It’s been a little more than two months since I gave the book about the iron blimps to the King and things went more or less as expected.
Tensions between the Kingdoms are rising as the information about the blimps is being passed around. A huge influx of adventures, especially in the areas near the Sure-Death Forest, has happened. I would bet money that at least a few dozen of them are spies of some sort but that’s not for me to stop. If they are strong enough to keep people safe and they actually do it I have nothing to complain about.
From time to time news about explosions and forest fires in desolate places reach Sagrada. Nothing on the scale I am preparing for but the way things are going soon enough someone will come knocking on my door looking for help or to blame me. Either way I have to prepare.
In these last two months I added two things to my training routine. Manipulation of fire not started by me, be it magical or natural, and phasing. Controlling fire is easy enough in small quantities but making it not harmful is hard when it gets larger. Just controlling a fire the size of the area Mess made to me requires a good amount of concentration. Controlling a fire the size of a small forest might require my full attention. I tried to find a way to absorb the fire and convert it into mana but the results were beyond bad. Converting an element into mana is something really advanced as Mess explained to me when I started tinkering with the idea. Looks like you need to understand magic on a level that not even Maxoiliodas can to 100% convert something back into the mana that makes it and absorb it. I try it every once in a while to not forget the feeling but I can’t convert and absorb any flame bigger than one generated from a matchstick.
One good thing that came about this whole training is that I somewhat fixed a small problem the people were having with trash. As I was asking around if there was anything people had that they were going to burn lots of people told me about their trash crates they usually burn as fuel when needed. Since the city is growing, the amount of trash increased more than people were prepared to dispose of. It was nothing on the level of creating piles of trash but it was enough that people were starting to consider just digging a big hole outside the city and burning everything so nothing bad would come from it.
I contracted a few people as trashmen and asked them to deliver the trash into the small room Mess made for me. For the first few days the smell would go out a little but I managed to control the fire enough that not even smoke would appear.
As for the phasing training. Since I now have more mana I tried it again and it still takes its toll. I might have more mana but it doesn’t use any less mana than before. My focus was to do partial phasing so I could reduce the amount of mana used but it actually increased to my surprise.
When I started it I first tried to make the end of a few strands of my hair intangible and they fell off after a few seconds. If I had started with an arm or a finger it would have come off and the scene would not have been pretty. I tested this more on the rest of my hair and no matter the amount of hair I made intangible it would always fall off 5 seconds after I made it intangible.
With that in mind I tried to test it on my arms and it looks like I can still move normally in that time frame. After a few days of testing all of this I tried to extend the amount of time I could maintain a part of my body intangible and attached to me.
At first I tried to increase the amount of mana I used in the process but all it did was make the phasing start faster. Putting less made it slower or not happen at all and only last month I managed to extend the time my partial phasing goes on. All I had to do was pump stupid amounts of mana from the areas the phasing part of my body is atached to. I managed to maintain partial phasing for a whole 5 minutes at the cost of all my mana. One would ask why I would go after all this trouble when I could just phase myself completely and then just stop it when I need to but I have an answer for that.
If I phase myself completely I have exactly 15 seconds before I start to go down into the ground and after 6 or 7 seconds of completely phasing if I try to make just a part of my body normal again it will fall off instantly, even if I try to keep it together. At times like this I really love that my hair grows back to its normal size after just a few hours. I lost more hair in the past few days than a normal person would in their entire life.
Because of all this training I am also actually sleeping at night. I guess I just wasn’t using enough mana before. The sleep also came at a good time as the workload increased significantly and it is actually stressing me out a little. The amount of work was so much that we had to skip Monica’s birthday party to the sadness of Alfina. Maxia and Zelfina’s birthdays are coming. They will debut in high society at the end of the month so we will hold their party when they come back, even if it will be another month already. I don’t know exactly why they asked for us to wait until they came back but if they asked, who are we to say no?
Anyway, after my morning training, which consists of burning all the trash collected and deposited in the small room in the backyard of the mansion, I go do my job and not my job.
---
“So, let me get this straight. There is a pack of Cockas, numbering at least in the 200, coming this way and none of you have any idea from where?” I ask the group of adventurers currently sitting on the sofas in the office.
“Y-Yes ma’am.” One of the men there answered. I think it’s their leader.
“Just so we all are on the same page. Can any of you describe to me the monsters just so I am sure we are talking about the same thing?”
“Cockas are a type of monster bird. They are a mix of ostriches, chickens and some sort of lizard. Adults are usually two 2.5 meters tall and they can run faster than horses.” A girl there explained to me.
“Yeah, I think we are talking about the same thing.”
“May I ask why the clarification?” The first man asks.
“I didn’t know that Cocka was actually the name of the monster. The author of the book I read named the one he found that but not the species. To me it was just an overgrown mutant chicken.”
“Well, and the job?”
“Yeah, I can’t have all of you hunting bears when that amount of monsters is coming this way. You can prioritize the extermination of the Cockas for now. It’s not like those bears will come back that soon.” A few weeks ago some idiot went into the Sure-Death forest and brought a large amount of bears with him. I didn’t even know there were bears there. I had to go to the guild and ask adventurers to clean the mess since both me and Sophia were and are still inundated with work.
“Do we get a reward?” A woman there asks.
“You can keep the bodies. WIth that amount of monsters you all will probably get a good amount of money from their parts.”
“Isn’t that working for free?”
“You can either go now and get the rewards yourself or let those things get near enough here that I can deal with them myself. If I have to deal with them, the spoils are mine.” This shut up the woman.
The group stands up and says their goodbyes before being shown the door by Monica.
“Where is Sophia?” I ask Monica as soon as she comes back.
“Talking with the merchants in the town fountain.”
“Alfina?”
“Taking another bath.”
“What did she do?”
“She fought a bear along with Ice Cream and got some blood on her clothes.”
“Isn’t that the 3rd bear just today?”
“I believe so.”
“Tell her to come here once she finishes please.”
“Anything else?”
“Maxia and Zelfina? I remember them saying that they would do something together.”
“They are rehearsing the dance they will perform at the end of the month. I think they are also teaching a few of the girls that you were teaching the basics of noble society along with their dance.”
“Ok. For now I will continue to look at these documents.” I say as I pick a pile of documents currently on the desk and begin to check them for inconsistencies. Several minutes later Alfina along with Ice Cream came into the office.
“Did you call Lucia?”
“Can I ask you where you are finding so many bears?”
“You said that the bears were attacking people. I asked Ice Cream to find them and bring them here so we could deal with them.”
“So he is going deep into the forest and bringing a bear back with him?”
“Yes.”
“Alfina. Unless they come here first, we don’t need to kill them.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Also, couldn’t you just tame a few bears and make sure they don’t come back?”
“I tried but they didn’t listen.”
“It surprises me that you found something that was immune to your magic.” From time to time I see her with another dog or a cat, even birds sometimes.
“So can I go play now?”
“Sure. Just be careful.”
“Ok.” She says with a cute smile.
---
“Sophia. I can start doing what you asked me.” Mess says as we eat dinner.
“Didn’t think you would have finished so fast.” She says, surprised.
“What did you ask him to do?” There is so much going on that from time to time we forget to tell each other what we asked other people to do.
“To build some more garbage disposal facilities around the city.” he answers.
“Are we really making that much trash?”
“No, but it’s better to make them already before we run out of space in some places. Also these ones won’t be managed by you so they can actually be closed off.”
“In a month or two, if things continue as they are going, I won’t need the room in the backyard anymore.”
“Good to know.” Sophia answers me.
“We also have something to tell.” Maxia says.
“We are listening.” Sophia says.
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
“In the morning we will be leaving. A carriage will come pick us up and we will only come back at the start of next month.”
“We will see if we can send invites to all of you.” Zelfina adds.
“If possible, forget that I exist.” Mess says.
“The ladies are saying that they will try to invite you and you are refusing?” Sophia asks in a joking tone.
“In all seriousness, I had my fill of high society. If you don’t remember, I am still a minor and I know for a fact that someone who knows me will be there and I don’t want to deal with them.”
“You are the man of the house. Nobody cares about it.”
“No, Ice Cream is the man of the house. He brings the food.” Mess jokingly says. Ice Cream is the de facto meat provider of this house for the last month since neither me or Sophia can actually go hunting.
“Ok, I will keep that in mind.” Maxia says.
Later at night, as I am getting ready to sleep, I hear a knock on my door.
“Come in.” Monica appears to my surprise.
“What do I owe for the visit at this time of the night? Did you miss my touch?” I jokingly say.
“Sadly your desires will have to be satisfied by another person.” she says as she sits beside me on the bed.
”You look serious. What happened?”
“I need a favor.”
“What do you want me to do? Kill someone or something?”
“Why do you always default to those two things?”
“It is usually the only thing I can count as doing a favor nowadays.”
“Anyway. I need you to meet someone.”
“Now?”
“Yes.”
“Who, where and why?”
“A friend of mine, you could say. He is already here, just waiting in the living room and the reason for this is that he wants to meet you. For what, I don’t know.”
“I don’t need to worry about him jumping on me, do I?”
“Don’t worry. He is a gentleman.”
After that I put my pants on and go down the stairs to meet this mysterious man.
“Hello?” I say to the dwarf sitting on the sofa. He seems a little bigger than normal dwarfs, both in height and bulkness. His hair is a reddish orange that mixes with his small beard compared to the few dwarfs I had seen. It doesn't go past his neck. His eyes seem to be black. He stands up to shake my hands and I get his size. He is around 155 cm tall.
“Hello lady. Sorry to interrupt your night with my selfish request.” he speaks in a very calm and charming voice. If this man can sing with this voice, I wish I could hear it.
“It’s ok. I am more surprised that Monica has friends, let alone friends that would ask stuff out of her.”
“Don’t be too hard on her.”
“I’m still here.” Monica says, a little annoyed.
“So, who exactly are you and why did you want to meet me?”
“I am Merio, a sailor and I have two reasons to be here. The first is that I have something that only you should be able to use if the rumors about you are true that I am hoping you could take out of my hands. The other reason is that I have a message for you.”
“Ok… Let’s start with the message. Who sent it?”
“Yeah, that's the thing. When my crew was sorting our belongings a few days ago as we arrived at the port, we found a bag with this letter, money for the delieve and instructions on how to find you as well as to give the letter as soon as possible. I got here about an hour ago.” He says as he gives me the letter.
“Let me read it.”
“Hello Lucia. This will be our last letter before we actually go talk to you in person. Our tour of the demon territory is almost at its end but there was some information that we had to deliver to you as safely as possible. This letter was written about a week ago and should be delivered to you on the 1st of Sargitarius if nothing goes wrong. The means will not be disclosed so don’t think too hard about it. As for the information. There are two demons actually looking for you. Who and why we don’t know exactly but there is a group of humans helping them. We wish we could have gotten more information than this but we would have died trying to do that. This last part is my personal opinion as the leader of this small group but you should consider coming to the demon territory if things get too hard for you. With the exception of a few areas, you would blend in just right and not have to worry about anything since the demon territory cannot get smaller than this even if every single other kingdom on this planet decided to attack them. Anyway, good luck.” I read to myself.
“Now that I delivered the letter and it looks like you read it. Shall we do business?”
“...Sure. What do you want to sell me?”
“This.” He says as he happily shows me what seems like a pearl.
“A pearl?”
“No, this is a magic pill.”
“What even is a magic pill?”
“Doesn’t surprise me that someone as young as you doesn't know it. These pills have the power to increase the overall magic power of a person.”
“What is the part you aren’t telling me? I bet there are plenty of people who would love one of those going by what you just told me.”
“If you don’t possess a certain level of mastery over magic already the pill will do pretty much nothing besides increasing your mana capacity a little.” Monica explains.
“So you need to be powerful already. Anything else I should know?”
“The effects are for the most part random.”
“What do you mean?”
“Some people have great increases on their mana capacity while others become able to use an element they couldn’t before. Monica here gained the ability to affect the senses of others when she took one of these.” Merio explains to me.
“So it is a lottery.”
“Pretty much.”
“Ok. Let’s say I was to buy this. How much would I have to pay?”
“100 Kir.”
I cannot hide the shock on my face. There has to be a catch.
“Ok, what’s the catch?”
“There isn’t one.” He apologetically answers me.
“No, there has to be something.”
“If anything, he can’t sell it for more. It’s illegal, at least here.” Monica explains.
“Why?”
“These things, if not consumed for long periods of time, tend to attract monsters.”
“So the price is to make people not hold on to these things more than necessary?”
“That and the fact that for some reason you can’t just give this to people.”
“What are those things anyway? You say it’s a pill but it looks like a pearl.”
“From time to time people find buried boxes with these pills inside. The consensus is that they were made by an ancient mage and given to his apprentices that went around the world.” Monica explains.
“Are there any side-effects?”
“Are you pregnant?” Merio aks.
“No”
“Then no.”
“I will get the money. Wait a minute.” I say and quickly go to my room and pick a coin.
“Here.” I say as I give him the coin and he hands me the pill. As soon as it touches me I notice a faint aura coming from it.
“You should consume it now. I have no idea how long this pill has until it begins to attract monsters.”
“It amazes me how people are not using these as weapons.”
“Well, if monsters got to the pill and it was your possession, they would go after you next and since you can’t really distance yourself from it when it is yours, you pretty much would die.” Monica explains.
Following her advice I pick some water and consume the thing whole. It has no taste and as soon as it gets to my stomach it dissolves into mana that spreads over my body.
“I was expecting more.” I can’t feel any changes. My mana didn’t increase for one. I also can’t feel like I could use other elements now.
“Well lady. It will probably take a while. Also, I should be going. It's too late for a man like me to be in the house of someone who didn’t invite me.” Merio says
“Goodnight then.”
“Goodnight.”
After that both me and Monica go to sleep.
For the next few weeks I continue with my training and job like normal. The effects of the pill didn’t show so far. I went to the church everyday to see if something changed but with the exception of my natural mana capacity growing almost nothing during one night, I could sense anything that could have come from the pill in me.
I heard that a few of the kids I was teaching found jobs. Lots of merchants and adventurers were in need of people with the basic skills I taught them. I wish they were good enough to work with me but that will take a while.
As the end of the month approached, an invitation from Maxia and Zelfina, along with a small note, came to us. Only Sophia would be able to attend their party and I am banned from even coming near the place. The reasons are unknown but the note says they are sorry. I am not really that sad that I can’t go and Alfina seems the same.
As I was preparing myself to go to sleep after a hard day of work, I began to hear someone shouting outside the mansion.
“LADY SOPHIA! LADY LUCIA! SOMEONE! ANYONE!” A man is desperately screaming. Me, Sophia and Monica quickly dress ourselves as best as we can and go meet the man outside.
“What is happening that is making you scream like the world is ending?” Sophia asks the man that I recognize as a guard, he is just without his guard armor.
“A man, probably as powerful as you two, came to the gate and demanded that we bring one of you two to him or he would start to attack the city. I was leaving for the night so the other guards made me come here as I didn’t have my armor on. Please hurry, that man is serious.” The guard speaks with a lot of fear in his voice but holding himself enough to pass the message.
“I will go. Lucia, watch the mansion.” Sophia says to me as she runs off. I didn’t notice before but she had a weapon with her.
I dismiss the guard and along with Monica I wait in the living room. Alfina woke up too so she is there with us half-asleep on my lap. Somehow Mess is still sleeping.
About half an hour later Sophia comes back.
“So, what happened?” I ask.
“Gear up. We are leaving.”
“What do you mean?”
“The Kingdom is being attacked and we need to go help immediately.”
“What is attacking us?”
“Flying monsters. Ones never before seen. They are coming from north of the city, in the meadows and are spreading north. The man at the gate was a soldier from the Cruxadia army. He had delicate information that could only be passed to one of us.”
“Ok, in the morning I will go help.”
“No! We need to leave now. If we don’t deal with it now, there will be damage to the cities. If the monsters begin to come south we won’t have the manpower to deal with it..”
“Sophia. I am out of mana.” Not really out of mana but I am at my limit. She seems shocked by this.
“Then go sleep!” She angrily says to me before going to her room. I follow her command and go to my room after putting Alfina in bed.
As I try to fall asleep I hear Sophia running towards the gate, probably with her armor going by the small metal sounds. Soon after I hear someone opening my door. To my surprise it’s Monica and she is with a wooden basket.
“What do you want?”
“As this seems to be an emergency I will help you recover your mana.” She says as she locks the door and drops her clothes to the ground.
“Not that it isn’t a good idea but I have no idea how much we would have to fuck to recover my mana fully now.”
“Less talking more fucking.” She says as she forcefully removes my panties and climbs on me.
She puts some runes around my room and begins to ride my dick with the skill of a high level whore. I know for a fact that I am a quickshot. Orgasms come fast to me as I have no biological reason to hold back as far as I know but this was too fast. Before I can even finish cumming another orgasm comes. I don’t know how many times I came but it was enough for my semen to begin overflowing from her vagina and begin to wet the bed.
When she finally stopped and I got a few seconds to breathe, she reached into the basket and picked a glass flask.
“What is that?” I ask.
“Aphrodisiac.”
“I don’t need it.” I am pretty much masturbating 24/7. I am as horny as one can get. At least I can keep a stone face during the day.
“That’s not for you.” She says as she gulps the entire thing. In a matter of seconds I can feel her juices flowing along her tights. The thing is powerful.
She continues at the same pace; I can feel my mana recovering very fast.
After a few minutes the full effect of the aphrodisiac kicks in, either that or she is really enjoying this. Monica begins to moan and make very sexy faces as she orgams non-stop. I try to take command of the situation but she keeps me on my back. Soon after she grabs her magic strap-on from the side of the bed and creates a dick that she begins to fuck me with while holding my legs to my head leaving me wide open.
After a few slow thrusts she begins to piston me like the engine of a racing car all while embracing me. Her nipples rub into mine, my dick rubs on her belly and from time to time ,when she begins to moan more, she gives me a long and sloppy kiss trying to reduce the amount of sound she is making. She is fucking me like and animal. I could get addicted to this.
After an hour or so of her alternating between my dick and vagina all my mana is restored and she uses a spell on herself to fall asleep immediately as I tell her that. Probably because if she didn’t the aphrodisiac would make her make something she would regret.
I clean the room with my magic and put a sheet over her. It takes all my willpower to not just use her then and there as she is completely naked and exposed but I manage to hold on after hitting myself a few times and silently screaming at the gods for putting the most delicious meal I know in front of me but not in a situation where I could eat it.
After dressing myself up and grabbing my weapons I first make a detour to Mess’s room where I force the door open, waking him up.
“Mess, you protect the house, I will be leaving now.”
“What?” he says as he wakes up in panic.
“Sophia has gone out, I will be following her. Monica is out cold in my room and will probably stay like that for a while. That leaves you as the only adult here. Take care of the things.”
“Wait what?”
“No time to explain. I will be leaving, protect the house.” I say as I jump out of his window and begin to fly north.
I prepare myself for a long night as I have no idea what to expect.