Space Wizard

or

Yer a Space Wizard, Harry!

04

We slowed down as we entered the town surrounding Korriban's Sith Academy. The streets weren't super busy, but they weren't empty either. Some of them looked like normal people, going about their daily business. Others were clearly and obviously Sith, all of them wearing dark robes and most wearing armor. I attracted a few looks as we rode by, but Exal ignored it.

After a few moments of driving, she pulled to a stop in front of a building and the car lowered to the ground. I looked at the neon signage and, after a moment of seeing it in alien writing, it twisted in my brain and I understood it to mean 'Trading Post: Buy, Sell, and Trade.'

"Alright, apprentice. I will provide a budget to supply you with with a replacement eye, arm, and lightsaber. Anything else you want, you will have to secure for yourself. If you feel the need for safety against contaminants, or anything else, then I encourage you to show me just how resourceful you can be. I'll follow along and advise if you ask, but I want to see how you do for yourself."

Shrugging, I hopped out of the speeder. Grabbing my pack and scythe, I made my way into the shop, Exal on my heels. As I stepped inside, I reached out with the Force and felt around. Several things stood out in the Force, but nothing stood out as immediately useful or necessary. I made my way up to the counter, where an older man sat watching a program of some kind. I say 'man,' but he was actually one of those bald, horned races. I forget the name of them, but Maul was one. He looked a bit strange in the force—resistant to it, and with a lingering aura like many had tried and failed in the past to do something to his mind.

Considering he runs a business, probably little Sith shits trying to scam him. Probably best not to try that.

Looking up, the man stood from his seat upon spotting us and shut off his television equivalent. "Help you folks?"

"Trading," I answered simply, and he nodded. Setting down my pack, I pulled out one of the smaller krayt dragon claws, a tooth, and a roll of its hide. "How much?"

Opening a drawer under the counter, he took out several tools and began inspecting the materials. Finally, he whistled. "Yeah, these are authentic krayt dragon alright. Damn strong one, too. I'll give you… five thousand credits per tooth, ten per claw, and twenty per square meter of hide."

I turned to Exal. She raised an eyebrow. "Different monetary system where you came from?" she asked, and I nodded. "He's lowballing."

"I'll have you know I'm offering a fair price—"

"They all lowball," I nodded. "How much for a blaster? A speeder bike or car? A ship?"

"A high quality blaster pistol would run between 700C and 1500C. A speeder bike would go about 5,000C to 8,000C, and a landspeeder about 10,000C to 15,000C. A decent ship can go between 200,000C and 500,000C, if not more depending on what you put in it."

I nodded and turned back to the merchant. "Double it."

He scoffed. "I'm trying to run a business here. How do you expect me to feed my family if I'm just giving credits away? Six, twelve, and twenty-five thousand."

"Seven and fifteen at that weight, more for larger. Thirty at that length."

He stared at me over the counter. I stared back. After a moment, he asked, "Not gonna try none of that fancy Sith mind-fuckery?"

"No," I denied, and he looked over to Exal, who shrugged.

"My apprentice will do as he will do."

"Uh huh," he muttered. "Alright. Fine. Done deal. Seven thousand per tooth, fifteen per claw, at that weight. Thirty per square meter for the hide."

Nodding, I opened the backpack and pulled out several teeth to join the one already up there. These were all of the smallest size I'd pulled from the dragon, not the bigger ones. I left them on top of the hide and pushed the pile towards him. He did some quick math and said, "A hundred and forty five thousand. Are you looking to buy here?"

"Let me look around."

"Suit yourself," he agreed, and I began browsing the wares.

Exal, following behind, quietly asked, "Why didn't you try to manipulate him?"

"Felt like he would resist and know if I tried."

She grinned. "He can, and everyone tries. And he's protected by the Academy instructors, so if an apprentice gets uppity when he charges more or pays less for trying to do it, they're told to suck it up. That's good though. It shows you're not like the other corrupt, lazy, stupid, and entitled apprentices. Now, what are you looking for?"

"Parts. I've got an idea. If we're going to be going into a tomb, I want a forward scout. A drone to send in first."

Exal nodded. "Good idea."

Working together, we collected various pieces and parts. Metal, wires, a small anti-grav propulsion system used on a training orb, cameras, transmitter/receiver, a scanner, and power cells. I found a data pad (basically a tablet computer with access to the extranet) and the correct cables to connect things up so I could program what I was making as well. I really hoped there were guides for this on the extranet or the Force would guide me, because I had no clue what I was doing. But considering the Force was helping me choose parts, I had a feeling it would also help putting it together.

While I was gathering drone parts and a vac suit, Exal helped me collect the parts required to construct a lightsaber as well. I got several everything she told me to get. I had some ideas in mind for what I wanted. One, a fairly basic lightsaber—preferably of the 'tri-saber' variety, with quillons. The second, much the same, but specifically for use with what Exal had identified as a ghostfire crystal—the clear crystal, that is. The third was to be a double-bladed staff. I wanted options and a spare and, realistically, I'd probably buy even more later because there was no reason not to have lots of spares just in case.

"There's a droid shop in town where you can get more specialized parts," Exal supplied as I carried my selections back using the Force. "Namely, the circuitry you'll need to program it."

"We'll stop there next," I agreed as we made our way up to the front, only to pause as I felt something interesting in the force.

Reaching out, I pulled it off the shelf and inspected it. It was a dark metal tube that fit the palm of my hand. Exal raised an eyebrow. "What do you have there, apprentice?"

"Not sure," I muttered. Feeling around it, I found a single pressure switch. Immediately, the tube extended from both ends, producing an eight foot pole. It honestly felt a little long to be used by a normal human…

"Oh! A training weapon," Exal nodded. "That one's for larger species, though. Excellent choice, since you can always modify it and cut it down to a length that's good for your height."

I, on the other hand, didn't see a training weapon at all. Grinning, I carried everything up to the front, collected my remaining credits, and we left. After a stop at the droid shop to get the parts I needed, Exal took us to a building labeled as a medical facility.

Making her way up to the desk, Exal spoke with the droid on duty. "My apprentice requires a cybernetic arm and eye."

Following her up, I hummed as I caught sight of a screen on the wall displaying various implants one could get. Humming as something caught my eye, I asked, "While you're in there, think you can add one of those?"

The droid followed my finger to the screen and nodded. "Of course. Please, come this way."

"Right," I followed, Exal coming with me, as I made my way back to what looked like a sterile room.

"Please remove your clothes," the droid instructed.

Seeing a locker for that, I went ahead and stripped out of my armor and everything else that would get in the way, leaving me bare from the chest up. My prosthetic arm was the last thing to go. The droid directed me to sit in a chair. "So, you're going to knock me out for this, right?"

"Sedation is provided at extra cost."

"You shouldn't," Exal said. "It's easier to tell if something is wrong if you're conscious for it. Just meditate and focus on the pain. Draw strength from it. Or shut it out. Whichever best suits you."

She had a point, unfortunately. I did not, in any way, want to be conscious for this. But I'd rather be aware if something went wrong. "Fine."

After selecting an eye that matched the green of my remaining orb, the process began. I sat and clenched the seat with my good hand and focused on the Force and shutting out the pain as the work began.

One thing I could say for the droid was that it had been quick and accurate. Far faster and more accurate than I felt a human doctor would have been to do similar. Sitting in the landspeeder as we made our way back out over the dunes, the sun setting off to the west, I tested my new arm. Just like before, I couldn't actually feel anything with the arm itself. But with the Force filling it, I could detect pressure and temperature easily. It wasn't the same, but it was good enough for now.

Turning my attention to the prosthesis in my lap, I began carefully deconstructing it. Removing the krayt dragon glove, I fitted it over my new hand and secured it in place. The new hand was all metal and I didn't want sand getting into the joints. The rest, I put in the back seat, just in case I found a use for it later.

Once I was finished with my new arm, I turned my eyes out over the sand. The new right eye was pretty amazing. Telescopic variable zoom. Low light vision. Infrared. Ultraviolet. Radiation. All the new vision modes added to the riot of colors that was being able to see the Force itself, and it was beautiful. Also, incredibly sharp and detailed. I could make out individual grains of sand at a mile away.

"Are you satisfied, apprentice?"

Looking up, I sent Exal a smile. "Yeah. Thank you."

"Of course."

"I'll upgrade it later, but for now, just having something I don't constantly have to use the Force to manipulate is good."

We fell into companionable silence as the sun finished setting and Exal turned the headlights on. I didn't need them, as the world lit up for me in new ways. The sand radiated waves of heat that painted the landscape in shades of rolling reds and oranges. The light of the stars was amplified enough to see in shades of gray. Even the radiation passing through the atmosphere and generated by communication equipment bathed the land in different colors. All on top of the darker colors of the Force rolling over Korriban and everything on it.

Finally, we approached a series of rocky, mountainous formations jutting from the sand. The concentration of dark-aligned Force increased dramatically and I whistled quietly.

"You can sense it?" Exal asked.

"Yeah. See it, actually."

Her head jerked to the side. "You see the Force? Clearly?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you tell where it's most concentrated?"

"I can," I confirmed.

The woman grinned. "Good. Very good. This will save us much time. Tomorrow. Tonight, I will guide you in the construction of your lightsaber and instruct you in your first lessons in lightsaber combat."

"Sounds good. I also need to put together the drone, if possible."

"Yes, there is that," she agreed.

Eventually, she parked in front of what looked like a plastic pop-up tent. "You may share my tent, apprentice. But know this: if you snore, I will send you out."

I laughed quietly, but she looked dead serious. "I'll try not to snore."

"Good. Help me unload our supplies."

We got everything unloaded, moving fresh food and water into the large, house-sized pop-up structure. When we stepped inside, I was surprised to find it both lighted and cool. The temperature outside was already beginning to dip, but inside it seemed to be set about 70F. "Oh, I want one of these."

"Then buy one," she said. "This one can be hauled by a landspeeder but isn't really ideal for being stealthy. Don't get rid of your tiger fur tent. I assure you, that will come in handy on other planets."

"I figured," I nodded.

After getting everything loaded into what amounted to a camper, she showed me where the facilities were and the spare bed. I took a few moments to use the restroom and take off my armor, making myself comfortable. When I came back out, I found Exal had done likewise, removing her own armor. I set out my comfy deer skin rug and we settled down with all the parts needed to make a lightsaber, plus my crystals.

"Really, there's not much to it. Reach out with the force. Grasp the parts you want, and bring them together. The Force will guide your hand on the rest," Exal instructed, sitting down across from me.

Nodding, I did just that. Reaching out, I felt all of the parts.

Thinking on what I wanted, I fashioned a lightsaber for dealing with other Sith. Touching on my scarlet crystal, I pulled two pieces off as parts rose. Two power cores went into this one, just in case. A simple steel equivalent tube went around all of the normal internal components. Retractable cross guards were added, which would allow it to produce light guards when activated. The two separate crystals would allow it to extend or shorten in combat as needed.

A secondary focusing lens would allow the blade to shift from the normal 'bar' of a lightsaber to a more traditional flat sword shape—not because I wanted a bigger blade, but with thoughts of practicality in mind. Namely, if a lightsaber were already powerful, would a more condensed, flat blade that crammed all of the power of a normal lightsaber into a smaller space not be superior to a normal blade? I didn't know and I wanted to try it, so I did. Finally, I added some basic safety features—power regulation on the blade so I could have a training mode and an auto-shutoff if I let go of it and didn't disable the shutoff. The dueling saber came out to just over thirteen inches.

One lightsaber down, I moved on to the second.

This one was simpler than the first. I picked a piece from the ghostfire crystal and one of my tiger pearls and built a simple lightsaber around them. A single power cell, because I wasn't intending to use this one for prolonged fights, but rather ambushes and assassinations if I ever needed to get in close and quiet. The finished product came out as a simple tube that looked barely more complicated than a flashlight with a pressure switch safety on it that could be locked down. It didn't even have a power regulator—because if I needed to use this thing, it wasn't going to be for training purposes. Simple as it was, this assassination saber was barely ten inches.

Finally, I pulled over the rest of the parts I'd brought out for the third weapon along with the collapsing pole. For this one, I pulled four crystals from the orange crystal and then disassembled the 'training' pole. Studying the inner workings of the weapon in the Force and with my new eye, I hummed as I began assembling a new weapon. This one got four power cells, in addition to the usual emitters and mechanisms required to make a dual-phase blade with a cross guard, and adjustable power output so I could train with it safely. All of that got crammed into the pole which, when contracted down, came out to about thirty inches. I'd added some switches so I could extend just one end of it though, and each side gave me an additional four feet to work with. Four feet of reach plus the normal and then extended length of a lightsaber. Then double that if I wanted to cover even more distance.

There's a reason the polearm was the king of the battlefield for so long.

"What is that, apprentice?"

I raised an eyebrow, sending her a confused look. "A double-bladed lightsaber? You know, a light staff."

"No, I don't know. This is the first time I've seen one."

I considered that for a moment before shrugging. I didn't know enough of Star Wars history to know when they actually came about. If I did, I imagine 'some time before lightstaffs became a thing' would mean something.

"Don't want to make more?"

I snorted quietly as I looked up at Exal. "No, I do. But I'll save it for later. When I have a few blaster rifles I can play with and deconstruct."

"I don't see why you insisted on buying a blaster," she muttered.

I simply sent her a smile. Moving my new lightsabers to the side to play with later, I summoned over the parts I'd bought to make a drone. Not a scouting droid that could do the job autonomously. No, a manually controlled drone that, now that I knew more about my new eye thanks to the doc droid, I would be linking directly to my eye and the datapad screen both.

Taking the pad in hand, I started to look up designs and software if I could find any, only to stop as once more, a feeling in the Force directed my actions. Okay, it hasn't led me wrong so far. In fact, the one time I ignored it kinda fucked me, so… just lean into it.

What I was doing called more upon the dark side of the force than the light as I studied the parts, the pad, and to my horror even plucked my new eyeball from my own skull. Not that that last one hurt—it was actually meant to be removed and cleaned every now and then, or if debris got into it, but it was still disconcerting. Especially when I could still see through it, from the new perspective.

And then, I was… enforcing my will into the parts and my eye. A chip from the ghostfire crystal broke off, about a third of the size of the one I'd used to make the crystal for my assassination saber. One of the tiger pearls flew over as well and a sliver of that split off from the main body of the pearl. Parts quickly assembled themselves as the drone took shape.

A generally round body. Eight spindly, folding, multi-jointed legs capable of rotating in any direction, each with articulated pincers/graspers on the end. Why legs when I planned to make it fly? In case the flying unit failed and I had to manually walk it out. Or, you know, needed to actually physically interact with something.

A forward camera and scanner and a down-facing camera. Two power cores went into it, along with the anti-gravity propulsion unit, the motive unit from a droid and the crystal and pearl shards. Then the whole thing closed up and I just kind of… pushed at it, the tablet, and my eye. The screen and the input coming from my eye briefly flickered, before coming back up with two new perspectives—both from the drone's camera feed. Finally, when it felt done, I lowered it all to the ground.

"How did you…?"

"With the Force?" I shrugged. "That's a thing that can be done, right?"

Exal stared at me for a moment before sighing. "Yes. But generally mechu-deru is a more advanced skill."

"Is it?"

She rolled her eyes and dropped the subject. "Does it work?"

"Yeah," I handed her the pad. "Have a look."

Exal watched as I directed the drone about the inside of the camper. "Good. This will help. Now, come. It's time for your first lesson in lightsaber combat."

I grabbed the dueling saber, and we made our way outside. Sending the drone up, I set it to record and then ignored its feed to focus on what was in front of me.

"What do you know of lightsaber fighting?"

"Nothing," I answered simply, playing with the settings and turning it down to training mode.

Exal laughed quietly. "It's good that you admit it. Many are the number of young Sith trainees who believe they know something, or have received special training from private tutors before coming to the academy." She fiddled with her saber for a moment before turning it on. I followed suit and our red blades illuminated the area. "Sometimes, the best way to learn is by doing. I'm going to attack you. If I hit you, it's going to hurt. For this training session, only the use of lightsabers is permitted. If I say stop, stop. Do you understand?"

"I do."

"Alright. Begin!" And with that, she lunged at me.

What followed was a brutal, fast-paced exchange of blows. Looking back on it later, Exal handled me completely. The only reason she had any difficulty at all in our first encounter was a combination of hiding myself in the force, my illusions, facing an unknown foe, and not actually wanting to kill me. Here? She kicked my ass up one side of the camp and down the other. Watching the recorded feed, it looked completely choreographed and like we were both in complete control to an outside observer, but in the heat of the moment it was completely wild and felt chaotic.

The thing about two Force users fighting is that both are using combat precognition to the best of their ability, while trying to hide their intent from their enemy, also as best they can. But when one person is clearly more experienced than the other, it goes almost completely on their terms.

Being in the middle of that furball was all instinct. No time for thought, just acting and reacting. It was chaotic, wild, and yet at the same time like a dance.

She struck, I parried and tried to counter. She pushed my counter away and countered. I caught her counter on my blade and she shifted just so, so that her blade traveled swiftly down my own and would have struck my fingers if not for my cross guard—and in a real fight, would have taken them off. I shoved her off and came in with a thrust, she parried and countered with her own, I shifted with the motion of my strike and narrowly dodged. I swing at her leg, she stepped back and took a swing at my head, forcing me back.

And on it went.

I found myself pushed hard. Harder than I had been since that first terrifying run through the jungle to safety.

That's not to say that Exal was having an easy time of it. She was better than me, enough that I couldn't gauge her skill level, but I could tell she was getting run down a lot faster than I was.

Our skin beaded with sweat. Our breath came in time. Our hearts beat as one. Our entire beings fell into sync physically and within the Force over the course of the fight. It was… amazing.

Watching her sweat-slick, athletic form move beneath her clinging robes as her beautiful eyes stared into mine with intent, her pink lips parted as she panted quietly, I found myself distracted. And that was my downfall.

"Stop." I stopped, her lightsaber a quarter inch from my nose after she had managed to slip past my guard. "You are dead." She shut off her lightsaber and I did the same. Sucking in deep lungfuls of air, she gestured for me to follow and we went back inside. "Why did you lose, apprentice?"

"Got distracted."

Her ass swayed just a bit more, I noticed. "You did," she confirmed with a nod. "Go get cleaned up."

I grabbed a change of clothes and immediately hit the sonic shower. It wasn't as good as a real shower, but it was good enough. Once I was finished, I changed and made my way back out. I found Exal had begun preparing a simple meal from the things we'd bought in town.

"Finish this and I'll be out in a few moments," she instructed, and I nodded, taking her place and stirring what looked like simple stir-fry. I didn't know what it was exactly, or how to cook it, but the Force told me what to do and I listened.

Exal returned not long after and by then, the food was done. We sat down across from each other at the small table and began to eat. Pointing her long chopsticks at me, she said, "Passion is good. It is a virtue praised by the Sith Code. But we do not let our emotions control us, apprentice. That is the mistake many young Sith make. You control your emotions, not the other way around. Unlike the Jedi, we draw strength from our emotions, but it is a heady mixture that can cloud judgment in and out of battle. Do you understand?"

"I'll reign it in."

"See that you do," Exal nodded. Turning her attention back to her bowl, she quietly continued, "On a related note, once I am certain of your ability to retain your focus in battle and that you are learning the things I'm teaching you, I shall ask you take up the duty of servicing my needs."

I paused, a bite halfway to my mouth. Looking up at her, I found she was eating slowly, not looking at me. "'Ask,'" I repeated.

"As I said, an apprentice that resents their master is bad. I will not force you to agree to this duty. However, should you agree, I assure you that said duties will be… mutually satisfactory."

I chuckled at that, shaking my head. "Maybe I'll say no, just to frustrate you."

"You would do this out of pettiness?"

"We have a saying where I'm from. 'Cutting off your nose to spite your face.' Basically, you know it's a bad idea, but you do it anyway."

"Truly?" she asked, looking up from her bowl with an annoyed look.

I grinned. "Maybe." She let out a disgusted sigh and I continued. "Or maybe I'll push you down, spread your legs, and see if I can make you squeal for me."

She looked up again, her gold eyes locking with my green. Her nostrils flared slightly in challenge and I felt her intent in the Force, her desire, concentrated post-battle lust and the fact that she thought I was sexy.

"Do not tease me apprentice. Sith, the people, not the order, are very passionate as a people and very quick to fall to those passions. If you aren't careful, you will find yourself on the receiving end of something I do not believe that you, as a pure human, are prepared for." She narrowed her eyes. "We may deepen our relationship as master and apprentice in time, as we grow to know one another. But…" She hesitated and I could feel her anger, frustration, and embarrassment as she forced herself to continue. "I have never done this before. Nor did I have this sort of relationship with my own master. I have had lovers, yes, but not for any length of time and never with any great attachment. So, I will warn you now. Do not toy with me, do not lead me on, and I will show you the same courtesy. I will be as honest and true with you as you are with me."

Picking up my bowl, I leaned back in my seat and regarded her as I ate. "It's been a long time since I've even spoken with another person. Time moved funny, where I was stranded. I'm out of practice. If I've misspoken—"

"You have not."

I paused, considered her reaction for a moment, before nodding. "I'm happy just to have someone to talk to. We can talk about that particular duty later, once we've both had some time to get acquainted with each other. But to address your concerns, you don't need to worry."

"I'm not worried," she countered quickly. Very quickly.

I sent her a grin and she glared at me. "I'm going to tease a little bit, because I enjoy seeing you frustrated." Her eyes narrowed a bit more. "But I won't play games."

Exal's attention shifted back to her bowl. "Good."

Smirking, I stretched out and raised my leg, using my bare foot to push the leg of her loose pants up and rub her bare, presumably red calf. Exal practically jumped in her seat before turning another glare on me. I put on my best innocent look and pretended like nothing was wrong at all as I ate. Her skin felt hot to the touch, smooth, oh so soft, but had the hardness of tight muscle just underneath.

I was a bit surprised with her other foot moved slowly under the table, before I felt her bare foot mirror mine, slipping up my pants leg and slowly stroking my calf.

"Of course," I spoke quietly, looking into my bowl, "if you wanted to skip all of that and go straight to taking up 'night duties' for some mutual relief for both of us right now, I wouldn't be adverse to it. Laying all our cards out on the table here, we can both feel the other is interested. We can both sense each other in the Force and neither of us trying to lie or hide it. You felt the same thing I did back there, during that fight. That feeling of oneness. Is that normal?"

"No," she murmured, her foot slowly trailing up and down my calf. "I've… heard of it before, yes. But it's very, very rare. Probably because most members of the Sith order don't trust each other enough to get close enough to share something like it. I've heard it happens with Jedi sometimes, usually master and apprentice, but their order expressly forbids passion and emotions, especially the sort that such a feeling of 'oneness' would bring." I heard her chopsticks scrape the bottom of her bowl and she frowned briefly. "I am curious to learn more."

"Me too," I agreed. Setting down my empty bowl, I picked up my glass of water and drained it with a sigh. Then, I stood up. I felt a brief flash of disappointment off of Exal, before she did likewise. "I'm going to meditate for a bit. Care to join me?"

The woman raised an eyebrow, her curiosity piqued. "Very well, apprentice."

She got up and followed as I made my way to my deerskin rug and sat down. Reaching over to the bags where I'd left my crystals, I pulled out the red one—specifically, the crimson one. Exal dropped down across from me and I shook my head. "I have an idea."

"Oh? Do tell?"

Sending her a grin, I asked, "How about we try to find that feeling again?"

Her lips quirked into a small smile. "Very well. And how do you propose we do that?"

"Outside of the fun way?" I asked, wagging my eyebrows and leaving little doubt as to what the fun way would be. She rolled her eyes in response. Opening my legs up and pulling my pants up to my knee, I patted my thigh.

Getting the idea, Exal hummed and nodded, before moving around and sitting herself in my lap—her tight little ass pressed flush against my crotch as she leaned back against my chest. I could feel the warmth of her through our clothes and her scent hung in my nose. She smelled amazing and I wanted nothing more than to push her hair aside and assault her neck, but I held myself back—even as my cock throbbed and grew hard in my pants.

The woman chuckled quietly and shifted herself just so, rubbing back against me. "Oh? Something troubles you, apprentice?"

"No, master," I countered, murmuring the answer into her ear and drawing a quiet sound from her lips as I felt her arousal.

Pulling my legs in, I rested them against her own, our skin once more pleasantly touching. I brought my arms around her and her own arms wrapped around mine as I settled the crystal in her lap. I rested my chin on her shoulder and closed my eyes, forcing myself to relax.

"This is not normally how a Sith meditates," Exal muttered. "We are taught to focus on our anger, our rage, to sharpen ourselves like blades."

"My method has worked for me so far, and we're not trying for anger at the moment, now are we?"

"No," she admitted. "Very well. Let us try this together, then."

I felt her relax a bit in my arms and reach out with the Force. I did likewise and, after a moment of carefully feeling each other out, we hesitantly embraced before focusing our collective will towards the crystal. The crystal that was basically, as I'd said before, concentrated horni energons.

Our breathing fell into sync quickly, followed by our heartbeats. After a few moments, that feeling of oneness returned. This time, it was accompanied by a heaping dose of everything the crystal contained. I felt Exal's lust rise, along with my own.

"What, what are we doing?" she whispered.

"You're the one who said we should control our passions, not let them control us," I reminded her. Releasing the crystal with my good hand, her right replaced my own on it. My hand came up and eased open her robe. I felt the woman in my lap shiver as my hand came to rest on her flat, muscular stomach. Resting my hand on her belly, I left it there. Not moving. Just a reminder that I could at any time.

"This is torture, apprentice. How dare you tease your master so?"

"With relish."

"…I'll have you fulfilling night duties every night until the sun comes up."

"Threaten me with a good time. Now shush, I'm trying to focus."

Exal shifted in my lap, but she fell silent as we explored the new sensation we had found together.