Stellar Echo: Heart of the Myst-Chapter 139: VOL 2 - 84: Diligent students.

Several hours later, Erik finished the class and gathered the desks and the board he had taken out halfway through, while the siblings headed into the interior of the cruiser with their hands full of books. After rearranging everything, a comfortable sofa appeared out of nowhere near Erik, courtesy of Seraphina, who sent him a warm smile. The star-haired boy responded with a flying kiss as he plopped down on the couch, exhausted.

"Teaching is really exhausting..."

Erik muttered to himself while his masters sat on either side of him. Eleonora carefully took her beloved disciple's head and placed it on her lap, while Sigrún took Erik's feet and gently removed his boots with smooth, clearly practiced movements. At the same time, Ignis and Ebonique landed softly on Erik, their sizes reduced so they could comfortably settle on his chest.

"Our little Erik is a great teacher, fufu." Looking tenderly at her disciple's face on her lap, Eleonora spoke in a playful tone as she massaged Erik's temples with delicate affection.

"Yes, our little Erik has grown up and is now a full-fledged man who nurtures his own assistants, hehe."

Sigrún added with a proud, mischievous smile as she held her hands out in the air, where Seraphina dropped a thick, pale green cream that released a delicate floral scent. At that moment, Erik commented in a weary tone.

"It was way more tiring than I imagined; I didn't know teaching could be so exhausting..."

"Don't worry, over time you'll get used to it and it'll become easier. I thought the same when I had to teach my first class, but now I do it with ease..." Sigrún remarked cheerfully and gently, beginning to massage Erik's feet with dedication and a technique very similar to the one Seraphina used for her full-body massages.

"If Sig says so, it must be true. After all, back then she fought with the director for almost a year because she didn't want to teach at the university, and she only gives one class a year, fufu."

Eleonora chimed in with laughter, looking mischievously at her sworn sister, just as Seraphina let a transparent facial lotion drop into her outstretched hands. Inside it, tiny crystals of various colors could be seen, seemingly pulsing with mana. Sigrún, visibly annoyed, burst out.

"Hey! Don't make me look bad!"

"I'm not making you look bad; I'm just telling the truth." Eleonora replied with a small, mischievous smile as she began to massage Erik's face, causing Sigrún to snort in irritation and turn her head away.

"Hmph, I'm not talking to you anymore!"

"Fufu, our little Sig is mad."

Eleonora commented playfully as she carefully traced the contour of Erik's eyes, while Sigrún responded with an irritated snort—though she never stopped firmly massaging the feet of her beloved disciple.

"Hmph."

Erik, for his part, decided to "play dead" and silently enjoy the care of his masters, who, despite being in the middle of a "quarrel", never stopped massaging him with care and dedication, trying to relieve his fatigue as best they could. But the timid voice of Ignis rudely interrupted his moment of relaxation.

"You know, Erik, this student paid very close attention in your entire class and learned a lot..."

"Oh, and what should we do with such a diligent student?" Erik replied with an amused smile as he looked at Ignis, who lowered her head and timidly patted his chest, looking incredibly cute.

"I think you should reward her..." Ignis let the words slip out almost in a whisper, which made Erik's smile widen. He then added, trying to sound serious.

"I think that's a great idea. What would be a good reward for such a diligent student?"

"... Maybe a little mana and petting her feathers would be nice..."

Ignis answered while her body twisted slightly in embarrassment, which almost made Erik burst into laughter. Managing to hold it in with all his might, he replied in a tone meant to sound solemn.

"It seems that this very diligent student really does deserve a reward."

"Hehehe."

Hearing Erik's response, Ignis broke into a shy but delighted smile as she gently moved her wings, making the blue fire that formed her body dance in a nearly hypnotic rhythm.

With a big smile on his face, Erik began to stroke Ignis's fiery feathers while channeling a good amount of mana to her. At the same time, Eleonora and Sigrún's hands seemed frozen in the air, practically petrified where they were as they stared at Ignis in complete astonishment, unable to believe what they were seeing. But things got even worse moments later.

"Erik, your spirit companion also wants mana and for you to stroke her scales!" Seeing Ignis's pleasure, Ebonique announced in a confident and somewhat annoyed voice, prompting Erik to look at her with a playful smile and calmly remark.

"Oh, really? But the problem is, I'm currently rewarding the diligent students who paid close attention to my class and learned a lot..."

Upon hearing Erik's words and seeing his smile, Ebonique looked as if she'd been struck by lightning, receiving what seemed like a fatal blow. However, after a while, she appeared to steel herself and lowered her head. Then, in a somewhat timid voice, she spoke without daring to look Erik in the eye.

"I-I also paid very close attention to your class and learned a lot..."

"Then this very diligent student also deserves a reward."

Struggling to keep from bursting out laughing, Erik cheerfully replied as he extended his other hand, beginning to stroke Ebonique's scales while sending her mana. She started to make contented sounds, just like Ignis. Meanwhile, Eleonora, Sigrún, and Seraphina exchanged astonished looks, but Sigrún, feeling she shouldn't be left behind, gently tugged on Erik's big toe, drawing his attention.

Erik turned to look at his master, a bit confused, but his expression changed to surprise when she began to speak in a timid voice, almost a whisper, while her cheeks took on a seductive pink hue.

"Erik, this student also paid a lot of attention in your class and learned a lot..."

"Oh, and how should we reward such a diligent student?" Hearing his blonde master's words, Erik quickly asked back in a playful tone.

"A little kiss on the cheek would be fine..." Sigrún hid her face with her hair as her cheeks turned an even deeper shade of pink, her voice soft as silk.

Without uttering a word, Erik sat back up on the sofa, still holding Ignis and Ebonique against his chest, and then leaned over to his master. Once beside Sigrún, he kissed her cheek slowly and gently, taking his time to admire the flushed face of his master, making the blush on the beautiful, golden-haired master intensify dramatically, turning her face almost tomato red.

"Is this okay as a reward for my diligent student?"

When the kiss ended, Erik asked in a calm, playful tone, to which Sigrún, her face astonishingly red, turned her head and spoke in a voice so soft it was nearly inaudible, pointing at her other cheek.

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"A-another one here would be nice."

Erik happily smiled at Sigrún's adorable behavior. He then gave her other cheek an even slower kiss, causing the blush of the beautiful woman to extend down her neck, her eyes looking glassy and unfocused.

"Is this good?" Erik asked softly, and Sigrún nodded almost on autopilot, responding in a faint whisper.

"Y-yes."

"That's good..."

As Erik spoke, he suddenly felt someone gently pulling on his shirt, inevitably causing him to turn and see who it was—only to find Eleonora, who, like Sigrún, was trying to hide her face with her hair while speaking. But that didn't stop her burning blush from showing.

"Erik... This student also paid very close attention to your class and learned a lot..."

"Oh, and what kind of reward should this diligent student get?" Erik asked in a gentle tone, to which Eleonora shyly replied.

"A few kisses on the cheek should be enough..."

With great confidence, Erik kissed his master's cheeks slowly and gently, leaving Eleonora in a state very similar to Sigrún's—profoundly flushed, from her face down to her neck, her beautiful lips releasing a heavy, seductive breath.

"Is this okay?" he asked, his voice warm as he finished. Eleonora answered softly and timidly.

"Y-yes, that's good..."

"Ok..."

After he finished with Eleonora, Erik turned to Seraphina, who had her head lowered and was timidly raising her hand while small shivers ran through her body. Amused, Erik quickly asked in a slightly playful tone.

"Did student Seraphina also pay very close attention to my class and learn a lot?"

"..." Confronted with her young master's question, Seraphina shyly nodded, so Erik let out a pleasant smile and spoke softly.

"Then student Seraphina should come claim her reward."

After another timid nod, Seraphina walked quickly toward Erik with short steps, looking especially endearing. Erik kissed both her cheeks slowly, feeling with his lips the tender, soft skin of his maid.

But as Erik kissed his adorable maid, he noticed that even though she was incredibly red, her blush hadn't reached her neck yet. Feeling challenged, Erik slyly stuck out his tongue and discreetly licked one of her cheeks, taking care that his masters—still red-faced and dazed—wouldn't notice. As a result, Seraphina's blush ended up being the fiercest of them all.

Having now rewarded his "diligent students", Erik rested his head once more on Eleonora's lap and his feet on Sigrún's. Shortly thereafter, they resumed pampering and massaging him without a word, though it was evident they were doing so more slowly and far more gently than before.

Almost as if adding a final perfect touch to the scene, Seraphina sat elegantly on the floor beside the sofa, head still bowed, and began feeding Erik super-special cookies directly into his mouth. This was a new recipe Seraphina had perfected recently, even better than her normal special cookies.

Completely satisfied, Erik relaxed, enjoying the comfort of his position while he spoiled the cute spirits on his chest and relished the loving care of his masters and maid. Their faces, despite being crimson, now bore blissful and deeply content smiles as they pampered their dear disciple/master. Only one thought ran through Erik's mind.

(Life is really good...)

...

...

...

Time passed, and life on the cruiser carried on normally. Erik taught his classes twice a week while working on his other projects at the same time, and spent quality moments with his masters, Seraphina, Ebonique, and Ignis. Thought, the last two seemed more and more pampered and reluctant to be away from him with each passing day.

On the ship's upper deck, Erik stood before the siblings, accompanied by his masters and Seraphina, while the spirits rested on his shoulders and the wolves romped in their puppy forms a few meters away.

"Well, we'll soon be making a stop to pick someone up before heading home. I hope you remember that you now represent me, and I represent my masters, so I expect you to behave accordingly."

Erik spoke with a serious expression to the siblings, who exchanged slightly puzzled glances until Sofía raised her hand, looking somewhat confused.

"Boss, we're making a stop?"

Sofía asked as she peered outside the magnificent cruiser, where all she could see was a beautiful tropical landscape that hadn't changed since they arrived on the cruiser. Neither she nor her siblings understood what their boss meant by "making a stop".

"Oh, right—I forgot to mention that. My apologies." Erik chuckled, then murmured a few words that caused the tropical image outside to fade, replaced by a dark canvas crossed by multicolored transverse lines. The siblings were quite surprised to see this.

"We've been traveling. What you were seeing outside was the appearance of a warp channel—or, more precisely, what we can perceive of it."

The reason they had been projecting a tropical setting outside was quite simple: the monotonous view of warp travel's shifting lights was very boring. Besides, Sigrún had chosen that tropical background at the start of the journey to symbolize that they were on "vacation", and in the end, no one bothered to change it. After all, it looked great and was realistic enough, featuring day and night cycles, movement, and all the rest—almost like a live video feed of some far-off location in the galaxy.

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