Chapter 66

There was something special in being naked in the middle of the wilderness, maintaining a defensive line while simultaneously impaling a sexy redhead, whose moans echoing against the nearby hills even as waves of flames spilling out of her hands like an angry goddess.

An angry goddess that was being defiled by a demon even as she incinerated another wave of monsters...

[Companion Acquisition: Progress 94%]

Suddenly, her moans were interrupted by another slap on her tight ass. "Try casting the flame arrow again," I ordered as I watched the majority of the monster wave burn into cinders, along with their potential magical materials, but I didn't care much. None of the monsters that attacked during the current wave were particularly valuable. There were a few during the previous waves, but I had carefully picked them off by using an earth spell, shielding them from Cornelia's flames to make sure their properties weren't ruined.

Cornelia concentrated —as much as she could while she was being fucked relentlessly while also trying to accommodate rapid invasion of four fingers anally—to make three distinct sources of flame appear, floating inches away from her face before they started wrapping each other as they grow. She bit her lips to contain a moan as I chose that moment to change the pace a bit, and pulled out of her tight tunnel, only to invade her puckered hole with my shaft.

Impressively, she managed to maintain control of the flame arrow, and even directed it toward a wounded monster about twenty feet away, killing it easily. "I did it," she gasped in elation.

"You did it," I approved. Technically, the spell construction was shoddy and unbalanced, making it impossible for her to target anything farther than fifty feet, but I decided to let it slide. She had just learned the spell, after all, not to mention she was trying to cast it under some really challenging conditions. "Now, it's time for a reward-" I started, only to be interrupted by an earth-shattering roar, and the ground started to shake.

I was already summoning an air elemental as a humongous creature appeared in the sky, diving toward us. The creature was larger than an elephant, with the body shape of a lion, but with wings reminiscent of a bat and a tail filled with poisonous needles.

A manticore. How convenient.

Manticores were creatures deserving of their infamy. Technically, an adult manticore could reach up to class thirty, which turned it into a veritable danger. Even an immature one like we were facing was just below class twenty, which technically meant that it shouldn't be about as strong as a golden lion. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. The monster classification was measured based on the experience the monster generated, which in turn was determined by the strength and stability of a soul space of a monster. Indeed, in terms of pure power or melee combat, a golden lion could easily rival a young manticore.

However, for a Manticore, there was no such thing as a fair fight for a manticore. Both its bite and its tail was covered by a deadly venom, a bite enough to kill a dire elephant in minutes. The venom in its tail spikes was weaker, but even more dangerous considering it can use them as a ranged weapon, each shake of its tail spreading eight-inch pointy bone needles, sharp enough to penetrate nonmagical steel plates, delivering their venom if the initial penetration hadn't already slain the target. Add in its great mobility due to its flying ability, and a thick mane to protect its vitals, no doubt people were scared of it.

It wasn't all bad, however. While the experience reward it bequeathed might be subpar compared to the sheer danger it presented, the value of its magical materials more than compensated for it. Killing it would make sure that I had reached the target for the day. I could have killed it easily, but why would I, when I could conveniently use it as an opportunity to finally complete the companion process. And if the bonus she received was good enough, maybe she could even take it down her own.

Cornelia gasped in shock as she tried to pull back, but I grabbed her waist and hoisted her on top of my elemental mount, keeping her on my lap, and using the opportunity to slide back in her warm tunnel. "Don't worry about defending, but killing it is your job," I whispered into her ear. "Prove to me that I didn't waste my time by leveling you up and educating you."

"I will," she gasped determinedly even as she raised her hand, conjuring a flame spear while I directed the fake air elemental to lift off. Manticores could fly, but luckily, a young one didn't have the agility of a mature one in the air. As a result, Cornelia easily nailed it with her flame spear, making it roar in pain.

[Companion Acquisition: Progress 97%]

I didn't stop flying, a decision that was vindicated when the manticore appeared from the cloud of smoke, slightly singed. If it was easy to take down it by a simple fire spell, they wouldn't have their fearsome reputation, after all. Cornelia followed her initial attack by an even more impressive display, conjuring three flame spears at the same time, but the result was still the same —except creating a bigger cloud of smoke.

The manticore responded by a rain of its deadly needles, but I conjured a tornado counter it, easily pushing them away. With over forty charisma, the strength of my spells had gone through another qualitative transformation, so much that I could actually hope to rival Titania as long as we fought in an open space, where I could leverage my superior mobility and regeneration. Not a bad improvement speed.

[-26 Mana]

However, as much as I enjoyed my own power-up, I couldn't be at the forefront always, so the girls needed to be stronger. "Think," I commanded even as I grabbed Cornelia's hips and lifted her a bit, only to pull her down and skewer her deep once again, delivering her some extra mana at the same time. "You need to bypass the magical resistance of its skin. Use the spell I had thought you."

[-436 Mana]

"But I can barely cast it," she countered.

"Luckily for you, it's the perfect opportunity to practice it," I said, which earned an incredulous glare from her. But I just smirked, and soon, she nodded in acceptance. I decided to cut her some slack, and stopped pumping inside her, though I was still inside her, enjoying her snug warmth, her wetness spilling to my lap. "Prove me just how good you are! Prove to me that you deserve to be the heiress of your family!"

"I will!" she shouted, her resolve finally solidified. She raised her hand, trying to conjure the special flame arrow I had taught her. It failed, but she didn't stop and continued to try, again and again.

[Companion Acquisition: Progress 98%]

On her fifth try, she managed to stabilize it enough to touch the skin of the manticore.

[Companion Acquisition: Progress 99%]

At her ninth try, her every repeat was finally hitting its skin, even though it was yet to penetrate its skin. "Good try, just a bit more," I said, declaring my trust, enhancing the impact of my words with the full impact of my charisma, which raised her morale into a fanatical frenzy.

Her eyes shone brightly. "Take this, you bastard," she cried even as she conjured another flame arrow, shining bright. It slammed at the chest of the manticore, finally penetrating its skin, making it roar in pain, its sound mixing with Cornelia's gloating cry. Not one to miss such a precious opportunity, I suddenly picked up speed, slamming inside her hard enough to trigger her climax, making her cry in pleasure, mixing with my own satisfied grunt as I painted her insides with my seed.

[Companion Acquisition: Progress 100% - Final Stage Completed +20000 Exp]

[New Perk: Empowerment (1/1)]

Level UP!

[Select one of the following skills: Grandmaster Elemental (5), Grandmaster Melee (5), Advanced Speech]

I barely needed to think before picking up my next skill. Increasing my combat abilities was never bad, but with my impending meeting with the mysterious headmistress, a better verbal ability would no doubt be more convenient.

Meanwhile, Cornelia moaned in a shocking joy, but before I could examine the changes in her soul space, she raised her hand, and conjured three flame arrows at the same time, each strong enough to easily penetrate through the Manticore's skin. "Yes! Take that!" she exclaimed in joy as she conjured another trio, this time wounding one of its wings enough to force it to land.

I examined her soul space, only to meet with three big surprises at the same time. In the first place, the vision of her soul space was much clearer. It almost felt like I was meditating to examine my own power. The second surprise was her new achievement, feeling much stronger than the others. Since it was somehow linked to my power, I was easily able to understand its power. Five full points of enhancement for her every mental stat, and two stats for every physical stat. No wonder her casting abilities suddenly increased by such a wide margin. It was hard to overstate the impact of twenty-five new mental stats, especially for someone like Cornelia who already had respectable stats.

However, even that couldn't rival the sudden sensation of connection that filled my being. Cornelia was clearly unaware of it, lacking my sensitivity to the nature of her soul space, missing the sudden channel that appeared between us, establishing a connection that persisted even when after I stopped using my tantric abilities, getting stronger each passing second.

[Permanent Perk Established: Mana Regeneration]

[Permanent Perk Established: Skill Share]

The notification I received was certainly convenient. The mana regeneration, in particular, had been vital in my rapid development, but its relatively short cooldown had been limiting my ability significantly. Its permanency meant that I was finally able to roam around however I wanted —of course, that required the permanency to not to have any range restrictions, but I hoped for it to be the case.

While my attention was split between examining the still-changing nature of our connection and the potential implications of my new benefits, Cornelia continued to rain the flames of retribution on the wounded Manticore, intent on completely eviscerate it. Luckily, the Manticore was much more agile on the ground, so it avoided most of Cornelia's attacks. If all of them had connected, it would have ruined the magical value of the manticore.

However, the real surprise came from when I suddenly received another wall of notification, suddenly appearing in front of me.

[Cornelia - Level 17/21 - 46%

Skills: Legendary Fire Magic (1/10), Master Arcana, Advanced Mana Manipulation

Perks: None

Strength: 6 / Precision: 9 / Agility: 7 / Speed: 7 / Endurance: 6

Charisma: 26 / Perception 18 / Manipulation: 22 / Intelligence: 14 / Wisdom: 16

HP: 481 / 595 — Mana: 724 / 1632 ]

I finally had a direct connection to Cornelia's abilities, rather than inferring them from the impressions in her soul space, one that I could easily call without any effort on my part. Along with it, I could feel her current state of being, and even divine her location from a great distance. All around a very convenient upgrade.

It only left one thing to try, the last perk I had received. Empowerment.

Instinctively, I could feel that it wasn't a perk that I could use on my own. No, it was designed for an external recipient. With the ease of a mental flick, I activated it, dropping its counter from one to zero.

A mysterious light covered Cornelia in an instant, her aura transforming completely. Her spells started to burn with the all might of a miniature sun, with a power that even I wouldn't be able to rival... Her spells, flying with a much greater speed, connected with the manticore, burning it to cinders.

[Achievement: Celestial Company. Elevate your companions to the next level give them the right to be on the same plane of existence as you. +3 to all stats. +15000 Experience]

[Select one of the following skills: Grandmaster Elemental (5), Grandmaster Tantric (5), Master Subterfuge]

Cornelia's enhanced abilities were interesting, almost as much as the incredible achievement I had received —both in terms of the strength it brought, and the implications of the text. However, I didn't pay attention to them except quickly selecting Subterfuge skill for my development.

No, my full attention was on Cornelia, doing my best to stop my new perk, because I could feel Cornelia burning up under the sudden rush of power, ravaging her soul space. It took me just seconds to do so, and the moment the power stopped, Cornelia collapsed like a puppet without strings. I dashed toward her, pushing my mana to analyze her soul space...

Only to find a scene of utter devastation, the borders weakened and damaged, her achievements and skills dislodged. Using my new connection just confirmed her status.

[Cornelia - Level 15/16 - 21%]

She had lost two levels, and her level cap had dropped. With her achievements roaming freely, even her stats had dropped.

Luckily for her, I already had the solution for her. I dragged her to the nearest cave and established a defensive parameter around before injecting my mana, starting the most complicated operation of my life. First, I reinforced the borders of her soul space to stop corruption, then stabilized her skills and achievements, preventing them from being lost. In comparison, neither her level nor her level cap was as important, not when I could boost them, a task that got even easier thanks to our permanent connection.

The next three hours passed in utter concentration, but as a result, not only her skills and achievements were completely cured, but I also reinforced her soul space to be even stronger than before, and using my spare mana to give back her levels.

[Cornelia - Level 17/25 - 83%]

Though, I have learned that increasing the level capacity also had a limit. It seemed to be one level lower than my own. Logical, if slightly inconvenient.

After the operation finished, I collapsed next to Cornelia, breathing hard. Even for me, operating continuously for three hours without a break was not a simple thing to achieve. Once again, I could feel the signs of mana overuse straining my body. Luckily, it wasn't as bad as before.

I waited a few minutes for my mana to recover before conjuring a mount and going back to the school, carrying a naked Cornelia in the bridal hold, her robe lost during the latest debacle. As I traveled, I couldn't help but think about the implications of my newest perk, which was even more mysterious than my other abilities, and its link with the word 'Celestial' was definitely suspicious. I could feel that with every achievement related to my unique abilities, I was getting closer to some big secret, but without reliable information, I was just fumbling helplessly... Maybe I should take the risk and raid Titania's special vault.

I met with another surprise when I arrived at school. The battle wards had been activated, covering the surrounding area with a dangerous spell. Before finding the defensive schematics in the necromancers' base, it would have taken me quite a while to sneak into the school with the wards in full alert, but using the weak areas Helga identified, I achieved that with disturbing ease. Disturbing, because it highlighted just how defenseless we were against a necromancer assault.

Dropping Cornelia in her room was even easier. But when I tried to clean her up with a quick shower, she finally woke up. "What happened?" she slurred. "I remember a bright power, followed by some explosions, then darkness..."

"Nothing much, sweetie. Just some backlash from excessive mana usage. Your body is not used to handle that much power, especially you haven't get used to your new achievement yet," I explained to her even as I helped her to clean up, for once not using the opportunity for some shower fun. Both of us were exhausted. "Just make sure that you don't use any magic for the next day. I'll visit again in the evening for another check-up."

"Thanks," she slurred with a cute smile, drunkenly. "You're the best master..."

"That I am," I said with a chuckle, amused with her changes. Paradoxically, the stronger she got, the more accepting she started to get about her own role... I helped her to change into a long nightgown before leaving, also dropping a note by Marianne to take care of Cornelia during the day, just in case.

After that, I was planning to get some sleep —and maybe developing my Speech and Subterfuge a bit— before trying to find the headmistress, but on the way back to my room, I realized that one of the dead drop locations had been activated.

Titania was finally back, and she was asking for an emergency meeting...

—

[Level: 26 Experience: 331900 / 351000

Strength: 31 Charisma: 44

Precision: 27 Perception: 30

Agility: 28 Manipulation: 33

Speed: 26 Intelligence: 37

Endurance: 25 Wisdom: 36

HP: 3513 / 3562 Mana: 3210 / 4680 ]

SKILLS

Master Melee [100/100]

Master Tantric [100/100]

Master Biomancy [100/100]

Master Elemental [100/100]

Master Subterfuge [75/100]

Expert Arcana [75/75]

Advanced Speech [25/50]

PERKS

Mana Regeneration

Skill Share

Empowerment (1/1)

COMPANIONS

[Cornelia - Level 17/25]