Chapter 137

Defending against the combined assault of four competent mages was hard.

Defending against the combined assault of four competent mages, when the objective was to handle the floating ice cube gently enough to prevent it from shattering, was considerably harder.

Defending against the combined assault of four competent mages, when the objective was to handle the floating ice cube gently enough to prevent it from shattering, when said four mages were the incarnation of sexiness in the various states of undressing, providing an incredible distraction as I tried to go gather my mana, was possibly the hardest challenge I had ever faced.

And something really important was at stake. Every time I let that ice cube touch my skin, I had to follow one of their orders, a scary proposition, especially with four girls facing each other as well, each wanting to prove themselves to others in the twisted relationship they were dragged by me.

Still, it was a challenge I was more than happy to face.

It wasn’t shocking that Cornelia took the lead of attacking, her fiery personality perfect for charging. It was easy to deflect her reckless attack, but before it could move forward even an inch, it was deflected back by Helga, ready for my reaction.

Meanwhile, Titania gave a push from the side, making it even harder to deflect, while Marianne stayed on the back, ready to provide a last line of defense if needed.

The formation was not a bad idea, allowing everyone to use their skills the way they were most comfortable, but also put Marianne, who was the least skilled one in terms of manipulating mana, to a defensive position, easy to be protected.

Unfortunately for them, their impromptu formation was less solid than they might have expected.

I could have scored a point through brute force — as the creator of the ice cube, I could assess its breaking point much more effectively — but while that would earn me a delicious naked show, it would only highlight my superior skills, not their limited tactical competency.

Considering the dangers we were facing, injecting a small lesson into our sexy times was not exactly a bad thing. So, I let their counter-attack come very close to success, waiting to feel the radiating cold of the ice cube before deflecting it away.

Emboldened by their near-victory, they pushed even harder. Helga put her whole focus on helping Cornelia, but when I deflected it toward Titania, she was perfectly ready to deflect it, even if it came much faster this time.

Too bad for Marianne that it moved toward her. To her credit, Marianne was ready to defend herself. Unfortunately, at that speed, her attempts shattered the ice cube once more.

“Too bad, sweetheart,” I said with a wide smirk, very enthusiastic about the next part. Yes, I had seen Marianne naked before, but it was one of the things that never got stale. She was always beautiful, and the way her breasts jiggled as she unbuttoned her corset added a lot to her attractiveness.

“You girls need to work harder on your strategies, factoring everyone in properly,” I said with a smug smile, perfectly designed to trigger their anger. It was good advice, of course, but a patronizing delivery was enough to taint the goodwill of even the best advice.

And while they were busy trying to suppress their anger, I delivered a sneak attack, once again targeting Marianne. “Don’t bother sitting down, sweetie,” I said, gesturing for her to drop her panties as well. “And that’s why you need to be more careful about sneak attacks no matter the circumstances. High hit points could help you to survive an ambush from a weaker attacker, but every advantage is important on the path to survival,” I added.

As I said that, I let my gaze stay on Titania. After all, our first proper meeting had been born from those circumstances, where she recklessly pushed forward to recover a book, only to fall into a deadly trap of the necromancers.

Titania was unable to refute that point, which hardly helped her anger, especially since she was still relatively new to suppressing the touch of her emotions.Nêww chapters will be fully updated at novelhall.com

Unfortunately for her, her anger gave me the exact opportunity I needed to send an attack through the area she was supposed to defend. She was an excellent mage, enough to defend herself even distracted. But it was different when I wasn’t targeting her.

I sent a curved attack around her, and before she could react, and before Helga could realize my ploy, the cube already touched Marianne’s milky skin despite her nakedness.

“It’s time for play,” I said with a grin even as I let my gaze dance over all four girls, their expressions flickering between different emotions. I first looked at Marianne, who had to follow one of my orders after being eliminated first.

I curled my finger, calling her close, amused by her frustrated puff as she stood up. Her frustration didn’t come from needing to follow my next order, as our relationship had well past that point. No, the way her gaze danced on the other three girls suggested that she was concerned that she was the first one that was ‘defeated’ in our little magic game.

Before our relationship taught her about taking initiative, she might have just slunk down and accepted the defeat, but after some memorable times, she was much more expressive.

More importantly, she had the weapons to strike back from a very unexpected angle.

[Level: 31 Experience: 492393 / 496000

Strength: 46 Charisma: 63

Precision: 40 Perception: 42

Agility: 40 Manipulation: 45

Speed: 39 Intelligence: 49

Endurance: 39 Wisdom: 51

HP: 6324 / 6324 Mana: 6932 / 7750 ]

SKILLS

Master Melee [100/100]

Master Tantric [100/100]

Master Biomancy [100/100]

Master Elemental [100/100]

Master Arcana [100/100]

Master Subterfuge [100/100]

Expert Speech [75/75]

Expert Craft [75/75]

PERKS

Mana Regeneration

Skill Share

Empowerment (1/1)

Teleportation

COMPANIONS

[Cornelia - Level 21/25]

[Helga - Level 17/21]