to venture further, her voice laced with a frantic edge. In her utter disarray, she even blurted out a few phrases in her native Chinese.

Indeed, to not be flustered would have been an impossibility; never in two lifetimes had she encountered such a predicament!

[‘Damn, my strength is deserting me!’] The delightful numbness from moments ago was now steadily spreading throughout her entire body, and Noren felt a growing sense of foreboding.

Seizing this opportune moment, Tolke exerted a powerful force, spinning her around. His sturdy arms snaked beneath her armpits, locking her in a vice-like embrace against his back.

They were now pressed intimately against each other.

“Tolke, you!” Noren exclaimed, her tone a mix of exasperation and indignation, as she pressed against the boy’s shoulders, attempting to push him away.

Yet, Tolke’s strength at this moment was unexpectedly formidable, and coupled with her own pervasive numbness, she found herself utterly unable to break free.

“Tolke, wake up!” Trapped in his embrace, she could only awkwardly extend her arm, attempting to slap the boy’s face.

With each slap, Tolke’s embrace only tightened further, their chests pressing so close they felt almost fused. The soft curves of her breasts were compressed, leaving her breathless.

“Tolke!” Noren hissed softly, daring not to raise her voice. Should she alert others within the castle’s main keep, the repercussions for Tolke would be dire beyond imagining.

Among the Norse, shieldmaidens possessed the right to choose their own mates. If other Norsemen discovered a shieldmaiden they admired had been defiled, they would assuredly challenge the defiler to a duel.

This particular concern, however, was unwarranted. Hafdan and Wiz, those two, were the quintessential medieval ‘otaku,’ interested only in Valkyries as potential wives. Both staunch followers of Thor, they would not, upon their return to Hradec, indulge in idle gossip like the followers of Loki.

However, the majority of occupants within the castle’s main keep were Christian Slavic feudal nobles. Should they witness a noble lady being thus affronted, they would, without hesitation, draw their swords and swiftly dispatch Tolke!

“Tsk! How utterly vexing!” Noren muttered, shaking her head with a soft ‘tsk.’ Was she truly to remain trapped in this embrace indefinitely?

‘What on earth has gotten into this boy, Tolke? Is he so starved for affection that he craves a warm embrace?’

Little did she know, in the very instant Noren averted her gaze, the boy—his senses clouded by the *[TL note: The original Chinese text uses ‘**粉’ which literally means ‘powder’. Given the context of drunkenness and unusual behavior, this likely refers to some kind of intoxicating or aphrodisiac powder mixed into the drink.’] powder*—had discovered a new continent: her golden hair had slipped aside, revealing the pristine expanse of her fair neck.

“Eek, eek, eek!” The young woman’s pearly teeth bit down hard on her lower lip, her entire body tensing as her noble, swan-like neck arched high.

By the heavens, she had been given a hickey!

An ineffable wave of shame washed over her, yet what truly mortified her was her body’s immediate, involuntary response.

That ‘great white tiger’ she had carefully nurtured, her own primal instincts, had actually been enticed by such a minor provocation, leaving her breathless. ‘A beast is a beast,’ she lamented internally, ‘utterly beyond the dominion of the mind!’

Noren – Stress Level: +50

Noren suddenly let out a laugh, a sound so chilling it sent shivers down her own spine. Veins pulsed visibly on her temples, and the corners of her lips twitched uncontrollably—a stark, twisted laugh born from the very apex of her fury.

“Tolke, do not fault me for abandoning all sense of propriety,” Noren hissed, her voice low and menacing. “Chinese martial arts dictate striking vital points. While eyes are too precious, and my current position precludes a strike to your throat, that leaves only one option… Hmph hmph~”

Noren met Tolke’s gaze, only to find his eyes glazed and unfocused, his mind clearly muddled. It was evident that only the most unconventional methods would rouse him now.

Her right hand clenched, knuckles cracking audibly. She was poised to unleash a truly explosive attack!

“Monkey Steals the Peaches!”

Her hand shot out, a swift, precise strike that found its mark!

“Hmph hmph~” Noren let out a wicked chuckle, observing Tolke. She tightened her grip, eager to witness the grotesque contortions of his pain-racked face.

She had never intended such an action, but what else was she to do when he succumbed to such a drunken frenzy, inexplicably murmuring about her ‘fragrance’? Had Tolke not been her companion for over a decade, growing up with her since childhood, she would undoubtedly have killed him, scattering his ashes to the winds!

Yet, Tolke remained in his drunken stupor, his face utterly devoid of any pain. Instead, like a rutting boar, he burrowed even more forcefully into her neck.

“Hiss~” Noren hissed, clenching her jaw tightly, desperately trying to suppress the overwhelming urge to laugh. She truly abhorred being tickled!

Left with no alternative, she intensified the pressure of her grip, hoping that the ensuing pain would compel Tolke to release her.

Alas, even as she unleashed a barrage of formidable martial arts—the Nine Yin White Bone Claw, the Great Eagle Claw Skill, the Dragon Claw Grappling Hand, the Tiger Claw Extinction Hand, and countless other profound techniques—they proved utterly futile.

Any ordinary person, she mused, would surely have long since ceased their struggles.

Indeed, the heroines of wuxia tales would have either resigned themselves, loosened their robes in preparation for intimacy, or nobly offered their throats to the blade, accepting death with solemn grace.

But who, truly, was Noren?

She was none other than the ‘Progenitor of Bloodlines,’ endowed with the formidable triple heritage of Herculean strength, captivating beauty, and profound wisdom!

To yield so readily to such a minor setback would be to invite the scorn and mockery of the entire world!

“Take this! Take this! Take this!”

Unleashing a myriad of martial arts with effortless grace, Noren assailed Tolke, who, like a human training dummy used by a national martial arts master, absorbed her furious, relentless onslaught, blow after blow!

“Oh-ho-ho!” Tolke suddenly emitted a strange, guttural howl, the sound reverberating eerily through the quiet stone living room.

Noren’s body stiffened abruptly. She lifted her head, her limpid eyes now reflecting a look of utterly clear bewilderment.

Slowly, she withdrew her right hand, her eyelashes fluttering rapidly as she stared blankly at her own hand, her mind having seemingly crashed…

“Alert! Alert! Cerebral command center temperature critically high! Initiate immediate cool-down p—”

Before the internal broadcast could even conclude, a ‘boom’ echoed within her mind, and countless wisps of superheated steam seemed to erupt from her forehead!

Noren – Stress Level: +150

Critical Stress Level Two!!!

“I… you… arrrgh!” Noren’s teeth ground together with an audible ‘grrr-grrr,’ and incoherent, unpronounceable syllables sputtered from between her clenched lips.

White smoke now plumed from her head, her exquisite face flushed a deep crimson, like a freshly boiled shrimp.

Her emerald eyes were ablaze, the flames spewing from them seemingly capable of devouring Tolke whole.

As Noren’s fury surged, the blood-red jewel on her neck flickered wildly, ready to avenge its mistress!

“Tolke, damn you, you son of a b*tch! I’ve never given a man a *[TL note: The original Chinese text uses ‘****’, a placeholder for a crude, sexually explicit action. Translated as ‘sexual favor’ or ‘intimacy’ to retain the meaning while being less explicit in English.]*!”

The thin membrane of the bloodstone transformed into a fine cord, coiling around the golden-haired boy’s neck. As the cord slowly tightened, veins began to surface on his throat.

Feeling the onset of suffocation, Tolke released his embrace of Noren. His fingers clawed at the ethereal cord around his neck, frantically scratching and leaving ten red welts.

Freed from his grasp, Noren’s chest rose and fell rapidly as she gulped down fresh air, her anger gradually subsiding with each deep breath.

However, upon seeing the golden-haired boy before her, struggling painfully for breath, she felt a pang of compassion.

She sighed. “Alright, this is a one-time thing. I’ll let you off this time.”

The blood-red jewel shimmered, and the ethereal cord dissipated into the air like foam…

“Cough, cough…!” Tolke dropped to his knees, supporting himself with one hand, while the other clutched his throat, retching uncontrollably.

“Tolke has never been this drunk before,” Noren mused, now calm, finally realizing something was amiss. “Norsemen are all excellent drinkers; an ordinary Norseman can consume ten cups without getting drunk, and my blacksmith father can down a hundred without falling. How could Tolke get this drunk after just one cup tonight? Could it be that the wine contained…”

Noren rubbed her smooth chin, recalling every detail of the banquet that evening. Just as she was about to grasp a crucial clue, a wave of dizziness washed over her.

She shook her head, pressing a hand to her forehead. “Anger harms the body. It seems I need to control my temper from now on.”

No! The dizziness was intensifying!

Noren’s footing became unsteady, and after a stumble, she collapsed onto the edge of the bed. “It’s over, I’ve been poisoned. There really was something in the wine!”

She tried to rally her spirits, forcing her arms to support her, but the poison in the wine seemed to render her bones soft and her muscles numb.

And so, her body went limp, and she slumped by the bed, her eyelids drooping, her vision gradually blurring…

[‘It’s… it’s… over. My… my consciousness too…’] Her mental faculties snapped, and Noren’s consciousness plunged into darkness.

The room returned to quietude, leaving only the peaceful sounds of two people breathing.

But… was it truly over?

Suddenly, the girl who should have been limp and unconscious stood bolt upright, like a zombie.

Her neck, wrist, and other joints cracked with audible ‘kacha’ sounds as she moved, completely devoid of the previous weakness and numbness.

Her golden hair, at some unknown point, had come undone, obscuring her face.

Only the slight upturn of her red lips was visible, along with a pair of heart-shaped eyes that glowed with an eerie red light in the darkness.