Leveling through Lust

We spent another half an hour on the balcony after Carla's shocked departure, which reinvigorated me completely. We could have continued, but I was excited about finally getting a weapon of my own. Inevitably, it was going to be inferior to Aviada's, but still, it was a good trade-off for continuous access.

I followed Aviada from a distance as she moved toward a stocky building near the center of the campus, once again dressed as yet another warrior student, which worked wonders to avoid attention.

[+1 Subterfuge]

A smile popped on my face as I read the notification, feeling nostalgic. It was barely more than a month ago when I first received my Subterfuge skill, which allowed me to carve a place for myself without trying to fend off scalpels of curious experimenters. Even now, it allowed me to play a game that was above my potential. I had to admit that it was a true shock. When I was below level ten, I was sure that level twenty was an unreachable goal, one that would ensure my safety once reached. That turned out not to be the case. I was level twenty-four, with an unbelievable stat distribution to boot, and still needed to stay concealed. The stronger I got, the more threats I faced.

Apparently, there was a reason the world was teetering on the edge of a collapse despite countless heroes. Under the impressive sheen of legends and magic, lay a dangerous rot.

I focused on the present as we entered the building dedicated to the craftsmen. The first thing that got my attention was the noise. It was unbearable. The shouts of the servants, the clanking of the metal, the low hum of the wards, and even the occasional explosions. A crowd of servants was bustling around, carrying trays and cases filled with half-processed materials. The crowd occasionally parted, letting one of the core craftsmen pass through, with great variety. Enchanters, blacksmiths, wardmasters, each giving off a subtle aura of expertise.

However, I noticed something interesting. There was a great variety of experts in the building, but in no area other than the main corridor, the building was clearly separated into areas, and I could see no expert from a different discipline. Each expert clearly preferred their own group, and the others even avoided the side corridors that connected. Even more, whenever an expert came across another, the tension between them was clear. Alchemists avoided blacksmiths, engravers glared at tailors, the leather workers disdained enchanters…

Weird, I thought, doing my best to listen as Aviada guided me deeper into the building. Their distaste for each other was clear, but understanding the reason for it was a bit more difficult. Meanwhile, we walked until we reached the stairs, and used them to go down four floors, each floor showing less and less movement, as the space underground was mostly used for storage. Even so, as we moved down, I could sense the wards around the storage rooms weakening, which implied that they were using those rooms for less precious knick-knacks rather than anything precious.

We left the stairs after arriving at the fourth underground floor, the place was empty other than a few servants trying to pull some items from storage. Since there was no one around us, I started walking next to Aviada once more. "What's the deal with the craftsmen avoiding each other?" I asked.

"Something about guild budgets and the number of candidates they are allowed to host here," Aviada explained dismissively, once again showing her direct personality. I sighed. She had an excellent mentality for combat, wasn't afraid of risks, and her loyalty was certain, but still, I couldn't trust her with anything important in other areas due to her dismissive attitude. If it wasn't something she could cut down with her sword, she wasn't interested, which made her a poor assistant for anything complicated.

"Guilds?" I asked, feeling curious. I had been planning to do some research about the production facilities before I visited, which unfortunately went awry due to my repeated lack of luck. Trying to figure out my new Tantric skill, or investigating the necromancer activities took priority. If it was even two weeks ago, I would have rescheduled and done my research no matter how much I needed a weapon, but with my power, there were only a few people I still feared in the school, such as Titania, and the mysterious Headmistress.

"Yeah, the craftsmen are not a part of the student body, so they need to get permission from the school to operate here," Aviada explained carelessly.

That explanation didn't clear up my confusion. "But why are they so against each other's presence?" I asked.

"Something about limited spots and competition between the guilds," Aviada murmured with a shrug. "Oeyne explained it before, but I don't remember. You can talk to her about it."

I sighed, not bothering to hide my disappointment. True to her personality, Aviada didn't care. It was doubtful whether she even noticed. We covered the rest of the distance in silence, moving deeper into the floor, so much that even the occasional servant carrying stuff disappeared. When Aviada mentioned that Oeyne didn't like to work with the other craftsmen, I was expecting a slight distaste, not a total social shunning. Not that I had any problem with that. As long as she was skilled, her lack of connections worked to my benefit.

"We're here," Aviada said as she stood in front of a door that stood out from the other doors on the floor, which were gray and featureless. The door was made from pure iron, and engraved with silver. It radiated magic, so it was not just a door but a magical artifact. She might be ostracized and have a gambling problem, but that didn't mean she was poor. After all, for a skilled blacksmith, it wasn't hard to get extra funds as long as they were willing to work hard.

Interestingly, however, other than the door, which was a standalone artifact, the rest of the wards weren't particularly strong. So, she either used the door as an of her skills and wasn't afraid of danger, or she didn't have any capable helper for the wards. I was quite curious about which, because the latter part gave me an in to prove myself. "Have you talked with her about me?" I asked.

"I mentioned that you're a friend who needs a weapon and willing to be very generous in terms of payment," Aviada answered.

"Good," I said. "Then, as far as she's concerned, I'm a mage that chose to branch out as a warrior just to annoy my family," I said. She looked at me questioningly. "I might need to show off some of my magical abilities, and if I also show myself as a full-fledged warrior, my magical abilities and their implications would make her suspicious," I explained. Magical abilities were different, especially if I stick to Arcana and avoid Biomancy.

"If you say so," Aviada answered with a shrug, not really interested in my tricks. Earlier in our relationship, it would have earned a more explosive reaction, but she had been farming quite a bit of reward from my sneaky approach, which went a long way to mollify her distaste for subterfuge.

She knocked on the door, only to be met with silence. She waited a minute before knocking again, this time stronger. Again, silence. "Maybe she's not in her workshop yet?" I said. "Should we try her room instead?"

"This is her room," Aviada answered with a scoff, and knocked on the door once more. However, this time, she used the pommel of her sword rather than her hand, making a truly unbearable sound, even leaving a mark on the metal door.

That earned a response. "Who the fuck is it at this forsaken hour," came a groggy voice from the other side of the door.

"It's already afternoon, Oeyne," Aviada shouted back.

"It's still early. Why are you here?" her shout came back.

"We already talked about this. I have a friend with me to commission a weapon. Do you want him to go to the Blacksmith Guild to commission one?" Aviada shouted back, but she was smiling.

"If he wants me to do anything this early, he can go fuck himself for all I care," she answered back.

"Charming lady," I commented, unable to keep my smirk contained.

Aviada laughed. "Even if he can cure your hangover?"

The shout that replied was different, replacing annoyance with enthusiasm. "Why didn't you tell me that first, you silly girl," she shouted immediately. As we waited, we heard a couple of doors being slammed, followed by more profanity.

"Do you want me to stay, or can you handle it?" Aviada asked.

"I'm sure I can handle it," I answered. If her enthusiasm about the hangover cure was any indicator, I didn't need Aviada to break the ice between us, and considering I was going to rely on my mage persona to further my relationship with her, she couldn't exactly help me.

Then, the door opened, giving me the first glimpse of the mystery blacksmith, making my eyes widen slightly, along with a notification.

[+75 Experience] 25% Penalty!

The experience is nothing much at my current level, but the fact that I received any experience meant that she was level twenty-four just like me, making her a true powerhouse craftsman. I didn't know a lot about the Blacksmith Guild and other organizations, but I was willing to bet that they weren't filled with powerhouses like that, making her ostracization a true mystery.

But the political ramifications took the backseat as I turned my full focus to examine her, unable to keep my smirk as I did so. I received to experience the moment I saw her, because she was wearing only a dressing gown, its front loose enough to show her lack of a bra, instead of giving me a glimpse of her spectacular, caramel-colored bosom, looking delicious enough to eat.

To make things even more interesting, before I could raise my eyes to look at her face, she grabbed my wrist and pulled me inside, hard enough to break the arm of a weaker man. She was very strong. Even from a casual pull, from the ease she achieved it, I was confident that her Strength was above twenty, but I wasn't sure about the exact number. "Are you coming, girl," she said without bothering to look at Aviada, who was watching us with a mischievous smile, clever enough to realize the ultimate ending for her friend.

I was so lucky that I had fucked jealousy out of Aviada.

"I have a mission, so no," Aviada answered, and closed the door, leaving us alone.

Oeyne grunted in response as she pulled me toward a seat in the corner, and sat down, looking exhausted. "Cure, now, or I break you, boy," she grunted even as she pressed her hands to her temple.

I was curious just how much she drank last night. She was clearly strong, and as a blacksmith, I doubted that her Endurance was below fifteen. To make her feel such an explosive hangover, she must have imbibed a tub. However, rather than trying to estimate it, I pulled out a bottle that was filled with a purple fluid which I created through biomancy. It was basically a concentrated solution of minerals that would help replace the loss of energy. All she needed was to drink it, and her hangover would be gone in fifteen minutes.

However, that was the plan before I saw her. Even with her brown hair disheveled horribly, her face contorted in discomfort, and giving out a thick smell of alcohol, she was beautiful. She certainly wasn't young, probably in her forties, but like the wine she was clearly fond of, the years just made her tastier. She was almost six feet, making her just a few inches shorter than me, and her body was toned to perfection. Thanks to the supernatural nature of her strength, she wasn't overly muscular, making her tight body delicious, especially combined with her caramel skin tone. I couldn't wait until I could get a taste.

"Here it is," I said as I raised the bottle. She grabbed the bottle immediately and was about to drink it. Suddenly, I understood why Aviada liked her. They were both recklessly forward, making me wonder how the hell they managed to survive in such a dangerous world. Maybe there was a hidden luck stat, and theirs were off-the-charts?

I decided to leverage her direct personality. "If you drink it, it'll take effect in fifteen minutes, or I can apply it through your neck and use magic to activate it, and it'll work in a minute."

She said nothing, not that she needed to. She gave me the bottle before turning around, and pulled her dressing gown enough to give me a glimpse of her shoulders, making my erection grow even after the hour I had spent with Aviada. "Hurry up," she said.

[+150 Experience] 25% Penalty!

I quickly poured the potion on her shoulders before starting my massage, my fingers already dancing on her shoulders. Since Aviada mentioned Oeyne had some magical abilities, I couldn't be as direct as I wanted to be. Using my healing abilities directly wasn't an option, as it would raise a question about the need for the potion, not to mention I was trying to sell myself as an Arcana expert.

Thankfully, my magical abilities were more than enough to trick such an amateur. I used a large amount of Arcana-natured mana to blanket her senses, making the magical signature of the potion too chaotic to sense. Only after, I used my healing abilities to ease her hangover, while simultaneously making her body absorb the potion. However, even that part was a distraction, as if noticed, it wasn't exactly hard to explain. I wanted to reach into her soul space, getting a glimpse of her skills and abilities.

Since she wasn't relaxed enough for that, I decided to help her with that aspect first. Repeated sessions with Marianne had made me an expert on the subject, so after I let my hands free on her neck and shoulders, it didn't take long for her pained moans to be replaced by satisfied grunts. In a minute, her back was arching sexily as my fingers destroyed knot after knot in her back. She desperately needed a massage, it seemed. Not surprising considering the physical strain of being a blacksmith, combined with her drinking habits. But her sexy moans made it hard for me to keep my hands in safe places.

[+300 Experience] 25% Penalty!

[+2 Subterfuge]

Rather than trying to sleep with her, I used the opportunity to slip a small stream of mana into her body, finding her soul space. She was too strong to process without a better understanding, especially since, unlike Titania, she wasn't exhausted due to mana overuse.

The sensation of her soul space surprised me. It was significantly more defined than the girls, reminding me of Titania. Unlike her, however, Oeyne's soul space was stiff, which meant that she had reached her level cap. A glimpse of her stats showed that she was primarily physical —no surprises there— with a particular focus on Strength and Endurance. However, her mental stats surprised me, because she had three stats over ten: Intelligence, Perception, and Wisdom. Intelligence and Perception were barely above ten, but still, it was impressive for a primarily-physical fighter, nothing I had seen before in someone else —though I couldn't say I had a large pool of examples. Combined with her Level, it made her truly formidable.

So, formidable that, rather than trying to turn the massage into something more heated, I pulled my hands back after getting a glimpse of her skills, which were mostly crafting related, a specialized melee skill, and one advanced Arcana to give her some utility. I pulled back, not wanting to risk getting caught. She was strong, beautiful, and most importantly, clearly lacking in allies, making her an excellent prospect. I didn't want to ruin it accidentally.

Also, it was always a good strategy to make a lady be left wanting…

"That's it," I said as I pulled back, cutting her moan off halfway. She looked back, her eyes widening slightly, only then realizing the inappropriateness of the situation. She fixed her dressing gown, though even as she did so, she managed to surprise me once more. Rather than pulling it on hurriedly as Marianne would, or doing her best to look impassive like Titania, Oeyne fixed her dressing gown slowly, bordering inappropriate, a curious smile on her lips.

"That was rather impressive," she said, her tone soft and silky now that she wasn't shouting angrily. "I'm going to ask you to wait while I put on something more appropriate, wait here, and don't touch anything," she said, her tone sharpening at the last part. Still, any possible sting from her words disappeared when she turned around. She did so quickly, making her dressing gown rise, giving me a glimpse of her beautiful thighs, riding high enough to reveal that her bra wasn't the only missing piece of underwear…

[+75 Experience] 25% Penalty!

I smiled as I watched her disappear into her bedroom. I liked Helga and the rest, but Oeyne's mature, confident gait was a breath of fresh air. Working with her was going to be an interesting experience…

[Level: 24 Experience: 279400 / 300000

Strength: 28 Charisma: 38

Precision: 21 Perception: 27

Agility: 25 Manipulation: 30

Speed: 23 Intelligence: 30

Endurance: 22 Wisdom: 33

HP: 2856 / 2856 Mana: 3792 / 3792 ]

SKILLS

Master Melee [100/100]

Master Tantric [100/100]

Master Biomancy [100/100]

Master Elemental [100/100]

Expert Arcana [75/75]

Expert Subterfuge [52/75]

Basic Speech [25/25]

PERKS

Mana Regeneration

Skill Share