Chapter 12: Discarded Disguise

I was walking in the library, once again dressed in my least favorite disguise, made worse by the fact that technically, it was my real identity, trying to look busy. I had been expecting to have a casual walk around the library while waiting for the workday to end, hoping that Marianne would call her new 'maid' for another massage session, or failing that, deciding to have another encounter with Cornelia in the library. But my plans went awry in an unwelcome manner when the assistant of the head librarian burst into the opening, and started raining orders with great urgency.

"What's going on," asked one of the others, unhappy with the sudden intrusion.

"I tell you what's going on," he shouted. "I learned that she is coming back tomorrow." No one asked who he was referring, the underlining terror in his voice could only refer to one person. The head librarian, one of the most famous war heroes of the Empire, and the undisputed ruler of the library, was coming back. And everyone knew that they would be on the hook if there was even one thing that was out of order in the library.

It wasn't hard to slip away in the chaos, as no one would remember to look for me as they burst into a flurry of activity, some for cleaning the floors, the others to make sure the books were in the correct order. It wasn't hard to understand why. The head librarian had no mercy when it came to any disruption in her domain, and if something was out of place, the staff would be on the hook for it.

But even as I faded away, I had to fight against disappointment. Because with her arrival, not only I would have to throw away my ranger identity, afraid of being caught, but also Cornelia would no doubt stop her library adventures. Arrogant she was, but not enough to intrude into the head librarian's domain, especially in such a vulgar manner. Even her family couldn't have saved her from the consequences.

An important detail started to worm itself into my mind. I needed to talk with Helga before I shelved my ranger identity for good. While silently disappearing would have no cost to me, it didn't sit right to me to leave Helga waiting desperately for Orlin to appear. I owed her enough to explain it to her.

This time, I was careful to pick and even more secluded corner to put on my disguise, in case one of the frenzied library workers dropped in. I even put a simple proximity ward as a safety measure. While doing that, I couldn't help but wonder just how easily I could control the mana flow to form a ward, not even needing to use an anchor. Another evidence of just how important the skills were. Without them, I doubted I could replicate that feat without months of dedicated study, and even then, it was in doubt.

The same applied to the magical parts of my disguise. Just a moment's concentration was enough to put the spell on, something I was sure that even a master of arcana couldn't replicate easily, because the magical ability was just a part of creating magical disguises. Shaping them was a significant part of the challenge, and thankfully, my subterfuge skill was ready to assist me in that area.

But just as I was about to put the last touches in my illusionary disguise, an exhausted look, I remembered arcana wasn't my only magical skill anymore. I carefully gathered my mana, just a dash of it, and spread it into my body, to look like I was exhausted.

[HP -20]

A pained yelp escaped my mouth as I lost control of the spell. Apparently, experimenting with an unfamiliar spell while targeting myself was unwise. Who could have guessed?

While it was tempting to play around to get it right, I was rather short on time, so once again, I went back to my illusion skills to give the impression that I was slightly exhausted, then dashed towards the last location I had seen Helga.

Luckily, she was still at the last place I had left her, a book open in front of her. She didn't look like she was paying attention though, the dreamy look on her face suggested her mind was on something other than the dusty tome open in front of her. From her rather persistent blush, and her shy smile, I could make an accurate guess about her dreams.

Unfortunately, I needed to break her from her happy daydreams. I walked into the opening. Helga looked up, distracted by my sudden intrusion. When she saw me, she smiled at first, then noticed my haphazard state. "Orlin, is something wrong?"

"Yeah," I answered as I walked near her, but didn't bother sitting next to her. "I have just talked with the caravan master. We're going to leave early morning, tomorrow."

Helga said nothing, but her hand, clamping onto mine, tight enough to actually hurt despite the obvious difference in strength and endurance, conveyed her desperate sadness more than words could. I sat on the seat next to her, allowing her to process the situation. At least, I owed her that much. There was no hiding the tears that were slipping from her eyes. "So soon," she murmured minutes later, a whisper so low that it required me to stretch my enhanced hearing to the maximum to catch a glimpse of it.

I gently caressed her hair and pulled her to my chest, which made spill her tears even faster. I could understand where she was coming from. Like me, she was alone for years in the Silver Tower, but unlike my previous state, she had an understanding of what that loneliness meant.

"Unfortunately, things end," I murmured. "Being nomads give us a different understanding of relationships. In our tribe, we don't measure the relationships based on its longevity, because we never know whether we would survive enough to meet again. We believe everything is valued by the impact it created, feelings it awakened, and memories that remained. And what we have a beautiful one."

[+1 Speech]

My words only made her cry harder, but it wasn't a bad thing. Instead, I let her continue to cry as she got louder and louder, trying to process the shock. It was the most emotional I saw her being, which told me that my actions might have larger impacts than I might have thought. It wasn't enough to change anything in my master strategy, but maybe some little tweaks were necessary.

My self-inspection didn't survive for long. She started kissing me without a warning, pulling my attention back to the present in a memorable manner. This time, I followed her rhythm, my arms gently wrapped around her neck. She deserved that much consideration. The kiss stretched for a long while, conveying everything she wanted to say but couldn't find the words for.

[+200 Experience]

[Achievement: Sensual Sendoff. A beautiful, emotional kiss that conveys feeling after an emotional farewell talk. +300 Experience, +2 Charisma]

When she pulled away from the kiss and jumped up on her feet, I thought that she had been overwhelmed with emotions and wanted to get away. And when she started walking away, it seemed that my assumption was correct. At that moment, I decided to let her go, allowing her to process the departure however she wished. The least I could do after the bastardy I had subjected her to.

But two steps later, I realized that she was still holding my hand, trying to pull me along. In a rare development, I was stuck in place, surprised by the sudden development. "Come on, let's walk," she said as she tugged her hand once more, a sudden determination on her face overcoming sadness in her tear-streaked face.

"Where," I couldn't help but ask.

"A hidden place, to make a memory both of us would remember fondly forever, one that would burn bright in our memories," she said. That clued me what was about to happen, and I followed her. It didn't take long for me to recognize the path we were taking. Ironically, to the same location Cornelia had subjected her to the bondage.

While we walked, I could feel her casting several spells, each targeting her own face. When she next turned to me, at the same opening I watched her resist Cornelia's crop to get scraps of information as a reward, her face was clean, tear tracks and redness gone, replaced by a soft make-up. A utilitarian application of magic, I took note in amusement for a moment, before she clamped on my lips once more, this time with a lot of tongue, promising passion and desire...

When she pulled back for a moment, I didn't think that she had changed her mind, because I could feel her gathering magic in the familiar shape of a proximity ward, which she established in a speed that would surpass mine, but not with a great margin, which gave me confidence that I was finally showing some decent improvement in my magical abilities.

But constructing wards weren't the only thing she was doing. She used one of her hands to create shapes into the air in temporary anchors, while the other danced over the buttons of her robe, determined to free her body from its restrictive cover. As a gentleman, I did the kind thing and followed her lead, my cloak and shirt meeting with the floor at the same time with her robe.

She licked her lips with lust as she examined my chest, its tanned looks a part of the illusion I had set up, but the muscles were all real, another gift of my enhanced stats. I waited until she completed the second ward, ensuring not a wisp of sound would escape its confines. Meanwhile, I carefully examined the hidden spots which I used earlier to great benefit, ensuring that they were empty.

When the construction of the ward finished, she jumped at me with a palpable desire, throwing her shirt away, revealing a utilitarian corset underneath. Her body deserved something sexier, but I didn't make it a problem. After all, it wasn't going to stay on for long.

She hit my body with great speed, but I was ready, and it didn't even shake me. Her legs wrapped around my waist to keep her afloat while her lips met with mine with a desire that surpassed even her previous kiss. Her grip around my waist was tight enough to keep her in place without slipping, and her arms were around my neck for further support, but nevertheless, I placed my hands on her bottom.

Purely to help her, of course. What ulterior motive could I have in putting my hands into her plump bottom? And if my hands had slipped under her skirt while doing that, I could guarantee that it was an accident.

But as our tongues battled for supremacy, one of my hands decided to get a solo adventure. It climbed upward until it found the strings that kept her corset together, and pulled them open one by one, in a sensuous pace that contrasted greatly with her frantic kisses, every little caress on a recently freed section of her back increasing her pace further, something I was happy to match.

Her corset stayed in place even after it was completely untied, pinned in place between our pressing bodies. Something I wanted to find a solution. In the end, I decided to stick with the basics, and slipped my hand into her short hair, and pulled her head back. A moan escaped her mouth as she pulled back, and her corset slid away, finally revealing her beautiful breasts on my reach.

[+500 Experience]

I decided to do what the situation begged me to do, and buried my face in her bosom, generous in size and nakedness, enjoying the warmth of her skin most intimately. That close, I could hear her heartbeat, but frankly, I found the prospect of testing the softness of her breasts more interesting, especially after seeing their gravity-defying achievement to stay up. My hands were busy, but my lips were still available for the test, so I clamped around her breast, extracting a moan of her. A cry left her mouth when my teeth joined the test, but it didn't exactly convey unhappiness.

"They are amazing," I murmured in astonishment as I pulled back for a moment. My compliment worked wonders on her face, her arousal pushing away the last scraps of hesitance.

Even as I captured her lips once more, I took a step towards the nearest shelf, and pushed her until her back pressed tightly against it, just enough to allow her to loosen the grip of her legs without losing the position.

But then, I realized one thing, that I needed to break off the kiss to ask her to loosen her legs, so that I could remove her skirt. Luckily, there was an easier way. I grabbed the zipper, and pulled it down, and when it reached the bottom, I continued pulling, but created a small ethereal blade, a trick that had been taught by the same busty blonde that was currently coiled around me, and cut rest of the distance.

Her skirt fell on the floor, followed by her panties just a moment later. She must have hated it, because the next second, she took revenge, grabbing a hold of my pants, and melting both it and my underwear in a superior display of magic. Something I could do, but not based on the capability I revealed to her. She pulled back, a smug smile on her lips, finding a rather amusing amount of pride in her achievement.

Though her smugness melted into a panic when I shifted her a bit, aligning my shaft to her entrance. "Are you sure?" I asked her, giving her the choice, something she deserved to have under the circumstances. It didn't take long for her to construct her determination from the uneven stones of panic.

No answer left her mouth, but then again, it wasn't really necessary, not when she restarted our kiss while choosing to lower herself, my shaft sliding into her wetness, I couldn't help but moan in pleasure, as it was a sensation I had never tasted before. She lowered herself until her barrier prevented the passage, which then I destroyed with a sharp push.

She was mine!

[+2500 Experience]

[Achievement: Salacious Study. Take the virginity of a sexy bookworm in the second biggest library of the world. +1000 Experience, +4 Intelligence]

Level UP!

[Select one of the following skills: Basic Observation, Advanced Biomancy, Basic Melee]

Normally, the impressive gains of the system would have garnered significant amount attention from me, especially the skill selection, not to mention the library of the Silver Tower being the second biggest library was a very intriguing detail with a lot of implications, it was supposed to be the biggest one. But there was a limit to my patience, and having a sexy bookworm on my lap, determinedly pushing herself even deeper onto my shaft, giving me a tour of her untouched territory definitely registered as one. My attention wavering, I blindly picked the last skill on the list, and then turned my attention to more important topics.

Such as, giving my favorite blonde the best experience of her life. Carefully reading her expression, I helped her to raise herself back up, her walls, unfamiliar to a foreign presence, trying to squeeze me to death, but only managing to make the experience even more pleasurable. Our kiss oscillated between sensual sweetness and burning passion rapidly enough to give me a whiplash, but it made the moment even more special.

I pulled back to get a better view of her expression, which was a delicious mixture of pain and arousal as she wrapped her arms tighter around my neck, trying to push herself even deeper in her determination, trying to devour my shaft. I decided to help her a bit, and pushed my hips upward in a sharp motion, forcing myself deeper despite her tightness.

A pained yelp escaped her mouth, but there was no hiding the fact that she enjoyed the sensation immensely. And since her back was still against the shelf enough to provide extra support, there was no point in keeping my hands on her hips, while they could be assigned for more fruitful tasks. I grabbed her breasts, and squeezed them mercilessly. From everything I had seen, it wasn't unfair to say that her tastes fell on the rougher side. Whether it was about her personality, or it was an effect of her deal with Cornelia, I didn't know. Nor I had time to ponder, because the next notification the system gave me.

[+150 Experience] 25% experience penalty due to level equality with the target

That was unfortunate, I thought, using the full extent of my willpower to not to mutter those words loudly, as that way, ridiculous misunderstandings lay. The fact that I had limits on the experience gain was unwelcome, though made sense. Otherwise, there was nothing preventing me from being locked into a room with any random woman, and quite a bit of food and water, to infinitely grind level.

But once again, I shelved the thought, focusing on the delicate art of pleasure, my sole target being the sexiness wrapped around my presence. I rocked back and forth inside her, each push loosening her further, allowing me to slide deeper and deeper. Soon, she pushed her weight against the shelf, enjoying my presence with her eyes closed. I used the opportunity to enjoy her curvy body, covered by a thin sheen of sweat, her heartbeat strong enough to make her chest ripple...

She was beautiful.

I shifted my hands back to her hips, this time, not to keep her up, but to align her perfectly before attempting a total invasion. She moaned painfully even as her eyes jerked open, but her only response to connect for another kiss, our tongues battling once more. Even when the frequency of my pushes increased, she kept the kiss connected, though the twirls of her tongue getting more and more desperate. It wasn't hard to recognize the signals of an impending orgasm.

When she clamped around me without a warning, my only reaction was to wrap my arm around her waist. Once again I walked while carrying her around my waist, but this time, each step moved my girth inside her, which, combined with her arousal, making her cry so loudly that I feared about whether the silencing ward would be able to hold her presence.

[+750 Experience] 25% Penalty!

I actually stopped for a moment to check the ward, but her magical abilities proved strong enough to match her sexiness, so I continued my walk, each step creating another explosion of pleasure for her. Then, I sat on the table, with her still on my lap, giving her the control of the situation.

I was surprised when she started jumping up and down on my lap with a reckless abandon, surprising me with her display of initiative. For some reason, I was expecting her to be more hesitant when the situation was left to her control, but I was no way dissatisfied. Her hips moved faster with each repeat, like she was testing her rapidly expanding limits, and the sound of flesh hitting flesh filled the opening.

In her hurry, it didn't take long for her to start trembling with another climax, her eyes clouded with pleasure. Once again I wrapped my arms around her waist, this time pushing her on the table, pushing into her franticly, as I could feel my own climax closing in.

I impaled her again and again, watching her pleasure-filled face, subtly changing with each repeat, while her walls wrapped me snugly. It was truly heaven. It was a pity that I hadn't had any more time with her, that I needed to disappear after today. And even for this session, it was obvious that she was drowning under the effects of the unfamiliar pleasure. Another orgasm, I thought that she might handle, but anymore, and I wasn't sure that she could return back to her room, which would create a scandal that neither of us could handle.

With that in mind, I didn't resist the sensation to explode when she tightened with a third orgasm, though I managed to pull out, spraying her spectacular breasts with my seed, not wanting to leave her filled with my seed. With an endurance of eight, I wasn't willing to bet on chance of not impregnating her.

[+1500 Experience] 25% Penalty!

I sat on the chair, trying to catch my breath as I watched her trembling in pleasure, fighting against unconsciousness, while I fought against the temptation of sliding inside her once more.

She managed to push herself to a sitting position, and captured my lips in one last, lingering kiss, one surprisingly somber considering what had just happened. "Go," she murmured. "I want to stay inside your memory like this, in all my exhausted glory."

"As you wish, beautiful," I said, and stood up, but before leaving, captured her lips for one last lingering kiss, promising that I would remember her. I knew that it wasn't honest, but at least, she would have the special memory of our first time for an eternity... I pulled my shirt on, and created the illusion of a pant before leaving the opening. "Goodbye," I whispered, then disappeared in the depths of the library...

[Level: 8 Experience: 31140 / 36000

Strength: 6 Charisma: 14

Precision: 10 Perception: 10

Agility: 10 Manipulation: 12

Speed: 7 Intelligence: 12

Endurance: 8 Wisdom: 17

HP: 308 / 328 Mana: 460 / 520 ]

SKILLS

[Advanced Subterfuge (48/50)

Advanced Arcana [45/50]

Basic Speech 25/25

Basic Biomancy 16/25

Basic Melee 0/25 ]