Underworld - Book 6 - Chapter 45

We stepped out of the space tunnel into a room that resembled the Hallow Exchange’s transformation array. The difference was that this one was twice its size and the well laid out pillars reached more than four stories high. I’d expected the Succubi to on par with most any high noble vampire family, but this was on a completely different level entirely.

Following behind the two succubi, we stepped into the hall and saw no sign of Mistress Nava’s human group. They’d been thrown into the portal, but they were now gone? She must’ve been able to communicate through the open array and command someone to deal with them…

I recognized the grand hall we entered immediately. I’d had more than one trip into the Head Mistress’s palace. It was her own personal transportation array? The walls were covered in stretched fabric of red and purple that was interwoven together in flowing designs. At the border of the ceiling and floor was golden trim which held molded images depicting the luxuries of succubi life. I kept my eyes forward to keep from any of the embarrassing scenes.

Even though I’d been in her palace before, that didn’t mean I’d been in this exact hall, or even this wing. I had no idea how big the place really was. From Aeris’s description, the entire succubi city was filled with vast palaces, so the Head Mistress’s had to be something special.

Suddenly, Mistress Nava dropped back to speak with us. Seeing anything but hatred from her was a bizarre experience. “Brother, the Head Mistress asks that you change into your vampire form. If the average succubus tried to take a piece of your essence, they would die on the spot because of your extreme concentration of Light Mana, but the Matriarchs are different. They’re much more powerful and will see you as the most delightful snack. Until she asks you to reveal your true form, keep it hidden. And definitely don’t change into your Incubus Form. They would just as likely rip you apart as consume you.”

“Okay…” I replied, completely unsure how to respond to her calling me brother.

I glanced over to Aeris and she already know what I was going to ask. “Go ahead,” she said. “It won’t bother me.”

I thought that might be the case after seeing her place with Xaphan the Primordial Cat, but hearing it was a huge relief. It seemed that see was unaffected by almost every Alignment.

My Vampire Form started to take shape. When I looked back to Mistress Nava she was eyeing my chest.

Seeing that she was caught, she sighed shamelessly. “You best cover that. Once the sisters learn you’re to be their Brother, they’ll squabble over who’s harem you’re to join or if you’re building your own. I’ll tell them you have no interest and have chosen to dedicate yourself to sister Aeris but that doesn’t mean they won’t try to change your mind.”

Before she’d finished speaking, my skeletal armor had covered me from neck to toe. “Wouldn’t joining a harem just make me a succubi’s food?”

I felt a sharp pain from my arm that was holding Aeris. She’d pinched me.

“I wouldn’t dare,” I told her quickly through mind-speak.

“I know, but it’s just a reminder,” she replied.

“Oh no,” Nava said, emphatically shaking her head. “Being a Brother gives you a Gentleman’s status and no one would dare harm you. It would be equal to harming a Sister. There are few Gentlemen, so the sisters covet their attention. Whether it’s for status or breeding, a sister gains prestige from her strength, relations, and the quality of her harem.”

I was instantly sorry that I asked. There was a question I couldn’t miss the chance to query, “Do you still want to kill me?”

“What makes you think I want to kill you?”

“Besides me attacking you right after I killed Napalm? What about the time your Hell Hound nearly bit Audrey in two or when Lady Contessa left me having to regrow my limbs? Not to mention, Travis has almost died twice and both times was brought back from the brink of death.”

“Well yeah, but uh—” She held up a finger as if about to explain, but then took a few hurried steps to catch up with Lilith without giving me an answer.

“What’s up with her? She doesn’t act like an ancient succubus at all,” I said secretly to Aeris.

“Why do you think she’s ancient?” She replied.

“Creature Observation says so.”

She gave it some serious thought before responding. “From what I’ve heard, she’s the youngest to reach Mistress in a century. She’s held up as the standard to Lady Succubi. Maybe its because of that. Most get preoccupied in other things and can take a five or six decades to reach it. I think she’s at the most 15 years old.”

“You’re kidding me… Although, she certainly acts that way.”

“Her father was also human, so she’s more like us than the average succubi.”

“Great. So she’s a spoiled teenager girl with absurd power that could explode any minute.”

“I kind of feel sorry for her.”

I looked at her like she’s crazy. “She’s tried to kill us multiple times.”

“There’s no denying that, but even though she reached Mistress so quickly, she also doesn’t have any friends among her own kind. Lilith is the only one that really gives her any care. Succubi that aren’t born from an Incubus and Succubus are treated as second class citizens. She’s overcome that by reaching the rank of Mistress, but she has no harem because she’s spent all her time trying to grow more powerful. And as for her pets and apprentice, we’ve basically killed them all.”

“She must really hate us then. I thought the Succubi hate Incubi?”

“They do, but they still make for the best breeding partners for their race and are commonly in harems.”

“This is just too much for me. What should we do about her? Will she try to kill us again?”

“No. Whatever Lilith says goes and that goes even more for her. Don’t laugh, but maybe if we give her a pet she likes she’ll become an ally.”

“But won’t our friends kill us for even thinking about it?”

“The time for revenge has passed. Now that we’re joining them, we’re out of options. Quiet now. We’re here. When inside, do your best to not show any reaction to what they do and say. It’s the best way I’ve found to keep trouble to a minimum.”

An arching doorway two stories tall stood to the right of our path. The doorway’s trim resembled carved ivory and had even clearer depictions of succubi vices. I held tightly to the hand of my little Wind Sprite to remind me of what really mattered.

Instead of chairs lining the aisle, there were great cushion like oversize beanbag chairs lined up in rows with no end of additional pillows scattered amongst them. I counted over thirty curvaceous women already lying comfortably on the cushions and wearing far less clothing than appropriate. Unlike Mistress Nava’s petite build, they were all fully mature and had a great variety of skin tones and hair colors that didn’t exist amongst humans. A few were obviously half dark elves because of their skin tone, and one may have even been half-orc. The most distinguishing characteristic was that they all were appallingly powerful. Even though they hid it, the smallest lapse in control sent pulses of power throughout the room.

I used Creature Observation on a couple of them and received Unknown results. Seeing Nava lower her head in reverence as she followed at the Head Mistress’s side, made me realize this was the most dangerous moment of my life. The only other time that came close was when I’d mistakenly woken a Primordial Cat. My only chance for survival was to trust the woman that had taken me from my family against my will.

“I thought there was only fifty some odd Mistresses in the entire succubi city,” I spoke to Aeris through mind-speak. “These Matriarchs are even more powerful…”

“There are only fifty of them that live here year round, but there are thousands of residences where other Mistress’s harems and servants reside. They come and go. There are many succubi cities. Even though this is a smaller one, it is also the capital and can hold more than a million people at a time.”

I did my best to keep my eyes forward and my emotions in check, but it was impossible to disregard the dozens of pairs of eyes that were centered on me. Knowing that some of them thought I might be offered as finger food when all of this was done was enough to make me consider filling the room with an Artificial Sun. The problem was, I wasn’t sure I could kill a single one of them even if I had another Focal Crystal in my possession. These were the genuine freaks of the succubi race.

The head of the room didn’t have a risen stage, but simply lacked any cushions so there was room for us to stand and address the others. With a blood red canvas as backdrop, Aeris and I lined up behind the Head Mistress and Nava.

Up until this point, all of the succubi present had kept their comments to themselves, but that was destined to change as golden-brown skinned succubus in a cream gown lying on the front row with her legs neatly crosses spoke out. “Sister Lilith has either betrothed her wind fairy to this handsome vampire, or she’d brought us an early lunch.”

“Enough nonsense, Hadassah,” the dark elf succubi in the row behind her said. “I’ve traveled half a day to arrive here and won’t be further delayed by idle talk. Please little Lilith. What have you called us together to discuss?”

Little Lilith? Hearing someone speak to her as her senior send a shiver up my spine. Wasn’t Lilith the strongest succubus?

“Thank you, Sister Kya. I will not delay you any further.” Lilith said without sounding rushed at all. “Sisters, you have all heard rumor that I’ve been naughty in bringing humans to the Underworld with a heretical purpose. This is no longer a secret and you’ve personally witnessed what Aeris is capable of.”

Extending her hand to the side, I felt Aeris release me and step forward to obey her summons. It took all of my self-control to keep myself from holding her back.

“Because it’s convenient, I’d like to first request what you’ve already suspected, that she be adopted by our people with the full authority and privilege of a Mistress.”

“She’s willing?” Hadassah responded skeptically.

With a look from Lilith, Aeris bowed her head and relied. “I am matriarch and I understand my responsibilities in making such a commitment.”

“I have no objections,” Kya said, stretching out her arms in half a yawn.

“You just want to be done with this before there’s chance for debate.” Hadassah replied with a huff.

Kya stuck her tongue out at her from behind.

“She’s a Wind Sprite that can transform into a Wisp and has spent time here to grow accustom to our ways,” said a woman in the back. “There are many Ladies and more than one Mistress that I’ve talked to that have already commended her to me. If she’s willing to join us, then no debate is needed.”

Half a dozen voices echoed the same thing.

As I heard the positive things they had to say, it struck me that I may have underestimated what all Aeris had been doing here while I was away. With her social skills, it shouldn’t have surprised me. Just as I’d been trying to get the Tir’s to support me and possible be a place we could escape to, she’d done the harder job of trying to gain the succubi’s support. I couldn’t even imagine what she’d been through.

There were only a few objections, but those were mostly just to make sure any unanswered questions were answered. Within a few minutes, they were voting. Not even Matriarch Hadassah voted against her.

“Then sisters, welcome the newest Mistress to our extended family,” Lilith said, leaning over to kiss her on the top of the head.

The way they’d all been laying there, I expected them to throw out a lazy congratulations or two, but instead they took turns approaching her. Not only did they kiss her in the same way as Lilith did on the hair or forehead, but each of them handed her a gift. It wasn’t some extravagant magic item, but most were perfumes or potions.

More than one of the ladies looked past her and gave me a suggestive look. As if I needed any more hints as to what kind of potions they were giving her. At least they were starting to look at me as something other than lunch.

After each gift she received, Aeris would respond in the same way. “Thank you Matriarch for your care.”

When they were all done, she returned to my side. She gave my arm a firm squeeze, then pushed me forward.

I nearly stumbled as the monstrous lady’s gazes fell upon me. I made a conscious effort to take a few steps to arrive at the Head Mistress’s side. She gave me a coy wink.

“And now for the second reason why I’ve summoned you here,” she said, taking her time to meet the gazes of her fellow Matriarchs. “This handsome young man, who you’ve no doubt noticed holds some significance to our newest Mistress, has also left a deep impression on me.”

A flurry of murmurs floated across the room as a few succubi leaned over to the closest neighbors.

“Unlike sister Aeris, he is unknown to you,” She continued. “As an introduction, there’s something I’d like you to see.”

Holding out her hand, with the same device she’d used in Sanctuary, I steeled myself for what was about to come. Breaking down now was not an option, so the best I could do was not let myself watch.

Instead of starting with Lord Soroush, it started with me standing on the captain’s platform at the vampire quarry I’d attacked right after passing the Vampire Gate. It didn’t show me in my human form killing them, but in my Vampire Form draining more than a hundred chard corpses.

Even though it wasn’t the same as the city I’d decimated, I couldn’t hide from my guilt. I flexed the majority of the muscles in my chest and legs as if forcing a stable foundation as small echoes of emotion washed over me. I was still rather numb from before, but that didn’t mean I was immune.

There were a few interested succubi, but the only one I was really concerned about was Aeris who stood behind me.

“This was when I still justified killing vampires based on their race and thought they were all evil…” I said through mind-speak.

“Mm,” she replied without much concern.

The next vampire settlement showed me draining them as well. Then another, and another. It wasn’t until Shamash was shown in his true form that the Matriarch really started to take notice. Many of them even sat up on their cushions. They knew better than I what it meant to have a Lich at your side.

Soon my time in Hallow began and my first fight in the arena was over quickly, as were most of my following fights. They were all straightforward, but when my Crimson Incubus wings appeared for the first time, there was a bunch of mentions of Blue Mage from the crowd. There wasn’t an ignorant person among them.

Then came my fight with Eshana and my full Crimson Incubus Form was revealed as the rage I’d felt after Sai was almost killed in the fight before mine. “She’s actually a friend of mine,” I told Aeris and mentioned what happened to him. I started to tell her about dark elf stabby music when my fight with Manu Shah began.

There were a few comments from impressed Matriarchs until my Primordial Cat Form was revealed and the entire room shot to their feet. They were discussing it like a cackle of hens when Manu’s Vortex ability reached its full power. It became incredibly quiet.

When my Light cloud was showcased there was an excited furry, but as soon as my 99 Stabbies flew, the hush of the room became even greater than before. When my final Master Light Discs severed his limbs as I just escaped with my life, there was a universally agreed upon gasp.

Then the next moment, I saw Jale and Sai standing together outside of Hallow in the same place I last saw them.

I fought back tears at seeing the faces from my second family.

The projected me clarified. “They were all Parth’s men. Three of them were level 40,000 and focused on my master, while the other three were between 20,000 and 30,000 and focused on me.”

“You killed three bodyguards between 20,000 and 30,000?” Jale asked before turning back to look at Shamash who was still watching the city. He was still in his vampire form.

Thankfully, the Head Mistress didn’t show everything, but she didn’t have to. Jale had just sworn that she was going to coming with me and nothing was hidden of her face.

“This is Jale,” I whispered to Aeris. “She was the one that made me understand that vampires are no more evil than human’s. I hoped we’d be able to take the others and go to her in the future to escape the Head Mistress, but she’s only the princess of a mid-tier beast-feeder family. They only drink beast blood…”

It was then that I stepped past Jale and asked Shamash to place a barrier. Because we were using mind-speak, Aeris couldn’t hear my explanation to them from the projection, but Jale’s reaction was clear as day.

And then, my form changed, and my Ascended humanity shone like a bonfire above Lilith’s head for all to see.

Sai’s reaction was appropriate enough as he first feel to the ground then moved to get up and began chuckling to himself. “You know, it would be hilarious if we suddenly attacked and drained you after your speech about us being noble. If you weren’t so shiny I’d be tempted to take a bite just to mess with you.”

The room shook as the matriarch momentarily lost control.

The exotically beautiful and strong Tir Princess wasn’t frozen in fear or hate. It was the look of betrayal that was like a club to the chest—then and now.

Lilith didn’t show her beating my face in. It probably wouldn’t have been beneficial for my sales pitch.

Telling Jale that I’d stay with her if it wasn’t for Aeris wasn’t said out loud, but the fragile expression she gave to what I’d said couldn’t by explained away.

It was then that four flying figures came into view in the projection. Everyone spun to see who was coming.

“Men from house Gul,” Alexandria hissed. “It doesn’t look like they’ve involved anyone else yet.”

I quickly observed them to find that all four of them were in the low 40,000s.

“I’ve been eager for a fight anyways,” Sai said ignoring what I’d said and placing himself in front of me.

I stepped forward as Crimson Incubus covered my hand and grabbed his shoulder. As I was about to force him away, Jale stepped around him and punched me square in the chest. It wasn’t rage glaring back at me, but her unwavering conviction had returned.

“They’re more than twice your level,” she rebuked. “Don’t overestimate yourself just because you won a little tournament. You’re still not my match. You need our help.”

Her aura began to rise off of her like slow moving smoke.

“Even if your master did kill four people at a similar level,” she said lightly. “That was in an enclosed space where it was difficult to run away. This is completely different.”

She’d already turned away from me to face the incoming Gul intruders.

“My master didn’t kill them,” I said as my own energy started to intensify.

Both Sai and Jale snapped their heads back to look at me as they took a step to distance themselves.

I looked down from the scene and turned back to look at Aeris. Seeing me earlier hadn’t phased her, nor had killing Mistress Nava’s eight remaining humans, but tears had finally started to flow down her pristine face.

When she saw me looking at her, she met my eye and couldn’t look away. Even as Smog covered me and my hidden Artificial Sun rose to face the vampires in the projection, it was as if what else was going on in the room no longer existed. She now knew what I’d hoped to tell her when the time was right, but I never wanted her to learn of Jale like this.

The scene changed to my time sneaking in to assimilate the Master Ring and Aeris tore herself away—probably as an excuse to not have to look at me any longer. I also turned back.

It had started when I took the artificial space with me. Then Lord Soroush’s discovery came, and I began to flee as a Primordial Cat. The rest played as before when Lilith had shown what happened to Mistress Nava and my friends.

As the Scorching Sun fell upon the city and the screams began, I was tired of letting what happened drive me to despair. With my jaw clamped, I looked up at the image with stoic hardheadedness and my fists clenched tighter than I’d known was possible.

The reactions of the succubi matriarchs seeped through my distractions. It wasn’t just awe and shock, but veritable fear that stared up at the scene.

After the projector had stopped playing, there was nothing but silence for a long while.

The Head Mistress’s voice was soft but carried through the entire room. “Change into your true form.”

I didn’t know where to place my eyes as all of the Matriarchs studied me. I chose to focus on the entrance to the room where no one was standing. The glow of my human form made it impossible to hide.

Everyone started speaking at once, but one voice caused all the others to lower their tone. “Solar Mage,” Kya said from where she stood on the second row. “Was that Scorching Sun?”

The Head Mistress waited for everyone to settled before responding. “It is.”

As soon as she acknowledged it, the matriarchs left their seats and began to discuss me in a chaotic huddle.

Hadassah asked. “Who is he?”

“His name is Elorion. He arrived here on the same day Aeris did and they are engaged.” Speaking over the noise, she lifted her voice to drown out all others. “He is to be my agent—my general—my champion, and with our Wind Fairy at his side, with a little care on our part, they will accomplish things that we haven’t dare dream in my six centuries as Head Mistress. I propose making him an adopted brother. He doesn’t have the same experience Aeris does with our kind, but she can help him grow accustomed quickly enough.”

The debate began with emotions flailing. It seemed prejudice against Light Mages wasn’t a vampire only thing. After a while, Aeris stepped up to stand next to me and even took my hand.

We stood that way for quite some time without saying a word. Lilith and even Nava were like my sponsors and were slowly persuading them.

“Why did you leave?” Aeris said after some time. “Jale seemed to really care for you. She was even willing to defend you after she found out you were human.”

I’d practiced my answer a thousand times but threw that all away and led with honesty. “I admit to having feelings for her, but they’re different than the ones I have for you. I chose you, Aeris. And I choose you again today. That will never change.”

“Did you ever—”

“No he did not,” the Head Mistress suddenly said, intercepting our mind-chat. “Nor did he touch the dark elf vampire who offered herself to him.”

“What?” Aeris replied, too stunned to show her the customary respect.

“He can explain the rest but know this. His acceptance into the Succubi hinges on your relationship, so the least I can do is reassure you of these simple facts. You can rest assured that he didn’t betray you.”

As creepy as it was, she had full access to my senses the entire time I was away which made her the only person who could fully sooth Aeris’s concerns. It may have been a totally selfish move on her part, but that didn’t lessen the impact it had on Aeris. I owed her.

Immediately the Wind Sprite hugged my arm to her chest and rested her head on my shoulder.

“Thank you, Head Mistress,” I whispered through mind-speak.

“You’re welcome,” she replied without looking at me. “The difficulty will only begin for you when you become one of us. You will need Aeris more than ever, so be sure to do everything you can to keep her close.”

“I will.”

For a moment, I almost believed Lilith was truly looking out for us, but then I remembered something Shamash had said before we’d reached the vampire realm. “We are caught in a game in which we don’t know the rules. Hopefully, knowing that will be enough.”

***

After a couple hours of debate, I officially became a Brother of the succubi. I didn’t receive any gifts as Aeris did, but everyone of them approached and kissed me on the cheek. I gave the ‘Matriarch, thank you for your care,’ response that was expected just as Aeris had, then we were soon following Lilith out. There was talk about us receiving a joint palace, but they debated whether that was appropriate and if we should have individual ones. We didn’t stay there any longer than we had to, and Lilith took us home to Sanctuary.

Like dropping off her children at their friend’s house, the Head Mistress took us through the array to arrive at the same place we’d left. Everyone was waiting in the dining area and Zorik was back to peak health. I could only see his head in the kitchen appearing as he sped back and forth, but my nose told me that there was a pig roasting. That’s all I needed to know.

Before the Head Mistress left, no one dared to approach even though everyone began to gather.

“Little brother. Little sister,” Lilith said. “I will give you two weeks to sort out your affairs. Then you’ll return with me and have to acclimate into your new positions.”

We both thanked her.

Then the strangest thing yet happened. Mistress Nava approached Aeris, who was one of the few people not much taller than she was, and reached up and kissed her on the forehead. She held out a little glass bottle for Aeris to take. “Sister, this helps attract certain beast,” she glanced at me. “And men.”

“Thank you, sister, for your care,” Aeris replied without wavering.

With hurried steps as if she wanted to get it over with, Mistress Nava approached me. She didn’t look at me as she reached up on her tiptoes and kissed me on the cheek. “Brother,” she whispered, then placed something in my hand before scooting away.

I reached out with a Crimson Incubus hand and grabbed her wrist as she tried turning away. Even her magically flowing red hair stiffened.

With the flick of my wrist what she handed me disappeared and a black-gold ring appeared holding a smokey-purple stone. I slipped it on her middle finger. It was one of many 100% to Dark Magic rings now in my possession, but I thought of this one because it was designed to look like a wolf was holding the Dark gem in its mouth. Even on her middle finger it was still a little big.

She stared at the ring unable to move.

She wasn’t the only one caught off guard. Even Lilith curiously twisted her head to the side. My friend’s reactions were a little more—extravagant.

“I’m not sure I can forgive you, and I certainly can’t speak for everyone here, but” I said, drawing out the word, “as long as you never seek to harm another person here, neither will we harm you. More than that, if you will have me as a brother in more than name, then I will be a brother to you. I’m not an Incubus so my definition is likely different than yours, so keep that in mind.”

It wasn’t just her I was saying it to, but to everyone present. Things had changed and I didn’t know a better way to make that clear. I was thankful, at least in the moment, that everyone was too shocked to voice their opinion.

I’d like to think that my reason for doing it was to build an unexpected allegiance, but in truth, despite her repeatedly trying to kill us, I found it impossible to be angry at a fifteen year old girl. If she hadn’t had the same level of power, then her actions would have gone from deadly to silly tantrums. And if any other young girl were given the same level of power, how many people would die with each fit they threw? As foolish as my thinking was, there was still a half-human girl hidden in there somewhere.

I took one more glance around the room and looked each of my friends in the face before turning back to Mistress Nava. “Sister, this ring is a token of my promise to you. Your sister Aeris had the idea of helping you find a new pet as a peace offering. When we return in a few weeks, we’ll visit you and discuss it then.”

When I let go of her wrist, she still didn’t move away, but brought her hand up to examine the ring.

I saw Aeris watching her with a glimmer in her eye. It seemed I’d finally handled something right.

Mistress Nava finally moved. She still didn’t look at me but came closer and reached up again to give me a second kiss on the cheek before running toward the Head Mistress. She didn’t stop and plunged into the portal behind her.

Lilith didn’t say a thing. She left with a smirk plastered across her face.

Seeing as everyone was there still speechless, I saw the living ruby that was Queen Degima with warm orange cheeks and bright eyes on the front row.

Stepping up to her, I retrieved a golden chained necklace with a Fire-gem embedded and hid it in my palm.

“Young master,” she greeted less mechanically than she had last time I saw her.

“Queen Degima, it looks like your fully recovered…”

“I’m fine, thank you.”

“This is for you.” I held out my hand and the 100% Fire Magic enhancement necklace fell into her palm.

Her face turned bright orange as she grinned. “Thank you.”

“There’s also this.” I pulled out a magic bag that was filled with Master Fire Orbs. Her complexion grew even brighter.

Travis of all people stepped up and offered to help her put on the necklace. He’d been with me when I’d found her, so she knew him as well as anyone.

I felt Aeris and I gave her an odd look. She gave me a subtle shrug. We’d both been away too long.

“It looks like somebody left and came back a rich playboy,” Richard jeered from where he stood off to the side. He’d recovered his chocolate colored armor.

“Just because you’re not as pretty doesn’t mean I didn’t get you anything,” I retorted.

My heartbeat sped as I heard the laughter of all my friends together for the first time in months.

“Come on,” I called. “Line up. I got stuff for everyone. Lady’s first.”

This was only the first round of gifts that I planned to give them. Jewelry was the easiest way to provide quick buffs, but Russ was going to have his hands full. They all had their individual gear with its own buffs, but no one had something comparable to 100% to their magic of choice. Equipping what I gave them would automatically override their lesser buff and raise the power of everyone here in an instant. As for the melee specialist, I handed them Neutral Magic gemstone while I still wasn’t sure would work. We’d figure it out.

Coming to each of the girls, I was impressed with their advancement. Not one of them was under level 10,000 and many of them were closer to 11,000. It was as nothing had changed as Olivia and Audrey gave me a hard time about the look of the rings that I gave them. All of it was in a good fun. Clarissa and Jess giddily received theirs and even Lydia looked pleased.

When it was the guy’s turn, I pushed past Russ and Skyler and slammed my hand down on Travis’s wrist as if I were slapping him in handcuffs. What remained was the bracer I’d bought him. “If you almost die one more time, I’m going to feed you to the pigs.”

“Dude, what’s wrong with you,” he replied. “Do you want to contaminate our food?”

The wise cracks began to fly as I turned to Skyler, then Chris and Mel, Trevon and Zorik. Only at the end did I turn to Russ and smack him across the back.

“I missed you too, man, but ouch,” he said with a chuckle.

The guys had leveled quite a bit, but it was only a fraction of the girls. Travis was the highest and nearing level 5,000 and the rest were around 3,000. There probably wouldn’t have been as wide of a gap between them and the girls, but for the last two weeks they’d practically been locked up. It was a serious problem, but one that could be fixed. Getting everyone to 20,000 would become one of my major priorities in the coming days.

“Russ, you’re going to need a bigger shop,” I said, holding him by the shoulder. “And the armory needs to be at least ten times bigger.”

“Uh, what do you mean.”

“Here, take a look.” I held up my hand and the Master Ring appeared. “Just touch it and will yourself to view it just like your inventory. The armory is in the back.”

He reluctantly placed his index finger on the top of my ring, treating it as if I were playing a practical joke. After he just stood there looking off into space for more than a minute, everyone had already realized it was the Master Ring Lilith had handed back to me.

When he finally left the space he began shaking his head to himself. “So big. As big as the living quarters.” He hesitated before asking earnestly. “Elorion, what level are you?”

Pulling up my character sheet, I spun in around and showed him. Everyone bunched around to see.

“29,000…”

“How in the world—” Richard begun before cutting himself off. All of them had seen what I had done. “Oh.”

I didn’t let any of the lingering shadows of emotion show and just smiled back at them. “Lydia. You’re going to need a much larger shop as well.”

Chris was standing with his arm around her shoulder and was bouncing up and down for her. She smiled shyly.

“So who’s hungry?” Travis said, changing the subject.

As they went, Aeris’s hand found mine and pulled me away. We began walking toward our old rooms.

I heard Travis call out, “Elorion?”

“Don’t. They need some time,” Olivia said, jumping in front of him.

“Yeah…”

***

We arrived at Aeris’s doorway. The space inside was smaller than a college dorm room.

“We’re going to need a bigger room,” I said. In reply to her questioning look, I added. “I got you a new bed.”

“This one is fine for now.” She entered and walked over to it, then sat down in the corner with her arms wrapped around her legs.

I followed after her and took a seat next to her, leaning back against the wall.

We didn’t speak for a couple minutes as we tried to figure out how to being. I was the one that broke the silence. “Tell me everything.”

She blinked away the beginning of tears and began with what happened after I’d been banished.

The more she spoke, the easier the words came. At first, she’d been hopeful for her time in the succubi city despite her fears. Having monsters to kill without danger was a great relief. But as her talents became known, she learned more about how rare her abilities were. And how effective they were. When she first got the opportunity to kill prisoners, it wasn’t presented as a difficult thing, but a reward.

She almost hadn’t gone through with it, but because the first prisoner offered to her was a vampire, she justified killing him the same way I had. Then there were other races, like orcs and dark elves. They became easier to justify the more she killed. She said that because she knew they were going to die anyways, it might as well be her getting the experience…

The first human put before her was a murderer. It wasn’t a succubus he’d murdered, but another human. From that moment on, she no longer wanted to know what they did. In time, she simply walked into the room, sometimes with hundreds of prisoners, and slaughtered them all before leaving a few moments later. It wasn’t just once a day. Sometimes she had twenty visits or more.

She’d seen how the young succubus around her began to look up to her and decided to take advantage of it. After that, a plan began to form, and she courted the favor of a few select Mistresses. She’d hoped to make it difficult for them to dispose of her and the others if such an event ever happened.

Sometime during the hours of telling her story, she’d climbed into my arms. My story began soon after that. I healed her many times, but she never showed any signs of growing tired. I continued for the rest of the day and into the night.

---

Note: Should be one more chapter.