The discovery wasn't the best news to receive, but I continued to massage the foot of the sexy dragon I was determined to seduce rather than exploding in panic.

Just because they had discovered the fake nature of the body didn't mean I need to burst into panic, not when there were several layers of defense between me and my destination. And even if the worst came to worst, I had my escape tunnels ready, and the hideout was primed for a disastrous explosion.

So, I turned my attention back to the sexy, emerald-haired curvy beauty, whose eyes started to flutter as the pleasure from the foot massage hit her just the right way.

Just because she believed she was in control didn't mean that she was actually in control. On the contrary, my experience showed me that it was the best way to lose the initiative. The leverage I had due to her clear need toward my mana only made things more delicious.

I continued to imbue the waters with my mana, of course, but not enough to interest her to devour it actively, just to maintain a warm, comfortable bath for her, reducing her alertness even more. Under the skillful treatment of my fingers, her legs started to tremble beautifully.

Unfortunately, the smoothness didn't continue for the other challenge. I had received another disturbance in my passive wards, this time suggesting that four people had discovered the remains of the tunnel I had created downward.

The passive wards weren't the most precise measurement tools, but even with their clunky detection capabilities, I could sense that the four were much more competent than the people that were currently going through some weird combination of challenge and examination.

Whoever was trying to find our location, was clearly not accidental.

Still, their progress wasn't enough to change the current position. I might react if the only reason I was trying to seduce her was the pleasure, but she represented an important, independent source of information for me, and properly 'softening' her for interrogation before my next meeting with the headmistress was a critical requirement for my ultimate success.

I needed to understand why the headmistress was asking for her before deciding whether to report my mission as a success or a failure.

Instead, I let another flow of mana to her body, this time even thicker, enjoying the way she trembled under the renewed flow.

[-513 Mana]

Her eyes widened as she processed the impact of the mana flow, together with just a lingering touch of arousal, but too soft for her to actually be confident. "Is there anything wrong?" I asked. "I can keep the mana flow weaker if that's what you prefer?"

"N-no, I can handle it," she murmured, even though a hint of frustration passed through her face, no doubt directed at her lack of control.

However, it wasn't as interesting as the sudden suspicious movement of her legs. The continuous bubbles were in place to block my view, but it wasn't hard to imagine her legs subtly rubbing against each other while trying to look normal, suggesting a level of familiarity with self-satisfaction even in her human form.

I licked my lips, trying to get rid of the sudden dryness, even as I let my fingers move outside the agreed spot, caressing her ankle for a fleeting moment before returning back.

[-692 Mana]

That earned a glare, but the intense flow of mana proved sufficient to keep her silent. Instead, she shuffled in her place in a more noticeable manner, her naked shoulders shining under the soft, crystal lights of my hideout.

I dimmed the lights slightly, making the atmosphere even more amorous, while my fingers danced over her skin.

The gentleness of my touch contrasted greatly with the aggressiveness of the Eternals that was currently busy trying to dig down the tunnel. Interestingly, they weren't being as aggressive as possible, which implied that they were trying to keep their actions concealed, but not to a level of keeping hidden from the main detection ward.

How interesting, I thought before shifting back to my main quest of taming a dragon, trying to face the question of how to handle her. The easiest option was to push her hard, aggressively, invading her body with a deluge of pleasure until her emotions turned into an endless whirlwind, unable to resist even the most liberal push.

Unfortunately, that strategy did not fit well with my long-term goals, especially with someone with a clearly explosive temper. I didn't want her to submit to me in a moment of passion where she could easily blame me. No, I needed her calm and fully aware as she asked for more, not only to receive more mana, but to receive pure, adulterated pleasure.

Luckily, from her gaze under her fluttering eyelids, I could see that it wasn't going to be as hard as I first feared, suggesting that I either miscalculated her resistance to pleasure, or her familiarity with receiving massages — or at least, the expert kind that I was capable of.

Either way, a smile popped to my face as I let my fingers wander down, subjecting her calves to the same treatment, loosening her muscles under my expert touch even as I rewarded her with another flood of mana, trying to keep outflow high — but not high enough that my regeneration unable to compensate for the endless flow.

[-672 Mana]

However, when my fingers disappeared underwater, caressing her soft thighs underwater, it earned a warning glare from her.

"You're feeling quite tense," I said even as I started caressing her lower thighs with the assistance of some healing magic, working great benefits. "I can stop if you want?"

"No, keep going," she surrendered not too soon after, unable to resist the pleasure of the massage. And, to her credit, considering the adventure she had suffered through, from undead ambushes to near-death struggle against the Eternals, she had definitely earned her relaxation.

She was tenser than a newly forged sword.

Of course, even with that, I doubted that she would be this willing to submit herself to my touch if I hadn't saved her from certain death, twice.

Heroics still had its perks.

After some caressing, I returned my fingers back to the middle of her sole for an encore, earning a surprisingly erotic grunt of pleasure in the process. Of course, even as I enjoyed the displays of pleasure she was revealing, I didn't stop examining the process of conversion around her bones, trying to identify the exact mechanism.

Unfortunately, it failed again, forcing me to focus on her quickening breaths and twitching muscles, the relaxing presence of my ever-flowing mana making it much easier.

And more importantly, I wasn't above a bit of cheating, using Biomancy to convert some of the water into special massage oil that would stay on her skin, softening her against my touch even more, and the reduced friction helping me greatly.

This time, I kept my attention limited to her sole and her calf, which threw her expression into a beautiful conflict. There was nothing she could say about my limits, but a part of her clearly wanted me to return to her inner thigh, boosting her pleasure even more.

I stayed limited there for another five minutes, enjoying her quickening heartbeat, noticeable through her skin, using it as an opportunity to get a better sense of her pacing.

And then, a subtle gasp escaped her mouth, one that was too soft to be heard without my enhanced senses. I smirked victoriously, even as I let my touch move to her lower thigh once more, challenging her bruised silence.

[-421 Mana]

Her determination to stay silent was broken under the flood of mana, faster than my estimation.

However, before I could take an action, my attention was once again grabbed by the invaders in my tunnels. They had finally reached the large cave where I had my talk with my newest acquaintance. Interestingly, it seemed I wasn't the only one that was happily using the presence of the defensive ward for more aggressive casting, as their mana intensity surged.

Soon, they had discovered one of the fake tunnels I had left as bait, and started traveling, luckily to the opposite direction to my base. That fake tunnel would eventually come to an end, of course, but it meant I still had time to stretch my time.

And I intended to stretch that time as much as I manage, I thought even as I turned my attention back to the beauty that was trembling under my touch.

I had a dragon to tame.

—

[Level: 31 Experience: 493210 / 496000

Strength: 46 Charisma: 63

Precision: 40 Perception: 42

Agility: 40 Manipulation: 45

Speed: 39 Intelligence: 49

Endurance: 39 Wisdom: 51

HP: 6226 / 6324 Mana: 6692 / 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 22/26]

[Helga - Level 22/26]