I checked the beauty in front of me to make sure she wasn’t joking and to my utmost pleasure, it didn’t seem like it. Rather, she looked… normal? How should I put it? She looked as if she just asked me if I like my bread normal or toasted, not if it would be okay for me as a grown up man to sleep in the same bed with her and those two godly mountains of her.

I swallowed hard and only managed to nod my head in approval, since I couldn’t form a simple sentence even if my life was depending on it.

[Great! Let’s go in. I am sure you will find the dishes that we serve to be delicious. We found a way to enhance the spices using life energy and as result, the taste became enhanced as well…](Anna)

Anna kept telling me about the cuisine of this world but I couldn’t help but space out while checking her out. Might have been rude if I would’ve been caught, but I was honestly at a loss for words. Could it be that our civilizations are so different that it’s not that big of a deal to share a bed between a man and a woman even if they are strangers? There’s no way that’s the case!

“Could it be that since the men in their race haven’t been around for ages, the sexual frustration levels are THAT high? According to them, it’s been more than a couple of years. Since that’s the case, I am not surprised that I wasn’t stripped naked after entering the city and passed between the girls like a walking human vibrator…”

I couldn’t help but swallow hard once more and shake my head at the beautiful dream. There was more to this and usually, the more you hope for, the bigger the disappointment. So what’s the deal with them? Could it be that their race evolved beyond the need of sexual contact?

“That might be the case since they mentioned that they use a fucking tree to make new babies, but that doesn’t mean that they forgot that they can have sex. I mean, at least animals should be a living reminder that it’s still a possibility.”

The more I thought about it, the stranger everything was turning. Could it be that this was a trap of sorts? To have me lower my guard and then kill me afterwards?

“Not necessary! Seeing the rifle on Anna’s back, I am sure it could easily pierce a military-grade bunker like it was made out of paper, much less myself. Therefore, there’s no need for harming me, or taking me hostage.”

If it’s for information, I can give that out freely since it’s just general knowledge and I don’t have national or military secrets that I can expose. So even if it would be a honey trap to get me to spill out the beans, I would spill that shit like there’s no tomorrow.

In the end, I couldn’t figure it out at all and with the quest still blinking in the right corner of my vision, I was becoming more and more confused.

“Will something happen during the night? Do they transform in freaking werewolves or something? That… shouldn’t be the case. Then, will the enemies show up tonight? In that case they should be the men of their race, AKA the Fallen. That would make sense, but… how the hell I’m I supposed to kill 100 of them?”

Looking at Anna while she was pointing at her apartment that was on the 9th floor, I just realized something scary: if according to the system interface, after barely using the mana for a bit and getting my body used to it I became this strong compared to a normal human, how strong does a Fallen become since they have full mastery of their life energy?

“According to the girls, once you control the life energy of your own body, guiding and using mana should be tens of times easier. Also, the girls did mention the mana as a curse for the males, but they didn’t say that they couldn’t use it either. Fuck!”

I almost slapped myself at thinking of the possibility of jumping on this girl in the middle of the night. Holy crap! A slap from her would probably send my ass in the next dimension and I had such stupid thoughts…

“Fucking stupid system! What chance do I have to complete this quest since even a freaking newborn would be stronger than me in this world! Goddam stupid world and stupid tree! Hmm!?”

Right before the elevator reached the last floor, I caught a glimpse of something and I couldn’t help but frown. I made some connections between what they told me and I could vaguely tell where this was going. The problem was that there were so many routes this night could take, that I wasn’t able to pinpoint the exact one before going through with it.

However, I relaxed a bit since no harm should befall me. No! Put in better words, these girls would willingly throw their lives away to protect mine at this point, if my theory was correct.

[We’re here! Make yourself comfortable and if you want to take a shower is the second room on the left. For clothes… I am afraid I cannot offer any, but there is a washing machine in the bathroom. It should finish the whole process and dry them out by the time you are done on your end as well. I will go prepare some dishes!](Anna)

“Alright. I will take you up on that shower.”

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Seeing the jubilant expression on her pretty face, I couldn’t help but sigh. Probably, a part of her was simply happy to have me as a guest and show off her cooking skills, while the other part was happy about what I was signifying for her race. Looking at the clock in the living room, it was already 3:15PM. I had less than six hours until the quest will probably begin for real and there were no preparations I could make yet since there were still not sufficient information.

The washing machine was surprisingly similar to the ones back on earth, except for the distinctive handprint next to the settings of it. Since it didn’t have any cables, meaning that that it wasn’t connected to anything to get its power from and had only the water drawing hose, it meant that it was probably using a different type of energy: life energy!

“This klutz probably forgot to mention the fact that it was like this. Either that or it’s a test. Since it’s a handprint, I could probably put my hand on it and transfer some of my life energy to power it up. The only question is, is this safe? After all, I don’t know the repercussions of using the said energy on my newbie level…”

Caught in a dilemma and standing there in my underwear pondering, I heard a loud gasp and the sound of hurried footsteps coming my way. I chuckled at the fact that she was just too excited and forgot to tell me. There was a knock on the door, so I took a towel and wrapped it around my waist, since it was not gentleman-like to stand there almost with your junk out in front of a lady… unless she specifically asks you to!

[Sorry! I forgot to tell you that it needs life energy to start. I will help right away.](Anna)

“No worries! Actually, do you think I can do it?”

[Hmm? I don’t think there should be a problem. The amount of life energy needed is miniscule and you have enough not to cause you harm. The problem is the control. I don’t think you can move the energy just yet, since you don’t have sufficient proficiency with it.](Anna)

I thought about it a bit and it made sense. I only uncovered it because of mana after all and I wasn’t able to properly use mana either. However, since she was here with me, I could run some experiments and have her teach me for a bit. One way or another, that should come in handy.

“Think you can give me a crash-course on how to use it?”

Seeing the same pensive look on her face, I couldn’t help but wonder on how similar it was with the other girls as well. I could only pray that this didn’t touch upon some taboo on the end of her race and have her teach me. Being able to manipulate this life energy, in theory should not only make me stronger, but healthier as well. If I am to listen to the legends and take these pretty dryads as example, maybe even a longer lifespan.

[It shouldn’t be a problem. Let me see… first of all, can you clearly feel the two powers inside you? The ‘mana’, I think you called it and the energy that is closer linked to your body?](Anna)

“Yes!”

[Good! Now, focus on the life energy and try to feel its shape.](Anna)

“Shape?”

[Mhm! Each person has a different shape, but we don’t know what it’s based on unfortunately. It’s like a fingerprint! Everyone’s unique. Here, give me you hand.](Anna)

Upon taking my hand and placing it above her heart, I did my best not to cuss at the fact that I didn’t forcefully move it myself a couple of centimeters lower and tried my best to focus on what she was asking.

Then, the most surprising thing happened. It felt as if the floodgates for something opened and streams of information were flowing in my mind through my hand. All these bits and pieces were putting together a picture. I realized that I could somehow ‘see’ inside of Anna’s core and I was slightly shook at the realization.

“If I am not wrong, that should be a mana core. Not only that, but it’s surrounded by Anna’s life energy.”

The more I focused on the picture, the clearer it became. Soon, the image of a majestic deer came into focus, with the core acting as its heart. It was so life-like that it felt that it would start hopping around any second now. Feeling a light thug on my hand, the image disappeared and I opened my eyes, seeing a bright smile that almost made me hug this beauty.

[Amazing! To be able to sense it so fast! Even adults of my race have problems in doing that in the beginning. That’s the shape of my life energy. According to what you told me, it hasn’t been so long since you uncovered yours, therefore it shouldn’t be formed just yet. Maybe just a vague figure? Nevertheless, you should be able to sense it. I will also help you a bit.](Anna)

Grabbing both my hands, she started pouring her own life energy through the right hand and absorbing it back through the left. That way, my entire body was being washed by this higher quality product, lighting up beacons along the way. After a couple of minutes, seeing how pale this beauty was turning, I stopped her and told her that it was enough. I didn’t expect the toll on her to be that high…

[Phew… I always forget how taxing that is if you haven’t reached the life-like rank. How is it? Can you tell the shape?](Anna)

“Shape, huh? It’s strange but it doesn’t really look like a shape. It’s more like dots across space at this point and not a picture like yours. They are connected at least, so I should be able to move the energy around, but I can’t tell what sort of picture it should be…”

[That’s normal. You are just a beginner after all. It would be too strange to actually have a clear image from the beginning. Okay, give it a try then! Place your hand on the machine and focus on moving the energy from your body, through your hand and into the machine. Don’t worry though! The machine has a convertor that has a maximum capacity and can only store enough energy for one washing cycle, so no harm will befall you.](Anna)

The process was simple than I thought and with a loud *clink* sound the washing machine locked and started doing its thing. I felt slightly lightheaded and hungry, but Anna assured me that it’s because of my unrefined life energy and it’s small quantity.

As I walked into the shower for the… fifth time today? I realized just how long today has been. So much stuff happened and now, besides mana, a new door opened for me. As the warm water washed off my sweat, I began formulating a plan for today…

“At least, what’s left of it anyways…”