Chapter 603 602: Another Round Of Gifts (1)



I rested my head against the wall of the Training Grounds, watching as Jahi and the Marquess boxed away their annoyances and expelled a large amount of energy, the two Demoness' trading blows continuously as they tried to force the other to submit, which resulted in a rather stubborn lock between the two fighters, neither willing to show that kind of weakness to the other.

The fight in front of me was both admirable and enjoyable to watch as well as slightly harrowing, since this stalemate was driving them to serious injury as they boxed for a longer period of time than was necessary.

Injuries that would have gotten them pulled from a ring in my old world were things they pushed through and used as motivation to hit harder and faster, trying to inflict that same pain on the other as they continued to box.

Watching it was instilling a mixture of emotions inside of me, and I couldn't help but watch even as I flinched from the damage either Demoness inflicted on the other, and the entire time they did so I rolled the four earrings around in my hand, the golden hoops warm from being clasped in my hand for so long.

The rainbow stones shimmered with latent power, casting a beautiful glow on the sandy ground, which reflected the light wonderfully, enamoring me further.

As I stared at them, I didn't realize that the fight had reached a conclusion, one of the two Demoness' finally calling it quits and taking a break, which cast a shadow over my figure as they approached me.

Looking up, my breath caught in my throat for a moment as I saw Jahi using the hem of her shirt to wipe off her brow, revealing her sweat stained abdomen to the world, while her muscular arms were defined even more with the sheen of sweat covering them; beside her, the Marquess wiped away her own sweat and displayed a collection of muscles that was even more chiseled than her daughters, with the addition of scars crisscrossing her sapphire skin granting her a feral, wild vibe.

For a split second a thought crossed my mind, one that I was admittedly disgusted by afterwards, but...

Wouldn't it feel amazing~ to be sandwiched between the two of them in so many different ways~?

I mean, sure, Anput was muscular to a large extent as well, but her muscles were more akin to rope instead of what the two Demoness' were sporting; it was wound tight and made her lithe, whereas this Mom-Daughter pair had the very obvious bulging muscles that I was - admittedly - more drawn to.

Again, after that split second I looked away, hating myself for thinking something so weird and honestly disgusting since I viewed the Marquess as a parent like figure, just like I viewed the Countess, but even so, it was hard to deny that that scene would be... thrilling.

"Kat..? I didn't think you'd be here..."

Golden mana shimmered over Jahi's pale blue skin and removed the various dark blue bruises she had accumulated, as well as closing the few cuts and scrapes that littered her body as well.

Standing up, I doused the two in a shower of blue mana to remove the sweat from their bodies, making them both sigh in relief as the soothing Water Mana caressed their skin.

"Mmm... I wasn't entirely planning on being here, but I had no where else to go. So after cleaning everything up and praying at the chapel, I made my way here... and I got these."

I opened my palm and revealed the four earrings to the two Demoness', who frowned as they stared down at the peculiar pieces of jewelry, before Jahi smiled wryly as the Marquess muttered "What in the hells..?"

Jahi reached over and picked one up, glancing at me curiously as she wondered if this was like Leone's earring that only required one, or if she needed to take two.

"Just one. And um... it should be similar to your pendant, but instead of boosting physical strength, it boosts your mana's potency. Alongside your body being more resilient..."

"What?"

The Marquess' voice was flat as she looked between Jahi and I, only to click her tongue and snatch on from my hand, inspecting it with a frown before asking "What the hell are these, Kat? Jahi?"

Coughing into my fist, I looked away from her as I answered "They're... items that Reincantra - the Goddess who blessed me - gifted to me... or awarded, I don't know. But I do know what they do, and she always gives something that is needed. So... perhaps we'll need these..?"

The larger Demoness narrowed her eyes at that, staring at me hard before looking back down at the earring, saying "Odd, the runes slip from my mind when I look away... Is it really Divine Touched, or..?"

While she was inspecting the earring, Jahi gestured for me to put it on her, her slightly pointed ears twitching as I unclasped the earring and pierced it into her flesh, keeping it close to where a normal earring would go and leaving it be after I healed the wound.

Jahi inhaled sharply as she felt the 15% boost to her CON take affect, while the 10% boost to her WIS made her mana feel different inside her veins.

As soon as I recalled the fact that they were percentage increases and not straight numerical buffs, my eyes widened as I turned to look at the Marquess, who was still staring at the golden piece of jewelry between her fingers.

For us, I could confidently say our stats were hitting a maximum of 150 for any of the three others, while my own were lingering around 110 each, so a 15% increase for me was already around 16.5 points... and for them it was roughly 22.5 points.

But what about..?

[Yup... just think about how you compare to the Marquess from what you've seen, and take a crack at her stats... or the Empress', if you would like. Then do the quick math of 15%. What exactly do you think these items would provide~?]

'I... That's a hard question, since I've never seen her go all out, but... maybe we're not even 10% of her strength? So-'

[10%? Really? Don't get ahead of yourself; 5% is being generous. But still, go ahead.]

'S-So... 3,000? Her stats would be around 3,000 then, right?'

[Base stats, perhaps. But go on, do the math. Figure out just~ how potent that little earring is...]

'450 points... if she's exactly that high compared to the 150 maximum that I gave the other three..? I mean, she has the facilities to be higher in all stats as well..?'

[Sure, we'll go with that. Now take a crack at the Empress, just for fun~?]

My mind blanked, and I heard the System giggle in my mind as it said [Here's a line you should be familiar with; Don't know whether to laugh or cry. Isn't that what you're feeling right now? Incredulous at the potential strength of the one standing at the peak? Ooh, or what about Cali? Where do you think she falls?]

Before I could respond, the Marquess placed the earring back in my hand and stared at me, her ruby eyes narrowed as she said "This would have been a nice thing to know about, Kat... and you might want to keep them concealed. Do you know just how invaluable something like this is? Or dangerous?"

Blinking, I accepted the earring back and belatedly nodded, registering her words as I stood there quietly in front of her.

"I doubt you actually do, but just know that even ONE of these things is enough to make some people go insane with greed. As for Fiends? They'd be clamoring to rip that from your grasp... So the fact that you have four..? Or more, considering you said pendant earlier... You need to be more careful, Kat. Really."

I nodded again, clenching my fist around the three remaining earrings before looking at Jahi, who was pursing her lips as she stroked the piece of metal dangling from her ear, which made the Marquess sigh before she asked "So what does it do again? You said raises body resiliency and mana potency?"

"Y-Yes. By a decent amount as well... So for Jahi, her Light Mana should be much more dazzling and powerful, and her already strong body should be even harder and resilient."

The Marquess just grunted before gesturing towards the Training Grounds, saying "Let's try it out then. You gave up too easily earlier, brat."