Sophia and Ari finally found out what was going on with them and why they felt so sick. As it turned out, the blonde tiger accidentally used some sort of magic on the two, which apparently ended up in sharing a portion of her power with the jaguar. This caused both to become ill because their bodies couldn't deal with it, and their magic first had to be adjusted and restarted for them to feel better.
"Ehhh?!" Once Ari was able to wrap her head around the events, she let out another cry.
"Absolutely!" Sophia wasn't much different.
"Why... Why are you two so loud..." Maya suddenly joined the duo's conversation. She was asleep until now, but she naturally would wake up with such a commotion going on.
"M-More importantly, why are you holding hands?!" Princess Anna, who was sleeping next to the cat-girl on the sofa, naturally couldn't sleep through it, either, and quickly noticed something that bothered her greatly.
"Ah." The two in question looked down and noticed their hands were still interlocked from when Sophia transferred her magic power to Ari.
"Ah, now that we finished what we were doing, there's no need to hold hands anymore." Saying so, Sophia finally let go of the jaguar.
"Huh?!" Naturally, thanks to the blonde's wording, Anna got even more concerned.
"Sophia~?" It also was too much for Maya.
"Calm down, you two. I only held her hands to transfer some of my magic power to her."
"Ohh!" The princess sounded relieved. "So, you only did it to help her, not because you wanted to."
"It was still great, though. Ari's hands feel amazing~. So soft, and smooth, and squishy!"
"Absolutely! I-I mean, hey!" Anna's real thoughts leaked out for a second.
"I don't get the fuzzy feeling like when I hold Maya's, but from a neutral point of view, they're top tier."
"T-Thanks." The girl with the amazing hands wasn't sure how to react.
"Ah, we're safe." Maya heard what she wanted to hear but then glanced at Ari instead. "Unless..."
"N-No!" The jaguar vehemently shook her head. "Nothing remotely fuzzy here, either. Sophia's hands do feel great, but that's about it. Though, I bet it's amazing to hold her hands during winter because they're so warm."
"Yep, I'm already looking forward to it~." The cat-girl apparently knew what she was talking about.
"I have warm hands?" Sophia didn't, though.
"Very." She had two girls answering her.
"Ari!" Anna couldn't take it anymore and jumped towards the bed. There, she sat down next to the jaguar and demonstrably grabbed both her hands. "No more touching her, Sophia!"
"Adorable..." The blonde had used the time when she was being yelled at to leave the bed and sat down on the sofa next to Maya. There, the couple had the exact same reaction.
"Funny you're saying that, though, princess." Sophia wasn't done yet. "I only hold hands with Ari. You, on the other hand, tightly nuzzled against the side of my girlfriend while you two took a nap on the sofa together.
"Ah," Anna froze up. "T-That was an accident! I only noticed it when I woke up!"
"Did it feel good, though?"
"Y-Yes..." She averted her face. "Maya also smells very nice..."
"Why, thank you." The nice-smelling cat-girl liked the compliment. "You do, too, by the way. Though I don't know about your hands specifically, you, as a whole, are also very soft and squishy in places. I'm a big fan of that."
"Hmm...?" Anna needed a moment and then let go of Ari's hands to cover her chest. "Y-You can't sexually harass a princess! That's a crime! I think… It definitely should be!"
"She has a point, though." Sophia and even Ari sided with the cat-girl.
"Y-You too?!" She stared at the jaguar with an exasperated expression while her face had turned entirely crimson.
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Afterward, everyone needed five minutes to cool down and reset. Only then, Maya and the princess finally noticed that the two ill girls seemed to be doing much better.
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"Finished being sick?" Maya placed a hand on Sophia's forehead to check her temperature. "Almost back to normal, too."
"You, too, Ari! You look much better now. Wait, was Sophia actually able to share her magic? Our healers couldn't do it, after all."
"Err..." The duo had no idea what to say. "It's a bit... complicated."
"What happened...?" The other two suddenly got a bad feeling.
"Well, you two..." The blonde looked at Maya and the princess before gesturing at the jaguar. "Tell me if you notice anything different about her."
"Hmm... Huh?!" Actually concentrating on the girl for a moment, they quickly noticed it.
"A-Ari... What is going on with your magic power?!" Anna directly freaked out.
"Sophia... What did you do? Why has she many times her original power now?" Maya took a wild guess at who was responsible for it.
"I did something without thinking... Yesterday, I showed Ari my storage magic, and she really wanted to learn it, too. But that's impossible because she can't use chantless magic. Jokingly, I complained to magic itself to give her more power. I would even help out if needed. Unconsciously, I also poured actual power into my words, and it actually happened. With her current power, Ari should be able to easily learn chantless magic."
"Ehh?!" The jaguar herself had the biggest reaction. She apparently hadn't thought that far yet. "I-I can use chantless magic now...?"
"Training starts soon~."
"Just hold on a moment!" The princess stopped the blonde. "I know you're ridiculous and all, but there's just no way you can simply wish for someone to have more power, and it actually happens!"
"I'm with Anna here. That's just way too easy and convenient."
"No, it's neither of those." Sophia shook her head. "Maya, remember the ten to 15 percent I lost of my magic? They're Ari's now. When I poured my magic into her, I needed exactly the same amount to fully fill her up. Somehow, the magic I used for her also immediately regenerated. The same goes for her old amount that got added on top, but those initial ten-plus percents are still gone and don't regenerate at all. The amount I lost lines up exactly with the total power Ari now has."
"Wow..."
"I also think that's why we felt sick..." The blonde continued. "Ari got her powers increased by me. She probably had to get rid of her own first to become compatible with mine, I guess...? My magic, too, had no idea what was going on, causing it to rebel inside my own body while trying to recover what I had given up on... Maybe whatever I accidentally did wasn't even finished yet, and everything would've been fine if I had stayed a bit longer with Ari yesterday. I'm not exactly sure about that, and I doubt we'll ever find out, but that's my guess."
"Seriously?!" Maya was shocked. "You permanently gave up a portion of your magic power to give it to Ari?! That's kinda romantic in a way... Now I'm actually jealous about what's going on between you two... A part of you is now a part of her!"
"I-I'm really sorry!" The jaguar started apologizing. "I'm naturally happy, but I never asked for it, Maya! There is nothing romantic going on! Also, I feel awful about having taken so much magic from you, Sophia!"
"First of, it was an accident with no ulterior motive, Maya. If you want, we can mix all of our magic power with each other later. Second, it's alright, Ari. It might've been a lot, but I still have more than I could reasonably use, especially because it regenerates so fast. More than one person could've been problematic, though. All things considered, I'm just happy for you. I'll make sure you learn the storage magic you loved so much now, too."
"T-Thank you..." The black-haired girl felt touched.
"I like the mixing idea." Maya, too, was happy.
"Uuh..." Anna, on the other hand, seemed sadder, if anything, while she kept glancing at Ari. "Y-You're not going to leave me now, a-are you...?"
"H-Huh?!" She looked confused. "Why would I leave you...?"
"I-If your magic stays like this, ignoring Sophia and her group, you'll be the most powerful person in the capital. You can do whatever you want now."
"Wow… Even if that might be so... I'm already doing what I want, though, because I'm here in the castle with y-you."
"A-Ari..." Anna couldn't help herself and tightly hugged the jaguar. "You're the best!"
"Aww." The couple had the same reaction again.
"Still..." Maya watched the two being flirty and intimate with each other for a few minutes and then whispered to Sophia. "Is that really how childhood friends work?"
"It's great, isn't it?" The blonde feigned ignorance because she wanted to keep Ari's slip-up a secret. Not to mention that she has no idea how Anna actually feels. "Makes me sad I never had one..."
"And me super happy you didn't!" Maya had her own opinion as she continued to watch the duo.
"Hehe." Sophia ignored her and had a great time looking at Ari's completely red face while Anna clung to her.
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The princess needed another five minutes to let go of the jaguar again, and the group was finally able to continue their conversation while the two joined the couple on the other sofa in the room.
"Say," Once she calmed down, Ari faced Sophia. "Am I really able to use chantless magic now...?"
"Aside from the point where I still don't understand why not anyone with some proficiency in magic can use it, I'm certain about it. I remember Fen mentioning that you need around ten percent of Maya's power to use it. Thanks to our weird accident, you now have around one-third of her power, Ari. Beating an entire army might be difficult, but everything else should work with ease for you soon."
"Sophia..." She stared at her with a disapproving expression. "Why would I want to beat an entire army by myself?"
"Who knows?" The blonde shrugged her shoulders. "I never planned to do it, either, but I still ended up destroying an army. You never know what the future has in store. Stuff like that just happens from time to time, after all."
"No, no, no! It doesn't! That's just you!" All three other girls retorted at the same time.
"Aww..." Sophia pouted for a second. "Well, I actually really can't recommend it. It's no fun at all, so it might be for the best."
"Yes!" Everyone gave her a big nod.
"Well, how about we go call Fen and Aura? I bet they want to know what's going on, too, and they can also explain the extent of your new power better, Ari."
Afterward, Sophia searched the wolves with her detection magic and told Maya where to look. The blonde felt a lot better after the magic issue had been resolved. Most of the cold-like symptoms she and the jaguar suffered from were gone, too. However, the muscle pain and fatigue were still lingering in her body, bad enough to not go herself. The cat-girl then swiftly left to collect the two.