《The Cosmic and the Fair》 Prologue (Explicit) Illeriel stretched and yawned, the motion sensuous with long practice and ending in a throaty purr. She sat up on her elbows and one of her bed thralls placed pillows behind her until she could sit comfortably against them. She nodded at one of the door guards and the thing practically buckled at the knees at her attention. The other guard reacted to the lapse with precise efficency. It kicked the awestruck maiden in the shin and forced it to stand properly. Illeriel idly extended her senses and noted that it was one of the succubi she had created in her recent acquisition of the Kingdom of Ferrin. The thing had barely been in her service a week and her steward had assigned it to her throne room? She sighed and every thrall in the room quivered. Fine. She would deal with her steward later. For now, she reached out with her will and the door was opened by the guards on the outside of the door. An elven woman and a human man hurried into the room. Before they got too close, she examined them. Ahh, unrequited love. It made people so easy to turn to her purposes. Even now, at the edge of Illeriel¡¯s aura, he was glancing at his companion. She was gazing at Illeriel, trying to remember why she was here. When they were approximately 20 feet from the foot of her bed, she sent an overwhelming pulse of lust through the room. Her bed thralls, long broken, moaned and began frantically pleasuring each other. The two adventurers both fell to their knees, cheeks flushed and panting. ¡°You have something for me?¡± ¡°Yes, Goddess!¡± The woman fumbled in her pack but was stopped by the man. ¡°Empress Illeriel, surely something this unique and powerful deserves a boon in return. Your emissaries said that a request would be granted to whoever brought the item to you.¡± Illeriel was a little impressed, despite herself. She¡¯d used her aura at half-strength, but that was still usually enough to have most people around their levels quivering with need at her feet. ¡°Of course,¡± She leaned forward, arms resting on a twitching thrall. ¡°What boon would you ask?¡± ¡°I want to be one of your lieutenants! I want to be a succubus like you!¡± The elf burst out. Then, she seemed to remember who she was speaking to and lowered her head. ¡°Goddess¡± ¡°Oh? How delightful.¡± Illeriel was surprised but would certainly grant the request. She had expected a request for riches. The woman seemed the type. In any case, willing converts were always easier to deal with than the unwilling, and she had a very particular position to fill. She turned to the other supplicant. ¡°And what is it you desire?¡± ¡°I- I want you to make Tanya love me!¡± Tanya, kneeling beside him, looked over, horrified and not a little disgusted. ¡°Hmm¡­ interesting,¡± Not really, but things were less likely to get messy if she pretended this wasn¡¯t what half her supplicants sought. ¡°Before we get to that, I remember hearing about your little group. Weren¡¯t there three of you?¡± The two adventurers paled a little, and Tanya now had her forehead pressed into the ground. ¡°We had no idea!¡± Tanya trembled ¡°She was a¡­ She was a null, Empress.¡± Her fingertips raked across the back of the thrall over her lap. Her immaculate nails - now seeming more like claws - raked blood from it and it moaned. ¡°You associated with a null?¡± Her words were a dangerous purr, and the thrall currently cleaning the floor tried to hide behind a statue of her Goddess. ¡°Not knowingly, Goddess! She told us that she had a boyfriend back home!¡± Tanya babbled. ¡°I thought I heard her masturbating a couple of times too! When we found out I tried to kill her myself!¡± Illeriel glanced at one of the guards that had accompanied the pair. The guard¡¯s long lavender tail twitched, and she gave a motion that was halfway between a nod and a shrug. Illeriel tried to cool her temper, but only succeeded in turning it into an icy fury. She hated nulls. That said, she also needed what they had, and one of them might have been smart enough to hide it and only bring a map.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Fine.¡± She ground out. Idly, she noticed another grinding sensation. Her claws had cut deeply into the thrall on her lap. Irritated, she rolled her eyes at an attendant, who scampered off to find one of Illeriel¡¯s pet healers. Again. Once the thing had been pushed off the bed, she looked up. ¡°Empress?¡± Both adventurers looked nervous, but clearly for different reasons. Tanya had slowly been edging away from her companion. ¡°I will grant the request of whoever gives me the relic.¡± Instantly, the human was scrabbling after the elf. She had lunged forward to try to cross the twenty feet or so between her and Illeria, but he caught her by the foot. The succubus just glanced at the newly-arrived healer and waved at the bed-thrall now bleeding out on the floor. He blanched and knelt to minister to its wounds. Healing light spread from his hands and the wounds were gone in seconds. She noted the quality of his work with approval. He, too, had been a new acquisition and she was pleased to see his reputation as a master healer was matched by his skill. He would not have made an attractive bed-thrall and he had only chosen to advance in his Life Mage trait. Compared to his level 80 in Life Mage, he was barely level 5 in his Human trait and a pathetic level two in Singer. She couldn¡¯t even have converted him, as Succubi could not gain Mage traits. Still, his speed and skill at healing injuries was acceptable. A pity. She was feeling peckish. She turned her attention back to the desperate scuffle at the foot of her bed. The human was trying to claw his way up Tanya, and she was holding a shining silver orb out across the bed. Illeriel languidly slipped her violet legs across the white silk sheets and touched it with a toe.
You have found a Relic!
Relic Type: Unique trait.
As you were a Template Seed during the last Renewal, you may bind this relic to your species. Would you like to bind this Relic to the first succubi on the next System World?
[Yes] [No]
She mentally selected [Yes] and the orb disintegrated into ribbons of shimmering light that dove beneath her skin. Attention no longer divided, Tanya turned andkicked her attacker in the groin. ¡°GET FUCKED, JOE¡± She screamed in his face. Joe, whimpering in falsetto, crumpled to the ground. Illeriel waved at the healer and he scampered over to the distressed man. Tanya turned to kneel before her Goddess, face flushed with exhilaration. ¡°Well done.¡± ¡°Really? I mean, it was just a kick to the balls¡± Tanya blushed deeply at her Goddess¡¯ praise. ¡°Hmmm? Oh. That. He was an idiot. You don¡¯t tell someone you¡¯re going to enslave their will until after they¡¯re committed.¡± ¡°Um, what?¡± ¡°I was talking about the orb. You have done very well! This will ensure that the next world to be embraced by the system will be mine.¡± The woman blushed deeply. ¡°Goddess? One relic can do all that?¡± Normally, she wouldn¡¯t have answered the question, but she was in a good mood. Besides, the subtle web of chains she was weaving for Tanya¡¯s mind would take time to create. An explanation would fill the time and distract the adventurer nicely. ¡°Oh, no child. One relic is just an advantage. Not overwhelming, but enough. Of course, I don¡¯t have just one.¡± ¡°How many have you taken?¡± The woman¡¯s gaze was worshipful, and the succubus gave her a flirty wink. ¡°A lady never gives a number. But¡­ All of them, or close enough to make no difference.¡± Worshipful and now awestruck. Although that may have just been the corset of her power that she was currently weaving around the elf¡¯s mind. ¡°Wow, you are truly all-powerful!¡± ¡°Oh yes, but I do like to share with those who are worthy and loyal,¡± Illeriel held out a hand to accept the swirling blue orb being held out by a thrall. She set the next piece of control in place over Tanya¡¯s mind, making her every word an inviolable command. ¡°Once you have been remade, you will use this Relic.¡± The woman shuddered a little with the force of her Goddess¡¯ will and looked up at her. When the final piece of Illeriel¡¯s control snapped into place, the adventurer smiled beatifically. ¡°Yes please, Goddess!¡± If Illeriel had been capable of doing such a thing, she would have been sweating. Control that deep, subtle, and intricate had not been necessary for a decade, and it taxed even her reserves of stolen willpower. Well, there was a sniveling snack at the foot of her bed, even if she would have to share with her new toy. Oh well. At least she would get to enjoy making a new succubus. ¡°You¡¯re ready.¡± With a predatory grin, Empress Illeriel wrapped her hand around the intangible leash deep inside the elf¡¯s mind. She pulled the former adventurer close, and pushed Tanya¡¯s face into the insatiable heat between her violet thighs. Chapter 1, Part 1 - Threshold The virgin asphalt roared by, inches from Seph¡¯s feet. Her bike hummed between her thighs, but the wind rushing past her helmet was by far louder than her electric motorcycle. On the poorly-maintained Michigan roads she usually had trouble hearing herself think over the rumble of her tires on the pavement. However, whatever dark gods governed the Michigan Department of Transportation had seen fit to resurface the 80-mile stretch of M-37 that wound south through the Huron-Manistee National Forest. Seph loved the sight of the trees whipping by ¨C travelling through the tunnels formed by arching boughs always made her feel as if she was riding to another world. Sometimes she would pull off the road to relax in a hammock, wheeling her bike behind some shrubbery and using a camouflage solar tarp to hide the pomegranate-red of her motorcycle among the foliage. The thought furrowed her brow and she grit her teeth in annoyance, suppressing the urge to gun the accelerator. Don¡¯t think about her. She chose the colours, but it¡¯s still my bike. She was riding to escape and didn¡¯t want any reminders of¡­ her. Not that Seph could get away. The greens and golds of her motorcycle armor were as smothering as they were protective. She felt the familiar tightness growing in her chest and pulled over in the shadow of a massive red maple tree. She ripped off her helmet (pomegranate-red with gold pinstripes, to match the bike) and armored jacket, and fought off the impending panic attack. The cracked bark of the maple was rough against her cheek and bare shoulder, and she found the sensation oddly comforting. Calm water. The one thing the shrink had actually managed to pound through her thick skull. I am calm water. The poor lady had tried, but Seph had been in too deep to really listen. I am the still lake before dawn. Eventually, her turbulent heart slowed down enough that she didn¡¯t think she¡¯d have a panic attack. Seph sank to the ground, bits of bark raining down around her as her tank top scraped its way down the tree. I should go back. This is a mistake. She¡¯s going to kill me. Her hands tore at the ground beside her, fingers crushing dead leaves and the occasional twig.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. I could just say I had bike trouble, and my phone got run over. That¡¯s why it took me longer to make the delivery. That part wasn¡¯t even a lie. Her phone had been crushed to sand by the first 18-wheeler she¡¯d found after making the drop. Seph even let herself consider it for a minute before getting herself under control. No. I¡¯ve been setting this up for months. I have the money. Six months of hiding in the Upper Peninsula shouldn¡¯t even put a dent in 50 grand. If I have to, I can sell the bike. But I¡¯m not going back. She can¡¯t make me. She brushed the dust from her hands and ran them through her sweaty black hair. Her hands, still in their fingerless riding gloves, started to shake. Anyway, it¡¯s not like I can explain away the lojack I pulled out of the bike and threw in Honey Creek. Or the second one, the one that she thought I didn¡¯t know about. There¡¯s no turning back now. Seph pulled a wad of cash from her jacket. The rest was in her saddlebags, and she¡¯d checked all of it for tracking devices too. I¡¯ve been so careful. It¡¯s going to be okay. Stowing the slightly damp wad back in her green and cream jacket, she stood and stretched. The breeze felt good on her skin, and she wanted to enjoy it before she got going again. There wasn¡¯t much point in an armored riding outfit if she wasn¡¯t going to wear it, but it had been the hottest August on record. For now, she wheeled her bike further into the undergrowth and covered it with the solar tarp. The tarp wouldn¡¯t do much good under the thick canopy, but any charge would let her go that much further before she had to stop again. Especially because there aren¡¯t many charge cafes up north. I think they still use gasoline in some places of the UP. She shuddered at the thought and pulled her helmet on so she could use its Heads-Up Display to check for charging stations near her. The disposable cell phone she¡¯d bought didn¡¯t have many bells and whistles, but she¡¯d sprung for a Bluetooth-enabled model so it could link to her HUD. She waited for it to recognize her brainwaves, then ignored the flood of colourful notification lights cluttering the edges of her vision. They made her chest tighten, but she forced herself to calm a little. Seph willed up a map of the rest stops between herself and her destination. There was a rest area in a couple of miles, but only two stops between here and the Mackinac Bridge had the little lightning-bolt-and-coffee-cup icon that she needed. She pinged her bike to see how far her current juice would take her and winced. She¡¯d need at least thirty minutes of solar charging at the current rate to make it to the next useful stop. Fine. I could use some relaxation anyway. Five minutes later, she was ten feet off the ground, listening to the rustling of the leaves above her. Her hammock swayed gently with the trees, and the motion soothed her as it always did. She loved forests. They always seemed powerful and safe, as if anything that tried to follow her in would be stopped by her watchful arboreal guardians. They worked their magic now, draining away some of her tension and leaving Seph exhausted. Well, if I¡¯m going to be here anyway¡­ Setting an alarm, Seph wriggled into her jacket and clipped her helmet to the front. Exhaustion pulled her into sleep before she even finished getting comfortable. And woke in near-total darkness to see the ground rushing up to greet her. Chapter 1, Part 2 - Rip van Winkle At first, she thought it was a dream. She¡¯d had falling stress dreams before, but hers usually involved the Renaissance Centre in Detroit. They also usually didn¡¯t end with an abrupt bump and a stab of pain through her shoulder. ¡°What the hell?¡± She rolled onto her good shoulder and swore until the pain became manageable. A gentle exploration revealed that her arm was probably sprained, but not broken. She pulled up her jacket and tank top and checked her ribs. They were bruised too, but that side was already hurt, and she had enough experience to know they¡¯d heal in a week or two. The sprain was a little more concerning, but she might be able to get away with steering her bike with one arm. Maybe I can rig a sling from my spare shirt? At least until I can get something better. But I need to get going. She glanced up at her hammock, twenty feet above her. There was no way she was getting that down with her arm like this. She turned abruptly away and started picking her way back to the road. She had loved that hammock, but she couldn¡¯t come back for it. And for all its magical tree-channeling serenity powers, it was just a standard parachute hammock. She could pick one up at a sporting goods store in Traverse City. She forced herself not to look back, but she could feel her regret buzzing in her chest. Her chest also made an odd ¡®Bzzzfwibzz¡¯ noise and crackled. No. Not her chest. Her helmet, still attached to her jacket where she had left it, was making some very odd noises. She turned it around with her good arm so that she could get a look at the HUD through the front, but it was just fritzing, an odd orange-and-red aurora flickering over its surface. Actually, her whole helmet was playing host to a dancing, glimmering light show that seemed to flow around her hand and chest. Oh. Fuck, I¡¯ve got a concussion. That made things truly dangerous. Driving with a concussion was not a good idea, especially with one severe enough to give her hallucinations. She¡¯d never hallucinated from a concussion before, but she¡¯d heard it could happen. Her resolve was starting to crack, but she let her helmet fall back against her chest and continued her journey back to the highway. Her progress was impeded by the thick undergrowth, but she eventually found her bike on its side, with the tarp covering most of it. Seph started to wheel it one-handed back to the road. Or tried to. Wheeling anything one-handed is a challenge, and the undergrowth was *thick*. Plus, some of it seemed to have worked its way into the spokes of the wheels. It almost seemed like a root the size of her wrist had grown *through* the spokes but that was ridiculous.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. Actually, is this my bike? The tarp is ruined¡­ The solar tarp was shredded. It looked worn and sun-ruined in the dim light of her helmet¡¯s aurora. Seph tried to shake the hallucination from her head and immediately regretted it when her head twinged dangerously. She steadied herself on the bike and the tattered tarp slid off the cracked and peeling paint. The pomegranate red paint. With gold pinstripes. Seph ran her fingers over the flaking paint, dislodging some and getting flecks stuck to her skin, but the rough texture of rust and sharp edges of the paint confirmed that her eyes were not lying to her. She bit back tears. Her beautiful bike. She didn¡¯t know how it had gotten this way, but it was her only means of escape. Maybe she could get a used car somewhere? Gotta keep my name out of any system that could be used to locate me, find someone who¡¯ll take cash and won¡¯t ask a lot of questions. And I can¡¯t use any of my contacts because of course they¡¯d rat me out. That leaves¡­ Craigslist? She grabbed her helmet by reflex and grimaced as it jostled her wounded right arm. Right. Dead helmet. Seph fished her disposable phone out of her right jacket pocket with her left hand, and sighed at the light show that she was now positive meant something interfering with her tech. When she hit the power button, the aurora flared and shattered into wisps of light that fled out into the forest. The power button did not respond again. Great. Just fantastic. Okay it¡¯s fine, I don¡¯t have a bike or tech, but I still have the cash. I can still get free. Her forced optimism lasted exactly as long as it took to open the saddlebag compartments. Empty. It¡¯s gone. Someone took it. The rising dread was now a tidal wave flooding through her Someone took it! I need that money! I can¡¯t go back! I can¡¯t. I can¡¯t go back I can¡¯t go back I can¡¯t go back I- It flowed over the dam of her self-control, and she tore up the bushes and ground all around, desperately hoping that her salvation had just fallen from the saddlebags when her bike fell over. Twenty minutes later she collapsed against that same maple utterly exhausted and hopeless. She sobbed hard, tears flowing freely. Slowly, eventually, the knot of sorrow, panic, and desperation in her stomach cooled until it was a solid lump of despair. Every part of her felt heavy and when she unclipped her helmet to let it fall to the forest floor, it felt like she was trying to move through thick, cool mud. She stared dully at the fantastic hallucinatory light show in her hands, and she sat there for what felt like days. Eventully, a thought filtered through to her that wasn¡¯t sharp and bitter. Something weird is going on. She leapt on it, throwing herself into a problem so she didn¡¯t have to think about the empty bag. The aurora The hammock. The shredded tarp. The root. Either she was more concussed than she thought, or more time had passed than she thought. Her father deep Scottish burr echoed in her memory. ¡°Persephone, if you stay in the woods after dark, the fae¡¯ll snatch you up and you¡¯ll come back to find us all grey and covered in wrinkles!¡± He had winked and wriggled his fingers at her until she giggled. Seph put two and two together¡­ and got seven. I¡¯m in faerieland. Chapter 1, Part 3 - Greyhind It certainly looked like faerieland. Now that she was actually paying attention to her surroundings, she could see faint wisps of light condensing out of the air and then dispersing. It was unexpectedly beautiful, a slow dance of occasional ethereal fireflies playing out through the trees. Those trees looked strange too. She had gone to sleep in a young forest, the oldest pines planted not even a century ago. This part of Michigan had been logged barren around the turn of the twentieth century to supply wood for America¡¯s westward expansion and its unending hunger for timber. In a fit of Great Depression-assisted guilt, Roosevelt ordered large swathes of it replanted. It had grown magnificently since then, but the trees weren¡¯t even on their second generation. The forest was still dominated by the glaringly man-made rows of red pine planted by the Civilian Conservation Corps. Now, Seph was surrounded by a collection of birches, maples, and red pines that seemed truly ancient. They stretched into the sky; some of the trunks wider than she was tall. The trees seemed to glow with life. They were majestic, and she felt more peace leaking into her than from any forest she¡¯d ever visited. Her trek through the woods and subsequent panic had taken her from the first grey hints of dawn into the early morning. Golden fingers of light were filtering through the thick trunks and verdant branches. They sent swarms of brilliant light glowing across her skin in a more familiar mockery of the lights dancing through the air. Actually, there was one space where the light shows were in the same place. Her tattered solar tarp greedily drank in the scattered sunlight and huddled around it was the biggest concentration of floating lights. She watched it; the auroras were beautiful enough to distract her from her woes for a time. The red and orange lights fluttered around the tarp, and every so often two would merge to become a little brighter, a little lighter. It happened a little faster than they could fade, slowly building in strength. After a bit, she watched as the biggest light (now a yellowish orange) began to shudder. It stuttered wildly around. Seph had bolted up and was racing behind a tree, so she didn¡¯t see what happened, but she heard a loud pop. When she peered around the corner, she stopped in confusion. There was something where she had been. The dry maple and birch leaves that littered the ground had swirled together to form a slender, four-legged shape. The leaves littering the ground were the dull brown of summer, the creature in front of her looked like it was composed of freshly fallen leaves. It gleamed with the brilliant warmth of fall. It looked a bit like deer mixed with a greyhound (which are halfway to being predatory deer to begin with). It¡¯s beautiful¡­ A forest spirit? A grey..hind? She stepped out from behind her birch and held a hand out to the gorgeous creature. It turned to her gracefully, orange flame flickering in the empty, leafy socket of its eye. The flames seemed to fix on her and burn brighter. She took a cautious step towards it. ¡°Hello?¡± A shiver rolled over it, majestic head to short, leafy tail. Following the shudder, spikes pushed out through the leafy skin. They looked like red pine needles, but she couldn¡¯t focus on them for long because the creature lowered its head and charged. Startled, Seph dodged to the left just too late to avoid being clipped by its antlers. Antlers? Somewhere between lowering its head and slamming into her jacket, the cute twigs on top of its head grew to large branches, sharp as regret and firm as steel. Only her motorcycle armor saved her from a nasty gash in her side. Still, those ribs had been bruised even before she decided to body slam the ground. Now, they cracked. Painfully. More than pain, though, was the feeling of wrongness. Bones should not move like that. How the fuck does a dead leaf monster hit that hard? She wheezed in pain and lost her breath but still attempted to scramble back away from the creature. It followed, jumping on top of her. She hissed in pain as her ribs loudly complained. Throat. Dogs go for the throat. An alley, seen through boarded-up windows. A begging man. The baying of dogs. The tearing of- Not the time. Fighting now! Seph held her armored forearm under the thing¡¯s neck and pushed it back. It scrabbled at her chest, drawing muffled screams from through her gritted teeth. She tried to punch it with her off hand, but that just drew fresh stabs of pain from her shoulder. Damn. Damn damn damn! The creature was still clawing at her armored jacket. Its improbably sharp claws were chewing into the Kevlar pads covering her modest chest. She was decently safe there, but its scrabbling claws occasionally tore into the fabric connecting the armored plates. In the second she was watching, one errant claw scored a hit between the plates on her chest and through her jacket, tank top, and sports bra. It didn¡¯t get her skin, but she knew it was only a matter of time. She turned her attention up to her arm, over which the monster¡¯s head was frantically lunging and snapping at h- Was not lunging, snapping or any other aggressive action. It was staring at her, orange flames staring directly into her eyes. Its stillness seemed at odds with the fevered violence from its claws. No mouth. How does it eat? If it wasn¡¯t going to eat her, she didn¡¯t need to fend off its head. She lowered her arm a little so she could attack and maybe get the thing off herself. Unfortunately, that let it put its full weight towards attacking her. Before she could get her arm back up, she felt the bite of claws in flesh. She screamed. The creature¡¯s claws had scored lines of white-hot pain from her breast down to her stomach. By reflex, she kicked out. After the first couple of inches of leaves, her foot stopped sinking. The soft leaves had robbed the blow of much of its force, but it still pushed the creature back a couple of feet. Enough room for her to scramble back to a birch and slide her back up it. Her wounds burned with pain and she hissed, but she had no time to check them. She could feel her blood dripping down, warm and sticky in her clothes, but she would have to deal with that after surviving.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. Why the hell is it attacking me? She bent slightly, intercepting the lunging monster and pushing it to the side with her palm. The needles sprouting from its shoulder bit deeply into her fingerless gloves. They even sliced into her fingers a little, making her snatch her hand back. If she lost the use of her hand, she was dead for sure. How the hell are those needles so sharp? The needles and even some of the leaves were scattered by her push, but more pushed out from inside it. Right. Magic faery leaf monster. It was lunging at her again, so she ran behind a tree. If it was fae, maybe it was intelligent? ¡°Can we talk about this?¡± It ran around the massive red pine to try to gore her again, but it didn¡¯t have the distance to build up speed and momentum. She kicked it away, combat boot sinking into its chest. Maybe not intelligent, then. But she was losing this fight. Blunt force was useless against it, and it could replace any leaves she pulled off it. The creature had been backing up while she thought. She had backed off too, but that just allowed the creature to build up more momentum as it thundered towards her. She sidestepped again, but this time it swerved to follow her. It wasn¡¯t much, but just enough for the many, many sharp needles along the greyhind¡¯s side to rake into her armored leg. By the time it had passed her, the side of Seph¡¯s leg was in ribbons. Her knee collapsed, sending her hissing down against the base of the tree. Okay. If she didn¡¯t do something drastically different, that was it. What did she have? Tattered armor. A useless phone. A lighter and flask set she¡¯d bought because they matched and were completely counter to the ¡®spring goddess¡¯ aesthetic being forced on her. The multitool she¡¯d bought so she could de-lojack her bike. $1800 in cash. Wait. She scrambled around to face the monster. It had decelerated and turned to face her again. Her cold hand fumbled in her jacket pocket. The thing lowered its head and began to charge at its helpless prey. She found what she had been looking for and pulled it out, just to drop it into the leaf litter. The greyhind built speed, clawed paws kicking up dirt and pine needles. She scrabbled for it, ignoring the screaming in her body as she tore up the leaves around her. It angled its antlers to catch her neck and put on one final burst of speed. She threw herself flat. The monster thundered over her, claws rasping against her battered motorcycle armor and pushing her wounds into the dirt. Her hand closed around the thing she¡¯d dropped. The greyhind¡¯s antlers hit the tree, burying into the flaky bark. She rolled over, thrusting her arm up into its belly. Her arm pushed past the loose leaves on the surface and into the more densely packed core, bearing her reclaimed treasure. It was hot on her hands, almost crushing. Her thumb flicked the cap off the lighter. The monster whipped back and forth, struggling to pull its antlers free. Seph just barely managed to keep her arm inside it. She struck the wheel on the Zippo. Once, twice. She didn¡¯t feel anything changing, but she was out of options. It pulled free of the tree, and she lost her grip on the lighter. The creature backed away, still eerily silent save for the rustling of leaves. It lowered its head again, but this time there was no way for her to dodge. She was completely trapped. This was it. She sent a silent prayer up to the universe and turned her head away. She waited for death. And waited. And waited. She opened one eye warily and saw the greyhind shuddering in front of her, billowing thick white smoke. Its ¡®eyes¡¯ fixed on her, and she pulled herself up against the pine. Long tongues of flame began to lick up from its back, and she tensed. Did I just make a flaming leaf monster? It took an uncertain step towards her, and she saw the sliver-black of her lighter drop out of its belly. Still, the flames intensified, roaring over the greyhind. Through the waver of heat, she could just make out the leaves blackening and curling. She collapsed against the tree in relief, a moment before the monster collapsed into a pile of flaming leaves. She heard a faint ping and saw a flicker of green light in the corner of her eye. She turned quickly but didn¡¯t see anything but the ever-present wisps of light. Given that she seemed safe for the moment, she took stock. Condition check: Head? Still a little woozy, running around and being slammed into the ground probably didn¡¯t help the concussion. Neck? Fine. No whiplash. Yay! Arms? Left shoulder hurts like a motherfucker. I really hope I didn¡¯t tear it¡­ My right hand is cut all to hell. Back? No spinal injuries. Again, Yay! Front? Lunchmeat. If I survive this, I¡¯m going to have to wear turtlenecks for the rest of my life. No. Focus. I¡¯m bleeding. Bad. I can feel cold creeping in from my fingertips and toes. Speaking of toes, Legs? Left leg torn to shreds, right leg fine. Hips? Wait, What the fuck? She stared down at her groin in incredulity. ¡°No, seriously. What the actual fuck?¡± She was horny. And not just the faint whisper of spontaneous arousal. She was full of a molten heat. It was distracting and was oddly insistent against the radiating pain of her injuries. It didn¡¯t make any sense. She didn¡¯t get turned on by violence. She knew that for a fact. And, while under duress she¡¯d admit to a masochist streak, that was only relevant with a partner. She glanced up at the magical woods around her. ¡°Faerieland makes people horny?¡± That made exactly no sense, but a fresh stab of pain from her chest made her wince and focus on the now. The¡­ thing was dead. Correction: That thing is dead. There could be more of them. Time to run. She staggered to her feet and tried a couple of steps. Well, it wasn¡¯t a sprint but she was making a decent pace. Okay, that was a lie. She was hobbling. But she needed the lie. She ¡®ran¡¯, looking for an advantage, anything that could help her survive. Here, a stand of red pine, in suspiciously straight lines. There, a small clearing. An overly large patch of moss. She might be able to use that to stem the bleeding, but she knew that if she stopped now she wouldn¡¯t get back up. She hobbled, hand on her stomach. The wounds there were bleeding hard. It was a disturbing candy-apple red that she recognized. I¡¯m dead. Arterial blood kept flowing from beneath her fingers and dripping down her leg. She was going to bleed out if she didn¡¯t get medical care very soon. She cast about for something, anything, There! It was just a hint of sunlight, but it was sunlight glinting off something moving. Something shiny. It was either a slow death or the chance for help or a quick one by whatever waited in the sunshine. I¡¯ll take it. The sunlight was only a dozen yards away, but she could already feel her body shutting down. Cold crept in from her hands and feet. Every other step was a stumble, and her vision was starting to blur. One limping step. Two. A lunge from the support of one towering tree to the next. The problems kept mounting. First, the closer she got to the sunshine, the thicker the undergrowth. Normally, she¡¯d either work her way through it or push her way through. She couldn¡¯t manage either at the moment, and so she struggled against it. She inched forward, her slow progress making the second problem worse. The movement in the sunshine was getting further away. She had to reach it! She had to make it aware of her! She called out, but her voice didn¡¯t seem to be working right. ¡°-p..¡± She wheezed her way through a dogwood and tried again. ¡°help¡± Better, but still not enough. Not nearly enough. She gave one last push- And fell into the sunshine, shouting. ¡°HELP!¡± She didn¡¯t feel herself hit the ground. She didn¡¯t feel anything but cold. She was so cold. Why wasn¡¯t the warm sunshine helping? At least she didn¡¯t feel the pain anymore. A statue of a woman appeared above her, bending over in beatific concern. Its stony face was the last thing she saw before she fell into darkness. Chapter 2, Part 1 - Statuesque Seph woke, and she did not hurt. That was the first thing that hit her. The total lack of pain. The second thing that hit her was the¡­ hunger? Arousal? The two sensations seemed to have melded together into one need. She needed¡­ something. It wasn¡¯t quite ¡®Wow Cindy when we crashed here, I know I said I was straight but¡­¡¯ or ¡®This is our last Cliff bar, but Angie probably isn¡¯t going to make it anyway¡­¡¯ but it was definitely pressing. Another insistent sensation filtered through to her. It sounded like someone snoring. If that person regularly snorted concrete and had serious sinus pebbles. It was the sort of sound that could wake coma patients and ruin marriages. It grated. It also wasn¡¯t a snore that she recognized, but the softish surface underneath her felt like a cot. She tried not to judge based on that ¨C maybe there was some reason she shouldn¡¯t be on the ground ¨C but this did not feel like a particularly friendly cot.[1] Still, it meant someone had found her and- The third thing that hit Persephone Evans was cold-rock-in-the-gut, pants-wetting dread and terror. She caught me. Seph didn¡¯t know how, didn¡¯t know when, but she knew. In the pit of her stomach she knew that she had been caught. Did she send men to drug me? That would explain the lightshow and the monster. Fredericks probably found me trying to punch some innocent deer and dragged me back. Question: Why am I not dead? Answer 1: I am dead, and when I open my eyes, I¡¯ll see whatever afterlife I have in store. Not particularly encouraging, and nothing I can do about it. Not worth considering. Answer 2: Emily wants to vent her rage on me in person. That¡¯s even worse. Being beaten to death by a sadistic bitch doesn¡¯t sound like a good way to go. Answer 3: Some nice passer-by found me hallucinating and took me to the hospital. That¡¯s the most wildly optimistic answer I have, and it still isn¡¯t great. The second my name gets flagged as a possible missing person, the hospital will ¡®helpfully¡¯ inform my registered emergency contact. And then Emily will be here and what better place to kill someone unnoticed than a hospital? Okay, until I can figure out what¡¯s going on, I¡¯d better pretend I¡¯m still out. The conspicuous lack of beeping and whirring from monitoring equipment probably ruled out hospital. She could hear distant voices and¡­ metal banging together over the snoring, but no sense of movement or whirring of an engine, so she wasn¡¯t being driven anywhere. Actually, she couldn¡¯t hear any engines or motors at all. That was odd, but maybe she was in some bunker. That still wasn¡¯t quite right. The air smelled fresh and was warm and dry on her skin. Her skin, which was¡­ quite a bit more exposed than she was expecting, but her motorcycle armor was expensive. No point in getting blood on it when it could be resold. It already has blood on it. It was torn to shreds by the Greyhind. If it was torn to shreds, I would be torn to shreds and I don¡¯t hurt. Gods. I don¡¯t hurt. That is. Such a relief. Yeah. And isn¡¯t that weird? I have no injuries. None. Do you remember why we¡¯re running away? Cracked ribs ringing a bell? Why doesn¡¯t it hurt to breathe?Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. She took a long, slow breath, still trying to maintain an illusion of sleep. A sharp, stabbing pain completely failed to wrack her chest, but a pang of arousal-hunger made her breath catch. Okay, what the fuck is going on? She opened her eyes. Reflected shadows danced across the white-painted ceiling, the echoes of late-afternoon trees. It was reassuring, as if the forest was reaching out and reminding her that she was never alone. They played down the wall and over a nude marble statue, reclining in a rough-hewn stone seat. It was from the statue that the awful scraping, grinding noise was coming. That was what drew Seph¡¯s attention to the statue, but the figure itself held her gaze like a quarter mile of intricately knotted rope. It was breathtaking. Pure white stone covered most of the surface, but veins of clear quartz flowed through it. The quartz caught the light and held it, as if silently proclaiming ¡®I am here!¡¯ The veins all seemed to run through its flesh and meet in the center of the statue¡¯s chest, between the small pair of perfectly-sculpted breasts. They were slowly rising and falling with the stone woman¡¯s chest, and Seph felt a sudden urge to trace every one of those glowing lines of stone with her lips. She wanted to kiss up the glowing crystal until she could work her way to the museum-worthy mouth. She was idly wondering if it would be worth trying to bite the stone bottom lip when she realized the horny-hungry sensation had been pulsing through her stronger and stronger. Her hand had slipped down beneath the blanket, and was crossing her stubbly mons before she realized. She jerked it back. The cot grumbled at her, probably irritated that she was getting it wet. And she was naked. In a room with nothing but a thin plaid blanket separating her from a statuesque goddess of a woman. Who was also nude. And Seph was wet. What the hell? More Faerieland fuck-magic? She glanced back at the entrancing figure on the rough stone chair. She felt a faint pulse of lust and hunger and looked away again, blushing. Well the Fae were always supposed to be beautiful and bewitching. Okay. So. Fae woman¡­ Snoring like an avalanche in the room where- No. Fae Lady. Respecting honorifics is probably a good way not to die. She grimaced. That was going to be sticky. She¡¯d sworn not to kneel to anyone who hadn¡¯t earned it, and she wasn¡¯t about to break that vow. But¡­ Being able to smash Seph into a very small stain on the floor probably counted as earning her respect. By that logic, Emily has ¡®earned our respect¡¯ Seph bit back a growl and pushed the whole line of thought away. Instead, she focused on her surroundings. Cinderblock walls, painted white. Plaster ceiling, also painted white. Four chairs, against the wall opposite the door. Three small cots of varying make and age. A rickety table stood at the foot of each cot. Hers held a charred lighter and a small red-orange crystal. She sat up to get a better look, quiet, so she wouldn¡¯t wake up the statue sleeping in the stone chair. Immediately, there was an awful screech as the cot took its opportunity to ruin her plan. The horrendous[2] screaming of tortured metal awoke the other occupant of the small room. Seph stared, dumbfounded over at the beautiful marble statue now sitting bolt upright in a rough stone chair. The statue stared back. It should be noted at this point that many people have had staring contests with statues. Usually, they are either terminally bored or suicidally stubborn. It¡¯s quite difficult to win a staring contest with an inanimate object, and those who do invariably cheat. In this case, Seph won the staring contest because the statue collapsed into a fit of giggles. Seph¡¯s mind went into overdrive. Okay! So. Talking beautiful fae angel statue. Well, giggling statue. Be polite! What did Dad say about meeting one? To never thank an elf, never break your word of honor, and never break a rule of hospitality. Shit. Does not introducing myself count as a lapse? ¡°My¡­ lady.¡± Seph ground out the honorific, then did her best to switch to a polite tone. ¡°Please allow me to introduce myself. I¡¯m Se- Persephone Evans, and I fell into your realm a short time ago.¡± The giggles had given way to guffaws, pure raucous expressions of mirth that echoed around the small room. Not good ¡°My lady,¡± The honorific didn¡¯t quite feel like spitting broken glass that time, but it was still difficult. ¡°If I have offended you, I apologize. I meant no offence and am unfamiliar with the customs of faerieland.¡± The statue wiped a¡­ tear? Bit of grit? From its- Her. From her eye and struggled to get herself under control. Seph shifted uncomfortably and the cot snickered at her. ¡°No. No you¡¯re¡­ you¡¯re fine. I¡¯m sorry I just. You looked so serious.¡± The probably-not-a-faerie said. ¡°Is that a problem?¡± Seph was cautious, tense, looking for the trap. ¡°No I just. I haven¡¯t heard that one before. I¡¯ve had The Talk with three or four people and they usually either assume I¡¯m a monster or an angel.¡± She returned Seph¡¯s quizzical look with a smile that made her insides melt a little and the hunger-arousal throb. ¡°You¡¯re not in Faerieland, Persephone. You¡¯re on Earth.¡± [1] That isn¡¯t saying much ¨C as a whole, cots are cruel, petty bastards whose only joy is the suffering of those unlucky enough to be relegated to one. Better to sleep on the ground than risk sleeping atop a carnivorous and rickety monster. [2] And overly dramatic Chapter 2, Part 2 - Expectations Seph stared for a moment, but too many things had been the same. It made sense. Except that it doesn¡¯t. ¡°Since when is Earth overrun with angry leaf monsters?¡± The woman in front of her met her raised eyebrow with a marble grin. ¡°30 years ago. We think. I dunno, I got back about four years back.¡± ¡°¡¯Back¡¯? As in, you were on Earth before?¡± ¡°Yeah! I was a coed! Sophomore in sociology at WMU! Ah, such a simple time¡­¡± She made a dramatic gesture and sighed ¡®dreamily¡¯ off into the middle distance. Seph regarded the six-foot-tall stone goddess in front of her with incredulity. ¡°You? Went to college?¡± The woman giggled again. ¡°I wasn¡¯t always made of marble. Most of us come back different. I figured you¡¯d get that, with the horns and all.¡± Confusion pushed her incredulity aside. ¡°Horns?¡± The girl tapped her forehead with a marble finger. ¡°You didn¡¯t know?¡± Seph felt at her own forehead. It felt normal enough, albeit slightly warmer than usual. She went to smooth her black pixie cut back and stopped. Sure enough, twin horns now protruded from her forehead, just below the hairline. They were short and dull, maybe an inch long and twice that across. They felt smooth against her questing fingers. ¡°What the fuck?¡± She tried to pull them off, and it felt as if she were attempting to yank her head off. Frantically, she tugged harder. She felt the panic pouring through her, rising and washing away all rational thought as she tried to yank the foreign things- Warm, smooth hands gently stopped hers. Marble fingers unwrapped her shaking digits from the bony nubs, and held Seph¡¯s hands. Warmth seemed to spill into her from the touch. Her turbulent thoughts stilled and she looked up at the troll, now holding her hands. The woman gave a sympathetic nod. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I would have tried to break it to you a little more gently. You¡¯re not human anymore. You¡¯re-¡° She stopped and gave Seph a once-over, eyes lingering on her chest. Seph realized her blanket had slipped below her breasts and extricated her hands to snatch it back up, blushing.Stolen story; please report. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I don¡¯t know what you are. What does your status say?¡± Seph gave her a blank look. ¡°My status? Like a video game?¡± ¡°Yeah! Didn¡¯t you see the notifications? Little blinking dots around the edges of your vision?¡± ¡°Why would my HUD have a video-game status screen on it?¡± It was the statue¡¯s turn to raise an eyebrow. ¡°HUD? From what? You don¡¯t have any internal tech or you¡¯d be dead.¡± Seph stared. ¡°My helmet?¡± The woman stared back, silent. Seph raised a hand to tap it and hit her bare cheek. This time, the blush was crimson and burned all the way down to her chest. The cot chuckled creakily as she crossed her arms over her body protectively. ¡°Right. My helmet, which¡­ I¡¯m not¡­ wearing¡­¡± The woman stifled a grin and nodded. ¡°Just will your status to appear. Don¡¯t overthink it. I¡¯ll help walk you through it.¡± Instead of complying, Seph searched her face. ¡°Why are you helping me?¡± When she realized how that sounded, she hastily amended, ¡°I mean, I¡¯m grateful and I would have died without you taking me here but why do more? What do you get out of it?¡± The statue seemed to mull this over for a bit. ¡°When I stumbled back into the world, I was found by an adventurer who was an old hand at the Talk and didn¡¯t particularly give a damn about our mental health. He had the whole thing down to a two-paragraph speech that he rattled off and then pushed us on our merry way. Asshole.¡± She gave Seph a sardonic grin and continued. ¡°My head was spinning, and I missed most of it. I had to figure out how to survive on my own. Luckily, I¡¯m made of rock and these new bodies come bundled up with a whole new set of instincts. I survived. Barely. And I swore I wouldn¡¯t do that to anybody. I stay with newbies until they¡¯ve figured themselves out. Pay it forward, you know?¡± Seph tried to digest this and nodded, slowly. She was having a hard time focusing. She was hungry and the nude beauty across the room was not helping. The nude beauty looked a little embarrassed, and muttered. ¡°Plus, you¡¯re cute.¡± Seph grinned and hugged herself a little tighter. ¡°Says the 6-foot statue of a goddess, who insists on lounging around naked¡± The woman¡­ blushed? Maybe it was just the light, but her cheeks seemed to be a bit more grey-green than white for a moment. She knocked on her stomach. The click of stone on stone echoed around the room. ¡°When your skin is made of rock, clothes just break too easy. Plus, we¡¯re on the edge of nowhere. There aren¡¯t many people who bother coming this way, so why bother with modesty.¡± That made sense. ¡°Are you alone here?¡± ¡°Naw, there¡¯s Ian but he¡¯s a harmless drunk. He¡¯s the Guild contact out here.¡± ¡°Guild contact?¡± ¡°Oh! Yeah, the Adven-¡° The troll¡¯s reply was cut off by Seph¡¯s stomach, which was making its emptiness known. The stone woman giggled. ¡°Okay, enough chit-chat. We need to get you food. You haven¡¯t eaten in days.¡± Seph nodded, although the giggles had sent certain parts of the statuesque beauty jiggling, which had made her arousal feel a little more pressing. ¡°I¡¯m starving.¡± Seph looked over the troll woman cautiously. ¡°Uh, do you have any food for squishy people?¡± She nodded. ¡°We do. Ian¡¯s an Elf, so we have some food for him. I¡¯m not sure that¡¯s going to help though.¡± ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°I have my reasons. Lets see what you are, to find out what kind of grub you need.¡± Seph looked at the blinking dots in the corner of her vision and hesitated. She knew they weren¡¯t messages from Emily. There was no reason to be afraid of them, but she still shied away. Status. She saw the flicker of something in the air in front of her, and then the world greyed out. Chapter 2, Part 3 - Limbo ¡°¡¯I¡¯ll walk you through it.¡¯ Great. So where the hell are you, rock lady?¡± I really need to ask her name. Seph looked around. She was sitting on a grey expanse beneath a grey sky. The silhouettes of grey trees flickered oddly around her, sketchy afterimages without any substance. In front of her, a polished wooden tray sat. Aside from the faint blush to her pale skin, the tray and its contents were the only colour in this odd, grey world. She could feel the bite of frost on her skin, but the air wasn¡¯t actually cold. It wasn¡¯t warm, either. A total lack of temperature caressed her with still silence. Seph looked around wildly. In a new place again. Ripped away just as she thought she might have begun to get a handle on things. There didn¡¯t seem to be anything around her. There was just grey. Before her crossed legs, the tray sat. A blue sphere, a gold sphere, and a silver sphere. Their respective colours swirled under the surface like the technicolor glimmer of soap bubbles. Between them, in a little divot, sat an acorn. Okay. So, in a grey nothing, with three options. Three obvious options, anyway. Maybe four. The acorn is unlike the others, so it is the obvious first choice. Hmmm... but obvious doesn''t mean best. I''ll ignore the acorn for now. She looked for clues as to what each orb signified. They seemed identical, apart from their colours. Seph picked up the tray, to see if there was anything written underneath it. Nothing. She hated this. It was obviously an important choice, but there were no clues but the colour. And there¡¯s no guarantee that the colours mean the same thing to me as whatever system I¡¯m in. She would just have to make a choice and live with the consequences. She would not be trapped again, even by her own indecision. Seph reached out and tried to pick up the gold sphere. As soon as her fingers touched the golden, shimmering surface, the orb popped. It shattered into a swirling vortex of golden light that flowed into her fingers where she¡¯d touched it.
10 Universal Skill Points Aquired.
She braced to be taken somewhere other than the grey, but nothing else seemed to happen. She poked at the box hanging in midair in front of her, then glanced at the unchanged wooden tray. ¡°Huh. Not a choice, then.¡± Are all of these for me? Seph tapped the silver orb, and it too dissolved into a light show that she absorbed.
You have gained a unique class trait!
Class Trait: Runesmith
Okay¡­ So basically, my special unique world-breaking cheat is enchanting. I can work with that. Probably? But it says ''class trait'', not class. It''s been a while since I played any sort of role-playing game but I remember traits being things that modified weapons or people. Let me have a look. Status. Nothing happened. ¡°Status?¡± Seph looked for the notifications that she''d seen around the edges of her vision, but there was nothing there. She did see flickering shadows out of the corners of her eyes, but she was fairly sure those were just the strange silhouette trees. She didn''t see anything when she turned to look, in any case. Seph shrugged and tapped the blue orb.
You have been sent a guide companion.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.
What shape will your companion take?
Fairy Imp Abyssal nymph
Dragonfly Raven Wisp
???
The list went on and on, but to be honest, Seph stopped reading. Too many choices were overwhelming, and she already knew which one she wanted. It was a little cliche, but she loved the image. She mentally made her selection and the box disappeared. Seph looked around. ¡°Hello? Magical guide companion?¡± The grey nothing continued to be grey nothing. I couldn¡¯t access my status either. I must be somewhere else. Or maybe frozen in time or something? The wooden tray sat before her. The acorn was the last thing on it. She tapped it.
You are a Template Seed. Template Seeds are given the opportunity to shape the progression paths of their species on their world.
Species: Succubus
[Okay]
¡°What?¡± Dread was a lump in the pit of Seph¡¯s stomach. She reached up hesitantly and touched her horns. Seph wasn¡¯t Christian, but she knew what a succubus was. A demon. A creature of sin and lust, who existed to tempt and corrupt others. That was what the boxes wanted her to be? At least it explained the persistent arousal that followed her even here in the grey void. She wanted to deny it. She wanted to scream and throw the box away from her, but she could feel it in her bones. This wasn¡¯t a request. It wasn¡¯t an option. She was a succubus. Panic welled, and she clenched her fists. Calm. As. still water. Again she forced it down. She knew that it would erupt soon if she didn¡¯t deal with it, but she didn¡¯t want to make important decisions in a panic and regret them later. Okay. So. I¡¯m a¡­ I¡¯m a succubus. Rad. She hit the okay button and a new box formed in front of her.
Succubus universal species traits:
Drain others through sexual contact. Cannot gain magic-related class traits.
Reproduce via conversion. Are sustained by Essence but cannot generate it.
What would you like your variant of succubi to drain to produce essence?
What focus would you like your variant of succubi to have?
Almost as soon as this box appeared, it was overshadowed by an angry red box.
Fatal Error: Trait Incompatibility
The air seemed to ripple in the void. She looked around, and it was as if the vast expanse of before had been shrunk into a bubble. She could just catch a glimpse outside it, huge shadows of incomprehensible beings just out of reach. She shuddered and looked down at the acorn. She wasn¡¯t touching it anymore, but it was quivering in place. The grey expanse around her, too, had changed. It felt¡­ deeper. Stranger. As if something else was inside it and glimmering just where she couldn¡¯t see it. She felt an overwhelming sense of dread and wonder. Everything around her felt alien, and the longer it went on the more the feeling built until the tension in the air chimed like a wineglass. All at once, the feelings vanished. She was surrounded by the same dull grey void, now comforting in its emptiness and familiarity. ¡°What the fuck was that?¡± The boxes in front of her wavered and the red one was replaced with a calming grey.
Incompatibility resolved. Some options and class traits have been altered.
After a moment, a new window popped up. This one was entirely unlike the others, and held a script in a language she did not recognize. She could understand it. Somehow. But it hurt her eyes to read.
Persephone Evans, you have been afforded an¡­ interesting opportunity. Normally, the bounds of traits are inviolate. By obtaining two incompatible traits, you have created a fault in the System. Normally, you would have been destroyed to remove the fault. This has been prevented. The debt will be called upon. The Succubus and Runesmith traits have been altered to have synergy.
That was ominous as hell. She felt whispers of rage begin to curl against her self control. ¡°The debt will be called upon. Just fucking great. Out of one cage, into another.¡± Neither the landscape nor the floating boxes had any answers for her. As she tried to calm herself, a mostly familiar message popped up.
Succubus universal species traits:
Drain others through sexual contact. Cannot gain magic-related class traits.
Reproduce via conversion. Are sustained by Essence but cannot generate it.
Your Template Seed options have been selected and locked, to resolve a fatal error.
As soon as she had read the last word, a sense of vertigo washed over the succubus. She screwed her eyes shut as colour and detail returned to the world. Chapter 2, Part 4 - Change is Good for the Soul? Sound returned with the rustle of leaves and clatter of metal. The troll sitting across from Seph leaned forward eagerly. ¡°So?¡± ¡°What do you-¡± Seph doubled over. Pain radiated out from her core, from her head, from her spine. Fire spread over her skin until every cell in her body was burning. The agony ripped out of her chest in a tortured scream that echoed from the cinderblock walls and hummed in the springs of the cot. The woman was beside her, holding Seph¡¯s shoulders. She was saying something, but the words were far away. Something pushed her hands away from her head and she gripped the curved horns tightly. Eventually, the pain receded. With a faint twang that traveled through her body, the memory of it disappeared as well. She looked up at the concerned faces looking down at her. One was the familiar marble visage of beauty, and the other a man, gently pickled in alcohol and summer sun. What? ¡°Um hi, you must be Ian?¡± The worried stares continued for a moment, before the man spoke. ¡°Jesus Christ that was unsettling.¡± ¡°Persephone, are you all right?¡± The troll was holding Seph by her bare shoulders, and she felt warmth pouring into her from the contact. Unconsciously she leaned into the touch. ¡°Yeah? I¡¯m fine. Why are you looking at me like that?¡± ¡°No pain, no discomfort?¡± ¡°I¡¯m really hungry.¡± ¡°Right. Skin shouldn''t ripple like....¡± Ian wandered out the door, shuddering. The troll- ¡°Hey, what¡¯s your name?¡± The stone woman shot her a faintly suspicious look and sat back, dropping her arms with a clink. ¡°I¡¯m Cassie. Cassie Lane. Are you sure you¡¯re okay?¡± ¡°Yes! Why do you keep asking me that?¡± ¡°You screamed. Loudly.¡± ¡°It was fecking horrifying.¡± Ian entered the room again, now holding a battered tin camping bowl. He was holding it through a small blanket, and fragrant steam wafted into the air. It smelled of a rich, meaty stew, and Seph accepted the bowl gratefully. She spread the blanket over her legs for an added layer of protection and set the bowl down. The cot grumbled with poor grace, and underneath it a wisp of red light shivered. ¡°Thank you! Wow this smells really good!¡± Ian beamed, but Cassie threw him a cautioning glance. ¡°Ian, I don¡¯t think that¡¯s such a good idea.¡± ¡°Nonsense, she¡¯s been asleep for a day, and you found her bleeding half to death. Some stew will do her good.¡± The man handed her an equally battered spoon and sat on one of the wooden chairs. ¡°Eat up, girl.¡± ¡°I¡¯m Seph.¡± She smiled at him, holding a bite of stew to cool. ¡°Ian McAlester, at your service.¡± The elf gave her a wobbly bow, which let her see his pointed ears. ¡°Eat!¡± ¡°Seph, that may not-¡° Cassie stopped speaking as Seph put the bite in her mouth. It was still a little too hot, but she was hungry. It was good! The chunk of potato burned her mouth a little, but she persevered past the pain. She could taste herbs and the rich, thick texture that is the hallmark of an excellent stew. Seph paused. The potato in her mouth wasn¡¯t food. When Seph had been in high school, she had played the saxophone for a semester in marching band. She had spent countless hours with a reed in her mouth. She¡¯d actually come to enjoy the taste, but it wasn¡¯t food. The stew was the same way. Every instinct she had was telling her that the savoury fare currently delighting her taste buds was as edible as plastic. She swallowed anyway and immediately gagged. Her body was not happy with this decision. ¡°What?¡± She stared down at the stew, doing her best to keep the spoonful down. ¡°Did you put something in this?¡± ¡°I just had a bowl of it myself.¡± Ian was staring at her, confused, but Cassie just looked resigned. She gently took the bowl from Seph and leaned back to put it on the last remaining empty chair. Seph looked her over suspiciously, ignoring the fresh wave of arousal that blossomed when her eyes strayed south of the troll¡¯s face. ¡°How did you know that was going to happen?¡± ¡°Seph, we describe the history of people returning to Earth in terms of Waves. The First Wave was the biggest. Lots of humans were returned to the empty Earth in a single moment. We don¡¯t know how many, because long-range communications were gone, but I¡¯ve heard people estimate that 5% of the population were returned on that day. They kept trickling in, too, all over the world. "People thought that was the end of it, but then the Second Wave happened. A few, then hundreds, then thousands of people came back as elves. That wasn¡¯t so bad, they were basically humans with pointy ears.¡±Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Ian harrumphed at this but kept quiet otherwise. Underneath the cot, the red glow had turned to orange. ¡°People didn¡¯t stop coming back as humans, it¡¯s just that some people were coming back human, some people were coming back as elves.¡± ¡°Dwarves weren¡¯t that different either, but some minor differences had started to show up. Almost all dwarves have agoraphobia and die in the sunlight. A lot of dwarves still die in the first few minutes. They come back in the open and burn before they know what¡¯s happening.¡± ¡°Trolls, too. But you came later.¡± ¡°We did. Before us were the beastkin, people with animal traits. Then the trolls, with our stone bodies. Do you see the pattern?¡± Cassie sat and let Seph think. Let¡¯s see. Human, Elf, Dwarf, Beastkin, Troll. Shit. I see it. ¡°Each wave gets further and further away from human.¡± Cassie nodded, and Ian looked glum. ¡°It¡¯s a theory. It isn¡¯t popular, but that¡¯s mostly because people don¡¯t want it to be true. Especially after the Deep Trolls¡­¡± Ian trailed off with a shudder, and Cassie shot him a look that Seph couldn¡¯t read. ¡°We¡¯ll talk about subraces later, but you get the picture. I think you¡¯re something new, Persephone. And you look pretty human on the outside, so that means that there most be some big changes on the inside.¡± Seph looked down at her hands. They now looked like they¡¯d been dipped in black ink up past her elbow. They hadn''t been that way before she''d been in the grey void. Other than that, they looked more or less human. ¡°Seph,¡± Cassie entreated softly, ¡°What species are you?¡± Seph¡¯s eyes remained glued to her fingers, although now it was more to avoid Cassie¡¯s gaze. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ The boxes said I¡¯m a succubus.¡± Air hissed out between Ian¡¯s teeth. ¡°Ouch.¡± Cassie punched his leg, and although she didn¡¯t put much force in the blow, the elf still yelped in pain. ¡°That would explain why stew wouldn¡¯t satisfy your needs.¡± The troll¡¯s tone was careful. Ian snorted. ¡°True enough. We¡¯re your food.¡± ¡°Ian!¡± He dodged the punch this time. Cassie never moved particularly quickly. ¡°Persephone, could you double check for me?¡± Seph nodded. Status.
Status
Name: Persephone Evans Age: 26
Traits
Runeweaver Succubus Essence Runesmith N/A
Level 1 Level 1 N/A
Pools
Health: N/A Mana: N/A
Essence: 6 Essence Consumption: 1/hour
Seph felt tears pricking at the corners of her eyes and she tried to fight them off. She glared at the status screen. ¡°I don¡¯t want to be a succubus.¡± That was stupid. Childish. But there it was. She examined her hand again. Where the ink-black met milk-white, it fragmented off into vaguely symbol-like shapes that spiraled smaller and smaller up to her shoulder. The hand was slightly more slender than she remembered, and was missing the scar from when she had burned herself on a hot engine in high school. It wasn¡¯t her hand. And yet it was. She touched her now-slightly-longer horns and hugged her arms over a slightly-enlarged bust. Her body was different. It wasn¡¯t the body she was familiar with, but all of her instincts were telling her that it was hers. ¡°But apparently what I want doesn¡¯t matter.¡± Bitter. The words were so bitter they curled her lip as she spat them. She forced herself to breathe. Calm water. When her shaking was under control, Cassie pushed softly. ¡°Persephone, what did your status say? What species are you?¡± Seph blinked. Right. ¡°I don¡¯t see any species section, but I have this trait called ¡®Runeweaver Succubus¡¯. Runeweaver?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, that¡¯s just your subrace. Everyone has one. I¡¯m a High Troll, Ian¡¯s a Hill Elf.¡± ¡°Wait, don¡¯t traits modify other things?¡± Ian laughed. ¡°Yeah. You.¡± Cassie was more helpful. She crossed her legs and gazed at the ceiling thoughtfully. ¡°Everyone has three ¡®trait¡¯ slots. One is your race, two are your classes. I don¡¯t know why, it¡¯s an awkward system. But you level in each of them separately.¡± Ian cut the tutorial short, just as a red notification went off in the corner of her vision. She ignored it to focus on the elf. ¡°So. We know what you are, but that doesn¡¯t tell us the most important thing¡±, He leaned in, ¡°You¡¯re going to need to feed off people. Is that a party someone can live through?¡± When the elf mentioned feeding off people, Seph felt the hunger deep inside her throb harder. She hugged her stomach tightly. At some point the blanket had fallen below her breasts again, but she didn¡¯t care. Her nipples were achingly hard, and between their stiff points and her flushed cheeks, the others could clearly see what state she was in. She tried to focus. ¡°Umm. Is there a way to find that out without actually¡­ fucking?¡± The two beings sitting across from Seph nodded in counterpoint. Cassie uncrossed her long, perfectly-sculpted legs and leaned forward. She was saying something, but Seph was very distracted. She wondered how the marble lips tasted, if they would pull into her mouth when she kissed up the smooth stone labia. Her mouth was watering, and she realized her hand was creeping between her own thighs when she was brought back to the moment by some loud snapping in her face. ¡°You all right there, Seph?¡± Cassie was so close. Seph caught her hand. Warmth spilled into her from the touch and she shivered. The heat collected in her core and dripped downwards. She pressed the hand to her cheek and moaned softly with the pleasure that touch engendered. The heat was building inside her and she was having a really hard time resisting¡­ what? What was she resisting again? She put one of the delicate fingers to her lips. It was so smooth, and warmer than she thought stone should be. She sucked it into her mouth. It felt so good against her tongue, and she spent a moment enjoying the sensation of a warm glow sliding down her throat. The pleasure buzzed across her nerves and she sucked the digit, teasing it with her tongue. The finger was pulled from her mouth, much to her displeasure. ¡°Persephone. Seph. Seph!¡± Seph looked up muzzily. ¡°Hmm?¡± Ian and Cassie exchanged a glance. ¡°Damn, she¡¯s really far gone.¡± Cassie scooted back in her seat, looking off into the air in front of her. ¡°Ian, I don¡¯t see any changes to my status. Except I¡¯m one point of mana down. If that¡¯s all she¡¯s taking, then I¡¯ll be fine. If not¡­ Sweetheart, I need you to focus for me.¡± Seph tried. She really did, but lust was raging through her. The stew hadn¡¯t been food, but the six-foot-two marble goddess in front of her- The woman, currently looking so concerned and quite a bit aroused herself- Was. Chapter 3, Part 1 - A Skilled Affair Seph surfaced slowly, as if being pulled back to her body through an ocean of warm honey. Sweet warmth coiled through her, satisfaction humming along every nerve. Her hips were cocked a little oddly, so she shifted her seat to get a little more comfortable. The motion ground her thigh against something warm and wet, drawing a throaty sigh from beneath her. Something sent a whisper of warmth up her thigh and into her core. The succubus stretched; her own sigh satisfied- And then realization hit her like an oncoming truck. Seph scrambled back, scraping her tail on the edge of the cot. The string of expletives followed her all the way to the other side of the grumbling cot. Cassie¡¯s confusion quickly sharpened to understanding and she seemed to search the air, reading words only she could see. Ian appeared to be torn between hovering between them and staying out of reach. He was holding a smooth wooden bow with a rough arrow nocked. He hadn¡¯t drawn the arrow, but it was very decidedly not pointed away from Seph. She covered herself with the flannel blanket. It wasn¡¯t much protection, but she wasn¡¯t doing it to protect herself from the arrows anyway. Inside her flimsy aegis, guilt pooled like wet clay. It hardened every second, slowly suffocating her. Outside her shelter, silence hung even heavier in the air, broken only by the shuffle of Ian¡¯s sandaled feet. Seph stared at them to avoid looking at anything else. There was something fundamentally wrong about an elf wearing Crocs, even battered pink ones. Cassie¡¯s tired giggle shattered the silence. Seph flinched back from it. ¡°Well, if you¡¯re going to steal my bones every time you get hungry we might be in for a rough time.¡± The arrow in Ian¡¯s bow inched backwards, and Seph found her gaze glued to it instead of his odd footwear. She wouldn¡¯t be able to dodge if he shot her. She wasn¡¯t sure how she¡¯d survived the wounds that the leaf monster had inflicted on her, but she was pretty sure that an arrow at point-blank range would end her. Ian¡¯s voice had a hard edge to it that passed the euphoric High Troll by. ¡°Your bones?¡± ¡°Yup. I got no bones left. All gone. No bones. Christ. Where did you put them?¡± The bow creaked ominously in Ian¡¯s grip and Cassie finally noticed it. She clarified. ¡°I¡¯m fine. Bottomed out on mana but no status effects and my skills are fine. Ian, look, I¡¯m fine.¡± She stood, wobbling a little. Ian zeroed in on her shaky stance and gave her an unconvinced look. ¡°Fine? You can barely stand!¡± ¡°Good fuck, shaky legs. It happens. I¡¯m fine. Ian, can you get me a drink?¡± Cassie pointedly turned to Seph, leaving Ian to make his hesitant way out the door. ¡°Tell me it helped.¡± Seph nodded mutely. The hunger wasn¡¯t burning through her anymore. She didn¡¯t feel full ¨C not by any stretch ¨C but she could think clearly and jumbled hints of memory were starting to flicker up to the surface. Cassie¡¯s smooth neck on her lips. The girl¡¯s desperate, throaty moans as she came on Seph¡¯s thigh. Those memories hurt, however, because of the fragments that had sent her reeling across the small room. ¡°Seph wait. We need to make sure it¡¯s safe before we-¡° ¡°Seph wait-¡° ¡°Oh, fuck it. Mmf~¡± She winced again. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± She whispered now, pulling the blanket closer around her. Cassie frowned and Seph dropped her gaze. ¡°It didn¡¯t help? You¡¯re still hungry?¡± ¡°No! I¡¯m- I¡¯m fine. I feel a lot better but I¡¯m sorry.¡± ¡°Sorry? That was awesome! I haven¡¯t gotten laid in¡­ hell, years?¡± Seph searched Cassie¡¯s confused face and tried to keep her eyes on the High Troll. ¡°I think my memory is a little messed up. I don¡¯t remember much after you told me about the trait system. But uh. Didn¡¯t you ask me to stop?¡± No luck. She¡¯d ended up staring at her hands, hiding under unsuspecting flannel. Her ink-black hands. Changed without her consent. Without her consent. Her- She flinched away from that thought. ¡°I mean¡­ I guess? It was a lot of fun though! I don¡¯t mind a bit! And it worked out, right? I¡¯m fine.¡± The High Troll giggled a stony giggle and stretched. ¡°Hell, I¡¯m better than fine.¡±A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. Seph shivered. She doesn¡¯t mind, so it¡¯s fine. That didn¡¯t seem right, pressure was how Emily had- She¡¯s well fucked and happy, so there¡¯s no problem. Something still felt a little off, but Cassie had finished luxuriating in the pleasure of taut muscles. She accepted a mug of something that looked and smelled like water but fizzed when a stray drop hit his hand. He sat down next to her and sipped something that smelled strongly of fermented beets. He kept a wary eye flicking between the two women. He had not offered a drink to Seph, but she didn¡¯t very much blame him. She tried to relax, letting the blanket stray from its current fortress position. ¡°So?¡± ¡°So what?¡± ¡°What does your status say?¡± The Elf and the High Troll leaned forward towards her, eagerly. ¡°Right! Uh.¡± Status.
Status
Name: Persephone Evans Age: 26
Traits
Runeweaver Succubus N/A
Level 1 N/A
Pools
Health: N/A Mana: N/A
Essence: 18 Essence Consumption: 1.5/hour
¡°I¡¯m up to eighteen essence. But my consumption has gone up. That¡¯s odd.¡± ¡°Essence? I¡¯ve never heard of that. What is your mana up to?¡± Seph bit her lip. ¡°I don¡¯t have any.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°It says N slash A. Not Available? Not Applicable?¡± ¡°That can¡¯t be right.¡± Ian stared at her, drink forgotten. Cassie looked thoughtful, and Seph pulled her blanket up tight around her neck again. She had let it fall around her shoulders, but under their scrutiny, she was reminded that she was completely naked. ¡°I don¡¯t have any health either. Just Essence and Essence consumption.¡± ¡°Mostly human on the outside, big changes on the inside.¡± Ian shot Cassie a sour look and grumbled. ¡°Well, that confirms that. Even the Bashers have health and mana.¡± ¡°Ian.¡± Cassie¡¯s voice was warning, but it was a half-hearted warning. It was the kind of voice that said ¡®We¡¯ve already had the rest of this argument and this isn¡¯t the time.¡¯ ¡°Deep Trolls are just like us. They used to be human, too.¡± She leaned forward. ¡°What I¡¯m more interested in is this ¡®Essence Consumption¡¯. You said it had gone up?¡± ¡°Yeah. I think I was at one essence an hour, and now I¡¯m eating one and a half¡­ essences?¡± ¡°Generally, we say ¡®points of health¡¯ or mana so ¡®points of essence¡¯ makes sense. But it sounds like you have essence as a shared resource. Check your skills.¡± ¡°Think ¡®skills and descriptions¡¯¡± interjected Ian. ¡°The System gives you bupkis unless you ask¡± Okay. I feel like a kindergartener being taught how to drive a car. Clueless. Skills and descriptions.
Universal Skill Points: 10
Runeweaver Succubus Skills
Skill Points: 0
Runecraft You will know the meaning of any runes that you create or come across.
Natural Ink Your body generates ink.
Everybody¡¯s Type You are the kind of being that everybody wouldn¡¯t mind fucking.
Essence Conversion: Mana You naturally convert any mana you absorb into essence.
Sexual Siphon: Mana You siphon mana from others with sexual contact
[LOCKED] A reminder of a debt owed.
Borrowed Familiar Skills
Mental Malleability You and those you siphon are more susceptible to mental manipulation and are less likely to object to it.
There was enough there that she felt kind of overwhelmed, but she focused on the two skills that seemed relevant. She blinked the box away. ¡°It looks like I have two skills that are applicable, and they just mean that I suck mana from people with sexual contact, and any mana I siphon is converted to essence¡± ¡°Just mana?¡± Ian still seemed a little tense. ¡°Looks that way¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m bottomed out.¡± Cassie seemed to be slowly coming down from her post-orgasmic high. ¡°I¡¯ll need to stay inside today. Sorry, Ian.¡± The elf shook his head, then cracked a small grin at his companion. ¡°We can swap days; you can patrol tomorrow and the next day.¡± The High Troll let out a groan, then shot a wry smile over at Seph. ¡°Worth it, I suppose. Anyway, it¡¯s not like you can feed our new friend.¡± Ian huffed. ¡°Don¡¯t start this again. I¡¯m perfectly happy without any caster classes. Anyway, if I forsaked... Forsoked? Forsook? If I dropped Innkeeper, who would make you troll beer, hmm? The bickering seemed companionable, and Ian seemed soothed by the familiar rhythm to it. From the occasional glances Cassie sent his way, it seemed to Seph that that was the point. Just as they were settling in, though, (and Ian was on his third drink) he scrambled back out of his chair, fumbling for his bow. Cassie followed his gaze and jumped back out of her chair. Her mass meant that she was always a little slow to move, and she fell the to ground with an earthen thump. ¡°Seph, don¡¯t move.¡± Ian nocked an arrow and was sighting at her cot. For a moment, Seph thought he was about to put the wretched thing out of its misery, but he sank to one knee and aimed below her. ¡°Uh, Ian? Please don¡¯t aim near me when you¡¯re three drinks in.¡± ¡°Persephone, there is a dragon under your cot.¡± Chapter 3, Part 2 - Synergy and Syzygy The world seemed to be conspiring against Seph finding her balance again. She froze part of the way through leaping off her cot. ¡°Are dragons under the bed something you have to deal with a lot these days?¡± Ian shook his head, eyes still fixed on something out of her sight. ¡°Generally, if someone is in a room their passive mana absorption prevents the formation of sprites.¡± ¡°Sprite-?¡° Seph¡¯s question was cut off by an annoyed huff, from a small voice that she didn¡¯t recognize. ¡°I am not a sprite. I am a bound companion.¡± Everyone in the room jumped a little, and Cassie finally managed to make it to her feet. ¡°Everyone else heard the gecko talk, right?¡± Cassie sounded incredulous. The ¡®gecko¡¯ in question hopped up onto the foot of Seph¡¯s cot, and she was momentarily taken aback by the beautiful purple of its scales. It was 18 inches from snout to spaded tail, and when it stretched its wings, she saw that the membranes of its wings were a pale gold. ¡°I am the bound companion of Persephone. Please stop pointing your weapon near her.¡± Tiny scales bristling, the dragon kept her focus on the elf. He glanced at the succubus, gaze questioning. ¡°Do you know anything about this?¡± Seph¡¯s mind went blank. Everything kept happening so fast and so much and she just needed- ¡°Could everyone just stop for a minute?¡± Still water. She kept her breathing deep and slow, pushing the world out of her awareness for a moment. She tried to remember a dragon in the forest, in her hammock, in the room with Cassie, and came up with nothing. Then she remembered and felt like an idiot. ¡°Oh! Yes. But no, in the grey void I was told I could get a companion, but I picked fairy. You know, like Link.¡± Seph blushed, and she idly wondered what colour her cheeks turned now. The creature met her gaze as sheepishly as a dragon could but glanced at the other two occupants of the room. ¡°I can answer that but should do so in private.¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s not happening.¡± Cassie¡¯s tone was firm, and Ian¡¯s nod seemed to echo the sentiment, but he seemed unsure about something.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°What do you mean by ¡®grey void¡¯?¡± ¡°It would be best if you did not answer that, Persephone,¡± The dragon seemed just as firm, ¡°There are many people who would take advantage of what you are.¡± That gave Seph pause. She desperately wanted to trust Cassie and Ian, but what did she really know about them? On the other hand, they had done nothing to make her doubt them, and had saved her. They patched her up after the greyhind had mauled her. And even after she had- given the troll pleasure, of course she wants to be around me. But is that all she wants? Hang on, didn¡¯t she say- ¡°The sun. Didn¡¯t you say the sun hurts trolls?¡± Seph tensed, searching Cassie¡¯s stone face for signs of deception. ¡°I saw you when I was running from the greyhind¡± Cassie looked a little hurt for a moment but straightened and ran a smooth marble finger up her other arm, tracing the line of glowing quartz from her wrist to her shoulder. Seph noted the beautiful line of her clavicle and remembered pressing her lips to the graceful curve of the other woman¡¯s neck. The newly minted succubus looked away, blushing. ¡°This new world is so full of death and disaster¡­¡± Cassie¡¯s voice was distant, thick with unspoken memories. ¡°I think the only thing that makes it worth living in is the magic.¡± The High Troll held out a hand, and a pulse of light ran from the quartz in her chest out to dance along her fingertips. It coalesced as a mote of gold-white that orbited her index finger. The light reflected off her sad smile. ¡°I know it¡¯s silly, a twenty-four-year-old woman being afraid of the dark. But it doesn¡¯t help to know that there are real monsters lurking in the shadows.¡± Another pulse of light flickered out to dance among her fingers, a bluish-white spark flickering and jittering in counterpoint to the steady gleam of gold. ¡°I was banished to those shadows, in a body I didn¡¯t recognize. Campfires keep sprites from forming, but they attract monsters.¡± Seph was curious about what she meant but didn¡¯t want to interrupt the flow. She glanced at Ian, but he was staring moodily into his drink. ¡°Even trolls need sleep, but I found myself awake all day and¡­¡± She trailed off ¡°Anyway. All trolls start with a casting trait unlocked. Stone Synergy Mage. The tooltip is garbage ¨C they all are ¨C but synergy mages are casters that have absorbed an element into themselves. They¡¯ve made themselves an extension of that element, so they can control it. Here¡¯s the trick, though.¡± She threw a cocky smirk at Seph, closing her hand around the little lights. ¡°Synergy mages can make themselves immune to damage from their element. It¡¯s crazy to watch. I¡¯ve seen an earth synergy mage get crushed by falling boulders and walk away like nothing happened. He even pulled from that rock to heal himself, putting his arm back together like that.¡± She snapped, the click of stone echoing sharply in the small room. ¡°The trick is unlocking the class. It¡¯s¡­ not a pleasant process, especially if the element you¡¯re trying to attune to is dangerous to you already. For me, it was. Absolutely worth it.¡± Cassie touched the pulsing nexus of quartz in the centre of her chest. ¡°I can walk under the sun again. I can feel her warmth on my face and I will never be lost in the dark again.¡± Suddenly, Cassie blushed grey-green. She coughed, a little, embarrassed. ¡°Look at me, back to writing bad poetry¡± Seph scrambled to find some way of reassuring the High Troll but was interrupted by her new companion. ¡°Persephone, we need to talk in private.¡± Seph wavered, then made her decision. ¡°Whatever you have to say, you can say in front of them. I trust Cassie and Ian.¡± Until they give me reasons not to. ¡°But first, do you have a name?¡± ¡°Of course, Persephone. My name is Tanya.¡± Chapter 3, Part 3 - Teetotailer ¡°Nice to meet you Tanya¡± Seph said. ¡°So. You¡¯re a dragon.¡± She usually tried not to state the obvious, but some things had to be said. The dragon winced. ¡°Technically, no. I¡¯m¡­¡± Tanya eyed Cassia and Ian. She gave a tiny shrug[1] and turned back to her mistress. ¡°I¡¯m a bound companion.¡± ¡°Okay, but what does that mean?¡± ¡°I exist to guide you. I can get more information out of the system than you can and can help you make important decisions.¡± ¡°That sounds useful as hell¡± Cassie sounded approving, and almost wistful. At some point she had sat back down and was nursing her mug. Its label said ¡®World¡¯s Best Grandpa¡¯, but seemed to be made more out of nicks and chips than pottery. ¡°You didn¡¯t get a companion?¡± ¡°Nah. Closest thing I have these days is Ian here!¡± She gave a laugh that almost sounded convincing and waved a hand at the elf. He ducked and shot her a half-hearted glare. Seph looked at the two of them ¡°Then why did I get one?¡± ¡°You are a template seed.¡± Her tone was a little incredulous, as if this were obvious. Seph felt the hot flush of embarrassment flood into her face. ¡°First of a species, you get to decide what succubi on Earth will be like.¡± ¡°Holy hell¡± Ian shook his head, long brown hair flying. He stood up. ¡°I¡¯m too sober for this. Cassie, you need anything? Seph? ¡­ Tanya?¡± Cassie shook her head and sloshed her drink around a bit to show that she still had some left. ¡°Um, yes actually. Could I please have a drink too? Wait, can I drink?¡± The elf cocked his head oddly, gaze going distant. ¡°That¡¯s weird. My ¡®Inkeeper¡¯s Intuition¡¯ Skill is giving me ¡®invalid target¡¯. But you seem to bring in the weird whatever you¡¯re doing.¡± Cassie watched him wander out, a hint of worry in her gaze. She turned back to Seph. ¡°You¡¯re the first succubus?¡± ¡°I¡­ guess so? In the grey void, it said I was a template seed, and that I would get to choose what succubi here would eat and their focus, but then it said it was chosen for me.¡± ¡°Grey void?¡± Seph explained what happened to her when she first tried to open her status. Partway through, Ian came back in with a jug and she had to start over again. Eventually, Tanya nodded, while the other two just looked stunned. ¡°Yes, I can see you¡¯re a Runeweaver Succubus and an Essence Runesmith. Looks like you¡¯re stuck with the runesmith, too. That¡¯s going to get expensive.¡± The miniature dragon looked to Cassie. ¡°How many people live in this settlement?¡± Cassie seemed to shake herself. ¡°Just us. Our own little hideaway.¡± Seph was horrified.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Oh I¡¯m so sorry if I¡¯d known you were together I wouldn¡¯t have¡­¡± Ian snorted out some of his red beverage, and Cassie guffawed. ¡°No! Hell. We aren¡¯t like that, Ian¡¯s just a friend.¡± ¡°Besides, it¡¯s not like you had any choice.¡± Tanya¡¯s spaded tail twitched, and the red dot in the corner of Seph¡¯s vision expanded.
Essence Warning
Warning: You currently have less than 5 hours of Essence. Status effect: Starvation.
¡°What does the Status Effect: Starvation mean?¡± Cassie grimaced. ¡°It¡¯s a nasty one. If you¡¯re starving, you¡¯ll do anything to get food. You¡¯re completely driven by instinct. No wonder you stole my bones.¡± She cracked a reassuring smile at the succubus and dug at Ian with her elbow. ¡°You¡¯re lucky she didn¡¯t go after you, huh Ian?¡± Ian flushed, and Seph idly noticed that his long, pointed ears flushed too. He explained to Seph. ¡°I¡¯m gay. Not that you¡¯re not pretty, I just¡­¡± He trailed off, eyes lingering on Seph¡¯s chest. She realized she¡¯d let the blanket slip again, so she covered back up. His gaze was making her uncomfortable, and she squirmed a little. ¡°Um, this is a really nice blanket, but could I ask for my clothes back?¡± ¡°Oh they¡¯re gone.¡± Ian shook his head, focusing. ¡°They were shredded by whatever beastie you fought.¡± Seph¡¯s stomach lurched, and she felt her tail curl around her legs. Why do I feel¡­ I hated that armor. It was a symbol of¡­ But she didn¡¯t feel elated, or triumphant. She felt a complicated knot of regret, longing, guilt, and sorrow. ¡°I can lend you some of my clothes til we can get you some new ones¡± Ian seemed to notice her distress and misinterpreted its source. ¡°They¡¯re men¡¯s clothes, but that¡¯s the best we can do. That lug doesn¡¯t wear anything.¡± He jerked a thumb at Cassie, who had just finished draining her mug. Seph dropped her gaze. ¡°Why are you being so kind?¡± ¡°Cassie has her reasons, but I¡¯m the waykeeper here. It¡¯s my job to welcome travelers. Well. Part of it.¡± The Elf poured himself another drink and the sound attracted Seph¡¯s gaze. He nodded to the table at the foot of Seph¡¯s cot. ¡°Besides, you have something we need.¡± Seph tensed up, and she saw Tanya do the same. Cassie waved one stone hand, though. ¡°Don¡¯t make it sound so sinister, Ian.¡± Cassie leaned forward and scooped a red crystal off the table. She held it up to the light. ¡°When you fought that sprite¡­ did you call it a greyhind? Anyway. When you fought the sprite, it dropped this. This is a mana crystal, and sprites always leave one behind when they die.¡± ¡°How did you¡­?¡± ¡°I followed your blood trail back to where you fought it. If you hadn¡¯t managed to off it, I¡¯d need to step in. Anyway. They¡¯re worth a decent amount, so you can sell them to the Guild for a bit of coin.¡± She nodded back to Ian. ¡°I¡¯d like to just tell you to sell it and make some coin that way but um¡­¡± The High Troll fidgeted uncomfortably. Ian rescued her. ¡°We¡¯re broke, is what she¡¯s trying to say. We¡¯re supposed to get a fee from people who pass through here, but nobody ever does.¡± ¡°Seph, would you mind giving us some of your income while we show you the ropes?¡± Seph expected to feel insulted by that, but honestly she felt relieved. Cassie¡¯s ¡®I don¡¯t want you to go through what I went through¡¯ speech felt too saccharine to be true. This, though? This was familiar and it reassured her. Cassie kept talking, rushing through the words as if they were burning her stone mouth. ¡°We wouldn¡¯t kick you out with nothing, though. If you want to take it and go you totally can! But if you stick around and let us show you the post-apocalyptic 101, we¡¯ll try and get you enough cash to get by once you leave¡± Seph felt her stomach lurch again. The room was spinning and she forced down the forlorn panic. Calm water, calm water. I am still water. ¡°Leave?¡± Seph hoped her calm mask was in place but couldn¡¯t stop the slight waver in her voice. What is wrong with me? ¡°Only when you want to! This is the back of beyond, I figure you¡¯ll probably¡­ need¡­ some¡­¡± Cassie trailed off. After a moment, Seph felt a cool nudge on her leg. She looked down and found Tanya nuzzling into her. ¡°What do you think?¡± Seph asked the little dragon. Dragons do not have lips. They cannot purse lips they do not have. Nonetheless, Seph was somehow sure that the little dragon in front of her was trying. ¡°It¡¯s a decent deal.¡± The dragon seemed to eye Cassie for a moment. ¡°We can leave at any time?¡± The troll nodded, and Seph took a deep breath. ¡°Okay, I¡¯m in.¡±
[1] And nobody shrugs like a creature with two sets of shoulders, but creatures with a dragon¡¯s pride generally don¡¯t.