Chapter 175

175th Episode

Hassan Learning Aura

175 – Hassan Learning Aura #1

Rustle, rustle-.

I usually tie the knot on my waistband quite tightly and complexly.

There’s no special reason, but it just somehow makes me feel at ease when I do it this way.

If someone tried to untie such a tightly bound knot, they’d surely have a hard time doing so.

Rustle, rustle-.

The reason I’m recalling knots now is because Antiope, Hippolyte’s younger sister, is kneeling in front of me with a completely emotionless face and trying to untie the knot at my waist.

“Why is this tied so tightly? It won’t come off.”

“What are you doing?”

“To receive o*al, as agreed with my sister, right?”

I couldn’t comprehend at first what Antiope was talking about, as if my head had turned rigid.

Then, I realized that I’d misunderstood a word, but I got curious about what might happen next, so I just stayed quiet and watched.

Until Antiope, now standing up, slapped the back of my thigh with her palm.

“Just kidding.”

Because I got startled and flinched after being hit, even though it was only half-joking.

“Keek!”

“What, why so tensed up? Am I about to eat you or something?”

What, so it was just an expletive-filled joke, huh.

You must’ve teased me while knowing full well I understood, didn’t you?

Because of that, while retightening my loosened knot, I had to suppress my wrath. How dare you toy with my heart like that.

Do you think it’s okay to play with a man’s heart just because you think you’re pretty?

Do you actually believe that you control my emotions just because you angered me?

Remembering the girls who bullied me when I was a freshman in college, my anger flared up.

Why? That expression that girl showed me back then is still something that haunts me slightly. Anyway, beautiful women who toy with men’s feelings are almost like my enemies.

“What’s wrong? Are you upset? Don’t be angry, I’ll do something better.”

“Something better?”

But it works with beauties. Expletive, her face is pretty, so my anger fades quickly. They say being born as a beautiful woman is like passing the bar exam—now I truly understand that. It’s really unfortunate, but men are created in such a way that they can’t defy pretty women…

“What did you mean by ‘something better’?”

“Of course, it’s a lie. Sorry if you expected something. Think of it as a punishment for waking me up this early.”

Expletive.

I’m not even angry. Probably my fault for coming early, right?

“So, where did Lady Hippolyte go?”

“Morning walk. She should be back soon? Let’s wait here.”

I thought about leaving, but since she said she’d be back soon, I decided to wait as Antiope suggested. Feeling awkward just sitting here with this stranger, I ended up just staring blankly at the empty air.

“Did you make a deal to receive aura training from my sister?”

Perhaps Antiope felt the same awkwardness of silence, so she spoke to me first.

“I’m just about to start.”

“Hmm?”

At my words, her deep blue eyes narrowed slightly.

“Your talent seems decent enough.”

That was the end of the conversation.

Soon after, in a corner of this narrow single room, Antiope began to quietly rustle, rustle—taking off her clothes. Though I was startled at first, it seemed she was just changing outfits.

The tattoos covering her back, buttocks, and thighs were rather striking to look at.

Does the presence of a man in the same room not bother her at all?

As I curiously glanced over from time to time, Antiope spoke.

“Isn’t it cool?”

“What is?”

“My designs. It took me five years to inscribe this much karma.”

I have no idea whether five years is short or long in this context. So, I just decided to play along.

“Five years, huh? That’s quite a while.”

“Right? It required a lot of dedication.”

That’s all I felt like saying—that’s cool, basically. But Antiope talked about her body tattoos as if she was extremely proud of them.

Apparently, they were inscriptions of her achievements, the things she’s accomplished—all drawn onto her body.

Looking at Antiope’s exposed back, it felt like I was seeing fragments of an application letter.

A resume filled with accomplishments. If someone has plenty of achievements, it makes sense to feel proud about them, I guess. That’s why she probably doesn’t shy away from showing off her body, showing it freely without reservation.

After this conversation, I think I got a sense of what this new Amazon woman was like. In a sense, she’s quite confident—a type vastly different from me, really.

On the other hand, I’m more like a nerdy giant, and Antiope is the type who might as well be picking fights with me like a schoolyard bully. And I’m weak against bully girls.

Maybe that’s why I also have a weakness for witches—I’m probably just weak against that type.

When’s Hippolyte coming? Hippolyte feels less like a bully girl who plays around and more like someone who’s committed to track and field, so it’s a bit better.

I was sitting slightly anxiously on a chair placed in the corner when the tattooed woman, dressed in maximally revealing clothes as always, said:

“Want to touch?”

“…Huh?”

“My tattoos, I mean.”

“Really, is that okay?”

“Yeah, it’s kind of boring just waiting like this.”

She was definitely right. Waiting around like this was a bit monotonous, so eventually, I decided to reach out my hand towards Antiope’s body.

Not knowing where or how I should touch, I simply lightly ran my fingers along her left shoulder.

An extremely strange phenomenon then unfolded.

Sssss-.

The picture drawn on her shoulder began to move.

“d*mn, it’s surprising.”

“Isn’t it? They move when touched. The one on my left shoulder, as far as I know, should depict the tale of defeating the cyclops giant Gorgas.”

Hearing Antiope’s explanation, I carefully examined the drawing on her shoulder. It showed a woman with a long spear repeatedly stabbing and slaying a cyclops. It replayed in a loop like a puppet show.

Expletive, this is seriously amazing.

Who would’ve thought that video media existed in this world?

“Could this possibly be the power of grace?”

“Yeah, I can absorb power by etching designs on my body. That’s the grace of the ‘War Song’ that I’ve been given.”

“Ah, I see. So, how do you inscribe places you can’t reach yourself, like your back or sides?”

“For that, I do get help from others… But anything beyond that is a secret.”

“Got it.”

Hadn’t it been a while since I last met someone who possesses grace? I felt quite amazed by the existence of grace different from my own hand skills.

So I touched her all over here and there. Each picture, when touched, replayed its own unique story, making the experience quite enjoyable.

And there was also some primal excitement from touching the youthful and pretty body of a young woman, so I had to admit it was a nice way to pass the time.

Rustle, rustle.

Only after getting up close and touching her did I realize that Antiope’s sturdy body bore a fair amount of scars.

Even Hippolyte, her sister and fellow warrior, had many minor scars, but Antiope’s body exceeded that—though her tattoos effectively covered them up to some extent. Yet close observation revealed them quite clearly.

“Is the scar bothering you? This is from when I was pierced by the fangs of a two-headed hound. It still aches when it rains.”

Antiope spoke as she noticed me running my finger over a scar on her shoulder. At that moment, a streak of black ink smeared onto my fingers.

Expletive, what is this?

The tattoo is disappearing.

Expletive, why is it disappearing? Was it originally meant to fade away?

I was thoroughly bewildered.

So, pretending nothing happened, while absentmindedly scratching the back of my head, I casually asked:

“Does the tattoos etched into your body fade sometimes?”

“These are deep-engraved karmic inscriptions. They shouldn’t fade. Not even if you wanted them to.”

“Ah, I see.”

Expletive, I messed up.

I could see the distorted design in my hand, smudged with ink. Expletive, if it doesn’t fade, how did I manage to erase it?

It must feel this way for masseuses who unintentionally remove someone’s tattoo.

“Anyway, touching my shoulders feels kind of good. Do you know how to give a massage?”

“Well, yes…”

“Perfect. Then, massage my shoulders until my sister comes back. Since I’ve let you touch my tattoos, it’s the least you can do.”

Are you equating touching a woman’s body to some form of payment? Still, I guess it’s a reasonable request. But I couldn’t help but feel a bit uneasy about massaging her.

Expletive, what if I erase more tattoos?

“Come on, just do it. Even if you can’t use aura, you should be able to massage me, right?”

But Antiope, oblivious to my concerns, turned around and plopped onto the floor, exposing her back completely to me.

“Alright, I’ll do it gently then.”

“Sure, I don’t expect too much anyway.”

“If anything happens, I won’t take responsibility.”

“Ha, for just a massage? You’re pretty funny. You may look like a tiger, but you’re such a coward. Seeing cowards always makes me want to tease.”

Antiope laughed, “Hehehe…”

I slowly placed my palms on her shoulders.

The woman, despite being female, had well-developed muscles. Though her build was slightly slimmer compared to Hippolyte.

Gripping her muscles gently with my thumb and forefinger, I could feel a surprisingly elastic tension. I guess that’s what we’d call ‘tense shoulders.’

“Unh, yeah, that’s it.”

Rustle, rustle.

I pressed down firmly on the Jianjing acupressure point in her shoulders.

“Is this pressure okay?”

“Ah… not bad… Of course, it doesn’t match the massage in the Royal Castle, but… Ahh, ahhh…”

With every shoulder rub, Antiope exhaled warm, breathy sighs. Normally, those alluring female exhales would’ve made ‘Juji’ perk up, but I didn’t have the mental space to worry about that right now.

Because, beneath my palms, I could clearly see all the tattoos on her body disappearing.

Expletive, didn’t she say these were deeply embedded karma or something? How could something said to not fade be vanishing?

On second thought, I remember someone mentioning that even states of disease I treat with pressure are considered a deep, unhealing karma that normal healing magic can’t fix.

Could it be that the grace I possess…

Is more powerful than the grace this woman has?

“Unh, okay… It’s pretty good, pretty good… Keep going…”

Contrary to my inner chaos, my hands continued to diligently work, massaging the nape of her neck, shoulders, and even the hard-to-reach parts under the shoulder blades with my thumb.

Antiope shivered and slowly relaxed, lowering herself to the floor.

“Try my back too. Hurry up.”

Now, she’s telling me to naturally start touching her back too.

But I was hesitating. If I massage her back next, the tattoos there might disappear as well. Did she not notice that her tattoos were fading?

So I carefully asked:

“Have you noticed anything different about the feeling or mood?”

“Not really, but I do feel a bit lethargic. Anyway, hurry up and press on my back.”

Since she doesn’t seem to have noticed, I decided to just go for it, thinking ‘To hell with it.’

Antiope’s back reached with my palm.

When giving a back massage, the main part used is the fleshy part of the palm. This allows for effective muscle-relief for the person being massaged, while also helping to save strength for the one doing the massaging.

Rustle, rustle.

From her waist to her back, I smoothed my hands upwards in one smooth motion, relaxing her entire back. Antiope, lying prone on the floor, trembled and shook her body.

“Heeuh, ah-uh, that’s good, actually pretty good. The massages I’ve had in the Royal Castle are better, but this is… pretty d*mn good…”

Each time, she repeated the same comment, like a parrot limited by her vocabulary. But her body, without any pretense, had heated up, beading with sweat.

That sweat and my palm rubbing against her back left it completely devoid of tattoos—there wasn’t a single design left.

“Haa, haa, uh-…”

Yet still, my hands showed no sign of slowing down, continuing to press the back and waist. Each time, when I applied force to push with her spine, Antiope let out a small scream.

“HAAHH!”

At the same moment, an audible ‘Crack’ could be heard as the misaligned vertebrae in her back realigned.

“My, my lower back… It’s broken!?”

Antiope cried out, seemingly terrified by the loud noise, believing her back had broken.

For someone unaware of the situation, the sound could indeed make one think there was a bone problem—it’s understandable why she reacted that way.

“It’s not broken; it’s your back being realigned.”

“Realigned…? Now that I think about it, it does feel quite refreshing. What did you even do…?”

“Shall I adjust other areas as well?”

Then, I pressed my palms down firmly on her shoulders and neck again. With every ‘Crack’ echoing, like thunderclouds collapsing onto the ceiling, Antiope trembled violently each time.

“GYAAH, GYAAAH, KHHHH…”

From her mouth, agonized moans now spilled out uncontrollably, sounding like she was about to burst into tears any moment.

“Can you also… do this to other places? Here, here….”

[Afterword]

The part I cut ended up feeling a bit strange, so I decided to post one more chapter…!!!

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