Chapter 53 Upgrades

Chapter 53 Upgrades

I ate some meal bars and drank water with Iris and Bedelia as we prepared for bed.  We would sleep here and then head back.  Bedelia said, “You know aether poisoning only affects lower tier 1 creatures.  Even then, they just get sick for a few months when they return to Earth as their body purges the excess aether.  If you are upper tier 1 or higher,” she focused on me, “you don’t get sick at all.”

“So you are saying we can eat their food?”  I asked.

Iris looked a bit miffed, and Bedelia added, “Yeah, the longing and sickness they mention in fairy tales is somewhat true.  Lower-tier ones can’t stay here more than a month, or else their body gets acclimated.  Then returning to Earth is difficult.  But they do gain the benefit of slower aging while living in the transit.”

Iris spoke, “My parents used to say that aether-rich food in transits is addictive and can cause you not to want to return.  They always brought their own food with them.”  Knowing more than her, it looked like Bedelia was getting Iris agitated.

“Definitely!” Bedelia affirmed.  “It is ambrosia compared to the food on Earth.  It just takes a lot of willpower to resist.”

I figured I had nothing to worry about with my tier being so high.  I tuned them out as they started an info exchange.  I created a lovely little nest for myself with the blankets and curled up.  I planned to rest in my mind space and then stay on guard.  I would be out for less than ten minutes to get a full night’s rest.

In my mind space, I set my grandfather clock for eight hours.  I walked to the central pedestal and retrieved the incubus handbook.  As I touched the pedestal, I could feel my connection to Andromeda.  Like a titan in the sky looking at the ant walking on their bare feet, I felt her gaze drift to me.

Andromeda was suddenly in my mind space.  I stuttered, “I didn’t call you.” I was worried she might just have taken my life essence, but my banner still read the correct amount.

She had the same fiery red hair and a tight-fitting white dress, “I was not busy, so I decided to check in with my agent.  My fleet is in transit between stars.”  She looked around, “Nothing much in here has changed.  You were on the right track exercising your editing abilities in here.”

She walked around the pedestal, her white dress slowly becoming mostly see-through.  Her body moved with lithe grace, but she didn’t have visible muscles.  I thought to ask questions, “Andromeda, my ability to contact you...does that cost life essence, or is that just the cost to upgrade the ability?”

She paused in her circle, “Both.”  She spun, “You should build yourself a park in your mind space.  You are strong enough to manifest wildlife in here.  Maybe some songbirds,” she said while not focusing on me, just the details of the mind space.  She then made eye contact.  “If you spend 100 life essence, I am required to answer your call by our contract.  But you can call me anytime otherwise,” she grinned slightly evilly, “whether I come is another matter entirely.  As for the upgrade, it strengthens my bond to you and reduces the life essence cost to contact me.”  She approached me.

I nervously asked, “If we had sex in my mind space...is it real sex?”  Last time I was given five questions as compensation for her intrusion.  This time I contacted her, so I was not certain how many questions she was going to allow.

My question must have been funny because she laughed with a chime in her voice.  “It would be a contest of wills, Caleb, my boy.  One you would not win.”  Her index finger went under my chin, and she guided my mouth to hers in an electric kiss.  I felt a pull from my core and broke the kiss.  My banner showed I had lost four life essence.  “Just a lesson for you.  We can try again when you are strong enough to resist my pull.”

I sensed she was about to leave, so I asked a question I hoped to get an answer to, “Is there any way for me to control how much ejaculate I put out?”  It was copious, made a mess, and had a distinct smell to me.

Amdromeda’s face turned joyful, “Ah, my poor newborn.”  she walked to me, reached into my pants, and grabbed my resting penis.  I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to get excited or not.  Her hand moved lower, and she cupped my scrotum.  “This is an incubus’ strongest tool.” she squeezed till I felt pain.  “I hinted at this last time I answered your questions.  But I will be more direct now.  What you are producing is unrefined.  Your testicles are like an elixir factory.  You can make semen that can fertilize any species with a hybrid demon child.  With these, you can produce a skin contact elixir that will make the target younger in appearance, rejuvenating their skin.  You can make a dozen different elixirs that can be imbued to improve your partner’s health, strength, mental acuity, speed, or agility, and much more.  Your seed can enthrall victims in a permanent charm to create a slave harem for you, and your slaves will do your bidding unquestionably in order to get more of this,” she squeezed again, and I grunted at the discomfort.

She released me and stepped back, “You have done well for me so far.  Well, with the exception of not getting me more of that tigerkin essence.” she waved her hand at my ability banner, and as the writing changed, my balls started burning with an inner fire, and I bent over in pain.  I heard her voice in my ears, “A gift.  You can only choose one at a time, like a bullet loaded into a phallic gun, for each orgasmic release.”

I looked up, and she was gone.  My crotch felt normal, and I stood and studied the additions to the banner.

Elixer Seed of Strength

Lower

Tier 1

100 life essence

If your seed is absorbed by your partner, they get stronger

Elixer Seed of Endurance

Lower

Tier 1

100 life essence

If your seed is absorbed by your partner, they get fitter

My incubus handbook was open, and the book had a new script.  It explained my new abilities in detail for once.  The effect wasn’t cumulative.  But if I upgraded the elixir seed ability and revisited the person, it would upgrade to the new tier.  The number of elixirs a person could metabolize depended on their strength.  I assumed that meant their aether core size.

So what Andromeda revealed to me was a way to strengthen my followers.  A way to grow a harem of strong women.  Harem.  Yes, I guess that is what I was doing.  I hoped I was doing it by their choice.  I didn’t want to be like a vampire in stories and twist people to my will.

I slept under the black silk sheets in my bed and dreamed of being at the head of an army of women.  An army of super athletes wielding powerful magic.  Finally, a good dream.

When I woke, I checked on Iris and Bedelia.  They were still talking as I had only been gone twelve minutes or so.  I returned to my mind space and decided to finish my dojo.  The room was almost done but added racks of weapons.  If I was correct, then I could get actual practice in my mind space.  This inner realm was extremely powerful, and I was underutilizing it.

With the dojo completed, I moved back to the central room and made two more corridors off the main room.  Now I had four large banners and four hallways.  One hallway led to my library, one to my dojo, and the third was going to be my bedroom.  I moved my bed and clock in there.  I added pictures in the hallway to the bedroom of famous paintings…well most of the paintings needed some refinement, as my recall wasn’t too great.  The bedroom décor was simple as I couldn’t recall any good bedrooms from movies.  Just pale blue walls and an off-white carpet.  I added a marble fireplace with a bearskin rug, even though it looked out of place.  One large window looked into a woodland.  My mind space didn’t extend into the woods as I was at the limit of my range.

I left the bedroom and went down my fourth hallway with a large empty room at the end.  This was going to be my room for experimentation.  Andromeda said I could create living constructs in my mind space.  I started with an open sky and sun.  Next, I added oak and maple trees.  I moved the setting to the top of a hill, looking down on a valley.  The room was only 60 feet in diameter, so much of the scenery was just a living mural.

Ok, should I try for a bird?  Maybe I should research this first?  I had never studied birds in depth before, and I might get some type of abomination.  I added flowers and the sweet smells of summer to my clearing in the oaks and maples.  Maybe next time I will try some animals.  I returned.

Iris and Bedelia were whispering now as they lay next to each other.  I listened in, and Iris was telling Bedelia how small elf penises were.  I didn’t think Iris or Bedelia would pull a Jade, so I sat up a little and remained alert.  The black-out curtains were up, and soon the two girls were asleep.  And Bedelia snored like a broken chainsaw.  I pulled out my phone and recorded the blackmail material.

About an hour later, I saw Eilina sneak up to check on us.  She had probably hoped to see two humans going at it again, but Bedelia and Iris were fast asleep.

When I felt they had gotten enough sleep, I roused them and took the curtains down.  The two female mages were slow to get ready to leave.  Not morning people.

I went down to the first floor and found all the elves already up.  I took some elven tea and bread now that I was not afraid to eat.  The bread was divine, like tiramisu without the alcohol kick.  Eilina was sent out for water, and Danila spoke, “My daughters have explained what you have done for them, and I thank you.  If you can do the same for Eilina without despoiling her, I would again be in your debt.”  I was expecting her to ask me for the same treatment, but she didn’t brooch the subject.  Instead, she offered, “My sons have agreed to your trade proposal.  Next time you visit, they will escort you to Kealon and sell your goods.  Mardina is starting the voyage to return to her family this morning.”

Mardina passed me some small muffins, “Crab cakes,” she said, smiling.  I tasted one, and it was not quite as good as the bread, but still excellent.  I heard some noise upstairs, so they were coming down soon.

Danila continued, “Like I was saying, Caleb, I will stay here alone as all my children will leave the nest.  If you ever need refuge and a place to stay, my humble house is open to you for all you have done for us.”  She pulled out a pouch and handed it to me, “200 lower tier one crystals.  A thank you.”  She brushed the back of my hand and smiled at me.

“Thank you for your hospitality, Danila.  I will definitely take you up on your hospitality next time I am here,” I said with a suggestive smile.  I would have gone to her room last night if I had known she was open.

The two mages came down, and Eilina returned.  There was a hectic ordeal made about getting ready.  I never understood women.  I could pack a suitcase for a seven-day trip in ten minutes.  The return trip was with Eilina, Kiri, Bedelia, Iris, and I started out with Kiri in the back and myself leading as the other three got acquainted.

I killed two crabs in the woods and two more climbing the slope, and I collected the aether crystals.  When we reached the cave mouth, Kiri joined me in the front.  She asked, “I will keep an eye on the right if you keep a lookout on the left.  The ceiling is quite high, so scan up every once in a while.”  She was much more cautious now that we had her precious sister with us.  I loved my sister too, but there seemed to be something else going on here.

“Hey Kiri, is there any timeline for me and…” I pointed my thumb back.

“Let’s let her get settled in.  Give me a month to get her comfortable with life on Earth,” she said with some thought.  A month was a short time for an elf.  I guess it was a short time for me since I was now essentially immortal.

We got to the clearing where the portal was, and I opened the gate, and we all passed through.  Eilina was staring like a kid at Disney World.  The night sky had stars galore, and the temp was very cold.  The walk to the car took ten minutes, and I was happy it was still there.  Iris was spending all her energy answering Eilina’s thousand and one questions.

The drive back was just Eilina asking about everything.  I dropped them off and drove home, not wanting to be part of elf orientation 101.  I got home at 9:03 and came in the front door.  Mistake.  I was quiet, and my incubus hearing heard my parents having sex.  I couldn’t unhear that and quietly raced upstairs.  I showered and worked on courses, finishing both up before I had to leave for hockey practice.

At hockey practice, I had a surprise.  A recruiter from Dartmouth was here and talking with the coach.  I was even more shocked that he was here for me.  He couldn’t talk with me but just came to watch the practice.  We were all on our best behavior as we practiced.  I had two dozen emails from college hockey coaches in my inbox, but I didn’t want to take the time to read them.  Dartmouth was probably one of them.

After practice, Coach Sam talked with me, “I know Pete from my time in college.  He was down here, and I asked him to check you out.”

I said, “I don’t even know where Dartmouth is.”

“It is in New Hampshire.  It is an ivy, Caleb.  They don’t offer scholarships, so you must pay your way.  Your grades also need to be pretty good.  The coaches can help but can’t get you in if you are not smart,” she added.  Well, I guess they were out then.  I may be doing better in school, but I wasn’t going to make out for two mediocre years of grades.

It just brought up the question if I was even planning to attend college.  Maybe there was a college on the 22nd layer that taught magic?  I wasn’t sure conventional colleges were going to benefit me much other than give me access to a pool of women I could harvest life essence from.  The thing was, I was not having any difficulty right now.

I drove home and showered, and drove Rob and Sophia to school.  The signs in the corridor were reminders I had two dances this weekend, Friday with Mary and Saturday with Molly.  I couldn’t wear my Armani suit.  So I needed to get a rental today.  Lunch was interesting as Abigail sat to my left and Iris to my right.

Mandy came to the table upset, “Abigail, why did you quit?  We still have basketball season?” I hadn’t known and looked at Abigail, who was, in fact, dressed more conservatively, more like Iris.

Abigail spoke calmly, “I have different priorities.  I need to figure out if I am going to college and I have a new after-school activity.” Mandy was fuming, and I thought the cat girl might shred Abigail’s nonchalance.  “I will still help out at our booth this Sunday for the toy drive,” Abigail added hopefully.

Mandy seemed torn between turning her down and storming off or accepting.  Most of the cafeteria was watching the drama unfold.  “Fine!  Be at my house Saturday night to bake!” She walked off.

Abigail apologized to our table.  She even rubbed the top of my thigh under the table, but the table was small, so it was obvious.  I was glad I could control my arousal.

Molly was super excited about her dance, and Mary was texting me the color corsage she wanted, any shade of dark blue.  I skipped out of school during the last period of study hall to get a tux.  No rentals in my size were available!  I had to buy a new tux for $890!  Ugh, poor planning on my end.  I even had to use my charm ability to get him to alter it since he was so backed up.  Maybe a slight abuse of my power there, but I didn’t care.

I got to my house and found Mary and Rose in the driveway waiting for me.  I was ten minutes late.  They jokingly said they were docking my payment.  On the basement door was a note, it read the bathroom in the basement was fixed, love mom.  She must have met the plumber today.

The workout was going great until I started getting calls from Chloe.  I ignored them, and they were followed by texts asking me to call her.  I went out to the backyard and called her.

“Caleb!  I am so sorry to call you, but I need a huge favor.  Remember I told you about the parties in Miami?  Where we go and have sex for three hours on a platform while rich bastards walk around and watch us?  Well, my partner Janice bailed on me twenty minutes ago!  I only have like four people on my phone, I can ask, and you were my first call.  Please say yes!  I will owe you.  It pays cash, $10,000…you can even have half of mine…so $15,000.  I really need to complete this contract.” Her frantic tone told me this was not an act.

“You never told me when this event was?”  I said, sorting out the verbal tirade.

“This Wednesday.  I know you have the endurance, and it will be fun.  You do need to sign a non-disclosure.  There are usually five or six platforms.” She rasped, “Oh, and you can wear a mask!  That way, no one will recognize you.  And there are no phones allowed!  Please!”

“I thought you said your partner was named Janice?”  I replied, still reviewing the reason for the request.

“Yeah, my platform was supposed to be girl-girl.  But I called my manager, and he said girl-boy was fine as long as my partner was good,” she said with hope in her voice.

I was more curious than anything.  I wanted to see how the other half lived…well, the one-percenters.  I asked, “What time Wednesday?”

She said slowly, “9:30 pm to 12:30 am?”

Damn, getting home was going to be a nightmare.  I should be able to fly down right after school.  I started to rationalize.  I didn’t really need sleep anyway.  I was getting free life essence.  I was going to see the seediest side of the rich and famous.  “Ok, I will call you when I land Wednesday.”  I hung up and rejoined Mary and Rose.

When we finished, Rose took a shower in the basement first, and Mary gave me a quick blowjob.  “I bet I can make you finish before Rose finishes her shower,” she teased, pulling down my jeans and dropping to her knees.  She pulled out a small tube that was coconut-flavored edible lube.  “I got this yesterday,” she said, squirting a generous amount on her hand and rubbing it up and down my shaft.  The scent of coconut drifted to my nose.  I dropped my vortex in place on her.

With the lubricant along my nearly nine inches, Mary stroked the length and sucked on my mushroom tip.  The slickness of the lube under her hand was a new sensation for me and enjoyable.  Her tongue played along the sensitive tip and toyed with my urethra entry, trying to push the tip of her tongue inside.  The rough nature tickled as she kept trying after circling the head with her tongue once or twice.  Her blue eyes stared up at me for approval, and I nodded and stroked her hair.

She repositioned herself for balance, and one hand went inside her shorts, and the other started massaging my testicles.  She was a little too aggressive, treating them like Chinese metal stress balls.  The pain actually turned me on slightly, so I didn’t tell her to stop.

The shower stopped, and Mary looked determined and finally took my shaft into her mouth and began bobbing her head in a rush to make me cum.  I wasn’t going to release until she at least reached one herself.  I could smell her arousal and see her hand vigorously working herself inside her spandex shorts.

Mary climaxed just as the door opened.  Her body shivered in bliss, and I thought she was going to come off my cock so I grabbed her head and held it in place firmly as I released my own load into her mouth.  She only resisted for a heartbeat before sucking my semen and swallowing it.  I had used my new elixir seed of strength, and she swallowed every drop.

“Tastes different today, Caleb, more…substantial, but it wasn’t nearly as much,” she said, disappointed.  “It felt cold going down my throat, electric and tingly.” Hopefully, she would get the effect from swallowing, and it didn’t need to be absorbed through intercourse.

Rose had watched us both in our orgasms and not retreated back into the bathroom.  I could see her eyes focus on my cock as I let it soften and relax.  I pulled up my pants and lingered while Mary showered.  I hoped Rose would ask something, but she just played on her phone and gave me side glances as I put things away.  Mary finished, and the two left, talking animatedly about the workout and their aches and pains.  Tomorrow I would hopefully give Mary the endurance semen elixir, and then I could test her on the erg to see how effective the two doses were.

We only had one erg in the basement.  I know it was easier to test with someone next to you.  I took out my phone and found a fitness equipment supply store, and called them.  They didn’t have ergs but gave me another number of a vendor that carried them.  I called the vendor and told the woman I would pay cash and pick up two on Wednesday since they were near Richmond.  I could stop on my way to the airport.  $1,050 each!  I planned to do the test with them, that is why I was buying two.

I went upstairs and to my room.  I bought a plane ticket to Miami at my computer, leaving at 6:05 pm from Richmond and landing at 7:35 pm.  Getting home was going to be difficult.  The earliest flight landed in Richmond at 6:48 am.  I was missing hockey practice because it was an hour’s drive from the airport.  I shouldn’t be late for school Thursday.  I texted the coach, telling her I couldn’t make it to practice Thursday morning.  Twenty minutes later, she called, “Hi, Caleb.  That is fine with missing practice Thursday, but we are adding some new offense in.  We should find an hour to meet to go over it in my office at the rink or, if you prefer, my house.”

Coach Sam was making a play for me.  I didn’t want practices to get awkward, but she had probably had relations with half the team from the snippets of conversation I heard.  I said, “As long as it is just an hour, we can meet at the rink tomorrow night.  How is 8 pm?”  She quickly affirmed and hung up.

I got a text from Kiri.  It said Bedelia had shown up with my paperwork and new passport.  She must really want to make a good impression getting this done so soon.  I showered quickly and quietly descended the fire escape to head to Iris’ house.