Chapter 23

While Beatrice waited for the two-minute cooldown to use [Fast(er) Recovery] on Olivia, she brought up her character information tab to confirm the level-up notifications that kept popping up before her eyes just minutes before.

Information

NameBeatrice

Age18

ClassSuccubus

Level12 (14%)

Health Points340/340 (+0.64/sec)

Arousal Points9.2 /155 (+0.01/sec)

Stamina Points120/130 (+0.325/sec)

Physical Attack12

Physical Defense13

Magic Attack14

Magic Defense17

Speed8

So that wasn’t a mistake, Beatrice concluded. Two more levels ... I’m really making progress. The level-gaining rate was out of this world this time. Why though? The ‘EXP gained through sex’ in the ‘Sexual Tally’ tab confirms that the level distribution is not completely random. Though this whole system is confusingly gamified, there should be some logic to it. More experience for threesomes?

Certainly, I remember gaining levels in my previous times too, but I don’t remember gaining two within such a short time. Or am I mistaken? And if I remember correctly, in leveling games each level is supposed to take longer to acquire than the previous one. Did it have something to do with Olivia? Something specific I did to her? Or something that she did?

“Bah! Guessing is annoying!” Beatrice cursed, slightly frustrated. She looked at Olivia, who laid naked next to her. Her breathing was slow and peaceful. “Asleep!?”

Beatrice chuckled. After all that, she just falls asleep like a baby.

However, Beatrice had no intention of staying in this place any longer. She placed her hand on Olivia’s naked shoulder and cast [Fast(er) Recovery].

“Rise and shine,” the succubus whispered in the ear of the sleeping ninja girl, gently shaking her shoulder. “We’ll be going soon, so you have to get ready too.”

“Mhm, I had the weirdest dream,” Olivia mumbled still with her eyes closed.

“That’s wonderful,” Beatrice replied with a smile.

“H-huh?” Olivia slowly opened her eyes. “Wh-where...”

The effects of the spell sped up Olivia’s return from the world of dreams. She rolled on her back, looked at Beatrice, focusing her eyes, and quietly said, “Oh ... You’re ... Then before-AH!!!”

Olivia’s eyes snapped wide open and she jumped into a seating position as if electrified and then coiled up, covering her nakedness as best she could with her arms and legs. Though Olivia was obviously filled with vitality and energy from Beatrice’s [Fast(er) Recovery] Skill, a dark shadow fell on the ninja girl’s eyes from her messed-up bleached hair.

Olivia quickly looked around in terror, confirming her surroundings. Her gaze stopped on Tabitha for a moment, who was already dressed and was killing time by juggling four magical rings of yellow energy, eerily merry like a kid. Olivia’s eyes then fell on Beatrice’s stunning naked form. The ninja could not stop herself from letting her eyes fall between the futanari’s legs as if confirming that the succubus did indeed still have her cock which was currently soft. Beatrice somehow could tell that images flashed through Olivia’s mind, recalling which hole that cock was filling just recently, as well as every other depraved little detail.

Olivia sunk and curled up, resting her head against her legs, only her dim eyes were barely visible from beneath the messy bleached hair as she stared into the ground at her naked toes, mortified about the events that had transpired now that her sex-frenzied oblivious daze had passed.

Beatrice felt a little sad for the conflicted girl and tried to cheer her up, “Don’t be like that. There’s nothing to be ashamed of. You did splendidly! We all had a good time, didn’t we?”

“J-just leave me be for a little,” Olivia murmured into her legs.

Beatrice sighed, but respected Olivia’s request. The succubus got up and searched for her own bikini-like two pieces of clothing that she somehow threw off in the heat of the moment without even noticing, nor recalling where it was.

Just as Beatrice managed to find and put on all of her few possessions, she saw Ember walking through the trees, returning from the same direction into which she walked off not long before.

“My my,” Ember did not even try to hide her joyful sneer. “I give two horny lovebirds their privacy, yet what do I see? The high-and-mighty little ninja! Naked and wallowing in shame! That delightful, guilt-ridden expression alone is enough to make my morning!”

“WAAAAAHHH!!!” Olivia screamed in fury and threw a kunai at Ember.

Beatrice did not even have the time to wonder where could have the ninja girl hidden that kunai as she was still completely naked. The kunai flew through the air at the speed of a gale, aiming straight at Ember’s disparaging smile, only to disintegrate within her flames that sprung up from her open palm, inches from her unflinching face.

“Well, that woke you up,” Ember laughed. “But have you considered the consequences of your actions? What would have happened had you been actually competent and managed to kill me right now?”

Olivia did not answer. She did not seem much fazed about the fact that her attack utterly failed, nor about the fact that one of her kunai got disintegrated.

Tabitha caught all four of her energy rings in her hand and observed with great interest what would happen next like a curious passerby staring at a burning building, waiting for the inevitable explosion.

“Hm ... Is it my turn now to send an unprovoked attack at you?” Ember asked and compressed her file into a small fireball the size of an orange.

“You will do no such thing,” Beatrice said calmly but firmly to Ember.

“Aw, well that doesn’t seem fair at all!” Ember jokingly complained before crushing the fireball in her fist. A few thin flames slipped through her fingers and dissipated within seconds.

Tabitha seemed genuinely disappointed and also let her energy rings disappear one by one.

“But Ember is right,” Beatrice said as she turned to Olivia. “Since you got your spirits back, we can proceed forward.”

“I take it you had a good time?” Ember asked Beatrice as she approached closer while Olivia swiftly hurried to her belongings.

“Not just me,” Beatrice said while still looking at Olivia. “I just wish she’d be more honest about it too. Each time I seem to break through to her, she locks up all over again. Really, it’s two steps forward, one step back with that one.”

“Your patience is impressive,” Ember said. “You do remember that you still have a cult full of men and women who’d kill for a chance to sleep with you?”

“And yet none of them are here,” Beatrice replied. “Just because Olivia doesn’t fall to my feet and lick them clean doesn’t mean I should discard her in search of an easier lay. I’m fairly confident that nearly every single person in this city would gladly sleep with me.”

“Ah, so it’s the thrill of the hunt?” Ember smiled. “Taking someone who at first rejects you. Seducing them, corrupting them until they are yours...”

“I never made her do anything she did not want to,” Beatrice said. “By the way, it’s been an hour already? I completely lost track of time. Where were you?”

“Just collecting a small package,” Ember said and adjusted a hidden item within her robes. “Oh, it’s nothing fancy, in case you were wondering. As a mage, I don’t use weapons, so I would have no need to hide them. Gold on the other hand ... Well, let’s just say half of the people in Lucarad’s cult would slit someone’s throat for much less than what I have here right now.”

“So ... You put a stash of money here before joining the cult?” Beatrice asked. “That doesn’t seem like an action of someone with plans to stay within the cult long-term. And that cult didn’t seem like the type to attract someone with long-term plans.”

“I wasn’t even hired to stay there long-term,” Ember shrugged.

“What was the reason you were hired?” Beatrice asked.

“To temporarily boost Lucarad’s group’s fighting capabilities. I’m still not sure just how strong he really is, though he’s not weak by any means. But if he was the only one with above-average combat potential, his little cult would have probably been slaughtered a long time ago.”

“A mercenary,” Beatrice said. “Is there any other profession in this entire city here besides mercenaries, bandits, and guards?”

“You’ve just met a butcher,” Ember pointed out.

“You know what I mean. So far it seems that all anyone does here is kill and/or fuck.”

“That sums up this city quite nicely actually,” Ember said with a smile. “Isn’t that right, Olivia?”

“How has no one cut out your tongue yet?” Olivia asked in response, approaching Beatrice and Ember fully clothed and ready to go.

“That indeed is a question you should ask yourself next time you think about doing something stupid again,” Ember said with a smile of a venomous snake.

“You’re the one who keeps provoking her,” Beatrice said.

“And she’s the one that tried to kill us both yesterday,” Ember reminded. “If she can’t even handle light teasing, I can just execute her on the spot as I planned to do in the first place.”

“That won’t be happening,” Beatrice said and moved forward through the forest. “Let’s go!”

Beatrice, Ember, Olivia, and Tabitha proceeded quickly through the Shadow Woods. Ember was leading the way, followed by the succubus, then Olivia, and Tabitha was last, covering their flank. The forest seemed to be purposefully preventing them from staying near the giant city wall that should have been an obvious and easy guiding marker. The rocky terrain and went up and down, often with nearly straight falls or climbs, treacherous pitfalls were obstructed from view by trees both standing and fallen. It was a hazard that no one would go through willingly. And as they maneuvered around these hazards, they got further and further away from the city wall, until it was completely obstructed from sight.

“That path is a nightmare, and not even the shortest way out of here,” Ember explained without worry as they seemingly lost their giant position marker. “A portion of the forest continues along the wall all the way to the East Gates. Those that can navigate this place don’t waste their time there.”

Under Ember’s guidance, they moved exceptionally quickly through the winding paths of the maze-like forest and managed to cover more ground in just three hours than anyone unfamiliar with this place could hope for in a day. And as they moved out of the deepest parts of the Shadow Woods, more and more light passed through from the bright noon sun.

Beatrice kept an eye on the sulking ninja girl whose mood remained unchanged. After some time had passed, she tried to break through to her partner for the second time and said, “If you’re mad at Ember ... Or at me—”

“I’m mad at myself!” Olivia snapped, cutting off Beatrice mid-sentence. “I’m no better than Tabitha! No, I’m far worse!”

Getting such a reaction, Beatrice realized that it was still too early to have a rational dialogue with Olivia. And she would not have gotten a chance anyway.

“Help! Help!” cries of a young girl sounded through the forest. Louder and louder with each one.

“Can’t you hear that?” Beatrice ran up to Ember, who continued to lead the way as if nothing had happened.

“Of course, I can,” Ember said as she continued walking.

“And?” Beatrice asked a leading question.

“I’m your bodyguard, remember? Leading you toward guaranteed trouble is the opposite of my job description.”

“I won’t be much of a ‘Savior’ if I ignore calls for help,” Beatrice said.

“Even if it’s a trap?” Ember asked and stopped, turning toward Beatrice.

“Especially if it’s a trap! If there are scum here who’d use cries for help as a way to lure and punish any remaining good-hearted people, they must be dealt with first.”