Survival Exam (11)

I traced my fingers slowly down Elise's back.

Soft skin met my fingertips. Her back was as clean as a sheet of untouched white paper, without a single blemish.

A heroine's body, through and through. If even her back looked like this, I could only imagine the front.

I stroked her back at an unhurried pace, then let my hands wander to her sides and knead.

Elise's body jerked, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠taut with tension. Fair enough. A man's hands on her skin for the first time would rattle anyone.

I let the ordinary massage drop and gathered mana at my fingertips.

Then I began working the mana circuits along her back, one by one.

Bare skin meant I had to be more precise — and I needed the results to look convincing. So I injected mana into every circuit I could see, swelling each one by hand.

"Nngh…"

Elise pressed her face into her cadet uniform and choked back a moan.

Whether it was shame or pain, I couldn't say. Either way, it was cute.

She was a first-rate swordswoman on top of everything else, and her body showed it. Taut where it should be taut, curved where it should curve.

I finished with her back. Chest and hips were off-limits, so I moved to her waist.

"Hahk…!"

I worked her lean sides and fed mana in.

"How is it? Feeling anything?"

"…Yeah. It's working… mmph."

Feeding mana directly into her body confirmed something: Elise's mana sensitivity was abysmal. With her Congenital Mana Disorder, she probably couldn't feel mana moving inside her at all.

Exhibit A: I was easing a trickle of mana down toward her groin while I worked her waist, and she hadn't noticed a thing.

"Haaahn…"

Elise swallowed her moans and buried her face even deeper into the uniform. She seemed embarrassed that a man's hands felt this good.

Okay. She doesn't suspect a thing.

Still, I couldn't be too obvious from the start. This wasn't going to be a one-time thing anyway.

Once I'd stimulated every mana circuit along her back, I injected a little extra — roughly twice what I'd used when I worked her shoulders.

That should be more than enough to satisfy her.

From Elise's perspective, her body would feel packed with mana. And this was a completely different class of mana from what you got out of mana stones.

"Elise. We're done."

"Haa… huu… thank you. It really does feel full."

A faint sheen of sweat covered her skin, and her breathing had gone a little hot. She'd definitely felt pleasure.

Of course, looking at me wouldn't raise any suspicions either. I was dripping with sweat myself. Stimulating mana circuits one ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠at a time wasn't easy work, even for me.

"Whew. That's a relief."

I stepped out of the tent, washed the sweat from my face, and cast Clean over my body. The clammy feeling faded, at least a little.

Fabric rustled inside the tent, and Elise emerged.

"Thank you. Really… my body feels so much lighter."

"Does it? That's a relief."

It's probably just a feeling…

I checked the remaining cadet count.

"A hundred and ten…"

The numbers weren't dropping nearly fast enough. At this rate, we might not even break a hundred by tomorrow.

In the original, around seventy cadets should have been left by Day Four. By Day Five, it should have been under fifty.

I pulled up the point rankings next.

The rankings hadn't budged. I genuinely couldn't imagine what you'd have to do to bank 1,210 points. That was "stop hiding your strength and hunt monsters at full power all day" territory. So why bother?

Nam Da-eun had revealed everything she'd been holding back in the practical exam finals, sure — but that wasn't a reason to grind this hard.

Something's definitely diverged from the original. What's the actual problem here?

Kim Young-han climbing fast on my heels was another worry. He was splitting points with Elise, so of course he was a little slower — but his growth rate was outpacing mine.

"No idea… I'll think about it again tomorrow."

I didn't need first place. But I had to put Elise in first.

In the original, the balance had been tidy: Elise first in the written exam, Nam Da-eun first in the practical, Lee Ho-yeon first in the special exam — a little spotlight for everyone.

But I'd already gotten more than enough attention, and I'd taken first in the written this time. Nam Da-eun had the practical. That made first in the special exam a gift worth giving to Elise.

"I'll take first watch."

Elise offered before I could say anything, looking like she had energy to burn.

"Alright. Wake me in three hours, then?"

"No. I'll wake you when the mana runs out. I want to test how long it lasts."

"It'll hold for a while, you know. But sure."

The original three-to-four-hour window, doubled. Six to eight hours, easy. If she wanted to sit a long watch, that was fine by me.

I crawled into the tent and let my eyes close. I'd burned through a lot of mana, and sleep took me almost at once.

"…Yes. A ten-dollar donation. Thank you!"

"I'm not feeling well. I'm sorry."

Liliana ended the stream early again. There was nothing waiting for her after she signed off, but her energy just wouldn't come up, and she knew exactly why.

"Hnn…"

Ho-yeon's underwear and clothes were scattered across the bed. Four days had passed, and the scent was fading by the hour. Liliana clutched the clothes tighter, trying to hold on to what was left.

"Master… hah."

She bit down on one of his shirts and slid her fingers between her legs.

She hadn't known being alone could hurt this much. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Her mother's words — that a succubus was a creature that couldn't survive by herself — finally landed in her chest.

If she'd never known, maybe she could have gone back. But the moment she'd learned a man's warmth, there was no returning to what she'd been.

Liliana's tail slipped inside her pussy as her fingers worked her clit.

"Hnnngh… it's not enough… aaahn…"

It couldn't fill her the way Ho-yeon's cock did, and it wasn't nearly as hard. As for using a dildo or some other toy — that felt like betraying Master, so she refused to buy one.

"Why won't you come back already… you crazy Master…"

Liliana pulled his clothes against her and buried her face in them.

Chirp. Chirp.

Birdsong from outside tugged my eyes open.

"Nnhhh… what? What time is it?"

I had no memory of taking a watch, and the sun was already up. My smartwatch read seven.

I'd checked the remaining cadets around midnight and gone to bed. Elise had stood watch alone for nearly seven hours.

She didn't fall asleep out there, did she?

I straightened my clothes and stepped outside.

Elise was moving through forms at the river's edge.

A sharp whistle of steel. A mana-wreathed blade came down in a vicious arc; she stepped back and cast.

A crack like a gunshot. The mana sphere that burst from her palm detonated in the river, kicking up a heavy swell of water.

"Hah… hah…!"

Elise's face as she caught her breath was almost painfully bright.

Huh…

Why did she look like she was in the best condition of her life?

She ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠must have felt my gaze, because she trotted over.

"Ho-yeon… thank you. My body really is faster."

"It's working?"

"Yeah. I'm sure of it."

The smile of conviction on her face was beautiful. But…

"O-oh. That's great."

That's a placebo…

The one who knew the truth decided to keep his mouth shut.

"By the way, you didn't sleep, did you? Go lie down. Now."

Her fatigue was quite high. Pulling an all-nighter and still looking like that was impressive.

"I'm fine. This feeling is too good. I don't even want to sleep."

"Ah…"

She couldn't let go of a sensation she was tasting for the first time.

Wait. What if it isn't a placebo?

Maybe stimulating her mana circuits actually did something in the short term.

My mana massage was a process of forcibly stretching Elise's mana circuits, if only for a little while. Mana circuits aren't organs that expand just because you yank on them. They snap back to their original size soon enough — but they do stretch, however briefly.

For someone with Congenital Mana Disorder, that would feel like her body had been wrung out and made new.

"So, um… could you massage me again? The mana's all gone."

In the end, if she wanted that feeling back, she had to come to me.

This is actually perfect.

The effect was better than I'd expected, and it had closed into a virtuous cycle I hadn't fully planned for. Well — this cycle had been the goal. I just hadn't thought it would happen this fast.

If Elise was the one asking, I could probably squeeze something extra out of her later.

"Want to step into the tent, then?"

"Yeah."

She was already peeling off her cadet uniform as she ducked inside, clearly impatient for the massage. I followed.

"Hnn…"

Looking at Elise's pale back, I started the massage the same way as yesterday. I'd just woken up in excellent condition, so it came easier than before — and having done it once already didn't hurt.

"Haahn…"

Elise buried her face in her uniform again and bit back her moans.

Cute…

This time I worked more carefully. I stimulated only the circuits along her back, making sure not a ripple reached the ones in her arms, legs, chest, or stomach.

That way, she'd start craving a massage everywhere else too.

And I didn't forget the groin. Planting a little pleasure mattered just as much.

Watching Elise's back twitch under my hands, I figured a fully nude massage wasn't far off.