The trip to the dorm is quick and without trouble. There are no dangerous beasts up here, and even the welfare officers are rare and generally won’t cause us issue. Though I can’t say that I’m completely confident, this is still enemy territory and I feel it in every questioning gaze directed our way.

Thankfully, all I feel in the gazes is a floating curiosity. Students looking at a queerly dressed stranger, not beasts looking at a potential snack. It is, in general, still safe up here, even if I haven’t got as much power or influence as I’d like.

“Kyra.” When the young woman by my side calls my name, I feel every twist of emotion that she conveys in the sound. The loneliness, the fear, the excitement and the love, and a deeper desperation that she’s rarely so openly expressed.

“It’s okay, Nel.” I say, trying to soothe her tangled emotions. “I’m back.”

“For a single night.” She says. “For a single night I have you here. The others will travel with you in this coming week, while I’ll be left here alone.”

I bite my tongue before I can say something stupid like ‘you have Red and the others’. I know how it feels to be alone in a crowd, and I know that the vague company of acquaintances and friends oftentimes isn’t enough.

“I’m sorry.” I say, knowing there is no solution for this problem. We’re still students, making the most of the free education. We decided on this path for ourselves.

“There’s nothing to be sorry for.” She explains with a smile so fragile that I can already see the cracks forming. “It’s my own weakness, I know that, but when you’re all gone, when I’m alone again... sometimes I feel like you’re not coming back.”

I hold her close, unable to find any words of comfort. Nothing I say will make that fear and pain go away.

“Just promise me, again, that you won’t ever abandon me.” She says, stopping and looking away as she pulls me closer. “That you won’t grow bored of me. That you won’t die without me.”

“I promise.” I say without need to think further. “Even if the world and fate herself conspire to keep us apart, I’ll find you again and I won’t let you leave. You know how possessive I can be.”

“Yes. I suppose I do.” She says sighing in relief, “It’s just comforting to hear it again.”

“I love you and won’t let you go.” I say, smiling as she wriggles closer. “That’s what you want to hear?”

“I’d like it better if I didn’t have to ask for it the next time.” She says, her step a measure lighter as she starts us back towards the dorm again. “I’m not too demanding, am I? Annoying and clinging?”

“Just the right amount of both.” I say, enjoying the feel of her by my side. “If you weren’t a little clingy and demanding, I’d start feeling that you’d lost interest in me.”

Her laughter is brighter and more relaxed than I’ve heard from her yet today. A few issues that she’s been burying slowly sorted as we talk longer.

Our relationship is still developing, there are still so many things we have to learn about each other. I’ve worried a little that maybe we rushed things, that our nightly escapades were done in haste, but that’s not so.

To rush is to say that we’ve skipped over things, but that’s not true at all. I intend to get to know every part of her, of all the women I’ve fallen for, to grow comfortable with every strange part of them. This is only just the beginning.

“Dinner is ready!” Vii cries as we enter our dorm room, bouncing on her feet and pulling us over to the table. Adler and Eshya are both seated already, talking about one thing or another, from the blush on Adler’s cheeks I can’t help but suspect that the matter is related to some nature of perversion.

I take a moment to rest in my own chair, absorbing the atmosphere.

Nel quickly takes over slicing the large steak into even servings, not trusting Vii with the task. The bubbling little bird, meanwhile, is asking me for every detail of the fights that I couldn’t record though she avoids discussing the Skill itself for now. Her eyes shine bright as she hears about the titan, and the new spells I used to defeat it, she seems a little disappointed to hear that I had to be saved by the vampire lizard king.

By the time I’ve detailed everything I can of the fights, we’ve made strong headway into the meals Nel has set out before us, simple steaks cut to a manageable size.

Nel fills the brief silence, talking about her day. The sorts of things that she’s had to deal with in her work and the trades that she’s overseen in the dungeon. We’ve traded a few metals in particular, as we seem to have an oversupply of it, though she seems a tad bitter about the exact terms of the trade.

Vii talks excitedly as she waves her wings about, talking about class and training. Her and Eshya have been working with Red to secure the lands around our little base, and apparently they’ve come across a species of little bird that Vii wants to tame.

Though every time she finds one it quickly escapes from her.

Eshya has just been training and fighting, she talks about a few tough battles, and a few new techniques that she’s excitedly working towards. Something about moving the mana throughout her body and strengthening her musculature, not to strengthen, but to make her more flexible.

She’s apparently quite excited to test the new changes.

Adler doesn’t say much for herself but she does add points here and there during the conversation, relaxing a little, and smiling more than usual.

The food isn’t amazing, but it is filling. I boost the mana in it by a little, and ensure that everyone is developing their mana forms properly. Vii is working towards her liquid development, the same as Nel, while Adler and Eshya are working on developing Skills and pushing their mana limit up higher.

The conversation lulls when the food is all gone. The girls are all struggling to digest the mana I’ve fed them, but that doesn’t seem to be enough to slow Eshya.

She kicks her chair closer to mine as the light from the stone enchantments slowly takes over from the light coming through the windows. Her affectionate touch leaves no questions about her intentions, and it’s sufficed to say that she has no sense of subtly.

Vii watches us from the side, practically bubbling as she waits for an invitation to join in. As energetic and forthright as she can be, there’s still some hesitation when it comes to these sorts of things. I give her an inviting smile and she awkwardly shuffles closer.

Nel, comparatively, seems happy to sit and watch, pouring herself a cup of tea and leaning back in her chair as she slowly sips.

Adler stands up to excuse herself, though her gaze lingers and her footsteps come to a pause.

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay?” I ask, reaching out for her hand.

“I… Isn’t this too fast?” She asks. “I don’t think rushing things would be all that good. I was a welfare officer not so long ago, and I’m still pretending to be one. This is…”

“It’s not rushing things.” I say, running a hand over the back of hers. There’s only a slight friction from the mana difference between us. “This isn’t the end of developing our relationship, it’s just another step in a long road. If you want to be here, then stay. If you don’t, then don’t feel pressured to stay.”

“I don’t know.” Adler says. “I just… don’t know.”

“Then why not stay for now, and if there’s something that doesn’t feel right we can stop at any time.” I say, as Eshya pulls off bits of my armour and bites into my shoulder lightly.

Adler blushes brighter, but doesn’t yet leave, not resisting as I pull her onto my lap.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A little exercise was just the thing to stir my mana into something a little more familiar. Learning to control the different concentrations of mana in my skin and flesh, so that the mana friction prickles rather than stings, so that I can press them down, or let myself be pressed down.

The fumbling movements require as much attention on my mana form as on the flesh, and I think the core shards moving about inside me have more potential that I at first thought. Though a potential that I’m not yet able to grasp.

The soft bed embraces my form a little more deeply now that my own mana has grown so comparatively dense. The others are already asleep, but their warm bodies, and slow breathes are company enough. Quieting the worries that hound me when I’m alone.

Deep breaths refocus me on the mana flowing through me, and the deeper liquid pits that have formed into what I call ‘core shards’. They’re dense spots where my mana gathers much tighter, and in the shape of broken shards, that might have once resembled a sphere. I’m sure I could probably exert some control over them, but at the moment I’m struggling to even get them crawling a different direction.

When one settles into my kidney I start to feel my mana adaptions come into effect. A wave of cleanliness runs through me as I feel much healthier, if that’s a thing. Like coming out of a drunken stupor straight to a fresh happy morning without hint of a hangover. Or waking from a cold and having it suddenly cleared away.

The experience fades away as the shard moves from my kidney.

It seems that there’s more here that I’ve yet to fully explore. Some of it will be ordinary liquid stage development, but I get the feeling my imperfect core getting shattered has switched things up for me. I’ll have to continue working on developing my body, and properly returning to this stage after my mana form and flesh has adapted to one another.

For the moment, I try using my mana crystal to drain my mana down to a gaseous state again. Careful of the symptoms of mana shock, I carefully lower density of my mana. The shards remain right up until the point where my mana shifts from a liquid to a gaseous state.

The shift sends chills through my skin for a moment before it settles down and I acclimatise to the change. It’s nothing compared to how I feel pushing myself to the lowest safe boundaries of my mana form.

I continue to stress my mana form until I find my lowest stable level. Around 80 units or so. It isn’t much different from the last time I tried this exercise. I’ll have to keep working on that too, but for now upping the amount of mana I can hold without leaking takes priority.

A close second priority is getting myself into proper shape physically. One small thing that I’ve noticed, which I hope holds true, is that now I’m in liquid stage my physical acclimatisation has managed to go through the roof. Already, focus on my skin throughout the day has earned me a further 15% acclimatisation in my loosely defined ‘defence’ category.

I’m still not sure I like how game-like these new labels are, but I can always adjust them as I continue developing.

There’s no more small increases for me. No more waiting weeks to see significant growth. Soon I can be a proper liquid stage warrior.

Eshya shifts beside me slapping me in the face while mumbling to herself. Being home, I’m too happy to be annoyed with her.

Adler meets my eyes from across the bed, and I return my focus to the real world, and my relationships.

“Not terrible, was it?” I ask in a whisper to keep from waking the others.

“Do I… do I actually belong with all of you?” She asks, brushing her mess of hair back out of her face.

“Do you want to be here?” I ask, “If so, then stay. Maybe years from now things will be different, but for today, and tonight, I’m glad you’re with us.”

“Thank you… for saving me from my collar.” Adler says, her eyes drifting closed, “And for accepting me, even after… everything.”

“Yes, I love you too.” I say with a quiet chuckle, though I’m not sure she heard me.

I need to grow strong enough to protect these girls, and to protect moments like this.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“You’re wearing your armour?” Nel asks, “Are you sure that’ll be fine?”

“Arduelle has given me her blessing and she doesn’t seem to want me dead just yet.”

“Well in that case it should be fine... It’s not as if she has ever messed with you before.” She says a little doubtfully.

“It’ll be fine, and for this trip I’ll be available through the messenger system.” I say, wrapping her in my arms, showing her a little love and affection. She leans into my touch and closes her eyes. I’m already tempted to find some excuse that’ll let me stay, but we can’t afford to let our lives slip by.

Adler slowly wakes up, holding a sheet up against her front to cover her nakedness. She wears a dazed expression as she tries to bring her messed hair into order.

I hand Nel over to Vii, who eagerly accepts the trade offer. I leap onto the bed beside Adler and cuddle up to the pretty young woman.

“Are you awake yet? Ready for breakfast?” I ask taking out a brush that I’ve acquired at some point and pulling it through her long hair. Magic of one sort or another helps it to pull through her hair without as much struggle, though I’ve personally found it much less satisfying when pulling away knots comes so easily.

“I’m awake.” She says, curling up a little as she looks up towards Eshya stumbling from the bed before collapsing back into it.

“So... what do you think?” I ask, “We can fit another bed in here if you’d like.”

“Would it even see use?” she asks with half a laugh. “I... I don’t know what to think yet.”

“Take your time to think about it.” I say, squeezing her tight. There’s a certain comfort, a warmth, a happiness that can’t be inspired from anything else but this sort of physical affection with someone you care for.

“Get up, we don’t have much time to spare flirting.” Nel says, giving Vii a peck on the cheek before pushing her aside. “I expect daily reports, and I’d like to book some time with you when you all return.”

“You do make our schedules.” I say, with a laugh.

“When you’re not making promises and otherwise breaking my schedules.” Nel says with a short glare. “Just make sure you don’t forget that you’ve promised me some time on your return.”

“Very well.” I reply, making my best effort to sound like a powerful king conceding a favour.

“Good, then get over here and get dressed, this armour isn’t as quick to put on as a dress.”

“Alright, alright.” I say extricating myself from Adler, and gathering the scattered armour pieces. “Oh, one more thing, I have a plan for that crystal block, I’d like you to bring up with our crafters...”

“Give me the details while I dress you.” She says, her hands are quick and she doesn’t waste a single motion. The only stray touch comes from Eshya as she’s tasked to lift an armour plate for me.

“Payment for the work.” She explains it.

When we’re finished breakfast I’ve managed to lose track of time, and we end up sprinting for the ship hoping not to miss our departure.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Skills & Stats

~Mana Form:

Current mana density: 1752 units

~Mana distribution:

Catagory Current Max. Defence 48% 48% Offense 0% 57% Mana Sense 0% 73% Recovery 0% 30% Gluttony 0% 26% Misc. 0% 42% Efficiency 48% 100%

~Favourited Skills:

-Chip Shredder

-Multi-mind

-Tag

-Mana surge movement

-Reactive defence

-Fire burst punch

-Annihilation magic

-Charged casting (Annihilation)

-Mana form flow fixer

-Branching magic