As expected, staying up until dawn was just a myth. No girl could truly last until morning. In the end, it all came down to Garde himself.
The next morning, after tucking an utterly exhausted Gavial into bed, Garde embarked on a lonely and seemingly endless journey of self-control. Without any "material" or visual aids, it took every ounce of effort to calm himself down.
By the time Gavial woke up, the sun was already high in the sky.
Seeing Garde sitting in a corner, draped only in a towel and looking utterly drained, Gavial hid her face under the blanket and softly murmured, "I'm sorry."
Who could have guessed that not only was Garde's body monstrous, but his capacity was equally overwhelming? Gavial barely lasted two or three hours before she was completely defeated.
And to wake up only to see Garde resorting to... alternative measures, it left her at a loss for words.
"It's okay," Garde said, his exhaustion impossible to hide. After two consecutive days of this, he would have preferred another fight with Ascalon.
"How long did they last?"
Gavial finally began to understand the effort Garde had put into this. If their married life was like this every day, she would sooner or later turn into a wreck.
"Your first time being unaccustomed is normal," Garde said, forcing a tired smile. Gavial's physical build was comparable to Saria's before her Oripathy diagnosis, but Saria's body had been magically enhanced, making her significantly stronger than Gavial.
Laurentina, on the other hand, was on an entirely different level—being an Abyssal Hunter with regenerative abilities that were practically supernatural.
Saria had lasted less than six hours, even factoring in the time she spent unconscious. Laurentina's first attempt lasted six hours straight, her second extending to an incredible eight hours before even her hunter resilience faltered.
Gavial, however, hadn't even lasted half the time of the other two.
Her body wasn't weak—she just had a smaller frame. Saria stood at 174 cm tall, while Gavial was only 163 cm.
Even though Laurentina's height was about the same as Gavial's, Garde hadn't been as physically overwhelming back then as he was now!
Whenever Garde moved, he had to meticulously control his strength, terrified of accidentally causing serious harm. But as everyone knows, trying to restrain yourself during those moments is practically a form of torture.
Still, if you make a mistake, you must own up to it. If it meant making Gavial comfortable, Garde was willing to endure any discomfort himself.
He vowed to master Ascension techniques to make himself... more manageable.
Despite his mental exhaustion, Garde pulled Gavial into his arms.
"Gavial, there's something I need to tell you."
"You're leaving again, aren't you?"
"…Yeah."
Garde knew there was no hiding it from her.
"Laurentina is an Abyssal Hunter. She's currently facing monsters from the depths of the ocean. I'm not strong enough to help her yet."
"Are those monsters really that powerful?"
"They might be even stronger than we could possibly imagine."
Garde wore a solemn expression. The reason they had been able to repel the Seaborn before was purely that those creatures were unaccustomed to fighting on land. The number of Sea Terror that had landed was not yet overwhelming enough to crush an Adakrys tribe.
But things were different in the ocean. The Seaborn there possessed far greater vitality than those on land, and their numbers could only be described as endless.
From what Garde knew, the hunters would soon launch a god-slaying battle against the Seaborn, a war in which countless Abyssal Hunters would perish. Laurentina was also an Abyssal Hunter and couldn't avoid being involved.
Garde had to become as strong as possible before that event occurred. He could either go to Columbia to learn better methods of wielding Ascension Power or travel to Sami to slaughter the wicked beings there.
He had already asked Kal'tsit to use her channels to monitor the movements in the deep sea to avoid missing the upcoming major events. Once he got to Columbia, he was determined to study hard! Garde had made up his mind!
However, Garde noticed something peculiar—perhaps it was just his imagination. After spending two consecutive days with Saria and Gavial, he found that his control over his Ascension Power had become more refined.
Initially, out of fear of harming Saria, he tried using the Ascension Power to gently nourish her body. By the time he was with Gavial, his usage of the power had become even more natural.
Unfortunately, neither Saria nor Gavial could truly adapt to the energy of Ascension Power. For them, it felt more like soaking in a hot spring after exhaustion—it could only relieve fatigue.
In Garde's arms, Gavial buried her head in his chest, feeling slightly jealous. She hadn't expected Garde to suddenly become so motivated for the sake of another girl.
But then again, if Garde weren't willing to work hard for them, how could she have fallen for him in the first place?
"Fine!" Gavial lifted her head from Garde's chest and took a deep breath.
"If you want to go, then go. It's not like I can beat you anyway, so I'll just have to obediently listen to you." She put on a nonchalant expression.
"But you're not allowed to be away for too long, or I'll get mad!"
"And when you're there, don't go being a flirt."
"Tch, even if I say that, I'm sure you'd welcome any girl who throws herself at you."
Propping herself up and wrapping her arms around Garde's neck, Gavial stared into his eyes.
"I don't care about the rest, but from now on, one day every week has to be mine."
Gavial thought to herself that Garde wasn't some kind of breeding crocodile—surely he couldn't stay in heat 24/7, 365 days a year. Once the others had worn him out, she could take over; that would make things much easier.
If push came to shove, she could let Zumama take a turn. The two of them could alternate; after all, Zumama probably liked Garde too.
Now that she'd stopped sulking, Gavial started thinking ahead. Since things had already turned out this way, the focus should be on making the situation work in their favor.
As for Tomimi, Gavial decided to leave her out of it. Even if Tomimi grew up, she probably wouldn't be able to handle Garde's… proportions. After all, despite her age, Tomimi was still so petite—most of her nutrition seemed to have gone to her tail.
Recalling Tomimi's big tail, Gavial thought this might actually be the case.
Just then, Garde finished dressing and opened the door, only to find Tomimi crouched outside, having stayed up all night. She immediately ran up to him and tugged on his pants, looking up at him with a worried expression.
"Garde, Garde, please don't fight with Gavial anymore. She can't beat you. If you're angry, you can hit me instead—I'm not afraid of pain."
As she spoke, Tomimi kept glancing into the room.
The previous night, she'd heard Gavial shouting. Although it was strange, Gavial's attitude during the day made her think Gavial must have been angry at Garde and tried to cause trouble, only to end up getting bullied in return.
Hearing Tomimi's words, Gavial couldn't hold it in anymore.
"Tomimi, I wasn't bullied by Garde! Stop saying that!"
"But… you were shouting so loudly…"
Tomimi hesitated but mustered the courage to continue, "I heard everything!"
<+>
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