Chapter 766: The First Step Is To Get Naked

Aqua looked toward Cassius, utterly baffled, trying to understand why Aisha and Julie were here.

But to her surprise, Cassius himself seemed equally confused or at least partially.

He scratched his head in wonder before finally speaking, his gaze settling on Aisha.

"Well." He began, looking at Aisha. "I know why you’re here. I called you over for what we’re about to do next."

Aqua’s curiosity spiked. What exactly were they about to do?

Then Cassius turned to Julie. His expression shifted to genuine bewilderment.

"But why in the hell are you here, Julie? I didn’t call you."

Julie looked away, her cheeks flushing slightly. She didn’t answer.

Cassius turned back to Aisha. "Aisha?"

Aisha rolled her eyes. "Ask the captain yourself, Cassius."

She then sneered and mockingly added,

"Honestly, you don’t even need to ask. Just think about what kind of person she is, and you’ll figure it out."

"Aisha!" Julie poked Aisha in annoyance, her face flustered. "You can’t say things like that to your big sister!"

Aisha just looked away with a huff.

Cassius’s gaze settled on Julie. He didn’t say anything—just waited.

Finally, unable to handle everyone’s eyes on her, Julie stood up.

Despite being a knight, a woman of action and authority, she moved slowly, almost timidly. She walked over to Cassius, rose on her toes, and whispered something in his ear.

Aqua strained to hear, but the words were too soft, too private.

Whatever Julie said made Cassius smile. He looked at her, her hands clasped together like a shy schoolgirl and chuckled.

"As expected from a pervert like you, Julie." He said in a appreciative tone. "You don’t even let a chance like this slip away."

"Cassius!"

Julie whined in a coquettish tone, though there was no real fire in it. She quickly added,

"So...you know...I can stay, right? I can stay and watch?" She glanced at Aqua. "Watch what you’re going to do?"

Cassius patted her shoulder affectionately.

"Of course, Julie! You’ve worked hard all day. You probably need a stress reliever too."

He nodded toward a corner. "So, go ahead. Sit over there and watch however you want."

Julie’s face lit up. "Thank you, Cassius!"

She hugged him, gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, and practically skipped away—leaving Aqua staring in surprise.

She knew Julie and Cassius were partners, of course, but this was the first time she had seen them so openly intimate. It caught her off guard.

Before she could ask anything, Julie settled into a single seat in the corner of the room.

She picked up a book from a nearby table and opened it—but her eyes weren’t on the pages.

They were fixed on the scene in front of her, expectant and hungry.

The look in her eyes was almost like a pervert waiting for something dirty to happen.

Aqua felt a chill run down her spine.

Cassius ignored Julie entirely—which was exactly what Julie wanted, apparently. He clapped his hands to draw attention.

"Now...back to the reason I brought you here."

Aqua turned to face him.

"That is to initiate...the second phase of the operation to turn you into a Supreme Mage."

Aqua blinked. "Second phase?"

Cassius held up a finger. "The first phase is basically done. As long as you practice everything in that book, you’ll eventually form your own domain. That’s no big deal."

Aqua nodded slowly. She had already accepted that—it wouldn’t happen immediately, but with time, she would get there.

"Now." Cassius continued. "We move on to the second phase."

Cassius clasped his hands together in a scholarly manner.

"We’re going to boost the efficiency of your body regarding mana. We’ll open up all your mana circuits, all the nodules—everything in your body that operates mana. Increase its efficiency and the quantity it can hold."

Aqua’s jaw dropped.

"Hold on, Cassius. Wait." She held up her hands. "That’s something I should do on my own, right?"

She let out an awkward laugh as she explained,

"Even though your big sister isn’t good enough to create her own domain and needs your help, I can still improve my mana efficiency on my own."

"I’m also a member of the fairy race!" She puffed up her chest with pride. "It’s only natural that I have amazing affinity with mana. I can do this by myself."

Cassius nodded. "You most definitely can. I have no doubt about that."

Then he frowned.

"But can you do it in the short timeframe you have?"

Aqua faltered.

Cassius pressed on. "The marriage engagement isn’t that far away. Maybe you’ll increase your aptitude in time, maybe you won’t. I don’t want to take that risk."

His expression grew stern.

"I want to make sure everything goes right. So I’m going to help you guide and change the structure of your inner body as well. To accommodate more mana. More efficiently."

Aqua’s voice dropped to a whisper.

"How?...How exactly are you going to do that?"

She was genuinely baffled.

The reason she was so shocked was simple: the second phase of becoming a Supreme Mage was something no one else could help with.

In the first stage, you could have a teacher or mentor guide you—even though the ultimate structure had to come from you, someone else could still assist with auxiliary paths.

But the second stage? That was about controlling your own body.

Circulating mana in a way that increased your efficiency and volume.

It depended entirely on your talent, the pathways you formed in your mind.

It was like meditation—but for mages, and you always had to rely on your own abilities.

Throughout history, no one had been able to alter it.

There was no miracle pill that could increase the mana in your body. No surgery that could add circuits to boost your volume.

It was something you always had to do on your own.

So to hear her brother claim he could fix that as well...it was something she couldn’t comprehend.

Aisha on the other hand, who already knew Cassius’s plans, couldn’t help but stick her nose up proudly.

Even though she hadn’t created this method, Cassius was her man. She felt proud of him—almost as if she were showing off a precious toy to everyone else.

Her tail swished left and right in a happy, satisfied manner.

Aqua snapped out of her daze and finally repeated her question.

"How, Cassius? How are we going to do this."

He thought for a moment, then sighed.

"Honestly, it’s too complicated to explain right now. I’d have to pull out a whole bunch of books and diagrams to make it clear."

Then he smiled.

"But the gist is this: I’m going to artificially implant certain spells into your body. These spells will not only widen your mana circuits—"

Aqua’s eyes shimmered with disbelief

"—but also add accelerator junctions along your mana pathways."

"These junctions will accelerate the flow of mana. Every time mana passes through a junction, it gets a boost. And once it passes through another, another boost."

He waved his hand in a circle, as if tracing the shape of a body.

"Soon the entire circuit in your body will be accelerated, moving at immense speed and carrying high volume."

"Artificially, this can turn your body into a vessel capable of becoming a Supreme Mage."

Aqua stared at her brother in utter dismay.

That same fanatical look from earlier, when he had explained how to create a domain returned to her eyes.

The look of someone seeing a god.

Cassius recognized it immediately. He quickly spoke to prevent her from spiraling.

"Of course, not just anyone can do this. Only people like you, who already have extremely strong affinity with mana can achieve it."

"You’ll eventually be able to do it on your own. And I’m just accelerating the process. Bringing it closer and not that big of a deal."

He shifted the credit onto her.

"It’s not something I can do for anyone. So, don’t think of me as some sort of great person."

He was downplaying his own achievements.

But despite that, Aqua couldn’t help but stare at her brother in a daze. In her mind, a crown appeared on his head—like he was the king of magic itself.

After all, once again, he was doing the impossible.

He was rewriting the laws of magic in his favor.

And to someone like her, who had dedicated her entire life to magic, felt as if she was witnessing a new prophecy being foretold.

Aisha, sitting nearby, was having a completely different reaction.

She already knew how Cassius had done this. She had heard his explanations before.

But that didn’t stop her body from reacting.

She felt hot. Flustered. Her thighs rubbed together under her robes.

For Aisha, magic was everything. It was her life, her passion, her very reason for existing.

And when Cassius talked about it and explained how he could bend mana to his will, reshape the very foundation of magical theory—it acted like an aphrodisiac.

She was biting her lip like a cat in heat. Her tail swished left and right. Her ears twitched and swiveled.

She looked like she was about to pounce on Cassius right then and there.

Julie, in her corner, didn’t fully understand what was going on.

But when she saw Aisha’s reaction, she started feeling excited too. Things were heating up.

Cassius found himself the target of three intense gazes.

He shivered.

He knew he had to stop this before Aisha actually pounced on him.

So, he clapped his hands sharply.

Clap!

Everyone snapped out of their daze.

He then walked over to Aqua and placed both hands on her shoulders, looking directly into her eyes.

"Snap out of it, Aqua!" He sternly said, afraid that she might start worshipping him. "You already told me you would always see me as your brother. Not some kind of deity who wields mana at will."

"So, don’t you dare go back on that promise!"

Aqua blinked. The haze cleared from her eyes.

"R-Right. Right." She gave him an apologetic smile. "I’m sorry, Cassius. I was just overwhelmed for a moment."

"But you really can’t blame me!" She let out a cute pout. "When you do something like that, it’s impossible to just accept it easily."

She paused, then nodded firmly.

"But it’s alright. I’ve already decided to see like I always did. I’m fine now."

Cassius let out a long sigh of relief.

Then he turned to Aisha, pointing a stern finger at her.

"And you—you little kitty cat."

Aisha jerked upright.

"Stop getting so horny so easily. The first time I met you, you wanted to scratch my face off."

Aisha smiled nostalgically, remembering how she had hated him at first.

Then Cassius added in disdain, "But now you’re getting all hot and bothered from just a few words of mine. You’re acting like a complete slut!"

Aisha pounced up. "How dare you call me a slut, Cassius!"

But Cassius didn’t flinch. He just narrowed his eyes further.

Aisha immediately simmered down, sinking back onto the sofa. She realized with no small amount of embarrassment that she truly became a cat in heat whenever Cassius was involved.

Especially when it came to magic. She just wanted him to fill her up with his baby so much when he talked about runes and alchemy.

She had nothing to say.

Aqua, meanwhile, was thinking about the process itself. The technical details. The intricacies. She would definitely ask her brother about them later.

But for now, she had a more immediate question.

"How exactly are we going to do this?" She asked. "Am I going to enact these spells on my own? Implant them into my body?"

Cassius shook his head.

"That won’t work. It would be too dangerous for you to manage your mana circuits while also creating the spells. Even if it’s possible, there’s a very high chance something could go wrong."

His voice dropped. "You could lose your ability to use magic for the rest of your life."

But Aqua didn’t seem to scared by those ominous words and instead smiled.

"Oh, I don’t really care about that, Cassius."

She reached out and poked her brother’s chest playfully.

"After all, even if I become completely normal with no mana, just like you—I could just spend the rest of my life with you. You’d protect your big sister, right? That would be more than enough for me!"

Hearing her resolute words, Cassius was genuinely surprised.

He knew how much Aqua loved magic. How much it meant to her.

So, to hear that she was willing to give it up just to spend time with him made him realize how deeply his sister loved him.

His heart filled with love. But he shook his head.

"Even if you’re fine with it, I’m not." His voice was firm. "I want you to become a Supreme Mage."

"That’s why..." He turned to look at the cat-girl. "...Aisha is going to help."

Aqua blinked in surprise, understanding why Aisha was brought over here.

"She’ll create the spells I’ve designed and implant them into all the nodes in your body. Artificially, she’ll turn you into a vessel capable of becoming a Supreme Mage."

Hearing Cassius state her duties, Aisha puffed out her chest and have Aqua a taunting gaze.

"What do you have to say about that, Aqua?" She tilted her head. "Cassius is asking you to trust your life to me, since this is a very delicate process. If I screw up even one little thing, everything could go wrong."

She paused to increase the pressure and added,

"There’s even a chance you could die, you know? So, do you really want to let me go through with it?"

Julie’s eyes shook. She hadn’t realized the operation was that dangerous.

Aisha on the other hand was trying to scare Aqua. To make her hesitate, fluster her since Aqua teased her all the time and she wanted to tease back.

But Aqua simply smiled.

A beautiful, radiant smile before she walked over and hugged Aisha.

Aisha stiffened. "Aqua? What—"

Aqua held her close, speaking in a warm, motherly tone.

"What you said is true, Aisha. This really is a dangerous process and if it were anyone else, there’s no chance I would trust them so easily."

"I would have really hesitated as even if my brother’s calculations were perfect, the person performing the procedure could still screw it up."

She gently tugged on Aisha’s cheek.

"But you?" Aqua’s eyes sparkled. "I can trust you with my life any day!"

"As long as you’re the one doing it, you can do whatever you want with my body!"

She leaned toward Aisha’s cat ear and whispered.

"Whether it’s now...or in the bedroom as well."

Aisha’s face went crimson.

She pushed Aqua away, crossing her arms over her chest in a huff—but despite her pout, a small smile crept onto her face.

She was happy. Genuinely happy to know that Aqua trusted her so completely.

Julie cheered quietly from her corner.

"Now that everything has been sorted out." Cassius annouced. "Let’s begin this entire process!"

Aisha and Aqua stepped forward toward Cassius, standing in the middle of the bedroom.

Aqua was excited. She had thought she’d have to work hard for this too, but even this part—her brother was fixing with his own solutions.

She wondered what he was going to do. What the first step was. Her curiosity as a mage was getting the better of her.

"So." She said, unable to contain herself. "What are we going to do, Cassius?"

"Are we going to create an integrated circuit in my body? Activate it? Put it in flux core? Maybe a crystal to neutralize the fields first? Or surgically implant the generators you’re talking about?"

She was practically bouncing.

"What’s the first step? I’m so excited!"

Cassius gave her a grin before finally saying,

"The first step...is for both of you to take off all your clothes. Get completely naked for me."