The Son Has Already Seen Through Everything

The night was deep, and a silvery-white moon hung high above Norland Castle.

In a secluded clearing behind the castle, a semi-transparent shadow barrier, invisible to the naked eye, isolated the area from the outside world like an inverted bowl. This was a high-level shielding spell designed to prevent any sound or magical fluctuations from leaking out.

Inside the barrier, an "unofficial sparring match" between the pinnacle of human combat power and the pinnacle of the demon realm's combat power was fiercely underway.

"Huff... hah..."

Lokina knelt on one knee, gripping a spear forged from pure holy light, her chest heaving violently. Her signature messy blonde hair was now drenched in sweat, plastered to her cheeks, making her look somewhat disheveled.

Less than ten meters away from her.

Felsy hovered in the air, her feet half an inch off the ground. She was still wearing her comfortable silk nightgown with a thin coat draped over it. Her demeanor was so lazy it looked as if she had just crawled out of Lynch's bed to get a drink of water.

She toyed with a wisp of purplish-black shadow magic at her fingertips, not having broken a single drop of sweat.

"Theology teacher, is this all you've got?"

Felsy looked down at the panting Lokina, an undisguised sneer curling the corners of her lips. "Or could it be that you didn't eat enough for dinner tonight, and don't even have the strength to swing that glowing toothpick?"

"Don't get cocky!"

Lokina gritted her teeth and suddenly stood up.

Recently, ever since the two of them were forced into the same boat over "braised pork" and "hiding from the Church," these private midnight sparring sessions had become a regular occurrence.

Lokina was a proud person. Although she chose to slack off in the castle just to stay alive and eat good food, in her bones, she was still the Holy Son who had dominated an era. She was always unwilling to concede, wanting to prove that her strength had mostly recovered and that she could at least overpower this demon witch.

However, reality repeatedly rubbed her pride into the dirt.

"This defies magic! It absolutely defies magic!"

Lokina stared fixedly at Felsy, her golden eyes filled with shock and bewilderment. "When we fought last night, you clearly consumed a massive amount of your origin source to suppress that leaking magic! And during the day today, you used the laws of shadows to reinforce that 'lightning rod' thing Lynch made!"

"The shadow elements in the air of the North are pitifully thin, nowhere near enough for you to absorb! How on earth did you recover so quickly?!"

Lokina truly could not understand.

She herself could recover because she shamelessly mooched food and drinks from Lynch, especially those high-grade ingredients containing high calories and faint traces of magic (like the hotpot with ghost peppers).

But what about Felsy?

Besides taking walks with Lynch, drinking afternoon tea, and reading books every day, this witch couldn't even be bothered to meditate!

Yet the moment they fought, the other party's magic was like an endless ocean, unfathomably deep!

Facing Lokina's questioning, Felsy chuckled lightly and casually snuffed out the shadow magic at her fingertips.

"Why?"

Felsy slightly raised her chin, her eyes revealing a matter-of-fact arrogance. "Because my talent is simply superior to yours. The physique of the demon race, even without deliberate cultivation, is far more perfect than you fragile humans."

"What you call your limit is nothing more than a warm-up in my eyes."

"Nonsense!"

Lokina pointed at her in exasperation. "No matter how high your talent is, you still have to obey the basic conservation of energy! You haven't absorbed any high-level shadow magic crystals, nor have you performed any abyssal sacrifices. How could you possibly refill your mana out of thin air?!"

Lokina's brain worked at lightning speed.

She recalled Felsy's every move in the castle, and everyone and everything she interacted with daily.

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck her braised-pork-filled brain like lightning.

"Wait!"

Lokina's eyes widened. As if she had discovered some earth-shattering secret, she suddenly pointed at Felsy.

"You... you didn't absorb magic from nature, could it be..."

"Could it be that you are absorbing... Lynch?!"

The air seemed to freeze at this moment.

Felsy's hovering body suddenly stiffened, a trace of astonishment flashing through her purple eyes. "What... what did you say?"

Seeing her reaction, Lokina immediately felt she had guessed right. She grew instantly excited, even dispelling her holy light spear, and began pacing around like a master detective who had just cracked a case.

"I should have thought of this earlier!"

Lokina clapped her hands together and analyzed with righteous indignation, "I read records about high-level demons in the Church's forbidden library! Legend has it that the succubus clan possesses an extremely evil secret art!"

"And that is to use humans as a magic source! Through some kind of intimate contact, they silently suck away a human's essence and life force during the night to rapidly restore their own magic!"

The more Lokina spoke, the more it made sense to her, her eyes even taking on a trace of pained, bitter contempt.

"You sleep in the same bed with that foolish Lynch every night! He's just an ordinary human (from Lokina's perspective, Lynch was just an ordinary guy who made weird inventions)!"

"You evil witch! To think you would use a human's love for you to suck him at night!"

"Not only are you a liar, you're a literal juicer! You're too despicable!"

Lokina believed she was conducting a serious "academic exposé" and a "righteous condemnation." When she said "suck him," she was actually referring to ethereal life force or soul fragments.

However.

When those words fell into Felsy's ears, the implication completely changed.

Boom!!!

A massive mushroom cloud instantly exploded in Felsy's mind.

As a demon witch, although she had killed countless people, when it came to romance, she was an incredibly pure novice experiencing her first love.

Especially last night, when Lynch had just conducted an extremely dangerous "tail exploration" under the covers. The enchanting, ambiguous, and almost out-of-control atmosphere between the two of them still lingered in her mind.

Now, being called out to her face by this mortal enemy and religious fanatic using such terrible, highly ambiguous phrasing.

Felsy's face, at a speed visible to the naked eye, turned from pale white to pink, then from pink to the color of a ripe tomato. Finally, even her slender neck and the tips of her ears were so red they looked ready to drip blood.

"You... you... you shameless fanatic!"

Felsy's voice cracked. Her former aloofness and arrogance vanished completely, replaced by the extreme embarrassment and indignation of having her most private affairs exposed.

She dropped down from mid-air, her footsteps slightly panicked as she stumbled back two steps.

"What nonsense are you spouting! Who... who sucked him! We are legally married! A normal married couple!"

"That... that was just... resting normally at night! Don't use your filthy Church mindset to speculate about us!"

Felsy was practically going crazy.

Does this wretched girl hide under the bed every day eavesdropping?! How could she bring up that kind of thing between a husband and wife and question it to my face?! And even forcefully link it to mana recovery!

Her rapid mana recovery was clearly because the high-tier dishes Lynch cooked every day contained special stat bonuses from the system, plus being spoiled by Lynch daily put her in a great mood, resulting in smooth resonance with the laws of magic!

But in Lokina's eyes, Felsy's stuttering, flushed face, and inability to even look her in the eye were simply the ultimate signs of a guilty conscience!

Hah! I guessed right!

Lokina put her hands on her hips triumphantly, feeling that she had finally crushed the other party in terms of IQ for once.

You still dare to argue! Look at yourself now, you cannot even speak properly! Now that I have exposed this indecent cultivation method, you feel too ashamed to face anyone, do you not!

I was wondering how you recovered so fast, it turns out you relied on this kind of shortcut! Poor Lynch, I thought he was just born with a weak constitution, but it turns out he was...

Shut up!!!

Felsy, overwhelmed with shame and anger, slammed her hands over her ears, completely unable to listen to any more of this.

That is enough for today! If you dare to wag your tongue in front of Lynch, I will stuff you into that lightning rod to act as a conductor!

Having said that, the usually arrogant Lady Witch fled like a panicked rabbit. Forgetting even to use magic, she lifted her skirt and stumbled out of the barrier, rushing back to the Rose Courtyard.

Hmph, guilty woman.

Lokina watched Felsy's disheveled retreating back, proudly raising her chin, her heart filled with the joy of victory.

So this is her secret weapon...

Using a partner to enhance one's strength?

Lokina rubbed her chin, a trace of extremely dangerous thirst for knowledge flashing in her clear eyes.

...

The next day, morning.

The sun shone brightly in the back garden of the Rose Courtyard.

Aria was holding the Nimbus 2000 Custom broomstick that Lynch had modified for her, preparing for her daily flight training.

However, as her theoretical instructor, Lokina seemed exceptionally absent-minded today.

She sat on a rattan chair nearby, holding a half-eaten baguette in her hand. Her brows were furrowed and her gaze was profound, as if she were pondering some philosophical proposition concerning the survival of the world.

Teacher Lolo? Teacher Lolo?

Aria waved the broomstick in front of Lokina's eyes. What are you thinking about so intently? Could it be that you have received an oracle from the Radiant Moon Goddess?

No, it is more important than an oracle.

Lokina snapped out of her daze, took a bite of her bread, and looked at Aria with an extremely serious expression.

Aria, you are a mage who pursues ultimate power, right?

That is right! My goal is to become the strongest magister in the North! Aria puffed out her chest and said proudly. Of course, my current goal is to figure out how to ride this jet-powered broomstick first.

Then have you ever considered...

Lokina lowered her voice, asking in a tone used for discussing forbidden academia, that aside from mana meditation, waving a staff, and eating the meals Lynch makes, there is also an extremely powerful, extremely mysterious off-field buff?

Off-field buff? Aria was stunned. What is that? A new type of alchemical potion?

No. It is much more advanced than that.

Lokina took a deep breath and spat out a single word:

Romance.

Pfft, cough, cough, cough!

Aria choked on her own saliva, looking at Lokina with a bright red face. Ro-romance?! Teacher Lolo, do you have a fever? We are discussing magical cultivation, why did you suddenly bring this up?

As a pure-hearted young lady who grew up in a castle with a head full of fighting and killing, Aria's understanding of the word romance was limited to the teeth-rotting cheesy lines found in chivalric novels.

Do not laugh, I am being very serious.

Lokina pulled a long face, putting on the majesty of a mentor. Last night, through in-depth investigation and deduction, I discovered a shocking secret.

She leaned in close to Aria's ear and said mysteriously:

Your seemingly fragile Madam Lynch is actually a hidden expert. And her secret to growing stronger is that through her marital status with Mr. Lynch, she absorbs a mysterious energy from him called Romance Points!

Huh?!

Aria's worldview took a massive blow. How is that possible? Magic books have never written about such a thing!

It is not in the magic books because the people who wrote them were all a bunch of single old men!

Lokina wore an expression of everyone else is drunk, but I alone am sober.

Her overactive imagination had already carried her far beyond the bounds of reality.

And so, two innocent humans who had never been in a relationship, nor even held a man's hand, sat on the grass in the garden and began a protracted and exceptionally absurd seminar fueled purely by their own imaginations.

Think about it.

Lokina analyzed, counting on her fingers. Madam Lynch does not usually meditate, nor does she practice spells. She just spends every day with Mr. Lynch. Yet she is always radiant and full of energy.

What does this mean? It means that romance has a passive experience-sharing mechanism!

As long as two people are bound in a partner relationship, even if you are sleeping, you can leech off the other person's cultivation experience! You can even conduct a mana exchange at night through some kind of... uh, intimate cuddling ritual!

Lokina forcefully translated the wild fantasies she had come up with last night into a slightly more family-friendly mana exchange theory.

Aria listened in stunned silence. Although she felt something was not quite right, Teacher Lolo made so much sense!

She even pulled a small notebook out of her pocket and started taking serious notes.

Then... Teacher Lolo.

Aria raised her hand to ask a question, like an eager and diligent student seeking guidance. If romance can increase combat power, how exactly does it apply the buffs? Does it increase base attack power, or does it add spell penetration?

This was a core academic question.

Then again, that Felsy had high damage in her left fist and high damage in her right fist; she was a pure stats monster. God knows what exactly was being buffed!

Lokina rested her chin in her hand, pondered hard for a moment, and then began to blindly make things up.

I think, first of all, there is a basic Joyful Mood Aura. Think about it, the moment you remember you have a husband, your mood improves; when your mood improves, your mana flows smoothly. This is equivalent to a permanent plus ten percent casting speed buff.

Aria nodded repeatedly: Makes sense, makes sense!

Secondly, there are Handholding and Hugging.

Lokina's face reddened slightly, but she still forced herself to analyze calmly. These are active trigger skills. When two people have physical contact, the mana in their bodies forms a closed loop. If you cast a spell at this time, its power will at least double!

Think about it. If your Air Cannon is fired while Mr. Lynch is hugging you, would the recoil not be offset by him? Would you not be able to output even more mana?

Aria's eyes lit up. "That's right! Why didn't I think of that! So a hug is actually a 'physical shock absorber' plus a 'mana amplifier'!"

She quickly jotted it down in her notebook: Hugging = Power x2, with an added recoil cancellation effect.

"Then... what if it's a higher-level form of contact?" Aria blushed and asked a little bashfully, "The books say that two people who get married have to... have to kiss. What happens then?"

"Kissing?!"

Lokina gasped, as if she had just heard some forbidden spell.

The image of Lynch and Felsy together flashed through her mind, and she tried to use her meager theological knowledge to explain this phenomenon.

"Kissing... this must be the ultimate profound mystery!" Lokina slapped her thigh and said excitedly, "This is called Source Exchange! Mouth to mouth means a direct connection of magic circuits! It's the equivalent of plugging yourself directly into a mana crystal vein to recharge!"

"I bet that with just one kiss, your health and mana will instantly be fully restored! You might even temporarily unlock the other person's skill tree!"

Aria was dumbfounded.

The pen in her hand trembled.

"So... so this is the strongest magic in the world!" "As long as I find a strong enough husband and kiss him every day, wouldn't I become invincible in this world?!"

...

Just as these two giants of theory and dwarves of practice were passionately discussing whether "having a baby is equivalent to summoning a high-tier combat pet," Lynch happened to be passing by the garden carrying a plate of freshly baked cookies.

He heard the two of them muttering from afar, and stepped closer to listen.

"So, to sum it up, Aria, the reason you've hit a bottleneck now isn't because you aren't working hard enough, but because you lack a partner who can provide you with a 'Source Exchange'!" Lokina concluded her argument with absolute certainty.

"I understand, teacher!" Aria clenched her fists, her fighting spirit soaring. "In order to master the ultimate air cannon! I've decided, once I go to the royal capital, the first thing I'll do is grab a man and bring him back to kiss!"

Lynch: "???"

The plate of cookies in his hand almost fell to the ground.

"What are you two... doing?"

Lynch looked at the two with a horrified expression. He had only been gone for a little while, so how did this theology class turn into a cult gathering?! Grabbing a man to kiss in order to practice an air cannon? What kind of wild talk was this?!

Seeing Lynch appear, not only did the two not feel guilty, but they instead looked at him with an extremely reverent gaze.

It was as if he wasn't an ordinary private tutor, but a walking "super experience pack" and "top-tier buff machine."

"Nothing, Brother Lynch." Aria closed her notebook and said with a completely serious face, "We are exploring the true meaning of magic. Teacher Lolo has already pointed out the path of my future!"

Lynch's mouth twitched as he looked at Lokina.

Lokina haughtily raised her chin, giving him a look that said, "I have already seen through the cultivation secrets of you and Felsy."

Meanwhile, in the bushes not far away.

The old butler Sebas silently closed his diary, his hands trembling.

"How terrifying..."

"The Holy Son is actually teaching the young lady the ways of a succubus! This is clearly a plot to establish a legion of witches in the royal capital who fight using crooked and evil methods!"

"Lord Lynch's corruption plan has already penetrated deep into their souls! This world is doomed... Oh, wait, I'm an undercover agent for the demon race... This world is wonderful!"