Chapter 53
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 53
Chapter Title: Power Boost (1)
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Late into the night, after spending a steamy evening with Nadia and her daughter Lunia, Kalt opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was...
The sight of Nadia and Lunia sleeping soundly on either side of him, completely naked.
Just looking at them was enough to make Kalt's cock—fully recovered despite yesterday's marathon—stand at eager attention, making its presence known.
Kalt gently woke Nadia and Lunia with a soft voice before heading to the backyard as usual for his light morning training.
'It's definitely increased. More than before.'
As he trained to maintain his Mana Blade, Kalt could clearly feel that his total mana capacity had grown.
And this time, it had jumped by a noticeably larger amount than the gradual increments before.
Of course, in the grand scheme, it was still a tiny fraction. But for Kalt, whose mana pool had essentially stalled out until now, this was nothing short of a shining beacon of further potential.
As for the cause...
'Sex is the only thing that comes to mind.'
He'd felt his mana increase after sleeping with a woman.
And after the mother-daughter double play, the surge had been even bigger.
'What the hell? Did I somehow pick up some tantric sex secret without realizing it?'
The most likely culprit based on the circumstances was so absurd that even Kalt couldn't help entertaining ridiculous ideas.
Of course, he didn't seriously believe he'd mastered tantric arts or anything.
Still, the fact that his mana grew with every romp was undeniable at this point.
'The more sex I have, the more mana I get. So...'
Simple. Just have more sex whenever he wanted.
That was Kalt's conclusion.
But that didn't mean he planned to go around screwing indiscriminately.
For instance, he wouldn't spot some random attractive woman on the street, hypnotize her regardless of whether she had a lover or not, and jump her bones.
He had no intention of going that far.
It wasn't particularly appealing to him in the first place, and there was no real need.
For the remaining week, he could just stick with Nadia and Lunia. And when it was time to leave the village, Nellis's party would have their issues sorted, and he could take his time conditioning them properly.
'It's not like I'm desperate for mana right this second.'
He was thrilled at the potential for more growth, but his current mana reserves were far from insufficient.
Even if it took a little longer, once he'd conditioned at least one member of Nellis's party...
'I can go wild.'
With his future plans in mind, Kalt finished his Mana Blade training and returned to the inn. He knocked on Nellis's door.
Knock knock knock knock!
"Nellis, time for training. Get up."
With his own growth confirmed, Kalt was ready to pour his efforts into raising the hero he needed to develop.
"What the hell! Why isn't Kalt coming?!"
Mabel puffed out her cheeks, venting her frustration.
"Our predictions were completely off."
"I thought for sure it'd be this way..."
Marti and Ianna were equally dejected, realizing their assumptions had been wrong.
Having noticed their own issues resurfacing, Mabel's party had immediately set out to find Kalt.
First, Mabel stormed straight to the guild and grilled the receptionist.
"Where did Kalt go?!"
"Pardon? K-Kalt, you mean?"
"Yeah! Kalt! Didn't he say anything about where he was headed?!"
The receptionist's face paled at Mabel's expression, a mix of irritation and urgency.
Mabel was the Fastest Hero, the most famous and rapidly rising star around.
When someone of her renown came at you with that kind of look, it was impossible not to shrink back.
'What's going on? Wasn't it Mabel's party who kicked Kalt out? Why are they suddenly looking for him again? Maybe none of the applicants from the posting panned out?'
"Where the hell is Kalt?!"
"Ah! Y-Yes! I know!"
"What is it? Spit it out!"
The receptionist explained that after being ousted from Mabel's party, Kalt had come to the guild asking for parties seeking extra members.
And among them, he'd chosen the Indomitable Hero Nellis Party and headed to their village.
"Got it. So Kalt went to join that hero party. Then we'll just—!"
"Hold on, Mabel."
"What, Ianna? We need to go find Kalt right now!"
"Of course we do. But... it's already been over two weeks since he left."
"So what. Oh."
Ianna's point hit home, and Mabel understood immediately.
By her standards, two weeks was more than enough time to move on from a village.
"Um... any word on where the Indomitable Hero moved to?"
The receptionist shook her head at Marti's question.
"No, nothing beyond the news that Kalt joined the Indomitable Hero Nellis Party."
"What?! Then he's probably still in that village!"
"Not necessarily."
"What? Why not?!"
"Well... it's because they're what you'd call a lazy party. The monsters they hunt aren't on the level where they report every move like you all do..."
There were countless awakened heroes and even more hero parties.
Tracking and reporting every party's movements—from those who stayed in one spot for a month to those who bounced after a single day—was impossible.
So the guild had standards: they focused on parties with notable achievements or those slaying monsters of a certain difficulty—the so-called veterans.
For others, only parties posting recruitment notices got their location broadcast to all branches.
"What?! Why would Kalt join a lazy-ass party like that! Ugh!"
The receptionist wisely omitted mentioning that Kalt had asked if the party members were pretty when choosing.
No way was he risking lightning—or worse—for spilling that.
But letting Mabel stew in her rage wasn't great for his heart either.
'Ah, that's it!'
"Miss Mabel, this is just my personal guess, mind you."
"What? Tell me! Do you know where Kalt is?!"
"Just a guess! So take it with a grain of salt!"
The receptionist mentioned a dungeon not far from the village where Nellis's party had been based.
Not far meaning a few days' travel past one village, but still.
There had been a monster surge there, and he shared that info with Mabel's party.
"The surge bumped the monster difficulty to C-rank. I wouldn't rule out that Nellis's party headed that way..."
"That has to be it!"
"Pardon?"
Mabel latched onto the guess with total conviction.
Kalt must have gone to the surging dungeon with Nellis's party.
And she wasn't alone in that thought.
"Yeah, that sounds like Kalt."
"Straight to the dungeon!"
Ianna and Marti agreed: if it was Kalt, he'd definitely hit the surge site.
All three figured—even a lazy party wouldn't face the same mental hangups they had.
And if it was just a skill issue, Kalt could whip them into shape.
At the very least, he'd drag the vanguard hero into daily solo training to build her up.
The best way to grow was through real combat.
C-rank monsters were no sweat for Kalt; he could carry a lazy party through them.
They imagined him leading Nellis's crew into the surging dungeon for hands-on experience.
They had no doubt Kalt could elevate the party's vanguard hero to handle monsters a rank higher in short order.
Especially since...
'Kalt wouldn't just ignore a surge, right?'
'No way Kalt leaves a surge alone.'
'Kalt would head straight for it.'
Knowing his track record, Mabel's party was convinced: Kalt had gone to the surging dungeon.
A surge was a dungeon anomaly.
Ignore it or botch the response, and monsters spill out, devastating nearby villages.
Good-hearted Kalt wouldn't stand for that, they thought.
And at C-rank—even hundreds of them—Kalt could solo the lot.
With that in mind, Mabel's party traveled for a week to reach the surging dungeon.
But no matter where they looked, there wasn't a glimpse of Kalt.
Maybe he was delayed training the hero, so they decided to wait.
No sense risking a miss by heading to the lazy party's village.
While waiting, they couldn't just sit idle, so they dove in and cleared surging monsters.
C-rank was a breeze for them—quick hunts that wouldn't tip off anyone else.
But...
Even as the surge wound down, Kalt never showed.
"Why isn't he comingggg?!"
"This can't be... Kalt wouldn't skip this..."
"Where the hell is he? We're running out of leads..."
As Mabel fumed and Ianna and Marti grew anxious...
News spread through the guild of a new hero party's feat.
"The Indomitable Hero Nellis Party! They subjugated the Kobold King!"
"Indomitable Hero Nellis Party?"
It was the exact party Kalt had joined.
"You there!"
"Y-Yes? What's up?"
"Where did they take down the Kobold King?"
"Well..."
Asking the messenger receptionist revealed...
The Kobold King had been slain right back in the original village where Nellis's party started.
"They didn't move a damn inchhh!"
Mabel's frustrated scream, clutching her hair, echoed through the guild.