Chapter 21 – Controversial Theory

It took Ast and Miria a moment before they reached an undamaged tree which actually gave a bit of shade with its crown. Even though they didn’t hang targets on every single one in the vicinity, Miria’s slashes sent afterwaves much deeper than Asterios expected. In just a week, she got very proficient in using his mana and she was growing with it considerably.

Naturally, it wasn’t just thanks to him. Miria herself was really talented and gifted with significant potential. During these two weeks, they learned that albeit he became much stronger after the event they started calling the awakening, using just his ‘normal’ energy was still limiting Miria’s full strength in his world. It shouldn’t be forgotten that a summon’s power was closely linked to their master’s aptitude, who served as an anchor for the beast.

But, the moment he was to draw from the fiery source inside him, Asterios’s spiritual circuits would be filled with mana so potent that he was sure he wouldn’t limit even three summons of Miria’s strength at once. Knowing that fact, they both felt like the situation in the cave could have gone drastically different if only Asterios was able to enter his awakened state at will at that time, letting Miria perform much better than what she was able to work with.

They spent a lot of time analyzing the mistakes of them both. For Ast, the biggest one was him not noticing the external change in his appearance and not investigating the weird power much deeper than what he did at that time. It might have gone differently if Miria mentioned anything to Asterios, but he did not blame her since it was as much unknown to her as it was to him.

For Miria, it was mostly the lack of trust in her partner. She was used to working alone in her own world. And it was also the result of conflicting emotions in her mind. Miria felt the immense power in Ast during his outburst and the moments he used various techniques, but at the same time, he showed her a lot of his memories where he was struggling a lot in the past, thus she couldn’t decide on which feeling to trust in the end. And that hesitation was her bane in the most crucial moment.

With these mistakes now fixed, and with a lot more knowledge about each other and themselves, they reached a new peak together. They knew it wasn’t anything to be proud of yet, as Asterios explained to Miria a lot of things connected to summoning, their connection and the effects it had on her, which made her partially understand how close to the starting line they were even after two weeks of nothing but physical and mental training. 

As they finally sat down to take a well-deserved rest, the duo glanced over the scarred battlefield one more time. Asterios chuckled at the sight. Someone could think that a small hurricane passed through the area. He turned to Miria who was leaning onto the tree on his side.

“Well. If they ever post a quest to gather lumber, I don’t think there would be anyone better than us to do the job.”

Miria laughed softly. “Maybe we should name our party The Woodcutters?” They both snickered. “This feels so much different than before. Just being connected straight to Master's latent mana makes me feel like I could do anything.”

“How are your reserves after this little show?” he asked.

“A bit over 60%. But I mixed Master's into my circuits during the training as you instructed me before.”

Asterios nodded. “Good. You are slowly getting the hang of drawing on my energy by yourself through the link. It will never be as good as a direct transfer, but it’s an important part of our abilities granted by the contract, allowing you to replenish your reserves from distance or to collect just enough mana from me to boost your abilities.”

He moved closer to her and Miria turned her back to him, knowing Ast’s intentions pretty well since what he was going to do was a common occurrence during their practice. Asterios placed his hand on her back and began channelling his mana into her circuits, slowly, so that it got properly absorbed into her reserves.

“Nyaaaaaaaaa…”

A cute sigh escaped Miria’s mouth and her tail playfully coiled around Ast’s forearm. He chuckled. It always did that. Moving his gaze from the fluffy rope, he noticed Miria looking back at him over her shoulder, with slightly red cheeks and a pouting expression.

“I can’t help it… it just feels too good…”

“Did I say anything?” He smiled at her.

Every time Ast refilled her mana with his own through direct contact, it felt really pleasant and warm. It was hard not to succumb to the feeling. A few days ago she also noticed something similar, but quite not exactly the same, to a sensation when they kissed in the cave. She didn’t bring it up yet due to her shyness, but Miria didn’t want it to be the cause of another mistake which could have been avoided if she just spoke up. She waited for Ast to finish the process before turning to face him again.

“Ummm… I have a question. Maybe not a question, but an observation. Actually, I’m not sure… it’s just… that day in the cave, as you were administering the antidote, I felt kind of weird when our lips met…” 

She tried her best to speak without averting her gaze but it was proving quite difficult. From Ast’s perspective, it was already a considerable step forward from how flustered she had been getting in the past, hindering her from speaking her mind properly.

“Could you explain it in a bit more detail?” Asterios assumed a focused expression.

“Hmmm… It was comparable to what I felt just right now during the transfer, but… there was like… something deeper? The sensation was much clearer and I think there was like a little tingle for a moment? And I’m sure that I received a bit of your energy at that time too.”

He stroked his chin while pondering over Miria’s words. “I don’t know. I didn’t notice anything like that, but that might have been skipped by my mind due to all the things happening around us. It’s also hard to tell what it could have been about. It’s hard to judge just from this. I guess I’ll have that in mind for whenever we end up in a similar situation again.”

Miria understood that Ast didn’t want to investigate this further instantly due to her shy nature, but she would rather not delay it, not knowing how important this information could be. She shook her head in disagreement and looked up at Asterios with slightly rosy cheeks.

“I’ve told you that I’m willing to do anything for us to grow stronger, Master. We shouldn’t ignore things like this just because I’m a little bit embarrassed. Besides… we’ve already kissed twice… during our contract and in the cave…” She dropped her gaze to the ground.

“The first one was just a misunderstanding and in the case of the second one, I pretty much forced it to make you drink the medicine. I also told you that I’m not going to make you do things that are uncomfortable for you.” Asterios reached out and began patting Miria’s head with a smile.

She enjoyed his hand for a moment, took a deep breath and looked back up at him. “Since we are going to be developing the mind-sharing connection further in the future, I might as well say it clearly right now.” 

Ast retracted his arm and waited. Miria kept shooting embarrassed glances to the sides for a few seconds, but she forced herself to look straight at Asterios’s face since it felt proper.

“I like you, Master.” 

A heavy, crimson blush painted her face and she softly grabbed on her tail which moved to the front, squeezing it with her hands placed on her thighs as she sat cross-legged.

“I know,” Asterios answered calmly. It was clear that she was going to continue so he waited.

“And… kissing someone you like is a common occurrence so it’s okay. We should really analyse everything related to our connection. We don’t know how important this may be. So… if Master is fine with it…” 

She could barely muster the words out. Even though Asterios knew she liked him before, telling it to him in such a straightforward way made her heart race like crazy. He already told her that he likes her too, but that little shadow of doubt persisted. She never could be sure what was his definition of like and how far it spanned, definitely not to the same extent as hers. They didn't spend so much time together as of now. Some might have viewed Miria's infatuation as illogical, but that didn't change the fact that she felt really good just being around the man.

Asterios smiled kindly and tapped the grass by his side. Miria slowly moved closer and set her back against the tree again. She wasn’t sure if that was an invitation or even him agreeing, but she leaned her shoulder against Ast’s and kept stealing glances at his face to try and judge the situation.

He, in turn, placed his hand on top of hers, which still were clutching and squeezing the fluffy tail. That startled Miria a little, but she let him take it away from her grasp. Asterios stroked it for a moment, fixing the squashed fur and released it. He put his hand into the now empty spot between hers.

“If you have to nervously knead something, use my hand instead of your cute tail, okay?”

She nodded shyly and grabbed Ast’s hand. He started slowly leaning closer to her face. Miria squeezed the firm palm of her master in anticipation of the approaching event. She closed her eyes and turned her face to match his. 

Soon after, she felt a familiar sensation pressing on her lips. Chills enveloped Miria’s body as she savoured the incoming warmth. It was their first proper kiss, with both sides clearly participating. Asterios didn’t do anything more than just brush their lips together, but that soft peck already felt completely different than the one-sided kiss during the contract or in the cave. The one similar thing was a very delightful tingling accompanying the connection of their mouths.

Asterios backed away after a moment and she opened her eyes to catch him slowly moving back. She wanted to experience that feeling for a bit longer. Then, Miria remembered the real reason why they did it and realized that she completely forgot about it during the kiss. It was actually a mistake she felt glad she made.

“Ummm… I didn’t catch the difference clearly enough so… could we try again?” she asked while moving her gaze away.

He chuckled, “Make sure to focus this time,” and he began approaching her again.

She closed her eyes just before they joined their lips, but this time, Miria did her best to recall the sensation from back then and as soon as she sensed Ast’s warmth, something akin to a spark of electricity passed through her mouth and a deeper connection was created. She could feel his mana flowing into her at a much faster rate than when Asterios was pouring it into her circuits directly.

While enjoying the amazing sensation of the kiss, Miria tried to suck more of Ast’s energy to check if it can be quickened and it actually worked as the bridge between them widened and more mana flowed through the link. Only after a slight chuckle from Asterios did Miria notice that she also started sucking gently on his lips, peppering them with passionate kisses.

She broke off the embrace and hastily created some distance between them while her face got completely flushed.

“Ehehehe~, I’m sorry,” she apologized.

“For?” Asterios raised an eyebrow, still smiling at her.

Miria shook her head. “Nothing.” She also smiled.

Then Miria proceeded to explain what she experienced to Asterios in as much detail as she could. He also informed her that he felt the same, even during the kiss where she didn’t pay enough attention, which made her blush even more while her tail danced happily. Asterios pondered over something for a moment.

“What do you think about it, Master?” She decided to inquire a bit into his contemplation.

“Well, it seems like we can share mana quicker and in larger quantities with a kiss than with a normal touch.”

“Perhaps it’s another of the perks of your power?” Miria tilted her head. She noticed that she still had Ast’s hand between hers. He didn’t seem to mind so she held onto it for longer.

“It might be so, but I actually recall reading about something connected to this in the past.”

“Oh? What was it?”

Asterios’s gaze fixated on one point as he was trying to grab more details from his memory. “There was a researcher, a Summoner naturally, who wrote a book about the master/summon relationship, its development and how it affects the bond and connection between the two. One of his statements was that the more intimate the contact during the transfer, the stronger and more potent the share of spiritual energy is and the faster they grow stronger together.”

Miria nodded. “That sounds interesting. He must have gathered a lot of followers with his theory.”

Ast shook his head with a wry smile. “Actually, quite the opposite.”

“Eh? Why?”

“Did you forget that you are quite the exceptional summon?” he asked.

Miria pondered for a moment. “Ah.”

“Yep. The poor man got accused of bestiality and chased out of the Human continent. His book got banned and most copies were burned. I had a chance to check it out thanks to one of the teachers who was quite nice to me having it in their personal collection. Part of the man’s work touched on the previously analysed topic of how bodily fluids are a much better spiritual essence and energy carrier than pure mana through the link or direct touch.”

Just when Miria was starting to get a hold on her embarrassment, she went completely red again after imagining Asterios transferring his essence to her in a bit more intimate way than just a tiny kiss or touch. Noticing Ast’s gaze she quickly hid her fully crimson cheeks behind her fluffy hands while squirming internally. It wasn’t like she hadn't ever pictured that, but now, she even had a factual reason which could lead to the thing actually happening.

He chuckled and reached to her head to ruffle through Miria’s hair and scratch behind her ears a little. “Hahahaha, no need to get so worked up over it.”

“Yesshhh…” She bit her tongue while answering, making Asterios chuckle even more.

After finally calming down, the duo discussed their performance a bit more. They felt ready to tackle some more tasks now. They knew pretty much everything about each other now. Asterios explained to Miria all his spells and techniques and even every usable he crafted or bought so that she would know what to expect in battle. 

There were a lot of things he had on himself, but she understood that it was Ast’s way of assuring his safety in the past. The most common were the crystalized sigils which functioned as stored spells of low power, but helpful in many ways. They, unfortunately, put a high strain on the caster’s body when used. Another part of his arsenal was some simple stun and flash bombs. The biggest part of it was about a lot of chemicals and poisons which naturally piled up during the years Asterios studied summoning.

There was just one thing that kept Miria wondering. “Master, are you going to summon more beasts now that you are stronger?”

“Definitely, but not instantly. I don’t know what might happen during the ritual now, so I’d like to prepare a bit more and possibly get at least medium-quality materials for that. I’m running quite low on them at the moment. I gotta get a better grasp on the fervent energy inside me first. And, I don’t actually know what kind of entity I would want to try for. We should spend some more time on the battlefield and then decide together in what area we are lacking the most.”

Miria nodded cheerfully. “I agree! I’ll keep doing my best so that we can grow stronger!”

“Same here. Come on, let’s get back. Time to get some work done after our two-week-long break.” Ast stood up and extended his arm towards her.

She grabbed it and raised herself with his help, slightly averting her gaze when they stood up close to each other. “Ummm… I think my mana pool is not yet full, so… if Master could...”

Asterios shook his head with a smile and pulled Miria into one more, gentle peck. After getting enough of the pleasant feeling, Miria broke it off with a giggle and skipped away from him while blushing heavily. They headed back towards Ast’s home while Asterios walked behind her, enjoying the sight of the gingerly steps Miria was taking with her hands joined behind her back and the happy dances her cute tail made.