Chapter 709: Building with earth

Elion smiled as he watched Tessa become flustered. Mira couldn’t help herself, so she burst out laughing as well.

Tessa realized that they were teasing her, but at this point, she could only watch in horror, opening and closing her mouth, wishing to defend herself but also being unable to do so. She could only huff and give them disapproving looks.

"Sorry, sorry," Elion said quickly, wiping the tears from his eyes. "I just love seeing you flustered like this."

"Well, good. At least some of us enjoyed that."

He got up, adjusting Isolde comfortably in his arms until she was resting in a princess carry.

"Anyway, I will take that as a yes, and you won’t mind joining in on a bit of threesome fun with Mira. So, where do you want to do this? I know you two are going to be loud. Wouldn’t want to wake up the others."

Tessa and Mira blushed, already imagining the activities.

"I have an idea, though," he said.

"What idea?" Mira asked.

Elion just smiled. "You’ll see."

He gave Mayumi a look and smiled, and she quickly looked away. He had been pretending not to notice, but she had been watching them intently this whole time.

"What, are you not going to sleep?" He directed the question at her and continued before she could answer, "Or maybe you would like to join in on the fun?"

Mayumi’s cheeks flushed. "I would have liked to pretend that I don’t know what you are talking about, but unfortunately, I am not that clueless. Anyway, no, thank you," she whispered at the end. "Knock yourselves out."

Elion chuckled, looking toward Kali. "My Lady Saint, I hope you are comfortable," he joked.

She got up from her self-made seat. "I’m going to take a little walk."

She drifted into the air, rising above the camp. Elion frowned. The irony of her speaking of taking a walk, and taking off into the skies instead, was lost on him.

"Don’t cause any trouble, please," he pleaded jokingly.

"What do you think of me?" she asked casually. "I will be back before you know it. In the morning, that is."

He decided not to enquire exactly what she would be doing, and a moment later she simply vanished into nothingness. Elion shrugged and began walking up the slope, Isolde still in his arms.

"Come along," he called out to the pair behind him.

Mayumi quietly wondered where exactly they intended to go, but after a moment, she decided to keep her curiosity to herself.

’Though I should probably go after them, just to make sure,’ she thought. ’It would be unfortunate for them to die because of such stupidity, after all.’

Elion’s plan was simple, in principle. His elemental magic was advanced enough that, in theory, he should be able to make a solid, standing structure with enough control, and a little bit of imagination.

He didn’t expect it to be easy, but it wasn’t like he was planning to make a grand palace or something.

All it had to do was stand for the night, block noises from escaping, and give them a comfortable space to indulge their desires in.

After walking a short distance away from camp, Elion stopped. He looked around, surveying the ground for a bit before nodding to himself.

"Perfect," he said.

"What’s perfect?" Tessa asked.

"Watch," he simply said.

Sitting in a lotus position on the ground, he placed Isolde in his lap. She moved around a bit, though she didn’t wake. He slipped his arms from under her and beckoned them forward.

"I should probably have more than enough mana for this," he said.

All he needed were two rooms, nothing fancy. Just one for Isolde to rest in, and the other for him, Mira, and Tessa to have some fun.

Elion closed his eyes, letting his mana seep into the ground beneath them as he entered a state of absolute focus, creating an image of what he wanted to build in his mind.

He had raised walls and platforms plenty of times before, but making a structure with a hollow interior was another matter entirely.

If he simply forced a large block of stone out of the earth, he would still have to hollow it out afterward, which sounded like far more work than necessary.

He got this idea from watching the many platforms that had been raised in the arena during the academy tournament.

He could apply a similar concept and change things along the way. He wasn’t working on nearly the level and workload after all, so a single structure had to be doable; the only thing he had to do was give it a try.

Given the nature of his all-elemental affinity and his naturally refined mana control, the possibilities were already looking promising.

’Let’s start from the bottom, then.’

A low rumble disturbed the quiet night, and Tessa suspiciously glanced down at her feet.

The ground beneath them trembled before slowly rising, carrying all four of them upward on a broad slab of stone.

Mira reached out to balance herself, while Elion kept one hand against Isolde’s back, making sure the movement didn’t disturb her too much.

"You could have warned us," Tessa complained, taking a cautious step away from the edge. She kind of had an idea of what he wanted to make now, but it was still incomplete, so they could only wait and watch.

"I told you to watch," Elion replied without opening his eyes.

"But that isn’t a warning, now, is it?"

He smiled but said nothing more. Beneath his control, the loose earth along the edges of the platform began to gather, compressing into thick stone before rising in four uneven walls.

Dust trickled down their surfaces, and the low rumbling sound made Isolde stir against his chest, her brows drawing together briefly before she calmed again.

She had to be deep in sleep for her not to wake up even after that. It made him happy that she felt so comfortable and safe knowing he was nearby.

Continuing with his task, he slowed the spell and focused on the finer details, even leaving a gap for the entrance, then raised another wall through the interior, dividing the space into two rooms.

’Woooo! That went well!’

He had barely spent any mana. So far, everything was going quite well, though the real challenge was still waiting above them.

’Now, how do I close this thing without dropping a ceiling on our heads?’

He opened his eyes and looked up thoughtfully.

"Why did you stop?" Mira asked.

"Just considering a few things."

Tessa followed his gaze toward the open sky, then looked at the unfinished walls around them. "You do know what you’re doing, right?"

"Of course."

She narrowed her eyes, clearly finding his quick answer less reassuring than he had intended.

Elion ignored the look and focused on the spell, extending the tops of the walls inward a little at a time.

Rather than making a flat ceiling, he gave it a slight curve, thickening the stone where it joined the walls until the remaining gap finally closed.

The moon disappeared from view, leaving them in darkness.

A small flame sprang to life above his palm a moment later, illuminating the interior. The walls were rough, and the ceiling looked rather uneven in a few places, but everything was standing. Better yet, when a cold gust passed outside the entrance, they barely felt it.

"Well?" Elion asked, looking between the pair with an expectant smile.

Mira slowly turned around, inspecting the room before looking back at him with a wondrous look on her face. She looked quite impressed.

"You made a house."

"A rather ugly house," Tessa added, running her fingers over a rough patch on the wall.

Elion clicked his tongue. "You could at least pretend to be impressed."

"I am impressed," she replied. "That doesn’t make it any less ugly."

Before he could respond, a familiar voice came from outside.

"What exactly are you three doing?"

Mayumi stood at the entrance, looking from one wall to the other with an expression that made Tessa immediately point toward Elion.

"This was his idea."

"And yet you followed me quite happily," he remarked.

Mayumi stepped inside, her gaze traveling upward before looking toward him. "Please tell me this isn’t going to collapse."

"That makes two of you now," Elion grumbled. "Have a little faith."

He carefully got to his feet with Isolde in his arms, leaving the flame floating above them as he walked into the smaller room, though it required a bit of focus to keep the flame alight and floating.

A bed rose from the floor beneath his spell, though he retrieved a mattress and bedding from storage before laying her down. She murmured something when he tried to straighten, her fingers catching his sleeve.

Elion paused and gently brushed her hair aside.

"I’m right next door," he whispered.

Whether she understood him or not, her grip eventually loosened. He tucked the blanket around her and waited a moment before returning to the others.

Mayumi was still examining his work.

"I thought you were going to sleep," he said.

"I thought you were keeping watch."

Elion blinked.

’Ah.’

Mira pressed her lips together, while Tessa turned away with a suspicious movement of her shoulders. Mayumi folded her arms, finding his expression enough of an answer.

"I’ll stay near the camp," she said. "But next time, tell someone before you decide to wander off."

She quietly wondered why he had never built such a structure this whole time he had been traveling with her and the others. It was impressive, to say the least; he didn’t even look winded, but the thought troubled her.

Perhaps they were not worthy, or he simply reserved such comfort for his lovers and no one else.

’I’m thinking too much into this.’ She thought...

"I can still sense the camp from here," he assured her, though he gave her a sheepish smile. "Thank you, Mayumi."

She shook her head and turned toward the entrance, muttering something about troublesome men.

Elion watched her leave before smoothing the stone around the doorway and drawing a thick slab across it, leaving a narrow opening near the ceiling for fresh air.

When he turned back, Mira was watching him with a pleased smile.

"Well, you certainly put plenty of effort into this."

Elion spread his arms proudly. "Only the best for you, my love. And you said you missed me, so I had to do this much at least, to keep you comfortable."

"How romantic."

She walked over and took his hand, then reached back for Tessa’s.

The redhead easily allowed herself to be drawn closer, with a displeased huff, though the warmth spreading across her cheeks did little to support her disapproving expression.

"Before either of you gets too comfortable," she said, looking pointedly at Elion, "you’re putting a mattress in here, I hope."

Elion laughed.

"Of course. What sort of husband do you take me for?"