The Hero Became a Succubus, and the Only Way to Level is to… What?!

While the others guarded Grahib and his mercenaries, Kanae followed Kara to her home to catch up. The 'house' in question was actually a dormitory for Ashneedle miners. Many were returning back to work now that the danger had passed, and the foreman permitted Kanae and Kara some time as thanks for liberating the town.

The former adventurer's room was small and dull. It contained a bed, a small closet for her clothes, and an equipment rack where her pickaxe hung beside a sword and buckler. Kara entered her own room anxiously. Her shoulders slackened on the way in. This was clearly not where she wanted to be.

"Welcome to my place. It… isn't very homey." Kara frowned.

"I don't know. It's kind of nice. Reminds me of when I first started adventuring. My party and I lived in pretty crappy accommodations," Kanae explained.

"Where did you start?"

"Little town called Orturic," she recalled fondly. "It had a vast forest with a pretty big level range of monsters. The squirreling necromancer outside is one of two companions I partied up with. We were terrible at adventuring. Imagine this: a necromancer who couldn't raise undead to fight and a self-centered priest who spent our hard-earned gold on luxuries for herself."

Kara giggled.

The two exchanged stories for a little while. Slowly, Kara started looking better. Her face lit up with smiles. She was still her shy self, so Kanae ended up doing most of the talking.

"Oh, I almost forgot! Your sister wanted me to give you this." Kanae untied the rapier from her waist. It wasn't until she partially drew the blade from its sheath that Kara recognized the weapon.

"Camilla?" Kara gasped. Her hands reached out intending to take it, but she snapped back and shied away. She grabbed the side of her arm instead, eyes cast down to the ground. "I can't take it. I'm not an adventurer anymore. It's better in my sister's hands. All I'm suited to wielding is a pickaxe now…"

Someone rapped their knuckles against the room door.

"Knight-Commander, the paralytic toxin has worn off from Grahib. We're ready to interrogate him if you are," Alicia announced from the other side before walking away.

Kanae rose to her feet and said, "I ran into Seven in Bravost. He wanted me to tell you: he's going to find Theena and wants to adventure with you two again. I know you feel the same way. That's why…" She placed the rapier beside the equipment rack next to Kara's old weapons. "I'm leaving this in your care. Camilla wanted you to have it. Whether or not you plan to use it is up to you."

Kara's eyes continued to linger on the sword as Kanae left the room. Alicia was waiting for her outside the dormitory. Together, they headed to the town's center where Grahib was being held captive.

The company of mercenaries were still under Kanae and her succubi companions' control, but they tied them up all the same. Grahib, also known as the Unbreakable Dervish, laid on the ground glowering. His fore and hindlegs had been bound with rope, including his arms. Two of Edina's death knights stood guard, their very presence scaring the townsfolk to keep a distance.

"Neither Claudia nor I can place him under our charm. It is very likely he is of similar or higher level than us," Alicia explained.

"What do you want to do, Kanae? Draw straws to see who gets to drain him for his experience?" Claudia asked.

"It's been a while since I've leveled. What do you think, Grahib? Which one of us do you want to get fucked by?" Kanae kneeled down next to his head.

"I'd rather none of you. When my mana inevitably recovers, I'll crush all of you under a mountain of stone!" Grahib shouted angrily.

"That would be a problem, wouldn't it? Turn Horny!" She fired the succubus spell and made his dick to grow erect, then engulfed it with her tail pussy.

Alicia and Claudia swallowed hard, their succubus hunger showing as Kanae proceeded to drain the centaur. She shuddered. His hung, horse-shaped cock felt nice inside her.

"N-No, stop! Ahhh! I… Ooh, it kind of feels good… different, but good!" Grahib cried in ecstasy and spilled a fat load of centaur seed into her pussy.

[Congratulations! You are now level 281!

Skill Drain has temporarily acquired the skill Earthen Armor.

Earthen Armor: A suit of stone covers your body and vastly raises your resistance against physical attacks. This resistance slowly wears off when taking repeated hits.]

[You have gained a new skill!

Identify Kink: Focus on your target and learn exactly what gets them off.]

"Uh… What?" Kanae blinked incredulously.

"What happened? You good?" Claudia leaned into her field of vision.

A stream of information, like forgotten memories resurfacing, flooded Kanae's mind as she looked upon Claudia. Words flitted across her vision, similar to the ones from a second ago, above the succubus' head.

[Claudia's kink: BDSM, spanking, verbal lashing, bondage, abandonment.]

"I already know most of these though!" Kanae glanced the other way and laid eyes on Edina, who cocked her head in confusion.

[Edina's kink: CBT, necroph—]

"Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope." Kanae squeezed her eyes shut and tried to unfocus.

"Kanae, snap out of it." Alicia shook her back to her senses.

When Kanae opened her eyes, everyone's kinks stopped appearing. Nothing appeared over Alicia's head. But curiosity got the better of her.

[Alicia's kink: Knife play, bondage, vanilla, cuddling.]

Somehow, the most unreadable one of this group had some of the tamest kinks. The words vanished, and Kanae slowly gained control of focusing on people's kink so they didn't appear all over the place.

"Whew. Sorry. I just gained a new skill called Identify Kink. It was about to drive me crazy, but I'm fine now," Kanae assured everyone.

"You better not have looked at me," Petyr growled.

"I don't need to use that skill to know what you're into…" She rolled her eyes.

"Identify Kink?" Alicia exchanged glances with Claudia and shrugged. "We don't have that. It must be a Seductress-specific skill then."

"You know, that would explain why Hilde always knew how to get us going," Claudia added thoughtfully.

Now that Kanae had this new skill, she decided to put it to use and focused on Grahib. The centaur recoiled and braced himself for violence.

[Grahib's kink: Missionary, small beastman women, size difference, cock worship.]

"Hmm…" Kanae rubbed her chin.

"W-What?" Grahib stammered.

"Listen, maybe we got off on the wrong hoof. You tell us what you're doing here, and I'll have my squirreling friend give you a nice time. What do you say to that?" she suggested.

Grahib followed Kanae's gaze to Edina, who was sitting atop her death knight with her nose buried in the grimoire of necromantic equipment. She noticed his dick twitch a little. He swallowed hard and shook his head.

"Whatever you're trying to tempt me with, it won't work! Besides, I like women my own size," Grahib huffed.

"We both know that's not true." Kanae leaned down and lowered her voice to a whisper. "My friend has a very tight pussy. She loves big cocks because it makes her feel small and helpless. I've seen her take a minotaur before, and boy did that beast get milked dry."

"A secret weapon! We're looking for a secret weapon hidden in the Under Roads! But we haven't had any luck. The tunnels down there are much more vast than anyone gave them credit for, and many of the paths have collapsed. This place also turned out to be a bust," he explained.

Claudia threw her head back in laughter. "A secret weapon? Hah! It's like the sex automaton in Ha'Vavish all over again. But I wouldn't put it past the dwarves and cult to hide something down there."

It sounded like the Harpy King wasn't satisfied with his archaeological discovery. Now he was sending the Dervish Five to scour for more. But that wasn't the only thing they were after…

"What about Renya? Sofisa made it clear that the Dervish Five wanted her. Why?" Kanae demanded to know.

"You mean Renya Rown? This has little to do with her, and more to do with Solasta Rown. I only know that his Majesty, the Harpy King, granted a large sum of wealth to him. Whatever the particulars of their arrangement was, he intends to collect from Rown Company one way or another. Renya can't hide for long. The other Dervishes are on her trail. They will find her sooner or later, and Solasta will pay his due," Grahib said.

Kanae held her tongue in revealing that Solasta had already passed away. So, the company whose fortune rivaled a country got a big loan from the Harpy King. Renya got dragged into this mess by her father's business dealings.

But what could be so serious that they resorted to trying to kidnap her rather than just sit down and talk? Renya would know more, but she was somewhere in the city hiding from the Dervish Five to begin with.

"Hey, uhh… You going to introduce me to that squirreling or not?" Grahib asked.

"Huh? Oh. Edina! Can you come here?" Kanae hollered.

"Wassup?" Edina shut her book and flew over.

"I'm not one for giving my enemies what they want, but this guy wants to have sex with you. What do you say?" She shot a pointed look at his erect dick.

"Hmmmmm. The soul of a high level centaur warrior. We can fuck once I turn you into a death knight!" The necromancer's eyes flashed with deathly magical energies.

"Wait a minute, this isn't what we agreed to!" He gulped.

Before Edina could slash Grahib with the Scythe of Soul Reaping, the square erupted in a ring of fire. Scorching winds created dust devils that ignited into flaming tornadoes. Kanae and Edina dove out of the way as one came right for them.

It engulfed Grahib entirely, but the fire didn't harm him. Instead, they burned the rope that bound him. Kanae casted Hailstorm to put out the flames, but her spell quickly steamed away and evaporated.

"We meet again, warriors! Is that a new challenger, I see?" The flames subsided enough that Sofisa's silhouette and her large, curved blade appeared behind the curtain of fire.

"Sofisa, we aren't here to fight. Grahib, get up already. We're leaving!" an experienced, commanding male voice shouted from within.

"Don't let them get away!" Kanae yelled, but most of them couldn't so much as brave the intense heat.

"Fuck! Fuck!" Petyr ripped off her armor, which was beginning to glow bright hot yellow.

Edina and Claudia pressed forward unfazed by the fire—a snaking flame surged out and whipped them back. The necromancer went flying, only to be caught by her death knight. Meanwhile, the former Mistress of Pain took strike after strike.

"The fire tickles, and the whip stings like a wimpy pinch. How am I supposed to get off to this?" Claudia caught the fiery whip with her bare hand and yanked.

An arm scorched black jerked forward into view. Magma roiled underneath the surface of their skin. They dispelled the whip and retreated back into the cover of the tornado.

"Stay out of this and return north if you know what's good for you!" the same man warned.

"No, you don't!" Claudia bolted for them until the fiery tornado blasted outward.

Kanae shielded Alicia, and Petyr stepped in front of them to erect a barrier of holy light. The flames passed by them harmlessly. When the fires subsided, all that was left was the charred ground. Grahib, Sofisa, and the mysterious Dervish were gone.

Townsfolk raced about putting out anything that had caught fire. Edina's death knight had protected her. Claudia… knew what she was getting into. The succubus had been burned black. When they raced up to check on her, she was lying on her back and still conscious.

"Okay, that last bit hurt a little…" Claudia coughed up smoke.

"Healing you is going to take a lot more than just a couple of Flash Heals. Petyr?" Kanae suggested.

"Fine, but I'm not happy about it. Lay on Hands." Petyr grabbed Claudia by the throat to administer the spell.

In a bright flash of light, the paladin restored Claudia completely. No one would have thought she suffered burns all over her body.

"Wow. I feel good as new! Did you have to put your hand around my neck though? And you didn't choke me?" Claudia booed.

"Die." Petyr squeezed her airways shut.

"Haaccck?!" The succubus squawked in surprise.

"Quit fooling around, you two. I know we just got here, but we have to get back to Bravost now. Renya's in grave danger!" Kanae exclaimed.

There was little to do in Ashneedle now. Kanae had kept the promise to Camilla in giving Kara her rapier. Grahib also confessed that this 'secret weapon' wasn't in the ruins found here either. As soon as they reunited with Renya, they could plot their next moves.

As the party returned to the carriages, however, they found the centaur guide staring over the burning debris of their ride back.

"I guess it's all aboard my dracolich." Edina summoned her undead dragon, causing panic to ensue in the town of Ashneedle.

They climbed on and were about to leave until Kanae noticed Kara running out from the dormitory. The buckler and rapier were equipped to her person, and she wore a scaled leather tunic rather than work clothes.

"Kanae, wait!" Kara staggered up to them out of breath. "Please… take me with you. When I saw you and your friends fighting just now… it reminded me of Seven and Theena. I… I want to adventure with them again. I never wanted to work as a miner, and I don't want to disappoint Camilla."

"I'll help you find them when we get back then." Kanae smiled.

Kara hopped on her toes in an attempt to get on the skeletal dragon. The poor girl wasn't tall enough. Kanae reached down and pulled her right up to the spine.

"Hold on tight though. All these gaps in the ribs means the wind passes right through. You might feel weightless from time to time," Kanae said.

"Eh? Is it sa— aaaaaaaaaaaaafe?!" Kara screamed in lift-off, and the dragon soared high in the sky towards Bravost.