Chapter 333
Chapter 333
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 333
Chapter Title: Carrot and Stick #7
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*Splash, squish—.*
Elfride uncorked what looked like a leather waterskin and poured its contents onto her calf.
The liquid was a clear, colorless gel.
It had a decent viscosity, clinging stubbornly as it trickled down her calf toward her ankle and the sole of her foot.
Unlike its lack of color, the scent was distinctive—ever since she'd popped the lid, a strange peachy aroma had been tickling my nose.
Elfride, now wetting her calf and foot with it, spoke again.
"Take off your top and lie down on the bed."
"What are you planning to do?"
"You'll see. It's not anything weird—it's an important step, so just do what I say. Coward."
"Who's scared?"
But she was right. I had to admit I was a little frightened, not knowing what bizarre thing she might make me do.
Just as I'd learned all sorts of things about Elfride over the two years we'd spent together, she probably had a good grasp on my mental state too, as Hassan.
What the hell was she up to?
It felt like she was definitely about to make me do something I shouldn't.
How should I put it?
It reminded me exactly of that time back in middle school, when some pretty high school girls giggling in a dark alley beckoned me over with a wave.
Hey, you, come here.
Me?
Yeah, you—who else is in this alley? You're hilarious. Come on over since you're so fun.
Their loose slippers showing off white socks, their heavy makeup that didn't suit their age making their eyes look intimidating, yet to my pubescent self, a total boy among boys, it had an irresistible pull.
*-Something bad is definitely going to happen.*
I knew something terrifying was about to go down, something that absolutely shouldn't happen, but I was drawn into that alley by that unstoppable force anyway.
*Swish—.*
Suddenly, arms from somewhere grabbed my shoulders, startling me.
Hey, act friendly. Pretend we're buddies.
How much you got?
In the end, they took 10,000 won from me that day. An illegal shakedown in a shady spot. Even though I was the victim, my heart pounded like I'd done something wrong.
It was only later that I realized that feeling was a mix of fear and a subtle thrill of transgression.
Looking back now, pretty and scary high school girls linking arms with me for just 10,000 won—wasn't that a pretty sweet deal?—but anyway, that's not the point I want to make.
"Lie down up here already."
*Squish, splash—.*
The eerie, honey-like liquid dripping from Elfride's calf evoked that alley incident with a chilling yet strangely taboo allure.
I had a pretty good idea what she planned to do to me with that stuff.
"You're... gonna shake me down, aren't you...?"
"Ha, what are you talking about—? Before the mana potion dries. Lie down here quick. On your back, looking at the ceiling. Keep fidgeting and you'll really get it."
Wasn't this just like that day back in middle school, right in the thick of puberty? I knew what would happen if I lay on that bed, but I did it anyway.
With Fleur's deadline down to mere hours, I wasn't in a position to be picky.
*Rustle—.*
Elfride climbed onto the bed after me, slowly moving her leg. It soon pressed down on my stomach.
*Squelch—.*
The soft sole of her foot and the prominent toes felt vividly through the strangely sticky liquid.
She kept rubbing them all over my bare upper body.
What?
What the hell?
I was utterly flustered because I couldn't figure out what it meant for a woman in this world to rub her foot on my body.
Her bare leg stretched white in the lantern light. The precarious hem of her negligee draped over her thigh. Her red eyes looking down at me coldly, like I was some lowly thing or a bug.
I didn't know where to look, whether I should close my eyes or not, so my gaze just darted around wildly.
*Rustle, slide—.*
Was I really being looked down on by a woman right now? With a gaze of domination?
Me, who was destined to become the great Necromancer Sultan of the underworld?
Gods, I was being trampled by a girl.
If my parents saw me like this, they might lament that they'd raised their son diligently just for him to become someone's footstool.
I knew it full well myself, so my pride stung badly, but on the other hand, something else was rising even higher than my crumbling self-esteem.
*Twitch—.*
It was my lower half, which I'd ignored for so long.
As much as I hated to admit it, having Elfride's sticky, cool foot trample my body felt ambiguously good.
If I let my guard down, my dick would probably shoot straight up to the sky. If I got hard from this by Elfride, I'd never be able to show my face again.
So I tried to stay calm, but she spoke.
"How is it?"
"What—."
"Don't you feel anything?"
Why ask that all of a sudden? I racked my brains to decipher her intent.
I fired up my dual cores to figure out the perfect answer, but nothing came to mind.
"Well, it feels... good."
So I gave an honest answer my way, and I saw a slight wrinkle form between the eyes of Elfride looking down at me.
"No, I mean, do you feel the mana transfer? Not if it feels good."
"Oh, the mana transfer?"
I was totally caught off guard since I hadn't expected talk of mana out of nowhere.
But looking back now, I could see this was part of the curriculum to help me use magic—not her toying with me using her feet.
"Don't focus on whether it feels good."
*Press—.*
Her foot, bearing her weight, stomped hard on my abdomen. Of course, my body was tempered harder than a sturdy log, so it didn't hurt.
"Getting off on being stepped on. You're a total pervert. You're definitely going to become the God of Perverts. Gross."
She spat that coldly, but was it my imagination that Elfride seemed oddly pleased? Had she not noticed her own ears flapping up and down?
*Wiggle—.*
From there, the sole sweeping over my stomach and chest grew even more bizarre in its movements. She tickled or pinched my muscles with her toes.
"Like during meditation, focus on the point where our bodies connect. Feel the mana."
For some reason, Elfride's breathing was quickening, so I concentrated on the spot where her body touched mine—an area about the size of her soft sole.
*Zing, zing—.*
Then a bizarre sensation clearly spread from her foot throughout my body, shaking my brain.
This feeling was insanely wondrous. Her body touching my stomach felt like a branch extending from me, as if we were one.
"Hey, I feel something. It's fucking weird. It feels like you and I are one...! What is this? What? It's so fucking bizarre!"
"This is the principle of a staff. It makes channeling mana easier using a tool."
"So you're my staff right now?"
"Yeah. We've been in the same room for a week to sync our mana wavelengths. And I had you give me massages now and then to reduce resistance to contact—that's why this is possible."
So that's how it was.
I'd thought she was just using me for chores and errands.
Realizing it was all for my mana training made her seem brand new to me.
But one thing suddenly piqued my curiosity.
"If contact matters that much, why bother stepping on me with your feet? You could've used your palm."
"Ha—? You have an attachment to my feet. It has to be something you're attached to for it to work."
Fuck, how did she know I like feet? As I tensed up a bit at that, Elfride changed the subject.
"Alright, now I'll borrow your mana to cast a spell. Remember the sensation. How it feels to send mana to me."
*Rustle.*
Elfride created a small fireball in her palm. The sensation of blood draining from my body all at once was profoundly alien.
My head spun like I had anemia, vision blurring, mind blank.
It felt like all the energy or whatever you call it in my body was being forcibly sucked out.
"Ahhh—."
"Don't make weird noises—focus. We have less than half a day left."
"Uaaah—."
Elfride urged me on, but with the energy keeps draining from my body, I couldn't focus on meditation or mana at all.
It was like being mummified alive.
My mouth parched, and at the point where her sole touched, it felt like a hole had been drilled, everything leaking out of me.
"Huh, looks like there's some weird seal on your stomach."
*Rustle—.*
Elfride's foot moved toward my lower abdomen.
"What? With a seal like that, it'll interfere with handling mana. But whatever—something like this, once it's in my hands—."
Her sole, growing warmer, rubbed circles on my lower belly.
"...No, what is this? Who cast a seal like that? All the mana paths are blocked. With this, you couldn't even sense mana. You did well to detect it anyway."
"Uaaah—."
"It's sealed tight. No wonder all your efforts were wasted. You idiot, you should've said something sooner if this was here!"
*Rustle—.*
Elfride's sole lifted from my body. Finally, I could grasp my shaking mind.
"Ugh, so... do you know a way to break the seal...?"
"I've never seen a spell this advanced."
"You can't do it?"
"I can't break the seal, but I might be able to poke a small hole. Complex, high-level spells often crumble from just a tiny breach."
Her words conjured an image of a sturdy dam filled with water.
A small hole in the dam could become the fatal flaw that eventually shatters the whole mighty structure.
"Hey, then hurry and break the seal. We really have less than half a day now."
My eyes turned to the window curtained off. It was dim outside now, but in a few hours, the sun would rise for sure.
Unlike my growing anxiety, Elfride just meticulously wiped the sticky liquid from her foot with a handkerchief-like cloth.
After wiping for a bit, she spoke.
"I can break the seal. But with only one night? Even I would need serious effort. It could put your life at risk."
"My life—?"
"I'm going to poke a hole in the mana pathway from your lower abdomen to your heart. That hole will slowly unravel the seal. But I wouldn't even do this for most of my own prized disciples. It's exhausting and dangerous."
"I see."
Mana pathways were like circuits or wires in the body, right?
Spells count tiers by how many you need—one for 1st tier, two for 2nd, like that.
It takes years to carve out even one more, I'd heard. Elfride was offering to punch one into me.
A magic world's secret technique, a closely guarded art. Risky like an illicit procedure.
*Fwoosh—.*
A small flame bloomed in Elfride's hand.
"Swallow this. It'll hurt like hell—might even kill you. Some people's personalities change from the pain. But if you survive, it'll punch a hole right through that seal on your mana pathway."
*Slide—.*
She handed me the flame in her palm. Candle-sized, with a creamy texture—utterly bizarre.
I just swallow this?
Fire down the hatch.
I hesitated briefly, but then popped it into my mouth without further delay.
"No point backing out now—time's wasting."
Surprisingly, it was tasteless and not hot.
But the moment it slid down my throat to my stomach, I realized something had gone terribly wrong.
"Gaaahk—!"
An intense burning pain erupted from my lower abdomen, scorching through my whole body and rattling my brain. Like someone had set my gut on fire to roast me alive—horrific.
"Endure it—. It's only gonna hurt more from here."
Ra, Mundus, Nigulas Califa—.
Strange incantations spilling from Elfride's lips echoed wildly in my brain.
With each syllable, the flames rampaging from my lower belly blazed fiercer, devouring everything.
"Hoo, hoo—."
I tried controlling my breathing to bear it, but couldn't last even a minute. I wanted to smash things, thrash around.
"Gaaah...!"
"Rodem, Berofri, Mit Yan Kule—."
Through my eyes, I saw Elfride calmly perched on the bed, chanting away.
My instincts screamed in my head to grab her arm.
So I seized Elfride's arm. Gripping her slender one firmly, she frowned slightly but kept chanting.
"Oh, fuck...."
But as I'd thought, the raging flames in my body were slowly draining out through the palm touching her.
My unstable mana venting through her body. Was this the staff principle or whatever?
Of course, just the tiny surface area of her thin palm couldn't contain the mana filling and threatening to burst me.
What now?
Endure this all night? My personality would definitely change.
"Ugh...."
Gritting my teeth, I groped Elfride's arm. I buried my face in her arm or thigh to maximize skin contact.
The more flesh touching hers, the more flames transferred to her, easing my pain.
But still, it wasn't enough.
What the hell do I do!?
I looked at Elfride with eyes full of hesitation, fear, dread. Her thin negligee. If I stripped that off, wouldn't I get more skin contact?
So instinctively, I reached out, and Elfride just gazed at me blankly while chanting.