Defending against the combined assault of four competent mages was hard.

Defending against the combined assault of four competent mages, when the objective was to handle the floating ice cube gently enough to prevent it from shattering, was considerably harder.

Defending against the combined assault of four competent mages, when the objective was to handle the floating ice cube gently enough to prevent it from shattering, when said four mages were the incarnation of sexiness in the various states of undressing, providing an incredible distraction as I tried to go gather my mana, was possibly the hardest challenge I had ever faced.

And something really important was at stake. Every time I let that ice cube touch my skin, I had to follow one of their orders, a scary proposition, especially with four girls facing each other as well, each wanting to prove themselves to others in the twisted relationship they were dragged by me.

Still, it was a challenge I was more than happy to face.

It wasn't shocking that Cornelia took the lead of attacking, her fiery personality perfect for charging. It was easy to deflect her reckless attack, but before it could move forward even an inch, it was deflected back by Helga, ready for my reaction.

Meanwhile, Titania gave a push from the side, making it even harder to deflect, while Marianne stayed on the back, ready to provide a last line of defense if needed.

The formation was not a bad idea, allowing everyone to use their skills the way they were most comfortable, but also put Marianne, who was the least skilled one in terms of manipulating mana, to a defensive position, easy to be protected.

Unfortunately for them, their impromptu formation was less solid than they might have expected.

I could have scored a point through brute force — as the creator of the ice cube, I could assess its breaking point much more effectively — but while that would earn me a delicious naked show, it would only highlight my superior skills, not their limited tactical competency.

Considering the dangers we were facing, injecting a small lesson into our sexy times was not exactly a bad thing. So, I let their counter-attack come very close to success, waiting to feel the radiating cold of the ice cube before deflecting it away.

Emboldened by their near-victory, they pushed even harder. Helga put her whole focus on helping Cornelia, but when I deflected it toward Titania, she was perfectly ready to deflect it, even if it came much faster this time.

Too bad for Marianne that it moved toward her. To her credit, Marianne was ready to defend herself. Unfortunately, at that speed, her attempts shattered the ice cube once more.

"Too bad, sweetheart," I said with a wide smirk, very enthusiastic about the next part. Yes, I had seen Marianne naked before, but it was one of the things that never got stale. She was always beautiful, and the way her breasts jiggled as she unbuttoned her corset added a lot to her attractiveness.

"You girls need to work harder on your strategies, factoring everyone in properly," I said with a smug smile, perfectly designed to trigger their anger. It was good advice, of course, but a patronizing delivery was enough to taint the goodwill of even the best advice.

And while they were busy trying to suppress their anger, I delivered a sneak attack, once again targeting Marianne. "Don't bother sitting down, sweetie," I said, gesturing for her to drop her panties as well. "And that's why you need to be more careful about sneak attacks no matter the circumstances. High hit points could help you to survive an ambush from a weaker attacker, but every advantage is important on the path to survival," I added.

As I said that, I let my gaze stay on Titania. After all, our first proper meeting had been born from those circumstances, where she recklessly pushed forward to recover a book, only to fall into a deadly trap of the necromancers.

Titania was unable to refute that point, which hardly helped her anger, especially since she was still relatively new to suppressing the touch of her emotions.

Unfortunately for her, her anger gave me the exact opportunity I needed to send an attack through the area she was supposed to defend. She was an excellent mage, enough to defend herself even distracted. But it was different when I wasn't targeting her.

I sent a curved attack around her, and before she could react, and before Helga could realize my ploy, the cube already touched Marianne's milky skin despite her nakedness.

"It's time for play," I said with a grin even as I let my gaze dance over all four girls, their expressions flickering between different emotions. I first looked at Marianne, who had to follow one of my orders after being eliminated first.

I curled my finger, calling her close, amused by her frustrated puff as she stood up. Her frustration didn't come from needing to follow my next order, as our relationship had well past that point. No, the way her gaze danced on the other three girls suggested that she was concerned that she was the first one that was 'defeated' in our little magic game.

Before our relationship taught her about taking initiative, she might have just slunk down and accepted the defeat, but after some memorable times, she was much more expressive.

More importantly, she had the weapons to strike back from a very unexpected angle.

When she started walking toward me, following my order, her steps were slow, almost crawling. However, it wasn't hesitancy that was slowing her steps. If that had been the case, her hips wouldn't have displayed a sensual dance with every step, hardening my already impressive erection to a new level.

It was already an amazing show that deserved a great deal of my attention, but I made sure to keep my gaze on the way her hips were dancing like I was hypnotized, playing for the audience, earning a few jealous glances in return.

Cornelia didn't surprise me by acting in anger, sending the cube toward me, hoping to use my distraction to score a point, for it would have been no doubt a humiliating forfeit.

I bounced off the cube with a simple wave of my hand toward the other side of the room, not even bothering to counter-attack, which made their jealousy even thicker. For the moment, their own sexiness, like Cornelia's toned, sexy legs, or Helga's her own beautiful tits dangling freely was forgotten, dazed by Marianne's dance.

Halfway in, she bent forward, which enhanced the sight of her beautiful breasts — full and firm, big and juicy, topped with amazing pink nipples.

In other words, a total masterpiece.

I made a show of letting out an impressed sigh, which invited another ice cube attack, this time from Titania. I once again deflected that, quite easily as the girls were too distracted and frustrated to properly cooperate. Though none of them appreciated the effortless way I was dismissing their attacks.

When Marianne's slow walk finished, standing in front of me proudly, her hands running over my chest and arms. "What's my order?" she asked in a beautiful, throaty tone.

"Well, I'm feeling rather uncomfortable," I said, my gaze dipping down to my crotch to show what I was talking about. Marianne lowered herself without asking the question, but far too slow to be classified as immediate. Though, considering she spent that time peppering my chest with gentle kisses, I was willing to forgive her dalliance.

"Should we pause the game?" Helga asked, excited and frustrated.

"No need," I said, not bothering to hide my gasp as Marianne's hot lips touched my shaft. "You clearly need all the advantage you could afford," I added smugly, once again fueling their jealousy and competitiveness at the same time.

However, as they did so, I was already using our connection to transfer my mana to Marianne, not to recover her mana but to help her level up. I was still undecided between prioritizing her companion process and my own leveling —challenged by the restricted nature of the Divine Spark I stole from the headmistress — but increasing her level was an obvious target.

[-1239 Mana]

Marianne murmured in appreciation as the mana flooded into her body, showing her happiness by going deeper along the length, swallowing it greatly. Despite the great struggle it created for her little delicate mouth, she stuffed my whole length into her mouth, a considerable part slipping into her throat.

"Such a nice bet," I said mockingly even as I looked other three girls, all alternating between frustration and jealousy while they tried to attack me with the ice cube, trying to leverage my distraction. Admittedly, Marianne's lips combined with the challenge of converting my mana into experience points for her was considerable. If they cooperated properly at that point, they could have scored a point…

Luckily, I wasn't the only one distracted by the sight of Marianne's joyful fulfillment of the bet.

A gasp went through the room as Marianne grabbed my thighs before moving her head back and forth aggressively, helped by my fingers passing through her golden hair.

The gasp came from Titania, whose recent memories of a threesome with Marianne awakened by the sight, which caused her to be just distracted enough to receive another hit from the ice cube, getting rid of her skirt as well, making her the last person to be limited to her underwear or less.

I could have leveraged the opportunity to bounce the attack to Helga to achieve another hit, but teasing them indirectly while giving them a great show in the process was much more attractive. So, for the next minute, I focused on defense while Marianne's enthusiastic moans got louder and louder despite the obstruction on the way.

I even helped her by bringing my foot between her legs, gently caressing her wetness while she shivered.

That lasted until Marianne, already on the edge thanks to the excitement of the situation, climaxed hard. She shivered and moaned helplessly, but I kept my hands on her head, still using her throat for a masturbation aid while she slackened under the rush of pleasure.

Then a surprising thing popped into my field of vision.

[Achievement: Sensational Show. Hold the attention of an invested crowd through careful measurement of activities. +2000 Experience, +5 Charisma]

It had been a while since I had received a proper achievement, not that it was not wanted. Especially charisma, which impacted the maximum potency of the offensive spells greatly.

Good, I thought even as I let Marianne go, and she collapsed on the floor, breathing hard. "Marianne doesn't seem to be ready to join back immediately," I said even as I called the ice cube, letting it float around my finger threateningly. "Shall we continue?"

—

[Level: 31 Experience: 492393 / 496000

Strength: 46 Charisma: 63

Precision: 40 Perception: 42

Agility: 40 Manipulation: 45

Speed: 39 Intelligence: 49

Endurance: 39 Wisdom: 51

HP: 6324 / 6324 Mana: 6932 / 7750 ]

SKILLS

Master Melee [100/100]

Master Tantric [100/100]

Master Biomancy [100/100]

Master Elemental [100/100]

Master Arcana [100/100]

Master Subterfuge [100/100]

Expert Speech [75/75]

Expert Craft [75/75]

PERKS

Mana Regeneration

Skill Share

Empowerment (1/1)

Teleportation

COMPANIONS

[Cornelia - Level 21/25]

[Helga - Level 17/21]