664 10/12 1:18 (Autumn, Sunrise, Midrar)
Having spent an hour coaxing Mafel back into a calmer state, Sabel could only sigh from her place, trapped as she was between Mafel's arms, sending pleading gazes to both Amber and Luna.
Yet the only assistance she received was the Lunarian and Phoenix taking turn casually patting her head, causing her expression to twist in a pout, her pleas for help going unanswered if one was to ignore the amusement clearly felt by her Mates.
"Mafy, come on. We all very much appreciate your efforts in acquiring food and resources for our travel." Sabel reassured, launching insistent glances, filled with an even more insistent request for help, to her other two Mates.
Feeling Sabel's distraught sincerity and slowly increasing panic, was finally enough cause for Luna to properly intervene, despite the fact that she was able to feel that this was merely Mafel's desire to be spoiled and not a genuine request for reassurance.
Yet she hesitated on deciding how she should actually intervene, especially considering how the only one actually distressed was the one asking her for help reassuring the other that was, in all actually, enjoying herself with not a care in the world.
Deciding on just doing what she knew would work on both of them, Luna stood back on her feet and moved towards them, one of her hands playing with the platinum clasp of her mantle, kneeling down to the side of her two Mates and pulling them in her embrace.
The soft black feathers of her Artifact enveloped the three yet the real distraction involved was Luna herself, her current state of undress completely stopping both Sabel and Mafel in an instant, the former because she was currently a stammering, red-faced mess and the latter because she was taking advantage of their closeness to explore both the Human and the Lunarian's bodies.
"You are worse than Amber and she was raised by a Succubus and her partner." Luna couldn't help but comment, the only reaction to the Elf's impulsive action being teasing the Phoenix watching them, subtly inviting her to join in.
Amber eyes rolled once, said Demon-blooded one moving towards them and forcing her way through the two wing-like extensions and burrowing into Sabel's arms, narrowing her eyes in pleasure once she felt herself being completely surrounded by her three Mates, ignoring a certain wandering pair of pale hands from a certain Elf.
The great mantle closed down around the four, the dark and silky fur forming it pressing comfortably against their skin, lulling them all into a gentle yet very brief repose.
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664 10/12 1:44 (Autumn, Sunrise, Midrar)
Waking back up from their slumber, Luna having already dressed back up with a previously stored copy of her outfit, the four returning to their voyage, the Lunarian enjoying the feel of her furred mantle around herself.
"Ah, Luna? Why didn't any of your Skill increase in Rank after you became a C-Ranked Lunarian?" Sabel curiously asked, blinking her black eyes at the white-haired one.
"Because my Skills, Soul and Astral Ichor still need to both adapt to and stabilize from the changes in each other. Until it is done, my Skills will hardly increase." Luna indifferently explained, more interested in a specific one of her Artifact's possibilities.
Aiming on taking advantage of its ability to freely Cast a Spell she knew, she concentrated on dealing with the most pressing issue in her own capabilities, the limited number of Motes she possessed and their slow Restoration.
The creation of a Spell focused explicitly on resolving this problem.
Starting from her [Oceanus' Blessing] as an inspiration but stripping away both the purifying influences of the Fire-Attribute and the increased spread of the Air-Attribute in exchange for a simpler Effect, the forceful and constant creation of Astral Ichor within a Target.
In a normal Being this would be an absurdly deadly Effect as it lacked any stopping point, constantly generating incredibly Energy-dense pseudo-matter without caring if the Target would be able to handle it, forcing them to constantly emit enough Energy to accommodate the influx of new Energy, further straining them.
However not only was Luna missing more than enough Energy to accept the sudden influx, but she also possessed an Authority focused on the creation and control over Astral Ichor itself.
"[Rejuvenating Fount]." She decided on its name at the same instant she Casted her new Spell, the silver ring at the centre of her mantle releasing a soft light and iridescent veins, looking almost like complex, three-dimensional circuitry, spread from there to cover the entirety of the Artifact, from its feathers to its soft fur alike.
A second later, a soft golden mist erupted from the mantle, surrounding the Lunarian alone before sinking beneath her skin, entirely merging with her body.
Red eyes closed as she examined her own inner state, their owner smiling gleefully upon confirming the success of her Spell's characteristics.
It would last only 100 seconds normally, one for each Unit of Virtual Energy used as it was Casted, increase to 110 seconds thanks to her Arcane Armageddon, generating a similarly increased 1,1 Motes of Astral Ichor every second, an amount that would increase further once she obtained a Spirit for both the Water- and the Holy-Attribute.
Combining these two factors and, even if she was to Cast the Spell with her own reserves, she would gain an increase of around 21 Motes every two minutes, ignoring her natural regeneration and vastly accelerating her Restoration rate.
And this was calculated without taking into consideration the fact that by using Virtual Energy, she would forgo her Unique Arma's Boost to Magic, the refunding of 13,5% of the spent Astral Ichor as Virtual Energy that she would then be able to reabsorb as extra Astral Ichor.
"So, is that a Spell that you could Cast on us?" Upon seeing the spectacle, Amber asked curiously, causing the Lunarian to still briefly, her mind working out the minimum safety required to let them experience the full Spell.
"Let's see... for Mafel, she would need to empty around half of her Mana Well and turn off all her Mana Recovery and then I could activate the Spell on her for ten seconds. For you, you should be able to handle five seconds without these preparations, your output and regenerative abilities are enough that you would suffer no practical side effects in so short a time."
At Luna's affirmation, the Phoenix merely placed one of her hands on her forehead. "Is that a Holy-Attribute Spell or a deadly Curse?" She couldn't help but rhetorically ask upon hearing Luna's answer. "Wait, but what about Sabel?" She asked, blinking her warm eyes a couple of times.
"Ah... No idea." Luna casually responded, walking forward without hesitation with an incredibly relaxed tone before expanding once she felt her Mates' incredibility. "Normally, I would propose similar restrictions to Mafel's.
"However, I don't know how Sabel would react upon feeling Astral Ichor flowing directly within her. Before doing such, I would prefer being within a protected space and at full strength so that I could properly intervene if the worst-case scenario would happen."
Done with her explanation, the Lunarian simply continued onward, keeping part of her attention on making sure her prototype of the Spell would remain fully stable. "Ah. To be faster, couldn't you just maintain multiple copy of that Spell on yourself instead of a long one?" Sabel asked, trying to deflect the matter away from herself.
"Beyond just the fact that this Charge can only be used to Cast a single Spell at a time, it's a restriction I integrated in the Spell itself, only one Target and only one instance for Target. Otherwise, my Affinity to the Attributes would affect the Duration instead of the generated Units." Luna responded, accepting the change in argument with no resistance.
Mafel, well aware that Sabel had some issues with being considered different from other People and that Luna was dismal at properly reassuring others when it comes to emotional needs, joined in. "So, how do you feel about seeing your parents once more?" The grey-haired one teased immediately.
"W-well, I..." The black-haired one stilled completely, her eyes starting to waver as she finally bothered to think how exactly her parents would react, a foreboding hesitation rapidly filling her. "No, you know, we should skip the capital entirely. Yeah, the tournament is already way too soon, we need boats and we need to pass Higrar. We cannot just waste so much time!"
Yet, Sabel's hurried change of mind provoked no alteration in the plans of the four and the reason for such was a very simple one.
That being that the three of them could clearly feel that Sabel's desire for avoidance was born not of fright but purely of embarrassment.
And therefore, the next step was obvious.
"Why don't you see it as practice?" Mafel teased, her eyes twinkling. "Remember that while neither Luna nor I have any parents to present you to, we all still need to meet Amber's mothers. And between us, I am certain that your parents would be much easier to deal with." She took advantage of it to tease the Phoenix too.
"Wait! What do you mean my mothers?!" The Phoenix immediately exploded, her eyes widened in alarm.
"What, you think you can evade our meeting for long? You did bind your Soul to our Luna's. Did you perhaps delude yourself into thinking you could hide this from a Demon? Were you planning on hiding us forever?" The Elf playfully asked, her lips pulled into a teasing grin.
As more and more protest flowed, this time from both Amber and Sabel, Luna stilled, blinking her red eyes a couple of times, confused about what her two red-faced Mates were feeling.
After all there was no burning anger towards their progenitors nor was there any sharp hatred or even blanketing fear, their emotions still showing an evident warmth towards their parents.
Aware of her own lack of familiarity with this topic, she simply started paying more attention to her Mates' complex mix of emotions, searching for any trace of discomfort caused by their parents themselves instead of the more natural one caused by a meeting between parents and paramours, relaxing upon feeling none.
Satisfied, she just entertained herself by feeling her Mates' emotions, more specifically the teasing amusement of Mafel and the flustered irritation of Sabel and Amber, keeping count of her Spell's progress to make sure there would be no issue as it neared the end of its duration.
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