It took a while, but Jadis and Noct were eventually able to have their talk. Maybe it wasn’t the most verbose conversation, but it was certainly productive. Despite her embarrassment at having lost control, Noct had been able to rein in her emotions enough to revert back to her more Seraphim-like form, put on a shirt, and let go of Thea’s leg, in that order. While there was a lot to discuss, the most important topic for the night, considering surrounding circumstances, took priority.

Did Noct want to perform the Lewd Lover’s Bond ritual?

“Maybe…?”

The answer was, despite its brevity, complicated.

“I agree, we aren’t lovers,” Jay nodded her head, one hand on Noct’s back while the other was rubbing Thea’s shoulder. “But I think we have the potential. I mean, I like you. You’re fun, interesting, and really fucking sexy in both of your forms. We should definitely explore our options.”

Noct ducked her head at the compliments, letting her black hair fall over her face in an attempt to hide her pink blush. Jay grinned at the response and leaned a little closer as she continued to talk, just to make sure Noct was hearing every word. While Jadis had no doubts that Aelius and Thais were wonderful parents, it seemed like Noct needed a lot more encouragement to get over her hangups. That, or she just wasn’t used to getting complimented on her appearance.

“I’d really like to explore that other form of yours in bed,” Jay said without shame or restraint. “Maybe we can find out how dexterous that tail of yours is.”

“Pervert,” Noct choked out around her startled amusement.

“Yup,” Jay agreed again. “Something you’ll have to get used to if you keep hanging around me. You do want to keep hanging around me, right?”

Noct looked up, her red eyes glowing in the dim light.

“Yes.”

“Thought so,” Jay’s grin was gentle as she stared down at the Valravn. “Glad we agree. But I still need to know, do you want to perform the ritual? I’m not going to force it on you, but I don’t want you to think that it’s something you should feel like you need to decline, just because Cora did.”

“I performed the, ah, ritual with Jadis,” Thea added in her usual hushed tone. “Before we were l—lovers. In a cave.”

“True,” Jay confirmed at Noct’s questioning look. “It was necessary for our survival. I’m glad it worked out the way it did, since everyone who performed the ritual with me became my lover in truth shortly after. Not sure how things would have gone if I’d been forced to perform the ritual with Jana. Or Douglas. Rest in peace…”

Noct looked confused by the comment, but after a few moments, she shook whatever questions were bubbling up in her head and smiled weakly at Jay.

“Time. Think?”

“Take all the time you need,” Jay encouraged her. “It’s not like we can do the ritual right now anyway. I can only do one at a time and—”

The sudden yowling scream of pleasure that came from the other room drew Jay, Noct, and Thea’s eyes to the closed door.

“—Amarantha and I are still busy.”

After returning from her bathroom break, Jay had retreated to one of the side rooms of their suite with Noct and Thea. The Valravn had an easier time talking when there were less people around, and the distraction of the ongoing ritual activities wasn’t helping. Once they were in private, Noct had become noticeably more relaxed, which was something Jadis took careful note of. If the two of them were to pursue a relationship, Noct would have to adjust to being with everyone, otherwise things would not work out. That possibility didn’t concern Jadis overmuch, however. Noct was shy, in much the same way as Thea was, but she had a great deal of strength in her, too. A little bit of nerves around large groups was something that could be easily overcome with time.

After all, Noct had been willing to dress up in bondage gear and get fucked in front of that same group. Jadis was reasonably certain that Noct would grow more comfortable around everyone, eventually.

As Jay sat quietly with Thea and Noct, her mind wandered to the subject of her status sheet. The night’s rituals weren’t yet complete, but Jadis already knew the results as Aila had calculated everything ahead of time. For Jadis, her status had surpassed a massive milestone thanks to the participation of her lovers and friends in the Lascivious Empowerment ritual. She now had two attributes that had surpassed the one-thousand-point mark.

Jadis Ahlstrom

Race: Nephilim

Primary Class: Mirror Knight (44)

Secondary Class: Perverted Ritualist of D (36)

Tertiary Class: Progenitor of the Succubi (24)

Combined Level Rating: 104

Health: 3630/3630

Magic: 1500/1500

Attributes

Strength: 590

Dexterity: 238

Agility: 1141

Vitality: 288

Fortitude: 323

Endurance: 270

Arcane: 0

Divine: 0

Eldritch: 1141

Focus: 120

Resilience: 115

Will: 104

Of course, her current stats didn’t actually look as Aila had planned out. Jadis had five bodies at the moment and thus had not duplicated her attribute boosting skill. She also hadn’t finished her own Exhibitionistic Accession just yet, which was something she had been putting off for frankly no good reason. But by the time morning came, Jadis’ status sheet would look exactly as her redheaded lover predicted, and she would possess some truly terrifyingly high attributes.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

The change was not solely for her. With Lewd Lover’s Bond active, all of her lovers were seeing an increase to their boosted stat of over one hundred points. That meant that all had more than five hundred points in their primary attribute, and some nearly a thousand points. Or in Alex’s case, had just barely passed the threshold. In fact, when Jadis thought about it, Sabina was the best example to look at for progress, as she had zero points in her Arcane attribute naturally, so the stat’s new total was entirely from their bond.

Sabina Sarto

Race: Human / Elf Hybrid

Primary Class: Passionate Smith (30)

Secondary Class: Enchanter Smith of the Reborn (20)

Tertiary Class: None

Combined Level Rating: 50

Health: 600/600

Magic: 220/220

Attributes

Strength: 25

Dexterity: 15

Agility: 15

Vitality: 15

Fortitude: 10

Endurance: 30

Arcane: 570

Divine: 50

Eldritch: 0

Focus: 22

Resilience: 10

Will: 20

Five hundred and seventy points. It was incredible to think about, considering most people never reached close to that number. Maeve’s total attributes combined were less than half of the boost Jadis had given each one of her lovers, and she was considered to be on the high end for most people in the world. She didn’t think about it often, but Jadis was able to give a truly invaluable gift to the people she loved for nothing more than the cost of an activity she would have been happy to do with all of them for no reward whatsoever.

She had to give D credit. He had really given her a great class.

Aside from Lewd Lover’s Bond, there were a few other rituals that needed to be completed. Just as Jadis had finished with Severina on the roof, she needed to perform Exhibitionistic Accession on herself, so that her Will would match her CLR, and on Maeve. She also wanted to offer the ritual to Ammy and Noct. Since it wasn’t a ritual that required upkeep, even if the two ended up separating from her for long periods of time, they would still have the benefit. Upon a moment’s consideration, Jadis realized that she should have offered the ritual to Cora, but it had slipped her mind and no one else had thought of it. She would bring it up the next time she spoke with the priestess, and so long as she agreed, would find the time to get the ritual done.

There was also at least one Wanton Replication ritual to be performed, though depending on how Ammy felt, Jadis thought she might get two. Maeve wanted to give Jadis either Penumbral Obscurity or Counterespionage, and Jadis had decided on the latter. While having her status sheet protected from those with the ability to use skills to identify was useful, she saw more value in a skill that would help her see through illusions. The brief encounter with Desire had shown Jadis that she still needed to worry about illusory tricks, and Counterespionage seemed like it would aid her in that respect.

Aside from boosting her own power, Jadis still had the potential to help Ammy and Noct out more. Salacious Transposition was on the table, if they were interested, though Jadis wasn’t sure they would have the time to perform those rituals that night. They all needed rest, as they would have an early and busy morning, and they couldn’t spend their whole night having sex. Even if that sounded like a fun idea.

In Jadis’ opinion, Ammy would benefit most from Alex’s Paladin of Jadis’ Boldness. She would no doubt receive a big increase, as Jadis was sure the Mystic had some high stats, but there were other possibilities. They couldn’t spend too much time discussing it, though, so they might just go with the Boldness and make changes later, after they got a chance to discuss Amarantha’s stats and skills in more detail. That conversation probably wasn’t going to happen that night, though, even if Ammy was willing, since they were already cutting their time close.

For Noct, Jadis wasn’t sure. As her eyes roved over the silent woman, Jay realized she really had no idea what powered Noct’s abilities. The way she was able to control her straps and chains seemed magical, but there were lots of superpowered skills that seemed like magic but used stamina instead. Also, Jadis had never seen the Valravn use any other type of magic; her actions in combat had always seemed to be entirely focused on the physical. In fact, considering how she had been able to bite through her high Fortitude, Jay thought she had a good idea where Noct’s attributes generally leaned towards.

“Noct, what’s your highest stat?”

The dark-haired beauty tilted her head to one side before quietly responding.

“Strength.”

“Thought so,” Jay nodded in satisfaction. “If we do Lewd Lover’s Bond, that’s probably what you’ll want to take. You can be as strong as Kerr that way, which is pretty damn strong. Unless there’s a different attribute you would want to boost?”

Noct shrugged, but also nodded her head, which seemed to indicate that she was fine with Jadis’ suggestion.

“If you want, there’s another ritual we can do that’ll grant you a passive skill from someone else here in the group,” Jay explained her thoughts. “If we do both rituals, it could help you a lot. I’m not sure what would be best for you since we haven’t done any kind of detailed analysis, but I’m thinking we can go with a basic but strong option for melee fighters like the kind Thea has. Or maybe one of Severina’s skills would be better? She has a skill that’ll increase your flight speed, and you’re kind of the only person who can take advantage of that.”

The red-eyed Valravn watched Jay talk, her expression unreadable. When Jay trailed off, her thoughts still revolving around what would be good for Noct, the woman reached one of her slender fingers up to tap Jay’s cheek, catching her attention.

“My gift,” Noct said in her simple way.

“Your gift?” Jay replied, not quite sure what Noct was trying to say.

“My skill,” Noct stated firmly, pointing at Jay. “For you.”

“You, ah, overheard us t—talking about Wanton Replication, didn’t you?” Thea filled in from where she sat on Jay’s other side.

“Ah,” Jay made a noise of understanding as Noct nodded in confirmation. “Well, you don’t have to give me a skill. I’m plenty strong, Noct, and you’ve already helped me and everyone else here immensely by joining us for this ritual. I want to make sure you get some more power, too.”

Noct reached up and pressed a finger against Jay’s lips, silencing her. Leaving the pale digit where it rested, the Valravn made a face that conveyed she was not going to stand for any arguments.

“My gift.”

“Alright,” Jay smirked as her lips moved against the Valravn’s finger. “Your gift. I will graciously accept whatever you would like to give me, with my humble thanks and undying appreciation.”

Noct nodded, accepting Jadis’ words with complete sincerity. Getting to her feet, the Valravn quietly walked to the door and left the room, ducking into the main area where everyone else was for a brief moment. Jadis didn’t have to wonder what the woman was up to, since her other four selves were in the room already. She watched as Noct borrowed some paper and a writing quill from Aila, a bright blush on her face as she tried not to stare too much at what Jadis was doing with Ammy at that particular instant.

Returning to the room with her spoils in hand, Noct calmly sat back down next to Jay, not a hint of her previous embarrassment showing on her face. Jadis had to appreciate the Valravn’s ability to calm and control her emotions. Her lifelong practice was paying dividends.

“Is that the skill you want to give me?” Jay asked as she watched Noct draw a box and write out a skill description. “That looks… intriguing.” 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

“Oh,” Thea’s eyebrows raised as she leaned closer and read the skill for herself. “P—powerful.”

Unbreakable Hold

Passive Skill. Increase your Strength Attribute by 0.75 while grappling a target. This boost is only calculated against the target you are grappling. Outside interference has a decreased effect on breaking your hold, and the sturdiness of your joints is improved while grappled.

“I can definitely put this to use,” Jay murmured as she considered the full effect of the skill Noct was offering her could have on a multi-bodied person. “Thank you, Noct. This is a really nice gift.”

“Welcome,” Noct smiled lightly as she leaned her head against Jay’s arm.

The three of them sat together in silence for a short while before a playful grin danced across Jay’s face.

“But you know, if we are going to perform Wanton Replication, you’re going to be giving me another gift,” she said, her voice barely containing her amusement.

When Noct looked up at her in question, she leaned down so she could whisper in the woman’s ear.

“You’ll need to take two of me, at the same time,” Jay whispered loudly enough that Thea would have no trouble overhearing. “So, I guess I should let you decide how you want to go about accomplishing that feat. I’m sure I’ll love the choice you make, no matter what.”

The sonorous, lusty growl that emanated from the Valravn was accompanied by the sound of her bones and muscles increasing in size as Noct didn’t quite fully contain her emotional reaction. As Jay felt Noct’s sharp teeth scrape against her skin, she wondered if maybe teasing the vampire-esque woman was an unnecessarily dangerous activity. Then she remembered that teasing beautiful women was worth almost any danger and she decided to go all in.

“How about I tell you all about Duality of Flesh and how Aila gave me one of her passive skills…”