[Okay, Mizuki, I'm arriving at the demon continent, I should land soon! I don't see anyone around where I'm landing.] (Nina)
I am relaxing on our bed in Elmesia when Nina's message comes through. I sit up, and I focus on her location through our connection. It seems like she's landed and changed into her human form, so I teleport to her.
When I arrive, I give Nina a hug, then look around at the landscape. We're near a cliff edge facing the ocean, and below I can see the waves lapping on a gravely shore. Looking inland, the terrain reminds me of the African savannah on Earth – dry, sparse, and harsh, but not a desert. I don't see any large wildlife or people around.
"Okay Nina, thanks for doing this. Let me try and get a sense of where Veyron and the armies may be before we go." (Mizuki)
"No problem, go ahead." (Nina)
I close my eyes and use magic sense in a thin arc to sweep the continent as far as I can, focusing on Elder Dragon signatures. I get one reading towards the limit of my detection, about 1300 km west-northwest of our location. I swap to power level sensing to gauge his strength, and I'd put him in the low 6's. Relative to Nina, he's got about a fourth of her magic power, thanks to her boost from the contract.
"Hey Nina, before our contract, how did the Elder Dragons' respective strengths stack up?" (Mizuki)
"I was at the bottom, then Halzar, next Veyron, and Cerilia was clearly at the top. Why?" (Nina)
"Well, you'll be glad to know that you have about quadruple the magic power of Veyron now. That doesn't necessarily translate to combat ability, and I still don't know how you stack up to Cerilia. However, you're the only Elder Dragon that can use another spell class besides their core element, as far as I know. So, combined with your magic power it's quite likely you're towards the top of the rankings now!" (Mizuki)
I sense a deep satisfaction wash over Nina.
"Fufufu…good, I'm excited to show Veyron that's the case as well." (Nina)
I swap my magic sense to a wide arc for power levels of 2 and higher, and I begin scanning for large clusters of such presences nearby. I find one, about 200 km north northwest. It could be a village, but it might also be something associated with the army's oceanic invasion plans since it's near the coast. Maybe an advance ship-building battalion. Regardless, that's all I need for today.
"Alright, Nina, let's go to your hot spring." (Mizuki)
Nina squeals delightedly and jumps over to wrap me in a hug, then I teleport us to the hot spring she found.
When we arrive, I look off the southern side of the mountain at the valley that's secluded and uninhabited. The sun is just beginning to set off to my right, and it's a beautiful scene.
"Hey, Nina, this would be a pretty cool place to build a house, wouldn't it?" (Mizuki)
I feel Nina hug me from behind.
"Hmm…yes I think I'd like that, and I'm sure Ilina would appreciate it being in the Elven Kingdom. Let's not discuss that though. I'm quite ready to enjoy these hot springs alone together, Mizuki." (Nina)
After that comment, she abruptly spins me around and drags me to the hot spring.
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"Now, how do you feel about these hot springs, Mizuki? Do they still seem unimportant?" (Nina)
She asks me this as she climbs off my lap as we're both still gasping for air after our...exercise, then she leans against me naked in the hot spring. She's in quite the smug mood.
"Fufufu…I think you're well aware that the hot springs are not the reason for my good mood, Nina. They're nice if that's what you wanted to hear though." (Mizuki)
"Hmm…I guess. Now, what were these important things you needed to tell me before we got distracted?" (Nina)
"Oh…right. Azazel might have made a house call to talk to me today." (Mizuki)
I sense wariness from Nina as she tenses up against me, then she looks at me seriously.
"A god taking an interest in one mortal to the extent of a personal visit, even a mortal as powerful as you…that's no small thing Mizuki. What did he want?" (Nina)
"Just to chat…he was pretty friendly and didn't do anything aggressive. Essentially, I had a few realizations about Azura, magic, and the gods while researching with Alto. I found them very concerning and thought I should check in with Azazel. As I was about to teleport to his location, he showed up himself. We discussed our respective concerns, exchanged a few favors, and then parted ways on good terms." (Mizuki)
Nina is silent for several minutes.
"Fufufu…Mizuki, things are never boring with you, are they? You're exchanging favors with gods like they're friends of yours. So, what kinds of things did you realize, and what concerns did you have?" (Nina)
I recount for her my realizations about the origins of incantations, and the implications. Then, I paraphrase everything that Azazel and I discussed until I asked him for my favors.
"Oh my…it's a good thing that you talked. We were walking a very fine line before it seems. So, you can have three disciples that you share everything with. Alto is obviously one, but who will your other two be?" (Nina)
"Well, I actually think that since I've told you all this, I have to count you as one. As Ilina is now, I think she might count as a disciple as well. I started to reshape her perception of magic, I taught her unknown spacetime spells, and I told her that magic classes are more like suggestions. Still, I don't know if I should tell her anything more and risk having to kill her if she can't keep it from her people." (Mizuki)
Nina nods sadly.
"I'm very sorry Mizuki. I'm sure you don't want to keep secrets from your friends, much less Ilina. Could you just tell her about the situation with Azazel, and why you might not want to teach her more? At least this way you could be honest with her and figure out the best option together. She might even help us avoid the dangers Azazel warned of, if she knew what was at stake." (Nina)
That's actually a pretty good point. I let out a deep sigh.