Baptism

After waiting around an hour to make sure he was well and truly alone, Paul walked over to his closet and placed his palm atop the sliding door. He had never actually tried summoning the Intersection of Fate using a sliding door, but he doubted such a restriction would exist.

Fortunately, it didn't even take a second before Paul was proven correct as the cracks around the door gained a vibrant blue hue. When the runes had fully formed, he opened the door to find a frozen world with Ei, Jean, Eula, Barbara, Xiangling, and Razor waiting for him.

Taking a deep breath, Paul prepared himself for a tongue lashing before stepping into the IOF. The moment he did so, the world around him came to life as Barbara was the first to shout, "Paul!" in a cheerful tone.

Smiling wryly, Paul made his way over to the platform before pointing to his face and saying, "Thine Heawing."

Though she was briefly confused due to Paul's prominent lisp, Barbara quickly realized what he was asking for when she noticed a 'void' where his teeth had previously been...

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"Thank you, Barbara. You have no idea how grateful I am to have you around at times like this."

Though she felt extremely gratified by Paul's words, Barbara's expression was a severe pout as she questioned, "Who did this to you? Was it that Reida woman?"

Shaking his head, Paul gave the group of girls an explanation of his life over the last half a year. He also described the conditions of the Sword Sanctum and explained that there was a good possibility he wouldn't be able to let them out any time soon.

Fortunately, while people like Barbara were understandably disgruntled, one of the perks of the IOF was that Paul could access it on any moonlit night. He might not be able to let them out, but he could still come and visit them every night. The best part about that was that absolutely no time would pass from their perspective while he was gone.

What Paul didn't expect was for even Barbara to insist that he focus on his training rather than worrying about them. The entire reason he had gone to the Sword Sanctum was to get more powerful, clear his mind, and, to a lesser extent, age himself up a bit so he wouldn't have to feel guilty about going to town on girls whose physical appearances didn't match their ages.

Though he had initially planned to stay for two years, back when he still intended to become a Lord, Paul had discussed the matter with most of the girls and decided to stay at the Sword Sanctum until he was 15. That was the standard for a 'fully matured' adult within the world of Mushoku Tensei, so Paul figured it was an excellent age to set out on his journey...

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After staying within the IOF until he got a distinct impression he should leave, Paul returned to his room in the Sword Sanctum, intending to go to bed. What he didn't expect was to find Ghislaine sitting pensively at the side of his 'bed,' a thin futon and single blanket lying on the ground.

Tilting her head to the side, Ghislaine asked, "You were in the closet? I could not smell you."

Instead of answering the raspy-voiced woman's question, Paul made his way over, sat down in his bed, and asked, "What are you doing here...?" in a legitimately confused tone.

Seeing that Paul suddenly had all his teeth, Ghislaine briefly spaced out before adopting a faint smile and stating, "It's good that your teeth grew back. If I had to chew food for you, I might have eaten it."

Exhaling a light chuckle, Paul noticed the pail of water at Ghislaine's side, asking, "Did you come to bring me water?"

Nodding her head, Ghislaine picked up the bucket and curtly explained, "It's water mixed with salt and sugar. You've lost a lot of blood. This will help."

"Right..."

Though he felt completely fine at this point, Paul humored Ghislaine by downing a few large gulps of the rudimentary saline solution. When he was finished, he passed the bucket back to her, saying, "Thanks." with a friendly smile on his face.

"Mmm..."

"..."

With Ghislaine just staring at him with a blank expression on her face, Paul waited for a couple of seconds before asking, "Is there something you wanted to ask me...?"

Without any hesitation, Ghislaine stated, "You have several new scents on you. Females. Girls I don't recognize."

Though he was a little surprised by the sensitivity of Ghislaine's nose, Paul nodded his head and said, "Yeah, they're my friends and lovers. I can't tell you any more than that, at least not right now."

Tilting her head to the opposite side, an action her inordinately large cat ears to flop, Ghislaine said, "You're a strange boy. Young, but powerful and mysterious..."

Adopting a somewhat brazen smile, Paul playfully retorted, "You're pretty incredible yourself. Tall, bronzed skin, long and free-flowing hair, big tits, and carmine eyes. Come Fall, I imagine I'll be contending with the other guys to try and woo you."

Though her expression didn't change, Paul noticed the tip of Ghislaine's thick, cat-like tail curling slightly as she asked, "Do you desire my body?"

Despite getting the impression he could sleep with the buxom cat girl right then and there, Paul nodded his head but said, "Sure, but I'll claim it on my own terms. I'm kind of tired of my women being stronger than me, so I intend to catch up and defeat you at least once or twice. When I do, I'll take you all the way to the Great Forest so that the entire Beast Race knows who you belong to."

Understanding how important such actions were after spending time with Minne, Paul wasn't too surprised when Ghislaine's tail began to curl and sway with a hint of excitement. They weren't an overtly possessive race, but when it came to choosing a mate, they liked things to be made clear. They also respected the strong and preferred direct action, so, as sus as it sounded, Paul had spent a considerable amount of time thinking about how he would speak and act around Ghislaine.

Causing Paul to feel a little vindicated, Ghislaine nodded her head and said, "Okay. I won't go easy on you, so if you manage to defeat me, I'll become your mate. Hurry up and get stronger."

Seemingly finished with the discussion, Ghislaine rose to her feet and promptly departed without another word. Paul was tempted to stop her, but he didn't really know what they would talk about if she stuck around. Instead, though it was obscured due to her white gi, he just stared at her incredibly toned ass and tail, distinctly aware of the subtle and alluring sway to her hips...

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Despite a somewhat restless night, Paul was still among the first people in the Sword Sanctum to rise. His training with Jean had conditioned him to wake up around 2-3 AM every morning, roughly four hours before the earliest lessons within the Sanctum.

Fortunately, while lessons only occurred at specific times, students of the Sword Sanctum were encouraged to train 24/7 if they could. To this end, there were numerous outdoor training facilities, a rudimentary but fully stocked gym, hundreds of durable wooden mannequins to practice on, and even hot springs to soak your body in once you had worked up a sweat.

Since accessing the hot spring mandated at least four hours of training beforehand, Paul figured he might as well get an early start to the day so he could soak his body before breakfast. What Paul didn't expect, though he really should have, was for Gal to appear like a ghost just as he began practicing his footwork, asking, "You gonna keep training the Water God Style despite being at the Sword Sanctum?"

Shrugging his shoulders in an ostensibly helpless manner, Paul asked, "What else am I going to do? Other than the stuff I've learned watching others, I've never received any lessons in the Sword God Style. I just try to swing my sword as fast as possible while incorporating it into my other techniques."

"Mmm..."

Half-expecting Gal to offer him advice, Paul's pupils shrank to the size of pinholes as the Sword God unexpectedly unleashed his Touki, the force of which slammed into him like a semi-truck. While this might sound like a metaphor, it really wasn't. Gal's Touki was like an explosion that ripped apart the ground and destroyed a part of the dojo as it sent Paul sliding and tumbling backward nearly sixty meters through ice and snow.

Appearing next to Paul's beaten and bruised body, Gal ordered, "Heal up. You said one of the things you were lacking to become a Saint was Touki, right? Time for your baptism."

Without waiting for Paul to recover, Gal began to gradually unleash his Touki. As he did, the world around Paul seemed to vibrate as the ice and snow encircling Gal's body began to compact, almost like gravity within the region was increasing.

Gritting his teeth, Paul used what he and Barbara had collectively named the Spell of Lesser Regeneration. When he did, his minor injuries healed almost instantaneously while his more extensive wounds began to mend themselves at a rate visible to the naked eye.

"Hooo....that's a pretty interesting technique. It kind of reminds me of that pale bastard, Kalman. Did your mother sleep with a member of the Immortal Demon Race...?"

Without waiting for Paul to respond, Gal sent him flying backward with a casual yet devastating kick. Touki added an explosive force behind pretty much any attack and, when infused into a blade, allowed Swordsmen to cut through massive boulders and dragon scales as if they were made of soft tofu. Back when the Sword Sanctum was first formed, the mountain upon which it was built was rumored to have been cut away by the first generation Sword God in a single swipe.

"Touki is harnessed instinct. A lot of people think it's something you can obtain by training hard, but they're wrong. Unless you train as if your life is on the line, forcibly overcoming your limits, Touki will continue to elude you. Yesterday, you used Touki to preserve your life when Ghislaine beat the shit out of you. You've obviously got the talent, so I'm going to keep hitting you over and over again until you either get strong enough to stop me, run away, or awaken your Battle Aura(Touki). Now, if you don't want to die, you had better start fighting back."

Not needing to be told twice, Paul charged towards Gal with a fierce look in his eyes. He was wielding an actual sword at the present moment, but he doubted Gal saw any difference between it and a stick. This proved to be true when the Sword God casually swatted away Paul's blade before kicking him in the ribs with more than enough force to shatter a few...

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Seeing Paul receiving treatment similar to her past self, Ghislaine's ears and tail twitched with frustration as she viewed the 'carnage' from atop the Sanctum's snow-covered roof. While this made it appear as though she was concerned for Paul, the truth of the matter was that she was a little annoyed that he was receiving even worse treatment than her.

Though she despised Gal to the very core of her being, Ghislaine also held a considerable amount of respect for the man known as the Sword God. She understood that Gal was only rough on Paul because the latter could handle it. In other words, at least within Ghislaine's mind, Paul had even greater potential than herself.

As much as she was looking forward to Paul training to both overcome and claim her, Ghislaine simultaneously hated the notion. She was a very prideful woman and had worked hard to get more powerful. Her progress had stagnated once she reached the Rank of Sword Saint a few months ago, but now that Paul was here, Ghislaine was determined to get much stronger. If Paul couldn't claim her by the time he was 15, she would be the one to claim him...

With such thoughts on her mind, Ghislaine descended from her perch with the intention to go and train in the harsher regions of the mountain. When she did, Gal briefly sent a glance her way, a naturally vicious smile developing across his face before he sent Paul flying for the umpteenth time...

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(A/N: For those that are unaware, you can read up to Chapter 93 by visiting Libraryofakasha dot com.)