Chapter 1106 – Dark Moon
I threw myself towards the waterfall to save Number 31, who was falling.
The magic I used was an application of the barrier magic Instructor Venus had used. I stepped on the transparent foothold that appeared in mid-air and reached out both hands to Number 31, who was falling.
Now, I just needed to grab Number 31 and create footholds back up the waterfall, just like when I came down.
Thud.
I grabbed Number 31’s shoulders and waist, who was unconscious.
And that’s when a variable occurred.
Crack.
The barrier I made into a foothold shattered. Number 31’s weight was heavier than I thought. It wasn’t so much her own weight, but rather the weight of her equipment and clothes increasing as they got wet. A first-class barrier, especially one made small for a foothold, wasn’t as sturdy as I had anticipated.
‘I’m falling!’
I used an instant.
Instinctively, I tried to conjure the levitation magic formula I had just seen. Even if I couldn’t fly perfectly in the sky, I would be able to float for a short time to move to the ground.
Just before the formula calculation was complete, I saw Instructor Venus, who was far away, looking surprised.
If I, who had no witch factor and was only second-class, used fourth-class magic like levitation even for a moment, what would he think?
‘Shit.’
I gave up on levitation and conjured a barrier formula. I modified part of the formula to maximize the shock absorption rate. I layered three second-class barriers.
‘The waterfall is over 500m high. This isn’t enough.’
My bracelet glowed. Just before the fourth-class barrier was activated, I intervened with my will and modified part of the formula. Instead of solidity, I increased the shock absorption rate. It would be weak against sharp attacks like swords or spears, but that was not something I needed to worry about right now, falling down the waterfall.
‘Just in case….’
I used an instant to prepare another formula.
“……”
I looked at the small lake below the approaching waterfall and hugged Number 31 tightly.
The three second-class barriers shattered in an instant. Fortunately, the fourth-class barrier held, allowing me to remain unharmed from the impact.
As soon as I fell into the water, I activated my magic.
‘Bubble Room.’
Second-class magic, Bubble Room.
Bubbles emerged and enveloped Number 31’s body. Bubble Room was a water-attribute defense magic, but it had more versatility than a barrier. The late Instructor Belha had used Bubble Room on opponents and then used it as an attack magic.
‘If you activate Bubble Room in the water, you don’t sink down, but float up.’
I was alive.
Just as I was about to breathe a sigh of relief,
I felt a huge presence from below. I quickly looked down and saw a fish over 3m long rushing towards me with its mouth open. The fish’s saw-like teeth shattered the Bubble Room.
‘A fish like that…!’
The flow of water was felt directly through my body, and I was breathless.
‘…It feels like I’m suffocating, but why can I breathe?’
Normally, when you fall into water, you should be breathless, your body should feel heavy, and it should be hard to open your eyes. But I was comfortable. I hadn’t used any magic, but I could breathe underwater, and I could move my hands and legs easily. I could also feel the flow of the water, so I knew what to do.
‘…It’s an ability.’
An ability to create lightning. This was the third ability, following the ability to accelerate my body and thoughts.
I had awakened it by luck. But it felt unsettling to just brush it off. I even suspected that some god was watching me and giving me the abilities I needed.
I didn’t have the time to continue thinking. The giant fish was rushing at me to eat me.
‘Instant.’
I finished calculating the formula in the slowed-down world and released the instant. The fish was flying towards me. I activated my magic the moment it came right in front of me.
‘Electric Spark.’
An electric sphere went right into its mouth.
Zzzzzzzzzzz!
The electric sphere exploded, and the current spread in all directions. Of course, it also spread towards me. I used my ability to deflect the current that was coming towards me. I succeeded. The giant fish, which had been fried crisp by the current in the water, rolled its eyes. The fish’s corpse was quickly swept away by the current.
I went up to the surface of the water. Unlike me, who could breathe underwater, Number 31 would drown if she stayed in the water.
I reached out my hand towards the surface without thinking and was startled.
‘…I can touch the surface?’
I felt a sensation like touching hard glass through my palm. I was momentarily bewildered. I realized it was an ability related to water. I put strength into my hand and went up to the surface, looking down at my feet. I was standing on the surface of the water without being affected by the current.
‘In the game, there was a third-class magic that allowed you to walk on water, but it was a waste of efficiency. Is this what it feels like when you use that magic?’
I looked around. I had lost my night vision goggles when I fell earlier, so I focused mana into my eyes. It wasn’t as bright as night vision goggles, but it was enough to identify the surrounding terrain.
‘There’s a cave over there that looks good for resting.’
I didn’t head towards the cave recklessly. Usually, these kinds of wild caves have owners.
“Ice Arrow.”
An ice arrow flew into the cave.
“Krrrroooar!”
I heard the roar of an angry wolf. Eleven wolves came rushing out. They couldn’t dare to enter the lake and barked fiercely from the shore.
“……”
I looked at the wolves emotionlessly, aimed the rifle I had been carrying on my back at them, and pulled the trigger. I didn’t forget to silence the sound with a silencer.
A total of 11 shots. All of them hit the wolves in the head.
As it was an expensive rifle used by elite soldiers, it worked well even after being soaked in water.
‘Wolves usually run away… Is it because of the Dark Moon that they’ve completely lost their fear?’
I stepped over the corpses and entered the cave.
A wolf over 3m in size was lying dead, bleeding with its skull pierced. The ice arrow I had shot earlier was stuck in its head.
‘…Should I say I was lucky.’
My annoyance increased.
I used wind magic to throw the wolf corpses far away.
Next was cleaning the cave. It smelled disgusting, so I cleaned it up roughly with water magic, laid out my raincoat on the floor, and laid Number 31 down.
I blocked the entrance of the cave by felling a tree with Wind Cutter. I didn’t forget to camouflage it with leaves so that no light would leak out.
‘Today is the Dark Moon. If an uncontrollable monster sees the light, it’s over.’
After finishing everything, my mana and stamina were depleted. I stared blankly at the dark void and thought.
‘Should I run away?’
Wasn’t this a perfect opportunity to run away?
‘…No. I must be tired, my judgment is temporarily clouded.’
The slave seal engraved on my right forearm.
Unless I get rid of this, there’s no way to escape. By now, the unit must be in chaos, and they would have dispatched troops to find me and Number 31. I was secondary, but Number 31 was special.
‘If they track the slave seal, they’ll quickly figure out the direction. I’ll probably be rescued by noon tomorrow at the latest. It’s a good thing I didn’t bring any emergency rations.’
I just needed to hold out quietly.
My mana had recovered to some extent. I used magic on the firewood I had prepared.
‘Fire.’
The power of magic was amazing. The wet wood blazed up. Perhaps because the wet firewood dried quickly, there wasn’t much smoke. It was worth changing part of the formula to increase the firepower.
I looked at Number 31, who was lying on the floor. Part of her top was stained with blood. Her face was also pale. I thought her face was wet from the rain, but now I saw it was cold sweat.
‘I tried my best to protect her when we fell from the waterfall… Did she get hurt from another cause?’
I recalled the situation before falling into the waterfall. Her body was flying around like a ball due to the air boom. It was strange that she didn’t have any injuries.
I sighed and took off her wet clothes. If she died like this, I would die too. Fortunately, I had an emergency kit, so I could give her first aid.
“…Hmm.”
My eyes widened as I looked at her body. There were torn wounds on her shoulders and collarbone, but the bleeding had already stopped, and most of them had healed. If you looked closely at the wounds, you could see them wriggling and healing.
‘Is this healing power also due to the Dark Moon? Whatever it is, it’s clear that she’s not an ordinary human. Please don’t wake up.’
I wouldn’t be able to stop her if she woke up and went on a rampage.
I was about to put Number 31’s clothes back on, but I realized that her skin was as cold as frost.
‘…Even if her clothes are wet, it’s strange that she’s this cold.’
I scanned Number 31’s body.
Wet purple hair, pale skin, and her breasts that were slightly swollen.
‘I can’t tell the cause just by looking at her….’
Instinctively, my gaze turned towards her chest. Her white breasts were slightly smaller than my fist. Considering that she was still growing, she would probably become a busty woman in the future. Her nipples were nicely shaped and pretty pink. Was it because she was cold? Her nipples were stiff and erect.
Gulp.
I swallowed for no reason. I could feel blood rushing to my groin area.
‘…What am I doing in this situation. No, it’s because of this situation that I’m getting an erection.’
A situation where there were only two of us in the cave, her body had become cold, and she was a beauty that could rival a celebrity. A situation that I had fantasized about several times as a man was unfolding before my eyes.
‘…It’s an unavoidable situation.’
I reached out my hand to Number 31’s chest. It wasn’t to molest her, but to examine her condition more closely.
Ignoring the soft skin and cold chill I felt through my palm, I opened my astral. Normally, it was impossible to use this to find out the other person’s condition, but I could do it by sensing the other person’s mana.
‘It’s only possible because she didn’t resist. Let’s see…. The number of mana rods is 48…. That’s four times my mana rods.’
It wasn’t surprising. Since she was a witch and was affected by the Dark Moon, that was to be expected.
‘Some of her mana rods are twisted, and part of the formula is left in her body. That’s why her body is cold.’
I quickly identified the cause and took immediate action. I extended my will with my astral, sensed her mana, and released the formula.
‘I saved her life, so it’s okay to examine her a bit in return, right?’
I analyzed Number 31’s mana rods and astral.
‘Her astral is at the second-class level, but it’s more complex than that of an ordinary human. Should I say it’s an upgraded version? It’s natural since she has the witch factor innately.’
I analyzed her mana rods. Even now that she was unconscious, her mana rods were activated. I examined them without going against the flow of mana. I grasped the essence of her mana breathing technique.
‘…Indeed. Her heart is different from that of an ordinary human. Is this the mana core that witches are said to have?’
It was an organ specialized in storing and outputting mana. It was only storing mana now, but when she grew up, the mana core would unleash another power.
‘Number 31’s mana breathing is that of a witch. I can refer to it, but it’s impossible for me to use it.’
Since I didn’t have a mana core, I gave up cleanly.
I took my hand off of Number 31’s chest. Her complexion had improved a little, but her body was still cold. It was because of her wet clothes.
‘I don’t have enough mana to dry her clothes with fire….’
Using Number 31’s mana through mana sensing? Impossible. Unless I dominated her astral, I was blocked from moving her mana.
‘Her body is recovering, but… Even so, she might die if I leave her like this.’
I came up with a solution.
A physical method.
Sharing body heat.
‘Should I do it? Should I not? If Number 31 regains consciousness in the middle… It’s over.’
But if Number 31 died from hypothermia? That was also over.
‘She might not die. Her recovery is fast because of the Dark Moon. The problem is… I can’t be sure of that either.’
After agonizing, I decided to avoid the worst-case scenario. If she died, everything would be over. Venus would kill me.
‘I just need to hold her until her body temperature rises. If she wakes up in the middle, I can make an excuse. Surely, she wouldn’t try to kill her savior…?’
I became a little less confident, but my actions were swift.
I took off all of her top.
‘There’s a slave seal on her shoulder. …Looking at it, it’s a little different. It’s just a tattoo that looks like a slave seal.’
It was nothing new.
Next, I took off her bottoms. When I took off her white supply underwear, her private parts were revealed. Purple pubic hair grew like grass. Of course, her pubic hair was also wet from the rain. Below that, her vagina was tightly closed in a straight line.
For a moment, I felt the urge to open that white vagina.
I looked around for no reason and realized that I was the only one here.
‘T-This is for confirmation. Her vagina might be injured.’
So, I slightly opened her vagina. It was a clean pink color. My heart was pounding. I felt guilty and turned my gaze to the ceiling. My erect penis was throbbing.
‘…This is not the time for this.’
I had to share my body heat to save Number 31.
I hugged her. I could feel her cold but soft skin. My erect penis went between her thighs. My erect penis was beyond my control. It was a bodily instinct.
‘Let’s, let’s think positively….’
My erect penis was as hot as a fire, so it would be a great help in warming her cold vagina and thighs.
Swish, swish.
I moved my waist without thinking. My cold reason told me that I shouldn’t do this, but my hot impulse and bodily instinct said that this much was okay.
Agony washed over me.
