Chapter 664 Powerful Bond
Carmine was obviously the first to break through, moving quickly to Rank Two and then Rank Three as Wolfe held her in his arms. Rank Four took half an hour, and an hour into their bonding, Nimue made it to Rank Five.
"That is brilliant. I don't even know if the old man's Time Magic can advance someone that quickly. But I see how it's working, the purified and Condensed mana of a Rank Six Demon can force the progress much more quickly than they could hope to do on their own." Queen Jasmine mumbled to herself as she took notes.
Then she reached a tendril of mana out to Wolfe, wondering if he could use it to infuse into his link.
Wolfe gathered the tendril of mana and let it flow through them, causing an instant reaction that took Carmine to Rank Five, and which was rapidly moving both of the other bodyguards toward Rank Six.
On the other hand, Risa seemed to have stalled at what felt like the peak of Rank Six, even with the influence of the Queen's mana.
"I see, it's not so easy to force the breakthrough to Saint. It's a qualitative change that can't be influenced by outside forces, but I had hoped that would work." Jasmine mumbled.
If you could force someone to become a saint so easily, the Monarchs would be true monsters in their home nations.
The process slowed once everyone was at Rank Five, until the twins broke through to Rank Six and another surge of mana poured through them and the link to the other Pentacles.
Wolfe tried to sense what was going on with them, but all he could sense was shock and confusion. They were getting a lot of feedback, even if the vast majority of the energy was still flowing between the members of this Pentacle. He briefly wondered if they had managed to break through to Rank Four, as he had been told they were close to, but then the Pentacle settled, and the Queen cut off the Portal, keeping the mana circulation confined to just the ones currently in her Kingdom.
They were all exhausted, and Carmine was sleeping in Wolfe's arms when the bond settled. Nimue smiled at them and slid her chair over to lean against his arm.
"Well, it's a good thing we took a nap, but I need another one. That was surprisingly exhausting." She declared.
"You're close to Rank Six now, though, Princess Nimue. That's quite impressive. But three Rank Six guards, including a Peak Rank Six guard, is very impressive by any standard. Even some of the smaller nations that don't have a true Demon Monarch would struggle to field that sort of protective force." Queen Jasmine reminded her.
"You know, I sort of forgot that there were likely other nations in this place. The dozen of you are so powerful that you could take them over if you really wanted, but I imagine that would be more trouble than it's worth." Wolfe added.
"Much more trouble. You see, we're all Clan Leaders, and the various groups of Demons do much better when they self rule. It gives them a safe spot to fall back to if they're unhappy where they are, and allows each group to have somewhere with rules that suit their nature.
Not all of them are good places, and most of them you wouldn't want to visit, but allowing them to exist is in the best interests of everyone. Changing the balance in the Demon Realms causes far-reaching imbalance issues in the attached planes."
Dana wrapped her arms around Wolfe from behind, basking in the leftover mana from the cultivation session. "It's a shame that we don't have a chance to explore more. I think that you would have enjoyed a long vacation in my Kingdom. Everyone is friendly, we've got all sorts of entertainment and wonderful magical attractions."
Nimue sleepily nodded. "Yeah, the Incubus King's territory is known for gaming and entertainment of all sorts. When the caravan wanted to take time off, they always tried to get a route that would take them there."
The Mana exhaustion faded within the hour, and it was time to rejoin the gathering in the other room for dinner.
"You know, it seems like all that I am doing these days is working until I pass out, eat and repeat." Wolfe joked.
"The food is good, though." Nimue agreed.
"You're through the hard part now. There's no more hard work to do here, so you can relax for the rest of the day, and the old Magic King will come for you in the morning. I would like to give you a tour of the Kingdom here as well, so if you get a chance to come back, just let us know and my Nobles will happily welcome you back.
I know that they all wanted the luxury items that you were producing for Elizabeth's lot, but they can wait. David has some Magi in his Kingdom, and once they see your spells, I'm sure that they'll be able to do something to recreate the most popular features."
Wolfe nodded. "We can't have one man completely messing up the economy."
Jasmine led them out to the garden, where a small group of Wrath Demons had gathered to congratulate those who had been chosen to go with Wolfe, and to see the rumoured Magi Patriarch with their own eyes.
The three bodyguards kept a discreet eye on him, even when they were being pulled between their relatives to celebrate their promotion to a Royal Bodyguard, and the advancement to Rank Six for the twins. Such a promotion and bond was known to give some benefits, but an immediate breakthrough was completely unexpected, and it would improve their family's status even more now that everyone knew they had raised more powerful members with ranked jobs.
In a way, it was like their college graduation, Wolfe thought. Everyone was here to send them off to work, and celebrate the fact that they had landed the best job possible in the field that they were training for.
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