76 Finesse

"This is an opportunity few are presented with. Try not to disappoint me," said Vira, smiling relaxedly as she stood with her arms slightly spread out near her waist, palms forward, fingers formed into claws, and tail flicking behind her like a flame.

  "It'll be cathartic, one way or another," replied Cairn, pumping his shields and causing steam to emanate from each of the bull-like motifs adorning their surfaces.

Wasting no time, Cairn inhaled the deepest breath of his life, rearing back his head before throwing it forward and opening his mouth as if trying to shout at the top of his lungs. A swirling black mass formed in front of his mouth, and what came out, rather than sound, was a cone-shaped plume of purple-black flames that roiled and rippled toward Vira like a gaseous, ever-accelerating liquid.

Covering her mouth to stifle a yawn, Vira didn't even attempt to block Cairn's poorly controlled [Darkness Dragon's Breath]. When they got close to her, the purple-black flames simply traveled around her, leaving behind a perfectly circular void of untouched grassy landscape.

Using the flames as a kind of smokescreen, Cairn used [Great Leap] to leap into the air, arms raised like the Incredible Hulk as he smashed his hands down on the invisible barrier surrounding Vira. He didn't expect to be able to break through it, but with his flames weakening her barrier and his [Claw of Destruction] increasing his damage, it was worth a try.

"Bzzt, wrong," said Vira, waving her right hand in a backhand gesture that made Cairn feel like a bus had slammed into him, an impact that sent him hurtling back and tumbling across the ground. His own flames threatened to consume him, but due to his recently acquired [Heavenly Divine Body] producing an invisible field that spread to encompass even his armor, he only took a few points of damage per second.

Arresting his momentum by stabbing the gladius-like blade of his shield into the ground, a frown marred Cairn's face as he asked himself, 'What does she mean, 'wrong'? That implies there's a 'right' answer...'

Since Vira was the ninth-strongest entity in the world, Cairn harbored no illusions about being able to harm her. Unless she deliberately weakened it, the barrier protecting her body could probably endure the tail attack of a Rahagora, much less his comparably paltry blows. The [Shadowqueen's Stinger] might be able to slice through it, but that would be the product of luck, not any conscious decision on his part.

"Shall I give you an example?" asked Vira, her voice clear and resonating despite the distance separating them and the crackling sounds produced by the flames.

Without waiting for Cairn's response, Vira pointed the black, talon-like index finger of her right hand at him. As she did so, a sphere similar in size to the one Cairn had produced materialized at its tip. What followed was a thin, drill-like beam of black flames that passed next to Cairn's head in an instant, leaving the left side of his face feeling hot and tender despite the protection of [Okami's Visage].

"Since I gave you an example, I expect you to improve upon it," said Vira, crossing her arms and grinning like a demon.

'This woman really knows how to piss me off...' grumbled Cairn. Though, if he were being completely forthright, Vira's demonstration had given him a pretty massive hint. Since he wasn't a dragon, he didn't possess the heart or gland that allowed them to use their legendary breath attacks. By firing a breath attack from her fingertip, Vira had shown him that his attack was a product of mana manipulation and control, not physiology.

'Then let's see how she likes this...!' Cairn shouted internally, outwardly activating [Grand Leap] to bound nearly twenty meters into the air. The height made him feel vertiginous, but his gaze remained fixed on Vira as he struck a pose that would have made his younger self cringe harder than a 93-year-old woman biting into a lemon...

Unequipping his shields and bringing his hands together near his ribs, kind of like he was holding an invisible sphere, Cairn activated [Darkness Dragon's Breath] and gathered nearly half his Mana into a dense, rapidly spinning orb of destruction. Instead of attempting to fire it off like a beam, however, Cairn waited until he was descending toward Vira like a meteor before retracting his left hand, breaking the sphere's invisible containment before twisting his body and thrusting his right hand forward.

Seeing Cairn abruptly produce a rapidly spinning 'drill' nearly 5m across, the tip impacting her barrier hard enough to cause it to ripple, Vira's right brow perked a full millimeter. Unfortunately, while a drill was an excellent shape for piercing through objects, the prerequisite was getting the tip of the bit into the thing you were trying to pierce. If you couldn't, maintaining the integrity of the construct for longer than a few seconds would require a constant infusion of Mana and extreme control. Furthermore, unless you could stabilize yourself against gravity and the force of your attack...

Having failed to account for the many variables that instantaneously flashed across Vira's mind, Cairn and his drill rebounded off her shield with explosive force. The shock subsequently caused him to lose control of the Mana within the construct, so an actual explosion of purple-black flames rippled through the area, enveloping him at point-blank range.

"I clearly can't give you a passing grade, but the principle of what you were trying to accomplish wasn't bad. You simply lacked the experience and control to pull it off," lectured Vira, sauntering untouched through the flames to find Cairn's mangled, severely burned body on the ground. He had instinctively removed his armor to preserve its Durability, so he ended up bearing the blast with his unprotected body. Vira found it admirable, in a way, but also profoundly senseless...

Raising her right hand and orienting it toward Cairn, Vira extended her nails like black spears, their velocity surpassing lightning as they pierced through the former's vital points, killing him instantly. She could have just as easily healed him, but out of respect for Cairn's 'conservationism,' Vira concluded it was more efficient to put misery and allow him to respawn...

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After several additional bouts against Vira, Cairn emerged from the Interspatial Pouch alongside Kaia, Elle, Mari, and Tarou. The latter had a smug, clearly amused expression that made Cairn want to punt him, but he suppressed the urge in favor of plopping face-first, full of energy but mentally exhausted, onto his bed.

Demonstrating why she was still his favorite, Elle promptly climbed onto Cairn's back, sitting atop his butt and rolling up his tunic before giving him an unexpected but welcome massage. 

"You did well," said Elle, her distinctive pink eyes glistening in fascination at the structure of Cairn's body as she added, "There are probably fewer than ten people that can say they've fought against Grandma and lived to tell the tale. Though, it's probably for the best you never mention it."

Though he was tempted to point out he had died six times, Cairn issued a faint "Nn..." in response to Elle's attempt to console him. He knew she was just trying to be supportive, so while her words weren't what he wanted to hear, he accepted them for the sentiments they contained.

Catching Cairn a little off guard, Elle abruptly lay against him, her breasts pressing against him and warmth flowing into his body as she hugged him and whispered, "I missed you..."

"I missed you too..." Cairn replied, his words sincere but tinged with guilt as he should have missed her a lot more. With Kaia, Zarah, and even Vira to keep him company in the Subterranean Spire, however, there were long periods where he didn't think about Elle at all. The latter was probably in a similar boat, only missing him when her mind wandered, but it didn't 'feel' the same to Cairn.

"Why do I get the feeling you're worrying about something completely unnecessary...?" asked Elle, climbing up Cairn's body to nestle her face next to his, punctuating her words with a kiss to his cheek.

Turning his face to the side, Cairn adopted a faint, slightly wry smile as he muttered, "Because I'm a sentimental fool..." before slowly rolling onto his back, giving Elle plenty of time to adjust. 

Looking over to where Kaia and Mari were standing, the former observing them while the latter fed Tarou a thin rod of silverly metal, Cairn exhaled faintly through his nose before patting the space next to him and asking, "What are you waiting for? This bed is an equal-opportunity cuddle zone. Come and join us."

Adopting a broad smile, Kaia asked, "Should I transform, or is it okay for me to stay like this...?"

"You've always been fine just the way you are," Cairn replied, his smile becoming wrier as he added, "I just have different preferences when it comes to cuddling and sex..."

"Then, just in case..." muttered Kaia, bringing her hands together and gradually transitioning to her bipedal form. Elle's eyes lit up as she did so, but it wasn't because of Kaia's form but the 'possibility' of experiencing something new. She and Mari had taken Kaia's measurements earlier that afternoon, so much of the novelty of a human-form Karakut had already worn off for them. Everything else came down to 'experience.'

Though she was initially planning to excuse herself, Mari's brows perked up when she saw Kaia transform, compelling her to ask, "What's this? Are we about to have an orgy?"

"Chiiiiii..." groaned Tarou, the smugness in his countenance disappearing as he leaped from Mari's hands and scurried out of the room, unwilling to bear witness to what was about to occur. After all, Cairn was a massive pushover when it came to pleasing his women, so with Kaia transformed and Elle and Mari clearly excited, he didn't have the heart to tell them he just wanted to cuddle...

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Departing Cairn's room, Tarou made his way down the nearby flight of stairs, intending to raid Elle's and Mari's workshop for rare materials to ease his frustration. Along the way, he noticed Felix sitting at the bar with a half-empty pint of beer, but even though their gazes met and the former adopted a smile and waved, Tarou completely ignored him.

Entering the kitchen, Tarou stopped to admire Reine's backside, one of his favorite pastimes, but while she was standing at her usual spot, tending a pot of stew, he noticed her cheeks lacked their usual vibrancy. They were still full and shapely, but as a true connoisseur of the female form, Tarou's discerning gaze detected no less than a 7% decrease in overall perk.

Possessing the unblemished heart of a gentleman, Tarou stared intently at Reine's ass for several seconds before exhaling a tired sigh, giving up on his pursuit of comfort food to attend a damsel in distress. 

With such sentiments in mind, Tarou made his presence known with a series of squeaks. There had been several instances where a female he approached failed to recognize his greatness at a glance, resulting in him nearly being stomped on or kicked across the room, so Tarou made sure to give Reine adequate time to realize he had deigned to grace her with his presence and compassion.

Though she was startled when she heard the tell-tale squeak of a rodent, Reine relaxed when she realized where the sound originated, a somewhat forced smile developing across her face as she said, "Well, well, if it isn't Lord Mamongatarou. To what do I owe the pleasure?" 

Causing goosebumps to spread across Reine's body, Tarou crawled up the back of her leg, his nose briefly skimming her butt before he finished his ascent on her right shoulder. Reine had to suppress every instinct she had not to send him flying, but Tarou chalked up her tensing to her being cowed by his grandeur, compelling him to pat her cheek as he exhaled a helpless, "Chii chii chiiii..."

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