13 ????

Desire was sitting in a large stone with the vibrant trees still standing tall. Looking at them, Desire smiled.

'They were saved…'

He was staying in the place where the village of the Suckus was located. He still doesn't understand how it works but he was grateful that they were saved.

Looking in front, he could see some women busily moving to restart their daily lives. Of course, the higher-ups were busy too planning countermeasures for when the humans attacked again.

They don't know the reason why the humans attacked but they would probably come back with a force greater than before. Desire was extremely happy about their safety.

What's more is that the women who didn't want to wait for Desire apologized to him. Even though he didn't know anything about it, they still apologized. That simple gesture shocked Desire and moved his heart.

Of course, the reason they apologized was because they learned that Desire was the one who saved them. Technically speaking, it was Percia who was summoned by Desire.

'Liya is working hard too.'

Desire remembered the event that happened after they went back. It was that Liya was out of time. He received information about it from Lyra so he was quite shocked that she used something like that.

Liya's body was crumbling, no…aging. It was the aftereffects of using up all of her life force. A Suckus' body that didn't even show their real age was aging in an instant. It was quite a shock for Desire but he couldn't do anything about it.

Sad he may be he isn't a powerful being who could stop it. Hell, it was crazy that he was thinking of stopping a 'natural' death even though he hadn't even reached the age of one.

However what happened next shocked all. Even Percia who was just silently flapping his wings in a corner was silent, unable to comprehend.

Liya's body that was aging suddenly shone light. It wasn't part of the process so the women were nervous. Even though there were indeed factions within the village, they aren't ambitious enough to kill someone.

The light soon faded and it revealed the previous form of Liya. The face that Lyra inherited was still there; striking and beautiful. The hair that had the same color as her daughter was lying on the ground. She wasn't on the form of a Succubus but instead of a Dryad.

It was a phenomenon that was unbelievable to the Suckus. Of course, all of them were shocked but the most prevalent emotion was the sense of relief. They immediately started to check up on her but it turned out that she was fine.

'Even Percia was shocked.'

Of course, Percia who probably had a lot of knowledge was flabbergasted about it. He probably knew about the price of using the grand magic.

If one asked a Suckus about their strength, that Suckus would probably laugh at the questioner. The essence of a Suckus was frail.

However it's not all bad things for Desire. In this event, Percia answered a lot of his questions.

'My mana is probably the most mysterious thing about me.'

The one thing that Percia couldn't answer was Desire's mana. When Desire said that he had only 1 mana, Percia smacked his head with his beak. He said with conviction.

"There's no way your mana will be that low if you can summon me!"

Percia was a being who Liya, in her Succubus form, was scared of. He had a might great enough to push off a force of 300 humans and he was also powerful enough to deal with the fire that the Suckus, with their numbers, wasn't capable of putting it out. The fire was even being controlled by someone with enough strength to keep it going, even with the help of various oils and magicians.

It would be strange if one could summon a being like that with that kind of ridiculously low mana. It wasn't even a joke; it was an insult to Percia! That's why…

"If you're joking with me, I'll kill you. Brat."

Unlike his usual rough tone, Percia spoke in a low voice and a calm tone that it almost sounded a beast was growling. Of course, it wasn't the intention of Desire to insult Percia. What with his love for monsters, there's no way that would come to pass.

Desire tried hard in convincing Percia and that he even stated that he could kill him if he was lying. There were quite a few ways to tell if someone was indeed lying but in the end, without doing anything, Percia just said 'alright, I'll believe you for now.'

'Still, Percia was quite a weird one.'

Even though Desire was always bombarded with his loud voice and his swearing, Desire was actually quite happy meeting Percia. That happiness became intense that it could be called euphoria when he heard the question to how he summoned Percia.

"Ha! You really are foolish. There's only one reason why you would be able to summon me. Possibility or rather, the potential of yours called me. I don't know how your subconscious did it but I can't think of any other reason if not that."

Desire found it weird that Percia phrased it as possibility but he didn't mind it that much. He was happy that Percia basically said that he had potential, great enough to be able to summon a strong monster.

Though it was indeed weird how his subconscious did it since he didn't have many experiences. He asked Percia of how he was able to stay for a long time despite nothing was happening to Desire.

"That's because 'you' used a medium to summon me. That was the water that you were previously submerged in. Still, I can't believe that was enough to cause my stay longer…"

Desire was smiling after remembering his conversation with Percia. That was how happy he was at the thought of having potential especially after being lost with magic.

Desire stood up and with a look of determination, he shouted with his fists clenched near his chest.

"I'll try summoning another guy like Percia!"

As he tried brought his palm out in front, he shouted with an ever louder voice.

"Summon Aquatic Lords!"

Then, as if responding to his cry, a great mass of water appeared out of nowhere. It spiraled around Desire and soon coagulated in a single spot.

Appearing from it; jumping with great vigor was a great fish! Squirming on the ground, it splashes the water on its body with such strength!

Desire looked down on it as he muttered.

"Eh? Isn't…this a normal fish?"

With the size of a fish that you could see on any market and with the color of ordinary all over its body, it screamed the word normal with its squirming.

"W-what happened? Why, a fish has been summoned?!"

Desire bent a knee to look all over the fish. He couldn't believe the sight in front of him. He thought that, at the very least, a monster will come out but…an ordinary fish?

"I-it died."

After the fish struggled on the ground, it stopped moving. Then he heard the voice of the system.

[Desire doesn't have the necessary qualifications to use the skill: Summon Aquatic Lords]

[To use Summon Aquatic Lords, Desire must be one with the water]

[Current progress of being one with the water: 5%]

Desire froze in shock after hearing the message of the system. . After being told that he had potential, he was looking forward to testing the summoning skill. That's why he thought this summoning too will work out but of course, life wasn't easy.

As he was still in shock, Desire didn't notice the water that didn't disappear even after spouting out the fish.

Within the water that was still as the sky, a gaze was directed at Desire as if he was a prey…

****

Liya woke up in her usual bed, in her usual room. She was carried here by her daughter as she passed out yesterday.

"W-what happened…?"

She touched her head to see that her horns weren't there and she also couldn't feel her tail.

"D-didn't I die?"

Liya knew that if a Suckus used their grand magic, they would die. She also knew that she was no exception to that rule. That's why she prepared herself for her death to come but she was still alive.

Not being able to believe it, she stood up and approached the door. She tried to push it aside but it suddenly opened and the face of her daughter appeared beyond it.

Lyra spoke with a delighted tone while hugging Liya.

"Mother! Are you alright now?"

Liya reciprocated her feelings as she pat her daughter's back.

"Y-yeah, what happened?"

"I don't know. To be honest, all of us don't know. After the…process of aging, your body shone light and you were the same as before."

Liya moved from her daughter's arms as she thought about it.

'Light? What does that mean…?!'

As she was contemplating, a voice disturbed her thoughts.

[The God, ????, has given you their divine protection]

[????'s blessings will help Liya in surpassing her limits]

[Change complete]

Liya was flabbergasted but as soon as she heard the last of it, Liya checked her Status page and there, it was written.

[Divine protection: ????'s blessings]

'W-what is this…what kind of god is-'

"Mother?"

She couldn't continue her thinking as her daughter saw her troubled face. Liya answered her daughter with an 'I'm fine' then she asked for water. Lyra immediately went for one and Liya was left alone in her room.

Liya sat in her bed while her mouth was curled upwards to form a faint smile as she spoke.

"What is happening…"

She closed her eyes as she waited for the water.

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New skills

-Auto Mana Regeneration: G

-Magic Resistance: G

-Summon Aquatic Lords: G