Chapter 168

Seeing how she and Camille had fled the sparring yard in full gear, they still had their weapons with them. Natalie had set her hammer in front of the door to help fend off invaders. Camille, though, had leaned her staff against the corner of the sink, within arm’s reach. She grabbed it now, leveling it toward Natalie, happy to take the lead.

A familiar tingling to Natalie’s sixth sense announced the formation of Camille’s spell. Though Natalie should have expected it, the vines that appeared beneath her feet caught her off guard—she tried to step away, but the thick green mass whipped out and slithered around an ankle, slamming her foot back into the floor. A different one grabbed her other foot. Before she knew it, both legs were anchored firmly in place. Several hard yanks didn’t make their grip budge. It was a rooting spell, at its core; even Natalie couldn’t break free.

“Those things are seriously annoying,” Natalie said, eying the slippery green loops as they encircled her. “Dunno if I’ve mentioned that.” As Camille’s classmate, she’d been on the receiving end of the spell more than once. Though never in this particular way.

“Snares are awful, I know,” Camille agreed with a laugh. “Especially for fighters.” She grinned. “Maybe they can ... say sorry to you, today. You might not hate them so much.”

The vines continued to slither around her, entombing Natalie’s shins and slowly advancing upward. Her heart started to gallop as they encroached higher and higher. She was familiar with the spell, but it had always stayed well beneath her knees. A simple root. They’d never gone this far. Onto her thighs. Then higher still.

“I didn’t know you had this kind of control over them,” Natalie said, trying to resist her instinctive urge to struggle—and only half succeeding.

The vines slipped under her uniform jacket, then wiggled down into her skirt. She shivered as slimy green flesh slid across her skin. Had they always been this slippery? She didn’t think so. Though it would certainly help with ... other activities. At the same time, the slimy residue might be annoying, considering she had still had class the rest of the day; it was getting all over her and her uniform.

Then again, that was where the cleansing liquid would come in handy. The unsung hero of yesterday’s loot.

“It took some practice,” Camille admitted. “Spells don’t have that much give to them. They can be stubborn to change.” Her brow scrunched down, then she made small adjustments with her staff, which she still had pointed at Natalie. Guiding the spell. “And usually they’re not this responsive. I must be getting better.” She sounded vaguely confused.

A thick rope wiggled its head in between her thighs, forcing through and popping out the other side. It slithered a loop around her left leg’s upper thigh and squeezed hard. Another followed, securing her right leg. The contact against her sensitive areas extracted a groan from her.

Despite the quickly advancing distraction, her thoughts latched to what Camille had said. She was finding it easier to control her vines? Enough that she even sounded confused about it?

Was that Natalie’s fault? Was her lust-based class passively helping the encounter along? It had done that before, but only with her spells. None of her teammates had bumped into an interaction like that.

Then again, none of her classmates had tried to fuck her using their skills. None of them had abilities that could—otherwise Jordan probably would have tried.

Though, thinking it over, maybe Ana had spells that could be used that way. How did those black shadow tentacles of hers work? Did they have physical substance like Camille’s vines?

Either way, this was a first. Would all classes react to Natalie’s when used for inappropriate reasons? Did that mean anything, practically speaking? Could it be used, somehow?