Ch.111Awakening (3)

# Training is basically conducted freely.

“I have nothing to help you with regarding mana manipulation and breathing. You’re too perfect.”

“So I just need to starve myself?”

“That’s right. If you find it difficult or have any questions, feel free to ask anytime.”

Though she’s helping us, Salvira is nominally part of the Demon King’s army. She frequently visited the “nest,” talking about the revival of the Demon King and such. We didn’t have much time to meet with her.

That’s fine, I need to focus on training.

At most, one month.

Within that time, I need to raise my magical power to the level of an ordinary person.

I began Mirkil on an empty stomach.

“Whew.”

From early morning until midday, after spending four or five hours on Breath Weaving, hunger started to creep in.

It’s still bearable for now.

After skipping lunch, I spent the afternoon working on the golem. Since I needed to use up all the mana I gathered through Breath Weaving, this too was training.

As I pressed magical power into the Origin Stone and constructed mana circuits, I found myself short of breath.

Beads of sweat that started on my forehead trickled down my chin.

“Are you okay?”

“No, I’m a bit dizzy.”

“Wow, sweat.”

Riyo sniffed at the nape of my neck.

“Erich… you smell like a male.”

“You’re getting too close?”

Anyway, I safely completed today’s work.

I’m hungry.

Until evening came, I hadn’t had a single drop of dew, let alone food, and only sweated profusely.

Salvira returned in the early evening. She put down a container full of water and raised her hand to stop me before I could ask anything.

“This is just ordinary water.”

“Ah.”

I thought she had brought magical water.

“Let me tell you what to be careful about when drinking water. First, adding your own mana is useless. Increasing mana quantity is about drawing in energy from outside and accumulating it.”

“So you’re saying only magic water with someone else’s mana added is effective.”

“You catch on quickly. Additionally, making magic water with over 50% purity isn’t easy. You can’t achieve the desired concentration with ordinary injection and circulation.”

To summarize the long explanation:

Drink only water that has been held in the body of a reasonably skilled mage.

“Usually, people store and drink purified blood or urine. But with only a month left until the ritual activates… we can’t prepare that much.”

“Do you have a good method?”

“Your companion.”

It was then that the little spider brought someone in.

“Beep-beep, beep-beep!”

Glossy black hair. Eyes like pools of ink.

A woman with modest coloring but nonetheless dazzling beauty.

It was Director Adora.

For some reason, her cheeks were flushed red.

“When making magic water, quantity matters more than quality. This child has a lot of mana stored in her body.”

“So that means…”

“I’ve already finished talking with her. I’ll be going now, so good luck.”

Salvira and the little spider left the quarters. The beeping sound gradually faded away into the mist.

The director’s eyes met mine.

Her cheeks were slightly puffed, and she was dribbling a little water from under her lips. She explained the situation with just a few gestures.

We didn’t exchange a single word.

Nevertheless, I knew what I needed to do for hydration.

The director came closer, and I slightly opened my mouth.

“Mmph…”

Our lips met.

Gulp, gulp.

Warm liquid with a sweet scent flowed down my throat.

It wasn’t the smell of gum or the taste of mana. It was the natural fragrance of the woman named Adora Giford moistening my insides.

After carefully separating her lips, the director spoke with a subtly trembling voice.

“I… experimented. How long I needed to hold it in my mouth to exceed half purity. About 30 minutes seemed to do it. So I decided to hold it for an hour. This should speed up your progress.”

“Aren’t you embarrassed?”

“My heart feels like it’s going to burst.”

Her hot breath tickled the tip of my nose.

“No matter how little I move, I’ll have to drink like this ten times a day. I’ll have to hold water in my mouth all day.”

“Won’t your jaw dislocate?”

“Still, there’s no other way, right?”

“I’m sorry for troubling you.”

“It’s fine. We’re all doing this to survive. Let’s see how it goes, for better or worse.”

The director scooped up water from what Salvira had brought and held it in her mouth. From now on, I would have to kiss her for an average of one to two hours every day.

It was a very embarrassing situation, but there couldn’t be a more efficient method.

***

Right after Erich began his training.

The recovered Rachel was busy searching for food near the spider’s nest with Tiria and Riyo.

It was good that they needed to gather less food since one person would be fasting for a month, but the three weren’t feeling at ease.

“Won’t he collapse like that?”

Tiria was anxious.

“I don’t understand why he’s taking the spider monster’s words at face value. Fasting to increase mana quantity… I’ve never heard of such a theory in my life.”

“That’s because we’re not experts in that field. Wouldn’t a mage know magic better? Erich must see something we don’t.”

“Major Rachel, what do you think?”

Rachel, who had been diligently gathering berries, carefully spoke.

“I don’t know about other things, but there are two unchanging facts.”

“What are they?”

“That the spider woman saved my life, and that we are by Erich Lohnstein’s side.”

The old Rachel would never have said such things about her enemy.

She can say it now.

Having received help several times when she was in crisis, she would now help him when something happened.

“Colonel, Sergeant. Being with that man through life and death situations, I’ve learned one thing. When your life is hanging by a thread, worrying about things that haven’t happened yet is a luxury above all else.”

“Major, you…”

“This is just about repaying a debt.”

She wanted to appear dignified and composed on the outside.

But she could see herself enjoying the increasingly certain feelings in her heart, which burned like fire.

Who exactly is the firefighter here? That arsonist…

Rachel’s lips curled up into a smirk as she turned away from Tiria and Riyo’s gaze.

After gathering food and finishing their meal, the three decided to go see Erich.

“He might be concentrating, so let’s enter carefully.”

Isn’t he very hungry?

What if he gets malnourished?

Should I share some divine power instead of food?

What awaited the three female soldiers who entered with all sorts of worries was the sight of the Magic Kingdom woman straddling Erich and pouring water into his mouth.

“…”

“Oh.”

“Huh?”

All three were unable to process the scene unfolding before their eyes.

“Mmm… haah. Eleventh time.”

“I think this should be enough for today.”

“Then I’ll hold tomorrow’s portion in advance.”

Adora sighed excitedly as she moved aside. Her gaze turned to the three women as she turned her head.

Tiria flung open the silk tent and strode in.

“What, what were you doing just now?”

“Hydrating.”

“What kind of hydration is done like that?”

“High-concentration magic water is needed to increase total mana. I’m giving the Major water infused with my mana. Why, is there a problem?”

“There are many problems! Very many!”

Now, as if it were natural, Tiria’s eyes took on a green hue.

“I only kissed you briefly for artificial respiration! But you? Have you been kissing on the pretext of giving water?”

“Yes. Eleven times. No, twelve if we count the one at the foothills.”

“You could have spit it into a bowl!”

“Well, true. I indulged my personal desires along the way.”

“Pervert.”

“Thanks for the compliment.”

Bad woman! Evil woman! Enviable woman!

While Tiria was swallowing all the curses she knew only in her mind, Adora continued.

“I didn’t expect to experience it this way… but I should say the thrill has lessened? It’s still nice, but it’s become a bit mundane.”

“What? What a spoiled thing to say!”

“Honestly, it feels like I’m doing this with a husband rather than a lover.”

“…?!”

At the calm response, Tiria’s legs gave out and she sat down. She muttered in the Holy Spirit Kingdom language that Adora couldn’t understand.

“I, I claimed him first…”

And Rachel’s gaze turned to the back of Tiria’s head upon hearing those words.

Just because you met someone first doesn’t mean you liked them first. But why? Tiria’s muttering stung Rachel more than Adora’s actions.

I was the first.

He met me first.

If it weren’t for me, Erich would have died on the first island long ago. Then neither the Holy Maiden nor the fox sisters would have met him.

She found herself thinking such pointless thoughts.

This emotion, could it be jealousy?

While Rachel was clenching her fists and trying to calm her mind, Riyo had already slipped out of the tent and was circling around to the back.

The tent itself had an opening at the bottom, allowing entry from any direction.

Riyo crept in from behind like a cat and ambushed Erich.

“Hello?”

“I knew you’d come in like this.”

Riyo switched to Miyo and continued speaking.

“You must be very hungry. Want me to feed you something?”

“I can’t eat anything, you know?”

“It’s okay. I’ll give you something that’s fine to eat.”

“What on earth could that be?”

“Love.”

Miyo’s tongue slipped between Erich’s lips.

At that moment, Erich realized.

Though Riyo and Miyo share the same body, their minds are separate. Miyo’s saliva contains a significant amount of mana, though minimal compared to Adora’s.

Accepting various types of mana would likely speed up the expansion of his mana capacity.

In other words, mixing tongues wasn’t a hindrance to training—it was helpful.

“Mmm, chu…”

Hearing the loud, vulgar sounds, the three women who had been engaged in a cold war turned around.

“Why are you all so jealous and fighting? There’s not enough time just to express love.”

After erasing Adora’s scent with a deep kiss, Miyo licked her lips and smiled with mischievous eyes.

“Even if there’s a woman you fancy, you need to make her look back at you.”

‘Mortals. This is the victory of the Fur-tail Clan.’

Following the fox sisters’ and Kalon’s declaration, the other stones began to stir.