Chapter 431 - Compensation

Chapter 431: 431 - Compensation

"You went quiet all of a sudden," Lisa remarked, noticing the subtle shift in the vibration of his gelatin. "What are you thinking about now?"

"I’m thinking about how this is at the same time the best and the worst news I’ve ever gotten," Lohan admitted, sighing through the mental link. "A creature with high mental power would be incredibly useful for me, considering how weak I am in that area. But at the same time, digesting the memories and abilities of something like that would probably be a complete nightmare."

Yrneha, who had overheard their exchange, since they hadn’t seen a problem in hiding what they were discussing through the mental link, laughed quietly.

"I see you’re already weighing the risks and benefits quite maturely, Halon," she remarked, a subtle tone of approval slipping into her voice. "That’s a good sign of growth."

"I just don’t want to repeat certain past mistakes," Lohan replied, trying to sound more confident than he actually felt.

As the conversation kept flowing, an idea slowly began forming inside his mind, growing with every passing second until it became a solid determination.

’If I want any chance of digesting that in the future, hopefully before I reach Level 21, I need to prepare,’ he thought, the reasoning taking shape with a satisfying clarity. ’The only realistic path is to focus on farming more biomass and investing a generous part of it specifically into abilities that strengthen my mind and my psychic resistance.’

The idea brought him an unexpected wave of excitement, something Lohan hadn’t felt this intensely in quite a while. It had been several weeks since he’d had a truly clear, specific biomass goal guiding his path, exactly like in his chaotic, desperate first weeks in Elysium, when every drop of biomass seemed to mean the difference between surviving and dying.

’Finally I can have something concrete to aim for again,’ he thought, his gelatin vibrating lightly with excitement. ’I need to talk to Lisa or Dylan about whether any new guild member has some kind of mental resistance ability available. Maybe it’s even worth looking into whether there’s some creature or monster specifically focused on that, but at a level lower than the previous owner of this Mana Stone.’

"You’re vibrating strangely again, Halon." Lisa remarked, watching him with curiosity. "At least this time it looks like excitement, not embarrassment."

"Because it’s excitement!" Lohan confirmed, all his enthusiasm spilling over through the mental connection. "I just found a new goal to chase, Lisa. It’s been a while since I felt this particular hunger again."

Lisa smiled, a genuine, soft smile that rarely appeared this naturally on her face.

"Well, then you’d better start working hard," she said, a tone of affection hidden behind the light teasing. "Because I definitely won’t let you digest anything like that without being properly prepared."

"I wouldn’t expect any less from you," Lohan replied, satisfied.

After a few more minutes of polite conversation, formal thanks, and confirmation that Lisa would personally take care of storing the stone, the two of them finally said goodbye to Yrneha, who watched them leave her office with a satisfied smile on her face, clearly pleased with the whole interaction.

As they went down the tower’s spiral staircase, the surrounding air reverberating with the constant hum of concentrated mana, Lohan noticed out of the corner of his eye as Lisa took out a small soft leather pouch hanging around her neck and carefully stored the mana stone inside it, instead of simply putting it in their shared Astral Chest.

"Hey, why didn’t you put it in the Astral Chest?" Lohan asked, genuine curiosity mixing with a hint of suspicion.

"Because you have access to the Astral Chest, Halon." Lisa replied without even hesitating, as if that were the most obvious answer in the world. "And I know your capacity for impulsive decisions all too well for whenever nobody’s watching."

"I wouldn’t do that," Lohan protested, even though he knew, deep in his core, that the accusation wasn’t entirely baseless.

"You absolutely would do that," Lisa shot back, without a trace of hesitation in her voice. "So this stone is going to stay right here, with me, out of your reach, until you’re truly ready to handle what’s inside it."

For a brief moment, Lohan felt exactly like a child being kept from a treat he really wanted, his body drooping slightly in an exaggerated pantomime of sadness.

But instead of feeling genuinely offended or hurt by that, he could only find the whole situation incredibly cute. The careful way Lisa worried about his well being, the way she put his safety above any passing whim, all of it only reinforced just how much that stubborn white fox truly cared.

"Fine, I accept your decision..." Lohan said, with a theatrical tone of resignation. "But considering you just denied me a whole delicious dessert, I think it’s only fair I ask for compensation."

Lisa stopped walking for a second, turning her head back around again, her golden eyes narrowed in a suspicious expression.

"What kind of compensation are you thinking of now, Halon?"

"Nothing too complicated," Lohan replied, deliberately letting a tone of suspense settle into his voice. "I just want you to accept another massage."

Lisa blinked, clearly confused by the request, her head tilting slightly to the side in an involuntarily adorable gesture.

"Wait, let me get this straight," she said, furrowing her brow. "You want compensation, and the compensation you chose is... me getting a massage? That doesn’t make the slightest sense, Halon. If the compensation is for you, shouldn’t it be something that benefits you directly?"

"Ah, Bella," Lohan replied, letting his mental voice carry an almost melodic tone of amusement, "you got it all wrong. The reward isn’t you getting the massage."

Lisa arched an eyebrow, still not fully grasping the reasoning.

"Then what exactly..."

"The reward," Lohan continued, deliberately savoring every word, "is ME giving YOU the massage."

The silence that followed lasted only a fraction of a second, but it was enough time for Lohan to watch, with an almost wicked pleasure, the exact moment it clicked in her head.

Lisa’s entire face, from the tip of her snout to the base of her pointed ears, exploded into a red so intense it rivaled any spiritual flame she had ever conjured in her life.

"HALOOOONN!!"