With Clementine picking up the pace, the journey didn't last very long.
Only two days.
They stopped every now and again to eat some food and chat a little more.
He didn't expect it, but apparently, Clementine's parents were still alive.
According to some weird tradition, they were banished from the Siren race after she was born.
But that didn't mean she couldn't visit them.
Clementine visited them every three months, and during her birthdays, she stayed over for longer.
I, on the other hand, didn't reveal much about myself.
But that was mainly because I asked her so many questions, she never had a chance to ask me any.
Amon's life wasn't nearly as pleasant as hers.
Shaking those thoughts away, I glanced around.
We were in a slightly frozen river now, and with so many willow trees surrounding us, I knew we were in the Willow Creek.
The thing I'm looking for should be a nectar at the bottom of the Willow Creek.
I already told Clementine about it, and now...
"Take a deep breath, I'm diving," she said.
I did that immediately.
And when she dived underwater, my eyes widened slightly.
I couldn't see it from above water, but the magical sight that the main character talked about was just a bunch of underwater willow trees.
There were miniature underwater fireflies circling around them, lighting them up.
It was beautiful, and even Clementine slowed down slightly to admire the beauty.
The creek was very deep, and the deeper we went, the more underwater willow trees there were.
But soon enough, we reached the very bottom.
There were fewer willow trees, but there were still thousands of fireflies of all different colors.
They were guiding us.
Clementine followed the fireflies, and with every passing minute, their number increased.
Eventually, I saw the source of where all the fireflies were coming from.
A completely white willow tree.
But upon a closer look, I realized all that white was moving.
All its leaves were fireflies.
This place really was beautiful.
More importantly, at the base of the willow tree, there were two golden marbles, and they were exactly what I needed.
Although stunned, Clementine brought me to the marbles.
After I picked the marbles up, Clementine immediately began heading for the surface, and in just a few minutes, we were back up.
"You didn't drop them, did you?" she asked warily.
I chuckled.
"I stored them inside my dimensional ring... you probably don't know what that is. Imagine a massive bag, but it's smaller?"
Okay maybe I sucked at explaining.
"It's just a bag. I stored it inside. It's still there."
She shot me a skeptical side eye and climbed onto land, then dropped me down.
As she turned around and began drying her hair with a fan soul weapon, I took out one of the marbles and inspected it.
[Soul Nourishing Nectar]
[Description: Heals all Soul Damage, and slightly increases your resistance to Soul attacks.]
It was a simple description.
Though that didn't make the nectar any less impressive.
I could barely move because of how weak I felt, but even then, I managed to use Telekinesis and pop the nectar into my mouth.
With a slight crunch, I swallowed it.
In an instant, a warm sensation spread throughout my body.
It felt similar to how Clementine healed me.
Except this time, the sensation covered every inch of my body and nourished it.
Not only that, black goo started leaving my pores.
It smelled like shit.
So much so that Clementine jumped to the other side of the river and began drying her hair there.
I could only sigh and wait for the process to finish.
An hour, two hours... five hours later, the black goo stopped coming out of my pores.
My skin seemed a lot clearer than before.
This was like a beauty potion.
Except when the beauty potion's effects were over and I stood up, I felt at full strength again.
I tightened my grip, and then, with a wave of my hand, I uprooted a few hundred nearby willow trees.
As I hovered them in the air, I eventually stuck them back into the ground like nothing happened.
I took a few deep breaths, and then, I checked my status screen.
•—Amon Everness—•
Level 57 → 70 → [High-Grade 5 → Low-Grade 7]
▷Stats
[Strength 35 → 50]
[Stamina 50 → 61]
[Speed 37 → 49]
[Perception 66 → 82]
[Vitality 96 → 110]
▷Inherent Gift
★Telekinesis [Intermediate → Advanced] (Lv.2)
↳Lightning Affinity [Beginner] (Lv.1 → Lv.85)
▷Special Abilities
★Blood-Sight (Lv.10 → Lv.12)
★Demonic Energy Resistance (Lv.1)
▷General Abilities
☆Sprint (Lv.21 → Lv.23)
☆Pain Tolerance (Lv.36 → Lv.52)
☆First Aid (Lv.12)
☆Mental Resistance (Lv. MAX)
▷Core Traits
◆Dragon Heart [Beginner] (Lv.5 → Lv.11)
•——•
My stats went up a ton.
I noticed that whenever the Dragon Heart went up in level, a bit of my stats increased.
And after that fight I had and how much I pushed myself, it was only natural everything else went up by a lot as well.
I waved at Clementine, but she just shook her head.
She did some weird gestures, and only then did I realize most of that black goo was still stuck to my body.
And it smelled really bad.
So I gestured for her to turn around, and she did.
I immediately took off all my clothes and then jumped into the river, making sure to wash myself thoroughly.
I didn't go back for my clothes, as I just switched into a new pair.
Thankfully, since my blessed armor set was invisible, the black goo didn't have any effect on it.
When I was done, I hopped out and landed beside Clementine.
"Hey, fan me as well. I don't want to be wet."
She turned toward me with a pout.
"Don't you think you should've thought about that before you put on a fresh set of clothes?"
I just shrugged innocently.
With an even bigger pout, she began fanning me.
That fan soul weapon was pretty overpowered, as I was dry in just a few seconds.
But now that it was over, I had to think about what I wanted to do.
Around nine days had passed since I left the Mudflats.
The cadets are required to spend two weeks there afterwards to make sure there were no more troubles.
Only then were they allowed to go home.
And that meant I had over three weeks all to myself.
I had nothing to worry about, as by the time the cadets get back, so will I.
So I quickly combed through my memories, checking what I should do next.
And I immediately found an answer.
I liked to pick up pebbles and shoot them like a railgun.
So what if I got an unbreakable material and took it to the best blacksmith and had him make it into a weapon I could use?
Hehe.
But before that...
"Hey Clementine," I called out.
"Yes?"
"I'm going to be heading to a nearby kingdom. Since you have nothing else to do, wanna tag along?"
I asked only because I knew if I didn't, she would just go around wandering the world and the seas.
It seemed a little lonely.
I knew we weren't that close either.
So it was normal if she refused.
But...
"Okay."
She accepted.
"Mm... alright then."
Before she could react, I enveloped her in my Telekinesis and raised her into the air.
Her eyes widened as she flailed around.
But I only chuckled at that sight.
"Since you carried me for several days straight, it's my time to repay the favor. Get comfortable, and make sure to keep your mouth closed. You might accidentally swallow a bug."
I was just joking.
But she actually did close her mouth and looked concerned.
These next few weeks won't be boring after all.
Anyhow...
I focused up.
To get that unbreakable material, I'll need to massacre an entire demon camp.
And it's very likely I'll also have to fight a Demon Viscount.
A Grade 20 to 30 demon.
"..."
It might be a little difficult.