Chapter 122
Every time a person takes damage, their maximum health points raise by just a little, but since I’m always careful not to get hurt because I was too weak, I gained at least ten points.
That’s not too much for adventurer standards, but for me it’s a huge boost.
The rest of the walk to Celarent was actually pretty quiet and we got back at the adventurer’s guild without issue. Risa ran to the tavern to grab something to eat, she did invite me but I excused myself claiming I wasn’t hungry.
That was a lie, of course, but I don’t want things to get awkward with my instructor. Especially after kissing her and seeing her naked.
Sera and I headed straight home, dead tired, covered in sweat and beast blood. Walking the town at night was a complete new experience. The streets were deserted and most lamps were out, so it was quite dark.
Sera took the chance to grab my arm, the softness pressing on my arm was soothing and I didn’t mind it at all.
.....
The door was locked, of course, and while I was trying to find the key in the dark a couple of guards came to us.
“Name yourself”
“I’m Ryu, I live here”
“This is Mia’s shop”
“Well, not anymore...”
I said as I unlocked the door with my key, making the small bell on top of the door ring. A loud banging noise was heard and a huge dog, almost my size, came to greet me with its tail wagging.
“It’s a beast! sound the alarm!”
“Stop, please, that’s my guard dog!”
The guards were scared of the amarok who came to greet his master. I, on the other hand, instead of scared was completely flabbergasted. When did it grow so much?
Seeing it wasn’t attacking me they left the place without so much as a goodbye, but I didn’t mind. Next came Mochi running with its fluffy tails stiffened, all three of them... wait, didn’t Mochi just have two tails? it looks bigger too.
“Mister Ryu, what happened to them?”
At that moment, a shriek was heard coming from the second floor where a lamp had been turned on letting the light pass through the stairs into the hallway.
I quickly ran to Mia’s room and there she was sitting on her bed, with the lamp on her nightstand on. She had both hands on top of her head and looked agitated. Her naked breasts heaved energetically as she breathed.
“It’s ok Mia, it’s me!”
Seeing me, she covered her ample bosom with both hands, revealing two small bumps on her head.
“Master! what’s wrong with me?”
Sera handed Mia a nightgown with a disgruntled expression.
“I don’t know, but I don’t think you’ll be able to work at the shop anymore, which means you’ll be even more useless now”
Sera sneered
“No way, why did this have to happen to me?”
Mia cried inconsolably and she couldn’t stop touching her incipient horns.
“Mia, I promise I’ll try to find a solution, but right now I just need to take a bath, eat something and sleep”
I said as I headed to the door, but the sight of her pitiful appearance and sorrowful eyes got the best of me and I walked back.
“Sera, go ahead and sleep, I’ll take care of her”
Sera, who was completely exhausted, didn’t even hesitate and just walked to her room.
“Master, I’m sorry, I really am. I’ve only caused you trouble and now...”
“Don’t worry, it’s not your fault you’re different”
I rubbed her back while contemplating my life choices. I can’t blame anyone but myself that things came to this, but I can’t just wash my hands and forsake her. She’s been working hard everyday, and now I got to know her better, she’s actually a kind girl.
I sat next to her, holding the sobbing mess in my arms, and without even noticing I fell asleep.
That night I had a lucid dream, it was amazing. It was like reliving the good times with Rina at the tavern, back at Ironwoods, and it felt so real.
The soft feeling of her skin, her warmth, I could even feel her breath close to my face.
We were at her room, it was freezing but we somehow managed to stay warm with our bodies. I went to sleep inside my dream, in the exact same way I used to sleep with Rina, which was holding her from behind.
At the same time I went to sleep inside my dream, I woke up in real life. There was something strange though, because I could swear I was feeling the exact same thing as before. As I opened my eyes, everything became clear.
“Good morning master, did you have fun last night?”
Mia asked coquettishly.
“What!? please tell me we didn’t do it, I was asleep!”
“I’m a succubus, you know? we’re supposed to have power inside people’s dreams”
“you’re oddly cheerful today, what happened with the sack of tears and snot I was cuddling last night?”
“My horns! they disappeared!”
She smiled brightly at me.
“That’s great news. So, what happened?”
“You dragged me into your dream, I don’t know how you did it, I swear it wasn’t me”
“I just fell asleep, I was too tired to do anything”
“I saw everything, that girl was pretty. Is it going to be my turn now?”
Mia chuckled.
“Of course not! the girl you saw was my girlfriend!”
“Then you should probably let me go now”
This whole time I’ve been massaging her breasts just like I used to do with Rina.
“I-I’m really sorry, I didn’t mean to”
“It’s ok, I feel better than ever! and it’s all thanks to you, thank you so much for comforting me last night. Please stay in bed today, I’ll tend to all your needs, master”
Mia ran downstairs in between joyful hops and I’m finally able to have some time for myself. The first thing I notice is I’m still dressed with my adventurer gear and I’m extremely dirty. I can’t believe I slept with her in this state, she put up with it and didn’t even complain.
After cleaning myself I went back to my room where Mia was waiting for me with the breakfast ready.
“I hope everything is to your liking, Claire made it so it should taste good”
“Uhm, ok. You can go back now Mia”
“I can help you get dressed, you know”
I came to my room to get dressed, after taking a bath I’m only covering myself with a towel and it’s getting awkward really quick.
“Please go back to your room!”
Breakfast was delicious, Claire got a lot better at cooking this past time, she had been cooking for a long time, yet, she only got better after I taught her and now she’s even better than me.
I think her skill was falling behind because of how weak she was back at Ironwoods, that’s the sole reason why her cooking wasn’t that good before. It wasn’t as bad as her sister, Sera, who had been starving for a long while, but the case might be somewhat similar. Sera was very weak, not only her stats were low but also her body was extremely frail and when she got better she quickly regained her constitution back and her stats grew by leaps and bounds.
So, how do skills get better?
With practice, learning the proper technique helps.
Having enough energy also means the skill will work better, I already confirmed this when I used magic yesterday. Although Dylan said the only way to increase one’s energy is to kill anything, beasts included.
Could this mean I got better at cooking now?
Excited to try cooking something I went downstairs.
“Mister Ryu, you’re up!”
Claire stopped washing the dishes and turned back to face me, she quickly dried her hands on her apron and reached the shelf.
“Today is been a month since you left Ironwoods and Rina asked me to deliver this to you today”
All my excitement for cooking disappeared in an instant, because the first line of the letter said ‘if you’re reading this, I’m breaking up with you’.
.....