Today’s dinner was rich, but the atmosphere at the table was exceptionally strange.
Claude, wearing a beaming smile, was mulling over how to create an opportunity for his adopted son and daughter to… produce a new life tonight.
Whenever he reached a particularly exciting part of his plan, he couldn’t help but take a small sip of his wine.
Lita sat with a fallen expression, her fork and knife savagely hacking at the steak on her plate.
Every stroke seemed to carry her full strength, as if the steak were her sworn enemy.
The light butterfly Nunu, the spirit’s true form, rested on Lita’s shoulder, seemingly trying to soothe its master.
Millya stared absentmindedly at her plate, her gaze occasionally stealing a glance at Rain as her thoughts drifted.
She was still processing their conversation from earlier that evening, unsure of how to face the current Rain moving forward.
Rain, on the other hand, was the most composed.
He was conversing through the contract mark in his mind with Kaka, who sat by his plate gnawing fiercely on a sausage.
“Do spirits need to eat?”
“We don’t need to, but can’t I eat for fun?”
Kaka was still very upset about Rain sending her back to the Spirit Hall earlier without a word.
It had made everyone there think she had been abandoned by that 10-point wild dog already, and she had been mocked for quite a while.
“I’m asking you, do you know how to help someone who has undergone a Spirit Baptism alleviate the problems caused by the side effects?”
Rain didn’t mind the little creature’s attitude.
He intended to cross-reference his game memories with Kaka’s knowledge.
“I know, but why should I tell you?”
“Because if you don’t tell me, I’ll restrict your permissions.”
With the Spirit King as his backing, handling a disobedient spirit was a simple task.
‘Disobedient? What right do you have to be disobedient?’
“Are you serious? You really are a dog, aren’t you? Can you stop threatening me with that every time?”
Kaka gritted her teeth, and even the sausage in her hands lost its flavor.
“The side effects of a Spirit Baptism are usually just abnormal reactions caused by the body being unable to adapt to the drastic change in the mana source within a short period of time. You either use mana of the same origin to help the body adapt faster, or you use an external stimulus to override the perception of the abnormal reactions.”
“Those are the only two ways I know.”
The great Kaka had yielded.
Rain nodded inwardly.
This matched the information in his memories.
The first method was simple: find a high-level mage who specialized in wind magic to transfer mana to Lita, essentially “reformatting” her system.
Doing this a few times would help her body adapt to the attribute enhancement brought by the mana source.
The second method was even simpler: give Lita a different kind of stimulus to force her body to ignore the abnormal reactions.
Rain remembered that in the original story, Lita’s abnormal reactions included doubled sensitivity, doubled physical fragility, a persistent high fever, and excruciating pain that lasted for an entire night.
The combined effect of the first two, in particular, nearly cost her half her life.
Even a slight turn in bed could have resulted in a bone fracture.
Afterward, it took Lita over 1 month to properly nurse her body back to health.
This indirectly caused her to perform poorly in the Capital Magic Academy’s rank evaluation exam, forcing her to repeat a year.
Now that the Spirit Baptism had occurred 6 months early, there was no need to let Lita experience the “pleasure” of those side effects again.
Rain was ultimately kind-hearted and couldn’t bear to see his little sister suffer, so he decided to help her resolve this hidden danger in advance.
More importantly, he was afraid that if Lita went through that ordeal and failed the entrance exam for the Capital Magic Academy, the plot would completely collapse, which would be ridiculous.
Since it was impossible to find a trustworthy high-level wind mage in such a short time, Rain could only choose the second method.
This method was actually something the character Yunlong told Lita much later when he joined the team.
There isn’t just one type of side effect for a Spirit Baptism.
However, when the first symptoms appear, one can use a strong external stimulus to numb the perception of the body and brain, tricking them into misidentifying the external stimulus as a subsequent symptom.
This external stimulus must be continuous and controllable, and it must stop exactly when the first symptom disappears.
Only then can the goal of “deceiving” the side effects be achieved.
It was a miraculous method with an unknown principle, but it was guaranteed to work.
“If we use the second method, does the great Kaka have any brilliant ideas?”
Rain asked again.
“Isn’t that simple? Beat her. If one beating isn’t enough, then do it several more times. That’s stimulating enough, right?”
Kaka suddenly felt wide awake at the mention of this.
She wiped her mouth, rolled twice on a napkin, and then flew up to sit on top of Rain’s head.
“What? Do you want to help that quasi-human?”
Rain was thoughtful.
This line of thinking was actually fine.
If he did it himself, the pain would indeed be continuous and controllable, but it was a bit inhumane.
Furthermore, his little sister would definitely fight back, and he wasn’t necessarily sure he could beat her right now.
However, this direction of thinking gave Rain a few ideas.
After greeting Claude and the others, Rain left the table early and returned to his room to brainstorm other possibilities with Kaka.
“That’s too cruel. Can’t we switch to something more pleasant?”
Kaka’s eyes swiveled.
“Use some aphrodisiacs to get her into a daze. Anyway, looking at Old Claude, he’s practically begging for you to take her down.”
Incidentally, Kaka had seen the number 56 above Claude’s head.
This was the highest score she had seen on anyone other than the Spirit King, so she followed Rain’s lead and started calling him Old Claude.
“So desire and pleasure can also count as a type of stimulus?”
Rain was enlightened.
“Why wouldn’t they? If you’re afraid you can’t handle it alone, I can help you hold down the quasi-human’s hands if necessary. You’ll be happy, she’ll be happy, Old Claude will be happy, and I’ll be happy too. Everyone wins.”
“You pervert. Is there anything more… refined?”
Such a frantic and insane act went against all ethics.
Rain swatted her with a palm, leaving Kaka dizzy and lightheaded.
‘Damn little thing, why do you have to describe it so vividly?’
“If you want refined, then that depends on your talent.”
After recovering her senses, Kaka cursed the “heartless dog” a few more times in her heart, but her face was full of flattery.
“Stimuli can be divided into many types, but when you talk about continuous and controllable stimuli, there are actually very few left.”
“Plus, I see that the quasi-human doesn’t get along with you at all. Will she behave and listen? I doubt it.”
“Given her situation, I think if she starts resisting, a 10-point wild dog like you wouldn’t even be enough for her to beat with one hand.”
Rain fell silent.
Kaka’s words were blunt but true.
If they really came to blows, the outcome was indeed unpredictable.
‘Thinking back to how the original Rain was accidentally killed by an emotional Lita… wouldn’t I be narrowing my path if I did this?’
‘I have to ensure my own safety first before considering how to give Lita a continuous and controllable stimulus.’
Actually, he didn’t necessarily have to do it himself.
He could explain the situation to Claude or Millya and let them do it.
But besides himself, no one else would likely have the heart to torment Lita like that.
If they gave up halfway, it would only hurt her more.
After much consideration, Rain decided to do it himself.
He already had a plan in mind.
Now, it was time to find a little sister to torment!