“I’m about to heal this.”
“Th-thank you.”
I focused intently on the mangled hand, holding it within my own, then sent a surge of the water element through my palms and fingers and into Kari. The water elemental Spiritual Power I poured into her was visible as thin blue threads of light. They looked like light particles that had become warped into the shape of strings. As the light slowly entered her hand, the muscles and veins healed. The mangled and barely hanging fingers reattached themselves and became fixed. This event was followed by the skin that had been peeled off knitting itself back together, leaving her hand completely healed; even some of the scars that I hadn’t been able to heal before were no longer present.
“How does it feel?” I asked.
Kari tested her healed hand, clenching and unclenching it before she nodded. “It feels better. It’s almost as if I never got hurt.”
“Think you can keep fighting?” I asked.
She nodded. “I still have a lot of Spiritual Power left—at least enough for an A-rank Spiritual Technique.”
“I don’t think the same thing you did on Zadram is going to work on this guy. That armor of his is tough.”
“Then what should we do?”
I thought about her question, or more specifically, about the answer. “Maybe if we aim for the gaps in his armor, we can beat him, but that would require a more localized attack. If you can condense all of your power into a smaller area, it might increase your ability to pierce his armor and strike at where he is weak.”
“I don’t know if I can do that,” Kari admitted.
I opened my mouth, prepared to give her one of those “I’m sure you can do it if you just try” pep talks, but a loud, agonized scream stopped me. Kari and I raced out from around the column we’d used as cover and looked at the battlefield. Erica was screaming in agony as she stared in horror at her mangled left leg. Meanwhile, Tungsten had been caught within the crushing grip of Urmog. His armor had already shattered and blood was gushing down his mouth as the hand enclosed around him slowly clenched.
I already knew that we wouldn’t reach them in time. The Flash Step I had created relied on propelling myself forward with an intense but short burst of Spiritual Power to race across the ground in the least amount of steps possible. It was technically a very crude technique.
That also meant it possessed numerous limitations.
“If only I could use my mother’s Three Thousand Steps,” Kari muttered, helpless.
“Three Thousand Steps? What is that?” I asked.
“It’s a Spiritual Light Technique where my mother transforms herself into a being of pure light,” Kari answered. “She can only use it for a short amount of time, but for that period of time, her body transforms, which allows her to move instantaneously and melt through anything. It’s a Spiritual Technique she can only use because she has reached the Third State of Spiritualism.”
A technique that can transform someone into light… the thought hit me like a bolt of lightning, and I wondered if I could do the same thing. I had not reached the Third State of Spiritualism. On the other hand, I could already do plenty of things other Spiritualists could not.
Maybe I could do this too.
“It’s worth a shot,” I muttered.
“Huh?”
Kari looked at me as I took a deep breath, but I didn’t have time to say anything. I was completely focused inward. I blocked out the screams, the sounds of clashing metal, and even the agonized cries of our comrades. Traveling deep into myself, I dredged up all the Spiritual Power I had, transformed it into the lightning element, and then willed my body to become one with it.
Agony raced through me. It felt as though my entire body was being fried. I wondered if this was how my enemies felt when I blasted them with lightning. If so, I almost felt sorry for them. I could hardly think!
The moment my body became assailed by pain, I was pretty sure I’d done something wrong. However, the pain soon subsided and a tingling feeling passed through my body, causing me to raise my hands and look at myself.
I could no longer see my skin.
My entire body seemed to have turned into an electric blue color.
It looked like I had successfully transformed into the lightning element. Arcs of lightning skittered across my body, leaping between my legs, fingers, and arms. When I moved my left arm, a loud vwhoom sound echoed around me, followed by a crackling burst like lightning striking the ground.
“Eryk…” Kari stared at me with wide eyes. “You…”
“Hold that thought,” I said, turning to look at Urmog as he laughed, still crushing Tungsten in his grasp, and Erica as she lay on the floor, holding her mangled leg.
I took a step forward, and then I was no longer standing beside Kari. I wasn’t even on the floor. I was standing on a wall on the opposite side of the hall, my feet sticking to the stone as though they were magnets. It all happened so fast I couldn’t even see it happen myself. After pausing a moment to take stock of my new orientation, I looked back at where I believed Urmog was.
He was still there, still standing, but there was a large, gaping hole in the center of his chest. It was so big I could see through it. No blood or organs were dripping from the hole, but it looked like that was because the wound had been cauterized. Urmog remained upright for a little while longer, but then his body tilted backward seconds before he slammed into the ground with a thunderous crash. The hand holding Tungsten remained locked up, but it was no longer crushing him.
I realized, belatedly, that I had just blown a hole straight through a creature in less time than it took to blink.
With Urmog dead, the Dweorgs released a loud cheer and began pushing the Grunts and Elites back. Meanwhile, the remaining enemy forces, with their leader dead, seemed to lose their morale. They shrieked and tried to flee as they were killed.
I released the technique that transformed my body into lightning and dropped to the floor. Rolling across the ground, I leapt to my feet and raced toward Erica and Tungsten. The battle might be mostly over, but my friends were still injured.
Waking up that morning was more difficult than normal, which likely meant I’d been more tired last night than I thought. This didn’t surprise me. The other day, I had returned to Nevaria after my first foray into the Demon Beast Mountain Range in this timeline.
As I stifled a groan, I tried to ignore the light pouring into my eyes through a window with no glass and groped at the warm, soft, squishy objects in my hand as I settled back down to get some sleep.
Said warm, soft, squishy objects suddenly released a pair of lyrical moans.
My eyes snapped wide open when I heard those sounds. Glancing down, I found two people lying on top of me. One of them was a voluptuous woman with hair that appeared to have been spun from gold, while the other was a dark-skinned beauty with modest breasts and a six or seven-meter-long tail.
Naturally, they were Kari and Lin.
I had slept on the couch, which was six meters long to accommodate for Lin if she decided to recline on it. That said, I hadn’t expected her to use it while I was sleeping on it. While Lin was sleeping with her body snuggled against my torso—I noticed that my arm was wrapped tightly around her waist—and the couch, Kari had taken to lying directly on top of me. She was fortunately still dressed. However, Lin was completely naked. To make an awkward situation worse, the “objects” I had grabbed sometime during my sleep, which my hands rested on even now, were the firm and perfectly heart-shaped butts of Kari and Lin.
I really did have to admire the feel of their backsides. Shapely and well-muscled, they were both firm and soft. Were the situation a little different, I was sure I would have a lot of fun playing with them; too bad for me, this was not a situation that afforded such a luxury.
Even though she hadn’t done so in a while, I had grown used to Lin sneaking into bed with me, but Kari was another story entirely. I wondered what she was doing here. Why would she sneak
onto this couch when I had given her a perfectly good bed? Well, I mean, I guess the bed wasn’t that good compared to what she was used to, but I couldn’t imagine the couch would be any better…
As I was trying to figure out what I should do, Kari chose that moment to wake up. She groaned, stirring on top of me, her leg brushing against the very obvious sign of my arousal, then lifted her head and blinked several times.
“Eryk,” she murmured, her sleepy expression only partially confused. “What are you doing in my bed?”
“We’re not in your bed,” I said, my voice a touch dry. “This is my couch.”
“Oh.” Kari took exactly two seconds to ponder my words… then she set her head back on my chest and closed her eyes. “Okay, then. Goodnight.”
“Don’t go back to sleep!” I shouted at her.
“I’m sorry about this morning,” Kari apologized as she looked at me with adorably pink cheeks, which she had cupped in her hands as though to try and hide their new coloration. She was sitting at the table as I served her, Lin, and myself a breakfast that I had just bought: Porridge with honey for me and Kari, and one dozen meat skewers for Lin.
I was sitting at the head of the table, while Lin, who had ceded her spot to her “Big Sister,” was standing since I only had two chairs. She devoured her skewers at a rate that astonished me. I had bought twelve, but she had already eaten six in half as many seconds.
“Can I ask why you two were sleeping with me?” I posed them with my perfectly logical question.
“Ah…” Kari’s cheeks deepened a shade as she looked away. I waited for her to say something, but when she remained silent, I glanced at Lin.
Lin paused when she noticed the look I sent her way, finished off her eighth skewer, and then coughed into her hand. I waited patiently for her to say something. At the same time, I wondered what kind of excuse she would give me.
“This princess was cold last night,” was all she said.
“That doesn’t answer anything,” I told her with a sigh.
“It’s… well…” Kari cleared her throat and, with her ears now as pink as her cheeks, tried to explain. “You see, last night, I had woken up in your bed and needed to use the restroom. As I was coming back, I saw Lin trying to sneak onto the couch with you.”
“Big Sister stopped this princess and said she couldn’t sleep with you,” Lin said, and then added, “Of course, she remembers the agreement she made with Big Sister, so she made a proposal.”
“And that was?” I pressed.
Kari said nothing as she looked away again, twirling a strand of hair between her fingers. It was a far cry from the confidence her older self had displayed, but I understood there were differences between this Kari and the one from my previous life. Since she was unwilling to answer, I looked at Lin.
The Lamia girl finished the last of her skewers and answered me as if it should have been obvious. “This princess proposed that we both sleep with you.”
“I see.” I stared at Lin some more, not at all surprised that she had suggested this, and raised an eyebrow at Kari. “Lin is one thing, but I’m surprised you decided to sneak into bed… onto the couch with me.”
“Well, I… that is…” Kari squirmed in her seat as I continued to stare. Her cheeks became increasingly hotter as though my eyes were a fire roasting her alive. “I… wanted to experience it for myself… what it was like to sleep with you… Also… I want us to be more intimate… because of what happened in the Demon Beast Mountain Range.”
So that was what it was. I had a hunch that her decision had something to do with how I had fallen down that ravine, but I wanted to hear it from her, since there was always a chance I was wrong.
“If you want to sleep with me, you should just say so,” I said.
Kari paused. “You aren’t… against it?”
“Why would I be?” I answered back. “I love you. I obviously want to be more intimate with you.”
“Oh…” Kari blew out a deep breath, placed a hand against her chest, and smiled. “So I see. Yes, I suppose it is only natural for you to feel the same, but I was afraid you didn’t feel the same way since you haven’t really touched me or done anything intimate since our first few kisses.”
“I’ve technically only just started courting you about ten days ago.” I shrugged. “I don’t want to rush things and make you think I’m using you for pleasure.”
“Is that why you haven’t slept with this princess either?” asked Lin.
“Well…”
I wasn’t sure how to answer that. I hadn’t slept with Lin because I loved Kari and didn’t want to be disloyal. It had absolutely nothing to do with the subject of our conversation, but I’d feel bad if I told her that.
Perhaps, to my great fortune, while I was struggling to think of what I should say, Kari answered in my stead. “Lin, the reason he hasn’t tried anything with you yet is because he’s taking matters slowly. I don’t think he’s really used to being in a polygamous relationship just yet.”
“That’s… right,” I agreed, even though that wasn’t the whole reason. To be honest, I was still a little uncomfortable about this polygamy business. I’d known several people who were in relationships like this, but it wasn’t something I had considered until Kari told me I should court her, Lin, and Fay at the same time.
Polyamory was a lifestyle of nobles and powerful individuals. In my past life, I had been but a peasant, a lowly nobody who raised himself thanks to Kari’s presence and help. By the time I could have entered a polyamorous relationship, the very thought of doing so was something I had never considered. Kari had been all I needed back then.
What about now?
I honestly didn’t know.
That was why I couldn’t answer Lin.
“Hmm…” Lin frowned just a little as she considered this. “That is… understandable. This princess accepts your reasons, but!” Before I could sigh in relief, the Lamia girl narrowed her eyes. “You should also remember that Big Sister isn’t the only woman in your life. This princess also wants your affection.”
“You’re right,” I said. “I promise, I won’t neglect you.”
“Good.” Lin gave me a decisive nod. Meanwhile, Kari’s eyes gained a tender look as she watched this interaction.
I couldn’t tell what she was thinking, but it seemed I still wasn’t doing the best job I could when it came to how I interacted with them. Maybe this was a sign that I should show them more affection. I still wasn’t certain of my boundaries, which was why I hadn’t done anything yet, but if they were both pushing for this, then I needed to do my best to meet—no, to exceed their expectations.
Nodding to myself, I made a promise that I’d do a better job of being a good suitor when I was with them. I needed to be more attentive to their needs.
After breakfast ended, I parted ways with Kari and Lin. Kari had classes that day, but first, she needed to return home and get dressed—she was still wearing her clothes from our journey into the Demon Beast Mountain Range, which had yet to be washed. Lin was heading to the library to continue memorizing humanity’s written language.
I went to the Alchemist Association.
It didn’t take more than fifteen minutes to reach the Alchemist Association, slip past the crowd loitering in the courtyard and clamoring to buy pills, and reach Feinrea’s office. I opened the door upon receiving her invitation. Feinrea, her orange-tinted red hair styled into a messy braid, looked up from her work when I closed the door behind me. She tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear and smiled.
“I haven’t seen you in a while. I heard you went into the Demon Beast Mountain Range.” She eyed the bag I was carrying as I walked up to her desk. “I’m guessing you found the ingredients you were looking for while you were there?”
“Yes.” I set the bag on the desk and took out a long, thin bone that was blue instead of tan, and one reed with four tongue-shaped leaves. “Water Nymph bone marrow and the four-tongue clover.”
Feinrea looked at the two ingredients with eyes that shone like brilliant emeralds. As they continued to sparkle, she glanced back up with an almost child-like smile.
“Since you managed to get your hands on these, let’s grab the other ingredients you need. Luckily for you, I’ve made sure to keep them stocked in my office just in case you came in.”
Spinning around, Feinrea went to a drawer located behind her desk and opened the top one, where she pulled out several items that I recognized as the ingredients I had requested. They were all placed in jars with an airtight seal to help keep them fresh. She set each one on the desk after clearing away her papers. Then she pulled a notebook out from somewhere, set it on the desk, and grabbed her quill and ink bottle. Now set up and ready to take notes, she stared at me with an expectant look that made me break out in a cold sweat.
“Right. So, pay close attention to what I’m doing, okay?” I said.
“Yes.” Feinrea nodded. “Don’t worry. I won’t even blink.”
I wanted to tell her that she didn’t have to go that far, but I was sure it would fall on deaf ears.
The first thing I did was fill a 500 mL beaker with water and use a burner to bring it to a boil. While the water was heating up, I grabbed the yellow immortal snapdragons, four of them, and ground them up in the mortar until it turned into a yellow paste. Then I did the same thing with the wild geranium, which gave the paste a paler color that reminded me of pastels.
“Do you mind if I ask you what the wild geranium and yellow immortal snapdragons are used for?” asked Feinrea.
“Yellow immortal snapdragons have the effect of strengthening and thickening blood,” I informed her. “You can actually smear paste made from yellow immortal snapdragons directly onto a wound and it will help clot the blood. However, the effects are too great for your body to ingest. Doing so would cause your veins to clog, which would probably kill you, so you need something to mellow it out.”
Wiedergeburt Page 7