Henry was very happy to have the impurities within his body cleansed. He needed to do them a couple more times. Once done, it would make filling his body with mana easier.
A smile slowly formed on Felicia's face as she watched Henry smile.
"How long are we gonna do this?" Felicia asked.
"As long as we can," Henry replied.
He waited at the side and gave way for her to claim the next drop.
"All right." Felicia nodded her head.
She trusted Henry's judgment a lot after knowing that he was from the past. It still made her feel odd, but she believed that she could get used to it.
As such, the duo kept drinking drop after drop of Mana Nectar.
The Mana Nectar was essentially limitless. It was formed from the crossing of mana pathways deep beneath the world. These then crystallize into the mana stones.
It was much easier to absorb Mana Nectar than Mana Stones. The latter was liquid and the other was solid. One needed to melt the solid first for it to be useful.
It was also purer as the mana stones would accumulate impurities as they crystalized which meant that mana stones couldn't clear impurities but only supply pure mana.
Henry casually explained this to Felicia since they had nothing to do. Felicia listened intently like a student. So far, she was slowly getting used to their new dynamic.
But of course, good things never lasted forever.
"Hey, hey, hey! You two are slacking, huh!" the foreman shouted at them.
Henry heard his footsteps and had already snuffed out his flame ball.
"We got lost…" Henry answered and forced an awkward smile on his face.
His acting was so good that the foreman softened his angry face. He saw earlier how Henry sucked at lying, so he didn't think much and trusted his words.
Felicia blushed at getting caught.
From the foreman's perspective, she was blushing because they got lost. He couldn't help but sigh.
"You two, why did you head so deep? I was looking for you two for so long!" he cried out and stomped in anger.
"We wanted to help those at the depths and got lost along the way…"
Henry continued his awkward smile and scratched the back of his head. He looked apologetic, and there were no flaws in his acting. If Felicia didn't know the truth, she would believe him.
Suddenly, she felt that Henry wasn't as trustworthy as he seemed to be. Her vigilance was raised.
"Right, Mother?" Henry looked at her and winked.
"Y-Yes!"
Felicia hurriedly nodded her head.
Her actions only made Henry's acting even more perfect. The foreman thought that she wasn't answering because she got them lost.
"Come follow me. From now on, you two aren't allowed to go deeper than the first pile of raw mana stones you see!" the foreman warned and turned around.
Henry's eyes turned cold. He could sense the threat within the foreman's words. Although he couldn't tell that they were lying, he was still suspicious about them. If they went out of bounds another time, he would act to discipline them.
Henry glanced at Felicia behind him and nodded his head. They followed the foreman up and filled their carts up with raw mana stones along the way. Once outside, the foreman left them alone.
"We need a chance," Henry whispered.
Felicia agreed with him. She also wanted to cleanse her body more.
"Uh. We should take a shower," Felicia said as she sniffed herself.
"Endure it. We don't have any spare clothes."
Felicia was enlightened and realized the flaw in what she wanted to do. After they showered, how would they dry their clothes?
Under Henry's suggestion, the duo did their job. Felicia didn't like the job, but she looked forward to the next time they returned to that place to drink more Mana Nectar.
When night fell, the mining operation halted. Everyone was ordered to eat dinner and head to sleep in their huts set up around the job site. The two of them were assigned a small hut that could fit them.
It wasn't that fantastic as it basically was just a small room with two beds.
They first ate dinner. Their putrid smell immediately earned them a nickname among the mining crews. They were called, "Puke Family".
Felicia was bitter as she listened to the discussions about them. These people didn't bother hiding their toxic words.
Henry heard them too, but he didn't care. His mind was calm as he waited for the next opportunity for them to return to that spot.
The dinner finished and the duo returned to their hut. The job site became completely quiet. The only noise out there were the sounds of nature.
"Should we?"
"The foreman should be making rounds. Let's wait more."
Henry was very patient. Felicia was restless, but she waited with him. She was excited to cleanse her body more. She also found the thrill exciting.
Felicia, who had become dull because of age and responsibilities, found the enjoyment of youth again. The distraction brought by today made her already put the event with the hobgoblin to the back of her mind.
Once the outside became cold, Henry signaled to Felicia. He conjured spells that silenced their footsteps. Henry led the way as they hid behind trees, boulders, huts, and carts.
There was a guard sitting outside the cave entrance. He was filling his fingers with boredom.
Felicia blinked at Henry repeatedly to say that it was impossible with the guard there.
Henry motioned for her to wait. He went ahead and conjured another spell. A ball of fog gathered in front of his chest, and he threw it on top of a tree.
The fog rolled down from the tree, making it look as if the fog rolled in from the forest beside the job site. The guard couldn't see anything and didn't realize it was the result of magic.
Henry went back and grabbed Felicia's hand. He guided her through the fog, and they entered the cave once more.
Euphoria flooded their bodies as they succeeded. Henry rushed in with Felicia running behind him. A wide smile was on her face. She found that she enjoyed this.
They didn't take long to return to that spot. A small pool of mana nectar had gathered at the bottom. A small crystal was starting to crystalize at the bottom.
"Let's share," Henry said.
He leaned forward and sipped half of the liquid into his mouth. He sat down cross-legged and swallowed the liquid. Felicia didn't hesitate and did the same. She had done something similar in the past, so this was simple for her.
She imitated him and also sat cross-legged.
Henry's body twitched as the massive quantities of pure mana rushed out through his pores and cleansed the impurities in his body. They flooded through his organs and reached every nook and cranny.
The accumulation of eating impure food seeped out and created a thick and slimy layer of black tar on his skin.
"Pure Mortal Body…" Henry muttered and opened his eyes.
The first step to becoming a magus was to have a Pure Mortal Body in order to have an unimpeded flow of mana within the body. Otherwise, one would find themselves unable to smoothly flow mana through their body, resulting in greatly damaged magic abilities.