NOVEL WEB Chapter 11- First attempt
[6.13 PM]
[Day four]
Catherine could have never expected Blake to be such a hardcore magician, who can repeatedly drain himself until on the verge of fainting and continuing after getting healed.
He has been practicing spells since the morning and breaking several things as his targets. When Catherine asked why was he so cruel toward his own house, he said,
"I would no longer be the owner of this house once the contract reaches its maturity."
That reminded her that once they left this place, Blake would be left with nothing other than his status as a student of the Academy.
From a general perspective, Blake was a criminal who was worth the punishment of death. Not only would he be charged with the kidnapping case but the fact that he chose the Saintess as the target has turned everyone's animosity toward him.
From Catherine's perspective, Blake was set to lose everything for no justifiable reason. In her view, his actions didn't warrant such a severe consequence. However, she knew that convincing everyone else of her perspective was an impossible task.
"This time I am going to chant a level D spell so be prepared. " Hearing his words, her eyes parted wide. For a moment she couldn't believe whether she heard him right.
"W-Wait! What did you just say?" Seeing him already initiating the chant of the spell, she hurriedly stopped him.
Blake blinked in confusion before repeating, "I am going to chant a D-rank spell?"
Catherine's shock elevated since she knew he wasn't joking about it.
"You weren't able to chant ten consecutive E-rank spells and are already advancing to D-rank? How does that even work?" Although Catherine didn't have much knowledge about offensive spells, she was a magician since the age of nine.
And what Blake is suggesting here is utterly impossible and suicidal. His mana cords were not trained enough to take the toll of a D-rank spell. His heart wouldn't be able to produce that much magic and his body might succumb in the embrace of eternal rest before he even could finish the spell.
Blake sighed seeing the Saintess panicking like this before he made his way toward her on the other side of the table.
Putting his hands on her shoulders, he told her, "Mana cords slowly develop to supply more mana if one constantly practices at a gradual pace and with those spells that have a similar mana requirement, right?"
Catherine nodded; albeit a little hesitantly.
Blake reminded her, "Then to expand the cords for greater mana circulation, can't I just use a spell that would surprise the mana cords?"
Catherine frowned and asked, "Are you suggesting to traumatize your cords by demanding a higher amount of mana at once by using a spell that you have never used before?"
"Exactly!" Seeing Blake's vigor, Catherine had a serious urge to slap the back of his hand just like she used to do with those church children back in her hometown.
"Are you serious, Blake? You know your body would get ripped apart if any single of your cords burst. How are you planning to resist that?"
Seeing Catherine crossing her arms on her bosom and adopting an immovable stance, Blake smirked.
Taking some distance from her, he said, "I know you won't let me die."
Catherine clicked her tongue seeing those sly eyes of Blake. However, despite being irritated she didn't refute him. Both of them knew that Catherine was more than capable of saving a person and bringing them back from the clutches of death with just a snap of her fingers.
Blake turned his attention toward the open space in the living area. The dining table was set aside since he had planned this experiment during lunch.
This time he didn't set any object as his target rather he closed his eyes and channeled magic throughout his body.
Clasping his hand in front of his chest, Blake caged the wind trapped in the small space between his palms.
'Creation of Core...' Blake condensed the air at a single point, filling it with such intense magic that it formed a volatile orb, difficult to control. He continued layering the center with additional wind, striving to stabilize it until the orb became a solid mass.
His heart thumped loudly enough to resound in his ears. The veins on his neck and arms were bulging and pulsating painfully. He felt hot and suffocating but none of it was enough to sway his attention from his spell.
Once he was done creating the orb, Blake released it into the air and exhaled deeply, "Phaaaa...."
The orb lazily floated in the air before taking a random spot as its point of rest.
A greenish hue surrounded Blake before he was back in health. His mana cords stopped beating like they wanted to burst out and his breathing also returned to normal.
Stepping back he found himself getting surrounded by a barrier inside which Catherine also stood.
"Ehe~" Blake grinned at the Saintess only to receive a side-long glare from the girl.
Once she ensured that Blake was out of danger and was inside the barrier, she raised her left hand in which she was clutching her hairpin and imbued it with mana.
With a flick of her wrist, the hairpin shot towards the orb, and the next moment,
**BOOOOOOOOM**
An explosion of wind and raw mana erupted in the front part of the living area. Blake's Air Bomb had been triggered when the mana-infused hairpin made contact with it. The core, already brimming with mana, couldn't contain the sudden external addition. This contact tore through the wind layers, causing the restrained magic to burst forth violently.
Catherine sighed in sadness seeing the beautiful house taking such a huge damage to the point of no repair. The whole front side was in tatters but from the outside, it would still look the same until the contract barrier isn't lifted.
"It was half successful." Blake heaved a sigh of disappointment which urged Catherine to exclaim,
"You were able to create such great demolition in your first attempt. I don't find any reason for you to be disappointed." She shook her head helplessly at Blake's dissatisfied reaction.
Regardless, the magical experimentation for today concluded—much to Catherine's relief.
*******
Around eight, Catherine brought several plates to her room, where Blake was waiting for her.
Since the dining table was torn and so was the dining space, they decided to have dinner in Catherine's room.
Blake helped her to put the plates on the study table before they both sat while facing each other.
"It looks appetizing...uh." Suddenly his praise turned into exclaim as the room turned dark.
Catherine looked at the runestone fixated at the center of the ceiling and found it dimming slowly—to the point of complete darkness.
"There goes the last rune stone...." Catherine heard him saying which urged her to ask, "You didn't refresh your inventory before kidnapping me?"
"I never thought you would agree to come here, so I never planned much."
Catherine felt like a fool hearing that but she didn't dwell on that matter and joined her fingers of each hand and did a small prayer.
"Flicker." As that word left her lips, several fireflies-like illuminations came to life and the whole room was surrounded in its radiance.
"Feels like candlelight dinner...." Blake jokes, however, what in the darkness he completely missed was the slight redness her cheeks adopted.
While living with Blake there was something changing in Catherine and in the future, she and Blake have to face numerous obstacles because of this change.
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A/N:- I am not used to slow romantic development, but I am trying my best. I hope you had a great day and this chapter was enjoyable. Please drop your thoughts in the comment box.