— Leon Greyrat —
The sun had set, marking the end of our first day on the Begaritt Continent, and the start of our first night.
With a meal of an unlucky desert hare that caught my sight, and some dehydrated veggies mixed in a soup, we quickly set up camp with Rudy creating a dome of earth as our shelter.
I could do the same, of course, but not as concentrated as he could, nor without worry about running out of mana.
Having a talented magician as a younger brother definitely had its perks.
Anyway, with our bellies full, and our camp prepared, the three of us then got ready to sleep for the day, with me heating up some rocks to stave off the cold of the desert night.
Luckily, with a certain barrier spell, as well as my natural instincts, I was confident in being alarmed before a monster could harm us, and even if we got ambushed, Rudy's temporary shelter had the defensive capabilities of a fort.
So, in short, we would be fine not taking night shifts.
"Hey… Leon?" Sara said as she sat up next to the already-snoring Rudy.
"Yeah?" I answered, minding my voice, so I didn't accidentally wake up my brother.
"You… you're good at swordsmanship, right?" she said.
Well… I was at the King rank.
What was she on about?
"I'd like to think so, why?"
"During some of our downtime… or even when we get back to Sharia… could you train me?" she asked. "I know I'm an archer, but if my bow ever breaks, or I run out of arrows, I want a way to defend myself."
"…Got it, we can start tomorrow night," I said.
I was initially going to ask her about me helping her with her archery as well, but I quickly realized that I had absolutely no idea what to do.
I mean… I wasn't an archer, and I had no clue how she was manipulating her touki like that.
Maybe by seeing how her touki moved during her swordsmanship training, I would get an idea of how to help her, and help myself as well.
"Thanks," she said with a smile, visibly relieved. "Most of the teachers at the academy either suck, or expect me to completely follow the path of the sword, so thanks… for agreeing to teach me."
I nodded, giving her a smile as I lay down.
"Anything for my little sister."
"…Can you not call me that?"
"I decline."
And thus, closing my eyes, our first day came to a close in the truest sense.
There were no dreams to be had that night, and instead of being awoken by my natural clock, or the rays of the sun, I was instead awoken by a feeling of pure… desire.
Gaining control of my rapid breathing, I slowly sat up, noticing that Rudy was already blinking the sleep out of his eyes as he looked to his side.
"Sara… let's do it," he whispered, removing the blanket from the two of them.
It was then that I looked down at Sara's revealed sleeping form, her body curling inward as she slowly groaned.
"Rudy…? What's wrong? And what's that scent?" she mumbled with a frown.
"Nothing is wrong, I just… need you," Rudy said, slipping his hand under her shirt.
I watched in amazement, trailing my eyes down Sara's body and taking in the magnificent sight.
The way her skin glistened slightly with sweat… the way her body shivered as Rudy began kissing her stomach… and her legs… they were so defined…
God… Sara, my little sister… she really was-
Wait.
Grabbing my head, I forced myself to look away from the two of them as images flashed through my mind, conjuring a sickening feeling of disgust.
'Brother! Up!'
'Big Brother! Hug? Please?'
Norn… Aisha… my little sisters… I would never think of them that way.
Right… and Sara… she was my little sister too… she was with Rudy… I shouldn't… I couldn't think of her that way… and I didn't want to betray my lovers…
What… what the fuck is wrong with me?
Was my night with Sylphy not enough!?
Get a hold of yourself, Leon! That's your brother's beloved!
Getting to my feet and stumbling out of the tent, I quickly regained my footing as I took in a deep breath of the clear outside air.
A deep breath… that made my arousal spike.
…Wait.
Activating my Demon eye, I saw that the surroundings were mixed with slight mana, like a river that went through the air, leading right to…
A beautiful woman?
No, that was a monster.
Stepping towards it, I slowly unsheathed my sword, stepping past the barrier I had laid down.
When I came within a few meters of it, the monster's hand began beckoning me forward as she breathed out even more of the mana-tainted air.
Wait… a beautiful woman in the middle of the desert… that inexplicable arousal… this was a succubus, wasn't it?
A monster native to the Begaritt Continent and the south of the Demon Continent that used its pheromones to put men in a state of lust, often making them fight each other for a woman's affections, before taking them to their lair and killing them.
And once someone was infested with their pheromones like I was, the only way to get rid of them was either to have sex with a woman or use… detoxification magic.
Quickly flushing my system with that very magic, I felt my mind clear from the previous haze as I ran forward, instantly decapitating the succubus before it could even raise an arm to fight back.
…Fuck.
Those thoughts… how disgusting.
And I guess my barrier wasn't the best, at least against an enemy like this.
Haa… at least that's dealt with, though.
While the pheromones had mostly dissipated into the air as its source was no longer alive, Rudy still had it in his system, so I better go and-
"Anh! Rudy~! Right there! Keep going!"
…
Actually, I think I'll just stay out here.
From Sara's pleased moans, and Rudy's grunts, they seemed to be… enjoying themselves, so I'd at least let them finish.
…Although it was quite awkward.
"More! More!"
…Should I… do some sword training instead?
"Sara! Turn on your back!"
"Mmh! Got it!"
…Yeah… I think I'll do just that.
— Leon Greyrat —
As I absently flipped the dried meat over the fire, I slowly raised my gaze to Rudy and Sara, who were both pointedly not looking anywhere in my direction as they sat next to each other.
…Well, after last night, I couldn't blame them.
In fact, I don't think I could look into their eyes either.
I had told myself that I would let them finish… but I didn't expect it to take so long.
And while Rudy had told me Sara was… what was it, a 'screamer'? That… well, that was putting it lightly.
"So… we can agree that last night never happened, yes?" I said, breaking the incredibly awkward silence. "So… it never happened, and let's move on, yeah?"
Their faces gained a deep flush of red as they nodded their heads, still not attempting to look into my eyes.
"Good," I nodded. "And if you're pent-up… just tell me, and I'll guard from far away."
They nodded again, this time a little quicker.
…Good.
"S-Sorry… Brother," Rudy eventually said.
"About what?" I asked firmly. "Nothing happened, so there's nothing to be sorry about, right?"
"E-Exactly!" Sara added, nodding along.
"…Right," Rudy said, staring into the distance blankly.
And with that, our first morning in the Begaritt Continent came to its awkward conclusion, with absolutely nothing happening the night before.
Nothing at all.
— Leon Greyrat —
"Hmm…"
I observed closely as Sara swung her short sword, noting how the touki flowed seamlessly through her body.
It was… normal.
But what was not normal, was the fact wisps of touki were beginning to fly up her blade as she swung, even if they weren't providing any actual enhancements.
Not that there was anything unique about that in itself, but Sara shouldn't be able to do that yet.
Her form, while not terrible, was only beginning to scratch the surface of the Intermediate rank, so for her touki to flow so smoothly into her blade… it was an anomaly.
Her body being able to be enhanced could be explained by her combat experience, sure, but for her sword to be enhanced as well… that all but confirmed it.
Sara's was able to use touki. Not as a warrior or a swordsman, but as an archer.
Knowing this, instead of going the usual route of instruction, I had told Sara to focus on the blade as if it was an arrow ready to fly, and tracing the path of her swing while concentrating deeply.
Essentially trying to replicate her state of mind for when she was shooting an arrow, which was working quite well.
And that's how I was able to come to a realization.
So… you could really enhance arrows with touki, and for Sara here, it didn't seem that different from just using a sword.
…Interesting.
"Hey, are you checking her out?" Rudy said, poking my side teasingly. "Even if you're my brother, I can't allow that!"
I simply smacked his hand away before pointing to my glowing purple eye.
I would have said 'In your dreams' or 'I'd never think of her that way', but considering it was only a few days since the succubus attack… well, let's just move on from that.
That had never happened, after all.
"Yeah, yeah, I was just joking," Rudy huffed, sitting down next to me. "But why so serious? I don't think Sara will benefit much since she already has a combat style. She just needs a way to defend herself."
"That's true," I nodded. "But she should at least get the basics down."
Plus, this was a good way to see how her touki flowed through her and how her state of mind affected her.
And now that I had seen it…
"Okay, let's stop here," I said, getting up.
Sara stopped swinging her sword, sheathing it as she walked back to us.
"Thanks. I already feel more comfortable, so… what are you doing?" she asked as I handed her a bow and arrow.
"I'm just curious," I shrugged before pointing to a boulder near us. "Can you shoot that for me?"
"Hah? Why?" she asked. "I don't want to waste an arrow, breaking it against a rock for nothing!"
"Just do it, please, Little Sis," I insisted.
"I said to not-! Oh, whatever!"
She then did as I asked, setting her stance as she drew her arrow, and just as she was about to let it loose…
"What the hell are you doing?" she asked as I stepped in front of her drawn arrow.
I ignored her as I watched the touki slowly fade from the arrow tip, sinking back into Sara as she lowered her bow.
Interesting… very interesting… that must be her concentration breaking… so she needs absolute focus…
"Nothing… Sorry. Shoot it again," I said, stepping away.
"The hell is your problem?" she complained as she drew her bow once again.
Watching the touki flow into the arrow once again, just as she was about to release, instead of stepping in front of her, this time, I grabbed hold of the arrow, holding it in place.
"What? Stop fucking with me!"
"Keep concentrating," I ordered her, narrowing my eyes as I watched the touki nearly fade from the arrow.
"Focus, Sara. That feeling of becoming 'one with the arrow', focus that feeling even more," I instructed.
I could tell she was annoyed, but thankfully, she still listened to me, and I saw as her arrow became even more concentrated in touki.
Good…
"Guh! Why? It… it feels weird!" she complained.
"Keep going," I said. "Imagine all your focus, your entire being, from the tips of your fingers to your toes… imagine all of that flowing into the arrow. It's part of you. Your finger, your hand, your arm… whatever works. And keep hold of that feeling. Don't let it go."
Watching the tip swirl in touki as she continued, I smirked before suddenly letting go of the arrow.
The air cracked as it released from the bowstring, whistling through the air before impacting the target an instant later, embedding itself into the rock until half of the shaft was buried inside.
And through it all… the arrow remained intact.
"W… What the hell?" Sara said, stepping back in surprise.
Well, that's the power of touki for you.
She was strong before, but to think a regular arrow could hold such power…
"Leon… did you do something?" Rudy asked, also impressed.
"Nope, that was all my Little Sis," I explained with a smile. "That 'weird feeling' and becoming 'one with the arrow' are one and the same. That was you manipulating touki, though you didn't know it."
"T-Touki… you mean that stuff you said swordsmen and warriors use?" she said.
"Yeah, usually… but it seems that's not entirely the case," I shook my head. "Anyway, you should try replicating that next. If you can perfect that… you might be able to kill monsters like the scorpion from our first day without Rudy's help."
"Really? That's…"
"Amazing," Rudy finished for her, quickly wrapping her in a hug and a kiss.
After that, Sara tried once again, only to learn that she was unable to replicate the move and feeling, and sadly had wasted an arrow.
But now that she had a better understanding of touki and a goal to reach… I had a feeling it wouldn't take too long for her to get it.
As Sara began training her new technique, I decided to put in some swordsmanship training before Rudy came up to me.
"Leon… do you have anything to teach me too?" he asked.
I was initially going to say no, as he already had a leg up on me in magic.
After all, the only thing I had that he didn't was barrier magic, and aside from the worry of the Millis Church, he also was unable to do it chantless, so he would be better served creating barriers out of elemental magic like he did now.
And as for swordsmanship… well, without the ability to gain touki, he was kind of stuck.
But then I remembered the nifty little technique I had taught Sylphy.
Yeah… knowing Rudy, he could definitely do that, and it was certain to be useful.
"Sure," I nodded. "Form a fireball for me."
He tilted his head, but quickly followed my instructions despite his confusion.
Hmm… as I thought, Rudy's mana was weird, especially not that I was focusing on it with my Demon eye.
It moved almost as if it had a will of its own, easily flowing into the needed shape and transforming its basic properties based on Rudy's thoughts.
It was almost… beautiful.
And then… there was the power.
I had always wondered why Rudy's magic was stronger than mine, even when I had more control as a kid, but now… I could get it.
His mana was just built differently.
Literally.
It was… as if comparing water to magma.
They were both liquids, sure, but they were quite different in density, and they would feel quite different to swim in.
And when those liquids became solids… well, rocks were known to be a bit stronger than ice, so… yeah.
It was kind of a shitty analogy, but that was the best way I could explain it.
This was a bit unfortunate, as I was hoping to gain some insights into how to grow my magic abilities from him, but I suppose that was not to be… at least not yet.
Maybe there was a way to change my mana?
To concentrate it?
I mean, before, I would say that's impossible, but I also thought that using touki in arrows was impossible a week ago, so what did I know?
Shaking my head, as his fireball formed into existence, I quickly sent out a wave of mana, manipulating my mana to dig into his own and invading the spell, disturbing it to the point where it collapsed, the flames dissipating into the air.
I was getting quite good at that now.
And thankfully, it seemed that only healing magic would explode when disturbed, so I didn't have to worry about accidentally burning my brother.
"Huh? What? I… what happened?" Rudy said, looking at his hand in confusion.
"I messed with the spell," I said with a smile. "This is an annoying technique that the wonderful Dragon God taught me, which will put you above any other magician. I call it disturb magic."
I saw Rudy's eyes widen, looking back to his hand in surprise.
"Want to learn it?" I asked.
"…Please!" he nodded excitedly.
Hee~
With his genius as a kid, there was never much I was able to teach Rudy, especially when it came to magic, even though I was his big brother.
So… forgive me if I felt quite happy about the situation.
"Alright, so… essentially, you need to release a wave of pure mana…"
And so, I began explaining the technique to my dear brother, excited to see how quickly he could learn it.
— Leon Greyrat —
We were currently on the top of a large plateau, a ginormous landform that we had to traverse over in order to not add another day of travel by going around it.
Luckily, Rudy was quite good at elevating multiple people, and it didn't take long before we were walking across flat, rocky ground.
A somewhat pleasant shift in terrain compared to the sandy desert, in my opinion.
But, of course, it was not an uninhabited land, as evidenced by the group of Griffons in front of us.
With the body of a lion and the wings and head of an eagle, these monsters were a B-rank threat and were extremely territorial.
Actually, since these were in a group, that would mean they were A-rank.
A perfect way to see the progress of my two travelling partners.
We had seen quite a few monsters on our way here, from the giant colony of Phalynx Ants and that ginormous Behemoth that we passed without a fight, to the Sandworm that had tried to swallow me, only to be cut in half as it shot up through the ground, the land was absolutely teeming with monsters, and a lot of which were strong enough to put it on par with the Demon Continent.
However, despite all those threats, the worst part of this place was still definitely the heat.
It was just horrible.
But thanks to Aisha's precious gift, I was faring a bit better than the other two.
Though, the sunburns were getting annoying to heal.
A cool cap didn't protect against that, after all.
"There's an oasis just past this, according to the map," I said, unsheathing my sword. "Hopefully, this will be the final battle for the day, so how about you guys take these down, and see if we can take anything to sell."
"Got it," Sara said as she nocked an arrow.
"Will you support us?" Rudy asked, readying his staff.
"I'll provide healing and barriers if need be, but you should be fine," I said. "I'll keep on the lookout for any ambushes, so you two can focus on the fight."
Nodding their heads, the two ran forward, quickly engaging the group of Griffons in combat with their usual efficient and coordinated skill.
Activating my Demon eye, I watched as Sara used Rudy's pillar that shot up out of the ground to jump into the air, narrowing her eyes as she prepared to release an arrow at the first monster from above.
Smiling, I watched as her touki concentrated on the tip of her arrow, she then let it fly, the projectile ripping through the air before impacting the Griffon's head a moment later, stabbing deep through its skull and instantly killing it.
Killing a B-rank monster with one arrow…
Really, that was simply insane.
When we first arrived at the Begaritt Continent, such a feat would have been impossible for her, unless she got lucky with a monster having a weak point that could also be struck for a killing blow.
But now that she could focus her touki, and even somewhat manipulate it, she could now penetrate many things she couldn't before.
It made this older brother very happy.
But after understanding how Sara could damage so many monsters despite being an archer, I then began shifting my curiosity onto another aspect of Rudy's girlfriend and her combat capabilities.
To put it simply, I realized that her accuracy and prediction skills were… inhuman.
Especially for a girl who didn't know how to actively enhance her mind and eyes with touki.
But then, I wondered…
Was it really prediction?
The only true method of prediction I had seen, other than combat experience, was one of the Demon eyes that Kishirika had explained, but… Sara definitely did not have such a thing.
Some may leave the explanation at her having a talent for the bow, and while she certainly had immense talent, I assumed there was something more… logical at play.
After all, no matter how talented, you couldn't simply strike a monster's eyes when you had no way to know where it would move.
And I was correct.
I studied her archery, whether it be in a fight or when she was training, and I eventually noticed that the touki that she infused… had tracking capabilities.
Well, not exactly, but something close to that.
Rather, how I interpreted it, with the touki Sara infused into her arrows, she was able to take subtle control of the arrows mid-flight, manipulating their trajectory to strike true whenever possible.
I… didn't understand.
My views on touki that I had held for most of my life had been completely shattered, all because of a single archer that would soon be my sister-in-law.
Initially, as I saw it, touki was only supposed to be formed in one's body or the object they were holding, but with Sara's arrows, I soon learned that it could enhance things outside of touch as well.
Considering I used touki for the Dance of Deluge, this wasn't completely earth-shattering, but it was still a big realization.
But now I learned that touki could be manipulated and actively controlled outside the body too?
That was… ridiculous.
But… thinking about it… it made sense.
Touki was, put simply, mana.
Some could even call it 'enhancement magic' or perhaps even 'person magic'.
It was often used by one's emotions rather than actual control, sure, but it was still mana.
And as mana, it was obvious that it could be manipulated and used outside the body. Rudy's current actions of impaling a Griffon with a mass of earth spikes showed this.
But I wonder… how could I use this?
So much to learn…
With Sara finishing the final Griffon off, I walked up to them with a smile.
"Nice job, you two," I congratulated. "I'll take out the talons and…"
My words trailed off as my Demon eye caught a mass of mana flying towards us, soaring up the edge of the plateau that we were next to.
Screee!
A Griffon revealed itself, it's eyes glaring at the three of us as it rose past the cliff, releasing another shrill cry as it saw the corpses of its fellow Griffons.
Was it angry?
I would feel bad for killing its family, but from what I remember reading, these monsters often ate any offspring that couldn't fly shortly after their births, so I couldn't really care.
"…I'll deal with this."
Walking forward, I decided to put something I had been wanting to test into practice.
Holding my sword to the side, I went through the recent revelations I had gone through.
Manipulating touki outside of one's body… it was possible, as I had recently learned, and touki was just mana.
I had no idea about manipulating touki outside the body, nor did I have any experience with it, but if it was just mana… well, I was pretty good at that.
Concentrating the touki into the blade and onto the edge of the sword, I watched as the Griffon flew closer to me, its claws outstretched and itching to rip me to shreds.
But I ignored that.
Concentrate… concentrate… and release!
I then swung outward, keeping my focus on the touki as I forced it out of the blade.
Normally, when one did this, the touki would dissipate, turning into pure mana that went into the atmosphere and did nothing more.
But now… instead of letting it peter out into nothingness… I concentrated on its shape, ensuring that it kept is shape as I watched the line of touki continue flying through the air, accelerated by my pure will as it pushed forward.
And then, it hit the Griffon, and created a gash in its chest that prompted the monster to screech in pain, momentarily stopping its charge.
It didn't kill it.
It was only a surface level wound, so much less killing it, I likely hadn't even damaged it that much… but I injured it.
With pure swordsmanship, I had hurt a monster from afar, without moving an inch.
"Haha…"
Releasing a chuckle, I then swiped my arm to the side, sending a blade of wind to decapitate the charging Griffon as I turned back to face the other two, the monster slamming to the ground beside me.
Looking down, I sheathed my sword as I clenched my fist, remembering the sensation from before.
I… had just hurt a monster… with swordsmanship… from afar… without actually using my sword.
It needed some more work… scratch that, it needed a lot of work, but…
"Sara… Little Sis…"
"Huh? What is it?"
"…I love you."
"Wha-!?"
Ignoring my stammering little sister, I felt a wide smile spread across my face.
With this, I could get a lot stronger.
With this, I could reach a new realm of swordsmanship.
With this… I wouldn't have to worry about not being enough to defend my family.