There were only three people remained alive in Lone Mountain. Two of them were female, and the last one was a male. The area was swept in silence as the three of them were having a staring contest.
One of the female had a blond hair, well-endowed figure, and a mature attractiveness. She was Chloe who was sitting on the ground while dumbly staring at the young man in front of her.
The other female had a long black wavy hair, lean body, small face, and wasn't as endowed as Chloe. She was Sylvia who sat beside Chloe while looking intently at the young man in front of her.
The young man they were looking at was, of course, Basil. He looked at them calmly as if he didn't take their gaze into account.
"Are.. are you-"
"Don't make a sudden move."
Sylvia was interrupted by the time she was about to finish her words. She heeded his advice as she carefully looked at him. Finally, she noticed that Basil had never looked at them since the beginning.
Basil was looking at something behind them. Sylvia became tense instantly. She was fearing another terror would happen. Chloe, who saw her becoming tense, also couldn't help herself following suit.
Basil made a hand motion toward Deacon, and he responded quickly. Quickly swiping the two ladies on the ground, Deacon took a leap forward as fast as he could. Basil leapt back while muttering a name of a spell.
[Firestorm]!
Gale and fire mixed into one, creating a firestorm on its wake. Basil shot the the firestorm directly at the Beasts that had been waiting to struck them. They were no other than another Stranglers.
Strangler was a unique Magical Beast as it was a transition between plants and animals. Its outer appearance resembled a plant, however its system worked just like an animal.
Stranglers were naturally a peaceful Magical Beast, however it was the case if one had never cut down a tree in their entire life. To say it simply, it was close to impossible. The worst part was they became rabid after one killed their species.
Once you killed a Strangler, its scent would stick on your for an entire week. Therefore, as long as you were in the vicinity of Strangler's habitat, you would never get a peaceful life.
Basil had killed a total of four Stranglers on his way chasing Yamata no Orochi. He was also running away from them. Currently, fighting four of them was a stretch at his meager Body Forging stage.
Although he had an abnormal amount of Mana, he hadn't carved the necessary Magic Circle to control them. Therefore, whenever he used Mana, there were many of them got wasted.
Basil was different and he was aware of it. Ever since he returned to the past, he was already a different person. He didn't carve Magic Circle to utilize Magic. He carved them to help him utilizing Magic better and easier.
It was the sole function of Ultimate Circle. It was created for people who had already innate talent to utilize Magic, people who were blessed by the nature. At this point, Basil could conclude that Magic didn't belong to human.
There were still many things he was confused about, however he couldn't figure it out as the Guide restricted the knowledge.
Boom!
As he had expected, the Stranglers he had burned in the firestorm before, managed to survive the fire. They were burning for sure, however they could still chase his butt.
Basil didn't plan to fight them, he merely dodged here and there. Utilizing [Feather Step] to the best he could, he quickly caught up to Deacon. Using [Slip] for once, he reappeared in front of Deacon.
Starting from then on, he was the one taking the lead. Deacon skilfully followed him and didn't fall behind. They did many twist and turns that made the ladies on Deacon's body held tightly onto their mount.
Basil was forcing himself to keep his current pace. He had been fighting many Beasts before meeting Sylvia and Chloe. Not only that, he had also been running since hours. Naturally, his body was already screaming at him.
The Qi he had spent was recovering, however the tissue and muscles he had broken didn't. Therefore, his speed faltered a little. It was very painful, however his face remained stoic. He had felt worse pain than that.
Looking ahead of him, he could finally see a clearing. Not away from it was an empty cave. He unhesitatingly led Deacon there. Upon arriving there, he exhaled heavily.
He had devised the best route while running. Luckily, his newly improved brain helped him a lot in thinking faster without using Mana. Thanks to that, he could spare his concentration to another thing.
Thud!
"Ouch!"
"Ah! My butt hurts!"
Sylvia and Chloe groaned as Deacon unceremoniously dropped them to the ground. Sylvia was sent rolling, while Chloe fell on her butt. They looked at Deacon begrudgingly as they rubbed the part where it hurt.
Deacon merely snorted and threw his gaze at Basil. He whimpered with the most pitiable expression he could make. Gesturing his head at his body, he looked at Basil with a forlorn gaze.
"Uh.. why do I feel insulted?"
"I want to cry."
The first was Chloe, and the last one was the weeping Sylvia. She didn't feel scared anymore, however she had the urge to cry. Basil merely shook his head in amusement and conjured a water out of thin air.
Splash!
The water spilled on Deacon's body. He took all of the water happily as he shook his body to get it properly washed. After the improvised bath was done, he shrunk himself and got to his Chibi Form.
"Oh...!"
"What?! He's so cutel"
Snort!
Deacon looked at the women in contempt. One minute they resented him, one minute they praised him. What a fickle thing!
He was unaware that it made him looked more adorable. Basil looked at them alternatingly, and shrugged inwardly.
"Do you need it too?"
"..."
"..."
Silence descended upon the cave. Basil looked at them stoically as he offered them doing the same as what he had done with Deacon. The two ladies kept their mouths shut as their cheeks visibly reddened.
'Tu, tu, tu. Darling, you are sometimes very insensitive to women.'
'Did I say something wrong?'
'No, you didn't. However! You could have worded it better.'
'Should I flirt with them?'
'Actually, you did the right thing! Hm! As expected of my Darling!'
Basil didn't blink at Vagus' indecisiveness. He didn't want to argue with her over a trivial matter. He was a realistic person. He had always taken the reality no matter how bitter it was. Therefore, he knew nothing called holding back.
"Uhh.. that is..."
Sylvia muttered awkwardly after some time had passed. She didn't want to admit it, but she was feeling uncomfortable down there. Honestly, she didn't know how many times she had wet herself. Her bladder had become loose after all of the ordeals.
Chloe looked at the muttering Sylvia expectantly. She was very embarrassed of her behavior as a twenty year old adult woman. She didn't know how many times she had wet herself!
In the end, they fell silent once again as they merely looked at each other's eyes.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
They were bewildered when they heard Basil's footstep. When he arrived in front of them, they tried to scurry away. They were afraid that he would somehow noticed something unpleasant from them.
Thud!
However, their worry was unfounded. Basil merely put two rather high quality blankets on the ground.
"You could use these blankets to cover yourself later."
His face was as stoic as ever, however they could somehow feel his exhaustion. He was worn down, however he did a great job to cover it. They were reminded at the things he had done for them, and instantly felt bad.
"Please, I would like to clean myself."
"Me too."
They gulped their pride as a woman and decided to speak honestly. Basil merely nodded with his lip faintly moving upward. They didn't know whether it was a playful smile or a sincere smile, whichever it was, he looked stunning.
Basil took out two Spatial Jugs and he filled them with the conjured water to the brim. When they were finally full, he gave it to the waiting ladies. They received the jugs shyly with their faces completely red.
"T-thank you..."
"Y-yeah, t-thank you."
Basil didn't give any particular reaction as he merely approached Sylvia closer. Sylvia's heart skipped a beat. She couldn't wrap her head around the fact that Basil was coming her way. She was simply bewildered and full of expectation!
Basil looked at Sylvia weirdly and merely took her broken ankle. He inspected the severity of the injury and hummed quietly to himself. He grabbed her mangled ankle and pulled it hard!
Rattle!
"Kyaa! It hurts!"
People had two option when they suddenly felt hurt. First, throwing their body backward. Second, throwing body forward. As for Sylvia, she chose the latter.
She hugged Basil tightly as she couldn't bear the pain her ankle felt. Tears were streaming down her face. Luckily, Basil reciprocated her hug as he stroked her head gently.
Surely, everytime he did that, he was sending a bit of Mana Wave to calm her mind. It worked as Sylvia had visibly stopped shaking.
Chloe looked at the two unamused. She felt like a third wheeler. The audacity of the two people made her feel like strangling them to death.
'Huh, look at them! They are already flirting with each other. While I'm here nonetheless!'
Surely, it was just her thought. Basil didn't think anything about it. He merely resumed Sylvia's treatment. After lining up all of the broken bones, he tied her feet with a cloth and a stick to keep it remained straight.
"Here, take this."
He gave her a pill of Crystal Clear Alpha. Basil couldn't heal someone in his current progress. He didn't have the necessary control over his Mana to do that. Therefore, he gave her a Catalyst so her body could heal faster by using her Qi.
Basil turned to look at Chloe and he met her unamused eyes directly. He quirked an eyebrow and asked her calmly.
"Do you have any broken bones?"
"Hoh.. now you finally noticed me?"
"I will take that as a no."
"Wait! I do, I do!"
Basil nodded his head and moved his body to Chloe. She looked at him quietly before smirking to herself. She decided to tease him a little bit.
"By the way, my broken bones are-"
She was interrupted as Basil directly pulled up her cloth, leaving her upper body bare. Luckily, she wore a bra to cover her voluptuous mound.
"W-w-what are you doing, pervert?!!"
She was covering her chest while looking at Basil resentfully. She had intended to tease him, however she didn't expect he would be that aggressive. She lamented on her fate quietly.
'Ah, why do I have to be born this attractive?'
Basil looked at her neutrally. His eyebrow twitched as he somehow could deduce what she was thinking. Ignoring Sylvia's full of disbelief gasp, he moved his hand beside Chloe's left breast.
"Hey! Where are you, ouch!"
"You have three broken ribs."
"Why do you, ouch! Don't touch, ouch!"
She tried to chastise him, however he didn't let her do it. Everytime she was about speak, he always pressed her ribs. In the end, she could only weep silently. Her look was that of a child that had their toys taken — full of resentment but quite comical.
After some pain filled exclamation from her, he finally got her broken ribs covered. Chloe was sobbing while covering her eyes.
"I have been violated. You have to take a responsibility!"
'This harlot! What does she mean by being violated, huh?! She wanted to be violated that bad? Fine! Let this Miss do that!'
'Vagus... Children tend to not know what they are saying.'
'Hmm.. now that you mention it, she is indeed a child in my perspective.'
She somehow accepted that logic as she stopped commenting right after. Basil looked at the acting Chloe and shoved a pill of Crystal Clear Alpha into her mouth.
"Kuhuk! What are you doing, you rude man!"
"Sorry, my hand slipped."
"This man..."
Chloe was speechless, Basil had replied all her teasing with his own, while doing it stoically. He was nasty, however she kinda liked that. Without her intending it, her cheeks became red.
Basil didn't pay any attention to her and merely returned to the place he had been standing before. It was slightly away from them. He took a seat and leaned his body to the cave wall. He closed his eyes wordlessly.
Sylvia and Chloe looked at the sleeping Basil silently. Due to how well he was hiding his exhaustion, they forgot the hardships he had been through because of them. Many things they wanted to ask him, however they could wait.
Right then, they just wanted to enjoy the fact that they had managed to survive. Of course, they wanted to clean themselves too!