Chapter 290

As much as I wanted to rush forward to make sure Helga was alright, I kept myself back.

After months of staying away, I didn't want to ruin everything by a solitary mistake. Instead, I stayed at the edge, expanding my mana with a focus I had rarely gathered, using the softest touches I could manage to check every single spell around her, painstakingly making sure that there was no trap ready to go off.

Then, I turned my attention to the spells that were keeping her in statis. At first, I thought that she was a prisoner, but a detailed diagnosis showed that none of the spells actually kept her unconscious, just supported her life functions, and kept her alive.

At the same time, it drained some mana from Helga to maintain the wards, channeling some through a Darkness Spark — leftover from the large ward the headmistress employed — to make sure both wards stood strong.

The caster of those spells was the same, likely the princess through one of her clones once again. The caster's intent was good ... but misguided, I realized, as while I was working on the wards, I watched the darkness ward slowly adding Divine Sparks to Helga.

That didn't surprise me as much as it should have. After all, even before it finally deserted me, writing me off for dead or lost, I knew that my System was doing its best to use me as some kind of vector to gather more Divine Spark, and it wasn't too shocking that it focused on my Companions once that was not an option.

Maybe it was what the princess was thinking. Helga would continue to absorb Divine Spark and channel it to the mysterious real owner, and it would help Helga in turn.

Unfortunately, from the shoddy construction of the wards, it was clear that she didn't have much time to build the hideout ... and that meant she also didn't think about how the darkness ward would interact with the situation.

I was almost sure that, at first, darkness ward didn't stop the spark from being drained. Unfortunately, that was a temporary situation. As the wards got stronger due to their connection with Helga, the darkness ward got strong enough to cut the connection completely. I was sure that those wards weren't built by the same person who built the genius collection aspect.

Which prevented the System from draining the Spark from Helga. A troubling situation.

But just troubling, and not desperate. After all, as far as I could understand, I was the closest thing to an expert on divinity, with the perfect toolkit to solve the issues.

I was tempted to cure her ... but I decided against it. "No hurry," I murmured. I needed to do this right, not quick. After some consideration, decided to focus on the wards at first. I cut Helga's connection with the outer wards and took it for myself, feeling a remote connection with the Darkness Spark.

It was truly a pitiful fragment, barely half a point, but still, it was enough to convert the pure mana of the System with decent efficiency. And, it was even better with my overly purified mana, especially after I focused on making it as malleable as possible. Unlike the System-provided mana, I didn't care to make it usable without transformation.

Still, I spent two hours carefully feeding the ward while also working on its structure. It was the first time I was working on such a complex darkness ward on my own, but I had some impressions from the past. More importantly, forty-five points of intelligence were no joke, and they allowed me to solve the complicated problems inherent in the structure with shocking efficiency.

And, two hours later, the area turned into an impenetrable area that the System couldn't hope to penetrate, a small safe house that I could focus on immediately.

Only then, I allowed myself to walk toward Helga, and dispelled all the spells that were holding her in place before looking inward to her soul space.

It was a chaotic mess. Her original, System-granted soulspace was damaged beyond repair, and while I could see the hints of a new one trying to grow out of her companion node, it was nowhere near successful, damaged by the free-flowing Divine Spark fragments.

Fragments that were far more crowded than I expected ... hundreds of points worth in my measures. And, the only reason that didn't kill Helga already was the partial bond she managed to achieve with some of the Divine Spark ... a shocking achievement.

Even as I slowly purified those connections, I tried to understand the nature of the Divine Spark that had been collected by her ... it was a different shape than the others, with a certain purity that was very similar to pure mana.

It was hard to identify the Spark, but the taste of it gave me a similar feeling to how Heglga thought. A desperate search for knowledge ... the search for truth. And, unlike the other sparks I played with, it lacked the aspect of domination.

For convenience, I decided on a name.

Knowledge Spark.

With that decision, I started the slow, methodical process of capturing every single fragmented spark, purifying the excess, useless components. As, not every fragment carried her search for truth and knowledge as purely.

With those cleansed, the amount she had finally dropped below a hundred, the remainder taken by me.

{+349 Purified. Spark}

Not because of my greed, but because I wanted her to have something closest to the concept she managed to extract. The ward she had built to collect them had been very selective, and I didn't want to ruin her plans by meddling too much.

Instead, I carefully modulated the absorption of the Divine Spark, while at the same time, I cleansed every little bit of the System and Companion process from her body, locking them behind a fake soulspace that would still give the impression that Helga was unconscious.

In case the wards fail they could detect her once again.

I didn't need them polluting the complicated process of her first proper Divine step.

Another hour, and her eyes fluttered open. A fascinating sight, especially since I could see her eyes glowing with an intensity that I missed. "T-tell me it's not a dream," she whispered, her voice throaty.

I would have told her that, but it soon turned impossible. My lips were silenced by hers as she slammed her lips against mine with a desperation that shocked me, her hands gripping my hair as hard as she could manage without her stats.

I barely registered the pragmatic differences in her body as her legs wrapped around my waist, and she desperately grabbed me, doing her best to increase contact between us.

Who was I to disappoint my favorite nerd, I decided as I cast a simple spell, making my clothes melt off my body, leaving her alone and ready for more.

She clearly missed me as much as I missed her, as she moved her hips higher without the slightest hint of resistance, her thick thighs tightening around my waist, her core dragging around my length, getting wetter by each second.

She trembled desperately as she did so, not just excitement but also exhaustion, showing her haphazard recovery system hadn't been very effective.

With a kiss, I flooded her body with pseudo-HP even as I let my hands drift down through her sides until they landed on her delicious thighs, supporting her up. "Better?" I asked.

She nodded enthusiastically, not trusting herself to talk, immediately returning to the kiss.

I just chuckled as my fingers tightened on her ass while I slowly lowered her down, ignoring my usual habit of teasing. Her excitement, once clear as a day, was too beautiful to darken with frustration after such a long departure.

She wanted to remind herself that I returned. "Faster," she moaned as she pushed her trembling legs down, taking me deeper inside. She let out a guttural moan, and I found myself being pushed on the floor, Helga firmly sitting on my shaft. "I missed you so much, you bastard," she exclaimed even as she moved back and forth, enjoying a panicked, hasty ride.

"I missed you too, my love," I answered, her smile growing incredibly. She smiled brightly even as she danced back and forth above my shaft, her eyes firmly open as if she wanted to make sure I couldn't disappear from under her.

That alone was enough to confirm just hard had been my disappearance.

I stayed under her, letting her ride me, completely on her terms, no matter how much her beautiful moans tempted me to take control. She deserved her reward certainly. I tightened my hands on her cheeks, enjoying their generous softness.

"Faster," she moaned as she picked up speed, her eyes filled with a deep need, a burning passion.

Her desperate ride, combined with the long, involuntary celibacy she experienced, resulted in a desperate climax, and she collapsed against my chest. I kissed her lips gently. "I missed you, my love."

"I missed you too," she answered, even as I felt our bond establishing once again.

[Goddess Acquired: Goddess of Knowledge}

—

{Strength: 45 Charisma: 45

Precision: 45 Perception: 45

Agility: 45 Manipulation: 45

Speed: 45 Intelligence: 45

Endurance: 60 Wisdom: 45}

{Purified Divine Spark: 33269}

{Pseudo-HP: 700 Mana: 2000}

{ADDITIONAL SPARKS

Light - Chosen 7.4

Nature - Chosen 10}

{MINIONS

GODDESSES

Elven Goddess

Goddess of Knowledge}