“T-that's all you have to say!”

“Well no… I was going to go over what you did and could've done better but you interru-”

“Why didn't you help!!!” Hailey hissed “we almost died” she pointed at Keen then herself

“I told you I wouldn't coddle you but I won't let you die! If I really thought you wouldn’t survive this I would have stepped in, I didn't have to. Did I? Add to that the fact that if I had helped the man I would have had to split six ways rather than just five, probably more since I would likely be doing most of the work.” He paused seeming to realize something, “Speaking of which since you technically got all five kills… you should probably brace yourself.”

“Brace my sel-Oh…” Hailey said leaning on the wall for support, just in time, as the mana reward hit the party,

The elf’s world devolved into fireworks, her head spinning as her mind melted under the addictive influx of energy. Through it all she kept her mouth clamped firmly shut, not letting a sound escape until the worst of it was over, tingles still rushed up and down her mana channels but at least she could think.

“Need new underwear?” Giel chuckled, breathing hard himself.

Hailey half blushed and half glared at the beast-kin while also discreetly checking if she might, she didn’t, luckily, it apparently wasn’t that kind of pleasure, though you wouldn't know that from the feeling. She shuddered as another small wave lit up her system.

Sandra sighed in a tone that made Hailey’s face grow red “Oh yeeeah another managasm… This is sooo worth the fighting...”

Ali rolled her eyes “W-we are NOT calling it a ‘managasm!’ There's gotta be something better to call it”

The Demon King jumped in “There's no official name for the sensation, mind you, but most mages call it an experience rush”

Hailey wasn't the only one to notice the coincidence,

“Why would they call it that?” Giel said raising an eyebrow

The demon shrugged “I’m guessing someone from earth coined the term, it probably caught on because post-murder euphoria sounded a little too sinister. It also may have something to do with the fact that the technical term for mana gained from killing thing is called ‘experia’ though chicken or the egg I don't know”

Kenn shuddered as the experia finished flowing into him. “Who cares who’s in the other stall as long as they don’t bite” he groaned, catching his breath.

“Gross Kenn” Ali sighed

The Demon King cleared his throat “Now that, that's done, let's discuss you’re performance. Overall you all did well, Surprisingly. I didn't have to step in once, though admittedly” he looked over at Hailey “there were some close calls, maybe closer than necessary” the elf just crossed her arms silently “But there are some things I’d like to talk about.

“Kenn let's start with you. Obviously, preservation of mana is a big one. You can't just fire manacuts all willy-nilly like that because your mana isn’t unlimited. At Conmael’s level, you’ll be able to cast hundreds of cuts, but that’s still limited. At your stage, it's very, very limited. Get it? You can't use up everything in the tank in the first minutes of a battle on one enemy. Think about how many times a manacut would have been useful later in the fight. Secondly, you put yourself in danger too often. I know you’re the tank but if you can't do anything you should do anything that's how you die unnecessarily.” He did that for each of them going over what they did well and could improve on, Hailey kinda tuned it out until he came to her “Great healer work, Hailey You supported Kenn well. I did notice you were sort of lackluster in the offense department except for your use of blind that was excellent, still, you didn't attack me in our sparring session either. What gives?”

“How was I supposed to attack!? I don't have a weapon and i don't know any offensive spells… The book you gave me didn't have any!”

“I know about the magic. Your affinities just aren't really suited for it at least not until higher tier spells, but you really don't have a weapon… or anything. You've just been relying on your party for protection this whole time”

Hailey looked down everyone was staring at her now, and it made her anxiety flare, slowly she nodded.

“Well, that had to change” the Demon King grumbled pulling a notebook from thin air before quickly writing in it before it disappeared again. “Okay last but not least Giel.” He looked the beast-kin in the eyes “I noticed you didn't cast any spells is there a reason for that”

“No” the Beastkin answer succinctly

“Okay then, well I would recommen-”

“No thanks, man” Giel cut him off

“I’m just saying-”

“Hey, look guys loot!” Giel pointed over to where the golems had disappeared leaving a pile of golden coins that made Hailey’s heart flutter.

It was obvious what Giel was trying to do, but it was also obvious that there was something he didn't want to talk about, so Hailey wasn't going to make him. The Demon King felt similarly apparently, as he accepted Giel’s distraction and moved on letting the party collect their spoil’s. Over fifty gold in all.

“Okay, shall we continue?” The demon asked, stretching as he waited.

Was he crazy? Just his room was enough to almost kill them off!

She turned to the others planing to voice her objection but found them nodding to the Demon King.

Rather than say what she was thinking Hailey remarked “Maybe we should rest first… I mean we need to recover mana and... ugh, I’m still pretty hurt”

The Demon King's eyes widened with sympathy “I’m sorry that's my fault, I totally forgot, you cant use enhancements yet.” He held a hand out at her and red light rushed into Hailey’s body, there was a numbing and a brief spike of mild pain, a sensation she recognized from being healed at the guild as bones setting and growing together. A small wave of exhaustion rolled over her but was recovered just as fast as it came.

“You have holy mana?”

The demon chuckled “No, demonic, duh. Their two sides of the same coin, kid. If one can do something it’s likely the other can too. Healing spells are an example of that”

“Oh…” Hailey wasn’t sure how she felt about that, demonic mana being put into her and all...

“Hailey is right” The demon went on “we should rest, take some time to recover your mana and catch your breath and all”

Sandra looked disappointed.

The others sat down without argument, the Demon King pulling bottles from out of nowhere and handing them out to each of them,

“Hydrate and cycle. This elixir should help you recover your mana a bit faster.”

The group stayed there for about an hour, before finally deciding they were ready to move on.

Hailey looked back into the room as they left, staring at the place where she had seen her friend laying broken on the floor.

She had a bad feeling about this.