Chapter 25: Ocean's Embrace
It wasn't Amelia's fault they were penniless.
But she could've brought money if she wanted.
She wasn't completely blameless.
Their reason sounded reasonable… As if!
Amelia sat in the corner of the underwater cave.
"Why did you return so quickly?"
Elizabeth got out of the pond and wore clothes with slow yet hurried pace.
"I don't have money and I didn't want to use my bank account because…" Amelia pursed her lips. "I don't want to use anything from that country anymore."
"I have some cash on me. We can use it for now," Neo said.
He checked his wallet only to remember he left his wallet and Academy Id with the scuba diving gear.
Amelia noticed his actions.
"You are looking for these?"
She pulled out his Academy Id, smartphone and wallet from her backpack.
'Did she take those before removing my clothes?' Neo thought. 'That's why they weren't surprised when I revealed I was an Academy student. They knew already.'
"I was planning to use your money, but I thought I should ask you first. So I returned and found you two being very nice to each other."
Amelia's words were dripping with icy contempt.
"You can use my money. Now, go away," Neo spoke.
It was doubtful if Elizabeth would give him the weapon in front of Amelia, since it meant revealing its existence.
Thus, Neo wanted to send her elsewhere.
"Yeah?" Amelia let out a cold smile. "I'm not leaving. If you have to do anything, do it in front of me."
If Neo had been forcing himself on her Mom by leveraging his actions in the Mermaid Country, Amelia might've taken action against him.
But.
Amelia knew her mother's personality.
Instead of being blackmailed, she was the type to blackmail others.
It was painfully clear who approached who.
'What are you doing, Mom!? He is my junior in the Academy! Why did you have to set your eyes on him of all people!?'
Amelia shouted in her mind.
'You never showed interest in the opposite gender! You used to reject all marriage proposals regardless of their bloodline or strength!'
'Why now!? Why him?!'
She wanted to pull her hair out.
One fact was clear, she could not leave these two alone.
A disgusting chill crawled down her spine when she thought what they would've done if she did not come back.
Neo did not care about her thoughts.
He turned to Elizabeth.
"Can you teach me the Terror-ranked Spell?"
"…Okay."
He sat crossed leg next to the pond.
Even though he wasn't inside the pond, he should've faster Divine Energy regeneration at this distance.
Elizabeth sat behind him and told him take off his shirt.
"Don't try to do anything funny," Amelia spoke from the side.
"…"
Elizabeth placed her palm on Neo's back.
"I'll use my Divine Energy to use the Spell with your body. Don't resist the flow and try to remember the sensation."
She was about to begin when she suddenly stopped.
There was one thing she had to confirm before teaching him the Spell.
"Do you have a Water Affinity? You can't use the Spell without it."
"I do."
She puckered her lips.
"You have Death Affinity too. Do you have multiple affinities?"
"Yes."
"That's surprise. How many affinities can you use?"
Neo didn't answer.
He could only use Death affinity.
He changed the topic to save himself from the embarrassment.
"I thought only two people could inherit the Ocean's Embrace. Will you lose the Spell if you teach it to me?"
"How do you know the Spell's name...?"
….!
Shit!
"I saw Amelia using the Spell during last year's tournament…"
He sighed inwardly.
It was a believable excuse.
Elizabeth felt something was wrong, but she decided to let it go.
"To answer your question: No. The part about only two demigods inheriting the Spell was a lie. I created it to stop the ones approaching me for it."
'So it was a lie.'
Neo didn't know what to feel.
It was another fact different from what he knew.
In the novel, Amelia actually believed the lie and told the same to the protagonist.
Looking at her expression, which was like a fish unable to close its mouth, it was clear Amelia took a bigger hit than him.
Neo smirked.
He found an important secret related to her before her.
His smile was like rubbing salt on Amelia's wounds.
She knew he was taking revenge for the dragon prank, but what she wouldn't have done to fire an arrow at his smug face right now.
"I'll start."
Elizabeth pushed her Divine Energy into Neo.
He groaned.
Or.
Maybe, he moaned.
He closed his eyes, not wanting to see Amelia looking at him with a disgusted face, and focused on the foreign Divine Energy inside his body.
It moved through his magic circuits.
Neo tried to remember the path of Divine Energy and the activation sequence of magic circuits inside his body.
Hours passed.
They repeated the training with short breaks.
It took Neo three days to use the Spell.
[Ocean's Embrace]
[Rank: Tremor]
[Mastery: Apprentice]
[Effect: Grants the protection of the Water Spirit, Undine.]
A thin blue layer appeared around Neo's skin.
It increased his resistance against heat, cold, and allowed him to breathe underwater.
His movement speed under the water increased.
He could tank physical attacks, and magical attacks to a minor degree, without taking major injuries.
It was an all round defense spell.
The best part was the Divine Energy expenditure.
Ocean's Embrace consumed a lot less Divine Energy compared to Necrotic Touch.
He could use for it five minutes!
The time would increase with training.
With Ocean's Embrace, he had two Tremor-ranked Spells in his arsenal.
Neo might've been the first person to learn two Tremor-ranked Spells as his first Magic Spell.
It was normal for demigods to start with low-ranked Spells and slowly move towards higher-ranked Spells after they gained sufficient mastery over Divine Energy.
"I've given you the reward for the Divine Water pond," Elizabeth said while panting slightly.
The technique she used to teach him was very burdensome.
Only an Exalted Demigod like her could pull it off.
"As for the reward for saving me…"
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone