Dark Moon
I threw myself toward the waterfall to catch No. 31 as she fell.
The magic I used was an adaptation of the barrier Instructor Vinous had demonstrated. Transparent footholds materialized in midair. I stepped across them and stretched both hands toward the plummeting girl.
All I had to do was grab her the way I had before and build footholds back up over the falls.
Thud.
I caught the unconscious No. 31 by the shoulder and waist.
That was when the variable hit.
Crack.
The barrier foothold shattered. She was heavier than I'd expected — not her own weight so much as the soaked gear and clothes dragging her down. A 1-Class barrier, especially one shaped small for a foothold, wasn't nearly as sturdy as I'd counted on.
We're falling!
I activated Charna.
Instinctively I tried to reconstruct the levitation formula I'd just seen. Even if I couldn't truly fly, a brief float long enough to reach solid ground should have been possible.
Just before the calculation finished, I spotted Instructor Vinous far above, staring down in shock.
What would he think if someone like me — no Witch Factor, only 2-Class — managed even a flicker of 4-Class levitation?
Shit.
I abandoned levitation and rebuilt a barrier formula instead, rewriting sections of it to maximize shock absorption. Three 2-Class barriers, stacked.
The waterfall's over five hundred meters high. This still won't be enough.
My bracelet flared. In the instant before the 4-Class barrier activated, I forced my will into the formula and rewrote part of it — stripping out hardness in exchange for greater impact absorption. It would be fragile against blades or spears, but that hardly mattered when we were freefalling into a waterfall.
Just in case…
I used Charna to prepare one more formula in reserve.
"…"
Watching the small lake at the base of the falls rush closer, I locked my arms tight around No. 31.
The three 2-Class barriers shattered in an instant. Fortunately the 4-Class barrier held, and we came through the impact intact.
The moment we hit the water I cast.
Bubble Room.
A 2-Class spell. Water droplets bloomed and wrapped around No. 31's body. Bubble Room was a water-attribute defensive magic, but far more versatile than a plain barrier. The late Instructor Belhaga had once used it offensively, sealing opponents inside and turning the bubble into a weapon.
Cast Bubble Room underwater and you don't sink — you rise.
We were alive.
I was just exhaling in relief when a massive presence surged from below. I snapped my gaze downward. A fish over three meters long charged with its jaws wide open. Its saw-blade teeth burst the Bubble Room.
A goddamn fish…!
The current pressed against my body. My breath caught in my throat.
…It feels like I'm drowning. So why can I still breathe?
Falling into water should mean choking, heavy limbs, eyes stinging shut. Instead I was fine. Without casting a single spell I could breathe underwater, move my hands and feet freely. I could even feel the flow of the current and know exactly what to do with it.
…A special ability.
My third one — after the power to generate lightning and the one that accelerated body and thought.
Calling it a lucky awakening felt wrong. It was almost enough to make me wonder whether that so-called god was watching me and handing out abilities the moment I needed them.
No time to dwell on it. The giant fish was lunging to swallow me whole.
Charna.
In the slowed world I finished the formula and released Charna. The fish came on. The instant its snout filled my vision, I cast.
Electric Spark.
A sphere of electricity slipped straight into its maw.
ZZZZZZZT!
The sphere detonated, current lashing in every direction — including mine. I used my ability to bat the electricity away from myself. It worked. The giant fish, fried crisp underwater, rolled its eyes back. The corpse was swept away by the current and vanished into the distance.
I surfaced. Unlike me, No. 31 would drown if she stayed under.
I reached up absently toward the surface — and froze.
…I can feel the water's surface?
It was like pressing my palm against hard glass. The shock lasted only a moment. I understood: this ability was water-related. Pushing off with my hands, I climbed onto the surface and looked down. I was standing on the water, completely unaffected by the current.
There was a 3-Class spell in the game that let you walk on water — total garbage efficiency. Is this what that felt like?
I scanned the surroundings. I'd lost my night-vision goggles in the fall, so I concentrated mana into both eyes. The view wasn't as bright as the goggles, but it was enough to read the terrain.
There's a cave over there that looks perfect for resting.
I didn't head for it carelessly. Wild caves almost always had owners.
"Ice Arrow."
An ice shaft streaked into the cave.
"GROOOOAR!"
An enraged wolf's howl answered. Eleven wolves burst out. They didn't dare enter the lake — just snarled viciously from the shore.
"…"
I regarded them without expression, unslung the rifle from my back, leveled it at the pack, and squeezed the trigger. I didn't forget the suppressor.
Eleven rounds. Every one struck a wolf between the eyes.
It was an expensive rifle issued to elite troops — still worked fine even after a thorough soaking.
Wolves usually run. The Dark Moon must have stripped them of all fear.
I stepped over the corpses and entered the cave.
Inside, a wolf over three meters long lay dead, skull pierced and bleeding. The Ice Arrow I'd fired earlier was still lodged in its head.
…I suppose I should call that lucky.
More work. Annoying.
I used wind magic to hurl the wolf carcasses far outside.
Next came cleaning the cave. The reek of beasts was foul, so I scrubbed it roughly with water magic, spread a rain poncho on the floor, and laid No. 31 down.
I sealed the entrance by felling trees with Wind Cutter, then camouflaged the gaps with leaves so no light would leak out.
Tonight is a Dark Moon. If some monster I can't handle spots a light, we're finished.
By the time everything was done, my mana and stamina were drained. I stared blankly into the dark and thought.
Should I run?
It was a perfect chance to escape.
…No. Fatigue's clouding my judgment.
The slave brand carved into my right forearm.
Until that was dealt with, there was no way out. By now the unit would be in an uproar, troops already dispatched to find us. Me they might write off — but No. 31 was special.
Track the slave brand and they'll have our direction in no time. We'll be extracted by noon tomorrow at the latest. Good thing I didn't bring emergency rations — won't need them.
All I had to do was sit tight.
My mana recovered enough. I cast on the firewood I'd prepared.
Fire.
The magic was fierce. The wet wood blazed up at once. Because the soaked logs dried so fast, there was barely any smoke. Rewriting the formula for extra heat had paid off.
I looked at No. 31 lying on the floor. Part of her upper clothes was soaked with blood. Her face was pale. I'd thought it was rainwater — it was cold sweat.
I protected her as best I could when we hit the falls… did something else injure her?
I replayed the moments before the drop. The Air Boom had flung her body around like a ball. It would have been stranger if she had no wounds.
I sighed and stripped off her wet clothes. If she died, I died with her. Luckily I still had the emergency kit — first aid would do.
"…Mm."
Looking at her body, my eyes went wide. There were torn wounds at her shoulder and collarbone, but the bleeding had already stopped and most of the damage was healing. Watching closely, I could see the flesh knitting itself back together.
Is this recovery rate another effect of the Dark Moon? Whatever it is, she's clearly not an ordinary human. Please don't wake up.
If she came to and went berserk, I had no confidence I could stop her.
I started to put her clothes back on, then realized her skin was cold as frost.
…Even soaked clothes shouldn't make her this cold. Something's wrong.
I looked her over.
Wet purple hair. Pale skin. Softly rising breasts.
Nothing obvious from the outside…
My eyes drifted to her chest on instinct. Her white breasts were a little smaller than my fist. Given she was still growing, they'd probably become full and heavy later. Her nipples were a neat, pretty pink — and stiffly erect, maybe from the cold.
I swallowed hard. Blood rushed to my groin.
…In this situation? No — maybe it's because of this situation that I'm hard.
Alone in a cave with her. Her body gone cold. A beauty who could put celebrities to shame. It was a fantasy every man had entertained a few times, playing out right in front of me.
…This is unavoidable.
I reached for her breast — not to molest her, but to examine her condition more carefully.
Ignoring the soft skin and the chill under my palm, I opened my Astral. Normally you couldn't diagnose someone this way, but by resonating with another person's mana, I could.
Only possible because she isn't resisting. Let's see… forty-eight mana roads. Four times mine.
I wasn't surprised. She was a witch under the Dark Moon's influence — of course her capacity would spike.
Some of her mana roads are tangled, and fragments of a formula are still lodged in her body. That's why she's freezing.
I found the cause in an instant and fixed it. Extending my will through the Astral, I resonated with her mana and dismantled the residual formula.
I saved her life. Looking a little closer as payment shouldn't be a problem, right?
I analyzed her mana roads and Astral.
Her Astral is only 2-Class level, but more complex than an ordinary human's. An upgraded version, you could say. Natural, given she was born with the Witch Factor.
I studied her mana roads. Even unconscious, they remained active. I traced the flow without disrupting it and grasped the essence of her mana breathing technique.
…So that's it. Her heart is different from a normal human's. Is this the mana core witches are said to possess?
An organ specialized for storing and outputting mana. For now it only stored, but as she grew the mana core would unlock other powers.
No. 31's mana breathing is a witch's. I can reference it, but I'll never be able to use it myself.
I had no mana core. I abandoned the idea cleanly.
I took my hand off her chest. Her color had improved a little, but her body was still cold — the wet clothes.
Drying them with Fire… I don't have the mana.
Using mana resonance to borrow hers? Impossible. Without dominating her Astral, I couldn't even move her mana.
Her body is recovering, but if I leave her like this she might still die.
A method came to mind.
A physical one.
Sharing body heat.
Do it, or don't? If she wakes up halfway through… I'm finished.
And if she died of hypothermia? Also finished.
She might not die. The Dark Moon has her healing fast. The problem is… I can't be sure of that either.
After wrestling with it, I chose to avoid the worst case. If she died, everything ended. Vinous would kill me.
I just hold her until her temperature rises. If she wakes, I explain. She's not going to murder the man who saved her life… right?
My confidence wavered a little, but my hands moved fast.
I stripped off the rest of her upper clothes.
There's a slave brand on her shoulder. …Looking closer, it's different. Just a tattoo that looks like a slave brand on the surface.
Nothing surprising there.
Next I removed her lower clothes. Peeling away the white-issue underwear exposed her private parts. Purple pubic hair grew like short grass, soaked with rainwater. Below it, her pussy was sealed tight in a single line.
For a moment I felt the urge to open that white slit and look inside.
I glanced around for no reason and confirmed we were alone.
Th-this is just to check. She might be injured down there.
So I gently parted her folds. Clean pink. My heart hammered. Guilt made me look up at the ceiling. My erect cock ached.
…This isn't the time.
I had to share body heat to save her.
I pulled her into my arms. Cold but soft flesh pressed against me. My hard cock slipped between her thighs. The erection was beyond my will — pure physical instinct.
Think positive… think positive…
A cock this hard was burning hot. It would do a fine job warming her cold pussy and thighs.
Slick, slick.
My hips moved without thinking. Cold reason said stop. Hot impulse and the body's instinct said this much was fine.
The torment closed in.