215: New Items
“I’ll be honest—you’re surpassing my expectations,” Ember said as both she and Beatrice hurried through the darkening streets of psus toward the location of the Forge of Champions.
Beatrice saw nothing particrly new that would amaze her, and after all the sex she had, the subus came to the realization that even her cock could use a small break. If her Arousal Point pool could go into the negative, it would have probably approached several hundred points in minus. And although Beatrice knew for a fact Arousal Points did not go below zero—just like Stamina Points or Health Points (not that Beatrice had any intention to experiment with her HP)—she certainly felt like she was in the negative arousal, at least for now.
Instead, Beatrice spent her time answering Ember’s questions, who seemed to be genuinely impressed by Beatrice’s progress.
“Does the length of the ‘cure’ depend on the severity of the Taint? Or perhaps the willpower of the affected?”
“No, it’s just a single hour,” Beatrice said, taking the descriptions of her Skills at face value. “As it is right now, I rather not use that skill again.”
“The Tainted are better off not realizing how far they have fallen?”
“It’s like waking up someone from aa only to tell them that they will fall back into it for an unknown time with no promise of a cure,” Beatrice tried to search for a suitable analogy.
“A a’?” Ember asked.
“Oh, right… It’s like someone falling asleep, but never waking up. For example, after a serious head injury.”
“But what if the dream is really, really pleasant?” Ember asked.
“It didn’t seem pleasant to Samantha,” Beatrice said.
“Because she still had some sense of self left,” Ember said. “Trapped on the edge between two worlds. Unable to return to one, unwilling to fall into the other.”
“You talk as if you feel nothing for her,” Beatrice nced at her bodyguard, trying to read her thoughts by her detached facial expression. “Wasn’t she your friend? For a moment I thought you were sympathetic toward her.”
“Even if I was, what does my sympathy change?” Ember asked. “Can it cure her Taint?”
“It could help if she knew that she had someone there for her instead of someone who had augh at her expense at every opportunity.”
“She doesn’t need a shoulder to cry on. She’s a big girl! Isn’t all our time better spent by us focusing on getting you stronger, faster?”
“How far away is that Forge of Champions?” Beatrice wanted to change the subject.
“We’re pretty close,” Ember said as she once again guided Beatrice off the main streets and into the darker alleyways that seemed eerily deserted.
This part of the city seemed more uneven and rocky. Many of the buildings were built using the terrain for support, some even were a part of the terrain with giant boulders forming part of the walls.
“I did not think we’d end up spending so much time with Samantha, but we’ll arrive just in time,” Ember said as her guidance led them further away from light, and with no sun to shed some light into these narrow alleys, Ember lit up a fire to guide their path. “And I see you got everything we needed.”
“About that… Not that I mind, but why the ‘Sexy Student’ outfit?” Beatrice asked Ember.
“Samantha didn’t tell you?”
“She was in a hurry, and this wasn’t a pressing issue.”
Not that Beatrice wasn’t instantly curious why she changed her bra and panties for some kind of a roley erotic student outfit. It consisted of just two parts:
First, was the dark blue pleated mini skirt that barely covered the upper part of her thighs. It wasn’tpletely outrageous as some miniskirts Beatrice used to see girls wear to the nightclubs that didn’t even fully cover their buttocks, but neither was it modest enough to where Beatrice could imagine it worn in any descend college.
Second, was a cut-up white top that seemed to be three sizes too small for Beatrice’s knockers as the top managed to show off both plenty of cleavage as well as some underboob at the same time. The top’s design seemed to be some kind of a mix between a slutty crop top and a school girl’s shirt, if designed by a pervert. Beatrice had seen bras that were less revealing, so it was barely an upgrade from literally walking in underwear.
But despite their revealing nature, both items provided a considerable increase in statspared to her previous two items that she left with Samantha.
<table width="96%">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="border-style:solid;width:593px" width="593">
<strong>Item: Sexy Student Mini Top</strong>
Item ss: Rare
Health Points: +20
Physical Defense: +4
Magic Defense: +7
Speed: +3
Effects: Arousing Set (2/2) - Arousing Skills have increased effectiveness by +25%
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table width="96%">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="border-style:solid;width:594px" width="594">
<strong>Item: Sexy Student Pleated Miniskirt</strong>
Item ss: Rare
Health Points: +30
Physical Defense: +5
Magic Defense: +8
Speed: +2
Effects: Arousing Set (2/2) - Arousing Skills have increased effectiveness by +25%
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
Beatrice’s previous “armor” set offered some arbitrary percentage increase to her persuasion. However, Beatrice could not even tell if she ever managed to make use of it. Compared to that, an increase in the effectiveness of her arousal Skills seemed much more practical. After all, what could be more persuasive than a couple of good, hot orgasms? Andbined with her new cloak that effortlessly covered her even during her brisk pace, Beatrice’sbat statistics also was a noticeable increase.
<table width="96%">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="border-style:solid;width:594px" width="594">
<strong>Item: Faux Generic Woven Cloak</strong>
Item ss: Rare
Health Points: +40
Physical Defense: +10
Magic Defense: +5
Effects: The wearer blends in the crowd, bing nearly unnoticeable to those with low perception.
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table width="96%">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="border-style:solid;width:593px" width="593">
<strong>Item: Choker of a Phyx</strong>
Item ss: Rare
Health Points: +10
Physical Defense: +3
Magic Defense: +6
Effects: Bleed resistance +80%
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table width="349">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="border-style:solid" colspan="2" width="349">
<strong>Information</strong>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-style:solid" width="160">
<strong>Name</strong>
</td>
<td style="border-style:solid" width="189">
Beatrice
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-style:solid" width="160">
<strong>Age</strong>
</td>
<td style="border-style:solid" width="189">
18
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-style:solid" width="160">
<strong>ss</strong>
</td>
<td style="border-style:solid" width="189">
Subus
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-style:solid" width="160">
<strong>Level</strong>
</td>
<td style="border-style:solid" width="189">
18 (22%)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-style:solid" width="160">
<strong>Health Points</strong>
</td>
<td style="border-style:solid" width="189">
540/540 (+0.88/sec)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-style:solid" width="160">
<strong>Arousal Points</strong>
</td>
<td style="border-style:solid" width="189">
36/279 (+0.01/sec)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-style:solid" width="160">
<strong>Stamina Points</strong>
</td>
<td style="border-style:solid" width="189">
190/190 (+0.48/sec)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-style:solid" width="160">
<strong>Physical Attack</strong>
</td>
<td style="border-style:solid" width="189">
17
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-style:solid" width="160">
<strong>Physical Defense</strong>
</td>
<td style="border-style:solid" width="189">
32
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-style:solid" width="160">
<strong>Magic Attack</strong>
</td>
<td style="border-style:solid" width="189">
19
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-style:solid" width="160">
<strong>Magic Defense</strong>
</td>
<td style="border-style:solid" width="189">
39
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-style:solid" width="160">
<strong>Speed</strong>
</td>
<td style="border-style:solid" width="189">
17
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
“Let’s just say that wearing more heavy-duty, high-ss armor to the Forge of Champions can be not only pointless, but even dangerous,” Ember said as she stopped by an unremarkable door in a narrow, skewed house that—like many others in the area—seemed to grow out of the rocks, and was lodged between several sharp formations.
“We’re here,” Ember said and knocked on the door.