Liminal Lewdness Ch. 11-15

Chapter 11: Magic Theory

I sat on the small wooden bench in the plain hallway. Instead of idly tapping away on the linoleum floors like they used to, my sneakers were still. I leaned onto elbows that braced on my thighs and let my head dangle to stare at the yellowed floor. Through the door behind me, I could hear muffled conversation. Bits and pieces, really, but enough that I could fill in the gaps.

"We don't know what to do," a female voice said. "Hannah never leaves her room when she's home, and I'm pretty sure the other kids at school are picking on her but we don't know for sure. She even walked out of class yesterday when the teacher tried to wish her a happy birthday. Can you believe that? She grabbed her backpack and left."

A male voice, this time. "I understand if she tenses up a little bit if I'm ever in the same room as her, but this goes so far beyond that. She isn't eating. She doesn't sleep. She doesn't go outside. Her grades are nonexistent now. The therapist, Mrs. Carmichael, says that Hannah will open up and allow herself to become vulnerable again in her own time, but it's impossible to tell when since Hannah hasn't spoken once. Not to the police, not to the doctors, not to Mrs. Carmichael, not to her teachers, not even to us. Nobody."

I idly touched my fingertips together. I hated it here. A little bit less than I hated everywhere else, but it still meant that there were expectations. I wanted to go back to the house. At least in my room, I could leave everyone else outside. There was a pause before a third voice, another male, spoke up.

"Mr. and Mrs. Vedojah, the thing to understand is that this is an extremely delicate situation that has no simple solution. I believe that all you can do at the moment is bide your time, try to ensure that Hannah feels like she's in a safe environment, and let her decide when she's ready to trust again."

"Mr. Baxton," the lady began, "it's been six months. Terrance is in prison, measures have been taken to ensure that Hannah didn't get pregnant, and we have given her every possible thing we could to make her feel safe. Nothing's working."

Mr. Baxton spoke again. "Please, I understand your concern, but trauma can be especially difficult to deal with from a young age. Most victims of rape are over twenty. Hannah was thirteen, and her experience was a violent one. None of us can even begin to imagine what's going on in her head. All we can do is let her decide the pace she wants to walk at."

Silence. Eventually, the man's voice appeared again. "We're sorry, but we can't do this anymore. A week and a half after we adopt her, she gets abducted? The police and the courts have been breathing down our necks thinking that we had something to do with it. We're out over twenty thousand in legal fees alone. I've had to pick up a second job to pay off these debts, and then we get home to a kid that won't even look at us."

"Mr. and Mrs. Vedojah, please think about-"

"We have thought about it," the woman said. "We've been thinking about it for six months. We know that it's awful to leave her after what happened, so we've been holding out for as long as we could, hoping that she'd get better, but she hasn't. We were prepared to build a home with the young orphan girl that was a little sad and quiet, but friendly. That first week was amazing. Now... Hannah isn't the girl we adopted anymore. We don't know how to care for her."

So that's what this was about. I sighed through my nose. They were doing fine- I just didn't want to deal with the people. Everywhere I went, people always looked at me like the victim. I could see it in their eyes- pity. I was the girl that got abducted, drugged, and raped. I was the one with the problem. I didn't want to deal with that. I just wanted all of this to be left behind but nobody would let it die.

The next words from Mr. Vedojah's mouth were clear even through the closed office door.

"Mr. Baxton, we're terribly sorry, but the two of us would like to revoke our adoption of Hannah Mayhew."

When sleep started to fade, nothing seemed quite right. The pillow I was cuddling didn't have the same texture. The sheets weren't the right fabric. The blanket was a bit more puffy than usual. Even myself was odd. I just felt... different. I groaned. If I was sick, that would make the Saturday inventory management a nightmare.

Maybe I could call Marcus? He was off today- I could ask him to do the inventory... Wait, no. He was attending his daughter's dance recital today. There was no way I was going to make him choose between work and family. I could still call him to let him know I'm sending little Emily the best of luck. Yeah, I'll do that and then double check to see if Brandon was available...

I cracked my eyes open and paused as my mind tried to wrap comprehension around what I was seeing. The sheets rustled as I quickly sat up and snapped my head from side to side. This wasn't my room. Instead of white drywall, it was beige wooden planks. Instead of a desk with a laptop and cluttered papers, it was a short, flat chest to hold belongings. Instead of a single light fixture in the center of the ceiling, there was a candlestick on the nightstand.

I scrambled back on the bed, pressing my back against the headrest while I tried to piece together what was going on. It looked like I was in some weird Dungeons and Dragons-themed hotel. The hair clinging to my face was different, too- much, much longer. Was I wearing a wig? Why did I feel shorter? Why was I naked? I never slept naked, especially not in a hotel! And what was painted on my stomach? Was that a tig-

It was like a switch had been flipped. Samirah. I was Samirah now. Yesterday was revealed in my mind like a fog lifting. Allyah. Port Lexin. The guild hall. Training. Bianca. The Blushing Reply. Vander.

I let out the breath that I didn't even realise I was holding. The concerns and worry that seemed ever-present in my chest were so thick that I could feel them evaporating away like grease under a pressure washer. I took several moments to gather my bearings.

Getting ready for the day was a simple endeavour. The inn room may have been medieval, but that didn't stop the existence of a shower with lovely, warm water. Despite having seen how resilient the paint was, I was still surprised that I could scrub the bar of soap over my stomach and see zero discolouration from the image. The only consolation that it wasn't permanent was the single vial of yellow liquid in my satchel that was said to be a 'thinning solution' capable of removing the paint.

I dried off, got dressed in the shirt that I soaked yesterday which was now dry, and peeked out the window. There wasn't a clock in the room, so my best assumption based on the rising sun was 'early'. The sky was still a gorgeous shade of violet-orange. Welp. Time for breakfast.

I opened the door to the hallway and was immediately greeted by a sight I did not expect to see.

"Bianca?"

She backed away suddenly, as was the nature of almost bumping into me as I stepped out of the room. Just as quickly, her eyes went wide. "Samirah?"

"You're staying here too?" I asked with a grin. Bianca nodded and seemed to regain her composure.

"Of course. It's inexpensive, right next to an all-day restaurant and quite close to the guild hall. It shouldn't be that surprising."

"Huh." I closed the door behind me. "I was just about to go get some breakfast. Wanna join me?"

She was quiet for a moment. "I suppose. We could go over some magic theory while we eat."

"Starting the training early, huh?" I cocked an eyebrow. Bianca rolled her eyes and started walking back down the hall towards the stairs.

"It's for your benefit, and you should be glad to have the opportunity to learn specifics now so you may put them into practice later."

"Eh. Lead the way."

About two minutes later, the two of us were sitting in a booth and just finished ordering. When Bianca started pulling out her coin purse, I raised an arm to stop her with a smile.

"Nope. I've got this."

She lifted an eyebrow, but her expression widened even further when I set my own coin purse on the table and started counting.

"What? How did you...?" Her voice trailed off with the question. That only made sense. When we ate last night, I barely had ten moons to my name and now my purse was filled with no small number of coins. My response accompanied a shrug.

"Easy. The Blushing Reply is always looking for models. Made over two hundred in two hours."

Her expression narrowed. At first, I thought she was judging me. Then I realized that part hadn't come yet.

"What's the Blushing Reply?"

"It's some fancy strip club downtown. I let a naked guy paint a tiger on my tits and got paid for it."

The sound that Bianca made bore an awful resemblance to a chipmunk trying to imitate heavy-metal deathcore music. I could tell the waitress was trying to suppress a chuckle while I placed the moons in her hand. When she walked away, I turned back to Bianca. Her cheeks were bright red and her jaw bobbed several times before a cohesive word finally emerged. "Really?"

"What, you want proof? I've still got it-"

I moved my hands towards the buttons of my shirt. I don't think I've seen Bianca react as quickly to anything, except for when she slammed me against the wall in our first meeting because I tried to grab her.

"No!" Her hand reached most of the way across the table as if preparing herself to forcibly stop me if I decided to keep moving. I smiled and held my hands up in defeat.

"Suit yourself. Magic theory, right?"

Bianca visibly jostled her composure back into place. She nodded. "I did some research at the library last night about the Glyph of Arcana. I should be able to shed a bit more light on everything now."

"Aww, that's sweet-"

"Don't." Bianca's voice was stern, but the red in her cheeks was undeniable. She coughed.

"Magic generally has two facets to consider; theory and control. The Glyph of Sorcery is almost entirely reliant on control, since their gimmick is funnelling large quantities of mana into their spells. I'm sure you could attest to the simplicity of that style of casting."

"Didn't seem very simple to me..." I muttered. Bianca rolled her eyes.

"Simple and strenuous are entirely different things. Once you open up the shortcut to access your mana easier, then putting mana into your cycles will be easier than blinking your eyes. At that point, the only struggle becomes controlling the gathered magic until you release the spell. Hence, control over theory."

I leaned onto my elbows. "The other Glyphs are different, I assume?"

"Indeed," Bianca said. "The Glyph of Runes is exactly the opposite. The magic is expended from my body during the process of drawing the runes, so any amount of control is trivial at best. However, all of the power that magic contains is based entirely on the function of the runes being drawn and their interaction with the world. Understanding how different runes influence each other and are influenced based on the material they're drawn on requires lots of study. Therefore, the two Glyphs are two sides of the same coin. Sorcery is simple but strenuous, Runes are complicated but easy."

My stomach started to sink. "But the Glyph of Arcana is a mixture of both, so my magic is going to be complicated and strenuous?"

Bianca nodded. "You have your work cut out for you, that much is for certain. The way most bearers of a Glyph of Arcana function is that they theorize, craft, and practice a few distinct spells at a time. Memorization of applicable runes eases the burden of drawing them while holding a spell. Not only that, improvising with that kind of magic is volatile and dangerous at the best of times. Magic often interacts with runes in very unpredictable ways that are impossible to determine in advance."

"Don't the runes shape the magic of the spell based on the one used? How would they make a spell more random?"

"Quite easily," Bianca said. "The main thing to understand is that runes are a suggestion, not an instruction. The way magic works in everyone is different, so the magic could easily follow the same suggestion from two different people in wildly different ways. Take Heira for example."

"The spear one?" I asked.

Bianca raised an eyebrow, as if surprised that I remembered, then gave a short nod. "Exactly. Let's say that you encountered another person with a Glyph of Arcana and a water element. If you craft a spell with Heira, it could form as the pointed blast I hypothesized yesterday. Meanwhile, the other caster could do the same thing, but it might form as a physical spear made of water that they wield."

"So no matter what runes you draw, it's impossible to predict with certainty what a spell will do in advance?"

"Assumptions can be made based on the individual," Bianca began, "but yes- absolute certainty of a spell cannot be achieved prior to the first casting."

That raised my attention. "Assumptions based on the individual?"

Bianca paused. I could see her visibly shaping the sentences in her head, trying to figure out how best to phrase her words. Eventually, she sighed.

"Energy is pulled from the Void and passes through our souls to become mana, and then that mana is pulled through our bodies to become magic. Void energy is influenced by everything it comes into contact with. Therefore, the very nature of a person's soul changes how the resulting magic functions. The changes are negligible for a Glyph of Sorcery, but for the other two it can completely alter the way their casting functions. The main differences ultimately result from three different factors; their personality, their physicality, and their Glyphs."

Bianca held up one finger. "Personality is the easiest to predict when it comes to magical influence. A person with a fire element and a tendency to be blunt and face problems head on will usually have their magic reflect that- they might have hotter flames, or force so great their magic is more akin to an explosion rather than a fire. If that person were instead extremely social and friendly, their fire may be less potent but spread rapidly, or even lend itself towards buffing allies with retaliating flames or fiery attacks."

A second finger raised beside the first. "Physicality is a tricky one. When mana passes through our bodies, it becomes as powerful as we are."

"Wait, magic is stronger the more buff you are?" I asked.

"Yes," Bianca said, "but it's more complicated than you think. That's actually the reason many people with the Glyph of Sorcery or the Glyph of Arcana choose to avoid extensive exercise. The more athletic they become, the stronger their mana ends up."

I furrowed my brow. "Wouldn't that encourage them to work out more? Stronger mana for a mage seems like the number one goal."

"On paper, yes. Then you remember that controlling a spell pushes against you with the force of all the mana you put into it. The stronger the caster, the stronger the mana. The stronger the mana, the harder it is to control a spell."

Huh. Was that why all the best spellcasters in fantasy were always frail old guys in bathrobes? I didn't get much of a chance to contemplate that, since Bianca raised a third finger.

"Lastly, and least noteworthy, is the person's other Glyphs if they have more than one. A person at a higher Promotion with multiple Glyphs will usually have magic shape in a way that fits their existing 'style'. If their other Glyphs all lean in the direction of fighting up close with weapons, then their magic would almost certainly be more potent with defensive effects or self-buffs."

"Why would that be the least noteworthy, then?"

Bianca blinked several times. "Because most people figure out how their magic tends to work long before they gain a second Glyph. If they need to rely on their other Glyphs to understand their magic, it's a miracle that they ever made it past First Promotion."

"So..." I felt my chest getting warm. "What about me? Does that mean...?"

I leaned forward, lowering my voice as I did. Bianca did the same with a reddening face. When she spoke, her voice was no more than a whisper.

"A Glyph that bonds you to allies, one that makes you more desirable to others, and one based around acts of intimacy. Considering the bizarre scenario of having more than one Glyph at First Promotion, I think it's very safe to assume that your magic is going to be heavily influenced by... that stuff."

Sex magic.

I grinned as the waitress returned with our plates of eggs and breakfast fish. Training would suddenly become a lot more fun.

Chapter 12: Magic Theory II (18+)

Just like yesterday, I found myself in the underground, stony, relatively featureless training room with Bianca. There was one difference though- Bianca wasn't leaning against the wall, casually watching as I strained against cast after cast. Instead, she was sitting on the bench, legs crossed with a book on her lap.

"The fundamentals of developing a Cycle revolve around three points;" she began reading aloud.

"The Lode, the Median, and the Lamina. The lode is the central point from which a spell is formed upon first channeling of mana. It appears as a small circle of coloured light that grows in size the more mana the user imbeds into the spell. The lamina is the outline of light in the shape of a circle that surrounds the lode. The lamina serves as the maximum for the amount of mana that can be embedded into a spell, since a caster is unable to embed a spell with more mana when the lode has grown enough in size to conjoin with the lamina. The median is the open space in between the lode and the lamina that is eventually taken up by the expansion of the lode."

I tried to take in that information as effectively as I could while also doing it quickly. Various terminologies aside, Bianca kept reading.

"The differences between the Glyph of Sorcery and the Glyph of Arcana reside in the runes of Ra'lan that may be drawn during the casting of a given spell. These runes will greatly alter the resulting form of magic that emerges from the completed spell, allowing for levels of versatility typically incapable of a Sorcery caster."

"Yeah, yeah, we've already gone over this. Just skip to the part where it says how to put runes in my magic."

Bianca rolled her eyes. "All of this is valuable information that you should take to heart. Actually, you should be the one reading this, not me."

I grinned. "But if you aren't reading it out to me, how else will I hear your beautiful voice?"

The reaction was exactly what I expected. A choking sound in her throat, reddening of the cheeks, averted gaze, and immediate sputtering greeted me.

"Gah- you... stop that!"

"Okay, fine," I couldn't hide the smile on my face if I tried. "Still, maybe skim through a bit until it starts saying how to do the funky magic."

Bianca grumbled. Still, she turned her eyes back to the pages and scanned.

"Magic is considered to be relatively stable until runes are introduced... becomes much more volatile... very dangerous when untrained... caution is advised..."

She flipped the page.

"Runes have varying effects based on the characteristics of the caster... some runes may have greater influence than others in regards to their affinities of the caster's qualities... some runes may reject the caster, the element, or another rune and cause spells to fail..."

A page flip.

Another page flip.

"Ah, here we go. Runes are drawn in the median by expending additional mana during the expansion of the lode. Unless a person's Glyph of Arcana provides a skill allowing otherwise, only one rune may be drawn per cycle of a spell. In order to draw a rune within a spell, the caster must visualise the desired rune and will it to appear in the median before the spell has been released, as they would with their element(s)."

"That seems simple enough, I guess."

"I would have assumed so. After all, the complicated part isn't supposed to be the casting- it's supposed to be memorizing and theorycrafting of runes."

"Cool. What rune should I try first?"

Bianca closed the tome and set it beside her on the bench. I already had an idea of what I should try first, and judging by the less-than-confident look on her face, she did too. She cleared her throat.

"As I stated before we ate, it's a reasonable assumption that your magic might be most potent when used in regards to..." she waved a hand like she was shooing a fly. "Anyway, the book mentioned that some runes may be particularly potent if they align with the properties of the caster. Given all of that, a rune aligning in that direction might be the best option."

"I figured as much," I said with a grin. "What's the rune for Sex?"

Bianca quickly looked down into a second book that she opened. Unlike the other one, this one's cover had a title that I could see; I'th-Druzihr's Lexicon of Ra'lan Runes and Translations.

"There isn't one," Bianca said quickly. "As far as I'm aware, at least. From what I understand, the old language conveyed that word through the use of adjacent runes, most notably Love or... or Lust."

"Alright, what's the rune for Lust?"

Bianca cleared her throat, flipped a number of pages, and eventually settled on what she was looking for.

"Love is Zuri, Lust is Zekko. This is what they look like, so you can draw them in a spell."

Bianca tentatively stood and walked towards me in the center of the small room, holding out the book for me to see. There were multiple other words and terms, but she pointed out two right next to each other. The Ra'lan words almost looked like a mixture of Chinese letters and Egyptian hieroglyphics- half weird lines, yet some seeming to form a vague image. I couldn't help but notice that Zekko, the rune for Lust, looked suspiciously similar to a vagina. A thin, vertically stretched diamond with another, slightly smaller one just inside, and even a tiny circle right at the top where a clit would be. I guess the old world had a sense of humour. My gaze lifted to Bianca with my mind decided.

"So, a sex mage making a spell combining a water element and the rune of Lust. What kind of effect do you think it'll have?"

"Something highly perverted, I'd assume." Despite her words, I could see the curiosity in her eyes. She wanted to see what it would do just as much as I did but didn't want to let it be known. I let out a breath, lifted an arm, and willed my Awaren'o Cadell to appear in my mind's eye.

"Here's to hoping," I muttered.

After thirty seconds of trying to wrangle imaginary strings, I finally got a secure hold on my soul and started to channel mana. I watched the lode, that tiny pink dot, slowly grow and expand towards the lamina. Similarly, the pushback on my hand increased. I eased off when the median was about halfway filled with pink light. I didn't need to put all my strength into this spell- this was for testing purposes only. Still, my fingers were twitching with the exertion. It wasn't unmanageable like a full charge, but it was very far from comfortable. The feeling shifted from stiff, unyielding force into malleable pressure when I imbued the energy with water just like during the training yesterday, but it was easier to plug the holes and keep the water from leaking when the spell was only at half power.

"Hold up the book again?"

I already knew what the rune looked like, but I wanted to be absolutely, one hundred percent positive. Bianca obliged. Two diamond folds and a circle clit. I had to keep from envisioning the real-life version of the rune and only keep the cartoonish rendition in my mind. My teeth gritted together. Supposedly, it was as simple as imbuing the element. I went for it.

In my mind's eye, I pictured the rune forming within the boundary provided by that outer circle. I didn't just imagine it- I willed it. I pushed the idea of Zekko into the magic just as I did with water. Even though I had been expecting it based on how easily the book made it seem, I was still surprised when a different shade of pink started to appear inside the circle.

The pastel light filling half the median didn't change. Instead, it was like a tracing image of magenta was painted overtop with increasing levels of intensity. At the same time, the pressure on my hand changed completely. Instead of holding my palm over a faucet, the water seemed to seep through my pores as pure warmth. It flowed up my arm, washed through my chest, and poured into my veins like the temperature of my blood had been cranked a few degrees. Just as quickly, my nipples hardened to crinkly points.

In a matter of moments, a bright magenta rune of Lust was glowing amidst a half-filled pink circle and I shuddered.

"Oh- oh, wow."

Bianca stared intently. "What? What's going on?"

"It feels weird. Warm. It's easier to hold, I think."

That caused an eyebrow to raise. "Easier to hold? Do you think you could put more mana?"

I nodded, trying to ignore the dampness forming in my panties. I let the mana continue to flow, slowly at first and picking up speed. The softer pink lode eased back into motion as it expanded. The spell became harder to hold as more energy was pumped into it, just like it normally would, but the difference was palpable. Instead of pressure forcing me to strain against it like holding back a fire hose, it was building heat in my entire body that was far more compromising.

It was like all my nerves had been turned to 'eleven'. My skin was on fire in the best way possible. Goosebumps rose. My cheeks scorched. I couldn't keep a stable footing since my thighs pressed together to try and ease the sudden surge of heat washing through my abdomen. It was all I could manage to keep my hand outstretched with quaking fingers as I panted hard.

A second later, as the lode reached within a half-inch of the lamina boundary, I came.

I was vaguely aware of a pencil-thin stream of water spraying from my palm as the spell shattered outwards. The rest of me was too focused on the pleasure tearing through my body. I fell to my knees, one hand immediately sliding between my legs and rubbing through my pants to try and coax out the rest of my climax. Bianca dropped beside me, probably in concern because of how I collapsed, but she paused at the moans escaping from my lips and the sight of me shamelessly masturbating right there in the middle of the floor.

It took several moments before my chest stopped shuddering.

"Oh, fuck. Hoo... that's something else."

Bianca's eyes were wide and the blush on her cheeks was intense. "You- you just..."

I nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, I did. That was intense."

"The spell did that?"

Another nod. "Hold on, just gimme a minute."

I sat down fully on the floor, pulling my knees towards my chest. It took a while for the heat of a sudden, overwhelming orgasm to finally start fading from my skin. When my breathing regulated, I took a glance over to Bianca. She was still bright red.

"The pushback was completely different," I began. "When I was holding a spell previously, it was like holding my hand over a hose to stop the water. As soon as I put the rune, all that pressure instantly turned into arousal- or... I guess more stimulation? Maybe both. Err... regardless- it wasn't hard to hold, physically, but it was impossible to keep focus. Then when I tried to max out the spell, well... you can put two and two together."

Bianca gave a shaky nod. "That makes sense, I suppose. If the result of a spell is more of a mental manipulation than physical, then the impact of the spell on the caster would likely reflect that. In terms of the spell itself, you did produce a measure of water. Far less than previous, meaning that all of the energy that would have produced such a volume of water was directed elsewhere."

"What are you thinking?" I asked with bated breath. Bianca hesitated several moments.

"An aphrodisiac." She scooched on her knees slightly towards the lengthy puddle of water crossing the floor. "I'm almost certain of it."

Huh.

"Really? Water that makes people horny?"

"Presumably." Bianca was staring at the puddle like she was debating her next move. I offered the next question on both of our minds.

"How do we test it?"

Several seconds of silence passed. Bianca let out a deep sigh then lowered one hand until it hovered an inch above the puddle.

"The only way we can."

"Wait, you're serious?" I asked with bated breath. Bianca gave a blushing nod in response.

"If there was a different way to test it, I would. Right now, we have to see what kind of effects it has. Namely, the potency. I can make an assumption that the effects are likely to become more... potent the more mana is put into the spell, but there's still the question of how that potency is applied. Is it the strength of the aphrodisiac that increases, or is it a matter of duration? Furthermore, I'm assuming that it's an aphrodisiac, but it could easily be something different. Testing is our only confirmation."

"And if it works? What then?"

Bianca raised an eyebrow. "Then we'll know. No big deal."

"Uhh, I wasn't talking about that," I said. "If the spell made me cum simply by casting it, how the fuck do you think it'll affect the actual 'victim'? If this is an aphrodisiac, then you're probably gonna end up so horny you can't even think straight."

Bianca flushed with red and averted her gaze. I shrugged.

"Best case scenario is that it isn't really an aphrodisiac and it just makes you cum your brains out as soon as you touch it. Worst case scenario, you get so worked up that you'll try to fuck anything with a pulse."

There was a stagnant pause that hung heavy in the room like a set of curtains. Bianca eventually gave a small nod. "I-it's okay. We need to test out the magic. Plus, don't you evolve your Glyphs faster by doing this kind of stuff?"

"Yes, but I don't care about that," I said. "I care about you. I want to make sure that you're completely okay with all of this, and what might happen if you touch that water. If we ever do anything sexual with each other, I want nothing other than the clearest consent from you beforehand, got it?"

She couldn't meet my eyes, but she nodded shakily.

"Good," I said. "Now, before we actually test it, and before you may or may not become... let's say 'mentally compromised', what boundaries would you like to establish for us?"

Bianca hesitated several moments. "In what way?"

I had to think for a moment. "Well, if it is an aphrodisiac, you may very well try to have sex with me. I don't have a problem with that, as long as you don't. So, I want to know how far you're willing to go if you try to get into my pants. Kissing, fondling, fingers, oral, and a dildo is what I've got. Which of those is completely off the table?"

Fuck, I thought, her blushing is so adorable.

And it was. I got to enjoy it for a few seconds before she seemed to shake herself back to sense. "Uhh, maybe not... those last two? Keep it to just..."

Her voice wasn't working, and it made my heart wrench. She was so shy about sex that it made her ten times cuter. I picked up the slack for her.

"Okay, so kissing, fondling, and fingers only. Of course, all I'd be able to do is try and dissuade you from going further. If you decide that you want to go all the way when lusted up, then I'm not physically strong enough to stop you. Even though we can set boundaries, there's no telling if they'll hold. Is that okay with you?"

"... If it happens, it happens."

I shook my head. "That's not an answer, Bianca. Tell me with one-hundred percent clarity that you are okay and understand that the boundaries we set might fail no matter how much I try to hold them."

Many moments of thick silence passed again. Bianca sighed and seemed to put on her proud, confident voice like a mask.

"I understand what is likely to happen, and though I prefer that we limit the activities to the ones described earlier, I provide my full consent with the knowledge that our activities may surpass those limits. If that is the case, you have permission to use whatever means necessary until the spell's effects wear off."

I didn't get a chance to respond. Bianca dipped her finger into the small puddle.

There were likely a number of other factors in play that we simply couldn't take into account at the moment which may have altered the effectiveness of the result. Regardless, Bianca's lips parted slightly as her finger touched the floor through the puddle. "Ohh."

I raised an eyebrow. "How does it feel?"

"Tingly and warm. Like a fuzzy sensation starting from my finger and working its way up my arm. It's slow, but noticeable. It's already clearing up a few questions."

"Like what?"

"Physical contact, for one," Bianca said. "I'm still very sure that this is a kind of aphrodisiac, and now we know that it's based on physical contact with the water."

"And you're still okay?" I asked tentatively. Bianca nodded, perhaps a bit too quickly.

"I'm okay. The effect seems oddly small based on the fact that the spell had a full charge of mana. Perhaps it's related to the surface area of skin exposure...?"

Bianca trailed her question off and, before I could react, opened her hand and placed her entire palm into the puddle.

The reaction was instantaneous. The moment that her hand made full contact and multiplied the skin exposure from the tip of a single finger to the entire surface area of her palm, Bianca shuddered. A wheezing breath leaked from her lips. Her cheeks turned a deep shade of scarlet, and she squirmed on her knees.

"Oh, oh fu- hoo... oh my."

"Bianca? Bianca, are you okay?"

I'll admit it- when she turned her gaze to me, my panties got a little wet. Well, more wet since casting the spell itself made me cum right there in the middle of the floor.

Her face was as red as her hair, and her eyes were all but glazed over with obvious, intense arousal. She was panting through parted lips. "Huh?"

"Maybe you'll wanna lift up your hand, now?"

She blinked several times. Eventually, her gaze followed my own down to her hand planted firmly in the puddle. When she lifted, her fingers were shaking. I could see the goosebumps rising on her arm.

"How 'ya feeling?"

Bianca swallowed thickly. "I- I don't... warm? Hot, I think? Uhh..."

She squirmed on her knees, obviously rubbing her thighs together in a not-so-subtle way. I could practically see the spell flowing through her system. The trembling in her hand slowly reflected into the other on her lap. Her collarbone just above the hem of her shirt started to go red where her chest was getting flushed. I could see a pair of stiff nipples practically drilling holes right through her shirt to reach the air. Even her breathing pattern was becoming more and more ragged by the moment as the spell quickly strengthened its hold over her.

"Bianca, talk to me. Are you okay?" I leaned forward and gently pressed a hand onto her shoulder. In retrospect, that might not have been the best idea.

Her eyes instantly flicked back up to mine. Her pupils were so large that I could barely even comprehend the green irises around them. Bianca looked like she was on drugs. Granted, I would count an untested magical aphrodisiac as a drug, so...

The last thing I saw was Bianca idly licking her lips. Then, she slammed them forward into mine and tackled us both to the floor.

Chapter 13: Magic Theory III (18+)

My back impacted the stone as I was pushed by the lips from the redhead. Her hands were on my shoulders- I could feel the strength there. A Second Promotion Battlemage with muscles enhanced by her skills and the energy of the Void? There wasn't a beer's chance in a Texan county fair that I could resist her. All I could do was lie back and cup my hands to the sides of her face as she kissed me deeply.

My first kiss.

Oh, that thought sent a strange chill through my chest. My first proper kiss. Sure, it may have been under the influence of a potent aphrodisiac that was obviously inhibiting Bianca's mental faculties, but she had established beforehand that she was okay with kissing, so...

I sank into her lips- or rather, let her sink into mine. She was very forceful. Bianca had very little technique- which was a kinder way of saying she had none whatsoever. Her method of kissing began and ended with "mouth on mouth". Everything after that was poorly executed improv from a person who had clearly and obviously never kissed anyone before.

It was all over the place, like Bianca was trying ten different things at the same time. Her tongue was practically licking my tonsils while her mouth was as wide open as it could be. I mean- it was like she was trying to swallow my nose while making out. All in all, the kiss was so terrible that I couldn't help but laugh into Bianca's mouth.

My teeth clamped gently but firmly on Bianca's tongue, stopping her movements. Her eyes widened in surprise just enough for me to break our lips apart. With her massive pupils, I wasn't sure just how much of her was still in there. Still, I had to try.

"Gentle, Bianca. It's more fun that way. Just do what I do."

I closed the miniscule distance between our faces and kissed up into the girl lying atop me. I wasn't even sure Bianca heard anything I said- she may have been too far gone. Surprisingly, it seemed that she had.

Instead of trying to fit my face in her mouth, Bianca reigned herself back and managed a proper kiss. It was uncanny- a moment ago she was like an untrained dog licking me, yet now it seemed she had taken my words to heart. She wasn't just 'doing what I did'- she was doing exactly what I did. Soft presses and less tongue. Less goofy and ridiculous, yes, but I could smile into Bianca's lips and actually kiss her back.

That kept her attention for a lot longer than I thought it would have. As soon as she knocked me onto my back, I expected for her to fondle me through my clothes if not tear them off altogether. However, that didn't happen. It was like the kissing had taken all the comprehension of her mind. Her hands remained on my shoulders, pinning me to the floor. She was in a kneeling position overtop my form, hunched over harshly in order to keep our faces connected. It was actually a handful of minutes- maybe two and a half, if I had to take a guess- before Bianca seemed to realise that there was more to the girl she had pinned other than a pair of lips.

She grabbed my collar. Only a moment of hesitation passed before buttons flew everywhere and fabric loudly tore. In less time than it took to blink, my entire front was exposed. The cool air didn't even get a chance to touch my nipples before they were completely covered by Bianca's hands. An idle thought suddenly crossed my mind.

Was Bianca a fan of art?

It took no small effort to pull my lips away from hers. "Hey, look. Look at this."

I used my hands to tilt Bianca's head downwards towards my chest, and I saw her eyes widen. She moved her hands and stared at the tiger gazing back at her.

"Pretty, huh? I got it for you," I said. "I thought you'd like it."

It didn't matter that I was lying. In this state, Bianca wouldn't have the slightest comprehension that I actually got painted for the money. Just saying that I did something like this for her? I could literally see her salivating.

I genuinely felt bad. We really shouldn't have made our first test consist of an (almost) maxed-out aphrodisiac. Maybe half power, or even less. That would have been good to test the effects. I mean, Bianca only got a portion of it on her hand, and she was effectively feral. What if I managed to fire the entire stream directly at someone?

My mind was snapped back to reality similar to how the button on my pants snapped right off. At least I had money now, because I only had two sets of clothes to my name and Bianca just ruined one of them. No longer distracted by the kiss, I managed to quickly undo the buttons on Bianca's shirt. I had my doubts that Bianca had spare clothes in her bag like I did. If she ruined them in her desire for pleasure, that would lead to some awkward circumstances when she finally came back to her senses.

Soon enough, both of us had been stripped down by the other. Despite the fact that Bianca wasn't wasting time by dealing with buttons, it took her longer to strip me than the other way around. That was mostly because Bianca couldn't seem to stop pawing at me- my breasts specifically. That was part of the reason I couldn't really admire Bianca's pale, nude flesh- her groping arms were in the way. Still, I could catch the occasional sight of a sweet little nipple topping a modest breast and smile. That was, until one hand went lower.

I nearly swallowed my tongue when Bianca shoved two fingers into my sex, right to the hilt in a single heartbeat. The only reason it didn't hurt was because the magical pussy Aurora had apparently gifted me. On like a switch with plenty of natural lubricant? It was like I had a can of WD-40 shoved up there with a built-in motion sensor. The fact I just came only helped to ensure that I was more than able to take the far-too-eager fingers of Bianca. Still, I gasped audibly and uncomfortably. That made Bianca pause. Her red face twisted upwards and eyes were filled with worry.

Huh.

My very first cycle spell ever cast, yet strong enough to turn a Second Promotion feral. Tackling me with kisses, but easing off as soon as I asked her to. Ripping off my clothes, but stopping everything the instant I made a noise of protest. It was like she was a mixture of overwhelming sexual aggression and equal amounts of uncertainty, from a spell that almost certainly shouldn't have been strong enough to have that kind of effect anyway.

One of my eyebrows raised. Bianca's red face somehow managed to blush even more and she abruptly tilted it downwards towards my chest. It was when she gave the tiniest bit of hesitation before taking a nipple into her mouth that I pieced it together.

Of course. I'd seen this scenario time and time again. Not the specifics, obviously, but something similar. Seeing drunk people come into the restaurant trying to act sober. Listening to the pitch of an employee's voice over the phone to figure out they aren't actually sick, but calling in to get a day off anyway. The way a person applying for a job would tell me that they've stopped dealing heroin and look me in the eyes with so much confidence that it sends up every red flag.

I grabbed the sides of Bianca's head and pulled her away from my chest. It was almost a tragedy, since the warm wetness was damned delightful and nearly made me moan. It was replaced by an absent chill of the air against moist, painted skin.

"If you wanted to have sex with me that badly, you should have just asked instead of trying to play up the aphrodisiac."

The way that Bianca suddenly tensed every muscle in her body was palpable. She didn't move anything aside from her jaw, which bobbed for a moment with no sound. I had already been pretty sure of my observation, but that sealed the jar shut. I rolled my eyes.

"Bianca, I am the last person in the world who would ever judge you for your choices."

My hands were still on her cheeks. Her skin was hot to the touch- just because she was playing up the aphrodisiac didn't mean it had no effect. Her eyes were a big enough indicator. Huge pupils and a glazed expression?

She was hornier than she's ever been, so desperate that she was willing to do whatever it took to try and hook up with me- including acting like an animal in heat in order to get laid without letting on that she actually liked me. Frankly, it was both adorable and extremely frustrating. She was trying so hard to repress her sexuality like the blushing little virgin- err... former virgin- she was, but had equal amounts of desire to get in my pants.

With her face still in my hands above me, I stared into her eyes as deeply as I could.

"You don't have to hide what you want to do. I want it too."

I lowered our faces back together. Her lips quivered against mine, though it was difficult to tell exactly what caused that reaction. It may have been the fact I was accepting of her advances. It could have been her finally letting go of the iron grip she had on her feelings in the heat of arousal.

Or, it could just have easily been the way I bent my leg to press my knee directly in between Bianca's thighs. I could feel her folds practically throbbing against my knee- and that was before she started grinding. The way she moaned into my mouth as she masturbated herself on me was ecstatic. It made me smile even more than the fact there were no hairs brushing my knee in her passes.

It sure seemed awfully coincidental that the day after I ate her out and our training together began, Bianca shaved her pelvis. It was almost like the girl who explicitly said that yesterday was a one-time deal had been expecting another visit to the land down under.

Now that I had the opportunity to enjoy her, I wasn't going to squander it. My hands drifted down from Bianca's cheeks, tracing inch by inch down her neck. Down her collarbone. Across her chest. Eventually, they settled on the prize that I had only been able to catch fleeting glimpses of so far.

Bianca's breasts were much softer than her personality, to say the least. They squished delightfully in my fingers like doughy mounds topped with iron beads. Her tits were just the right size. Not too big, not too small. A perfect handful. I kneaded with joy, drinking deep of the reactions that Bianca gave me. Between grinding on my knee and letting me feel her up, she was making all sorts of noises in between our kisses. I didn't even realise that she was moving faster and faster until I felt her shudder to a stop overtop of me. Her hands were clawing at the stone beside my head and her mouth tensed so tightly I thought she was going to bite off her own tongue.

I eased my knee back and forth as Bianca came. It was several moments of me kissing against her closed lips while she trembled. Every time I rubbed my thumbs over her nipples, Bianca seemed to twitch yet again with pleasure that continued to coax her orgasm onwards. Just a few moments of grinding against my knee and she already crossed her peak. That wasn't a hair trigger- Bianca had a trigger made of spiderwebs.

After many seconds, Bianca finally pulled our lips apart and panted warmly against my face. I lowered my own knee, instead bending and spreading my legs to rest them on either side of hers. The stone was cold against my bare back and bottom, but it could do nothing to snuff the heat building in my core. I was smiling so wide my cheeks were probably on the verge of tearing open.

"There we go. That felt good, right?"

Bianca gave a slow, shaky nod. I pressed my lips up into hers for many moments before pulling away.

"Do you want to keep going?"

The silence was palpable. It stretched ever onwards before Bianca's head finally bobbed up and down- ever so slightly.

I grinned. "Good, because I have an idea."

Thirty seconds later, our position had shifted. Now instead of Bianca pinning me to the floor, I was the one laying on top of her. I wasn't even bracing myself on the floor and hovering above her- I had a slender enough frame that even if Bianca wasn't significantly stronger than a normal person, she would still be able to easily handle my weight.

I could feel Bianca's nipples poking into my stomach, in the same way that mine were doing to hers. That meant our faces were mere inches away from each other's sexes. Under normal circumstances, this would probably be a bit too far. With Bianca under the influence of the aphrodisiac, it didn't matter if she would normally be opposed to such a display. I made sure to speak up so that Bianca could hear me in our sixty-nine position.

"Remember what you said- fingers only."

Of course, we didn't need to be in this position if we were just going to finger each other, but damn if it didn't make it fun. It was so lewd, having Bianca's pussy so close and open to my face. I may have eaten her out yesterday, but I was blindfolded with my own shirt. Now, I could see her- all of her. From the crevice between her thighs and her sex, to the way that her folds were glistening with moisture. Not only did I have to keep my head lifted to fight off gravity, I also had to fight the urge to dive in for round two. I was positive that Bianca wouldn't mind in the long run, but I at least had to try and respect her pre-established boundaries.

Kissing, fondling, and fingers.

Oh, the curses I bestow upon myself.

As painful as it was to hold myself back from stuffing my tongue into her slit, that tension was alleviated in part by the ability to explore with my fingers. When I rubbed a thumb down the length of her labia, Bianca shuddered underneath me. Her hands were still on my thighs, obviously tentative and yet to lay a touch on my nethers. I didn't care all that much. She could go at whatever pace she wanted- I was going to enjoy playing with her in the meantime.

I kept one hand just barely out of the way, holding her thigh right where it connected to her pelvis. My other hand did the work. Fingertips gently rubbed over sensitive skin, forcing gasps and breaths out of Bianca. Her face was so close to my lower lips that I could feel the air brushing against me and serving as stimulation.

That air moved faster when I probed a bit more intensely at the entrance to her slit, forcing the curtains open around the first half-inch of my fingers. I waited for the tiniest of moments, yet there was no noise of protest. As a result, I watched with delighted interest as I gently, oh so gently, eased further. It was mesmerizing, seeing how Bianca spread open to allow for an index finger to slide inside.

She was squeezing my digit like it owed her money. The only reason I was able to make it so far as the first knuckle was because of how wet she was. Bianca was practically drooling- likely a side effect of the aphrodisiac. That meant I was able to gradually work my finger back out before slowly pushing it back in to that first knuckle and a millimeter beyond.

I did it again. Easing out before sliding in as far as her tunnel would let me- gradually opening up her muscles over time. Then I did it again. And again. And again.

Every time I delved my finger, I was able to reach just a tiny amount further. Bianca had yet to touch my pussy- aside from when she shoved fingers in during her act. Right now, her grip was tightening on my thighs like I was a lifeline.

"You know, I didn't choose this position just for me to do all the work."

Her fingers tensed. "Uh... umm- right. Err..."

I could feel the uncertainty as one of Bianca's hands moved from my thigh to my sex. It didn't make contact though, presumably hovering a few millimeters away as she worked up her nerve.

"It won't bite," I laughed. "Get as friendly as you want."

I will admit, it probably didn't help that I continued my gentle, slow fingering. When Bianca's fingers finally met my lower lips, they were trembling with pleasure. Again, it didn't matter all that much to me if Bianca was too preoccupied to actually get me off. It was the thought that counted.

That didn't mean it didn't feel good, though. Having anyone gently touching, probing, poking, and exploring my pussy would feel nice. Soft fingertips brought my bottom lip inwards just slightly, letting my teeth bite down on the flesh. Of course, since Bianca did something right, that meant she needed a reward.

The finger that was currently inside of Bianca curled and bent upwards, back towards me. That might have been a bit cruel, but I was having too much fun. Of course, Bianca's reaction to me rubbing her g-spot was instant.

By 'reaction', naturally, I meant 'orgasm'. You know, 'hair trigger' and all that. That, of course, made a whole other problem readily apparent. Bianca, being Second Promotion, was much stronger than a normal person.

That strength was in every muscle of her body.

The pelvis is a muscle.

I didn't notice it that much when I ate her out yesterday because the only thing inside of her was my tongue.

...

A tongue is much more malleable than a finger.

Chapter 14: Healer

Thankfully, a Second Promotion had moderately more resistance to effects than someone my own level- err... Promotion, normally would. That meant the combination of two orgasms and a handful of minutes was already making the effect of the spell wear off. Therefore, Bianca was re-dressed, helped me change into the spare set of clothes in my bag, and was sitting in the chair beside me without any noticeable aftereffects. Meanwhile, I had one arm stretched across the table. My hand was throbbing in pain. Not that I could notice much of it, since I was too busy trying not to stare at the girl holding it in her strong fingers.

"Dislocated at the second joint. I can fix it, but it won't be pleasant to set."

Her voice had a French accent that was almost overwhelming. That meant she was likely from southern Kelopa. The tone was soft and sweet, like honey flowing into my ears. It was almost as soothing as her touch. Gentle, but steady. Purposeful. Not even Samirah had any substantial up-close interaction with them, so both parts of me were fascinated with the Navon-golm looking intently at my purple, swollen index finger.

Her skin was like perfect white marble- more flawlessly smooth than the most detailed of Michelangelo's statues. The only difference was that statues didn't move. Their cheeks didn't shift and stretch unlike how Talya's- that's who Bianca introduced her as- did. Statues also didn't look exactly like how an eighteen-or-nineteen-year-old girl would if she had stared directly in the eyes of Medusa and kept moving.

Her alabaster hair was a different marvel in of itself. Just like the face, they seemed to be chiseled out of solid granite, but not as a single block. These were individual strands- thousands of them. Those strands moved and shifted with each tiny adjustment of her head- moving exactly as hair normally would if it weren't made of stone. The only part of her that wasn't the same tone of off-white were her eyes. They were a single, solid shade of light azure. No whites, no irises, no pupils- just bright blue orbs filling the entire eye socket and staring down at my hand. The worst part?

I recognized her.

"Never interacted with a Navon-golm?"

"Huh?"

"I can feel you staring at me. Many are more discreet about it."

I bowed my head. "Sorry."

"No worries." She gave a cute little chuckle. "My kind aren't very common. People are curious. If you have questions, go ahead."

"Can I touch your hair?"

Bianca slapped me gently on the shoulder. Talya smiled. "Of course."

Talya leaned her head slightly forward, allowing for continued examination of my dislocated finger while letting my other hand come up towards her neck. Talya's white locks were tied in a simple braid that draped down over the front of one shoulder, contrasting against her black blouse. When my fingers made contact with the end of her braid, it was almost disorienting. Stone shouldn't be that soft and pliable. It felt like the bristles on a paintbrush instead of a block of marble.

"Woah."

Talya giggled. "I get that a lot. Try here."

She used one hand and gently took a hold of my wrist, moving my fingers from her hair to her cheek. That threw me for a loop. While her hair felt almost real, her skin still felt like smooth marble. It was warm like skin should be, but much more stiff. It was like I was pressing my fingers into a tensed muscle instead of a cheek. Furthermore, the texture was off. There were no pores, no bumps, not even the slightest of imperfections. Even the dusting of light grey freckles covering her cheeks held no tangible difference from the rest of the skin.

Then, Talya did the thing. I- or rather, Samirah, had heard about some of the quirks of the different races, but the Navon-golm had one of the weirdest.

The texture under my fingertips went from smooth to- well... I could only describe it as crusty. Like her skin was suddenly covered in dried mud. At the same time, I could see that texture spread over her entire face in the blink of an eye. The shade of her skin darkened to a rough, slate grey, making her freckles vanish. Her hair hardened into a solid block and the fingers gently holding both of my hands turned stiff and unyielding. Most unnervingly were her eyes and clothes. Her eyes crusted over with the same grey stone as the rest of her skin, hiding the blue in its entirety. The same thing happened with her shirt. The fabric morphed from black cotton into grey marble.

In less than a second, Talya had turned from a person that looked like a statue, into... a person that looked even more like a statue. I couldn't quite come up with a better way to describe it, since the dull throbbing in my hand suddenly erupted into a sharp, white-hot pain that shot up my arm as a loud 'POP' sounded through the air alongside my yelp. Instinctively, my hand on her cheek yanked back, allowed by Talya letting go and grabbing my other wrist to keep me from pulling my damaged hand away. I was only vaguely aware of a few other Magisters looking over at the sound of my pain, but then returning to whatever it was they had been doing in the lounge.

Before I could even comprehend that my knuckle had been shoved back into the joint by her strong fingers, a flash of light emerged barely an inch above where her stiff, crusty hand was holding my damaged one. I watched the outline of a circle about six inches in diameter blink into existence made of pale grey light, and then rapidly fill with the same shade. The rocky fingers holding my hand trembled as the power of the spell fought against her, but Talya obviously had a lot more practice than me. Once the ring was about two-thirds of the way full after a second and a half, the light fizzled into particles of glittering dust that scattered in the air.

The heat of pain in my arm dulled to a warmth that was actually rather pleasant. I looked down at my hand and saw the swelling already start to recede. The purple was fading, and it wasn't nearly as crooked as it had been a few moments ago. After a few more seconds, my hand looked as if it had never been injured.

I watched as Talya slowly de-crusted over the course of several moments. Her skin and features returned from the 'hard' stone to the 'soft' stone. The blue of her eyes and the black of her shirt shifted back to normal.

"My apologies. I would have warned you, but people often tense and make things more difficult to fix. It was easier to catch you by surprise."

"She did the same thing to me," Bianca muttered. "Came back from the Breach last week with a dislocated shoulder that healing potions wouldn't fix. Started counting down from five and popped it on three."

"I'm still surprised you made no noise," Talya said, fixing her eyes on Bianca. Or, at least, it seemed like she did. It was hard to tell exactly where those solid blue stones were looking. "Everyone else yells, swears, or cries. You just made a face and nothing more. Very resilient. Congratulations on Second Promotion, by the way. You managed that remarkably quickly."

Bianca huffed. Talya turned her attention back to me.

"How is it? Any more pain?"

I shook my head. "Uh, no. No, it's great. Wow."

Talya smiled and let go of my hand. When her fingers rested back on the tabletop, they clacked like marbles on wood. "If you don't mind me asking, how did you dislocate it?"

I tried to appear meek and shy. That was, of course, in the hope that Talya would keep her attention on me rather than Bianca who fidgeted awkwardly. "It's embarrassing," I said.

The stone-girl's eyes twinkled. "No need to worry, I promise to remain strictly professional."

I took a purposefully awkward glance at Bianca, let my cheeks flush with red, then looked down at the table.

"I- uhh... I dropped my bag."

"You dropped your bag?" One of Talya's alabaster eyebrows raised. I nodded.

"When I dropped it, a- umm... an item fell out. I dove for it so Bianca wouldn't see and... well." I gestured with my now-fixed hand. "Landed the wrong way."

A smirk started to form across Talya's lips. "What sort of item?"

I lowered my voice like I was embarrassed, so it barely came out as a whisper. I needed to do that, so the humility was on me and not Bianca. To add to the effect, I fidgeted with my fingers.

"A dildo."

"Ah. Shame I missed it. I would have loved to see little Tiger with her toy." Talya leaned back in her chair. Even though she had chosen one made of metal, it still creaked under her weight. I couldn't blame it. Trying to support the weight of any Navon-golm would be a task, much less one that was close to six feet tall with a toned body like a professional sprinter. As much as it absolutely was not the time for it, I couldn't help but imagine what she would look like naked. How anatomically correct were the walking statues? Talya certainly seemed like a good first examination to me...

Suddenly, the red in my cheeks wasn't much of an act anymore. Of course, part of that was also due to the fact she called me 'little tiger'. The reason why was obvious. I cleared my throat. "So... you're a Healer?"

Talya nodded. "First Promotion. A Glyph of Sorcery with a healing element."

"How long have you been Blessed?"

Talya thought for a moment. "Just under a month, I think?"

"And you're still only First Promotion?" I paused. "Wait, that came out wrong. Sorry."

Talya held up a hand. "Do not worry. I understand what you meant." She interlaced her fingers again and set them back on the table. "If the only higher Promotion you've encountered is Bianca, there is no doubt that perceptions would be skewed. It can often take one or two months to reach Second Promotion safely."

"Why's that?" I asked. Talya glanced towards Bianca, then back to me.

"Simple. Safety takes time. Finding a well-rounded group isn't easy, even in a populated place like this. If you do find a group, you need to travel to and from the Breach every time you go in. You need to bring magical items to experts to have them properly identified. You need time to rest and recuperate. If you sacrifice any of those, it comes with risk."

Once again, her focus turned to the Battlemage. "Though, if someone is capable enough to ignore every one of those factors and run through a Breach over and over again on her own without dying, then they could reach Second Promotion quite quickly indeed."

I looked at Bianca as well. She shuffled, but didn't say anything. My attention was brought back when Talya sighed.

"I myself am deciding to air on the side of caution. If I am to be the one ensuring the health of the team, then I will make sure my magic is as potent and practiced as I can manage."

"It seems pretty potent to me..." I muttered. Talya gave a weak smile.

"A dislocated finger is far from the worst injury that can occur in a Breach, little Tiger. If someone were to die because I wasn't good enough-"

Talya was cut off by Bianca. "-If someone dies in a Breach, it's because they made mistakes that should have been avoided."

Talya's gaze turned to stone. Metaphorically, that is.

"It is possible to make no mistakes and still lose."

A tense moment of silence followed. Eventually, Talya's face seemed to relax. "So, Bianca. Samirah. How do you two know each other?"

"I was forced to give her the beginner course yesterday," Bianca said. Talya raised a curious eyebrow.

"Yesterday? Then why are you still training together today?"

Bianca must have had her answer ready and waiting, because she replied in less than a heartbeat.

"Because Samirah's casting skills are abhorrent at the current point in time, so a Breach is the last thing she should be doing. I'm not training her- I'm babysitting so she doesn't get people killed. I need to do my own training in the meantime, so it works out. Two birds, one stone."

Okay, maybe she didn't need to be that harsh. I sunk into my seat. Talya laughed.

"Ah, the Wolf of Port Lexin bears her fangs towards the Tiger. We are all on the same side, Bianca."

The redhead's jaw quivered just slightly. "Why do you keep calling her Tiger?"

Talya chuckled as I winced. Bianca unknowingly dropped herself right into the middle of a conversation she would find very uncomfortable.

"Because," Talya's smooth, silky voice began, "last night she had a portrait of a tiger painted on her nude body."

Bianca's face dropped. "How- how do you know that?"

"How do you? Perhaps you two know each other a little more intimately than you let on..." Talya cocked an eyebrow. I watched as Bianca visibly grew flushed, her face reddening like she just dunked her hand in a pot of my aphrodisiac. She started stammering, but I gently cut her off with a low voice.

"She may or may not have been one of the customers that came into the brothel and left a tip while I was modelling. She actually gave me almost half of my earnings from the session. Thanks, by the way."

Talya nodded. "I knew you were a new model, so I figured you deserved a little something extra. One with a body as beautiful as yours needs only the highest of compliments in her debut."

I couldn't hide my grin if I took a jackhammer to my face. "Thank you very much. Do you go to the Blushing Reply often?"

"Quite," she said. "I like to drop by for a little while on the nights I'm not working. It can be nice to view from the other side of the stage."

I paused. "Wait, you work there?"

"I tend to model three or four times a week. I was glad to see that your first presentation was with Vander. He is the kindest person I've ever met."

"He really is!" I leaned forward, putting my elbows on the table. In my peripheral, I could see Bianca taking a sudden interest in the floor while the conversation apparently turned to 'work'. "Have you modelled with him?"

Talya smiled. "Twice. Apparently I am the only Navon-golm he has ever used as a canvas. We learned after the first time that the Reply's bodypaint is meant to function on regular skin, not mine. The colours were bleeding and the design was ruined long before he finished."

"Aww, that sucks."

She shrugged. "The second time around, Vander made sure to bring masonry paint. It flaked off the moment I moved after it dried, but it worked well enough for the presentation when I was just sitting there."

"What kind of modelling do you normally do?" I asked.

"It varies," Talya said. "Sometimes I play the harp, but my most successful presentations are as a statue."

"A statue? Really?"

Talya nodded. "As I said- my kind are not common. Most don't ever get to witness a Navon-golm solidifying, much less one in the nude. Since we can also appear identical to an inanimate statue, it adds a sense of..." Talya seemed to struggle for the word. Finally, she clicked her tongue. "Novelty! It adds a sense of novelty."

"I would imagine," I said. "I'd pay to see that."

"That's the point, but I'd make an exception for you." Talya smiled flirtatiously. "Are you going to model again tonight?"

My shoulders shrugged. "Don't know yet. It depends on how I feel after training all day. I also have to do a bit of clothes shopping later, so I'm really just making up a schedule as I go."

"Fair enough. I have a few errands I need to run today, so I do have to go, unfortunately. Would you two be interested in dinner tonight? There's a lovely little pasta place near the southern docks that has excellent spaghetti. Maybe after we eat, all three of us could go and do that clothes shopping together?"

"Sounds nice. I'm down." Talya and I both turned to Bianca. She gave a nervous shrug.

"Sure, I guess?"

"Delightful." Talya gave a wide smile. "I'll be back well before dinnertime, so we can meet here in the lounge before we head out. If I'm not here by the time you two are done training, just ask around. Someone always knows where I am."

"Will do. See you later." I matched Talya's smile and the Navon-golm stood from her chair. As she walked away, she even blew a kiss in our direction. When it was just Bianca and I sitting at our table, I glanced over at her.

"She seems quite friendly."

"She was flirting with you," Bianca grumbled.

"She was flirting with us," I corrected. "She probably wants to get into your pants as much as mine."

Bianca flinched and looked around the room to see if anyone was close enough to hear us. Nobody was. Still, she practically spit venom at me. "Samirah!"

"Fine, fine. I will say, I wouldn't mind figuring out when she models next. I wanna see what kind of sexy body is under those clothes."

Bianca might have swallowed her tongue, if the sound she made was any indication. She froze when I grabbed her hand, eyes darting around once again to see if anybody was looking. I smiled.

"Don't worry- she may be hot, but you're still the prettiest girl in Kelopa."

Chapter 15: Finishing Up (18+)

Once we were back in the training room, Bianca wrung her hands. Her face was turned to the floor. I cocked an eyebrow. "What's up?"

"Thank you... for covering for me."

I smiled. "For you? Anything."

That only seemed to make her tense up even more. She opened her mouth to say something, but I already knew what was going to come out. I cut her off.

"It's okay. I'm okay. It was just an accident."

"I'm so sorry..."

"You don't have to be," I said. "I would do it all again."

Her eyes flicked up towards me. "What?"

I stepped forward and took her hands in mine. They were trembling.

"Bianca. You are special- more than anything. A little boo-boo to my finger isn't enough to keep me away."

I went for it. It was impossible for me to resist. Thankfully, Bianca must have understood why I pushed forward just a touch and craned my head upwards. Now, there was no aphrodisiac in play to muddle her motives when she leaned in and accepted my kiss.

It was short.

It was sweet.

It was perfect.

I needed a shower. Part of me wanted to lie down and start rolling in the water covering the floor in order to try and get rid of the sweat dripping from my skin. The rest of me was too focused on withstanding the growing pressure against my hand.

Talya had made it seem so easy when she did it earlier. Her spell filled so quickly and she had barely more than a shake in her fingers. The pink light glowing in front of my hand was crawling towards the edge of the circle while my entire body trembled. Darker magenta lines crisscrossed across the median, standing stark against the lode as the spell finally reached its peak. Not at the lamina, however.

Heh. Look at me using all the fancy words.

I could feel the last drop of my mana squeeze out into the spell, and the lode's expansion halted. Though it may not have been completely full, eighty-ish percent was still more than enough to keep me straining. As per Bianca's repeated orders, I didn't release the magic. I held onto it with quivering fingers.

Second after second passed. A vein was probably close to bursting in my forehead. Eventually, I couldn't hold it any longer. Fluid was already leaking from the cycle, spraying out in thin, glowing pink streams. When the cycle shattered outwards, it did so with a blast of water. The recoil wasn't quite as bad as it would be with a normal burst of water, since there was noticeably less liquid. Regardless, it sprayed forth towards the other side of the room. I bent over, hands on my knees, panting as the far end of the training room was now glittering with a soft pink light.

Of course it was pink.

"D-" I coughed. "Done. I'm out. Nothing left."

Bianca's voice piped up from behind me. "Log it, then."

"Y-yeah. Sure."

I shook the water from my hand, brought it up, and wiped away the coating of sweat from my forehead. I returned to the bench at the side of the room where the book of runes was lying open. Beside it was a sheet of paper with a list of pre-selected runes that Bianca had picked out for testing. I read over a few of the most recent notes.

Ashrei - Water: No noticeable effect.

Loga - Fire: No noticeable effect.

Laice - Ice: No noticeable effect.

Lomu - Hot: Water almost boiling, 80%ish volume.

Laimu - Cold: Water almost freezing, 80%ish volume.

Heira - Spear: Extremely high pressure, sustained pointed blast, full volume, good attack.

Hoira - Blade: Extremely high pressure, instant flat/thin blast, full volume, good attack.

Domeen - Dark: No noticeable effect.

Limeen - Light: Water glows pink,

I looked back over towards the training post and the puddles around it. I did a bit of math in my head, trying to compare how much water seemed to come out of the spell versus a normal blast, and how much of the puddle on the floor was still lighting up the room like a pride month aquarium display. Since the spell wasn't quite full power, it made things a little harder. I had to take my best guess.

50%ish volume.

"So what, we just wait until tomorrow to test the rest of these?" I asked over my shoulder while looking down at the paper. There were a number of options still empty. Rai. Storm. Ani. Beast. Murthe. Trap.

Chances were, a good number of the runes would function like many of the ones I already tested- they would fizzle as soon as the spell was released and the water blast would be completely unaffected. Bianca- or, the spellcasting book she found- said that one-cycle spells tended to have very few options that provided effects. Until I gained the ability to put more than one rune, then my 'spread' of options would be nothing more than the very basics- and only a small handful of those at best.

Once I did get more runes in my spells, then I could start mixing and matching to get very specific effects. Bianca even theorized that a combination between Askar- Control-, and Navon- Person-, neither of which had any effect during today's testing, may very well create a water elemental-creature-thing that I could make fight for me. It was an interesting prospect, but one that was yet out of my reach.

"If you're out of mana, then there's nothing you can do anymore until it recharges over time. You'll be full up by tomorrow morning."

I turned around. Bianca was several feet away, closer to the door so that we both had enough space to train in the medium-sized room. Her greatsword was a blur of movement as she appeared to run through a few drills over and over again. Of course, I wasn't sure what kind of drill it was supposed to be. It could very well have been a parry, a strike, a reap- repo- ripe... whatever that fancy fencing word for a counterattack was, or even a mixture of all three. All I knew is that Bianca's sword was moving so fast around her that she looked like a human blender with a six-foot blade.

As I watched, I swore that some of the blur that the blade left behind seemed to linger a bit too long. Like the framerate of my eyes was turned down and the pictures were overlapping. It was disorienting, and I wasn't even the one doing the movements. One thought continued to be pulled further and further into the front of my mind.

Damn, Bianca is so badass.

With a final flourish, she brought the blade to a halt. That made the weird effect that had been going on much more clear. That's because the blade was still swinging around her in the exact same movement she had been performing. After a second and a half, the 'fake' sword seemed to catch up to the real one. Even stilled as she was, Bianca's heavy breathing made the sword shift just enough to let the image waver.

In simpler terms, Bianca's sword was lagging like Windows XP.

"What's that all about?"

I waved my hand, still panting slightly. Bianca looked down at the base of the blade, where a pair of green runes splitting the metal were visibly sealing themselves back together.

"Vari and Akou. Long and Attack. I've been experimenting with Vari on all of the runes I've already used, assuming that it would extend the duration of the effects. That seems to be the case for the ones I've tested so far, except for Akou. This combination seems especially interesting."

She swung the sword one last time. The spell seemed to be dwindling since the afterimage barely lasted a half second. It was still long enough for Bianca to toss a strip of fabric into the air. As soon as it passed through the blurry lag-sword's path, it split cleanly down the middle despite the real blade being nowhere near the cloth.

"Instead of extending the duration of the rune that increases the sharpness of my blade, it appears to be extending the duration of the attacks themselves- making them lethal long after the strike has already finished."

Bianca swung the sword again. This time, there was no afterimage. The base of the blade had returned to solid, smooth metal with no sign of the runes that had been there.

"A terrible duration, but that effect still has some potential..." Bianca muttered to herself. She stepped towards the wall and leaned her sword against it. "I'm close to empty myself."

"I thought runes took almost no mana," I recalled. Bianca rolled her eyes.

"A small ham cooks more evenly in a small pot."

"Uhh, what?"

"An analogy," Bianca said. "Camile would say it all the-"

Bianca froze. If the widening of her eyes wasn't enough of an indication, her quick vocal backsteps did the rest of the work. "Err- uhh... nothing." She brushed a bit of hair out of her eyes and cleared her throat.

"Bearers of the Glyph of Runes have approximately ten percent of the mana capacity when compared to the other classes. It's not much of a penalty, because our magic takes so little mana to cast. In fact, having such a small storage capacity allows for the mana to be influenced more easily- most namely by our bodies."

"That seems pretty cool," I said before falling silent once again. Bianca obviously enjoyed woman-splaining and I could tell that this explanation wasn't quite over. I didn't mind- I liked hearing her voice.

"Remember how I said that the stronger a person is, the stronger their mana becomes?"

I shrugged. "Yeah?"

"Well, the lower the capacity of a person, the greater influence from their bodies. Even if you were just as strong as me, my mana would be much more powerful than yours. Comparatively speaking, of course. As it stands now, my spells take the equivalent mana of one of your cycles filled to... let's say ten percent-, but have a total power output marginally higher than one of your full charges."

"In short and simple terms, the less mana someone has overall, the more efficient it becomes to compensate?"

Bianca blinked a few times as I summed up her lecture in a single sentence. "Err... yeah."

"Cool. Now in a fabulously executed segue into the new conversation, I need a shower."

"There's a room for cleaning up after training. I wouldn't mind a bit of freshening, either."

I stuck the paper with the testing notes inside where the book of runes had been open, closed it, and held it out for Bianca. She made a 'keep it' gesture. I nodded and slipped it into my own bag.

"Alright then. Lead the way, gorgeous."

Bianca flushed with red, but accepted my hand before we walked out of the room together.

Even though she let go as soon as we encountered other people, the lingering warmth of her hand in mine kept a smile on my lips. That smile only grew when the two of us stepped into the communal, concrete-floor locker room and I could hear water running. I couldn't even begin to measure how quickly the lewd thoughts of nude flesh under a shower filled my mind.

Dammit, Samirah! Keep it together!

My untapped horniness was abated when the shower stopped. There was a partition wall covering the view from the entrance, so by the time that Bianca and I fully stepped into the shower section of the locker room, the figure was already in the process of towelling off.

I had seen her in the guild hall, but no more than in passing. Black hair, tanned skin. She had a pretty face, but as made obvious right now, a very nice body. With the towel up to dry her hair, it meant that her generous chest was wet, glistening from the runic lights built into the ceiling, and on a lovely display. I could see water rolling down her cleavage and down her torso before dripping off the end of her soft cock.

I licked my lips.

Bianca continued to step forward, either completely unfazed by the nudity, or pretending not to care. That made sense- it was a locker room, after all. It was an unspoken rule to not make a deal about states of undress. Granted, any locker room Hannah ever went into never had a beautiful futanari standing completely naked like a runway model, but I was far from complaining. The tone shifted as soon as the girl turned her head to see who was walking in the room, and I watched as all of the blood drained from her face.

Her eyes went wide at the sight of Bianca. She gulped, immediately used the towel to cover herself up, and almost sprinted away. She barely had time to pick up her clothes bag with one hand before leaving the room- still nude.

"Ooookay, any insight as to what that was all about?" I asked.

The voice that replied in the empty room wasn't Bianca's. It did make the redhead visibly tense, however, when the sweet French accent chirped up.

"Fame is as impressive as it is lonely."

I turned my head. Talya was sitting on one of the metal benches, a towel beside her. She was already dressed in pants and was in the process of buttoning up her shirt. I caught the briefest glimpse of pale, white, stony cleavage before the valley between her breasts was covered once more with black cloth. Her hair, which had been in a braid earlier, was now long, loose and straight. If her skin looked like polished white marble when damp, her hair that actually retained a little bit of water (as hair so frustratingly did) turned a shade of darker gray.

"I'm not here to make friends," Bianca said. She set her bag down on a bench beside one of the shower stalls. Talya smiled.

"Going on your own and doing as much work as an entire team made that quite clear." Talya stood, bare feet clunking against the concrete as she took slow steps towards the door. "One who works with that level of conviction and skill would have a difficult time finding allies not intimidated by the reputation."

Talya stopped right beside me, giving a sultry smile that sent shivers down my spine. "Of course, it seems that Bianca's been making progress in that department."

I winked. Talya returned it- which was an odd sight with her solid blue orbs.

"I'll be upstairs in the lounge. Enjoy your shower, you two."

I did. Very, very much. Bianca was initially apprehensive about other people coming in, so she took the stall next to mine and pulled her curtain shut. She wasn't so apprehensive when I couldn't help myself any more, shut off my own shower and joined hers after two minutes. Though nothing extended past surface-level touches, we both spent more than a small amount of time spreading soap and water across each other's bodies. She was hesitant at first. Those hesitations washed away like the sweat on my skin when I nuzzled up behind her, wrapping her in a reverse hug as I shamelessly groped- err... helpfully washed Bianca's breasts.

I appreciated Bianca's help when I applied the paint-thinning solution to my front. Of course, it also gave Bianca the incentive to really scrub her hands on my stomach, tits, and crotch in order to remove the flaking paint. Purely for hygienic purposes, obviously.

Bianca was blushing so hard that I thought her heart might stop beating from a lack of blood. Eventually, I gave her a deep kiss and rubbed my thumb over her nipples, feeling her shiver in my mouth from the stimulation. My lips pulled away with a smile.

"Alright, I think it's time to meet up with Talya. She's probably wondering where we are."

I turned off the water and pulled aside the curtain, walking proudly out of the small stall. That was, of course, until I saw a figure sitting on a bench across the room. My smile spread from ear to ear.

"Oh, hi Talya!"

At that, I heard a sound of quick movement behind me- the stall curtain closing as Bianca covered herself. Talya laughed.

"I realized I'd left my boots behind," she gestured beside her. A pair of extremely sturdy-looking leather boots were placed on the bench. "Of course, I then realized that I didn't need to wait upstairs for you- I could just stay here."

"Well, sorry for making you wait." I placed my hands on my hips- very aware that I was still completely nude and dripping. "Did you at least enjoy the show?"

"I still am." Talya's eyes were unashamed in how they travelled up and down every millimeter of flesh. "Your beauty knows no bounds."

"Ah, such a charmer." I smiled and walked forward. A quick glance confirmed that, conveniently, both of the towels Bianca and I put by our shower stalls were no longer there. That meant the only place we could get our towels was from the cubby where they were stacked neatly.

The one right behind Talya.

I stepped across the room before stopping directly in front of the stone girl, looking up at her. I was far closer than I needed to be- so much so that my nipples brushed the front of her shirt. "I believe you're in my way."

She grinned. "Oh. Forgive me."

Talya pivoted. Not far- just enough for me to slip past her. Out of my peripherals, I could see her staring downwards and watching my ass as I walked by. For a healer, I wouldn't have expected her to be so shameless. I grabbed two towels out of the cubby and turned around. Bianca's face was peeking past the curtain, staring with wide eyes. I held out one of the towels.

"Wanna come dry off?"

Bianca visibly hesitated for many moments. I could see her debating many things in her head. Eventually, her face steeled from nervous anxiety to a calm mask. Then the curtain opened. Bianca sighed and walked across the concrete floor towards Talya and I. I would have expected her to be covering up with her hands, but they remained by her side. I suppose shamefully trying to hide her private bits would ruin the image of confidence Bianca so obviously held around other people.

Naturally, Talya and I stared every inch of the way. Bianca had the finest body I'd ever seen- a mixture of toned muscle and soft curves so perfect it should have been illegal. Even as she walked across the wet floor her steps were perfectly placed like an agile predator. 'The Wolf of Port Lexin'? Yeah, that sounded about right. I could tell that Talya was appreciating Bianca too, since she was nodding with a wide smile and pants that seemed just a tad too tight around the crotch region.

Futa? Good to know.

Bianca may have been acting confident, but even she couldn't hide the blush on her cheeks when she took the spare towel out of my hands and quickly wrapped it around herself.

"Perverts."