Normalcy(2)

Chapter 156 : Normalcy(2)

“Oww!” Shula screamed as she clenched her face. Her eyes welled up with tears as she staggered backwards.

“Ugh. Not again..” Agni groaned as a wave of guilt began to wash over her.

“H-hey.. I’m sorry.” The succubus said as she reached towards the Imp with an outstretched hand.

“Here.. you can hit me back, see?” Agni said as she leaned forward, offering her cheek to be struck. Shula shrank away, refusing to be coddled by Agni, by anyone except --

“Agni! What are you doing to her? Your level is way higher than hers!” Katrin admonished as she walked up and wrapped her arms around the Imp. Almost immediately Shula flashed a concealed smile as she too wrapped her arms around Katrin and sank into her bosom.

*Really bitch? That’s what we’re doing?* Agni telepathed as Shula grinned at her through teary eyes.

She sighed, shrugged and sat down on a nearby tree stump. It would be a while before they could seriously begin sparring once more.

“Is it just me or is Shula enjoying that way more than she should?” Ariadna asked. She and Merri were also sitting nearby, discussing their plans for the approaching evening. Agni nodded her head in agreement and folded her arms.

The past three days had been much like this one. The group of eight had fallen into a strange normalcy, despite the turbulence of their lives as adventurers. Gates the Spirit Mage, Sypha the Lightweaver, Gigi the Spellsword, Merri the Minotaur, Ariadna the Trickster, Katrin the Scribe, Shula the Sleep Daemon and Agni the Succubus. At Merri’s request they all made their way to the Lull Forest. On this, Agni was of two minds. Her recent adventures in the shard world had inflicted a fair share of mental trauma. For the first time since her arrival in Adventia, fear had been implanted in the succubus. She recognized the sensation and loathed it -- thus, she deemed the best way to get rid of it would be to confront it.

Agni also realized just how close she’d come to losing everything she cared about. Shula and Katrin, her two constant companions. Both were placed into a dangerous situation, along with her.

“If I can help it, we need to be more prepared.” This was the thought that led to Shula’s current predicament, being babied by Katrin, who in turn was being stealth groped by the Imp. Once it was revealed that Shula had her own adventurer’s class, Agni decided to train her. This was something Shula was fiercely against, however.

“No way. I’m a caster. Casters always fight from a distance and outwit their opponents. Why do I need to--” On the first day Agni punched Shula directly in the nose to illustrate her point.

“Come to think of it...Katrin babied you then too!” Agni muttered.

*I know what you’re doing.* Agni transmitted telepathically as she cut her eyes.

*You're just jealous.* Shula responded with a smirk.

*Next time I won’t apologize for punching you in the face.* Agni grimaced as she cut her eyes even further. Still, she couldn’t bring herself to be upset, truly. The image of them both clenching each other, one with a smirk and the other shooting daggers in her gaze--it was something Agni could easily treasure.

They had come to the Lull Forest at Merri’s request. The minotaur wanted nothing more than to experience combat and test her strength against “real opponents”. Given the level of foe that this area had to offer, everyone else pretty much saw the camping trip as a vacation. With that in mind, Agni decided to spend her time addressing some of Shula’s glaring flaws -- as well as her own (at least in terms of adventuring).

The past three days followed the same routine. Everyone would sleep until mid-morning for the most part. From noon until afternoon could be considered free time and afternoons were spent preparing for the evening. Once night fell and the Grimlock became more active, everyone would split into parties -- three total-- and go hunting for Fulger Stag.

Each day the parties would be randomly shifted, this was at Gates’ request.

“It will help us to work together dynamically.” Was his reasoning.

During this time Agni identified several areas where she wanted to improve. The first was her succubus abilities. This thought dawned upon her after the event at the funeral, when the Angellus shrugged off her Whisper ability.

“Why did I stop training my Succubus abilities again?” Agni asked herself aloud at some point. The answer was surprisingly simple.

Upon joining Mystic Tower, Agni’s focus had been solely on learning to use and apply her magic. In the short time there, the Succubus learned how to nearly quadruple her mana pool through efficiency, use and apply some advanced magic theory and more. However, she’d also neglected her class skills.

Upon asking various people about it, this is what they said:

Gigi : “Mmm. Your class skills are what define you. You should use them until they feel like second nature.”

Gates : “In a way it’s good that you don’t rely on your succubus abilities too much.Some people rely too much on skills. My advice? Learn to use the skills you have in ways you never thought possible.“

For the most part, everyone else's advice didn’t help much. So Agni took to heart the words of the two seasoned adventurers and began to truly explore the options available to her. It would be going much better if she could get a reliable sparring partner, however.

Agni cut her eyes towards Shula once again and noted the Imp’s willingness to ramp up her performance of crocodile tears.

“Crybaby.” Agni said, her eyes taking on a flash of pink energy as she spoke. It wasn’t intentional, but the results were much more than the Succubus bargained for. Shula’s expression was a weird mix of feigned sadness and sustained embellishment as Agni spoke the words. Agni watched as her eyes began to blink rapidly and the Imp’s face contorted into genuine disquiet. Soon the blond haired Imp bought her fists up to her eyes and began wiping back tears.

“W-why did y-y-ou do that t-t-t-t-o me. Bitch.” Shula stuttered amidst her falling tears. Once more a wave of guilt washed over the Succubus as Shula began to ball, her chest heaving wildly like a child.

Agni watched as Katrin’s jaw dropped and their eyes met. She had the look of someone who couldn’t believe “the audacity”.

“I didn’t do it on purpose!” Agni tried, and failed to convey her remorse. Nearby everyone present laughed or chuckled which didn’t make the situation any easier to diffuse.

“No! You! Over there!” Katrin said as she clenched the Imp like a protective mother. She pointed towards their shared tent, even as she patted Shula’s head gently.

“There there. I won’t let the sex demon hurt you anymore.” Katrin said as she kissed Shula on the forehead.

“She’s a grown woman not a child!” Agni grumbled as she begrudgingly stepped into the shared tent. And there she stayed for quite some time. Perhaps due to her annoyance, Agni failed to immediately realize what happened. As she lay staring up through the breathable fabric of the tent she bolted upright.

“Wait..”

She recalled all of the previous times she’d used her Whisper. Generally it was to give out commands. Halt. Stop. Kill Yourself. These were all phrases muttered by Agni at some point in time, used to disable or sometimes dispose of her foes. So why did the phrase ‘Crybaby’ actually work?

It forewent the usual direct command, yet had a desired effect. One might say it was even stronger in some sense. This was made even more puzzling by the fact that Agni didn’t purposely do it (really… no, really).

“Wouldn’t I need to say, ‘you’re a crybaby’?” She felt as if there was a hint somewhere in this random occurrence. One that might lead to a greater discovery. This time felt more natural, less forced. It was as if it was easier to use her Whisper ability now, even more so in this new way. With that in mind she decided to try a test. She focused her mind, allowing a brief moment of quiet before she began to speak, activating Whisper in the process.

“My dear aunt Sally sent--” Agni’s voice crumpled in her throat as she spoke the words. It was the first time that she felt such pain, it was as if her vocal chords were on fire and being pierced at the same time. The pain was intense enough to cause Agni to sputter as she gripped her neck.

“What the fuck.” She whispered as the intense flare of pain gradually subsided.

“I just said some random shit. Why does it hurt so much?” Agni wondered aloud. Still, for all of her pain she felt that she’d just stumbled upon an invaluable discovery. Gates and Gigi were right, she needed to explore the use of her abilities more. The best way to do that would be to use it often and see what works -- as well as what did not. It would be a matter of trial and error, one that could give the Succubus better insight into just how well she could use her abilities as a succubus.

“Now if she’d just stop hamming it up.” Agni said as she fell backwards, staring up at the tent ceiling for some time to come. That was until Zura’s bangle chimed with a new “quest”.

“Suck a dick. Ugh.” Agni groaned as she read the “quest” out loud.

“Well that’s definitely not happening…” She resigned herself to sneaking away from camp later to endure the mind numbing orgasm she was bound to have as a result of ignoring today’s task.

“Although..” Agni murmured, her thoughts wandering to the young man known as Sypha. For the briefest of moments she entertained the idea, then quickly pushed the thought back into her mental rolodex of naughtiness.

“I’m...not ready for that! Yet.” She said, seemingly to herself, as she turned on her side to rest her eyes.