Chapter 121

There was a loud cheer from the girls at the entrance when we stepped into the Ruby Vixen. Several of the men who were hanging around joined in as well, despite presumably having no idea who we were. Raya grabbed me as soon as we walked in and led us towards the back of the room.

"You're back! Did everything go well? It was getting dark so I was starting to get worried." Raya's fox ears twitched and turned as she looked over our outfits. "Did you get new armor? The two of you came back looking like knights."

I looked down at my new half-plate armor. It was a bit more expansive than the last set I used, rather than just a breastplate it had full sleeves with gauntlets and attached pauldrons. It stopped at the waist or 'faulds' as I've been told they're called and they have buckles to attach tassets to if I wanted them later on. The material of the armor felt quite sturdy and was a significant step up from the breastplate that got ruined by the featherjack. I also had a new sheath for my sword that thankfully didn't jingle constantly when I walked around anymore. A new kite shield hung from my back which would allow me to fight more aggressively rather than as some kind of duelist or fencer all the time. The attached cloth was a dark brown that marked me as unaffiliated with any of the local armies or militias.

Silva was also sporting a similar set of armor with matching colors, though her cuirass was designed to leave her slave collar prominently displayed, a legal requirement for crime slaves in most places. She also chose not to carry a shield as she preferred to use her spear like a quarterstaff often, which required both of her hands to be free. Instead she had picked out a leather strap that attached to her spear so that she could hang it from her shoulder rather than having to carry it like a walking stick all the time. She chose to forgo a helmet and I for a bit more obvious reasons couldn't find one that would fit over my horns. I may have to special order one in the future rather than having something off the shelf adjusted for me like most of our gear. I already spent quite a bit on all of this, around 10 gold, and I didn't want to drain all of our funds quite yet.

I laughed and looked back up at Raya. "No need to be so excited. We ran into another demon while we were out but even more importantly, we found a journal of someone who was connected to the attack. We took it to the guard before doing a little shopping. We've been meaning to replace some of our old equipment for a while but we haven't had the opportunity till now."

I looked around the room before looking back at Raya. "Why was everyone cheering when we got back?"

Raya got a huge grin on her face. "All of the girls here know how low we were on food, they also know you were the ones who helped me bring some back. Of course they would want to show their gratitude! ...Some of them are also already drunk. To celebrate, the Madame loosened some of the rules on alcohol for the night." She finished with a snicker.

I was still planning on offering the succubus transformation to both Raya and Madame Oceane, as well as anyone else here that was interested. The idea gave me butterflies though, it felt dangerous to reveal these kinds of secrets to strangers. ...It also meant that I would be offering them membership into my newly forming family. But it could also be the start of something amazing, a sisterhood.

Raya noticed my unease. "Are you okay Lilith? You look... conflicted."

I sighed. There wasn't much reason to hold off on this any longer than I already had. "Is the Madame free? I'd like to talk to you and Madame Oceane in private... Maybe Grace as well if she's available."

"This sounds important, are you sure you want me to be included?" Raya asked hesitantly.

I nodded. "Yes, it's important to me that you would be included in this conversation."

"...Alright. I'll go ask then, after bringing back food I'm sure she wouldn't mind speaking with you." Raya walked through one of the back rooms while we waited in the corner.

Morrigan put a hand on my shoulder. "Are you really okay Lilith?"

I smiled at her. "Yeah, just feeling a little nervous." I kissed her on the cheek and enjoyed watching her flush. She looked away but I could see the small smile on her face.

I grabbed Bella's hand too, her warm presence always reassured me. She squeezed my hand back and let her happiness flow through our bond. She really enjoyed these small shows of affection, especially out in public. I'm not sure if she meant for this to shine through as well but she also was becoming more and more comfortable watching me be affectionate with Morrigan. Though I'm not sure if it's because she's closer to Morrigan now too or if she was just slowly getting used to it.

After a moment a still nervous Raya came back. "She says she would be happy to talk with you in private and Grace was already there with her. Do you want to talk with them now?" she asked.

"Yes, that would be great, let's go then."

Raya led us into the back room and through a door I hadn't been through before. Raya softly knocked before opening the door to reveal a study filled with books, cabinets, and a large desk at one end. In the middle of the room was a pair of couches with a small coffee table between them. Grace the canine beastfolk woman I met this morning and Madame Oceane the naga had been sitting across from each other. Grace was gathering some papers together and moved to sit next to Oceane, giving us space to sit down across from them. Raya cast a nervous glance at me and my party before taking a seat on their side of the couch. We took the cue and sat down facing them, though Silva stood behind us instead.

Oceane smiled. "Lilith, I'm glad to see you return safely. I first want to thank you for helping us with our food situation, and right after Bella had helped us heal the remaining injured and sick girls this morning too. I am truly grateful for your help. Now, what would you like to talk about? This kind of meeting is unusual, especially requesting Grace and one of my girls be present as well. I'm curious what this could be about." She eyed our armor carefully and I only just realized how it might look to walk in wearing armor we hadn't had before. As smooth as her delivery was, she looked nervous, as did Grace and Raya.

"Ah, sorry about the new armor. We had been meaning to buy it for a while now. I didn't consider how it might look walking in here like this. This wasn't meant to be any kind of intimidation tactic, I actually want to offer you three something."

Oceane perked up a bit and her fear instantly faded. Like a switch her demeanor changed, I could see curiosity in her eyes now instead. She was quite adaptable.

I cleared my throat. "But first, would it be alright if I cast a [Zone of Silence] here? It's in our best interest if everything we say tonight is kept in confidence."

Oceane tapped her fingers on the couch in thought before meeting my eyes. "You may create one in the center of the room but do not extend it to its entirety. The five of you are armed, I thank you for asking but we are already feeling a bit uncomfortable about this situation. I would have already called for my security if I didn't trust you to this extent."

I sighed. "That's fair." I cast the [Zone of Silence] in the center of the room while feeling a bit mixed about how often I cast this spell. It was my most cast spell by a fair margin now despite its... sour origins.

I leaned back against the couch and prepared myself mentally before focusing on Oceane. "I am a [World Traveler] with a unique race. Currently, we're limited to only three people but I have the ability to transform others, allowing them to become one as well. The properties of my race could benefit many of the people living here but would require some unique... commitments. There are pros and cons to this decision but it requires consent."

Oceane leaned back against the couch. "So you're offering to... change some of my girls into your race? Why would you offer this to us of all people?"

"There are some aspects of my race that can't be changed and others that are a bit more fluid still. Of the things that can't be changed, people working in a brothel would be more likely to accept and benefit from over the average person."

"So you want whores?" she asked bluntly.

"Well, prostitutes, sure," I answered.

She crossed her arms. "And what are the benefits we would get out of it?"

"Before that, I'd like to get something out of the way. I swear to Sorsette that I am not a demon and that I have the [Demon Hunter] title to further illustrate that."

[Sorsette the Goddess of Knowledge and Innovation recognizes Lilith's statement as truth]

[Sorsette the Goddess of Knowledge and Innovation recognizes Lilith as a follower of Sorsette]

[You have acquired the title Follower of Sorsette]

[You have been granted a boon]

[You have been granted the Variant Arcane Magic Spell Zone of Truth]

The entire room's widened eyes collectively snapped to me. Morrigan's mouth even hung wide open in disbelief.

"Uh... which of those notifications did you guys get too?" I asked.

Morrigan pinched the bridge of her nose. "I assume that means you got more than just the one about her recognizing your statement as truth?"

"I uh... It seems she also just recognized me as her follower and granted me a boon... an arcane variant of [Zone of Truth]"

Silva snorted in amusement. "Seems she didn't want you to swear things on her name all the time, you swore to her when you first met me as well."

"Wait wait wait." Raya jumped in. "I must be fucking drugged or something, did Lilith just say she was a world traveler and then not a minute later got recognized by the fucking god of knowledge who confirmed that she was telling the truth?"

I scratched the base of my horn. "Well, she actually confirmed I wasn't a demon, not that I'm a world traveler, though I promise that part is true as well."

Raya gave me a flat look.

Oceane cleared her throat and spoke before Raya could say anything more, "So I suppose we should go back to the topic then. And since Sorsette deemed this conversation important enough to personally step into it, I believe we should take this conversation very seriously. What is it that we get out of becoming the same race as you? I admit, I'm quite attached to my scales. It would take a lot for me to accept becoming something that appears to be a sheep beastfolk."

I shook my head. "The reason I wanted to mention at the start that I'm not a demon is that my race has some similarities to them. The main one being, that my race doesn't actually come in any one shape, Bella also shares my race, we are both Succubi. Another similarity is that all of us have some degree of shapeshifting available to us." I demonstrated by changing my fur color on the top of my hand to red.

I continued, "There are two main advantages to becoming a succubus like us. The first and more minor benefit is that succubi literally feed off of the mana created during sex. Anyone who chooses this transformation would no longer need to eat the traditional way, though they can, they would no longer gain sustenance from it, only from sex. There is also the possibility of gaining levels and experience from sex, though I'm not sure how strong those effects would be in people other than myself."

Oceane tapped her fingers on the edge of the couch. "So you're offering us a way to solve or at least mitigate our food problem and level through sex? And this is the minor benefit?"

I nodded. "That is one part of it but the bigger benefit is the second major advantage. When the transformation takes place the person is transformed into their 'current ideal self,' then they gain some kind of racial specialization as well as a full stat point respecialization. These transformations are quite powerful, Bella here used to be human."

The three of them all looked at Bella in shock. Bella nodded with a smile.

"I also have reason to believe the transformation is a bit controllable so if the person being transformed wanted, for instance, to have more human-like hands, it would likely grant that to them if they were thinking about it during the transformation process." I looked knowingly at Raya who's eyes widened. "Even if that wasn't part of the transformation, with practice and a mana reservation you could use our inherent shapeshifting abilities to adjust them." I shifted my right hand into an imitation of Raya's to demonstrate my point.

Oceane's tail flicked in thought. "Would your current ideal self be able to do something like de-age someone? Make them young and fertile again?"

I hesitated. "I'm honestly not sure, even if it did de-age someone, the changes might be superficial and I don't have any idea if they would become fertile again. None of the current succubi have ever been pregnant so I'm also not sure how easy it is to conceive or if we can at all."

Grace spoke up for the first time since we started. "What about restoring a lost limb?"

I looked her in the eye, having an idea of where this was going. "I'm not sure if that would work or not, though I suspect it would. But even if it could, the person would have to want the other effects of the change. The reason why I'm telling you three about all of this is that I want help finding people who would want to feed on sex. Who would enjoy the kind of life this kind of change would necessitate. To help me find new members for my new family."

Grace looked down in thought for a moment before turning to Raya. "Honey, will you please bring Nadia here for me?"