After all the matches in the arena were finished, we finally had our six hours left.
Ooooh!
The animal masks we wore emitted a special light, and soon we found ourselves back in the forest wearing the prayer bracelets.
“We’re back.”
“…Meow.”
Today, we ultimately earned 11 Level 3 Spirit Stones and 2 Level 4 Spirit Stones.
If I absorb all these stones, with good absorption, I might even reach the level of a Level 2 Sorcerer.
When it comes to the total amount of spiritual power, reaching Level 1 isn’t impossible, but Level 1 isn’t a rank that can just be reached by simple absorption…
‘They said it would take quite a while too.’
I held a Level 4 Spirit Stone in my hand, trying to absorb its spiritual power into my body.
As soon as the raw spiritual power was absorbed, it immediately began to attack my body, and soon a small war broke out inside me.
It was a battle between the existing spiritual power in my body and the newly entered spiritual power.
I had to win this fight to fully absorb the power, and if I lost, I could incur serious internal injuries and end up losing the power altogether.
That’s why lower-ranked sorcerers mostly sell the high-ranked stones instead of absorbing them.
High-ranked stones are no different than “extreme poison.”
And for a Level 6 Sorcerer, a Level 4 Spirit Stone was quite enough ‘poison.’
“Hmm.”
Drip…
[?]
[Lily?]
[Ugh]
[???]
[Lily’s bleeding]
Blood was dripping from the corner of my mouth.
What am I supposed to do now… Yena sighed, looked at me, and was startled.
“W-What are you doing?!”
“It’s a bit intense. I thought it’d be easier than this.”
“Are you insane?! You didn’t even set up a magic array before absorbing a Spirit Stone?! Do you want to die?!”
“Was there a procedure I needed to follow?”
“Of course! First, you need to create a safe zone where the spiritual power is maximized, then lay down the protective and stability magic array! You should have a teleportation and absorption spell nearby at least…”
“Are you worried about me? Thanks.”
She paused.
Yena, who had been fidgeting anxiously, suddenly stopped.
Then she turned her head sharply and muttered as if she was disinterested.
“I-It’s not that I’m worried about you; I’m worried about Lily. You’re occupying Lily’s body, aren’t you? If you hurt her body, I won’t let it slide.”
“You seem quite worried for someone who isn’t worried. Normally, spiritual power is directly linked to the spirit.”
“……”
“If my spirit gets hurt, it might actually be more beneficial…”
“The spirit can actually benefit from damage…”
“…Stop being noisy, meow!”
Whoosh!
Yena quickly popped out from beyond the forest.
Originally, I was trying to guide her to ‘log out’ as much as possible.
But now that things have soured, it seems I’ll just have to let her spend the day in that state.
[Hahaha!]
[Yena’s such a tsundere]
[Yena is so cute]
[Lily, are you really okay?]
[Yena, Yena…]
[Blood is still flowing]
“Ah. I’m fine. Just tied up a bit.”
For me, a Level 6 Sorcerer, a Level 4 Spirit Stone is sufficient poison.
But I’ve tasted countless poisons and stored them throughout my life.
With the extreme poison known as Holy Power at my disposal, I can absorb this little poison with no problem at all.
However, I am deliberately choosing not to absorb it, which is why I’m bleeding.
Woowoo…!
My spiritual power envelops the newly incoming energy, sealing it away.
The new energy attempts to shine and escape at intervals, but escape is impossible.
In return, the weakened interior occasionally bleeds, but bleeding this much won’t kill me.
If I had any Holy Power, I would recover instantly and wouldn’t even bleed, but this is my limit for now.
“If I absorb it, I wouldn’t be a Level 6 Sorcerer anymore. For now, I’ll just store it away invisibly within my body and use it only when necessary.”
I don’t expect too much.
The main match is a tournament format, and as I advance, my power will be revealed, so I can only fool them once or twice.
After that, I plan to unleash all the power I have.
After shoving a portion of the Level 4 Spirit Stone into my body, I wiped away the blood flowing freely and moved towards Yena’s house.
[Lily’s gonna die, I swear]
[Hahaha!]
[I haven’t seen someone bleed like this in forever]
[Wow, wow, wow]
[But why do I feel like she isn’t going to die?]
[Go, Lily]
In the house, Yena was curled up under a blanket, with a sulky tail poking out from the edge.
Yena looked drained of energy.
I wiped the remaining blood and sat behind her.
From the looks of the blanket, it seems this spot was originally for the ‘Real Lily’ that Yena knew.
“Miss Yena.”
“……”
“Miss Yena.”
“…What is it, meow?”
“Did you know? You are the first friend I made after returning.”
“After the war ended and I returned to Earth, I mostly stayed at home unless something special came up.
The surface reason was laziness.
Sure, they say that if you’re back on Earth, you have to follow Earth’s laws and all that, but it wasn’t exactly just that reason.
‘Building connections.’
Going beyond simple relationships, to get close to that person and share countless exchanges, becoming that person’s ‘important person.’
I shied away from it.
“I was scared. If I have someone precious, would I have to let them go again someday?”
I couldn’t even save anyone when I had power.
If I had strong power, that would be one thing, but after my return, almost all my powers were sealed away.
How could I possibly save anyone with the fragile body of Lily Elbrite?
“So, I refused. I averted my gaze, using the excuse of wanting to be lazy and have fun.”
“……”
“Then, as I spent time like that, I logged into Deoen and… met Miss Yena.”
It all started simply.
Yena approached me for broadcasting, and I, too, continued the broadcasts with Yena to earn some much-needed money.
While things might be completely different now, she and I initially had a straightforward business relationship.
“…But as time passed, as incidents piled up, slowly connections began to build.”
“……”
“Miss Yena is someone precious to me, just as much as she misses ‘Real Lily.’”
I miss ‘User Yena’ just as much as well.
“…I don’t understand any of that, meow.”
“Thank you. For coming to me back then.”
If it had been someone other than Yena…
If they had even a bit of bad intentions or hadn’t approached me more actively…
I might have lived in solitude even after my return.
Though I would have built connections with many, I probably wouldn’t have had the genuine approach like this.
‘Whether it’s in broadcasting, the Academy, or the Duchy or whatever.’
Yena seemed to squirm under the blanket, perhaps feeling a bit shy, then suddenly popped her head out.
Of course, since she was behind the blanket, all I could see was the round back of her head and her pointy ears.
“…I get it, now go away. I want to be alone.”
“Do you believe me?”
“No?! Why would I believe you! You’re not the Lily I know!”
HAAAACK! Yena huffed and threw a pillow.
I laughed and caught the pillow, then left my house after saying we’d meet in the forest the next day.
The chat got loud, but I didn’t bother reading it.”
The awkward words were enough for one time.
■
“Are you sure?”
“Hehe. Of course. What do you take me for?”
On the last day of the underground market.
Geonseon and his group arrived at the arena, one of the two key facilities of the underground market, to prepare for a battle.
Normally, they wouldn’t even glance at the clown gamble, but they learned that the two women they had been searching for were participating.
Lily and Yena.
Since he had borrowed a ‘Level 1 Jewel’ to defeat them, he confidently expressed his intention to join.
Of course, he didn’t qualify for the main match because he hadn’t participated in the preliminary rounds, but he could enter by using the position of Ryoko, a Level 1 Sorcerer.
Geonseon held the Level 1 Jewel, the Branch of Mourak, and chuckled.
“I thought you were hiding like a rat, but who knew you’d be rolling around in a place like this? Lucky me.”
“Aren’t you going to strike right away? There’s no need to wait for the match.”
“Ah, right.”
As Saheon said, if the two women were the target, there was no need to follow the rules.
He could simply search the player waiting room or the arena to find and deal with them.
Fighting without permission in the underground market was prohibited, but having Ryoko backing him made it irrelevant.
Geonseon snickered.
“It wouldn’t be good if they died in one hit, right? We’ve come all the way to the arena, so I need to let them pound me to death while trusting in the recovery sorcerer. Of course, I’ll finish them off afterward.”
“…That doesn’t seem to be the only reason.”
“You’re quite sharp, Saheon. That’s right, I also received a request from my uncle.”
Geonseon looked around, unusually cautious of his surroundings, and cast a sound-blocking spell.
Moreover, to ensure complete secrecy, he created a barrier of spells multiple times and even sent the arena staff, who were managing the area, to the far side.
“There are rumors that a ‘young master’ is here.”
“Young master… could it be?”
“That’s right.”
The youngest Level 1 Sorcerer of the Sorcerers’ Association and the boy who sealed the unmeasurable Demon.
“Cheolhon. That person is here.”
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