Chapter 102: Gaines And Losses (1)

Chapter 100 : Gaines And Losses (1)
“Shula, are you seeing this?” Agni asked aloud as she inspected her transformed state. Her forearms and shins were clad in thick, plate-like scales. They were ebony in color with a fade in of deep vermillion near the edges. These scales overlapped each other,much like scale mail would do, forming a natural sort of armor. More than scales however the protrusions resembled a mix of bone and plating.

This also extended to her chest as the scales arced around her breasts and curved, covering her nipples. Her midriff was bare, exposed but only to the waist. From the waist down more scales grew, as her skin took on a darker tone in several places where smaller scales protruded. In these areas her flesh resembled that of a dragon maiden with various light and darker colorations surrounding the bundles of smaller scales which ran along her outer thighs. This transformation even reached to her tail, something Agni was keenly aware of due to the newfound heft of the limb. With just a single flick her tail swished through the air, making a fearsome slicing sound. It was now several times thicker and also fully plated making Agni’s fifth appendage resemble a dragon’s tail. Even the tip was more fearsome, shaped more like a spear more than a spade.

“This is...incredible.” Agni mouthed to herself before pausing.

“Shula?” She said again, before trying to contact her familiar with telepathy. Rather than getting a verbal answer the core within Agni’s choker pulsed, the center of the gem-like sphere churned with flaming energy.

Instinctively Agni understood that this was Shula’s response.

“You… you can’t speak?” Agni asked for confirmation. Once more the core hanging from her neck glowed in response, affirming the response to Agni’s question.

“So. This is...Fusion. I must say it’s rather breathtaking. You look much stronger in this form and way more demon-like.” Vivian said as she stepped forth, changing her fan into a hand mirror. Agni carefully inspected her appearance, even her face seemed different. She also became aware of the fact that her magic veins were now on full display, she could see them pulsing just beneath the surface of her own skin.

Agni’s teeth also grew into sharper, longer points. What was most surprising , however, was Agni’s eyes. Normally orange, they now seemed naturally pink with several alternating shades of light and dark. This made her eyes almost hypnotic to stare into and she couldn’t help but smile upon noticing.

“This is...awesome..” Agni said as she touched her cheek, even though her fingers were covered in thick scales she could still register some of the sensations flowing through them.

“Indeed.” Vivian said in agreement as she took note of Agni’s awe inspiring form.

“Your clothing disappeared though, all save the choker. I suspect that’s due being attached to the familiar core.” Vivian observed. The plating covering Agni’s body was like a suit of highly flexible armor which covered her outer portion. Beneath, the bottoms of her feet were bare -- as were Agni’s palms, lower back and abdomen.

“Any way you slice it, this form looks like a combat form. Try using some magic.” Vivian suggested as she took a few steps backwards to give Agni some room.

“....It’s not working..” Agni said after a few moments. Conjuring lightning was a no go, it seemed. After a few more wasted seconds of attempting to use magic, the core flickered several times in a row prompting a spark of fire to issue forth near Agni’s palm.

Agni took this to mean that Shula was instructing her, thus Agni created a fireball. She was surprised to see the magic construct form instantly and twice as large as she anticipated.

“That’s ...a big improvement..” Agni said as the brilliant sphere of flame cast light upon the surface of her pupils. What’s more, she effortlessly summoned forth such a technique -- Agni felt she was capable of much more.

Almost as if Vivian could read Agni’s mind she hopped backwards, creating several meters of distance between the two. The familiar sight of Vivian’s body morphing into her normal form, an adult, happened next. This time she was still wearing the same yukata, though now the outfit was much more….seductive.

The fabric of the yukata exposed her shoulders and accentuated her bosom. Since Vivian wasn’t wearing pants one could almost see her panties beneath the edge of the yukata’s end. Agni watched also as Vivian’s two weapons shapeshifted, the bamboo rod turning into a long katana and the hand mirror shifting to a shorter katana.

“Let’s get you used to this new ability of yours.” Vivian said as she assumed a martial pose, one sword directed towards Agni.

“Let’s start with something light. Get a feel for your new body, then we will increase the intensity until you start to discover some limits.” Vivian explained as she motioned for Agni to come at her.

“Hmph. Very well.” Agni said as she swished her tail, a smirk filled her expression in the same breath. * I don't feel like I could lose to anyone right now.* she thought to herself and Shula agreed as the core pulsed with energy and Agni dashed forth to begin some light sparring.

Agni found out that she could indeed be defeated by Vivian many times over the course of the next three days. During this time the Doyenne, Shula and the Succubus would meet every morning and every evening to help Agni get a feel for her newfound ability. Slowly, surely, the powers and limitations of the technique also became more apparent.

The limit for the fusion was two minutes at her current level of strength, this was confirmed by Shula as well. This duration could further be reduced based on just how much mana Agni had to spare prior to activating fusion as well as how much the Succubus exerted herself.

After using the technique Shula and Agni both would be fatigued, but much more so for the familiar. It would take roughly six hours of “sleep”, that is receding into the core, for Shula to recover enough to either use the technique again or assume her tangible form.

For Agni, the act of meditation or taking a nap was usually enough to recover from her fatigue. While the detriments of the fusion were somewhat unwieldy, the benefits more than made up for it.

While in their fused state, Agni and Shula essentially became one with Shula using the entirety of her being to facilitate the change. Agni’s physical resistance was off the charts, she could now deflect weapons with her forearms, shins or tail without any discomfort for the most part. Normal blows were also much less effective, she couldn’t properly gauge just how effective due to the training room’s protections but Agni felt her resistance to damage had more than doubled.

Mastery over flames also increased dramatically, allowing Agni to tap into Shula’s greater Flame manipulation technique called ‘Dominion’. It essentially allowed Agni to activate her magic at any fixed point in 3D space within a ten meter radius of her position. What’s more Agni’s ability to gather and shape flame energy was almost three times more quick and powerful. The downside was that the fusion ability blocked Agni from using any element that she and Shula did not have shared affinity for, in this case every element except flames.

On the morning of the fourth day Vivian declared that today would be the last time for a while that the two would meet.

“I do have a chapel to run after all.” Vivian said with a smile. Over the past few days she felt she’d gotten a better feel for Agni’s personality through their sparring sessions. For this reason Vivian felt closer to Agni than anyone else in a long while. Even Shula had come to grow on her despite her crass attitude and reckless mouth.

“Fine, fine. We’ve already kept Katrin waiting for almost a week. Let’s wrap this up, we were supposed to go Grimlock hunting days ago.” Agni said as she placed her hand on the crimson core and flowed her mana into it. With a burst of fiery light she assumed her fusion form and pressed the attack without delay.

“Oh. And did I mention, I’ll be using my full strength today as well?” Vivian’s words were spoken calmly yet Agni couldn’t help but notice the steely undertones within, as if her statement carried weight. Soon, Agni would find out that it was more than a statement.

*Huh? Where did she go?* Agni thought as she dashed forward. All that remained in the spot where Vivian once stood were shreds of grass which fluttered about in the commotion of movement.

Agni was able to discern Vivian’s strike just a split second before it connected, forcing her to stop in her tracks and lift her arms. The cross block was sufficient to guard against the strike Vivian leveled her way, but the force of the blow was a different matter. Because Vivian timed her blow in a way that Agni’s balance would be disrupted the Succubus stumbled backwards, ultimately being driven several steps backwards.

It took a moment for Agni to register what happened. In a split second Vivian bridged the distance and also lashed out.

“Pretty good. Honestly, I didn’t expect you to perceive my strike. I guess it would be okay for me to press a little harder then.” Vivian said as her eyes took on a faint glow of yellow energy. What came next left Agni struggling to keep up. Once again, as if Vivian simply blinked into existence next to Agni, a series of swift katana strikes rained down upon Agni. She shifted her weight deftly, leaning as she parried the katana blows with her forearms. This was fine in itself but Vivian’s blows gave Agni no room to rest or counter. Each blow was both fast and heavy enough that it stifled any of Agni’s efforts to counter strike. Sensing that this was done purposely Agni created some distance between the two, only to be struck at the base of her spine with Vivian’s sword hilt.

She wasn’t imagining things!

*This must be some kind of ability. What’s Vivian’s class again? Vixen!?* Agni regretted not learning more about her Doyenne at this point.

*Is this teleportation? Is she blinking around?* Agni’s mind was racing while her expression was stoic as she turned to face her opponent. After a moment of thought Agni ignited her hands, covering them with flames before she slowly stepped towards Vivian, taking special care to observe each moment intimately. Now that her senses were focused solely on the moment Vivian made a move, Agni noticed something strange. Rather than dashing, leaping or even teleporting it seemed as if Vivian faded from existence. A moment later Agni felt the strength and pressure of a strike against her abdomen. It was powerful enough to disturb her breathing, which was a feat considering Agni’s fusion form was much more resistant to physical damage.

In response Agni lashed out in the direction she perceived Vivian to be in, at the same time she caused the flames covering her hands to flare up as well. The result was a flaming swipe that resembled a whip. Once more Vivian faded from existence and appeared from another strange angle, striking Agni on the shoulder this time. She followed that blow with a second from behind and a third to Agni’s stomach. Each time Vivian faded away only to reappear elsewhere leaving Agni just a split second late in her reaction time.

A series of flaring strikes roared through the air, each time she was struck Agni forced more of her mana outward to increase the strike zone of her augmented physical attacks. Still, this did no good, Vivian’s technique was proving rather difficult to break through.

“So, is this the limit of what you can currently do? I have to admit, I was really impressed the first time I saw your fusion transformation. Now...I’m not so sure.” Vivian’s voice echoed all around as she spoke yet Agni couldn’t pick up a trace of her position. Agni had to admit that the kitsune’s words were a bit biting.

*This was never realistic anyway. She’s a damn rank 3!* Agni internalized as she gritted her teeth and fought back a wave of annoyance. She knew instinctively that this was Vivian’s way of taunting her. It was at this time that Agni noticed the faint glow of the core around her neck followed by the activation of her Succubus Vision.

*Of course! I completely forgot about this!* Agni suddenly felt foolish as her vision altered into a world of blue accompanied by various shades of yellow, red and orange. Vivian was now easy to spot. The mystery behind Vivian’s ability to fade away was now solved as Agni watched a vapor-like mist of magic poured from Vivian’s body. The next instant Vivian’s bright heat signature dimmed, nearly turning the same color as the surrounding environment.

*Is she invisible? That’s..OP..* Agni thought inwardly though she didn’t react, she didn’t want to give up the element of surprise. Agni waited until Vivian moved in to strike before ducking the blow and spinning all in the same movement. Agni’s tail struck Vivian squarely in the stomach, halting her in her tracks as a reverberating thud echoed throughout the training room. Seizing the moment, Agni also landed two attacks with her flames, one was a jab to the Doyenne’s face and the other was a fierce cross strike to the temple, causing the flames to spark up as a heat explosion erupted at point blank range.

For a moment neither of the women moved and Agni wondered if she’d done it. Only when a swiftly placed kick to the abdomen lifted the Succubus from her feet did she realize Vivian was barely harmed. This blow was much heavier, causing Agni to exhale sharply, even drooling in the process.

“I can’t believe it. You managed to discern another one of my secrets almost effortlessly. What is it with you?” Vivian responded, a slight tinge of anger resonating within her voice.

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“How?” She suddenly demanded as she fixed her yukata from the commotion of their brief exchange.

“Hmm? I could tell you but..that’s my secret!” Agni responded with a smirk.

Vivian’s reaction to her declaration was not one the succubus anticipated.

“Ha! Ha ha ha!” The kitsune nearly doubled over in laughter, even holding her stomach as she did so. Although Agni wondered exactly what was so humorous she couldn’t help but smile at the display of unfettered joy.

“Ahh.” Vivian said as she took a deep breath, “ I’m so glad you finally get it! You’re the best.” Vivian said as she wiped a tear from the corner of her eye.

“That being said, just because you know a few of my skills that still doesn’t mean you can contend with them.” Vivian’s demeanor suddenly grew more serious as she crouched, her blades changing in length until they resembled kodachi rather than katana. The kitsune’s tails flowed and swayed behind her, almost rhythmically, as Vivian hopped forth to attack. The first strike was easy for Agni to evade -- or so she thought. As Agni stepped to the side the blade of Vivian’s weapon extended, catching her on the chin. A second blow quickly followed which completely destroyed Agni’s balance as the other extended blade smashed into her ribcage.

Vivian’s attack resembled a blade dance as she barraged Agni with several more strikes, each more tricky to anticipate than the next. Each time Agni felt she was getting used to the onslaught Vivian would lengthen or shorten the length of her blades. At other times she would use the same technique as a feint to set up other strikes. Finally Agni was forced to create distance as she simply couldn’t keep up with the speed of Vivian’s movements. Unfortunately this was also anticipated by the Doyenne.

Agni felt a heavy pressure thud against her abdomen as she hopped backwards only to realize the edge of Vivian’s weapon was now pushing her backwards at an alarming speed. The force of the extending blade was enough to completely lift Agni off of her feet in the process and after a few moments Agni was sent sailing through the air. After the blade extended just over six meters, it seemed Vivian’s attack ran its course. Agni flew significantly further, sliding and rolling several more meters before she came to a stop, having gouged deep marks in the dirt of the grassy field.

The strike was so powerful that it knocked Agni’s breath away and forced her to stop breathing for several seconds after the fact. She grabbed her stomach and inhaled wildly as she gazed at the kitsune from afar.

*This is the power of a rank 3? I’d have been dead several times over by now if we weren’t in this training space. I don’t even think I managed to put a dent in her stamina at this point.* Agni thought as she slowly got to her feet. Due to the series of strikes rained down upon her, Agni could feel a significant dip in her own power. This was a sign that she didn’t have very long to remain in her fused form. Once the fusion dissipated it was almost certain that Agni would pass out. Even in the best case scenario she would be severely drained.

“I guess I’ll go all out.” Agni remarked as she got to her feet and stared across the way, her eyes fixed on Vivian, who simply waited for a response to her earlier onslaught.

---Roughly half an hour after the conclusion of their sparring session, in the Doyenne’s living quarters---

“AHH!!! I can’t believe she made me show all of my hidden cards! GRAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” Vivian, now in her teenage form, practically shouted into a pillow as she flailed wildly in her bed. She was having a hard time coming to grips with the results of the sparring session, despite the fact that she arranged the whole thing to assist in Agni’s growth.

“It wasn't a real contest. I didn’t even use half of my full strength… relax, relax.” She told herself, struggling to come to terms with her annoyance. Her thoughts were completely contrasting, however.

*Unbelievable. Unfair! It took me years to hone those abilities and her stupid specialist powers saw right through them in less than five minutes.* Vivian rolled over as she bit the pillow, fire alight in her eyes. At the same time she fought back tears of frustration.

*Unacceptable! Unacceptable!* She repeatedly thought as she bearhugged her body pillow then tossed it across the room in frustration before finally going limp against the silk sheets of her bed. After venting her own displeasure, Vivian couldn’t help but think back to the final clash between her and Agni just a few half an hour prior.

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“I guess I’ll go all out.” said the Succubus as she gazed towards the kitsune. Vivian, however, felt confident that there wasn’t much more the Agni could do at this point. She’d been present for every moment of training thus far, she felt she’d sufficiently gauged Agni’s abilities. Vivian was also rather confident in her strength as a third ranker. The two strikes Agni managed to land were barely enough to cause Vivian to grimace.

She watched as Agni lifted her hands towards the sky and called forth a rather large sphere of fire magic which she then hurled towards the kitsune.

*Child’s play.* Vivian thought as she flowed mana into her weapon in preparation of a counter strike. She then took several hopping steps forward before leaping towards the fireball and cleaving it in two, using the ability of her blade to extend and cleanly slice the flames.

Fox demons , like all other demon-kin, had specific vices. For Vivian , hers was the acquisition and keeping of secrets -- the more salacious the better. Not only did acquiring and keeping secrets feed her, allowing her to more easily grow in strength, but she was also a deeply secretive person by nature. Deception and illusion were commonplace for her, so much so that at one point in her life she even wore a fox-mask in her earlier years, hiding her identity in the process. After having lived this way for many years, it was ingrained in Vivian not to think twice about hiding her hand while exposing the methods of others. Thus she had no qualms about deceiving Agni during their battle.

The first tactic she used was a derivative of Illusionary magic which allowed her to conceal her own appearance by refracting light dynamically. This was a skill that Vivian tirelessly honed and even now she could only use it for a short time. Still, it served its purpose -- for a maximum of ten seconds she could make herself invisible for all intents and purposes. When combined with her blade skill this would normally be enough to take out most anyone. In fact, the reason Agni was still standing despite Vivian’s numerous blows was due to the protection of the training room. Within those walls losing health was virtually impossible. Rather than having health depleted, physical stamina as well as mana would be sacrificed instead.

Vivian was aware of this, having been the one to design the chapel’s training restrictions herself. Still, the feeling of needing to use more than one of her “secret” combat methods grated on Vivian’s pride. At some point the simple sparring session became a personal challenge, largely in part due to Agni’s nullification of Vivian’s Illusion technique.

The succubus somehow managed to break the spell by simply observing it a few times. It was a mild annoyance but, being cunning by nature, Vivian always had multiple tricks up her sleeve at any given time. She moved onto the next method without fail, switching to use of her shapeshifting abilities to alter the length of her weapons. This was less of an issue for Vivian as Agni already knew of this ability. In fact, Vivian herself often shape shifted her weapons at will to resemble various accessories. It was mostly done out of habit. By making clever use of shapeshifting and her finely honed combat skills Vivian managed to push Agni to the point of near exhaustion. It was only a matter of time before the fusion was undone and their sparring session would end.

*My win. Well, that’s to be expected. I probably got a little too invested because she irked me. I should apologize to her later..* Vivian thought, despite this a smirk flashed across her lips as she cleaved Agni’s final attack in two. Or so she thought.

With a snap of her fingers Agni caused the two sphere halves to explode, catching Vivian in the blast. Having been caught totally unaware Vivian couldn’t even react. Both halves exploded simultaneously, expanding rapidly and meeting with Vivian in the center. Agni watched with bated breath, looking rather haggard from impending exhaustion. After a couple of seconds a smoking trail exited the ball of fire, Vivian was forced to hop backwards in order to escape the persistent flame explosions.

This was a minor inconvenience for someone of her strength, nothing at all -- this is what Vivian believed. That is until she backed into several smaller stationary spheres of flame which were positioned to surround her.

*She anticipated this? I should have just leapt forward!* Vivian thought as she watched several dozen flaming orbs materialize into existence from just as many positions and angles. Vivian struggled to recall the length of her extended blade for it hampered her movement significantly. Unfortunately shrinking the blade was more time consuming than extending it --

The first explosion rang out as the once stationary spheres began to move towards Vivian’s position. The first struck Vivian’s lower back as she sailed backwards through the air, robbing her of the opportunity to regain her footing. Though the blasts were much smaller than the first, each began to detonate in rapid succession with Vivian firmly caught in the middle.

*Shit!* She thought as she used her tails to cover up, closing herself in a ball as the series of chain explosions continued. Even though she felt the strikes would do little to harm her, Vivian still wanted to avoid taking unnecessary blows.

Even with her tails covering her vital points the defense wasn’t perfect, her legs and part of her arms were still exposed thus the attack quickly began to take its toll. Five seconds passed, then ten and Vivian realized that she was now stuck in a battle of attrition. The explosions were strong enough to prevent her from moving and so numerous that Vivian found herself rooted in place from the force of the chain explosions.

*This has got to be ‘Dominion’. What a terrifying ability!* Vivian could only think of Shula’s smug face as she struggled to regain her balance. As the explosions wore on Vivian could only steel her resolve and wait patiently.

*She has to tire soon, right?* She reasoned with herself yet as twenty seconds passed Vivian now found her stamina to have taken a significant hit, dipping to just under 60%. A single blast wasn’t enough to worry over but dozens of sustained explosions managed to deplete almost 30% of Vivian’s stamina in such a short time.

“You’re getting a bit too cocky!” Vivian shouted as she gritted her teeth and morphed one of her katana into a metal pole. She then extended it, using it as a means to push her from the epicenter of the blasts. As she peeked through a crack in her tails she realized Agni was continually making spheres and sending them forth. Even as Vivian moved she smashed into several of the aerial magic mines, but the end of the battle was near so she simply disregarded them.

The sight awaiting Vivian as she burst through the screen of smoke and flames was a welcome one. Agni seemed extremely taxed as sweat poured profusely from all over. The succubus looked to be struggling to stay on her feet -- these were all telltale signs that the fusion was faltering. All things considered, their scuffle barely lasted two minutes.

Having cleared the minefields Vivian unfurled her tails and reshaped her weapons in anticipation of their next moves. She hadn’t exerted her full strength once during the battle--in fact she made a point to only use about thirty percent of it. The exception would be the next strike, just to cement the fact that Agni still had a long way to go. Vivian’s arms crossed her chest as her katana took shape, forming into their normal states -- one long and one short. She arced through the air, her trajectory was perfectly on course to deliver the mother of all double cross slashes.

Just two meters before she bridged the gap Agni smiled wearily and clenched her fist. This simple act caused a small sphere of flame to appear directly before Vivian’s face. In an instant the ball of fire expanded rapidly while simultaneously maintaining its spherical shape. Soon it was large enough to completely engulf Vivian in its fury.

For the briefest of moments Vivian couldn’t think. Nor could she breath as fire robbed her of all sanity and oxygen. Then it just happened -- her body reacted on instinct. A blue flame ignited, covering Vivian’s body in an aura of flames which quickly ate Agni’s own fire. Within seconds the desperate flame attack was consumed leaving Vivian standing before the collapsed succubus. For the briefest of moments Vivian lost herself and released just a fraction of her true abilities. Her entire body was aglow, consumed by blue flames which covered even her four tails. The switch in Vivian’s mind which screamed “attack” caused her to activate her final “secret” in one momentary lapse of judgement.

Meanwhile, Agni's last ditch effort was enough to drive her to complete exhaustion. Consumed by the power of blue flames and having finally come back to her senses, Vivian watched as Agni’s fused body began to glow and shimmer. A bolt of magical energy formed and exited Agni’s body causing Shula to appear nearby. Both women were unconscious, having fully exerted themselves in combat.

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“AGGGGGGGGGGGH!! I can’t believe they made me use FOX FIRE. THAT WAS MY BEST SECRET!” Vivian flailed her limbs wildly before screaming into a second pillow.

 

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