Rapidly Increasing Affection, Blue Mom Wants to Eat Me

While Lokkishi was busy, Allen's attention remained focused on the Dragon Saint Battle Qi Core Embryo within his abdomen. In his mind's eye, wisps of dust were drifting away from its wrinkled surface, revealing a small magic crest on one side.

It was a tiny, tree-shaped crest, glowing faintly with a blue light.

An intuition surged through him: if he were to activate this magic crest now, a mid-level Healing Spell would immediately take effect.

The Healing Spell magic crest could only be used on himself and couldn't be cast externally. Did that mean activating it was equivalent to applying a healing buff to his body—a pseudo-immortality? Had the physical limitations of the North God Style—Combat Faction been erased?

Wait a minute, using it requires consuming my own Mana. Unfortunately, I have no idea how long my current Mana capacity can sustain a mid-level Healing Spell. I was careless. Actually, a basic Healing Spell, which consumes less Mana, might be more suitable for me right now. And the problem is that Mana recovery is too slow, so the skill cooldown must also be very long.

I wonder if the Dragon Saint Battle Qi's buff, which reduces Mana conversion loss, can stack with the healing magic crest. Fighting Spirit is essentially Mana, so it should be possible. But the question is, would it also consume Dragon Saint Battle Qi? I don't have much Dragon Saint Battle Qi either. Activating the healing spell magic crest would definitely affect the quality of my Fighting Spirit.

I'll try it first and see if it really will…

A pair of small hands waved in front of his eyes, and Allen snapped back to reality.

This was not the time for that.

Allen looked at Lokkishi.

Because Allen had been constantly thinking about what to say when he first met Rudy and Lokkishi during their journey yesterday, he naturally dreamt of the two of them last night. Unfortunately, in his dream, he saw their two-dimensional anime forms, which didn't feel very real.

But now, Lokkishi herself was right in front of him.

The sense of reality was much stronger.

He focused his gaze on Lokkishi's face.

In his mind's eye, the blue-haired, cool-faced loli gradually became clearer:

Unlike the soft, cute, middle-schooler-like face from the anime in his previous life, Lokkishi in reality appeared very young on the surface, but her facial features were so exquisite that they clearly weren't undeveloped.

Her lips were a little thin but looked incredibly soft. Her small nose had narrow nostrils, as if naturally shadowed, and its tip was slightly upturned. Her half-closed eyes were the same color as her hair.

The wind rustled the campfire, and highlights flickered in her eyes, like ripples on a dark blue lake.

Within those ripples were five parts panic and five parts worry.

"You, you… why aren't you saying anything? Do you still have some hidden injury, and that's why you're not feeling well?"

Allen blinked, shook his head, his mind swirling with thoughts.

The three-dimensional Lokkishi was more real and beautiful than her two-dimensional anime counterpart.

Aesthetic. Delightful. Pleasing to the eye.

Not feeling well?

Not feeling well ✕! Feeling great √!

Lokkishi saw Allen staring at her and instinctively touched her face.

"You don't look like you're injured, so why are you staring at me… Is there something on my face?"

Comparing the two-dimensional and three-dimensional images of Lokkishi in his mind, Allen casually responded.

"No, your face is quite nice. In fact, it's too nice. It's far more real and exquisite than what I dreamt last night. Everything about it is beautiful."

As his words fell.

The campfire licked at the firewood.

Making the deep forest night even more silent.

Allen waited for a long time without a reply from Lokkishi. He blinked, only then suddenly realizing what he had just said.

He looked at Lokkishi's dazed eyes, as dark blue as lake water, and his own expression turned blank.

In his mind's eye, her hand, which had been touching her face, had frozen. Her cool, half-closed eyes slowly widened under Allen's gaze, ripples spreading within them.

They looked at each other in silence.

CRACK! The glowing red wood crackled. Wind blew past them.

Carrying non-existent dust.

[6.]

**Bold, Underlined, Red Text**

[Maintain your status, keep up the good work, and gain Rudeus's favor.]

[Rudeus: Countdown: 91:54:02]

Allen was stunned. To be precise, he had already started to zone out when he realized he was saying "flirty" things to a "stranger." The System's timely addition of fuel to the fire made him even more bewildered.

This… this is "flirty" talk?

Indeed, it was.

The world of Mushoku Tensei had no top-tier individuals; its culture was backward, possessing a medieval, naive charm.

Flirtatious remarks between men and women were even more direct and simple than cheesy pick-up lines, yet they were remarkably effective.

Such overly direct praise and flirtation were essentially no different from enticing a woman.

Lokkishi stared at Allen for a long while before blinking in a daze. She then puffed out one side of her cheek and instinctively glanced to the side:

The Terminator Boar's crimson eyes on its head glared at Allen, seemingly utterly disdainful of him, not even bothering to breathe.

She took a deep breath, forcing a stern expression as she looked back at Allen.

He was pulling out a few strands of his own hair, meticulously checking if they were yellow.

This seemingly annoyed demeanor, in Lokkishi's eyes, was actually quite fitting for his age.

He's annoyed because he didn't get the reaction he expected from me. Up close, his face is still a bit boyish, so he can't be very old, just tall. It can't be that I'm short, right? T_T But his sword skills… they're exquisite.

A prodigy? Why do I keep running into prodigies these past two years? Rudy, and now this kid too. And they all act like little adults, saying things to flirt with girls… so smooth-tongued. We've never even met before, so how could he have dreamt of me?

Perhaps he sees me as a peer, so he's deliberately trying to butter me up.

Lokkishi took off her mage hat and adopted the tone of someone lecturing a child.

"That's not how you flatter someone. Don't let my height fool you; actually, I'm old enough to be your mother. Those kinds of flattering words for little girls won't work on me, you know."

Allen, still looking at his brown hair, shifted his gaze to the twitching cowlick on top of Lokkishi's head.

"Flattery? Uh… alright, Blue Mom…!"

Lokkishi's mouth fell open in surprise as she watched Allen immediately cover his mouth after his slip of the tongue. Then, mortified, she deliberately put on a gloomy face.

"The reason I don't grow is because I'm a Demon Race member."

As she spoke, she held a strand of hair up to the firelight. In the orange glow of the bonfire, the tips of her hair subtly shimmered with a green luster. She leaned close to Allen, narrowing her eyes as she met his gaze.

"See? Green-haired Demon Race. I'm a notorious Superd Race member. Call me 'Mom' again, or make another sarcastic remark to mock me for being a child, and I'll get angry, and I'll eat you."

Allen released his hand and blinked. He looked at the blue-haired loli's face so close to his own.

Her eyes were serious, her eyelashes trembling slightly in the firelight.

"Then…"

"Eat me. Right now."

Lokkishi froze.

The next instant, as soon as the words left his mouth, Allen wrapped Fighting Spirit around his finger and flicked it into the air in front of Lokkishi's forehead.

The air pressure scattered her bangs, and her ethereal blue hair fluttered, revealing the smooth forehead beneath.

While Lokkishi was still looking somewhat dazed, Allen extended his finger and poked her forehead from a distance, indicating that there was no red Mana-sensing eye, characteristic of the Superd Race, on it.

"Gods cannot lie."

"Demon Race, blue hair, small stature. You're a Migurd Race member, not a Superd Race member."