Chapter 28: Naughty Spying

One of the advantages of my earlier maid disguise was the great knowledge it provided me about the surroundings of the noble quarters, including where maids and other servants would be around at this time. With that knowledge, I didn't even bother to disguise myself, and just used a simple spell that allowed me to meld into the shadows, avoiding the casual attention of the visitors. With that, it didn't take long for me to arrive at Marianne's door. Unlocking it was trivial with my great magical abilities, and soon, I stepped inside, unnoticed by the occupants.

The occupants were busy with rather salacious activities if their heated moans were any indicator. And a smile appeared on my face as I registered the familiarity of their voices. One of them was naturally Marianne, which was to be expected. It was the identity of the other one that put a smile on my face, Cornelia. It had been a while since I had come across her. It was perfect timing, as I was not afraid of her anymore with my recent leveling. Just a couple hundred points would push me to the next level, and I was very enthusiastic about testing the limits of the situation.

Their voices -more moans and cries- were coming from the bedroom, so I decided to take a peek. A real one, not though the mirror trick I used against the head librarian. With a deep breath, I started wrapping the magic around myself, and soon, an advanced version of the shadow cloak was around me, good enough to hide me from the eyes of two distracted mages as long as I stuck to the corners of the room. Still, I was glad that I spent an hour meditating before visiting here, allowing me to recover a decent chunk of my mana. I was strong enough to defend myself if I revealed myself with a sudden mistake.

I carefully opened the door, ready to slam a shield to prevent a surprise attack, but the sight I met told me that it was not a concern. Cornelia and Marianne were on the bed, Marianne on all fours, and Cornelia behind her, both of them facing the other way, which made my infiltration trivially easy. I slid to a corner, under the shadow of a wardrobe, and started watching the amazing show. The situation was highly different than the previous time. For once, Cornelia had a strap-on tied around her waist, ramming against Marianne's tight hole, spanking Marianne's bottom repeatedly. Her attitude was closer to the time I had watched her torturing Helga than her usual demeanor with Marianne. She was clearly enjoying the opportunity to push forward, unaware that the road she was taking was created by the others.

However, Marianne's expression was even more interesting. She was enjoying the situation, but it was a muted enjoyment, nothing even close to the mind-blowing joy she had been enjoying under my attention. I smirked proudly, happy with the impact I had created. Then, I received a very surprising notification.

[+500 Experience]

Level UP!

[Select one of the following skills: Basic Fire, Basic Elemental, Basic Meditation]

I wasn't surprised by the new level, or the fact that I gained experience. No, I was shocked, because there was no penalty to my experience gain. I was surprised, as I wasn't expecting Cornelia to be an even higher level than me. Still, I wasn't afraid, as no matter what, as long as she wasn't above level twenty -which she obviously wasn't- I didn't have anything to worry about. The overwhelming advantage of my stats combined with my varied skill set made sure that at worst, I could retreat easily. More likely, I could easily defeat her before she could cast a high-level spell. Her flame specialization was dangerous, but slow to implement.

With that done, I focused on my new level, and after a brief consideration, picked basic elemental skill. Flame specialization offered higher damage, but specialization worked much better for my circumstances. And meditation was rather redundant, as thanks to my melee abilities, my mana expenditure was much lower compared to other mages, and my mana pool likely triple the size of anyone on the same level. High stats across the board was really useful.

With that decided, I was about to show myself when I noticed a conspicuous bundle of letters among Cornelia's discarded clothes. The same bundle of letters I had seen her keep in the magically-sealed safe in her room during my visit. I smirked. Since she was kind enough to bare her secrets in such an obvious place, who I was to reject the opportunity. Telekinesis saw that they floated to my hand, and I started reading the letters.

And to multitask, I conjured a little flame between my fingers, making it dance, soon joined by a piece of earth and a droplet of water, all wrapped with a layer of magically-charged air. It was a ludicrous display of magic that should have been impossible for anyone with just a basic skill, but a combination of my arcana ability, my stats, and the theory discussions I had with Helga, allowed me to show a capability quite a bit above expected. Even better, since I was doing it next to Cornelia -a higher-level mage that would doubtlessly attack me if noticed- it was showing extremely rapid improvement. Just ten minutes later, my skill was already full, not to mention the experience gain from watching two beauties cutting loose.

[+2000 Experience]

[+25 Elemental]

[-14 Mana]

Meanwhile, I managed to skim through the bundle of letters, and learned quite a few interesting details. They were all in cipher, but against my wisdom and intelligence, it didn't survive long, especially since she had made the mistake of basing it to an obscure arcana pattern. The first nugget of interest was the fact that Cornelia apparently hit the level cap, which she was desperately trying to find a solution to, but her searches, as expected, turned up no result. Such a thing was either impossible, or it was possible but hidden as the most important secret of an organization, effectively impossible to discover. Of course, Cornelia was aware of it as well, therefore, her real focus was to find a way to allow her to continue earning achievements despite her level cap, or failing that, trying to find clues about items and artifacts that might boost her abilities. She was simply desperate to increase her personal power.

The reason for her desperation was clarified by the other half of the letters. Thanks to her earlier fight with her caretaker, I had already known about the power struggle in her House, but I hadn't expected it to be too serious. It was a series of correspondence with a loyal spy back at House Antony, each letter grimmer than the last, informing Cornelia about her allies disappearing or pulling their support. She still had considerable support, but the trend was worrying. Apparently, her uncle was playing for keeps.

It wasn't hard to guess that her uncle was playing it safe mostly because of Cornelia's stellar increase, afraid of making a mortal enemy, instead of trying to lock her into a junior position so that even when she took the reigns of the house, she would be dependent to him. But if he had known about her hitting the level cap before even reaching level twenty...

Of course, while it was bad news for Cornelia, the same couldn't be said from my perspective. On the contrary, her vulnerable position gave me the opportunity to move in, and support her. Companion process was a long shot, but even without that, I was powerful enough to easily rival her, and unlike her, I was yet to reach my prime. And more importantly, she had no idea about how strong I could be.

I could have taken no action, but interrupting seemed a better idea considering the rest of my plan. I first established a ward that would keep anyone from feeling the magical surges unless the spells were overcharged. The establishment of such a ward was impossible to hide from people inside it, so I didn't even bother, and started clapping the moment they jumped in panic, searching for the intruder.

It didn't take long for them to find me since I also canceled the shadow cloak. "Gaius?!" Marianne managed to murmur even as she was frozen in shock once more. She really needed to learn how to handle shock better.

Cornelia, on the other hand, reacted much more predictably even as she sent a shocked glance at Marianne for recognizing the intruder. Her response came in the form of an impressively hot firebolt, her sweaty body's shine gaining an ethereal quality under the sudden flash of redness. Combined with her crimson hair, she looked like a goddess of war.

Therefore, it was amusing to see her confident expression crumble when I waved my hand, and a small sheet of water appeared on the path of the firebolt, extinguishing it easily, partly because of the elemental mismatch, and partly because I subtly reinforced it with an arcana matrix. It was unnecessarily expensive, spending twenty mana where I could have just used four, but the sudden turn was enough to make Cornelia freeze, which was what I needed. From her perspective, I was a strong water expert, a rather dangerous match against her, especially in closed space and a bath next door giving me unlimited material. "Who are you?" Cornelia asked as she raised her arms defensively, flames burning in her palms. And thanks to her lack of clothes, and earlier sexual activities, I was awarded with a chunk of bonus experience.

[-20 Mana]

[+1000 Experience]

I took a step forward, using my subterfuge skill to seem utterly relaxed and confident even though a defensive spell was ready to flicker into existence instantly. "I'm Gaius, as Marianne kindly informed you," I said smugly as I closed in the distance. "But you might know me as the mule," I added, watching as a completely different shock invading her face. Before she could say anything, I cut in. "I know, how can it be, weren't you supposed to be an idiot, and other such nonsense. The easiest explanation is that everything you know about me is a lie, and I have my own objectives that needed to fulfill by playing along, and now that those are complete, I'm free to act. How's that for a summary?"

"Very clear," Cornelia managed to answer, managing to recover a semblance of control during my explanation. But that clarity reminded her of a very important detail. She was still completely naked, and a glistening strapon was tied to her waist. She pulled the covers on herself, ignoring Marianne's circumstances as she still tried to control her shock. "So, why are you here?"

"Well, I was here to visit Marianne, to ask payment for my earlier assistance," I said bluntly, not hesitating for a second before implicating Marianne. Marianne's gaze danced between Cornelia and me helplessly, but found only amusement at mine, and anger at Cornelia's. No doubt that Cornelia was thinking Marianne betrayed her, which was perfect for my needs, allowing me to interject myself between them as Marianne's protector. "But since I had learned about your circumstances, I decided to offer my help."

"Marianne-" Cornelia exclaimed, her anger flaring as she came to the wrong conclusion, her flaming hands turning to her bedmate, but once again, I was prepared, and a column of water flew from the bathroom, covering both while also turning the bed into a soaked mess -which I could use for follow-up spells.

"Stop, it wasn't her," I explained even as Marianne jumped off the bed, fear in her eyes as she dashed towards me, ignoring her nakedness, or the way her generous bosom tumbled with each hurried step. She hid behind me, her shivering little to do with her wet state. "You were the one silly enough to bring a full complement of notes of your little rebellion," I countered.

"Impossible, they are coded with a-" she tried to say, but I cut her off by creating a floating sample of the exact diagram that she used to hide her letters.

"Yeah, it took me a minute to solve the cipher. You might think about finding a better one," I said, reinforcing my image even further. I took a step forward, quite happy to see that Cornelia, the flaming witch that everyone was afraid of, slid back, reflexively pulling the cover up like a little child trying to hide from the big bag monster. It would be lying to say I didn't find her fear exhilarating.

However, rather than continuing to walk, I pulled the chair closer and -just to rub salt into the wound- wrapped my arm around Marianne's waist, pulling her on my lap. She whimpered, but her arm still wrapped around my torso tightly for assurance. After seeing Cornelia's anger, she subconsciously shifted sides already. I just needed to reinforce it. From the sudden tightening on her face, I could see that Cornelia realized that she fucked up and sent an apologizing glance at Marianne, which she ignored in favor of snuggling into my chest. The disappointment was clear on Cornelia's face, not to mention jealousy as she watched her girlfriend snuggle in my lap despite her nakedness.

[+500 Experience]

"Your concern about my choice of cipher is noted," Cornelia murmured, trying to seem confident and regal, but it was a hard image to pull off when she was still drenched after my latest assault, and wrapped with an equally drenched bed cover. "However, I'm sure it's not the only comment you have after reading my most important secrets."

"Of course not," I said even as I moved my hand, grabbing Marianne's breast. She didn't like my brazen act of molesting her girlfriend without paying even the slightest concern for her opinion, but other than a flicker of flame between her fingers, she managed to control her anger. "I was actually thinking about helping you?"

[+500 Experience]

"Why would you do that?" she said dismissively. "You have read everything. I have no hope of victory against my uncle, and you can get an easy reward by just writing a letter." She let out a dismissive chuckle as she pulled the sheet tighter. "It's obvious that I can't stop you."

I had to admit, for someone thinking that her fate was in tethers, she was surprisingly resilient, far better than I would have given her credit for. That impression, more than anything, made me change my plans for her ultimate fate, though I was still going to tame her before elevating her. "Well, that's true, but you need to ask yourself. What would I gain if I brought the news to your uncle? A few thousand gold, a minor title, or a magical weapon if he was feeling extremely generous." Her expression changed as I dismissed the possibility of those rewards easily, as they were enough that even most of her noble peers wouldn't dare to turn their nose at them, especially if they could gain it with little effort. Even just the positive impression from a ruling lord would be enough for them to sell Cornelia out. But I had other plans.

"And what do you expect me to give you?" she said coldly.

"That can be discussed later," I said with a dismissive wave even though my other hand had long disappeared between Marianne's legs, caressing her wet folds. "I don't expect you to commit to anything before I prove my ability to deliver."

[+1000 Experience]

"And what can you deliver?" she countered, trying to sound dismissive to get a semblance of control, but it was impossible for her to hide the sudden bloom of hope underneath.

I smirked even as I continued to finger Marianne, who failed to keep her moans under control. Deep, throaty moans that Cornelia failed to earn despite her best efforts just minutes ago. "I think I should keep that part as a surprise for now," I said even as I subtly cast a spell. It was a simple one that opened my zipper and pulled down my pants, and Marianne's moans intensified when she felt the presence of my shaft trapped under her naked butt. "However, I can give you a hint. I could have easily taken control of my family and relaxed as the ruling lord with my power, but I have spent the last several years undercover in the biggest library of the world," I said, once again ignoring the fact that the library's supposed the second-largest status according to the system. "Now, imagine what I might have, and why I'm confident enough to help you."

"Do you have-" Cornelia started, only to be silenced when I raised my hand in warning.

"We will discuss it later," I said, then shifted my hands to Marianne's bottom, and lifted her up. Then, without a warning, I pulled her down, taking her virginity without a warning.

[+3000 Experience]

[Achievement: Daring Defilement. Brazenly snatch the most valuable treasure of a noble lady in front of her significant other with a higher level. +2000 Experience, +5 Charisma]

[Companion Acquisition: Progress 1%]

I smirked, enjoying the sudden silence that filled the room, both girls shocked by my action. Cornelia's eyes were burning with obvious anger, but the rewards I dangled in front of her was just good enough to prevent her from acting. Marianne was just bad at managing surprises, so she simply followed my lead and started grinding her hips despite her dazed expression. Marianne's companion process was a nice surprise, probably triggered by Cornelia's sudden betrayal and my protection, and the impression further solidified by my decisive victory.

Just to drive the situation even further, I unleashed the full impact of my charisma to the surface, but geared toward subtle intimidation. Thanks to the addition of my last achievement, my charisma had reached a devastating level, maybe even to a point of matching the display the head librarian had displayed.

As a result, Cornelia stiffened, her anger replaced with a healthy dose of fear instead. "I better go," she murmured and quickly dressed, trying not to look at her freshly-spoiled ex-girlfriend and the rather impressive shaft that was in the process of ruining her, but it was hard for her to avoid it when my charisma worked like a magnet, pulling her gaze to the epicenter.

"Sure, I'll visit you in your room tomorrow evening, and we can talk in detail," I said casually, like invading her living space was nothing more than a trivial chore. Just as she was about to leave, I added one parting shot, just to drive the fact that I conquered her girlfriend in her presence. After all, it was good to finally take revenge for her almost killing me.

"Also, feel free to join us whenever you feel lonely. I'm sure Marianne wouldn't mind your presence."

—

[Level: 14 Experience: 101300 / 105000

Strength: 17 Charisma: 24

Precision: 12 Perception: 13

Agility: 14 Manipulation: 17

Speed: 12 Intelligence: 16

Endurance: 13 Wisdom: 18

HP: 952 / 952 Mana: 864 / 1232 ]

SKILLS

[Master Melee [68/100]

Expert Arcana [75/75]

Advanced Subterfuge [50/50]

Advanced Biomancy [50/50]

Basic Speech [25/25]

Basic Elemental [25/25] ]