Chapter 77: Chapter 77

I had departed Marianne's room after cuddling for a bit, when she fell asleep. Initially, I had planned to bequeath her two levels, I decided to moderate it after she made considerable companion progress and received two achievements at the same time.

I still didn't know whether leveling several times in a day had any side effects, and Marianne was not a good target to test that.

Also, I had quite a few challenging things to deal with, such as digging the mystery behind the low-key visit of the princess. Unfortunately, there was only one person I could discuss with. Titania.

Unfortunate, but not because I didn't want to spend time with Titania. I genuinely enjoyed breaking through her artificial coldness to reach her innocent core —both metaphorically and literally. Nor I was really afraid of clashing incentives. While it was completely accidental at first, I positioned myself as the enemy of the necromancers, and whoever was standing behind them. Even if my aim didn't completely match with Titania's, the presence of an overwhelming enemy sufficiently ensured that neither Titania nor someone from her faction would target me directly. It wasn't a certain thing, of course, but that was the best I could get in my political position.

No, I was afraid that she would drag me into a meeting with the Headmistress.

I didn't feel ready to meet with the Headmistress, because she had a scary reputation, even more, overwhelming than the current Emperor. According to the rumors, she was alive for centuries, and even if that was an exaggeration, she was the Headmistress of Silver Spires for the last century at least, making sure she was definitely over a hundred. However, her past was hard to dig for my meager means.

Even scarier than her possible identity as an ancient crone, there was the fact that I was yet to discover anything about the faction she belonged. She didn't work directly with any of the city-states, nor she directly worked with the Royal family. Nor she gave any benefits to border armies, Guilds, or the merchant families. For all intents and purposes, she was a neutral party.

And that scared me, because she was able to maintain her independence and the independence of the school despite the shifting web of politics and power dynamics. Of course, there was also the possibility that she was a powerless puppet, put in there by an agreement of all political parties as a compromise, but I could feel in my bones that it wasn't the truth.

If she was weak, the necromancers wouldn't be holding on the side despite the army they had already collected, and used it to destroy the school directly. Even Titania wasn't enough to destroy that army, and it was a known truth that she was one of the strongest members of the faculty. Along with the traitor and the problems in the ward scheme, it should have been an easy victory.

"I hate this," I murmured. For the first time since I had discovered my ability to level up, I was feeling overwhelmed. I was in a complicated web of intrigue, with too many moving parts, each one enough to bury me if I dared to stand against them directly. The idea of running away was getting sweeter.

Pity that Silver Spires was my best bet to discover any clues about the System.

Ultimately, all it came to an important qualifier. Whether I could survive the upcoming crisis, or escape if the crisis snowballed into something impossible to handle? And while it might be arrogant, ultimately, I had trust in my own abilities enough to make staying worthwhile.

"To the library," I murmured, not even bothering to dress as the mule. My stats and abilities had reached such a point that even without explicitly changing clothes or using illusions, I could easily fade into the background. All it took was a simple change of posture, and suppressing my aura.

[+2 Subterfuge]

It was also a good opportunity to mess with Titania a bit, I decided, which put a huge smile on my face. Just a week ago, I was trembling in fear of getting her attention, and now, I was willing to tease her due to my own sheer enjoyment.

The sensation power was intoxicating.

Admittedly, it might not be the smartest idea, but after the display we put together with Helga, getting away smoothly, it wasn't exactly a suicidal attempt either. So, when I stood in front of her private door and flexed my magic subtly to make sure I wasn't detected as I unlocked her door, it wasn't because I was afraid of her, but because I wanted to surprise her with my presence.

However, disabling her lock without triggering the rest of the wards turned out to be a more difficult task than I had expected, forcing me to waste almost five minutes, and enough mana to leave a weaker mage in despair. Luckily, it had its own rewards.

[-813 Mana]

[+4 Arcana]

My smile widened as I realized the sound of running water coming from the bathroom, signaling that she was perfectly prepared for my attention. Suppressing my presence sufficiently not to alert her was not difficult as I looked at the bathroom. She was in her huge bathtub, which was covered with bubbles, as she pressed her back against the marble, relaxing.

I undressed quickly as I watched her, before stepping into the bathroom, not bothering to wear a towel. Luckily, the tub was sufficiently big, so she failed to notice my presence as I slipped in at first, only realizing when my legs touched hers when I sat across her.

She flinched in shock, her hand already gathering a blast of light magic, ready to be launched. I was ready to lash out with a shield, but kept it in reserve. When our eyes met, she didn't release her attack, instead of speaking with a dangerous voice that would have sent me running a week ago. "What are you doing here!" As she spoke, the light she was holding got even stronger.

"We have something important to talk about," I answered immediately, but my lazy tone contrasted greatly with her sharp one.

"Speak," she ordered, but keeping her hand raised, no doubt ready to lash out.

Instead of launching into an explanation, I chuckled. "Come on, after everything we had gone through, isn't it a bit illogical to draw the line here?" I asked, using the steamier memories we shared to dismiss her argument.

That managed to push through her unnatural calmness. "B-but, t-that's-" she stammered, her blush covering her face for a fleeting moment as she felt softer emotions, which once again worked excellently. Unfortunately, her calm reasserted itself back quickly. "Why did you enter without connecting me through communication."

I stopped for a second, considering whether to reveal the Princess's visit, but after a brief consideration, I decided to admit it. As much as I liked Oeyne, she wasn't as critical as Titania due to impending necromancer assault. Moreover, it might not affect Oeyne adversely as well. Ultimately, at this point, it was impossible to progress without risk.

"The oldest daughter of the Emperor is going to secretly arrive at the school in a few days," I explained.

"What!" she exclaimed immediately, once again breaking her cold calmness, this time with fear. "Are you sure? Why? When?" she asked rapidly.

"Calm down," I said lazily even as I dipped my hands underwater, and grabbed her foot. My thumb pressed against her sole, and started caressing her skin, displaying the full extent of my massaging abilities, even using my Biomancy subtly to enhance the pleasure. "We still have a few days to react, no need to put your panties in a bunch," I added, then smirked. "Not that you're wearing any, of course."

[+100 Experience]

"Focus," she ordered, once again calm, but I still smirked in satisfaction, for two reasons. First, I was still able to earn experience without penalty from her, which was a nice win. Second, my senses were sharp enough to detect a familiar hitch in her tone, one that I had heard much louder when I was accompanying her in that cave, selflessly helping her to recover her mana. "Do you know why the princess is going to visit?"

"Yes, but I'm not going to reveal that," I answered.

She once again raised her hand, threatening me with the glow. "I'm not in the mood to play, spill!" she ordered.

"Oh, really," I said, entirely confident, because I wasn't playing with her delicate foot because of my own pleasure —or not entirely. Through contact, it was easy for me to get a rough assessment of her status, and her mana pool was mostly depleted, barely a quarter remaining. Since she carried no sign of combat, she likely exhausted herself repairing the wards. "Go ahead, if you're feeling confident to take me down," I challenged her.

Even when she was going through the slight emotional turmoil, she was far too cold to actually take such an obvious risk when she was far from her best state. "Don't talk nonsense," she cut. "I need to make sure the information is correct."

"That's not my problem," I said, even as I continued to massage her foot to the best of my ability, letting my fingers occasionally caress her dainty little ankles. Sometimes, it was hard to believe such a soft body belonged to one of the most intimidating figures in a school that constantly raised the powerhouses for humanity. "I'm not your servant, but your ally. I'm already doing you a favor by sharing information with you. Rather than trying to extort more, you better think about how to compensate for it," I explained, doing my best to put the weight of my charisma in my words without alerting her to my trick.

[+2 Speech]

"How?" she asked, suddenly changing her pace, which underlined my success. I loved my Speech skill, which not only helped me to be more eloquent, but also giving me a useful sixth-sense about the direction I should take the discussion to get what I want based on the subtle clues.

"For example, you can start by telling me what you know about the recent adventures of the princess, so that I can get a better idea whether she is a problem, or an asset to the problem we are facing," I said. "Due to some unique situation, accessing general information flow is more trouble than it's worth," I murmured in annoyance, doing my best to convince Titania that I was anything but a lone trickster trying to carve a place for myself, especially since the truth of my situation, gaining my power in less than a month, was completely unbelievable. It was for the best if she believed that I had a mysterious power backing me.

[+1 Speech]

"According to the latest information, seven towns in her direct sphere of influence had fallen to monster hordes in the last fifteen days, along with several others in the land of their most ardent supporters," Titania said. "Two houses lost their head in those assaults, even."

"Monster hordes, you say," I repeated with a frown, receiving a knowing nod. If it wasn't for the discovery with the earth gem, I would have discounted it by assuming it was a string of bad luck, though Titania probably would have done the same, discounting them as irrelevant. "Very unlucky."

"Yes," she said, her voice hitching slightly as my fingers started traveling lower on her legs, teasing her soft calves. "She is very unlucky."

[+200 Experience]

"Any undead presence in her lands," I asked.

"No, not even a gossip, and we did our best to search," Titania said, blushing slightly when I gave her a mocking grin. Considering the success they had displayed searching for them in their own backyard, their information about a lack of undead wasn't exactly conclusive. But the fact that she was reacting to my wordless teasing shyly was an even better finding, proving my constant massage was having an effect in breaking her magical coldness.

"Let's assume there aren't any for a moment," I said, which earned an angry glare. "What? You disagree?" I pushed. If she was willing to act injured, I had no problems in pushing her failure to the surface. Her anger got even more pronounced —which allowed me to easily move to her thigh without earning a comment— but she said nothing to defend herself or her faction.

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[+1 Speech]

[+400 Experience]

However, rather than continuing based on her silence, I stopped, focusing on caressing her thighs. "Continue," she spat, unable to hide neither her anger nor her growing arousal.

"If the necromancers don't have the ability to create monster hordes, it means that they have an ally with that ability who are also against the oldest princess, and collaborating with the necromancers to take her down without revealing their hand. And I think that's even worse than the alternative."

"Why?" she asked.

That question was alone was enough to prove strategic thinking was not exactly her strongest suit. Admittedly, I was cheating thanks to the benefits of my Wisdom as well as my Subterfuge and Speech, which provided me some political insights. "Would you give an ally of convenience your strongest weapon?" I asked, and she shook her head. "Exactly. If they are willing to give even limited access to the necromancers, who are not the most trustworthy group of entities, it means that they have stronger things in their arsenal. That, or they somehow control the necromancer faction that was about to attack us, which is an even scarier idea."

"You're right," she admitted. "We need to talk about this with the Headmistress. You'll come with me," she ordered, her tone stiffer than it required to hide her arousal.

"Well, I don't have anything urgent to do, so I can help you," I said and stood up, displaying my magnificence to her eyes. Her eyes widened in shock, unable to pull away from my raging erection no matter how much she tried to pull away. I stepped out of the tub, but stood next to her.

"What are you doing, go!" she said, blushing.

"Just a second, I just need to do one last thing before leaving," I said and before she could respond, leaned down, capturing her lips, slipping my tongue in her mouth along with a strong rush of mana to help her recover.

[+300 Experience]

[-167 Mana]

The kiss lasted for several seconds as she froze under my touch, then she pushed me away reluctantly. It was a soft push, but I pulled back nonetheless. "What was that!" she exclaimed, but rather than threatening me with a spell, she just looked at me in shock, her body rising just enough to give me a sight of her small yet perky tits for a moment.

"I'm helping you recover your mana, of course," I said calmly, like I was commenting on the weather. "Since you're going to see the headmistress, it's for the best if you're in top shape. What if she needs help."

"That-" she stammered, trying to say something, but her wits abandoned her, leaving her mouth half-open. Never the one to such an opportunity, I leaned in for another searing kiss, this time lasting even longer. Even better, she didn't push me away.

"Makes sense, right?" I said with a smirk as I pulled back for a breather, but before she could answer, I slammed my lips against hers once more. She just stayed still at first, but toward the middle, her tongue started to respond to my caresses.

[+800 Experience]

[-939 Mana]

[+3 Speech]

After another minute, I decided to push my luck even more, and let my hands-free on her body, caressing her tits, curious whether it would provoke her anger.

As it turned out, it would. "That's enough," she cut in. "Do your hands help you transfer mana," she accused me.

"Not particularly, no," I said with a smirk as I stood up, once again showing my shaft to her completely. "It was just for my own enjoyment." That admission cut the winds off her sails, leaving her unable to answer. Still, it was a sign of our progress that she just processed it silently rather than lashing out. I continued. "So, that's all I could do through the inefficient delivery method for a short while. That's it for the moment, unless you want to try the full-performance method, of course."

"Get out!" she exclaimed as she threw a block of soap at me.

I could have dodged it, but the image of the mighty head librarian attacking me with a block of soap while accidentally displaying her bubble-covered tits was amusing enough that I let it hit. "Violent much?" I said mockingly as I walked away, still giving her the full show of my naked body. "See you in a moment," I said before I gave her a mocking wave, and closed the door, leaving her alone with the realization of what had just happened…

—

[Level: 28 Experience: 386500 / 406000

Strength: 33 Charisma: 48

Precision: 30 Perception: 32

Agility: 30 Manipulation: 35

Speed: 29 Intelligence: 39

Endurance: 27 Wisdom: 38

HP: 4172 / 4172 Mana: 4106 / 5326 ]

SKILLS

Master Melee [100/100]

Master Tantric [100/100]

Master Biomancy [100/100]

Master Elemental [100/100]

Master Subterfuge [95/100]

Master Arcana [86/100]

Expert Speech [57/75]

PERKS

Mana Regeneration

Skill Share

Empowerment (1/1)

Teleportation

COMPANIONS

[Cornelia - Level 17/25]

[Helga - Level 13/17]

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