Chapter 2

Time seemed to fly as I threw myself head first into my studies—and my attempt to seduce Roxy through our shared love of magic. 

I trained by myself in the early mornings until the others woke up and it was time for breakfast. After breakfast, Roxy taught me until lunch time. I had expected just an education in magic, but I have to hand it to her, the girl was thorough and liked to talk about the subjects she loved. She taught me the history and geography of this world and the country in particular, of the races and magic of the world, and more. 

She tried to see how much she could teach me in math, since I was obviously literate, but when I broke out geometry and calculus she gave up with a chuckle and a quiet request for me to teach her what I could. The fact that she made the request and didn't seem to bear any hard feelings about it was proof enough in my mind that fences were mending on that front. After lunch, I had sword practice with Paul. 

The man couldn't teach worth a shit. Especially not when I had Roxy to compare him to, for a subject related to this world's esoteric arts. Oh, he was an excellent swordsman and I could learn footwork and forms all day long by simply watching him go through his own practice and repeating what I saw—something I had picked up in my first lifetime from years of martial arts, before I was forced to drop out. 

But when it came time to explain what he actually did to do things like cut a boulder with his wooden sword? The man boiled it down to what amounted to sounds and motions, as though that would carry all the meaning in the world. When I'd asked if it involved channeling magic through the body, his answer was to shrug and scratch his head sheepishly like he didn't even know how he did the things he did. Roxy was, unfortunately, no help on that front—she was strictly a rear line fighter, a pure mage. So, I went back to trying to figure out how to essentially move my body with mana. I had a little success when I took basic biology into consideration and applied that to what I was doing. Namely, to put it in anime terms, it was the problem Deku had with One For All when he first got it—trying to boost one body part injured it and everything attached to it, because every part of the body is connected to a bunch of other parts. What I wound up doing was the magical equivalent of Full Cowling—boosting my entire body with magic at once. It helped, but it didn't provide the sort of explosive power Paul had. He was happy to see that I was making progress, but I was left to conclude that I was missing a step and he was too much of a meathead to tell me what it was. In the evenings before bed, I'd pull Roxy aside and find somewhere quiet. 

Then, we'd spend the next hour or two just talking about things in between chants while she burned through her mana and tried to chase the feeling she couldn't quite hold on to. I could tell she was getting close though, given the way she had begun shortening her incantations. Most of those conversations were her telling me about her village, the demon continent, and life in the world outside of the little pastoral scene we enjoyed together. It was nice. When night fell, we'd have supper and hit the sack. 

Roxy's presence made my parents more willing to open up and reminisce about their time as adventurers, if only to compare stories with Roxy—who apparently had her own short-lived career as an adventurer, before deciding that she would rather teach. After that, I generally spent another hour or two staying up to play with magic. Mostly, I worked on trying to make ice and earth sculptures to further hone my control. 

One night, about six months in, I called it a night a little early. I had to piss and my parents were being particularly enthusiastic tonight. Jesus, it's like listening to a porno being filmed next door, I mused, rolling my eyes as I carried my ball of flames out of the room. Turning down the hallway towards the stairs that lead down to what passed for a restroom, I caught sight of Roxy's nightgown clad form sitting in the hall. For a moment, I worried something may be wrong, before my eyes adjusted to the dark and I made out more details. She was kneeling, her gown pulled up to mid-thigh. 

As usual for this time of night, her hair was down but part of it clung to her face. She was flushed and sweating, staring down the hall towards where Paul and Zenith's door was cracked open, spilling candle light into the hall. From my position, I couldn't really make out anything but part of the bed, but knowing the room's layout I could guess that from where Roxy was sitting, she had a pretty good view. 

Must be damn good, I realized, focusing in on where her hands worked herself over. One hand clutched at her small right breast, playing with her nipple through the fabric. The other was under her gown, strumming a tune as old as time against her sex—not that I could see that bit. Unfortunately. Apparently noticing the change in light levels, because by now I was a goddamn ninja when it came to sneaking through the house after dark, Roxy's head turned slowly. Blue eyes hazed with lust tracked drunkenly across the hall before landing on me. Her lips were parted as she quietly panted for breath, glistening in the low light. 

Our eyes met. My dirty old man brain reacted before common sense could convince me to just go back to bed and allow her the dignity of at least pretending I hadn't seen what I had. I allowed my eyes to trail down her form, visibly eyeing her up as a grin came to my lips. I met her eyes again and if anything, her flush had deepened—either in embarrassment for being caught, or excitement over the same. Well, she hasn't splattered me yet. If Roxy didn't want me looking, she had any number of ways to reprimand me using magic. 

Chanting just required one to speak the words—they didn't have to be at conversational volume, which was something we had discovered while working together at night to get her casting silently. A whisper would work just fine. Roxy was good enough that, if she wanted, she could have shown her displeasure without so much as moving from her spot, let alone drawing the attention of my parents away from what they were doing. She didn't though, and it was too good an opportunity to pass up. Deciding to go for broke, I jerked my head towards my room in invitation before turning away and heading for my door, letting the fireball I was carrying fade out as I did. I slipped inside and took a moment to collect the dirt I'd been using for earth manipulation. 

I made a cup and relived myself before throwing the whole thing out the window and letting the mana dissipate before it hit the flower bed below my window. Slipping into bed, I leaned against the wall, eyeing the door as I waited and listened. I was almost ready to just lay down and go to sleep when the door to my room opened just enough for a particularly thin teenager to slip in. 

The candle light coming from Paul and Zenith's room cast enough light to silhouette Roxy as she crossed the threshold. She pressed the door to behind herself, casting the room in inky darkness. 

The stars didn't provide enough light to really see by and tonight was a new moon, or close enough to not matter. I could hear her breathing in the dark, her breath coming in quick little pants, but she didn't move from where she stood by the door. Holding out my hand, I cast fireball again, providing a candle's worth of illumination. Roxy was flushed from the cheeks down, past her neck, to what little of her chest I could see given the cut of the night gown she wore. 

I patted the bed to my left twice and waited. Looking unsure of herself, nevertheless Roxy bravely crept forward, before finally coming to rest on top of the bed beside me. She opened and closed her mouth several times, clearly trying to find something to say. From the way her thigh occasionally twitched against mine and the fact that her nipples were still visibly stiff, I guessed I had probably spoiled it for her. Sorry, Roxy. 

Didn't mean to cockblock you. Well. No. Sorry, not sorry, if it meant keeping Paul's hands away from her. I'd seen the way he looked at Lilia—and her own looks, when she thought no one was watching. If they weren't fucking yet, they would eventually. 

And the way a few of the ladies in the village or the neighbor woman shared the same looks and Paul did his own share of looking any time we went out together. My father had a bit of a wandering eye and I didn't feel like giving him an excuse to move in on the girl I was looking to take for my own. 

NTR is a shit fetish and I was absolutely not interested in seeing Roxy join in on Paul and Zenith's nightly activities if that sort of thing was common enough for it to happen should she get caught. 

On the other hand, the man clearly had a type given who he married and the maid, and Roxy didn't exactly fit that type. Namely, big tittied women. I couldn't exactly blame him, either. The man had good taste. And on the other, other hand, he had implicitly agreed to support me pursuing Roxy…Roxy pulled me from my thoughts as she finally spoke up. "What you saw… That is, I don't… Nn. ""Roxy?" I stopped her, resting a hand gently on her thigh. It was warm and firm through the night gown. 

She jumped slightly at the touch, but quickly stilled. "It's okay. I'm young, not stupid, or blind. Or deaf. I'm honestly not sure how Lilia has handled it for as long as she has and stayed sane. ""You," she faltered, "you know? What I was doing?"I tilted my head enough to look her in the eye. "Masturbating. Playing with yourself. God I hate not having a proper dictionary or thesaurus. "Lacking the ability to communicate anything that wasn't in the five books in our study or that I hadn't picked up from either my parents, Lilia, my rare trips to the village when someone else wanted me to go with them, or from Roxy without using English or searching for a roundabout way to describe what I wanted to say sucked. Roxy looked away and I chuckled. "Not judging you for it. It's normal. "

The girl turned to give me an incredulous look. "Really. Just… do me a favor? Don't do it in the hall, where you can get caught? I like having you around and I don't want to risk someone asking you to leave if that happens. ""That, that's it? 'Don't get caught?' Not 'stop doing it?' Or 'stop masturbating to my parents?'"I idly rubbed her thigh as I shook my head. "Nah. Don't want you to stop. In fact, I'm tempted to offer to help," I chuckled, earning a raised eyebrow from her. "But I get the feeling you wouldn't. As for that last part? I get it. I mean, mom's hot. I like girls, but dad's a good looking guy. 

Maybe I got lucky and I'll get the best of both worlds there and in ten or so years, I'll be the kind of guy that makes your panties wet. "Roxy considered me for a while before a small smile pulled her lips upwards and she turned away. "You're a strange boy, Rudy. ""Mm. Yeah, probably. Or so people keep saying, anyway. " Humming quietly, I said, "I'll keep this a secret for you. ""Thank you," Roxy whispered, reaching out and running her fingers through my hair, before pulling me into a hug against her side. I chuckled quietly when I remembered just where those fingers had recently been. I trust her and I think she's open-minded enough to at least listen. Worst that happens is she tells Paul and Zenith. 

Which would be bad… But I don't think she's going to. Just to be sure, I'd better be ready to provide some proof. Luckily, I know things a child of this world can't possibly know. My mind was made up. "I don't want you to feel like I'm holding it over your head, though. "The girl beside me hummed inquisitively before asking, "Like with the teaching?""Mhmm," I agreed. My hand squeezed her upper thigh, causing her leg to tense and goose flesh to break out on her exposed skin. I pretended not to notice exactly what I was doing to her—she came in here aroused and my little 'innocent' touches had only served to keep her on edge. Was I a bastard? Probably. Going to hell? Maybe. I'd take my chances at this point. 

She was closer to being an adult by this world's standards than I was (physically, even if she was on the low end of my estimate. Fifteen was considered adulthood here. "So, I'll give you one of my secrets to hold on to. Can't say I have many, but it's worth the trade. ""Oh?""I'll tell you tomorrow. "

This was not a conversation I wanted to have in the house, after all. "Is it how you're 'cheating' at magic?"I blinked, somewhat surprised that she remembered that. "Yeah. Pretty much. "Grinning, and wanting to lighten the mood, I decided to tease her a bit. "So tell me, Roxy. Which excited you more? The watching or the being watched?"The girl beside me gave a full body twitch, her fingers momentarily stopping their idle scratching atop my head before they shortly resumed. She continued to shudder slightly and I felt her breathing pick up again. "You won't tell?""Nope. Probably going to use it to my advantage in the future, however. When I'm finally old enough to seduce you properly," I admitted. "Ten, no, eight years," Roxy declared quietly. 

I turned enough to give her a raised eyebrow at that. Roxy looked away with a blush. "You're interesting and you'll probably look like your parents…" she trailed off. Finally, she whispered, "Both are good, but being watched…"She was adorable and I wanted to hug her, so I did. "You didn't finish, did you?" I asked with a teasing tone. Roxy shook her head once. I considered just how far I could push her before eventually letting go. 

"Go have fun. " I felt her tense to move, "Or," she paused, blue eyes turning down to meet my green. I smiled as I gave her an alternative. "I'm already sworn to keep your secret. If you wanted to try exploring that, my door is open. "Roxy bit her lip. I could practically see her internal struggle before she shook her head slowly. "I probably shouldn't. ""Probably," I agreed. "Doesn't mean you can't. If you're not comfortable with it, I won't push. But I bet what I tell you tomorrow will change your mind. "The bluenette's lips twitched into a small smirk. "What will you wager?""Oh, if I win, I'm helping," I answered instantly. "I'm not passing up that opportunity. If I lose, whatever you want. "A quiet laugh escaped her lips before the demon girl leaned over and kissed me. 

On the temple, but I'd take it as a win. "Good night, Rudy. I'm going to go 'have fun. ' See you in the morning. ""Night, Roxy. Pleasant dreams. "Roxy fled, the sound of her feet padding through the hallway quiet but audible in the silence of the house now that Paul and Zenith were finished. 

Well, mostly silent—I could hear Paul snoring from here. I heard her door shut and breathed a quiet sigh. I think… I think we're good. Yeah, this is good. Just try not to fuck it up. I let my fireball disperse and crawled under the covers. In the process, I discovered that my dick was fully capable of thinking for itself at this age. Well, at least it works. Grow up big and strong little guy. 

Maybe I should do cock pushups?The next day came and, aside from a little blushing on Roxy's part at the breakfast table, everything was pretty much normal. As soon as we finished eating, I asked, "Is it alright if Roxy and I take Caravaggio and head into the village?"Paul and Zenith looked curious, while Lilia… oh, she was interested, she was just hiding it by doing the dishes. "What for?" Paul asked. "Got a project I want to get her opinion on. 

I want to see what's available there so I'll know what I'm working with. "Zenith hummed, curiosity in her voice as she asked, "What sort of project?"I grinned. "I'm not spoiling the surprise. I'll need some money to make it work, but today I'm just going to get an idea of what I'm looking at, cost-wise. 

I'll let you know when we get back and I've got everything worked out. "My parents had one of those silent conversations before Paul finally shrugged and Zenith nodded. "Alright. If Roxy doesn't mind?""It's fine. I can teach while we ride," Roxy agreed. I knew she would, too. That is, if I intended to give her the chance. 

We'd probably be a bit preoccupied for that. Paul went out and saddled the horse while we got ready by preparing a lunch to take with us. 

We finished quickly and saddled up, then hit the road. I leaned back against Roxy's warm, soft form as we rode. That robe really hid her assets, but pressed against her like I was they were very comfortable. "I'm tempted to have you give your lesson first, just to show I'm serious about them. ""I already know you're serious about my lessons," Roxy said, and I could hear the smile and pride in her voice. Taking that as an invitation, I considered where to start. Eventually, I asked, "What is this world's stance on reincarnation. 

Sorry, don't have a word for it in this language. Dying and then being born again as someone else, in a new life. ""Reincarnation," Roxy provided the word for me. I knew her well enough to know that her silence meant she was thinking, so I waited. 

The movement of the horse and Roxy's warmth against my back made me want to go back to sleep, but I resisted. Eventually, she said, "No religion is against it or denies the possibility that one of the gods would reincarnate someone. However, to my knowledge, there has been no real evidence of it ever happening. 

Are you suggesting that you lived a previous life and were reincarnated in this era?"I nodded. "Something like that. I'm not actually from this world. "Roxy's reply was a quiet hum. "The other five worlds were supposedly destroyed, which lead to the races all living in the human world. ""No, not one of those. A world entirely different and disconnected from this one. " Roxy fell silent and after a few minutes of nothing but the evenly paced sound of Caravaggio's hooves clopping along the path, I sighed. "I can prove it, Roxy. My world, Earth—well, I suppose Earth is accurate in this language, actually. We didn't have magic. What we did have were wonders of technology and science. "

With a frustrated breath, I explained further. "Science is the study of the natural laws and things of and within the world. Technology is a practical application of specific fields of science. The jump from bronze to iron, and from iron to steel? The wheel, the cart, the plow, the sail—all technology. ""I see," the bluenette murmured. "What sort of 'si ents' and 'tek nol ogy' did your Earth have?"Tilting my head back, I regarded the larger girl behind me, studying her face. Finding she wasn't just humoring me, I considered the best example to give her. Inspiration struck in the form of a hawk circling above us and I grinned. Pointing upwards, I asked, "Roxy, do you know how birds fly?"Her answer came quickly, but her tone was curious—as though, having asked her, she found she wasn't entirely sure. "Their wings push on the air. ""And how do they glide?"She fell quiet for a moment before giving her answer. "They fall slowly in the general direction they were traveling because their wings catch the air, much like a sail. Moving their wings or tail causes them to change direction, in the same way a rudder steers a ship. "The girl's eyebrows went up when I leered. "And how do they rise without flapping?" She opened her mouth and I quickly added, "Excluding thermals and air currents. "Roxy's teeth clicked quietly as she closed her mouth and frowned. Looking away, specifically up at the hawk still flying nearby, she contemplated the question. 

Eventually, she gave up. "I don't know. "Shifting in my seat, I reached out towards the ground below us and silently cast the same earth manipulation spell I had been using to make models recently. My model this time was a bird—a sparrow that fit the palm of my hand, its wings outstretched. Holding it up and back, I waited for Roxy to take it. "See the wings? Their shape? How the top curves?""Yes. ""That curve generates a force known as lift. You mentioned a rudder?" I asked, and she nodded. "It's kind of like that, but with air and a specific shape. Fluid or air moving over an object exerts force on it and lift happens when part of the flow moves perpendicular to the rest of the flow—that is, part of it is forced to move at a right angle. " I held my hands up to show her what I meant. Focusing on the blob of magic and dirt in her hands, I forced it to shift. "My people looked to the sky and dreamed of flight since man first walked upright. One day, a pair of brothers put together a scrap heap made of cloth and wood, climbed on, and made it work. Then, they stuck a motor on it and made the first powered flight. ""This is," Roxy murmured, turning over the model glider in her hands. The glider shifted under my direction, pulling images from my memory. "Of course, every new invention leads to innovations in warfare. 

War took to the skies, rendering ground troops if not obsolete then secondary—for he who controls the sky controls the ground. " The P-51 model in her hands shifted into something sleeker, with swept back wings and no visible propellers, instead it had tubes on the under sides of the wings. "Planes got faster and faster over the years. Eventually, we figured out rockets and went out into space. We put men on the moon. And that's just what we did with the knowledge of lift and thrust, and a bit of chemistry. Has this world discovered atoms yet—the tiny pieces that make up everything? Cells? The things living beings are made of? How about electricity—have you learned how to harness lightning and from it, create light, warmth, sound, or to make things move?"Roxy stared as the model space shuttle in her hand shifted into a model I was familiar with—a large sphere orbited by a single, much smaller spheres. 

I couldn't make the pieces stand free, so I had to use tracks of earth to hold them in place. I reduced its size, splitting it into three connected pieces—two larger clumps of spheres and a single smaller sphere. "Do you know what this is, Roxy?"Her voice was barely a whisper as she asked, "What is it?""That is dihydrogen monoxide. If you try to breathe it, you die. 

Too much or too little of it, you die. If you split it into its component pieces, it explodes and burns violently. Despite being so dangerous, it is required for life to exist. It makes up about seventy percent of our bodies. And it is one of the four elements of combat magic. "Roxy blinked, looking at the atomic model in her hands with sudden understanding. "Water. This is water. ""If you took a drop of water and separated out the smallest identifiable piece of it that could still be called water, that's about what it would look like. 

Two parts hydrogen, one part oxygen. Two gasses combined to make a liquid. So, do you believe me now?"The bluenette pressed against my back nodded once, firmly. "Yes. Please teach me. I want to learn everything. The advances that could be made in magic with that kind of knowledge…"I turned back and gave her a smile. "Roxy, how old do you think I am? Mentally, not physically. ""An adult, given your behavior and knowledge. For a human, I would guess perhaps in your thirties?" she asked. I nodded. "Surprisingly close. Late 30s. Counting the four years I've spent here, I'm forty-one. "Blue eyes blinked. "Older than me," she murmured. "Well, yeah, I kind of figured. I'm older than my parents. " I sighed, shaking my head. "That is what you consider 'cheating' at magic. 

Having the knowledge you do. An adult's mindset in the body of a child. You wouldn't get distracted the way a child does with their studies. ""Yeah. Really, between the two of us, I'm more impressed at what you've managed to do. I'm only as good as I am because I've got knowledge of science, not to mention books, games, and other sources to draw on for inspiration. My first thought on learning I could use magic was, 'how can I break this,' because in the fantasy and adventure games I enjoyed figuring out how to exploit things. Learning the rules and then finding ways to circumvent, break, or disregard them was what I loved most. You look at magic as a system you learn, and you've become great at it. I look at magic as a system I'm supposed to break, and I feel like I'm just stuck because I'm still learning the fundamentals. Can't break the system if you don't understand the system. "Chuckling quietly, I added, "And then there's the fact that you're the first person I've actually been able to truly relate to…" Shaking my head, I brought myself back on topic. "Anyway, I pointed that out so that you'd understand just how long we're talking here, on a scale of human lifespan. I spent almost twenty years in school, learning what I know. Thirteen years on what we considered a basic education and four years after that of higher education in the form of college. Then, because I enjoy studying things that catch my interest, I spent the following years learning whatever struck my fancy in between working various jobs. "Shifting in my seat a bit so I could stop craning my neck, I made my offer. "I'll be happy to teach you whatever you want to learn, but even stripped of all the things you probably already know, it's going to take years. 

Do you plan to stay in Fittoa that long, just hanging around the farm and learning?" When she looked away, I turned back to face the front, putting my eyes on the road. "Didn't think so. But," I reached back and patted her thigh, "I get it. Eventually, I'm going to leave and probably go to that magic school you told me about. Maybe do some traveling, adventure for a while. When I'm ready to do that, I want you at my side. Eight years. 

That sound about right? Think you'll find whatever it is you're looking for in that time?""Perhaps," Roxy murmured. "Adventuring together does sound nice. Delving into labyrinths. Fighting monsters during the day…""Teaching you what I know at night. We could finish off the night trying to see if we can outdo my parents for making the people around them suffer. " Roxy laughed and I craned my neck again to meet her eyes. 

"You think I'm joking. One day, you will fall in love with me. I'm going to marry you and spend the rest of our days knocking you up. "Roxy held my gaze as a blush spread down her face to her neck. "I don't know what you said, but somehow I have the feeling it was embarrassing. ""Oh, absolutely," I agreed seriously, before turning back to the road. "Remind me to teach you English. Could be useful to have a secret language only the two of us understand. ""Mm," she agreed. I was surprised when I felt a slim pair of arms wrap around my waist and her chin come to rest atop my head. 

My hands found hers, resting lightly atop them as I relaxed and enjoyed the ride. "So, on to a lighter topic. Does this world have indoor plumbing? Pipes that bring water in and waste out?"Roxy's head shaking shifted her chin into my hair. "Nothing more complex than hand pumps to bring water inside to a kitchen, as your house has. 

At least, not this far outside of the cities. In some cities, there are aqueducts that do bring in water and some have a sewage system to remove waste. ""What about hot running water?" I asked, and Roxy shook her head. "Not without expensive magical tools or wood burning furnaces to heat it. ""Yeah, no. This will not stand. 

Do you happen to know how to make magic circles? I remember we talked about them being able to make sustained effects. "Her head shook again. "It's something I want to learn. "I frowned at the hurdle. "Okay, that's not the end of the world. I know mom can use Elementary rank fire and water spells, and that's really all we need between her and me. And you, while you're here. Picture if you will. . . " I explained the design for a basic water tower and pipe system to bring hot water in. "That is what I want. A bath where I can sit and soak up to my neck. Or a shower that makes hot water rain down on me. Washing every few days with a rag and a bucket you can just barely sit in just doesn't cut it. 

What do you think?"Humming quietly, and sending the sound straight into my head where she was pressed against me, Roxy eventually gave her answer. "It would be expensive. You could cut the cost by using metal only for the pipes. For the tanks and the tub, you could use stone created using earth magic to move mud up and heated with fire magic so that it doesn't collapse when you stop supplying it with magic. 

It would be heavier than metal, however, so your tower structure would need to be stronger to support it. "That's fine. Wood's easy enough to get and we would work it with magic, couldn't we? Dry it out with fire and wind spells, or water spells to pull out the water. Then cut and shape it with wind spells. Sounds like an excuse to try out new ways to use magic to me. " I felt the little mage nod. "We'd need nails to hold it up, but that shouldn't be a problem. Using stone for the tanks would actually be better in a way, because it retains heat. 

Once it gets hot, it'll stay hot longer, and it'll be less prone to freezing in the winter. Now, I just need to remember how to make a proper flush toilet. "Going to need some cork for the floater. Flapper valve could be made of stone, but it might be better using metal. 

Definitely need metal for parts on the fill valve. That's going to be a bitch and a half. Doubt anyone around here could machine the parts needed with that sort of precision. Well, I know I can shape metal, it's just expensive in terms of mana, but it's not like I don't have mana for days and as usual, doing it will just give me more mana so… good practice for fine control and in expanding my reserves. If this works out well, I should probably look into doing more stuff like this in the future. 

Good for practice and maybe I could find a way to sell it and make some money on the side. 

And so, we planned out how to make plumbing using magic. Roxy didn't let go until we entered the village proper, and when she put her arms around me again when we left, I didn't say anything and simply enjoyed it.