"Trainee Ian, did you do something to me last night?"
I was about to sigh in relief for a moment, when Alencia suddenly asked me a question.
Why was she asking me that? Did she sense something strange? Should I pretend not to know? But maybe there was a reason for such a question? Even if I were to lie, wouldn't she notice? Maybe she was actually awake while I rubbed her ears…?
Just because of that question, all sorts of thoughts came and went in my head.
"A massage..."
"A massage?"
"Yes. I gave you a massage last night! Of course, I didn't touch any strange places! I just touched your face… and massaged you."
In the end, the answer I chose was to confront her head-on. I thought it would be better to tell the truth while hiding some of it, rather than lying awkwardly.
To be exact, I did touch her ears, and it's true that I massaged her face. I did admire her beautiful body, though.
"I have the [Massage] skill. When I massage, I get a buff that relieves fatigue and relieves fatigue that builds up in muscles for a certain period of time. I massaged you without permission, hoping that if I did good actions, you might teach me more swordsmanship."
I added some details to the half-truth. I only have the [Heavenly Hands] skill, but it wasn't wrong to say that I had the massage skill. Because the skill effect has [Massage lv.Max] attached to it.
The massage effect wasn't a lie either. In addition, I forced her to sleep again with the option of relieving tension.
It's not a lie to say that I was trying to make a good action. I didn't massage her because of that, but it was a good excuse, thinking back on it.
"...The [Massage] skill…"
Did it work? Since her face was expressionless, it was hard to tell if she felt something strange or not. There was also a chance that she might get angry because I touched her face.
No, honestly, I only told me the truth, right? Even though I was lustfully looked at her body, who would have thought she'd wake up just because of that?
"Ian, you better be careful."
My eyes widened at those words.
Was she really angry?
"No matter how great [Massage] is, you shouldn't just carelessly show it off to others. Weapon techniques like [Swordsmanship] will naturally be known to others, and unless it's a skill that's common, you shouldn't just carelessly tell others about it."
"....Aren't you going to get angry because I touched your face?"
She shrugged. "You didn't have any impure intentions, right? If you had impure intentions when you gave me the massage, then I would have woken up right away. And I didn't wake up because you approached me purely out of kindness."
Well, it wasn't that. But I didn't need to tell…
Did she not notice that she almost woke up last night because of the effects of [Heavenly Hands]? I thought there would be some unpleasant sensation since she had almost woken up in the middle of the night. Especially if it was a racial trait of the elf race.
Anyway… Bottom line is, she didn't notice, right?
"I'd rather thank you. In fact, I succeeded in controlling myself and can wake up at a set time, but when I wake up like that, my body feels heavy, but now I feel refreshed, as if I had slept well. That's why I asked if Trainee Ian did something."
"Well, I'm glad you liked it."
That's really fortunate. I was worried that she would ask more questions, but that didn't seem to be the case.
"By any chance… When we go back to the mansion, could you give me a massage? I'll do it in return."
Oh, this was a pleasant miscalculation.
***
We didn't return to the city right after finishing camping. The training was still going on.
Even though the intense training continued for two days in a row, I relieved my fatigue with [Heavenly Hands] during the night, and it also had the effect of reducing the fatigue accumulating in my muscles, so it was much more doable than I thought.
No, rather, my muscles' flexibility had increased a little, and the slight misalignments in my body had been corrected, making me noticeably more developed than yesterday.
"You're progressing faster than I thought… It feels like your body itself has improved a little more than my swordsmanship."
Then, he noticed it with his keen eye.
"How on earth do you know that?"
"Excellent craftsmen or high-level explorers basically have skills like [Intuition] or [Observation]. You will acquire them as you explore the labyrinth as well."
[Intuition] and [Observation]... are they skills for understanding your opponent? Intuitive names. When I came to this world, I checked my skills at the temple.
Come to think of it, does Alencia know anything about [Absorption]? Should I just ask?
"By any chance... Are there any skills among those who come from other worlds, or even just explorers, that give you 'experience points'?"
That kind of question shouldn't be weird to ask, right? Everyone would have a great desire for 'experience points.'
At my question, Alencia stopped walking and stared at me.
"As far as I know, none. A skill that gives experience points... If such a skill existed, everyone would want to obtain it."
Hmm. Does Alencia, a high-level explorer, not know anything? Maybe she was just hiding it, but it didn't really feel like she was lying. The answer came right away.
I wondered if it was because I was from another world that I had gained a skill related to experience points...
Hmm...
"But you know how to get more experience points, right?"
"Yes?"
"The Labyrinth."
The Labyrinth. That's right. The reason why people keep challenging labyrinths. They do it to gain a little more experience.
Labyrinths and experience...
"So, don't be impatient about experience points. You've just acquired the [Swordsmanship] skill, so you might want to level it up, but you shouldn't be impatient. Take your time and explore the labyrinth. Rather than going through a crisis in a short period of time, surviving longer in the labyrinth is the way to gain more experience points. Always remember that your life comes first."
Perhaps she thought that I asked about experience points because I was impatient, so she spoke to me in a warm tone, which was unusual for Alencia.
Perhaps she thought that I would overdo it because she saw me asking about experience points, so she spoke with concern that my life came first. It was definitely touching words, but my mind was elsewhere.
'Labyrinth... [Adaptation].... Labyrinth and [Adaptation]... and experience points...'
My mind was cluttered with thoughts about the [Adaptation] skill.