Chapter 7

I sat up and looked at the blank wall, time to work my way through this. “Status”

[Status]Name: Lilith [Surname Undefined]Race: Succubus (Demon) [Race hidden - Displayed as Beastkin (Sheep)]Gender: FemaleClass: Unassigned [Change class]Level: 15

Stat Spread:Strength: 10Vitality: 10Charisma: 10Luck: 10 (89)

Unallocated Statpoints: 140

Karmic Energy: 790

Skills:Haggling Lv. 1Innate AbilitiesKarmic BalanceKarma AwarenessKarmic Resonance

Racial Traits:Infernal Heat ResistanceInfernal Cold ResistanceDarksightSexual Appetite Lv. 2Soul Collector: 1Soulbound Companions

Titles:[World Traveler - Hidden Title][Origin of Succubi - Hidden Title][Notifications Pending - 3]

Hmm, odd I remember seeing a bunch of [New] tags all over the place when I briefly opened it before. I guess that went away after the last time I opened it, probably reports changes between status checks. Well, it looks like it’s confirmed, I am officially a succubus like I suspected. Level fifteen too, I wonder how that happened. I looked at my stat spread, those look like base stats to me but it seems rather odd that there are only four. Even if the stats were restricted to those four they seem like odd choices.

I looked at Charisma, “I wonder how it works in the context of a real world?” Once the thought crossed my mind the information came to me and I could ‘read’ it with my mind’s eye.

Charisma - StatisticCharisma influences the ability to persuade, intimidate, seduce, and generally influence other people using only their words. As Charisma increases more magic becomes intertwined with your messages. Higher Charisma makes speeches more inspiring, seduction more effective, and misdirection more believable. Effects of Charisma are resisted by Will.

“Will? I don’t have a will statistic.” I focused on the ‘word’ Will in my mind’s eye and a new description popped up.

Will - StatisticStatistic locked - Unlock condition: Resist a mental effect

Locked stats? Wait, this is kind of a double edged sword. This means that not only are there potentially lots of different stats but maybe not everyone will have all of the same ones. Can other people choose to allocate stat points like I can? Maybe you only get stats that become relevant to you, that would make it hard to prepare for things without prior investment.

Shit, I don’t have enough information. I don’t know what’s true for me and what’s true for others. I wonder how much I can probe for more stats. I tried to think about one I was fairly confident would exist, Dexterity. I tried to focus on it the same way I focused on Will but it didn’t work. It felt like there was nothing to latch onto. Though maybe I didn’t choose the right stat. I focused on Vitality next.

Vitality - StatisticVitality influences your health and endurance. As Vitality increases more magic reinforces the body. Higher Vitality will allow the user to run for longer periods, tire out due to strenuous activity less easily, take more damage before being rendered unconscious or dead, and resist the effects of venom, poisons, toxins, and disease.

Of my currently available stats this one seems the most immediately useful. I haven’t seen a hit point bar anywhere but this unambiguously says it allows me to take more damage so investing some of my points in it makes me feel a bit safer. I’ve never been the kind of person to play glass cannons in video games after all. With just a thought, 90 points subtracted from my unallocated stat and added itself to my Vitality stat, giving me an even 100 Vitality. The number feels a little arbitrary but I have no frame of reference for anything yet. For now lets keep moving. Maybe before I go further I should see what these notifications are.

[Haggling Lv.1 unlocked - Successfully brought the price down of a good]

Straight forward, but good to know you can unlock skills the same way as stats.

[Vaginal virginity lost through consensual sex][Innate trait Karmic Balance created][Innate trait Karmic Awareness created][+20 Karmic Energy][Level increases by 2]

Well… That’s interesting. I suppose I am a succubus so it makes sense that I might have skills related to virginity, even if it seems really silly. Let’s see what Karmic Balance is.

[Karmic Balance - Innate Ability]Through luck or skill you have defied your nature as a demon and seduced someone into taking your vaginal virginity consensually rather than by force. Due to your nature, whatever it may be, your luck is improved by the magnitude of your karma, positive or negative. Current bonus - 79 Luck

Well, it seems like this status system, whatever it is, doesn’t seem to think highly of demons either. Wow though, seventy-nine luck seems like a lot compared to my base stats. It looks like the number next to my base value is my total. Interestingly, the ‘karma’ of this world seems to be based on my own superstitious sense of right and wrong rather than the religious version from my other world.

[Karmic Awareness - Innate Ability]You have learned an ability that affects the fate of you and others. Because of this you are now able to judge the strength and magnitude of karma.

Pretty simple I would say. Let’s see the next notification.

[First penile virginity taken was through consensual sex][Innate Ability Karmic Resonance created][Bonus: Effect of Karmic Resonance doubled for gaining skill with user’s vaginal virginity][Sexual appetite increases by 1][+20 Karmic Energy][Level increases by 2]

This one isn’t surprising, sorry Bruno, but it is interesting that I get skills and Karmic Energy from other people’s virginity as well. Also, just like a succubus to level up from fucking haha.

[Karmic Resonance - Innate Ability]Intentional or not the first penile virginity you took was consensual rather than by force or coercion, a feat rare for a demon. Due to this, the first time you consensually take any partner with positive karma, their entire karma pool is duplicated and added to your karmic energy pool.

It seems the system is putting a lot of emphasis on me having consensual sex rather than raping people willy-nilly. That’s good for me since it seems like it’s trying to reward the behavior I would do regardless. It makes me worry more and more about my status as a demon though. Let me look at that thing by my race.

[Race hidden - Displayed as Beastkin (Sheep)]Demons have gained the ability to hide among the other races by taking on the appearance of others unless intentionally revealing themselves. Race will be displayed as Beastkin (Sheep) by anything checking user’s status, though it will not hide any other clues to the user’s true identity.

Well, at least it won’t be broadcast to others if someone else checks me out. Though I should be careful of others seeing through me like Bruno did when we ate dinner together. The first few traits look pretty self explanatory so I skipped over them. Lets see what sexual appetite is.

[Sexual Appetite - Racial Trait]Succubi appetites are different from that of most other creatures. Rather than feasting on flesh and plants they instead gain sustenance from lust aspect magic siphoned from pleasure during sexual encounters. Feeding on this source doesn’t harm the sexual partner. Starving succubi will find it harder to process information, make rational decisions, and think about anything other than sex and masturbation. Level of Sexual Appetite is increased by taking new partners and higher levels of Sexual Appetite increases the time before faculties are impaired due to hunger. Succubi are unable to starve to death but will eventually be forced to masturbate constantly until they can find a sexual partner to sate their hunger. Regular food can be eaten but will not affect sustenance unless high in magic content. Collecting sustenance through sexual actions removes the potency from sexual fluids unless intentionally trying to become pregnant.

So this one actually explains some things for me. No wonder I was horny all the time, I literally hadn’t eaten anything until earlier tonight. This one clearly has its upsides and it’s downsides. Surviving purely on sex means I don’t need to spend time or money on food unless I want to enjoy it. The downside is that it makes me completely dependant on others and it isn’t clear if there are any diminishing returns for regular sex partners. It also greatly incentivizes me to take as many new sex partners as possible to increase my ability to stave off the hunger. At least it doesn’t harm the sex partner, that would be a problem.

I finally got to the one I’ve been dreading. I’ve been putting off reading it, finding out what happened made anxiety twist in my stomach but I knew I couldn’t run from it any longer.

[Soul Collector - Racial Trait]Demons gain strength from taking the souls of others. Collecting souls from other sapient creatures increases a demon’s level based on the strength and quality of the soul as well as the circumstances it was taken under. The fate of the creature left without a soul depends on the intentions of the host. When making deals and bargains involving a soul the demon is unable to lie or misrepresent the terms of the contract, demons are unable to make contracts with people who are coerced into agreeing.

Oh shit what have I done… A pit dropped in my stomach as I processed the information from this skill. Can I… give it back or something. How did this happen? How is Bruno okay without a soul? My chest tightened and all I could do is keep reading.

[Soulbound Companions - Racial Trait]When collecting a soul from another through contract, unless the demon removes the soul from the target, the target is transformed into the form best suited to serve their new master. If the demon doesn’t provide guidance during this process the target will be transformed into their current ideal self and be empowered by this change. The target retains their free will unless guided otherwise during the transformation process but their soul is permanently bound to serve and cannot defy their master’s explicit orders. Soulbound companions retain possession of their souls but are forever bound to their new master under the terms of the contract.

“Does that last line mean I can just tell her-” My voice died before I was able to finish that thought. I could tell that I am completely unable to go back on my promise to bring her with me. It was too late to undo that agreement, even if we haven’t left yet I have to take her with me, it’s now coded into my bones. Still… the fact that she retains her free will means that she could leave at any time. The agreement was that I never abandon her, if she decided to leave  on her own she could, as long as I never explicitly ordered her to do anything. It sounds like her soul would still be bound to me in that case though.

I’ll have to talk to her about this. This is too big a thing to not talk about it. The wording also implies that she’s bound to me forever. I can’t even begin to understand the implications of that, I don’t know enough about this world. Or the afterlife for that matter. What happens when we both die? I need to get off this train of thought. We’ll talk about it later, we have to. For now, lets look at these titles.

[World Traveler - Hidden Title]This bearer of this title comes from another plane of existence. Whether through their own power or the powers of another, this is not their original realm. The bearer of this title can understand all spoken languages of speakers with similar levels of intelligence. Hidden titles are only viewable by the bearer unless intentionally revealed.

Well, that’s pretty succinct but it confirms those memories of earth are real, fragmented as they may be. Probably. Being able to understand any language really makes my life a lot easier and definitely explains why I haven’t had any trouble of that kind. Thought it would be nice if I could read too. Anyway, let’s move on.

[Origin of Succubi - Hidden Title]The bearer of this title is the origin of all succubi and the first of its kind. The actions and choices of this title bearer will guide how this race is shaped, perceived, and altered. Nothing is set in stone, your actions will determine the fate of your new race. Innate abilities and racial traits will be granted and adapted to the origin. Hidden titles are only viewable by the bearer unless intentionally revealed.

Fucking what? The first Succubus!? But… the book! How does any of this make sense I don’t understand. I looked through all of my skills and traits again and the only thing that mentions succubi directly is [Sexual Hunger]. What about the Karma abilities? Does that mean every succubi will have those? Oh man, I think this means my actions matter a lot and I’m already fucking up… I can’t handle this right now.

“[Zone of Silence]” I turn my head and see Mark Williamson, the swordsman from earlier, closing the door and locking it behind him, neither the latch nor the lock made any sound as if the video was muted.