Day 2 of Practice Training, Morning.
After a light breakfast, we boarded the carriage that had taken us from the Academy to the Marquisate of Ludvecia and headed to the site where [Tentacle Lilith] was located.
Creak.
The massive gates of the Great Wall, which had been tightly shut until yesterday, opened wide with an impressive force.
The gates weren’t operated manually but by magic—a process so energy-intensive that it burned through a magic stone core with every single opening.
This wasn’t an issue, however, as this area was the Demonic Land, where cores were the easiest to obtain.
In fact, one could secure enough cores here to open and close the gates thousands of times.
We rode in the carriage through the Demonic Land, where, just yesterday, wind wolves had been rampaging.
Among those in the carriage were Instructor Esta, seated on the driver’s bench, and the students of the special class, seated within.
“Why are you tagging along again, Senior?”
“Oh my, am I not allowed to come along?”
And then there was Yurha Silverstar.
“Can’t I say I’m assisting as a sort of support instructor?”
“If you’d like to pursue a position as a graduate student, I could speak to Instructor Kadisha about it.”
“I’d sooner give up all my shares in Silverstar and leave than go to graduate school.”
“…”
“Joking about some things is simply not appropriate.”
Her sudden seriousness made me momentarily think I had done something wrong.
Well, I had no plans for graduate school either, so I decided to keep quiet.
I understood Yurha’s perspective—she was the kind of person who valued her time.
Instead of pursuing further studies, she preferred to focus on managing the Silverstar Trading Company and Group.
However, that’s precisely why her presence here made little sense to me.
“I don’t see how tagging along with us benefits you in any way.”
After all, there was no clear reason for Yurha to participate or observe our A-rank monster raid.
“Do you have some other motive?”
“What if I told you this carriage only moves because I’m in it?”
“That’s not true. There’s no magic link or mechanism tying you to the carriage.”
Yunia immediately cut through Yurha’s attempt to justify her presence with magical reasoning.
“Well, if I channel my mana, I could make the carriage wheels move on their own. Right now, there’s a horse pulling it, but if we swapped out the mechanism, I could power the carriage with magic.”
“That doesn’t require you, though. Anyone could channel wind-attribute magic to make it work. There’s nothing about this carriage’s wheels or axles that exclusively depends on Senior Yurha.”
“Hmm. Maybe I should bring one like that next time.”
As Yurha laughed in response, Yunia turned to me with a pointed look.
She was, once again, seated atop me.
“Phoenix, how about we walk next time?”
“That might be nice, like a picnic. But if we do, I bet Senior Yurha will follow on foot.”
“Oh, no need for that. I’d just bring my own mount.”
“…See?”
At this point, Yunia picked up the baton.
“Why do you keep tagging along with us, Senior?”
“Because it’s profitable.”
“There’s no loot or rewards for us during these training exercises.”
“Watching you raid monsters, seeing you succeed—it’s all valuable experience, and yes, profitable in its own way.”
Even as Yunia displayed open hostility, Yurha brushed it aside with her usual calm demeanor.
“Don’t be so prickly. When we return to the Academy, I’ll take you all to the dessert buffet at the East Terminal.”
“Really?”
It was a tempting offer.
“Really?”
“Absolutely. On me, of course. I’ll even cover the instructors’ shares.”
“That just makes it more suspicious…”
“Hehehe. Miss Yunia, I understand you might not want to listen to my reasoning right now, but that’s okay. I get where you’re coming from.”
Yurha crossed her legs and tapped on the magic pad on her wrist—a device different from what the instructors used.
It was a product of Silverstar.
As it lit up, a magic projection appeared before us, distinct from the training materials Instructor Esta had shown earlier.
“Tentacle Lilith is a monster that captures and entangles people. While it doesn’t cause fatalities, the number of incident reports related to it is quite high.”
“What kind of damage does it cause?”
“That’s…”
At Ludmila’s question, Yurha hesitated briefly, her face flushing slightly as she cleared her throat.
“This might be a bit embarrassing to explain. May I?”
“Of course. We need to understand the monster’s nature to prepare for the raid.”
“Well, it captures women and places them together in the same pod.”
“…What?”
Ludmila adjusted her posture, visibly startled.
“Together?”
“Yes, like this.”
As one of the videos began to play, a rather shocking scene unfolded.
[Thud, Thud, Thud!]
[Eww! This is impossible! Run away!]
[No matter how many tendrils we cut—ugh, just retreat!!]
The video showed hunters fleeing.
Judging by the Silverstar emblem on their uniforms, they seemed to belong to a guild under the Silverstar Group.
[Gyaaaah!]
[Oh, no! Cecilia! You dare, Keuuuk!!]
[Gyahhh, Andrew!!]
“Aren’t those Cecilia and Andrew? The B-rank hunter couple?”
“Yes, they got married and then divorced. And that divorce…”
[This son of a b*tch! My brother!]
[No, if you get caught too… Eww! Emily!!]
[Uww, why, with you, eww?!]
[Eww, eww!]
The video showed two women entangled by thick vines, their faces pressed together against their will.
It was a bizarre and unsettling sight.
The scene resembled a giant playing with dolls as Tentacle Lilith used its tendril-like vines like hands, forcing the two captured women into intimate and relentless contact.
“From here on out, it’s restricted to those under 19, but since you guys have to raid, I’ll show you exactly what it is.”
Rip!
Tentacle Lilith forcibly tore apart the clothing of its captives, leaving them completely exposed.
It then bound them tightly with its vines, pressing their bodies together as it pulled them deeper into its main body.
“Tentacle Lilith captures two women like this, binds them, and forces them to lick and suck on each other for as short as a week or as long as a month. In a way, it’s an utterly insane demonic beast.”
“How do they survive without eating for that long? Wouldn’t they die?”
“That’s beside the point! Why wasn’t this creature dealt with earlier?!”
Evangeline shouted, pointing at the screen in anger.
“Why has such a beast been left alone? Even if it’s A-rank—wait, didn’t you say there were no fatalities?”
“That’s correct. Despite all this, no one has died… Truly baffling.”
Yurha sighed and played another video.
“This creature keeps its captives alive by feeding them sap, which provides nutrients. It even handles their waste. The sap contains mana from its core, which keeps them sustained.”
“…What on earth?”
“The only thing the captives are forced to do is explore each other, licking and rubbing until Tentacle Lilith is satisfied. During this time, their bodies slim down, their mana capacity increases, and their skin becomes smoother.”
“…What is that even supposed to mean?”
“Exactly.”
Yunia shook her head in disbelief, echoing the sentiment of everyone else present.
“It’s certainly an odd demonic beast. It keeps male intruders and other beasts at bay with its branches but immediately captures human women for this kind of ordeal.”
“So the rumors were true.”
“Miss Ludmila?”
“I heard that after Cecilia and her sister-in-law Emily were captured, they formed a duo party after their release. Rumor has it they now share a bed at inns.”
“They grew close inside Tentacle Lilith. Perhaps too close.”
“…Well…”
Yunia shot me a complicated look, glancing back and forth between Tentacle Lilith and me.
“Phoenix, you’re not thinking of anything weird, are you?”
“Like what?”
“Like letting us get caught by that thing!”
“Of course not.”
“Eek?!”
I grabbed her mana pocket.
“Do you think it’s more effective to have that thing pump sap into someone, or for me to handle your mana pocket directly like this?”
“Y-you’d obviously be better at it, but…!”
“My interest in Tentacle Lilith has nothing to do with that.”
I pointed past Yunia at the writhing, vine-covered creature.
“I really hate creatures that use tentacles.”
“…Excuse me?”
“It’s partly a personal preference, but there’s something inherently unsettling about the way tentacles violate and torment women. Tentacle Lilith embodies that. What I’m after is its core.”
“The core? There are other beasts with cores, though.”
“True, but I believe I can use this A-rank core to gain a special ability.”
“Like growing tentacles yourself?”
“Something similar.”
“What?”
“Humans have two hands. But if I can process that core properly, perhaps with Instructor Kadisha’s help and some magitech enhancements….”
I clenched my fist.
“I could gain the ability to give massages to others.”
I grabbed Ludmila and Evangeline’s thighs with both hands and smiled at Yurha.
“Would you like to try my massage sometime?”
“Hmm.”
Yurha smirked, lifting her shirt slightly.
“Can I be naked for that?”
“T-That’s not necessary!!”
Yunia yelled, her voice cracking.
“At the very least, you’d need to wear undergarments!”
“Hmm… Is that so?”
Yurha smiled mischievously at Yunia and lowered her hand.
“If it’s Phoenix’s hands, I don’t particularly mind.”
“?!?!”
Crash, Bang.
Despite the chaos inside the carriage, it continued moving steadily toward Tentacle Lilith.
