Cheating to gain mana

Vincent raised his gaze and looked at Ester. If Ester's progress is similar to his slow progress, he wanted to encourage her since she would be in the same boat as him.

However, Ester appeared to be in a deep concentration, and it didn't look like she noticed him. So, Vincent decided to look at her stats, check if she improved, and console her by sharing his progress with his turtle speed.

.

[Stats] Strength 7 || Agility 10 || Perception 9 || Mana 140

.

Vincent stared at Ester in shock. Vincent even asked Kazumi to confirm if the mana increase in the status window was real or if his eyes were playing a trick on him from tiredness.

'Why do I feel scammed?' He thought with a frown.

[Yup. Ester cultivated one mana per hour while you, hehe... you sadly cultivated one-fourth of a mana point per hour.]

'Unique Mana Body, my ass! This trait can only help me gain and use mana, that's all!' Vincent thought in a sour mood.

Regardless of the end result, Vincent and Ester trained differently. They didn't know the difference of their cultivation on a profound level since they are doing it their own way. It will be different if a skilled teacher is guiding them.

Vincent spent most of his time getting used to the feeling of mana because he barely has any mana, while Ester was gradually getting used to the strange feeling of mana being injected into the body. Furthermore, Ester has a mana related class while Vincent doesn't.

"I will have to cheat if all my training is amounting to this. " Vincent murmured.

Vincent then crawled over to Ester and gently patted her shoulder until she opened her eyes. Ester soon noticed Vincent with a mysterious urge in his intense gaze.

"Can we hold hands?" Vincent strangely asked Ester, causing her to blush with a puzzled frown.

"W-why hold hands all of a sudden? " Ester stuttered from the unexpected request.

"It is because... " *sigh* Vincent felt his ego in distress, but he had to become shameless if he needed to become stronger.

"You are my woman. It means you are reliable. It means we need each other. So, ahem... let me suck your mana." Vincent felt a great sense of shame and embarrassment as he uttered the request.

"Okay. How do you want me to hold your hands?" Ester unhesitantly agreed with a beaming smile. She felt pretty happy to be of help to Vincent. The previous subject had lowered her morale, but now the tables turned, and Vincent needed her help.

[Go on. This is the best part...]

[Hey Freerie! Stop dancing and spinning around me as if I am at the center of a tornado. I can't miss this handholding event. Don't you dare censor my sight, or I will only play with Wolfie.]

-Ohh. So, the babysitter Kazumi has some technical difficulties?-

Vincent didn't let the opportunity to tease Kazumi go to waste.

"I will use Overflow while you use Frost Sigil. Then I will start absorbing the mana of your sigils. But remember only to keep it active until you think your mana is almost empty." Vincent explained a plan he hoped would help him improve quicker.

Ester nodded and started channeling mana into her Frost Sigils. Similarly, Vincent activated Overheat form and started channeling Overflow through his body, focusing primarily on his mutated blood gauntlets.

*Tsss*

Vincent and Ester held each other's hand. A pair of hot hands and a pair of cold hands intertwined. The ten-minute or less handholding event started now.

Time progressed as one minute after the other trickled as the two individuals tried their best. Both had a job to do, and both found it challenging yet rewarding.

Vincent started to feel differently. The previous slight tingling sensation he could randomly feel became more frequent. Vincent slowly began feeling the mana in his body, unlike before.

On the other hand, Ester was feeling tired as time advanced. It became strenuous to keep her Frost Sigils active, yet she couldn't stop halfway.

'It is only for ten minutes. I must not be useless. I must show Vincent my determination to help.' Ester kept thinking as her mana was gradually running dry.

[Hey Vincent. Stop absorbing mana. You are too focused to notice Ester's condition.]

"Huh?" Vincent stopped focusing on his Overflow and looked at Ester. "Why you!" Vincent ended Overheat after he saw Ester suffering from Mana Fatuage.

"Stop using your Frost Sigils. Stop getting hurt to help me. This is not what I asked for. " Vincent started to feel angry at the selfless Ester.

"But... the time is not up..." Ester slowly said. She fainted a moment later, and her Frost Sigils disappeared.

Lupa returned after a good training session. However, she saw an envious sight. "My mate. I want you to hold me like that too." She became jealous of Ester.

"We are not playing. Ester is hardheaded. She kept helping me even when she was in pain. Does Ester want to help me this much?" Vincent clarified the situation.

"Sister once told me that she doesn't want to drag us down. But I can carry my sister if she is heavy. She will not drag us down." Lupa confidently boasted of her strength.

"Thanks, but you have it..." Vincent stopped from saying more. He wanted to tell Lupa "drag them down" meant differently. However, he decided to let Lupa feel proud of her strength.

"Nothing. Help me lay Ester and help her rest comfortably." Vincent asked.

Later, after a couple of complaints, Lupa went to sleep beside Ester. Vincent emphasized that the right time wasn't available for tonight, causing the wolf girl to feel sad.

"Good night, sister. Please feel better tomorrow. " Lupa said while lying beside Ester and wishing for her to feel better. Lupa secretly thought of the upcoming night before closing her eyes.

Vincent sat next to a small campfire and looked at Ester and Lupa sleeping. Overheat had a few more minutes left, so he decided to train a bit more. Then he used Inspection to see the result of his absorption training.

.

[Stats] Strength 9 || Agility 8 || Perception 8 || Mana 5

.

Vincent didn't know which emotion he should be feeling right now. It is quite a substantial progress to gain one mana in a few minutes versus four hours.

However, Ester always gives over one hundred percent effort causing her to get hurt. Vincent didn't want to see Ester in pain, and because of him at that.

[Are you worried about Ester?]

-Yes, but I am also blaming my inattentiveness.-

[Ester isn't in pain anymore, and her mana is slowly recovering. I do not see any mana related problems from here. She should wake up with no issues tomorrow.]

"Ester, you need a long lecture tomorrow. So sleep well, you troublesome girl." Vincent said with a frown before leaving Kazumi to keep watch over them.

That night, Kazumi didn't feel lonely while on guard duty all night. Wolfie was as energitic as Lupa. It wanted to play with Kazumi and follow her all the time.

Unlike Wolfie, the sixteen butterflies Freerie all did as they pleased, fluttering their wings freely. A few butterflies flew around Kazumi and Wolfie. The others flew and danced above the patch of emerald grass, making the view look mesmerizing.

Kazumi was busy and sometimes felt slightly annoyed, yet deep down, she enjoyed the new Soul Domain brimming with life instead of loneliness and darkness. The sadness she tried her best to hide was being slowly but gradually cured.

*Day 58 - Morning*

After everyone woke up in the morning, Ester listened to a long stern lecture about stopping when she felt tired. Ester nodded and apologized for making them worried and promised to try her best not to do it again. It meant the possibility of happening again wasn't zero.

*Sigh* Vincent assumed it was going to take some time to change Ester's personality and have her stop trying her best on every occasion.

"I will train for an hour, and then we can continue moving." He said while removing his shirt.

"But your wounds." Ester worryingly said.

Vincent smiled and comforted her worries, "The wounds are closing nicely, and I don't feel pain anymore. Also, I would need someone to help me remove and apply all the bandages. All of them."

Lupa energetically raised her hand and said, "Pick me! Pick me! I will wrap them good, hehe."

*Sigh* "I will help as well. Lupa, you fasten them too tightly and will hurt Vincent after a while like last time. " Ester added.

"No, tight is best." Lupa retorted.

Vincent smiled and took a few steps back. He quickly slid away from the heated conversation about applying bandages and, if tight or lightly fasted was the best bandage application method.

[So... it is pretty surprising if the cultivation you did yesterday somewhat made you feel better. I can see your shoulders and arms are moving better than yesterday.]

Kazumi said to change the subject.

-I don't think that's the case.-

[What do you mean? Did you perhaps feel your wounds healing while absorbing mana then?]

-To be honest, I am not too sure. I remember feeling my shoulders feel a slight tingle while absorbing Ester's mana from her Frost Sigils. My shoulders and arms are feeling much better the yesterday, though.-

[Does it mean Overflow can heal you?]

-Well, I still feel a little sting from time to time, but you can say it might be similar to a temporarily accelerated regeneration. However, not enough to be called "I heal by hurting others" regrettably-

[It's an interesting niche effect. Why do you train and let me confirm your healing progress with my Photographic memory.]

-Okay.-

Later, Vincent trained while minding his healing injuries. Afterward, he was helped to apply clean bandages all over his body.

It seemed Ester won as Lupa didn't tighten the bandages like she usually did. Not long after, they continued traveling to the cave Vincent set as their destination.