Chapter 49: Gwenor

Chris focused on his heart, recalling the technique he had learned in the ancient tomb inside the dungeon.

A moment later, a stream of white energy began surrounding his body until he was completely enveloped in it.

Making sure the energy seeped into every part of his body, he continued for a moment before finally stopping. The energy then disappeared.

"Did I do it right?" he asked Aura.

"Yes, I can no longer feel the demon energy inside you." She nodded.

Chris remained silent for a moment before looking at her strangely.

"So... You made me agree to give you my help even though I could have done this myself the whole time?"

He had been completely tricked!

"Hahahahahaha..." An enchanting laugh echoed in his mind. "You could have done it, yes, but would you have known that? I still helped you, so it’s only fair to ask for something in return."

He shook his head with a wry smile. He couldn’t really argue with that.

"So, what do you need from me?"

"As I said, it’s nothing too difficult. I just want you to use your Gwenor on me."

"Gwenor? What’s that?"

"It’s the energy you just used to cleanse your body."

"Why do you need that?" he asked, intrigued.

"I suppose it wouldn’t be a problem to tell you. I was heavily injured by demons in the past. My wounds won’t heal as long as the demon energy remains inside my body. I need you to purify it for me."

"There was such a thing? Okay, I’ll try."

Saying that, he took a few steps forward and approached Aura. He raised his hand and touched her fur.

’So soft...’

It felt like he was touching the softest thing in the world. He had never felt a texture so comfortable before.

"Focus." Aura’s voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Sorry, sorry."

He immediately focused on his energy and sent a stream of it into Aura’s body, stopping only after he was sure that it had enveloped her entire body.

"Is that enough?"

"Of course not. You barely tickled it. You are too weak, so you’ll need to put some effort into it," she grumbled.

"Sigh... Okay."

He focused again and sent more energy into Aura. Increasing the output, he continued channeling it without stopping.

After a while, he finally stopped when he had exhausted his entire mana reserve.

"Did it work?" he asked while looking at Aura.

"Yes, but it wasn’t enough," she sighed.

"Not enough? How much more do you need?"

"You purified about 1% of the demon energy."

"What? So little?" He was stunned. Wouldn’t it take him days or even weeks to purify all of it?

"It’s the energy of a high-level demon, and you are too weak. I myself expected it to work better than this." She shook her head.

She raised one of her paws and pointed at Chris. In the next moment, dozens of vials appeared on the floor in front of him out of thin air.

"What’s this?"

"Mana potions. Drink them, then continue."

He picked up one of the potions and thought for a moment. He had passive mana recovery, but that didn’t work if he constantly drained his mana. He would need to stop using his energy for a while to let his mana recover, and it would take some time to replenish his entire mana reserve if it was completely drained.

With enough potions, however, he could continuously use his energy on her. Considering he had purified 1% after exhausting his mana once, he would need a day or two to completely remove the demon energy if he worked without stopping.

"You know, I didn’t expect to spend so much time here, but I’m a man of my word." He opened the vial and drank the potion.

Instantly, he sat down on the floor and continued pouring his energy into Aura.

...

Hours passed while Chris continued purifying Aura. Initially, he thought he would just be wasting his time there, but it seemed he had been wrong.

Each time he drained his mana reserve using his purifying energy, he felt that it took longer for his mana to run out again.

His affinity with the skill was increasing, and he was learning how to control the energy better and better. After just a few hours, he was able to use his energy for twice as long as before.

Feeling elated, he continued increasing the output of his energy. Nothing made him happier than growing stronger.

"Stop." Aura suddenly spoke.

He stopped and looked at her.

"Why?"

She shook her head. "It doesn’t work anymore."

"What do you mean it doesn’t work?"

"I mean exactly what I said. The purification stopped at one point. I think you’re too weak to continue. You need to get stronger first," she said in a regretful voice.

But in the next moment, she stretched her body and stood up from the ground.

Chris watched in amazement. Earlier, he hadn’t been able to see her exact size while she was lying on the ground, but now that she was standing, he noticed that she was even larger than he had expected.

"Hahahahahaha..." Aura stretched for a few more moments before laughing.

"What is it?" Chris couldn’t understand why she was laughing when their attempt had failed.

"It’s been too long since I was able to stand on my own legs. It feels so good!" she replied excitedly.

"Huh? Were you unable to even stand?" He was stunned.

"I hate to admit it, but I was barely holding on to my life. I didn’t have the strength to do anything."

"Really? How long did you spend like that?"

"Who knows? Decades? Maybe centuries? I spent most of my time in a deep sleep, only waking up once every few years."

He just stared at her in bewilderment. He couldn’t imagine what it would feel like to live such a life. Wasn’t it better to die than live like that? He felt that the fox was truly pitiful.

"I don’t need your pity, Aeron’vaer," she said sternly.

He shook his head. "Fine, fine. By the way, don’t call me that. My name is Chris."

She nodded. "Okay, Chris. I may have lived a terrible life over the past years, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t have something to live for. I had my duties and goals, and I had my desires."

Then, a big smile appeared on her face.

"And who would have thought? My persistence wasn’t for nothing. Now I have a way to be healed."

He looked at her with a strange expression.

"Huh? What’s that expression? Why are you looking at me like that?" She felt like he was thinking something bad about her.

"It’s just weird seeing such a huge beast smile, you know?"

He was being honest. He had never seen a beast smile before, and it looked very strange to him.

"A beast? Who are you calling a beast?" Her smile disappeared instantly.

"Huh? Aren’t you a beast?" He was confused. He didn’t know exactly what she was, but she was clearly some kind of fox. Wasn’t a fox a beast?

"I’m not a beast!" she yelled as blue light began enveloping her body and she started shrinking.

In the next moment, she transformed into a woman and stood proudly in front of Chris, raising her head. She was about as tall as him, with white hair that had hints of blue at the tips. Chris could easily have mistaken her for a human if she hadn’t still had long fox ears on her head and tails behind her that matched her hair.

"Do you see now? I’m a beastkin, not a beast!" she said proudly.

But Chris’s attention had been drawn elsewhere. He stood completely still, stunned as he looked at her.

"What? Too stunned to speak?" Noticing his expression, she raised her head even higher.

However, Chris didn’t reply. He just continued staring with wide eyes.

She felt that something was strange about his gaze, so she looked down at her body.

"D-Don’t look! Turn around!" she yelled, using her hands to cover herself.

She finally understood why he had reacted that way. It wasn’t because he was stunned by her transformation. It was because of something else.

She was completely naked!

It had been so long since she had shown her true form to someone that she had completely forgotten she wasn’t wearing any clothes.

But Chris was still in a stupor as he looked at her. He had never seen a naked woman before, and the unexpected situation had caught him completely off guard. He couldn’t react in time.

"Pervert!"

Noticing that he was still looking, she attacked him with one of her tails.

*Slap!*

Her tail struck him directly across the chest, sending him flying through the air.

He flew across the room before slamming into a wall.

*BOOM!*

"Cough! Cough! Cough!"

He fell to the ground, coughing violently.

"Hey! Are you alright? I didn’t mean to hit you so hard!" Aura yelled as she rushed toward him, checking him for injuries.

She had unconsciously used her full strength when attacking him and was worried that she might lose her only opportunity to get healed if he died. Even though she was extremely weakened due to her injuries, she still possessed some strength.

However, the hit wasn’t particularly dangerous for Chris. He had only been thrown back because of his shock and had failed to react in time.

"Cough! I’m fine! Just... wear some clothes!" he yelled back. He had almost gotten a nosebleed from being examined up close by a naked woman.

"!!!"

She completely forgot that she was still naked. She had even rushed forward and allowed him to observe her up close!

*Slap!*

She slapped him across the face.

"Then close your eyes! Why are you still looking?"

...

A few minutes later.

Chris was now sitting cross-legged on the floor across from Aura, with a slap mark on his face. He felt that the slap had hurt more than the attack that had sent him flying earlier.

Aura was now dressed in a white dress that looked quite modern, making Chris wonder why she would have such clothes.

"Are we done here? Can I leave now?" he asked, wanting to leave this place as soon as possible before he got slapped again for whatever reason.

"Not yet. You need to agree to my request first!" she replied.

"Huh? Didn’t I already agree? I’ll come back when I get stronger. I’m a man of my word."

"Not that. I changed my mind. I have another request now. And before you refuse, think again. You’ll never be able to open the door and leave without me."

"Sigh... Fine, just tell me what you want." Chris felt a headache coming on. He wondered if he was lucky or unlucky to have met her.

"It’s nothing too difficult. You just need to bring me with you," she said with a mischievous smile.

"Huh? What did you say?" He felt that he hadn’t heard her correctly.

"Just bring me with you. Wherever you go, I’ll follow. That way, you can also heal me as soon as possible once you get stronger. And my knowledge can be a great help to you if you want to become stronger quickly. It’s a win-win, right?"

He thought about it for a moment, and what she said sounded reasonable. She should be very knowledgeable about the Wilds, and he could use that knowledge to increase his strength. It was just...

"Aren’t you the Guardian of this place? How can you leave so casually?"

"Heh, the Guardian? What use is a Guardian who is as weak as me? I wouldn’t be able to protect this place even if I wanted to. For that, I need to get healed first." She laughed mockingly.

"Okay, I agree, but only on one condition. You will listen to everything I say, and we’ll go wherever I decide." He thought about it and felt that having her with him would be useful, but only if she didn’t cause him any problems.

"Okay." She nodded.

"Then, let’s go." He stood up to leave.

"Wait, I need to pack my things." She stood up and rushed toward the other side of the room, where he could see shelves filled with all kinds of books.

’What the...’ He hadn’t even noticed them before, so he walked closer to inspect them while she was packing.

Picking up one of the books, he read the title.

*How I Met My CEO Husband.*

’... What the fuck?’