Chapter 17: Eyes

Chapter 17: Eyes

Today is the 20th.

Alissa seems extra eager this morning, the proposal must have put her fetish on overdrive.

My [Sense Soul] and [Blessing Magic] increased by 1 (now 2 and 0+13). Now I can see someone's race with [Sense Soul].

Ciel seems to have gone back to being an innocent maiden, she's blushing every time our eyes meet. I steal a kiss from her and sit close, she nearly loses her composure. I see she looks a bit tired, perhaps she didn't sleep too well last night.

After breakfast she goes to the living room and keeps fidgeting about, I guess she wants to talk.

I give a piece of raw meat to Aoi and she brings it to the spirit griffin that's on our back wall like always, watching Hana and Lina spar. The griffin shyly gets closer to Aoi and chirps happily, then it starts to eat, I can feel Aoi is quite happy watching him eat. I turn to Ciel.

"What's the matter with you now? Suddenly so shy."

"It's nothing."

A switch has been flipped.

"Oh? You certainly wouldn't become so shy suddenly if you weren't thinking of something... lewd," I smirk, "Come on, tell me, you know we should talk about anything bothering you."

"W-well... you, uh, you d-did it with the others, right?" She says looking down.

"Did what?"

"That..."

"What is... 'that'?"

"Y-you...! The thing, at night, together..."

"What thing? We do a lot of things at night, we cuddle, read, talk, play board games," I get closer to her.

She groans.

"Damn you! Sex, you had sex with the others, right!?"

I hear a chuckle in the distance. Ciel turns into a tomato. I actually wanna eat a tomato, I haven't found it in the farmers market or on the imports, I have to ask Alissa if she remembers if something similar to a tomato exists here.

"Yes, I did it with the others, except Lina, of course."

"T-then..."

"Then?" I get very close to her.

She grits her teeth. She starts to breathe heavily.

I kiss her.

"You know, the ceremony is merely a formality, our vows have been traded and they are valid. So... there's no reason to wait, right?"

She fidgets. I kiss her again and push my tongue in her mouth. I bring her close to me and I can feel the softness that would make men go to war to have a piece of. Her shyness quickly disappears and a thirst takes hold, she moves her tongue with vigor.

I break the kiss. She almost lost herself on it.

"Let's go upstairs," I say.

She nods shyly.

I lead her by hand and push her down on the bed. She seems very anxious, she's breathing heavily again. I look back and the wardrobe is ajar, a hungry eye watches over us. I immediately look forward and do my all to ignore what I saw.

"What's wrong?" Ciel asks.

"N-nothing."

I kiss her to keep her quiet.

I start to run my hand through her body, she squirms and locks her legs around my waist. I put my hand below her shirt and run up her body, I immediately grab her breast and she makes a noise in surprise. Such powerful softness was hidden behind a tight sash. I pull it down and play with her nipple.

She moans and breaks the kiss. I pull up her shirt and grab the other breast. Black nipples, they look delicious, I put my mouth on one and play with them. She moans and closes her eyes.

"What a crime hiding these two mounds of joy."

She doesn't respond but purses her lips.

Slowly she starts rubbing her crotch on me, I can feel its heat on my legs. I move a hand down below her pants, I reach the sacred place and feel her wetness, I push my finger inside and she opens her eyes. She's a little scared, she shivers and tries to squeeze my hand by closing her legs.

I slowly move my finger, her resistance slowly melts and she opens her legs. She's moaning constantly now and my finger makes wet noises as I quickly move it inside her.

I pull her pants down and remove her shirt, now she's completely exposed to me. Dreamy breasts with a bit of sag, only a dragonkin could have skin so perfect they would never sag. Her delicious light chocolate color makes me want to kiss her all over, her shy face waiting for me to make the next move, her hair sprawled all over the bed, large dark chocolate nipples waiting for attention, her body with curves and softness all on the right places, those damn thick thighs, the perfect trim, lips spreading out from its home. This woman is mine and I love her.

I take off my shirt and she traces her hands over my body. I have been getting fitter, even though I'm small I look manlier with this amount of muscle, I hope. When I take my pants off she freezes.

"Never seen one before?" I smirk.

"N-n-not like this."

"Oh? Scared?"

She fidgets.

I pull out the towel and put it below her.

"I'm putting it in, okay?"

She nods.

It slides in easily, such a wonderful feeling.

"Eh?" She makes a sound and her eyes open wide.

"What?"

"S-shouldn't... shouldn't it hurt? Shouldn't it have some resistance? I-I am a virgin! I swear!" She panics.

"Calm down," I pinch her cheek, "Even if you weren't it wouldn't change anything. You were a warrior priestess, the, uh, the hymen could have torn during training or fighting."

I'm actually surprised Hana still had hers.

"O-oh..."

She calms down. I smile and start to move slowly, she winces and arches her spine, then she starts to moan. That face, those sounds, those are things no other man will ever see, they are the mark of her trust in me, the mark of her love.

I kiss her, grope, finger her, suck her. I do everything I can, everything I want with her delicious body, she's just so sexy I want to bite and lick her all over. She sings for me with her moans. I flip her over, do her from behind, and pick up the pace. Dat ass, son, I sink my nails on the large peach.

"Ah, T-too... ah... too much... slow down," she barely manages to speak.

I slow down and take that moment to hug her and grope her harder. I kiss every part of her that I can reach, her face, her cheeks, her neck, her shoulder, her back, then I flip her over again and kiss her breasts, her nipples, her legs, damn those thighs. She giggles amid moans.

"Ciel, I love you."

"I... ah, love you, ah, too."

I shut her mouth with a kiss. I feel something very warm on my heart. I love this woman, I cherish her, I want to make her happy, I want to giver he pleasure, I want to keep her safe, I want to keep her by my side. It's the same thing as the other girls, I don't care if it's too soon, whether it's real love or not, I just want to open my heart to them and live a happy life together. I will take all our vows to heart.

I reach over and play with her clit as I thrust, making her sing louder. I focus on keeping a steady pace, slowly she moans louder and louder. She arches her back, her insides squeeze me, she loses her voice and she looks to the distance. She came.

After she recovers her breath I start to move slowly again, I don't hold back and squeeze both her legs together. Such tightness is going to make me cum.

"I will cum inside your mouth, ok?"

"O-ok."

She locks her eyes with mine, she's a bit concerned. I guess not everyone is a freak.

Her pained face as I pierce her puts me over the edge. I remove it from inside her and press it down her mouth. She awkwardly sucks on me and I cum down her mouth, then she swallows and grimaces.

"A bit bitter..."

"Gotta drink too much juice to make it sweet."

"Wait, you actually can do it?" She laughs.

"Secrets of my world."

I collapse beside her and pull her close. My arms and legs tie her up in place with a hug.

I can finally look at her stats:

InfoName: Ciel Age:21Race:Human HP:100MP: 705 Magic Power:250Level:30Experience: 8302/9000 StatsStrength:14Endurance:13Dexterity:17Speed:18Intelligence:15Wisdom:18Willpower: 12Charisma:17Piety:21Perception:12Sanity:19 OtherStatus Effects:NONETitles:NONEAffiliations: Wolf Ryder (fiance), Helios (Fellowship), Templar Knights (Honorary Member), Temple Priestess (Former Member) Companions: Wolf Ryder, Alissa, Hanafuria, Roxanne Succubus, Lina Crimes: NONE

Her skills are:

Ciel Skill ReportPhysicalSkill NameLevelSkill NameLevelSkill NameLevelGlaive Use15Sword Use5Parry8Dodge6Block4Imperial Hasterrum Style2Muscle Explosion2Battlefield Perception1 MagicalSkill NameLevelSkill NameLevelSkill NameLevelSense Mana2Mana Control6Reduced Mana Cost1Mana Efficiency4Wind Magic15Fire Magic1Light Magic23Space Magic3Conjuring Magic1Diagnosis7 MiscellaneousSkill NameLevelSkill NameLevelSkill NameLevelFirst-Aid3Housework3Cooking2Cleaning1Washing1Riding12 Remaining Skill PointsOBS: Level means (free point)+(trained point)

Her spells are:

SpellsCleanSpirit LightHealInspirePurify BodyWind BladeWind HammerWind WallPerfect ArrowsFireballConjure WaterTelekinesisItem Box (weak)

I caress her beautiful black hair, she closes her eyes and nearly falls asleep. I look to the wardrobe and give it a thumbs up. A very happy naked Alissa with a glistening pussy leaves the wardrobe in complete silence, must be [Quiet Action].

I hug Ciel tighter.

"Ciel, I really wanna know. What happened with you and the Templars that day?" I ask.

She bites her lips and looks pained.

"Please, you didn't tell me everything yet."

"I guess it's only fair..."

"You know everything about me, quite literally."

She takes a few breaths.

"What do you know about the Templars?" She asks.

"Very little, Lina didn't research this for me yet."

"Well, Templar Knights are known as 'Rabid Dogs', that's because of the system they use. Most of the knights fight alongside a lover, or more..." She coughs, "This makes them have a very tight bond, they are one of the strongest of this realm. But the real strength comes when one of them dies, the way they are trained that only fuels rage, a rage that they can channel and fight even harder. This is why they are feared, they fight to the death and more."

Kind of like what we are doing.

"I joined a unit one day and was interested in... one of them. He was a good fighter, had more honor and grace than a noble, had the curiosity of a scholar, and a killer body..." Her voice trails off.

I roll my eyes even though she can't see.

"When the time came, when the enemies were many, I couldn't follow him, I couldn't do what was almost suicide. There was a chance to live, but only a chance, when the order came to retreat I ran as fast as I could and I... I left him to die..." She makes a pained face.

I hug her tighter and kiss her neck.

"I don't want to ever be in a situation like this again, I don't want to have to run to survive, I don't want to fight against such impossible odds. I'm a coward, I know you have the destiny to fight and I will do my best to help you with that but I'm a coward," she turns around and hugs me tight, her eyes water.

"Then I'm a coward too, let's be cowards together. I don't want to put ourselves in such danger, I know I have to fight but I don't have any divine guidance saying I have to kill myself for others. I just want to live happy and safe with all of you," I pull her face up and kiss her, she smiles bitterly and snuggles up to my chest.

We cuddle and she naps on my arms. Her face is of complete bliss, it almost makes me get overwhelmed with emotions. I love you, Ciel.

We ask Roxanne for a bath and she's grinning while Ciel is blushing. As I wash her body and her beautiful ass shows itself to me, I'm not an ass man but damn. That puts me in the mood again, I play around with her body until she's wet and we do it again while inside the water. We move slowly while facing each other, my tongue never leaves her mouth. We keep like this until I finish inside her. Now I'm tired, really tired.

On the trip with Lina to the university, she tries to stimulate me again, which only makes me feel the pain of doing it too much.

Today is mana cost class. I sit down on the magic training range and an owl flies through the students, it does a spin and lands beside me. In an instant, it turns into Toroo.

"Hahah, impressive."

"My, thank you. How are you doing, Mr. Ryder? How was your expedition?"

"I'm fine, thank you. Well, we had some problems on the expedition but anyway, I got a few dragon eyes for you. What about you, how you doing?"

"Wonderful! I'm doing fine. I have been practicing hard my illusions but I reached a wall, I have to go back and brush up my theoretical knowledge, I have to study how light is perceived by the eyes."

We cut our chat short as the professor arrived. Garanae and Hatara both didn't appear for this class, oh boy.

As the bell rings for recess Lyle decides do accompany us. Toroo smirks when I introduce Lina to her and laughs lightly behind her hand. She graciously bows when she meets Lyle, embarrassing him.

"These are the eyes, they are from young dragons of blue scales, I don't know the name of the species, though."

I put down on the table a cloth where 4 large eyes are resting. The sclera of dragon eyes are any color from black to white and the iris is formed by a swirl of colors and bright dots, it reminds me of galaxies. These ones the sclera is pure black while the swirl is a mix of blues and reds.

"Wonderful, just by the eyes I can say its the common 'Azurite' species. Now, here's your book, I will give you a few pointers and teach you the chants of [Ghost Lights] and [Double Image]."

Chanting [Illusion Magic] has a sort of "waltz" rhythm to it and includes plenty of laughs. Rather curious magic.

"I simply cannot understand how such magic works," says Lyle. Alissa gives him a sympathetic look.

He's been trying to stay on the same level as our talk but failing. I guess people have certain affinities they can't ignore, Lyle certainly knows more about [Electric Magic] than I do.

Another class passes and no one makes any progress with this skill.

When the last bell rings Alissa and Lina approach us, we go towards the dwarf Gimbo Bombur. So far I haven't seen anyone ever talk to him.

Lina's Trivia: The gnomes, dwarves, and elves are undoubtedly the best craftsmen of the continent. They attribute their talent as an "inheritance" from the God of Creation, they call it the Spark of Creation. A dwarf would gladly teach another dwarf crafting skills, but Lina is a slave, the dwarves see slave craftsmen as having sold their Spark, they believe only a free person could truly achieve the greatness in their craft. Because of this Gimbo is unlikely to teach Lina, unless we do as Lina suggested, appeal to his emotions.

"Excuse, Mr. Bombur?"

"Yes," he turns to us and speaks in a sleepy voice.

"My name is Wolf Ryder, as you can see I'm also a researcher here, I'm studying [Golemancy]," he lifts an eyebrow, "This is my fiancee Alissa and this is my slave Lina, she's a dwarf too and I'm searching for someone who could teach her enchanting."

He narrows his eyes.

"Not interested."

He turns his head away.

"Erm! Please, there must be something you are interested in, even if you don't, could you allow a fellow dwarf to be like this? She was sold as a debt slave and I took her in as her second master. I want to fully raise her to be a proud dwarf, something her previous master neglected."

He looks at me, then at Lina, then at me again, and finally, he stares at Lina. I don't know what's happening but they are having a staring contest.

"The Spark of Creation resides within me, I only lack the means to do so," Lina says with a bow.

"And you would submit your Spark under your master? Let him control your heart?" Gimbo says with poison on his tongue.

"My Spark is my own but I will use every tool available to help my master, I owe him that much."

"But you still submit."

"Should we not pay our debts? Mine will be for life, there's no better way to repay it than with slavery."

He furrows his eyebrows.

"What could another do that even your Spark is up for sale?"

"Again, I didn't sell my Spark. Master gave me a new life, a new hope, a new way to see the world, and this is just the beginning. This collar is a mere formality, I feel freer than the time I wasn't a slave."

She hugs my arm. I nearly flinch in surprise but I maintain my poker face.

Bimbo stares at us for a few seconds more.

He sighs.

"Very well, child. Two gold in total, every other day she should come towards my house for training starting on the 22nd. I will only teach her until I finish this course at the university. Deal?"

"Deal."

We shake hands.

I wait until we are far away.

"If he ever tries to touch you inappropriately even for a second don't even think about it and just tell me, I will deal with him. Understood?" I say in a decisive tone towards Lina.

"Understood. Though I hardly believe he will do so, I'm actually stronger than him."

I don't know how she measured this but I guess it must be a dwarf thing.

"S-should we all enter together?" Ciel asks.

"There's room even for Lina," Alissa says.

"Please, Lina would be a bit much," I say.

"Eh, she's gonna be lonely taking a bath by herself, you know," Roxanne says with a grin.

Yeah, I'm totally gonna buckle and accept Lina soon. Hopefully, she's the last.

"Let her deal with it... for now," I say.

"A slave servicing her master is a common thing," Alissa says and turns her head away.

Ciel tries to cuddle up with me but Roxanne stops her.

"Now now, Miss Ciel, lately you have been a bit too close to him, don't you think? It's time for sharing the load," Roxanne says, grinning again.

Roxanne comes over and sits on my lap, her hand strokes me slowly. Hana comes and hugs me from behind, I put my hand behind me and run up her legs.

"Y-you are gonna do it? Here? In front of everybody?" Ciel mutters.

"Well... it's the most practical way," I say with a shrug.

"There are no secrets among us," Hana says.

"I'm sorry but you will have to get used to it," Alissa says and rubs Ciel's shoulders.

"Didn't you have to take a bath with the other priestesses?" I ask.

"Well, yeah. But no one would have sex with each other... at least not in public," she turns red and sinks on the bath, trying to hide.

Her breasts float upwards and she pushes them down, getting even more embarrassed.

Ciel is much more innocent than we thought, she didn't even lift her head once while me, Hana, and Roxanne were playing around.

The burden on my body increased, I feel I will level that skill soon.

We have the lord's party to go to so we just get a snack and leave early.

As we fly low through the town I just stare at the night sky. The lack of light pollution makes the night sky absolutely dazzling, I can see a nebula that reminds me of the Pillars of Creation from Earth. There's another that looks like a red eye with blue sclera and another that's a swirl of colors like a striped tornado.

At the gates, there's plenty of proto-butlers to guide us and a few groups of people are coming behind us.

After the first gate, there's the guest houses for royalty or other very important people, it's a rather small strip of land filled with mansions. After the second gate, I feel something weird, I don't know what so I have to ignore it for now.

The golems also need a recharge every hour or they just stop moving. It seems there's plenty I need to improve on. There's also the need for vocal cords, the elementals can grunt but I don't know how to copy it or how to improve it so they can talk. I will have to work with signs, the golems don't know how to write.

Curiously they do not have a sense of self-preservation. I told the teddy I was going to kill it and it just nodded, I asked if it was sad and it shakes its head, I asked if it's capable of being sad and it shakes its head. I think there are no ethical concerns about using them as test subjects then, I certainly need to keep them without this sense of self-preservation or the capability of feeling pain.

During lunch, I remember something.

"Ciel, why don't any of you have the [Andraste Language] or [Writing] skills?" I ask.

"Oh, you didn't know? Well, to learn the skill you need a very strong conscience, you learn the language mostly when you are a child so you end up never learning the skill and going about it the normal way. Once you get older your parents tell you to wish to never learn this skill not to waste your soul potential," Ciel answers. She has a different tone when she's explaining things, it's sweeter and calmer than her normal.

"So you can 'not' learn skills?"

"Yeah, you can also 'unlearn' skills but that's a very difficult ritual the temple can do."

"So who learns the language skill?"

"Language teachers, you need deep knowledge of the grammar to actually learn it."

"Can you teach me Andraste? I have been using the skill so far but I want to use the points I put on it."

"Well sure, I don't think I'm the best teacher but I can teach the children at the orphanage at least," she smiles wryly.

I will try to read things without the skill when we are resting, though it will make talking more difficult.

[Space Magic] class brings a surprise, an awkward Garanae comes with his arm entwined with a woman. With confident steps and the dignity of a high noble Hatara leads him forward and she sits beside me. A wicked smile fills her lips and she looks away. Mission accomplished. Lyle looks surprised but then shakes his head, it seems he accepted whatever transformation Alissa did to Hatara.

The class is a continuation of theory, most students should be hitting a wall now so we have to go back to theory. Things get a bit more advanced and algebra starts to annoy even me.

We all have a break together at my usual spot. When Hatara and Alissa's eyes meet they share a wicked grin. Garanae tries his best to keep his eyes away from Alissa or else Hatara pinches his arm, he's completely tamed. Lyle is becoming adept at ignoring awkward situations and focuses on talking with Lina, to her surprise. He comes from the capital and has a few recommendations of books that teach history. Since it was a required study for a noble, he was taught it when he was younger.

"Anyway, Mr. Rizek, where's your brother, Dennis?"

"Ah, just call my Lyle already. Anyway, my brother is traveling, he met a group of Templar Knights and left to who knows where. Last time I saw him he was muttering something about 'future of glory'. Do you want to meet him?"

Ack! No!

"No need, I was just curious since he asked me to join his fellowship sometime ago."

"I don't really understand him, he had plenty of arguments with his companions and ended up changing some of them. I also have no idea what he wants, it's unlikely he wants to succeed the family and join the Lord's court. I kinda do miss him, though, not even grandpa can match his love for [Electric Magic]."

What a family of eccentrics. I don't even want to ask about his father or mother.

"Old maaan! How cruel, Ted told me you were going to dispose of him!" Ciel yells at me.

"W-what? Who?"

Alissa glares at me as if I hurt her.

"Ted! Our cute little golem."

Oh, I see. It's actually impressive how you managed to get that info from him.

"You already gave him a name... anyway if you want to keep him ok, but I don't know what golems can do, they are different from elementals, they could even hurt you."

"Ted is incapable of hurting a flower!" Alissa joins.

"T-Ted is a pure soul," Lina mutters.

I look at Hana, she shrugs.

"Ted is nice. Also, Suzy too, he will be lonely without his girlfriend," Hana says.

"Kwee! Teh!" Aoi yells.

I sigh. Future tests must be done in secret.

Today is the 22nd.

Every morning I have been cleaning my face with [Clean] ever since I got a level in [Light Magic]. I had some hints of pimples appearing but since then my skin has been basically perfect, I guess this is the secret for the perfect skin that nearly everyone seems to have on this world.

I got my first level in [Golemancy]. I will try to level it by using [Mold] on Ted. Hopefully, the girls won't mind.

"Wolfy, there's something I remembered," Ciel says.

"What is it?"

"It's about 'Gifts' there are some tales that tell of people who can do things no other person can."

Alissa tilts her head.

"I never heard of such tale before," she says.

"It's not something circulated to the populace. People with gifts are very sought after so they are generally protected, either by the empire or the temple."

"Then perhaps my abilities can be explained as Gifts?" I ask.

"Yes, precisely. I remember there's an 'Oracle' at the temple in the capital, supposedly she could look into your soul and discover what kind of Gift you have. But since a Gift is something that doesn't come for hundreds of years I don't know how true it really is. It's only something I read about by curiosity during my training as a priest. I guess those higher at the hierarchy would know more."

"Remind me of that when we visit the capital. I don't think you should ask Arantos about it, it would be extremely suspicious."

"Yeah, it would."

Ciel drives Lina to the house of Gimbo, he's a noble so they have to pass through the gate. Fortunately, our town pass also makes entering the noble's quarters easy. We got an Emergency Stone for Lina and Ciel will be in charge of the receiving end.

This morning I spend with Alissa, I'm using the [Sense Soul] to try and understand where in her soul are the vocal cords. I summoned a small earth elemental and it had distinctive long black hair and bangs, much to Alissa's amusement. I used this elemental to understand the part of its soul where it could make grunts and compare it to Alissa's.

I see something different on Ted and Suzy's souls, there's a new, small protrusion that wasn't there before, I'm sure of it.

What changed? I looked into our own souls and see a similar protrusion, the elemental doesn't have one, though. How curious, could it be the place where the name is stored? The little golems didn't have a name before yesterday and I noticed no other changes in their souls, from what limited vision I have. I'll leave it for later.

There's only a very minute similarity between the 2 vocal cords, I couldn't identify anything else. So I put 15 points into [Golemancy] and cast [Mold]. My hands glow and when I touch Ted I'm put back into the "Soul Creation" mode. I look for the part where vocal cords are and see only straight lines. Slowly I try to change the soul to be the same way as the elemental.

When I'm done Ted can mutter vowels with a voice similar to a dying old man. I try some trial and error and he improves to only an old man. Suzy ends up the same but I can't make her voice sound more feminine.

Curiously I can store Ted and Suzy inside my "Items" but when I do it with the elemental it gets destroyed. For the little golems, time completely freezes so they don't mind being stored. Once their "batteries" run out they feel like they go to sleep so they also don't mind.

When Lina comes back she's rather happy with her lesson. Gimbo is actually a very old retired adventurer and he's planning on getting more apprentices once he finishes his research. He's a Noble Descendant and lives with his wife.

At the class, I train [Animal Tongue] exclusively and manage to cast a weak version of it. It lasts less time than when I put all the points required.

At the break, Lyle and the others were waiting at our spot at the buffet. Hatara asked how nature class was and everyone except Alissa regretted listening about the Gloomy Pervert, as the class nicknamed the professor.

I and Alissa suddenly turn our heads at a frightening presence. I feel like I'm a rabbit in the open field while a hawk is approaching. The source of such gaze is Vanea Anara, beside her is Silvane, the devil and an angel are walking side-by-side towards us. With the corner of my eye, I see Lyle sweating cold and I can feel the fear Alissa is trying to suppress.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Ryder," says Vanea.

"Good afternoon. Finally found you, Mr. Ryder," says Silvane with an innocent smile.

After awkward introductions from Lyle and the others, the two girls sit down. Clearly being acquainted with the Lord's daughter and the fiancee of Lord's son is no trifling matter.

"I see you have good taste in tea, Mr. Ryder," says Vanea.

"Thank you."

Alissa diligently and graciously serves both of them.

"Mr. Ryder, everyone is amazed at the two skills you managed to create. The court mages are giddy with excitement trying to acquire [Sense Soul], they are desperately searching for someone who can teach them [Sense Presence]," says Silvane with a giggle.

"W-wait, he created two skills?" Asks Lyle, his eyes open wide with incredulity.

"Precisely, and that's not even his aim as a researcher, it was the so mysterious [Golemancy]. By the way, how goes the research on that area?" Silvane continues.

I'm getting uncomfortable, Vanea seems a bit too pleased.

"Ah, I already managed to acquire it. I can't show the results now since I left the two golems I created back at home."

The girls didn't want to let me take them.

"Ohoh. That's great news, say, are you going to share your knowledge about this magic? I know someone who would be very interesting in learning about it," Asks Silvane.

"Not for free. I think I will ask for a permanent chair in trade for my knowledge."

"Oh, that's a great idea," says Vanea.

"Hm. Have you ever thought about joining a circle of magi?" Asks Silvane.

A what?

"What is a circle of magi?" I ask.

Silvane lifts an eyebrow. Another thing I should have known about if I were a native.

"It's normally an organization of mages who share knowledge of magic, work together for a common goal, and develop Unique Spells. They also make it very easy to become a court mage."

Ahah, I knew it, she wants me to become a court mage. Everyone wants something with my power. The guildmaster, Vanea, and even my women would never fall for me if I was weak. Well this is a world made for the strong so I don't really blame them, you either live or you die at the belly of a monster.

Lina's Trivia: Unique Spells are original magic spells that do not belong to a school and because of that they never show on the skill system. There are plenty of spells that need specific conditions for casting so even if they belong to a school of magic they won't show on the skill system. These spells are really sought for because they can be extremely powerful, but they are extremely dangerous to research. A good amount of magic tools are Unique Spells.

"That sounds great, but what are the detriments of joining such an organization?" I ask.

Nothing good comes free, especially in this world.

Silvane frowns and Vanea smiles.

"You know how space mages who know [Gate] are treated right? Well it's the same thing, it all depends on how useful you are and how much backing you have," says Vanea.

"Vanea, don't exaggerate. [Gate] is a very dangerous spell on the wrong hands, the circles certainly do not put as many restrictions as the empire do."

"That all depends on the mage."

Silvane narrows her eyes, she certainly can't refute that argument.

"Well, I don't feel like restricting myself yet, I have a long way to go until I settle down," I say.

"Keep it in mind that the hunters guild and the university can give you some protection but their influence is limited," Vanea says, "The further you are from Rabanara the less that influence works on keeping interested parties away. Be careful with whom you associate with Mr. Ryder," she smiles innocently.

"I will take this advice to heart Miss Anara," I say.

"... Anyway, Mr. Ryder, did you meet with Nononya yet?" Asks Silvane.

"Who?" I ask.

"It's the summoning researcher here, she complained to me once she couldn't find you. You want to meet her now?"

"Sure."

We stand up and Lyle's group freezes, they have been very tense during this conversation. I guess I'm developing a little amount of resistance to Vanea's eyes.

"Mr. Ryzek you and your friends should come too," says Vanea with a wicked smile.

Lyle and the other immediately stand and follow us.

Silvane leads us to a large white building, it almost reminds me of a hospital. I smell pure alcohol and other cleaning agents, I believe this means there's a lot of biological contaminants here.

We enter a room and the first thing we notice is the smell of animals and the noise that comes with it. They are all caged in the walls, a variety of birds, dogs, and monsters that resemble birds and dogs. In the middle of the room, there are a few operation tables and on one of them, there's a woman with a light blue hospital scrub operating on a dead dog. I see a small and round white bunny tail protruding from her back.

"Hello Nononya, I brought guests," says Silvane.

The woman turns around and removes her head protection. White and long bunny ears stand up, white short hair raised in a way that makes her head look very fluffy, large turquoise eyes stare at us in surprise. Her whiskers cutely twitch when the expression on her cute round face turns from surprise to happiness. A human with bunny characteristics, a werebunny.

"He-he-hello Miss Silvane. Oh, Miss Anara, hello to you too," she answers with a slight bow.

"This is Mr. Ryder, the other researcher who knows about summoning magic."

"Ah! Finally, I searched for you everywhere. I went into your office but it looked abandoned."

"Uh yeah, I work at home, I don't really need an office," I say shyly.

"If you took your breaks at the appropriate time you would easily find him at the buffet," Reproaches Silvane.

"B-b-b-b-but you also don't go to the buffet!" Responds Nononya.

"That's because I'm always with Haaran. As his fiancee, we should always treasure our private time together."

"But you always have plenty of time together at night..."

"Nono!"

"Hihi. Sorry, sorry," she lets her tongue out.

Silvane massages her eyes.

"Anyway, I'll be taking my leave. Until another day."

"I'll be going too," says Vanea.

She gives me a last sharp gaze and a smile, then leaves with Silvane. The atmospheric pressure immediately decreases a few psi.

"Greetings Mr. Ryder. As Silvane said my name is Nononya. I was born on Conchononoi and came here as my lack of noble blood kept me from progressing," she says and bows.

"No need for bowing, I'm no noble."

Because I'm known by my last name people assume I'm a noble. After a bit of confusion, we finish our greetings.

Lyle and the others finally start talking. As a future healer, Hatara seems interested in anatomy and asks to see some of the drawings Nononya did from her dissections. Garanae is more of an animal person and got interested in the animals here, it must be the first time I actually saw him talking casually.

Summoning magic is basically two parts: the body and the soul. Nononya's research was based around understanding the body of the summon, which is actually a perfect copy of a living being. My knowledge of the soul is much more advanced than what she has, she couldn't get much out of [Spirit Magic] so she was stumped in where to go next. In exchange for my knowledge of the soul, she will share her knowledge of summoning.

Nononya's research goal is on improving the [Summon Small Bird] and [Summon Dog] spells, she wants to increase control over it. She's trying to summon a condor bird, which is too big to be summoned by the spell, and she wants to summon wolves.

Our time ends and the bell chimes, In the middle of the way back I turn to Lyle.

"Why were you so afraid of Miss Anara?" I ask.

"Hm... since you aren't a noble you couldn't have known. Every noble here is actually afraid of her, or rather, afraid of what she wants. It seems it's her life's goal to have Rabanara acknowledged and have her family receive the recognition they deserve. Everyone is too afraid of what she might actually do to accomplish this."

"Why would the empire not acknowledge Rabanara?"

"Well, there are a few reasons. It's too far, too isolated, too troublesome to control, and I think the most important is that the Lord is far too close to the commoners, the adventurers."

Heh, I kinda guessed that Rabanara had an odd relationship between nobles and commoners. My time here at the university as a commoner was far too peaceful.

"Human nobles that want to escape the cloak and dagger of the capital come here, so plenty of the nobles here are considered 'outcasts' by the royalty. Even grandpa was laughed at his face when he said he was going to Rabanara and you saw how much power he has," Lyle shrugs.

"Hm, so everyone is afraid they will be dragged into a war or something?"

"Well, yes and no. An actual war would be too much, the nobles are far too afraid of a real war with the threat of the Monster King. Miss Anara's real power is her cunning, she could easily sail around the power games of the royalty but anyone that follows her will have an uncertain fate."

That is certainly frightening.

I'm glad I kept a rather low profile so far. If someone like Vanea found me when I had just come into this world she would surely sink her fangs on me and drag me into her fight. Well, the more I fight the more I get involved with those sorts of people, it feels like I can't escape this. It seems useless and foolish to run, so if I can't run then I better prepare to fight, at least now I feel prepared.

I sigh. Vanea's gaze gives me shivers every time I think about her, I'll have to put some points in [Mental Resistance] next time I meet her.

At home, I start copying my notes for Nononya.

"Why don't you use the study anymore?" Asks Alissa.

"Ain't it obvious?"

I grab a chocolate tablet and eat it, then I rest my head on Hana's breast pillow and pull out a blanket to cover my legs. I use [Telekinesis] to hold a wooden board in front of me so I can copy my notes for Nononya while I listen to Lina continue talking about the books she read today, she absentmindedly plays with my feet with her own cute little feet. Ciel puts a few scented logs in the fireplace and Aoi tries to sustain a flame breath to try to light the logs. Roxanne plays with Ted and Suzy, she seems to be teaching them how to wrestle.

Today is the 23rd.

My [Nature Magic] increased by 2 (now 13), my [Golemancy] increased by 1 (now 2), my [Sense Soul] increased by 1 (now 3) and my "Intelligence" increased by 1 (now 21). I was right, the small "bump" in the soul is where the name is stored, now I can see everyone's names with [Sense Soul].

I have decided to improve my MP. I have some mana problems because [Summoning Magic] uses so much of my mana and even limits the maximum, I really need loads of mana to summon a proper squad of elementals.

I will use [Earth Magic] and see if I can get a few levels on it. Level 10 [Sand Storm] and level 15 [Soul Sand] are some really useful support spells. I can also teach Lina [Manipulate Metal] and that will help a lot when she's repairing our equipment or enchanting.

As level 20 I have 80 skill points to use and 11 extra. I put 10 points into [Mana Overuse Resistance] 20 into [Increased Growth] and divide the rest into [Earth Magic], [Mana Recovery], [Mana Control] and [Reduced Mana Cost]. I assume that [Increased Growth] requires quite a lot of points to make a difference since so far the girls didn't notice faster growth when I put this skill on them.

I raise an earth wall and use [Earth Bullet] on it until it crumbles. Once my mana runs out I meditate and try to use [Redirect Mana] to speed my recovery without overexerting myself. Aoi and the griffin nature spirit sleep at the wall, uninterested at my repeating training regimen.

I don't really understand much about what Aoi thinks, I can feel that she's content most of the time but she still doesn't talk much. She seems to very observant but aside from being petted, there's not much she does. Monsters grow physically and mentally much much faster than any humanoid, this might explain how she has a high intellect, lots of knowledge about the world, but low emotional intelligence.

"What have you done!?" Yells Ciel.

I'm thrown off my meditation and feel as if a bucket of cold water was poured on me.

"Hm... what do you mean?" I ask innocently.

"The garden is ruined!"

Hana stops her training and slowly sneaks away.

"I-I need to train my mana, so I thought training w-with [Earth Magic] might be a good idea."

"A good idea? The living room is filled with dust, the flowers bellow the windows are wilting, and the backyard is a mess filled with mud!" Ciel huffs at me, her angry face is not scary, it's heartbreaking.

"I-I'm sorry... I can fix the garden..."

"You better!"

She closes the window with anger. From the kitchen window I see Alissa narrow her eyes, she closes the kitchen window slowly.

I'm sorry~~...!

I create a new shielding wall and don't let the earth hit the flowers or spread through the backyard. After I'm done I increase my mana control until I can destroy all earth I created and to lower the walls. With the spell [Grow] from level 15 [Nature Magic] I can fix the garden.

I don't feel any pain from overuse but my morale is broken. I put 10 points into [Massage] and put Alissa to sleep through her ears, then I bring Ciel to the bedroom and massage her feet. She pouts for a little while but after a sigh, she returns to normal. I had to ask Hana to take care of the lunch and make sure nothing burns while I work for forgiveness.

Hatara seems elated and doesn't stay very far from Garanae, he's getting more comfortable with her and is responding to her affection. To the delight of everyone around him, he's less uptight and rude to others.

We are all reaching walls and progress has been slow, though I have been focusing on [Rush] since it's the most useful spell for now. I need to shorten chant time and then increase duration. Using the system and adding my free points to it so I can instant cast is easier to use, but it's not as useful for training my [Electric Magic].

On the way back I feel like I'm starting to lose my control with Lina, Alissa has been teaching her very well how to arouse me. Loose clothes that lets me see up her (non-existent) cleavage, hugging my arm tight whenever we walk, dropping her head on my lap whenever we talk about her books at the living room, wearing a very subtle and pleasing perfume on her hair that fills my nose every time we ride Alissa, and I swear she changed the way she looks at me, she went from expressionless to an abandoned puppy.

Right now she's between my legs as I use [Manipulate Metal] while she feels the mana circulation in my body and tries to copy it. Every time we shuffle a bit she digs her ass more and more on my crotch, just a little more and the Buddhist monk will turn into a beast.

Unfortunately, I can't deal with her right now because Alissa told us something disturbing.

"We are being stalked."