Chapter 66: Elixir (2)

The day after I received the mana stone from Professor Baldwin, I contacted Iris and asked for her help. Without even asking what I needed, she rushed straight to my dorm room.

I showed Iris the mana stone inside the box, and she asked, “You want me to purify a mana stone?”

“Yeah.”

The mana stone was about the size of a fist. It emanated a sinister, ominous aura—the signature energy of dark mana.

Sensing the thick miasma radiating from the stone, she furrowed her brow slightly. “This looks like a pretty high-grade mana stone.”

“It is a high-grade one.”

Her eyes went wide as she looked at me. “A high-grade mana stone... Where in the world did you get something so rare?”

“I helped Professor Baldwin with something personal, and this was the payment.”

“What kind of favor could get you a high-grade mana stone as compensation? Wait, no way!” Iris suddenly turned pale and grabbed my shoulders. “D-don’t tell me, Dale! You didn’t... trade your body to Professor Baldwin for this, did you?!”

“No. Absolutely not.”

What the hell is this girl talking about?

I thought.

“Look me in the eyes and say it properly!”

I looked her straight in the eye and calmly shook my head. “I’m telling you, it’s not like that.”

“

Hmm

.” She stared at me, scrutinizing my eyes.

Apparently still unconvinced, she leaned in and poked and prodded me all over like she was kneading dough. I didn’t even know what she was trying to find by feeling me up.

With a dumbfounded look, I watched as her face flushed slightly and she muttered under her breath, “Y-you’re more muscular than you look. Broad shoulders too... and your chest...”

“Excuse me?”

Iris? Hello?

“

Ahem

! A-anyway, nothing inappropriate happened between you and Professor Baldwin, right?” she asked.

“I swear to the heavens, nothing like that happened.”

Iris gave a small nod. “Alright. I’ll believe you.”

She then carefully took the mana stone out of the box. “You want me to purify this?”

“That would be a huge help.”

“Hehe, got it.”

“Are you sure you’re up for it?” I asked again to confirm.

“

Hm

? What do you mean?”

“I heard that mana stone purification is pretty complicated.”

In her past life, Iris could purify mana stones like she was breathing, but that was then. I didn’t know whether she could pull it off as a cadet now.

With a confident smile, Iris thumped her chest. “Please. Who do you think I am? I’m the Saintess, remember?”

That divine chest, overflowing with holy blessings, created a rather dynamic bounce. My trust in her abilities soared.

“I haven’t done it that many times, but purifying a mana stone isn’t that hard,” she added.

“Alright. I’ll leave it to you.”

“Just trust me.”

With a sharp exhale through her nose, Iris fired herself up. She placed the mana stone on the table and slowly closed her eyes. With precise, reverent movements, she made the sign of blessing and began to chant her prayer.

“O’ Seven Gods shining high above. Bestow your grace and cleanse this unholy power.”

A brilliant white light radiated from her body. It was a pure, radiant force, so sacred and awe-inspiring that it commanded reverence just by existing. Iris pressed her hands together in prayer, drawing out even more divine power. The white light formed into the shape of a sacred emblem, a soul stigmata.

That was the soul stigmata of the Sky God. It was the one Iris bore and the most commonly found soul stigmata among cadets in the Support Division.

Even after all this time, it was so vivid. Whenever she used her prayers, the Sky God’s soul stigmata would always manifest. However, hers was brighter and more defined than that of even the holy priests of the Holy Empire.

I thought,

With a light like that, the purification should go smoothly— What?

But something completely unexpected happened.

Iris exhaled softly and opened her eyes, which now sparkled with a rainbow hue. Her Seven Eyes had activated. The number of soul stigmatas floating in the air increased. Sun, Stars, Moon, Sky, Earth, Sea, and Forest—seven sacred emblems, each tied to a divine power, now hovered in the air, weaving and spiraling together like a dance.

A quiet breath of amazement escaped me as I watched her. This was the power of the Seven Eyes. In her past life, I had seen her use prayers countless times. But never had I seen all seven soul stigmatas appear at once.

And it was no wonder. Back then, she had lost the Seven Eyes to Astaroth, the Archbishop of Dreams and Fantasies, which left her with only the soul stigmata of the Sky God. She couldn’t access the powers of the other gods.

I changed this. And this is only the beginning

, I said to myself.

Every time I looked into her shimmering, rainbow-colored eyes, an indescribable emotion swelled within my chest. In fact, it was from this point on that things were truly about to start. I still had many more futures to change, beyond just Iris. Though, I felt like the number was only growing.

Thinking of Professor Baldwin, I let out a wry chuckle. These new connections, ones I hadn’t made in my previous life, were becoming increasingly burdensome. But that didn’t matter. I had made my choice. This time, I would live a life where I led others, not one where I let fate drag me along.

To do that, I had to grow stronger much faster. Honestly, even now, my growth rate was unheard of in history. But with the goals I had in mind, it still wasn’t enough.

Iris, drenched in cold sweat, continued the purification. “

Haa

...

haa

...

ugh

...”

Responding to her effort, the dark aura swirling around the mana stone began to fade. It gradually gave way to a clear, luminous blue glow.

After about five more minutes, panting, soaked in sweat, Iris withdrew her power. “

Phew

! All done!”

The white light that had filled the room faded, and her eyes, once glittering like rainbows, returned to their usual color.

I handed her a glass of cold water. “Good work.”

Clearly parched, she grabbed the glass and chugged it down in one go. “

Phew!

Go ahead, check it out.”

“Sure.”

I gently infused the purified mana stone with some magic, and the soft blue glow became even richer. But my eyes widened as I sensed the mana within the stone.

Huh? What is this? The purity increased?

Before, the mana stone held a huge amount of power but was unrefined. Now, after purification, not only was the mana cleansed, but it had also become significantly purer.

I muttered, “That doesn’t make any sense...”

One could polish rusty iron, but it wouldn’t turn into steel. Purification had nothing to do with enhancing mana quality. Even in her past life, Iris couldn’t refine a mana stone’s purity through purification alone. So, how had she achieved this, being much weaker than she had been in my past life?

Suddenly, I realized it:

Ah, I see. It must be the effect of the Seven Eyes.

I had finally understood why Astaroth had been so obsessed with the Seven Eyes.

As she sipped water and caught her breath, Iris asked, “What do you mean it doesn’t make any sense?”

“Well,

uh,

I checked, and it looks like the mana purity has increased.”

Iris widened her eyes in surprise, as if she had no idea. “Huh? The mana purity increased?”

“You didn’t know?”

“N-no. I had no idea the Seven Eyes could enhance mana purity. I just thought using all seven might make it more refined, so I gave it a try.”

At that moment, I realized that Iris had mentioned before she didn’t know much about the Seven Eyes yet. Well, in any case, good news was good news. Looking at the results alone, this couldn’t have turned out any better.

Originally, the purity of the mana was too low, so it only qualified as high-grade. Now, it could even be judged as top-tier. Even high-grade mana stones easily sold for over five million gold. A top-tier stone was on another level entirely.

If I use this to make an elixir...

I swallowed dryly, my throat tightening. A thrilling shiver ran down my spine. I grabbed Iris’s hands and shook them up and down in excitement. “Saintess!”

Iris flushed red. “

Ah!

D-Dale...”

Then she calmly waited for me to settle down and smiled sweetly. “I’m glad the process went well.”

“Seriously, thank you,” I said excitedly.

“

Hehe

. I’m just happy to have been helpful to you.”

“

Gah!

”

How can someone be this lovely, even with their words?

“But, Dale,” Iris asked.

“Yeah?”

Iris looked at me, eyes twinkling with mischief, a playful smile spreading on her lips. “You’re not just planning to thank me with words, are you?”

“Do you have something in mind? If it’s within my power, I’ll do anything.”

She had turned a high-grade mana stone into a top-tier one. What request could I possibly refuse?

“Really? You just said you’d do anything, right?” she said.

“Yeah.”

“You’ll really do anything I ask?” she asked again.

“

U-uh,

yeah.”

Wait. Why do I suddenly have a bad feeling about this?

“

Hehe!

In that case...” Iris dug through her bag and pulled out a headband with floppy dog ears. “Tada!”

“Wait, hold on.”

Why the hell does she have something like that in her bag?

I thought.

“

Hehe

. It’s a headband I gave to the kids during the Sealing Festival as a gift.”

“Right, but why are you carrying it around?” I confusedly asked.

“I had a feeling there would be an opportunity like this!”

An opportunity like this? Wait. Don’t tell me her “request” is...

She smiled at me and said, “Put on this headband and pretend to be a puppy!”

“Alright. I’m destroying the mana stone.”

“Ah! W-what are you doing?” she said, flustered.

Of course, I didn’t intend to break the stone.

“You want me to wear this and act like a dog?” I asked.

Iris nodded cheerfully, beaming from ear to ear. “Yes!”

A sudden memory from my past life flashed through my mind.

She used to be into this kind of thing. Back in my previous life, during our more intimate moments, she had occasionally asked for this kind of roleplay. Her eyes hadn’t worked back then, so I never actually wore the headband, but I never imagined I would be in this situation now.

“You promised to do anything I asked, remember?” she said.

“

Urgh!

”

“Are you telling me you lied to me?”

Damn it!

Realizing there was no way out, I reluctantly accepted the dog-eared headband she offered.

***

In one of the academy’s most premium private training rooms, only accessible to those who ranked in the top fifty of the overall evaluations or donated an enormous sum, a blond young man stared blankly into space.

“Dale hasn’t been showing up lately.”

Yuren let out a deep, floor-shaking sigh and opened his Hero Watch to check his message history with Dale.

Two days ago:

Yuren: Let’s train together today.

Dale: Got something to take care of today. Sorry.

One day ago:

Yuren: Busy again today?

Dale: Professor Baldwin called me in. I have to go. Sorry.

Today:

Yuren: Uh, what about today?

Dale: Ah, sorry! I already made plans with Iris.

For several days now, Dale had been too busy to train with him.

“You even complimented me for doing well,” Yuren muttered, pointlessly pressing his toe into the training room floor.

He hadn’t trained at all and was just wasting time. Then, a spontaneous idea sparked in his head.

Maybe I should drop by Dale’s room?

Dale had said he had plans with Iris today, but unless they were spending the night together, he would probably come back eventually.

“

Ahem!

Y-yeah. I’m just going to say hi! Friends can do that, right?” With a slightly excited stride, Yuren headed toward Dale’s dorm room. “Let’s see. He said he was in Building C, right?”

It was one of the cheaper dormitories, mainly used by state-sponsored cadets. Compared to his dorm in Building A, this one looked more like a slum. “It’s run-down.”

There it is

, he thought.

He found the room number Dale had mentioned before and stood in front of the door. “I’ll just wait here until he gets ba—

Huh

?”

Just then, he heard barking sounds from inside the room.

He wondered if it was really a dog. After all, pets were strictly forbidden in the dorms.

D-did Dale sneak in a puppy?

If anyone else heard those sounds, Dale could get into serious trouble. Worst case, he could even be penalized for breaking academy rules. Dale had already gotten a zero on the last exam. Yuren couldn’t let him go into the negative.

Determined to help, Yuren opened the door to quickly get the “puppy” out before anyone saw. But what he saw instead was Dale wearing a dog-eared headband, pretending to be a puppy.

“

Woof, woof!

”

Their reunion could not have gone any worse.