Chapter 79-Well Earned Respite
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Sorry for the rather late upload, but I've been busy doing college student shit. I'll try to return to a more consistent upload pace, but between fucking around on campus and actual academic pursuits, I don't have too much time to write.

Since Minerva was the one that suggested that I use Ferrosaur fuel to power my explosion magic, I decided to grant her any request within reason.

Did I have any ulterior motives? Absolutely. Was I hoping that she would ask for headpats? Pretty much. 

But instead I was asked to make a home cooked meal so Minerva and I could have a sort of dinner date. On top of that, she had requested that I make something from my homeland instead of more local dishes. Thus I was busy making a traditional Marcher dinner which consisted of soup made from lamb, peas, and onions; river fish baked in herbs and topped with nuts; chickpea salad, and fresh baked flatbread. 

Oddly enough, however, Minerva had told me beforehand that she would be bringing the drinks as well as dessert. And although I told her that I wanted to treat her for tonight, she insisted that she would enjoy it more if she also brought something to the table. 

“Azel, you finished cooking yet?” a voice rang out from the room adjacent to the kitchen. 

“Almost,” I replied while stirring the pot of soup. “You can try some of the food if you want.”

A short while after, Sekh strolled into the kitchen, her nose eagerly sniffing the aroma wafting about in the room. 

Waving for her to come over to me, I blew on the ladle filled with hot soup before pushing it into her mouth when the soup was sufficiently cool. 

“So how is it?” I redundantly asked Sekh while she was beaming happily. 

“How does marriage sound?” Sekh asked with a gleeful smile.

Sighing happily, I moved my free hand over to rub the top of Sekh’s head, eliciting a string of excited giggles from her. 

“By the way, I made extra food for you and everyone else,” I told Sekh while motioning for her to look at the arrayed dishes.

“Thanks Azel,” Sekh said cheerfully. “That’s really sweet of you. I wonder how I could possibly repay you.”

As expected, Sekh wore a teasing smile when she spoke the last part. 

“I know the perfect thing then,” I remarked while flashing an energetic smile. 

A little while later, Sekh and I were bringing up the food to the room that Minerva had designated for tonight.

“You’re so boring,” Sekh complained as we walked up the stairs. “No ridiculous outfits or favors, just lifting stuff for your date.”

“You didn’t deny my request though,” I pointed out in a faux innocent tone. 

“Yeah, because I really am the best,” Sekh sighed. 

When I entered the room, which was located on the fifth floor, I noticed that it had been remodeled from a work room into a very comfortable looking lounge with a plush sofa and low circular table being the centerpiece of the place. 

As for the person who was responsible for changing the room, she was standing in front of me with a rather cocky smile plastered all over her face. 

“You want headpats?” I asked casually, prompting Sekh to vigorously nod in agreement. 

As I was happily spoiling the now purring leopard girl, I had a somewhat unusual thought.

“Hey Sekh, do you ever feel like I treat you similar to a pet?” I wondered. 

Hearing this, she pulled away from my hand while scratching her cheek thoughtfully. 

“I...don’t think so. Come to think of it, am I really that odd compared to the other people you’ve seen in the past?”

“Not necessarily,” I answered. “I would definitely say that you're really affectionate compared to most people I know. And even though headpats are a bit unusual, they’ve come to grow on me, Minerva too now that I think about it.”

“Well I don’t really know how most relationships in your cultures go,” Sekh explained with a shrug. “I’ve only really seen couples back in my village and a bit in Fars. So I don’t really know what’s supposed to be normal.”

“But you feel happy right?” I continued, prompting Sekh to gently poke me in the side. 

“Of course,” she replied. “Azel, I don’t feel like I’m being looked down on if that’s what you mean. I think you treat me really well if anything.”

“I’m glad then,” I remarked, prompting Sekh to suddenly reach for the top of my head in an attempt to give me some headpats.

“You don’t have to worry,” she continued. “If I feel upset about something, I’ll tell you. But as of right now, I feel wonderful. So go and enjoy your date with Minerva. Both of you deserve it.”

Taking the opportunity, I gently pulled Sekh’s head against my chest and just embraced her for a while.

“Hey, so I’m gonna have to leave soon,” Sekh commented after a minute or so. “You do have a date with Minerva right about now. And I don’t want to take up any of her time.”

The moment I let Sekh go, she kissed me on the cheek before spinning around and bounding out of the room. Almost as though she was waiting for her turn, Minerva came into the room just a short while after Sekh had left, carrying bottles of liquor and some cake when she arrived. 

“Can you excuse me for a bit, I need to change clothes,” she told me while setting things down on the table that was now cluttered with dishes.

After I gave a nod of approval, she disappeared for a bit before returning in a comfortable nightgown.

“I like the look,” I commented when she sat down. “It’s definitely cute, and probably even more comfortable.”

“I knew you’d like it,” Minerva declared happily, though her typical slight blush was still very present. 

“Would you like me to change outfits in that case?” I suggested. “Maybe something homey to match your outfit.”

“There’s no need for that,” she said while patting the spot on the sofa right next to her. “I think the tunic and pants go well enough. Plus you smell like food so it establishes the homely feel quite well.”

Obliging, I plopped down next to Minerva and slung my arm over her shoulder. Cutely, Minerva reciprocated by resting her head against my shoulder, the two of us now snuggling together on the sofa. 

“So...you want to eat?” I asked after a period of silence. 

“Sure, I was waiting for you,” she pointed out. “This is a traditional meal from your homeland isn’t it?”

“Very much so,” I answered while taking a piece of flatbread and eating it with some of the baked fish. “I remember being treated to a meal like this while I was out patrolling the border with Fars.”

“Was it served to you at a noble’s estate or were you billeting at the house of a commoner?” Minerva wondered.

“I was staying at the house of a freeholder at that time. Though meals like this are also popular among the nobility. And considering the amount of spices I’ve used, I would say that mine resembles something found at the table of nobility.”

“Pretty similar to Tyros then,” she commented. “Oh and is fishing common in the Marches? I know there’s a few lakes in the mountains, but is it enough to sustain a population?”

“Well it’s enough to supplement our diets,” I told her. “But there’s not enough fish to live solely off it. So that’s why we have dishes like lamb soup.”

“That makes sense,” Minerva replied after finishing a mouthful of her salad. “I think it’s the reverse back in Tyros. Seafood is our main source of sustenance whereas other meats are considered a luxury.”

As we ate, Minerva gave plenty of complements to both the dishes served and the person that had made them. And although I couldn’t hope to compare myself to an actual learned chef from back home, I was still beaming happily from Minerva’s praise. 

“You know Azel,” Minerva began while we were still eating. “I really prefer your home cooked meals to eating out. There’s a certain appeal to getting doted on by you.”

“Doted on?” I wondered. “So you want me to be a stay at home husband?”

Minerva blinked a bit when she heard husband but quickly regained composure after pretending to be a cherry for a bit. 

“Honestly, yes. It’s strange though. I want someone who can take care of me at home but also be my superior at work. Really demanding right?”

“Absolutely,” I agreed, prompting Minerva to pout. “But I do like spoiling you so it works out.”

“Still, I’m not one to just receive,” she declared, gesturing at the bottles of liquor and cake. “There’s two bottles of sweet wine from Megara, but there’s also a bottle of Orcish spirit for you.”

“Love you dear,” I cooed, kissing Minerva on the cheek. 

“It’s nothing, but be sure to control your drinking,” she reminded me. 

“You should too, considering how things had gone last time,” I reminded her, prompting an embarrassed look from the dark elf. 

Fortunately, the two of us were actually very reasonable and refrained from any excessive drinking. After eating, the two of us went downstairs to do the dishes together, though Sekh ended up taking over after encouraging us to make the best of our time together. 

“Hey Azel, how about I give you a massage today?” Minerva suggested when we got back to our room.

“Sure, but do you want something in return?” I wondered. 

“Let’s go to sleep together tonight,” Minerva declared confidently, though the reddened tips of her ears betrayed her.

“Uh...sure,” I replied. “If you don’t mind me asking, you seem a lot more forward than usual.”

“Well I wanted to try being more confident,” Minerva explained. “It’s weird to constantly being a stammering and blushing mess.”

“I think it works wonderfully then,” I told her before kissing her on the nose. “You’re just as cute as ever, though you don’t have to put on an act if you don’t want to. I’ll-”

“Love you no matter what,” she finished the sentence with a smile. 

“Guess I should be more creative next time,” I snickered, Minerva giggling along with me. 

While I would consider myself to be the better masseur, I certainly enjoyed having Minerva squeeze the aches out of my body. Though I was a bit disappointed that she didn’t start any “interesting” developments. 

That night, the two of us fell asleep with each other, and I even got a cute goodnight kiss before going to bed. 

The following morning was quite enjoyable. Waking up to the site of snoring Minerva and giving her a soft kiss before going off to do my regular morning routine. 

Although I received reports from our patrols about the possible locations of roving outlaws and monsters, it was critical that the soldiers accompanying me learn to work with my magic. As such, I was now spending a considerable amount of time conducting drills with the garrisoned soldiers and Zeph. Zeph being particularly important since she could effectively negate my magic in the case that I misfired.

Most of the exercises were fairly simple. The soldiers would fight mock battles while I used my explosions to either disrupt formations or communicate simple messages using the sound of the explosions almost like a horn. If I was able to obtain material that could consistently burst into different colors, then it would be possible to communicate more complex messages.

More importantly, I didn’t receive the Ferrosaur firepots from the blacksmith villages, so I didn’t have the most effective way of using my magic for combat. So while I was waiting for my supplies, Zeph and I decided to conduct a few tests. 

Most important among those was to see how effective a blast of my magic would be against an armed person. Of course we didn’t use a real person for the test, but a straw dummy instead. However, we did dress the dummy in full armor with a gambeson and lamellar cuirass. And although the equipment wasn’t in the best shape to prevent ruining good supplies, it would give us a rough estimate of my power’s effect on a person.

“Ready Zeph?” I asked her while we stood in front of the straw doll. 

“Ready,” she replied almost immediately. “I’ve set up the mana around us so I can respond quickly.”

“Thanks,” I responded, flashing an eager smile at her. 

With the stomp of my right foot, I ignited a blast on the torso of the doll. 

But to our utter shock, a remarkably powerful blast erupted from the armor. Although it didn’t leave a deep gouge in the straw doll, it had enough force to knock the doll to the ground. The blast also tore apart the lamellar links at the area of impact as well as ripping through the gambeson. 

As I bent down to observe the damage, I noticed that the metal on the cuirass seemed quite a bit more rusted than before, particularly the area near the blast. 

“Zeph, does it seem more rusted than before?” I asked while showing her the cuirass.

Zeph peered at the armor, her eyes opening in shock after realizing that I wasn’t insane.

“Fuck, you’re right.”

“What do you think will happen if we try it on other metals?” I suggested to Zeph, eliciting a sparkle in her eyes. 

“Only one way to find out,” Zeph replied quite excitedly. 

And so Zeph and I spent an afternoon watching me set up blasts on various pieces of metal. We did tests to see whether the amount of metal, the type of metal, the amount of rust, or even what the metal was forged into affected the power of the blast. 

Based on our tests, we determined that the most important factors to the power of the blasts was the amount of metal and how rusted it was. The power also varied between iron, steel, and bronze, but not to the degree as the previous two factors. And whether the metal had been forged into a weapon, armor, or what else seemed to have no impact as we had expected.  

What was more interesting was the reaction of my magic with mithril. Since mithril is a sort of magical insulator, keeping mana from traveling through it, it serves as excellent protection from magic. For instance, magical fire blown at mithril armor will be halted by the material, though small amounts of residual heat do persist. Mages also use mithril gauntlets in order to refine the flow of mana out of the hands, the gauntlets acting almost as a sort of canal or barrier that keeps the mana flowing out in a strict fashion. 

As for how my magic reacted with mithril, it would create a weak blast, not affecting the metal whatsoever. Instead, it appeared as though the repelling of mana by the mithril caused the blast to use air for fuel instead. So mithril was pretty much a counter to my magic since it drastically reduces its effects.

In essence, my magic was a generally more powerful version of typical flame magic, though it is highly dependent on the environment. If there was the right fuel around, I could inflict an absurd amount of damage relative to the amount of mana exerted. But if there was only air and a few leaves, then I was just an inefficient fire mage with a unique flair.  

More importantly, a number of soldiers in the garrison had become reasonably accustomed to fighting alongside my new magical ability. And with the incoming supply of Ferrosaur fire pots, it was only a matter of time before I could begin a proper scouring of the countryside. 

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