The Infinite Bk. 01 Ch. 03

Stamina

The morning of the next day found Noah roaming the village. Before he made any decisions, he wanted to know what this town had to offer, what endeavors it could support. According to the maps he bought, Clive was far away from the nation's capital, out in the boondocks, but it appeared to have a strong economy, with many professions one might not expect in such a rough area, like a gold and silversmiths. In fact, it seemed to thrive on tourism, but no one would ever come out here on vacation. It was because of the natural resources.

So far, Clive had some farm land and a river for food, as well as the vast forest for lumber, but its top commodity was monsters. As Noah explored the town, he saw numerous adventurers buying food and supplies before going off to hunt and gather. In the early 17th century, the fur trade exploded in Europe, sending countless men out into the wilderness of Siberia and the Americas to find their fortune. Here, the principal was the same. Furs were in demand in the big cities, but most of the monsters had been wiped out around the more populated areas, so adventurers spread out to the countryside to hunt and sell their catch, and where there is an exploitable resource, you can find capitalists looking to prey on people with money burning a hole in their pockets.

His search brought him to the local apothecary, where numerous pots and jars adorned the walls on shelves while different plants were hung to dry overhead. He recognized several plants, but many were new to him. An old woman ran the shop, watching Noah like a hawk through the smoke coming from her pipe. It filled the air, along with several different kinds of incense. No sunlight was allowed in, so as to preserve the plants and potions on display.

"Anything I can help you find?"

"Do you have potions to help restore mana?"

"Yes. I sell them in three qualities at a price of five, ten, and twenty bronze coins, but you have to buy the bottle as well if you don't have any of your own. Look to the shelf behind you, the blue potions."

He examined the vials, three cork bottles with blue liquids, each one a different shade. There was no telling how useful they were. He didn't know how much mana they could replenish, compared to the amount of mana he had within him. And the color shade, was that because of the presence of a specific ingredient that increased its potency? Or were they just watered down?

"What about health?"

"The red ones, above them, and we also sell bandages. However, those are only for showing my wares. Simply tell me what you want and my granddaughter will retrieve it from the back room."

These potions, how did they work? They were clearly some kind of plant-based concoction, but could there be magic involved? The idea of learning how to create potions appealed to him, but if it required a special kind of magic, then that plan wouldn't go anywhere.

"I'll take one of each type, both mana and health. I'll buy the bottles."

The woman relayed the order to someone in the back room without ever taking her eyes off Noah. A young girl appeared behind the counter, carrying a tray of six blue and red potions. Noah paid and stowed them away in his bag.

"You know, if you have trouble collecting the ingredients, I could help in exchange for a discount."

The woman cracked a smile, seeing right through him. "How nice of you to offer! But my son does excellent work."

'So, she doesn't even want me to know the ingredients. Oh well, I have ways of finding out.'

He left the apothecary and breathed the fresh morning air. The sun had broken free of the horizon, and while it was still early, the town of Clive was now fully bustling. He returned to the inn, where Tin was waiting in their room.

"I got the potions."

"Master, you shouldn't bother yourself with such tasks. It is my duty to run your errands."

She was getting clingier, he had been noticing it steadily progressing. When they first met, she hardly said a word, usually only speaking when necessary, such as to acknowledge orders or warn him that something was attacking. As time passed, she got more inquisitive, now doing whatever she could to help him. The smallest tasks, she would try to do before he could, like opening doors for him and picking up anything he reached for and handing it to him. It was starting to get annoying, such as during breakfast, when she tried to feed him like he was paralyzed from the neck down. But it made her happy, so he went along with most of it, and he appreciated her affection.

"I'd prefer to get a read on people before sending you to run errands like this. I'm better at detecting scams then you are. Since I now know the price of the potions, I can make sure that woman at the shop doesn't try to overcharge you."

"So what are you going to do with those potions?"

"Now that we're finally in a safe place, I'm going to begin experimenting with my magic, and I need your help for that. Because there was always the threat of monsters, I never allowed my mana to fully deplete, so now I can start pushing my limits a little." He pulled out the three mana potions and put them on the table. "I'm going to cast my illusion and not stop until my mana is completely used up and the spell comes undone. I need you to monitor my health during the process."

"Master, forgive me, but I'm not a healer. I don't know how to do things like that."

"It's easy. While I'm invisible, I want you to hold my wrist and observe my pulse while counting to a hundred over and over again until the spell breaks. If I should lose consciousness, pour one of these potions down my throat and place my hand over my eye to make sure the spell is cancelled. Should my pulse or breathing stop, there is a procedure I'll have you perform called Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation, or CPR for short. Lie back on the bed and I'll show you how it's done."

She took the position and he leaned over her, making her breath flutter. He placed his hand on the center of her chest and felt her become tense. "I can feel your heart beating. Should mine stop, you'll need to press down on the center of my chest in rapid thrusts." He stacked his hands and gave a few downward shoves. The rhythm of his pushing, the way it forced her deeper into the mattress, it reminded her of something, and seeing the look in her eye, he knew what it was.

"You'll want to do that thirty times. Then, you'll need to pinch my nose, and blow air into my lungs." He lowered his head and kissed her. She replied with enthusiasm, her breath now fluttering, and not because he was pinching her nose. Noah got on top of her. "Of course, when you do it, I expect you not to use so much tongue. You'll give me two deep breathes, then do another thirty compressions. Repeat the process until you feel my heart start. Understand?"

"Yes, Master," she whispered with a dreamy look in her eyes.

"Good. Now, to make sure I only use up my mana, I need to completely drain my physical stamina. Care to help me with that?"

----

To the enjoyment of some and the annoyance of others, the sounds of Tin's moans could be heard throughout the inn. Not only loud, it was incessant. Aside from some short breaks, her voice continued to bounce off the walls even with the sun now at the highest point of the day and everyone eating lunch.

On the bed in their shared room, Noah was battering Tin from behind with relentless intensity. She no longer had the strength to even remain on all fours, and instead had her face pressed to the sheets, now sticky with their combined fluids. Every slam he delivered would make her cry out in euphoria. She didn't know how many times he had brought her to climax, nor how many times she felt him flood her body with his seed, but each event threatened to rob her of her consciousness. Regardless, she fought through, doing everything she could to remain awake so that she could continue to please her master.

"Am I hurting you?" It was a question that none of her previous masters had ever asked while they violated her. They didn't care about how much pain they inflicted on her, unless making her suffer was their goal, which it often was. To hear it from him, such kind words, they nearly made her cry tears of joy. He asked her frequently, each time earning a passionate kiss from her.

He wasn't hurting her, rather, she had never felt such pleasure, but she was so tired, her body at its limits. She didn't understand how it was possible for him to go so long and exert so much force. He was far too young to have amassed this kind of experience. His intensity even frightened her. He acted so that she was assailed with only pleasure, but if she angered him, if the demons of sadism possessed him, could she even survive?

How had this all started? What was the reason he had given? She could barely remember, it felt like so long ago. Oh, that's right, he called it exercise. He had asked it of her, but had he demanded it instead, invoked his authority as her master, she would have been no less excited. It fulfilled her, to finally be able to show her dedication in the only way she could. He was depending on her, trusting her to fulfill his expectations, and she was ready to devote her body for that. Her muscles begged for rest, but her soul didn't want it to end. She wanted to wrap around him like a snake so that he could never leave, and instead continue using her until the end of time.

At this point, Noah had fully immersed himself in the act of passion, aware of nothing but the physical world. The feel of Tin's body, her wetness and soft flesh around his cock, the taste when their tongues curled around each other when they kissed, the smell of her womanly essence as he brought her to climax, the sight of the sweat glistening on her body as he made her writhe and moan, he bathed in those sensations. They quelled the ancient maelstrom in his mind, let him shut off his brain and truly feel again. His soul, so starved and without baring, it was like cracked desert clay now becoming fertile with the spring rains.

His physical stamina, something that Tin was ready to label as inhuman, was just as much mental as physical. With so many lifetimes' worth of experience, he knew how to work through the pain. He had felt the anguish of exertion enough times to learn how to ignore it. He couldn't perform any dramatic feats of strength like some kind of superhero, but he knew how to properly oxygenate his blood for the maximum output and knew how much strength his muscles could exert without suffering detrimental damage. He was digging down deep for strength and harnessing every calorie and spark of energy, and while he wasn't on the level of a bodybuilder, he had built his physique through a workout that he had mastered over several lifetimes.

He shuddered as he emptied himself into Tin, once more filling her womb with his seed. After all this time, he couldn't imagine having any sperm left. His soreness was approaching unbearable levels, but even though his erection was fading, he didn't give in. He grabbed Tin by the shoulders and pulled her against him, his lips joining hers. She was nearly delirious, acting as if on muscle memory when she swirled her tongue around his mouth. His hands went to town on her, massaging her modest breasts and stirring up the cum in her pussy. Tin was so tired and her throat was sore from moaning, but the way Noah tickled her clitoris and bullied her nipples, it still made her whimper in bliss.

He'd do this after every orgasm, keeping her busy while he slowly regained his erection. However, his manhood had thrown in the towel as his stamina hit zero. He let go of Tin and she fell back onto the bed. Her eyes were blank from exhaustion, but she rolled onto her back and spread her legs, putting herself on display and letting Noah see the semen overflowing from her womanhood.

"Master, I can keep going. Please, keep using me. I'll do whatever you want me to."

"No, that's good. You were perfect. I can't even work up the strength for a single thrust." He reached into his bag and pulled out the weakest of the three healing potions. Even that task was almost beyond his reach. He might as well have just won the Tour de France. "Here, drink this." She was too tired to move, so Noah put the bottle to her lips and let it trickle down her throat. She was soon revived, her body no longer trembling.

'So, blue potions restore magic stamina and red potions restore physical stamina.'

"If you're hungry, eat fast. I need to begin performing this experiment immediately." As he spoke, his own stomach roared like thunder. He fell back on the bed, dizzy from exhaustion.

"Master, what about you?"

"I can't, yet. I need to measure only my mana, and if I eat or do anything to recover my physical strength, it will skew the results."

"Are you sure you want to do this? The more you describe it, the more dangerous this seems."

"It probably is dangerous, but I don't know how my mana reserves compare to an average magic user my age, and this is fastest way to increase it. Now, don't let go of my wrist and start counting as soon as I become invisible. If my heart stops or there are any signs that my health is deteriorating, give me both a mana potion and a health potion, then perform CPR. Remember: thirty compressions and then two breaths. You got that?"

"Yes, Master."

Noah put his hand over his eye and disappeared in front of Tin. However, Tin could still feel him, feel his wrist in her hand and his warmth, and it comforted her. Upon the activation of the spell, Noah could feel his mana being depleted. It was a strange fatigue, like he was bleeding to death. All of his mental focus was put on restricting the flow of mana to just his body, so that nothing else would get caught in his illusion and waste mana. It was why he left the job of timekeeping to Tin.

From his experience so far, he could maintain the illusion for about five minutes before his motor functions declined too far for him to fight. He didn't know if that was good or bad, but in time, he could sense that line being crossed. From there, his thinking and physical strength began a rapid decline. Noah fought with everything he had to stay conscious, even when he could no longer keep his eyes open. His consciousness soon sank into a rift where he could feel his mana continuing to deplete but couldn't feel his own body.

Then, he began to feel his mana regenerating, without any sign that it was being used up. His consciousness started to bubble back to life, and he soon opened his eyes and looked at Tin, whose own were filled with relief.

"Master," she whispered, clutching is hand.

"So, the spell came undone. How long did I last until that happened?"

"I managed to count to a hundred almost four times. Then when you became visible, I gave you the potion. Your heart slowed, but it didn't stop, and you kept breathing."

"So, while with my physical stamina completely drained, I can maintain the spell for about five minutes before I pass out. At full strength, I can maintain it that long while still being able to fight. This is good, I'm in perfect condition to get the best benefits for stressing my mana, and since my heart and breathing didn't stop, I don't need to worry about suffocating. Either that potion will wear off or it'll manage to replenish all my mana, but whichever happens first, I'll start again immediately after."

He gave himself time for the mana to recirculate through his body. He checked his reflexes, physical strength, and mental processing. True, he felt half-dead from exhaustion and sore all over, but he knew what real damage would feel like. Complete mana loss felt just like bleeding to death, so there was always the possibility that being drained of it for too long would have similar effects to his body, like blindness or muscle death. There was no telling if the health potions could mend those kinds of injuries.

Nothing appeared to be wrong, so he returned to the bed. "All right, we're going to keep doing this."

They repeated the process over and over again. Noah would expend all of his mana through his illusion, Tin would wake him up with a potion, he'd check himself for damage, and then they'd start all over. He sent Tin out multiple times to buy more potions for him, and they even experimented to see how much they could water it down while still providing sufficient rejuvenation.

As the day rolled on, Noah's body begged for food. The rumbling of his stomach and his disorientation concerned Tin, but he refused any kind of sustenance, and for good reason. Each time he performed the process, he noted his mana reserves increasing. He didn't know what mana was or how he produced it, but without physical stamina to soften the blow of depletion, the source of his mana was being stressed to its limits, and was reaping the benefits. There were a lot of things about mana and magic that he didn't understand, such as how fast an individual could strengthen theirs. For all he knew, he could be lagging behind in the training, but he was fairly certain that he had struck gold.

As night fell, Tin once more arrived at their room, despondent. "Please forgive me, Master. The herbalist had closed down her shop for the night and wouldn't even open her door."

"For the best, I imagine, considering how she started throwing stuff at you last time. We've probably bought up all the supply that she's willing to sell us."

"So what now?"

"Now we have dinner. I think that if I pass out again, we'll have to resort to healing potions to wake me up."

"I can have it brought up to us."

"No, let's go downstairs. I'm rather sick of this room and need some fresh air."

He tried to sit up in the bed, but even that was almost beyond him. How long had it been since he was this drained of strength? There was that time when he starved to death... When was that? Even his mind was on the verge of shutting down. He tried to get dressed, but his body wouldn't obey his will, and to his shame, Tin had to help him. It reminded him of all the times he was in hospice, when the nurses had to do everything for him while he waited to die.

"Sorry," he said.

She smiled, something she was doing more and more frequently. "You need not worry, Master. While I was never the servant of any great nobles, I heard that this was a duty that their maids often performed. Simply imagine that you are a great viscount, or even an earl."

"What about a duke?" he asked with a chuckle.

Having helped him put his shirt on, she leaned against his back. "Yes. I'm sure you will someday even become a duke."

Now fully dressed, he was helped to his feet and they left the room, though he had to lean on Tin for support. From upstairs, they could hear the rowdiness of the guests in the dining room, singing songs and knocking their mugs together. Yet as the teens appeared and made their way to their table from the previous evening, that clamor went died down, with all eyes on them. There was some hushed muttering, several people whispering to their friends to inquire as to the silence. Noah and Tin took their seats, the bar as quiet as a graveyard, then the innkeeper showed up with their dinner. It was chunks of meat carved from a wolf, and Noah's portion was larger than anyone else's.

"I'd say you earned it," the large woman said coyly.

That appeared to be some kind of sign, because a man at the bar with a beard down to his belt raised his mug. "Hail to the young king! He who could make even a succubus beg for rest!"

The bar practically exploded, with people of all ages swarming their table to pat Noah on the back, congratulate him on his skills, and beg him for advice. Many women approached, flirting with Noah and inviting him to join them for the evening. Noah even saw one female adventurer holding back her friend who was trying to approach with a hungry—or rather "thirsty"—look in her eye and a wide smile on her face. Tin also got plenty of attention. Everyone wanted to know who was struggling to keep up with who, which of the two was the insatiable one. The women who could not ensnare Noah would turn to her, asking for details while voicing their jealousy. In the background, the guests began singing songs of wooing women and romantic tales, with the normal activity of the bar becoming a raving party.