Ch 2.96: ❤ Winnings

[Armory Subsystem Activated]

Users Elaina Weaver, Carline Forsythe, Tira Strask are eligible for either weapon upgrade or armor bequeathment.

User Florence Stouth is eligible for either armor upgrade or weapon bequeathment.

The crystal dust was hanging around Elaina, suspended in the air. Even though the System notification was for everyone though, there wasn’t anything on the other girls.

“Temmie, what’s going on?”

“Now that you are back on school grounds, the mission to retrieve the third subcore is considered successful. Since you regained access to the Armory subsystem with the previously retrieved subcore, you may now guide the gear enhancement of the party.”

“What’s she talking about?” Tira asked.

“Class gear, change into it,” Elaina said, waving her hand through the dust. It scattered at her touch, though she didn’t feal it at all, and the scattered portions reformed as quickly as they had dispersed.

“Don’t have to tell me twice,” Flora said, doing a spin and singing her song. As she transformed, the crystal powder surrounding her didn’t completely disappear like usual, instead hanging like a cloud like Elaina’s. “Hey, get this off me!” she said, trying to wave through it. “It’s covering me up!”

“Maybe that’s the point,” Tira said, crossing her arms and changing herself. Carly was doing so as well next to her. The clouds hung over them as well. “You’ll finally have something you can actually use in a fight with the general public.”

“I did fine last night.”

“Give me a sec,” Elaina said, focusing on the System message. The options given to her made it seem that Flora would get a weapon like the other four of them if Elaina chose that option for her. And they would receive… something like Flora’s headband? That could be bad. Or good… Best to banish thoughts like that from her mind though, she decided. Tira was right about how inconvenient Flora’s “outfit” was.

That wasn’t the only thing bothering her though. “Temmie, what about Prisma? She’s not on the list.”

“Prisma Fireguard is currently considered an inactive System User.”

“What, why? Change her to active! She can still help out if there’s another attack on the school, would still help!”

“Negative. Her own actions have resulted in her current status. It is not a conscious choice made by me to classify her as such, just a fact that she is not an active member of your party, and as such cannot be considered an active User.”

“Wait,” Tira said, “so does she not have her skills and everything?”

“As of right now, Miss Fireguard still possess her skills even as an inactive member, unless Elaina chooses to revoke her class entirely. She simply cannot gain levels or System gear in her current status.”

Tira looked deep in thought as they were told that, but Elaina wasn’t interested in discussing the matter further. “Whatever. We’re all getting new class gear, apparently. Weapon upgrades or new armor for us three, armor upgrade or a new weapon for Flora.”

“I like my armor though,” Flora said, hands raising up to clutch her headband. Gods, with her like that, barely covered by a transparent plume of crystal, it was somehow worse than if she was completely naked. Something about how she was almost hidden, but not quite…

Focus. “Fine, Temmie, give her the weapon.”

Armory choice for Flora Stouth accepted. Equipment dispersal pending upon completion of 3 other choices.

“Still just this stupid dust,” Flora said, waving her hand through it again, scattering as much as she could.

“I need to make the other three choices too, apparently,” Elaina said, grabbing at her dress. It wasn’t the most modest thing, but the thought of it turning into something like Flora’s… That was a new level of distracting.

“Uhm, I don’t— don’t want armor like Flora’s,” Carly said, clutching her staff like she was hiding behind it.

“Yeah, me either…” Tira added with an almost whisper, a light blush showing through her dark skin.

“Temmie, is the armor… Is that going to make us naked?” Elaina asked.

“I do not know. Subsystems are handled automatically with the guidance of the Administrator. It is similar to how your circulatory system is handled by your brain, but not something you are consciously aware of.”

“Right,” Elaina said, doing her best to pretend she knew what that meant. “Well… can you guess?”

“It would surprise me if all of your outfits were as revealing and Flora’s. That is not typical, and hers fits her class.”

Elaina looked over to Tira and Carly, shrugging. “I think getting armor at all is better than upgrading what we do have, right?”

“Uhm, if you say so…” Carly said. Tira just bowed her head.

“Armor for the rest of it,” Elaina said, wincing, bracing herself for what might come next.

Armory choices for Elaina Weaver, Carline Forsythe, Tira Strask accepted. Equipment dispersal commencing.

The swirls of crystal sped up, faster than ever. Elaina’s dress began to change, glowing like it does when she first equips it, but only in small places, the hem, the frilly, lace sleeves, morphing into a new shape as the light from the changes filled the entire cave with dim blue light.

[Armory Subsystem Deactivated]

[Returning to normal progression]

[Tira Strask has reached Level 3]

Skill Gained: [Sub-Training] - Rank 1 - Active - User may expend mana to coerce someone who has been the target of [Domineering Presence] to obey her commands. The level of effect is determined by how much the target has been affected by [Domineering Presence] as well as the targets will power and the perceived reasonableness of the command.

Skill Enhanced: [Pain Management] - Rank 3 - Active - User may expend mana to increase or decrease pain caused by wounds inflicted by objects affected by User’s {Environmental Targeting} aspects a {great} amount.

[Florence Stouth has reached Level 3]

Skill Gained: [Extroverted Personality] - Rank 1 - Passive - User’s Active skills are more mana efficient the more people there are currently perceiving her.

Skill Enhanced: [All Natural] - Rank 3 - Passive - User receives a power bonus of {x2.5} to all aspects when not covered by any armor or clothing.

By the time that information had finished processing in her head, their outfits were changed, all except Flora anyway. And then the information kept coming

[Elaina Weaver has been granted a new armor piece]

[Revealing Dress]: A slutty blue dress that takes damage for the User. User still experiences pain related to any damage absorbed.

“A what?” Elaina said out loud, looking down at herself. It was a lot more similar to her old dress than she thought it would be, the sleeves gone, now with two ribbons coming up from the “cups” of the dress, if you could call them that. They were mostly just triangles, providing practically no support, the ribbons coming up and tying around her neck. Like before, she could tell there was no underwear, but the hem seemed frilled now, just ornamentation, ornamentation that happened to shorten it, by the looks of things. And it… takes damage for me?

[Carline Forsythe has been granted a new armor piece]

[Healer’s Gown]: A white gown befitting a noble healer. When the cloth from this gown is draped over a wound, all User’s aspects receive a {x2} power bonus to affect the wound.

Again, not terrible different from her last piece of class gear, thought this one certainly had some changes. Carly had a v-shaped neckline now, no more complete modesty on her chest, though it wasn’t nearly as revealing as Elaina’s own dress. Elaina was also pretty sure the slits that were already revealing on the old version were higher as well, wider too. Gods, why does she feel the need to hide herself, Elaina thought as she saw Carly closing her arms over her chest.

[Tira Strask has been granted a new armor piece]

[Boss’s Bodysuit]: A leather striped-bodysuit with an imposing look. Grants User the ability to sense how close enemies are to physical and mental breakpoints in combat.

It was maybe the outfit with the smallest changes on a physical level, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t anything new to look at. It was still the same high-waisted, leather-striped one piece, the leather alternating with bits of sheer fabric, but the stripe’s had changed just slightly. Before, they were about even, maybe the leather being slightly larger, but now it was reversed, the sheer panels taking up more of the space on the garment. In the fading light of dissipating crystal, Elaina could just barely make out Tira’s areola peaking out from behind the leather. Tira had that wonderfully cute blush again as she looked down, but she didn’t make any attempt to cover herself. “This… isn’t too different, I guess.”

[Flora Stouth has been granted a new weapon]

[Snake Vines]: Thorned vines that are considered part of the User for the purposes of aspect targeting.

Even though it was classified as a weapon, it was as much an outfit change as the rest of them had had, and the name was an apt descriptor. It was a series of coiling vines running up and down Flora’s entire body, vines that conspicuously avoided providing any cover on Flora’s chest, instead framing her modest breasts like a frame, and while they snaked down her hips and around her thighs, her crotch was uncovered as well. “You know, I think I’m technically more covered, but I actually don’t mind it,” Flora said with a giddy smile as she twirled around, punching and kicking the air with her new, spiky fists and feet. Ass still isn’t covered either, Elaina noted.

It was all way, way too much. Not the System information, not the levels or the details of the class gear, but here Elaina was, standing in front of three of the most beautiful girls she’d ever seen, all dressed in quite frankly the most ludicrous, ridiculous, incomprehensibly hot outfits she’d ever seen any of them in.

“Hey, uhm, do we want to go back to Tira’s room and hang out a bit?” she asked.

Tira winced, the first response, biting her lip. “I have watch duty. Like, now. I already had to call in a couple favors to get last night covered, and I need to make sure thing’s didn’t go to shit while I was gone.”

“I have a shift in the infirmary,” Carly said, head downcast. “Sorry.”

“Oh,” Elaina said, turning to Flora. “Then—”

Flora’s face was the most guilty looking of them all, no doubt feeling the pressure from the two that already had declined. “I’m barely awake right now after staying up all night. I kinda pulled an all nighter the night before cause I had homework to do as well, so I’m not gonna be much fun to hang out with right now.

“Right, of course,” Elaina said. “Maybe later?” It won’t be the same though.

“I’m free at dinner,” Tira said.

“Me too!” Carly added, maybe a bit overenthusiastically.

“Yeah, I should be good after a nap!” Flora said.

Elaina gave as much of a smile as she could muster, but she knew what she was hoping for wasn’t going to happen later. They’d probably eat together, have a nice time, but there was something they were missing out on if they didn’t act right now, a chance she wasn’t sure she was going to get again anytime soon. Someday, hopefully.

“All right, at dinner then.”

The four of them hurriedly put on the spare uniforms they’d stored in the cave before heading back. They didn’t talk much, all seemed to be about as out of it as Flora was. It had been a long night, and they all had woken up at sunrise after all. Maybe a nap sounds good for me too, Elaina though.

But there were thoughts, images of three other girls, and maybe a fourth if she squinted, that wouldn’t get out of her head. I’ll have to take care of that first, she added, feeling the muscles in between her legs clench.

By the time she got to the room she was almost delirious. Tired, horny, it didn’t matter. She needed to fix both of those problems, and there was a certain order they needed to be done in. She had barely opened the door before plunging the new subcore in her underwear drawer with the old one and closing it shut, kicking her shoes off, ripping her uniform off as quickly as she’d thrown it on in the cave, heading over to her bed, and—

Looking at the note that was lying on her sheets.

“To, Elaina Weaver

From, Alonse Stormshine”

Book 2: End