4.15 Morning After

Waking up cuddled into one girl was pretty amazing. Waking up with two warm, naked bodies pressed into her? Zoey solidified her decision: her transmigration between worlds had some troubling aspects to it, but overall, she was definitely enjoying herself.

And there was another bit of good news, Zoey realized, luxuriating in the heat and soft curves of her girlfriend and teammate. By the tingling on the back of her neck, she’d leveled up. Unfortunately, Zoey remained incapable of discovering what that entailed. She needed to learn to read her ‘tabula anima’, as Rosalie had called it.

Then again, maybe not. She had Rosalie for that. Apparently, it wasn’t a trivial process to learn, and so Zoey would rather spend her time elsewhere.

Plus, Rosalie always blushed when she got to do it. It was apparently a deeply intimate act, and so, Zoey was happy to share that with her.

Soon enough, Rosalie stirred. At the shifting bodies, Delta did too, but she simply groaned and rolled over, annoyed. Zoey had discovered the fox-girl was very much not a morning person. That came in handy, right now. She enjoyed Delta’s presence, and would like her input on this upcoming conversation, but for now, she wanted to share it with Rosalie first.

Once Rosalie had fully woken—turning around to snuggle into Zoey while facing her—she broached the topic.

Like usual, Rosalie was incredulous at the speed Zoey’s advancement had come. Then, a moment later, having placed a finger to Zoey’s forehead and sent that strange ‘request’, became even more so.

“All four,” she said, incredulous. “You progressed in all four of your runes.”

Obviously, Zoey wasn’t half as stunned. She didn’t have the appropriate context—the lifetime of experiences spent in this world—to appreciate how bizarre it was. Though Rosalie’s tone, her astonishment, clued her in.

Still, rather than be awed, Zoey chose to be cheeky about it. “I’ve been working hard, haven’t I?”

Rosalie eyed her. “Working hard. That’s what last night was?”

“I’m sorry, what are my runes, again? How am I supposed to progress them?”

An even more of an evil eye. “Fair point.” She shook her head. “Still. All four … that makes you third advancement. In less than a week.”

“Third advancement in name only,” Zoey pointed out. Most certainly, not in practice.

Though, her arcana rune. A combat-practical rune of hers had advanced. Surely that’d help inch Zoey along the path of being a ‘real’ wayfarer.

“And they’re good?” Zoey asked. “The new skills.”

“They’re skills from you,” Rosalie said, exasperated. “What do you think?”

Zoey chuckled. Though, the skills were clearly not anything so mind-blowing that Rosalie was speechless. But Zoey expected Rosalie’s expectations had been tempered from her previous skills, so it would take something truly astounding to draw a stunned reaction from her.

“Well?” Zoey asked. “Don’t keep me waiting. Start with the gross ones.”

“Surprisingly, there aren’t any,” Rosalie said. She paused. “Or, not like before. Your alchemy rune comes close.”

“Oh?”

“Potent Additive,” Rosalie read off. “Sexual fluids can be used to amplify potions in various ways.”

Zoey was briefly confused. Hadn’t she already been making potions that way? Then, she realized the difference. “Oh. Additive. So something after it catalyzes.” She laughed at the absurdity. “I make cum-base potions, then add cum to make them even stronger.”

Rosalie wrinkled her nose, pretending to be disgusted, but Zoey saw the curl to her lips hinting amusement.

And Zoey, taking advantage of her newly found girlfriend status, chose to force it out. She grabbed Rosalie’s waist and pulled her in, peppering her with kisses. “And you think it’s funny too. Stop pretending.”

“Zoey,” Rosalie protested.

“Stop being so serious. I will tickle you, if I have to.”

“You will not.”

The effusiveness of the reply made Zoey pause. She raised her eyebrows.

“I am not someone who is tickled,” Rosalie said firmly. She seemed panicked by the concept.

Zoey grinned.

“Zoey. Zoey! You better not—“

Zoey attacked.

‘Squealing’ hadn’t been something Zoey had ever expected to draw out of her too-serious girlfriend, but it happened so easily. Unfortunately, she couldn’t press the advantage. Rosalie was out of the bed, standing there and huffing—glaring—almost faster than Zoey could track.

“Do you mind?” Rosalie demanded. “We are trying to talk business.”

“No, do you two mind?” Delta groaned, grabbing a pillow and stuffing it over her head, muffling her voice. “I’m trying to sleep. Go be cute somewhere else.”

Really not a morning person.

And, Zoey did feel a bit bad about how she’d attacked despite Rosalie’s protests. But she hadn’t been able to help herself. And the reaction had been way too adorable. “Okay, okay,” she said. “I’m sorry. Now get back here.” She gestured for Rosalie to return to her embrace. She’d starting missing her warmth in only the few seconds since she’d been gone.

At the suspicious look, Zoey promised: “No more tickles. I didn’t know you were so weak to them.”

“I’m not weak to them.”

“Clearly not,” Zoey agreed. “That was what that reaction was. A strong, stoic one. Practically immune.”

Another glare, but Rosalie got back in bed with Zoey.

“Runes,” Rosalie said pointedly.

“Runes,” Zoey agreed, tugging her girlfriend in close. “Magic next?”

“Influence,” Rosalie said. “Cast spells that inflame or mute internal statuses.”

“And what do you think that means?”

“All sorts of applications, I imagine. Almost an element.”

One of Zoey’s first skills had been ‘Element: Ice’. Here, she’d gotten something that fell under an umbrella of ‘affect internal statuses’, so almost an element, like Rosalie had said. “Huh. But I’ll probably have to practice and learn specific spells. It’s not a freebie.”

“It would seem so.”

“Any suggestions?”

“Practical first forays?” Rosalie hummed, thinking about it. “Enraging an opponent could be useful in certain circumstances. More importantly, the boss is generally the most dangerous part of a shard, and considering … the shape they take, with you …”

“A spell-aphrodisiac,” Zoey guessed. “Not useful against normal enemies, but great against the lewd phase of a boss.”

“Precisely my thinking.”

The wording—so prim and serious—made Zoey smile. Unable to stop herself, she leaned forward and pecked Rosalie on the lips.

“What was that for?”

“You’re just so cute.” She stole another kiss. “Do you really expect me to resist?”

Blushing, but pretending to be exasperated, Rosalie pointedly continued, “And which next?”

“Two more to go. Start with the less cool one. It’s important to end on a high point.”

Rosalie rolled her eyes at the dramatics, then considered Zoey’s request. “Burst,” she said a short moment later, not having to think hard which was the weaker. “From your rune of sensuality. Lust can be  consumed in greater quantities to amplify potency of certain other skills.”

“That’s the obviously weaker one?” Zoey asked, impressed. “Sounds strong.”

“Your rune of bonding is your mythic-tier one,” Rosalie said pointedly. “I suspect it’ll always have the most powerful skills.”

Well, now she’d gotten Zoey excited. But, she saved the best for last. And they ought to talk over this one first. “So, lust is even more of a burst resource, now.”

“It’s expensive to begin with, but can be drained at even higher speed, for even more potent skills,” Rosalie agreed. “That might be troublesome. It depends how much faster.”

“Or we could just recharge after every fight,” Zoey joked.

“I realize you’re insatiable,” Rosalie said. “But surely there would reach a point where it’s simply exhausting.”

“With you? Never.”

Rosalie blushed. The cheesy lines did tend to work on her.

Though, Rosalie had a point. Zoey could rationally recognize that, amazing as endless sex sounded in an abstract sense, there would come a point where managing her lust resource would simply be too much work. The skill was intended for important, powerful skills, not something she burned through constantly and recharged after each fight.

“Not just spells, too,” Zoey said. “It boosts any of my skills.”

“Indeed. From the wording.”

Zoey considered that. Her most useful ability, combat- and team-speaking, remained Bolster, which empowered Rosalie or Delta. Giving them an even more powerful burst of strength and speed was undoubtedly going to be the strongest use of her Burst skill, too.

“And the big reveal?” Zoey asked.

“It’s not a skill with flair," Rosalie said. “But powerful. Share. All bonded targets receive a small percentage of each other’s stats.”

“Oh, wow.” Like Rosalie said, nothing ‘fun’, but the merit of the ability was blatantly clear. “How much is small?”

Rosalie shrugged. “Passive stats, scaling not only with, but to the entire team. Unless it’s obscenely low—and this is a mythical rune, so I find that unlikely—it’s going to be incredible.”

“Cool,” Zoey said.

Rosalie huffed.

“What?”

“Cool, she says. After receiving one of the most fantastic support skills I’ve ever heard of.” She paused, then clarified: “For a third advancement.”

“What can I say? I’m spoiled.” She placed a kiss into the side of Rosalie’s jaw. “I feel like that’s obvious. I have you in my bed.”

“You’re in an especially sappy mood, this morning,” Rosalie said, pretending to suffer Zoey’s affection.

She definitely was. After last night, and all the new abilities she’d earned today, how couldn’t she be?

Though, definitely more the former than the latter. Magical skills were cool, but Rosalie and Delta? They obviously stole the spotlight. The magic stuff was just the cherry on top.