Luka stared at the words hovering in front of him, his mouth wide with disbelief. During the grueling climb up the Tower of Dreams, treading an endless procession of steps against its steadily increasing mental pressure, his heart had pounded with dread and anticipation. It certainly did not help that he had seen others descending with their faces sagging with defeat. There even were a few corpses sprawled on the wide swirling stairs; a quick insertion of his mana into them revealed their deaths were from mental exhaustion.

Largely the experience was monotonous, with only violet stairs and walls and the occasional window revealing the heights he had reached. By the end, he had passed the clouds. It was not a climb for the fainthearted. Only those with strong desires made it.

And still, many attempted the climb, hoping for a System, a method of growth, which would change their lives. A hope it only was, for few had the wherewithal to withstand the mental pressure exerted upon them by the tower. And many who did make it found their System to not be all they had hoped for. Yet the few that grew to heights of great power spurred others to try for the same. The gods' gift or their cruel joke, many weren't sure.

Luka wasn't so hopeful, but he simply had no choice. The cruel, sneering portly face of the noble. The ultimatum, to deliver an impossible amount of metals and crops within a year. The extremely obvious plot to take the town's land for his own, end its self rule by raising the contributions required in exchange for its independence.

Some had already started making preparations to leave, those who could. Most couldn't. Those who stayed would become de facto slaves on the land they once owned. Everyone he knew, everyone who had taken him in, they would be prey to that monster's whims.

Luka had one hope: to obtain a powerful System, become strong enough within a year, and crush Lord Ghana. And he had persevered based on that alone. He had reached the tower's top. Witnessed the thunder raging in the clouds below the featureless, flat roof. And this... was what he got.

He read the words again. And again.

Your skill at herbalism and pharmacy, along with studies in healing and curse magic and your inner heart has attracted the Three Ladies' notice and they have offered you a Witch System.
The desires burning within you, your potential for beauty, and your inner heart has attracted the notice of the Horned Beast in her feminine guise and she has offered you a Succubus System.
The gods offering you their systems have agreed to merge them, resulting in the Succubus Witch System. Do you accept?

What was with this offer? Witch he could somewhat understand, after all he did work as a herbalist and healer. As for curse magic, he had studied that hoping for something which he could use on the Lord. But what was with this 'inner heart' stuff?

The Succubus part was the truly inexplicable part. He had pleasured a lot of the town women and some of the men, but wouldn't that just qualify him for Incubus or Concubus or something? Was it this weird 'potential for beauty' thing? And 'inner heart' showing up again.

Luka slumped down on the roof, sitting cross-legged. He needed the rest after that climb. And he needed the time to ponder his choice. Even if he had already made up his mind. Two gods had taken enough notice of him to offer him Systems, and they had even merged them. In every case he had heard of, those receiving merged Systems had left a major impact.

That kind of strength was what he needed. He could feel the excitement growing in him. After all, now he would be able to take on that Lord. Sure, it likely meant he would have to become a woman, but, honestly, was that really so bad?

Yes. He could accept this as a price for strength. He didn't think he could get so excited about growing powerful. Did he have ambition he didn't know of? Ambition didn't feel quite right for what he was feeling right now, though.

Steadying himself, he thought his acceptance toward the hovering words. And that alone was enough. He instantly felt the changes starting to hit--

When he woke, he was aware of the cold (but oddly not uncomfortable) stone against his bare skin. He could feel the cloth supporting and covering two somethings on his chest, as well as his groin and ass...and little else. He touched his new breasts with something like wonder slowly bubbling up in him. The other hand went to where his penis would be, though he didn't need to verify its absence with his lower garment pressing closely against his body. But it felt oddly good to touch there, and not even in the sexual way.

So was this it? Was he now a she? That didn't feel quite right, like he hadn't earned it, and yet it felt good to think. Actually, it'd be simpler to just refer to himself to others as female. Yes. No need to cause confusion. She'll just play along with the feminine guise.

She pushed herself up and started examining herself more closely. Her smooth lavender skin contrasted with the indigo hair spilling down her back. What she could see of her body had beautiful curves, and it was hard to ignore the added features, like the breasts, the small leathery wings, and the spade tipped tail swaying behind herself. Touching her head made the strange sensations there make sense. Horns, and by the feel of it, little curved ones sweeping back and then back forward, like a ram's horns.

Having completed her self-examination she turned her attention to the words she could now see in front of her.

Welcome to the Succubus Witch System. The Three Ladies and the Horned Beast are pleased at you acting on your inner heart. As such, you have been rewarded with an outfit suitable for a succubus witch.

The moment she read that, a scarlet wide-brimmed hat settled upon her head and a similarly colored robe appeared upon her. The thick robe was cut low, exposing her cleavage, and had a slit up the side exposing her leg. Her legs were enclosed in stylish black knee-length boots. And she was now wearing a pair of small-lensed glasses, an unnecessary but fashionable addition.

She had to admit she likely looked damn good. But acting on her inner heart? What did the gods mean by that? She reflected upon that for a few moments before drawing a blank. Well, no use thinking about it. She turned her attention to her new System. She could see the options to check out her status, objectives, shop (which from what she'd heard of Systems would use points earned from objectives), something about favor, relationships.

Status:
Journeyman Physique
Journeyman Reflexes
Master Mana
Grandmaster Sexiness
Master Charisma
Grandmaster Willpower

Skills:
Grandmaster Herbalism
Grandmaster Pharmacy
Journeyman Healing
Apprentice Enchantment
Apprentice Flight
Master Sex
Apprentice Succubus Magic

Traits:
Succubus Physique

Of those, flight, enchantment, and succubus magic were new to her, though enchantment apparently included the curses she was studying as well as blessings and enchanting objects with additional abilities. The others looked to be about what she had before. So she could fly with those little wings? Nice.

Her objective list was simple: a list of recurring objectives that included temptation, sex, and practicing the witch crafts according to her conscience, all of which would grant her points to use in the shop. Apparently the more difficult, the more points she would get. There were just two non-repeating objective, one of which was "Accept your Inner Heart". That was all it said, but it offered 8000 points. The other was "Eliminate the Threat of Lord Ghana", also offering 8000 points. Why did they both offer the same amount?

The shop list had many listings for items, status and skill increases, and trait purchases. As well as a few 'mystery boxes', one labeled "Buy this! Love and kisses."

The favor list seemed to track how much the gods liked her. Right now she had 2 favor from both the Three and the Horned Beast. As for the relationships page, it listed a lot of people from her village, a good number of them described as flings. There was also the recurring merchants and other such visitors listed, some of them also flings. Last was listed Lord Ghana, described simply as 'Hated Enemy'. Yeah, that sounded about right for her feelings toward him.

Stretching, she took the time to adjust to her new body. Moving muscles that felt unfamiliar yet natural, she extended her wings out, feeling them grow in size, and then retracted them into her back. Huh. Her tail was similarly easy to get used to, and she found she could twist it into all kinds of shapes and even pick up her satchel by curling her tail around the strap and lifting.

Luka slung her satchel across her shoulder, being careful to leave room for her wings, and then eyed the rooftop edge speculatively. Was it even safe to fly from that high? Drawing close to the edge, she looked down. She couldn't even see the ground below the clouds. And yet something told her she could do it. So she stepped off. Fuck climbing back down.

As she left the rooftop, the temperate suddenly dropped and the air become far thinner. Yet she was only vaguely aware of that, feeling no discomfort. Was it her Succubus Physique? Somehow she felt it was.

Any further such thoughts left her as she spread her wings. What followed was a testing of her flight that turned into a joyous abandon of soaring, driving, twisting and turning. She didn't know how long it was before the thought that she should be descending crossed her mind.

In a long circling dive, she dropped through the sky, feeling the chilly wetness of the clouds as she passed through them. When she had a clear view of the mountains below, their smallness gave her the beginning of an inkling of how tall the Tower truly was. She glided lower and lower, after a very long while finally landing next to the base.

Damn, flying by itself was almost enough to make the climb worth it. Looking around, Luka spotted a mixed gender group approaching the Tower. Most of them were humans of assorted colors, though there was what appeared to be the first elf she had ever seen. Or at least they (she wasn't certain of their gender) matched the description, with a thin coat of fur across their body, amber eyes, poofy tipped tail, and long tufted ears. Their bare feet had three toes, too, with thick nails almost like hooves.

Somehow every one of them looked beautiful. But then again, she had always been good at seeing the beauty in people. Everyone, including those not generally considered as attractive, had an interesting uniqueness to their faces. Not to mention their individual quirks.

She noticed she was licking her lips. This didn't go unnoticed by the group, either. "Concubi," one of them said in an exasperated tone. She was a burly dark-skinned human woman in armor consisting of plates and leather.

"I for one could use a little break, Jossio. It's been a long trip," the tawny furred elf said with a smile. "If you're willing, how about having a little fun?"

Luka only briefly considered the invitation. She'd never done an elf, this one was cute, and it was going to be a fun way to earn some points. Yes, she wouldn't mind finding out what was under that green vest and trousers. "I would love to," she said, "How about we find somewhere a little more private?"

Huh. Having a sexy husky voice come from herself felt good. Well, who wouldn't want to have a nice voice?

The elf replied, "I'd be delighted. You may use the name Ochilysse for me. And you?"

"Luka." By now uncertainty was beginning to build in her heart. This would be her first time with a body shaped like this. And yet when she thought about it, she could feel the excitement building in her. She wanted to do this. Despite being a man, she wanted to do it like this. Well... she could have a little fun, she supposed. Yes, lets just give it a little try.

"How about we set up camp beyond those rock outcroppings?" She slipped her hand around Ochilysse's waist, leading them toward her indicated destination. If nothing else, this was going to be a new experience.