The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 107: Jealousy is a greater motivation than love

Chapter 107: Jealousy is a greater motivation than love

I wanted to go to the stream, but unfortunately, I couldn’t do that until Natha gave permission. Doun was positively frightened at the mention of it, and I had a feeling it stemmed from his short audience with the Lord the day before.

So, while waiting, I spent time in the garden and the grass field, training my control over the purified energy.

The elemental mana outside the forest was nowhere near as rich, so the purified energy produced wasn’t as much. While it didn’t take me much time or effort to do it, the end product was rather small, just as big as a tennis ball. But I reckoned it was enough for me to start my experiment.

That was, if the naughty little bird didn’t snatch it first.

I was in the middle of staring at the little brownish-green ball, trying to see if I could manipulate its shape, when Jade swooshed down from my shoulder and snatch the ball of energy in its beak.

*chirp!*

The bird exclaimed loudly while hugging the ball, rolling in the grass from the impact and started to devour it. I could only look at it blankly. Jade didn’t usually take something without my permission, but I guessed the bird thought the ball belonged to It since I always gave Jade the purified energy I made.

Oh, fine--I could just make one again. There wasn’t much floating elemental mana left, but I managed to make one as big as a marble. This would be even more perfect if I could shape it into one suited for a bullet.

Yep--my idea was to try putting the purified mana inside the bullet. Unlike raw mana that always roamed around and became dead once it stagnated, the purified mana that I produced and shaped into a ball for Jade’s consumption always ran around in circles, just like the one inside the mana stones and crystals.

Of course, even if it worked, it didn’t change the fact that the bullet couldn’t be mass-produced. But for now, I just wanted to see if this idea of mine could work.

Obviously, I couldn’t use the bullets that were already filled with mana, since the moment I dismantled them, they exploded. But I found two empty bullets after rummaging through the box last night, so I could try using those. Since it was just two, however, I need to be careful with it, because I didn’t have the blueprint to reproduce them--until Heraz’s team found the elf, that is.

So, I had to learn to fine-tune the purified energy into little balls that could be infused inside the bullet safely. I wanted to try seeing if I could make the bullet casing safer by changing the runes and formations used too, but my proficiency on that subject was still low, so for now, I would focus my effort on this first.

Or so I planned.

Because as the ball wriggled to follow the change I was projecting in my mind, Jade flew and swallowed the ball.

"What..."

Again, I just stared dumbfoundedly at the empty air where the ball of purified mana floated a moment ago. I turned to look at Jade, who was clearly munching on the ball as if it was a snack.

"Jade, you can’t just eat everything like that, I need those!" I scolded the little bird, but Jade was just rolling away without even looking at me.

I was kind of annoyed, but the bird looked adorable wobbling away from overeating, and just sighed in the end. I scooped the kid and got up to walk back to the tower. I’d just try again tomorrow; I couldn’t go to the river, but the clearing should be alright. I’d just have to warn Jade not to eat them again.

But then, it happened again the next day.

The ball of energy I gathered was larger this time, but Jade snatched it again not a second after it formed before I could even warn the bird. Fortunately, since the energy was bigger, it took longer for Jade to completely absorb it, and when I formed the second ball, the bird couldn’t interrupt me again.

Sadly, controlling the ball of energy freely was quite hard. Shaping it into what I wanted needed so much precision. The smaller the energy, the harder it was to fine-tune, and after struggling to hold its shape, the ball of energy broke and dispersed to the environment.

The good thing was the plants in the clearing seemed to be happy receiving the purified mana that got diffused back to them--which was actually what the shepherd of nature, a.k.a druid, was supposed to do.

I managed to make another small ball, but this time, Jade already finished with the first one and again, instantly tried to snatch it. I gripped the ball and got it away from the bird, sternly forbidding Jade from eating it, but the little guy was relentless. We ended up having a scuffle in the clearing and when the ball flew off my hand, Jade swooshed forward and swallowed it.

Damnit--did elemental bird have some kind of rebellious phase?

That night, I gave the little bird a long lecture on its behavior. I told Jade to only eat the purified energy with my permission. After all, it was also bad for the bird to consume too much of it in one sitting.

Jade let out a whine and nuzzled my cheek, acting cute and pitiful, but I had none of that. I told the bird I wouldn’t let it sleep in my bed anymore if it continued to act like that. Jade nodded frantically and made a chirping promise to behave.

Which the bird instantly broke the next day.

I left the bird wailing outside the bedroom door that night.

The day after, I finally got permission from Natha, who apparently done consulting his elven acquaintances. After promising not to touch the water directly, I got Doun to take me to the river upstream, where I ended up in after transmorphing.

This time, the demon didn’t stay around.

I managed to gather the water elemental from the riverside, safely without turning into water. It took longer than when I did it in aquatic form, but it was fine. Jade was eyeing me from above the boulder where it perched, and I stared at the bird with warning eyes. It lowered its head with sulking eyes and a little whimper, but I get fed up with the interruption in my training.

I got it; Jade was jealous. I realized it after talking with Natha about the child’s behavior last night. the little bird felt I spent too much attention on the guns and the other failed products, ignoring its presence. So now the bird acted like a rebellious child seeking attention.

I got it, but I also needed Jade to know it couldn’t act however it wanted.

Still, I knew that I had been focusing too much on this experiment. It was like founding new interesting games or books, and it kept us engaged for quite some time. I did that too in my previous life--it was easy to get hooked on media entertainment if all you did was lie on a bed.

"Just be patient, okay?" I sighed at the pitiful sight of the little bird. "I also need this to improve my proficiency, not just for a hobby. I’ll give you your share too, so don’t whine."

Jade flew to my shoulder then, and nuzzled my neck softly, sending flowers and gloomy clouds into my brain--Jade’s equivalent to sadness and apology.

Ah, damn--how could I stay mad at this child? I gave a blob of energy ball to the little bird and patted its perking head. With a loud cheery chirp, it flew back to the boulder and this time, let me train in peace.

Again and again, I tried to change the energy ball into various shapes, as well as trying to condense the energy as much as I could, checking on my limit. As usual, it was hard, but I already expected that.

The next day, I changed my course of training. Rather than reshaping the ball of energy, I played with the river--without touching it, of course. I tried to control the water itself, not the essence. Hopefully, learning to shape the water would help me gain an understanding of handling abstract energy.

It was easier, since water was inherently meant to be able to take any shape. It was also quite fun, making Jade’s twin out of the water, and watching the little bird attacking it in jealousy, thinking I got another bird as a companion.

After knowing it was just water, however, Jade was hovering around it in interest. The bird proceeded to send me a lot of images; most of them were creatures we saw in the forest. I shaped the water into the images Jade sent, and the little bird chirped joyfully, flying around the water creatures.

But then, suddenly, Jade paused, hovering in the air for some time, before flying to me silently. The bird didn’t fly to my shoulder as usual, but to my chest, almost headbutting me. I held it in surprise, and a strong image flew toward me.

"What..." I blinked in shock, and immediately made another ball of energy while holding Jade--one big enough to act as a cradle. It took a while since I got to scrape what was left from the stream, but I got it in the end, and put the curling bird inside.

I watched the little bird curled up inside the ball of glowing blue energy, almost like it went into meditation.

This child--it was ready to evolve way ahead of schedule.