Survival Exam (15)

"Nnh..."

My fingers found Elise's back. She looked worn out. Inside the tent I could have laid her down and worked her over properly, but we were outside, so the massage had to be careful — and Elise, for her part, stayed still, offering me nothing but the line of her spine.

The more I worked, the sharper my mana control ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠became. Injecting mana into someone else's body was one thing; steering it once it was inside demanded real concentration. I was getting used to it, though.

The downside was that Elise seemed to be getting used to it too. The faint stimulation I sent through her insides no longer made her bury her face in her clothes the way it had last time — even when I let a thread of mana slip into her womb.

"Hnn..."

Just a thin, trembling moan. Which meant I needed a different approach.

I sent my mana flowing along the surface of her body. Destination: between her legs. Mana moving outside the body was far more likely to catch her attention, so I had to be careful. I deliberately cranked up the pressure on her mana circuits, dragging her focus there.

"Ah—ahh... that hurts."

"Sorry. That was too much."

Perfect. In that brief window, my mana arrived at her groin. I moved it slowly, tracing over her pussy. I didn't need my eyes. The sensation was as clear as if I'd run my own fingers over her.

A tightly closed entrance that suggested she'd never even touched herself, plump labia without a single crease, and a clitoris still hooded by its foreskin — I could perceive all of it.

Just a little...

No sense overdoing it from the start. I gave that hooded clitoris the lightest brush of mana.

"Hnnn—?!"

"What's wrong, Elise? Did that hurt?"

I asked as if I had no idea.

"I-it's not that it hurt."

Her shoulders jerked. Her whole body gave a little shiver. I kept working her circuits open while I teased her clit with the faintest of touches. Nothing she could reasonably suspect.

"Haah... nnh..."

"You're all right, aren't you?"

"I... hhk... just finish already..."

She had her eyes squeezed shut, trying not to let on how good it felt. It was pretty cute.

The sun came up on day six, and I was, unsurprisingly, wrecked. I'd gotten maybe four hours of sleep in total.

"All right, everybody up. Morning's here."

Lucy had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠taken last watch, so she was already awake and buzzing. The other three of us looked like death.

"Whoa. You guys look awful."

"...I'm fine. Just didn't sleep well."

"Ahh, right. Sharing a tent with a guy must've been rough. Not that I care about that stuff — I slept great!"

Lucy let out a smug little laugh, looking thoroughly pleased with herself. Sometimes I envied that simplicity.

I needed to get my head on straight. Today mattered more than the rest.

I went down to the river and splashed water on my face until the fog lifted. Elise and Rumi shuffled after me, swaying on their feet.

"Lucy, what time is it?"

"Seven."

Seven... three hours left.

This long, grinding survival exam would end tomorrow. At ten in the morning on day six, every cadet's location would go live on the smartwatches — battle royale time. Luckily we'd pushed pretty deep toward the island's center yesterday. Kim Young-han's team was probably still circling the outskirts.

More monsters out there. They were afraid of the thing that lived in the center.

"Hey. Let's just eat. I'm staaarving."

"Sure."

Lucy hung off me, whining that she was hungry. Fair enough — we'd been up two hours already. Elise and Rumi were starting to come around too.

I slept the least. Why do they look more wrecked than I do?

We put breakfast together, ate through the food I'd packed, and cleaned up. Since I'd brought the supplies, the girls handled the prep and the dishes.

Eight o'clock. Two hours until the battle royale.

"Want to head a little further in?"

"Further in?"

Rumi tilted her head.

"Yeah. Figured there might be something deeper."

"Do we really need to? We're already pretty far in."

Elise tossed that out while she loosened up her sword arm.

"Elise is right. There's not even a river further in."

"Mm... fair point."

Once Lucy piled on, I didn't bother arguing. The location data would drop in two hours anyway. I'd suggest going in then. Being at the center made it easier to see which way people scattered.

While Lucy and Rumi went to wash up, I watched Elise, who'd said she'd rinse off after finishing her drills. After my midnight massage she looked plenty lively. She'd hold until lunch, probably.

"Hah... hup!"

I watched her swing her sword and weave her magic, and a thought occurred to me.

"Want to spar?"

"Spar?"

"Yeah. Could be good for you."

If I wanted her more hooked on the massages, I needed a reason. Something like: fix the mana disorder, get stronger in a fight. A small idea — but her expression actually brightened. She looked ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠at me for a long moment, then nodded.

"Fine. Let's try it."

We took our stances and drew up our mana. A spar, not a duel — just a light exchange to feel each other out. No safety measures, so we had to be extra careful.

Vines erupted from the earth at my feet with a splintering crack. Elise came at me in the same breath, magic and sword together. I caught the vines on my Cotton Guard and lobbed a fireball. She batted it aside and swept her hand; the surrounding trees shuddered, and dozens of leaves came scything toward me. I raised mana across my whole body and shed them.

Flame roared. She used that opening to close the distance — and stepped right on the magic circle I'd laid on the ground. A prison of fire surged up around her. She reverse-engineered the spell on the spot and broke out, but my fireballs were already in her face.

"...I lost."

She'd been gripping her sword, staring me down. Then the fight went out of her and her arm dropped.

"Close one. With your talent, the second that mana disorder is gone, your skill is going to jump."

"Thanks for the compliment."

It was blatant flattery, but she didn't look unhappy about it.

Right on plan. Her drive to fix the mana disorder had gone up. Keep needling her like this and she'd end up coming to me on her own, wouldn't she? And if she didn't, no loss. Planting a seed didn't cost me anything.

"If you want to spar again, just say so."

"All right."

Her movements really had gotten faster, though. The speed she reverse-engineered magic was ridiculous.

Weirdly effective...

If I'd known my mana massage was this good, I'd have tried it on myself.

I dismantled the Rune Barrier I'd set up for the spar. Elise watched me the whole time, eyes sharp.

"What?"

"Nothing... that barrier's on another level."

"Ah..."

So she'd been analyzing it. Rune Barrier was considered one of the strongest barrier magics there was. It wouldn't be easy to crack — but Elise was a genius at barrier magic and reverse-engineering in this world's lore. I needed to be a little careful.

You couldn't ignore the setting in this world. She might punch through it in an instant.

"Heeey. What's with this place? Did you two fight?"

"Hoyeon! Your clothes are a mess!"

"It's fine, it's fine. We just sparred for a bit."

Lucy and Rumi were back. It was getting close to ten.

Victoria Academy, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠student council president's office.

Mun Su-rin was frantically placing a call.

Victoria Academy's festival was next week. Student council officers were working straight through the weekend, and Mun Su-rin in particular had the academy's internal business piled on top of everything else. Two of her wouldn't have been enough.

A knock at the door.

"Come in."

"President. I'll just leave those documents we talked about."

"Mm. I'll look at them later."

She didn't even glance at the girl who'd brought the papers, just kept hammering at her keyboard. The cadet spoke up anyway.

"President. At least drink some coffee while you work. You're pushing yourself too hard."

She set a canned coffee on the desk and looked at Mun Su-rin with real concern.

"Thanks. Can't be helped. It's my job."

Mun Su-rin stretched out the hands that had been flying over the keys, arched her back, and cracked the can.

"At least the first-years are gone. They're the ones who cause the most incidents."

"Tell me about it."

The first-years had as many problem children as they did promising talents. Lucky they were off on the survival exam during the busiest stretch of the year.

"A festival the second the survival exam ends... I can't decide if I envy them or not."

"From the first-years' perspective it's a little unfair. They should at least get a day or two to rest, but it's festival season."

"Come to think of it, the PR kids are taking the exam too, right? We should've dumped some work on them! You should've told me earlier. I would've put them to work myself!"

"There was a mana oath on it."

Mun Su-rin finished the coffee, crushed the can with telekinesis, and tossed it in the trash.

"Got it. I'll stop bothering you. Hang in there!"

"You too."

The cadet slipped out of the student council office. Mun Su-rin let out a thin sigh, like a storm had just passed through. The girl was loud, sure — but having someone that lively around had a way of rinsing the frustration clean.

"I wonder if Hoyeon's doing all right."

Mention of the PR department had, inevitably, brought Lee Ho-yeon to mind. She'd wanted to give him a heads-up about the survival exam. That she hadn't been able to still sat wrong with her. Not that she hadn't prepared thoroughly in other ways.

Something occurred to her. She rummaged through her desk and pulled out a single sheet.

"Hmm..."

Mun Su-rin recalled the way Lee Ho-yeon had moved during the one-on-one duel. That level was above the vice president. Even being conservative, he was at least Shin Dong-min's equal.

The only real variables would be his condition after the survival exam, and the settings on the duel field.

"The field is set at random..."

The official write-up claimed it was for entertainment value, since it was the festival. But applying a random field instead of a plain arena felt like there was something else going on.

If it looks too off, I'll step in. Maybe I should ask him to grab a meal during the festival.

Mun Su-rin allowed herself a brief rest.