Chapter 126: More for Me

Gray drifted, too exhausted to swim. His bell barely pulsed, his tentacles hung limp, and the cracks in his armor leaked thin trails of translucent fluid into the water. He had won, but the victory had nearly killed him.

Cindy was beside him in an instant.

"Idiot," she snapped, her voice sharp with fear she couldn’t hide. "What were you thinking, fighting that thing alone? Look at you. You almost died."

Gray’s bell tilted weakly toward her.

’What do you mean, idiot?’ he said, his mental voice faint but stubborn. ’I won, didn’t I? So stop nagging.’

Cindy’s frills flared with fury, but she didn’t argue. Instead, she raised both of her tiny hands. A soft green light gathered between her palms, she pressed her hands against his cracked bell.

A gentle warmth spread through Gray’s body, seeping into the fractures, mending torn tissue, easing the ache in his core.

Gray felt his bell steady. His tentacles regained their strength. The pain faded from a scream to a dull throb.

’...You can heal?’ he said, surprised.

Cindy kept her hands pressed against him, her frills lowering.

"I’m letting this go just once," Cindy said quietly. "Next time something like this happens, I won’t let you fight alone. You said it yourself, didn’t you? I handle the magic, and you handle what you’re good at."

Gray was quiet for a moment, watching the green light pulse against his armor.

’...Yeah,’ he said at last. ’I did say that.’

"Then act like it," Cindy said, her voice hardening. "Because I don’t want to just sit and watch you fight. It makes me feel useless."

’I already told you,’ Gray said. ’I just wanted revenge. That thing dragged me into this nightmare. I needed to kill it myself.’

"I know that," Cindy said. "But it still makes me angry."

And then she pressed down on one of his wounds, hard.

’AHKG!!! That hurts!! Stop it, Cindy! You’ll kill me!’

Cindy didn’t stop. She pressed harder, her tiny hands digging into the cracks of his armor with neither hesitation nor mercy.

"Listen to me," she said, her voice cold and calm while Gray squirmed beneath her. "If you ever do something like that again, I won’t be your mage anymore. Understand?"

’Okay, okay!! I understand!! So stop pressing my wounds!!’

Cindy held on for a moment longer, just to make sure the message sank in. Then she went back to healing Gray as if nothing had happened.

"Good," she said. "I’m glad we had this talk."

Gray, still feeling that threat, muttered in his heart, ’Damn... she’s even crazier than I thought.’

His wounds slowly healed, his HP rising bit by bit, and the pain gradually faded.

He flexed his tentacles experimentally. They responded, strong and steady.

’That’s... actually really good,’ he said, genuinely amazed. ’How did you learn to heal?’

Cindy lowered her hands, her magic light also slowly faded.

"All mages learn basic healing. It’s part of the Third Circle curriculum. But I’m not a dedicated healer, so don’t expect me to fix everything. I can close wounds and stabilize injuries, but I can’t regrow limbs or cure poisons."

’Still useful,’ Gray said. ’More useful than anything I can do.’

Cindy huffed, crossing her tiny arms.

"Don’t sell yourself short. You killed a tier 4 monster by yourself. That’s not nothing."

Gray glanced back at the Sablemaw’s corpse, still drifting toward the seafloor. Its massive body was already beginning to dissolve, the scarred flank leaking the last of its fluids into the water.

’It was the scar,’ he said. ’If I hadn’t hit it there the first time, I never would have won.’

"What do you mean? Every fight is like that," Cindy said, her voice softening. "We use everything we have to win. That’s what fighting is."

Gray felt that there was truth in Cindy’s words, then nodded.

’That’s true,’ he admitted. ’Thanks, Cindy. I feel better now.’

He swam toward the Sablemaw’s corpse, his tentacles moving more steadily now that the healing had taken hold. Gray pressed his feeding surface against the exposed tissue and began to absorb.

Cindy drifted closer, watching him eat for a moment. Then, hesitantly, she pressed her own small mouth against a strip of pale flesh and took a bite.

She chewed the meat a few times. Her frills flattened immediately.

"This tastes awful," she said, her voice muffled by the food. "It’s so tough. What is this, rubber?"

’It’s not that bad,’ Gray said, chewing his own mouthful. ’Maybe it’s just not to your taste.’

Cindy forced herself to swallow, her whole body shuddering.

"Not to my taste? Gray, I’ve eaten raw fish, frozen crab, and moss. This is worse than all of them combined."

’More for me, then.’

Cindy glared at him but didn’t argue. She took another bite anyway, grimacing through every chew. "I need to eat too," she muttered. "This body burns through energy faster than I expected."

They ate together quietly, the Sablemaw’s massive corpse shrinking steadily as they fed. Gray’s HP climbed higher with every mouthful, the warmth of biomass spreading through his cracked armor. Cindy’s glow steadied as well, her frills slowly relaxing as the food settled into her system.

When the corpse was mostly gone, Cindy drifted back and wiped her mouth with the back of her tiny hand.

"By the way, Gray," she said, her voice shifting to something more thoughtful. "Can we go back to the mana spring? Would that be alright?"

Gray paused mid-bite, his bell tilting toward her.

’Sure,’ he said. ’But why? Do you want to collect more mana there?’

Cindy nodded, her silver eyes brightening with purpose.

"Yes. Mana springs are incredibly valuable to mages. They’re not just places to recover but they’re places to grow. The ambient mana there is dense enough to refine my channels, strengthen my core, and accelerate my recovery. If I can spend more time near it, I might be able to push past Third Circle and reach Fourth. Maybe even beyond."

Gray finished the last of his meal and drifted upright, his body feeling stronger than it had in days.

’Then we’ll go,’ he said. ’But we’re not staying long. That place attracts things like the Xytheris. And I don’t want to fight another god of mana.’

Cindy’s frills lifted with satisfaction.

"Agreed. Just long enough for me to absorb what I need. Then we leave."