Yukinoshita Yukino
Lv.1
Strength: I0 → F399
Endurance: I0 → F399
Dexterity: I0 → F399
Agility: I0 → F399
Magic: I0 → F399
〖Development Ability〗
〖Magic〗
[Frost-Soul Bloom]
[Icebound Dust Realm]
〖Skills〗
[Bewitching Demoness]
[Protection of the Demon God]
[Frostbound Mind] (New)
· Possesses extremely high resistance to "Freezing."
· In battle, immune to all ice magic damage and greatly increases the potency of magic and skills.
· In low-temperature environments, Attack Power gains a bonus scaling with Speed.
...
Zyhark stared at the figures before his eyes, his whole body going stiff.
He even forgot, for the moment, the rather undeniable fact that he was still seated on that springy, petite, round little butt.
"Th-This is…?!"
His gaze locked onto those 〖Ability Scores〗 that had rocketed up like a leap over a cliff.
All from I0, straight to F399!
That's the sort of accumulation most adventurers would grind out over months of hard training.
And Yukino had done it after just one high-intensity, cross-rank battle!
What shocked Zyhark even more…
Was at the end of the Skills column.
That quietly surfaced, ghost-blue, glimmering new skill.
——[Frostbound Mind]!
"Immune to ice magic… taking ice-type damage massively amplifies effects… speed-based attack bonus…"
Zyhark muttered the description under his breath.
This wasn't mere excellent potential anymore.
This was basically a tailor-made "plug-in" for an ice-type magic swordswoman!
No wonder Yukino had adapted to, and mastered, those two powerful magics so quickly.
Turns out her innate talent—
Was like a permafrost glacier, hiding unfathomable depth and power!
Zyhark drew a long breath.
He forced down the waves in his chest and lifted his eyes from the staggering numbers,
falling on Yukino's swan-white neck and slightly delicate shoulder blades.
His tone carried a hint of awe:
"Yukino… your growth speed is pushing the limits of my understanding."
"And this new skill… 'Frostbound Mind'…"
"Are you sure you weren't the reincarnation of some ancient queen sealed in ice in your past life?"
"This potential isn't just jaw-dropping— it's heart-stopping."
Yukino turned her head a fraction, those azure eyes slanting toward him.
She couldn't see his full expression, but his tone was vivid enough to imagine the theatrics on his face.
Her cool voice, laced with her usual sting, rang out:
"Your making such a fuss is what's truly surprising."
"Have the other recipients of your [Falna] been such incompetents that they couldn't even manage basic growth?"
"Or is it that—"
"You're simply in the habit of putting on such ostentatious praise for your own familia's excellence?"
She paused.
Feeling the little head that had stealthily poked its way in at some point, she added, frost-cold:
"Also, about your current… less than decorous position."
"Am I to understand that—"
"You're attempting to 'sense' this so-called 'astonishing potential' at close range through its physical feedback?"
"Ahem… it's required for the rite, purely for the rite."
Still astride the girl's dainty hips, Zyhark coughed twice, rather embarrassed.
He shifted himself slightly.
Took out the parchment.
And with practiced ease, he made a rubbing of the latest 〖Ability Scores〗 on Yukino's back.
He handed the finished copy to Yukino, who had already sat up and wrapped herself back in a bath towel.
She reached out to take it.
Her eyes skimmed quickly, without a hint of delight or pride on her face.
As if this shocking growth were nothing more than a matter of course.
"Barely… acceptable."
That was all Yukino said in the end, before she placed the parchment casually on the headboard.
Watching her unruffled composure,
Zyhark sighed inwardly— the mental fortitude on this one was something else.
He cleared his throat, a slightly suggestive, expectant smile at the corners of his mouth:
"So, um… Yukino."
"You expended a lot today, and you gained such powerful growth."
"To consolidate your foundation, speed up recovery, and… mm."
"To push you to E-rank faster, shouldn't we… 'replenish mana'?"
At that, Yukino's eyes went sharp like ice awls.
She took him in from head to toe, her tone dripping with merciless disdain:
"Heh, so the dagger finally shows at the end of the scroll?"
"To dress such a sacred rite in the lowbrow title of 'replenishing mana,' and attempt to normalize it as an excuse to satisfy your own base desires."
"As expected, God-sama's thought process forever hovers at the lowest rungs of biological instinct."
And yet—
For all that her tongue was fully armed, she didn't reject him as flatly as she had the first time, nor did she show strong resistance.
She merely fixed him with that look of "I already see straight through you" for a few seconds.
Then…
Silently turned around, giving him her back— tacit consent.
Zyhark's heart leapt.
He knew this girl might be sharp-tongued, but in her heart, she was gradually accepting this method of rapidly improving strength.
Perhaps…
There was a hint of subtle trust in me, her main god?
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The mana-replenishing process still carried that hard-to-put-into-words intimacy and flutter.
Afterward.
A post-exercise blush colored Yukino's cheeks, her breathing a touch uneven.
She forced herself to calm down and lay down first, pulling the soft white quilt over herself.
Zyhark lay down too, about to pull her into his arms like last night.
Unexpectedly…
Yukino turned over on her own.
She reached out and hugged him instead, pressing her cool cheek to his chest.
"!?"
The sudden initiative caught Zyhark off guard.
"Lights."
Yukino's voice came muffled from his chest, with a note that brooked no refusal.
Zyhark obeyed, reaching out to flick off the magestone lamp by the bed.
The room fell into darkness.
Only moonlight filtered through the gap in the curtains, spilling a faint halo.
Feeling the cool, soft body in his arms, Zyhark's heart brimmed with novelty and a trace of furtive joy.
"Yukino."
In the dark.
He asked softly, voicing his doubt:
"Have you… trained before?"
"I mean, your swordwork and your calm in battle— they don't feel like a total beginner's."
"And…"
He paused.
His arm tightened a little, noticing her unusually low body temperature:
"Your body seems to be cold all the time."
"Hands and feet aside— why does your whole body feel like a block of ice?"
Yukino was silent for a moment.
Just as Zyhark thought she wouldn't answer, her cool voice sounded in the dark:
"In my original world,"
"In order to meet my mother's expectations— and to protect myself from certain tedious people—"
"I did dabble in some kendō and kyūdō."
"As for my body…"
A hint of near-imperceptible awkwardness crept into her voice:
"…I was born this way."
"Unlike a certain walking furnace, radiating surplus heat everywhere like a constant-temperature hugging pillow."
She let the poison slip again.
But the arms around him tightened a little more.
As if drawing warmth from him— and confirming he was really there:
"…From now on, you have to stay this warm."
That near-dependant line made Zyhark's heart thump, a quiet warmth rippling out.
He chuckled low and promised:
"Okay. Your 'constant-temperature hugging pillow' is on call anytime."
A gentle silence flowed in the dark, their body heat mingling.
Cold and warmth balanced, blending into a reassuring after-warmth.
After a while.
Zyhark couldn't help but ask softly:
"Yukino, I don't think I've ever seen you smile. With me…"
"Or rather, since the moment I met you."
The body in his arms seemed to tense, ever so slightly.
After a long pause.
Just when he thought she'd dodge with more barbs, she only said, faintly:
"…Sleep."
No emotion could be heard in her voice.
But that very evasiveness seemed to veil something she didn't wish to touch.
Zyhark wisely asked no more. He patted her back lightly.
And murmured:
"Okay. Good night, Yukino."
"…Mm."
In the dark, the two of them fell asleep in each other's arms.
The mingling of ice and warmth formed a tiny harbor apart from the world's noise.
As for that smile yet to bloom…
Perhaps it would take more time— and more warmth— to thaw the frost that covered it.
Not yet asleep, Zyhark found his thoughts drifting to that "Crossover Heroine Summon Card."
It was about time.
Tomorrow, he needed to summon the second familia member in— otherwise leaving all the work to Yukino would be too much.
...
…
(End of Chapter)
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