Ch.8730. To the Forest of Soso and Ash (2)

The magical energy of the forest deepened as night fell.

In the depths of the forest, it was easy to lose one’s sense of direction. Even though both of them were Awakened, it would be unreasonable to continue moving.

‘I knew this would happen and prepared accordingly.’

The priests who accompanied us had packed camping equipment for us during the day. Whether inside a dungeon or outside, camping was a common part of a hunter’s work.

So both of them hurriedly prepared to set up camp.

“Is this a good spot to put our things?” Soso asked.

I nodded in response. Before the sun had completely set, I had already scouted for a suitable camping site.

‘Since the ambient MCI varies from place to place…’

They settled in a spot with relatively low magical concentration. By nightfall, Soso’s MCI had risen to 65.

Thanks to being with me, her threshold was high at around 90. But MCI could spike suddenly, so I was keeping a close eye on her condition.

‘Soso is extremely vulnerable to ghosts.’

She could handle undead well enough, but was particularly weak against vengeful spirit-type monsters. Fortunately, thanks to the Archbishop’s blessing, a sacred mark had formed on my palm.

Vengeful spirits and undead monsters couldn’t easily approach my vicinity.

‘Still, when we enter the central area where Parma’s holy fire will be tomorrow, the magical energy will become denser. I need to lower her MCI as much as possible.’

Countless factors can increase an Awakened’s MCI: fear of monsters, terror felt inside dungeons, or even distrust toward party members.

A competent operator needs to understand the MCI factors of their party members well.

Since you need to carefully grasp the personality of each party member, it naturally takes time and is more troublesome than one might expect.

Of course, I had thoroughly identified all the MCI-increasing factors for Flame’s field team, including not just Yuri and Soso, but also Uncle Donghyuk and Executive Director Maria.

‘Well, looking at her current state, I probably don’t need to overthink this.’

Soso sat down on a rock at the campsite.

Her clothes were a mess. The pink hood she wore when entering the ashen forest was now so covered in green bodily fluids that its original color was indistinguishable.

‘With this situation, her MCI is bound to rise.’

Someone with Soso’s skill level could normally fight without getting monster residue on her clothes.

But Soso had been much more aggressive than usual in eliminating monsters, ensuring they couldn’t get anywhere near me. That’s why her clothes were in such a state.

Thanks to her, I barely had to use any mana, conserving my strength for tomorrow’s events, but I felt sorry for her in many ways.

“It would be difficult to sleep in that condition, wouldn’t it?”

Soso nodded. Setting aside the dirtiness of her clothes, the monster blood emitted a terrible smell, which clearly embarrassed her greatly.

“I smell awful… don’t come near me!”

I felt guilty since it happened because of me. I could see her MCI rising through my in-ear device.

‘She has every right to be embarrassed. The smell is quite intense.’

Some monsters deliberately spray bodily fluids to demoralize hunters, so it wasn’t strange that Soso’s MCI was rising.

“I think you need to wash up, as you said.”

“Right? With this smell… y-you might not be able to sleep properly.”

Even in this situation, she was still thinking of me. That was so like Soso. Anticipating her condition, I had deliberately chosen a campsite near a stream.

In a vast forest like this, there are naturally places where water flows. Of course, finding a stream or water source isn’t easy in a forest where one can lose their sense of direction.

Wind Cutter, a dagger inhabited by a wind spirit, helped locate the sound of flowing water.

“Then shall we go in together?”

“T-together? You mean wash together?”

I nodded at Soso’s question. She became extremely flustered, her face turning bright red.

***

The stream was about the width of a small river flowing through a city.

Not particularly large, but there was a pool big enough for two people to immerse themselves. While the surrounding area was filled with magical energy, fortunately, the stream remained unpolluted.

‘Though the water will be very cold.’

It was still late March. In the middle of the Slavian Kingdom’s forest, at a fairly high latitude, it was practically still winter.

Parts of the stream were still covered with ice. But I had something in mind to manage Soso’s MCI, so the cold stream wouldn’t be much of a problem.

‘If her current MCI is around 65… considering tomorrow, it would be good to lower it to about 40.’

Despite being full of magical energy and monsters, this wasn’t a dungeon, so the sky was filled with stars. An open-air hot spring on a night like this would be perfect for washing away the fatigue of battle and the blood and fluids of monsters.

‘There are studies showing that bathing activities inside dungeons are highly effective in lowering MCI.’

I entered the stream first, settling in a pool large enough for two people to sit comfortably.

“I’ll heat the water first. Could you wait a moment?”

Soso didn’t answer. Ignoring this, I focused my senses on my mana heart.

The second-level seal was released, and large amounts of mana were being produced from my mana heart, Hong-ok. A normal Awakened would rejoice at such growth in their awakening level, but I couldn’t simply be happy about it.

‘This mana is leaking out mixed with my life force.’

However, setting that thought aside for now, I concentrated solely on controlling the mana. My mana heart with its second-level seal released was equivalent to Hong-ok’s second stage.

The stage where one can use the true power of Ancient Gear. If the first stage of the gear is simply a contracted weapon form, from the second stage onward, the Ancient Gear begins to unleash its power based on its “story” – the unique narrative inherent to gear excavated from ancient dungeons.

‘Hong-ok is both the egg of the Vermilion Bird and the Fire Priestess.’

In Mu Kingdom, the Vermilion Bird is known as the Master of Fire. Not just its feathers, but its entire body and will burn as fire – a legendary bird.

Hong-ok is both the egg of that Vermilion Bird and a fire spirit. As the daughter of the Vermilion Bird, she was a Fire Priestess who worshipped her mother. In other words, she was gear born from fire itself.

‘That’s why Hong-ok at the second stage can produce fire with the power equivalent to 5th-tier magic, without even casting a spell.’

A 5th-tier magician – defined as a high-class magician by the Magic Tower of the Slavian Kingdom.

And a 5th-tier pyromancer can create Hellfire, known as the first ultimate spell among fire spells.

‘Though 5th-tier Hellfire is just an introduction.’

Of course, by the time I graduated from Ains, my magic class had surpassed the 5th tier. But unlike then, I had once lost all my power.

So recovering that tier so quickly is already an extraordinary feat.

In summary, my current mana heart can effortlessly produce 5th-tier spells.

For reference, Yuri’s current level as a frost mage was 6th tier. In hunter terms, a 6th-tier mana heart level was called an A-rank Awakened.

‘So my current state would be equivalent to a B+ rank Awakened.’

When I released the first-level seal, my awakening rank was only C. Considering that, this is certainly significant progress.

‘Though it’s progress at the cost of my life.’

And since that enormous amount of mana was currently running wild beyond my control, its firepower was a double-edged sword for me.

As I accelerated the mana produced by Hong-ok, I felt an intense burning sensation near my heart. But I needed to get used to this sensation quickly.

Although I planned to refrain from using fire spells for a while, it was also my duty to tame this surging mana whenever I had the chance.

‘Heating a pool of this size should be like rehabilitation exercise.’

Creating an open-air hot spring for Soso while getting accustomed to my second-stage mana heart – it was a win-win approach.

About three seconds after releasing Hong-ok’s power, all the ice around the pool I was in had melted.

No, more than that – the pool had become as hot as a hot spring, with steam rising from it.

I immediately withdrew the mana that was about to go berserk and quickly called out to Soso.

“It’s warm now, come in quickly! Let’s bathe together!”

“Y-you shouldn’t say things like that so casually to a woman!”

However, seeing the improvised hot spring, Soso seemed unable to resist. She took off her shoes and carefully dipped her feet into the stream.

True to her Mu Kingdom heritage, Soso’s bare feet were smooth and beautifully shaped, causing me to instinctively turn my head away.

***

Soso’s heart was racing.

During their time at Ains, she and Minsu had spent countless hours together. But naturally, they had never bathed together.

No matter how close they were as friends, they were still friends of the opposite sex.

‘Bathing with… with Minsu…’

Of course, she had imagined it before. After Minsu joined Flame, her feelings for him had grown stronger.

If they were to become lovers, Soso would often imagine all the things they could do together as a couple before falling asleep.

As a romance novel addict, Soso had quite a vivid imagination.

‘If you’re adults… and a couple, then naturally during a hot spring trip…’

An open-air hot spring under a star-filled night sky. Two young adults, a man and a woman, in a not-so-spacious hot spring together.

Whenever she read reviews on community forums, Soso was dying of envy. Reviews of hot spring trips with boyfriends – so romantic, and what happened afterward was apparently too hot to fully describe on the forums.

‘This is nice, but… what if Minsu is disappointed?’

While her imagination kept painting romantic scenarios with Minsu, Soso frowned as she wrung out her hoodie in the water.

‘The smell… is too terrible!’

Indeed, Soso had entered the stream with her clothes still on. Naturally, Minsu was also fully clothed.

Since Minsu could use both fire and wind spells, getting his clothes soaked wasn’t a problem.

That’s why he told her to come in with her clothes on despite her embarrassment. Though disappointed, she had to admit it made sense.

‘These clothes… definitely need washing.’

Soso called out to Minsu:

“Um… the dirt… I mean, the monster fluids are spreading, so stay a bit away!”

“The current seems strong enough that it should be fine, but if you’re uncomfortable, I’ll move away for a bit.”

Minsu moved away from her. For a moment, her heart ached at this, but she needed to wash her filthy clothes first.

‘Damn monsters…’

Still, the hot spring was very warm. Minsu was constantly using his mana to keep the water heated. If not for this cursed monster blood and fluids…

She could have sat beside Minsu, enjoying romantic moments while gazing at the stars.

‘And then… like those reviews on the romance board of the community…’

She caught herself daydreaming again and snapped back to reality. Even though she was clothed, washing wasn’t a problem as she used her Cheonma Divine Technique to create appropriate vibrations in her clothes while washing them in the water.

As her clothes became cleaner, Soso began to relax a bit. The warm water was making her body feel languid.

‘These clothes are getting in the way. I want to take them off.’

Since there was a hot spring culture in Mu Kingdom as well, she wanted to wash away all the fatigue from the day.

But unless Soso was a fool, she couldn’t casually strip in front of Minsu.

And at that moment, the Blood Demon whispered to Soso.