Chapter 367 - Horns (Patreon)

When the kick lands, Tacita turns away from me and looks at Vega, a look of sheer surprise on her face.

And Vega kicks her again. The second kick lands as well, which is something Tacita allowed.

(Don’t) I warn through the link to Tess and Lily. Yet I still take a few steps closer, ready for anything.

With unusual gentleness, Tacita puts her finger on Vega’s forehead and pushes her away, making the young half demon stumble.

When I catch Vega’s glance, a big “Oh no” goes through my head.

It’s like Vega is confirming I’m nearby to help, and a dagger forms in her hand as she stabs at Tacita, who stands too close.

“Don’t ever touch my horns!” the minion shouts somewhat angrily.

The silent assassin easily dodges the swing and then another one, her expression changing once again and becoming much friendlier. Her hand turns into a blur, and the pale blue mana dagger falls out of Vega’s hand.

Before minion can continue, Tacita gestures for her to stop. She takes a step closer and puts her own dagger into Vega’s hand, closing her fingers around it. Then, unsatisfied, she pries minion’s hand open and shifts the position of the dagger and the wrist to a more natural state.

Tacita then gestures at minion to attack again.

For the following few minutes, my minion tries to stab her while Tacita easily avoids it and fixes a few mistakes Vega makes. A position of the blade, a wrong step, too wide of a swing. Tacita somewhat impatiently corrects it all, with a slightly annoyed expression, as if not understanding why the minion is that bad at trying to kill her.

When Vega does something too bad, Tacita even flicks her tiny horns.

(She appeared here out of nowhere, right in front of Vega. Not even Sophie’s web detected her. Sophie couldn’t even feel Tacita’s mind.) Tess carefully says into my mind.

(And then she touched Vega’s horn?) I ask.

(Yes), Tess nods. (Vega didn’t like it at all and shouted at her just a moment before you came. She seems to be really sensitive around her horns and then Tacita touched them again with you here.)

As we talk, I watch as Vega opens her mouth and a thin, needle-like mana projectile she was compressing there shoots at Tacita’s face.

Even such a surprise attack is easily dodged, but it makes Tacita smile brightly. Seems to be the right reaction to someone trying to kill you.

Over and over again, Tacita corrects my minion, who just doesn’t want to give up. Watching it all happen, I’m sure my minion also leveled up her skills and made tiny improvements.

Vega always liked to fight close-range and aggressively, a style similar to Tacita’s, so I think it’s helpful, and I let it happen. Still, I don’t forget to let my presence be known, a warning to Tacita to be careful.

Either because of my warning or more likely only because she likes Vega's personality, Tacita is considerate and doesn’t push too far. Something she is fully capable of, just from hearing how many times she killed Samuel already.

But damn, a free lesson from one of the most powerful people from Hell difficulty. Minions truly are cunning little creatures.

While watching it, I check my own skills leveling up notifications. A few of them did thanks to all my training in the common area and [Perception] thanks to the staring contest I had with Tacita not that long ago.

[Perception - lvl 43 > Perception - lvl 44]

[Perception - lvl 44 > Perception - lvl 45]

[Mana Manipulation - lvl 42 > Mana Manipulation - lvl 43]

[Mana Manipulation - lvl 43 > Mana Manipulation - lvl 44]

[Tether - lvl 35 > Tether - lvl 36]

[Infusion - lvl 28 > Infusion - lvl 29]

[Mana Crown - lvl 20 > Mana Crown - lvl 21]

Not bad at all for a few days. Especially some higher leveled skills that are becoming harder and harder to level. I could probably get more out of skills with lower levels, but it would be dumb of me not to use this opportunity.

I already lost count of how many times the system considered me dead and during this time I made huge improvements in handling my black mana and some higher frequencies of kinetic energy. But at the same time, it feels a bit off.

Sure, I can push myself further and learn more, but there is something missing. That feeling of danger and death if I slip up is gone. And with it, unconsciously, I’m not giving it my all. My mind is not that sharp, and I don’t try to go over my limits.

Actually, it’s hard to describe it properly, and even though I try to fix it, I find myself unable to do so. It’s not like it ruins everything, but it’s something to consider.

“This is how my minion is,” I say to Maya, who watches from nearby. She said she wanted to become my minion to get free items, didn’t she? So it’s fun seeing her expression now as she watches Vega continuously charging against Tacita.

At this point in the fight, Vega is tired, a chunk of her mana gone, and her body hurt by her own careless manipulation of kinetic energy and mana. Minion is bleeding from an eye too. A faint golden circle there as well.

Yet she continues over and over again and is improving with terrifying speed, not a speck of her aggressiveness gone, and attacks still as eager as at the start.

I think Maya, the twins, and probably a few other group members are surprised I let it go that far. I summoned Vega to have a nice time together and have my favorite food as I promised back on the 5th Floor.

Instead, here she is now. Stumbling, hurt by her own powers and tiny hand barely holding a dagger.

But my minion is smiling.

Vega is having a lot of fun right now, learning from Tacita things I would be unable to teach her. So in the end, I do not stop her because it’s something she wishes to do.

Only when she stumbles and is about to fall do I move in and catch her before she hits the ground. Before I stand up, Tacita is already gone, so I look at this silly minion of mine. In my arms, she is breathing heavily and shaking a bit with wounds all over.

“Did you have fun?” I ask her while taking a few steps towards where Lily is.

“Yes!” Vega nods and her brow furrows, “But that human touched my horns, master! And I couldn’t hear her heart at all. Is she sick?”

I answer my confused minion, “We humans don’t care about hearts that much as demons do, minion. For us, they are mostly just hearts. And I think it was her skill or trait that hid it.”

“Humans are weird, master. But not you! You feel more like a real demon! And thank you for letting me have fun.”

“Yes yes, but now lower your barrier, okay? Lily will heal you, so be nice.”

“Will do…” even dissatisfied a bit, she does so, and Lily touches her just for a few seconds, during which all the wounds close, even leaving my minion refreshed as all the pain disappears.

Confused, Vega blinks a few times and looks at Lily while mumbling, “I will really have to get a healer of my own as master recommended.”

“Thank you, Lily,” I say instead of my unthankful minion.

“Not a problem! Vega is very cool, I don’t think I’ve seen such a brave young half demon.” Lily tries to be sneaky, but it’s super easy to see what her intention is.

There is no way my minion will fall for that.

When I look down, Vega’s face seems as usual. A neutral expression and curious eyes. Yet I can feel her heart beat a bit quicker.

“Just a few years and she will probably beat Tacita easily,” Lily says.

The half-demon’s tiny heart beats even quicker, and I can see how hard she works not to smile.

Minion…

***

Inside our house, Vega is curiously looking around. She seems to like the furniture; even such little things are new to her. But most of all, she likes some sweets I saved up from my shopping spree. She is also fascinated by the smartphone.

“Master! What kind of item is this, did you make it?” She asks while holding the phone with her picture on it that I took.

“It’s a device made on my planet. There is no magic or mana.”

Vega shakes the phone, surprised when the picture stays on. The screen then turns darker into battery save mode, and she lets go of the phone.

I grab it before it falls on the floor, “Don’t worry, you didn’t break anything. It also can’t hurt you.”

“It’s weird, master. Humans are weird.”

“I guess. Now go on, smile,” I point the camera at her, about to take another pic.

“I don’t want to, master. I already did it a lot of times! I even let you take the picture with your minions! I don’t…”

“One more of that fruity candy you liked. I hid it before you ate them all.”

Immediately she smiles brightly, and I take a picture. When I look at the screen, it’s indeed the best one yet.

“Good job, minion,” I say, and from my pocket, I take the candy and give it to her. This time, she doesn’t bite into the wrapping and carefully unwraps it before eating it happily.

“I’m worried about you, minion; you are easy to manipulate with gifts,” I tell her.

“It’s only with the master!”

“Sure.”

“It is!”

“You took sweets from Tess, Lily, and Maya. You even let them pull your cheeks or hug you.”

“Master always said to get as much as possible from dumb people! I gained amazing items in exchange for just a short hug. I scammed them!”

“That’s true, minion, but did you try to ask for more?”

“More?” she tilts her head.

“Yes, more. You accepted the first offer they gave you, but you always should refuse, ask multiple times more, and then meet somewhere in the middle. Look.” I turn to Lily. “You gave Vega one candy for a ten-second-long hug. Would you pay three times that for the same long hug?”

“Yes!” Lily answers happily.

Minion seems to be shocked, “N-no way.”

“It’s you who got scammed, minion. You might be cunning, but my group is full of weirdos, so you can’t let your guard down.”

“What should I do now, master?”

“Well, if someone scams you with the intention to hurt you, you can hurt them back; that much is obvious. If you were stronger, I would tell you to beat Lily and others, but as you are now, you would lose.”

“I can stab them when they are not looking or prepare an exploding orb for them!”

“That’s too much. I know you don’t care about them, but they are my group, so you can’t try to hurt them in such a way.”

“Nat, your disciple is a bit extreme. I’m not sure if I can learn from her to make you accept me as your minion,” Maya sighs from the couch, as always nomming on the snacks.

“That’s the problem with you. Why would I accept you as a minion with such weak determination, right, Vega?”

“Yes! Her heart is also weak!”

“Little demon, why are you so obsessed with hearts? Why do you demons like them so much?”

I notice a glimpse of annoyance on Vega’s face before she puts on the fake smile again, “I’m half demon and half human. And a stronger heart means a stronger demon,” she says as if it explains a lot.

“Demons are often born with a 4th trait, most of the time it is some sort of heart. The stronger the heart, the stronger the demon and they seem to like strong people,” I explain to Maya and the others who are listening.

“What if there is someone powerful without a strong heart?” Maya asks with the intention to tease my minion.

But Vega doesn’t hesitate and she says as if it’s a fact. “You can’t become truly powerful without a strong heart.”

I then let them fight and move to the side into the kitchen where Sophie, Izzy, and the twins are. Izzy tried to become friendly with my minion, but after a while of trying, she left, tired.

“So what was the problem, Izzy? You can be honest with me.” I stop near her.

The 11-year-old empath sighs, “I had to stop using my skill near her. She is constantly ready for people to attack her, and I feel spikes of anger from her. She is probably imagining how to attack us.”

“Isn’t that much normal? I used to do it a lot.”

“Yes,” Izzy agrees. “But it was much harder to detect it from you! I’m at a higher level than she is, so I can feel a lot even if I’m not trying that hard. I need to level up my skill a bit and improve my control.”

Sophie puts her hand on her sister’s shoulder and continues instead, “Vega doesn’t trust us at all. Every time you are not in the room, she puts on that fake smile. Only when you are there does she act almost creepily nice and clingy. It’s weird, Nat.”

Well, it’s not like I can retort that. She might be even more picky with people than I am. She is untrustful of anyone other than me, and she also seems to respect only stronger people. Plus, Vega isn’t human, so can we even judge her with our normal human thinking?

I wave at them and head back to the minion, who now sits on the armchair I usually use, poking the armrest.

“Minion, let’s check the wolfy.”

Immediately her uninterested expression changes, and a smile blossoms on her face.

Dealing with other people is so much work. Troubles with Tess. Lily and her insecurities. Min-Jae and his phase. The minion who is attached to me while looking at others like bugs. And right when I thought that most of the troubles were over, new ones popped up almost immediately.

Walking outside, I absent-mindedly reach out and ruffle Vega’s hair and touch her tiny horns that sharply poke my finger.

Vega smiles at me, and I think how different it is. Not that long ago, she was willing to stab Tacita just for touching them.

***

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