CH 179

Chapter 179 : Supplying Mana

『So, how can I supply Celine with my mana?』(Mark)

『It’s simple. You just need to hold hands with her and imagine yourself injecting your mana into the crystal branch through Celine as the filter.』(Nicola)

『I see. That sounds easy.』(Mark)

『Yeah, but, Onii-chan, you need to be careful because it will burden Celine’s body. You have to slowly inject your mana. Sloooowly.』(Nicola)

『Alright. I’ll try.』(Mark)

I turned to Celine and stuck out my hand.

「Celine, there’s something I want to try. Can you hold my hand?」(Mark)

「Ara~ I don’t know what you want to try but is it something lewd~?」(Celine)

「It’s not… Just hold my hand.」(Mark)

「That’s too bad~ Fufu.」(Celine)

While joking, Celine held my hand.

「Now I want you to inject your mana into that branch one more time.」(Mark)

「Hmm…? Ahh, I see what you wanna do.」(Celine)

Celine put the index finger of her free hand and thought for a second. She then immediately realized what I was trying to do.

「So, do you want to try it?」(Mark)

「I’m not sure if it’s gonna work but, alright~ Let’s give it a try!」(Celine)

Celine held my hand tighter, touched the crystal branch, and started injecting her fire-attributed mana into it.

Immediately, I imagined myself injecting my fire-attributed mana into the crystal branch through Celine.

A few seconds later, I saw a heat-haze come out of Celine’s body. It seemed that my fire-attributed mana was flowing through her entire body. She started to sweat and breathe heavily in pain.

「Khh…! M, Mark, I think you inject too much mana… I can’t handle it…」(Celine)

「Eh? I-I’m sorry!」(Mark)

Noticing she was in pain, I immediately reduced the amount of mana I was injecting.

『Geez. I told you to do it slowly.』(Nicola)

『My bad…』(Mark)

In the first place, I’m not that good at fire magic, so it seems that I didn’t control how much fire-attributed mana I injected very well.

I have to be more focused!

「How about this much? Or should I reduce it even more?」(Mark)

「N, No… I think I can handle this much mana… Hahh… Hahh… Let’s continue like this.」(Celine)

「Alright, but don’t push yourself too hard, okay?」(Mark)

「Don’t worry. I’ll be fine…」(Celine)

Her face was a bit red, her entire body was soaked in sweat, and she was breathing heavily. Is she really gonna be alright…?

ーーーー

Thirty minutes have passed but Celine is still injecting her mana into the crystal branch without resting.

Her sweat started dripping like light rain and her breath sounded heavier than before.

A few moments laterー

「Hahh… Hahhh… I’m sorry… I can’t do it… any longer…」(Celine)

ーShe let go of my hand and dropped her knee to the ground.

「Celine!」(Mark)

「A woman drenched in sweat is the best!」(Nicola)

『Celine onee-chan, are you okay!?』(Nicola)

Because Nicola was too excited, her voice and inner thoughts were reversed somehow.

Fortunately, Celine didn’t seem to notice it because she was so tired that she almost fainted.

「Are you alright? I think we should stop now. You better get some rest.」(Mark)

「I’m fine… But, yeah… I think I’ll rest for a bit…」(Celine)

I took out a towel from my Item Box and handed it to Celine. I also used the fan magic tool I got from Tori to cool her body.

「Thank you, Mark.」(Celine)

「No problem. So… Was it effective?」(Mark)

「Fuuhhh… Let’s see…」(Celine)

Celine sat on the ground, stretched her legs, and took a deep breath. She then took out a leather bag from her cleavage, and then she took out a book from the leather bag.

She opened the book and then looked at the crystal branch and the book alternately.

「What book is it?」(Mark)

「It’s a note I made when I created a Portal Stone last time to see how fast the progress was. I made it because I was bored. There’s nothing but forest in this village after all. Look. Do you see a small stem near the tip of the branch?」(Celine)

I looked at the crystal branch we just injected our fire-attributed mana into. Certainly, there was a small stem that wasn’t there before.

Looks like that stem was growing little by little while we were injecting our mana into the branch.

「According to my note, it took me ten days to make a crystal branch grow a stem about the same size. In other words, your method is ten times more effective!」(Celine)

Ten times, huh…?

Last time, it took Celine three years to complete a Portal Stone, so that means if we use this method every day, it will take her about three and a half months.

Well, staying in this village for three months is not a bad idea. I’m sure Mom and Dad will give us their permission. We’re staying to help Celine after all.

『Nicola, looks like we have to stay for three months here. Are you okay with that?』(Mark)

『I’m totally fine with it. It’s way better than being separated from Celine for three years. Besides, there’s Eclain mama here. This village is not so bad. We can use Resonance Stones later to let Mama and Papa know.』(Nicola)

『Alright. It’s decided then.』(Mark)

「Ahh~ If we do this again tomorrow morning before I take you home, we’ll be able to see each other again twenty days faster. Fufu~」(Celine)

Celine smiled at me while wiping the sweat on her neck with the towel.

She still thinks that she will take Nicola and me home tomorrow. I’ll tell her later that we’re staying. For now, I should let her rest.