Ch.56Mandatory Recuperation (2)

I was currently sitting on the bed after my attempt to go outside had been thwarted by my companions.

I should have been lying down, but the reason I was sitting up was because I felt so restless that I simply couldn’t stay still.

However, changing from lying down to sitting up only altered my posture. It did nothing to relieve my frustration.

After hours of twisting and turning on the bed in discomfort, a thought suddenly occurred to me.

‘If they told me not to move my body, I could just do something that doesn’t require movement.’

Even though my main weapon was a sword, there were several abilities I could train without moving.

The most representative among them was cultivation techniques. By practicing these techniques, I could cleanse my mana circuits and improve their efficiency.

But if you asked whether I would train cultivation techniques, the answer was no. It would be too easy for Lilly to catch me.

Besides, it was somewhat inefficient from a practical standpoint.

‘By now, my body should be ready, so I’m thinking of restructuring it at a deeper level.’

The concept commonly found in martial arts novels called “Rebirth” – a similar phenomenon existed in this world too.

The difference was that in this world, Rebirth didn’t occur when one achieved enlightenment, but when one broke through barriers.

There were various methods to break through barriers.

The most orthodox way was steady training, another was talent that could easily ignore barriers, and then there was using powerful elixirs that could shatter barriers with force, among others.

Among these three methods, my choice was the third one – borrowing the power of elixirs.

‘It’s not that I can’t use the first or second method, but breaking through each barrier one by one is inefficient. It’s easier to break through as many as possible at once.’

According to the game’s status window, barriers existed at every 100 stat points. Even if you broke through from 99 stats to reach 100, you’d hit another wall at 199 stats.

One day, feeling frustrated about having to break through each barrier individually, I discovered something by chance.

Depending on the grade of the elixir used and the method of consumption, it was possible to break through multiple barriers simultaneously.

‘Since that realization, I’ve been searching for the most efficient elixirs and consumption methods.’

That’s why the tier-1 elixir for breaking barriers was currently below us.

For that reason, there was no need to practice cultivation techniques half-heartedly right now.

So what was I going to do now? I was going to control my overflowing charm.

‘It’s also time to thoroughly check that ability.’

I glanced at Cecilia, who was still reading a book beside me.

While she appeared to be reading, she was actually enjoying watching me suffer from being confined to bed.

Honestly, I didn’t want to ask her for help. Even if I paid a price, her personality would leave me feeling uneasy.

But if not her, it would be difficult to find someone more suitable right now, so I had no choice.

“I’d like to test something. Could you help me with an ability test?”

“What I promised you was treatment. I’ve specially invited you to my lair, but I see no reason why I should help you.”

Cecilia flatly refused, saying she had no reason to help. That was fair enough – she truly had no reason whatsoever to help me.

Therefore, to receive her help, I needed to offer appropriate compensation.

She liked my appearance, so she would probably reject me once to gain the upper hand, then state her price while trying to tempt me.

So I spoke first, offering her compensation.

“I’ll bring you a treasure that you’ll like.”

“A treasure that I like… My eyes are very sophisticated. I wouldn’t glance at something as common as gold. What captures my attention is something like your charm. Beautiful and therefore valuable, and with the rarity of wielding a sword unlike others.”

Cecilia, who had closed her book at some point, grabbed my chin with her hand and examined me from different angles. Her gaze was like someone looking at an exquisite piece of craftsmanship.

Indeed, a beautiful Succubus who was skilled with a sword would certainly be rare.

However, I couldn’t offer myself.

If I were to give myself to her now, I could learn techniques and receive elixirs, but the problem was that I would be bound to her for at least 10 years.

‘Asking too much of Cecilia is like drinking from a poisoned chalice.’

I removed her hand from my chin and continued speaking.

“So what you’re saying is that the treasure needs to have both rarity and value. For example, something made directly by a god…”

“Oh? Are you serious about that?”

“Of course.”

Cecilia looked into my eyes to gauge my sincerity, and when she confirmed I was serious, she examined me as if wondering if I had gone mad.

“Long ago, after the war with the evil god, most gods fell into a deep sleep. The World Tree barely clings to life, and the main deities have ceased their activities to recover. There hasn’t been a single item touched by gods since then. How do you plan to obtain such a thing?”

“I have my ways. I’ll give you the payment when we return to the surface. Since we’re planning to go down anyway, there’s no way for me to escape, right?”

I added that if I couldn’t provide the promised treasure when we returned to the surface, she could own me as she pleased, and I looked at Cecilia.

After thinking for a moment, she accepted my offer.

I could die in the depths, but since all she had to do was observe my ability – a simple task – it didn’t seem to matter to her.

“So what ability would you like me to observe? I don’t think it’s your swordsmanship.”

“This.”

I released the mana I had been suppressing and revealed my presence. Since we were in her lair, it wouldn’t spread outside.

Nevertheless, it was enough to fill the entire room where I was resting.

A presence that seemed to weigh down on space itself. Like a dragon’s fear, it was something that made even Cecilia look at me with curiosity.

“Interesting…”

But the ability I wanted to confirm wasn’t that. Presence or fear could be achieved with other well-developed characters.

It was strange that it was created by charm rather than one’s own caliber or strength, but what I wanted to investigate was beyond that.

Something that could no longer be called fascination.

“…Kneel.”

My voice echoed throughout this small room, and everything within began to respond.

The first to respond was mana.

The mana that had been flowing according to its natural course stopped in place and settled heavily, as if exalting me as queen.

The next to respond was heat.

The heat that had been warming the space also dropped dramatically in temperature when my voice echoed.

The last to respond was the gravity that had been weighing down on my body.

For a moment, the gravity pressing down on me returned to its original state and began to make the surroundings heavier.

In Cecilia’s case, it seemed like she was affected somehow, but due to the significant difference in power, there was no physical reaction.

Instead, she grabbed both my shoulders with a gaze full of astonishment, curiosity, desire for knowledge, and possessiveness.

“What was that just now? An innate ability? Or a technique learned from someone else? How do you use it? What’s its potential for development?”

“Please calm down first…”

It was only after I managed to calm her down that I could continue the conversation, as her reaction was more intense than I had expected.

* * *

“First, let me tell you what I’ve confirmed. This is the fascination that Succubi possess. It’s not innate, nor did I learn it from somewhere. It just changed like this at some point.”

The presence that weighed down on space and the root of this ability was clearly fascination. It had just somehow transformed into something more like intimidation than fascination.

“What I observed is something very similar to yet different from Draconic Tongue. While Draconic Tongue forces obedience through coercive commands, what you did is closer to making others naturally follow you through exceptional charisma.”

“Hmm… Is that so?”

While using it, I did think it was similar to Draconic Tongue in that it influenced through words and will, but I wasn’t sure if that was really the case.

Now that I understood how it worked, the next question was why only I could use this ability.

I had raised Succubi before and increased charm with other characters, but this ability was completely new to me.

“If it’s not innate, we need to identify what makes it different. Is there anything particularly different about you compared to other Succubi?”

“Well… the fact that I use a sword, I suppose?”

It probably wasn’t due to me being an Apostle or something like that. If that were the case, other Apostles would have shown some differences too.

But they didn’t, and my intuition was telling me it wasn’t for that reason.

‘I should have talked more with Lumia…’

The thought crossed my mind that she might know something I didn’t, but unfortunately, I hadn’t been able to speak with her.

“A sword… It could certainly have an influence, but that alone wouldn’t be enough to cause such a decisive change.”

“Besides that… besides that… Ah.”

I recalled one decisive reason why I was different from Succubi. Something that was natural for me as a human but not for Lumia or other Succubi.

Succubi typically feed on men’s essence through sexual intercourse.

While they could certainly substitute with regular food, for Succubi, there was a reason beyond mere survival for engaging in sexual acts.

‘To use an analogy… it’s like eating plain chicken breast while there’s fried chicken right next to you.’

According to the game’s description, it wasn’t even chicken breast. It was more like being forced to eat food with a disgusting taste.

Yet Lumia had sustained herself through regular meals. In other words, she hadn’t engaged in sexual intercourse.

“I’m a virgin.”

I blurted out a fact that was so obvious to me that I hadn’t given it much thought.