Songs in the Void

Arifureta Universe, Tortus, True Orcus Great Labyrinth, 1st Floor. 

*Growl!* 

Seeing Sumire with her shield and spear in hand, and turning towards him, Tatsuo, who clearly was not in his right mind, growled once again. On top of his physical changes, this surprised Sumire quite a bit. 

"Tatsuo-Kun, what's the matter with you?" Sumire asked. Though, because of the glint in his eyes, she did not lower her guard. 

Meanwhile, Tatsuo, who had been lying in bed, as he had been asleep until the changes began, slowly sat up. Then, he flung the blanket off his body before slowly lowering his feet to the floor. 

All the while, Tatsuo kept his gaze fixed on Sumire while growling. 

Sumire, on the other hand, stepped back, seeming slightly afraid. Though, she was not afraid of Tatsuo. Rather, she was afraid of what could have made him change so much. 

Unfortunately, Tatsuo, who was being driven by his instincts at the moment way, did not see it that. And because of Sumire's actions, a glint of sadness flashed in his eyes which was quickly replaced by anger. 

*Roar!* 

In the next instant, Tatsuo roared like a beast and pounced forward, his speed leaving an after image on the bed. 

*Clang!* 

Then, before she knew it, Tatsuo reappeared in front of Sumire with his right hand drawn back and his claws primed to strike. 

Reacting quickly, Sumire raised her shield to block the incoming claw strike, the impact echoing around the area. 

"Urgh!" Sumire grunted from the force that was transmitted through her shield into her body. 

Even so, hoping to gain some distance, Sumire swung her spear at Tatsuo. Though, she made sure that only the shaft would strike him, as she did not want to hurt him even though he had just attacked her. 

And her tactic worked. Though, it was not because she managed to hit Tatsuo and send him flying. Instead, it was because Tatsuo pushed off her shield and propelled himself backwards. However, as soon as his feet touched the floor, Tatsuo pushed off and was once again upon her. 

*Clang!* 

This time, instead of attacking with only his right hand, Tatsuo attacked with both hands, his claws streaking towards Sumire's shoulders. However, as she was quite experienced wielding a shield, Sumire managed to reposition herself and her shield so that the shield would take both attacks. 

*Clang!* 

Unfortunately, instead of just raking his claws against the shield, Tatsuo grabbed it on both sides. 

"What!?" Sumire exclaimed. 

With the shield in his grasp, Tatsuo grinned, showing off his teeth, which had become rather sharp and serrated. Then, he tensed his arms before trying to rip the shield out of Sumire's grip. 

However, Sumire managed to hold the shield firmly. Yet, that turned out to be more detrimental than she expected. 

Thanks to Tatsuo's much greater physical strength, Sumire was swung along with her shield. 

"Kya!" Sumire yelped in surprise as she was swung around. 

Meanwhile, Tatsuo, after seeing that he could not take the shield away from Sumire, frowned in displeasure. And because of that displeasure, he began swinging the shield, with Sumire still holding onto it, even more violently. 

However, Sumire was determined not to allow Tatsuo to take the shield away from her. Although she did not want to hurt him, she had no intention of letting him hurt her either. 

As a result of both of their determination, a strange, seemingly one-sided tug-o-war started, with Tatsuo swinging and pulling Sumire's shield while Sumire was swung around like a rag doll. And this only led to Tatsuo's frustration rising as time went by. 

Seeing that Tatsuo seemed to be losing his focus due to the mounting frustration, Sumire decided to take a chance. 

"Sorry, Tatsuo-Kun…" Sumire muttered as she swung the butt of her spear at Tatsuo's head, hoping to knock him out, or at least daze him, by hitting him hard enough. 

*Swoosh!* 

Unfortunately, Tatsuo's instincts, honed through years of training, did not leave him in this state, as he… just let go of the shield. And because of how hard he was swinging it and Sumire around, they both were sent flying. 

*Bang!* 

*Clang!* x 2 

A moment later, Sumire slammed back first into the wall of the shelter. And despite how sturdy the rock making up the labyrinth walls was, she left spiderweb cracks at the point of impact. 

"*Cough* Ugh… *Cough*" Sumire groaned while coughing violently as she slid down the wall before landing on her butt, her shield and spear falling to the floor beside her. 

However, because her head was lowered while she coughed, Sumire missed the panicked expression that showed up on Tatsuo's face. And by the time she raised her head, Tatsuo, who had dashed forward after Sumire hit the wall, was now standing in front of her and looking down at her. 

On top of that, his claws were approaching her, as well. However, because of everything that happened, Sumire was too panicked to notice how slowly they were moving. Or rather, she did notice. However, because of how savagely Tatsuo had been acting since this whole ordeal started, she thought everything was moving in slow motion because her life was about to come to an end. 

"Tatsuo-Kun…" Sumire murmured as she looked into Tatsuo's eyes. "I just hope this doesn't affect you when you come back to your senses. Please, don't blame yourself for this. I know it's not your fault." 

After speaking her peace, Sumire closed her eyes, awaiting her death. 

Yet, the pain of being impaled by those sharp, menacing claws never came. Instead, she felt the scaled hands and arms those claws were attached to gently wrap around her before lifting her into an embrace. 

"Huh?" Sumire exclaimed in confusion once she realized that she was no longer sitting on the floor. 

Opening her eyes, Sumire looked at Tatsuo, who was hugging her to his chest gently while being careful not to allow his claws to hurt her. 

"What's going on?" Sumire muttered as Tatsuo started walking towards the bed where he had been sleeping. 

Once he arrived at the bed, Tatsuo, with Sumire in one arm, bent down to pick up the blanket he had discarded not long ago. Then, he climbed into bed, laid himself and Sumire down on their sides, and covered the both of them with the blanket. And once he was comfortable, he nuzzled his face into the crook of her neck. 

Considering the situation that they were just in, Sumire was naturally confused by Tatsuo's actions. Even so, she wrapped her arms around him and began rubbing his back soothingly. 

"I don't' know what happen, Tatsuo-Kun." Sumire said gently. "But everything will be okay. For now, just relax. We'll think about it together when we wake up in the morning." 

Eventually, Tatsuo fell asleep in Sumire's arms. All the while, he breathed in her scent, which seemed to relax him quite a bit. Then, after an hour or so, the scales on his forehead, face, arms, and legs began to retract while the claws also retracted, turning back into normal fingernails. 

The only change that did not turn back to its normal state was Tatsuo's hair, as it was still that midnight purple color. As for his eyes, Sumire would have to wait until he woke up to see if they remained the same, as well. 

Even though Tatsuo had fallen back to sleep, there was no way that Sumire could do the same, as she was too worried about what had happened to Tatsuo. On top of that, she felt like she had to stay alert just in case Tatsuo had not regained his senses when he woke up. 

Though, that was not the only reason she was unable to fall asleep. Rather, the warm, slippery feeling that was sliding across her neck and the large, strong pair of hands that had slid down and started squeezing and needing her butt were contributing, as well. 

"Tatsuo no ecchi." Sumire muttered as her face reddened. 

Despite saying that, Sumire had no intention of stopping Tatsuo from doing as he pleased in his sleep. 

"It's too bad he's only doing this in his sleep, though." Sumire muttered as she pressed herself closer to Tatsuo. "Why can't you act like this when you're awake… No, what am I thinking? He's only fifteen." 

A few hours later, Tatsuo started waking up. And he could see a [Notification] blinking in his mind. However, he did not have the time to worry about that for the moment. 

The reason for that was simple, Tatsuo could feel someone nestled in his arms. Though that was not surprising, as he and Sumire had slept in the same bed before, and this was how he always woke up in that case. Something was different this time. 

For one, he could feel a pair of soft objects rubbing against his chest through his shirt. On top of that, there were a pair of small, hard objects in the middle of the soft ones that were also rubbing against his chest. 

'Sumire-San is rubbing against me?' Tatsuo thought to himself. 'I wonder what she could be dreaming about.' 

On top of that, he felt a similar, yet completely different, soft sensation in his hands. And he did not even have to think about what it was. 

'Damn… I've got a couple of handfuls of Sumire-San's ass in my hands.' Tatsuo muttered internally as he slowly regained his senses. 'I wish I had done this while I was awake instead of in my sleep… Wait!' 

Lastly, the thing that surprised Tatsuo the most was the fact that he could feel that his manhood was squeezed between two more soft objects, that he correctly inferred to be Sumire's thighs. Plus, he could feel that the fabric of his shorts was a bit damp on top of his morning wood. 

Recognizing that sensation, Tatsuo's eyes snapped open. And had Sumire been looking into his eyes, she would have noticed that his eyes were back to normal. Though, the purple of his irises was a bit more vibrant than before. 

Looking down, Tatsuo could not see Sumire's face, as it was hidden by her hair. Yet, he could see that her arms were wrapped around his body. On top of that, she was grinding herself against his chest and manhood that was sandwiched between her thighs. 

Not only that, but her breath was pretty ragged, and she was shivering. 

'She's grinding on me like I'm a body pillow.' Tatsuo thought to himself, feeling pretty good about the situation he found himself in. 'This isn't a bad way to wake up.' 

Not wanting the feeling to stop, Tatsuo allowed Sumire to continue, unaware if she was doing this intentionally or because she was dreaming. 

A few minutes later, Sumire's shivering turned into full blown shuddering. On top of that, the wet patch that Tatsuo could feel on his shorts got even worse while Sumire bit onto his t-shirt to stifle her moans. Though, they were still audible despite her attempts. 

"*Sigh*" Sumire released a pleasant and contented sigh as her shuddering started to calm down. 

Immediately afterwards, Sumire buried her face in Tatsuo's chest as she hugged him more tightly, causing Tatsuo to understand that she had been awake the entire time. 

'Well, I guess even Sumire-San needs to blow off some steam every once in a while.' Tatsuo thought to himself while chuckling internally. 'She should have woke me up first, though. Now she's gonna be too embarrassed to help me out, too.' 

While Tatsuo was having that thought, Sumire finally let go of Tatsuo with one arm. Then, she raised her head and moved her hand to swipe some hair out of her face. However, before she could adjust her hair, she froze in place, as she had just made eye contact with Tatsuo. 

"Good morning, Sumire-San." Tatsuo said with a smile and a lustful glint in his eyes. 

At the same time, Tatsuo released Sumire's butt with one of his hands and raised it to move Sumire's hair out of her face. 

"I hope you slept well." Tatsuo continued as the hand he used to move her hair gently caressed Sumire's cheek. 

Sumire, on the other hand, stared at Tatsuo like she was a deer staring into a pair of headlights for a few moments. 

"Kya~~~~~~~~~!" Sumire let out an ear-piercing scream as she shot out of bed. 

Then, while circulating her magic power as fast as she could muster, she ran away, pulled the curtains around the bathroom area, started the shower's magic circles, and tried her best to calm herself down. 

Meanwhile, Tatsuo watched Sumire's actions with an amused, yet annoyed, smile on his face. 

"Tch! You do this to me and leave me hanging?" Tatsuo mumbled to himself as he looked down at the towering rod between his legs. "Then, you don't even have the curtesy to let me use the bathroom first to take care of it? I'll have to show you what it means to have some tact later, Sumire-San." 

Despite what he just said, Tatsuo was not truly annoyed with Sumire. He had no intention of making her take responsibility for the state she left him in, either. Instead, he finally found the time to check the [Notifications] that were blinking inside his head. 

{[Notifications] 

Due to the introduction of certain materials to the host's physique, bloodline awakening will begin. 

Please Wait…} 

{[Notification] 

Bloodline awakening complete. Physical changes now underway. 

Please check [Status] for details.} 

Seeing that, Tatsuo raised an eyebrow. However, he did have an idea what this bloodline awakening was referring to. And to confirm his suspicions, he wanted to open his [Status] right away. But there were a few more notifications that he noticed. So, he checked those first. 

{Notifications] 

[Strength] increased from C to C+ 

[Endurance] increased from C to C+ 

[Energy] increased from C to B 

[Charm] increased from B to B+ 

[Affinities] have been unlocked on [Status]. 

[Resistances] have been unlocked on [Status] 

Obtained [Skill], [Lightning Clad – B-]} 

"Damn, that's a lot." Tatsuo muttered while looking over his [Notifications]. "Alright, let's take a look at my [Status] next." 

[Personal Information] 

Name: Soramoto Tatsuo 

Age: 15 

Race: Human/Void Dragon 

Title: Prince of the Void 

Coins: 453,515 

[Physical Attributes] 

Comprehensive Physical Evaluation: C 

Strength: C+ 

Agility: C 

Dexterity: C 

Endurance: C+ 

Intelligence: C 

Perception: C 

Energy: B 

Charm: B+ 

[Skills] 

Language: E+ 

Pianist: D 

Singing: E+ 

Vale Tudo: D+ 

Weapon Mastery: D 

Dagger Master: C- 

Firearms Mastery: D 

Cooking: F+ 

First Aid: E 

Hacking: D 

Stealth: C+ 

Blacksmithing: C 

Leatherworking: D+ 

Tailoring: D+ 

Programming: E+ 

Blink: D+ 

Spatial Slash: D+ 

Spatial Rend: D+ 

Return: S- 

Back Stab: E+ 

Enchanting: C+ 

Lightning Speed: B+ 

Acting: D- 

Alchemy – B+ 

Lightning Clad – B- 

[Abilities] 

Mana Reactor: A+ 

Dragon Fear: S+ 

The End – SS+ 

Half Dragon Transformation – A+ 

[Affinities] 

Space – S 

Lightning - B 

Fire – A+ 

[Resistances] 

Space - S 

Time – C+ 

Light – C+ 

Dark – C+ 

Earth – C+ 

Wind – C+ 

Fire – A+ 

Water – D+ 

Lightning – B- 

Physical - B 

[Note: The average values of an average adult are F+. Trained Athletes have values of E-. Those at the peak of their field have values of E. Those at the peak of humanity have values of E+. Anything D- or higher is considered supernatural, usually requiring the infusion of mana or an equivalent energy to achieve.]} 

Seeing the changes to his [Status], Tatsuo was thoroughly surprised. To think he was part dragon. But how was that possible? His mother, Sumire, was definitely human… At least as far as he knew. And his father was a former Navy SEAL. So, he should have been human, too, right? 

Even so, Tatsuo did not show his surprise on his face. Instead, his left eyebrow was twitching in irritation. And the reason was simple... 

"What the hell is up with that title?" Tatsuo muttered, trying to keep his voice down so that Sumire would not be able to hear him. "Is that why I had such a chuuni name on the [Dimensional chat] at first?" 

Higher Dimension, Void Multiverse. 

While Tatsuo was checking the changes to his [Status], the Void Empress, like she often did, was watching him. In fact, she had been watching him ever since he fell into the True Orcus Great Labyrinth. And she was anticipating the moment when he would eat magic beast meat for the first time. 

"Finally, his heritage has awakened." The Void Empress said in her usual cold, aloof tone. Yet, there was a hint of relief held within. "Now, things can be pushed forward." 

"Congratulations, Your Majesty." Samsara, the God of Reincarnation, the one who had informed the Void Empress that Tatsuo had entered the True Orcus Great Labyrinth, said with a smile. "The prince will be able to take his rightful place in no time at this rate." 

Though Samsara said in no time, both he and the Void Empress expected it to take several years at the very least before Tatsuo would be strong enough to ascend to the Higher dimension where they resided. However, for long-lived beings like them, several dozen years, let alone several, would pass as if in the blink of an eye. 

Though, that may be a bit different for the Void Empress, who had already been separated from her son for several millennia. On top of that, as much time as she spends watching him, it will probably feel like time was passing at a snail's pace. 

Just then, Tatsuo started complaining about his title. And Samsara could only put on an awkward expression. He did not know what to say or think about Tatsuo cursing his rightful title. Yet, the Void Empress, for the first time in who knows how long, laughed. And her laugh was so sweet and sensual. Then, when you add her sexy laugh with the way her breasts, which were almost fully exposed by the way she wore her robe, and how they bounced, as if they might jump right out of their constraints, Samsara was forced to lean forward in order to not embarrass himself. 

'Void Dragons and their abnormally high [Charm].' Samsara lamented as he thought about all manner of unsexy things to get himself under control.