Chapter 11: Library Liason

I was feeling cheerful as I returned to the library the next morning. Why wouldn't I, after an amazing experience in Marianne's room, I returned to my room for a long and relaxing sleep. My mood only improved when I saw that the Head Librarian was still away. With my improved subterfuge skill, I no longer feared to be outed. If my disguise was good enough to fake being a woman while attending another in the bath, faking the act of my idiot past wouldn't be a problem, no matter the observer.

Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said for the various shenanigans that were going on. I couldn't imagine Cornelia taking the risk of using the library as her forbidden-love den. I definitely wouldn't dare to walk around in a ranger disguise in the library while she was here, meaning not only I would lose my voyeurism opportunities, but also I would lose my excuse to talk with Helga.

Then, I saw her walking towards the depths of the library, and I was familiar with her mannerisms enough to catch a certain excitement in her steps. Today, I decided to join her early, because I had a lot of gaps in my arcana skill to fill. I wanted to see the speed of improvement with a dedicated teacher. And, spending time with her as much as possible before the Head Librarian returned was a prudent idea.

I walked around several minutes, being 'accidentally' visible until one of the assistants ordered me to dust all the books on the back of the library. A clear attempt to make me keep away from the crowd, as all library books, including the relatively unimportant ones in the main section, were enchanted against basic challenges like dust and moisture. It fit my disguise not to question that order. Luckily, I had no intention of doing so in any case.

The Mule disappeared in the depths of the library, and a minute later, Orlin the Ranger walked out...

Since I already knew the general direction she went, it took only a few minutes for me to find Helga. Once again, she was dressed in her thick robes, making me curse the dressing habits of the students of magic, preferring thick, shapeless robes over anything else, just because it was the tradition.

Luckily, I remembered how her body looked, so there was nothing preventing me to imagine the way her body stretched as she tried to reach for the top shelf, trying to get a book. Distracted by her task, she didn't notice my presence. With the help of my agility, sneaking to her was quite easy.

I kept my silence until I was close enough to hug her, leaned to her ear, and whispered. "Do you need any help, beautiful."

The result was spectacular. Startled by my presence, she turned in her adrenaline boosted speed, a fist-sized ball of lighting already gathered in her palm, ready to be released. Impressive conjuration speed, I noted, though the same couldn't be said for her speed in aiming. Before she could release the spell, I wrapped my hand around her forearm, and changed her aim. "Orlin?" she whispered in surprise as her lightning hit the ceiling, and discharged harmlessly against the ward.

"Hello, beautiful," I said even as I placed one of my hands on the small of her back, the other, which was around her forearm, moving up until our fingers were gently intertwined.

For a moment, she was frozen, dumbfounded. The reason was hard to pinpoint, as it might be because of the passionate kiss that marked the end of our last encounter, it might be my enhanced charisma affecting her, or it might be our closeness, enough to restart our kiss by just leaning forward.

Then, her eyes grew in panic as she realized how close she had been to turn me into a charred mess. "I'm sorry Orlin!" she exclaimed, loud enough to make me pull back for a moment. "I almost attacked you! Please forgive me."

"There is nothing to forgive," I answered as I reestablished our closeness. "But if you're feeling bad, I have a rather good idea for an apology."

Her mouth opened reflexively before her brain could engage to catch the insinuation in my voice. But for me, the shiny pinkness of her lips was much more interesting than anything else she might say at the moment. So, I leaned forward, cutting her words short in a rather enjoyable manner for both of us.

[+50 Experience]

I wasn't surprised when she froze as our lips touched. Regardless, I continued to treat her lips with a soft, lingering kiss, my arm around her waist tightening enough to make our bodies touch, just enough to feel the rapid rise of her heartbeat. I didn't want to scare her off, so I tried to act in a measured manner while my lips danced over hers, trying to coax a reaction.

I hadn't had to wait for long for the said reaction. First, her lips started to move in an attempt to match the rhythm of the mine. I let her succeed for a moment before picking up speed. She followed my lead without a delay, soon, our lips were following the invisible music of a heated dance.

[+100 Experience]

Level UP!

[Select one of the following skills: Advanced Speech, Basic Biomancy, Basic Lovemaking]

Leveling up couldn't come in a better moment, considering the situations I gained experience. At least, right now, I was in a situation where I could continue in autopilot while trying to decide which skill to pick next. I couldn't say the same for the skill selection. Speech was an obvious option which helped me a lot, but under the circumstances, it was sufficient, and biomancy was something I hadn't given the slightest thought. The only thing I knew was it was an inferior version of healing magic, allowing the users to affect the other lifeforms in return.

At that moment, lovemaking seemed like an obvious choice, but funnily enough, it was the way Helga wrapped her arms around my neck to pull me deeper into the kiss that discouraged me from it. Reactions of both Marianne and Helga showed that my advanced stats already gave a sufficient edge to me on the topic, and considering the incredible jump with the other skills, I feared that sex would lose its excitement.

With an impulsive decision, I skipped speech as well, roughly for the same reasons, and picked biomancy, despite knowing very little about it. What was life without a little risk, after all?

Then, I felt Helga's tongue pushing against my lips, bringing me fully back to the moment. I parted my lips, allowing her tongue to slip inside my mouth, rewarding her for the initiative. While her tongue ravaged my mouth, I decided to shelve the considerations for my new skills for a later moment. The present called for my undivided attention.

I tightened my grip around her waist, smashing her chest against mine, enjoying the firmness of her chest against my muscles. Simultaneously, I finally counter-attacked her presence in my mouth. The battle stayed balanced for a moment before she retreated, which turned into a total rout. I followed, restarting the skirmish, but this time in her mouth.

When she pulled back to take a breath, I chose to bring my lips down, sucking her neck in a way that turned her attempts to take a breath into a sharp gasp. When her arms around my body tightened further, I decided to take it as an invitation to push further. My lips stayed on her skin as I moved down on the length of her neck, leaving lingering kisses, each earning its own moan.

[+300 Experience]

Unfortunately, I felt her stiffen when I slid my hands downward. It was a small, unconscious move, but I decided to take it as a sign to pull back. It was better to leave her wanting rather than forcing her to draw a line. "Long time no see, beautiful," I said with a satisfied smirk after pulling back.

"We just talked yesterday," she managed to whisper, blushing, though I didn't think that it was about the question itself. More likely, it was about our continued closeness, our bodies pressing tight, her back against the shelf, and my arm still firmly around to prevent her escape.

"It was a long night," I said with a crooked smile, which increased her blush even further. I leaned forward slightly, but thanks to the distance between us, it brought me to a prime location to restart our kiss. Her lips parted open reflexively, but instead of continuing the kiss, I reached up and pulled the book she was trying to get when I arrived. When I passed it, a confused expression popped on her face before she remembered her objective when it was broken by my surprise appearance.

"Thanks," she murmured.

"Always a pleasure," I said as finally let her go, but our fingers were still intertwined as we walked to the large table, already loaded by the books. I only let her hand go to pull a chair for her, earning a shy smile as a reward. For myself, I chose to sit next to her rather than sitting across her, opening the book on arcana that I picked up on the way. "You don't mind if I study next to you, or ask some questions when I get stuck, right?"

The answer came in an instant, with noticeable urgency. "Of course not. You can ask whatever you want!"

"You're as kind as you're pretty," I answered, squeezing her hand just for emphasis. She stammered a response impossible to decipher. Thankfully, the underlying sentiment was easier to decipher.

It was an excellent opportunity to employ the tricks I learned from my latest adventure with Marianne, though in a much-reduced dosage. I started reading my book while letting my hand fall on her leg in an accidental manner. I didn't expect her to believe that of course, but from the way her smile competed with her blush to catch up, it was clear that she had no intention of calling me off on that, which was enough.

I let a few minutes to pass, through which I kept my hand intentionally immobile, letting her get used to our casual contact. It was sufficiently effective, as she was able to turn her attention on the book she was reading, but she had to backtrack several times, suggesting that she had trouble staying focused on what she was reading.

Several minutes later, I squeezed her leg the moment I started speaking. "I don't understand how to balance the structure on three runes. Wouldn't it cause a continuous conflict that ultimately breaks the effect?" I asked, despite knowing its answer. I had three reasons for it.

The first was to maintain the impression that I just had a few points on arcana. The second was her habits of teaching. Starved to contact due to the discrimination she experienced, she was more than happy to launch deep discussions on the topic, which came with some great insights. It would be much more effective if I had the option to actually hold a debate on the more complicated parts, but still, it was much better than anything else than I could do alone.

The third reason was even simpler, making her get more and more used to having extended contact. In the second minute of her explanation, I started squeezing her leg softly. On fourth, my hand started moving up and down, but sticking around her knee. Around the ten-minute mark, when she finally finished her explanation, my 'absentminded' caresses ended up in her thigh. But the results of that moment was spectacular.

[+100 Experience]

[+3 Arcana]

I was about to return to my book when I was stuck with a sudden inspiration. "By the way, what do you know about biomancy," I asked her, hoping to get a couple more questions in advance.

"It's an amazing skill, totally underrated by the research community!" she said with sudden jubilation. "They are willing to dismiss all the possibilities it represents just because it's less effective on healing."

I wasn't expecting such an enthusiastic reaction from her. "Do you have any focus on that?" I asked.

"I wish," she answered with a sigh. "Unfortunately, I'm having trouble leveling up enough to get the necessary steps for my status," she mentioned absentmindedly. It took quite a bit of willpower to keep myself from asking her exact situation on her levels, which was a rather dangerous social blunder. Even the amount she admitted was a bit much. Even though she looked too excited to notice, I wasn't willing to push her more on the subject.

"Why is that?" I asked, which triggered another very long explanation on the various potential applications of biomancy on the transformation of non-human material, for a range of purposes from healing to combat support. It was hard for me to keep up even with my skill points, which was rapidly increasing as her explanation continued, and my rather impressive stats. I even kept my hand in place during her explanation not to distract her, because her explanations were working wonders.

As she went through her explanation, I couldn't help but theorize about her skill configuration. For a moment, I entertained the probability that she lied to me about not using any biomancy, but I discarded that quickly. She wasn't good at lying enough to slip that past me. She probably had a generic skill relating to the theory, assisting her to generate a more accurate understanding.

In the end, she talked another thirty minutes on biomancy, occasionally slipping back to wider issues on magic, but the results were worth the loss of time. Towards the end, after making sure that nothing would distract her from her academic zeal, my hand continued its journey on her leg.

[+100 Experience]

[+2 Arcana]

[+7 Biomancy]

"How it is possible," I said after she finished her explanation, which left her blushed and short of breath.

"What?" she asked.

"For a girl to be this beautiful and smart," I answered, watching in amusement as the blush spread to her face once more. She opened her mouth, but unlike the academic explanation, her words were not spilling out in a great hurry. Instead, they were shuffling inside her mouth, fighting not to be the first one to leave the confines of her lips, still puffy from our earlier kiss.

"You're just adorable," I said as I slipped my fingers through her hair, moving through a smooth caress, then transitioning to her shoulder from the tips. While I was doing that, she was leaning forward, so all it took was a gentle pull to restart our kiss.

This time, she didn't hesitate even for a moment, the vigor of her lips overcoming even mine. If that wasn't a sign to push further, I didn't know what it was. Since my hand was already on her shoulder, it only took a quick journey to slip down to her chest, gently cupping her breasts, fighting the temptation to fully sink into the soft flesh of her breasts.

But then, her arms found my neck once more, her hold tight enough to hurt. As far as signals went, I couldn't imagine a more direct one without moving into a more vulgar territory. I would have hated to disappoint such a beautiful woman. A moan escaped her mouth as my fingers sank deeper into her breasts, loud enough to alert passerby's, but luckily, my lips were in a prime position to suppress that moan, turning it into a delicious vibration instead.

Meanwhile, my other hand had nothing to do. Idleness was a shameful quality, so I put it on her hips, sinking softly to her skin. I half-expected her to flinch, remembering the painful state of her bottom after Cornelia's treatment, but she either healed up quickly enough, or she managed to get the help of one of the healers, because she didn't react my hand adversely. I squeezed her ass even harder, forcing another moan off her lips, which I suppressed just as quick.

[+500 Experience]

Trying to push further was an attractive idea, but also quite risky. Yes, we were in an unfrequented area of the library, but unfrequented didn't guarantee complete seclusion. I trusted my abilities to give me an advance warning enough to erase the signs of a kiss, I couldn't guarantee the same if we were in a deeper state of undress. With great reluctance I pulled away from her sweet lips, leaving her panting.

She kept our gaze connected for a moment before the situation sank into her mind. Her eyes slid away as the redness of her face intensified even further, to a point that made me worried that she might faint. The difference between the girl that subjected herself to not-so-tender mercies of Cornelia without a hint of shame, and the one that was about to faint just because a sweet kiss was unbelievable.

I couldn't help but feel bad a bit, but not too much, because unlike the others, I didn't lie to her too badly. I just acted like a stranger, albeit a dark and mysterious one from a far-off land that would disappear in a few days. It might not be much, but it was enough to relax my conscience.

"I don't understand how the energy transference affects the construction of a dual-superstructure for a ward," I added, raising one of the points that were bugging me from the last part of our discussion. It was far more complicated for a ranger restricted to basic arcana and one digit wisdom to even understand its implications, but I bet on the fact she would welcome a distraction to focus anything other than our most-recent kiss.

She didn't surprise me, and launched another detailed explanation that I felt trouble following even with my current state. But the rapid increase in my skills were worth it, but I couldn't help but think it was unnatural. Her insights were incredible, but not enough to level me up that quickly.

Then it struck me. Technically, I was still in danger. Not only I was acting like a different person, but also I was misrepresenting the danger I was in. The System must be able to detect it somehow, which raised more questions about its origins. Maybe the temples were right, and each Melius had a divine messenger on their shoulder, rewarding them for the challenges they met. Though if that was true, mine seemed to be an especially perverted one.

With a sexy blonde in front of me, metaphysical questions weren't the best target to spend my time on, I realized when she asked me a question. Thankfully, I was good enough in multitasking to catch the question, and promptly answered in a level of detail sufficient for my supposed knowledge. The discussion continued in the same vein for a couple more hours, with her showing off the depths of her knowledge, and with me rewarding her with lingering kisses, and enthusiastic gropes which occasionally slipped under her robe. The rewards of the session was amazing.

[+2000 Experience]

[+14 Arcana]

[+9 Biomancy]

[Speech +2]

[Subterfuge +1]

While I wanted to continue the session for more, I couldn't risk one of the kinder assistants to start worrying about my disappearance and start searching. "Getting the attention of such a beautiful teacher has been an amazing experience, but I need to go before the rest of the group starts wondering where I disappeared."

"So soon," she answered.

"It has been more than three hours," I answered.

"But there is no clock around," she asked. "And you don't have a window large enough to see the sun."

I had a feeling that it was just a convenient excuse to distract herself from disappointment rather than a genuine question, but I still answered. I pointed at the small ray of light, spreading from a small window at the top. "The change of the angle from rays of light is enough," I answered. "On the wild, you learn how to pay attention to a lot of things."

Without a warning, I leaned forward and captured her lips in another lingering kiss, with my hands joining the fray soon after. Her reaction was even more heated than the last time, signaling that I might even get lucky if I played my cards right. Unfortunately, I was out of time, so I pulled back soon after, leaving her panting with arousal.

[+200 Experience]

I walked away without saying anything, then, just before disappearing amongst the shelves, I turned back, and whispered. "See you tomorrow, beautiful." Then, I disappeared, trying to suppress the disappointment from leaving such a beautiful girl behind to go and arrange books...

[Level: 7 Experience: 24240 / 28000

Strength: 6 Charisma: 12

Precision: 10 Perception: 10

Agility: 10 Manipulation: 12

Speed: 7 Intelligence: 8

Endurance: 8 Wisdom: 17

HP: 287 / 287 Mana: 360 / 413 ]

SKILLS

[Advanced Subterfuge (48/50)

Advanced Arcana [45/50]

Basic Speech 24/25

Basic Biomancy 16/25 ]