Chapter 40: Cleansing

"Thank you." Desire said with conviction in his voice.

It was still small, but his voice was powerful and deep enough to indicate that he was sincere and serious.

And because of that, Jarina was lost for words.

She was the one who was harsh and scolded him even. It was quite weird that she was being thanked for it, Jarina thought.

However, it's true that what she said is something very helpful and beneficial to Desire's innocent views.

And Desire knows it too as he thought about it earlier.

"W-well, it's not something you should thank me for, but I'll still accept it."

Jarina stuttered while her face was red. It was quite a new experience for her and for Desire as this was the first time she let out a bit of her 'real' feelings.

Anyway, Jarina knows that what she did was for Desire's sake, and she was happy that Desire was able to see it as well.

However, what was weird was that it was too fast.

'...is it talents or what?' Jarina thought as she returned to her original posture and face.

She then examined Desire, who was thinking about what to say next.

'Hmmm. He was able to reach this conclusion in about...'

5 minutes.

It hasn't even been that long since Jarina exited Desire's room.

Even if, by some chance, apologizing wasn't the best answer, the fact that he could come to an answer is already a good point.

'Hmmm. It's not Cold-Blooded that he got.'

If Jarina were in the same situation as Desire, she wouldn't be able to come to the same decision with the same determination as fast as Desire did.

That was why she knew that the trait Desire got wasn't the same as hers.

Well, it was already obvious to her when she first saw Desire's attitude and cool air.

It was then.

The awkward Desire finally let out some words.

"Ahaha. So, then, I hope you won't mind, but...Can we start what we were supposed to do now?"

"Oh, you were worried that I would think that you only apologized so you can have me train you?"

"Well...it may sound insincere after all."

Desire nodded his head once more as he smiled a little bit.

He then brought out the Magic Core in his hands without much difficulty.

His hands weren't shaking, and he wasn't hesitating.

It was a big improvement if you consider what his attitude was before.

"So, what do I do with it?" Desire asked while tilting his head.

He was excited about what he would learn, as this would be his 'real' training.

However...Jarina put out her palm as if to stop Desire.

And then she spoke with a serious voice.

"Let's go to your room. This is my room, you see."

She then pointed to the ground and let Desire realize what she said.

As if to not disappoint her, Desire then looked around at the room.

The room was mesmerizing, but it was quite simple.

It had furniture such as tables and jewels adorning some parts of the room, and the bed was huge that they could both fit in.

It was as if they were back in Jarina's home in Skinjur.

It was then.

As Desire finished taking a look around the room, he spoke.

"Ah. Right, let's go then."

He then stood up and walked towards the door with light steps and a smile on his face.

Jarina, too, stood up and followed him and spoke with a quiet voice.

"Thank you, huh..."

Her voice face was obviously happy just by thinking about what she received.

The duo soon left the room and went back to Desire's room.

****

As soon as the two got in Desire's room, they immediately started the training.

Well, it wasn't really training, but Core Formation.

As explained, Core is something that exists in every person able to use magic.

A core that has formed automatically is dirty and unpure, making it that when one has a dirty Core, one won't be able to use magic efficiently.

However, there is a method that could overturn and make a Core like that beneficial to the person.

It was through the use of Magic Core.

And, Desire could literally feel the effects of the Magic Core right now.

As he used his Body Control Skill to focus on himself, he was able to feel the core inside his body.

He didn't take too much time to focus because he has already done this many times before.

Anyway, the core inside his body was...full of holes.

'Hmmm. So, the Magic Core enhances it.'

Jarina has already told him what the use of the Magic Core was.

Basically, Desire takes in the magic in the Magic Core and uses it to clean his own Core.

Doing so would beneficial to him and possibly upgrade his own.

While technically, clean Cores can also use Magic Core to enhance their own, it isn't as effective as with dirty Cores.

That was why it was recommended that forming Cores automatically is the way to go on the path of magic.

It was then. As Desire felt the Core inside him, he heard the voice outside of him.

"Let's start, Desire." Jarina spoke while holding her hands out to Desire's back, who was sitting with his legs crossed.

Desire didn't answer as he was 'inside' himself.

Jarina's role in this was basically helping Desire move the magic in the Magic Core.

Desire then will take control of the magic that will be entering his core and use it to clean his core.

While this may be easy, controlling mana that isn't from yours is hard to do so.

Beginners can't do it easily, and Desire is a beginner.

Although he was able to use magic before, that was because it was his own mana.

It was then.

Jarina's hands released her mana and let it pass through Desire's body, going to the Magic Core in his hands.

Then, the mana of Jarina pushed the mana in the Magic Core inside Desire's body.

Then the mana was smoothly traveling inside Desire with the help of Jarina.

This was the first part of the process, known as cleansing.

Desire just watched it happen and let the mana that wasn't his go to the area where he was staying.

The fine line of the mana was so long that Desire couldn't see the end of it, and when Desire could see it touch his core, Jarina's voice could be heard.

"It's your turn. The process of cleaning your core will be painful, so take it easy."

The only reason why this cleansing would take an entire night to finish is that the process is unbelievably painful.

It is akin to what you feel when you skin yourself and skin it again while the skin was still healing.

Desire just nodded his head inside as a response and put his all into controlling the mana inside him.

However...it wasn't as hard as he was expecting it to be.

Jarina warned him that controlling mana that wasn't his is hard.

After all, if it were easy, a battle between magicians would just come down to how well one can control the enemy's mana.

Disrupting their own and turning it to attack their caster is every magician's dream.

That was why Desire was wondering.

'How is this hard...'

It was then.

When Desire was about to put in the mana in his Core, Jarina lifted her hands and put it away.

This was a process that Desire has to go alone.

Then, Jarina sat down on the chair and watched the famous tag and pull process.

Meanwhile...

Desire was feeling the pressure of something big.

'F-fuck...It isn't like this before!'

Even with his Heavenly Demon Trait, he couldn't keep calm.

The mana that was about to go in was suddenly stopped when he felt that Jarina removed her control.

'So, it was because of Jarina!'

It was only now that he could understand why he needed help.

It was only now that he could understand why it was hard to control mana that isn't yours.

'It's fucking heavy!!!!'

Sweat formed on his real body, and his body involuntarily clenched its teeth.

Even though he wasn't in his body, his body reacted to the heavy pressure he was feeling.

After all, the Magic Core is the magic or mana of a monster who had his Magic Core taken after being killed.

The reason one can't control mana that isn't theirs is that the mana will always try to return to the owner.

Meaning, the mana that was supposed to be used to clean Desire's core was trying to go back to the Magic Core.

And the strength of the pulling power was immense because it had the strength of the original owner.

It's as if he was battling a strong monster when Desire was at the bottom of the food chain!

'Fuck...'

Right now, Desire was battling the original owner of the Magic Core!

"Uaaaahhh!!"

Unable to bear it, Desire's body let out a scream.