"Mm… You girls have accomplished a lot while I was away," Leonardo swept his eyes across the numerous papers, the white triangles in his eyes spinning slowly the more he read. "Energy perseverance? I see, I see…"
It didn't take long for Leonardo to finish going through years of documents and research—his speed at all didn't surprise the two girls as he was a cultivator, unlike them who could only do things by the book.
It should be said that their mental fortitude was indeed exceptional, or should he call it that their pursuit of knowledge was too staunch? They didn't even react to the change in Leonardo's eyes.
Well, Elizabeth was too conservative to look Leonardo in the eyes while Merlin was, as Leonardo speculated, too bothered to even consider the changes in his person.
Thud!
Merlin dropped a heavy stack of papers, scrolls, and books on the study laboratory table next to Leonardo—the fragrance of her sweat and natural odor tickling his senses while she leaned closer and began to highlight the points of confusion in her theorem.
"We've tried all kinds of materials typically used for runic inscriptions—at least those of which we were able to mend into foldable scrolls. This undoubtedly lowered the quality of the magic scrolls as it correspondingly decreased the volume and magnitude of energy we could store within—our issue right now isn't about implanting energy but keeping it dormant until the user proactively activates it."
Leonardo quickly snapped out of his impure thoughts as influenced by Merlin's focus and determination. She spat a dozen or so complicated formulas, all containing variations of magic theory, mainland laws of physics, inferences from runic inscriptions, and some experimental results of interactions between laws derived from cultivators and the world.
Leonardo was absolutely astounded by these research results and he couldn't help but let out a chuckle, though his smile was that of gratification and praise.
"I understand," said he as his hand reached out towards a prototype magic scroll with incomplete runic inscriptions, ripples of fragmented worldly energy, and psychic powers lingering about its surface. "I have a Goddaughter whose specialty is to perceive these psychic waves—but the limits of her perception are beyond the minds of just non-cultivators, it could be said that I've grasped a bit of how her martial intent works fundamentally…"
Leonardo muttered as the triangles in his eyes spun even faster, all knowledge pertaining to runic inscriptions that Elizabeth used as a guideline in teaching Merlin flowing in his mind whilst his innate ability began to deduce a formula of combining the psychic waves and inscriptions.
Since worldly energy can't seal the magic spells due to its nature of passively triggering interactions, perhaps balancing it out with the neutral force of the human brain as an isolation mechanism would work just fine.
As his thoughts spun while he observed the papers and the prototype, Leonardo moved to a nearby board and picked up a piece of white jade infused with worldly energy.
He wanted to imbue his understanding into the words he wrote to make comprehending the principles theory much easier for Merlin and Elizabeth.
Just like that, Leonardo spent the following hours writing and disposing of diagrams on the wide blackboard, depicting a tool similar to the inscription quill but had a set of inscriptions carved into the structure, allowing for the infusion of worldly energy from a compartment designed to host ether fragments and a rune designed to draw in someone's psychic powers.
The distribution of energy would be set to a 9:1 ratio, with a film of physics energy implanted first whenever the tool was used to inscribe, leaving the worldly energy last.
This way, any external psychic wave could terminate the dormant force, allowing the energy to rush into the original spell and activate under the excitation of world laws contained within the unadulterated worldly energy.
The theory looked very simple but it would be very difficult to put things into practice… Hell, the 9:1 ratio was just a conservative estimate but no one truly knows the actual ratio just yet or what it represents.
Leonardo as well as Merlin and Elizabeth knew this, but the two girls were still flabbergasted by the idea of using something that was so simple like the human mind's psychic waves in such an ingenious manner.
Leonardo didn't think this was ingenious however as intelligence and focus were crucial criteria to every magician—it represented their foundation.
The triangles in his eyes slowly stopped spinning at high speeds, Leonardo's solemn expression breaking down into a faint smile as he turned around to the girls with a light sigh. "This should be the accumulation of my entire understanding behind the magic theory, hopefully, this can satisfy you girls?"
Elizabeth felt flustered and lowered her head, tugging at Merlin's long sleeves to respond instead.
Merlin snapped out from her trance, eyes sparkling as she muttered to herself incomprehensibly. Then, she rushed forward and began pushing Leonardo out of the laboratory while sounding absolutely hysterical.
"Fine! Fine! This is enough! Enough! You can leave now, bye!"
Slam!
Leonardo stood in front of the laboratory room, stunned.
A moment later, however, he laughed bitterly and left, unaware that Merlin was glued to the door, tears rolling down her flushed red face—unknown if it was excitement or something else.
…
It was already so deep into the night, and Leonardo silently made it into his private courtyard at the foot of the mountain where he comprehended his initial mastery of the beast claw technique.
As he entered the room, he was stunned for a bit and then quickly realized what was going on—he did tell her to satisfy his urges at night.
That's right, Victoria sat on the bed, dressed in her black maiden outfit with a lowered head, and a hint of pink could be seen stretching from her ears to her neck.
She felt a pair of pitch-black eyes staring at her intently, growing fuzzy and anxious at the same time as she clutched the hems of her skirt.
"Did I keep you waiting too long?"
Leonardo took light steps as he arrived in front of this usually staunch and fierce woman, picking up her chin under his right thumb, a layer of desolation washing across her figure without an ounce of retaliation on her part.
Then, she felt the constraints on her skin thin out as a gentle breeze tickled her nude figure—she didn't need to think twice to realize her nudity at the moment.
However, this was even the more reason for her flush to extend from her face to her entire body, a tingling sensation in her lower abdomen, prompting her thighs to squeeze firmly, displaying alluring muscles and power.
"I didn't wait that long—…" she started, but was rudely interrupted by a sensation ambiguous to her mind.
Strong lips sealed her mouth shut as a meandering tongue set out to explore her oral cavity while entangling with the lump of pink flesh within, immediately taking it hostage in a smooth and quick retreat.
This was the beginning of yet another conquest of the mind and body on Leonardo's end, but there was little to no resistance at all as everything progressed smoothly.
Victoria's physique was comparable if not superior to Wendy's even as the latter continually refined her body. Hence, even as Leonardo breached the gates to an uncharted, warm, and tight space; she had plenty of energy to occasionally retaliate.
Night never seemed so short and day never felt shorter
—the conquest lasted for three days and three nights…
