Chapter 122. Survival Exam (15)
"Nnngh."
My fingers touched Elise's back, which looked unusually tired.
If we were in the tent, I could've massaged her comfortably lying down, but since we were outside, I was carefully working on her back while she quietly stayed still.
The more I massaged, the better my mana control became.
Injecting mana into someone else's body and manipulating it took a lot of focus, but I was getting used to it.
At the same time, Elise also seemed to be getting used to the subtle stimulation inside her.
Even when I let mana trickle into her womb, she didn't bury her face in her clothes or moan like before.
"Mmh..."
She only let out faint groans.
Then it was time to try something else.
I channeled my mana along the surface of Elise's body.
My target was Elise's pussy.
Since surface mana flow was easier to detect, I had to be extra careful.
I intentionally applied stronger stimulation to her mana circuits to divert her attention.
"Ah, ahng... That hurts."
"Sorry. Guess that was too much."
Good.
While she was distracted, my mana had reached her crotch.
Slowly, I moved my mana to sweep across her pussy.
Even without seeing it, I could feel everything like I was touching it.
A tightly shut virgin slit, plump lips without wrinkles, and a clit still covered by its hood—it was all there.
'Let's try just a little bit.'
Overstimulating her from the start would be bad.
I lightly stimulated her clit through the hood with mana.
"Nnngh?!"
"What's wrong, Elise? Did it hurt?"
I played dumb and checked on her.
"N-no, it didn't hurt."
Elise trembled, her shoulders twitching.
I continued widening her mana circuits while barely teasing her clit, so it wouldn't raise suspicion.
"Haa... hnn..."
"You sure you're okay?"
"I-I'm fine... j-just hurry up and finish..."
Elise shut her eyes tightly to hide how good she felt. It was kinda cute.
*
Day 6 dawned.
Naturally, I was dead tired.
I probably only got around four hours of sleep.
"Alright, time to wake up, everyone. It's morning."
Lucy, who had the last watch, was already awake and cheerful, but the rest of us looked like corpses.
"What the...? You guys look awful."
"...I'm fine. Just didn't sleep well."
"Ah, makes sense. Sleeping mixed-gender in one tent must've been tough. Not that I had any problems—I slept great!"
Lucy laughed confidently.
Sometimes, I envy that simple mindset.
I had to get my head straight too. Today was especially important.
I washed my face by the river to wake up.
Elise and Lumi staggered after me to wash up as well.
"Lucy, what time is it now?"
"It's 7."
7 o'clock... That means three hours left.
The long survival test ends tomorrow.
At 10 AM on Day 6, a battle royale begins, and every cadet's location will be shown on the smartwatches.
Thankfully, we had ventured pretty deep into the island's center yesterday. Kim Younghan's team was probably circling the outer edges.
There were more monsters along the island's perimeter.
Because even monsters feared 'that thing' living in the center.
"Hey. Let's eat. I'm starving."
"Sure."
Lucy clung to me, saying she was hungry.
It'd been two hours since we woke up—makes sense.
Elise and Lumi were finally coming to their senses too.
'I slept the least, so why do they look more exhausted than me?'
We prepared breakfast.
We ate the food I had packed, then cleaned up.
Since I brought the food, the girls took care of cooking and cleaning.
Time: 8 AM.
Two hours left until the battle royale starts.
"Should we go a little deeper inside?"
"Deeper?"
Lumi tilted her head.
"Yeah. I figured something might be in there."
"Do we have to? We're already pretty deep."
Elise said while warming up with her sword.
"She's right. There aren't even rivers deeper in the island."
"Yeah... true."
With Lucy backing them up, I didn't push it.
Anyway, once the location info goes live in two hours, we can go deeper then.
Being in the island center makes it easier to decide where to move.
While Lucy and Lumi went off to wash, I watched Elise finish her training.
After getting my massage this morning, she looked full of energy.
She should be fine until at least noon.
"Haa... hrrng!"
Watching Elise swing her sword and cast spells reminded me to speak up.
"Wanna spar with me?"
"Spar?"
"Yeah. It'll be worth it."
I needed a reason to get Elise more hooked on the massages.
'Fixing her mana issues and making her stronger in combat might do the trick.' It wasn't a big plan, but Elise's expression actually brightened.
She stared at me for a moment, then nodded.
"Alright. Let's do it."
We took our stances and gathered mana.
This wasn't a duel, just a spar. Something light to test each other.
With no safety measures, we had to be extra careful.
Crackle—!
Elise surged forward, casting a spell while swinging her sword.
I blocked the vines erupting from the ground beneath me with Cotton Guard and threw a fireball at Elise.
She deflected the fireball and waved her hand, shaking the surrounding trees.
Dozens of leaves flew at me—I activated mana all over my body and shook them off.
Fwoosh—!
In that moment, Elise stepped on a magic circle I had laid on the ground and was caught in the rising flame prison.
She immediately reverse-calculated the spell and broke out, but by then, my fireballs had already reached her.
"...I lost."
Elise, who had been gripping her sword tightly, dropped her arms as if she had lost the will to fight.
"That was close. Once your mana blockage is gone, your skills will improve rapidly."
"Thanks for the compliment."
It was obviously flattery, but Elise didn't seem offended by it.
★ Heroine Status Window
[Elise]
- [ Affection: 41 ]
- [ Lust: 45 ]
- [ Appetite: 20 ]
- [ Fatigue: 51 ]
Current Status: If I could've cast spells just a little faster... I might have won.
As planned, Elise's desire to fix her mana blockage had increased.
I had a feeling she might eventually cling to me if I kept pushing her this way.
If not, oh well.
Sowing seeds never hurts.
"Let me know if you want to spar again."
"Got it."
Elise had clearly gotten faster. Her reverse-calculation speed was insane too.
'This stuff's working better than expected...'
If I had known how good my mana massage was, I would've used it on myself.
I dispelled the rune barrier I had set up for our spar.
Elise watched me closely.
"What?"
"No... your barrier seems extremely high-level."
"Ah..."
So she had been analyzing my barrier.
Rune Barriers are considered the most powerful among all barrier magic.
It probably wouldn't break easily... but given the lore of this world, Elise—a genius in both barrier magic and reverse-calculation—needed to be watched.
You can't ignore world logic in this universe.
She might break through in an instant.
"Yoo~ What happened here? Did you guys fight?"
"Hoyeon! Your clothes are all dirty!"
"It's fine, it's fine. We just sparred for a bit."
Lucy and Lumi returned, and it was getting close to 10 o'clock.
*
Victoria Academy, Student Council President's Office.
Moon Surin was urgently on the phone.
"Haa... if you bring up the festival budget now... fine, hold on."
The academy's festival was happening next week.
So the student council officers had to work through the weekend, and Moon Surin had to handle internal academy matters too—she could use two bodies and still be busy.
Knock knock.
"Come in."
"President, I'm leaving the documents we talked about."
"Okay. I'll read them later."
Without even looking up at the female cadet who brought them, Moon Surin kept typing.
"President, have some coffee while you work. Aren't you overdoing it?"
The cadet placed a can of coffee on the table and looked at her with concern.
"Thanks. It can't be helped. It's my responsibility."
Moon Surin stretched her fingers after typing, then popped open the can of coffee.
"At least the first-years are gone. They're always the ones causing trouble."
"Right."
With so many promising yet problematic first-years, having them out for the survival exam was a relief during this hectic period.
"Survival exam followed right by the festival... lucky and unlucky, I guess."
"The first-years might feel a bit bitter. They should get at least a day or two to rest, but it's straight into the festival."
"Oh, and the PR department kids are also in the exam, right? We should've put them to work! You should've told me earlier—I would've handled it!"
"It was bound by a Mana Oath."
After finishing her coffee, Moon Surin used telekinesis to crush the can and toss it into the trash.
"Got it. I'll stop bothering you. Good luck!"
"Thanks. You too."
The cadet left the student council room.
Moon Surin sighed as if a storm had passed.
As noisy as she was, having someone like that around helped refresh her.
"I wonder if Hoyeon is doing okay."
Mentioning the PR department naturally made her think of Lee Hoyeon.
She regretted not giving him any hints about the survival exam.
Though she had done everything she could to prepare him in advance.
Suddenly reminded of something, Moon Surin rifled through her desk and pulled out a document.
[Match between Student Council Vice President Shin Dongmin (3rd year) and PR Department 1st year Lee Hoyeon]
"Hmm..."
Moon Surin recalled Lee Hoyeon's performance during the 1v1 duels.
He was clearly above the Vice President.
At the very least, he was on par with him.
The only variables were fatigue from the survival exam and the duel field settings.
"Field is randomly selected..."
The overview said it was to increase engagement because of the festival...
But using a random field instead of a plain arena felt suspicious.
'If things look off, I'll step in. Maybe I'll invite him to eat during the festival, too?'
Moon Surin enjoyed a brief moment of rest.