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MillionNovel > Leon Greyrat: The Second Son – Mushoku Tensei OC > Chapter 85 – Fulfilling a Promise

Chapter 85 – Fulfilling a Promise

    Chapter 85 – Fulfilling a Promise


    <span style="font-weight:400">— Leon Greyrat —


    <span style="font-weight:400">With Cliff and Lina having moved into a house together, there was a small party to wee their friends into their new living space, much like I did before leaving for Asura.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Usually, this was a sign that the couple would be married, but with Cliff being a devout member of the Millis religion, that would be getting its own ceremony.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Wait… Eris, Sylphy, Roxy, and I weren’t members of the Millis religion, so didn’t that mean we were married now that we had bought a house and celebrated it?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ah… well, we could still have a ceremony to make it official.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Not like such a title really mattered that much anyway.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The most important thing was making sure all three of them felt equal.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Anyway, despite both of Roxy and Sylphy having a strong connection with Lina, they were unfortunately unable to attend as they had to watch Aria and Ariel respectively, so it was just me.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After a fun time of drinks and stories, with Mama and my father exining more of their adventuring days… as well as some details that I would rather be left not knowing… the night’s energy gradually dwindled down as I then made my way back home.


    <span style="font-weight:400">But on my way, I was stopped by a… well, I’d just go out and say it. I was stopped by a prostitute.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She was very beautiful, with long brown hair that reached her breasts, and wide brown eyes that had a certain loving pull to them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She almost reminded me of my mother.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Oh~? Come on, for just one night~? I’ll make it worth your while~” she said, sticking out her hips. “And if it suits your fancy… I’m only eighteen~”


    <span style="font-weight:400">Well, even though she was my age, she looked pretty mature.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As one could infer from her words, she seemed very pushy about getting me in bed, but she also seemed… reluctant.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Why?


    <span style="font-weight:400">I had been pursued by prostitutes before.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was obvious that I would, since I looked strong and rich, which was the perfect prey for them, even if I had brushed off their advances before.


    <span style="font-weight:400">But… I had never been approached reluctantly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After all, if I could say so myself, I was handsome and fit, without being aplete ass, so I was quite the catch, considering most of the usual clientele they would pull.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“What’s wrong?” I asked, batting her hand that was reaching for my chin away. “You’re obviously disinterested.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Tsk,” she said, her flirtatious grin dropping to a straight-mouthed frown. “If you’re not going to buy me, then just say so. Don’t waste my time.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hmm… normally, I would just ignore and get on with my night, but weirdly enough, I felt a bit… curious.


    <span style="font-weight:400">No… instead, I felt a connection of some sort, though I couldn’t exin why.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Humour me,” I said, passing her a silver coin. “Why are you so reluctant? And, well… why are you doing such a thing?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">She narrowed her eyes at me, her eyebrows furrowing as she hesitantly took my money before quickly covering up her body with her cloak.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Do you think I want to do this?” she eventually said. “I need money for my younger brother, and there’s nothing else I can do. Money doesn’t grow on trees, and not everyone has a special talent to push them forward.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“I see,” I said, nodding my head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Right, I already knew that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“But that only answered one of my questions,” I said. “So you hate sex?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Obviously, I hate it. You’re better than many of the old, fat bastards, but I would hate it even with you,” she spat before she chuckled to herself. “Ironic for someone like me, huh?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hmm… well, I could understand.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I personally loved the act, but that was only because I do it with the women I love.


    <span style="font-weight:400">If it was with some random girl, no matter how pretty or beautiful… I can’t say I would enjoy it either.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“…How old is your brother?” I asked, the two of us beginning to walk down the street.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Huh? Why do you care?” she asked, raising an eyebrow in suspicion.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hmm… why was I doing this?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Maybe I was still a bit drunk?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Either way… I just felt like doing so, with that odd instinct pushing me forward.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Because,” I said, shrugging. “Perhaps I’m just bored.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">She narrowed her eyes at me before eventually answering, “He’s eight.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">Eight… that’s Norn and Aisha’s age.


    <span style="font-weight:400">An interesting coincidence.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“And what about your parents?” I asked, already kind of knowing the answer.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Dead,” she said firmly. “My father’s been gone for as long as I could remember, and my mother… well, she was a midwife before she passed as well. I used to help her out, but now… well, you know.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hm?


    <span style="font-weight:400">A midwife?


    <span style="font-weight:400">And she said she helped her mother out… and paired with how far she went for her brother…


    <span style="font-weight:400">Wait… is this what you call fate?


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Do you… happen to enjoy children?” I asked. “Caring for them, I mean.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Well… yeah,” she said, looking down sadly. “But I can’t exactly be a mother like this, no? At least not one I would be proud of. Not to mention hating the thing that needs to happen first… it really is ironic, huh?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">Wow… I think it was fate.


    <span style="font-weight:400">How lucky.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“I… have a proposition for you,” I said, smiling a bit. “It won’t pay well, if at all, but it would provide you a ce to live for both you and your brother.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">She narrowed her eyes at me, reaching a hand into her cloak.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Hey… I may be like this, but I’m not one to be a ve. Much less getting my brother involved,” she said coldly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Huh?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Oh… did she think I was offering something like that?


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Uh… no, not like that,” I rified. “I’m… nning to open an orphanage, even though it isn’t built yet. Ah! But you can live in our house for now! So… would you… like to be a caretaker there?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her re softened as she took out her hand from her cloak.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Was she hiding a knife?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Well, I guess with her profession, she would need to ward off dangerous folks, and fight them if necessary.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“You… we just met, so I can’t exactly trust you,” she said calmly. “But if it gets us a roof over our heads… I’ll hesitantly ept.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Indeed. So… what’s your name?” I asked.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“…ra,” she said. “And yours?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Leon,” I said. “Leon Greyrat.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">Was it idiotic to trust such a random encounter?


    <span style="font-weight:400">No. Probably not.


    <span style="font-weight:400">But I felt it… this was definitely a step in the right direction for fulfilling my promise.


    <span style="font-weight:400">— Leon Greyrat —


    <span style="font-weight:400">“I’m home!” I announced, walking into the house. “Err… I guess Roxy is asleep? I know Sylphy had guard duty today…”


    <span style="font-weight:400">I wanted to exin these two while they were awake though…


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Hm? You’re wives?” ra asked.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Yeah. Or at least they’re soon to be,” I answered.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sylphy and Roxy… they’ve gotten quite closer ever since our night together a few days ago.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I wasn’t sure if it was the sex that led to it, or if they had gotten closer before then, which led to the threesome, but either way, I was enjoying the new sense of harmony in the house.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In fact, they had even decided to wake me up this morning with both of them servicing me together.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was… quite a pleasant way to get up… in more ways than one.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hearing a set of footsteps, I watched as Norn came out of the kitchen, her hair done up in a bun with a bit of what seemed to be frosting on her cheek.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I guess she was trying her hand at baking, huh?


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Brother! You’re home!” she said before looking at the two people next to me. “And… you’ve brought guests?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Yep. Meet ra and her brother Nico. They’ll be staying with us for a few days until I… set something up,” I said.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I know Sylphy said that she talked to Ariel and was told she might be able to do something, but I was still unsure of how much the princess could support me.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I didn’t want to make any false promises just yet.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“H-Hi!” Nico said, walking forward as he fixed his hair. “Umm… nice to meet you.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">How polite.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Wait… was that a blush on his face?


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Oh? I-I’m Norn… Norn Greyrat,” my cute sister returned.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As expected, even if she had gotten outgoing with school, she was still a shy girl.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Are you staying the night?” I asked her. “We can do some swordsmanship in the morning, if you want.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Ah! That sounds good!” she said, nodding. “And c-can I… sleep with you?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">Well, I usually slept in the same room as Aria did, but considering Roxy seemed to have that covered for the night…


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Sure,” I agreed. “How about you tell me about school before bed.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">With Norn nodding at me, she then looked back to Nico, her hand reaching up to wipe away the bit of frosting still on her cheek.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Umm… you said you’re staying for a bit, right?” she said. “Do you… want a tour?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">I think I was the one meant to do that, but I decided to let her take charge.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“S-Sure!” he returned, walking over to follow her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With them going over to the living room, I then crossed my arms, smiling slightly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“They seem to be getting along,” I said to ra.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Yes… it’s good to see,” she returned. “You have a cute sister, and Nico doesn’t have many friends considering our situation, so I thank you.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“No, it’s my pleasure,” I said evenly. “…We won’t rush things?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Nope, just tease them,” she returned. “Agreed?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Agreed,” I said, nodding as we both bumped our fists together.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Yeah… perhaps seeing Norn had lowered her suspicion of me, but I think ra and I would get along quite nicely.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After all, we had gotten closer as we walked to gather her brother and back, and a lot of my initial worry had evaporated as she opened up a bit more about herself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Though, I was still wondering why she woulde so willingly with me, considering how shady us meeting was…


    <span style="font-weight:400">Maybe she was just confident in her ability to defend herself?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Anyway, I was quite excited about the possibility of having a friend, or at least the first one that wasn’t Rudy’s first, so that might have had to do with how easily I epted her into my home.


    <span style="font-weight:400">And speaking of that… I should probably tell Roxy so she doesn’t freak out in the morning.


    <span style="font-weight:400">— Leon Greyrat —


    <span style="font-weight:400">A few weeks had passed, and in that time, Ariel had been able to get a small house, onerge enough for a good amount of kids, fulfilling the request I had asked of her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">And so, my orphanage n began in earnest.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Luckily, there was no need to fix the ce up aside from a little cleaning, so ra and Nico were able to quickly be the first inhabitants, and a few dayster, I was able to buy a mother and her two kids from the market to further fill up the space.


    <span style="font-weight:400">While it was probably bad of me to say this, I was lucky in the fact that both kids were pretty sick when I found them, while the mother had gained an injury that ensured that she couldn’t have sex anymore, so the little family quite cheap.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I had initially gotten them because of the kids, but seeing how the ce could really use a mother’s loving touch, I decided to get the mother, Olivia, as well.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Even if she couldn’t treat the rest of them with the same love as her own children, I did get her to promise to treat them as her own, or at least as much as I could.


    <span style="font-weight:400">And so, with some healing and detoxification magic, the kids were back to full health, with Olivia happily epting her new position.


    <span style="font-weight:400">So two caretakers and three kids… and I’d soon be getting more either from vers, or if I see any unfortunate children on any of my travels, even though I don’t n on leaving home for a long while.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ah, and also any possible employees as well. But for now, ra and Olivia could handle it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">But still… this would have never been a possibility without Ariel’s help.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I would have to thank her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She did seem to like her ck hair ribbon, even though it was quite cheap… so maybe something like that?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ah, but then again, I would be doing quite a bit of favours for her in theing future, so perhaps I could simply let her graciousness slide.


    <span style="font-weight:400">But aside from that, with my trips to the ve market, I had also noticed some… unscrupulous individuals keeping some kids in unsavory positions.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Of course, in such a ce, I expected everyone there to be pieces of shit, but some were a bit… worse than others.


    <span style="font-weight:400">But I had a n to rectify that by tonight.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Break into the vers that were treating the children horribly, kill every one of the people who worked there, rescue the kids, set fire to the ce so they think the kids are dead, and then bring them back to the orphanage.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After that, well… the one good thing about kids being treated so bad, was that once I cleaned them up, healed them toplete health, and gave them some good clothes and food, they would be unrecognizable from their past selves.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Not like I would leave anyone who could recognize them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">So yeah… that was my n for the night, so unfortunately, I wouldn’t be having any sexy times with Roxy and Sylphy.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I just hope that ra and Olivia would be able to handle a few more kidsing their way.


    <span style="font-weight:400">— Leon Greyrat —


    <span style="font-weight:400">Another month had passed, which meant we were now heading into the coldest part of winter as the new year slowly approached.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This was also Aria’s first winter, the first great danger that children would run into in this world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">But I wasn’t too worried.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With one of Roxy, Sylphy, and I always with her, we made sure she was always warm and cuddled up.


    <span style="font-weight:400">So even if she couldn’t regte her own body temperature, between her three parents, Aria would be a happy and healthy baby.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Speaking of Roxy and Sylphy, this month would mark a year since we had be a family together, and honestly… things were great.


    <span style="font-weight:400">We still sometimes argued, just as all healthy couples did, but it was only mundane things such as whether someone didn’t rece a candle or didn’te home for a while.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Nothing serious, no big fuck-ups, and no hatred at all.


    <span style="font-weight:400">And to think you only had to talk… my father should have taken notes.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I was initially worried that Sylphy and Roxy, with both of them harbouring slight feelings of inferiority towards me, would not voice their true feelings, especially if they went against what I was saying.


    <span style="font-weight:400">But it seemed that my earnest disys of affection and love had broken through to them, in that they now feltfortable being truthful.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Though… the sex definitely helped too.


    <span style="font-weight:400">No better time to talk than in the afterglow of a good session in bed, after all.


    <span style="font-weight:400">But yes, aside frommunication, it also helped that both of them were fairly independent women, with Roxy having her magic and teaching, while Sylphy had her duty to Ariel.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This meant that we all had our own free time and space, and when we spent time together, we cherished it deeply.


    <span style="font-weight:400">And speaking of free time…


    <span style="font-weight:400">“This form is messy… dammit, I don’t want to go to Cliff again,” Shizukained.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“What, don’t want him to unt his genius?” Rudy asked.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Not that. Thest time I went down to their house, I heard the sound of his and that elf’s lovemaking quite clearly,” she said, pouting. “And they still ask why I stay up here so often…”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Ahaha… yeah,” Rudy said.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“And you are no better!” she said, pointing at him usingly. “I-Isn’t Sara pregnant? You should be stopping that stuff!”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Well… there are many things you can do without pration,” he said resolutely, nodding his head. “I am quite proud of my array of nighttime skills, after all.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“I did not need to know that,” she deadpanned.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Yes, I was currently spending some time with Shizuka and Rudy, watching their experiments with my Demon eye each time they asked for it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">But it wasn’t only us three.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Gabaa!” Aria said, throwing her stuffy on the floor once again.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Haa… well, she was now seven months old, so she was beginning regrly to eat solids… as well as having gained a newfound a joy in throwing things to the ground.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Although, I think it was less the throwing, and more of how I had to pick it up afterwards.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Truly… she really was an energetic girl.


    <span style="font-weight:400">But she was well-behaved. At least, unless she was away from her parents.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I wouldn’t have brought her here otherwise.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Reaching down to grab her tossed toy, I gave it back to her, hearing her happily coo as I went back to my studying.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As for what I was studying?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Well, that was healing magic.


    <span style="font-weight:400">More specifically, I was trying to research a way to share lifespans, just like I had thought of since we first returned to Sharia.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I say ‘trying to research’, because even after all this time… I haven’t found anything that could help me.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Honestly, I was fairly sure it was impossible, or at least with the current understanding of magic.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After all, if there was such a spell, it would have already been exploited by those in power to make them immortal, such as a king stealing the life of its subjects to create a forever-living king.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Even if it wasn’t to that length, there would have at least been a legend of something simr.


    <span style="font-weight:400">But maybe… there was a hint.


    <span style="font-weight:400">A hint I could use to pioneer my own path.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Perhaps researching into some different demon race’s biology would help as well, especially that n that was said to be immortal.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I wanted to find an answer.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I was determined to.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Before, it was just a wish… something to do in my free time as I didn’t enjoy the thought of Roxy and Sylphy being alone for so long, nor also the thought of them finding someone else after my death.


    <span style="font-weight:400">But now… I had another reason.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I had noticed that sometimes, when Roxy was holding Aria, she would look… sad.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Sad and worried.


    <span style="font-weight:400">At first, I thought she was simply worried about her child’s health, as an infant was extremely fragile, or perhaps some anxiety about being a mother, but now… I was fairly certain it was something else.


    <span style="font-weight:400">You see, Roxy was 50 years old, and the Migurd, her race, had a lifespan of 200 years… which meant that she had around 150 years left to live.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, humans, like me, lived for an average of 80 years, assuming a healthy lifestyle.


    <span style="font-weight:400">And Aria was half human, and half Migurd, so if the lifespan was split evenly, like it was for all the recorded mixed races I had found, she would live for about 140 years.


    <span style="font-weight:400">And 140 is less than 150, for those not academically inclined.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Roxy… would likely outlive her child, at least if we assumed both of them lived for their average lifespans.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That… I couldn’t even think of something like that happening.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Aria dying from an ident would destroy me with grief, but to think of watching her grow old and die before me from natural causes… I wouldn’t be able to deal with such a thing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">So it was obvious that Roxy was worried about such a thing happening, and by the time Sylphy had our child, she would very likely feel the same trepidation.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I… couldn’t let them live through that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I wouldn’t let them live through that.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thus, I was more determined than ever to make this lifespan sharing magic work, if not for my own selfish desires… then at least for Roxy and Sylphy’s future sanity.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Rudy… can you pass me that sheet?” Shizuka asked.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Yeah, here,” Rudy said, handing it over.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Looking over to them, I watched as my brother passed a piece of paper over to her, their hand identally touching as they did so, causing both of them to flinch and retract their hands, the paper helplessly drifting to the ground between them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“S-Sorry!” Rudy said.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“N-No, that was… my fault as well,” Shizuka said, turning around to her notebook.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Haa…


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Aboo!” Aria said, reaching up to me.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Yeah… it is ridiculous,” I said, letting her grab my extended finger. “Your uncle is a bad man, huh?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">Not to mention that with Sara too far into pregnancy to have sex, Rudy had beenining about being pent-up after so long without it, even if they still did other things.


    <span style="font-weight:400">He didn’t me her, of course, as I would have punched his lights out if he did. But he stillmented the absence of sex, and had even told me that he could understand how Paul got seduced by Lilia in such a state.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Well… I wasn’t one to talk about being faithful to only one woman, but I hoped that he wouldn’t betray Sara.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I don’t think Mama would be very happy if I ended up killing her son, after all.


    <span style="font-weight:400">But for now, their ‘romance’, if you could even call it that, was extremely innocent.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Besides, Shizuka was still focused on getting back home and if she seeded, she would never be able to have a rtionship with my brother, so I doubt that they would ever get together, no matter the circumstance.


    <span style="font-weight:400">…Uh.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Baba!” Aria said, pping my hand.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Yeah, sorry that Dada’s such a dummy,” I said, brushing a hand through her hair. “I definitely just tempted fate again…”


    <span style="font-weight:400">— Leon Greyrat —


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Show us magic!”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Yeah! Show us! Show us!”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“The cool fire!”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Oh! And the ice sculpture!”


    <span style="font-weight:400">Looking at the collection of kids swarming me, I felt a warmth as Ipared how happy they were to when I first picked them up… but also some bitterness at being treated as a walking carnival performance.


    <span style="font-weight:400">But if it made them happy, then I suppose it was a small price to y.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Plus, I wasn’t one to refuse a chance to train my magic, even if it was just party tricks.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Anyway, creating a stream of water, I had it chase the kids across the yard as I began silently pondering.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Over time, I had gotten a few more kids into the orphanage, but at a size of eight, they were definitely at capacity, both in space and supervision.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I didn’t want to screw up the warm, familial dynamic ra and Olivia had made, after all.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Two eight-year-olds, two six-year-olds, a five-year-old, a four-year-old, and a two-year-old… those were the kids that now lived in therge house near the outskirts of the city.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Knowing that Olivia’s husband not only sold her, but also their two-year-old and five-year-old… it was honestly disgusting.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I would have killed him if I knew where he was, but judging by how easily he fell to gambling, I doubted hested long in the world anyway.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Anyway, with so many kids, I had expected there to be some major problems, but ra was excellent at managing the food and supplies, while Olivia provided that motherly care the kids sorelycked, so everything was going smoothly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">They were traumatized, especially the enved kids that I had to rescue, but in their new environment… they were getting better.


    <span style="font-weight:400">And while I wish they never had to experience such things, it did make them mature beyond their years, so they weren’t too troublesome and were very cooperative with their caretakers and each other.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As for me, I visited in my free time when I could, especially since now that Nico was interested in swordsmanship. And like today, it usually devolved into ying or giving them a show that they found entertaining.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Well, I was hoping to find another man I could trust to be their male parental figure, but seeing that all the male ves were typically for fighting, and are often idiots that got caught up in very due to their mistakes, they were… not exactly prime role model material.


    <span style="font-weight:400">So for now, I was kind of their dad, but I was fine with it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Plus, with things like this, I knew that Aria and my future kids would make some easy friends in their childhood.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After all, I couldn’t exactly let them go around the big city like what I did in Buena Vige to meet Sylphy, so this was the next best thing.


    <span style="font-weight:400">— Leon Greyrat —


    <span style="font-weight:400">Life had been treating me welltely.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Extremely well, in fact.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I had two beautifuldies toe home to, another that would be joining us soon, and a beautiful daughter that lit up my life whenever I held her or even simply watched her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">But to keep such a happy life… I couldn’t simply rely on luck.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I had to have the strength to protect it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">So… it was training time.


    <span style="font-weight:400">More specifically, it was morning, the time when I would train my swordsmanship as the sun rose over the horizon, before Sylphy would then make all of us breakfast and I would head to the university.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Anyway, let’s get back on topic.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The greatest users of two of the three great styles, the Water God and the Sword God… even after all this time, their movements and techniques were still burned into my mind.


    <span style="font-weight:400">So obviously, I had beenmitted to emting their strength, trying to meld it into my Elemental style, while alsomitting to improving my defensive touki technique as well.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Hyat!”


    <span style="font-weight:400">Shouting, I flooded my legs with touki, copying the technique that the Sword God performed to destroy me back in the Sword Sanctum.


    <span style="font-weight:400">How he was able to go so fast… it was difficult to catch, but after a week of getting my ass handed to me… I finally got it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It wasn’t gaining power byyering touki, like Orsted did, but rather… it enhanced everything in a sudden burst of power.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was difficult to exin, as I still didn’tpletely understand how it worked, but if I tried to put it into easier terms, it would be like this:


    <span style="font-weight:400">Usually, touki enhanced the body like a burning fire, the energy constantly coursing through the muscles as they moved, with the user’s movements and technique utilizing all the power they had ess to.


    <span style="font-weight:400">But for the Sword God… his touki was like an explosion, using all the possible energy he had gathered in a moment.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Of course, using that energy would normally be dangerous, as by using it all, there was none left enhancing the body to adjust afterwards, but that’s where his cycling technique came in.


    <span style="font-weight:400">He constantly cycled touki through his body so that even with the instantaneous bursts of touki, he was always enhanced.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was difficult, but I was getting better… slowly.


    <span style="font-weight:400">But it was a bit embarrassing when I first did it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Not only did I crash quite a few times due to underestimating the speed, I also underestimated how much touki I would need to reinforce my clothes, so as a result… I got stripped after one leap.


    <span style="font-weight:400">While Sylphy and Roxy had seemingly enjoyed the show, it was quite embarrassing to have my father and sistersugh at me as I ran back into the house.


    <span style="font-weight:400">But at least they had fun, right?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Even if it was at my expense.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Anyway, past my slow progress with Orsted’s defensive touki technique, and the Sword God’s movement technique… there were the techniques of the Water God.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">Ocean’s Mirror</em><span style="font-weight:400">, <em><span style="font-weight:400">Rainfall Waltz</em><span style="font-weight:400">, and <em><span style="font-weight:400">Churning Tide</em><span style="font-weight:400">…


    <span style="font-weight:400">The first one casts a shield of touki that reflects everything back against the attacker.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The second traps the opponent in touki, slowing them down and possibly harming them… but that was just my instinct from when she showed me.


    <span style="font-weight:400">And then thest one, where it takes in the attack and returns it, much like <em><span style="font-weight:400">Flow</em><span style="font-weight:400">, but only after amplifying the initial strike’s power, so bad that even the weak attack I had struck Master with had been returned and even broke through myyered touki defence.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was… a lot.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Definitely a lot.


    <span style="font-weight:400">But I had been focusing on them along with my ranged touki sh practice, with mixed results.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With <em><span style="font-weight:400">Ocean’s Mirror</em><span style="font-weight:400">, I was able to create the touki screen in the air, but I still couldn’t get the reversal to work.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After all, I only knew how to parry with a sword, so how the hell was I supposed to do that with raw energy?


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was confusing, but I would continue to work diligently, and hopefully, I would eventually get it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Then, there was <em><span style="font-weight:400">Rainfall Waltz</em><span style="font-weight:400">.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This one was a little easier as it was simr to <em><span style="font-weight:400">Dance of Deluge</em><span style="font-weight:400">, where I spread the touki in the air. But yet again, physically affecting someone with the touki was still beyond me.


    <span style="font-weight:400">But, oddly enough, during my training, I was soon able to discover why I felt such dread with Master’s touki wrapped around me.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With <em><span style="font-weight:400">Dance of Deluge</em><span style="font-weight:400">, having the touki spread out into the air created a ‘path’ for me to follow with my body and sword, cutting down the distance in an instant.


    <span style="font-weight:400">And, well, with <em><span style="font-weight:400">Rainfall Waltz</em><span style="font-weight:400">… I could do the same with ranged touki.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Just as Master had said, once an opponent was trapped, they were all but dead, unless they had insane defensive touki skills like Orsted.


    <span style="font-weight:400">After all, no one could defend a ranged touki sh that sliced through your body instantaneously.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Much less one that coulde from any side of you.


    <span style="font-weight:400">And then there was <em><span style="font-weight:400">Churning Tide</em><span style="font-weight:400">, another technique that I was using previously acquired skills to grasp. But in this case, it was the Sword God’s movement technique that was helping me out.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Taking in the touki was something I learned with <em><span style="font-weight:400">Flow</em><span style="font-weight:400">, as well as releasing that back to the opponent.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The only new thing was cycling and amplifying that power and releasing it in an instant, which was the basic premise of the Sword God’s movement style.


    <span style="font-weight:400">But still, despite my training, I was still unable to do it at Master’s level, as while cycling the power did enhance my counter a bit, it was hardly good enough to justify the time and concentration required to do it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">So three more secret arts and a movement technique to learn… well, it was good that there was still room to improve my swordsmanship, unlike my magic which had recently run into a bottleneck.


    <span style="font-weight:400">But speaking of touki and magic. Or, more specifically, touki and mana… I had realized something.


    <span style="font-weight:400">They were truly the same.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Perhaps they were used quite differently, and had different effects, but at their base, the two energies were the same.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Kind of like ice and steam, where both were states of water, but very different in the real world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I had previously thought that they were connected, but still different, as my touki wouldn’t run out, unlike my mana.


    <span style="font-weight:400">But after training in techniques that released touki into the air, I realized that it was depleting, eliminating that core difference between the two energies.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It wasn’t something easy to notice like with mana… but I could still feel it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">And as for why it didn’t run out before?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Well, I only had to assume that’s because when I was coating my body with it, that it stayed inside my body, so it was obvious it wouldn’t run out when it was just being recycled back into me.


    <span style="font-weight:400">But still, there was a small difference from mana in that touki was replenished extremely quickly, and I noticed that this rate of replenishment increased if I really focused.


    <span style="font-weight:400">And that got me thinking… how did mana get replenished anyway?


    <span style="font-weight:400">I knew from using my Demon eye that mana was everywhere.


    <span style="font-weight:400">From the ground to the air to the clothes on my back… mana upied every single space in this world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">So… to replenish it… was it absorbed from the air?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Or, perhaps, did the body’s individual atoms generate this weird energy?


    <span style="font-weight:400">And if I concentrated like I did for replenishing touki, could I replenish my mana faster as well?


    <span style="font-weight:400">And further than that, if touki and mana were the same… that technique of Orsted that changed my use of touki which I still needed to master… ovepping and concentrating… could I do that with mana as well?


    <span style="font-weight:400">I had tried before, but to no avail, and easily gave up shortly after.


    <span style="font-weight:400">But that was back before I knew touki and mana were the same.


    <span style="font-weight:400">So… it was at least a possibility…


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Leon! Breakfast is ready!” Sylphy called from the kitchen.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Okay!” I said, using some water magic to wash my face and freshen up before heading inside.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Well, those were someplicated thoughts and theories, so I could save them forter.


    <span style="font-weight:400">For now, I had to spend some quality family time, and eat up the delicious meal Sylphy had prepared.
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