AN: Here's a new chapter. I'll warn you in advance that this involves characters who are much less confident about sex than those in the typical MGE story, so there's lots of blushing and lots of ellipses…
Adam was surrounded by a warm darkness. He felt so comfortable that he had no desire to move a muscle. But the sounds of woodland animals intruded on the darkness, and he gradually began to stir.
He didn't open his eyes just yet. For now, he focused on the input from his non-visual senses. As his mind cleared, he could recognise the different calls and what animals they came from. He also began to realise that the warmth surrounding him wasn't even; instead, it was particularly intense to his left and in a line across his chest.
This is… the warmth of another person? And it's… even warmer than normal…
Adam snapped his eyes open. He now saw that Lilith was lying to his left, her arm on top of him. And her face was just inches away from his own…
If Adam had more experience with such situations, he might have been able to react in a calm and composed manner. But he had no experience at all, so he reacted by screaming and abruptly sitting up.
Naturally, Lilith woke up from the commotion. She blinked in confusion for a few seconds, then screamed as well. She rolled away from Adam, grabbed at her clothes—which were scattered around nearby—and used them to cover up her naked body.
It was only at this point that Adam realised he was naked as well. He looked around desperately and found his own clothes scattered nearby. He snatched them up and quickly pulled them on, but quickly realised that he couldn't find his shirt anywhere. He also couldn't find his armour nearby, which would normally have alarmed him since it meant he was vulnerable to attack, but right now he cared more about not being fully dressed.
Before—that wasn't a dream or anything—that was real! I—what should I—
Adam couldn't think of anything to say that would neatly resolve this situation. In the end, he took the coward's way out.
"I'm going to go over there—do some morning training—call me if you need anything!"
After saying this, Adam ran off into the woods.
-ooo-
Roughly ten minutes later, Adam was fully dressed and was somewhere on the west side of the mountain's base, in an area where there was less vegetation and more exposed rock.
Adam brought down his sword, cleaving a boulder in two with a single slash. He then marvelled at the results. The boulder was relatively small, its diameter being roughly half a man's height, but it was still solid stone and Adam shouldn't have been able to cleave it so easily.
It's not quite as easy as cutting through butter, but it's close, Adam thought. And…
Adam glanced at the remains of several other boulders, and also several logs, that he'd cut into pieces.
Even after all that exertion, even without trying to pace myself, I'm not even sore. I feel like I could keep going for fifty or even a hundred more of these. On top of that, I haven't even drawn any energy from my diamond.
That was another strange occurrence. Three days ago, Adam's energy-storing diamond had been depleted thanks to the fierce fighting in Lescatie and against Justinia. Now, it was completely refilled, something that would normally take a week or more. And the same was likely true for Lilith's diamond.
When that thought entered his mind, Adam shook his head rapidly and then hacked away at another boulder, reducing it to rubble.
I… can't believe… we did that… and we didn't stop for three days!
It was now clear that the recent events weren't merely a dream. But that didn't mean Adam had any idea of how to deal with them properly. All he could do was fall back on old habits and try to distract himself through training.
I… I didn't think we'd go nearly that far… I didn't think we'd lose control like that…
Adam infused his sword with spirit energy, causing it to glow a brilliant white. He brought it down and an arc of white power shot out from the blade, splitting the earth in two. When the dust cleared, there was a rift in the earth deep enough to completely conceal a man and longer than several houses. The sight of this destruction was enough to make Adam, even in his current state, pause.
And I've definitely grown stronger… It's not just that I'm full of energy, I can also use more of that energy at once than I could before… I've improved by at least as much as I did in Zipangu…
Adam took one hand off his sword and looked at it closely. His hand was visually identical to before, but Adam could discern a strong aura of spirit energy surrounding it, mixed with a fainter but still strong traces of demonic energy.
As Adam examined his hand, he heard a deep boom in the distance, accompanied by a pulse of demonic energy. Lilith was presumably also distracting herself with training.
Adam hesitated, but decided to head in Lilith's direction. He couldn't just hide himself forever, no matter how much he wanted to.
It took less than a minute for Adam to reach Lilith, by simply running through the woods while deftly avoiding obstacles. While he could move that quickly before, he generally didn't unless there was an emergency. Now… he felt so full of energy that he no longer bothered.
He found Lilith sitting on a log in a large clearing. Judging from her expression, she wasn't sitting down because she was tired, but because she was stunned by what she could now achieve. It was an expression that Adam imagined had been on his own face earlier.
And the clearing that Lilith was in was clearly unnatural. Adam spotted several fallen trees next to broken stumps, all drenched in water. Nearby were more fallen trees that had been cut down cleanly by a single slash—the angles of the cuts were identical. A third group of trees were still standing but were entirely coatd in ice, and said ice had yet to begin melting despite being exposed to the sun. Finally, there was a mound of soil with leaves protruding from it, which Adam realised was a fourth group of trees.
Water, wind, ice and earth magic… Only fire and lightning have been left out, to avoid starting a forest fire…
But I can't keep distracting myself. I have to… I have to face her.
"Lilith, are you alright?" Adam asked.
Lilith took a few seconds to respond, and when she did, she kept her eyes on the ground. "I… I'm fine. It's just… well, it's as you can see. I did all this, using just the energy in my own body, and I'm not even tired… I'm guessing you're the same?"
Adam nodded. However, he couldn't think of what to say next, so a few moments passed in awkward silence. Adam sat down next to Lilith on the log, and spent the time thinking of what to say.
"Lilith… this might be an awkward question, but… you don't feel pain anywhere, do you?" Adam eventually asked, while trying to keep his expression neutral.
"No, why?" Lilith said. "Are you feeling pain anywhere?"
Adam's attempt at keeping a neutral expression failed completely, as his cheeks burned with embarrassment and his eyes twitched.
"No… it's just that… well…" Adam said, trying to at least sound normal. "Something my friends used to say… back when they were still around… was that it could hurt… after… after doing it for too long…"
Lilith took a second to realise what Adam meant by "it", then she flinched. "I—I'm fine! If anything, I'm happy after that—no, I mean, I'm just—"
With her own cheeks bright red, Lilith turned away and hid her face with her hands. Her body trembled from head to toe. The sight left Adam lost for words again.
No… I came here to settle this matter! I can't just run away again!
"Lilith… are you alright with talking about a slightly different topic?" Adam asked.
After a few seconds of hesitation, Lilith nodded.
"Well… then let's talk about our newfound strength," Adam said. "It might sound strange, but I believe it's because of what we… have been doing for the past few days."
Just bringing this up made Adam tremble as well. It was ridiculous—he was a grown man who knew perfectly well what sexual intercourse was—but he couldn't stop his nervousness.
Slowly, hesitantly, Lilith turned to face Adam. She met his eyes, the two of them flinched, but neither looked away.
"That's true, but… there's no way that this can let us get energy for free," Lilith said. "It just can't be possible. This energy has to be coming from somewhere."
"Probably… that's something to investigate further," Adam said. "Perhaps we could head back to the sea and ask Poseidon about it?"
"I'd be ready to do anything to get answers," Lilith replied. "But first, what should we do about Justinia? She must have moved on by now, but we don't know where she went… I'm not saying we should fight her, obviously, but what if she finds us again?"
"Hmm… could you change both of our appearances, like you did when we were investigating the Lescatie underworld?" Adam asked. "That probably won't be enough to fool her directly, but it should stop her from hearing of us from anyone she talks to."
"That should work… okay, hold still…"
Lilith turned her hair blonde and her eyes green; similar to the appearance she had in Lescatie, except that currently she still had her succubus features. She then approached Adam—causing both of them to get nervous from the close proximity—and placed a hand on his head. A wave of magic washed over Adam, then Lilith took her hand away just a little too quickly.
Adam ran a hand through his hair and caught a loose hair between his fingers. It was bright red as opposed to his natural dark brown.
"I left your eyes the same since, well, they're already different from before," Lilith said.
"This should be enough," Adam said.
"Then, um, should we get started…?" Lilith said, keeping her eyes on the ground.
Adam suddenly remembered that their usual method of travelling quickly involved Lilith flying while carrying him. It was something that Adam had been able to endure before, even with his suppressed feelings for her, but after the events of the past three days…
But we can't just walk that distance, it would be a waste of time that would be better spent on other things…
Then Adam had an idea. "How about I run while you fly?" he suggested. "It would be a good way to test the limits of my new body."
"O-Okay," Lilith said. "Sorry about this…"
"It's not your fault," Adam said. "It's just… It's just… something we should do for now."
-ooo-
For the next few hours, Adam ran across the landscape with the speed of a horse at full gallop. Lilith flew somewhere above him, invisible. They had been maintaining this pace ever since they left the mountains, yet neither of them had tired yet. That was normal for Lilith, who could cover distance more efficiently while flying, but the previous Adam would have collapsed in exhaustion after less than an hour.
Adam was also wearing the demonic energy-suppressing bracelet now. Unlike Lilith, he had no practice at keeping his demonic energy hidden, so anyone who was experienced at fighting monsters could potentially sense his transformation. Wearing the bracelet made Adam feel like he was wrapped in an invisible blanket, but he could only put up with the sensation for now.
Along the way, the two of them saw a few villages in the distance, but they kept away from these. The chance of them running into anyone Adam knew was low, but if that did happen, it would be awkward to explain his new eye colour.
Their bodies' reserves weren't infinite, so Adam and Lilith stopped when noon arrived. However, they didn't have lunch as usual…
When Lilith landed and became visible again, Adam froze. The sight of her slightly covered in sweat caused him to have a number of related physiological reactions. And Lilith noticed these reactions, judging from the way she blushed and looked away.
After a few moments of awkward silence, Lilith said, "Well… while we don't know exactly why we're stronger all of a sudden… it doesn't seem like it's harmful or anything, so… we could try… try doing it again?"
Lilith's voice became incredibly faint towards the end, but Adam had no trouble hearing her. It seemed as if one ability of his new body was to always understand her.
"I… don't have any problems with that," Adam said, trying—and failing—to not sound eager.
With a mix of trepidation and anticipation, the two of them moved closer to each other.
…While they didn't keep going for three days this time, they nevertheless continued until night arrived. And neither of them felt hungry at all, but they still gathered some food to eat, just to maintain some semblance of normality.
-ooo-
Two days later, they reached the coast. The journey had been uneventful, at least in the sense that they hadn't encountered anything dangerous. However… Adam and Lilith hadn't been able to keep their hands off each other… or their lips… or various other body parts that made Adam blush just thinking about them.
Never have I been so glad that my old friends are no longer around. Not because they wouldn't approve of me… being with a monster, but because they'd be absolutely merciless about us acting like… like insatiable newlyweds…
And yet… it feels like we're even stronger now… though we've yet to test that in a true fight. So we… for multiple reasons… cannot stop…
But the sea was now in sight, so Adam put these thoughts to the side for now.
Adam and Lilith stepped into the water. They still had Poseidon's charms with them, so they felt no discomfort.
Come to think of it, we can stay underwater for as long as we want… so just what would it feel like if we—
Adam pinched his face to banish that thought. It didn't work at first, so he pinched himself again.
Lilith cleared her throat and said, "Poseidon, if it's alright with you, we need your help again!"
A few seconds later, a volume of water changed colour, forming the appearance of a tall woman with sea-green eyes and hair, who wore a gown woven from water currents and ice crystals.
"I am here," Poseidon said with a motherly smile. "Now, what is the mat…ter?"
Poseidon looked closely at Adam, who flinched at the attention; even now, he still felt nervous under the gaze of a literal goddess.
"Your eyes and… you now have demonic energy?" Poseidon said, her eyes wide. "In addition to spirit energy? Just what has happened to you?"
That question naturally caused Adam and Lilith to remember the events that led to the former's transformation… and also what happened soon afterwards. They blushed simultaneously.
"…It seems that quite a lot has happened since our last meeting," Poseidon said. "Then could you explain it all, starting from the beginning?"
Adam took a deep breath to calm himself down, then said, "Well, after our last meeting with you, we spent a month in Zipangu to train ourselves…"
Over the next quarter of an hour, Adam and Lilith talked about their time in Lescatie and the fierce battle that had left the city gutted, then they talked about the fallen hero Justinia. The latter caused Poseidon brought a hand to her mouth.
"I've lived for a long time and seen many things… but I've never seen anyone who's chosen a path like that," Poseidon said. "For that to be the true reason for the massacres… She must be stopped. A peace sustained by slaughtering people like livestock is no true peace at all."
"That's true, but it might be difficult to, well, stop her," Lilith said. "We tried, and…"
The explanation concluded with the revelation of Adam being mortally wounded, then healed by Lilith by transforming him into a completely different being, and then… and then they took the next step in their relationship, which apparently resulted in them both inexplicably growing stronger.
"It's strange, but… it seems to be the only explanation," Adam said. "Ours is the only known case of… of a human and a succubus being together as something other than prey and predator."
"But it can't be that easy, can it?" Lilith said. "There's no way people can grow stronger just from… just from this?"
Poseidon rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "I've never heard of anything that's the same as what you two have achieved… However, I should point out that energy can, in fact, be created from nothing. That is what the original Chief God did when creating this world, after all…"
"But we're not gods, and the only god we have contact with is you, Poseidon," Adam pointed out.
"That's true… though I do wonder about the mysterious voice that Lilith heard while she was transforming you," Poseidon said. "I always thought I was alone in my opinions, but… I wonder if I should try talking to some of the other gods…"
The prospect of having more gods on their side was encouraging. It didn't fully compensate for the multiple gods that were on the side of preserving the status quo, including the most powerful god of all, but it helped.
"To get a better understanding of this phenomenon, I would need to…" Poseidon said, before trailing off.
"What would you need to do?" Adam asked.
Poseidon blushed. "I… well… I would need to see it for myself. You grow stronger each time you… couple… don't you?"
That caused Adam and Lilith to blush as well. They glanced at each other, then turned away.
"That's… not wrong…" Adam admitted.
"Of course, this is your choice!" Poseidon added quickly. "I won't force you into anything!"
Adam and Lilith nervously glanced at each other again. This time, they didn't look away.
This increased strength we have is undeniable… and we aren't in a situation where we can afford to not use it. But to do this in front of someone else…
Judging from the look on her face, Lilith was thinking the exact same thing. The two of them seemed to be perfectly synchronised with each other.
"That's… alright…" Adam said.
"We have to… find out what this is…" Lilith added.
Poseidon nodded, though she was clearly embarrassed at her own suggestion. "Then… to make you more comfortable, I'll disperse this avatar…"
The avatar of Poseidon reverted to normal, transparent water.
It looked like Adam was going to find out earlier than expected what it was like to have sexual intercourse underwater. But Adam looked at Lilith, who was trembling just as much as he was. This… was not the mood for intimate activities.
"I guess we'd better start," Lilith said. "We… have to know what's going on…"
Lilith placed her hands on Adam's face. Her warmth went a long way towards dispelling Adam's nervousness.
We'd better finish this quickly. We don't want to… to make a god wait for longer than necessary…
-ooo-
Thirty minutes later, Adam and Lilith separated and silently dressed themselves. Despite their earlier trepidation, they had become quite enthusiastic once they had started.
Poseidon recreated an avatar of herself out of water. She was unable to meet Adam or Lilith's eyes.
After an awkward silence that seemed to stretch on for multiple minutes, Lilith asked, "So… did you figure anything out?"
"Well, I learned just that young ones can be quite energe—no, that's not important!" Poseidon said, her eyes flicking around. "As a matter of fact, I did learn something about your mutual increase in strength!"
That caught Adam's attention. "What did you learn?"
"It seems that when Lilith absorbs spirit energy from you, she gains demonic energy that's greater than what's been absorbed," Poseidon explained. "And she returns—apparently unconsciously—a portion of that energy to you, so the overall result is that you both have more energy than before. As for the increase in strength, that seems to be a phenomenon similar to a river's banks being widened by a stronger flow of water."
"But a succubus' energy drain shouldn't increase the total amount of energy," Lilith said. "And while I didn't pay much attention to my lessons on that, for obvious reasons, I remember hearing that it absorbs a little less energy than the victim loses… some of the energy is just wasted into the air."
"And if this increase in strength is because of that, then could that potentially harm our bodies?" Adam asked. "It sounds like quite a forceful method of growing stronger…"
"Regarding the issue you raised, Lilith: I'm not sure, but it seems that energy is being created from nothing. I can't feel either of you taking in any energy from the environment," Poseidon said. "As for your question, Adam: I can't feel any problems with either of your bodies, so it seems that it should be harmless… for now, at least."
They now had divine confirmation that it was possible for a human and a succubus in love to mutually strengthen themselves through sexual intercourse. It was absolutely nonsensical, it was the kind of thing that would never be mentioned even in the most badly written of stories, but it was their reality.
"I'm sorry I cannot be of more help to you…" Poseidon said.
"No, this is already extremely helpful," Adam said. "Thanks to your advice, we're now in a better position to decide on our next move."
"It's still hard to believe, but we have to accept it," Lilith said. "Thank you, Poseidon."
"I'm always here for you to call on," Poseidon said with a smile. "And if you ever want to continue—no, never mind! Just call on me if you need my help again!"
The image of Poseidon disappeared again… though Adam could swear that he saw her blushing as she left.
With that divine consultation over, Adam and Lilith slowly walked back to the shore. When they left the water, the cold winds of late autumn blew over their wet bodies, yet neither of them shivered; another benefit of Poseidon's charms. Still, Lilith summoned up a small flame to dry herself and Adam.
"That's one question answered… partially, at least," Adam said. "We now know that we can… continue doing this, and it should be beneficial rather than harmful."
Lilith opened her mouth to speak, but then snapped it shut.
"What's the matter, Lilith?" Adam asked.
"I was just going to say… that even if we didn't get a good answer from Poseidon, I'm not sure either us would be willing to stop," Lilith said.
Both Adam and Lilith blushed and looked away. But the latter's words couldn't be denied. The two of them had an unbreakable bond, and now they also desired each other on a fundamental level.
"More importantly," Adam said, trying to change the subject, "where should we go next?"
"Lescatie was in bad shape the last time we saw it, but starting to heal," Lilith said, though there was still some red in her cheeks. "Apart from that… while we were in Lescatie, didn't we hear about the Dragai Empire? That country where dragons are tortured into serving as mounts for humans?"
"Yes, that sounds like a good place for us to visit," Adam said. "And with our newfound strength, we should be able to make a difference there."
Though of course, strength alone would not be enough to change a society. For that to work, they would need to have local support as well… And in any case, they were still far from being the strongest in the world.
"Then let's get moving," Lilith said. She looked at Adam. "Um, I've calmed down compared to a few days ago, so should I start carrying you now? I mean, you've already gotten used to your new body, and it would be faster if we fly…"
Adam still felt a little embarrassment at the prospect, but he nodded and replied, "Yes, that's alright."
Lilith wrapped her arms around Adam. The action made Adam's heart thump in anticipation of more, but he was able to control himself enough that he didn't react in any other way. Then Lilith spread her wings and took off.
As they flew through the air, Adam felt the wind even more strongly than before. It seemed that Lilith, no longer needing to slow herself down to keep pace with Adam, could fly even faster than she could five days ago. Now, Adam suspected she was faster than any bird and as fast as a harpy or other flight-specialised monster.
Adam looked up at his partner. Illuminated in the crimson rays of the evening sun, she had never looked so beautiful before.
At that moment, Lilith put just a little more pressure into her arms around Adam. She could sense just what he was thinking… and she clearly liked it.
-ooo-
The Great Dragai Empire was a remote country to the north, so remote that Adam had spent most of his life knowing almost nothing about it. He'd certainly never expected to visit it in person. But with Lilith's improved flight speed, it took them just two hours to reach it after they left the coast.
The sun had fully set when Adam and Lilith arrived, so they weren't able to see the landscape quite as clearly as if it was still daytime. Still, the light of the last quarter moon was bright enough for them to discern the outlines of countless mountains, some of which dwarfed any mountain they'd ever seen before.
And they could also discern the lights of fires and the silhouettes of people running around. They could hear frenzied cries and the clash of metal against metal. These were the unmistakeable signs of battle.
AN: Now the story is on an unstoppable course towards canon.
And now you know why Poseidon will later want to be monsterised.