""Contagious!?"" Both Riz and Tenur shouted aloud. Although Riz had portrait himself to be one of calm headedness, this had caught him totally off guard. As for Tenur...
"Then won't my- our mana get burnt away as well!?" This was a significant factor since both Denka and Tenur used their sperms to store their mana, with Denka now relying on Tenur's. Mana was a component that was crucial to living and sentient beings, and without it, the beings would eventually die of mana exhaustion, also known as "mana death".
"Relax, it's not contagious to its originator. For you however," Denka directed his voice to Riz, "you should minimize contact with your squad mates, isolate them at least 5 metres from each other, otherwise the effect would just jump onto those that had just recovered, creating a loop that would repeat forever unless stopped."
"Got it," Riz struggled to speak, "you all... heard him! Spread out, and once you... get back to camp, isolate the others as well," he was clutching the part of the armor that covered his crotch as he yelled at his squad.
"Ay!" They responded unenthusiastically, the pain causing them unable to salute properly. The soldiers spreaded out with at least 5 metres away from each other, all of their swords sheathed, but ready to be drawn when needed, though the way they walked made Tenur doubt they could actually respond to threats properly with the pain in the way.
"We better space ourselves," Riz warned as he sidewalked away from the group, increasing the distance between him and Proin specifically.
"Hey Proin, you don't seem affected by the effect. Have you recovered faster than them?" Tenur asked when he saw Proin relaxed.
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"Oh, no no! I'm actually sterile, so I wasn't affected," he thought for a moment before continuing, "at least I think I wasn't."
"Your sterility probably minimised the damage done to you, significantly since you didn't even felt it," Denka said with a mixed tone.
"That's probably it," Laura voiced, again, what was on Tenur's mind.
"We better get going then, it's almost midnight," Proin suggested. Riz was already gone by the time they looked around. The jungle felt empty and devoid of creatures, as if it was the land of the dead.
"Even the land of the dead has more population than our surroundings," Tenur whistled as they began walking towards the camp.
"So mind explaining what's up with sperm burn, Denka?" Tenur asked to break the silent atmosphere that lingered in the air around them. The awkwardness was getting to him, even though all three of them seemed fine with it.
Denka sighed, then answered, "You just can't keep quiet, can't cha?"
"You know how he is, dad," Laura added.
"I'd prefer to learn while we're spending time walking back to camp," the statement made by Tenur caused Laura to unconsciously laugh, and Proin seemed like he was suppressing a smile too. Even Denka was snorting at his statement.
"Basically, sperm burn is the sperm version of mana burn. You know how lethal mana burns are right?" Tenur, Proin and Laura nodded, then Denka proceeded, "instead of burning mana, it burns -well, it's in the name- sperm, and is extremely contagious compared to mana burn that only affects the target. If you were to cast it inside a city, you could destroy it from inside out, or even target the capital, and make the kingdom heirless."
"With power comes great responsibility, and that's why I'm here to guide you down the right path," Denka said matter-of-factly.
"Uh, okay..." Tenur stayed silent for the entire walk.
"Proin," Denka called.
"Yes?" Proin answered since they were just beside each other.
"The sperm burn effect can cure sterility by destroying weak and not-up-to-standard sperms," Denka stopped at that, letting Proin do the rest.
"That means my sterility could be cured...?" Proin asked for confirmation.
"You know the answer," Denka replied to Proin's question with hints of amusement. They arrived at camp not long after, and groans could be heard coming from behind the bushes.