Chapter 223 - [Forsaken Labyrinth Conquest] 16/69; Valentia's Hidden Potential
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After the long bath with Ismena, Acelina, Lilith, and Adelle, I went outside and stretched my body. I also equipped on more loosen clothes to relax, saving my equipment on my Item Box for the time being. I decided to wear a loosen Kimono, with some new decorations, it was purple, dark and pink this time, alongside black stockings and classic wood sandals. I also let loose of my long hair, which reached my hips and shined on a purple luster. My wives previously decorated my big demon horns with several ornaments, I don't know how it looked but they said that I resembled some kind of deity with all of the ornaments and clothes.
Anyways, when I got outside of the house, I was surprised by Nixephine and Nesiphae, who rushed towards me, after them, there were Amiphossia and Valentia as well.
"Master~!"
"Little Butterfly~! I-I mean Master~!"
"Mother!"
"Mommy!"
"W-What is going on?"
When the four giantesses reached my position, Acelina, Ismene, Adelle, and Lilith ran away, leaving me alone to the mercy of my giant wives and children.
Amiphossia had a slight blush on her face, and surprisingly, Valentia as well. Just what happened? Nesiphae was the first one to talk, while Nixephine followed after her with her usual coquettish voice and demeanor.
"Master, please. Can you bathe us? I have told little Amiphossia and Valentia about your special bathing for us giants~! They are as excited to be washed by your wonderful magic as us!"
"Y-Yes~! I want to be bathed once again by Master's wonderful magic~ It always wash each spot of my body; I always feel satisfied after a good bath"
"Mother, is that true? I-I want one as well…" (Amiphossia)
"Mommy, I want too! Now!" (Valentia)
"So that's it… I see… Well, alright, I can't really deny my adorable wives and daughters petition"
It seems that my "bathes" became somewhat popular between my wives, and both Amiphossia and Valentia, who are giants and have a hard time washing without a big enough bath here, wanted to be bathed as well.
I moved them to a separate room that I cleaned off monsters and dirt, then I immediately started to generate a massive floating river of warm water, that I made with [Water Manipulation and Generation] and [Heat Manipulation]. Then I took the big aromatic soaps and distributed them to each one, asking them to wash themselves with them this time, as I didn't want to carefully wash their bodies myself, only helping them out with the water.
Although a little bit disappointed, they accepted my rule for today and gently washed their bodies while I supported them with plenty of warm water all around their bodies. I washed my daughters as well without leaving any place nasty, even their genitals. I also practiced "massage" using the river of warm water, as if they were tentacles, I applied a small pressure on the tight muscles of my giant wives and daughters, relaxing them and releasing a lot of accumulated pressure, even some bones began to crack as they were wrongly positioned due to the fights.
I decided to enhance my water with healing properties using my Healing Magic, and then healed back their tired muscles, while also relaxing their blood vessels, which were stressed out, making their blood flow to certain areas of their bodies small.
One hour passed by and the four giantesses were finally bathed completely, their bodies released plenty of steam as their muscles were completely relaxed, Amiphossia seemed to be about to fall asleep due to the relaxation. I think I did a good job. After my massages, my girls noticed that their bodies felt stronger and more revitalized as if they had suddenly reinforced their strength. After checking on their stats they indeed gained some permanent stats, I was a little bit surprised, to top it all they gained a buff as well, which lasted 24 hours and increased their Strength, Defense, and Resistance by +15 each.
When everyone was finally going to resume their morning activities before descending further through the floors, I stopped Valentia as I wanted to speak with her for a moment. Since she was born that I've been intrigued by her [Monster Hand], which is in fact something given to her by her blessing of the [Demi-God of Shadow Beasts Mebus]. However, she hasn't developed its full potential yet, and her own [Dominating Aura] given to her by her other blessing wasn't able to combine well with her [Monster Hand].
"Valentia, how about we practice the full extent of your capabilities? Don't you want to see how much can your [Monster Hand] transforms?"
"Ooh? Mommy is interested in my abilities? It makes me very happy! And yes, I've been practicing with it but I always find some of its uses… useless. My own aura can enhance my muscles and weaken my opponents, and my Earth Magic serves as support and offense, but this hand barely has its uses"
"Yeah, that's why I want to help you out, I think there is a hidden potential inside of that hand… Hmm, let's start with something simple, my daughter. Let's see… Have you ever tried infusing your hand with Magic and your own Aura?"
Valentia gave me a strange look, and then admired her [Monster Hand], which was on its "dormant" state, resembling a reptile-like hand that would belong to a Lizardman, it had five fingers, each one covered in black scales that seemed to be made of an incredibly hard mineral, while each finger had long black nails as well, that could tear through a lot of things. Her dark scales extended until her elbow; were they slowly stop expanding. The rest of her body is of a pale white, with various "war scars" as my daughter calls her scars. Her shiny muscles gave her skin a pale brown color instead of her fair skin.
"Hmmh, how do I do that, mommy?"
"Y-You don't know how to infuse Magic?"
"Ah… No… Also, although I do know how to use my Aura to enhance my body, when I do it it just flows all over the place, I can��t really make it go to a certain place…"
"So that's how it is, my daughter you need to practice more with those things, although you are an incredibly talented fighter, you still have a lot of hidden potentials that you haven't even realized"
Valentia's scarlet eyes suddenly shined brightly as she gave me an adorable smile. Her red hair waved around as she approached her face to me.
"R-Really? I can get even stronger?! Please, mommy, teach me!"
"Alright, let's get started…"
Valentia was indeed even stronger than she showcased, her Aura had way more abilities than what it seemed like, and it could even mold itself like mine to some extent, I immediately knew that she inherited this trait from me. Her aura could even paralyze and cause instant-death to very weak monsters that dared to come closer to her, and she didn't know how to control such a dangerous power.
I taught her how to control her Aura, showing her how to do it with my own. I concentrated my aura and released it all around me and then, I slowly compressed it inside of my chest, it took some seconds to show it entirely, but Valentia was a surprisingly good student and didn't lose focus at all while I demonstrated this to her.
Afterward, she released her Aura from her Orb. Her Aura unlike mine which was mostly of a dark shade of red, was of a strong clear brown, with some dots of yellow and even gold, it also created a vastness and imposing presence, like a mountain.
Although she took more time, she managed to release her aura wildly and then compressed its power deep inside of her chest. When she did it, she suddenly gained the ability to control it to a certain extent with her thoughts and intent.
"Auras are a very complex thing to control, you need to put on a lot of intent and emotion for it to remain calm and be able to control it. If you let loose of your emotions, it will go wild and may overuse your energy reserves. Even if you are a Vampire and are classified as a tireless undead, we can still get tired mentally, and our soul also takes a burden as the more advanced is our Aura, the more it is connected to our soul. Later on, you will be able to show the form of your soul through your Aura"
Valentia was incredibly attentive through my explanation as she nodded her head with a determined look.
The next thing I taught her was to mold her Aura, it was the next step to manipulate it, and perhaps if she manages to do it, she can skip some steps.
I expanded a small river of Aura through my chest, that went around my arms, and a small stream of dark red energy flew through my hands. I molded it gently into something simple, a sphere. The sphere looked almost transparent, and if one touched it, it wouldn't have mass, yet it was still there and exuded powerful energy.
"Now, try it out"
Valentia nodded as she didn't say any more words and immediately began to channel her aura through her arms, it was harder for her as she has a bigger body and her arms were colossal in comparison to mine. Nonetheless, she managed to reach the palm of each of her hands with her Aura. However, the moment her aura reached her [Monster Hand], something unexpected happened.
Flash!
Her [Monster Hand], infused by her Aura shined in bright light as it began to shapeshift into different things, I was able to see the head of a voracious wolf, the claws of a dragon, the hands of a titan, the head of a serpent and a wyvern. All of these beings seemed to have an affinity with the Dark Element. I instantly saw the connection there to the blessing of the Demi-God of Shadow Beasts, and I comprehended that this Demi-God represented every beast that had this affinity with the Dark and Shadow Element.
I wasn't the only one surprised by the sudden rush of shapeshifting, as Valentia was suddenly taken aback as she explained to me that her head was rushing with constant information about different beasts and their strength and weaknesses. Just what is the true power of this blessing?
And then, out of nowhere, Valentia's Aura suddenly stabilized in her [Monster Hand] as her hand transformed into the head of a Shadow Wyvern, it had a dinosaur-like head with six eyes, three in each side, six black horns resembling a crown appeared as well, it was as if this Wyvern was alive.
Her "Wyvern Hand" started to growl furiously as it breathed a dark fire around, which could cause strong curses on its target body and soul, and it could also slowly melt the dungeon walls. With my support, Valentia was able to stabilize her berserk Wyvern Hand and after taking out the intent and Aura from it, her hand went back to the normal [Monster Hand] appearance.
"Impressive! Such a diverse power, Valentia… Your [Monster Hand] it's not just a hand! I think that we have misunderstood its power, if you manage to control it, you may even extend its shapeshifting power through your entire body, and be able to transform into all of those Shadow Beasts!"
After hearing what her power could really do, and the versatility of shapeshifting, Valentia was incredibly happy as she hugged me tightly with her strong arms. For the next minutes, I kept making her practice her Aura control, until she was finally able to shape it like a sphere, although it wasn't as flawless as mine, as it resembled a rock instead of a real sphere.
Valentia was very excited about the idea of one day transforming into a Shadow Wyvern or even a Dark Dragon, but for that, she needed a lot of practice, and I wanted to help her and guide her through this. I have been also thinking about doing more of these classes with each of my children, teaching each one how to use their very unique powers.
After one and a half hour, Valentia had suddenly become stronger as she now knew the basics of molding her Aura, and was able to infuse it correctly without letting it go berserk, losing a lot of power in the process. Also, she managed to transform her hand once again into a Shadow Wyvern and managed to control the beast power, gaining the ability to spit Dark Flames and also the affinity with Dark, Shadow, and Fire Magic, suddenly learning some spells based on these elements due to her inner Magic Talent that came from my Lineage Blessing.
When my wives called us for breakfast, we left the classes today and went to enjoy a nice meal with our family.
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