Chapter 024: Loving Hands

Now feeling relieved, it was time to spend my points, hang out a little in the village and go out hunting.

I quickly return to my room and find Suzy still asleep.

She usually didn’t slept this late, she must have been woken up in the middle of the night due to those goblins.

I slip by and reach into my bag a bit further from the bed.

I get my Apostle Slate and search for holy bags.

Spatial Rings… Now those are way more practical, but miniaturization had a cost.

Learning to do the enchantment myself might cost a whole lot too.

Checking the grimoire’s description didn’t give me confidence I would have any success any time soon as this was an advanced enchantment.

The good news was that I didn’t need an instruction manual when I could ask brother Hao for help.

I even had the Magician class, my intuition and experience ought to be enough on their own.

I buy the Holy Bag.

A small black pouch with a purple lining appears above my Apostle Slate for me to grab.

I examine it thoroughly.

(It’s a high quality item, seems durable.)

I tried placing my water bottle inside it for a test. The item shrank very quickly once it touched the pouch’s opening. My bottle didn’t seem to fall inside, at least there was no such sound.

The pouch’s weight was still the same, as promised.

I next slid my camping knife inside and tried to get my items out.

I carefully turned the pouch upside down.

(…)

Despite waiting for a few seconds… Nothing fell out.

I use my telekinesis and tried to pull something out but it only pulled the pouch down.

The next logical thing to do was to insert my mana into the pouch to interact with the enchantment.

(It can’t be too hard.)

My mana slides inside easily and I immediately felt out two objects’ shapes. The bottle and the knife’s contour could be deduced.

(Now to bring the knife over…)

I move all of the mana around the knife and pull it back.

Thunk

My knife comes out of the pouch and falls to the floor.

It was easy enough. It didn’t cost much mana to use, barely a trickle.

I practiced a few more times until I felt confident I could use it in an emergency.

I took out all of my stuff from my bag, which included my camping equipment, my 120-pound bow and arrows, my axe, solar lamp, talkie-walkie, compass, emergency blanket, lamp torch, solar lamp, battery charger, mana potion, staff, longsword and some clothes.

I placed it all in my Holy Bag.

(Ahhhh… So tidy, so neatly arranged and out of view!)

I offer a little prayer of thanks to Ellabizina Pa Lepma, acknowledging her as the one true Goddess.

It was now time to buy more skills.

With 34 points, I could spend 30 and leave the last 4 in case of an emergency.

There were so many things to buy, it was insane.

After remembering what happened last night, in the jungle at night, I figured I needed better vision.

As such, I was one step further to complete the Enhanced series of passive skills I was collecting.

10 points: Enhanced Vision.

It increased visual perception in both stronger luminosity and darkness. Of course, it improved resolution.

I decided to use the last 20 points for the last two of the Apostle Apprentice Copper accessories; the bracelet and the earring.

I use the points.

My eyes and brain heat up a short while. My vision fades to darkness, then pure whiteness. Finally it adjusts itself.

I look towards Suzabeth.

A previously unknown world appears. I can see more clearly than ever the pores of her skin, her veins and the texture of her hair.

I look outside.

The leaves of far away trees seem to have opened up now that I can see their actual shapes instead of a blur. I can now see farther and bright lights don’t bother as much.

I get my earring and bracelet.

The earring was a miniature version of the necklace, a small copper sphere with a blue shine attached to a circular golden needle.

The bracelet on the other hand was a solid piece of copper with a large leather strap, thrice as large as a watch’s. Its own blue shine indicated the presence of another enchantment.

I put them on. The bracelet is slid on my left wrist and I pierce the earring in my right earlobe.

I feel my strength, stamina and mana pool increase a little.

Accessories have the advantage of being able to be worn under most circumstances, if not all. I should be able to put them in my Holy Bag and wear them on Earth.

They will give me an edge in an emergency.

…

Left with nothing much to do, I put on a shirt and decided to go sell the goblin mage’s mana crystal.

Gigila of the Moon would surely buy it.

I went outside under the light of the morning sun.

I didn’t scrunch up my eyes. It was as if I was wearing strong sunglasses even though I could actually see better instead.

I might have underestimated the benefits of simple passive skills.

I headed towards Gigila’s home that was at the other end of the village.

On the way there, a few groups a women were exchanging words.

When getting closer to Gigila’s home, I spotted Kabika of the Earth’s back figure. The flat-chested Head Warrior wore a red bra and a short loincloth. She was chatting along other Amazonesses that weren’t as tall as her.

(Last time we met we kind of promised to have sex if I won against the chieftain…)

I approach their group as I listen to their conversation.

“Turns out the fruits were chomped by those filthy goblins!” The first Amazoness says.

A second woman replies. “I told you girls that stickbugs leave some behind to attract prey!”

“Now, now, nobody was hurt so it’s alright.” A third one recounts.

Kabika emphasizes her pecs and replies. “That’s only because we have the strongman Edward in our village! Little Nekola almost got stolen after those little shits melted and broke the wall!”

At this point the other Amazonesses noticed me coming and looked straight at me with some mild adoration. This made Kabika turn around and see me.

She quickly arranges her chin-length dark brown hair and a blush slowly appears.

I address the group. “Good morning, Head Warrior Kabika of the Earth and the other ladies.”

“G-Good morning, strongman Edward of the Skies!” Kabika greets me back.

“““Good morning!””” Say the other three.

“Hum… So the stickbugs were innocent all along?” I ask.

“Yes… That’s why they no longer have any bounty, instead those goblins have it instead!” Replies Kabika.

“Oh, that’s good to know, thank you, Kabika.”

“I-It’s nothing! Everyone’s thankful for you saving little Nekola…” Kabika looks down in embarrassment.

(Is she regretful about the situation?)

“Un, I just happened to be close to the scene and caught up with them. Don’t worry about it… Well, I’ve got an errand to run, so… See you later.”

“What kind of errand is it? I can help if you want…”

“Just selling a mana crystal to Gigila of the Moon.”

“Gigila? She’s my neighbor! Here, I’ll guide you!” Kabika proceeds to lead the way, abandoning her friends behind.

I remembered the way myself, but I wasn’t about to shoo Kabika away. Instead I just gazed at her ass wobbling side to side.

Within a minute’s walk, Kabika pointed towards a house.

“That’s my house!”

I hummed back in acknowledgment.

A few seconds later we reached Gigila’s home. A knock summoned her to her door.

Her pale skin and sapphire eyes felt like a breath of fresh air. Her 7 feet tall stature and gigantic breasts were unquestionably inhuman Amazoness traits.

“Yes? Kabika, and… Edward?” She asks as she sees us.

“Edward of the Skies has a mana crystal for you!” Explains Kabika proudly.

“Oh? May I see it?” She looks down to me.

I take it out of my pant’s pocket and show it.

“Oh-ho, a goblin magician’s… Fresh from this night, I take it?” Asks Gigila.

“I didn’t know you even killed a goblin magician on your own!…” Kabika looks at me with appreciation.

“It’s indeed fresh from the terrible goblin that seems to have lead the attack last night.”

“Hum, I’ll give you four medium coins for it.”

(12 points… About as much as I’d get in the last trial for the same foe, except I’m not getting points from the ones without mana crystals.)

“Alright.” I agree and exchange the mana crystal for the gold dick coins.

This brings my points back up to 16.

“Well, Kabika…” The beautiful magician seems to imply something with a funny voice.

“Hehe, yes, Gigila…” The Head Warrior was clearly also up to no good.

“With this I can enchant your mace!” Declares Gigila.

“Yes!!” Cheers Kabika. “Finally!” Her fists squeeze together in restlessness.

A sudden crafting event. I really wanted to see their techniques and inadvertently ended up looking up into Gigila’s eyes.

“Hum? What is it?” She asks with a gentle smile.

“I’d love to see your craft…” A flash of reluctance appears on her face. “Sorry for asking about something delicate.”

“Well… I suppose it’s fine to watch. This type of enchanting technique is quite common among the Amazoness villages.” Gigila thinks to herself with a finger on her lip. “Humans have the most advanced techniques, but I suppose you haven’t dabbled in enchanting before?”

“No, this would be my first time…” I say before realizing I uttered awkward words and feel myself blush.

“HA HA HA HA!” Gigila bursts in laughter. “Then it shall be my duty to guide you, for your ‘first time’!” She grabs my shoulder and pulls me inside her home.

“Then, can I watch too?!” Kabika chimes in from behind.

“If you want a good mace then you’ll let me concentrate on the enchantment, right?” Gigila’s words conceal potential resentment if Kabika insists.

“Ha ha… Right…” Kabika takes her leave reluctantly.

Gigila closes the door and guides me further in her home.

“I won’t speak much. Just watch and learn what you can.” She declares as she lets go of my shoulder and starts paying greater attention to the goblin mage’s mana crystal.

Gigila of the Moon was the entire village’s Magician or perhaps Shaman.

Her womanly body wobbles into an atelier.

The atelier, from right to left had a carved log filled with some water, a huge piece of fresh wood, pots, a desk, various tools, a large stone and a small fire pit.

Gigila sat on a chair and placed the crystal on a flat stone suspended above the coals and ashes of the fire pit.

She chants a few words. “May the cleansing of the forest bless us all.” A small flame shoots out of one of her hands and lights the coals on fire.

One hand stayed on her thigh while the other touched the top of the crystal.

Unable to notice anything, I focused on my mana sense.

Amazingly, the mana crystal was emptying itself of mana. The residual mana was returning to nature.

After two or three minutes, I could no longer feel mana from the crystal.

That’s when mana flew through Gigila’s fingers and into the mana crystal.

The new mana quickly exited the crystal.

Seemingly satisfied, Gigila grabbed a nearby hammer and chisel. She moved the mana crystal onto a big stone and started hammering.

Thonk thonk thonk

She didn’t stop until it turned to dust.

It seemed surprisingly brittle, perhaps due to the fire treatment or the lack of mana inside.

She took a small brush and collected the dust in a bowl.

She got up and took the bowl to the carved log filled with a bit of water.

A human-sized piece of fresh wood was sitting up next to the log. Gigila lifted it and placed it in the water. It fitted inside just right.

She then dumped the mana crystal powder in the water with the wood and dunked her arms inside the tub. The powder dissolved right away.

Each of her hands were touching either ends of the floating wood.

Then Gigila’s mana circulated from one hand to the other, back and forth.

After some time, some wood veins start shining with a bit of light.

I watched for half an hour until Gigila’s mana levels dropped so low it would induce side-effects.

She removed her hands from the tub and wiped away beads of sweat.

I take out a water bottle from my Holy Bag.

“Phew… And it’s done. How was it?”

“It was quite magical to see.” I open my water bottle and hand it over. “Here, for you.”

“Un, thank you.” She eyes the bottle and brings the tip to her lips. A few drops of water drip down onto her robe. Her throat moves up and down as she gulps the water. She stops drinking and her tongue catches a few droplets of water below her lip.

“This won’t work on dried wood, you need to use fresh and moist wood.” Despite her naturally attractive movements, she explains more about her enchantment.

“I see…” My eyes suddenly drift towards her breasts.

“… Now, all that’s left to do is carve the log into a nice mace for Kabika…” Gigila’s eyes follow mine before she lifts her breasts with her arms and smiles proudly. “Before I rest, is there anything else you’d like to do~?”

“Not really…” I gulp.

“Really? Is there nothing at all?” She asks teasingly.

Despite my empty balls I wanted to ask many things, but I restrained myself.

“From where I come from, they say that nothing is free in the world. Despite me hating that sentence, in some ways it’s true.” I grab Gigila’s left hand and kiss its back. “Thank you for inviting me inside your home, Gigila. Hopefully we’ll meet again soon enough.”

I give her a smile and leave.

I hear Gigila hum in concordance.

…

I return to Suzabeth and find her awake.

“Good morning, Suzy!”

She observes me and smiles.

“What happened last night?”

I brief her on everything that happened… Except for my adventures with Wufula.

She nods along. The content wasn’t too surprising. On our trip to the village, the same could have happened to us if we weren’t grouped together all of the time.

“I’m hungry, Suzabeth. Let’s go prepare breakfast!”

We head into the kitchen to find Claire cooking some eggs.

“Hey…” I say.

“Oh, hi…” Replies Claire shyly.

I look at my ingredients.

The snake head was still fresh for now but needed to be prepared before it was too late.

“Then, let’s cook that up!” I say, pointing at the head with its big open maw.

I grab a knife and skin the piece of meat.

Suzy looks and gives me advice. “Break off the teeth and thin out the neck next~.”

With the flick of the knife’s handle, I break off a fang.

After cutting up the snake head, I find two glands in the upper mouth.

“Ooh, this must be where it stores its venom.” I say out loud.

“Right!… Good thing it didn’t bite you!” Replies Claire, finishing her eggs and plating them.

“That would have been terrible… I do remember that snake venom are just digestive enzymes, so could I just use the venom to soften the meat?” I ask the two women.

Suzabeth tilts her head and hums. Claire puts a finger on her chin and replies “Maybe…? I definitely haven’t done that before but it makes sense.”

“Then I’ll just try it. After cooking it, the venom won’t be an issue anyway.”

And so I cut open the venom glands and imbibed the meat with it.

We just had to wait a few minutes to let the venom work.

I look around. Claire eats her eggs in tranquility. We lock eyes.

Her gaze is unwavering.

A tantalizing sensation spreads in my stomach as I remember our last kiss.

I maintain a similar steadfast stare and feel connected to her. Claire blushes a little.

She brings a spoonful of eggs to her mouth while we’re still looking at each other. Her blonde hair shakes a little as she eats.

As Suzabeth turns towards me I turn away from Claire and pretend nothing happened.

“So Edward, have you planned anything for today?” Asks Suzy cutely.

“Hum, just some hunting later on. I’ll try to find some goblins and keep the place safer.” I explain.

“Then, can we go to the waterfall, the two of us?”

“Un, a bit after lunch then.”

“Great, thanks~!” Suzy hugs around my arm.

…

Half an hour later, the snake is cooked.

Suzy and I split the meat and taste it together.

The meat melts in the mouth instantly.

The taste is quite neutral, like chicken with something added to it.

“Wow, it’s delicious.” I say.

“It’s melting away in my mouth!” Says Suzy with a hand on her cheek and glazed eyes. “I think the thing about venom was true!”

“Of course it was… Maybe this venom was quite strong too. I did not expect this to get so soft.”

The smell had perhaps pervaded through the house because soon enough Lin Hao, Danielo, Raquel and Claire had come by.

“Can I have a taste?”

…

The snake recipe was a big success that could possibly make me big money.

However the prerequisite of finding venomous snakes made this a bit difficult.

It was still morning so I went West across the river to search for goblins.

(I’m a bounty hunter when I’m not a booty hunter.)

…

…

Afternoon.

Suzy and I ate some river fish inside big sweet leaves.

My hunt had gotten me no goblins but I made 4 small coins.

My point count went up by one.

This showed that with enough small coins I could get a point.

I wasn’t making a lot though.

My thoughts could only go back to Nekola and her mother Wufula.

I look down upon my hand, thinking back to the Hypnotic Mental Suggestion spell.

Using it, I might be able to–…

Suzabeth addresses me. “Edward, can we go see the waterfall now?”

“Sure, it’s a few kilometers away, so dress accordingly, okay?”

“Un!” Suzabeth goes to put on her shoes.

I wasn’t very worried about dangers on the way to the waterfall. The vicinity of the village was regularly hunted down to oblivion.

Since I had my entire equipment with me there was little to worry about.

We headed out through the West gate. On the way I greeted Maja of the Gorilla and Juna of the Armadillo, who winked at me in passing.

I was wearing my accessories and I had my sword sheathed by my hip.

The rest was inside my Holy Bag.

We walked hand in hand at a leisurely pace.

It was a simple but intimate date.

We didn’t say anything and just smiled at each other from time to time.

The river’s coolness freshened the air and was of great comfort.

The resounding noise of the waterfall became louder and louder.

The Amazonesses placed the village right where the noise couldn’t reach, which is smart.

Despite not yet seeing the waterfall due to the river’s slight curvature, we could feel it in the air.

A few more steps lead us to see the tall waterfall, falling from the cliff where we first saw the village.

This time, we could see the falls from the bottom instead of the top.

“Look, there’s still the rainbow up there!!!” Shouts Suzy as she points up towards a rainbow.

This rainbow was pure, deprived of sin.

My enhanced vision could make it pop out in the sky even more than normal.

The rainbow had no magical properties even in this world.

The Amazoness falls were quite loud from this distance.

Even if an elephant walked behind me I wouldn’t hear it.

I use my magical senses just in case. There was nothing for now.

I grab Suzy’s shoulder, turn her towards me and place my other hand on her jaw.

She blushes and closes her eyes, fixed in place. I bend over to kiss her lips gently.

We only kiss for a few seconds before moving on to explore the surroundings.

Getting closer to the waterfall, tons of mosses grew. They were especially thick and lush, in different shades of greens and reds.

At this distance from the falls it would be hard to hear each other. With some hand signs I propose something to Suzy.

I point with my thumb the river and do little butterfly waves with my hands.

Suzy nods back.

I remove my sword and clothes to put them in my Holy Bag, on my hip.

Suzabeth also disrobes to her underwear and gives me her dress and shoes.

We enter the turbulent water together.

“…!”

It was extremely refreshing.

We walk a few steps closer to the waterfall.

At this distance, a shower of droplets hit us from the top of the waterfall.

Suzy’s cooled down body hugs me from the side. I place an arm around her side.

We play, splashing water and rubbing each other’s skin. We stay in the water for a little while before coming back on the embankment.

I try to sense for creatures around and there were still none.

I talk in Suzy’s in ear. “Dry here a while, I want to go beneath the waterfall!”

She mouths “Okay!” and waves me goodbye.

I return in the cool water and walk to the waterfall, before having to swim there.

I approach the falling water with a bit of dread and excitement.

I reach it. The wall of water had great strength, almost hurting my enhanced physique.

I was having to fight the current with all I had.

I went a bit further. I was having to hold my breath and close my eyes. The temperature started to affect me.

I lifted up my arms with some effort to cover my head.

With my arms acting like a shield I could breathe and open my eyes.

(Oh!)

Further ahead there was a hole in the rock wall, dug up by the water. A little hollow spot in the rock to take refuge in.

I hurriedly went inside, protected from the falling water. My eyes adjusted to the darkness.

(It’s bigger than I thought!)

Water drips down from above and down into the stream.

I walk up into the cave. At first there’s moss on the ground before it’s only smooth mud on top of stone.

I grab my Holy Bag and take my flashlight. It was dry, despite the bag having gone underwater.

Inside the space of the bag there was a big ball of river water now, weighing whatever was enough to fill up the rest of the 100 kilograms.

Turning on my flashlight, the first thing I saw were a few stalagmites and stalactites, some joining into pillars.

(…!)

Then I saw handprints on the walls.

I start examining them.

They all came in pairs, a left and right hand of different shape and size.

These were the hands of couples.

There consistently was a slightly big but thin human hand. The hand of an Amazoness, either on the left or the right.

The other hand was different. Sometimes it was just a normal human hand, sometimes it was big and large, manly even.

These had to be the hands of loving couples.

(Though I’m pretty sure they come here when the river is weaker…)

There were dozens of these muddy handprints.

Some looked thousands of years old, some only a decade or so.

The cave didn’t go any deeper.

I store my flashlight and head back out.

I dive in the water, enjoying the weaker underwater pressure from the falls and swim away.

As I feel the pressure vanish I surface.

Suzy waves at me with a smile.

I wasn’t gone very long.

I walk to her, dripping water.

“I found a cave behind the waterfall…” I tell her.

“Really? That’s so cool!”

“Don’t tell anyone, I think it might be a taboo here.”

“Why…?” She asks with dubiety.

“There are old and slightly more recent handprints all over the cavern’s walls. They each come in pairs, an Amazoness’ and another race’s.”

“Oh… It’s handprints of forbidden lovers…”

“Something like that. I think it’s due to the slave status that can’t openly be lovers… Anyway, this is probably an open secret in the village but let’s not mention it around.”

“Un!”

We dressed ourselves and walked back to the village, hand in hand.

I treasured this moment.

Love is precious.