For some time, as Ash moved toward the pond Magia had pointed out to her, she wondered how she could use that trait the goddess had just bestowed upon her. Not in a general sense, of course. The trait's use was very blunt, after all. It was simply a reward for fucking more often.
Rather, she wondered how she could go about increasing her Lust stacks on a regular basis and if she even wanted to use it regularly or if she would keep this trait locked up and in the darkness until emergencies occurred.
The main reason was that at Lust 4, and even at Lust 3 to an extent, Ash could barely control herself. Sure, chances are that if she remained at Lust 4 as she did her farming around Amber, she would make short work of an entire region's worth of monsters, but she'd also probably do many other, different, things that she wouldn't be quite nearly as proud of.
She was almost a different person when her Lust got that high, and she hated that feeling. Whenever she lowered her Lust after getting it up there, it always felt like someone else had been walking in her shoes throughout her Lust Demon Form's duration.
And yet, she couldn't deny how useful this trait was. Even now, her Strength and Intelligence had been increased by 5 thanks to her 2 Lust stacks.
Whatever, she said to herself eventually, focus. It's been about ten minutes. Fifty more minutes to go before I can get that flower and walk the hell out of here. Before that, though, I should probably spend those attribute points.
She did just that, putting all four points into her Intelligence, as she wanted to be able to use the Pain Amplification spell, which brought her stats up to this point.
Level 75
MP: 330/330
EXP: 50/750
---
STR: 50 (+5)
DEX: 30
CON: 34
INT: 28 (+5)
WIS: 33
L: 100
Alright. Seems good. Ash told herself as she looked up at those numbers, as more crickets sounded off in the cold nighttime air.
With that out of the way, the half-demon continued on her way, trekking past several iridescent plants and trees, and keeping her eyes peeled for any incoming attackers. It didn't take too long for something to appear.
Hm? Ash turned around as she thought she'd heard something scurry off to the side. Narrowing her eyes into her gloomy surroundings, she muttered:
"Sword."
Her Savior's Weapon transformed, and Ash kept it close to her waist as she proceeded down the path.
She had already grown sick of this place, but the strange sounds and oppressive atmosphere made her turn outright resentful of it. Luckily, however, it seemed like the fight against the previous monster she'd encountered had been the last one for the day, as she walked over a hill and could clearly see a pool of water glowing in the distance.
Seeing it made her legs quicken just a little. She looked back every now and then, distrustful of the path which had gotten strangely quiet with every step. As she drew closer to that goal, which remained in the distance, almost taunting her, Ash kept herself focused.
Right up until the ground trembled.
Ash almost fell to her knees.
What the fuck!?
Looking around, with her sword in front of her, she could hear giant, thudding footsteps that appeared to intimidate the very earth around her. Ash took a few sharp breaths, her eyes wide as she tried to remain ready to defend herself. The lumbering footsteps felt like they were surrounding her, and Ash couldn't tell from which direction the creature was approaching.
Turning frantically from one side to another, Ash wished the creature would just show itself already so that she could engage it. And, indeed, it did.
In front of her, far ahead, a pair of violet eyes glowed in the distance.
Ash froze. She raised her sword instinctively, as the creature that walked forward was illuminated by the plants around it. It was massive, doubling Ash's height and width, with swollen muscles stacked under tattered clothes. It had long white hair, a pair of horns, rattling chains wrapped around its wrists, and was carrying a black greatsword in its right hand like it weighed nothing.
Level 100
MP: 2000/2000
She recognized it immediately. How could she not? This had been the same creature she and Kaori had fought a month ago. Only, apparently, it had gotten far stronger in the time that they hadn't seen each other.
Ash's hands began to shake. For the first time in what felt like ages, she was scared. Her first instinct was to run, of course, but her legs wouldn't move. Instead, she remained there, standing still with her sword in front of her, as the Nightmare drew even closer. Its beady, emotionless, violet eyes remained fixed on Ash, all the way up until it was standing in front of her.
It raised its sword, and Ash did nothing but watch until it swung its blade down on her.
And the weapon passed straight through her body, harmlessly. As soon as it did, the creature slowly dissipated into thin air, and Ash's fear quickly turned into confusion as the Nightmare ceased to be.
Then, her hands began to shake again, only this time as a result of that confusion turning into anger.
... I am so done with this fucking place.
She was so angry that even that thought came out as a hiss.
She continued walking to those glowing waters, stomping out a path to it as her fists remained clenched so hard that her fingernails dug into her palms.
"Auagh!" A strange-looking goblin suddenly yelled out, jumping out from a bush to the right. It was small, and holding a wooden club in its right hand, trying to make an intimidating face at Ash.
The half-demon didn't hesitate. She didn't even check its level, actually. She instantly grabbed it by the face, shoved it to the ground, mounted it, and then squeezed as hard as she could as she said:
"Lesser being, give me your life!"
She even earned a crack from its skull as her hand clutched its head so fiercely.
"Awawa!" The goblin cried out incoherently.
Violet tendrils came out from its body, siphoning into Ash even though she was completely unhurt. But, after a couple dozen minutes of non-stop life force suctioning, the goblin went limp.
EXP Gained: 100
EXP: 150/750
Ash raised its head up and, even though it was already dead, made sure to smash it into the ground twice before she got up and kept walking, as though nothing had happened.
Finally, a short while later, she arrived at the pond. All around her, it was as if the flowers she hadn't been able to find before had been dropped here, just to spite her. She could easily see over fifty, each one with brilliant glowing petals and covering the area in a rainbow-like haze, as they all showed their colors so brilliantly.
Ash quickly tore one out, noting that it maintained its glow even as she'd taken it, and then, she turned to leave.
However, an idea came to her, and she decided to pause for just a minute.
She still had that grasshopper monster's blood in her hair and on her clothes, and she was still furious over the illusion she'd witnessed and she figured she could use a second or two to cool off, just in case she happened to run into a monster that wasn't as weak as the goblin she'd just slaughtered.
So, sat down by the water and picked some of it up with her hands, throwing it onto her face.
At first, she was afraid it was going to be acidic or something but, no. It was literally just regular water.
Ash washed her hair out, and then entered the pool entirely, leaving her travel bag aside where she'd put that flower in and, for a while, she just sat there.
Wet and exhausted, staring up at the night sky.
... What I would give for a way to teleport right now, she thought as she internalized the fact that she was going to have to walk all the way back to Amber now. Of course, she had no idea where she was, but the Mist Realm wasn't endless. So, Ash had a simple plan. She was going to walk in a straight line until the Mist Realm stopped.
Easy.
All she was doing right now was preparing herself mentally for that journey, which would surely take her the rest of the night to complete.
It was with that knowledge that she soaked herself in the pond right now, trying to take in the cold and let her body grow more comfortable before she walked out.
This dress is going to be so ruined by the time I get back, she thought with a snicker.
For a while, it was nothing but peace and relative silence as she could still hear crickets in the distance.
And, then, a woman sat down next to her.
Ash sighed as she saw her out of the corner of her eye. She didn't even turn to look at her, as she knew it was either some monster who apparently wanted to have a casual chat before they killed each other, or an illusion of some sort that was only going to serve to annoy her.
Can't this place just leave me alone for a few seconds, for fuck's sake? She asked herself, as she finally decided to get it over with and see what had just approached her.
For a moment, her eyes widened, and Ash hated that she'd fallen for the illusion for even just a second.
Kaori was there, sitting right next to her. She was naked and it looked as though her hair had gotten longer, and she was a little thinner than before, which made her look downright sickly now.
Seriously, Mist Realm? Ash asked in her thoughts. You couldn't have at least made her look hot or something? Is every illusion in this place designed to mess with me? Why can't you make an illusion of some hot girl eating me out or something? Is that too much to ask for?
As she sulked, Ash muttered.
"Just go away already."
"... What?" The Kaori illusion next to her asked, blinking twice, and Ash turned toward her.
"I said," she narrowed her brows, "go away!"
And then, Ash swung a hand through her. Unfortunately, however, although the other illusions had been quickly dispelled by her doing this, this time, her hand did go through Kaori's body, but the illusion didn't fade.
Okay, some advanced shit? Whatever, Ash shook her head.
"W-Wait..." Kaori's fake voice said, "you can see me?"
Ash rolled her eyes.
"Of course, I can, that's the whole point of these illusions isn't it?" She mumbled angrily.
Deciding quickly that she'd had enough of this, Ash stood up and went to grab her bag. The fake Kaori ran over to her and stood in front of her then, and Ash flinched.
"You can see me!?" Fake Kaori asked dramatically, and Ash simply didn't respond as she walked straight through her body.
... This is a low blow, Mist Realm, she scorned the location in her thoughts.. I swear, if you had a face I'd tear it off.
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