I awoke from a timeless sleep to the stinging pain of Aurora pouring an herb remedy on my wounds.
"Morning." I said stupidly.
She laughed, her tail twitching and waving as if celebrating.
"Good morning." She continued giggling as she poured more of the gel-like paste onto my chest.
"I must say, I thought you behaved a lot like a Neko, but never actually thought you were a Neko." I said, grinding my teeth through the pain.
"I know. I can read your mind, remember?" She turned back to the door where Wicky stood, shocked.
"Master! Why are you not disguised?" Wicky broke out of her shock and quickly moved to cover my eyes.
"You're awfully late for that." Aurora remarked, surprising me when she suddenly pressed a cloth onto my wounds, causing me to gasp in pain. "And you're in the way of the bandages."
"What is it you pressed onto my wounds, if Wicky is blocking the bandages?" I asked suddenly, hearing a loud ripping noise as Aurora continued bandaging me.
"Master, why are you doing this for this man?" Wicky demanded, pressing her fingers into my eyes.
"He is a perfect partner." Aurora answered. "Get your hands off his eyes. You're hurting him."
Wicky humphed as she removed her hands from my eyes.
I opened my eyes to see Aurora bent over my chest and quickly bandaging my wounds, shirtless.
I couldn't help but admire the perfect curve of her chest and her soft-looking skin that practically glowed in the brightly-lit room. Soon, mind drifted to imaginings of cupping her large breasts in my hands, enjoying their supple-
"Do you want another punishment?" Aurora asked sweetly, giving me an innocent smile.
I hurriedly reigned in my imagination, shaking my head, fearing whatever it was she would do to 'punish' me.
"I suppose that since you've confessed to me, I should accept you as my boyfriend." Aurora suddenly said, cupping my cheek with her hand. "But do try to keep your imaginings safe for work."
I blushed, ashamed of my wild imagination.
"Don't be ashamed." Aurora said, getting up to leave. "Your imagination is the reason why your control of mana is above average."
It made sense. Mana was controlled by one's will and to use your will you needed a firm image, which was made easier if you had a better imagination.
"Oh, and the book on the end table is for you." Aurora said, closing the yellow door behind her.
I glanced at the table and felt my face freeze from shock.
'Another water element book?' I couldn't even begin to imagine the sheer value of a single water element book of basic level, let alone one of a higher level!
I eagerly opened the book and began to read, absorbing the information like a sponge.
I was so engrossed in the book that I didn't notice Aurora enter the room until she plopped the books next to me, startling me with the sound.
"Wha-" I spluttered, dropping the book onto my face.
"I went and dug into my library to grab you magic books to read while you recover." Aurora said, laughing at me as I pulled the book off my face and rubbed my aching nose.
"Thanks." I said sincerely, trying to sit up.
Suddenly, I froze, unable to move any further.
"You will stay right there until you recover." Aurora said icily. "I won't have you hurting yourself in pursuit of magic."
"Isn't that what everyone does?" I asked curiously.
"Just because it's widely accepted that magic can damage your body does not mean that using magic has to damage your body." She adopted a pose that I thought perfectly matched a teacher delivering a lecture, a book resting in the crook of her left elbow while her right hand gestured as she spoke.
"My telepathy is a perfect example of this." Aurora went on, playing the role of a lecturer. "Such an advanced technique should damage my brain the more I use it, right?"
I nodded silently.
"However, rather than using my mana to stir the surrounding mana to create such an effect, I'm directly using my own mana.
"Normally, a spell is constructed with one's mana as a blueprint and the surrounding mana fleshes it out to complete the spell. However, when using one's mana for the entire process, it burdens the body considerably less than if external mana is used. Why do you think that is?"
"Mana backlash?" I said hesitantly, slightly distracted by her waving tail.
"You're half right. Mixing mana of different sources does deliver some backlash, but the act of using impure mana from your surroundings burdens your body the most." She demonstrated a basic fireball as she spoke, coalescing a small ball of flames above her palm. "Not only does impure mana reduce the might of a spell, but it also damages the user. Why do you think that this system is so widely used if that's the case?"
I pondered briefly, trying to come up with a proper response, but I couldn't think of an answer.
"I don't know." I admitted after a pause.
"It's because the world has been at peace too long."
It made sense. The last large-scale conflict had happened centuries ago.
"Now, do you know the reason I'm training you?" Aurora asked as she sat down beside me.
I thought it over briefly, considering whether or not it was because I was to be her boyfriend or because I was her employee.
"Neither." She interrupted my thoughts. "It's because a war is coming."