Testing

'Okay, the sooner I start this the better. If I encounter any problems I can have Alice kiss me or do something lewd so I can resolve it. Alright, let's do this.'

Noir didn't immediately try his hand at learning the new skill. A part of him was worried about screwing up and making a mess, and the other half was excited at the prospect of gaining a new ability.

Instead, he spent some time psyching himself up while viewing the Mana crystal like it was some kind of specimen. He knew that if he was too eager or troubled then the chances of him fumbling were high, as such he spent some time performing his breathing techniques to cool his mind a little. A clear head was much needed in a situation like this, just like when you're studying.

"Alright, I'm going to try it."

"Good luck, Big brother."

Alice wished him well on his experiment as he closed his eyes and tried following the Great Sage's words. The first step was similar to how he first learned reinforcement magic. He could feel the mana coming from the crystal and tried getting a feel for it.

The energy escaping the crystal was calm. Almost akin to a puddle in the ground that would ripple now and then whenever it interacted with anything. In this case, it was Noir's mana as he tried using it to approach it.

At first, it seemed to have worked. The mana wasn't doing anything unusual as if what Noir was doing was nothing that bothered it and nothing from the outside perspective seemed to have changed, but once Noir tried to move the mana was when he experienced his first hurdle.

The once serene flow of mana swirled up as if in resistance from the foreign mana invading its territory. The ripples that seemed minute at first were now much larger and more violent than before as an imaginary wave appeared in Noir's vision.

And then…

*Pop!*

"Whoa!"

…A loud banging sound almost like a water balloon exploding rang in the room and for the people nearby to hear, followed by a large amount of water that soaked both Noir and Alice. Neither of them was expecting it to fail that badly as they both ended up swallowing some of the water but it went to the wrong tube and Noir started coughing.

"Loo-uks like I- khu-mess up," Noir made an innocent smile while still coughing up a storm. He had the uncomfortable feeling of having water up his ear and nose as he was drenched from head to toe in water. He glanced at his sister, who looked erotic now that her clothes were soaking wet, but that was the least of her worries as she rushed over to him to pat his back and get some of the water out.

"Did you hurt yourself!?"

She also checked his hand and body if they were hurt from the explosion, but luckily everything was still in one piece. Well, everything except for the Crystal.

"Fortunately no, but I think I ruined this guy," He said with a somewhat regretful smile as he raised the Mana Crystal. Its once smooth and beautiful appearance now had a crack in it and looked dull compared to before. He could feel the mana seeping out of the crystal, making it soon to be useless, but it explained why there was a mini tsunami.

'I need to ask the Great Sage more about this. Good thing I didn't use any of the other gems. Otherwise, they would've been a nightmare to clean up.'

It was still a shame to see it broken though he had many backups at the dungeon. Enough to probably fill a treasure chest full but Alice wasn't aware of this and saw Noir's smile as a sad one which was in need of comfort.

"It's okay. Variant monsters are rare but it's not impossible to find another again. I'm sure you can do it next time now that you have a grasp of things. I'll even help you out!"

'Huh?'

She tried her best to counsel him by giving her support which only served to confuse Noir. He simply smiled at her for coming up with her own conclusions again, but he didn't bother correcting it.

"Yeah. Thanks, Alice."

Instead, he focused on the feeling he had when he was interacting with the Core. The Mana inside didn't like it when he tried to invade its space so Noir was trying to get a feel for the waves and ripples in order to see if he could blend his mana into it without causing a big reaction.

*dunph, dunph, dunph*

But while he was focusing on that, Noir's ears perked up as he could hear rushing footsteps coming from the staircase. It almost sounded as if someone was getting chased around the house, but Noir quickly remembered that they were in his room as he looked around.

Fortunately, his bed was safe from the accident, but his walls and floorboards were a different topic. And with not much time to fix anything, the door swung open as a familiar face came rushing in.

"Noir! Alice! What was that noise? Are you hurt?!"

What came in was their Mother, who was wearing a black nightgown that was somewhat see-through around the arm and midriff area and had messier hair than usual. His mother was an early sleeper and right now it looked like she was just about ready to go to sleep before she heard the booming noise coming from this room.

She looked when she entered the room, but when she realised that both of her children were safe, she relaxed slightly before looking confused at what had happened. Before she could voice it, Noir decided to simply admit his mistake.

"Sorry, I was trying out an experiment with this thing that I found earlier but ended up getting completely drenched in water. I didn't mean to disturb you," There wasn't much he could say to weasel his way out of this one. None of his quick-thinking skills was working as he was still struggling to get water out of his ears to hear properly

"Oh? That gem… Is that a Water Mana Core? That looks quite high levelled…"

With one hand on her chin, she thought for a moment as if she was recalling something. Her eyes were quick to identify it, even though Alice was the so-called top student in her class.

'Oh yeah, I remember reading somewhere that she was the daughter of a wealthy businessman. Looks like she still remembers a thing or two from her time with her family.'

He could imagine that she lived a lifestyle where she was raised to succeed in the family but ended up running away once the pressure was too much for her. It would explain why she's still with their father even after all these years, then again divorcing in this country is frowned upon.

She didn't take that long to think about what Noir was holding though as she soon shook her head before looking back at the two.

"Alright, I don't know what kind of experiment this was, but you two need a wash. Now."

There was a stern tone in her words that came from being a mother of four as she surveyed the area of the mess before sighing. The walls were already damaged and now there's a chance that they'll be mouldy unless she cleans them up.

Noir could only embarrassingly smile as he genuinely felt bad, though a part of him was glad he did it as he got to see her in this kind of outfit. It was hot and showed a decent amount of flesh through the transparency.

It was invoking a feeling from down below, but to keep up with his act, he pretended to not be bothered by it as he looked at Alice.

"You take a bath first, Alice. I'll help with the cleaning up."

Although he wanted to get out of his wet clothes as soon as possible, he was also curious about what kind of views he could get from this. Can't blame him for being curious, can you?

"Okayyy."

Thankfully Alice was easy to convince since she doesn't enjoy wet clothes just like her brother, so she immediately rushed to the bathroom upon hearing his words.

"Did you hurt yourself?"

Once Alice was gone, she looked at Noir's palm, the same that was holding the Mana Core, to see if there were any injuries, but fortunately, there were none as he simply replied.

"Nope, I'm all good."

"What were you trying to accomplish?"

She was giving Noir the same eyes she'd give to her husband whenever he does something stupid or buys something on a whim. For some reason, he felt like there was something sharp stabbing his neck under those gazes as Noir pondered on the feeling.

'I wonder if that's an effect of a skill she has or my previous host having PTSD under those eyes?'

He was hoping it was the former since it sounded more interesting to him and would mean he wouldn't have to work it out of his system if it was the latter.

But seeing as she was still looking at him for an answer, Noir decided to go for a half-truth to explain everything as well as potentially get some answers from his insights.

"Well, I found this mana core and learned that if you poured mana into it, it would produce water. I tried doing other stuff to it and eventually, things ended up like this."

He said with a wry smile as he looked her straight in the eyes. He already mentioned to his family his goal to enter the hero academy and about magic, so it was a plausible excuse, but his mother who seemed to be an expert in this field was more curious about the core now.

"So it was a high-level core or a medium core that was about to enter the next stage… Where did you get that?"

And as he thought, she knew some things about it.

"I found it when I was training. It was near the river that goes into the river. I thought it looked shiny so I picked it up thinking it might be worth something," There was a river that goes from the north to the south of the kingdom, and goes towards the mountains that contains the unending dungeon but splits off a couple of miles away from it.

"So you've been fighting outside the city too?"

"I have."

As soon as she heard that, she put her hand on her forehead and sighed. He's already started going off outside to fight and now she's worried about what kind of trouble he could be in if he wasn't careful of his surroundings.

Feeling her worries for him bulls up the more she thought about it…

"Haah, fine. Let me check your body. Take everything off."

"Excuse me?"

…She wanted to inspect her child to see if he was still in one piece, which Noir wasn't expecting. Especially with a serious face for the sudden request to strip.

"Take it all off. I'm going to make sure you're not hiding any injuries."

Her serious expression almost made Noir want to laugh but didn't when he could tell that she meant business.

"I'm gonna freeze you know?"

"I don't care. Your father used to hide his injuries from me and never got them treated. It's the main reason he has back and hip problems these days."

"If you say so."

She was surprisingly pushy about this topic, but Noir didn't mind it too much, especially since he wanted to take off his clothes asap. She meant well, so he complied but he also used it to his advantage slightly.

He took off his shirt, revealing his toned body from spending a day at the dungeon. His biceps stood out compared to his noodle-like arms from before, the same with his abs as they were starting to show some results.

It looked like the body of someone who's been in the gym for a few months.

Though he had muscles, he also had bruises here and there. None of them were deep injuries, but areas of his stomach and arms were slightly swollen

He could see his mother have a softer expression upon seeing that. Her son's already been through a lot of fights during the half-week he's been working on himself.

Even so, Noir continued to take off his clothes as he took off his trousers, leaving himself in boxers. He wasn't going to take another step further as he knew that would be crossing the line even though what she asked was to "take it all off".

But that wasn't needed as him being almost fully naked still works. His member down below is a little difficult to cover as Noir has a prominent bulge down below which was enough to catch the eyes of his mother. There was an awkward air around them, but his mother lightly coughed to break the silence.

"Oh, I see you've levelled up a lot. Let me apply ointment on those bruises."

While pretending to not have noticed the elephant in the room, she sat Noir down to apply some cream on his body. It was an interesting experience catching a mature lady looking at him down there but he kept those thoughts to himself.

"Yup, my training has been effective. I was even able to fight against some basic slimes."

And to try pretending to not notice her occasional glances, he talked about defeating the slimes in an energetic tone. He wasn't too hopeful of it working, but it surprisingly did, making him feel good, which was slightly reflective of his member below.

"I see… Be careful when you're fighting against them."

Fortunately, she didn't seem to notice the change as Noir tried positioning himself to make it seem like it hadn't changed, but it was difficult. He had a mature and curvaceous woman in front of him wearing a mostly transparent nightgown. Not to mention that she had a sweet fragrance. For some reason, his and her actions remind Noir of Alice.

'I guess Alice isn't the only one huh,' He almost chuckled at the thought. Looks like it's somewhat of an inherent trait. He didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing, but it certainly did make things entertaining for him.

"I'm aware. I still have a long way to go if I want to be an adventurer."

He said with a leisurely tone as he tensed up slightly from the ointment on his shoulders. A part of him was worried if his mother concocted some kind of homemade remedy with the intestines of some Lovecraftian nightmare, but fortunately, the ointment was something you could buy for cheap.

"Didn't you say you want to apply to the hero academy?"

His mother asked without looking up and worked on a bruise just about his stomach. A part of him was tempted to ask the Great Sage some questions to see if this qualified as one of its requirements, but he had to stop himself. Asking now would probably cause too many problems and rush things to an unsavoury degree.

"I did and I still do, but I thought doing both would be the most beneficial. I'd get a source of income and can pay for my tuition while I'm still learning to get a stable career. Plus it looks good on your achievements to have entered the hero academy."

Not to mention then he'd have leeway to buy things he wants and fund himself for any future fun ideas. There were some technologies from his world that he wanted to implement and some skills he wanted to invest in but all those required some starting funds.

Hearing his words, a sad smile was planted upon his mother's face.

"I'm glad to hear that you're thinking about the future now. I was worried that you wouldn't be able to form a path for yourself. Looks like those worries were unjust."

She looked like she was recalling some unpleasant memories. She usually never makes a sad expression and maintains a calm and patient one instead. The only time he's ever seen her like this was when it was revealed that Noir was unable to use his Great Sage Skill.

He could feel his heartstrings being pulled when he saw this. It might've been due to the lingering feelings of the past Noir, or it could be because he was feeling empathetic for her, but Noir felt bad for her and the worries she has to deal with.

"It's alright, Mother…"

He put his hands over hers that's covered lightly in the ointment. She looked up in surprise at his sudden action and saw him looking her straight in the eyes as he continued talking.

"...I'm not the same person I used to be. I'm done running away with my problems and I'll make sure to help ease your burden."

He spoke with a serious tone as he held her hands in a firm hold. Even if he has some ulterior purposes, he wasn't joking around when he said he wanted to help them out.

It might've been due to the moment or because of her realising the weird situation that she was in, but his mother's face turned slightly red from his words as she looked away a little.

"Well, your father and older brothers used to say the same thing when they were younger. Although the eldest is a knight, I hear he hasn't had a promotion in years. As for your second brother and father… Well, I think you know what happened to both of them."

Although she had a red face and she was trying to be supportive of Noir, her tone was pessimistic. She's been through many trials in her life and thought that she would eventually live a happy life, but the reality of her actions have caught up to her in the latter years of her life to the point of being somewhat cynical.

"Haha, I guess that's true, but just wait for it. I'll do something to at least help us out."

"That's not necessary. As long as you're happy then I'm happy, but don't pointlessly put your life in danger."

"I'll keep that in mind."

He wasn't planning to risk his life if there wasn't anything to gain from it. A challenge is good, but the line between a challenger and someone suicidal is a fine line that Noir doesn't wish to cross, even in his hardest moments.

"Speaking of your useless father, tell me if you find him. He ran in the opposite direction when he heard the loud noise and I don't think he's in the house."

A small frown was on her face upon recalling her husband's antics before exhaling deeply. She's been catching herself sighing a lot lately that even her family has caught on to it.

"That man… He really is useless…"

Noir muttered as he was starting to feel less bad for what the man's gone through. In fact, he was starting to get annoyed at him. The fact that he ran away from the sound told him everything. What if it was a robber or some psychopath broke into the house?

It gave him more reason to dislike his character. He could tolerate people who have rough times but he despises those that don't make sure of the cards that they have to better themselves and instead complain or become dependent on others.

Seeing Noir react like that, his mother told him of an incident his father once had.

"He certainly is. When he was in another city he bought a magic item and ended up getting targeted by a robber because of it. At the end of getting chased he fell into someone's barn and was covered head to toe in manure. The robber, fortunately, lost interest in the magic item because of it, but it didn't matter much since it was a scam. Instead, the robber took some of your father's dignity as he tried showing off how fast he was to escape his pursuer with the broken item intact."

"Pfftt!"

Although it was a little sad, Noir couldn't help but laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation. If there was a symbolism of bad luck and stupidity, then his father was the representative of that culture.

But he wasn't the only one laughing as so was his mother, but she was a lot tamer than his. It's a fun story that she doesn't get to tell many people because she didn't want to make their family image worse, but she felt it was fine for Noir to hear about it.

'I wonder how long has it been since I've felt like this? Maybe a couple of years now?'

It was something she hadn't felt in many years since their situation had worsened and since her husband's behaviour changed.

'Now that I think about it, Noir reminds me of him in our youth,' For a second she recalled her husband during their younger days. He was shorter than Noir and had a different hairstyle but they shared the same body type and similar faces.

She put her hand under Noir's cheek as she looked at him with a mourning look. It's been a long time since she's seen her husband like that. Like the man that she fell in love with. Noir saw this but didn't think it was about his similarities to his father as he put his hand over hers again.

"I'm not going to be like my father. I know words don't mean much, but I'll show you what kind of man I've become."

With a resolute face, Noir made his final decision. He was going to show her that he was not the same child that she remembers. That he wasn't going to end up like his father or brothers. That he was going to make the most of his situation and give it his all.

*Stare…*

But while both of them were confirming their beliefs. Noir felt a shiver down his neck. At first, he thought it was because he was naked but from his peripherals, he could see someone looking at them.

"Oh my, Alice, how long were you standing in the cold for?"

He wasn't the only one to notice it as their mother let go of Noir and talked to Alice, who was staring at them with a blank face. She just witnessed her mother and brother have a moment while one of them is in their boxers and the other is in a revealing nightgown.

"Since big brother held your hand the first time… I couldn't take a shower because Father barricaded the bathroom."

She replied leisurely before giving Noir an indescribable look. One which he has no clue what it could mean. All he knew is that he might have to deal with it later.

"That man…"

As for their mother, she sighed for a moment before making a calm expression. She looked like she was as calm as the sea, but both Noir and Alice felt a slight shiver.

"Don't worry, just leave him to me"

There was a common saying Noir used to hear, 'Her face was smiling but her eyes weren't'. That was the thought that crossed Noir's mind when he could feel the unusual air around her when she walked out of the room to deal with their vain father.

'Goddamn, that man is useless.'

A part of him was starting to feel like cucking him might be the best thing for the man to finally sort out his life. But another part of him stopped caring altogether nor felt any remorse for him getting a scolding from his wife.

But regardless of that, It was now only Noir and Alice in the room. One without clothes and the other with wet clothes that are sticking to her skin. Once Alice was certain that their mother was preoccupied with their father, she looked towards Noir.

"So are you going after Mother as well?"

And asked with a smirk on her face.

"What makes you think that?"

Noir figured that she knew his intentions, especially with the talk they had earlier. If he was willing to go after his sister, what makes you think he wouldn't go after his mother?

What he didn't understand was why she was smiling.

"Because of the look you gave to her… As well as the reaction you had below..."

She looked down with a red face and saw the bulge was back to how it was originally. Noir had the instinct to cover himself up when he saw her looking at him without restraint, but he refrained from it.

Instead, he thought to himself before answering her question.

"I'd say she's a wonderful and hardworking woman, but I don't think she deserves our father. I want to help her out I guess."

He didn't want to admit it just yet as he was being careful with his answer. He didn't want to seem like some kind of shallow man who'd go after any woman. If he does, there'd be a level of trust that wouldn't be there when he would talk to his harem.

"Yeah. If I had to choose between you or father for her to be with, I'd pick you."

There was some extra twirl in her movement as she headed towards the door with some extra joy in her steps before turning to Noir.

"So you better convince her to join us."

"Huh?"

She left as soon as she said her piece and left Noir standing there in confusion. Their interaction was too quick and way out of the script for him that he wasn't able to process it. She just gave him the approval?

'I guess I got the pass…?' There was a slight bit of uncomfortableness with how easy it was to convince Alice, even though he didn't try to. It was a mixed feeling of relief and annoyance, sorta like how you feel when your teacher forgot to collect your homework that's worth 50% of your grade and you spent hours working on it.

'But even so, that's way too quick of a change. What's she thinking?'

Was it because Noir told her of his plans to grow a harem that caused this? Was his talk with her really that effective to the point she wanted to get her mother included?

For Noir, he couldn't tell. This was something he'd only seen in Anime and none of his anime knowledge or life experience know how to deal with it.

He could only do what he normally does in these kinds of situations.

"Oh well, guess I'll enjoy the Oyakodon special huh.'

Enjoy it while he still can and think about the hidden meanings throughout the process. Currently what Alice plans for him works for him so he didn't have much to complain about.

Though what he didn't realise was how much he underestimated the love of his helpful sister.

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