"Bring it on! Do you think This Princess is afraid of you?" Noelle proudly lifted her little head. She had noticed earlier that her time to gather a large water sphere was just a bit slower than Asta digging one canal. Even if Asta could improve his speed, it couldn't be too outrageous, right?
Furthermore, after these two times of pushing past her limits, she was becoming more and more skilled at gathering water spheres. So she believed she could gather them even faster than before. Combined with the pride of being a Princess, she agreed immediately.
"The bet is that whoever loses has to give the other a massage, how about it?" Asta pointed to the silk sofa Vanessa had created and grinned. Because no matter who won or lost this bet, he would make a huge profit!
"Fine! As you wish, commoner!" Noelle didn't realize the trap within, nodding her silver head with a little tsundere attitude.
"Then let's start now!" After saying that, Asta grabbed the demon-slayer sword and, like an old farmer who had been tilling the land for ten years, his posture was as standard as could be. His digging speed was also a few points faster than before, but at this rate, he definitely wouldn't be able to beat Noelle.
"Hmph, nothing special. Today you're definitely giving me a massage!" Noelle felt secretly happy inside. She was so immersed in the joy of her impending victory that she didn't realize that a massage would involve physical contact!
"Hehe, little girl, watch me imitate Xiao Yan and massage you into my Xiao Xun'er!" Asta's ambition was not small. This time, whether he gave Noelle a massage or Noelle gave him one, he wanted to experience both—to have his cake and eat it too!
So, for this first bet, he feigned a narrow defeat, then gave Noelle a massage with a look of regret, taking the opportunity to propose a second bet, and then narrowly defeating Noelle. This way, he could massage Noelle and also have Noelle massage him.
Thinking of this, Asta couldn't help but laugh. He really felt he was incredibly clever!
"Pervert!" Noelle noticed Asta's smile and immediately spat out. She really didn't know how she had been captivated by such a goofball!
"The first one is almost done!" Asta was going all out at this moment, swinging the demon-slayer sword over a dozen times per second. Under such high-intensity digging, his speed was truly off the charts, and it made Noelle's eyes go wide!
"Is he even human?" Noelle swallowed hard, instantly feeling the pressure multiply. She hurriedly closed her eyes to focus on storing Water Magic.
"Hehe!" Asta saw that Noelle had taken the bait and couldn't have been happier.
"Okay... I'm almost done!" Noelle felt she had stored enough and suddenly opened her beautiful pink eyes. Controlling the massive water sphere, she smashed it into the third canal Asta had dug, while Asta was currently at the end of the fourth canal.
"I won!" Noelle jumped up happily.
"I didn't expect Little Noelle's explosive power to so strong. Oh well, a bet is a bet. I'll give you a massage!" Asta said regretfully.
"Hmph!" Noelle went to the sofa with a tsundere attitude, then lay down. "Yesterday, running all the way to Wind and Thunder Village made my legs hurt, so you can massage my legs!"
"Okay!" Asta came to Noelle's side properly. His technique was very experienced because, for those who practice taijutsu, massage is an essential skill.
"So... so comfortable!" Noelle was a little nervous at first, but Asta's hands seemed to have a magical power. When massaging her legs, not only was the pressure just right, but a warm energy also penetrated into her body, relieving the muscle soreness.
"Done!" Asta played hard to get, deliberately stopping the massage just when Noelle was most comfortable.
"Stupid Asta, why did you stop?" Noelle pouted and protested.
"I'm a bit unconvinced about losing. Noelle, shall we compete again?" Asta began to set his conditions.
"No way, unless you massage me for another half hour!" Noelle intentionally kept a straight face. From childhood to now, this was truly the first time she had enjoyed a massage. This wonderful feeling was truly addictive.
"Okay!" Asta smiled slightly, then began to massage even harder. Don't think that massage is just pounding and hitting; the highest level of massage technique involves infusing Chakra to thoroughly relieve muscle soreness from the inside. Not to mention the inexperienced Noelle, even when Asta was first massaged like this by Might Guy, he was so pleased he couldn't help but shout. It was really comfortable!
Half an hour later, Noelle had fallen asleep without knowing it.
"This little girl, wake up. Sleeping outside will catch a cold!" Asta patted Noelle's little cheek.
"Annoying Asta, I just fell asleep!" Noelle said, bleary-eyed, with a trace of drool inadvertently leaking from the corner of her mouth. She looked incredibly cute.
"If I lose this round again, wouldn't you get to enjoy another massage?" Asta laughed.
"That's true!" Noelle immediately perked up at the thought and stood up, saying, "Tell me how to compete this time!"
"Same old rules: I dig two canals, and you store one water sphere that can fill the canal!" Asta said.
"Ah? Still digging canals?" Noelle looked at Asta in surprise. "We've already dug four twelve-meter-long canals. Are you sure we should keep digging?"
"Of course!" Asta said with a smile. The river training ground was now quite substantial; connecting four 12-meter-long river channels resulted in a length of 48 meters. If two more were added, the length would reach 72 meters—that would truly be spectacular!
"Fine, bring it on!" Noelle suddenly felt that having a large river in front of the headquarters didn't seem so bad; when she was in a bad mood, she could look at the water to relax.
"Alright, let's start!" Asta took out his demon-slayer sword. "Gate of Opening! Open!" He immediately opened the first gate of the Eight Gates. With that, Asta's speed practically doubled!
"You, you, you—you're using that cheating technique again!" Noelle was instantly dumbfounded. How was she supposed to compete with that?
But soon, Noelle gritted her teeth. How could a Princess admit defeat? She had to give it her all!
"Good spirit!" Asta saw Noelle's defiant expression out of the corner of his eye and suddenly thought that Noelle, when she was serious, was actually quite cute!
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