"Are we really going to accept?" the demon asked, looking at the proposed Oath with diffidence.
Zery was also frowning, but for a whole different reason. "More importantly, is the System trying to force its way into our bond?"
That, at least, was clarified right away. The System stirred, a second message window appearing right on top of the one with the Oath proposal, urgent and written in big, bold letters.
Your bond is sacred and inviolable. I cannot, nor will I ever attempt to, force myself into it.
There was a strange, almost human earnestness to the text as if the simple letters could carry emotion and subtext in ways we were hardwired to understand and recognize. It hit me, then, that the System was everywhere and even with all its limitations, nigh all-powerful.
Vespera wrinkled her nose, hearing my thoughts and not liking them at all. "It could be lying."
I exhaled slowly. "It could. It could also instakill us. The question is, do we accept or not?"
"Is it even up for debate?" Elyra asked. "The void that eats all magic will destroy the world; we cannot just pretend it will not affect us."
"The angel's right," Zery said.
I nodded. "Alright. Good. I wanted to be sure. Before we accept, though. What happens when we move to another sector?"
Nothing.
"Nothing?" I pressed. "No binding Oaths or obligations? What about levels?"
Vespera tugged at my shirt. "We need to come back here to level anyway, Sol. We are kind of stuck."
Zery rolled her eyes. "So much for being free. I am taken by a sudden wanderlust."
Regarding levels, I will be able to negotiate on your behalf with the other sectors. They will take the offered energy because it is their due, but they might recognize your status as agents or, at the very least, grant a standard percentage return on the tithed energy.
"Which is?" I asked.
It varies based on the class rarity. Yours is… is… is…
"System?" Vespera demanded, staring. "What the fuck?"
Apologies. You will be required to come back here, after all. Moreover, I do not know what will happen should Calla Nightguard attempt to leave the sector. She is my Anchor, and for it to be able to move, let alone be a sentient person, was never accounted for. Once you reach the edges of the sector, you will have to decide what to do. Regarding your class and the energy tithe, I promise to give back to you 100% of the energy you make available to me. If I take any to sustain myself, I will pay you back once I get income from other sources.
"Sounds like a bribe," Vespera commented.
"That's a lot to unpack," Calla said, speaking for the first time in a while. "At least the System is being as clear as possible. Oh," she said, eyes glazing over. "It urges us to consider our options quickly. It can't keep the communication open with us for much longer. Already it feels the kill code circle around it like a shark."
"Figures," Vespera said, rolling her eyes. "Just to be clear, how much would, say, an S-tier class get?"
10% of the tithed energy.
She bit her lips with her fangs. "I say we accept the bribe, Sol. Even if we need to return. Ten times the gains of an S-tier class? You crazy? Besides, I can already think of ways to use the bond to our advantage there. Like, if any of us gains flight, then they can carry the cores and lock in the gains for the whole party. Stuff like that."
She looked at Zery when she mentioned flight, and the dragon shifted subtly. Unfortunately for her, the bond was wide open and we could all feel the sheer euphoria at the thought of soaring the skies once more. Then she was reminded of the chains around her wrists, and her whole body sagged.
Chains that could be broken right now if we took the System's offer, I was sure.
I inhaled. "Alright. Let's do it."
I waited, in case anyone wanted to add anything, even though I knew they had nothing else to say. Or rather, there was a lot to talk about but nothing that would change what we were about to do and, as Calla said, time was at a premium.
"We'll need to swear all together," I said.
And so we did. The System stirred, expending a truly ludicrous amount of energy to seal the Oath in stone, and then it held to its word. All the energy it had available, save what it needed to continue operating in Perseverance's End or to fend off the machine's kill code, was directed towards the bond.
And thus, a new skill was born.
New Skill - Power of Love 1
"Cheesy," Vespera commented.
"Read the description," I said.
Upgraded from [Aspect Manifestation]. Love is the foundation of your bond, and love binds together, transcending all barriers. You can merge your magics seamlessly.
We didn't even speak. Zery sniffled, her face streaked by tears running down her wet cheeks, making little pools of water where they got caught in her scales.
She was so beautiful.
She was trying to keep her emotions in check, trying not to get her hopes up, fearing they would get squashed again like so many times already. We didn't let her. This was it, we felt. The System itself gave us this skill for this very reason. It even swore a damn Oath to help us! This had to work.
I held out my hands. Elyra and Vespera took them, and then the angel sought out Calla's hand while the demon touched Zery's body.
"Ready?" I asked.
"You do the honors, Sol," Vespera said softly. She breathed, trying to hide her emotional state and failing.
I smiled warmly at her, then hardened my resolve as my gaze went to Zery.
"We are finally going to free you, my dragon," I said.
"Charmer," she muttered. "We'll see now, if you can keep your ambitious promises."
I was sure I could. But I liked her teasing, and let it flow through me as I closed my eyes and opened myself up to the bond. The last barriers keeping our individuality separate crumbled.
◈◈◈
For a moment, I am back in my hauler, staring out into space. The place is different from last time, however. The ship itself feels much more spacious on one hand, and much more cramped on the other. Instead of the sterile, barren metal of the walls that was all function and no form, now the walls are adorned by trinkets and decoration. I can recognize the style of each of my girls in the various knickknacks.
Plants remind me of Calla. Little potted things, succulents and bonsais, but also vines dangling from above.
Vespera's touch is much more in line with my memories, for some reason. Then I remember. She had pretended not to like it, but last time we were here she had heard the music blasting through the speakers and had liked it! Posters, dark feathered… things. Chains. Gothic decorations. Nice stuff.
Elyra's efforts go the other way. She must have looked into my memories and decided to assume the pastel-goth e-girl persona or something, because everywhere I see pink, light blue, yellow and lots of cutesy plushies.
Then there's Zery. Like all others, her touch is unmistakable. Everything that has to do with water, the abyss and… huge bones, for some reason. Entire huge tanks filled with water at immense pressures, with monsters lurking and glowing jellyfish roaming about.
Luckily this whole place is just a projection, right?
Looking out the windows, I see four little ships reflecting the colors and decorations of the inside. They fly in formation around my hauler, speeding into the great unknown together. The space around us is fuzzy and indistinct, like a syrupy galaxy or nebula that doesn't obey the rules of physics.
The girls are in my ship, but they are plugged into the navigation systems of their ships through something that looks very much like a neuro-stim device. To me, they look peacefully asleep, their bodies in soft cradles. They know I'm here, they can see what I see, but for a moment I feel utterly alone.
Rather than crushing me, however, the sensation soothes me. It gives me space to think and relax. What I am about to do is momentous, and so I take what time I can in this little corner of myself I have and share with them. Time outside is dilated five times now, up from the three times back when there were three of us.
I run my fingers through Zery's silken hair. It's murky white, and a couple of strands have tangled up on her horns. The horns are tough and smooth, but they look like coral. Under my touch, she shifts a little, mumbling in her not-sleep, leaning into me.
I sigh. It's time.
I take command of the ship, sitting in the captain's chair. Even though ours is a bond between equals, all the girls see me as the rightful person sitting at the helm. Not one of them has ever entertained the thought of sitting there instead, of being the core of the bond and inheriting all the stats. They are okay being the little ships, the terminals, the satellites. Yes, even Zery. Even the proud dragon.
She bound herself to me, locking away her worldly pleasures so that I would be the only one for her. I still think she's crazy, but then again all the other girls went and did the same, making magic happen that should have been impossible.
I fiddle with the hauler controls and begin to draw power from all the other ships. My eyes open in the real world, and I am no longer alone.
My mind stretches. I see not only through my eyes, but also through four more points of view. Sensations, emotions, feelings and thoughts are quintupled now. Each of the girls is unique, their experience of self and the world a universe of its own. I would like to explore this, but now is not the time.
Instead, I draw from them and feel the power course through me.
I hear someone gasp, and know already who it is, why she gasped, and what she's seeing. The magic swirls around me, silver fire surrounding me in an aura of power. Within it, I see streaks of black and red, then gold and azure, then green and brown, finally the deep and muted blue of the abyss.
I think it is over, but it's not. Another color appears. The electric blue-violet of pure mana. Of course. This is my own magic, now that I possess it.
Another gasp, this one shared among all of us, me included. There are wings behind my back! One, two, three, four… five sets! Demonic wings, wicked and sharp, leather pulled taut and talons and spikes made of fire but with surprising solidity. Angel wings, glassy and ethereal, the fire coalescing in colors and geometry. Wings of leaves, swaying in an unseen wind. Draconic wings, proud and powerful.
Then my own. The sharp, angular lines of my magic take the form of circuitry and code. The wings are electric, efficient, elegant in their computer-like coldness. I thought I hated machines, after the machine gods killed everyone. And I do. That's why the wings also remind me of something else. There is a flow within them, little imperfections that remind me of spacetime, that gigantic self-similar fractal governed by paradoxical laws, from relativity to quantum mechanics.
Five sets of wings behind my back fill me with power. I draw from them, and touch the chains keeping Zery captive. The power explodes outwards, pulverizing the chains, and then fizzles out, spent. Our shared mana pool is empty, and the wings vanish.
Skill level up - Power of Love 1 → 2
You can now manifest aspects of each other.
◈◈◈
Zery fell to the ground with a thump. For a moment, she looked at her hands in disbelief, massaging her wrists and finding them free of their bindings. Then she looked at the door. We nodded at her.
She bolted, crouching as she ran down the tunnels to Calla's tree and then outside. She breathed in the fresh air and closed her eyes, enjoying the sun warming up her skin. That's when we recalled that she was naked, but we didn't care about the potential audience. Looking around, there was nobody around Calla's tree. Not after the three-letter club made everyone aware that it was claimed by one of its members.
The light from the sun on her breasts and her crotch made her skin tingle. She looked at me, and in her eyes I saw that she was very, very horny.
"Hey Sol, my love," she said, almost slurring her words.
She walked up to me, pushing me against the dryad's tree while towering over me, easily twice as tall as I was. My face didn't even reach her breasts, and I found myself staring at her stupidly toned abs and her cute little belly button. Didn't dragons hatch from eggs? But all thoughts vanished when she ran a finger over my body, her sharp nails cutting through my clothes and leaving me naked.
"I'm going to make you feel very good now, and there's nothing you can do to stop me."
NSFW PREVIEW
Disclaimer and notes:
So, little preamble. We have lots of girls already, and lots of... kinks? Can we call them that? And because of the bond, their behaviors and desires sometimes mix and swap places for a while. This also means that each of them will descend deeper and deeper in their own rabbit hole. 4 is already enough to have lots of stuff to do and try, and sometimes even a masochist sub will take control.
There might be stuff, kinks and whatnot that you don't like. Just remember, it's a story and even the nasty stuff can be enjoyed with an open mind.
This said. Enjoy today's chapter!
Zery lifted me up with ease, pinning me against the bark of the tree until my face was level with hers. She leaned in, pressing her body against mine, and I felt the heat her skin had absorbed from the sun. It had dried her scales in some places but most of her skin was still moist, and my growing erection slid smoothly across the wetness of her stomach.
Her kiss was sloppy and needy. She pushed her tongue inside, flooding my mouth with the taste of her. Salty, thick, and slightly cool despite the sun warming her. As she moved her long, bifurcated tongue around, I realized that she wasn't kissing me properly; rather, she was pushing as much saliva as she could inside of me.
I had to swallow twice just to keep up, but she grinned and simply pushed in more until it started to overflow and spill out, dribbling down the sides of my mouth and smearing our bodies.
"I've marked you," she said. "Again."
Continues