While walking deeper into a forest, I glanced at Talis, who was perched upon my shoulder, causing me to faintly smirk as I scratched underneath her beak.
"Feel nostalgic yet?" Asked Alexander with a faint smirk as he looked at Talis, who purred in satisfaction while nodding.
Chuckling, I scratched Talis for a bit longer before heading slightly more left; this forest may be hard to navigate, but I knew this place like the back of my hand… Well, at least the middle half. Touching upon several trees, feeling their connection and emotions that helped guide me, after several minutes, the three of us came across a tree with a deep gash, seemingly of importance.
"Where is this?" Asked Lazuli curiously as she glanced at Alexander, who stayed silent and merely watched as Talis spread her wings before landing upon the tree branch.
"Huh, I can't believe this place used to be my home. It's so small now, barely the size of my wing." Said Talis softly as she stared at the abandoned bird nest, which had managed to weather the numerous storms over the years.
"Yeah, I know. I remember when you were just a tiny, cute chick that couldn't even fly… Now you're a big, annoying bird. Haa, how times change." Remarked Alexander lightly with a faint smirk as he approached the tree, only for Talis to slap him with her soft wing.
"Oi, shut it, Alex!" Stated Talis in annoyance as she loudly chirped at Alexander while hitting him in the face with her wings, though the smile never left his face.
"This is where Talis was born?" Asked Lazuli as she glanced between Alexander and Talis, prompting them to both nod while glancing at her.
"Yep. And if it weren't for me, she would probably be dead cause I found her as a little chick on the ground, unable to fly. If you haven't noticed, Lazuli birds are incredibly vulnerable when walking, even more so when they can't fly." Said Alexander with a small smile as he gently pushed Talis away while massaging Lazuli's shoulders, causing her to nod.
"Hmph, now look at me! From a mere chick that couldn't even fly, I've grown to become one of the fastest-flying birds in all of existence! It's only a matter of time before Queen of the Skies becomes a common household name!" Declared Talis proudly as she puffed her chest out and raised her beak to the skies, causing both Lazuli and Alexander to look blankly at her.
"There are still many birds faster than you." Stated Lazuli calmly as she looked at Talis, who scoffed in annoyance before flying deeper into the forest.
"Hehe, you made her annoyed with that one… Good job." Said Alexander with a chuckle as he kissed Lazuli on the cheek, only to lift her into his arms, princess carrying her through the forest.
While Talis flew off to who knows where,e I took another detour, and instead of heading directly to the clearing in the middle of the forest, vegetation began to grow sparse the further I walked until, eventually, there were no trees and only rocks, gravel, and sand.
"That is a large crystal ball." Said Lazuli lightly as she stared at the boulder-sized crystal ball atop the rocky hill, causing Alexander to smirk.
"It damn sure is. Do you know what it's far?" Asked Alexander as he looked down at Lazuli in his arms while walking up the rocky hill, prompting her to nod.
"You used it to train your mana control… You've told this story many times, Alex." Replied Lazuli as she looked up at Alexander, her voice hinting at annoyance, causing him to awkwardly chuckle.
"Hehehe, I do speak about younger days a lot… Sorry." Muttered Alexander with a slight chuckle as he stood before the boulder-sized crystal ball.
Gently setting Lazuli on the ground, I walked forward and took a breath before placing my hand upon the crystal ball, though, even after a full minute, not a single drop of my mana was sucked from my body, causing me to faintly smirk.
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"Heh, I couldn't do this six years ago; I still needed Master's mana to help me. Though now, even without her mana, it's not that difficult." Said Alexander with a satisfied smile as he removed his hand from the crystal ball before glancing at Lazuli.
"Want to try? You probably won't even notice it trying to suck your mana, given your crazy level of control." Added Alexander as he gently pushed Lazuli toward the crystal ball, only for her to look at him.
"Alex, can I have this?" Asked Lazuli curiously as she pointed at the crystal ball, causing Alexander to raise an eyebrow.
"Have it? What do you mean by that? It's the size of the boulder; even with my [Shrink] skill, it'll still be too big to fit into our space pouch. If I could, I would take it with us." Replied Alexander in slight confusion as he looked at Lazuli while holding his space pouch, only for her to shake her head.
"No. I want to consume it. This crystal ball will significantly increase my mana capacity and a few other benefits." Said Lazuli, her words causing Alexander to nod in understanding while he furrowed his brows.
I didn't need much time to deliberate regarding Lazuli's question since, despite its sentimental value, it was doing nothing sitting here on top of this hill; besides, if anything were to happen with it, I'd prefer knowing it went to helping someone I love… Knowing Master, she probably would've wanted the same.
"Haa, yes, you can go ahead–" Said Alexander with a saddened sigh as he nodded towards Lazuli, who didn't waste a single moment and outstretched her arms to the crystal ball.
With a twitching expression at how she didn't hesitate, I watched how Lazuli's body slowly began to morph into a blackish liquid as it engulfed the crystal ball; although it wasn't a liquid, just incredibly tiny pieces of herself that were next to impossible to differentiate, so it just looked like a liquid. As her humanoid body slowly lost its form, her clothes dropped to the floor, revealing her body, but it wasn't all that arousing when more than half of her was a blackish liquid.
Eventually, Lazuli managed to envelop the entire crystal ball into her body, with the only thing remaining was her head since that was the only part of her body that wasn't robotic; to be honest, staring at her head atop this boulder was beyond funny, and I couldn't help but laugh at her appearance.
"Hehehe, oh, I wish I had my camera with me! Hahaha." Said Alexander loudly with a smile while the hill echoed with his laughter, causing Lazuli to tilt her head in confusion.
While I was laughing my heart out, Lazuli's slowly shrunk down, and after a minute, she was nothing but a head and a puddle of blackish liquid; however, it only took her a few seconds to return to that sexy-looking humanoid form again.
"Hehehe, s-so how was it?" Asked Alexander, wiping his tears while looking at Lazuli, who flashed him a rare lovely smile.
"It was great. My mana capacity has more than tripled, and I can now absorb atmospheric several mana times quicker than before." Replied Lazuli with a smile, causing Alexander to passionately kiss her.
"That's wonderful news. Though I will say, I do feel a little sad now." Muttered Alexander with a faint smile as his hands lowered themselves to Lazuli's butt while he shifted his focus to where the crystal ball used to be.
Although the loss of the crystal ball was a little bit sad, since it helped Lazuli, it got over it pretty quickly and carried her into my arms as we returned to the forest, heading to our final destination.
"Hmm, is it just me, or have you gotten sexier?" Muttered Alexander with a raised eyebrow as he looked at Lazuli in his arms, causing her to silently stare at him while his crotch twitched, only for her to smirk.
"Oh, you little." Added Alexander with a twitched expression as he shook his head, ignoring Lazuli, who faintly smirked while snuggling deeper into his embrace.
While silently walking through the forest with a little vixen in my arms, we eventually reached a clearing after several minutes, only for me to see that all too familiar tree house.
"Heh, I'm back home." Muttered Alexander softly with a bitter-sweet expression as he gently set Lazuli on the ground while approaching the treehouse.
Once I arrived at the treehouse, I didn't enter it and instead walked around it, only to arrive at Master's grave, yet that wasn't the only thing, as on top of her grave, there was a sapling up to my chest, and it emitted a golden glow.
"Beautiful… Just like her." Said Alexander lightly as he gently caressed the golden sapling, only to kneel while gazing at Lavender's grave.
"Sorry for not visiting once these past six years; your death was a bit too much for me to cope with, so I figured just keeping my distance would be best until I get ahold of myself and whatnot." Stated Alexander with a soft smile as he sat down and wrapped his arm around the grave as if it were Lavender herself.
"Speaking of that, I've found myself some lovers. One of them is here with me, her name is Lazuli, and I think you'd like her. She's super beautiful and VERY talented when it comes to anything mana-related, and she's far better than me. She's very smart, though also a little slow at times; she enjoys learning, though she has a rather bland personality. Given her lack of facial expression, people who don't know her well have difficulty reading her emotions. However, between you and I, she's a freak at night, Master." Remarked Alexander with a lovely smile as he looked at Lazuli, causing her to faintly smile at his words.