H Tales Of A Reincarnated Elf

by Stayrr

I was a good looking prince when I was reborn, and because I could do indecent things as much as I like, I decided to make a harem while traveling with a beautiful female elf Formerly an otaku, the hero who was just reincarnated became a handsome elf prince of another world. In his previous life he was just a plain-faced man, so in this world he uses his high position as a prin

147. Leveling Through Lust (21-40)

Read Leveling through Lust Chapter 21: Changing Circumstances online for free - AllNovelFull

Chapter 21: Changing Circumstances

It didn't take long for me to find Marianne, as only one of the storage rooms had an unlocked door. An amateur mistake, if a servant had passed around, they would've locked her inside. She could have blasted herself out magically, but I didn't think that she would appreciate the resulting paperwork.

When I walked inside, I used a simple spell to lock the door behind me, as I didn't want any interruption. In the room, Marianne was waiting for me on a chair, but jumped up to her feet the moment I had walked inside. I could see the nervousness on her face, but no fear, making it unlikely that she had been planning an ambush.

"You're the one that invited me here," I said, but kept my voice soft, to avoid making the situation too confrontational.

Her blush intensified under my expectant gaze, but it didn't prevent her from speaking out. "I wanted to talk to you about something you promised to do," she said, managing to keep her voice even, but I could see just how much effort it took for her to maintain it.

"A promise?" I said, despite fully knowing what she had been talking about. She whispered something, too low to be heard even with my enhanced senses. "Sorry," I murmured. "Can you repeat it in a voice that I can hear."

"You mentioned that you might be willing to give me a massage," she whispered, but this time, it was a whisper loud enough for me to hear, even with her voice dwindling alongside the sentence.

"Yeah, I remember mentioning something like that," I said, doing my best to suppress a hungry smirk, but only with partial success. I had been expecting her to eventually fold to her own desires, especially since I had blocked the option of Cornelia, but I hadn't been expecting it to be so soon. Apparently, the treatment she had received during my undercover-maid career had spoiled her worse than I had been expecting.

She waited for me to continue, but I was contending in stopping there, and waiting for her to continue. It took several seconds for her to realize I was finished, and an equal amount of time to gather her courage for the next words. "May I take you up in that order," she managed to say, this time managing to keep her voice about a whisper, but barely.

Stringing her along was a tempting idea, but in her fragility, it was equally likely that it would backfire, sending her with a retreat. It wasn't a risk I was willing to take, simply because she wasn't the only one that was feeling horny. I temporarily lost my access to Helga after discarding my ranger personality, and my attempts to woo Aviada had been delayed thanks to her ex-fiancee —though luckily, not anymore. Willing access to Marianne was not something I could gamble. "Sure," I said with a shrug before turning the impact of my charisma to the max, my speech skill helping me to time the delivery perfectly. "I could never disappoint such a lovely lady."

"T-thanks," she stammered, a sudden blush invading her face. I suspected that the beginnings of a crush rooted in her, the help of the mystery that surrounded me helping it significantly as well. If there was one thing I learned from my encounters until now -confirmed by wisdom- women loved the aura of a mysterious stranger.

"Would you prefer to use the storage, or would you like me to sneak into your room," I said, only after letting it leave my mouth that I noticed the rather dangerous slip I had made.

"You can sneak into my room!" she said in alarm, making me curse myself for the momentary slip. Apparently, even my wisdom stat wasn't the panacea for the foot-in-the-mouth disease.

"Well, I have a couple of paramours that I had occasionally met in their rooms, so, as long as you lower the wards and leave the door unlocked, it's not that hard of a challenge," I said in a casual tone. There were three reasons I came up with that excuse. The first, it further devalued the secret of my status in her mind. The second, it normalized our situation while simultaneously suggesting that anything between us would stay secret as well. Third, people liked to know they weren't alone in breaking the rules.

The fourth, it implied that I wasn't good at magic, not enough to break a standard alarm spell without triggering it, without me explicitly committing to that fact, so if needed, allowing me to break it without being busted. Assumptions could be as dangerous as a sword if wielded correctly.

I could see the curiosity flashing on her face the moment I had mentioned my other supposed paramours, which then turned red as she imagined the implied scenes… "Here is fine," she murmured hurriedly.

"Sure," I said, then noticed a cot that was lying on the floor. "I see that you're already prepared." She nodded softly. "Why don't you lay down and we can start." I let my smirk widen. "Unless you want to remove your robe, of course."

"No, with robe is fine," she said rapidly as she threw herself on the makeshift massage table she had prepared on the floor.

I was amazed at the speed she was folding. Apparently, she was weaker to the withdrawal of pleasure even worse than my wildest expectations. As I closed in, my attention was grabbed by the subtle shiver of her skin, signaling her anticipation, mixed with trepidation. After all, to her knowledge, it was the first time a man was touching her skin in such an intimate manner.

I started by her neck, applying the full range of my massage skills to the fore from the start, trying to show her the difference between the so-called apprentice and the master. Thankfully, I had never applied my full range of capabilities while I was under the guise of Selena, not to mention my capabilities increased quite a bit due to my stat increase since our last encounter.

And it showed. A subtle purr started before even the turn of the minute, though it was short-lived, terminated the moment she realized she was making it. She sent a fleeting glance towards me to check whether I had noticed it, only to find a smug smile. "Maybe it was a bad idea-" she started as she tried to rise, for the first time realizing the vulnerable situation she put herself in.

The interruption came in a fun way. I slid my hand down as she started to speak, pressing a sensitive spot, and a pleasure-filled gasp interrupted her words. "If you prefer," I answered callously, even as my hand danced on her back, destroying the stiffness that had been accumulated. "But you're rather stiff, are you sure you want to stop early."

If she could have answered in the first few seconds, the answer had been likely to be positive, but with her mouth occupied by moaning, she failed to answer. And when she managed to control her voice, the situation had changed. With her heartbeat thumping under my finger, clear despite the layers of clothing on the way, I doubted that it would be effective. "Maybe a just another minute," she murmured, sealing her fate even if she didn't know it yet.

From my end, the next half an hour passed in a familiar routine, pleasuring her without touching any scandalous spots while carefully reading her reactions to keep her on the edge. It was another sign of her naivety that she failed to recognize that tactic until it was too late despite already experiencing it several times from his disguised persona.

[200 Experience]

I smiled at the notification. Not because of its value, as it was rather paltry for such a long effort, but it lacked the penalty indicator, suggesting she was still at a higher level than me, which meant that I still had a convenient target to level up. Especially important, because I was yet to discover how the penalties were going to scale up with the level difference.

"Raise your arms," I ordered her in a soft but even tone, one that expected casual obedience, like a teacher asking a student to show her answer. Under normal conditions, even with my speech and charisma, it wouldn't have worked, but the situation was far from normal. She raised her arms, and I pulled her robe off her, its buttons I had untied beforehand without her noticing.

It took surprisingly long for her to realize that she had lost a layer of clothing, leaving her shirt and skirt with the task of protecting her body. Both were relatively conservative, but regardless, the lost layer meant that even the simplest of my touch had a renewed intensity. It was certainly amusing that when she turned her head in a way that she considered subtle, trying to come up with a way to argue against me removing her robe, but a mocking glare was enough to deter her, reminding her just how much it took to realize it.

It was another mistake, of course, but at this point, it was inevitable. She had been struggling under my touch, making things awkward in a way that would ensure a difference of opinion, without causing a total crisis.

Still, there was a lot I could integrate without giving her a reason to raise that difference of opinion. I focused along her spine, occasionally dipping as low as the small of her back before rising up, every retreat earning a disappointed sigh that she no doubt thought as unheard.

She was finally ready for more.

At first, I limited myself to intensifying the movement of my fingers, pushing her even closer to the edge, so that an accidental touch would be enough to put her on the other side. I could see her legs starting to rub against each other, which, unfortunately, would be enough to push her over the edge, so I placed my knee between her thighs.

"Mercy," she murmured as she sent a pitiful expression to my way, but it met with an infertile field. Why would I let her escape my trap after spending all that time

"You want your release?" I asked, this time, abandoning my clinical tone for a dark amusement. Earlier, that tone would have sent her away packing, but now, it only made her shiver helplessly. She nodded. "Answer using words," I countered, my smile widening.

"Yes," she murmured.

"Excellent," I said as I grabbed her shirt with both hands, and with a rather loud noise, ripped it off, the enchanted fabric unable to resist my improved strength. She shouted in a panic, but her attempts to stand up prevented by my hands, rubbing her now-naked shoulders. "Calm down, sweetie, the shirt blocks most of the pleasure, so I got rid of it. Of course, if you want to experience the weak version…"

"No, that's fine," she answered after a moment's indecision. Her flare of disobedience dissipated, leaving me free to rub her naked skin, to mentally prepare her for the next step.

While on that step, I couldn't help but think about Cornelia's failure to instill obedience on Marianne, which was a poor showing of skill on Cornelia's part. All she needed was to drag her around a bit, dangling the prospect of the pleasure in front of her, and Marianne would have folded like a house of cards. But instead, Cornelia prioritized her immediate pleasure with her usual impatience, forcing her to look alternatives where she could dominate with her power. And if all went according to the plan, that approach would be the reason Cornelia ended up in front of me, bent and weakened.

I turned my attention back to Marianne, who was rumbling and mewling under the throes of pleasure, her rationality dwindling with each passing second, replaced with mindless arousal. It was the time to enhance the situation with a touch of magic, I decided in a sudden moment of inspiration. With my advanced biomancy, it was easy to put a temporary spell that would prevent her from climaxing no matter how much pleasure she felt. And applied slowly, she didn't have a chance of noticing the spell in her distracted state.

[2 Biomancy]

[-30 Mana]

And with the specter of accidentally making her climax gone, I decided to cut loose, my hands dancing over shoulders without restraining before started a journey south, destroying the hooks of her corset one by one, each ruining her coverage a bit more. But she missed that development, preoccupied with the unbroken rise of pleasure that nevertheless failed to break the dam that held it together, failing to turn into an unquenchable flood.

[300 Experience]

I moved onto her thighs, leaving her corset parted open, which partially revealed her spectacular breasts, tempting me to attend them, but I had a more precious target in mind. After I arrived at her thighs, I suddenly reversed the direction, but with a caveat. My hand was under her skirt, pushing it up, revealing her milky thighs bit by bit while also caressing the softness of her inner thighs.

Her moans increased further, to a point when she didn't reach when her skirt received the same treatment with her shirt, abandoned to the side, its task left to her panties, which was rather insufficient in hiding her deliciously-curvy bottom.

Her thoughts finally managed to push through her haze when I sank my fingers mercilessly to her bottom, abandoning any pretense of giving a massage, mauling her flesh for my own pleasure. She tried to rise, using her trembling hands to support herself as her torso separated from the makeshift-mattress. "That's too much," she managed to say, miraculously, without being interrupted by a moan, though that determination only lasted a moment, and one escaped her mouth, functioning as the punctuation for her sentence. Unfortunately, it was a question mark where an exclamation mark was needed.

I elected not to answer, instead of letting my eyes dance over her torso pointedly. It took a moment for her to realize her corset hadn't risen with her, leaving her breasts naked for my perusal. A yelp escaped her mouth as she pulled one of her arms from the floor, trying to wrap around her chest to hide her breasts from the view. It had limited success, as her breasts were too magnificent to be hidden behind her fragile forearm.

"Sexy," I said as I leaned forward, my knees still on both sides of her hips, and closed in towards her. Panic danced behind her eyes, but otherwise, she was frozen in panic, the thick layer of pleasure that filled her mind preventing her from taking an action.

I grabbed her hair, just rough enough to create another layer for the pleasure she was drowning in, and leaned to her lips to a torturous slowness, and pressed my lips against hers, which stayed firmly shut.

At first, that was.

She lacked the strength and, more importantly, the willpower to resist the assault of my tongue into her mouth, which invaded the target without opposition.

[1000 Experience]

[Achievement: Pushy Persuasion. Use an aggressive approach to seduce a nice-mannered beauty. 500 Experience, 2 Strength]

Her arm trembled in shock, which forced her to use the other for support as well, leaving her breasts naked. The room was chilly, so in my usual merciful state, I decided to help her, my free hand sinking into her breasts. She tried to moan, but it dissipated between the assault of my tongue and the tight grasp of my lips.

My pants were getting uncomfortably tight, but still, removing them would be too extreme for the moment. But luckily, it wasn't the only solution. I lowered my body until my hardness was stuck between her rather generous booty, receiving a delicious massage as I moved back and forth, and the pleasure compounded when her hips started to move in the same rhythm with mine.

She deserved a reward. My hand, which was previously occupied with her breasts, started to travel down, and reaching her panties. I kept it over rather than sliding inside, but the difference wasn't big, as the fabric, drenched in her juices, was well-past the point of being able to perform as a barrier, however feeble.

[500 Experience]

Under the multidimensional assault she was suffering, it didn't take long for her surrender to be complete. Her lips joined the heated dance as a participant rather than a helpless observer that suddenly found herself on the scene. I stopped grabbing her hair, preferring to enjoy the expanse of her breasts, but it didn't earn a negative comment, just more moans.

But kissing and caressing her wasn't the only thing I had done, no matter how enjoyable it had been. I was simultaneously using my magic to prepare her backdoor for the eventual assault, cleaning and lubricating at the same time, another spell she failed to notice in her distracted state. Biomancy had so many amusing little applications.

Meanwhile, the treatment she received continued to intensify, my fingers dancing around her clit, increasing the build-up of pleasure further and further, her moans getting desperate enough to escape the confines I painstakingly built.

[3 Biomancy]

[-15 Mana]

[750 Experience]

Then, without a warning, I grabbed the edge of her panties, destroying them with a rough pull. She was still not completely naked, but considering that it was limited to her shoes and a necklace that dangled between her breasts, I would admit that it wasn't a big issue…

It was the time to move onto the second act, I decided as I pushed her on the floor.

——————–

[Level: 10 Experience: 50475 / 55000

Strength: 13 Charisma: 15

Precision: 11 Perception: 11

Agility: 12 Manipulation: 15

Speed: 9 Intelligence: 12

Endurance: 10 Wisdom: 18

HP: 550 / 550 Mana: 630 / 710 ]

SKILLS

[Advanced Subterfuge (50/50)

Advanced Arcana [50/50]

Advanced Biomancy [44/50]

Advanced Melee 29/50

Basic Speech 25/25 ]

Chapter 22: Joyful Encounter

Marianne's breath escaped her mouth explosively as she collided on the floor. She lay motionless for a moment, trying to process the change in her addled mind, giving me just enough time to remove my pants, catching up with her in the scale of nakedness. I used the opportunity to remove her shoes as well, leaving her necklace as the only piece of accessory on her body.

Then, she managed to gather her wits enough to turn back, only to lose her breath once more. Unsurprisingly, I might add, even if it was a touch arrogant. During the last few weeks, my body had transformed from a shapeless blob into a chiseled masterpiece, a visual impact that was further enhanced by aura granted by my charisma. And to crown it all, my erection stood between my legs, dangerously present…

"N-no," she managed to say in shock, but it was a fleeting denial, ready to flutter away with the slightest wind. A wind that I was happy to provide, I thought even as I pressed my hand at her entrance, delivering a jolt of pleasure to her naked skin. Whatever she was going to say next disappeared into a moan that echoed on the walls, loud enough to force me to rapidly construct a silencing ward to prevent a wayward servant from checking the room.

[1000 Experience]

[-25 Mana]

"Really, you don't want it," I said even as my fingers danced around her clit, triggering a new wave of pleasure that threatened to drown her without the escape valve of a climax.

It took four tries for her to answer properly, the first three melting down whenever I gently caressed her entrance, aborting her words in lieu of another moan. "My virginity," she managed to murmur at the fourth one.

"Why didn't you tell me so, honey?" I answered with an exaggerated cheer. "That's easy to solve." What I was talking about was easy to decipher when I jammed my thumb to her backdoor entrance, which I already magically prepared and cleaned for an intense session of lovemaking. It didn't prevent her from letting out a shocked cry, which was more pleasure than pain; inevitable at her current state. "Isn't that better?"

"N-no," she said, or more accurately, that was what I deduced she was trying to say. It was more of a gasp than a word, impossible to decipher even for my enhanced senses.

"Can you clarify, sweetie," I said even as I pushed my thumb deeper, enjoying the way she had clamped around my fingers. She tried to shift position, but I was ready for it, and put my left hand on her back, pinning her in place. She tried to stand up, but it was a weak, reluctant move, easily aborted by the weight of my hand alone. And when my other fingers joined the fray by circling around her knob, even that ineffectual resistance faded away.

[1500 Experience]

I maintained the position for a while, but my pace picked up speed. When I decided to let another finger to join my thumb in its efforts to loosen her puckered hole for the next step, I let my other hand start dancing on her back, bringing her pleasure to an even sharper state of overwhelming,

I could see that she was ready for the next step. The biggest evidence for it was the lack of protest even as I pulled my hand away, and placed my erection between her plump cheeks, sliding back and forth rapidly. This time, unlike my previous disguised state, there was no missing what was there, but like before, she let out no words of protest. She did send a glance back -which took a great effort on her part in her exhausted state- but in her eyes, there was only helpless surrender against the demands of her body.

"I hope you're ready," I said even as I changed the position a bit, aligning the tip of my shaft against her entrance, but just before I pushed in, I slapped my forehead in an exaggerated manner. "I forgot to lubricate it," I said as I stood up and walked towards her other end. "Damn, what are we going to do?"

"W-what?" she murmured as she struggled to raise her head, and when she did so, she found herself just an inch away from my erection.

"Simple, honey," I said. "I can't, in good conscience, take your ass without a lubricant, it would hurt too much. If only there was a solution," I said, making a show of waiting for a few seconds before letting my face brighten. "I found it," I said even as I pushed my shaft forward, touching her lips.

The expression of scandalous shock on her face, thick enough to push through her pleasure-addled brain, was hilarious. It was likely that, as a noble heiress, she hadn't once considered she would hear such a scandalous offer, let alone receive that offer in such a visceral manner. "I would never-" she started, but I was quick to cut her.

"That's okay if you think that was enough for today," I said with a shrug, but kept my position stable. The level of desperation on her face as for the first time, she realized the depth of her mistake, enhanced further by the inescapable situation of it. She could have called it off, of course, but we both knew that it wasn't a real option, not with her body drowning in unmet pleasure.

She was mine.

"Good girl," I said as I patted her head patronizingly, which managed to awaken her annoyance, even if it was just for a moment before it was drowned by her desperate arousal. "Now, open wide, it's the time for your medicine."

The humiliating way I formed that order didn't prevent her from following it. She widened her mouth, surrendering to the inevitable invasion. The warmth around my shaft was positively delicious, enough to finally deplete my frayed patience. Instead of pushing it gently, allowing her to get used to my presence, I lunged forward in one sharp push, until the tip of my shaft was tickling the entrance of her throat.

It wasn't the nicest thing to do, but the resulting pleasure was too thick to ignore. I grabbed the back of her head, and pushing her even deeper, preventing her breathing. She gagged and gasped in a vain attempt to breathe while I enjoyed the virginal tightness of her throat. The tremors of her desperate moans increased the sensation even further.

A minute later, in a moment of mercy, I pulled out, examining her face, tears of strain filling her face, but it was nothing compared to the euphoria that was on her face. "Did you enjoy that, you whore," I said even as I caressed her cheek with a contrasting gentleness, and received an obedient nod in reply.

"Excellent," I said as I pushed forward once more, invading her throat once more, this time even deeper. "Just tap my leg if you need a break." And with that, one of the most pleasurable experiences of my short but renewed life had started. She coughed, wheezed, and trembled, but at no point, the tap that would make me stop had arrived. And despite the minutes that passed, she managed to stay conscious, probably only thanks to the supernatural endurance given to her by the system.

And with each passing minute, my pace increased, until I was fucking her face ferociously, in a way that doubtlessly damaged her throat — lucky that we both had access to healing magic to fix it later on. But the real surprise was the great tremor that caught her body a few minutes later, giving her an explosive orgasm.

[Achievement: Boundless Bliss. Create a pleasure explosive enough to break through a faultless magical barrier through sheer intensity. 1000 Experience, 2 Strength, 2 Speed]

[2000 Experience]

Level UP!

[Select one of the following skills: Expert Arcana, Expert Biomancy, Advanced Speech]

It wasn't a surprise that when her throat tightened around my shaft, combined with the rather distinctive sensation of power spreading through my body due to level and stat increases, I started to fill her throat with my seed. But even then, I was familiar with the leveling up enough to pay the proper attention to the significance of the level up, and picked Arcana to improve. I needed to maximize the benefit of my studies with Helga, after all.

I didn't need my enhanced observational skills to know that she was about to fall unconscious as the orgasm hit her with all the subtlety of a crazed dragon. But that would not do, not when I just started. The solution was simple, I put my hand on her body, and cast a healing spell that would remove the exhaustion and clear the mind. It was underpowered, of course, just enough to keep her awake, but under the control of the haze. And I didn't bother to hide the move, as she was too far gone to notice it.

[1 Biomancy]

[-10 Mana]

I had already pulled out of her mouth and had taken my earlier position behind her, my shaft -erect once more- pushing against her puckered hole. "You're ready for the main course, right, slut," I said, punctuating the degrading comment with a rather loud spank that sent her plump bottom rippling.

I wasn't surprised when she murmured weakly instead of the angry exclamation she would have used just minutes before. It was a pity that she didn't reply with an explosive moan of acceptance, begging for more, but I had a solid read on her, enough to realize her shyness was the only thing that prevented it. Not to mention the fear she was feeling at the prospect of her first real anal experience.

Initially, I was thinking about letting her lay on her chest while I abused my full access to her bottom, but her shyness was enough to change my mind. I rolled her with a push so that she ended up laying on her back, her eyes widened at the unexpected eye contact. While she tried to process the new position, I took my place between her legs, and cast a small arcana spell to create a small bump on the mattress, just enough to bring her puckered hole into the perfect elevation.

The expression of panic and pleasure that danced in her eyes was delicious as I leaned forward, placing my crown against it. Her eyes continued to grow as my shaft slowly disappeared into her tightness. "Damn, your grip is delicious," I said with a smirk on my face, which enhanced the scandalous expression on her face, even more, her lips tightened further in shock.

[1500 Experience]

[Achievement: Tasty Technicalities. Convince a noble lady to protect her virginity in an unusual manner. 500 Experience, 2 Manipulation]

Her sudden shock was understandable. Clearly, she had to expect the experience to be similar to our earlier massage session, covered with a veil of denial that allowed her to act like it was nothing more than a professional treatment, just a bit more intense than the usual. But our current position was too intimate for her to maintain that particular lie, particularly thanks to our eye contact.

A moment later, she decided to take the simplest option, and closed her eyes. I had to intention of allowing such a simple plan to succeed after all the effort I had gone through, but I wanted to do that in a fun manner. Since her eyes were closed, she didn't see the momentary glow of my fingers as I cast a small spell that would increase her sensation, nor she noticed its destination until my fingers clamped around her nipples. A gasp escaped her mouth as I squeezed her breasts, my perception providing me information about the exact pressure I should be using for the maximum benefit. She opened her eyes, but it lasted a fleeting moment when she met with my gaze, colored with a victorious amusement.

[2 Biomancy]

[-50 Mana]

[500 Experience]

But that was just a beginning. I pushed my shaft deeper and deeper, forcing frequent moans through the lips she tried to keep shut, with not an inconsiderable amount of assistance from my fingers mauling her bountiful breasts. This time, she managed to keep her eyes closed.

So be it, I decided as I leaned forward, and my lips pressed against her neck with surprising gentleness, leaving feather-light kisses that made her shiver sexily. It was effective, because the gentleness of my lips was contrasted greatly with the merciless pumping of my hips, drilling deeper and deeper into her tightness without a shred of mercy, the lubrication I had applied to her tightness that prevented her pain to rose high enough to cloud her pleasure.

Under the combined assault, it wasn't surprising that her determination to keep her voice down hadn't survived for long. Her moans rise unbidden, surprisingly melodic now that she deserted her attempts to stay silent. I was curious of the expression I would find in her eyes, but chose to continue my focus on her neck instead, determined to fill her with pleasure until her concerns drowned in a sea of euphoria.

The treatment lasted for several minutes before I pulled back from her neck, though I continued impaling her mercilessly. This time, when I met with her eyes, she made no effort to close them, her pleasure easy to read. "So, Marianne, what's your opinion on the true version of my massage technique? Much better, right?"

In response to my question, Marianne did something I would have assumed to be impossible in her current state. She blushed cutely, so much that it tempted me to lean forward and catch her lips in a sudden burst of hunger. Her lips joined the dance in enthusiasm, her tongue readily accepting mine in response, answering my question much better than her words could.

[500 Experience}

[Achievement: Unusual Usurpation. Manage to trigger a crush in a lady under unusual circumstances. 500 Experience, 2 Charisma]

The last achievement managed to put a smile on my face. When I managed to convince her to this moment through underhanded seduction, I was expecting to establish a love-hate relationship based only on physical needs from her part. Her crush was an unexpected surprise, but by no means unwelcome. On the contrary, it gave me another hook to convince her for more.

I changed position once more as my own pleasure started to become too high to contain. I pulled away from the kiss, and grabbed her hands for extra leverage before starting to slam into her in a renewed speed, each connection creating another naughty clap that filled the room. Her tits flailed wildly with each repeat, the way her butt was wobbling was enough to break the resistance of a less experienced man.

But the most important part was the expression of ecstasy on her face, her reason lost, stealing any recollection about her current location, or the significance of the events that brought her to this particular point.

The climax hit her as I started filling her tight hole with my seed, triggering a climax from her side as well. She gasped and moaned, trembling like an out-of-control earthquake, looking as delicious as a freshly-baked birthday cake…

[2500 Experience]

Continuing further was a tempting idea, but after the emotional and physical ordeal she had gone through, Marianne looked just a dash away collapsing. Instead, I decided to lay next to her to leverage her recently generated crush. In her daze, she said nothing when she found my arms around her, embracing her with surprising gentleness. Though I was surprised when she leaned forward, initiating a kiss on her own volition for the first time.

I said nothing as I felt the softness of her chest against mine, the gentle kiss we shared reminiscent of the ending of a romance tale. I could feel my manhood awakening once more at the sensation, but this time, I decided to act patient. I wanted the moment to be clear on Marianne's mind, that she was the initiator.

It took a while for her rationality to catch up. Her hand had been wandering over my chiseled torso, enjoying the contours, when it slipped too low and wrapped around my shaft. Even then, only after she delivered several enthusiastic tugs she remembered the full extent of the situation.

The yelp that escaped her mouth was cutest to date. "I need to go," she stammered in panic even as she dashed towards her clothes, trying to put her corset in panic, only to fail due to her trembling hands.

"Why don't you come here so I can help," I said with a smirk. She looked at me in shock, like I had spoken the most absurd thing I could. "Really, that's what you feel self-conscious about after everything," I added, and she dipped her head. But her resurfaced shyness didn't prevent her from walking to me, one hand between her legs to hide her treasure; a move that would have made more sense if my seed hadn't been dripping out of her other hole.

She sat in front of me, and despite the temptation of pushing her down for another round, I kept my fingers on the hooks of her corset, slowly linking them. I didn't miss the opportunity to sensually caress her skin, of course, something that she hadn't missed. I even grabbed the shirt I ripped earlier, and repaired it magically to a workable degree.

[-7 Mana]

But when she reached for her ripped panties, I was quicker to grab them, and slid them into my pocket before she could say anything. "My payment for the services rendered," I said with a smirk. She said nothing, and just continued to dress in a blush on her face, well-aware of my gaze watching her every movement.

She said nothing while she finished her preparations, but turned back after putting her hand on the doorknob. "This was a one-time thing, there'll be no repeat!" she said in the sharpest tone she could manage, which would have been marginally convincing if she hadn't run out of the room with a distinct stumble in her steps.

The repeat was inevitable. The only question was how long she would be able to last…

——–

[Level: 11 Experience: 61975 / 66000

Strength: 15 Charisma: 17

Precision: 11 Perception: 11

Agility: 12 Manipulation: 17

Speed: 11 Intelligence: 12

Endurance: 10 Wisdom: 18

HP: 649 / 649 Mana: 763 / 935 ]

SKILLS

Expert Arcana [50/75]

Advanced Subterfuge [50/50]

Advanced Biomancy [44/50]

Advanced Melee [29/50]

Basic Speech [25/25]

Chapter 23: Leveling Assistance

I was tempted to sleep in the storage room that was still filled with the smell of sin and sex, but I had another blonde beauty that was waiting for my attention. Luckily, the meeting was arranged for late afternoon, which gave enough time to clean and dress into something more appropriate for a mysterious stranger, as well as stealing a better sword from the armory. It wasn't enchanted, but it had a sturdier construction, and allowed me to channel my arcana abilities much easier, and I needed that if I were to impress Helga today with my display. And while there, I stole a bunch of throwing knives as well. There was no harm in having some extra equipment.

I wished that I could have stolen Marcus' sword after killing the asshole, but going around with that kind of evidence wasn't the smartest thing to do, even for a precious enchanted sword.

Soon, I was walking towards the third -and the most dangerous- training forest, dressed in grays and blacks of a warrior. Ranger's getup would have been even more appropriate, but I didn't want to dress too similar to my Orlin disguise for Helga. The patrols around the forest were marginally more difficult to slip through due to state of alarm, but not enough to actually catch me.

After the patrols, it didn't take long for me to find Helga, who stayed very close to the entrance, afraid of facing the monsters inside alone. It was justified. This section was mostly filled with class two and three creatures, but occasional class four and fives weren't unheard of. Nothing as dangerous as the pack of elemental hyenas that attacked Aviada and me, but dangerous nevertheless. And with Helga's research-focused development, even class three's were a threat against her under the right conditions, not to mention her stamina wouldn't allow a long engagement.

I gestured her from the distance, followed by a small flare spell, the exact shape, and tone described in the letter, and she started walking towards me. Even from the distance, I could see her fingers tightening around her staff, cluing me about her doubts, but to her credit, determination shone on her face.

I slipped deeper into the forest as she followed me, trying to get out of the line of sight of the patrols, but staying close enough to allow her to follow. "Helga," I said with a cheerful wave that was rather mismatched with the general mood, but she took it in the stride, and waved back. Maybe she appreciated my gifts even more than I estimated.

"Hello…" she said before stopping in sudden realization.

"You can call me Caesar," I answered, not feeling concerned at giving my own name. With both Aviada and Marianne on the know, my identity was going to be revealed one way or another, so informing Helga about it wasn't a big risk; especially not with all the secrets I had on her.

She nodded in appreciation before looking around in trepidation. "Are you sure that this is the best area for training. What if we get attacked by a herd."

Her concern was not entirely unjustified. After all, this forest was dangerous not only because of the stronger monsters it contained, but also due to a limited number of students risking to farm here, occasionally allowing the build-up of a dangerous amount of creatures, such as packs of Dire Wolves, which was already dangerous with their class four status. "Don't worry, I can handle it," I said with a dismissive wave, choosing to punctuate my sentence by using one of my throwing knives into a bush about a hundred meters ahead, where a dire wolf was hidden, waiting for an opportunity.

Helga gasped at the sudden burst of action, which wasn't entirely beneficial. Unlike the rabbits and foxes, Dire Wolf didn't fear sudden confrontation, and dashed in an explosive rush, which met with an unfortunate end as I took its legs with a slash of my sword, arcana energy crackling around its edges. "Milady," I said with a mocking bow as I pointed at the helpless creature, which was almost as big as me, like it was a cute gift.

[1 Melee]

It was another point to her credit when she delivered the final blow to the creature's throat using the small blade on top of her staff rather than wasting her magic. Then, her gaze turned to me, disbelief mixing with hope as she gazed me. It wasn't hard to decipher her shock. Taking down a class four creature wasn't an amazing achievement, but it couldn't be said for immobilizing it with just a slash without actually killing. That required a level of power and finesse that was hard to find in a student.

"That was…" she murmured, disbelieving. I had no doubt that she thought my level should be in the twenties, considering she had seen me display impressive abilities in melee combat, magical abilities, and research. Level twenty was rare, and most of them either took an important role in their families, or chose a cushy job in one of the large cities. If they were lucky, they could even get a guard post for the royal family. Someone close to that point that was willing to help an outcast like her was a miracle from her perspective.

And while I was not a level twenty -and couldn't exactly compare against them in their selected areas due to my generalist status even with my stats- Helga didn't know that. She lacked the combat experience to discern the details of my situation. And thanks to my extraordinary stats, I could put a decent fight against someone around level fifteen in a fight regardless of the type of combat thanks to my larger bag of tricks, which made her estimation not too inaccurate. "So, have you thought about the problem I outlined in my letter?" I asked her.

"Y-yes," she stammered in shock, not expecting to have that conversation in the most dangerous spot in the school. But nevertheless, she started explaining rapidly, clearly not wanting to anger her new benefactor. "I was thinking that the spell matrix can be stabilized through…" And with that, we started an interesting raid, killing monsters and discussing complicated magical theory at the same time.

[Melee 6]

[Arcana 11]

[-523 Mana]

[Achievement: Charm through Charms. Make great strides in seducing a brainy lady through great magical aptitude. 500 Experience, 2 Intelligence]

Our expedition took almost three hours, and several dozens deceased creatures. When I finally called it to end, the sun was about to set. I was tired, because I was rather generous in mana expenditure, using it to try some of the theories we came up with Helga, but it wasn't wasteful. How could it be when I had managed to develop a more dangerous variant of the mana bolt with just a couple hours of discussion, one that would have penetrated through the magical hide of a shadow wolf without depleting half of my mana.

I didn't want to risk a repeat of the shadow wolf incident with an almost empty tank. Moreover, Helga was even more exhausted. She didn't fight directly, but she also didn't have my irrationally high physical stats, and spell practice drained her mana as well. But despite everything, there was a huge smile on her face. "So, did you level up?" I asked while we returned, ignoring the social taboo around the question. Inquiring about people's status was one of the bigger taboo's, one that hadn't been processed lightly.

"Not yet, but I'm very close. I have gained almost eight hundred experience points in a day," she answered with a euphoric smile, dismissing my social blunder without a thought. I shook my head, once again appreciating the unbelievable advantage provided by my unique status. For me, a thousand points was a slow day. For anyone else, a small miracle. "Just four more days, and I should level up," she added, giving me a clue about her current level progress. But despite her enthusiasm, I wasn't really happy with her progress. I needed her to be stronger, because I needed the spells she would develop, spells that would fit perfectly for my unique combat style.

I didn't doubt that there was a challenge waiting for me in the future, and I needed to be prepared for it.

But while walking back, I realized that lady luck had other plans for me. When the familiar sound of the rush of dire wolves reached into my ears, I gestured Helga to take a defensive position while I stood in front of her, a sparkling mana bolt in my left hand, a glowing throwing knife on my right. I panicked, because I could identify at least five dire wolves attacking us.

When they dashed into the opening we were in, I realized my assessment was mistaken. It wasn't five dire wolves, rather, it was four dire wolves, and one dire wolf alpha, which hulked almost double the size of the others, its eyes shining with an unusual experience. Effectively, it was at least class six, maybe even seven…

Luckily, I had gone through worse challenges when I was weaker. "Distract the alpha for a moment," I ordered Helga.

"How?" she asked panickedly even as I dashed forward.

"Send something shiny towards it!" I shouted exasperatedly even as I met with the first wolf after throwing my knife and pulling my sword, who, surprisingly, was prepared for my display of speed. On my other hand, I still held my spell, ready to go. I felt the gaze of the alpha on me as it dashed towards as well, ignoring Helga completely, like it knew I was the real threat. Combined with the surprised adaptability of the other wolves, I suspected we had been observed during our hunt… "Wily bastard," I murmured in annoyance. The monsters capable of tactics was the last thing I needed.

"Let's see how adaptive you are, you bastard," I murmured even as I changed the shape of the spell on my hands, and converted it into an area-effect slowing spell, something I just managed to create thanks to Helga's clever ideas.

[-40 Mana]

Seeing the expression of surprise on the eyes of the Alpha was a delight, but not as much as when Helga's spell connected with the bastard, covering it with a thick layer of energy, immobilizing it momentarily. With a glance I could see that it was a weak one, barely last a couple of seconds, but that was enough. The formation of wolves was based on its presence, and with it immobilized, it allowed me to cut through rest in just a second, leaving two dead, two too wounded to move.

I was already behind the Alpha when it was ready to move, cutting the hamstrings of its hind legs with just a slash. I smirked, it was amusing that he had died to the favorite tactic of the wolves. "Not bad. Let's see whether we can double it the next time," I said, making her chin drop in shock. "The rest is yours, milady," I said exaggeratedly with a smirk, enjoying the way panic melted off Helga's face, just realizing that the danger she had thought to be deadly just ended in a moment.

[Achievement: Martial Might. Save a damsel through an overwhelming display of power and initiative. 500 Experience, 1 Speed, 1 Precision]

[Melee 2]

She tried to say something, but words failed her repeatedly. She took a deep breath and walked towards the wounded creatures, finishing them with a stab of her staff. "That was … incredible…" she murmured when she looked at me once more, a familiar blush on her face.

I said nothing, but closed on her, far too close to be innocent, my breath landing on her ruby lips, which opened reflexively. I leaned forward like I was about to steal a kiss, only to stop at the last second. "Why don't you go ahead pass through the guards, and meet me with the storage room we had met the last time in an hour," I said, and before she could answer, already pulled back.

The expression of shock on her face, while she watched me disappear, was utterly delicious.

—

When I arrived at the storage room a couple of minutes more than an hour later, Helga was already there, waiting for me with a nervous expression on her face. "You're here," she gasped, her nervousness instantly replaced by elation the moment she noticed my presence. Someone was enthusiastic, I noted with a smirk.

While she tried to calm her excitement, I examined her. One detail was very clear. She used the break to refresh herself, and done that very successfully. Her hair was still damp, and her face alight -but still more than her usual amount- makeup, highlighting her beauty to a level it easily surpassed the most girls. It was smart of her not to use that normally, as her position at the school was too fragile to actually take such a risk.

But the more interesting change was her clothes. Her robe was open, revealing that underneath, she was wearing a blouse and a skirt, both much tighter than her usual selection. Even better, the top two buttons lay unlinked, giving me a delicious hint of cleavage. She seemed ready and enthusiastic about being seduced.

Though, I wasn't surprised. The civilian equivalent of our situation was a minor noble suddenly piling a maid with several precious gifts and great attention, with an implied mistress position to elevate her well out of her class. For Helga, supporting her leveling and research simultaneously was everything she needed, everything that had been denied in the school, and everything that she couldn't attain back home; so naturally, she was feeling grateful. Combine that with my charisma, my rather impressive physical state, and the fact that I had valiantly saved her from a dangerous ambush just an hour ago… Well, it would be surprising if it would take more than a word to make her panties drop…

Normally, I was planning to go for a quick seduction, but funnily enough, seeing her so enthusiastic changed my mind. I decided to play with her a bit. Luckily, I was prepared.

"I had an interesting idea about managing area effects of the volatile fields," I said even as I pulled a small blanket from my bag and spread it on the floor, gesturing her to sit. Her shocked disappointment was amusing. I sat down, continuing to talk about various implications of managing alternating magical currents. She answered my inquires perfectly, but failed to hide her disappointment.

I shook my head despondently. I had expected her to try better to seduce me, but apparently, her self-confidence was too weak after the struggle she had gone through. "Wine?" I asked, cutting our discussion on the magical theory to pull a rather impressive vintage of wine and a pair of glasses, both pilfered from the kitchen.

"I wouldn't say no to a sip," she answered, and I made sure to smile suggestively as I poured her a glass, which, in turn, allowed her to lean forward excessively, giving a deep view of her delicious cleavage. After she pulled back, I waved my hand, and a plate of cheese pulled itself out from the bag, following my magic, until it landed between us. I could have done it the same easily for the wine as well, but it required a personal touch.

"So, I think we were discussing the resonance effect between unequal constructs," I said, picking up the discussion where we left off. Helga was much more enthusiastic as she started answering once more, her answers garnished with a lot of unnecessary arm movements, which helped her breasts to dance alluringly. A particularly heated move even managed to pop another button of her blouse, enough to conclusively prove the absence of a bra — not that I needed a proof after watching the free dance of her breasts for the last several minutes.

[100 Experience] 50% Penalty

The disappointment I felt from the rather excessive experience penalty didn't last for long as she lifted herself forward as she reached for the cheese plate, unnecessarily as she could have easily reached for it, but the reason was clarified when she decided to use the movement as an excuse to sit closer, desire clear in her eyes.

Well, who I was to reject such a beauty…

—

[Level: 11 Experience: 63075 / 66000

Strength: 15 Charisma: 17

Precision: 12 Perception: 11

Agility: 12 Manipulation: 17

Speed: 12 Intelligence: 14

Endurance: 10 Wisdom: 18

HP: 671 / 671 Mana: 345 / 957 ]

SKILLS

Expert Arcana [61/75]

Advanced Subterfuge [50/50]

Advanced Biomancy [44/50]

Advanced Melee [37/50]

Basic Speech [25/25]

Chapter 24: Seduction of a Nerd

When Helga slid closer to me, I decided to reward her courage by meeting halfway. The discussion on the complicated nature of the magic continued, but I lowered my voice a bit, and using a huskier tone, one that worked just as intended if her nipples trying to poke through her shirt was any indicator.

I refilled her glass, then picked a piece of cheese, and gently placed between her lips, and she bit sensuously, followed by a soft moan. "Are you tired?" I asked, and for a moment, she looked afraid that her hints were misunderstood, but it lasted only until I slid even closer to her, and placed my hands on her shoulders, rubbing gently.

"A – a bit," she stammered after realizing what I was cluing towards, and leaned to my chest with a sigh while I started to rub her shoulders. The next moan that she let out was in no way exaggerated. It was not much of a surprise. After all, I managed to completely break Marianne through my skilled fingers, and Helga was already prepared to jump my bones.

A couple of minutes later, I removed her robe, which she let without the slightest hint of resistance. I noticed her hands landing on her own thighs, which, incidentally, caused her already short skirt to ride upward further, the sight of her toned thighs enough to make my mouth water. I let my hands drift down through her sides until they landed on her delicious thighs. "You seem restless, do your legs hurt," I asked, and she nodded enthusiastically, not trusting herself to talk.

I just chuckled as my fingers danced on her thighs, slowly moving towards the inner area while climbing upwards bit by bit, tortuously slow. Her excitement, once clear as a day, started to darken with frustration. She sent a glance upward, only to meet with my smug smirk, telling her that I was very much aware of what I had been doing. I was curious just how long she would be able to resist the temptation…

The answer turned out to be not too long. When my fingers reached the edge of her panties, each caress driving it further but still studiously avoiding her core, Helga let out a guttural moan, and I found myself being pushed on the floor, Helga firmly sitting on my shaft. "That's enough playing, you bastard," she exclaimed even as she moved back and forth, enjoying a dry ride.

I had been planning to play with her a bit more, but then I was distracted by an announcement.

[Companion Acquisition: Progress 1%]

[200 Experience] 50% Penalty

The announcement managed to blindside me. Luckily, Helga was busy rowing back and forth above my shaft, her eyes closed to maximize her sensations to actually pay any attention to me, giving me time to process what had happened.

There was no doubt that the announcement was about Helga, the timing ruled out any other possibility. But I was mystified by the reason. After all, it wasn't the first time I was being with Helga, and I had gone much further with other girls as well, especially Marianne, who hadn't shown such a sign. And while I helped Helga, I also helped Aviada, to the point of saving her life…

But I hadn't done anything sexual in the aftermath.

Maybe that was it, that I needed to both help the girl in a profound way, and also take its rewards. It was a good guess, but in the end, it was still a guess. I needed more experimentation to test its accuracy. Luckily, Aviada was a perfect candidate for that particular experimentation.

Then, a particularly tickling moan reached to my ears, and I decided that theorizing about the new feature wasn't as important as tending the sexy blonde that was doing her best to grind my pants into nothingness. I placed my hands on her stomach, easily sliding under her blouse before starting to climb forward, revealing the beautiful smoothness of her stomach in the process.

Helga opened her eyes when my fingers started to caress the underside of her spectacular breasts, but they were filled with a deep need, a burning passion. Initially, I was planning to take it slow, but such a naked display of desire deserved a reward. Since my hands were already positioned appropriately, all I needed was to pull gently, and my enhanced strength worked wonders in completely ruining her blouse, leaving her half-naked.

A shocked yelp escaped her mouth, which I deliciously punished by a gentle slap to her breast, their impressive size dancing deliciously. She moaned in appreciation after the shock, not showing the slightest concern for her state of nakedness. Then, a mischievous expression popped on her face as she pressed her hands to my chest, her grinding picking up speed further.

And it worked wonderfully. My pants turned into a tight prison, begging to be released. An expression of joy was on her face, though it was equally strained by pleasure. I wasn't the only one that was starting to feel the brunt of the extended session of foreplay, and it would hurt my pride if I surrender before her.

With that in mind, I slid my hands a bit further, my fingers already laced with an innovative mixture of transformed Biomancy and Arcana mana, a tricky construct that I created based on Helga's ideas, and pressed them against Helga's nipples.

[2 Biomancy]

[3 Arcana]

[-30 Mana]

[300 Experience] 50% Penalty

[Achievement: Innovative Involvement. Leverage a brand-new technique to the noblest purpose of providing pleasure. 1000 Experience, 2 Intelligence, 2 Charisma]

Thanks to the system, I knew that the technique was exceedingly effective, resulting in two separate skill increases and a very profitable achievement in addition to its usual experience reward. But nevertheless, Helga's pleasure-filled face was a nice addition as well, confirming my success.

"That's amazing," she moaned helplessly as her grinding turned out to be even more heated, searching for a release that wouldn't come; because that was another function of the small trick I had developed. She would not climax unless I broke the magical barrier I had constructed, or the pleasure reached a mind-breaking degree. And she realized that detail a moment later when her unbounded grinding failed to achieve the desired result, and she checked my face to confirm the results. "Okay, you magnificent bastard, you win!" she said, declaring surrender, though any sign of defeat was soon erased by hunger as she reached for my zipper.

A brief struggle later, my shaft was standing proudly, ready for any challenge. "Make sure to prepare it thoroughly before using," I mockingly reminded her.

I had been expecting a counter-statement from her, but my shaft proved to be too fascinating for her to pay attention to anything else. Apparently, my recent boost in charisma worked even better than I had expected, and she was stuck watching my shaft in fascination. That hypnotizing effect only lasted for a moment, but even then, her eyes were rather glazed as she leaned forward to capture my girth between her lips.

And the moment her lips touched my shaft, her lips started dancing up and down, treating it like ice cream in the middle of the desert, hurrying to finish before it melted under the sun. She moved up and down, doing her best to swallow my length — though she only managed to take a portion despite her best efforts.

[500 Experience] 50% Penalty

Watching her pouty lips dancing over my shaft was good entertainment, especially when the free dance of her dangling breasts were added to the equation, so I continued to lay without a movement, letting her do all the work. It was a nice change of pace, as other times I was doing my best to maintain whatever scheme I had been trying to achieve while also trying to ensure the target was adequately aroused to miss the details. After everything, laying on my back to enjoy the treatment had been a nice change of pace.

And Helga proved that she had no issues in doing all the work when she stopped the delicious treatment of her lips and sat on my midsection once more, stopping only to get rid of her panties. Her skirt was still on, but after she folded the hem a couple of times, it resembled a belt more than a skirt, showing the amazing sight of her slit devouring my shaft bit by bit. It wasn't entirely trivial for her to swallow the whole length even if she was incredibly slippery, my girth challenging her elasticity to the maximum. She bit her lips, the pleasure and pain fighting against each other as she lowered her hips, but in the end, she was triumphant.

Only then she sent me a victorious smile as she placed her hands on my chest, her hips grinding me even more furiously than her earlier dry-humping, the gyration of her hips nothing less than poetry. "Faster," I ordered, and she followed my direction without even blinking, her movements blurring with pleasure.

Since she was doing such a good job, I decided to reward her. With a flick to her nipple, I had dispelled part of the spell that was keeping her from climaxing, immediately followed by a silencing ward, not trusting the ancient walls to handle the explosion of sound.

And it turned out to be the correct choice, because when Helga opened her mouth, the resulting sound made me doubt that whether it was just a cry, or it was actually a sound-based attack spell. It left my ears ringing, while Helga collapsed to my chest after she spent the last of the energy she could spare to cry, the rest of her attention firmly on containing the aftermath of her explosive orgasm.

[ 925 Experience] 50% Penalty

[Companion Acquisition: Progress 5%]

Level UP!

[Select one of the following skills: Expert Melee, Expert Biomancy, Basic Ranged]

Seeing another level was always a delight. And after a brief consideration, I picked to increase my close combat skills. Both Biomancy and Ranged was tempting, but I was supposed to meet with Aviada tonight at midnight, and I needed skills to suitably impress her. While my strength and other physical stats had suitably improved since our last meeting, an extra edge wouldn't be amiss.

"That … was … everything … I imagined … to … be," Helga managed to whisper after lost her fight to be able to stand upright, and collapsed against my chest. I chuckled before leaning forward and capturing her lips, my shaft still inside her, ready for the second round.

[Level Difference of at least 50%! No Experience]

Unlike the previous notification, this one wasn't particularly welcome. I had been expecting something in those lines, but I was hoping for another reduction rather than a total denial.

Technically, due to lack of any additional experience, the smart thing would be to stop there, and continue only after I ensured Helga leveled up once more, but that decision was markedly hard to take when the aforementioned body lay above me, her lower lips still tightly grasping my shaft with the full intention to milk me until I was completely dry.

The decision made, I wrapped my arms around her waist before rolling, and she ended up underneath me, earning an enthusiastic giggle. Continuing to slide inside her until she passed from excess pleasure was the simplest thing to do, but I wanted to do something more entertaining. I grabbed the wine bottle, and slowly drizzled it over her amazing breasts, before leaning forward and slowly licking, sucking, and otherwise enjoying the vast expanse of her flavored breasts. Others might claim it to be a waste of good wine, but for me, that was the best way to empty a bottle.

When I repeated the trick for the second time, my hips started to move as well, slowly and sensuously, contrasting her earlier frantic crawling, but despite its slow pace, turning out to be more pleasurable for both of us. Her hands reached my back, her fingers digging deep into my shoulders, but with her limited strength, barely causing any pain against my boundless vitality. Still, the sensation was clear enough, which I enjoyed.

"Cum inside me, Caesar," Helga moaned and since I wasn't a rude bastard -or more accurately, wasn't a rude bastard under these exact circumstances- I sped up, and her moans sped up along with it. I pushed, I licked, and I bit, and moments later, I started spraying inside her, accompanied by another string of cries that made my silencing wards work overtime.

[Companion Acquisition: Progress 15%]

Still, when I collapsed next to her, our tongues gently dancing around each other, I was satisfied. With our enjoyment peaking, neither of us wanted to talk, so we let our bodies to talk in an extended post-coital session. But soon, the time of separation was there. She was too exhausted to continue -a drawback of her magic focused build- while I had other things to do, so after a brief discussion, we decided to separate for the night, agreeing to meet tomorrow morning for another leveling session.

—

But for me, the night was just starting. After a brief shower, I was dressed in my combat outfit once more, with the sword in hand. I wanted to increase by close combat abilities, and I wanted to increase them significantly before the meeting with Aviada. With that in mind, once again I went to the most dangerous training forest -though I was tempted to just walk outside to test my limits. It was unlikely that I would meet anything more dangerous than the Shadow Wolf around the school, and I was much stronger than the last encounter, strong enough that I could take a couple of them without taking a wound.

But in the end, I decided to leave that particular challenge until I gained a couple more levels. Instead, I cast my protection spells and slipped into the Third Forest, the most dangerous training ground in the school. Without a companion to protect, I was free to turn into a shadow, stalking even the most dangerous predators the forest contained. Dire wolves, elemental hawks, demonic foxes, even occasional dragon spawn younglings… All fell underneath my blade, helpless to do anything more than flail in panic.

When I walked out of the forest three hours later, I was exhausted and drained, but victorious.

[-438 Mana]

[8 Arcana]

[4 Biomancy]

[26 Melee]

I couldn't help but smile at my gains. After three hours, my magical aptitude had increased, but it was nothing compared to just how much my physical abilities improved. The blade in hand felt like it was a part of my limbs, every swing optimized to create the maximum effect, their casual look hiding their deadly nature.

I was ready to meet with Aviada…

—-

[Level: 12 Experience: 66000 / 78000

Strength: 15 Charisma: 19

Precision: 12 Perception: 11

Agility: 12 Manipulation: 17

Speed: 12 Intelligence: 16

Endurance: 10 Wisdom: 18

HP: 732 / 732 Mana: 234 / 972 ]

SKILLS

[Expert Arcana [72/75]

Expert Melee [63/75]

Advanced Subterfuge [50/50]

Advanced Biomancy [50/50]

Basic Speech [25/25] ]

Chapter 25: A Fun Wrestling

Caught in the excitement of testing my enhanced abilities, I failed to properly manage my time, so I failed to find time to change my clothes before meeting Aviada. I wasn't too worried though, as Aviada wasn't the kind of girl that would be turned off by a bit of monster blood, or care about the cuts from an extended battle.

Sneaking through the guards of the second forest hadn't posed any challenge since, as usual, they were much more interested in movements in the forest rather than students that were trying to sneak in; since it was a pointless activity for the most. A minute later, I arrived at the promised location of the meeting, a small, obscure waterfall that most people avoided, because a lot of monsters tended to visit for a drink of water, meaning, there was no guarantee about the number of creatures that would be present. But I wasn't afraid of even the most dangerous creature in the second forest. Also, I had confidence in Aviada's skills to at least retreat without significant loss if she faced truly overwhelming odds, especially with the help of her impressive magical sword.

"You're late," said a familiar voice even as I saw a familiar figure charging forward, her sword ready to deliver a deadly blow, but the wide smile on her face was enough to tell me that it was just a friendly greeting. I turned and swung my arm, my sword already in hand, just in time to intercept Aviada's impressive swing, magic crackling around my weapon to prevent damage from her formidable sword. Her eyes widened in shock as rather than pushing me back, her sword bounced.

"Hello, beautiful," I said as I counter-attacked with an obvious blow just to create some distance.

"How," she murmured in shock even as she pulled back, which was understandable, because the only thing that allowed me to resist her during our last encounter was my superior mobility, deflecting and dodging. Now, I was able to push her back through sheer power.

"Let's just say I had a very fortunate encounter, with a nifty achievement as a result," I said, basically blaming the sudden boost to a single extraordinary achievement, which was much more believable than getting a few levels and several achievements since our last encounter. "So, do you dare to help me test my new strength, or would you like to do something easier," I smirked, happy to see challenge creating a flame in her eyes, her raven hair circling her face beautifully.

"Oh, I can handle whatever you can dish," she answered before swinging her sword once more, and then things devolved into a delicious duel, where she tried trick after trick, only to fail repeatedly. After all, it wasn't just my stats that had increased significantly since our last encounter. My melee capabilities had also gone through a significant transformation, so, in the end, I was able to handle her attacks through skill rather than brawn.

Defending myself was a monotonous task, allowing me to turn my attention to her spectacular body. She was starting to show the first signs of exhaustion, sweaty, out of breath, with a couple of shallow cuts I delivered as a warning when she tried particularly dangerous maneuvers. But her condition wasn't the thing I focused on. No, that distinction belonged to the way she dressed. She wore a cotton tunic that didn't bare even a hint of cleavage, but that wasn't important, not when it was a size too small, its elasticity allowing her to display her voluptuous contours, her spectacular body getting more and more visible through her sweat. Unfortunately, her pants weren't as fun, making me rather enthusiastic about peeling them off.

But soon, my attention was pulled to her face once more. The expression of concentration on her face was understandable because she was trying to get the best of the learning opportunity, but admirable at the same time because a lot of people wallow in jealousy against such a rapid development rather than taking advantage of the situation. I approved, though not as much as the other emotion I managed to catch on her face.

A thick layer of arousal.

Her getting excited while fighting was not a surprise, after all, our last playful spar where she was more than happy about me using a blade to peel of her clothes was evidence enough. But even when she was almost naked, she didn't have such a thick layer of arousal on her face. A sudden suspicion appeared in my mind, and I increased the intensity of my assault, taking the initiative rather than allowing her to attack at her own pace, killing her assaults the moment of inception.

And her arousal increased with my dominance. Apparently, the respect she had toward martial strength was more primal than I expected.

I smirked with desire, as that particular detail quickened my plans significantly. "I think that's enough for the warm-up," I said lazily even as I swung the sword with my full power, opening her guard completely, the perfect opportunity to deliver a killing blow, but chose to take a step back.

"Warm-up…" she echoed in shock, a part of her outrageous because she was obviously doing her best, but her arousal increased even further just by the suggestion that I wasn't using my full power.

"You know what," I said as I suddenly pushed my sword into the ground, and picked up a piece of wood instead. "Maybe this will be fairer."

"You're playing with fire," she growled in a way one might mistake for outrage. It wouldn't be completely inaccurate, as she was actually insulted at the suggestion that I could handle her without a proper weapon, but the desire was hidden underneath, promising me everything if I could actually back my bragging.

"Then let's see if I'm good enough to extinguish that fire," I said with a smirk, before continuing with a more serious expression. "You just need to say I surrender, and I'll stop. Clear?" I added, giving her an intentional out, with the full awareness that her pride wouldn't allow her to utter those words for anything that I had in mind.

"Come at-" she started, but I didn't give her an opportunity to finish her words, charging forward. Even when caught by surprise, she managed to raise her sword to parry. Just like that, I lost a part of my weapon, but a blow wasn't my intention in any case. I grabbed her shirt instead, trying to turn the battle into a close-range struggle that she wouldn't be able to leverage her sword efficiently. She swung her sword, forcing me to pull back. I did so, but I wasn't dismayed, because a large patch of her shirt stayed in my hand, leaving her arm and shoulder bare, with the slightest hint of cleavage.

[100 Experience] 50% Penalty!

[1 Melee]

The proof of her low level was not the most welcome detail, but not a surprise either, not when I was able to dominate her with such apparent ease. When she decided to attack, I abandoned the implications of her low level, and focused my aggressive defense instead. I ducked under her sword before dashing forward, close enough that I was able to slap her bottom explosively, enough to make her gasp. "You're dead!" she exclaimed, but paradoxically, respect and arousal colored her tone rather than anger.

"If you think so, apprentice," I countered before dodging another assault, and taking tearing another piece of fabric in the process, this time rewarded by an unobstructed view of her flat bell. Then, we fell into a routine, she attacked, I deflected or dodged -occasionally acquiring a new stick when the previous one had fallen into pieces. It was hard to maintain its durability even with the liberal magic usage. A random piece of wood wasn't the best magical conduit.

Still, even with the substandard equipment, I was still smiling brightly ten minutes into the spar while my opponent's attacks were getting more and more furious, a demeanor contrasted greatly by the way excitement filled her face, ignoring her nakedness. And what nakedness it was! Her top was gone for all effective purposes, the few remaining scraps failing to cover her spectacular breasts as they tumbled with her every assault. Her pants were in a better condition, but only relatively. They were still ripped enough to give a full view of her underwear, a little black sexy piece that contrasted greatly with the rest of her practical outfit. Apparently, I wasn't the only one with expectations about the later part of the night.

[600 Experience] 50% Penalty!

[-45 Mana]

But it was enough for a game, I decided, and when I dodged her assault the next time, I grabbed her wrist instead of trying to rip her clothes, twisting her wrist to force her to drop her sword. She tried to resist despite her pained cry, looking at me balefully, but the important thing was her arousal hadn't dimmed, even by a sliver. I squeezed harder, enough to threaten a break, and finally she dropped her sword, but instantly followed up with a punch, trying to turn it into an unarmed brawl.

I let her wrist go, because just with a punch, I could see that her skills didn't include unarmed abilities unlike my generic melee skill. I didn't even bother to throw a punch, just landed a playful squeeze on her breast before slapping her attack away. Her kick resulted in further loss of fabric from her pants, and then she followed up with a body-slam in an attempt to turn our brawl into a grappling match, where she could use her strength as an equalizer.

I let her succeed. Her eyes widened in shock as our bodies collided, but not as much as when she found herself on the ground, with her arms locked behind her back, her legs immobilized by the strategic placement of my leg. I slowly leaned forward, pressing my shaft against her ass, which lacked protection other than the scraps of her pants, and the deficient cover of her panties. "Are you going to surrender?" I whispered into her ear throatily.

[2 Melee]

"Never," she bellowed as she struggled, but it wasn't a desperate struggle to get free, but an attempt to rub herself against the presence of my shaft pressing against her bottom. She was truly aroused.

"Really," I whispered even as I used a spell to remove my clothes without letting her go. When I leaned on her once more, it was my naked shaft that pressed against her ass, her panties a poor tool to insulate against it. "How about now!"

[Companion Acquisition: Progress 1%]

While the presence of the notification had surprised me, making me even more curious about its reason and possible implications, it was hard to focus on that particular detail while Aviada was loudly declaring her intention to fight until the delicious end. "I can handle everything you can dish out," she exclaimed.

"Everything?" I countered, using a throaty whisper, enough to make her shiver. I started removing the remaining pieces of her pants, ripping them off with an agonizing calmness. Whenever the sound of the tearing fabric reached her ear, she shivered, lasting until only her panties remained on her body. Her little lacy panties, too thin to hide her juicy arousal. I grabbed the edge of it, and her back arched in preparation, her bottom rising to give me even better access. But I just chuckled, and let my fingers move up instead, tracing alongside her spine leisurely. "Still not surrendering?" I asked.

"Never," she said, trying to replicate her earlier determination, but it was an imperfect copy with desire filling her tone.

"I wonder how long you will be able to last," I repeated, one of my hands still firmly locking her hands, while the other slowly moved over her skin, leaving only shivers behind, while aiming for her spectacular breasts, busy dangling naked. She did nothing other than moaning obediently when my fingers sank into her breasts mercilessly with a sudden change of pace, pleasure her only response as I mauled her flesh aggressively. But when I pulled my hand away without a warning and returned to my gentle caresses, her gasp of outrage was a thing of legends.

"You're playing with fire," she warned even as she tried to push her hips back, trying to feel my shaft between her cheeks. I let her succeed for a moment, and her hips started to dance furiously, trying to push herself into an orgasm. I pulled back after a minute, just as she was starting to get closer to an orgasm.

"Such a naughty girl," I said while pulling back, my free hand sliding through her raven hair with a surprisingly gentle caress, contrasting greatly with her increasing struggle. When I delivered another spank as a warning, she only moaned with a desire for more. "Any thoughts about surrendering yet?" I asked again, reminding her that she had only one option to receive what she desired.

[Companion Acquisition: Progress 3%]

[700 Experience] 50% Penalty!

"Not a chance in hell," she exclaimed, but even if I lacked the ability to detect her wavering commitment, the system notifications would be enough to save me from that particular mistake. She was on the edge of surrender, her pride rapidly losing importance. The reason for it was clear. Not only I had saved her life three times, but also I had also proved to her that even in her selected field of expertise, I was far superior. And to top it all off, I showed that I was more than willing to help her get stronger as well, another attractive offer as she clearly lacked a support structure of her own.

I could just rip her panties and have her, and the only thing I would receive would have been a moan of pleasure, but I wanted more. I want her to surrender herself to me, so I extended the unique torture she was suffering under, her unmet orgasm taking an increasingly bigger toll as the time passed. I caressed, licked, and occasionally bit her sensitive spots, until she started to rely on words less and less, showing her intentions through gasps, moans, and desperate attempts of rubbing our bodies together.

"Come on, sweetie, is it really that difficult to surrender," I murmured gently even as I finally grabbed the edge of her panties, and peeled them off with torturous slowness, finally leaving her folds naked. I brought my fingers to her wetness, finally touching her most sensitive spot, but her moans came unbidden, her heart filled with the remainders of desire and arousal. Her voice was deliciously tempting as she yearned for an explosion, but I just continued gently caressing while she tried to push back, doing her best to take in my erect shaft, which I occasionally dragged over her naked ass just to tease her.

Her enjoyment was evident in her delicious moan under my touch. She clearly wanted my presence as much as I wanted to hide my shaft in her body. And after the small game I had set up, I needed her surrender before moving forward. That was why I dragged my shaft against her entrance, just enough to wet the crown between her lips, but not pushing forward. She suddenly threw herself back, trying to skewer herself, but I was much more agile than her, and pulled back just in time.

"You lack the strength to push through my grip, you need to get stronger," I said even as I spanked her bottom, watching the ripples with great interest, curious how she would react when her biggest advantage was assessed and found wanting. "Let's see if we can train it." And just like that, a new game started where I still kept her pinned while teasing her entrance, challenging her to push back. Ultimately, it was a delicious play I managed to enjoy only because I had an earlier encounter with Helga, taking the edge off the extended play. Aviada struggled, trying to achieve victory, but her attempts fell short, and I watched the counter for [Companion Acquisition] climbing up point by point.

[1000 Experience] 50% Penalty!

[Companion Acquisition: Progress 25% – First Stage Completed 5000 Exp]

[2 Melee]

"Excellent, a new achievement!" she moaned with pure joy, her frustration replaced with pride immediately as she renewed her struggle with a refreshed attitude. The reason for her mood increase was clear, because I could feel she had just received an impressive boost.

It didn't take a genius to realize she had a strength-based achievement, one that put her strength quite a bit over mine. At least three points, maybe even four, I reasoned, because even from her disadvantageous position, she was on the verge of getting free, forcing me to apply an impressive range of tricks to keep her pinned. She thrashed, cursed, and moaned, but in the end, she ended up pinned on the ground, spread-eagle, with me directly on top of her, a very volatile position that made me doubt my ability to keep her pinned.

Then the system came to my rescue.

[Achievement: Struggling Strength. Win a sexy grapple match despite lacking pure power. 500 Experience, 2 Strength]

[500 Experience] 50% Penalty!

Once again, she struggled, but her joy was soon replaced by resignation when her attempts were foiled again and again. But even as the joy of victory disappeared, arousal and desire remained. "I surrender," she whispered in sweet defeat. She wasn't able to say anything else, because my lips were over hers.

I was victorious. Now, all I needed was to enjoy the spoils of war…

—

[Level: 12 Experience: 74400 / 78000

Strength: 17 Charisma: 19

Precision: 12 Perception: 11

Agility: 12 Manipulation: 17

Speed: 12 Intelligence: 16

Endurance: 10 Wisdom: 18

HP: 756 / 756 Mana: 173 / 972 ]

SKILLS

[Expert Arcana [72/75]

Expert Melee [68/75]

Advanced Subterfuge [50/50]

Advanced Biomancy [50/50]

Basic Speech [25/25] ]

Chapter 26: A Test of Endurance

My shaft was doing its best to rival enchanted steel in its hardness while I examined the frustrated beauty trapped underneath. I wished that I had the ability to paint, because the mixture of emotions on her face was a sight to behold. There was resignation, anger, frustration, acceptance, and joy. Most importantly, above all, there was a burning need that left her nothing more than a toy to desire. "Tell me what you want," I whispered throatily, still enjoying her surrender.

Her anger was a sight to behold. "I want you inside me, you bastard. And if you delay it any further, I promise that-" she said until her voice was suddenly cut off. The reason, the sudden presence of my shaft inside her, breaking through her barrier with one stiff move. My eyes widened in shock a bit, as I hadn't been expecting her to be a virgin, not with her enthusiastic begging, but smiled with satisfaction, an expression she missed while her eyes stayed shut, trying to process the experience.

[1000 Experience] 50% Penalty!

The grip of her walls was as tight as my hands around her wrists that pinned her on the ground. For another girl, I might have delayed the proceedings a bit, but her glare told me that any attempt to coddle her would have been met with a painful retaliation. So, I pushed forward sharply, earning a moan in response. It was a sharp moan, one that echoed in the forest, but both of us were too far gone to care about the consequences.

"Fuck me harder, you bastard," she exclaimed, and like any gentleman, I picked up speed, invading her insides.

"Do you like it, you slut," I said even as I let one of her hands go in favor of landing a slap on her dangling tits, one that earned a clear moan from her. However, despite her clear enjoyment, it almost turned into a big mistake, because her arm came swinging, and only my reflexes saved me from a punch that promised to be exceedingly powerful. "What the hell, you crazy bitch?" I said, but even as I said so, I was aware that I didn't have any right to complain, as rather than pulling back, I started to impale her even deeper.

"You didn't think I would just obediently allow you to have your way with me, right?" she said with a joyful smirk, her sentence interrupted twice by her moans. Despite the pain my intensified invasion clearly caused in her recently-virgin entrance, a fierce joy was the only thing I could see in her eyes.

"You are crazy," I said, but even as I said that, I could feel my heartbeat picking up speed. It was impossible to deny the joy of pushing down such an amazing display of sexiness, each push creating another delicious contortion of pleasure even as she struggled. And the fact that even the smallest slip would result in a painful retaliation made the situation even more difficult, like I was riding an angry dragon, risking destruction with the smallest misstep.

And I liked it… It was an excellent change of pace from all the times I had shared with Helga and Marianne. Both were enjoyable, no doubt, but their obedience was starting to get monotonous. After experiencing Aviada's rough ride, I was sure that I would appreciate Helga's sincere lovemaking or Marianne's obedient enjoyment a lot more.

But that momentary distraction proved to be a mistake, as I failed to react in a timely manner, when Aviada raised her head enough to reach my shoulder.

[-5 HP]

"You bit me!" I shouted, my loudness more about my shock than pain. Her biting was not a surprise, but I wasn't expecting it to be hard enough to actually draw blood. Talk about violent sex.

"That should teach you not to get distracted," she said, her expression the closest I had seen to pouting, though her bloodied lips added a violent edge to it.

"If that's how you want to play," I said as I leaned forward, my teeth clamping around her breast hard enough to leave a mark, earning a corresponding moan in response. And since she was clearly enjoying that part of the treatment, I started a barely-restrained assault on her body, biting and spanking even as I had done my best to ruin her entrance under my boundless pounding. Such a strategy wasn't without a cost, of course, as whenever I let her hands go, she managed to extract a price, be it a painful scratch or even the occasional punch. But under my uninterrupted assault, her pleasure steadily built up, until the dam broke without a warning, and she turned into a shivering, moaning mess.

[750 Experience] 50% Penalty!

Any other girl, I would have let her enjoy her first orgasm for a bit before starting the next round, but with Aviada's usual attitude, pushing into the next stage was both safer and more fun. Pulling out for a moment, I grabbed her shoulder before flipping her into a position that had her chest was pressing against the ground. She gasped in shock when she realized what I was trying to do and tried to twist out, but her momentary delay gave me time to pull her arms to her back painfully, and grab them together, allowing me to keep her under control by just using one hand. I could have used my belt or a conjured rope to keep her occupied, but using my power and nothing else gave a clearer message.

"I'll kill you," she moaned when I started moving once more, my merciless pounding triggering her exhausted nerves once more. But despite her complaints, her enjoyment was clear, a chain of moans leaving her lips while I used my free hand to rain a formidable downpour of spanks, each harder than the last, coloring her bottom crimson, occasionally moving to her breasts for a painful squeeze. But the real joy started when I grabbed her hair, forcing her head back, giving me the perfect angle to invade her insides.

The sight of her sweaty body, glowing under the moonlight, her magnificent tits dangling freely, her tight ass turned crimson under my rough treatment… She was a luscious vision, and when she tightened around me a few minutes later in another orgasm, it managed to push me close to an explosion as well. "Damn, I'm cumming," I moaned.

"Not inside!" she exclaimed, her panic clear even as she started to tremble with her orgasm.

Unfortunately for her, she was the one that turned it into a struggle of dominance, and I had no intention of allowing her to pull back. "Honey, you were the one that turned this into a battle. So unless you beg me mercy and admit to your weakness, the game goes on." The mention of weakness was enough to stall her complaints for a moment, a stubborn expression appearing on her face. And a momentary stall was all I needed, because the next second, I exploded, filling her insides with my seed, intensifying her moan even further.

[1000 Experience] 50% Penalty!

[Companion Acquisition: Progress 35%]

This time, I had no problems with letting her go, and she collapsed, barely able to turn enough that she was laying on her back, her chest rising repeatedly with her frantic breathing, adding another level of poetry to her vision. She looked enchanting with my marks all over her body, trying to process the rush of pleasure I just gave her to. Tempted, I leaned forward to capture her lips in a soft, lingering kiss.

Her expression of shock was simply too cute. She stayed passive under the soft caresses of my lips, the sudden intimacy catching her flat-footed more than my other actions. A fleeting, vulnerable expression appeared on her face, a cute one even though I would never dare to say that out loud. I had a feeling that she would react violently to such a claim. I let my hands drift over her body, this time, my touch fleeting and gentle as my fingers danced along her curves. Her lips started to respond, slowly and hesitantly at first, but soon, her enthusiasm passed even mine, our tongues in an enthusiastic battle.

Then, her movements slowly changed, obviously planning for something. I was curious enough to act oblivious, and kind enough to act shocked when she pinned my arms to the side while she climbed over me in a mirror of the first position. "It's payback time, you bastard," she threatened, but unfortunately for her, my sight was sharp enough to catch her intensifying blush. I made sure to put up a token struggle while she smirked, trying to seem threatening, but only coming across as excited and aroused. Then, before I could say anything, she lowered herself to my shaft, engulfing me with her presence once more, and started to ride me wildly.

I did nothing even when her grip around my wrists weakened under the rush of pleasure, giving me the opportunity to escape. Why should I, when the sensation of being ridden filled me with pleasure, while giving Aviada the win she desperately needed? It was clear that she wanted the struggle, and even though she knew I was stronger, she still wanted to be strong enough to get the occasional win.

Maybe I should bring her to my leveling trips. With her addition and my recent power-up -not to mention the level I was about to receive- we would be strong enough to form a hunting party, potentially with much stronger rewards. But that was a discussion point for another time, I decided, when I saw her face contorted with pleasure, indicating that she was already building up to another orgasm. And since my earlier surrender was sufficient for a freebie, I chose that moment to slip out of her grip. My legs wrapped around her while I hugged her. I rolled, and she was trapped between my body and the ground.

I didn't bother to immobilize her arms, her fingers digging into my back to add a dash of pain to my pleasure. After all, not only did I have HP to spare, but I also had the healing spells to cure myself if she went too far. Indulging her was a small sacrifice while I pinned her on the ground under my weight, drilling her mercilessly… The position lasted for around twenty minutes, and ended predictably, with my seed filling her once more.

[1000 Experience] 50% Penalty!

Level UP!

[Select one of the following skills: Master Melee, Basic Ranged, Basic Tactics]

I was tempted to get tactics with my upcoming expedition, but I was acutely aware that our team would be extremely small, and I would be the pillar. The individual capability would have been much more useful, so I chose to enhance my melee capabilities. And with that momentary distraction gone, I leaned forward once more.

"Again?" she murmured dazedly.

"Don't you want to see who has the better stamina," I said, and the mention of competition was enough to awaken her from her daze, our lips connecting with an unmatched passion. It was sunrise when we finally stumbled out of the forest, though the only reason Aviada was able to walk was my healing spells. I was the victor of our little endurance challenge, something she found hard to be dissatisfied with after an endless number of orgasms she had experienced on the way.

[5000 Experience] 50% Penalty!

[Companion Acquisition: Progress 45%]

[Achievement: Endless Endurance. Prove the superiority of your endurance against a worthy rival, and through a worthwhile competition. 1000 Experience, 3 Endurance]

"So, that was something," she murmured sleepily after we sneaked around the guards and closed into the building with Aviada's room.

"It definitely was," I approved enthusiastically even as I let my hand drift down to the small of her back, happy to see that touch was all I needed even after several rounds of rough, sweaty sex. The rewards I gained were impressive, but it was nothing compared to the pleasure I earned in the process.

"When are we going to meet again?" she asked even though she had a blush on her face.

"How about tomorrow evening," I said, and she nodded enthusiastically. "Actually, I'm planning to make a small expedition to outside tomorrow morning, to see what I could hunt, would you be interested?" I added, acting like I just thought of that.

"Of course," she answered, and after one last kiss, she walked away, the sway of her hips enough to tempt me for another round if I already hadn't been exhausted to the limit.

—

I had thought that after spending the whole night with Aviada, leaving only an hour to nap before I had to dress in my robes and start working at the library would have left me exhausted, but on the contrary, I was bursting with energy. Maybe it was about my new level, or maybe I was underestimating the impact of a three-point increase in my endurance. Regardless of the reason, it didn't change the fact that after a bit of drudgery work, I was feeling randy again. Not enough to make me drop everything and search for Helga or Aviada, but enough to create a low-key annoyance.

Which was why when I saw Marianne walking toward the obscure part of the library, the decision to follow her was easy to make. I made sure to stay hidden, and soon, we were in a relatively obscure part of the library that held some obscure texts on healing, peripheral stuff that was rarely used, but still useful to someone trying to push for the mastery in the area of healing. Since she was in front of the shelves rather than walking around to catch my attention, it was obvious she was in the library for research purposes rather than to fool around, but that didn't stop me from closing in unnoticed, until I was close enough for my breath to caress her skin.

"Can I help you?" I whispered throatily, and she jerked in panic, turning her back, her lips ready for a shout she forced herself to swallow at the last moment when she noticed my identity.

"What the hell, Gaius," she asked, her chest moving violently under her out of control breathing as she tried to keep her breathing controlled.

She was even worse at handling shock than I presumed, a poor ability in a Melius, even for a healer, as ambushes by creatures weren't completely unheard of in the field, and such a delay might result in a total slaughter. I took a note to fix the issue later on, but for now I just needed to distract her a bit. "You're spooked," I said even as I pressed my hand to her chest, her heart thumping under my touch. And if that gave me an opportunity to cup her breast, it was completely incidental. "Take a deep breath," I said even as I moved my hand a bit, enjoying the sensation of her rather spectacular breasts.

She looked like she was about to complain, but a glare from my end was enough to make her change her mind, proving that she was getting more obedient. She followed my directions for a minute before her breathing was back under control, and as panic slowly drained from her face, my hand started to wander around her chest, exploring her breasts over her robe. "Um, I'm better now," she said hesitantly, pointing at my hand. Her meaning was clear.

Naturally, I ignored her wordless request, softly squeezing her breast instead, adding a small touch of magic to intensify her sensations. "So, what are you searching for?" I said, repeating my earlier question even as I explored her body, ignoring her rising panic.

[50 Experience] 50% Penalty!

I was barely able to hold back a frown at the notification. I had been hoping her to be an even higher level, which, unfortunately wasn't the case. I didn't know whether Aviada or Marianne had a higher level, but even under the best of circumstances, it was clear that I wouldn't be able to reach level twenty without leveling them further -or finding a new assistant. "Gaius, what if-" she tried to start, trying to warn me about the risks, but I interrupted that by squeezing her breast hard, and she had to stop to prevent a moan from escaping. My earlier discoveries about her sensitive spots were coming in handy.

"I asked you a question, sweetie," I said even as I took a step forward. She tried to retreat, but pinned between my body and the shelf, my arms were enough to cut off her escape route. I was close enough for my breath to caress her lips. She licked her lips nervously, but it only made them more delicious. I leaned forward, and she tilted her head readily, but I waited without touching, and going as far as to pull back when she tried to close in, maintaining our sensual distance.

Soon, she realized that she had no option but to play along. "I was looking for alternative ways to establish healing fields," she explained. "I feel like my current method is not working as well as I hoped."

"Which method are you using?" I asked.

"I'm using a variant of the double-matrix reduction, but for some reason, my spells are destabilizing in a few minutes," she explained, more to follow my order rather than believing I could help her. After all, what she mentioned was an advanced topic that belonged to the healing field. Of course, she didn't know that I had a decent biomancy knowledge.

I just chuckled and waved my hand, and two books pulled themselves from the shelves and started floating in front of her. "I believe these two should help you abandon such inelegant methods," I said with a wide smirk, enjoying the expression of shock on her face. "Now, about the reward…" I added, and before she could say anything, my lips closed over hers, enjoying the touch, my hands caressing her body adventurously.

Then, my sixth sense went haywire even worse than the time I had been attacked by the shadow wolf, but it wasn't the sense of an impending assault. It felt more like the silence before the storm, a certain pressure that would doubtlessly ruin me in one wrong move. I pulled away from Marianne immediately. "Go to the corner and hide behind the shelves," I whispered to her, my voice had never been more serious. She looked like she was about to argue, but another angry glare silenced her.

Marianne dashed away, and just in time, because not just a second later, the head librarian appeared around the corner in her usual calm demeanor on the surface, only my rather impressive wisdom allowing me to see that things weren't as straightforward. Never in my life I was so glad to pick advanced subterfuge, because even under her casual gaze, I felt that my mask was being assaulted. Luckily, I had the necessary acting ability to cover it.

"Boy, follow me," she said before continuing forward, not even bothering to check whether I was following. Why would she, when she ruled the library with an iron fist, so much that even rest of the faculty hadn't dared to intrude her domain? It was unthinkable for a lowly assistant to actually dare to ignore her order.

I followed, doing my best to maintain my mule persona, curiosity rising in me despite fear. It was the first excuse I had to interact with her, and I was curious about what kind of secrets I would be able to unearth…

—

[Level: 13 Experience: 84200 / 91000

Strength: 17 Charisma: 19

Precision: 12 Perception: 11

Agility: 12 Manipulation: 17

Speed: 12 Intelligence: 16

Endurance: 13 Wisdom: 18

HP: 858 / 858 Mana: 658 / 1053 ]

SKILLS

[Master Melee [68/100]

Expert Arcana [72/75]

Advanced Subterfuge [50/50]

Advanced Biomancy [50/50]

Basic Speech [25/25]

Chapter 27: Dangerous Walk

After signaling Marianne to stay away, I started following the head librarian, my full attention focused on maintaining my mule persona. Every step, every stumble, even the blank expression on my face had to be perfect, just in case her gaze fell on me for a fleeting moment. After all, she was dangerous enough to change the flow of a battle with just her presence, whether it was against the monsters or humans. Even under the most conservative estimate, she was well-above level twenty, and in reality, nobody knew just how strong she was.

I didn't know what would happen if she discovered my true nature, but I wasn't feeling lucky enough to test it, so I followed her obediently deeper into the library. Unfortunately, it was a long walk, and without anything to distract me, I found myself watching the way her body strained her bulky clothing to understand her body type. She wasn't the busty type, that much was obvious from the lack of a bulkiness around her chest. Similarly her hips were narrow, suggesting that she had a lithe body underneath. Considering that she wasn't very tall either, it wasn't hard to guess that without her mysterious clothing, she would have found it hard to put on an intimidating display. Of course, that wouldn't change the fact that she could rain fireballs with a twist of her wrist, making the observation relatively worthless.

Then, we arrived at a closed gate, and my heartbeat picked up speed, and a soft gasp escaped my mouth despite my best effort. The reason was clear. She was standing in front of the locked entrance of the restricted section, the room that housed the most valuable and most dangerous pieces of writing in the library. I had never ever thought of attempting to enter, because it was protected by layers of wards, making such an attempt no different than assisted suicide.

But now, things were different. I carefully watched the shape of her magic, straining myself to commit the complicated flows into my memory -a difficult achievement even with my unbelievable stats. Still, it was an unbelievable opportunity, one that would have been impossible to receive if she hadn't written me off as inconsequential. Yet another thing my abyssal reputation proved useful for. I stayed focused on the ebbs and flows of the key she was constructing while the wards around the vault deactivated one by one, and soon, the door opened. "Stay here," she ordered as she disappeared inside.

I would have preferred to follow her inside. Failing that, I tried to get a feel of her magic to understand whether there were other traps inside, but failed to detect any. Meaning, either the vault didn't have other wards, or it had the effect of hiding magic used inside while the door was closed. Still, the ability to open the outer shell was a rewarding enough, especially since I just needed to wait around a bit for it.

It took almost two hours for the head librarian to step out once more, and she pushed a cart filled with an impressive amount of books out. She glanced at my direction before starting to walk once again, leaving the cart behind. I quickly grabbed it and started to follow her, noting that she was considerably more exhausted, making it clear that there were further wards inside, much more difficult ones even. But that was a problem for another day.

I followed her through less-used parts of the library, then we arrived at another door, this one her own private residence, which she once again used her magic to unlock. It was considerably easier than the earlier vault door, so I memorized it easily as well. I had been expecting her to order me to stop, which was why I was surprised when she gestured me to follow her inside.

I found myself in a sparsely furnished living room. Surprisingly so, even, considering her reputation and the position she held. She had a large table piled with books, and an even larger bookcase piled with books, but a portion of it completely empty. Other than that, the only thing she had in there was an uncomfortable-looking wooden chair. Her home was as strict and soulless as she was acting outside, apparently.

My observations were cut short by her order. "Sort the books on the bookcase," she said, then, once again without saying anything, walked to the other room. I would have liked to use the opportunity to browse the books she brought, but they were sealed magically. It was easy to break, but applying them again in the same manner would be time-consuming. A time that I currently lacked. I could only read their titles.

It was an interesting mixture. Most of the titles, I wasn't even able to read, as they used an unfamiliar alphabet. The ones I was able to read, however, included a surprising number of books about ancient history. And, the rest of the shelf was filled with books on legends and myths, making it quite a mystery. Unfortunately, I was not in a position to explore that particular mystery.

Still, I didn't want my journey to be completely useless, and despite her power, her dismissive attitude was starting to annoy me. So, I decided to use a little trick. When she pushed the door close, I created a minuscule magical disturbance, hard to detect without looking for it, but sufficient enough to keep the door from closing. An almost filled expert arcana was surely useful. Then, I cast another spell, this time a small, almost transparent piece of floating crystal, while a linked mirror appeared in my hand, allowing me to watch what she was doing.

She was facing the other way, but it wasn't the reason my eyes were widened. No, it was because her hands were on her robe, slowly unlocking her buttons. I slowly placed the books on the shelf, not daring to use any magic for the job while watching her with my full attention. I was surprised when she pulled her hair free from an oppressing bind, and her raven locks flowed on her shoulders. But it wasn't as interesting as when she started to push her robe down, revealing a pair of flawless and fragile alabaster shoulders, and when it moved down further, a naked back was added to the mix. My eyes widened with shock, as I hadn't been expecting her to be half-naked under her bulky robes.

[100 Experience]

The other surprise was just how lithe and elegant her body was. If I didn't know her identity, I would have never guessed her to be the head librarian. It was hard to match her towering identity with her sweet body. When her robe moved even lower, it revealed her tight bottom, clad in her panties, which, unfortunately, was the white and boring kind. I was about to let the crystal disperse when I noticed her fingers reaching for the edge of her panties. I decided to maintain the spell despite its risk, a decision that was rewarded almost instantly when she pushed her panties down, revealing her cute bottom, and with a fleeting sight of her entrance, beautiful enough to wish me that I was strong enough to ravage her without fearing the consequences.

"Soon," I murmured to myself.

Since my luck had yet to disappoint me today, I decided to push further, and watched as she started to walk toward the other door in her bedroom, giving me a full-frontal view of her beauty. Her face was yet another surprise. She had a small, cute face even without makeup, one that should have belonged to a cute flower girl on the corner of the street rather than a scary mage that made everyone tremble under the threat of her bad mood. I could see why she was always wearing that hood and using magic to darken her expression. It was hard to take this cute face seriously. Of course, her small yet shapely breasts and thin waist deserved a mention of their own, completing the little fragile girl image.

It was impossible to stop once she entered the other room, not bothering to close the door, the sound of flowing water reaching my ears. I let the crystal float to her bathroom, and met with the beautiful sight of her bubble covered body, her impromptu dress melting under the flow of water. Soon, she had nothing but crystal-clear water droplets to cover her body, and since I had already finished my task, I decided to get a bit of reward, and put my hand in my trousers, playing with my erection.

[500 Experience]

[Achievement: Dancing with Death. Stretch a hidden situation to its limit with the full knowledge of the cost of failure. 1000 Experience, 2 Perception, 2 Agility]

Unfortunately, her shower stopped before I could attain my release, so, with great disappointment, I released the spell and fixed my pants, and waited for her to appear.

On that, I received another surprise, as I hadn't been expecting her to walk into the living room naked. Oh, she had an illusion on, but it was impossible to slip such a thing by a master of subterfuge like myself. And with that awareness, denying the illusion and seeing her naked body was trivial for me. Just like that, my heartbeat rose to a peak. After all, not every day did the legendary librarian stand in front of me, stark naked and bent over as she examined the bookcase, tempting me with damnation.

"Everything is in order, you can leave," she said, and I immediately turned and left the room, not trusting myself not to react in a way that would reveal myself if I continued to be subjected to that heavenly sight anymore.

When I walked out, there was a determination in my steps, and I even used several spells to find my target easily. Soon, I was standing a shelf away from Helga, and a floating note reached to her. Her eyes widened with shock, but I didn't waste time watching, just walking in determined steps as I reached the storage room I described in the note, casting several wards in succession while waiting for her to appear. Anti-detection, silencing, locking, even climate-control. Helga had a worried expression on her face when she stepped in. She opened her mouth to ask, but before the first word could leave her lips, mine was already on hers, devouring her lips hungrily.

[Level Difference of at least 50%! No Experience]

She froze under the assault for a moment, but it didn't take long for her lips to join the dance, her hands starting to caress my muscles, creating a pleasant, soothing sensation. Any other time, I would have let her continue, happy to see her taking initiative, but I was simply too aroused after watching the librarian's unintentional show. A part of my mind acknowledged that it was the effect of her high charisma, only flowing free rather than leveraged for intimidation purposes; and the adrenaline from the fear of getting caught didn't help my state of mind any.

However, regardless of its partially supernatural reasons, I was extremely horny, so I needed to solve it. I grabbed Helga's robe and pulled, her buttons flying around. Before she could even let out a gasp, her blouse and underwear received the same treatment, no different than paper under my great strength. "My clothes," she gasped in shock even as I grabbed her hips, and forced her to turn. She found herself against the wall, her bosom pressing the cold stone walls.

"Don't worry, I'll buy you better stuff," I answered even as I pulled the robe off her, leaving her half-naked, with only her long skirt to cover her legs. A grievous issue that needed to be fixed immediately, I decided, and pulled her skirt up, gathering it around her waist, expecting to reveal her panties, which was why I was pleasantly surprised when I saw they were missing. "Naughty girl," I said even as I slapped her bottom, her booty rippling sensually, breaking the last hold of rationality over my mind.

"For you," she gasped even while I was busy removing my pants, which was all the invitation I needed before plunging myself into her depths, her strained cry of pleasure mixing with my groan of appreciation, and I started slamming into her mercilessly. "It hurts," she managed to gasp between her cries, warning me to go slower. However, I was caught in a daze, and knew that slowing down was not an option for me. Luckily, I had other options. I flared my mana, not bothering to be conservative as I flooded her body with biomancy-based healing energies, deadening her sense of pain while curing the damage my merciless assault was creating. An extremely wasteful approach, but not without its benefits. And I had mana to spare.

[-50 Mana]

"Better?" I asked even as I sped my assault even further, the sound of flesh hitting flesh reaching a deafening point.

"Are you using-" she started, but interrupted by a moan when I started mauling her tits mercilessly. "Are you using your healing magic to deaden the impact? How?" she managed to slur, showing a great display of willpower.

"It's not that difficult," I answered, deciding to indulge her in a sudden hint of amusement. I was impressed that she was still able to think about the intricacies of magic while being stuffed mercilessly. And maybe focusing on a different thing would help me to combat the sense of arousal I was feeling, which was rather scary. "Actually, I'm basing the flow on one of your theories for arcana, but changing the energy flows…" I started, and launched a detailed explanation of theory even as I continued to drill her mercilessly.

[Companion Acquisition: Progress 16%]

The notification managed to surprise me, because it only appeared after I started explaining to her about magic. Another clue, I realized, though it didn't match the previous time. Then, I wasn't helping her with magical theory…

But that time, I had just finished helping her level up! "It's so simple," I murmured in shock.

"What's so simple?" she answered, or more accurately, she managed to slur certain parts of that sentence while I managed to piece together the rest. Her pleasure had risen to a point to prevent her from speaking coherently.

"Just reached an epiphany, give me a moment," I answered, punctuating my sentence with a spank. She just moaned in lieu of an answer, leaving me free to focus my thoughts while I pumped her towards an orgasm. I realized that the companion process was about proving myself to them based on their perception, though as usual, I needed to seal it with a sexual process. It was pure physical domination for Aviada, and exemplar magical theory for Helga. Also, I couldn't discount the fact that I saved Aviada from her fiancee, and helped Helga to level up, therefore removing their biggest problems. Maybe it was a combination of both. I needed to help them, and impress them… It certainly explained why I hadn't received anything for Marianne despite the time we spent together.

With the next target of experimentation selected, I turned my attention to Helga, who was showing the signs of an impending explosive orgasm. I grabbed her hair, pulling her into a searing kiss, which triggered her orgasm immediately. I didn't delay it, because she deserved a reward. Not only was she very helpful to get rid of the effects I had been suffering under, but she also unknowingly allowed me to mostly solve the issue of the companion process.

I pulled out of her, and she collapsed on the floor, her trembling legs unable to hold her weight. She was barely able to twist so that she was resting with her back against the wall, trying to control her trembles. As another part of her reward, I gave her a minute to calm down before ordering her to open her mouth. She did so immediately, and I invaded her throat, no less merciless than my earlier invasion. I let the healing magic fill her body once more. However, even as I invaded her I was explaining the flow of magic and theory behind it with great detail, amused by her struggle to decide what to focus on, the pleasure she was feeling, or the intellectual opportunity in front of her.

[Companion Acquisition: Progress 19%]

[Companion Acquisition: Progress 22%]

[3 Arcana]

[Companion Acquisition: Progress 25% – First Stage Completed 5000 Exp]

When the first stage was completed, her eyes widened with shock. After Aviada, I had a good idea of what she had just experienced. "Did you just receive an achievement?" I asked smugly, and her shock increased even further. I pulled out for a moment, letting her speak.

"How?" she murmured.

"It's a dangerous secret," I said even as I filled her mouth once more. "I'm trusting you with it, and soon, I'll explain it, but don't even mention it to anyone else," I warned her, and she managed to nod despite her busy mouth. I wasn't worried about it. Her look of fanaticism was hard to fake, not to mention I had the system's approval about her increasing loyalty. With that aspect shelved satisfactorily, I continued ramming her throat until I filled her mouth with my seed, which she swallowed with great fervor.

I decided to sit down next to her, letting her rest against my chest in a rare moment of pure intimacy. She sighed in satisfaction. "By the way, rest well tonight. Tomorrow morning, we're going on an expedition outside to increase your leveling speed further. Let's see whether we can let you gain two levels in a week."

Someone else would have claimed that I was mad for even daring to go out for hunting with less than a full regiment, not to mention my claim that I could help her level up with a speed that would rival a bonafide hero. It was proof of the impression I had on her when she, rather than arguing, just nodded with a smile and climbed on my lap, slowly riding me toward the climax. We stayed in the room for almost two hours, our bodies melding together in a variety of positions, mixing tender and fast, managing to squeeze several high-level theory discussions to the mix.

[Companion Acquisition: Progress 45%]

[-356 Mana]

In the end, even with the generous application of healing energy, Helga was completely spent. Naturally, she lacked Aviada's stamina, and magic was an imperfect replacement. Still, a huge smile was on her lips as she stumbled to her room, naked under her robe. I followed her until she reached her room of course, not wanting her to meet with a dangerous situation in her distracted state. Only when she was securely in her room did I walk away, but not to my room.

I wanted to receive my reward for helping Marianne in the library…

—

[Level: 13 Experience: 90800 / 91000

Strength: 17 Charisma: 19

Precision: 12 Perception: 13

Agility: 14 Manipulation: 17

Speed: 12 Intelligence: 16

Endurance: 13 Wisdom: 18

HP: 884 / 884 Mana: 274 / 1079 ]

SKILLS

[Master Melee [68/100]

Expert Arcana [75/75]

Advanced Subterfuge [50/50]

Advanced Biomancy [50/50]

Basic Speech [25/25] ]

Chapter 28: Naughty Spying

One of the advantages of my earlier maid disguise was the great knowledge it provided me about the surroundings of the noble quarters, including where maids and other servants would be around at this time. With that knowledge, I didn't even bother to disguise myself, and just used a simple spell that allowed me to meld into the shadows, avoiding the casual attention of the visitors. With that, it didn't take long for me to arrive at Marianne's door. Unlocking it was trivial with my great magical abilities, and soon, I stepped inside, unnoticed by the occupants.

The occupants were busy with rather salacious activities if their heated moans were any indicator. And a smile appeared on my face as I registered the familiarity of their voices. One of them was naturally Marianne, which was to be expected. It was the identity of the other one that put a smile on my face, Cornelia. It had been a while since I had come across her. It was perfect timing, as I was not afraid of her anymore with my recent leveling. Just a couple hundred points would push me to the next level, and I was very enthusiastic about testing the limits of the situation.

Their voices -more moans and cries- were coming from the bedroom, so I decided to take a peek. A real one, not though the mirror trick I used against the head librarian. With a deep breath, I started wrapping the magic around myself, and soon, an advanced version of the shadow cloak was around me, good enough to hide me from the eyes of two distracted mages as long as I stuck to the corners of the room. Still, I was glad that I spent an hour meditating before visiting here, allowing me to recover a decent chunk of my mana. I was strong enough to defend myself if I revealed myself with a sudden mistake.

I carefully opened the door, ready to slam a shield to prevent a surprise attack, but the sight I met told me that it was not a concern. Cornelia and Marianne were on the bed, Marianne on all fours, and Cornelia behind her, both of them facing the other way, which made my infiltration trivially easy. I slid to a corner, under the shadow of a wardrobe, and started watching the amazing show. The situation was highly different than the previous time. For once, Cornelia had a strap-on tied around her waist, ramming against Marianne's tight hole, spanking Marianne's bottom repeatedly. Her attitude was closer to the time I had watched her torturing Helga than her usual demeanor with Marianne. She was clearly enjoying the opportunity to push forward, unaware that the road she was taking was created by the others.

However, Marianne's expression was even more interesting. She was enjoying the situation, but it was a muted enjoyment, nothing even close to the mind-blowing joy she had been enjoying under my attention. I smirked proudly, happy with the impact I had created. Then, I received a very surprising notification.

[500 Experience]

Level UP!

[Select one of the following skills: Basic Fire, Basic Elemental, Basic Meditation]

I wasn't surprised by the new level, or the fact that I gained experience. No, I was shocked, because there was no penalty to my experience gain. I was surprised, as I wasn't expecting Cornelia to be an even higher level than me. Still, I wasn't afraid, as no matter what, as long as she wasn't above level twenty -which she obviously wasn't- I didn't have anything to worry about. The overwhelming advantage of my stats combined with my varied skill set made sure that at worst, I could retreat easily. More likely, I could easily defeat her before she could cast a high-level spell. Her flame specialization was dangerous, but slow to implement.

With that done, I focused on my new level, and after a brief consideration, picked basic elemental skill. Flame specialization offered higher damage, but specialization worked much better for my circumstances. And meditation was rather redundant, as thanks to my melee abilities, my mana expenditure was much lower compared to other mages, and my mana pool likely triple the size of anyone on the same level. High stats across the board was really useful.

With that decided, I was about to show myself when I noticed a conspicuous bundle of letters among Cornelia's discarded clothes. The same bundle of letters I had seen her keep in the magically-sealed safe in her room during my visit. I smirked. Since she was kind enough to bare her secrets in such an obvious place, who I was to reject the opportunity. Telekinesis saw that they floated to my hand, and I started reading the letters.

And to multitask, I conjured a little flame between my fingers, making it dance, soon joined by a piece of earth and a droplet of water, all wrapped with a layer of magically-charged air. It was a ludicrous display of magic that should have been impossible for anyone with just a basic skill, but a combination of my arcana ability, my stats, and the theory discussions I had with Helga, allowed me to show a capability quite a bit above expected. Even better, since I was doing it next to Cornelia -a higher-level mage that would doubtlessly attack me if noticed- it was showing extremely rapid improvement. Just ten minutes later, my skill was already full, not to mention the experience gain from watching two beauties cutting loose.

[2000 Experience]

[25 Elemental]

[-14 Mana]

Meanwhile, I managed to skim through the bundle of letters, and learned quite a few interesting details. They were all in cipher, but against my wisdom and intelligence, it didn't survive long, especially since she had made the mistake of basing it to an obscure arcana pattern. The first nugget of interest was the fact that Cornelia apparently hit the level cap, which she was desperately trying to find a solution to, but her searches, as expected, turned up no result. Such a thing was either impossible, or it was possible but hidden as the most important secret of an organization, effectively impossible to discover. Of course, Cornelia was aware of it as well, therefore, her real focus was to find a way to allow her to continue earning achievements despite her level cap, or failing that, trying to find clues about items and artifacts that might boost her abilities. She was simply desperate to increase her personal power.

The reason for her desperation was clarified by the other half of the letters. Thanks to her earlier fight with her caretaker, I had already known about the power struggle in her House, but I hadn't expected it to be too serious. It was a series of correspondence with a loyal spy back at House Antony, each letter grimmer than the last, informing Cornelia about her allies disappearing or pulling their support. She still had considerable support, but the trend was worrying. Apparently, her uncle was playing for keeps.

It wasn't hard to guess that her uncle was playing it safe mostly because of Cornelia's stellar increase, afraid of making a mortal enemy, instead of trying to lock her into a junior position so that even when she took the reigns of the house, she would be dependent to him. But if he had known about her hitting the level cap before even reaching level twenty…

Of course, while it was bad news for Cornelia, the same couldn't be said from my perspective. On the contrary, her vulnerable position gave me the opportunity to move in, and support her. Companion process was a long shot, but even without that, I was powerful enough to easily rival her, and unlike her, I was yet to reach my prime. And more importantly, she had no idea about how strong I could be.

I could have taken no action, but interrupting seemed a better idea considering the rest of my plan. I first established a ward that would keep anyone from feeling the magical surges unless the spells were overcharged. The establishment of such a ward was impossible to hide from people inside it, so I didn't even bother, and started clapping the moment they jumped in panic, searching for the intruder.

It didn't take long for them to find me since I also canceled the shadow cloak. "Gaius?!" Marianne managed to murmur even as she was frozen in shock once more. She really needed to learn how to handle shock better.

Cornelia, on the other hand, reacted much more predictably even as she sent a shocked glance at Marianne for recognizing the intruder. Her response came in the form of an impressively hot firebolt, her sweaty body's shine gaining an ethereal quality under the sudden flash of redness. Combined with her crimson hair, she looked like a goddess of war.

Therefore, it was amusing to see her confident expression crumble when I waved my hand, and a small sheet of water appeared on the path of the firebolt, extinguishing it easily, partly because of the elemental mismatch, and partly because I subtly reinforced it with an arcana matrix. It was unnecessarily expensive, spending twenty mana where I could have just used four, but the sudden turn was enough to make Cornelia freeze, which was what I needed. From her perspective, I was a strong water expert, a rather dangerous match against her, especially in closed space and a bath next door giving me unlimited material. "Who are you?" Cornelia asked as she raised her arms defensively, flames burning in her palms. And thanks to her lack of clothes, and earlier sexual activities, I was awarded with a chunk of bonus experience.

[-20 Mana]

[1000 Experience]

I took a step forward, using my subterfuge skill to seem utterly relaxed and confident even though a defensive spell was ready to flicker into existence instantly. "I'm Gaius, as Marianne kindly informed you," I said smugly as I closed in the distance. "But you might know me as the mule," I added, watching as a completely different shock invading her face. Before she could say anything, I cut in. "I know, how can it be, weren't you supposed to be an idiot, and other such nonsense. The easiest explanation is that everything you know about me is a lie, and I have my own objectives that needed to fulfill by playing along, and now that those are complete, I'm free to act. How's that for a summary?"

"Very clear," Cornelia managed to answer, managing to recover a semblance of control during my explanation. But that clarity reminded her of a very important detail. She was still completely naked, and a glistening strapon was tied to her waist. She pulled the covers on herself, ignoring Marianne's circumstances as she still tried to control her shock. "So, why are you here?"

"Well, I was here to visit Marianne, to ask payment for my earlier assistance," I said bluntly, not hesitating for a second before implicating Marianne. Marianne's gaze danced between Cornelia and me helplessly, but found only amusement at mine, and anger at Cornelia's. No doubt that Cornelia was thinking Marianne betrayed her, which was perfect for my needs, allowing me to interject myself between them as Marianne's protector. "But since I had learned about your circumstances, I decided to offer my help."

"Marianne-" Cornelia exclaimed, her anger flaring as she came to the wrong conclusion, her flaming hands turning to her bedmate, but once again, I was prepared, and a column of water flew from the bathroom, covering both while also turning the bed into a soaked mess -which I could use for follow-up spells.

"Stop, it wasn't her," I explained even as Marianne jumped off the bed, fear in her eyes as she dashed towards me, ignoring her nakedness, or the way her generous bosom tumbled with each hurried step. She hid behind me, her shivering little to do with her wet state. "You were the one silly enough to bring a full complement of notes of your little rebellion," I countered.

"Impossible, they are coded with a-" she tried to say, but I cut her off by creating a floating sample of the exact diagram that she used to hide her letters.

"Yeah, it took me a minute to solve the cipher. You might think about finding a better one," I said, reinforcing my image even further. I took a step forward, quite happy to see that Cornelia, the flaming witch that everyone was afraid of, slid back, reflexively pulling the cover up like a little child trying to hide from the big bag monster. It would be lying to say I didn't find her fear exhilarating.

However, rather than continuing to walk, I pulled the chair closer and -just to rub salt into the wound- wrapped my arm around Marianne's waist, pulling her on my lap. She whimpered, but her arm still wrapped around my torso tightly for assurance. After seeing Cornelia's anger, she subconsciously shifted sides already. I just needed to reinforce it. From the sudden tightening on her face, I could see that Cornelia realized that she fucked up and sent an apologizing glance at Marianne, which she ignored in favor of snuggling into my chest. The disappointment was clear on Cornelia's face, not to mention jealousy as she watched her girlfriend snuggle in my lap despite her nakedness.

[500 Experience]

"Your concern about my choice of cipher is noted," Cornelia murmured, trying to seem confident and regal, but it was a hard image to pull off when she was still drenched after my latest assault, and wrapped with an equally drenched bed cover. "However, I'm sure it's not the only comment you have after reading my most important secrets."

"Of course not," I said even as I moved my hand, grabbing Marianne's breast. She didn't like my brazen act of molesting her girlfriend without paying even the slightest concern for her opinion, but other than a flicker of flame between her fingers, she managed to control her anger. "I was actually thinking about helping you?"

[500 Experience]

"Why would you do that?" she said dismissively. "You have read everything. I have no hope of victory against my uncle, and you can get an easy reward by just writing a letter." She let out a dismissive chuckle as she pulled the sheet tighter. "It's obvious that I can't stop you."

I had to admit, for someone thinking that her fate was in tethers, she was surprisingly resilient, far better than I would have given her credit for. That impression, more than anything, made me change my plans for her ultimate fate, though I was still going to tame her before elevating her. "Well, that's true, but you need to ask yourself. What would I gain if I brought the news to your uncle? A few thousand gold, a minor title, or a magical weapon if he was feeling extremely generous." Her expression changed as I dismissed the possibility of those rewards easily, as they were enough that even most of her noble peers wouldn't dare to turn their nose at them, especially if they could gain it with little effort. Even just the positive impression from a ruling lord would be enough for them to sell Cornelia out. But I had other plans.

"And what do you expect me to give you?" she said coldly.

"That can be discussed later," I said with a dismissive wave even though my other hand had long disappeared between Marianne's legs, caressing her wet folds. "I don't expect you to commit to anything before I prove my ability to deliver."

[1000 Experience]

"And what can you deliver?" she countered, trying to sound dismissive to get a semblance of control, but it was impossible for her to hide the sudden bloom of hope underneath.

I smirked even as I continued to finger Marianne, who failed to keep her moans under control. Deep, throaty moans that Cornelia failed to earn despite her best efforts just minutes ago. "I think I should keep that part as a surprise for now," I said even as I subtly cast a spell. It was a simple one that opened my zipper and pulled down my pants, and Marianne's moans intensified when she felt the presence of my shaft trapped under her naked butt. "However, I can give you a hint. I could have easily taken control of my family and relaxed as the ruling lord with my power, but I have spent the last several years undercover in the biggest library of the world," I said, once again ignoring the fact that the library's supposed the second-largest status according to the system. "Now, imagine what I might have, and why I'm confident enough to help you."

"Do you have-" Cornelia started, only to be silenced when I raised my hand in warning.

"We will discuss it later," I said, then shifted my hands to Marianne's bottom, and lifted her up. Then, without a warning, I pulled her down, taking her virginity without a warning.

[3000 Experience]

[Achievement: Daring Defilement. Brazenly snatch the most valuable treasure of a noble lady in front of her significant other with a higher level. 2000 Experience, 5 Charisma]

[Companion Acquisition: Progress 1%]

I smirked, enjoying the sudden silence that filled the room, both girls shocked by my action. Cornelia's eyes were burning with obvious anger, but the rewards I dangled in front of her was just good enough to prevent her from acting. Marianne was just bad at managing surprises, so she simply followed my lead and started grinding her hips despite her dazed expression. Marianne's companion process was a nice surprise, probably triggered by Cornelia's sudden betrayal and my protection, and the impression further solidified by my decisive victory.

Just to drive the situation even further, I unleashed the full impact of my charisma to the surface, but geared toward subtle intimidation. Thanks to the addition of my last achievement, my charisma had reached a devastating level, maybe even to a point of matching the display the head librarian had displayed.

As a result, Cornelia stiffened, her anger replaced with a healthy dose of fear instead. "I better go," she murmured and quickly dressed, trying not to look at her freshly-spoiled ex-girlfriend and the rather impressive shaft that was in the process of ruining her, but it was hard for her to avoid it when my charisma worked like a magnet, pulling her gaze to the epicenter.

"Sure, I'll visit you in your room tomorrow evening, and we can talk in detail," I said casually, like invading her living space was nothing more than a trivial chore. Just as she was about to leave, I added one parting shot, just to drive the fact that I conquered her girlfriend in her presence. After all, it was good to finally take revenge for her almost killing me.

"Also, feel free to join us whenever you feel lonely. I'm sure Marianne wouldn't mind your presence."

—

[Level: 14 Experience: 101300 / 105000

Strength: 17 Charisma: 24

Precision: 12 Perception: 13

Agility: 14 Manipulation: 17

Speed: 12 Intelligence: 16

Endurance: 13 Wisdom: 18

HP: 952 / 952 Mana: 864 / 1232 ]

SKILLS

[Master Melee [68/100]

Expert Arcana [75/75]

Advanced Subterfuge [50/50]

Advanced Biomancy [50/50]

Basic Speech [25/25]

Basic Elemental [25/25] ]

Chapter 29: Protection Payment

Watching the plethora of emotions dancing across Marianne's face as Cornelia left was amusing, though her dazed expression was understandable. After all, just a few minutes ago, she had been walked in on during a very intimate moment, the one that walked in was the one she was cheating on her girlfriend with, then a fight broke out where her famously-intimidating girlfriend had lost with her most important secrets revealed, Marianne got blamed with almost deadly consequences so threatening that she had to seek sanctuary with the intruder, then said intruder stole her virginity without a warning…

Truly, her confusion was understandable, so I decided to take it a bit slow at first. I pulled out of her. She stood dazedly until I slowly led her to the fluffy carpet soft enough to substitute for a bed -as her bed was ruined due to the water attack from earlier- and directed her to lay on her back, her deliciously plump body present for my attention. I hovered above her, an unusually gentle smile on my lips as my shaft probed her entrance once more. "Don't worry, you're mine from now on, and I protect what's mine," I whispered.

[Companion Acquisition: Progress 2%]

[200 Experience] 50% Penalty!

I watched as my words took the intended effect, which wasn't entirely shocking. From the beginning, it was obvious that Marianne was more of a follower than a leader, with a clear role in her relationship with Cornelia. Watching her leave defeated without even daring to retaliate even when she watched Marianne's most precious location being taken left its impact on her. Combined with the endless joy our physical relationship had provided her, it wasn't entirely shocking that she started to latch onto me. And I had every intention of leveraging the shift in attitude.

"Tell me what you want," I whispered into her ear with the intimacy of a lover even as my shaft pressed against her entrance, but didn't push forward. The blush that spread across her face was utterly delicious, but she was too shy to actually push forward, so I decided to give her a taste. I pushed forward, just enough for the crown to disappear in her entrance, which made her shiver in anticipation, which was quickly replaced with disappointment. "I can't help you if you don't tell me what you want," I whispered once more, following my words with a gentle kiss on her lips.

She was even more dazed when I pulled back from the kiss, her arms wrapping around my back to pull me back into the kiss. I let her succeed, restarting our slow but delicious kiss, but when she tried to push her hips forward, I was careful to pull back. I wanted her verbal admission before the next step.

She whimpered.

"Come on Marianne," I whispered even as I caressed her hair with surprising gentleness. "We both know what you want. You just need to admit it." She was still silent. "Your shyness is the only thing that's between you and an endless wave of pleasure."

My little game lasted several minutes, where I caressed, kissed, and teased her until her arousal finally reached the point of overpowering her fear and shyness. "I want you … inside me," she murmured, her voice fading into nothingness.

"Sorry, couldn't hear you," I said with a wide smile, though I made sure to place a fleeting kiss on her lips to soften the impact. "Can you repeat that louder?"

This time, my words managed to awaken a reaction in Marianne. "I want you inside me, you bastard," she growled with a shocking display of passion. Before I could do anything, her legs wrapped around my waist, and using her grip as leverage, she pushed my shaft far into her depths .

[500 Experience] 50% Penalty!

[Companion Acquisition: Progress 3%]

Amused by her sudden initiative, I was preparing to let her lead our horizontal dance, but the fire behind her eyes sputtered and died just as easily as it arrived, leaving only her shyness behind. A pity, I thought even as I pushed forward, filling her insides deeply, enough to make her yelp in shock. It was becoming exceedingly clear that Marianne was going to be a very passive lover for the near future and an overnight improvement was an impossibility, so I decided to enjoy the experience instead. I could always teach her to be more proactive in the future.

With that thought in mind, I leaned forward and captured her lips once more, but this time, the effect was much stronger because my hips were moving back and forth, filling her insides repeatedly. Seeing her enjoyment, I waited a bit for her to get used to the level of pleasure before adding my hands into the mix, and not even a few minutes later, she was shuddering under a stiff orgasm.

[750 Experience] 50% Penalty!

[Companion Acquisition: Progress 5%]

I pulled out as the orgasm hit her, because I could see that after all the shocks, exhaustion was catching up with her. Of course, I had no intention of suffering from a full mast all night. Luckily, her amazing body gave me a few options. I placed my shaft between her impressive breasts, then started moving back and forth with the full intention of enjoying her jugs.

Marianne tried to avoid my gaze, but I had no intention of allowing that. I wanted her to fully process what was going on. "Keep your eyes on me, sweetie," I said, the order behind my words clear despite my soft tone.

"It's … shameful," Marianne murmured, still keeping her eyes away. I flicked one of her nipples warningly, and with a pained gasp, her eyes met mine instantly.

"Really, you think that this is more shameful than the time I took your anal virginity during a massage, or what happened mere minutes ago?" I said as I picked up speed, enjoying her growing blush and shock as much as I enjoyed the way her hefty bosom wrapped around my shaft, giving me an entirely new pleasure, especially when I managed to modify a simple water spell into a lubricant, leveraging my new elemental abilities to a maximum.

"Um, no," she murmured resignedly, her blush thickening to the point of drowning her, but underneath, her joy and desire were clear. Despite what was on the surface, she was one kinky woman.

"Good," I murmured as I picked up speed, not resisting the rise of pleasure. Soon, I was ready to explode. "Open your mouth, and try not to spill any!" I said.

"Why?" she murmured, but she suddenly understood my aim when the crown pressed against her lips. "No-" she tried to say, but I just used it as an opportunity to slide into her mouth, and as a nice bonus, preventing her argument.

"Don't forget to swallow it all," I said even as I started filling her mouth with my seed, watching an expression of outrage spread on her face. It was amusing to see her anger triggered, even though it didn't survive when I glanced at her with an amusement that was backed with the full might of my charisma. Her outrage evaporated in a second, leaving an obedient toy doing her best to gather my seed in her mouth -and failing rather spectacularly. And since she was failing, I pulled back and used the rest of the burst to cover her breasts. In a sense, it was yet another sign of my ownership.

[500 Experience] 50% Penalty!

[Companion Acquisition: Progress 6%]

"I'm sorry," she murmured cutely, so much so that a chuckle escaped my lips despite my best efforts to look stern. The sight of a noble lady, her lips stained with my cum, apologizing for failing to swallow all of it was just too much. It was shocking just how far I came in just a few days.

"Don't worry about it," I said as I laid down next to her on the floor, enjoying the comfort of the fluffy carpet. It was much better than my bed! Luckily, after today, I had a better bed to sleep in. I gently pulled her to my chest, allowing her to listen to my heartbeat while I caressed her shoulder. And it wasn't just to strengthen my hold over her. I actually enjoyed sharing the moment of intimacy with her.

Soon, Marianne's breathing slowed down, her eyelids getting too heavy for her to keep them open. Soon, she was sleeping against my chest. I could have left her there, but I didn't have anything else to do until morning, and her sexy bosom was definitely the superior blanket. With that, I closed my eyes, drifting off to sleep…

—-

[250 Experience] 50% Penalty!

[Companion Acquisition: Progress 8%]

It was the notification that forced me out of my comfortable sleep, though it didn't take long to notice the reason. I could feel the surprising -and very welcome- sensation of a pair of lips wrapped around my shaft, moving in a determined -and a bit mechanical- pace. The identity of my morning wake up service provider was obvious, but even then, I was still surprised to see Marianne leaning forward between my legs, her dark blonde hair sprawled forward to block the view of her face. A rare display of initiative from her, and an extremely welcome one.

She was too focused on her task to pay attention to me, and I was sufficiently entertained by her courage, so I let it continue. Her lips danced up and down over my shaft, determined to push me into a climax. To reward her initiative -and sate my curiosity about just how far she would push without any external source- I decided to continue acting like I was asleep, and I even decided not to fight the sensation when it was time to explode.

The next few minutes passed while her head danced up and down, focusing exclusively on the upper side, lacking the experience or courage to take it deeper into her throat. She still had too much to learn. She occasionally licked the side or wrapped her tongue around my girth, showing an instinct for experimentation that she hadn't displayed during our previous encounters. Maybe thinking that she was lacking observers allowed her to act free from her supposed role, or maybe last night's activities finally managed to break through her shell.

Regardless of the reason, I was happy with the service I was receiving, so I continued to feign sleep whenever she raised her head letting her work in comfortably. A simple illusion spell showed my eyelids as closed, allowing me to watch her every move, even when she turned to face me. And it proved useful when she decided to have a change of pace and brought her impressive tits into the deal, their warm caress enveloping the bottom of my shaft, while her lips still continued to work on the top.

Minutes passed while she worked without breaking her determination, until she got her reward, my seed started to fill her mouth. Once again, she failed to swallow it all, the rest spilling on her breasts, creating a rather interesting view in the process.

[500 Experience] 50% Penalty!

I started clapping softly, and she jerked back, her stained lips stiffening in shock. Shame invaded her face soon after. "Come on, sweetie, you don't have anything to be ashamed of, it was an amazing show," I said as I righted myself, and presented my hand to her.

"It was?" she murmured, once again struggling to process the sudden change of her circumstances.

Instead of just nodding, I leaned forward to gently kiss her cheek before murmuring another compliment. Only then, I stood up, displaying my naked glory to her eyes, which she watched fascinatingly. Admittedly, it was a nice view. "I need to leave, as I have a full schedule of tasks to complete today," I said, watching her expression suddenly fall. "But I have just enough time for a shower," I added as I presented my hand to her, which she grabbed immediately with a giggle. I gently pulled her up before starting to walk toward the bathroom, still holding her hand. She stayed close enough that our bodies were rubbing together every step we took. I was glad for the unforced familiarity she was displaying, though it reinforced the fact that the companion process was a result of the increased intimacy.

I held the bathroom door open, gesturing for her to step inside in an exaggerated manner, like I was a guard greeting a princess to a high-class ball. "Please go ahead, princess," I said, replicating the mannerism of an ideal guard perfectly. Subterfuge had surprisingly many fun applications as well. She giggled cutely, which was replaced by a needy moan when I used the opportunity to change mannerism and slapped her bottom suggestively. "A traitor in my palace lusting after my virtue!" she gasped in similarly exaggerated acting, though much less realistic, and dashed forward.

"Your fate is inevitable, princess," I answered, following her. I caught her just in front of the tub, which, unfortunately, was still empty. Luckily, my mana was already full from the amazing rest I had, and I was looking for an opportunity to test my extended elemental capabilities. I waved my hand, and a huge wave of water was pulled from the reservoir, its cost barely in the double digits. A flash of fire natured mana ensured the water was sufficiently warm, and I stepped into the water. "Since you have been captured by the rebels, it's your role to serve me in my bath," I said as I turned my back to her.

"As my new lord commands," she answered, but unlike the last time, her acting was much more sincere.

[100 Experience] 50% Penalty!

[Companion Acquisition: Progress 12%]

Apparently, it managed to trigger a real sentiment from her. And the system approved. A surprising but very welcome development. I closed my eyes, enjoying the way her hands caressed my body with surprising gentleness. She managed to learn some tricks after all the massages she had received. I kept my eyes closed as her soapy hands danced over my back, removing knots and dirt in an equal manner. After finishing my back, she started washing my hair, her service already surpassing the little roleplay we had, and moving into a servant's role.

[200 Experience] 50% Penalty!

[Companion Acquisition: Progress 14%]

I said nothing, happy with the development. Who would have turned down a willing high-born maid, especially one so sexy? "It's done, my lord," she murmured obediently after finishing my back.

"Good, now, come wash my front," I said. She tried to reach in from the outside, but I gestured for her to step into the water with me. She was rather excited as she stepped in the water, barely able to maintain her fake demure expression under the rush of excitement. She tried to stay away, but I grabbed her hips and pulled her down, skewering her deeply, earning a gasp in return. She continued to wash my front while her hips twisted on my lap, filling my heart with desire.

She took her time washing my front, an enjoyable feeling from my end as well. Therefore, it was understandable that all too late I realized I was about to be late for my meeting. I could have still caught them if I stopped at that moment and rushed to the meeting spot, but that was an impossible decision to make when I was buried deep in Marianne, and enjoying her treatment. Additionally, leaving her like that would have been a thoughtless move.

However, I didn't have time to waste. "I'm about to be late for my meeting," I informed her.

"Okay," she murmured, but her expression fell immediately. That expression survived only for a moment, because the next one, after I wrapped my arms around her waist and stood up, keeping her impaled on my shaft. It was surprisingly difficult to balance myself in a slippery tub with a flailing girl on my lap, but agility was useful in many situations other than direct combat. I stepped out and walked toward the towels, each step pushing my shaft deeper into her. A little biomancy trick to enhance her pleasure, and when I arrived next to towels, she was already shuddering under a wave of orgasm, giving me the perfect opportunity to leave her without being too late.

[500 Experience] 50% Penalty!

[Companion Acquisition: Progress 15%]

Of course, when she pressed her hands against the walls to balance herself on her trembling legs, her plump bottom was facing toward me, hitting me with a fresh temptation. Another biomancy trick made sure that her backdoor was lubricated and cleaned. A push later, I was in her tight grip, waves of pleasure filling both of us. "Gaius!" she moaned, not bothering to keep her voice down.

A slap making her skin ripple was her answer. And she must have liked the answer, because she replied with an even louder moan, enough to suppress the deafening sound of flesh hitting flesh. She was squeezed between the wall and my merciless assault, moaning louder with each push, helpless to resist against my merciless assault. The situation lasted several minutes longer than I had been planning for, but once gripped by Marianne's tight hold, I found it hard to leave just because Aviada and Helga might be annoyed a bit. They were big girls, they could handle waiting a few minutes without a major crisis.

The cry that escaped from her lips mixed with my grunt as I released myself into her, triggering another climax from her as well, which fortunately triggered another power-up from my end, which had been a nice surprise. I had just leveled up last night, and since I had been too busy I hadn't tracked the experience benefits of stealing Marianne in front of Cornelia.

[Companion Acquisition: Progress 16%]

[750 Experience] 50% Penalty!

Level UP!

[Select one of the following skills: Expert Biomancy, Advanced Elemental, Basic Meditation]

Biomancy was tempting, but I was going for an expedition, and additional magical damage wouldn't have been amiss. And the pure damage potential of elemental was simply leagues above both biomancy and arcana, especially considering the area-effect abilities.

With the skill selection complete, I carried Marianne to her bed in a bridal hold, gently tucking her into bed. She had just woken up, but the chain orgasms she suffered worked quite well to exhaust her despite that. I placed a gentle kiss on her lips.

[Companion Acquisition: Progress 18%]

A three-point increase for a gentle kiss was a nice surprise, I decided as I quickly dressed. I still needed to meet with Aviada and Helga, after all…

—

[Level: 15 Experience: 105050 / 120000

Strength: 17 Charisma: 24

Precision: 12 Perception: 13

Agility: 14 Manipulation: 17

Speed: 12 Intelligence: 16

Endurance: 13 Wisdom: 18

HP: 1020 / 1020 Mana: 1264 / 1320 ]

SKILLS

Master Melee [68/100]

Expert Arcana [75/75]

Advanced Subterfuge [50/50]

Advanced Biomancy [50/50]

Advanced Elemental [25/50]

Basic Speech [25/25]

Chapter 30: Daring Gambit

After finishing my preparations, including packing the food, dropping in to my secret stash to take my weapons, and preparing a fake medical notice for the library to explain my extended absence took several minutes, sneaking out of the school bounds while avoiding the guards consumed another few. After that, I dashed away at a pace that would have exhausted anyone without my impressive physical capabilities.

At first, the road was crowded, intersecting with many different patrols, and several other groups of students and the occasional lone wolf, all geared to the brim, most with at least one magical item strong enough for me to pick up from a distance. Surely, it was nice to be rich. I doubted my family could have afforded to gear me with a comparable item even if it wasn't for my supposed disabled status.

But several minutes later, something happened that distracted me from the situation at hand immediately. I stepped out of the range of the ancient wards and defensive enchantments that covered the school.

It was a weird sensation to be deprived of them completely, I realized, a nervous smile appearing on my face despite my best efforts. I lived under those impressive wards since my magical awareness first developed. Even the special training forests I trained in were under those wards, just partially deactivated to give students space to train. But they were ever present still, ready to snap in place if real danger arose.

For a while, I stood still, feeling my surroundings without the imposing presence of the wards, trying to understand the difference. Magic was much easier to detect for one, to a point that most of the tricks that I pulled back in the school would have been impossible to achieve outside with my limited capabilities.

With a sigh, I continued running at the same grueling pace, but kept one of my hands close to my sword at all times. The roads weren't without protection, but it was markedly different from the ancient wards, at best enough to delay a moderately strong attacker for a minute before collapsing.

It was also the reason why the occasional group of travelers looked at me with a mixture of shock and fascination. They all traveled in crowded groups, even occasional large caravans with crowded guard regiments. The fact that I was willing to travel alone was a statement itself just as much as my fresh look despite my aggressive pace of movement, which implied significant stats. Luckily, we were close to Silver Spires, so it wasn't noteworthy enough to raise an alarm.

After all, there were a lot of students over level ten in Silver Spires.

Several more minutes later I started to slow down, finally nearing the hidden glade I had assigned as a meeting location for both Aviada and Helga. I hadn't seen the location before, of course, as my previous condition wasn't exactly conducive for free exploration, but posing as a servant after I first discovered my powers was helpful in more ways than one, allowing me to pick up a lot of minor secrets. The location of the glade, where a few students were using as a semi-secret gathering location whenever they had a mission, was one of those secrets.

I was greeted by angry shouts as I got closer, and was about to rush forward until I could discern the lack of urgency behind them, and more importantly, realized that those belonged only to Aviada and Helga. With a sigh, I slowed down, trying to understand the reason for their argument before interjecting.

"… at least I'm not a meathead that believes that waving a metal club around is the solution for every problem," I heard Helga yelling in anger.

"Yeah, and living your life surrounded by dusty tomes is any better," came Aviada's reply just as quick.

"Of course it is, though it's not surprising in a barbarian's failing to notice that everything in our society works thanks to the magicians and their discoveries."

I couldn't help but sigh again when I realized the cause of the argument. Yes, the only reason I arranged them to arrive before I did was to see how they reacted to each other's presence without my involvement -though due to Marianne distracting me, I was even later than I had first planned- but finding them in a childish fight about the validity of their selected discipline was a bit surprising. At least, it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

I thought about interjecting myself into the situation, but then decided to check the situation first from an arcane mirror. They were standing far away from each other, their body language signifying no immediate breakout of action, so I decided to stand back and watch them, curious about how things would develop. Their childish bickering about the merits of their own specialization lasted for several more minutes until it ultimately faded into listless jabs.

I was preparing to walk toward them when Helga stage-whispered. "… at least I don't have to dress like a whore to get attention." And just like that, the embers of the argument were inflamed once more.

Aviada laughed in derision even as she dragged her hand over the sides of her body, accentuating her curves. "Honey, it's not shameful to tease others about what you have," she said before grabbing her sword momentarily, her smirk getting a predatory twist, "especially if you can easily prevent people from touching." I had to admit, Aviada had a point there, as her clothes were tastefully chosen, a tight pair of pants that looked elastic enough to allow a complete range of motion, and a leather top just as tight, but with a few top buttons released. Her armor was limited to her shins and her forearms to protect her extremities against faster creatures without limiting her movements. Her lack of armor was a good choice, because non-magical armor was effectively useless against any creature above class six. And as a bonus, it enhanced her sharp sexiness, which meshed perfectly with her personality.

Helga was no less beautiful in her own softer, curvier way, but in this situation, her modest manner of dressing worked against her. Unlike Aviada, she was wearing a loose set of robes made of pockets and satchels, and as shapely as a potato sack. She had reasons for dressing like that of course, mostly relating to her relative inability to protect herself, and more importantly, her lack of clout to get away if she actually resorted to doing so. Under those circumstances, the less attention she drew to her figure, the better.

Of course, oblivious from her sudden spike of anger, the logical reasoning behind her mode of the dress did little to blunt the impact of Aviada's words. "Unlike you, I don't need to impress any wandering eye with my body just to have a chance," Helga answered slowly despite her rage. "He's discerning enough to appreciate a timely reveal, unlike whatever pathetic brute you're trying to string along by pushing your breasts on his face," Helga answered.

"You wish you had these to push in your little nerdy boy toy's face," Aviada countered as she cupped her breasts, once again showing off her boisterous personality. Helga laughed, which was justifiable considering the pair she was hiding underneath her robes. I hid a couple of minutes more, curious how the discussion would develop, but the girls stayed stuck on sniping me, unaware that they were talking about the same person. I shook my head in amusement.

It was going to be interesting once I revealed myself.

"Finally," shouted both girls at the same time when I stepped into the small hidden glade, both of their faces filled with relief as they stepped toward me with determined steps, only to come to a sudden stop as they realized that they weren't the only one that was walking forward. "What!" they exclaimed at the same time.

"Hi, girls, sorry to keep you waiting, but I had a last-minute emergency," I said with a smirk, uncaring of the sudden glares I was receiving. After pushing the situation to this point, I needed to own the situation thoroughly to succeed in my plan of introducing them to each other. "But it's good to see you getting along well," I added even as I continued to walk.

The girls looked at each other in shock, but it was slowly replaced by the realization, which then left its place for anger. In a moment of a sudden feminine alliance, both girls turned to me, Aviada slowly pulling her sword while Helga raised her hands, glowing brightly. "Do you want to explain?" Aviada spoke calmly, though since she was waving her huge sword threateningly, the effect was somehow different.

"Explain what?" I said with a smile even as I walked toward them, ignoring their sudden fury. It was a tricky situation, but I was just as relaxed inside as I was displaying outside, because I had a plan before inviting them here together, and their reaction was well within my calculations. In the end, neither of them was seduced through my sweet words or lofty promises; they still had no true idea about my identity. Despite that, we were thoroughly acquainted with each other, thanks to my impressive martial abilities in Aviada's case, and my mental alacrity in Helga's case. Though my willingness to help them in extremely dangerous situations didn't hurt my seduction attempts.

I just needed to impress them with those abilities once more.

Initially, I had a very complicated fight choreography to ensure the girls wouldn't be able to bring their full power to the fight, which, at the time of making the plan, was still required to give the impression of effortless domination. However, last night's unexpected gains removed the need for those plans. First of all, I managed to gain two whole levels, with a fresh new branch of magic as a result. Also, I gained five points of charisma, which would be helpful in supporting my arguments. The pure power it would add to my spells was just a bonus.

"You need a lesson," Aviada spat out even as she charged forward, waving her sword swiftly.

I smiled. "You want to spar to warm up before we leave to hunt," I said even as I pulled out my sword, deflecting her attack with a swing that might have been mistaken for a casual move by someone that was inexperienced, but it required impeccable timing to deflect Aviada's superior weapon backed by her deadly strength. Though, it wasn't as strong as it could be, meaning Aviada was just trying to scare me -or just impress me through her seriousness considering her personality- rather than trying to kill me. I took a step forward, far faster than Aviada expected, and slapped her bottom.

[Level Difference of at least 50%! No Experience]

The notification was unfortunate, but on the plus side, it highlighted the absolute difference of strength between us. But before I could enjoy my suppression, I felt a tickle in the back of my mind, warning me about an oncoming spell. I didn't bother to look at it, just waved my hand to force a thick wall of earth out of the ground, and heard the distinct sound of an arcane bolt fizzling out, mixed with Helga's gasp. I took a step back from Aviada, ducking under her wild swing, which was much faster than the previous one, and spoke. "You girls want to have a spar together, huh? That works for me."

I took a few steps back while the girls looked at me with a thoughtful expression, their earlier anger melted away after my show. Their sudden change of heart wasn't surprising. In the end, in a world filled with monsters, there was nothing more attractive than power, and I had just displayed overwhelming ability simultaneously in their preferred area of expertise. Thanks to my rapid rise of power, I was good enough to contend against the top students of each branch, and with my full range of abilities in play, I was willing to bet that I could defeat the weaker half of the professors even. Also, with twenty-four points in charisma, I exuded a rather impressive aura, which didn't hurt.

The girls stood still for a moment, their eyes locked as they examined each other. While my impressive range of abilities didn't include mind-reading, I didn't need it to understand that they were trying to assess each other to see whether the other would leave after the reveal, solving the problem neatly. But from their increasing frowns, they slowly realized neither of them had the intention of removing their hat from the ring.

I decided to interject when I saw Aviada raising her sword, this time pointing towards Helga. "Let's start the spar," I said as I flicked a small stone at Aviada, which bounced off of her head. She looked at me with a frown. I made sure to look intimidating, signaling to her that hurting Helga was not a preferred way of solving the issue. "Come on girls, I'm waiting," I said.

Aviada didn't need more prompting and rushed towards my side, this time her movements backed by her full lethality. Unfortunately for her, by now, even her best was not enough to get anything more than a semi-serious interest from my side. But despite that, I made sure to smile at her with my seduction mode turned on, making sure that Helga saw it as well. Helga started peppering me with arcane bolts, forcing me to use my other hand to conjure shields to defend against her, splitting my attention.

Their teamwork was atrocious, of course. Aviada disregarded Helga's assault, and Helga was too focused on scoring hits of her own to use her magic in terms of utility, which would have blocked my options to deal with Aviada, turning her into a true threat. I was tempted to step closer to Aviada, tricking Helga into scoring some friendly-fire, but their relationship was bad enough before adding a wild variable. Instead, I started attacking Helga with my own magic, sending waves made of elemental wind, individually weak, but quick enough to force her to take a step. After repeating it a couple of times, she realized my point, and copied my assault with arcane energy, limiting my range of movement, which in turn gave Aviada a strong advantage. There was still a gap between us, but without a free movement area to display my superior mobility, I actually had to try to keep her at bay.

Her sword was no joke.

The spar was fun, and if we weren't supposed to spend the rest of the day hunting dangerous animals in a dangerous location, I would have extended the spar until the girls collapsed in exhaustion. Unfortunately, leveling them up was more important than teaching them about coordinated combat. So, without a warning, I intensified my assault and sent several chains of earth at Helga. She was late in noticing them, and ended tangled up on the ground, where a few more chains pinned her in place. And without her assault, I was once again free to display my superior mobility. I stepped inside Aviada's guard, easily blocking her last-minute kneeing attempt to wrap my hands around her wrists, forcing her to drop the sword with a twist. After that, before she could adapt to the sudden change of combat, I pinned her in a hold impossible for her to escape from without dislocating her arm.

[1 Melee]

[3 Elemental]

[-5 HP]

[-47 Mana]

"It was a nice spar," I said even as I tightened my hold over her, which allowed me to free one of my hands. I first waved that hand to cast another earth spell, which created a moving platform under Helga to bring her closer, still bound in chains. While Helga closed in, I grabbed Aviada's hair and pulled back hard enough to force a gasp out of her, which I muffled in short order with a heated kiss, just to drive in my dominance further.

[Companion Acquisition: Progress 47%]

When Helga arrived at my side, I pulled out a rope from my small bag and tied Aviada's hands behind her, still careful to avoid using magic on her. When I dispelled the chains on Helga, I was expecting her to struggle against the kiss, or at least play hard to get, so the searing kiss she initiated was a surprise. A welcome one, though it was only partially about the pleasure itself, which was clear from the victorious glare Helga sent to Aviada.

[Companion Acquisition: Progress 46%]

[Achievement: Subdue the Storm. Decisively deter the following argument for your own benefit after being caught. 2000 Experience, 2 Agility, 2 Manipulation]

Helga's progress was nice, but not as nice as receiving yet another achievement, pushing my stats even higher. At this point, my stat point development reached to an unheard of before point, well past unbelievable and approaching ridiculous. Not that I was complaining. In a world where everything was trying to kill humans, extra power was never something to be scuffed at.

"So, girls," I said even as I freed Aviada from her ropes with a knife throw. "Are you ready for our adventure…"

—————

[Level: 15 Experience: 107050 / 120000

Strength: 17 Charisma: 24

Precision: 12 Perception: 13

Agility: 16 Manipulation: 19

Speed: 12 Intelligence: 16

Endurance: 13 Wisdom: 18

HP: 1050 / 1050 Mana: 1167 / 1350 ]

SKILLS

[Master Melee [69/100]

Expert Arcana [75/75]

Advanced Subterfuge [50/50]

Advanced Biomancy [50/50]

Advanced Elemental [28/50]

Basic Speech [25/25] ]

Read Leveling through Lust Chapter 31: Taming the Shrew online for free - AllNovelFull

Chapter 31: Taming the Shrew

"Are we all ready to go," I asked even as I gave my hand to Aviada to help her stand up, but she chose to ignore it in favor of standing up herself. Despite her overt display of dissatisfaction, it was clear that she was impressed with my confident display. My earlier martial display was enough to keep her in the run. From the frown that appeared on her face when her gaze slid to Helga, I could see that she wasn't happy with me having multiple partners, but she was willing to play along.

Helga's situation wasn't too different, a bit worse, even. Unlike Aviada, proving my combat superiority hadn't been enough to remove all of her immediate concerns, but since she was still with us, the promise of leveling assistance was clearly enough to keep her in place. And that was enough, because it gave me the whole day to work on them.

Both girls nodded after a bit of delay, and we started to walk deeper into the wilderness, the wards protecting the area weakening with each step. It was risky to step outside the protection of the wards, of course, but the danger was the whole point of our trip.

"Can you pass me your sword?" I asked Aviada without even bothering to look at her as I felt the wards weakening even more. It was a strategic request, as while I trusted myself enough to handle most of the dangers around, especially since the school tried to hunt any creature above level ten as much as possible. It was impossible to exterminate them even in the limited area surrounding the school, but still, it made a good area to hunt in a small group. For most of the other areas, anything smaller than a full squad would have been treated as total insanity, but around the school, it was just extremely risky.

She growled a bit instead of replying. "Sword," I repeated, this time turning just enough to catch her gaze. It was a slightly belligerent approach, but at this point, I had a good understanding of Aviada's personality, and being kind all the time would have damaged our relationship even more. After all, she was a girl that surrendered her virginity only through a physical struggle despite her clear desire.

"Why don't you try taking it yourself," Aviada answered with a smirk. "Do you think you can handle it?"

I kept eye contact as I brought my hand toward the hilt of her sword, acting like I took the bait. Her smirk widened just as my fingers were about to brush the ornate hilt of her sword. There was no doubt that a magical sword like that had a lot of protective enchantments that prevented it from being used without its owner's permission. The effect was likely something more humiliating than deadly since Aviada was willing to use the enchantment as a prank, but considering her rather vicious personality, it was hard to rule out extreme pain from the likely effects.

She seemed certain that her simplistic prank was successful, which was why she failed to react in time when I grabbed her shoulder instead and pushed her against a stone. She hit it with a nice thud, though the pain of it didn't even register to her. "Nice try," I murmured into her ear, a move that turned the situation into a tight embrace. "Too bad that you are too obvious with your intentions."

"So, what of it?" Aviada whispered back just as satisfied. "You still need my sword, and I'm not inclined to allow you to use it without a bit of pain." I pulled back enough to stand face to face, keeping my expression clear. "What are you going to do about it, torture me?" she added mockingly.

"No, no… That would be too much," I said in an exaggerated calmness. "Regardless, you seem to need a lesson to adjust your behavior." Before she could say anything, I waved my hand, and four thick manacles pushed out of the stone, wrapping around her extremities, pinning her in place before she could react. I made sure to make them extra strong, enough to keep them in place even if Aviada received another boost like the last time. She was close to reaching fifty percent in the companion system, which I suspected to be another point of explosion.

[-23 Mana]

She was caught flatfooted, not expecting me to use magic against her. "That's cheating," she gasped in shock and dissatisfaction.

"And using the protective enchantments of your sword in our little game isn't?" I countered, and then watched in satisfaction as her expression went alight with realization, followed by a blush. I continued with an amused calmness. "Since you are the first one to break our little rule, there is no harm in using a dash of magic to teach you your place, right?"

She nodded automatically before she could catch herself, which, upon realization, made her blush even more. "So, what are you going to do, torture me?" she spat out challengingly, though she seemed excited at the possibility.

"Of course not," I answered, dismissing the prospect with a careless wave of my hand. "I have other things in mind…" I turned to Helga, and made eye contact. "Could you come here, sweetheart," I said, and Helga followed the order despite the doubt on her face. I caressed my hand over Aviada's skin once more, and put a spell up of my own devising, one that was a curious mixture of arcana and biomancy. Aviada failed to notice its initial presence since she was distracted with jealousy as Helga walked closer, unhappy with the sudden third party intrusion to our little game. Her jealousy rose even further when I pulled Helga Into a sudden embrace and stole her lips with a kiss, though when I pulled back, Aviada wasn't the only one that was looking annoyed. Helga clearly didn't appreciate being used as a tool to annoy someone else.

I pressed my finger on Helga's lips to prevent her outburst even as I turned to Aviada once more. "Feel free to beg for mercy when you've changed your mind about giving me permission," I said, then held Helga's hand and walked to the other side of the stone, just out of Aviada's line of sight while ensuring she would be able to hear everything. Helga followed, but dragged her feet to display her dissatisfaction.

She spoke only after we reached the other side of the stone, and was thoughtful enough to cast a spell to block Aviada from hearing our discussion. "If you think I'm going to be your toy just so you can-" she started, but I pressed my finger to her lips, cutting her off once more.

"Do you want to see a brand new spell that uses multiple branches of magical theories," I said, not bothering to hide the victorious smirk. She looked annoyed, but this time, I knew it was aimed at herself rather than me. The reason, the nod that followed showing her interest. After all, it was far from the worst indignity she suffered on the path of magic. "Watch carefully," I said even as I raised my hands, and started to build the main part of the spell whose receiver part already placed on Aviada, biomancy and arcana energies melting together in a complicated pattern. "I use the arcana to decode the sensations of the target and for transfer, and biomancy is perfect for replication…"

[-45 Mana]

The spell wasn't exactly cheap even with my large mana pool, but the way Helga's expression brightened as she examined the complexity was enough reward, not that I was unhappy with the resulting notification.

[Companion Acquisition: Progress 47%]

"The way the main spell matrix is bridged to its connecting parts is just fascinating…" Helga murmured before launching a complicated analysis of the structure, once again showing the sharpness of her mind. Just by listening to her for a few seconds, I already came up with a solution to certain aspects that stumped me before. However, while working together to improve the structure of the spell was tempting, I had more important things to work on, so I leaned forward, cutting her words off with a searing kiss, using the closeness to merge the spell with her.

[Level Difference of at least 50%! No Experience]

Helga just gasped in pleasure, not doing anything to counter the spell from affecting her. Why would she, when she knew that it had no impact on her side? Aviada, on the other hand, gasped in shock at the sensation of a kiss was felt on her lips despite not having anyone around. "Caesar," she called out in anger.

I waved my hand to dispel the silencing spell and answered. "Yes, honey, do you need anything?" Even as I answered, my hands were wandering over Helga's body hungrily, caressing Helga's body aggressively.

"You're playing a dangerous game!" she exclaimed, but it was an empty threat. After all, she was firmly locked in place with nowhere to go.

"You can just admit defeat, and I'll let you go," I reminded her. "You just need to say that you're too weak to handle a simple magic trick."

Aviada's gasp of shock was almost as arousing as Helga's sudden expression of arousal. Not surprising, considering the discussion of superiority between magic and martial abilities had been the biggest source of argument between them discounting me. Always opportunistic, I used Helga's prideful distraction to untie her robes, which she failed to react to until a stiff breeze made her shiver. "We're out in the open," she murmured in shock.

"Yes, we are," I answered, but my fingers continued their holy task of divesting her from her bulky robe before repeating the task with her blouse, removing both of them smoothly despite Helga's attempts to ensure otherwise, leaving just a skirt and a bra on her body. When her bra came into view, a smile appeared on my face, because it was wildly different from the bulky ugliness she had been wearing the last time. It was still made from the same fabric, and its edges were a bit uneven to show that the work was probably done by her hand, not that it was even remotely as important as the generous amount of cleavage that appeared as a result, barely held back by the structurally-compromised bra.

"But anyone can come and see us," Helga gasped in shock, but I was familiar with her expression enough to catch the excitement underneath. I tried to reach her back, but she pressed it against the rock, cutting off my way to remove her bra. That would not do, I decided, so even as I leaned to press my lips to her neck for distraction, my hand slid under her skirt, and pushed her panties aside. Helga's gasp of shock arrived just as my fingers got the first taste of her wetness, which was immediately followed by a gasp of arousal as my fingers started violating her core. She still tried to complain, of course, but conveniently, my lips were located in the perfect spot, making the task of silencing her simple and enjoyable at the same time.

[Companion Acquisition: Progress 48%]

Under the combined assault of my lips and my hands, it didn't take long for Helga to abandon her attempts to play coy and wrap her arms around my body in a passionate hug instead, clearly enjoying the feeling of my muscles over her half-naked body, forgetting that by moving forward, she once again exposed the hook of her bra for me, which I unlocked with a flick of my fingers before trailing down her spine, enjoying her shiver.

All the while, occasional gasps were coming from the other side of the rock, marking Aviada's weakening capabilities to keep her reactions suppressed, but I just took a note of it before focusing back on Helga. Aviada still needed some time before she reached the point I wanted.

Helga let out a gasp when I pulled away from her lips as well, but unlike Aviada's, it was a sharp, loud one that was filled with need and desire. Such cries no doubt damaged Aviada's will even more, not letting her forget the source of the erotic sensation that was invading her body.

Her enthusiastic assistance deserved a reward, so I started moving down, covering the trail with kisses. I took a small break around her chest, of course, enjoying her generous bosom through pressing my lips against her teats aggressively. I would have liked to add my hands to the treatment. Unfortunately, both of them were busy, one with patrolling the sensitive points around her knob, the other was furiously removing the complicated knots of her skirt so that the area was prepared before my arrival.

Soon, her skirt met with the ground, and I was about to take this as the signal to restart my journey when I felt her hands on the back of my head, pushing me even tighter against her bosom. "Keep sucking," she shouted. She clearly tried to make it an order, but made a beginner mistake, hoping to compensate for the lack of authority with a louder voice. Also, I wouldn't be surprised if she was being extra loud just to annoy Aviada.

I was unable to answer because I was silenced, not that I was unhappy with the method she chose to do so. Any excuse to get a taste of her delicious breasts was welcome. Of course, just because my lips were busy with her bosom didn't mean the rest of my body stopped in their tasks. My hand that was previously busy getting rid of her skirt grabbed the edge of her panties instead, intending to pull them down.

My hungry touch aiming to divest her of the last piece of her clothes reminded Helga of the fact that we were in an open field where anyone could stumble into. She grabbed the other side of her panties panickedly, but by doing so, she had forgot one important fact. In her efforts to make her underwear sexier, she had cut a lot of fabric from them, weakening it greatly. So, when she tried to pull it from the other side, it ended with her panties tearing into two pieces, the sound of ripping echoing in the opening.

Her shy yelp was amusing, but as her arms weakened, I decided to use the opportunity to travel down until I was down to her slit. Only then, did I pull away the hand that was continuously circling above her entrance to keep pushing her closer to orgasm. Just before I dived down to her slit, I raised my gaze up, catching the sudden shyness that colored her face.

At that moment, I wanted to push Helga on the ground and take her mercilessly until she climaxed again and again. Unfortunately, doing so would have ruined the punishment Aviada was going through. I didn't want her to climax. Instead, I wanted her to suffer on the edge for a while without the relief of a climax.

A shiver went through Helga's body as I leaned forward, which made her thighs jiggle attractively. I waited until my breath fell on her shivering lips before turning my head slightly and leaving a lingering kiss on her inner thigh, finishing with a soft nibble. Her legs trembled in anticipation, threatening her balance enough that she had to lean against the rock to keep herself upright, the same rock that had Aviada chained on the other side…

[Companion Acquisition: Progress 49%]

Her pleasure was not hard to read, but approval from the system was always welcome, especially when that approval also informed me that Helga was about to cross the likely point for the second milestone, making me curious about its benefits, both to me and to Helga. Wanting to push further, my tongue started to brush Helga's sensitive spot with increased intensity, enjoying her moans as she drove closer to her climax, but then a second set of cries joined her moans, reminding me of our remote companion.

"So, Aviada, are you ready to submit?" I asked.

"Never," she answered in a raspy cry, showing her mind was occupied by the impending climax. A little frown appeared on my face as I waved my hand, and the main structure of the spell appeared in my sight. Continuing to service Helga while manipulating the spell was difficult, but not impossible. My left hand took the spot that was emptied by my lips and continued Helga's treatment, while my right hand was busy modifying the spell. Occasionally, I shifted my attention to Helga's face, enjoying the way pleasure battled with fascination as she watched the number of modifications I was making to the spell.

Under the circumstances, it was only a matter of time until Helga exploded with a climax, which happened a minute later, just as I completed the changes to the spell's structure.

[Companion Acquisition: Progress 50% – Second Stage Completed 10000 Exp]

[New Perk: Mana Regeneration]

[Companion Acquisition: Relationship not sufficient for the third stage]

A wave of joy covered her body as she climaxed, but I was experienced enough with her orgasm face enough to understand it wasn't just that. "I'm guessing you received a boost to your charisma," I asked in a whisper.

"How?" Helga managed to mutter in shock.

I didn't know whether she was asking about the achievement she had just received, or how I knew she received it the moment she did, but before she could clarify, another shout reached our ears.

"What the hell!" Aviada shouted. "Why did it suddenly stop, I was just about to…" she continued before coming to a sudden stop. I smirked, happy to see that the modification of the spell worked just as intended.

"We'll talk about the achievement in more detail later," I told Helga. She nodded, still too distracted by her climax and her achievement as I grabbed her hand and dragged her along while I moved towards the other side of the rock… I was curious how Aviada had reacted to my little trick, and whether Helga would realize that she was still naked…

—

[Level: 15 Experience: 117050 / 120000

Strength: 17 Charisma: 24

Precision: 12 Perception: 13

Agility: 16 Manipulation: 19

Speed: 12 Intelligence: 16

Endurance: 13 Wisdom: 18

HP: 1050 / 1050 Mana: 1141 / 1350 ]

SKILLS

[Master Melee [69/100]

Expert Arcana [75/75]

Advanced Subterfuge [50/50]

Advanced Biomancy [50/50]

Advanced Elemental [28/50]

Basic Speech [25/25] ]

PERKS

Mana Regeneration

Chapter 32: Teaching a Lesson

I couldn't help but to feel excited as I walked around the rock and stepped into Aviada's line of sight with a naked Helga behind me, who managed to miss the fact that she was still naked while still trying to process her last orgasm. Aviada's face was a work of art, still carrying hints of the pleasure that invaded her body, but the frustration was clear on her face.

"Bastard," she growled the moment she noticed me, but despite her disrespect and anger, I was familiar with her enough to see her respect underneath. My forceful attitude was clearly working wonders on her. Things changed a bit when Aviada's gaze turned to Helga, beset with jealousy. "And the whore is here as well," she said with an angry smirk, trying to vent her frustrations on her instead.

Helga stiffened at the insult, her shoulders slouched in a habit born from endless bullying. The insult was dissatisfying enough, as I worked too hard on Helga's self-confidence to appreciate it being undermined once more, but the insult reminded Helga about her nakedness, and she wrapped her arm around her chest in an effort to hide her amazing breasts, still carrying the marks of my hungry treatment. She would have dashed away if it wasn't for my hand around her wrist.

I let her hide behind me even as I took a step forward, a disapproving expression on my face. "That wasn't nice," I said, but my tone wasn't angry. I tried to replicate the tone of a nice but disappointed teacher. Seeing Aviada's anger flare, I smirked inwardly. I used that tone, because, for all its lack of obvious display of power, it came with an implied superiority. Aviada, despite her spectacular defeat, still saw the situation between us as on the same tier, so she didn't appreciate the assumption.

"So what if it wasn't nice," Aviada spat with renewed anger. "What are you going to do about it!"

Aviada was a sharp woman just like a sword. However, just like a sword, her mind worked straight and on right angles, so it took less than a second for me to decipher why she turned her anger from Helga to me. She was trying to goad me into taking a direct action in anger, which would put me in the same position as her. Instead of giving her what she wanted, I sighed deeply. "I'm disappointed, Aviada. I would have expected you to act more mature, but it seems that you haven't learned your lesson yet. It seems that I need to punish you more.

She smirked at the mention of punishment, watching me in anticipation as I waved my hand, and a chair formed out of the ground, giving me a comfortable seat. Aviada looked confused until I flexed my magic and her chains suddenly lengthened. Not expecting to lose her support, she failed to resist as she fell forward, and found herself on my lap. "No," she said in dread as I pulled her pants down, but I disregarded her complaint to land a spank on her bottom. Her shocked cry was a melody to my ears.

"How," she murmured in shock. It was understandable, considering her level, I shouldn't be able to hurt her unless I hit her hard enough to actually inflict damage, and my lazy spank was far from doing that. However, what she didn't count on was my biomancy skill, modifying her pain resistance temporarily. Aviada lacked the magical ability to notice, but from the soft hum she made, it was clear that it didn't slip Helga's attention.

I ignored the question and spanked her bottom once more, enjoying the blush that was spreading to her naked bottom. Aviada spewed an endless string of threats, each more visceral than the last, but I ignored them in favor of covering her bottom with endless spanks. Five at first, then ten… Soon it reached thirty with no hint of stopping just like Aviada's insults, but unlike her insults, my spanks didn't lose the power behind them. On the contrary, each hurt more than the last as Helga examined the spell carefully, occasionally whispering her findings into my ear and allowing me to make changes to increase its effectiveness even further.

She was truly a genius. Converting her to my side was a true coup. She stood behind me, leaning forward to press her breasts against my neck, as if to remind me that she wasn't just a genius but a true display of sexiness, which was enhanced by her recent charisma boost. From the impressive radiance she displayed, I guessed that she received three points to her charisma, maybe even more.

Unfortunately, I had other things to finish before I could taste her new state. With a renewed enthusiasm, I landed several more spanks on Aviada's bottom, whose insults and arguments were fading rather rapidly after the last modification. "How long are you going to continue?" she murmured.

"Until I feel that you've learned your lesson," I said even as I landed yet another slap to her crimson bottom. "So, for a start, definitely not while you continue to insult me."

"Sorry," Aviada murmured from her squeezed teeth, and when my hand landed on her ass once more, she stayed silent.

[Companion Acquisition: Progress 48%]

I found it interesting that the companion tracker chose that moment to move forward, but it, more than anything, showed that Aviada was getting off from being dominated. The sudden wetness of her core the moment she apologized was another piece of evidence to support that. Curious, I thought. "Excellent, ten more and we're done," I said as she shuffled on my lap, but said nothing.

I silently counted ten more spanks, but rather than stopping, I continued. "Hey, you promised only ten!" Aviada exclaimed when I was around fifteenth.

"Yes, but how do I know whether we reached ten?" I said in an exaggerated tone even as I slapped her bottom once more.

She squeezed her teeth so hard that it was audible, but still, when my hand landed on her bottom once more, her mouth parted open. "One," she said obediently. I smirked as I slapped her bottom, but this time, instead of pulling it back immediately, I let my fingers momentarily dip into her wetness to reward her obedience, which returned me a tremble in her tone as she counted the second spank. My fingers slipped down, the duration increasing with each spank, so when we reached the end, Aviada was panting in arousal. "Ten," she said with a sigh, followed by a moan as my fingers danced on her entrance.

[Companion Acquisition: Progress 49%]

Aviada continued to lay on my lap obediently, enjoying my caresses while I used biomancy to cure her bottom and dispelling the pain sensitivity spell at the same time. In that moment of laziness, I couldn't help but think about the implications of the companion system, progressing only in certain situations. With Aviada, there was almost always a domination aspect on the line. Curious, I decided to test that.

With a flick of my wrist, the chains that were holding Aviada's arms and legs disappeared, but before she could react, I grabbed her arms, locking them behind her just like I had done before, easily maintaining the grip despite her struggling, much weaker than she was capable of. Even if she had used her full strength -which was higher than mine- I would be able to maintain it thanks to my leverage. I lifted her to slide under her, and took a position behind her, her bottom rising instantly.

My other hand was empty, but it was easier to cast a spell to free my shaft from the confines of my pants while using my hand to caress her entrance. However, my gaze slipped to Helga, who was looking at me with a frown, and no small amount of jealousy. I caught her gaze, and gestured for her to sit, giving a reassuring smile when her expression gained a questioning quality.

She wasn't entirely reassured, but she still followed my order to take a seat. Meanwhile, I pushed my hips forward, pressing my shaft against Aviada's entrance. "You handled your punishment well, and it's time for a reward," I said, chuckling softly when she pushed her hips back enthusiastically. I didn't let her succeed, pulling my hips back once the crown dipped deeper into her wetness, giving her a small taste to whet her appetite. "Don't be impatient," I added, punctuated by a spank to her bottom. "There's just one thing left to do. You need to apologize to Helga for insulting her earlier. It wasn't fair for you to call her names."

Aviada twisted her neck to catch my gaze, her astonished look replicated by Helga, who was frozen in her seat. Despite their questioning gaze, I just shrugged and stayed silent, waiting for Aviada to speak, which didn't take long. "If you think I'll apologize to that little slut-" she started, only to receive a stiff spank to her bottom, which, without the pain enhancement spell, caused an ignoble amount of pain, only the past memories keeping her silent. Which was okay, because the spank was nothing more than to cover for the two spells I applied to her. One to clean and lubricate her backdoor for my invasion, and another for her punishment.

"Either that, or I'll punish you for real," I said even as my empty hand moved up and grabbed her hair.

"Do your worst," Aviada spat out with a satisfied smirk, with the full confidence that she would enjoy the punishment as much as I would.

That was where she was wrong, but it wouldn't be apparent at the beginning, at least to her. Helga had a sufficient magical aptitude to understand the aim of the second spell, so she just smirked victoriously as I leaned forward, pushing the tip of my shaft into her puckered hole. Despite the lubrication, her bottom wrapped around my shaft tightly, an effect that was enhanced further by her endless exercising. Her ass was perfection itself, and the prospect of ruining it gave me a fascinating pleasure.

I attacked her hole mercilessly, impaling repeatedly without waiting for her to adapt, which would have been a disaster to someone weaker, but a high HP pool had usefulness above and beyond killing monsters. Aviada cried, but it wasn't filled with pain but pleasure instead, my reckless assault pushing her closer to her climax bit by bit, but my and Helga's smirks got wider the closer Aviada came to a climax, who was too distracted by her own pleasure to notice it…

A minute later, the reason for it became apparent for her as well. Aviada moaned loudly, her back curling in a beautiful arc in preparation of an explosive orgasm, only to stop confusedly even as I continued to slam her tight hole — which wasn't as tight anymore. "Is there a problem, Aviada," I said even as I tightened my grip on her wrists, which proved to be a good idea because she started struggling a moment later, which proved to be ultimately fruitless.

"I'll kill you!" she answered, her angry cry mixing with the sound of flesh hitting flesh. "I'll make you pay!"

"Come on, sweetie," I said even as I increased the pace of my assault, which caused the build-up of another climax thanks to her already charged body, but rather than mollifying her, it only made her struggle harder because of the ending of the process familiar. Helga was watching the situation silently, but from the way she was rubbing her legs together, she was clearly enjoying the sight. Not surprising, considering after all those times she had to suffer under her smug noble peers, it was exhilarating for her to be the observer for once.

I decided her attitude deserved a reward. Casting the spell to transfer the sensation between two people was a complicated affair, impossible to do while I was struggling to pin Aviada motionless while also pushing her toward another climax. Reversing an already existing spell, however, was much more trivial. I waved my hand, and Helga's eyes popped open and a moan of shock was ripped from her mouth. She understood what I was trying to do, of course, but my instantaneous casting didn't give her a chance to react before the ghost of my anal assault started invading her body.

Helga moaned loudly, enough to break Aviada's annoyance, who understood that Helga was experiencing the same phenomenon she had gone through minutes ago. Their moans mixed together as they raced towards orgasm, but unlike Helga's, Aviada's were tinged with frustration, which was justified, because when Helga's buildup exploded into an explosive climax, Aviada's silently disappeared once more, leaving only frustration behind.

I doubted Helga's explosive squirting covering her face helped.

What surprised me was the notification that appeared.

[Mana regeneration perk activated. Duration, 8 hours]

The sudden boost in my mana regeneration surprised me in the best of ways. The reason for it was obvious, considering it only happened after I reached fifty percent in Helga's companion progress, and it triggered only when she climaxed. But the reason for it wasn't as important as the effect itself. Seeing my mana steadily climbing up was a benefit impossible to overstate, giving me the solution for the biggest mage problem. Combine that with my already huge mana capacity, and my melee abilities to reduce consumption rate, it gave me unparalleled survivability on the field.

The unexpected bonus gave me a renewed desire even though I was yet to discover the exact conditions of triggering the perk, or what a perk was. The name was obvious, but I had never heard a mention of them on the books I had read, or any of the doctors that tended to me when I was young had never mentioned something like that either. Regardless, it was another tool in my growing arsenal, even though it came with certain obligations like protecting the source of it.

Like hanging around a sexy and voluptuous blonde who was as smart as she was sexy was a great chore.

I decided to focus on that particular finding later on and shifted my focus back to the disobedient brunette who was doing her best to keep herself from moaning—and failing horribly. We had to repeat the cycle of orgasm denial twice more before Aviada opened her mouth for anything other than insults or frustrated moans. "I'm … sorry," she whispered, impossible to hear without my enhanced senses.

"Can you repeat that louder?" I asked casually even as I picked up the pace, pushing her toward yet another orgasm, which was getting easier and easier as her frustration built up.

"I'm sorry," she repeated petulantly, which put a smirk on my face and astonishment on Helga's, who was clearly enjoying the superior position she had, though the several orgasms she had experienced was definitely not hurting.

"Not a bad start, but after all the time it took, I'm not going to accept it without you proving your sincerity." She turned to me with a questioning gaze. "Helga, open your legs," I ordered even as I pushed Aviada's head in further, my painful grip on her hair coming handy.

Helga followed my command, failing to hide her excitement at the idea. However, Aviada was a completely different issue. "Never," she spat out as she struggled to get back.

"Well, your call," I said even as I picked up speed, steadily pushing her toward another vanishing climax. She turned to me, her eyes filled with a begging expression, but I continued explaning, the amusement in my expression contrasting greatly with my exaggerated clinical tone. "You brought it on yourself by trying to mess with me close to such dangerous territory," I said, neatly ignoring the fact that my so-called punishment was much more distracting than her little prank.

She managed to maintain eye contact as her orgasm drove nearer, her disobedience melting with each second until there was nothing more than a simple flicker in her eyes. But despite her best effort, she wasn't able to hide the enjoyment she was getting from my total domination. After all, she believed in strength, and what she was experiencing was the purest reflection of it.

Without saying anything else, she turned around and her head disappeared between Helga's legs, whose expression brightened in shock and desire. It was nice, but not as nice as the notification I had just received.

[Companion Acquisition: Progress 50% – Second Stage Completed 10000 Exp]

[New Perk: Mana Regeneration]

[Achievement: Tough Teacher. Be firm in educating a wayward companion. 1000 Experience, 2 Wisdom]

Level UP!

[Select one of the following skills: Expert Biomancy, Expert Elemental, Advanced Speech]

Gaining another boost to my power was always welcome. As much as having a better aptitude on healing spells or better speech ability would have come useful, I was about to launch a long hunting trip, making elemental the best choice. The fact that it would increase my hand against Cornelia during my evening meeting was only a bonus.

But leveling up wasn't the greatest benefit of the activity. No, that honor belonged to Aviada's companion progress. The fact that it was completed after forcibly bending Aviada to my will told me a lot about her personality. Still, instead of spending time trying to assess the implications of that particular discovery, I turned my attention to the spell that was preventing Aviada from reaching completion, and dispelled it with a wave of my hand. A few pushes later, Aviada started trembling with an intensity I had never seen before, threatening to send her to the land of unconsciousness. Thankfully, her endurance was high enough to maintain her consciousness under the rush.

[Mana regeneration perk activated. Count 2. Duration, 8 hours]

The confirmation about the perk system was a nice benefit, and that the effect was stacking was the amazing bonus that came with it. It meant that I could experiment with my elemental abilities freely during the hunt without thinking about saving mana for a dangerous situation, because with the bonus, it would only take thirty minutes for my mana pool to refresh completely, a great improvement to several hours of meditation or sleep like it would normally take.

I pulled out of Aviada and let her collapse on the ground. She needed to catch her breath before we could start hunting. With a sudden instinct, I reached out and pulled Aviada's sword from its sheath, stiffening myself for the impact, but it didn't come. Yet another evidence of my total domination.

I pushed the sword in the nearby rock, impressed by the effortless manner it disappeared before turning my attention to Helga. Since Aviada was going to need several minutes to gather herself, why shouldn't I entertain myself in the meanwhile…

—-

[Level: 16 Experience: 128050 / 136000

Strength: 17 Charisma: 24

Precision: 12 Perception: 13

Agility: 16 Manipulation: 19

Speed: 12 Intelligence: 16

Endurance: 13 Wisdom: 20

HP: 1120 / 1120 Mana: 1345 / 1472 ]

SKILLS

[Master Melee [69/100]

Expert Arcana [75/75]

Advanced Subterfuge [50/50]

Advanced Biomancy [50/50]

Expert Elemental [28/75]

Basic Speech [25/25]

PERKS

Mana Regeneration

Chapter 33: A Twist of Death

Half an hour after Aviada's punishment, our little group was once again fully dressed and was about to finally step out of the cover of the wards that protected the main trade routes and their immediate surroundings. We walked silently, discounting my cheerful whistling holding an upbeat tone. Meanwhile, girls were busy trying to rein in their blushes, their eyes firmly on the ground.

Not a surprising reaction after our impromptu threesome.

Teasing them on the subject was tempting, but unfortunately, I had a more important task, getting used to Aviada's magical sword. I held it tightly, occasionally slashing a nearby tree or stone, watching the target slashed neatly into two pieces. I realized that the last time I had used, I failed to appreciate the true magnificence of the sword, only my enhanced melee skill and increased magical abilities allowing me to understand its true value. No wonder those assholes tried to assassinate her for it.

Luckily, I had a much better way of staking my ownership.

"Are we ready, girls?" I asked when I saw a huge dire wolf dashing toward us, marking the start of the combat. It was merely a class four creature, not even enough to alarm, but its presence showed that we finally stepped into the wildlands, an area most wouldn't wander without at least a full squad of experienced soldiers. It would take only a slash of my sword to kill it, but I chose to wave my hand instead, and a spike suddenly pushed out of the ground far faster than it could react, nailing it in the stomach.

[2 Elemental]

[-14 Mana]

"Let's move," I said when the girls looked at me questioningly. I understood their rationale, as using magic was rather wasteful from their perspective. However, not only they had no idea about the true size of my mana pool, but also my extreme rate of regeneration thanks to the perks I had gained through the companion system. When I ignored their wordless concern, the girls didn't push for more. Aviada because she didn't know much about magic and assumed it was normal for a high-level mage, while Helga was too cagey to raise her concerns in the hearing range of someone else, even that someone was Aviada.

"Aren't you going to kill it?" Aviada said questioningly when she saw me walking away from the creature, who was experiencing my extreme leveling method for the first time.

"Nope, last hits are for you girls," I answered with a shrug, earning a shocked glance from Aviada. After all, no matter the situation, the experience was a precious commodity to people that were yet to finish their development. Otherwise, why would Aviada spend her nights killing an endless number of level zero creatures just for scraps? "But take turns," I added at the last moment. When the next creature appeared, Aviada was about to dash forward when I gestured her to wait. "You and Helga are going to stay in defensive just in case something I can't handle appears," I reminded her, a direction she followed only after I conjured a small chain of earth, reminding her the last time she chose to disregard my orders.

Just as I predicted, the presence of the wolf had marked the beginning of an intense skirmish. More creatures appeared, usually below class five, but occasionally close to class ten, but regardless, they took only one move, be it a slash of my borrowed sword, or another elemental trick. It was a tough two hours, enough to leave anyone else below level twenty panting in exhaustion, but I was a unique case.

[11 Elemental]

[3 Melee]

[-2450 Mana]

It was nice to see my skills increasing rapidly. Of course, spending almost double of my mana pool would have been an extravagant waste if it wasn't for my enhanced regeneration, allowing me to keep my mana pool almost completely full despite the constant rain of assault. I was planning to continue, when I came across a small cliff. It was about fifty meters tall, and it gave a rather impressive view of the area. "Let's take a breather," I said as I started climbing the small path upward.

"Is this a good idea?" Aviada asked. "Won't we get bogged down if they notice us here," she added.

"Of course, that's the idea," I answered with a smirk, and the moment I arrived at the top, I used my newly developed elemental skills to modify the cliff generously, enough to turn it into a small fort with thick walls and several arcana runes already carved ready to be powered. Another flex of mana, and they were ready to anchor the wards.

[1 Elemental]

[-240 Mana]

"I want you girls to stay in defensive. Helga, start carving additional wards in case we have a breach. Aviada, you are responsible for watching the sky and the cliff, just in case a creature manages to slip the wards." It wasn't a likely outcome, but it wasn't impossible either. Both girls nodded, and they started moving rapidly, though even my latest disciplining session was unable to prevent them from snarking at each other. I let it continue, believing it was better for them to get it out of their systems rather than keeping it away from my attention.

I left them alone in their task and stood in the center of the raised defensive formation, effectively acting like bait. It was a raised platform, because it would allow me to push the wounded creatures on the nearby pit that I had created. I looked around to make sure that everything was in order before casting a lure spell, enough to tempt the surrounding creatures from a mile. It was a dangerous move, but the danger also gave me the chance to maximize my abilities quickly. I wanted to be on top shape before the meeting with Cornelia, as it had the potential of ruining a lot of things.

Still, even though it was a quick decision, I wasn't unhappy about revealing my status to Cornelia. Currently, she was the only girl strong enough to give me a few more levels while also being vulnerable enough to keep my secrets. The infighting in her family was much more important than revealing my hidden prowess. Still, deflowering Marianne in front of her was something that would make her angry. I would feel much safer if I could maximize my elemental abilities.

Soon, a rumble caught my attention, forcing my mind back to the present rather than the evening's meeting. I could see a horde of undead, consisting of skeletons and zombies of varying strength, dashing forward, large enough to threaten a small town. Still, my smile widened even as I swung my sword, taking the lower half one of them while letting it topple back, tangling with the others, a kick sending an armored one back. The first one was barely class three while the second one was almost class nine, meaning I had to be really careful. Still, I expected the class nine one to be damaged quite a bit by the fall and opened my mouth to ask Aviada to push forward to get the experience.

[1 Melee]

My words died in my lips when I noticed several weak zombies positioning themselves underneath the large one, reducing the damage it took while risking to destroy themselves. That level of coordination was extraordinary, with some dangerous implications for our side. I was suddenly glad of the excessive fortification I had prepared. "Aviada, I want you to stay behind me and kill the ones I let pass. Helga, after finishing the defensive array, wait, but be ready to cast a strong defensive shield." Cooperation between undead meant someone was controlling them, and I didn't want to be caught flatfooted in case one of them attacked suddenly.

Luckily, I had improved my elemental casting abilities significantly during the last two days, turning an impossible battle into a farming opportunity. "Let's see how dead fares against the inferno," I shouted while waving my left hand, my right busy swinging the sword to take the legs of a class seven zombie, which then rolled helplessly toward Aviada. I didn't pay attention to what was happening behind, trusting her to handle an injured monster rather easily. Instead, I focused on tying the firestorm into one of the wards I had created earlier, ensuring that it would keep up as long as it had sufficient mana, then dumped a generous amount behind it. A deadly firestorm appeared in the middle of the horde, immediately roasting the weaker ones while slowing down the stronger ones.

[3 Elemental]

[-320 Mana]

"Amazing," I heard Aviada murmur, so I turned back for a split second to wink at her, which made her blush rather sharply. However, as much as I would have liked to flirt with my sexy swordswoman while killing the zombies, a sudden flash of darkness took precedence. I saw a dark bolt traveling toward our encampment, crackling with dangerous energy that made me feel sick even in the distance.

It was necrotic energy!

I couldn't help but curse my luck even as I jumped off the cliff, positioning myself between the fort and the energy. "Aviada, hold the fort," I ordered even as I pushed my mana on the sword, forcing it to burn brightly with wild lightning, enhanced with a touch of life energy thanks to my biomancy abilities. I took that risk, because while building the fortifications, I hadn't expected it to stand against a combined assault from the necromancers. Considering there was a generous bounty on each necromancer, I didn't expect to find one of them so close to the school.

I shouted even as my sword slashed three times, its speed no less than the lightning itself, managing to disrupt most of the energy. I couldn't help but feel proud at the move, fitting to be a part of the legends itself.

[2 Elemental]

[3 Melee]

[-83 Mana]

Only a small piece of dark energy escaped my assault and collided with my body. But even that was enough to burn as I had never felt before, draining a significant amount of vitality. Though I was lucky to be competent at biomancy, as a wave of life energy rose immediately to neutralize the necrotic power trying to penetrate my body. Without that, I doubted that I would be alive.

[-274 HP]

[-123 Mana]

I ignored the gasp of the girls in favor of dashing forward the trio of figures that revealed themselves while casting their deadly spell, whose panic was clear even when they were hidden behind their robes. I let out a laugh even as I dashed forward at full speed. These necromancers overplayed their hands in an effort to quickly end the battle, and I was more than willing to punish their arrogance before they could cast another spell.

"Keep him away," called the necromancer in the middle panickedly even as his hands dug deep into his pouch, clearly searching for something. The other two waved their staffs and a fresh horde of dead shambled forward, trying to cut my path.

It was a sound tactic. Too bad it wouldn't work against me. I was fast enough to avoid the slow but strong ones, and several wind bullets were enough to destroy the fragile ranged units behind. Every swing of my borrowed sword was enough to cut a swathe through the weaker skeletons and zombies, their presence not enough to slow me down.

The one in the middle, who was clearly the leader, realized the problem as well and took a step back while pulling a pearl from his bag as large as his fist. It didn't take a genius to realize it was not a trinket, simply because he was trying to pull it while facing the risk of death. "Arise," he called as he threw it in the midpoint between me and them. A thick layer of necrotic energy escaped it, and the pearl started to unfold into a winged skeleton that was growing very quickly.

"A fucking dragon!" I called in shock and quickened my pace even further. I had no idea who those guys were, or how they managed to convert a dragon into their undead servant, but I knew that if that dragon managed to cut my path, I wouldn't last long against three necromancers and it.

It was time to be creative.

I used my arcana abilities to cast two spells simultaneously, one to give me temporary invisibility, barely enough to last a moment, while other spell created an illusion. Then, I pumped that illusion with life energy, and sent it against the dragon. The dragon dispelled it with a swing of its claw, but it was all I needed to pass it and stood against the necromancers.

[-45 Mana]

Necromancers were too slow to reach anything other than a widening of their eyes as I appeared in front of them. My first swing took the head of two of them, while the third one stumbled back in fear. "Wait, I can-" he started, but another swing ensured that he had no chance to continue his words. And since they were necromancers, I did the prudent thing and sent a wave of flame to engulf their bodies, even though it would destroy any clue about their presence.

With a skeletal dragon behind me, I didn't feel like taking risks.

My instincts blared, and I threw myself forward and rolled, a sharp claw missing me by an inch. I turned after the roll, and barely managed to deflect another attack with my sword. The skeletal dragon must be at least class fifteen, maybe even closer to level twenty, which normally required a large squad of level fifteen warriors and mages. Even with my stats, I wouldn't be defeat in a direct confrontation.

Luckily, without a necromancer to lead it, it wasn't really smart, and I had a lot of tricks to keep it back. "Girls, keep your positions and destroy the rest of the horde," I ordered when I saw Helga back to back with Aviada, with both of them trying to abandon their well-defended position. They were good, but not enough to cut through a broken horde of undead even if they were wounded badly thanks to the ongoing firestorm, especially with the necromancers that were leading them were dead.

I could see their reluctance from a distance, but luckily, they followed my order, and stayed on the defensive while destroying the skeletons. I stayed focused on the bone skeletal dragon, using the full range of my melee and elemental tricks to slowly damage its limbs, while biomancy and arcana working wonders to keep it distracted. It took almost an hour for the girls to destroy the horde, while I spent almost two thousand mana to keep the dragon away from me, three of its limbs and one of its wings finally destroyed. I could have killed it, but I preferred to keep it bay not to waste the huge experience it represented, not to mention battling such a dangerous creature for an hour allowed me to maximize my skills, which was only possible thanks to my enhanced mana regeneration.

[24 Melee]

[28 Elemental]

[-1951 Mana]

When the girls finished with the horde, they could be mistaken for zombies in their exhaustion, stumbling forward. Amusingly, Aviada wrapped an arm on Helga, helping her walk despite her own exhaustion. It seemed that our little battle had worked wonders to resolve the animosity between them. Nothing like an extended battle against shambling undead to see the value of other skill sets.

Seeing them near, I broke the last limb with a mighty swing, leaving the skeletal dragon to collapse helplessly, waiting for the last hits. "So, girls," I said as I turned to them, presenting the sword for them to grab. "Who wants to do the honors. First come first serve."

Aviada was in a better condition, so she grabbed the sword first. But then, she surprised us by presenting it to Helga. "I was the one that killed most of the horde while you supported me, and I leveled up already. You deserve this."

Helga looked at her in shock, but Aviada just nodded encouragingly. Helga grabbed the sword, but in her exhausted state, failed to lift it until I used my biomancy to refresh her stamina. It took three swings for her to crack the dragon's skull, while her horrible lack of skill made Aviada wince. "I'm going to teach you how to wield it," she murmured, but Helga was too distracted by something only she could see to actually pay attention to us.

The reason turned clear when she murmured in shock. "Two levels at once," she murmured in shock, making Aviada look at me shocked. Aviada was smart enough to estimate Helga's level, putting the creature very close to class twenty. She was shocked, the fact that I was able to play with such a formidable creature for an hour forcing her to revise her estimations upward once more.

[Achievement: Epic Encounter. Defend your girls tenaciously against a deadly foe well-above your skills. 5000 Experience, 1 All]

I couldn't help but smile when I saw the achievement, though it was hard to argue it was undeserved. Three necromancers, backed by a dragon and a horde of undead was enough to make a small city restless, and I managed to defeat it alone with the help of two underleveled assistants. It was an achievement worthy of legends.

Too bad nobody would know. If my activities today were discovered, the faculty would do their best to control me, afraid of my potential and desiring my power. However, despite the fact that it would ruin everything in the current state of my plans, it wasn't what I was afraid of most. A small group of necromancers would have never come closer to the school without a good reason, and moreover, raising a skeletal dragon was clearly far beyond their abilities. I wasn't willing to bet on my survival if their backer learned about my intervention. Still, it was a pity that I had to destroy the bodies of the necromancers, along with all the clues about their source.

While the girls took a breather, I used my elemental abilities to burn the bodies of zombies and skeletons, including the dragon, then systematically dismantled the wards and the defensive walls. Luckily, the crystal that had been used to power the dragon was still in good condition, so I pocketed it. It was the most valuable loot I had ever acquired, and could be used for many purposes from powering wards to craft weapons.

On the way back, we had a long discussion on the importance of keeping the battle a complete secret just in case the mysterious leader of those necromancers had the ability to spy in the school. A dangerously likely possibility, as evidenced by the ease I had while exploring the school and taming the ladies.

We soon arrived at the school. It was a pity that girls were too exhausted for a celebratory orgy.

Luckily, I had another visit prepared.

—

[Level: 16 Experience: 133050 / 136000

Strength: 18 Charisma: 25

Precision: 13 Perception: 14

Agility: 17 Manipulation: 20

Speed: 13 Intelligence: 17

Endurance: 14 Wisdom: 21

HP: 1200 / 1200 Mana: 1552 / 1552 ]

SKILLS

[Master Melee [100/100]

Expert Arcana [75/75]

Expert Elemental [75/75]

Advanced Subterfuge [50/50]

Advanced Biomancy [50/50]

Basic Speech [25/25] ]

PERKS

Mana Regeneration

Chapter 34: Dangerous Deal

My mind was very busy as I walked through the school corridors, trying to analyze the situation I was forced to confront. I knew that I wasn't the best when it came to assessing the norms outside the school despite my improved capabilities, but even I could confidently state that finding necromancers close to the school was rather unexpected, and the fact that they were willing to ambush three random students without rhyme or reason suggested multiple possibilities, each wilder than the last. Even worse, they had a bone dragon, something well-above their magical prowess to raise, meaning they were a part of something bigger.

Not a comforting thought.

Still, when I got close to the kitchen door, I let it slide. There was nothing I could do even if I wanted to do anything. Exploring further was impossible before I got stronger. Only luck allowed us to survive their presence, because we already had an extensive defensive entrenchment when they attacked, which greatly limited the impact of their undead horde, and their complete lack of tactical sense handled the rest. There was no way we could have survived if they had summoned their dragon even a moment earlier. I was good, but not that good.

Not yet, at least.

Talking to someone about it was not an option either. Neither I nor the girls had anyone we trusted enough to talk to, and even if the girls had, it was impossible to explain how we were able to defeat a bone dragon without revealing the full extent of my abilities, something I wasn't willing to do until I was much stronger. Being mysteriously strong was attention-grabbing, but not as much as gaining fifteen levels in less than a month, especially combined with my abnormal stat growth.

With the decision taken to have no action, for the time being, I focused on my immediate task, namely, slipping inside the kitchen for some extra food. The bag I had taken before was about to be emptied, and more importantly, I was fed up with all those dried fruits and meats, with only stale bread and plain water to accompany it. I needed something more delicious. With that in mind, I walked into the kitchen, silently but proudly walking toward the pantry. Thanks to my improved acting abilities, no one even paid attention to me until I reached the servants responsible for maintaining inventory.

I stood in front of a burly order man, who looked strong and capable enough to work as a butler for a minor noble family, but he clearly chose to work for Silver Spires instead. "I have a requisition for a wilderness outing," I murmured even as I passed the list I prepared beforehand, with a genuine-looking stamp at the bottom. It was a decent forgery, not enough to pass a magical examination, of course, but no one was about to assess a kitchen requisition, even if it was rather extensive.

"Wine, magically-preserved meat, quail eggs, aged cheese…" the man read the list, bored rather than disbelieving. "Who fucking brings top-shelf wine to a hunting expedition," he murmured grumpily.

"Noble brats are still brats," I answered with a shrug, which earned a sardonic laugh. "Count yourself lucky, at least you don't have to listen to them complaining about the quality of their linen in the middle of the wilderness while we servants struggle to find clean water." I sighed pointedly, doing my best to copy a mentally-exhausted servant. "Do me a favor and give me some good stuff. I don't want to be executed because I snapped and beat that snot-nosed brat with a substandard bottle of wine," I said, earning another laugh.

"Of course, nothing less for our heroic scions, standing between us and the apocalypse," he said in faux-worship before turning to enter the pantry.

"As soon as they figure out how to dress themselves," I added, and the servant disappeared with one last chuckle. When he returned, he was carrying a large bag along. I took the bag, but left only after a few minutes of gossip. It was nice to know people around me. With the bag, I returned to my room and enjoyed a delicious meal, though I doubted that any other mage would have been understanding when I used my elemental abilities to cook myself a delicious steak, and using arcana to clean up afterward. I didn't open the wine, however, as I had other plans for it.

When I left my room, I was once again disguised as a maid, but this time the clothes were just an illusion rather than a full costume. I had a lot of mana, so wasting a few dozen points was nothing.

My destination was Cornelia's room. It was not the evening yet, but I wanted to ambush her earlier with my presence, just to make sure she wouldn't be able to set up a trap. The magical lock on her door didn't even take a breath to unlock even when I had to circumvent a trap that hadn't been there during my first visit. My performance last night clearly spooked her, not knowing my display of competence was merely a trick.

Once I was in the room, I replaced the illusions with a field of invisibility. It wasn't a true invisibility spell, which was ironically too noticeable magically, but a light trick to make me harder to be seen. Only after that, I cast the second spell, and stepped into Cornelia's large living room, which was empty. So was her smaller guest room and her bedroom. I wasn't disappointed, however, because I could hear running water from the bathroom.

Excellent, I thought as I walked to the bar and took out a nice white wine and two champagne glasses. I wasn't being stingy about the wines I acquired earlier, but Cornelia clearly had better stuff than what was available through the general kitchen, not to mention taking her bottle without asking for permission was another subtle powerplay. Cornelia was under my power, and I intended to teach her how fun it was to be on the other side of the coin.

I even got naked before stepping into her bathroom -and removing another magical trap in the process- while doing my best to stay silent, then sneaked inside. I had to hold back myself from whistling in appreciation when I examined the extravagant bath, once again underlining Cornelia's wealth. But gold-plated taps or silver mirrors barely earned a glance from me, not when I was able to see Cornelia resting in the small pool in the center of the room, her body hidden under a thick layer of bubbles, her eyes closed.

Cornelia was not someone that would respond to kindness, so, the more impressive my appearance was, the better. So, I cast a weak silencing charm -weak because I didn't want to alert her with a mana flare- before walking toward the pool, and slid into the water, all without managing to alert her. "How have you been since our last meeting, little lady," I suddenly said as I opened the wine bottle, yet I also infused the water with mana to react quickly to the inevitable violent reaction.

She didn't disappoint. Her eyes popped open in shock, and a wave of flame came targeting me just as quick. However, it took just a flicker of my fingers to extinguish it. It wasn't even an issue of strength, as her hurried spell had a weak internal structure, easy to puncture with a stab of water, destabilizing it so that it faded halfway through.

Cornelia looked at me shocked, though it was understandable. After all, despite the weakness of her initial spell, it wasn't something a regular elemental mage could achieve. It required a strong analytical capability, and was only possible thanks to my extreme stats and high arcana capabilities.

"So rude," I said with a mocking smirk. "I would have expected more from the noble heiress of House Antony. No wonder your uncle is looking for a better alternative."

"Shut up," Cornelia shouted even as she raised her hand, which was glowing dangerously with swirling flames. I didn't react to her threat. Not because her magical ability was to be underestimated, but because despite her explosive anger, she was smart enough to understand what was at stake.

If she hadn't exploded in anger after I took the virginity of her girlfriend in front of her, an offhanded insult wouldn't trigger her as well.

I slowly poured wine into the glasses and sent one to her, ignoring the threat. After a moment, the fire around Cornelia's hand dispelled, leaving frustration in its place. "What do you want?"

I took a lingering sip from the glass instead of answering immediately, just another trick to drive home my superior position. It was a nice feeling to feel superior to Cornelia, the scary noble heiress that even the teachers failed to intimidate. "Delicious wine," I commented casually.

"What do you want?" Cornelia repeated, angrier.

"Come on, sweetie. Let's not act like brutes. Enjoy your wine first, we can always talk business later," I answered, my laziness making her even angrier, which made her just more frustrated because she was not used to keeping her anger contained.

"Give me your glass, then," Cornelia said with a sudden expression of enlightenment, doubting there was an underhanded trick on the glass. Not an unreasonable one, though considering how easily I had penetrated her domicile, rather unnecessary as well.

"As you wish," I said, but upon seeing her smug expression, I decided to pull a little trick. A small application of biomancy later, the wine glass was contaminated with an effective aphrodisiac, enough to make the situation even more uncomfortable for her, the mana flare being masked by the levitation spell I cast to send it to her. A moment later, the other floated toward me. "A delicious vintage," I commented.

"It's from one of our wineries. It's a decent year," Cornelia answered, who used the small break to exchange the glasses to gather her composure.

"I appreciate beautiful things," I answered while keeping my gaze on her face, my smirk widening as Cornelia frowned. She fell silent, and I didn't bother to break the silence, enjoying the bath and the wine at the same time. Cornelia drank slowly as well, but from the distracted expression on her face, it was clear that she was trying to get a handle of the situation. Understandable, considering how much she enjoyed being in control. It was ironic that she was losing control of every aspect of her life, the control of her family due to her uncle, the control of her development due to her level cap…

And the control of her personal relationship thanks to my presence…

For the next few minutes, I asked her several questions, none of them related to her problems, which clearly annoyed her. Then, I decided to push the envelope once more. "So, do you still attend classes after the latest development?" I asked.

Considering her attitude and her situation, I wasn't surprised when her hands started trembling, preluding an explosion of anger. Still, she impressed me by somehow preventing herself from exploding. "I still go to some of them," she answered between her squeezed teeth.

"Good idea, every little bit helps in your condition," I answered.

My dismissive attitude finally managed to trigger her. "Shut up!" she exclaimed even as she jumped to her feet and threw the glass toward me, which missed my face by inches, but I didn't even flinch. I might have annoyed her with my inaction, but since it displayed her beautiful breasts in front of me, I didn't react too badly.

[50 Experience] 50% Penalty!

"Such a bad attitude," I answered, ignoring her poor assault attempt in favor of shaking my head in disapproval. "It's no wonder your uncle wants to keep you away from ruling the house."

"You're playing a dangerous game," she exclaimed even as two thick coils of flame appeared around her arm, twisting and turning dangerously in a poor attempt of intimidation. Poor, because it wasn't even about the power difference. She was a fire mage currently submerged in water, and I had already shown my water elemental abilities.

I didn't bother to stop her assault, even crossed my arm to signal just how little her display had affected me. Her answer was to increase the intensity of the flames, colorful shadows dancing on the marble walls. "Calm your tits, firecracker," I said before letting my gaze slide pointedly to her chest. "Not your actual ones, of course. I'm very happy with their virility."

My dismissive attitude was enough to dispel her childish display. She dispelled her flames and sat down, the bubbles hiding her body once more. "What do you need?" she asked in a more subdued tone.

"I only need a few things, but I want a lot of things," I answered. "However, the real question is, what do you need, and what are you willing to part with?"

Cornelia scowled. "You know that. I need to find a way to break through the level cap."

I smiled softly. "No, that's not true. What you need is to protect yourself against your uncle and to take the reins of the family. Improving your personal strength is not the only way."

"You told me that you can help me on the level cap!" she exclaimed, anger and disappointment warring on her face even as she raised her hand once more, yet again covered with flames. Her tantrums were getting very stale. "You lied!"

"No, I haven't," I said calmly. "I have ways to circumvent the situation to increase your personal power, but as you can guess, they are neither easy to find nor easy to implement. I need to trust you a lot more before I actually teach you how," I said, bluffing shamelessly. I didn't know whether the companion system would help the situation, and I didn't even know that I would be able to trigger it with Cornelia, but since she was my only reasonable source of experience, I was willing to take the risk.

"What do you want in return?" Cornelia asked, excited.

"A lot," I answered without missing a beat. "However, you don't need to worry about it for now, because it's a bit early to actually offer that. I have a more reasonable deal in mind."

"You're playing a dangerous game, revealing the secret but promising to withhold it. Aren't you worried that I would reveal your secrets?"

"Not really," I answered casually, which, for once, was actually accurate. I still didn't want to reveal myself to the wider public, but it was no longer a deadly secret. Moreover, I trusted Cornelia to act true to herself and be a self-serving bitch. She knew only two things about me, that I was apparently much stronger than I had revealed, and I claimed to have secrets of circumventing the level cap. The first part made it a gamble to reveal my secrets, as she had no idea how strong I actually was. For the second part, she only had my words for the moment with no evidence to back it up. She would have been laughed at by everyone if she went to anyone else with it. The only reason she was listening to it at all was her desperation.

The despondent silence that filled the room indicated that she understood my point of view without an explanation. "What do you have in mind if you're not going to help me increase my power?" she asked.

"I'm going to support you against your uncle, of course," I said.

"Why would you do that?" she said in shock. "Training me in secret is one thing, but if you do that, you would be challenging the acting head of House Antony. Since I'm the rightful heir, there's not much he can do against me, but it's not the same for you. He would send an endless number of assassins the moment he discovered your support." She took a deep breath before continuing, her tone bitter. "You read my letters, you know that he already removed or converted most of my supporters. I can't prevent him from targeting you."

"I know," I said, though I wasn't really worried. Yes, House Antony was strong, but even for them, Silver Spires was not easy to penetrate. I doubted that they would risk a lot of their power, and considering I might gain a few more levels until my involvement was discovered, I wasn't afraid of anyone below level twenty-five. House Antony was strong, but definitely not enough to risk losing such a strong warrior while trying to penetrate Silver Spires, risking their ire.

"Then why? You could have gone to my uncle with those letters and revealed my condition. He would have rewarded you greatly."

"No, he would have given me a few shiny trinkets and a few empty titles. However, if I manage to put you on top…" I dragged, leaving the rewards implied. "You can't win big by playing safe."

"Then, what do you have in mind to help me?" Cornelia said, much more interested.

"Simple," I said. "Your biggest challenge is to hide your stagnation from your uncle, while his biggest objective is to understand how strong you have become. By the way, why is that?" I asked, curious. Her letters mentioned the status, but didn't go into detail about the reasons.

"I have six months until my uncle can challenge me for the ruling seat, but since it's a life-and-death challenge, he will only do that if he's sure of his victory," she explained.

"Do you know how strong he is?" I answered.

"I'm not completely sure, but he's likely just below twenty, but definitely stronger than I currently am, not to mention he has access to a lot of magical weapons and treasures," Cornelia explained. Seeing me nodding without alarm, Cornelia relaxed a bit more. Her thought process was clear. Since I was calm on the prospect of facing a well-armed family head bordering level twenty, I must have been quite strong, which was accurate. If forced, I would have taken that bet, especially if I had Aviada's sword in hand. "So, that's my situation. What do you want in return?" she asked.

"I want you to be my maid," I answered. Just like that, Cornelia was on her feet once more, flames covering her arm. But this time, she clearly intended to attack.

Things were getting interesting…

—–

[Level: 16 Experience: 133100 / 136000

Strength: 18 Charisma: 25

Precision: 13 Perception: 14

Agility: 17 Manipulation: 20

Speed: 13 Intelligence: 17

Endurance: 14 Wisdom: 21

HP: 1200 / 1200 Mana: 1484 / 1552 ]

SKILLS

[Master Melee [100/100]

Expert Arcana [75/75]

Expert Elemental [75/75]

Advanced Subterfuge [50/50]

Advanced Biomancy [50/50]

Basic Speech [25/25] ]

PERKS

Mana Regeneration

Chapter 35: Maid Education

Cornelia was busy sending a thick wave of flame toward me when I finally raised my hand and called a thick wall of water to block her assault, costing me a small chunk of mana. Cornelia clearly wasn't holding back, but I was annoyed because of a different thing. The collusion of magic created a thick cloud of steam, hiding her beautiful body from my sight.

[-45 Mana]

I was about to use an arcana trick to dispel the cloud when a shadow cut through the mist. It was Cornelia, trying to finish the combat quickly, unaware that she was making a terrible choice. It wouldn't have been a bad choice under other circumstances, because almost no mage had physical abilities, meaning she wouldn't have been disadvantaged, especially if the opponent panicked. Also, it gave her a chance to finish it quickly, a bath in the middle of the school wasn't the best arena to fight without alerting others.

It was a pity that it was the absolute worst strategy she could have used against me. Her flaming fist was strong, but it was effectively moving in slow motion against me. I didn't even bother standing up. A gentle palm strike was enough to change the trajectory of her punch, and when it went past my head, I turned my palm into a grip and pulled her on my lap. "Are you going to play nice, or should I teach you how to behave?" I whispered into her ear as I squeezed her wrist a bit, just enough to signal my physical stats. The fact that she was on my lap, naked was a nice bonus. Pity I couldn't take her virginity yet.

[100 Experience] 50% Penalty!

When she didn't answer, I flared my magic, not by casting a particular magic, but to show my potential, enough to make it very certain that I was much stronger than her when it came to the mystical side of the deal as well. "I'll behave," she answered, trying to sound belligerent, but it was impossible for her to hide her sudden tremble while she was on my lap.

"Good girl," I said as I patted her leg gently, and when she tried to stand up, I was quick to wrap my arm around her waist, keeping her pinned.

"Let me go," she said as she turned toward me, but she must be learning, because this time, she didn't try to use magic to free herself, relying on her angry expression, with a dash of panic.

I had no intention to cater to that particular wish. The sooner she got into the habit of following my orders, the better. "I can let you go," I said, and her expression relaxed, unaware of the part to come. "However, I would take it as you rejecting my generous offer," I added, and her face fell just as quickly, but even as I loosened my arm around her waist, she stayed in place, thinking hard about my proposal. She was smart enough to realize the full implications of being my maid, not only the sexual parts, but the implied inferiority as well.

For a whole minute she was silent, and I didn't disrupt her, not wanting her to commit before she understood the full implications. Also, it gave the aphrodisiac more time to seep into her bloodstream, adding yet another complication to her decision-making process. Soon, I received the first indication that it was working, when she rocked her hips several times like she was trying to get a better seat, several more times than it was necessary. Her body was getting in the mood even if she wasn't.

Since she was struggling to answer, I decided to help her decide. My hands landed on her waist, caressing her sides gently. I decided to speak when she decided to answer angrily. "Is there something you want to say?" I said lazily even as my hands moved down, caressing her lithe hips. When it came to ass, she lacked Helga's and Marianne's generous expanse, but she was still very sexy. She just huffed and turned her head away, trying to make a decision.

Messing with her was extremely satisfying, so I decided to up the ante. One of my hands moved up until I grabbed her breasts, their size barely failing to fill my palms, but compensating for their failing with their perkiness. I directly focused on her nipples, squeezing hard. The moan that left her mouth surprised her more than it surprised me if her expression was any indicator. "Are you sure you don't want to speak?" I said, amused by her reaction because the aphrodisiac I had given her could never get such a reaction, meaning she enjoyed my rough treatment considerably. Surprising, considering her insistent sadism.

"Keep your hands to yourself while I'm trying to decide," she said angrily, but rather than annoy me, it amused me further, because I could see she was relying on a caricature display of anger to suppress her own shock. My plan was working even better than I had intended.

"And what if I don't?" I countered as my other hand grabbed her beautiful crimson hair before pulling her head back hard, enough to be actually painful. Another moan left her mouth, recognizable despite her efforts to disguise it as a pained yelp. Her head was bent back, which gave me direct access to her neck. I bit her neck hard enough to earn another moan. Her thighs tightened around my shaft, another sign of her enjoyment.

[300 Experience] 50% Penalty!

With her bluff seen through, she once again failed to come up with an answer. I didn't push her for it. Why would I when I already found such an amusing way to pass the time. I held her under a double-assault, my fingers mauling her breasts while I alternated biting and sucking on her neck, but both violent enough to leave a mark. She tried to hold back her moans at first, and when that failed, tried to hide them under yelps and grunts, but her attempts failed sexily.

I could see she was surprised by her reaction even more than I was, but unlike me, her reaction was a fresh surge of anger. I realized the explosion before she did. "That's enough!" she exclaimed and tried to stand up, but my grip around her hair tightened. "Let me go!" she shouted, but maintained enough presence of mind not to use a spell.

"I can, but I'm going to be kind and ask you a question," I said, speaking slowly, each word heavy and measured, with the full weight of my charisma behind it to intimidate her. "Are you sure you want to reject my support?"

The way Cornelia trembled at my words was delicious, and the fact that she was intimidated rather than lashing out was enough to prove that my way was working. Her lips moved a while later, breaking her frozen state. "I accept," she murmured.

"Excellent news," I said cheerfully before I pushed her away from my lap and stepped out of the water. "Follow me then we have a lot of things to talk about," I said and started walking. I snapped my fingers after two steps because I didn't hear her walking. The sound of a splash reached my ears, followed by several rapid footsteps, briefly interrupted by the ruffle of fabrics. I ignored it and continued to walk, using a small cantrip to dry myself. No need to ruin her couch.

I was going to spend a lot of time here, after all.

Cornelia appeared through the door several minutes later, her confident mannerism telling me that she had used the small break to gather her confidence, but she was unable to hide the truth from my sharp eyes. It was just a trick on the surface. Underneath, I could see her emotions churning in a panic. I wanted to punish her for daring to be late, but I chose to pause a moment to enjoy the sight of her body. Her long thin legs deliciously disappeared under a thick white towel, but even its thickness was unable to hide her thin waist and her shapely hips from my discerning eye.

Unfortunately, she had pulled the towel high up on her chest, hiding it from the view, not even a hint of cleavage was present. It seemed that I needed to explain to her about the appropriate behavior for a maid, starting from how not to be late. "What do you think you did wrong?" I asked her.

"What?" she answered eloquently.

I sighed. "Come on, firecracker, keep it up. You're my maid now, and you need to call me sir," I said dismissively even as I leaned back, putting my muscles on display. No matter what, her eyes trying to catch a glimpse of my body was extremely satisfying, especially with the blush that resulted after she did.

"If you think that I'm going to call you-" she started, only to be cut off by my angry glare, backed by the presence of my charisma, reminding her who was the boss here. "I'm sorry, sir," she said instead. Her tone was still rebellious, of course, but it was progress.

"Excellent," I said, once again cheerful as I stood up and walked next to her. "It's going to take a while to properly educate you, but luckily for you, I'm kind enough to put in the time required," I added even as I put my hand on her waist, leading her toward the table. Even through the towel I could feel her smooth skin, tempting me to cut to the chase and push her down for the true conquest. Unfortunately, slowly teasing and educating the angry queen of the school was too tempting to forgo just like that.

"I understand, sir," she managed to say despite her clenched jaw, but her dissatisfaction was nothing compared to the one she would feel during the next stage of my plan. When we arrived at the dining table, I pushed her forward without a warning until she collided with the surface, expelling a painful breath. Her towel rode up, creating a delicious view of her naked bottom. "What the hell-" she managed to exclaim until I interrupted her once again, this time my palm exploding against her naked bottom.

[100 Experience] 50% Penalty!

"Why don't you try that again?" I said with a gentle tone that greatly contrasted with my painful spank.

She managed to twist her head enough to look at me, but the angry tirade she was preparing faded against my stern expression. "What was that for, sir?" she replaced her words. Her resentment was still clear, but I let it go unmentioned. After all, it was her first day in her new role.

I had plenty of time to properly educate her.

"Because you were late by several minutes after I ordered you to follow me," I explained. "I was willing to be merciful, then you went and disrespected me. Maybe some punishment will educate you about the perils of talking back."

"As you wish, sir," she answered smoothly, with an undercurrent of pride. She was clearly underestimating my punishment. Understandable, considering the scene between her and Helga I had stumbled on several days ago. She prided herself in her bondage abilities, and my simple spank must have seemed rather simple.

I couldn't help but chuckle as I waved my hand, summoning a bag from her wardrobe, dispelling its protections with another flick, which showed her arcana capabilities were extremely poor compared to me. "We can start if you're feeling ready," I said even as I pulled a familiar crop from her bag.

"How?" she asked, shocked, but received a soft hit from the crop, and a quirked eyebrow. "How, sir?" she repeated.

"Come on, firecracker. You didn't think you were unnoticed when you were using them in the library, right?" I said, despite her shock when one of the ribbons flew out of the bag under the control of my magic, and tied her hands behind her back. "Where do you think I came up with the idea of making you my maid?" She opened her mouth, but I preempted her by using the crop on her bottom, hard enough to leave a mark. She gasped while I dragged a finger on the mark it left. "It isn't as easy when you're on the receiving end, is it?" I said.

"No," she managed to say while she was trying to suppress her voice, when I flicked her ear. "No, sir," she corrected herself, humiliation burning clear.

"Excellent," I said even as I used the crop once more. "I want you to thank me after every caress," I added. "After all, I'm here, wasting time to educate you."

"Of course, sir," Cornelia answered, her eyes burning with humiliation, especially since she was unable to hide the signs of arousal slipping from her entrance. I stayed silent, but the crop didn't, exploding on her tight bottom several times, each earning a grudge-filled thank you from Cornelia.

[500 Experience] 50% Penalty!

"Not bad, firecracker," I said after reaching the two digits. "I wasn't expecting you to give such a nice performance, maybe there's hope for you after all."

"Thank you, sir," she said once more, but this time, her words turned into a shocked gasp at the last moment as I caressed her sopping wet entrance.

"Don't worry, I'm a good employer," I explained. "You have worked hard for your reward." Before Cornelia could say anything, I dragged my finger against her entrance once more, making her gasp in shock, but otherwise staying silent. Not surprising, considering the sexual part of her job definition was obvious from the start, not to mention she was too horny to obviously care. Even more amusingly, she clearly hated her own reaction to being the submissive party in the relationship.

She was learning, however, because her only reaction was to thank me again when I pulled the towel away, revealing her naked body. "No problem, firecracker," I said even as I dragged my finger on her spine gently, making her shiver in desire and appreciation. Under a dedicated assault, I would have her gushing like a spring in less than a minute, but as amusing as the idea was, slowly torturing her with pleasure while denying her a climax sounded much better.

With that idea in mind, one of my hands dragged down until it was on the outside of her thigh, gently massaging her flesh, occasionally slipping inward to give her a boosted dash of pleasure before moving outside once more. While she was busy trying to contain her reactions, I spent a minute enjoying the beautiful sight in front of me, lithe but curvy where it counted, with a great sensitivity that made playing with her really fun. I couldn't wait until I could put her into a slutty maid uniform, ready for my attention.

I kept her in the same position for more than half an hour while I played with her body slowly, exploring her treasures while allowing her pleasure to build, but never to a point of allowing her to climax. Watching her getting frazzled even worse than she was when I forced her to become my servant in exchange for my support, though on second thought, it was reasonable. As a noble scion, there was little in life she couldn't immediately attain, therefore she never faced a situation that she had to delay gratification, making the little edge-play I had been applying extremely effective.

[500 Experience] 50% Penalty!

"Are you enjoying your little reward," I asked, jolting her out of her frustrated dreams.

"Yes, sir," she moaned as I dragged my finger along her entrance, giving her a fresh jolt of pleasure. For the first time, the word sir left her mouth naturally rather than with a grudge.

"Excellent," I said even as I dragged my finger over her entrance once more, carefully calibrated to prevent her from climaxing. "I wonder how impressive your climax would have been?" I added absentmindedly.

Despite her dazed state, she was smart enough to catch my particular usage of words. "Would have been, sir?" she asked, and I was glad to note a huge dash of panic in her tone.

"Would have been, of course, firecracker," I said casually even as I slipped my fingers inside her for a moment, just enough to give her a jolt before pulling out and replacing it with a spank. "You can't seriously think you deserve a big reward after your lackluster performance. You need to really impress me before reaching a climax."

"But-" she started, only to be silenced by another spank. "Sorry, sir," she said reproachfully. "Is there anything I can do to gain enough favor?" she asked, which, more than anything, proved just how weak she was against pleasure, even overwhelming her prickly pride.

"Hmm," I said as I dragged my hand over her back, dipping toward the edge of her boobs for a moment, enough to make her shiver. "I wouldn't be adverse to it if you manage to give me enough pleasure. Do you think you can handle it?"

"I can handle it, sir," came the answer, much quicker than I had expected. I took a step back, examining her body, trying to understand whether she was actually that crazy about pleasure, or whether she was trying to lull me into a false sense of security. As I examined her, I could see that she had some kind of ploy in mind, but I didn't know her exact plan. Still, I felt secure enough to test her.

"Interesting, let's see whether it's just empty talk, or if you'll be able to handle your commitments," I said cheerfully as I waved my hand, and the ribbon that kept her hands wrapped disappeared back to her bag. "That's enough for today. I'm going to visit again tomorrow, right after sunset. I expect you to impress me," I said as I waved my hand, my clothes flying toward my body.

"That's it for today?" she murmured in shock, clearly dissatisfied. "Sir!" she added when I spanked her bottom in warning.

"Yes, and you're forbidden to play with yourself, and believe me I will know," I said as I patted her shoulder, using the opportunity to cast a spell to prevent her from climaxing. It wasn't impossible to break, but I would know if it was broken.

I could have easily pushed forward, of course, but I wanted her to truly process what she had signed up for. I wanted her to regain her fire, only to break her once again.

Playing with her was going to be fun, I thought as I stepped into the main corridor once more…

—

[Level: 16 Experience: 134600 / 136000

Strength: 18 Charisma: 25

Precision: 13 Perception: 14

Agility: 17 Manipulation: 20

Speed: 13 Intelligence: 17

Endurance: 14 Wisdom: 21

HP: 1200 / 1200 Mana: 1484 / 1552 ]

SKILLS

[Master Melee [100/100]

Expert Arcana [75/75]

Expert Elemental [75/75]

Advanced Subterfuge [50/50]

Advanced Biomancy [50/50]

Basic Speech [25/25] ]

PERKS

Mana Regeneration

Chapter 36: Minor Progress

Imagining the expression of Cornelia as her arousal was slowly dismissed put a smile on my face. I would have liked to be there, watching as her joy and arousal was replaced by horror as she understood just what she had signed up for. Also, if I had stayed there for the night, it would have made the process even smoother, allowing me to suppress any sign of rebellion before it even started.

However, I had more important things to do.

The encounter with the necromancers spooked me, not only because I had met with a danger much stronger than what was supposed to exist, but because it showed me just how little I knew about my surroundings. I needed more information. Luckily, as a library worker, I was in the epicenter of information. Sneaking into the library in the middle of the night wasn't even a challenge for me, and more importantly, I had a ready excuse if I got caught.

My abominable reputation was occasionally helpful.

After entering the library, I ignored my usual destination, the shelves on magical theory or leveling, instead moving to where historical battle records were held. I knew a lot about battle tactics and abilities of necromancers as well as many other fringe organizations because they were talked about in detail in the magical theory books, but I had no idea what their aim was, or the reason for their existence.

After quickly skimming through several books, however, I wasn't any closer to the answer of those questions. From what I could discover, their existence stretched back for hundreds of years, but there was nothing definite about their origin, which was suspicious. Not because the lack of information itself, but there were also very few theorizing anything about their roots, which was weird considering that despite their sparse existence, the necromancers were allied across the continent, and knowing their origins would have allowed a much better understanding about their organization.

The more I read about it, the more suspicious I got. It was like they were intentionally avoiding finding an answer, making me even more curious about its roots. But no matter how many books I browsed, I wasn't any closer to its source. Soon, the idea solidified in my mind even further. It was known, but was being kept hidden for some reason.

Before I could delve deeper, however, a chilly sensation passed near me. If it had been any other time, I would have dismissed it as a night chill, but I had remembered that exact sensation from earlier, where I had been fighting against the undead. It was necrotic energy, only much weaker than what I felt against the horde, so weak that I doubted I would have been able to feel it without my biomancy. Feeling the same energy in the middle of Silver Spires was not a good sign. The smart thing would have been to turn my back and leave the library. My identity was already tricky without angering a nebulous organization with a horde of death at their beck and call.

However, in the end, my curiosity won, and I started following the energy from a distance. Soon, I was close enough to the source to see a shade moving deeper into the library. It was both good and bad at the same time, because while shades were excellent scouts, they were utterly rubbish when it came to any kind of confrontation. Their value lay in their near-invisibility to any kind of senses. Too bad it caught me when I was most alert against that kind of energy.

However, there was a complication. Like any necrotic construct, their range of control was limited, meaning there was actually a necromancer in the confines of the school controlling it. That was dangerous news, no matter the situation. Necromancers sneaking into the school easily was not good news, but it was still better compared to the alternative. Moreover, shades contained a small piece of soul from their creator, meaning they couldn't be given to others to use. They needed to be near their creator.

The school had a traitor inside.

I doubted anyone other than myself would have reached that conclusion that easily, but I was the living proof that the vaunted security of the school was less than perfect against a sneaky approach once the initial infiltration was successful. It was supposed to be impossible for a necromancer to hide their unique aura, but I was the evidence that saying something was impossible didn't make it so.

With that in mind, I continued following the shade, but being careful to stay hidden, only to receive another shock. The shade arrived in front of the vault and slipped through the wards while taking a complicated route. Another evidence of long-term infiltration, otherwise, the shade would have never known the way to bypass the wards that easily. I waited outside, while trying to understand the point of sending the shade into the vault. Shades didn't have physical presence, so they wouldn't be able to take a book from the book. Even flipping a page to read a book was above its capabilities.

Regardless, I followed it when it left the vault as easily as it entered. Its controller clearly had a reason to send it there, and I was still curious about its owner. Luckily, shades had another drawback, that they couldn't communicate their findings remotely. They needed to be reabsorbed by their creator. So, I followed from a distance, hoping to find the owner. I had been expecting it to go toward the creature forest, giving me the opportunity to spy on the owner, maybe even ambush them in the dark.

I received another shock when the creature started moving toward the central section, where the most prestigious professors lived. The situation was even worse than I had thought. It was either one of the keystones of the school was traitor, or a necromancer was hidden there, good enough to avoid the detection of the best the school had to offer. Combined with the three necromancers I had faced, it pointed to a disaster.

I was a selfish person, but not selfish enough to do nothing after stumbling on a situation dangerous enough to threaten Silver Spires. I decided to take action. I took a breath to still my trembling hand before sending a jolt of arcana energy, destroying the shade, therefore preventing its controller from learning whatever they were trying to get. Then I dashed away, my heart thumping crazily.

I cast several arcana spells rapidly to hide my presence before dashing back to my room, fearful and excited at the same time. I could almost feel eyeballs on my back, afraid of being caught. Unless I had been severely underestimating the undercover necromancer, they were already aware of the destruction of the shade. I had no doubt that if they weren't worried about blowing their cover, they would have already caught me. But they didn't have the luxury of raising alarm, not more than I do.

I tried to sleep, but it proved elusive, rejecting to arrive no matter how many twists and turns I had to take. Luckily, the library wasn't the only place that held distractions for me. I had another destination where my imposition would be greeted with enthusiasm while also helping me to level up. So, I stepped into the corridors once more and started walking, glad that Marianne's room was not close to the central residential or the library itself. Even if someone was searching, a servant walking around in the middle of the night, carrying stuff, was not something to pay attention to.

Sneaking into Marianne's room was a simple task, though after entering, I made sure to put an extra alarm ward just in case. The living room was empty, so I moved to the bedroom, only to meet with an amazing sight. Marianne was on the bed, sleeping with a soft smile on her face, occasionally letting out soft moans. Even more impressive was her body, partially revealed as her covers slid away, displaying her amazing lingerie, pure white, short, and transparent enough to give a hint of skin underneath and to reveal the absence of underwear. Her nipples pushed against her nightie determinedly like they were trying to cut free, making me excited for the next step.

[50 Experience] 50% Penalty!

I quickly shed my clothing and slid into the bed next to her, careful not to wake her up as I pulled her head on my chest. She hugged me immediately as a soft moan left her mouth, but she stayed asleep. Curious about the depth of her sleep, I caressed her shoulder with no effect, before slipping my hand under her nightie to meet with her generous breasts. I gently squeezed, but the only reaction was another sleepy moan, and her nipples hardening even further. So, I squeezed her nipple.

That managed to awaken her from her sleep. "Such a nice dream," she murmured as she looked at my face from her barely open eyelids. Since our bodies were close, all she needed was to turn a bit to capture my lips in a soft, fleeting kiss. I continued caressing her breasts while her hand dragged down, slowly tracing my chest first, then my stomach. But a gasp escaped her mouth as she wrapped her hand around my shaft, and looked at me much more alert. "It's not a dream, is it?" she asked in a trembling voice.

"Guess," I answered with a smirk as I initiated another kiss, gentle and slow. Meanwhile, I was enjoying the feeling of her breasts, kneading her impressive globes with a slowly ramping up intensity, her lips following the trend immediately as well. I didn't know whether it was the sleep grogginess, or whether our last lovemaking session had managed to destroy her shyness, but I was loving her taking initiative.

[300 Experience] 50% Penalty!

[Companion Acquisition: Progress 19%]

Still, I was surprised when I felt a pair of soft hands on my shoulder, pushing me back. I let her succeed, curious what she had in mind with such an aggressive move. She climbed on my lap, hovering over the length of my shaft close enough for me to feel the heat. "Close your eyes," she whispered in a sudden bout of shyness, and I did so, unable to resist her cuteness, even when I felt her leaving the bed and hurriedly pulling open a closet, followed by the sound of fabric.

Then, a warmth covered my shaft, and curiosity overcome me, only to see Marianne leaning over my shaft, brushing its top with her tongue while her hand was wrapped on its bottom, gently moving up and down. Moreover, she surprised me with her change of clothing. Her white nightie was gone, replaced by a pure black corset that pushed her already-amazing breasts to perfection. Moreover, from her reflection in the mirror, I could see a very noticeable absence of her panties, replaced by a pair of thigh-high stockings. However, with the cute expression of concentration on her face, she looked like an angel who was doing her best to act rebellious.

It was a cute view, Marianne gently teasing the crown of my manhood, occasionally pulling back to appreciate the throbbing head before leaning down once again. Then, she did something that surprised me, and plopped an ice cube into her mouth before returning to her task.

I couldn't help but gasp in pleasure as the combination of cold and hot assaulted my shaft, though I was equally impressed with Marianne actually going out of her way to try a new trick. She truly managed to impress me.

[200 Experience] 50% Penalty!

[Companion Acquisition: Progress 20%]

I decided to respect her wishes and kept my eyes closed, enjoying the way she moved deeper and deeper with every repeat. Soon, she was holding most of my shaft hostage in her mouth, her hands dancing on the bottom, occasionally slipping down to my balls to enhance the sensation. Minutes passed as she moved back and forth, slowly and sensually like she was worshiping my presence. Understandable, as not only had I taken her virginity in every conceivable way, but I also impressed her by thoroughly defeating her hero in front of her to a point that Cornelia hadn't been able to react.

It was going to be fun when I educated Cornelia enough to make her serve us while I was together with Marianne.

As the time passed, she slowly deserted her slow and sensual motions in favor of wilder, more aggressive activities. As the heat enveloped me deeper and deeper, a gag reached my ear. But Marianne impressed me when instead of pulling back, she pushed even deeper, her hands clamping on my thighs to get extra strength. Soon, the familiar tightness of her throat wrapped around my head, pushing me closer to climax.

I could have held back, of course, but seeing she had gone through such an effort, I decided to reward her. My shaft started twitching inside her mouth, which she was alert enough to recognize and pulled out a bit, just enough to keep the crown in the perfect position. It wasn't a scene to be missed, I decided, watching as Marianne was humming in enjoyment as she devoured my seed enthusiastically, managing to catch all of it without spilling any.

[300 Experience] 50% Penalty!

[Companion Acquisition: Progress 22%]

"How was it?" she murmured, her shyness feeling a bit ridiculous considering she was wearing a sexy corset withpanties absent, and had just finished a voluntary blowjob that went much deeper than I would have expected.

"It was amazing," I answered as I grabbed her arm and pushed her down. "It's my turn now," I said as I leaned down over her, positioning nicely between her legs. I kissed her clit, but it was a sharp, aggressive kiss, one that implied dominance despite the supposed subservience the position implied. I was amused by the way her body jumped, but instead of saying something, I let my tongue work on more important tasks, such as exploring the area surrounding her knob.

When my tongue moved down, her hips started to move, following my beat to increase her pleasure. "Yes, more please," she moaned out without bothering to keep her voice down. Her reaction was understandable, considering she was already sopping wet when I started, and her passion only intensified as the time passed. Soon, she was gasping and moaning helplessly while I cut loose, my tongue penetrating her again and again, pushing her closer to a climax.

[200 Experience] 50% Penalty!

[Companion Acquisition: Progress 24%]

However, I wanted to make the moment of completion where she got her achievement from the system more memorable, so I pulled back which earned me a short-lived disappointed gasp that turned into an excited moan when I hovered above her, ready to take her in the missionary position. "Do you want me?" I asked her as I leaned forward, capturing her in my gaze.

"I want you," she murmured helplessly, her chest moving up and down wildly with her breaths.

"You want me to do what?" I asked again even as I pressed my shaft to her entrance, but didn't push forward.

"I want you to … fuck me," she whispered. I would have made her repeat it, but she gasped with such a thick sense of desire that I decided to have a little mercy and pushed deep inside her. "Yes, fuck me! Hard!" she moaned, her expressiveness surprising me, or maybe I just misunderstood how horny she had been feeling. I slammed into her mercilessly, ferociously, until her expression was dominated with pleasure. I didn't stop even when she started showing signs of climax, and impaled her until she started shuddering helplessly.

[500 Experience] 50% Penalty!

[Companion Acquisition: Progress 25% – First Stage Completed 5000 Exp]

[Companion Acquisition: Relationship not sufficient for the second stage]

Level UP!

[Select one of the following skills: Expert Biomancy, Master Elemental, Basic Observation]

I quickly chose biomancy despite the combat-related advantages I would have received from improving my elemental skill. After two encounters with necromancers, I wanted to be better prepared against their presence, and biomancy allowed me to directly counter their necrotic energy.

Meanwhile, Marianne's eyes popped open in shock in the middle of her arousal. "Do you like your gift?" I said confidently, at this point, aware that she had received an achievement. It was a pity that our relationship had yet to reach a point that would allow us to progress to the second stage, meaning I need to find a way to help her progress, but still, it wasn't a huge challenge.

"How? Why?" she murmured dazedly, the shock of receiving an achievement not helping her to process her orgasm.

"It's a secret," I said to her even as I started moving inside her once more. "You need to keep it secret for now, but I can say that it's just the beginning. Understood?" I added, and she nodded enthusiastically, though I wasn't sure how much of it was true comprehension and how much of it was her enthusiasm for another session. Regardless, I pulled out and flipped her over before putting my hands on her back, pinning her in place. "Are you ready?" I asked.

"Yes!" she moaned, which turned into a loud cry as I plunged deep inside her. With my other hand, I grabbed her hair tight, pulling it back enough to give me access to her beautiful neck, sucking and licking to increase her arousal.

She was in the mood, I had no intention to sleep, so we continued our lovemaking until the sunrise.

[5000 Experience] 50% Penalty!

I would have continued further, but I had another expedition with Helga and Aviada, and after the event with the shade, I had no intention to skip it. They were my only allies, and the stronger they got, the better.

[Level: 17 Experience: 146150 / 153000

Strength: 18 Charisma: 25

Precision: 13 Perception: 14

Agility: 17 Manipulation: 20

Speed: 13 Intelligence: 17

Endurance: 14 Wisdom: 21

HP: 1275 / 1275 Mana: 1621 / 1649 ]

SKILLS

[Master Melee [100/100]

Expert Arcana [75/75]

Expert Elemental [75/75]

Expert Biomancy [50/75]

Advanced Subterfuge [50/50]

Basic Speech [25/25] ]

PERKS

Mana Regeneration

Chapter 37: Flicker of Battle

"I can't believe you're forbidding me from going to the library!" Helga gasped in anger.

I sighed, but didn't bother to silence her. We were in the middle of the wilderness, and if there was anyone close enough to hear us, we had bigger problems. "Really," I said instead. "That's your big reaction to the school being infiltrated by a necromancer of unknown power?"

"It's not like I can do anything about that part," she said, but I was happy to note a blush on her face as she realized her rather selfish perspective. "And are you sure my absence wouldn't be more attention grabbing anyway," she added, trying to make it sound like a logical argument, but I could hear the desperation in her tone.

"Come on, booksie," Aviada cut in, smirking, her arms crossed on her chest. "It wouldn't kill you to stay away from your real lovers for a few nights."

"But I just gained a new skill for spell architecture," Helga murmured, reminding me more of a child than a self-possessed ambitious woman ready to challenge every adversary for her own ambitions. "It's an unfair sacrifice."

"And I have to loan my precious sword again and again," Aviada cut in with an annoying smirk. "We all make sacrifices."

As much as I liked to see casual banter between them, it also cost us a lot of time. Otherwise, I wouldn't have limited myself to two quickies to activate the mana regeneration perk before cutting into the wilderness. I took a step back, and two slaps exploded on their bottoms, one for each. "Come on, girls, pay attention," I said. "We don't have a lot of time to waste, we need to improve your levels as much as possible in the next few days."

I had no doubt that anyone else would have received a deriding scoff for daring to mention the potential to gain even a level in a few days, not to mention multiple levels, but since yesterday's expedition had resulted in three levels, I had a lot of leeway to mention such a thing. I received two shy nods before the girls donned their game faces and turned their attention outward. We were currently in the Soundless Canyon, a place famous for its deadliness even for high-powered parties, so we all needed to be on high alert.

I chose the canyon for two reasons. First, danger meant stronger creatures, which in turn meant quicker leveling. Second, and the more important part was that the canyon was in the opposite direction from our encounter, making it unlikely for us to be caught by the necromancer scouts that were doubtlessly sent. I would be lying if I hadn't been tempted to hunt those. Their intrusion to the library felt really personal. After all, for better or for worse, that place had been the closest thing to a home for me, not to mention my damnable curse was broken there.

That place was special, and it annoyed me to see it soiled by undead trash.

Still, I was self-aware enough to realize antagonizing a faction of unknown strength and capabilities required more than a sense of annoyance. Yesterday's encounter and my impulsive decision to slay the shade had been rather unforgivable. It was for the best if they had never learned of my identity.

"Helga, this is for you," I said just after I incapacitated another Earth Serpent with a swing of my sword. Those were a dangerous species of creature famous for their ambushes, bursting through the ground with little warning, their jaws strong enough to threaten even the strongest warrior. Luckily, my earth magic allowed me to detect the vibration they created, allowing me to reverse their ambushes easily, making them easy targets. The girls, who long since lost their shock at my prowess of destroying class twelve creatures with a swing, were satisfied with the easy experience.

"Another detection spell?" Helga said even as she sank her dagger into the helpless serpent's brain stem, having long gotten used to delivering finishing hits.

I just nodded as I focused on my palm, creating another ball of ephemeral energy, holding it still for several seconds for Helga to examine. When she nodded I triggered a nova, its presence washing over my body like a warm blanket.

[-24 Mana]

[1 Biomancy]

"It's better than the last time," she said with a cute frown as she stayed focused on my palm. "At least this time you managed to keep your connection with the life energy for twenty feet before you lost control."

"It's progress. If those dead bastards can throw their rotten energy left and right, I should be able to do the same with the reverse," I said with a shrug even as I conjured another ball, this time trying to put more power in it, but it destabilized and exploded as a ball, washing over us calmly, wasting a lot of mana. Manipulating pure life energy from a distance was much harder than I had been expecting. On a positive note, I felt my exhaustion disappear, and from the rejuvenated expression on their faces, the girls experienced the same.

[-60 Mana]

"Do you really think that you can copy their approach? Necrotic energy is much more malleable than life energy," Helga said with a concentrated expression, the one she had whenever she had a complicated problem.

"Of course. I already had a preliminary success, and it has been just a day since I have started working on it," I said with a scoff. "I can't believe no one else had tried this."

Helga slapped my shoulder. "Not everyone has virtually endless mana to throw around." She stopped for a moment. "Or they have good enough stats to take generic biomancy instead of healing. You're the only one I know that has a chance to use such a wasteful spell."

I shrugged. "If it works," I said with a smirk.

Aviada cut in. "God damn it, Gaius, you're making me feel like an idiot. Is there anything you can't do well?"

"I'm not that good at throwing," I answered modestly. That was one combat area I was planning to neglect.

"What are you talking about," Aviada answered. "I have seen you hitting a moving target a hundred feet away with a throwing knife."

"Yeah, but it hit its arm," I explained. "I was aiming for the eye." Aviada snorted as she leaned down, busy digging out the fangs of the earth serpent. They weren't venomous, but they were still valuable, and more importantly, they were easy to carry. After that, we moved on, leaving the carcass behind, even through my heart ached for wasting a small fortune. Unfortunately, we weren't in a position to hide those valuables.

The next three hours passed nicely. We came across a large nest of Kappa in addition to the serpents, pushing the girls close to a level up. Meanwhile, I continued to work on my detection spell, wasting a lot of mana but improving the spell quite a bit. The significant improvement of my biomancy was a welcome bonus as well.

[-546 Mana]

[12 Biomancy]

"I think I got it," I said with a smirk as I converted a nice chunk of mana to life energy and converting it into a stable ball before releasing it, feeling it spread around for several hundred feet without losing connection.

"It seems stable," Helga said. "It's a pity that we can't use necrotic energy to test-" she continued, only to be cut when I suddenly pressed my hand on her lips.

Her annoyed expression left its place to panic when I spoke. "The spell detected something," I said, quite surprised myself, not to mention feeling panicked.

"Are you sure?" Aviada said as her grip tightened around her sword.

"Not a hundred percent," I answered. "It's still a new spell, and there's no guarantee that it's working correctly. Before last night, I would've written it off as paranoia, but if they are strong enough to actually penetrate the school, we can't afford to write it off as a coincidence."

"We're not going to ignore this, are we?" Aviada asked, looking ready to push forward already.

"Can we take the risk?" Helga asked. "The last time we almost died, and they underestimated us."

I understood Helga's point. We had just got rid of a sizable force, and if they were being led by a half-decent commander, they would be on alert. "I really don't want to, but we can't afford to ignore it. The situation is worse than I first thought, and getting rid of that shade and yesterday's team might have galvanized them into early action. I need to check to make sure."

"You meant we, right?" Aviada said, her tone sharp.

"Unfortunately, no," I said even as I passed her sword back to Aviada. "I would move faster if I'm alone." She looked like she was about to complain, but I waved my hand. "No, we can't afford to fight. We're going to retreat first and you're going back to the school. I don't want you to be out in case they get suspicious. They are already in the school, so they can check the records to see who was outside when they lost the battle."

Both Aviada and Helga looked dissatisfied, but they were sensible enough to understand the reasoning. "Keep the sword at least," Aviada said, trying to pass the sword to me once more.

"No, that's too recognizable. They already have spies in the school, I don't want them targeting you," I said decisively, which put a small blush on Aviada's face. "Moreover, this time, I'm not planning to fight but scout the opposition, so it won't be necessary."

I looked at my surroundings as I escorted the girls outside the canyon, not wanting to keep them near the event. I was confident in my abilities, and even if I was detected, I could trigger a landslide to escape. The natural limits and concealment that made the place a pain in the ass when fighting against the monsters were a bonus if I suddenly found myself against another undead horde. However, if I was forced to that point, trying to protect the girls while trying to run would have been too much even for me.

Soon, we arrived at the protection of the wards once again. "Do you want us to stay close, just in case," asked Helga with a worried expression.

"Thanks for the offer, but I want you two to be visibly away from here," I explained as I put my arm on her waist. "But I appreciate the offer," I added, pulling her close for a kiss, and Helga responded enthusiastically, her body smashing against mine. It would be a lie if I said I wasn't tempted for another quickie, especially since Aviada was watching us with hungry eyes, no doubt willing to join the moment we started. Unfortunately, I had a bad feeling about the undead presence, and didn't want to delay anymore.

So, reluctantly, I pulled away from Helga, and after a goodbye kiss from Aviada -no less passionate- I was walking toward the canyon once more. It was not a good sign to come across undead wherever I walked. There was clearly a bigger plan, dangerous enough to target the school itself.

Though, as much as I wanted to protect the library because of my emotional entanglement, I was also aware I could be revealed. Earning some goodwill beforehand just in case would help immensely.

As I moved deeper into the canyon, I turned my attention back to more immediate concerns. As I moved, an oppressive feeling of death and decay filled the air, so much that I had to cast a warding spell to protect myself from the uncomfortable sensation while simultaneously hiding my presence.

[-12 Mana]

[1 Biomancy]

Sensing that I was close to the center, I didn't dare to cast my detection spell, afraid that necromancers would detect its presence. Hence the reason I was almost caught when a black robed figure suddenly appeared around the corner, forcing me to duck behind a large rock, glad that their presence had driven the monsters away.

I watched with a frown as the necromancer picked a central location and started drawing a large hermetic circle. Both the design and the runes themselves were unfamiliar, but the energy that was spreading from it was even more disgusting than the necrotic energy. Thankfully, it was rather muted, possibly because it wasn't activated yet.

The necromancer left the area after it was completed. I cast a detection spell to make sure I was alone in the area before walking closer to the array, trying to examine it through my arcana abilities. But the moment my mana touched one of the runes, it awakened, and it started invading my spell. I forcefully terminated the spell, and expelled a large amount of mana to make sure corruption didn't invade my body.

[-245 Mana]

Of course, such a flare of magic had doubtlessly alerted the necromancers to my presence, so I dashed toward the canyon walls once more, this time climbing upward several feet before creating a cave on the surface, one that closed behind me the moment I stepped in, only a small crack remaining.

I watched as three robed figures dashed towards the opening, their hands already glowing with the sickly gray of their death magic. "What was that surge?" asked one of them as he looked around carefully. He was the one that built the circle. "Are we under attack?"

I felt annoyed. I put myself into a deadly danger because of a moment's carelessness, and I had no illusions about my hiding place. Thankfully, my luck held up, and one of the others spoke after looking around cursorily."Don't worry, the leftovers are obviously corrupted. Lictus screwed up, again," he said, his derision was clear.

"Say that again!" the first one bellowed, clearly unhappy about the insult.

With that, two necromancers argued for a while until the third on cut in. "Enough," he called angrily. "Stop acting like children. We still have several nodes to create."

"But-" one of them said until the leader cut him off once again.

"Enough," he said, and continued when the other seemed ready to cut it off. "If you want to explain to the boss why the trap is not ready, go ahead, keep arguing. I'm sure he will be understanding."

Referring to their mysterious boss solved the situation quickly. They stopped bickering and started examining the runic node with a rapid discussion between them. When they determined the array was working as it was supposed to, they disappeared in different directions, too busy to ask why a perfectly working array had resulted in a surge.

Before leaving my hiding spot, I needed to decide what to do. The array was clearly dangerous, so much so that if I hadn't already positioned myself as an enemy of them, I might have chosen to leave. If my situation was ever revealed, it wouldn't have taken a genius to match my presence with their recent setbacks. Since I had already declared war, weakening them further was an obvious choice.

Once again I walked to the magical node, examining it carefully. I had learned from my mistakes, so instead of pushing my magic into the array, I examined it passively. With my limited time, I wasn't able to discover a lot about the array, but I managed to discover how to track its connection to other nodes.

It left me with another challenge, namely, how to take action. Destroying it outright was not an option because it would have alerted the necromancers. Deciphering it might have been a viable choice if I had enough time and access to the library, but I didn't know when it would be triggered, so that was not a viable option as well.

In the end, I decided to learn from the example, and created a small explosive array linked to the control one. The explosive array was a small but ingenious combination of arcana and earth elemental effects. Arcana to maintain the connection and trigger, earth elemental to destroy the foundation of the node, therefore harming the array.

There was one problem, I didn't know whether destroying one node would be enough to hamper its effects.

Since the necromancers were working hard on its construction, it would be foolish for me to assume that the loss of one node would destroy the integrity of the whole array. Luckily, I was able to discover the connection between the arrays, so finding the others wouldn't have been difficult.

Decision made, I started following the ephemeral lines of connection between the nodes, occasionally avoiding patrols while I planted my explosive traps near each node, each concealed under the nodes' intimidating corrupting glow.

I managed to trap almost twenty nodes when the necromancers suddenly dashed toward the center of the array. I followed them instead of doing the smart thing, as I couldn't help but feel curious about the aim of this huge array, trusting my abilities to keep me hidden in the canyon. As I moved, I trapped several more nodes, much easier now that the patrols were pulling to the central location.

When I arrived at the center of the array, I was suddenly glad that I decided to stay, because even seeing the complicated patterns of the central array gave me a better understanding of wardmaking. It was truly a masterpiece. Too bad that it was developed by the necromancers and I had to destroy it.

Then, just before I could activate the array, I felt its presence disappearing, which reinforced my expectation that it was a trap. The question was, for whom?

The answer I received a minute later, when two figures dashed into the canyon, one unfamiliar figure wrapped in several arcana glows as it escaped, carrying a book in hand as he dashed away. But my attention was grabbed by the figure that was following it. It was the head librarian, covered in lightning, her anger visible even from a great distance as she pursued.

Shocked by her appearance, I forgot to trigger my explosives until I felt the array stirring, its softness belying the dangerous threat it presented.

I didn't know if it aimed to kill the head librarian, or something worse, but either way, I knew that I couldn't have allowed it. "Librarian! Be careful!" I shouted even as I activated my explosives, hoping that it would be enough…

—

[Level: 17 Experience: 146150 / 153000

Strength: 18 Charisma: 25

Precision: 13 Perception: 14

Agility: 17 Manipulation: 20

Speed: 13 Intelligence: 17

Endurance: 14 Wisdom: 21

HP: 1275 / 1275 Mana: 1621 / 1649 ]

SKILLS

[Master Melee [100/100]

Expert Arcana [75/75]

Expert Elemental [75/75]

Expert Biomancy [64/75]

Advanced Subterfuge [50/50]

Basic Speech [25/25] ]

PERKS

Mana Regeneration

Chapter 38: Damsel in Distress

My shout of warning arrived at the last second, because a moment later, twelve figures donned in black robes stepped into the opening, their hands already glowing with necromantic energy. The stirrings of the array increased while twelve webs of energy spread, each centered on a necromancer. Then, they connected, creating a cage with a domineering presence, impossible to escape even someone as formidable as the librarian.

Meanwhile, the one that had been escaping from the librarian had stopped just outside of the cage, showing, a blob of purple energy coalescing around him, with a distinct sense of aggressiveness that the cage lacked. However, despite all, it wasn't satisfaction in his eyes but anger. "Kill the intruder!" he shouted even as he pushed his energy to the cage, his attack amplified greatly by the array itself.

However, the attack flickered, its structure losing its balance halfway thanks to the destruction of some of the nodes. Combined with my early warning, the librarian managed to react in time. She raised her hand, and a wall of light appeared between the attack and her.

My eyes widened, because I didn't know what she had used, not just the specific spell, but the category of the spell itself. It wasn't arcana, elemental, or life energy, but something completely different. Whatever it was, however, it was far more potent than anything I could achieve. Even with some of the nodes destroyed, the necromantic attack was enough to erase me from existence just by a glancing touch, but the wall managed to resist its presence just with several deep cracks, protecting the librarian behind completely as well.

Even more impressively, a wave of her hand transformed the wall into an arrow, which slammed onto the cage mercilessly, making it shimmer dangerously. Unfortunately, the cage was too strong to be destroyed in one move, and it recovered after a momentarily dimming.

I wanted to watch more, as even a glance at such a high-level confrontation taught me a lot about magical combat. However, the sound of arrows cutting through the air took precedence, forcing me to turn away, only to see almost a hundred skeleton archers aiming at me with a second volley. I cast a wind wall, knocking the arrows away. Then, without lowering my hand, I flicked my fingers, and sending a low-level fireball in the middle of the formation. It wasn't strong enough to destroy the skeletons, but the same couldn't be said for their bows, their strings turning ash instantly, removing the danger from the stray arrows.

[-35 Mana]

Too bad that the skeleton archers were the smallest of my challenges. Behind them, I could see seven figures already casting spells, their bodies burning with necromantic energy. They didn't feel as strong as the ones currently managing the array, but they were strong enough to be a threat. Though, they weren't as scary as the three hulking figures appeared next to them. Three bone dragons.

Under the threat of a combined magical and melee assault thick enough to overwhelm me, the solution was obvious. I slammed my hand on the floor, triggering an earth elemental spell, raising a huge dust wave. I was already casting a second spell as the dust rose, creating an identical copy of my life signature, then a third spell to hide my own, before I started running away.

[-26 Mana]

[3 Biomancy]

As I departed, several of necrotic energy passed the space I had been occupying just moments ago, but one of them had a worse aim than the others, and his bolt of energy moved wide, hitting my shoulder instead.

[-147 HP]

I couldn't help but wince as a horrible pain pulsated in my body, and I lost a tenth of my health, but I gritted my teeth and continued to run away. I didn't cast a spell to hide its effect, afraid that they would notice the discrepancy between my life signature and the mana flare. It was the same reason I had been relying on my physical power only to escape.

The curtain of dust was thick enough to cut their sight for a long while. Unfortunately, they were smart enough to realize the problem in just a few seconds. "It's a decoy! Find him!" shouted one of them even as their attack shape changed, using wide waves that swept the floor instead of bolts.

Luckily, I was already next to a large stone. With my agility and speed, it took a second for me to rapidly climb through its rough surface, avoiding their assault. And if there was one good thing about being in the middle of a necromancer camp, I didn't have to worry about any living creature. Their defenses had since long secured the area.

A sudden downpour of rain suddenly appeared in the opening, suppressing the dust, but it was too late for them. I was already hidden from their view. "Where is he?" called one of them.

"He is clearly hiding! Find him!" shouted the leader once more. I continued running away, confident in my success not only because of my stealth skills, but also thanks to the blanketing effect created by the battle between the librarian and her ambushers.

I stalled for a moment, trying to decide what to do next. I had underestimated the presence of the enemy. Even with a dozen of them locked in a battle with the librarian, they still had enough in reserve to completely overwhelm me. I could escape easily under the coverage of the librarian's battle, but its final result was still in doubt. The librarian was stronger than I had estimated, but so was the ambushers with the support from the arrays. If I ran away, there was no guarantee who would be the victor.

However, facing them directly was not an option either, not when I had to defeat seven necromancers, three bone dragons, and numerous other critters… Luckily, they had other points of vulnerability, and I was thoroughly concealed. I stopped for a moment, using my perception to identify the location of the other nodes, which was shining distinctively in their active state.

I moved to the most distant location before starting to destroy the nodes. Destruction of the first four went unnoticed, but when the fifth node fell apart under my magical attack, a loud cry escaped the mouth of their leader. "He's destroying the nodes in the northeast, you idiots!" he cried in warning, his voice enhanced magically.

Since he was kind enough to alert me, I dashed away before they could arrive, moving to the west section of the array, and destroyed three more until he managed to raise an alarm. "He's attacking the east now, you idiots! He slipped away from your attack. Spread out and prevent him from destroying it!"

I stopped destroying the nodes once again, but this time, I didn't run away, instead, climbed on top of a large rock that was towering above the only feasible path from the northeast section, holding as much as mana as I could without glowing like a lighthouse.

When two necromancers and a bone dragon appeared on the opening, accompanied by a horde of skeletons, I was ready. I waited as the dragon passed and the skeleton brigade started to pass. Necromancers were in the middle, standing next to each other, mana shields shining in their hands, ready to destroy any magical attack, their eyes dancing wildly.

Unfortunately, they trusted the skeletons to guard their immediate surroundings. So, when I jumped down from the rock when they were directly under me, they were too late to react. I swiped the sword once, and one head flew off, blood spraying wildly. "Goodbye," I said even as I swung my sword, ready to decapitate the second one.

That didn't work as well as I intended. I succeeded in decapitating part, but this time, there was no blood spray, just a decayed neck, made of bone and sinews.

"Try again," cackled the flying head even as the body lifted its staff and slammed me with the energy he created by breaking the shield. I threw myself back, rolling with the attack, doing my best to avoid slashes of the skeletons gathering around me, but with limited success. Luckily, I still had HP to spare.

[-97 HP]

I couldn't help but feel excited as I found myself face to face with a lich supported by a significant army. The body of the lich raised its hand and sent a flare, no doubt summoning his compatriots. "Perfect," I murmured. Not only I had to face a full-blown lich, a bone dragon that was currently charging toward me, and almost a hundred skeleton warriors, but also I had to finish it before the reinforcements arrived.

One good thing about it was with my position revealed, I didn't have to pull back. I pushed a generous blob of life energy into my sword, making it glow brightly, enough to make the skeletons around me a step back, giving me the opportunity I needed.

[-120 Mana]

[2 Biomancy]

I dashed forward toward the lich's head, aware that my makeshift enchantment wouldn't last more than a few seconds. My sword danced like a snake, the skeletons helpless against my master melee skill, especially when a good strike was enough to unravel their cursed existence thanks to the enchantment.

The body of the lich positioned itself between me and the head, its full-frame glowing with the necrotic experience. From the unstable way it glowed, I didn't have a good impression of what was awaiting me. I lunged forward even as I waved my empty hand, desperately trying to create a brand new biomancy spell.

The purple energy was already pulsating as the beginning of an overwhelming wave when I pushed my sword into its heart, using it to inject more life energy into its body.

[-673 Mana]

[1 Biomancy]

My desperate innovation attempt succeeded only partially, turning its body into a pile of ash, but its spell stayed partially intact, hitting my body violently.

[-364 HP]

Being in the ground zero of a lich's desperate ultimate attack was not fun, I noted. I could see its head a few feet away, unaffected by its area-effect spell, unlike the skeletons, moving with a renewed energy. It was one of the most annoying aspects of fighting against Necromancers, they were free to use their area effect spells without fearing hurting their minions, as the necrotic energy enhanced them instead.

I cast a simple arcana bolt to its head, which fell apart easily, signaling that its soul had used the opportunity to escape. Their ability to send their soul back to their soul container was one of the things that transformed the challenge level from difficult to nightmare.

There was a limit to the range of effectiveness of the soul container, and under normal conditions, though still measured in miles. I might have searched for it under better circumstances, but the sound of bone dragon closing in didn't allow me to chase such luxuries.

Such as running away from an enraged bone dragon. The only good thing about destroying the necromancers was that the bone dragon had no controller anymore, so it was limited to blindly chasing me. I dashed back to the rocky part of the canyon, cutting and weaving through the skeleton warriors, once again using my melee skill to maximum benefit, running to my maximum capability even if I had to take a few blows I would have avoided normally.

It was well worth it, because the bone dragon was just a step away when I stepped into the passage, leaving it to crash violently against the thick stone wall before starting to dig with all of its undead single-mindedness. Secure, I used my biomancy to great effect once more, this time to heal myself.

[-320 Mana]

[286 HP]

The agonizing pain had turned into an annoying buzz. I was glad to see that I had almost reached a parity between my mana spent and hitpoint recovered. I started running, but not before I left another decoy, more than enough to trick the mindless bone dragon. Then, I created a weaker, but still noticeable decoy, and sent it toward the south, hoping that it would distract the others.

Then, I sent a pulse of biomancy energy to detect their locations, to make a better plan about the next step. I couldn't help but smile excitedly as I realized that in their hurry to protect the arrays, the undead army had moved toward the periphery, leaving the center open.

Big mistake on their part.

Thanks to the limited mental capabilities of most of my enemies, it wasn't much of a challenge to avoid them, though occasionally I had to use some elemental tricks to create shortcuts, my mana surges obscured by the ever-increasing effects of battle in the center of the array.

When I arrived at the center, I met with an amazing sight. The librarian was still trapped in the middle of the array, defending herself with her unique light magic and using the same magic to batter on the walls of her prison instead. She looked exhausted, but it didn't alarm me, because her attackers were in an even worse state, furiously trying to keep the array stable. Even their leader was exhausted, more focused on stabilizing the array rather than trying to attack.

Still, a battle was an uncertain thing, and there was still a chance that the librarian might lose. I decided to tip the balance in her favor more. The necromancers were too focused on the threat she represented, so they failed to notice my presence as I sneaked toward them. My target noticed my presence as I swung my sword, but it was too late. With his focus and his magic dedicated to stabilizing the damaged array, before he could make a sound, his head was already gone.

"It's an ambush," shouted the leader as he looked at me before he sent a warning flare. "Everyone, come back!" he ordered, his voice enhanced. If the supporting army returned from all angles, they would trap me in place, making it impossible for me to escape alone.

Luckily, I wasn't alone. Even better, with the death of one of them, they had to focus all their attention on the ward just to prevent themselves from burning. Combined wards were dangerous when things were going bad. The librarian was smart enough to see the opportunity, and cast a much brighter spell, this time directly to attack rather than a modified defense spell.

The result was spectacular. Her prison shimmered and weakened, looking like it was about to shatter. I cast a fireball to leverage the opportunity, injuring two more necromancers enough for them to lose their control, burning up as a result.

[-65 Mana]

I was hoping that the battle was about to end, but then the leader proved that there was a reason for his post. "Cancel the prison!" he shouted, and before I could take the opportunity to kill another necromancer, the librarian's prison shattered. Meanwhile, the reinforcements arrived in the form of five necromancers and three bone dragons.

Luckily, I had reinforcements of my own. But when I looked at the eyes of the librarian, I could see the exhaustion dancing in her eyes. The trap took more than I had been expecting. I looked around, and detected the east section was the weakest. I gestured her to attack that side, while I turned toward the leader, gathering as much as mana as I could, turning it into life energy.

It wasn't surprising that between the librarian and me, they decided to attack me first, reasonably taking me as the easier target, while sending the bone dragons to delay the librarian, supported by a few necromancers. That was a mistake from their end, because even exhausted, the librarian was able to deflect them without even slowing down.

"You have messed with the wrong person," said the leader as he walked toward me, his hands burning with necrotic energy, his intention was clear. He looked confident, understandable considering I was surrounded by ten necromancers and a lot of skeletons. Unluckily for them, most of them were still exhausted by operating the array.

The leader realized his mistake when he realized the spell in my hands was growing without a limit. He threw a bolt of energy to me hurriedly, but it was too late. I let my spell, the strongest I had cast to date. It was a biomancy nova, filling the canyon with life energy.

[-1230 Mana]

[5 Biomancy]

Despite almost completely emptying my mana, the spell wasn't as strong as I would have liked. The skeletons were all destroyed, their weak structure unable to resist the area effect spell. The necromancers were, unfortunately, stayed alive -for a given value considering their occupation- but they were distracted, not to mention shocked by my spell. So, when I followed it with another dust spell to hide from their view, their first reflex was to shield themselves, ready to protect themselves.

That gave me the time to follow the opening the librarian had created, saving me from the envelopment. Soon, I caught up with the librarian. "Good, you managed to get away," she said, but when I noticed a slight slurring in her tone, I realized that the escape would be even more difficult than I had first assumed.

We dashed away at the full speed, hoping to avoid our pursuers, at least avoiding them enough to recover some mana, as currently, I was running on fumes. Though, a smile appeared on my face when I received a notification the moment the last skeleton disappeared in my field of view.

[Deadly Departure: Rescue a damsel in distress from a deadly ambush in a great personal risk, impressing her greatly in the process. 2000 Experience, 2 Speed, 2 Charisma]

It was shaping out to be an interesting adventure…

———

[Level: 17 Experience: 148150 / 153000

Strength: 18 Charisma: 27

Precision: 13 Perception: 14

Agility: 17 Manipulation: 20

Speed: 15 Intelligence: 17

Endurance: 14 Wisdom: 21

HP: 967 / 1309 Mana: 93 / 1683 ]

SKILLS

[Master Melee [100/100]

Expert Arcana [75/75]

Expert Elemental [75/75]

Expert Biomancy [75/75]

Advanced Subterfuge [50/50]

Basic Speech [25/25] ]

PERKS

Mana Regeneration

Chapter 39: Run Boy Run

Trying to escape from a horde of undead while trying to protect the famous head librarian of the Silver Spires wasn't what I had been expecting when I woke up, but I took it in stride. I was getting used to the curveballs the life was throwing to my way.

I raised my hand after we took a turn, mana gathering at my palm. The librarian rose her hand in an instant, her fingers glowing brightly, her expression threatening despite her exhaustion. I felt the hairs on the back of my neck rose in fear as I realized my mistake. Casting a spell on a situational ally afraid of her situation wasn't the safest thing to do.

Luckily, the situation was dangerous enough that rather than blasting me directly, she chose to threaten me. "Calm down, I'm trying to mask your presence," I said even as I pointed my own body, and let the biomancy-based spell to cover my body and mask my life presence. The spell took hold much easier thanks to my skill increase, while the librarian's eyes grew in surprise.

[-15 Mana]

"You can cast it on me as well," she said after a moment's hesitation. I appreciated her quick response, as I could hear the undead moving once again. I flexed my mana once again, ignoring the sense of exhaustion that filled my being. Still, I forced myself to cast another spell, this time creating two fake life signatures dashing out of the canyon, directly toward the school.

[-36 Mana]

"Let's move," I said, but rather than dashing outside the canyon, I turned back.

She followed me for a while, but I could see the doubt on her face as we moved deeper into the canyon. "We shouldn't move too deep," she said, though her tone was already reminiscent of order despite her exhaustion.

"Why?" I asked, more to highlight the fact that I wasn't her subordinate at the moment rather than actually learning her reasoning, which was obvious. She wanted to use the opportunity to slip away from the canyon before the necromancers could establish a cordon, not wanting it to turn it an endurance battle when her mana was so low. Of course, she didn't know that, for the next several hours, I had the absolute advantage thanks to my mana regeneration.

And if that gave her the impression that I was stronger than I actually was, all the better.

Upon being questioned, her displeasure was clear. After all, back in the school, she was famous for her unbending ways, not just against the staff and the students, but also against the other faculty members. It was evidence of just how exhausted she was that she actually chose to explain. "We have already ditched them thanks to your spell. That's the best opportunity for us to get away from the canyon before they realize our trick and envelop the canyon."

"I don't think that'll work," I countered. "When we step off of the canyon, we'll be out in the open. They have too many disposable soldiers for us to be confident about ditching them safely."

"At least we would have a chance," she countered, her anger intensified. "Once they return and envelop the canyon, we'll be sitting ducks, and they'll find us long before we could recover enough mana."

Even with her exhaustion and her thankfulness about being saved, I could see that her patience was running thin. "Long before you could gather enough mana," I countered with a smirk on my face, mostly thanks to my subterfuge, because I was trembling inside.

"You can recover mana faster," she stated, not bothering to hide her shock, while I nodded, doing my best to look nonchalant. Her shock was not misplaced, as according to everything I read, mana regeneration had always been an insurmountable challenge for the mages, restricting their leveling efficiency greatly by forcing them to rely on warrior specializations. "When will your mana refill?"

Under her careful gaze, I felt like an animal to be dissected. Even if the mana regeneration wasn't my biggest secret, revealing it to someone whom I didn't have the slightest leverage against was dangerous, especially that someone was significantly stronger. Still, since I had already taken the step, there was no reason to hold back. "About half an hour," I said, glad that I had the perk active from both Aviada and Helga. Sometimes, being prepared helped.

She smiled, and for a moment, her harsh expression melted, revealing the beauty hidden under her prickly demeanor. "That's good," she said. "Our survival is almost guaranteed now."

I responded to her with my best smile, using the full extent of my charisma and my charm, even though the rational part of my mind cursed me for daring to something as stupid as trying to seduce the head librarian. The horny part of my brain, on the other hand, showed its full support, especially with my memory bringing forth the amazing sight I had observed when she was in the shower.

Some things were worth the risk, I decided.

We moved in silence for a few minutes, then I gestured her to stop when I noticed a perfect hideout. "Why do we stop here?" she asked.

"It's the perfect defensible spot," I explained even as I moved to the nearest wall and started to draw a rune. "The entrance is small enough to prevent the bone dragons from entering, and while some of the walls are a bit thin, we can reinforce them with runes, which will also function as an escape route. Moreover, we could easily trap the path leading to the entrance, and the cave itself is large enough that they can't force us out with area-effect spells."

"That's an awful lot of enchantments," she said doubtfully. "Even with your regeneration, can you really do all that before they find us?"

Her suspicion was reasonable. After all, the enchantments I had mentioned wasn't the simplest in terms of mana consumption, not to mention the great variety we required to implement them successfully. However, thanks to my excessive stats, I had a mana pool quite a bit larger than my level justified.

Rather than answering, I started drawing the first runes on the walls of the cave to hide our life signature as well as partially suppressing mana fluctuations. It would not allow us to freely throw fireballs and lightning bolts, but we would be able to charge the defensive runes faster than a tortuous' crawl.

After some complicated mental calculations, I started working on the defensive enchantments. "That's an interesting rune," she murmured as I draw the first reinforcement rune on the wall to prevent the walls from being collapsed with a swipe of a bone-dragon. "It lacks an internal balancing component, but you're balancing it with your own magic," she added, with just the slightest doubt. After all, stabilizing a rune was beginner stuff, which made my choice a bit weird at the first glance."

I didn't say anything, but focused on drawing the second rune, once again balancing it with my own magic, but pulling just a dash from the first one. "Interesting," she murmured.

"Impressive perception," I said, even as I couldn't help but feel slightly bummed. I was hoping to impress her after the full scheme had been completed, though I guessed that was a bit arrogant. She wasn't one of the most famous mages of the Empire for no reason.

"Not as impressive as trying to build such a large defensive scheme without self-balancing nodes, relying their magical weight on each other to achieve balance," she said, for once, sounding impressed. "It requires more finesse to establish, but it would be more stable. Genius," she continued, easily summarizing the benefits of my approach.

"I can't take the full credit," I said with a dismissive wave. "The idea belongs to a friend, I just came with the practical application for it."

"I would like to meet that friend someday," she said in a casual tone.

Too casual, even, but I didn't comment on it. For all of her direct reputation, she apparently could play it slowly as well. It was an invitation for me to talk about who I was, but in a way that I could easily ignore without being rude. I chose to ignore, as I had already revealed more than I was comfortable with. "Maybe someday," I answered in a similar easygoing manner as I finished another rune, feeling a sweat sliding down on my forehead. The array cost significantly less in terms of mana compared to the traditional approach, but required intense concentration when finalizing it.

My esteemed guest chose to sit a nearby rock, carefully examining me as I engraved the array, her gray eyes shining with deep concentration despite her clear exhaustion. Under her careful gaze, I carefully finished the last node before placing the last of the connection, then let out a sigh, letting myself breathe freely once more.

[-476 Mana]

[Mana: 531 / 1683]

The array cost me a good chunk of mana, but funny enough, my mana was around four hundred when I started establishing it, meaning I actually managed to recover mana while establishing a defensive formation. The mana regeneration perk was truly unbelievable.

After taking a few deep breaths to relax, I started drawing the next set of defensive arrays, not wanting to lose any time. She looked at me with no small amount of shock, clearly aware of just how much mana I had spent on the array. I just shrugged with a smile.

"Who are you?" she whispered, finally unable to resist the temptation, but her tone had a slight alarm as well.

I couldn't help but stiffen. I understood her reasoning, as I had shown, and continuing to show, an impressive number of nonstandard abilities, making her wary even after I had saved her life. I guessed that from the extra effort I had to put in the ambush, she knew that I was weaker than her. She would have just cut through the ambush and freed herself and the hostage. But I was revealing too many diverse abilities to make her feel comfortable.

If it was someone else, or her under different circumstances, I would have just ignored the question, or outright rejected it, abandoning them to their fate. She was different, not because she hid an amazing body underneath her robes —though it didn't hurt— but because the necromancers were clearly stronger than I had first assumed —both in and out of the school— and she was the only one I could trust to be against them. It meant that sooner or later, our paths would cross. It would be more useful if she had good feelings toward me.

"That's a complicated question," I murmured, which, technically, was honest and true. Before that fateful day, who I was was obvious, but every day after that, it was getting more and more blurred. Just a week ago, I was scurrying around like a rat as I tried to peek on the students, but here, in the cave, accompanied by one of the strongest mages of the Silver Spires, preparing to face against a horde of undead led by more than a dozen necromancers… The answer was getting more blurry than I had expected. "But you can say that I'm trying to find myself," I answered.

"Interesting place to look," she answered, and for the first time, I saw a genuine smile of amusement on her face.

"Can't argue with the results," I answered with a shrug even as I drew yet another rune to establish a defensive trench at the entrance, littered with several fire and earth runes. I didn't want the cave to be filled with the skeletons. "The school has interesting opportunities for clarity," I murmured, though I looked at her pointedly, revealing yet another secret to her against my better judgment. I hoped that it wouldn't explode to my face.

To her credit, her only reaction was a widening of her eyes, understanding my point. With my abilities, if I had been a genuine student, everyone would have recognized me, and she already knew the rest of the teaching staff and notable guards. Which left only a few options, I was either a stowaway, or I was a staff that was hiding his abilities, both having rather dangerous implications considering no one had noticed my presence.

"Yeah, neither the guards nor the wards really work to keep a sneaky intruder out," I said, answering her concerns before she could answer. Yes, my role as staff had given me a big advantage, but even without that, I could sneak in with half of my current abilities.

"Maybe you can share some ideas to improve security," she offered, revealing another benefit of my last statement. For her, the security of the school was more important than delving deeper into my identity. It was a small advantage, but an advantage nonetheless.

"I would like that," I said even as I put the finishing touches for yet another magical exploding trap. "But let's handle our current problem first. Our biggest threat is their necrotic bolts. Those hurt a lot, and even with our defenses, there's no guarantee that we can avoid if all of them attack at the same time."

"True, but why do I feel like you already have an idea?" she answered.

I smirked in response. "Not a workable one," I answered with a frown. "Not yet, at least," I added before crouching next to her and quickly scribbling a few symbols on the ground. "I'm trying to establish a deflection field based on life energy, and using arcana to shape and stabilize, but I'm still having problems."

"Arcana, elemental, and biomancy," she murmured. "That's an interesting selection."

"It works for me," I said, dismissing that line of inquiry. We didn't have time, and even if we did, I had already revealed more than I was comfortable with. My leveling strategy could wait for the second date. "Do you have any idea how I can make this ward work?" I added, deflecting her question.

That launched a rather lengthy discussion about the comparative advantages of different ward schemes. I managed to surprise her more than a few times with my innovative approaches, but it was nothing compared to how much I had learned. Even if warding was not a focus area for her, her experience still towered mine an incredible amount, allowing me to figure out a lot of new applications for my stationary magic. Luckily, with my intelligence and wisdom scores, it had been rather easy to memorize every single word that left her mouth. Her words were truly treasures, especially considering she was the caretaker of the —second— biggest information repository of the world.

[Tempting Tutoring: Impress a sexy educator with your impressive learning capabilities. 1000 Experience, 3 Intelligence]

I could see the signs of her approval, but the system's confirmation was always welcome, though three points increase from that was a surprise. I knew she was impressed because she holding herself back, revealing more theorems and secrets in half an hour than I was able to dig out in the library since my awakening, though, considering her survival was highly dependent on my performance, maybe it wasn't that surprising.

A while later, I stood up, drawing another set of runes to establish the nodes even as I continued to talk with her. I was moving, because my mana finally recovered, and I didn't want to waste a second of regeneration. More defensive encampments we had, the better. Of course, I took time to heal both her and myself to full health.

[310 HP]

[-245 Mana]

Soon, my new array took shape, creating a subtly glowing wall of arcana energy, but with the warm sensation of life magic. I just hoped that it would work better than we had hoped against the necrotic energy. After being hit by their attack several times, I didn't fancy struggling to defend a chokehold under a rain of their disgusting death bolts.

"So, why exactly you were chasing that guy with such anger," I asked even as I started working on the escape tunnel, in case things got too bad too fast.

"He stole a precious book of mine," she answered.

"It must be really precious," I answered even as my mind shifted to the vault. After failing to use a shade, it must be the next strategy. "By the way, I remember having to kill a shade yesterday, which, now that I'm thinking about it, was suspiciously close to the library, and was about to enter the faculty residence. Do you think it might be about that?" I said. At this point, considering everything else I had revealed, it was hardly a secret.

"Maybe-" she started, but before she could say anything else, a rumbling sound reached our ears, most likely from a bone dragon trying to push himself through a tight spot. "They are here," she said.

"About time," I answered even as I squeezed my fists, excited to test my new toys. "How is your mana situation? Do you think you can defend yourself here alone?"

"I have enough mana for a few big spells," she answered, though her expression confused. "Considering they wouldn't be stupid enough to push through the defenses blindly, I should be able to resist for several minutes without trouble. Why?"

"I was thinking about some creative greeting."

——————

[Level: 17 Experience: 149150 / 153000

Strength: 18 Charisma: 27

Precision: 13 Perception: 14

Agility: 17 Manipulation: 20

Speed: 15 Intelligence: 20

Endurance: 14 Wisdom: 21

HP: 1309 / 1309 Mana: 1685 / 1734 ]

SKILLS

[Master Melee [100/100]

Expert Arcana [75/75]

Expert Elemental [75/75]

Expert Biomancy [75/75]

Advanced Subterfuge [50/50]

Basic Speech [25/25] ]

PERKS

Mana Regeneration

Chapter 40: Strike from Shadows

I could feel the Librarian's eyes on me as I walked out of the cave, moving as fast as I could while I could still stay concealed. The biomancy-based detection trick I had figured earlier worked wonders, allowing me to avoid the horde that was circling around the cave. Their discovery of the cave was inconvenient, but also inevitable. After layering that many defenses, it was hard to hide.

The undead and the necromancers approached the cave in a disorderly way. The undead horde was as fresh as ever, but the necromancers were showing the signs of exhaustion, both mental and magical. Despite that, their confidence was obvious as they moved to their destination, thinking that their victory was a given. Even better, only around half of them were a part of the attack force.

I slipped through the cracks in their formation, then started searching for my target. I had arranged the defenses of the cave for a full assault, and with their numerical disadvantage, I doubted that they could crack it without sacrificing their resurrected monster horde, and since they think that they were in the cusp of victory, I doubted that they would be that wasteful. So, I was calm as I searched for my target, the leader of this little ambush.

I found him on the back of the formation, sitting on the shoulders of a bone dragon, raining orders to other necromancers. He sounded panicked, which was understandable. He seemed like a middle-management type, making it likely that his small army was a loan, or a part of his mission, and he had to explain the loss of so many high-level necromancers against two targets. I doubted anyone that ruled a band of necromancers could be classified as merciful.

So, his death was basically charity, I noted with a smirk as I stayed hidden just twenty feet away under the shadow of a rock, magically hiding my signature, waiting for the perfect moment to attack. I stood still as I watched him order a probing assault, mindless skeletons triggering the first layer of defenses before disintegrating among a flash of fire and earth. He frowned before calling the second and third waves, this time in different formations, minimizing the impact of the explosions but not giving them a chance to recover as well. The initial ambush was not a stroke of luck, I realized. He was really proficient when it came to tactics.

Too bad that he was wrong about the game we were playing. I waited until he was focused on talking with yet another necromancer, his attention split between the formation and the discussion, before I dashed forward, as silent as a shadow, my sword in hand. I was already behind him when I flared my magic, coating the sword with a thick layer of arcana energy, sharpening the edge to an unimaginable degree for a split second.

That split second was all I needed to decapitate him. His eyes widened in shock as the blood spurted, showing that, unlike my other target, he wasn't a lich. Just to be sure, I drove the sword to his head and let out a thick rush of flames, bright enough to melt the sword while turned his head into ashes.

[-142 Mana]

The biggest threat was gone, but that didn't mean that I could relax. The other necromancer who was getting orders stood frozen, unable to react for a moment. Then, he opened his mouth, whether to cast a spell or to call for help, I would never know, because I stuffed my melting sword into his mouth, silencing him forever. It wasn't the simplest way to die, but also, they deserved it.

I grabbed the sack of the leader and checked to see whether the book was in there. Since it was precious enough to be bait, I didn't want to risk it leaving back. I even flicked it open, but unfortunately, it was in an alphabet I had never seen before. Pity, as I would have liked to know what the book was about.

My assassination attempt wasn't exactly silent. Most of the necromancers turned to face me, their hurried attacks cutting through the air. I responded to them with a deluge of magic missiles, it wouldn't hurt more than sting, but after my previous displays, it would force them to the defensive.

[-43 Mana]

While they were trying to conjure shields, I dashed forward, hitting the group on the flank, using their allies as a barrier. Fire and earth and life energy flew from my hands boundlessly, forcing them to defensive, burning one or two of them. It was aggressive and wasteful, but defeating all of them was a pipe dream, the best thing I could do was to intimidate them enough to pull back while I regenerated mana once again. The assault took a minute, but draining me almost to the limit.

[-1300 Mana]

Just as I was planning to pull back, a bright explosion of light exploded from the cave. A huge ray exploded from the cave, cutting through the horde without losing a spark, and disintegrating two necromancers in the process. I looked to see the librarian standing at the entrance of the cave, her robe dancing with the wind, like she was a part of the legend.

I hoped that our enemies were too distracted to notice the paleness of her face. I knew for a certainty that she had used the last scrap of her energy in that spell, and was struggling to stand on her feet.

But after failing the ambush, suffering under a series of counter-ambushes, losing their leader, and pincered between two formidable mages, the morale of necromancers finally plummeted. One of them dashed away, and it seemed like the signal, because the rest started running as well, choosing different directions. They seemed to think that the best idea was to avoid our attention. To reinforce the idea, I started following the largest group, puttering them with fireballs which looked much more impressive than they were actually dangerous, even if it drained the most of my remaining mana.

When I returned to the cave entrance, I was met with a dangerous sight. Without the necromancers to control them, the undead horde was charging toward the cave entrance. Most were destroyed ignobly, failing to account for the traps, but one of the bone dragons was too durable, and had managed to break through it, attacking the librarian.

She managed to defend herself, but not without a cost. She was using flares of light to deflect the dragon's claws. It was a simple spell, likely costing one or two mana for each casting, relying on her reflexes to work. But in her current state, even one point of mana was too costly, losing color with each casting. If I didn't know any better, I would have mistaken her for a zombie. Her robes were ruined by the dragon's claws, leaving bloody gashes behind.

I dashed forward as fast as possible, taking attacks of the zombies instead of delaying even for a second. Even then, I was almost too late. When the dragon swung its claw to a dangerous strike, she raised her trembling hand, but no light came out. There was no time to cast a spell, and I doubted I had the mana to deflect such a strong strike. I was running in fumes as well. I tackled her out of its way, taking a bad gash in my back in exchange.

[-264 HP]

The position I found myself in would have been rather romantic if it wasn't for the bleeding, exhaustion, and the undead horde trying to kill us. When I met her eyes, however, I found dazed disbelief. The temptation was simply too much. I leaned down and stole a fleeting kiss, pushing a bit of color back to her face.

[Achievement: Seductive Stranger. Melt the heart of an icy maiden with the irresistible charm of a mysterious savior. 3 Charisma, 1000 Experience]

The achievement was a nice surprise, especially since the sudden boost in my charisma giving me a few points of extra mana and a dash of extra strength just when I needed it. I grabbed her and rolled away, the claw collapsing the area I had been holding just moments ago. When I stood up, I was holding her in a bridal hold, dashing as fast as I could while using the extra mana to connect the array once more. I managed to step into the emergency tunnel, but not before I received another painful gash to my back.

[-326 HP]

"It's payback time, you bony bastard," I gasped in excitement as I flared my mana, once again emptying my reserves. The rush of mana triggered an inactive node in the defensive array, and a second later, the cave exploded into a true cacophony. It was a pity that I couldn't return to destroy the stragglers, but neither I nor the librarian was in a good state, and my mana regeneration perk was about to expire. Spending that mana for healing and saving the rest for emergencies was a better idea.

Thirty minutes later, we were far enough from the canyon that I started to feel safe. I couldn't say that the risk was completely gone, but after the last disaster which cost them their leader and —hopefully— the most of their horde, I doubted that they would try to follow us. I would have welcomed her opinion about the next steps, but she was limp in my arms, exhaustion and wounds long caught up with her. I had taken a quick break to cure the worst of her wounds, but she was still spent.

My first instinct was to return to school, but that was not viable. She was in tethers, and we know for a fact that there were enemies in the school. Doing so would end in a nasty assassination. So, I started looking for a nice cave we could stay hidden. Luckily, even if the necromancers changed their mind and continued searching for us, it was easy to handle without the endless numbers of the horde to help them.

When I found a cave with a hard-to-notice entrance with a reasonably close underground water reserve —elemental magic was useful for more than just combat— my mana pool was almost completely full once again, so, it was very easy to carve several runes on the cave to hide us from the dangers, as well as regulating the temperature and cleaning the air. If I was going to stay in a cave, I'm going to make it as comfortable as I could. I even created a large pool in the middle by digging a small water reservoir, which was needed to clean our wounds.

My first focus was my damsel in distress, even though she had skipped the risky period. The sooner she recovered, the sooner we could act. Her eyes fluttered open when I lay her on the floor —softened as much as possible using earth magic— and looked at me with an expression of shock. "We're alive," she murmured, her whisper almost impossible to distinguish from the rustle of the leaves.

"Yes," I said with a bright smile, bringing the full impact of my charisma and my seduction experience to the game, and I was happy to see another fleeting blush on her face. "You have performed amazingly, like an angel of vengeance, beautiful and bright."

"Shut up," she murmured shyly, which surprised me quite a bit. It was hard to imagine the figure that intimated everyone with her sheer presence as shy. Though, considering just how comfortable she had been dressed in just an illusion, I ruled it out the general shyness, which meant my kiss truly had worked wonders in penetrating her defenses, though literally saving her life heroically likely helped.

"Now, for something uncomfortable," I said with a soft smile, and she looked worried. "About your wounds," I added, and her expression turned to panic. I let her stew in it for a moment before continuing. "I need to remove your clothes to cure you."

The expression of shock on her face was spectacular. She looked like a teenage girl receiving her first catcall rather than the legendary mage ruled one of the most important locations for the civilization with an iron fist. "But…" she murmured, her exhaustion momentarily forgotten under the rush of adrenaline. She tried to stand up, but the only thing she was able to do was to shift in her place before the pain invaded her face.

"Yeah, that," I said, trying to look equally shy at the prospect.

"Can't you do it over the clothes?" she asked, her voice tiny. "The other healers do."

"I'm not primarily a healer, and I can't take the risk. I can try to bring you back to Silver Spires if that's your preference, but…" I said, leaving it lingering. We both knew that returning back without the full recovery was a death wish.

"I don't…" she murmured, her gaze finding my face once more, but her inquisitive gaze failed to penetrate the shy surface I was doing my best to reflect, leaving my dirtier thoughts inside. I watched as she tried to make a decision before sighing in defeat. "Okay."

[Achievement: Meritorious Medic. Not all good deeds go unrewarded. 3 Wisdom 1000 Experience]

I had to hide my smile as the notification rang. Two achievements on the same day were definitely welcome, though I would say they were well-earned. I looked somber, because I was pulling a knife, her clothes were stuck to her body with blood and grime, and trying to remove them otherwise would have been more difficult. She said nothing as I removed her clothes with smooth and methodical slices, leaving her body clad in her underwear, though wounded and covered in dirt, it wasn't exactly an erotic sight yet. The system seemed to agree with me, considering there was no experience reward.

"Now, take a deep breath," I even as I put my hands on the biggest wound in her body, looking dangerous despite the scab, and let my magic flow. With the latest improvement of my biomancy skill, it worked even better than I was hoping for, her internal wounds disappearing one after another, her bruises leaving their place to beautiful alabaster skin, though still dirty.

However, as I continued to cure her, I sensed a certain emptiness, like something was missing. Then, I realized that I couldn't feel her mana. It was suspicious considering it had been more than an hour since the last combat, and she must have recovered a bit for now. I decided to test her. "How's your mana recovery?" I asked her.

"Still in progress," she said, but I was still healing her, so it was impossible for her to hide her heartbeat picking up speed. I continued to look at her, still expecting an answer. "Is that really important?" she added.

"Might be, I'm not sure how it'll affect your recovery," I answered, which was partly true. More importantly, I wanted to learn why she wasn't recovering yet.

She stayed silent for almost a minute while I continued to heal her, when, she whispered. "It's a special ability of mine, I can overdraw my reserves until I hit negatives, but then my regeneration slows down until it climbs back to positives," she answered somberly.

"For how long?" I asked, afraid of the answer, dreading the answer.

"The worst until now was three days," she answered, which wasn't the best answer to receive, but still manageable.

Then, I remembered the last scene, where she had overdrawn so much that she wasn't able to cast even as a simple shield. "And, if we compare that time to now, how will it compare?"

Once again, silence ruled the room while I continued to heal her. "This is much worse," she answered in the end, then, continued with a small whisper. "I don't know what I'm going to do."

I gently cupped her chin and raised her head until she was looking at my eyes. "Don't worry, I'm here as long as you need me," I said in a selfless, heroic tone. With the situation I found myself in, she was the only ally I could trust, and if I was going to stuck protecting her for a while, seduction was a good way to pass that time.

"I…" she murmured as a blush covered her body, even visible through the dirt. "Thank you…"

Her reaction was interesting. Combined with her power and her standoffish attitude, it might be that she never had to rely on others, at least to a degree of total helplessness, and she was reacting it in a very interesting way, promising quite a bit of enjoyment for me. I just smiled in response before grabbing a piece of fabric and drenching it in the small source of water I had created earlier.

She stammered once more as I pressed it on her shoulder, dragging gently, getting rid of the dirt to reveal alabaster skin underneath, making her shiver. "What – what are you doing?" she gasped, trying to look scandalized, but unable to keep her innocent arousal hidden, hinting her lack of experience.

"We need to clean you. Otherwise, you run the risk of infection," I explained.

"But, I'll be…" she murmured, unable to finish the sentence.

I spoke compassionately, though hinted shyness as well. "I know it's hard, but we need to do that. We don't know just how weak your body will be with no mana after all those wounds. What if you get an infection?" She still looked like she was about to argue, so I continued, doing my best to sound hurt. "You don't trust me," I stated despondently.

"No! NO! I trust you," she rapidly answered without even thinking, and rewarded by my best shy smile, unaware just how artificial it was.

"Okay, but feel free to tell me if you feel uncomfortable, okay?" I said before pressing the fabric on her arm. Then, I chuckled.

"Why are you laughing?" she asked, a bit cross. I had no doubt that she would have been crossing her arms pointedly if she could move in her own power.

"We still haven't met," I answered with a chuckle. At this point, revealing my name wasn't exactly a big risk. "My name is Caesar," I said.

"Titania," she murmured, once again shy.

"A magnificent name for a magnificent woman," I said, enjoying the way she blushed as I gently cleaned her arm. Maybe tending her as she got healed was going to be more interesting than I had assumed.

—

[Level: 17 Experience: 151150 / 153000

Strength: 18 Charisma: 30

Precision: 13 Perception: 14

Agility: 17 Manipulation: 20

Speed: 15 Intelligence: 20

Endurance: 14 Wisdom: 24

HP: 1309 / 1309 Mana: 1321 / 1836 ]

SKILLS

[Master Melee [100/100]

Expert Arcana [75/75]

Expert Elemental [75/75]

Expert Biomancy [75/75]

Advanced Subterfuge [50/50]

Basic Speech [25/25] ]

PERKS

Mana Regeneration