Sade carefully watched Lilie and Rick spar while sitting on a nearby bench.

Her body twitched slightly with every dip, dodge, and thrust her human lover performed.  Ever since the harrowing chase throughout their mansion, Rick had slowly come into his own.  It seemed that using acrobatics to outmaneuver their hulking elf had awakened a latent talent even he didn’t know he possessed.  As she watched in fascination as he cartwheeled around a fierce thrust from Lilie’s training sword, Sade had to admit that Rick was a considerably better fighter than her.

Granted, that would be in a purely physical fight.  Sade was still the undisputed magical master in the group, but she was happy to observe that the gap between them was steadily closing.  It had been two weeks since they moved her classmates' study sessions to their home.  After that first night, Rick and Tyr had approached Sade in an effort for her to add magical study to their training schedules.  Sade, of course, was more than happy to help in that respect.

The hardest puzzle to figure out was how best to incorporate spells into everyone’s individual fighting style.  Yes, they all performed magic and weapons during the crab invasion, but that was an event with a known enemy, with predictable reactions, and they had ample time to prepare for nearly every contingency they could imagine.  This was about changing how they fought on a fundamental level, not pre-planned tactics.

Lilie arguably had the best grasp on this concept by using her healing to shore up any gaps in her defense, further augmented by utilizing the vast stores of power provided by her aspect to hit harder or increase the potency of her magic.  The problem was that the rest of the group didn’t have the training or knowledge needed to use healing spells.  Nor could they utilize an ability that was solely unique to Lilie, even amongst fellow shaytoni.

While Tyr had probably the most knowledge of the subject, due to elves being inherently magical in nature, it was surprisingly Rick who came up with the best solutions to their problem.  While most of what spewed forth from his mouth was utter nonsense that had no basis in magical theory, like short range teleportation, there were more than a few gems of ideas that were quite novel and unique.  The sheer weight of random ideas presented was downright overwhelming if she was being honest.

“Hey.  How are they doing?”

Sade looked behind her to see a half naked Tyr absolutely drenched in sweat.  Her tan skin shone in the noonday sun and her wild mane was plastered to her scalp in places.  Her broad chest deeply rose and fell as her great lungs struggled to supply her body with air.  Sade’s belly clenched with desire at the sight, but she tamped it down to focus on the more important matters for the moment.  There would be plenty of time to enjoy the more carnal aspects of their ‘training’ later.

“Both are refining their movements nicely.  They will be adding magic to their spar shortly.”  Sade informed her lover.

Tyr sighed happily and plopped down on the seat next to Sade.  “That’s good.  Should give me time ta cool off.”

The musky scent of the elf’s sweat wafted into Sade’s nose, nearly causing her iron will to not mount the amazonian woman right then and there to crumble to dust.  In an effort to distract herself she asked “So have you been able to make any progress with your extra training?”

Tyr’s eyes lit up with pride.  “Ya bet I have!”  She exclaimed and shared the details.

Sade gave out a low whistle as she recorded down the information provided.  While all her physical stats had predictably improved with all the training, Tyr had proved just as dedicated in bettering her mental faculties.  Her intelligence, wisdom, and attunement all had been raised by two points in just as many weeks of training.  This was nearly unheard of, and really showcased how serious the large woman was in being the best she could possibly be.  Sade couldn’t have been more proud for her part in helping Tyr reach her full potential.

“I think I speak for everyone when I say that you are an absolute monster my love.”  Sade teased.

Tyr merely scoffed at that.  “Speak fer yerself.”  She said while eying the relatively tiny human beside her.  “I’ve shown ya mine, now ya show me yers.”

Sade giggled at the suggestive turn of phrase, then focused inward.

She relayed out loud and wrote down everything except her vocation.  Despite promising Lilie that she would share that with everyone else, she still couldn’t find the courage to open her mouth.  Thankfully Tyr either didn’t notice, or more likely, didn’t care enough to ask about the omitted details.

“Damn… Yer spells have ta be powerful.  How many free points do ya have again?”

“I have three saved up right now.”  Sade answered.

The elf just shook her head.  “And ya call me monstrous.  Yer a mage who can probably lift up and throw around all the other pointy hatted coots in that school, and yet ya still are at the top of yer grade.”

Sade could feel her cheeks heat up at the compliments.  She really had improved her speed and strength beyond what was typical in her chosen field.  While exceptions did exist, very few were able to achieve this without sacrificing their magical potential.  And hers was already considerably higher than many of her peers if her grades and professors were to be believed.

“I am curious how far the others have come.”  Sade said in an effort to shift the subject of their discussion away from her.

“Aye.  Probably less specialized, yet no less terrifying.”

Sade giggled at that.  All of them were working hard.  She was looking forward to finally going on another mission for the hunters just to see how much stronger and more capable they had all become.  The semester was nearly coming to a close, so they would have a bit more freedom in what sort of missions they could take while Mya University was out on break before the second half of the school year started back up.

The two of them sat back and enjoyed the final moments of the sparring match.  While Lilie’s defense was second to none, Rick was able to outmaneuver her with his speed and the long reach of his spear to secure the win.  He reached down to help up his opponent off the ground before the two of them noticed their audience and walked over to join them.

“All done with your training Tyr?”  Rick asked when they got close.

“Nah, just resting before I get back ta killing myself.”  The elf said with a casual wave.

“I have been compiling our latest progress.  Would you two care to share your stats so we can compare how well you have grown?”  Sade asked politely.

“Sure!”  Lilie said excitedly.  “It’s been a while since I last checked to be honest.”

“See?  It’s exactly as I said.”  Tyr laughed while elbowing Sade softly in the ribs.

It was hard to argue with the proof right in front of her.  Most adults still at level one fell between eight to twelve for their stats, and very few had more than two attributes in the teens at all outside of specialized professionals.  Lilie was a trained healer, and even accounting for her training and level, her intelligence, wisdom, and attunement all were considered above average.  The oddity was that all her stats were at that range.  The shaytoni truly was exceptionally well rounded in terms of her attributes.

“I guess I’ll round things off then.”  Rick said casually.

“You really have come a long way Rick.”  Sade said after writing down the last of the information.

“That’s for sure.  Not quite as impressive as Lilie, but still a decent improvement.”  He said with a boyish grin.

Lilie scoffed.  “You forget that you’re a couple years younger, a full level behind me, and you have yet to spend all your points from said levels!”  She gave the slightly younger man another playful glare before continuing.  “I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if we all have our attributes at fifteen at the bare minimum by the end of the year the way we’re going.  This is all honestly insane!”

“And we couldn’t have done it without you Lilie.”  Rick said, patting the woman on the shoulder.

“Agreed.”  Sade added.  “But we have yet to find a relatively painless way to raise our resistance, and I can not think of any way to raise our constitution outside of mildly poisoning ourselves.  That is nothing to say about luck and charisma, so while we are all improving rapidly, we will not have everything at such a ridiculous level.”

Rick laughed.  “Funny enough, I’ve heard a story about a king who was so afraid of being poisoned by a rival that he did exactly as you suggested and slowly built up an immunity to common poisons.”

“And what happened to him?”  Lilie asked.

“Oh, instead of trying to kill him with poison, his enemies simply stormed his castle and overthrew him.  He tried to commit suicide by poison so they wouldn’t be able to capture him alive, but his tolerance was so high that it didn’t work and it just made him too sick to fight back.”

“An interesting cautionary tale.”  Sade mused.  “I suppose we could try it if we find an apothecary or alchemist we could trust, but I worry about attempting to do so with our one and only healer.”

“I have the skill that allows me to heal myself, remember?”  Lilie laughed.  “But messing around with deadly concoctions is no joke, I agree to wait for someone we could trust before we try it out.”

“Speaking of things we should be careful with, have you decided what you are going to spend your coital energy on Lilie?”

The shaytoni giggled at the unexpected tangent Rick threw her way.  “Not quite yet.”  She said after her musical laughter died down.  “As you said, it’s definitely something I should use carefully.”

The group had learned from all the various ‘experiments’ they had performed that Lilie’s aspect activated even if she didn’t have sex with an intimancer.  The question was; where did the coital energy go when she brought Rick to orgasm?  While they all proposed several explanations, it wasn’t until after the shaytoni had reached her ‘maximum size’ did they sort of figure it out.  Her aspect could use both the expended mana and coital energy as fuel for her growth.

This meant that once Lilie had reached the threshold of how much her body could safely store magic, the coital energy could then be cultivated like usual.  And this made Lilie very, very happy to say the least.  Thankfully, after expending a single point on her height as a test, she found out just how intense the side effects really were and eagerly agreed to take her time in exploring all her options before spending any more.

“Actually, once we wrap up our training for the day, I was thinking of going out to visit my sister.”  Lilie said.

“Oh, she and the gang have all been pardoned?”  Sade asked.

“Yep!  Everyone is all cleared to re-enter polite society.”

“Do they have a place to stay?”  Rick inquired.  “We have quite a bit of room here-”  He paused.  “That’s if all of us are in agreement after all.”

“I would not be opposed.  But I would prefer if their stay would not be a permanent one.”  Sade said gently.

“Meh, why not?”  Tyr shrugged.

“That’s… thank you guys so much.  I’ll pass that along and see what she thinks.”  Lilie said softly.

“Just be safe when traveling alone.”  Sade cautioned.

“Yeah, I’ll make sure to not wear my robes when I head out.  Just to be on the safe side.”  Lilie agreed.

It seemed that the public sentiment against mages had finally wormed its way into the larger cities like Shatak.  Thankfully, that anger and distrust had yet to be focused on the students of Mya University for the moment, but they still preferred to exercise caution all the same.  Even the hunter garrison had issued a warning for all its magically inclined members to avoid visiting the more rural areas where the hatred was more concentrated.

Tyr had been invaluable in gathering information by prowling around the taverns and local businesses while chatting up the patrons within.  Her cheerful demeanor along with the forest elves reputation for being neutral observers in kingdom politics had made people less guarded with their thoughts and opinions.  Something about this whole situation stank, and Sade was determined to, if not find the source, at least figure out the scope of the problem.

“Come to think of it, I believe it is about time for a shopping trip.”  Sade added.  She turned to face the woman sitting next to her.  “Would you care to escort this helpless mage through the dangerous city?”

wolfBrother

It's been a while since we last saw their stats, hasn't it?  Anyways, what do you all think of their progress?  Any ideas on how to raise CON, RES, and CHA safely and effectively?  Let me know down in the comments!

In other news, I'm putting in the final touches on two more short stories when not working on Intimancer.  Once they are all finished, I will post them on my Patreon AND make the previous exclusive stories free to view for anyone who is curious about my other work.  One of these stories is Lilie's favorite;  Born of Circumstance.

Anyways... See ya next week!