Honestly, Zoey wasn’t fully against the idea of just letting Delta do what she wanted. Satiating that burning hunger in her eyes in a very intimate manner. As Delta stood, eyes bright pink from the bucket of aphrodisiac poured into her, Zoey considered whether their mission was really that critical. Mel could wait another hour, right?

Rosalie, unfortunately, had a more practical outlook. “Use your skill,” she said. “The new one. Counteract it.”

It took a second for Zoey to understand. Influence. Her skill that let her ‘inflame or mute internal statuses’. Delta had been influenced one way by the vines’s potent payload, but Zoey could influence her the other, bringing her back to equilibrium.

The realization disappointed her. But, Zoey assuaged herself, she doubted she’d be lacking opportunities to have fun with Delta during this trip. Just, right now, with Delta heavily under the influence, and without having discussed it beforehand, she shouldn’t dive into aphrodisiac-muddled encounters without at least discussing it beforehand.

Delta had risen and began stalking toward Zoey, eyes locked on one thing in particular—and with such a hungry look that her cock throbbed in anticipation.

“I’ll hold her down,” Rosalie sighed. “See what you can do.”

A scuffle ensued, Delta highly displeased with Rosalie’s responsible nature toward this event. She was so altered by the vines’ pink liquid payload that she didn’t even seem capable of speech, just grunts and whines. Two naked, sweaty girls struggled against each other as Rosalie tried to pin Delta down, and the sight didn’t do much to help Zoey’s already compromised state. Rosalie had been jerking Zoey off during the earlier event, but Zoey hadn’t finished. She was worked up.

But the best course of action was to calm Delta. Zoey doubted the foxgirl would care much if Zoey let her pleasure her while under the influence of an aphrodisiac, but that was still best talked about in advance. Right after this, in fact, seeing how it might happen again.

Plus, testing to see if she could actually cast a ‘muting’ spell was important. Considering their environment, it was the type of ability that might come in handy in more serious situations.

She and Maddy had only practiced with her newest branch of magic for a single session. Maddy had drawn up a few designs, but to say that Zoey was unpracticed with them would be putting it lightly. And she didn’t have the innate, prodigal talent, or breadth of experience, that Maddy did to help her along, either.

On the other hand, it was an ability that resonated with her class. And she had Burst to further amplify it, though at the expense of her lust resource. Though that wasn’t something that would be in short supply.

In a quick exchange, Rosalie had locked Delta in place. Not only was Rosalie the more skilled fighter, she was stronger and better suited to wrestling, and had an advancement on Delta, too. How she’d ever lost to Delta during their ‘strip spars’ was a mystery—though not much of one. Zoey had a few guesses as to what had happened, and Delta had all but claimed it. Rosalie had wanted to lose.

With her pink-eyed, naked, sweaty teammate pinned in place, Zoey gathered her wits and did as Rosalie had told her. She pulled together an arousal muting spell, focusing it toward Delta. Then, to be safe, she amplified it with Burst.

Delta stiffened, and her struggling slowed, then stopped.

After a few moments panting on the ground, Rosalie asked, “Did it work?”

“Not that I’m complaining about being pinned down by a pretty girl,” Delta grunted, “but this kinda hurts, blondie.”

Rosalie disentangled from Delta, though eyed Delta warily. Delta stayed on the floor, panting. Rosalie stood and returned to Zoey’s side.

“Your eyes are still pink,” Zoey said.

“They are?”

“You feel better?”

“Horny as fuck,” Delta said, “but I can think again.” She shivered. “Honestly, being fucked up like that … was kind of fun. We need to collect some of that stuff.”

Zoey paused. That was a good idea. Not just for personal use, but as an alchemy ingredient. Though she already had some aphrodisiacs, and an ability for it, too. But more never hurt.

“Though, how to get it will be a bit tricky,” Delta said. She finally stood, swaying on her feet. Pink liquid dripped down her thighs; the vines had really pumped it out. “Getting a condom onto a vine would do the job, but sheesh. That’d take some work.” She rubbed her knees together and groaned. “Can you hit me with another dose? This is still … pretty overwhelming.” Her hand went between her legs and started rubbing, before pulling away—as if she hadn’t meant to. “Or fuck me. That works, too. Any relief would be nice.” She squirmed in place.

Zoey shared a look with Rosalie. Her girlfriend hesitated, then huffed and gestured toward Delta. She’d considered the idea of relieving Delta the more involved way, but hadn’t succumbed to it.

Zoey layered another arousal dampening effect onto Delta.

Delta frowned. “Didn’t do anything. Seems like it caps out.” She groaned. “Fuck, this is awful. And amazing. At least when I couldn’t think, I didn’t have to resist.”

“We need to keep moving,” Rosalie said. “You can handle being a little excited.”

“Easy for you to say.”

“Next time, don’t get caught.”

“Get caught! You were leading. I’m just the unlucky one. Like always.” She paused. “Well, not that unlucky, this time. But it’s not my fault.”

“We could have cut you out, but you told us not to.”

Delta glared, then turned to Zoey. “Just a quickie?” She nodded at between Zoey’s legs. “Can see you’re ready for it.”

“We’re moving on,” Rosalie said. “You’re fine.” That said, she strode forward. “It’ll wear off.”

Delta’s eyes followed Rosalie’s ass as she walked forward. She shook her head, then paused as she realized Zoey had caught her. She smirked, rather than seeming sheepish. Zoey rolled her eyes. She hardly faulted Delta for staring. Rosalie’s ass was unfair.

As Delta fell into place, second in the formation, Zoey admitted Delta’s own ass wasn’t much easier to ignore, either. Maybe Zoey ought to level her own de-arousal spell inward. Her teammates were a serious detriment to keeping focused, which wasn’t ideal, considering they were venturing into dangerous territory.

Rosalie slowed, then stopped.

“Actually,” she said. “Maybe this is a good chance for you to get some practice, Zoey.”

“Huh?”

“This is a first advancement shard. You’ve been practicing with your spells. I think you should try your hand at going solo. See what you can do.”

“Oh,” Zoey said. “Aren’t we in a rush?”

“Just a few fights,” Rosalie said. “Taking a few minutes longer won’t change anything.”

Zoey agreed with that, and after having allowed a diversion to watch Delta get fucked by vines, she couldn’t insist on the principal of the matter, either.

“And I don’t think letting this woman out of my sight is smart, right now,” Rosalie said, eying Delta. “She’s better, but still influenced. The eyes prove it. Better to watch her until she’s fine.”

Delta sounded vaguely miffed in her response. “What do you think I’m going to do? Pounce one of you?”

“Yes,” Rosalie said flatly. “If you haven’t realized it, you’re staring at Zoey’s cock.”

Delta blinked. She paused, then, still not looking away, said, “Huh. Okay, you might have a point. In my defense, it’s a nice cock.”

“And you,” Rosalie said, turning the flat look Zoey’s way. “Get that thing under control.”

“Oh, sure,” Zoey said. “Let me just do that.”

Rosalie gestured for Zoey to lead. “Perverts.” She waved her hand insistently. “I’ll be ready to help. The shard’s behaving oddly, but that might not extend to the monsters, only the … your stuff. See what you can do. In the meantime, I’ll watch the troublemaker.”

“Troublemaker?” Delta asked. “You could just let your girlfriend fuck me, you know. I’m pretty sure that would fix this.”

Zoey wasn’t wholly against the idea, since Delta was clearly herself again, but at the same time, letting the aphrodisiac settle, then laying out boundaries, would be much more comfortable. And with Rosalie impatiently waving her along, Zoey had other tasks to attend to.

Practicing her solo adventuring capabilities. She’d spent less than a week in Treyhull, honing her abilities, but she ought to have learned some stuff. Her spellcasting skills had come a long way, even if she hadn’t mastered them.

Oddly, as she turned forward and walked, the sudden vanguard of the group, she found herself excited by the prospect. Maybe her adventures were mostly lewd, thanks to her class, but a significant portion of her near future would still be the more typical events found in a delve.

And she’d never been a girl who lusted for a fight, but the idea of regular adventures appealed somewhat. Fighting, progressing, earning magical items. Especially joined by Rosalie and Delta—and Maddy, possibly, in the future.

So, steadying herself, she set off.