Chapter 41
For a while, the silence was dominant in the cave while I gently cleaned Titania's arm with a damp piece of cloth. I couldn't help but feel excited as her arm was slowly freed from the ugly cover of dirt, leaving her alabaster skin, shining and supple after my healing treatment. I occasionally threw a glance toward her, but her beautiful gray eyes —lacking their usual hardness— avoided mine.
Understandable, considering she was being forced to receive nursing effort from a man she barely knew, and the huge crush she was starting to develop toward me definitely didn't harm. "Are you comfortable?" I asked as I moved to the other arm, and received only a soft nod in response.
She stayed silent as I finished her other arm including the shoulder, then moved to her legs, starting from the middle of her thigh and moving lower, trying to make her more comfortable by respecting her boundaries. Or more accurately, acting like I was respecting her boundaries while applying the full range of massage tricks on her, helped by the fact that I had spent several minutes carefully healing her body with my magic, figuring a lot of its secrets in the process, sensitivities, blind spots, and how best to awaken her primal desire.
The first break in her tone happened when I finally reached her ankle. A gasp escaped her mouth, one that she quickly hid behind a cough. I acted unawares as my fingers caressed her foot, turning the intensity a notch as well. "May I ask you a question?" she murmured.
"Of course," I said, once again trying to act unaware. I knew that she was asking for the question earlier than she intended, trying to cover for the idea. A good tactic, too bad it would not work against me.
"Why are you here, in Silver Spires?" she asked, her tone focused. It was good, because it reminded me of something I almost let slip during the last hour. She might be acting like a teenager with a crush, but she was still the head librarian that was strong enough to cut through an army, with the wits to back it up. I was lucky that I was dealing wither in her most vulnerable, exhausted, shocked, and devoid of mana.
"I wanted to be free," I answered casually, deciding that it was the best answer I could come up with, close enough to the truth without revealing my biggest secret. And funnily, when I said it, it resonated in me more than a well-crafted lie. It was true, in the end. I was trying to get stronger, because I wanted to be free even if my unusual power source was discovered.
"What do you mean?" she asked. I doubted that she didn't understand my reason, but my fingers were digging into her soles in a determined assault, bringing her pleasure. And from the way she bit her lips desperately, it was clear that she was struggling to keep her reaction hidden.
"Well, the situation back home is complicated," I said even as I turned my eyes to the cave entrance, my tone had a deep, husky quality, like I was struggling through a dark memory, playing the mysterious tortured hero. "At first, there wasn't a lot of hope about my development, they assumed that I already hit my level cap when I was young, so I was sequestered like the family's little shame. When I was old enough to understand the implications, I could have explained to them the truth, of course, but that would have put me back into the struggle for the family seat. At that point, I was already behind my rivals with no reasonable way to gain other's support." But even as I gave my dark monologue, I did my best to give her a mindblowing foot massage while acting absentmindedly.
"Seems difficult," she murmured, trying to sound serious, but failing to keep the shadow of the moan hidden. "Do you want to return there?"
[+200 Experience]
I acted unawares even as I moved to her other foot. "Not exactly," I answered. "It was not the best childhood, but I lacked a true understanding of the details. But there's nothing for me back there even if I take the family seat, which I could easily," I said, which was very true. With my current strength, it would take me less than a day to take the family seat, but why bother. The last thing I needed was to get stuck in the endless organizational meetings, border disputes, and other innate problems.
"And how come you're in my school," she said, even with the arousal and curiosity, a certain edge could be heard.
"When the opportunity came, my family enthusiastically shipped me to Silver Spires, hoping that I would kindly disappear from their view, unaware of my strength. I stayed, because the school gave me the best opportunity to get stronger. And before I knew, it was the only place I could call my own," I continued as I intensified my massage, forcing a moan of her beautiful lips, of which I acted unawares.
"Is that the reason you're fighting against the necromancers, that they are threatening your home," she said.
"In part," I answered even as I turned to her, with a bright smile on my face. "More importantly, I can't let them hurt such a spectacular sample of beauty, can I?"
The blush that spread her face was spectacular. This time, I kept my gaze on her face, a teasing smile on my lips, as I climbed upward while cleaning her other leg. When I passed her leg, she was squirming helplessly, and when I arrived the upper part of her legs, enjoying the softness of her inner thigh. I wanted nothing more than parting them open, ripping off her underwear, and take her on the floor.
[+200 Experience]
Pity that it was too early for that.
Caressing her inner thighs with a torturous slowness was decent compensation for the lack of it, especially since she was reacting amazingly to my touch. She was even more inexperienced when it came to the matters of the flesh, I realized. "Let's focus on your back," I added as I gently grabbed her shoulder before gently flipping her over, the wet cloth dancing on her back. I would have liked to continue focusing on her thigh, but I want her to be completely clean before I tried my chance with the seduction. The last thing I needed was her to feel self-conscious about the state of her body in the middle of the seduction, ruining my chances.
I focused on her upper back at first, sliding under her bra strap repeatedly to hint her about the possible direction I might take. She managed to stay silent for a short while before a stubborn moan finally escaped her beautiful lips. "I'm not hurting you, am I?" I asked, fake-concerned. "I can reduce the pressure if you want."
"No!" she answered, far to quick to be a nonchalant response, but she still tried to do that. "I meant, it's better if you keep the pressure so that we can focus on our plan."
"Of course, my lady," I answered gallantly even as my empty hand trailed her spine gently, making her shiver. Her moans become commonplace once I arrived at her lower back, passing dangerously close to her buttocks. I cleaned the edges, but instead of her arousal increasing, she stiffened, so I let it slide for a bit. "Do you feel strong enough to sit?" I asked instead.
Her answer was a pointed, angry glare, trying to conceal the fact that she was feeling self-conscious. Understandable, considering her reputation and power. It was likely that no one had questioned her capabilities for a long while, certainly not something as simplistic as sitting up. I answered with a gentle but teasing smile instead. She avoided my gaze shyly and murmured. "I can handle it," she said as she tried to push herself up her feet, only to fail spectacularly.
"Nonsense, for the next few days, I'm your obedient and selfless servant," I said even as I presented my arm to her, helping her to reach a sitting position. She did so, her arms crossed in front of cover her still-dirty chest, covered only with a bra. However, I caught a glimpse, enough to see her nipples pushing hard against the surface, telling her arousal.
Even when I helped her to a sitting position, she looked like she might topple down at any moment. As a gentleman, I could never allow such a disaster, so I sat behind her, her back pressing against my chest, my arms gently around her waist. "Isn't it a bit much," she managed to murmur as she turned her head to face me.
It was a mistake from her end, of course, because it brought our lips almost to a contact point, separated by just an inch, her panicked breath dancing on my lips. She was frozen, and I decided to use the opportunity to focus on her stomach, flat and fragile under my touch. She just stayed there, frozen, while I continued caressing her body, guilt and shock and enjoyment dancing on her face.
[+200 Experience]
I gently hummed even as the fabric I used to clean her beautiful body rode up, dancing just under her breasts. She didn't react as badly as before but still stiffened, so I used a simple spell to clean the fabric before focusing on her neck and her face. The silence stretched as I slowly caressed her face, revealing her dainty, beautiful frame and her delicious lips.
She stayed silent for a while, before a gasp escaped her mouth. She was getting antsy. In a moment of inspiration, I decided to try something new. "You trust me, right?" I asked, and she nodded, though it was a hesitant one, waiting for the twist. I smirked as I raised my finger. "Suck my finger."
"What!" she exclaimed, managing to shout in her exhausted state. "Don't be ridiculous-" she tried to continue, but I silenced her by pressing my finger to her lip.
"Come on, you won't be disappointed," I said even as I dragged my finger along her lip, knowing that her shivers had nothing to do with the cold, not with my body draped around hers. She looked at me hesitantly, her heartbeat beating hard enough to be felt on my chest. Then, she took my finger between her beautiful lips, pouty enough to make a courtesan jealous.
Her eyes widened as I let a minuscule amount of pure, and shapeless mana from my finger, making her eyes widen in shock. She bit my finger in shock, luckily not that hard in her exhausted state, but still enough to hurt. I continued to release mana for a while before stopping.
[-157 Mana]
"What was that?!" she exclaimed, shock and euphoria on her face.
"Pure mana," I answered, like it was a simple thing. In truth, it wasn't. The only reason I was able to do was my rather impressive theoretical background combined with the expertise on three discrete branches of magic, giving me an extraordinary awareness of my magic. "How much mana did you recover?" I asked.
"Two points," she answered, and I couldn't help but frown. The idea was good, but the efficiency was too low.
"I spent over a hundred and fifty points," I answered with a frown, making her smile fall as well. I was quick to console her. "That was just the first test, I'm sure that we can find a better way. Even if we can't, it'll still help your recovery immensely." I sighed.
"Yes," she said with a smile. "Your regeneration is really fast."
"It's a pity that that bonus is about to expire," I answered, and she looked shocked. "Don't worry, I can trigger it again, but not for now. The conditions are a bit tricky." She nodded. "Are you ready to continue experimentation, I said even as I placed my finger in her mouth once again, this time, letting mana trickle slower, hoping for better efficiency.
Of course, it wasn't the only thing I was doing. With her attention on my finger between her hot lips, and the mana flowing from it, it was the best time to move onto some sensual cleaning. The fabric dipped down on her torso once more, this time slipping until it collided her cleavage. She looked like she was about to complain, but I chose that moment to let a huge deluge of magic, filling her mouth, extracting a moan as well.
[-342 Mana]
[+400 Experience]
[Achievement. Tantric Treats. Use your mana to establish a deeper connection with a beautiful beau. +3 Perception, +1000 Experience]
Level UP!
[Select one of the following skills: Master Biomancy, Basic Light, Basic Tantric]
I couldn't help but focus on the selection in front of me instead of her beautiful moan. Biomancy would have been useful, of course, and basic light was intriguing, but not as much as Tantric, especially when mana transfer triggered it. Under different circumstances, I wouldn't have taken it, but enhancing Titania's recovery speed was an advantage I couldn't deny.
The rest, I could discover in the future.
So, I selected before letting my mana flow from my finger once again, the flow already more stable and more effective.
[+100 Experience]
[-121 Mana]
[+2 Tantric]
I looked at her brightening face, happy that she was too occupied to notice the sudden jump in efficiency. Even better, she was too distracted by the flow to care about my hand diving deeper into the sacred area protected by her bra until the wetness of the fabric became too distracting. She dipped her head down, realizing the presence of my hand in her cleavage, stiffening once more. Luckily, my finger was in her mouth, so I distracted her with another jolt of mana, earning a beautiful moan as a result.
[+300 Experience]
[-246 Mana]
[+4 Tantric]
It was amusing to see just how easy was to increase the skill proficiency with a large mana capacity, though not as amusing as watching the impeccable head librarian of Silver Spires squirming in my lap, betraying her utter lack of experience when it came to men. "So, tell me about yourself," I asked with a flirty tone.
"I can't, my secrets are dangerous," she answered confrontationally, but as she stayed distracted by it, she failed to comment as I found her bra hook and releasing it with a flick, finally leaving it bare, limiting herself to a shy gaze instead.
"I need to have better access to properly clean," I answered innocently before moving back to the main topic. "I'm not asking about your secrets, I'm asking about you. Tell me what you enjoy in your free time, what you don't. What's your favorite color, or what's your favorite food."
"I don't know," she murmured shyly, but also with a hint of confusion. "I have a great deal of responsibilities in my job, and my secret mission takes the rest. I don't have the chance or the desire to explore."
"What a pity," I said even as I dragged my cloth down to her last untouched spot, hidden behind her panties. This time, she was very much aware of the destination, but did nothing to prevent me other than a trembling hand reflexively reaching before coming to a sudden stop, showing I wasn't the only one that was feeling excited about the prospect. I continued speaking as I dragged her panties down, revealing her beautiful nether lips once more, neatly trimmed, while also giving her another dash of mana, the flow even easier than the previous time.
[+400 Experience]
[-131 Mana]
[+3 Tantric]
"Do you at least masturbate," I asked cheerfully at her even as I dragged the wet fabric on her most sensitive spot with torturous slowness, making her moan helplessly.
I wasn't expecting much, but the answer still surprised me. "No," she murmured. "Never."
Keeping the question back took quite a bit of effort. I could have accepted that she didn't masturbate often, as she was still enough around the school to do so. But to never masturbate, one needed to be seriously asexual, and from the responses she was showing under my hands, I was willing to diagnose that she was very sexual.
Which meant that it was something about her emotions or instincts being repressed. It was a wild guess, but it was definitely more believable than my power set, so who could know?
"Really?" I answered instead even as I threw the fabric to the side and placed my fingers to her entrance. "Then, let me have the honor of being the first one to teach you about true pleasure."
—
[Level: 18 Experience: 153850 / 171000
Strength: 18 Charisma: 30
Precision: 13 Perception: 17
Agility: 17 Manipulation: 20
Speed: 15 Intelligence: 20
Endurance: 14 Wisdom: 24
HP: 1386 / 1386 Mana: 963 / 1998 ]
SKILLS
[Master Melee [100/100]
Expert Arcana [75/75]
Expert Elemental [75/75]
Expert Biomancy [75/75]
Advanced Subterfuge [50/50]
Basic Speech [25/25]
Basic Tantric [10/25]
PERKS
Mana Regeneration