"Instructor?"
I was startled and tried to jump up, but Instructor Seraphine gently pressed my shoulder with her hand, pushing me back down.
Her face seemed to hold a faint softness instead of her usual sternness. It might have been my imagination, but her eyes seemed somewhat worried…
"You overdid it."
"Y-yeah…"
Instructor Seraphine readjusted the cool towel on my forehead and said in a low voice.
Her touch was awkward, yet strangely tender.
"A… a little?"
"Mana exhaustion is dangerous. Especially for someone with such a weak foundation like you."
"Yes, I'll be careful."
It seemed she had seen me fighting with Jason. Well, considering the commotion we caused, she must have visited the other training grounds as well.
Instructor Seraphine stood quietly beside me, staring down at the spot where the commotion with Jason had occurred.
Ah, wait a minute.
A cold sweat broke out.
What if she found out what I did?
I secretly tried to hide the tattered glove behind me. But I couldn't escape Instructor Seraphine's gaze.
"Is that the power of the glove you made?"
"…Ah, yes! I made it overnight, but it's still a prototype, so it's a bit unstable. I-it seems to have broken a little."
"Hmm. If you had such skills, you wouldn't have needed to ask for that favor yesterday."
"W-well, that's..."
I couldn't find a proper excuse and stammered.
Instructor Seraphine sighed deeply. It was a cold sigh, but somehow, I felt a small warmth within it.
She quietly sat down next to me and gently placed my head on her lap.
"I-Instructor?"
The sensation of my cheek against the stiff Instructor uniform.
I was startled and looked up at her.
But as soon as our eyes met, my body froze.
"Close your eyes."
"Yes, Instructor."
"Resting your body, exhausted from training, is also an important form of training. Don't think unnecessary thoughts and close your eyes."
Her cold gaze remained unchanged. She was still looking at me expressionlessly.
While I was wondering what her intentions were, her slender fingers slowly began to stroke my hair.
Ticklish.
Ugh.
My body flinched at the unfamiliar sensation, but strangely, I didn't dislike it. No, it actually felt good.
It felt like she was caressing my depleted mana…
'Ah, is she healing me?'
It seemed Instructor Seraphine was treating my mana exhaustion.
I didn't know why she was giving me such generous treatment.
Whether she knew my thoughts or not, Instructor Seraphine slowly opened her mouth.
"Leo."
"Yes, Instructor…"
"If you have the skills, you can have confidence. I haven't said it until now, but your heart was more rotten than your skill issues. Yesterday was the peak of it."
"Ugh, that's, I-I'm sorry…"
"I'm not trying to lecture you. Originally, it is this Instructor's role to correct such a rotten heart, but surprisingly, you regained your senses in just one day."
So, is that a compliment?
From Instructor Seraphine, of all people?
Stroke, stroke.
But it's not a dream…
Her hand was still gently stroking my hair.
"I won't ask what changes you had yesterday, or what new crafting abilities you gained. Everyone has their own circumstances."
"…Yes, Instructor."
"What's important is willpower. Maintaining your willpower as a hunter, as a warrior. You must not forget this just because you've become a little stronger, or because you've hit a wall."
Instructor Seraphine's tone was still stiff, but somehow, she no longer felt so cold. As soon as she finished speaking, she took her hand off my head.
And she took out a small key from her pocket and placed it in my hand.
"This is a spare key to the infirmary. Recover the rest of your mana there today."
She stood up and straightened her uniform.
"Then, I'll be going."
She finished speaking briefly and left the training grounds.
I blankly stared at the door she had exited through.
Maybe I had been misunderstanding Instructor Seraphine a little.
Perhaps Instructor Seraphine's disposition was thoroughly meritocratic. Maybe she treated students who showed good results kindly. Maybe she was being nice to me because I showed a bit of potential…
Whatever the reason, my heart warmed.
"Well, just yesterday, I was a clueless student begging to be carried in the tower, so I must have been hopeless…"
Ugh. I thought it would remain the worst embarrassing memory, even for me.
I had recovered from mana exhaustion, but I still felt a bit anemic.
I should go to the infirmary and recover the rest of my mana.
I trudged along and arrived at the infirmary.
Normally, it would be locked because it was a holiday, but thanks to the spare key I received from Instructor Seraphine, I was able to easily enter.
I sat down on a suitable bed and looked around the medicine cabinet. I hoped there would be some potions that would help with mana recovery.
"Huh?"
In the lowest compartment of the cabinet, I grabbed a small glass bottle in the corner. It should have contained a highly concentrated mana recovery potion.
But it didn't make a sound when I shook it.
Was there only one or two drops left?
"It's always empty when I need it. Ah, headache."
I searched the medicine cabinet thoroughly again, but there were no other recovery potions. Only general painkillers and disinfectants.
There was no reason to come to the infirmary like this.
But I still felt a bit dizzy to go back to the dormitory.
"Should I just go back to Instructor Seraphine and ask her again…"
The soft touch of her stroking my hair was still vivid.
Honestly, I had a hard time hiding my half-aroused state.
It might sound like an excuse, but because of the kiss in the forest, I felt like my lower body would react even if Instructor Seraphine reacted just a little kindly.
If the previous Instructor was an object of fear and respect, now she was…
'Just hot.'
The suffocating kiss, the sensation of her long tongue teasing and intertwining with mine from her lips to the inside of her mouth, and even the subtle elasticity of her thighs that I felt through her uniform.
Wasn't it abnormal not to be turned on?
I rummaged through my pocket and took out a small wooden doll. I didn't bring it to use it like this, but if there were no potions, I couldn't help it.
Not experience absorption, but the original purpose of 'mana absorption.'
'Sorry, Instructor. But this can't be helped, right? Mana deficiency is a serious symptom.'
As I said before, it's not the real thing anyway, just a doppelganger.
I took a small deep breath, forcibly ignoring the faint guilt, and chanted the command.
"Summon."
And pause.
A familiar blue light emanated from the small doll in my hand, enveloping the surroundings.
And in an instant, Instructor Seraphine's doppelganger reappeared before my eyes.
Frozen without even regaining her senses.
It was the same as before, the same as when I parted ways with her at the training grounds a little while ago. A few strands of slightly damp hair clung to her neck and forehead, glistening.
"Ha, I'm going crazy."
Above all, the faint scent emanating from her was driving me crazy.
It was hard to simply call it the smell of sweat, it was a sweet yet clean soapy scent mixed in, a strange scent that was hard to describe tickled the tip of my nose.
"I thought it was sweat, but she must have showered right away."
I slowly approached her, reaching out towards her chest more easily than before. The full and soft sensation felt through the uniform fabric. When I squeezed it slightly, the elasticity that filled my hand was conveyed as it was.
It was an action that had nothing to do with mana exchange, but wouldn't it be bad for my health to be so stubbornly fixated on that?
"Instructor, you're so pretty."