Munetsuchi

[Apollymi]

This minor scientific endeavor reaped rewards for Anais, first and foremost in the form of mana. A bit of vibration had mana spilling down her throat, her eyes widened in surprise. 'Wait, I actually did it!' she seemed to be very excited about this, and she was. From the perspective of trying to accomplish a strange goal, with only her own magic and making it happen with only her own knowledge and bit of theory to work with, she'd done well. There was also the look on Ailen's face which she appreciated quite a bit. Strangely, this didn't contain any knowledge. Nothing came from it at all, just the sweet taste of honey and the power associated with metabolizing another's essence. 'Wait, I really did it? I just did a totally slutty thing, just because...I'm going to slut hell aren't I?' she thought secondly. Of course, to actually swallow it, she'd commit the action with the man still in her throat, only to begin backing away after her mouth was clear. She didn't choke this time, and seemed to be rather pleased despite the oddity of the situation. Then she looked a bit sheepish, that reddened face returned and she would soon be found rubbing the back of her head. "I didn't know that would work... but I know that ASMR's effectiveness is definitely magical in nature..." she commented. She was still ignoring being naked, and also thinking about the other uses of what she'd discovered for sex and mana transfers. If she could trick his body's response based on his manhood being the thing she used as a trigger, she could likely make some people respond interestingly to any interaction to her magic or weapon.

At the same time, Sakura's age was questioned in a more direct way after their most recent conversation. Sakura gave it a bit of thought and began counting on her fingers. Why she was doing this, would be unknown for a few seconds only for her to speak on her age, "As humans would understand it I am seven... months old," she said as if this was perfectly logical. Though this was something different. In seven months, Sakura had grown to maturity from childhood. Most of that growth had taken place in the last 48 hours but that didn't need explaining in the moment. Beyond this point, there was something else, Charles realizing he no longer had normal human amounts of urges. "Yes, it's basically only for the transfer of mana. It is rather convenient... I've never had to go but human's seem to spend a lot of their lives going to the bathroom, from what I have observed," she said, hinting at her odd habits of watching people doing things for extended periods of time.

[Bloodedge]

Ailen was going to need a minute. At the rate he was going, he'd need five or ten for that matter. That vibration brought about his end more succinctly than most experiences across his very long life. He'd been expecting interest, perhaps even an eventual match for his former mentor, but never did he anticipate a comparison to the wisdom goddess herself. That particular application of magic was almost unrivaled in terms of achieving results with flair. "Haah... hah..." he heaved. Ailen would be found clutching his chest as if feeling for his own heartbeat. In truth, he was focusing on the sensation of his Spiritual Core. Damned be the fact that a lecture had been lost; this was a development for the ages! "That... that was astounding! I wasn't expecting to be used for a test, but there are many reasons I'm glad you decided to do just that. Aya... I failed to teach you anything. My mind is racing, and my body feels so strange. Haah~" Ailen still struggled to stabilize his lungs and legs. Choosing one over the other, he turned and sat upon the bed next to Anais. Ah, there was a potential large negative to this exchange. The lecture was lost for the time being, but so too was the purpose of wisdom's spark in Ailen. Anais seemed to have reached a viable conclusion by herself, simply by testing something on him. "So, we know magic is the missing link. Surely you could do many things with that, though I believe you've already found the most effective method. If you altered the application even slightly, the sky is the limit. . ."

Another thing Charlemagne was fated to learn this day, was that Sakura... whom he'd recently gotten to know very well in a specific manner... was born into this magical world only seven months ago. He hesitated. He blinked. He swallowed a massive lump in his throat, and he sighed. Why did these strange things keep happening around him? "Seven. Months," he repeated. "Somehow fully grown, and even more of a MILF than my History teacher," he mumbled thereafter. Oh well; there wasn't much to be done about his original world's laws and sensibilities. Charlemagne did decide he'd work on abandoning logic when more magical knowhow was on the proverbial table. Besides, he had reason to be excited about something finally. Not wasting time and energy on bathroom trips was a boon not to be underestimated. "Going to the bathroom is something people normally do at least half a dozen times every day. It can be at very inconvenient times, too. I know it might be a dumb thing to get excited over, but... I think I'm owed something by now. I'm still coming to terms with everything else."

[Apollymi]

Heavy breathing and clutching his chest, was he alright? Ah, yes. He was fine. Ailen's follow-up words implied that he was both, winded and pleased. He claimed he didn't expect to be used for a test, but he was happy to be put to that particular use. He gave a few mentions of things going on with himself, but also lamented not teaching her anything. That wasn't really a problem for the now blushing Anais who managed to seem both pleased and exceedingly shy in the face of this particular form of praise. "Hai, I wasn't sure it would work that way. The length of the effect may be longer given how directly it was delivered and my pre-existing knowledge of your mana," she said giving a fair bit of consideration to how he managed to feel it for so long past the initial release. Of course, he went on to sit beside her and she managed to be both calm and a bit wary, she wasn't sure why she was both those things, but she assumed it was fine. He had more information to share, claiming that this form of the magic was probably its strongest use, but that she might be able to alter the application and get something else out of it. "Hm, yes I was considering that... I wonder if I could use my other abilities like a tuning fork, or a catalyst to learn the pitch of others and then use magic or a tool to spread and amplify the effect. That would probably make it more flexible for general use..." she murmured seeming to give it a great deal of consideration. 'Though for you Shishou, the original method will remain~' she mused. 'Oops, slut thought... true thought, but still a slut thought...' she gave herself a firm understanding of her mentality. She was strangely spending a lot of time naked for someone who was so easily embarrassed, but she still didn't really feel strangely in this man's presence, aside from her wandering thoughts.

Meanwhile, Sakura explained her actual age to Charles and he seemed to take it much better than he had half the things he'd been told today. He was surprised about her growth but there was an easy explanation for that... though there was also something else. "I don't know what MILF is..." she commented first. "But my body was originally that of a small child, closer to human childhood age of 7 by my approximation. Kaa-sama didn't create me with a specific purpose in mind so my body's growth wasn't specified. I grew to this size after being exposed to other goddesses," she explained. Yes, all was reasonable, but it didn't really matter, though she'd hoped to get a few more piggy back rides in from one of her father's before she reached adulthood. According to Charles, bathroom trips were quite numerous in the lives of humans, and Sakura while she never had to deal with them, could at least understand that it was something he'd cling to as a happiness. "Sou ka, that is reasonable. I think today might have been quite a big day for you too... so it's okay if you're still working through it," she offered sympathetically, still as accepting as she had been the entirety of the day.

[Bloodedge]

Ailen felt it necessary to stabilize himself, but it seemed there was nothing to actually stabilize. Nothing was amiss with his flow of mana; it was simply vibrating in a manner that almost replicated a tickling sensation. This lingering feeling was very new and interesting to deal with. Anais made it clear that these lasting effects were likely due to her existing understanding of his mana, which further explained the functionality of the technique. "Sou ka. It is certainly powerful. I don't think I've ever felt anything like it. Excellent work," he said, still making an effort to calm himself, lest he develop a similar internal voice to Anais. He was a teacher, after all. His job was to teach, and he had already failed one lecture. Perhaps he could salvage it some other way? He did have a spark of wisdom; he could at least think of something. "Hmm. If you became more in-tune with your animal side, there could be many ways. Your kind have a very keen sense of smell. You could learn to differentiate the scent of opposing mana signatures. In fact, even your ears and body could do the trick if your own mana pulsed outward to feel everything it ricochets off. As for a catalyst... I think I have an idea," he rambled. Pausing there, Ailen thought back to the failure of moments ago. There were several ways he could have avoided that in hindsight. "But I must think of something else as well. My failure to deliver the lecture is unacceptable. I must take responsibility for that," he added.

One thing Charlemagne could make sense of was how Sakura grew at a rapid pace. She claimed to have been exposed to other goddesses, an act which facilitated her development into the current form, and that was one of the mots easily-believable things Charlemagne heard... among all the ridiculousness, at least. It came as no surprise that she didn't know what a MILF was. Of course, she also wouldn't be finding out from him. "You're uh... gonna have to ask someone else about that one," he said. No way was he going to explain that. He would, however, take the victory of never using the restroom again. Somehow, that was enough to have Charlemagne heaving a sigh of relief over all the nonsense of the past 48 hours. "So, that apparently god guy said something about me being full of Void stuff? I'm not sure how I feel about being connected to demon stuff, but... there's no point in worrying about it too much. Am I stable now though? I can't tell if I'm still in danger of exploding or not─"

[Apollymi]

Anais would find herself congratulated on the work she'd done developing her new technique. Of course, she accepted this praise softly, "Arigatou gouzaimasu..." she murmured. It was interesting, she went off the rails quite a bit in other aspects of her learning and it wasn't generally appreciated. She was rather happy her own practice hadn't really caused any problems for her and the developing relationship between her and her mentor. Of course, he went on to explain some potential uses for her particular power, upon hearing them, she gave it a fair bit of consideration. "Hm, well... given my pre-existing abilities, I'd say an auditory based skill would likely be best. I understand most things by sound and I am a bard so it'd likely be helpful for my continued development. Actually, it sounds a bit like echolocation... that could be super useful..." she mused. Actually, sounds also played a pretty big role in her instinct based skill, perhaps whenever she leveled next she could put some effort into evolving some skills. She should take a look at her skills list and figure out which ones should be adjusted. "Status Open," a simple command would open a floating magical screen before the nude young woman which held all the information about her. She was mostly going to use this to check her progress towards her next level where she'd be able to make edits to her skills, but there was something else to deal with first. Ailen was feeling quite out of sorts about failing to deliver the lecture he'd meant to, he wished to take responsibility for it. 'He's too good!' the girl mused in her own head. He was truly trying to avoid taking advantage of her and she was being a bit of a bad student. "Shishou, that part isn't your fault. I definitely could have warned you... I even considered it briefly but decided against it in favor of potentially less biased results. So really, don't feel too bad about it... I did understand the possibility of causing the failure of the lesson. I simply decided it was worth the potential loss in this case... sumimasen..." she managed, seemingly truly apologetic. She didn't want him feeling bad for her choosing to act on her excessive and invasive thoughts, especially when the outcome was exactly what she wanted.

There were no extra questions from Charles concerning the rapid growth of Sakura. Instead, he seemed content to not answer her curiosity about the use of the term MILF. Strange, he was being rather evasive about it, she looked at him in open curiosity as he skipped over it claiming she'd have to ask someone else. She found it odd that he didn't want to explain, but given how firm he seemed about it she wouldn't push... granted he would be forced to deal with not telling her at some other time, that was simply the way these sorts of things worked. "Hai," that was all she had to say about it. He should probably worry, but... whatever. No, instead, he was taking his momentary victory about things like bathroom breaks. And then going on to question Void influence in himself. Though he claimed not to worry about it, he seemed a bit less relaxed about it than he could be. "You are heavily influenced by the Void, but that is probably because I am connected to it directly, and you used me to rebuild yourself," she said as a matter of her own understanding. "You seem stable enough to me. Your physical form at least isn't anything to worry about. But... your emotional state is something to keep an eye on..." Sakura said seeming to give it a fair bit of thought. She knew the lad would need the other goddess to keep him from falling too far in any direction. "Also demon isn't a problem, so long as you don't allow such a connection to influence you to do evil. Anyone can be evil... which I am sure you understand better than most," she commented absently. Somewhere... in the darkness, a pair of glowing red eyes with white slit pupils was staring across at this pair of individuals. Hm, this girl truly was quite clever, perhaps she should take a bit of a page from a certain book and create a similar space for them to speak. A room of infinite darkness, lit in a casual but eerie manner. A place strangely warm and inviting, a place which seemed to pull at both these individuals as it'd been trying to do when they'd suddenly disappeared.

[Bloodedge]

According to Anais, something auditory would be best for her current setup of abilities. Ailen understood this well. One would always prefer the idea of keeping with an existing theme to avoid overcomplicating things; he was much the same. "I think that would be a wise decision. If you base it on something you already have a deep understanding of, it should cause you little to no issue when included. As my apprentice, you'll have an ever-expanding repertoire. You would do well to convert as many things as possible into whatever you're most comfortable with," he explained. In the meantime, Anais chose to access her status, presumably to utilize the experience she so recently obtained in bulk. Prior to looking, however, she addressed his concern over the failed lecture. It had apparently been a choice of hers to distract him. A calculated risk resulted in loss of knowledge, but it seemed there was a replacement of different knowledge instead. "Oh? So you were experimenting, were you? Interesting. Well, you did manage to do something I never thought possible. I haven't felt so overwhelmed since... either my very first experience, or my first meeting with my wife. Really, excellent work. You'll make anyone very happy to share their mana with you."

Luckily for Charlemagne, Sakura decided to drop the whole MILF thing. That was good, but why did it feel dangerous? Maybe it was nothing to worry about; he'd been having that feeling repeatedly today anyway. As for the Void influence, it had much to do with his physical reconstruction with Sakura as a base. She had taken that white-haired, corrupt form, and he linked himself to her afterwards. That made sense as well. Physically, he was indeed fine. Mentally, he'd have to be careful? Very well. He'd go forward attempting to keep himself from snapping emotionally, not thinking it would be much of an issue. "I like to believe I'm pretty good at keeping a level head. Well... I say that before I fly off the handle about something. Can I trust you to keep me in check? I know I've asked a lot of you already, but I'd also hate to put too much on the others," he said. True enough, he knew all things could be evil. Father An had been the ultimate symbol of holy power, and he proved himself evil in the end. Just the same, he now had confirmation of multiple demon-like power sources used for good. With these things in mind, he wouldn't be judging much else. "Yeah... I think I understand that pretty well now. I think my Skill evolved, too. Some sort of adjustment for all this new information has it working a little... differently. I can feel something evil inside you, but it's not coming from you as a person. Liv must be the same now. . ."

[Apollymi]

Anais received more advice as she prepared to think about how to use her new found knowledge and the advancement of her magical abilities. She would be receiving much from him in the future and figuring out how to use it within her own themes and likeness would be most useful. "Hai, I'll make sure to convert everything into forms I find comfortable for use~" Anais confirmed. What an interesting girl, this one was turning out to be. What more could she have done? Well, she managed a reasonable explanation which would keep the elf in her presence for blaming himself for their incomplete lesson. It seemed he was not upset at her for the liberties she'd taken in this case, and he seemed only interested that she'd decided upon such an experiment. What was more, he made the claim that she'd surprised him in a way that compared either to his first experience ever, or his first experience with his goddess wife. She was commended for her efforts. And well... praised in a way she hadn't expected. Ailen claimed anyone would be happy to share their mana with her, given those things. Surprise crossed Anais' face, and then it burned one of the brightest shades of red which aimed to challenge that of the leaves and the like. 'Yosh, we're showing out like goddesses and hot elf MILFs... definitely going to slut hell~' her internal monologue wouldn't let her off the hook. She'd immediately cut her eyes away but only after realizing the sincerity of his statements. "Arigatou gouzaimasu... Shishou," she murmured as she turned her gaze back towards her status. "WHAAA! Where fuck did five levels come from?!" she seemed to be eyeing her stats, and found that she had gained some five levels over the course of this day. HOW? "Ooops, gomennasai. I was just shocked, I didn't mean to swear... I just," she was suddenly flustered in ways that she didn't expect to be today.

In the meantime, Sakura had dropped her quest to find out information and was instead being asked to undertake a strange task. Charles, asked the lass to keep him in check emotionally? That was odd, she didn't expect that she would be asked to do such a thing. "You want me to do that? It seemed like the sort of thing you might want of someone you were closer to. I can be trusted to do it, if you wish to trust me..." she said in her apathetic way. Perhaps she was strange, but she still wasn't sure if she counted as this lad's friend, and it seemed an oddly intimate request for someone who couldn't be called close to him. As for the rest, it seemed that there were others in Charles friends who had similar connections to the Void. Liv, whoever that was, had a connection to evil that reminded him of Sakura. "Yes, it was quite aggressive initially. I trapped the most of it in my Dark Grail? Yes, I might like that name..." she said looking towards the cup. In turning her eyes towards it again, she felt as if a hand was laid against her upper back encouraging her to step forward so she would take a few steps towards it. Actually she walked all the way over and picked it up. That warm feeling continued and she found herself holding the cup and exerting her mana on it. In so doing a pool of darkness seemed to spawn beneath her and she smiled given its working ability. "I think I'm going to meet someone else now... wanna come, Char-kun?" she asked holding her unoccupied hand out to the lad. If he took said hand, he and she would find themselves in that infinite dark room facing a very interesting woman.

[Bloodedge]

Ailen nodded in response to the girl's affirmation. She'd be an interesting one to teach. In fact, she proved moment by moment her worthiness of receiving all knowledge he had. Ailen rarely even entertained the idea of taking an apprentice, knowing any he had would need to meet certain requirements. Anais seemed to fit most, even giving him no reason to believe she'd fail at the final hurdles. Moreover, she surprised the living hell out of him with her ingenuity. Ah, but she surprised more than the elf; she seemed to shock herself as well. After a short silence, there was a short, swearing outburst about five levels. Five? That number sounded small to Ailen, but he supposed their transfers were of a simpler variety. "Only five?" he wondered, scooting closer to the lass until their bodies were touching. In such close proximity, Ailen wrapped an arm around the elafia girl's torso, seemingly for the purpose of keeping close enough to view her status from a similar perspective. "Sou ka. I didn't realize your level was so high initially. I suppose five makes sense, considering. And don't worry about the swearing; I'm not that sort of elf," he added. "Were you expecting less experience?"

Charlemagne could easily place his mental stability in Sakura's hand, considering how she single-handedly took care of his physical and spiritual fortitude the day they met. Beyond that, there was a very firm reason he could trust her, despite Sakura's own disbelief in him doing so. "Well... after everything else that happened today, why shouldn't I? Who's closer to me than you right now?" he asked semi-rhetorically. With a hand to his own chest, Charlemagne took a moment of silence before continuing. "You know, if I stop for a minute... I can feel it. Right here. That's you, isn't it? Yeah. I trust you," he stated with a certainty unseen in the lad previously. There was also that hint of evil deep within Sakura, most of which she mentioned locking away in the more officially-named Dark Grail, but he wasn't too worried about that in her hands either. In fact, Charlemagne found himself watching curiously as she moved toward the item in question. Some dark pool spread from her location, and lo... she invited Charlemagne into it. Why not? He'd already been randomly dragged into the room of God; one could only assume this one led to the Void itself. Would he meet the lord of demons? Maybe. It was worth a shot, at the very least. "Even if I wanted to say it was a bad idea, it's not like I'll let you go alone ─ not after I put myself in your care. I'll go," he said, reaching out to take the lass's hand and... apparently be taken to a newfound location within the Void. . .

[Apollymi]

Anais... had been experiencing all manner of invasive thoughts this day, and they sadly wouldn't be ending any time soon. As she settled into her shock about her present leveling conundrum, her mentor settled in beside her. Well, beside was a bit of a loose term. He scooted in rather close, an arm thrown around her person as he aimed to see her status while she looked at it. The redness of Anais's face might never go away at this point. She could also hear the constant echo of her own heartbeat within her ears, it was literally pounding. Why was he so far in her personal space? Why was he so comfortable doing it? Why did she... like it? 'Hoh? He could be ours ya' know. He's so close he probably wouldn't think anything of you taking a few liberties!~' What the hell was with this internal voice? Her internal monologue was getting way out of control, and what about her mentor? How often would he invade her personal space like this, while thinking nothing of it? "Only five? Shishou, I haven't seen five levels at once since the first week I was Olga's Squire.... it's quite abnormal," she stated. "Besides, I didn't do anything that should have given me experience, why would I have..." a pause happened as she finished processing information. She got the experience from their interaction. Gaining his knowledge through sexual activity and the sexual activity itself. His level was likely way higher than her own... so, "WHY?! Why does it work that way? Who decided this works this way...." she seemed to be strangely surprised by the knowledge. But she would be. If learning from her mentor would be raising her level... well, a lot of people would be privy to her activities, maybe. Well, she was a bard, she could probably just not explain her level gain but what about her friends? How many of them would notice... what kind of attention would she garner, what would happen if their resident battle maniac figured out she was approaching his skill level?! Oh well, at least she didn't have to worry too much about swearing in front of her mentor.

Meanwhile Charles was posing a semi-rhetorical question to Sakura and she in turn was taking a moment to think it over. She supposed she was a large part of this man now, and though she didn't necessarily equate the things he was mentioning she couldn't refute them. "I was only doing what I thought was right at the time. This doesn't necessarily equate to a trusting relationship... and yes, I am part of you, but that doesn't mean you have to trust me," she said seeming to find it odd this set of equations. Perhaps humans considered things differently. Ah, and she was soon to be shown how far this trust extended. In fact, she found herself standing in a pool of darkness getting ready to sink once more out of this reality. But as held out her hand to Charles, even if he thought it might have been a bad idea, he seemed content to go along. "Don't worry, that Ojii-chan seems to like her. I'm sure she can't be bad," mentioned Sakura. Once they were within that warm and inviting dark space, a pair of red glowing eyes greeted them, as the rest of a rather buxom blonde woman appeared along with it. She seemed to be taking steps forward and for the initiated she seemed to be dressed as a nun but missing several important pieces. But for others, she would appear completely covered in black and white cloth, especially around her breasts and torso. Upon her head a habit and veil but those white slit pupils seemed to pulse just a little. "Hello, little ones. I'm happy to see you both..." she greeted the pair. Such made Sakura smile. "Yeah, she's definitely fine. You gave me the hug right, Onee-sama?" she asked seeming to have connected this woman back to the feeling she got immediately after creating her cup. "Oh my goodness, is that what you'll call me? I did see it, but it still feels interesting~ " she mused, seeming to find the way the girl referred to her to be fun. "Of course, you deserved to feel rewarded for doing something so very good. It's a great creation... I plan to use it. Mostly to help allow my youngest daughter to enjoy her life a little more, but also to help the rest of you deal with the more evil individuals leaking through now," she said seeming to share pretty freely.

[Bloodedge]

Anais's promiscuous mind was not at all wrong. Ailen wouldn't have thought anything of several liberties being taken, as he did not consider them liberties at all. Alas, that was neither here nor there. It seemed quite some time had passed since Anais saw so many levels. With her lack of mana transfer before today, she had to be growing at a very steady rate. That steadiness would henceforth be challenged by Ailen's existence as a mentor, as the difference between their levels was quite sizeable. "I would assume you've never felled a very strong opponent, or taken in a vast array of knowledge at once. Status," he said, holding out his free hand and summoning a visual of his own parameters and abilities beside Anais's. Strangely though, his active Skills labeled Gamma, Delta and Omega were encrypted on the display, hidden from sight via means he'd yet to share with Anais. His level, however, was visible; 90 was the number shown. "You've taken my mana into yourself, which is just shy of the highest possible tier. In addition, the knowledge I gave you earlier was of the entire workshop containing my most-used ingredients. By all means, recalling that information would label you a seasoned expert alchemist in the eyes of most. In short, there are multiple reasons our time together has contributed to five levels. I'm actually a little surprised it wasn't seven. . ."

Sakura didn't believe in a relationship of trust between them, but once more, Charlemagne disagreed. It wasn't specifically because she was connected to him that he trusted her; it was everything associated with the connection. "Iie, it's not just that. You didn't have to help me out at all. You could have let me die without lifting a finger, and it wouldn't have made you a difference. You took corruption into yourself when you didn't have to. You also said you were in this for the long haul. Even if it's just to sate your own curiosities, I can't turn my back on someone who helped me out. Besides..." Charlemagne paused there. Of course, he hadn't forgotten about the whole pregnancy thing. He definitely wasn't going to leave some helpless bastard out there in the world if he could prevent it. Even a goddess could benefit from the aide of a partner in child-rearing, right? Charlemagne would hope so.

Upon entering that dark pool, they found themselves in a world filled with darkness ─ much to Charlemagne's expectation after the previous experience. Ah, but this location also had an unknown figure within it... or was it an unknown? Charlemagne gazed upon a scantily-clad nun of sorts, thinking for some reason that she was the most familiar individual he'd ever seen. Damned be the fact that she was a visual enigma the likes of which this world couldn't withstand. The more he looked, the less he could even think of looking away. After a few moments, a single tear fled from his left eye, trailing down his face with haste. Charlemagne didn't know why this occurred, but he felt... strangely looking at this woman. "Who are you to me?" he wondered. Surely there was some connection between them, right? Some memory long lost had to be there, somewhere.