Tanner was sitting on the ground with legs crossed meditating in the mid-morning sun. The position was mostly affectation, but he’d found he liked to think about what had happened after some of his mana experiments. The position just made it look like he was communing with nature, or gathering ki or something, instead of just thinking about his latest screw-up.

 

The problem he’d found was that any movement was way too timing critical the way he was trying to go about it. His current work was something like controlling his own body with mana like a marionette. That meant, even if he managed to learn an empowered movement and get it to work it would only ever work the exact same way. If he learned an empowered slash at chest height, which he thought he might honestly be getting close to, it would only ever be at chest height. If he needed a lower slash or to hold his sword at a slightly different angle because of the position of the enemy it wouldn’t work right. He’d have to stick to the same mechanical movement and try to adjust the rest of his body to make it work or try to adjust the pattern, which would be learning a totally different move for all intents and purposes. Tanner was suspecting that he’d gone down a wrong path.

 

That was the problem with trying to self-teach. What seemed like progress might in fact be the opposite. He sighed and opened his eyes. He needed to talk to someone who knew what the hell they were doing, or at least find a book or something. He was just about to stand up and try something different when a voice spoke up from behind him.

 

“Conscript Spaldman?” Asked a soft voice.

 

Tanner turned around and saw a petite girl with short dirty-blonde hair standing behind him. When he saw the lieutenant's badge on her shoulder he hopped up to his feet and saluted. The girl's face turned red and she waved him off.

 

“No need for that. I’m Second Lieutenant  Lana Makienzie. I’m one of Doctor Nightbridges assistants and we were hoping you might uhhhhh... “ She said, her face beet-red.

 

“You finally have someone else you want me to screw?” Tanner asked with a wry smile. “I was honestly wondering when you’d send someone else my way. I thought that after Marcella… Er… Specialist Morales that you’d want me to try it on someone else.”

 

“We did! In fact we’ve recommended you to almost a dozen women but none were willing to try. In fact I don’t think Specialist Morals really was either. Dr. Nightbridge thinks that she expected you to turn her down and she was only doing it as self-flagellation.” She answered.

 

“That actually makes sense.” Tanner said, more to himself than to her. “I mean.. How many women are really willing to sleep with a complete stranger, even on a doctor's recommendation? Still, if you aren’t here for that, what are you here for?”

 

The girl's blush had grown even darker and Tanner was starting to get a bit worried. “Well… The doctor said that without another patient to test we still needed to collect some more data and well… She asked her apprentices for a volunteer.” Tanner blinked at the girl.

 

“Ahhhhhh….” He said slowly. “So you are sending me someone to ply my trade on. It’s just yourself.” He saw her face and added. “It’s ok. You don’t need to be embarrassed. I know I was, hell I still am a lot of the time but there’s something kind of liberating about realizing that you’ve gone so far outside of normal sexual convention there’s no real need to bother with all the posturing anymore. Do you want to head to my room now?” He asked her. 

 

Under normal circumstances he’d have tried to give her a reassuring hug or even a kiss to try and relax her but it was mid-morning in the middle of the base and he couldn’t exactly start making out with someone. She nodded and followed behind him meekly and he tried not to snort with laughter.

 

The girl was adorable, small at around 5’2 or 5’3 and very petite.  She had an oval face and huge brown eyes with a little button nose. ‘mousey’ was how he’d describe her. She was obviously shy but had a bubbly hyperactive sort of energy to her. The only thing about her body that wasn’t petite was her ass. She had a good sized bubble-but that was out of proportion with the rest of her body. She was definitely ‘pear shaped’ and was likely one of those unfortunate women whose body’s just didn’t store fat well.

 

If this had been pre-fall she’d have likely been walking through doors side-ways by the time she was in her forties but a system meant it was nearly impossible to become obese. 

 

He led her back into his room and she stood around looking at his few sparse possessions and shifting her weight from foot to foot nervously. 

 

“Are you sure you want to do this? Hopping into bed with someone you just met is not easy.” He asked her as he turned on his Lust Aura. This was obviously a girl who was going to need a push and she needed to start thinking more with her girl parts and get out of her own way.

 

She nodded again and blushed more. So Tanner stepped forward and cupped her face with a hand. Then he learned forward slowly, giving her time to pull away, as he pressed his lips against hers. She kissed him back with surprising fervor and he felt her desires wash though him as his sexual empathy started to report what she wanted. It seemed she wasn’t shy so much as extremely submissive. Tanner changed tac, making his kiss more forceful and started to pull at her heavy coat and uniform top. She let out a startled ‘eep’ but moaned into his mouth as he quickly stripped her down to her bra. Her breasts were modest, only peach sized and hidden behind a blood-red lacy bra that seemed more lingerie than practical underwear. He shoved her onto the bed, making the motion dominant but not too forceful as his empathy skill fed him more information. She wasn’t in the rough-stuff but wanted to be dominated.

 

She wanted to be trapped, not hurt, preferably she wanted to be tied-up, blind-folded, then used for hours. Tanner shook his head as he pounced on her. He kissed her neck and chest as he unhooked her bra and went to work on her pants. She squirmed in delight as he pulled off her uniform legs only to reveal a pair of blood-red panties to match her bra.

 

“So, the shy little healer is all just an act.” He said sarcastically. “You’re just a slut that wants fucked.” He said as sternly as he could. He stood over her and started to take off his shirt as he glared down at her. Role playing wasn’t exactly his thing, but well, he supposed there was a first time for everything and this girl seemed the type to appreciate it.

 

Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes glazed with desire. He sneered down at her and gave her clit a light pinch through her panties. She moaned and thrust her hips at him. 

 

“Just a slut.” He said, as if her reaction was proof. He tugged off his pants to reveal his member and she gasped at the sight of it. “Yes… but that’s the only time you’ll get to see it.” He said as he took his uniform shirt and tied it around her head as a blind-fold. She moaned again and he flipped her over and used his pants and her pants to tie her arms to her legs, and then both together. The knots were all loose but it was more about the performance than real restraint. The result was she was on her knees with her chest pressed against the bed and her big ass up in the air while her arms and legs were all tied together around her feet. She couldn’t move much at all and as she tested the bonds and found she couldn’t move her whole body shuddered.

 

“Did the little mouse just cum? I haven’t even started yet.” He said as he pulled her panties down her legs a little to bare her sex. She was oozing and Tanner took his cock and slapped her ass and pussy with it once. 

 

She wiggled and moaned “Please……” 

 

Tanner shook his head. This girl was weird. Then again his back-fetish wasn’t exactly normal either. In fact the more sex he had, the more he realized that everyone had their weird kinks. Well, he hadn’t found Grace’s yet but he was sure she had one.Still, his cock was throbbing and he had a subby little mouse to fuck.

 

“So which of my little mouse’s holes should I stick my dick in?” He pushed his head against her anus for a moment and she let out a whimper. Tanner grinned to himself. So anal was on the table, although there was no way he’d try it now. Even if she liked the idea it would take quite a bit of lubrication to do right and he didn’t have anything like that. Although, he supposed if he was to continue his life as a whore he’d need to get some.

 

He circled his cock-head around her butt a moment longer before pushing himself into her pussy. She moaned and thrashed against her bonds and Tanner set a steady pace and prepared to pound this girl the rest of the morning.

 

It was a rather interesting experience for him. Having a girl splayed out like this he could just take however he wanted spoke to some primal sort of darkness in him. She was warm, and tight, and soaking for him so he played however he wanted. He started with slow forceful thrusts, then switched to a slow-in and fast out motion that had her cumming the first time. Then he just rutted her like an animal for a while until she came again.

 

“I’m getting close my little slut mouse. You want me to fill up this naughty hole for you?” He asked in his dom voice.

 

“Don’t…” She moaned pitifully, or ecstatically, it was hard to tell. “Cum all over me.” Tanner thought that seemed like a good enough idea. He laid into her again, hips slapping together and her juices squishing out. The lewd sounds that only made his oragasm build faster. Then he pulled out and grunted as he came on her pale back. He groaned and shuddered as he covered her back in line after line of his seed. She even started to wiggle her ass for him until he was spent and his cock softened.

 

“More… Please… More…” The little mouse moaned. Tanner looked down at his softened cock then shrugged and stuffed it back into her pussy. Looks like he’d be eating a late lunch.

 

Tanner didn’t get back outside until sometime around 13:00. After his third orgasm Lana had looked like something out of a German bukakke video and Tanner had lost track of her orgasms somewhere around 12. Once he collapsed on the bed exhausted and untied her she popped back to her feet with a happy smile and ran off to the shower after wiping herself off. That had left him to go wash his sheets and uniform.

 

The whole session had left him pretty unfulfilled. Physically it had felt great but there’d been something missing. Sex was supposed to be a two-way street and his time with Lana had been something like bizarre masterbation. Lana hadn’t really cared who was fucking her and Tanner hadn’t really cared who’s pussy he was using. Even the semi-angry sex he’d had with Liz that one time had been better. At least she’d been an active participant and not just a warm hole. He shook his head. 

 

Even the system seemed to agree with him.

Congratulations! You’ve Earned System Points

Encounter Rating B- There is no right or wrong in sex as long as both parties are willing and happy, but keep in mind that sometimes what a person wants isn’t what they need. Sp Earned: 2,520 350(B- Base) x 1.8(Level 8 system) x 2(Long Abstinence) x2(High Stress)

No, the whole thing hadn’t sat well with him, but she’d enjoyed herself and he’d finally gotten enough SP’s to get to level 6. He brought up the system UI and triggered the upgrade. Fire crackled through him but unlike the last time a single level up was something he could tolerate.

Better Health Though Sex Name: Tanner Spaldman Level: 6 Tier: 1 Type: Support Stats: Strength: 7 Speed: 13 Vitality: 14 Dexterity: 12 Mind: 6 System Points: 1347/5000

 

He clinched a fist as a fresh wave of energy washed through him. God, leveling up was such a rush and the extra vitality made him feel like he’d just downed a half-gallon energy drink, but without the sharp-edged jittery feeling a caffeine buzz always gave him.

 

“Level up?” Grace asked as she leaned back against a line of washing machines. Tanner looked up at her and smiled. She must have tracked him down and the thought warmed him, especially after the morning of semi-anonymous sex.

“Yep.” Tanner said. “Level 6. Was just getting ready to go do some more training. Wanna come?” 

 

“What kinda training… And you smell like sex by the way.” She said, her tone was flat but there was a twinkle in her eyes and Tanner relaxed. It seemed Grace wasn’t the jealous type.

 

“Yeah, well… Things got a bit… messy and I didn’t see much point in showering right before going out and getting sweaty again.” He said, a bit sheepishly.  Then added. “What do you know about mana-empowerment?”

 

Her eyebrows went up. “You’ve been practicing mana-empowerment?”

 

“Don’t really have a choice. I don’t have a combat system and I doubt I’ll ever get any combat abilities. So my options are to stop going into combat or make up my own. Being a conscript, I don’t see the avoidance idea being a real option so that just leaves me with mana-empowerment.” Tanner said with a bitter shrug.

 

“I don’t know much. I know it’s supposed to be extremely hard and I’ve got an ability that sorta does something similar so I’ve never seriously considered trying it.” Grace said honestly. “I’ve got a [Brawler] System and one of my abilities burns mana to give me a boost to defense and all my physical traits.”

 

“And what does it feel like when you use it? I’ve been able to get somewhat close to an empowered sword-slash but I feel like I’m doing it wrong. It’s like I’m missing a piece of the puzzle.” Tanner tried to explain as he waved his hands vaguely. 

 

“I can make things happen but it’s not really that much better than just moving normally. The only time I did something pretty impressive was an accident. I jumped about five feet straight up, and hurt myself badly when I landed, but that was an actual Superhuman feat. Something I’d have never been able to do without mana-empowerment, or twice as many levels. I’ve also never been able to replicate the effect, even when I tried.”

 

Grace shrugged then she seemed to change. There weren't any flashy lights or effects. She just seemed different, more imposing, more powerful. “Hmmm… It’s like it twisted, then flowed into all my muscles somehow.” Her aura went back to normal for a good three seconds before the ability switched back on.

 

“Hmmmm, It’s like..  It twists but it also changes somehow? Like you know how your mana normally feels?” She asked, her face scrunched up with concentration which was incredibly cute.

 

“Like a lake of burning fire and frozen ice.” Tanner answered. He’d read Wheel of Time, and Jordan’s description of siadin had been pretty on the nose for mana. 

 

Grace grunted on affirmation but continued. “Well, it’s like that at the start but once it twists, it’s not anymore, it’s less....” Her hand moved as she searched for a word, but gave up before ending with a shrug.

 

Tanner thought about that then gave her his own shrug as she turned off her ability again. “Well it’s something to think about and more than I had before.” Tanner’s head was full of ideas as the pair headed off towards the training yard.

 

As he and Grace started to work he explained what he’d been trying and the results he managed. Unlike most of the time when discussing training she was actually an active participant in the conversations although she did laugh at some of his more egregious screw-ups .Tanner didn’t mind. He liked her laugh, hell he liked her and while they both trained Tanner wondered if she might like to grab some dinner sometime and go on a real date.

 

The thoughts were distant though. As was normally the case while his sex-buffs were active any distracting thoughts were quickly shrugged off. He and Grace did come to a few conclusions though. 

 

1. Mana didn’t empower muscle.

 

That had pretty much thrown a wrench in everything Tanner had been trying to achieve. He could use mana to make muscle contract, and do so harder and faster than his body normally did, but Grace had explained to him about natural limiters and Tanner understood. Pure mana could bypass the limiters, but that was just hurting his body instead of doing anything positive.

 

2. Mana did something else.

 

That wasn’t a very impressive conclusion but it was important. Mana-Empowerment worked, Tanner had made it work once. He’d performed a five-foot vertical leap. Even without his natural limiters there was no way he’d have been able to do that with his strength score of 6. 6 was less than a professional athlete without a system. So he’d made Mana-empowerment work, albeit badly.

 

3.  Mana was changing or altering something else, which in turn was what empowered muscle. It was the combination that allowed           mana-empowerment. 

 

Tanner was pretty confident about three. It was the only thing that made sense and explained why the ‘Feel’ of Grace’s mana changed while she was using her own empower ability. That brought him to four, as he could only think of one other thing that he knew of in the body which might work.

 

4. Mana empowered Ki… And Ki empowered muscle?

 

He knew four was a stretch as he was just making the data fit into the world as he understood it. That was an extremely dangerous thing for anyone to do, especially when they were trying to figure something out scientifically. Making a hypothesis that fit the data you wanted it to was a big nono, but Tanner thought he was on to something anyway. 

 

Most people didn’t think Ki existed, but He’d grown up with Sandra and he knew what her system and core ability was. With her [Marital Master] system she couldn’t use mana at all, but her Core ability increased the amount of Ki she had, as well as increased her ability to sense and manipulate it. Logically her system ‘increasing’ her Ki meant she should have Ki naturally. That meant everyone had Ki, but that also meant that Tanner was going to have to talk to Sandra and he really wasn’t looking forward to that.

 

Tanner looked up into the sunset, as he wiped the sweat on his face. He finally remembered he’d never gotten around to eating lunch. He looked over at Grace and cleared his throat awkwardly.

 

“Would you wanna go get some dinner, and maybe we could listen to some more of that old radio show after?” He asked, blushing slightly.

 

Grace shook her head with a grin. “You know, for someone who’s screwing three different women you’re pretty awkward with girls.” Tanner scowled at her before he shot back.

 

“That’s the problem. It’s not the sex that bothers me. It’s the relationships. I like you and I’d like to spend more time with you but I’m also sleeping with like three other women on a semi-regular basis so I’m trying to feel out what you think about the situation and what you might feel like doing about it.” He got it all out in one long ramble and took a breath as he waited for her reaction.

 

“I don’t do relationships.” Grace said sternly. Tanner’s face fell, but she plowed on. “If you wanna go get dinner, fine, but you have to shower first. If you want me to come to your room and listen to some Hitchhiker’s Guide… Fine… But we aren't in a relationship. I DON’T do relationships.” Grace said before walking off.

 

Tanner blinked at her. He was pretty sure that if you were having sex with someone,  and spending time with them outside work, and going over to their room to sleep with them, you were in a relationship. It didn’t matter what you called it.