Steel and Mana

Chapter 136 – Enslaved (2)

It was a serious meeting between Sasha, Merlin, Mikan, and me that lasted for multiple hours. We made sure to tell her everything, including all the possible dangers and pitfalls, how it could backfire and make her into a mindless automaton or, worse, let Elyzien take over her body. Of course, the latter would also be a danger to us, so we would have to make ample preparations if that ever happened. Not that we were counting on it...

"I need to reiterate," I continued, looking into her eyes, "We are not 100% sure that Elyzien is purely magic and that the spell would work on her."

"It is more of a 95%." Merlin added, making me roll my eyes, "The fact that she exists and how the bracelets suppress her, everything points towards the fact that our conjecture is right, though! The only variable is her soul; we know nothing about what a soul is or if it is even real..."

"A soul does not weigh for only 5%..." Sasha murmured, sitting between me and Mikan.

"I will do it." Mikan nodded, interrupting us. "I heard what I needed, and I can say now that I am assured with my choice. It is not just because of what I promised Yuri but because I truly want this."

"Mikan..." Sasha whispered, sliding closer to her and holding her hand.

"I grew up as a failed witch." She continued, smiling while remembering the memory, her eyes slightly wet behind her glasses. "I could do nothing well, constantly failing my tasks and classes. I was the only known witch who had magic, yet it would have been better for everyone if I did not. But I never gave up on my dream!"

"We saw it." I chuckled, remembering how she was when she arrived.

"Um..." She nodded, blushing, turning towards Merlin, "I want to do this. Since learning the truth, knowing it wasn't my fault, that I am not the useless girl I was always told to be, I want this! I really do... No... I need this!"

"Say no more!" I clapped while Sasha was caressing her hand with a warm smile, "We will get ready for it. But first, you need to choose where you want the formation. As Merlin said, it needs to be on you, and it will be a permanent addition."

"And... the bigger, the better." Merlin explained, looking at her, "So we need ample space!" The moment he said that, I couldn't help but look at Mikan's breasts, but this time, Sasha didn't nudge me, simply giggling like a schoolgirl, seeing something funny.

"It should be on her back." She finally spoke up, making Mikan think about it. "I just don't know how we are going to draw it up there."

"There are multiple choices available for us." Merlin answered her at once. "We can cast the formation from iron, heat it up, and press it against her back. We can draw it on her with knives, letting it scar and be on her like that."

"We will go with a simple tattoo." I cut in, stopping him from continuing because both Sasha and Mikan were way too pale by now. "We are told that this place is a barbarian land, huh? Yet I did not see anyone wearing tattoos here."

"It is rare in the Empire." Mikan explained, gulping down her sudden fear and playing with the edge of her clothes. "Usually, they are signs that the wearer is part of an underground organization or has been marked by the Empire. Most prisoners have tattoos, so even if they escape or regain their freedom, they can't hide the fact that they were punished by the Empire."

"Huh... I see... Well, I have the basic knowledge of how to do hand-tapping tattoos..." I murmured, scratching my chin, an idea suddenly blooming within me.

"What is it?" Sasha asked, seeing me fall silent, noticing that my brain began computing something.

"Nothing."

"That does not ring as true. Out with it!" She pressed on, and now the other two were also looking at me curiously.

"I was thinking of using blood to do it."

"No!" She exclaimed at once, while Merlin also fell silent, and Mikan looked back and forth between us. "Are you mad?!"

"It wouldn't be ingested, as it would be between the thin layers of skin. You know how conducive it is! Having that on her would push our 95% chance into the 99.99% range!" I argued, feeling that it could work... no, it would work.

"Um... what is it about? What blood?" Mikan asked, raising her hand.

Explaining it was easy; what was hard was not sounding like some kind of mad scientist, especially when detailing the blood's effect on the chickens.

"I... see..."

"No, it is too dangerous." Sasha expressed, crossing her arms, but Merlin was taking my side this time.

"Leon is right. It won't be like with the chickens... They ingested the blood, absorbed it into their bodies, and spread it everywhere, causing a reaction. Within their bodies, all that made up the monster's blood got broken down and digested; it is probably what caused the violent reaction!"

"And what would make this different? It would still be entering her body!" Sasha continued arguing against us, not wanting to risk it.

"The fact that we have been handling it without issues?" I countered, "It won't get into her system and stay in her skin, just like any other ink. Otherwise, I would have already had the same fate as the chickens with how much I have been screwing around with it, trying to make a good staff for you."

"..."

"I will do it." Mikan nodded, taking advantage of Sasha's silence. "It is my life, my body, and my choice. I'm ready! I have been ready since I was told I was a witch!"

"Mikan..." Sasha whispered, holding her hand, but Mikan's serene, confident smile made her stop protesting.

"Good." I exhaled, standing up. "Let me gather everything, and we can start in a few days. As the one with the most stable hand, I will do it, but it will hurt."

"Pain comes before success. It humbles and prepares you for the time when you find yourself in possession of power." She replied, making me tilt my head while she added with a giggle. "It is a quote from the God of Magic, Wyland. As for what he meant by it... it is up to everyone's own interpretation."

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It took me a few days to collect and test the blood on a pig first. It was a concession I was willing to make because Sasha was right... There was still a chance it would kill her. Yet, the pig never died, and something even more interesting happened. The tattoo it got remained vivid in color, working just like ink would; as for why, I did not know. Maybe because of the body heat it was giving off? Who knows... I don't have good microscopes and analyzers to study it in detail.

Anyway, it did not become magical, but when Merlin activated the anti-gravity formation, the poor pig began squealing as it started floating up like a balloon. This confirmed that the blood would work even better than any ink would, and it wouldn't hurt Mikan. Now... I was thinking of giving myself one, and maybe I could... wield magic through it.

When everything was ready, the first occasion happened in our bedroom, leaving me and Mikan alone. At first, Yuri and Luna wanted to stay and watch, but Sasha ushered them out, using our kids as a reason so they would go with her and help her take care of them.

"So..." Mikan asked, wearing a bathrobe, looking shy and going pink in the face.

"Relax, it will be fine." I chuckled, pointing towards the bed, "I know it may be uncomfortable to lay down for so long on your chest, so we can keep breaks whenever it becomes too hard on you, okay?"

"Um."

"Now, please." I expressed, looking at her while she shyly opened her robe, revealing her voluptuous body, wearing nothing but white panties. I couldn't help but chuckle, making her even more embarrassed as she began hiding her breasts, with not much success, as their size made it impossible to cover with only her hands. "You have been feeding my children; you don't need to be shy now! I think I already saw it, ahahaha!"

"It... It is different! You are looking at me directly now... Hauh..."

"I do look at you because you look great." I nodded, not mincing my words anymore.

"You are married..." She mumbled, which I answered honestly.

"To three women. Yes."

"..." To not face me or my answer, she turned away, climbing onto the bed while I mounted atop her, kneeling over her waist. Next to me, we had already set up a wooden contraption that held the monster's blood in small buckets. Next to them, I had multiple specially prepared thin bone needles made from monster bones. It was everything that I needed to begin the process, and I made sure I created them myself. I wouldn't have trusted this to anyone else because if something goes wrong, I want to take full responsibility for it.

"Relax..." I whispered, touching her back and making her stiffen up, making me chuckle. Damn... she was soft, incredibly so, not to mention I could feel the faint scent of vanilla coming off her... were the bracelets failing? Didn't seem so... "Tell me if it begins hurting beyond what you can deal with, okay? We will take breaks when necessary, and this will probably be a multi-day effort. Worry not; the girls will take care of you when we finish for the day!"

I think she was too embarrassed and excited at the same time to answer, so she simply nodded her head while I began my work. Taking advantage of my mind, it was easy to 'project' the completed formation onto her back before my mind's eye. I aligned it up so it would take up the most optimal space, going from her neck down to her waist... I was turning our pure priest into a yakuza, huh? Oh well... she will look sexy with a tattoo, I'm not going to lie!

When I told her it would take multiple days to finish, I wasn't lying. To my surprise, Mikan took it incredibly well, and I managed to complete the very first ring of the three by the time the evening arrived. It was now slightly glowing on the middle of her back and contained thirty-seven runes in total. Looking at it, the tattoo retained its dark, crimson color, giving off an ethereal feeling in the dark.

"Are we... finished?" she asked, her voice frail and tired. This made me notice her heavy breathing and how sweaty she was, soaking the bedsheet under us.

"For today!" I nodded, climbing off her, discovering I was poking her the whole time... oops. Well, she didn't mention it, but I was sure she noticed it. Although, she was probably too exhausted to bring it up now. "You endured it well, I will call the girls!"

"Thank you..." She murmured, sitting, no longer covering herself but she was still unable to face me. I wondered why... Until I noticed her puffy nipples pointing forward, being extra hard.

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"Soooo? Did you fuck her?" Yuri asked, catching me in the dining room while I was having a late dinner. Luna was with Mikan in the guest room while Sasha was with the kids back in our place, feeding and tucking them in, so it was just the two of us.

"No, I did not."

"She was totally aroused!" She laughed, telling me with great excitement, sitting on the table, her leg resting between my crotch... not that I was complaining, letting her play with me as she wished. "Even Sacchy and Luna noticed it! Aww... she was so cute, the little virgin!"

"I was focusing on making the tattoo perfectly, so my mind wasn't observing what my or her body was doing." I answered honestly, making her giggle.

"When you concentrate, you are way too sexy... Well... As your girl, I'll help you relax. Master~!" She added with a moan, disappeared under the table, and had her dessert, slurping loudly while I continued eating my own dinner.