Combat Maid Harem

"Master, do it!" Valentina urged him with a panicking look on her face.

Lawrend closed his eyes and thought about his body. He didn't let himself be distracted anymore. He released a breath and took a deep one.

. . . . .

. . . .

. . .

. .

.

"Ahh!"

Lawrend opened his eyes and sat up. He looked around and saw the inn room he was staying at.

"Master??"

Ember woke up and sat up beside him. She stared at him with a face full of confusion.

"Valentina? Where are you?"

Lawrend didn't have time to explain to Ember. He was more worried about Valentina.

'I'm fine, Master. I'm simply tired… Controlling that leftover energy was damaging to my soul,' Valentina replied inside his mind.

Only after hearing her explanation did Lawrend relax. He held his left chest and took a deep breath.

"Master, what happened? Did you have a nightmare?" Ember worriedly asked.

Lawrend took Ember's hand and stared into her eyes.

"I almost lost my hard work, Ember," Lawrend whispered.

It was scary seeing his year of work slowly being erased. It was hard for him to etch his whole soul and also painful. And the powerlessness he felt when facing the Goddess was overwhelming.

It felt to Lawrend that everything he worked hard for was nothing in front of her.

"Master…"

Ember became more worried after hearing his depressed and scared voice. It was a new side of him that she had never seen before. It made her feel as if she was seeing something special.

"I don't know what will happen now. I can't attempt to become a Heaven Mage, or the world will take away my magic," Lawrend explained.

"It's okay, Master. Tell me everything in your nightmare. I will be by your side," Ember said gently. She inched closer and embraced him.

And so, Lawrend explained to her everything he knew about the Goddess and what she said. Throughout it all, Ember kept silent and listened. She would only mumble to tell him she understood.

Lawrend had all the reasons to be scared and sad. He felt true fear when the Goddess grabbed his wrist. It made him feel as if he shouldn't resist to make it end quicker.

It was a dangerous thought process, and if she truly succeeded in erasing at least half of his soul mana pathways, he might've given up there and then. This put into Lawrend's perspective how powerful the Goddess was.

He wondered why she didn't use her full strength. There must be something that was stopping her. If not, Valentina wouldn't be able to delay her.

Her survival from Valentina's Heaven Mage attack was proof of her strength. Lawrend wouldn't believe it if someone told him she was holding back.

Ember rubbed Lawrend's back. She was surprised Lawrend could communicate with the Goddess in his sleep. Everything he said before he fell asleep in the bath made sense now.

"Don't worry, Master. I will become a Heaven Mage if you can't become one. I will protect you," Ember whispered.

"No… I don't want that," Lawrend replied weakly.

Ember felt her heart tremble to hear his weak reply. Him showing her his weak side made it obvious to her that he really trusted her.

"But what are you going to do then, Master?" Ember asked.

"I will… defy her. If she doesn't want me to practice my soul magic, I will practice it more! I believe she was hiding something about it from me!" Lawrend said with gritted teeth.

Saying those words helped him regain his confidence. He now had a goal again. The only difference now was that he would not aim to become a Heaven Mage. Instead, he would break through all of the elements with his soul magic.

"Ahh… Master…"

Ember embraced him tighter and fell weak on his chest.

She was exhilarated hearing his answer. It perfectly fitted his personality, and that was what she was attracted to him. His desire to keep going. It reminded her of herself.

"Ember, let me go," Lawrend said calmly.

It was a quick recovery for Lawrend, thanks to Ember's support. If she wasn't here, it might've taken him a while longer to regain his morale. She truly became a part of his life.

Ember was reluctant, but she still released him from her embrace.

"Master, are you not going to sleep?"

"No. I don't need sleep anyways. I will spend this time fixing my damaged soul mana pathways," Lawrend replied.

He crossed his legs and closed his eyes.

Lawrend focused on his soul. His whole left arm was missing its mana pathways. There was no trace of them left, like something erased them from existence.

Repairing the erased parts was simple for Lawrend. He already had previous experience doing this. The only problem was time.

Lawrend started, and slowly, he was able to re-etch the missing mana pathways. Bit by bit, Lawrend progressed. He remained calm and didn't let his mind wander.

For Lawrend, letting his mind wander was the next thing he didn't want. It would be very painful to fix a mistake if he made one.

'Ahh…'

Lawrend felt pain as he continued. Before he realized it, he was done fixing it.

Lawrend was shocked at his progress. He controlled his mana from all of the elements and flowed them through his left arm. He sensed everything, and there were no problems.

Lawrend opened his eyes and asked Ember, "What time is it!?"

Ember was sitting by the window.

"Ah!" Ember jumped in fright.

She turned to look at him and saw the crazed look in his eyes.

"It's morning, Master..?"

"How many days??"

"Days? It's still the same day, Master," Ember replied and looked at him weirdly.

"Are you serious?" Lawrend asked, still in disbelief.

He wanted to make sure because it was too unbelievable. After all, it took him a whole year to carve all of the mana pathways in his soul. It was normal to assume his whole left arm would take months to redo.