Fourth Day of Vacation (3)

“What did you say?”

“Just kidding. The size is a bit ambiguous, though. Do those horns get bigger?”

“They do grow… But I don’t think I’ll be using them for what you have in mind.”

“And how would you know what I have in mind?”

Was I too obvious? Maybe women don’t immediately think ‘handles’ when they see horns…

“Looks like you do know. Then again, a pervert like you would be a natural at figuring that stuff out.”

“Whatever.”

“Anyway, how is it? Feel like you’ve gotten better?”

“Yeah.”

My ‘Body Enhancement’ was now Level 5.

A base of Level 2, plus one level from ‘Ability’ and two more from ‘Manifestation’.

On top of that, my Strength had increased by 15% from 80, bringing it to 92.

I could feel an abundance of power even without activating Body Enhancement.

It was a truly broken skill. ‘Demonic Horns’ was more than worth its price—or rather, its Essense.

After manifesting the horns, I circulated Essense throughout my body to enhance it.

Swaaaa—I could feel the Essense spreading through me.

This was Level 5 Body Enhancement?

It was on a completely different level from back in the Spider Cave.

I had used partial enhancement by concentrating Essense back then, but looking back, it was barely different from just reinforcing my whole body.

And it even used less Essense.

When I stretched out my arm, the Essense shot to my fingertips—shooook—and when I kicked my leg up, it surged to the tips of my toes—swaaah.

“Oh.”

“What is it?”

“It’s been a while, so it feels a little different.”

“How long has it been? Try enhancing your hand and hitting mine.”

“Full power?”

“Yeah. Don’t worry.”

“Don’t blame me if you regret this.”

The Essense flowing through my arm surged like a wave, gathering from my upper arm to my elbow, from my elbow to my forearm, and from my forearm past my wrist, condensing into my fist.

Shhhk—

Pow!

It was a sound that couldn’t possibly come from the clash of mere flesh and bone.

But the moment my fist struck Yoo Yi-jun’s palm, the mana flowing in his hand wavered, and it felt as if my point of impact had been deflected.

But Yoo Yi-jun looked surprised. His eyes were naturally narrow, so they didn’t go wide and round, but they opened as far as they could.

“Whoa, you’ve really improved.”

“Really? It felt like my aim was off.”

“That’s a defensive technique I use; I’ll teach you later. But you’ve improved a ton. You’re even partially using issuing force. Did they make a mistake giving you a C-rank registration? You look like a B-rank, easy.”

“My growth rate is a little on the fast side.”

A growth rate praised as promising even in the massive Elemental guild.

“I don’t think ‘fast’ even begins to cover it… Hasn’t it been less than a week since you first tried this?”

“Has it?”

“You’re the kind of talent I’d want to recruit for the guild, no ulterior motives involved. The kind we have to recruit.”

“What? So you were trying to get me to join for selfish reasons before?”

“Of course. Besides, your mana flow is much smoother, and seeing you use issuing force already shows how fast you learn. At this rate, we’ll be done in no time today.”

“Really? Then let’s hurry up.”

“Impatient, are we? That eager to get started?”

“Shut up and get on with it.”

*

The principle behind issuing force with mana (or in my case, Essense) is the same.

It’s a technique that aims for the maximum possible impact by accelerating the entire body in sequence, with the added step of transferring the mana from each body part to the next during the acceleration.

You gather as much mana as possible and—bam!—release it at the point of impact.

The more smoothly you can make the mana flow, the stronger the impact. This flow of mana has various applications beyond just attacking.

“…For example, you said it felt like your aim was off when you hit me earlier, right? That was me using the flow of mana to divert the mana in your strike and reduce its power. …Come to think of it, it’s amazing you even noticed that.”

“I’m something of a genius.”

“Alright, then let’s start with a strike using your whole body. I’ll show you slowly, so watch.”

Yoo Yi-jun started by stomping his foot—thump.

“Like this, you channel mana into your foot and stomp the ground. A solid footing is crucial for a strike—”

Then, he began to slowly rotate his body from the ground up.

“—and using that recoil, you pull the mana from your foot upward, sequentially gathering the mana from your ankle, calf, knee, thigh, and waist—”

He slowly turned his hips, and in time with the movement, he slowly extended his fist.

“—past your waist, abdomen, chest, and shoulder, through your arm and into your fist—”

As it reached the point of impact, there was a small pop. Even though he’d thrown the punch slowly, it still made a sound.

“—and that’s it. You can do it, right? Give it a try.”

When I tried it, I more or less got the hang of it.

Instead of just pouring in Essense, it was about focusing the flow that was already circulating through my body, so the Essense consumption was low.

“Just get a feel for it today and practice on your own. Next is kicking. The principle of issuing force is the same for this, too.”

Yoo Yi-jun demonstrated again, then told me to practice.

I got the hang of this one, too.

“There you go. From now on, practice this, and once you get used to it, you can find a fighting style that suits you.”

Then, he pulled something from his coat. Looking closer, it was a dagger in a sheath.

Yoo Yi-jun spoke as he slowly rotated the wrist of the hand holding the dagger.

“The principle of issuing force can also be applied to weapons. You can always infuse a weapon with mana to enhance it, but if you forcefully channel mana into it at the moment of a slash or thrust using this principle, you can achieve a much greater effect.”

He swung the dagger casually.

His shoulder moved slowly, but the speed increased toward his fingertips until the dagger was moving so fast it became a blur, making a sound as it sliced through the air.

“So it’s a good idea to find a weapon that suits you. Still, it’s important to master hand-to-hand combat first. Got it?”

“Okay. So, are we done for today? But it feels like you rushed through the end a bit.”

“Was it that obvious?”

Obvious. Way too obvious.

I could see his dick pointing to the sky as we neared the end.

As if sensing my gaze, Yoo Yi-jun approached with a smile.

He met my eyes and wrapped his arms around my body. His dick pressed against my stomach.

“So, how was today’s lesson?”

It was quite useful.

…And he gave me plenty of Essense.

He gives the most out of the three of them.

Of course, he’s the hardest to see, but I guess his strength means he gives a lot of Essense and has a lot of work.

I met Yoo Yi-jun’s slowly approaching lips with my own.

*

I can still taste semen in my mouth.

Salty and fishy, but with an unidentifiable sweetness.

Is this what semen normally tastes like? I don’t know if it’s because I’m a succubus or if it’s always like this.

Not that I’m curious enough to revert to my male form and try it.

Yoo Yi-jun had whined about wanting to hold my horns and cum in my mouth, but I didn’t let him since they’re still too small.

—You have to feed my upper mouth some cum, too. The lower one has eaten plenty.

So I just used my mouth…

—When they get bigger, I can hold them, right?

—If our relationship lasts that long.

—So it’s possible, at least? I’ll work hard.

—God.

[Essense: 2923/6042]

I used 145 Essense for Body Enhancement and gained 702 from his third ejaculation.

I learned quite a few things this time.

First, that the efficiency of ‘Body Enhancement’ relative to its Essense cost has skyrocketed.

Second, how to use ‘Innate Vital Energy Absorption’.

When Yoo Yi-jun came inside me, beyond the sensation of semen flowing in, I felt as if ‘some kind of passage had opened’.

I had a feeling I could take something through that passage. That must be the Innate Vital Energy.

But I didn’t take it.

He’s only been helpful to me so far, so is there any need to harm him by taking his vital energy?

He’s a criminal, sure, but I don’t know exactly what crimes he commits. (He’s definitely a criminal because of the unregistered gate.)

And then there was this.

[Kiss of Subjugation: Imprint a limited number of ‘Marks of Subjugation’ by kissing. The number and effect of the ‘Marks of Subjugation’ are determined by the proficiency of the skill (A): Kiss of Subjugation.]

[Mark of Subjugation: A target imprinted with the ‘Mark of Subjugation’ will have their mental defenses greatly weakened against the Mark’s owner and will perceive the effects of the skill (A): Devil’s Whisper as suggestions even from a distance.
Target: Yoo Yi-jun]

The effect of ‘Kiss of Subjugation’ was also immense.

The fact that their mental defenses were greatly weakened seemed to mean they’d be defenseless against ‘Devil’s Whisper’, and since they’d be affected even from a distance…

They literally become ‘subjugated’ to me.

Hmm, good thing I didn’t take his Innate Vital Energy. If he’s going to be subjugated, it’s better if he’s in good shape.

The only thing that bothers me is—

“You can take off the blindfold now. We can part ways here. See you later. Call me when you have time. I’ll call you when I do, too.”

Yoo Yi-jun said his goodbyes. We were already back at the place where I’d first met him today.

The fact that he fell for me like that wasn’t an effect of the ‘Subjugation’.

I was just trying to stir up his emotions to get a bit more Essense, but I got caught up in the mood…

I’m not normally like this—or at least, not this much.

Could it be the influence of the ‘Succubus’ trait?

Anyway, how many people can I subjugate?

Ding—

[Skill (A): Kiss of Subjugation (Lv.1+1) (1/2)]

The level is… 1+1? So, 2?

It seems I can have up to two people, probably because the skill is Level 2. Judging by the (1/2) next to it. The ‘1’ must be Yoo Yi-jun.

Hmm, who should I use the other slot on?

By the way, that +1 on the level means—

[Demonic Horns – Ability: Lv.3
– Magic Power +6%
– Max Essense +200%
– Skill (P): Essense Absorption +2 Levels
– Skill (P): Magic Absorption +2 Levels
– Skill (P): Flowing Lust +1 Level
– Skill (A): Devil’s Whisper +1 Level
– Skill (A): Kiss of Subjugation +1 Level
– Skill (A): Body Recovery +1 Level
– Skill (A): Body Enhancement +1 Level]

It was you, after all. Is it applied automatically? ‘Demonic Horns’ is so broken, no matter how many times I look at it.

[Skill (A): Demonic Horns – Enhancement (0/4000)]

[Essense: 2923/6042]

If I get just over 1,000 more Essense, I can raise the level again. I can get that much from two ejaculations. Since you usually cum more than twice during one session of sex… I just need to do it once.

It’s such a broken skill that I want to level it up whenever I can. The next level will probably require 8,000 Essense, since the requirement has been doubling each time: 1,000, 2,000, then 4,000.

Essense has many uses, like converting it to Mana or using it for Body Enhancement, but ‘Demonic Horns’ won’t level up unless you fill the entire experience bar for the next level. So it’s best to fill it all at once when the opportunity arises.

If I fill it up little by little whenever I get some Essense, what do I do when I actually need that Essense for something else?

I can manage to gather 4,000 all at once, but 8,000 will be tough. That’s why I want to gather the 4,000 and level it up before I have to go back to the guild, if possible.

Me: You free tomorrow?

Choi Shin-woo: Nah, can’t.

Choi Shin-woo: Btw where are you using all that mana? We did it just 3 days ago.

Choi Shin-woo: Oh wait, we did it the morning before that too, right?

Me: It’s not for that, you idiot.

Me: Is that the only thing on your mind?

It’s true, but I’m just annoyed.

Choi Shin-woo: Oh really? sry sry

Choi Shin-woo: Then what’s up?

Me: If you’re not free tomorrow, then never mind. It’s nothing.

Choi Shin-woo: You’re not mad, are you? Call me if you need Essense.

Me: ㅗ

Choi Shin-woo was busy.

Yoo Yi-jun had left in a hurry for work.

And I couldn’t just approach Nam Han-yul, since he thinks I’m a figure from his dreams.

That’s when my eyes fell on ‘Seo A-gyeol’s’ Awakener registration card.

As if possessed, I went to the ‘Expedition’ guild’s website and registered as a freelancer.

I entered my Awakener registration number, put in my information, and for the ID… hmm, I’ll go with AG.S, and for the nickname, I’ll just use one of those barcode-style names.

[Congratulations on joining, AG.S.]

[Notice: Register as an ‘Associate Guild Member’ for great benefits!]

From the [Recruitment Board] to ‘Small Groups’.

Looking through the posts here (especially those written by freelancers), you can sometimes find ones with strange objectives.

[Awakened a massage skill. Anyone want to try it out?]

Stuff like this…

Anyway, they really don’t moderate this place. What the hell is a ‘massage skill’?

His intentions are clearly impure, so he might make a good first test subject for ‘Innate Vital Energy Absorption’.

And I happen to have one day of vacation left.

Should I do it, or not?