“Why is there such chaos going on?” Lydia asked.
The princess had exchanged her uniform for a knee-length, loose skirt, black stockings and a white blouse, all of which was tailored to fit her perfectly. John’s dick reminded him that it hadn’t been used in a bit, by his very warped standards, taking the mere sight of the princess as an excuse to tax away some of his blood. It wasn’t enough to get a full erection, but his pants were growing tighter. Not tight enough to prevent him from wondering where the princess had left her rapier, however.
Lydia sat down next to Mono (who took no interest in her whatsoever) at the dining table and eyed the opened package in front of the couch with interest. “I did not take you for a sweet tooth,” she commented.
“I am not, Sylph is,” John said, “which is also what that noise is about.”
“Was about,” Aclysia, following the rather sudden evacuation of the kitchen by Salamander and Sylph, corrected.
“It is…pretty hard to control her,” John apologized, watching as Sylph vanished upstairs with the gummy bear, dubbed Marvin, in her arms.
He kept an eye on her through their mental connection, last time she only had some small gummy bears and even that had caused her to get a sugar rush. God alone knew what would happen to that girl if she ate that whole thing, which, John had no doubt about it, would happen. Also, he wanted to know if she kept her promise. He quickly checked if his class was correctly set-up. The worst thing that could happen was that he managed to work the miracle of getting her to shut up for 20 minutes and then forgot to make it count.
“As long as there has been no damage done to my property,” Lydia shrugged it off.
“Aclysia, would you mind preparing some more tea?” John requested and made his way over to the dining table. That earned a questioning look from the princess. “Might as well kill time, or do you have anything else to do?”
“Not immediately,” she admitted and put her chin on her raised wrist. Like that, giving him the slightest of smiles, the beauty of her blue eyes really came out. She was sizing him up, like she had so often before. The purpose was different though. Rather than a pawn in her game or a sexual partner, now she seemed to be evaluating if she could have a worthwhile conversation with him. “Fine then, John, what do you wish to talk about?”
“Truth,” he stated, and fished his smartphone out of his pants, as he sat down opposite her. “I have many things I have yet to understand, and you know most of these I reckon.”
Lydia nodded, “Good, I was afraid for a moment you would waste my time with ceaseless flirtations.”
“Maybe another time,” John teased, “Who knows? You might like it.”
“I very much doubt it,” the princess stated. In contrast to her harsh words the princess’ relationship points had risen to 53, although John couldn’t pinpoint what the exact reason for that would have been. Could have been just that sex helped pair bonding. Could have been how direct he was with her. He really wanted to know.
John considered himself a good guy by nature, but he still had some selfish motives for most things he did. If he had been just selflessly nice, he would have gone with Moira, on that fateful day when he had met Rave. His first and foremost hope was, still, to build a harem, and, even as big as it already was, there was always room for a stern German princess. He liked her, not as much as Rave or Aclysia of course, but she was a breath of fresh air. Even if she decided to only keep him around as an ally with occasional sexual favours, he still would have a very powerful friend in her. However, bending his character to make friends was not what he had in mind.
“I think I can put a dent in that foundation,” he hummed as suavely as possible. Then, his tone swung to informal. He had every intention to make good on the promise of ceaseless flirtations, but first he would prove that he had a head besides the one between his legs. “So, Jane informed me that there apparently is some difference between lightning and electricity magic, mind filling me in?”
Lydia seemed somewhat relieved that the talk moved from social to informal topics. It was clear what she was more comfortable with. “It is an issue of having limited words for similar things,” Lydia told him, “Lightning magic is light magic that behaves like electricity but isn’t. You can’t power a machine with lightning magic, and it is much more effective against magical creatures than physical beings. Electricity is what you think it is, just control of electric currents.”
“Okay, and that difference is because…?”
To that Lydia had no clear answer, “Why is a ball the most desired state for liquid matter in zero gravity? Some things are just at the base and can’t be explained.”
“Unless you are a theoretical physicist,” John pointed out.
“Mhm,” Lydia hummed, “Indeed, there are certain individuals who aim to find the core of every truth. An honourable effort. All I know about this matter is that these powers are different in nature, even if similar in name and appearance. It is like Blank and Lorylim powers. They cause the average person instinctive repulsion, yet they are as different as water and oil.”
John raised an eyebrow and just let Lydia pick up on his questioning gaze.
“Are you not aware of the Lorylim?” she asked, disapprovingly.
“I have heard the term before and that they’re kind of nasty, but that’s about it.”
“You are a summoner and yet you only describe the Lorylim as ‘kind of nasty’,” Lydia clicked her tongue. “Listen and listen well, John, this is important. Tangled to our reality are the six elemental realms of fire, water, air, earth, shadow and light. They have many terms, from Kingdoms to planes, the latter being much more common. Between these six entangled realms exists the plane of the Lorylim. Sometimes we call it the void, but it is far from empty. How and why somebody eventually took a peek into that plane, I do not know. Important is that they let them in. These creatures, called Lorylim, are grotesque, illogical things. You cannot bargain with them, you cannot gain anything from them and they are only out to corrupt everything they can. If you ever have the misfortune to run into one of these, stay your distance and kill it from as far away as you can.”
That sounded highly alarming. It would have been nice to know of the existence of some eldritch trans-dimensional aliens sooner. “Do these Lorylim, voidlings, whatever, things cross over often?”
“Hardly,” Lydia said. “The last sighting in Germany was twenty years ago. They are more numerous in the Middle East, for yet more mysterious reasons. Likely just the lack of human activity there, since Babel.” She paused for a moment. “Nevertheless, they are a dangerous and enigmatic force one should be informed about. Especially as you contract beings from other planes of existence.”
John nodded, what Lydia just told him was like education about nuclear bombs. The likelihood that he ever had to face, less even use, one was close to null, but, if it were to happen, it was better to know that the big red button was something he shouldn’t press. ‘Although, given my potential and potential longevity… actually, maybe I should treat the eventual encounter as guaranteed?’
Aclysia came back with the tea, and, at the same time, John started to see things through Sylph’s eyes he could not entirely comprehend. Apparently, the furniture was made of chameleons now? Something like that was taking place. ‘Overexposure to gummy bears makes Sylph trip balls,’ he noted mentally.
Aclysia put down two tea sets in front of John and Lydia. After pouring both of them a cup, she put the porcelain can on top of a metal cage, which held a small candle in the middle she had ignited in advance. It would keep the tea hot for a longer time.
“Any more questions?” Lydia asked.
“Yes, and let me be direct here,” he said and handed her his smartphone. “What do you think of this?” What he showed her was the prophecy, together with all of the things he had gathered about it up to this point. Including her as one of the potential subjects. John hoped that the princess would understand his caution and not make a scene.
He had a very simple reason for doing this: he was stuck. Contrary to what he had wanted, he had spent most of the date thinking about this prophecy, especially while heading back. He had realized nothing of value. Nothing that would help him potentially dodge the fate aimed at Herman as per this prophecy. If Lydia was the schemer she would hopefully reveal herself, either through error or through truth. Even if she remained capable of hiding herself, John could hardly lose anything, since he was already at a dead end.
“Concerning,” Lydia said, after having read through everything twice. She handed him back the phone. “Your idea that I could be said schemer is both flattering and ridiculous. I only need you for emperorship over Germaniae Rex. However, this answer will not help you, so you may keep your suspicion about me.”
“I am sorry,” John said, watching her relationship score drop to 37. This created a dent in their young relationship, but the prophecy was an immediate concern that didn’t allow much leeway. The score went up to 43, following his apology, but Lydia remained cold for the moment. ‘Her feelings seem genuine,’ John thought as he put his phone away.
“Magus’ report included that you were told a prophecy by the Horned Rat. I didn’t want to be included due to this god’s reputation, and I still stand by that sentiment. If you want any aid in this matter, understand that I will keep it to the effortless and easily denied,” Lydia spoke and waited for him to ask further questions.
John shook his head. “I wanted to know if you could be the schemer and I no longer think you are, that is enough for me,” he explained.
There was a moment where they both just sipped tea until Lydia finally said. “If you have no other questions, I can educate you on another topic,” she suggested.
“Please do,” John eagerly agreed. The more he knew, the less bad surprises he would have in the long run.
“Aclysia, would you bring me a bowl, a shot-glass and a pitcher of water?” the princess then suddenly asked.
“Of course, princess,” the artificial guardian readily agreed and returned a moment later with the requested items.
Lydia placed the glass inside the bowl. She needed to stand to reach all the way to the middle of the table. Her braid fell down the left side of her head as she poured water into the bowl until it was just high enough to reach the edge of the shot glass inside, without spilling any into it.
“This is the modern theory of how gods are born,” Lydia explained and spilled a little bit of water on her hand. “Gods are a talkative bunch, but they are rarely happy to be inspected and even rarer weak enough that they can be forced to be. The theory I am about to present to you is about forty years old and not necessarily the absolute truth; however, it is the closest we have.”
John gestured his understanding, and Lydia hovered her index finger over the still empty shot glass. A single drop fell from the digit into the small glass.
“It always starts with a target of faith, usually an animal,” Lydia said, “It is important to note that Faith doesn’t necessarily mean worship, it can just as easily be the scapegoat for anger, hatred, fear or other negative emotions. That symbol develops into an abyssal creature, time passes, it absorbs power from the worship or becomes stronger through unifying its consciousness with others. We call that a legionnaire lifeform.”
That John had already known, the Vermintide Observe had told him as much.
“As time goes, and a central will forms or dominates in that legionnaire lifeform, it either stops in its development, becoming an imposing beast, or it claims human Faith,” the princess said and nodded at the bowl full of water. “Faith is energy all humans generate just by existing. If the conditions are right, one of these already extremely powerful magical entities connects with human faith,” Lydia took the pitcher up again and poured into the glass until it spilled over, the two bodies of water, bowl and glass, connected into one. “Thus, a god is born. It is important to note that Faith can take many forms outside of simple belief as well. Morning routines, a love for chocolate, all that can be faith. The strongest form of faith is, as far as theory goes, a dying wish. The entirety of the remaining human soul is likely converted into Faith in that moment. Many strong gods have been born from the souls of humans that died in similar disasters. Even something as unimportant as looking forward to breakfast could create a god. Although, in all due likelihood, it would be combined with another, less specific variety of food worship.”
John thought about that for a moment. “And only animals or symbols can become gods? What about humans?” he then asked. Lydia smiled, she had expected that question. Her stockings started to flow from her legs. ‘Oh, so that’s where she left her rapier,’ John realized.
The liquid metal formed a tall cylinder around the edges of the glass and once again isolated two bodies of water from each other. “Human souls do not ‘spill over’,” she explained as she poured the rest of the pitcher into the cylinder. “We have sheer infinite room to grow by nature, and, because we cannot connect our own power to the power of Faith, we cannot become gods. Not that we need to, talented humans can overcome gods.”
John raised an eyebrow, “But what if someone were to do this?” he asked, reached into the bowl and used Craft on the glass. It shattered into four even pieces, and the water in the cylinder now escaped into the bowl. It quickly flowed over and onto the table. Lydia created a new ring around the flowing water to keep it from dripping onto the floor.
“A warning would have been appreciated,” she stated.
“I brought the maid, I can create some of the dirt,” the Gamer replied jokingly.
“…A not entirely unfounded retort… in any case, that question is redundant. I cannot imagine the amount of power needed to break the natural barriers of the human soul so thoroughly that one could connect to Faith. Not even Romulus has tapped into godhood yet. The closest humans get to it are demi-gods, the very rare children between gods and humans, and even those resemble Innate Fighters more closely than they do gods.”
“Okay, thank you for the lesson,” John said and put the glass back together via a second use of Craft. Aclysia had gotten a towel in the meantime and now mopped up the spilled water.
“Anything else you would appreciate knowing?” Lydia asked.
“I always have more questions,” John admitted and was about to speak up when he felt a hyperactive poking against his leg.
He looked down to see Sylph, in her big form, kneeling between his legs, underneath the table. She must have sneaked down there in incorporeal form and was now trying to get his attention. For what purpose was a mystery to John. ‘What do you want, Sylph?’
There was a quick succession of gestures, so quick in fact that her movements were almost untraceable to his eyes. A bored expression, a silent yapping of her mouth, her hands shaking something invisible and then she poked the inside of her cheek with her tongue, finishing the scene with a wink while she put on an imaginary crown.
‘Okay, so you are bored because you still can’t talk, so you want to suck me off in front of the princess?’ he asked. Sylph turned into one of those bobble-head figures, her head nodding at a massive speed. John was concerned thrice over. First, because that sent her green hair flying in all directions and second, because he was able to translate all of Sylph’s madness on the first try, and thrice, because he was into the idea.
Public sex wasn’t his cup of tea, but a secret blowjob in front of a princess he had fucked up the ass? Yeah, that sounded nice. Sylph didn’t wait for his voiced approval and instead unzipped his pants, using her abilities to mask the sound.
She couldn’t mask John looking at the floor for that long however. “What are you looking at?” Lydia asked and was about to check under the table when Aclysia intervened.
“Another cup of tea, princess?” the servant suggested.
“Of course, thank you,” Lydia answered and stopped in her motion; the diversion was successful.
‘I got your back, master,’ he heard a mental comment from the artificial guardian.
The gratitude he felt at that moment was only surpassed by the feeling of Sylph’s shocking tongue licking over his semi-erect dick. Already hyper by nature, the extreme sugar rush must have sent her into some sort of ultra-speed. Her worshipping motions were lightning fast. However, she was also under the impression that John’s dick could talk, so not everything was sunny in the tempest elemental's head.
Sylph was busy coating his dick with that fine mist that was her saliva replacement, and, within a few seconds, she was already rushing up and down his lubricated dick at speeds he had never imagined. Somehow, perhaps through passive use of her powers, she did all of that without creating a single sound.
“Perverts, all of you,” mumbled Mono as she turned a page.
“I thought you had more questions for me, John?” Lydia probed after sipping her tea.
“Ye-aha, sorry,” he gasped. Sylph was using her tongue to tease every last bit of the engorged head. Trying to talk at the same time as receiving such attention was slightly straining. “Just was away for a moment,” his hand clawed at the edge of the table. A gesture that Lydia didn’t miss.
“Are you not feeling well?” she asked with a raised eyebrow. Her iron tone only showed the slightest bit of concern. “I will need you to be at maximum capacity tomorrow,” she reminded him, “I want to see your abilities in action.”
“Do not worry…princess” he suppressed a groan there, “I am always at maximum capacity after ten minutes of relaxation.”
“Impressive, so you need next to no sleep?” Lydia wondered. “The reports indicated that you do.”
“No-mhm-t what I was talking about,” he waved it off as Sylph took him all the way down to the base into her throat. Just for a moment though, she was way too hyper to stay deepthroating for an extended period of time. Better bob back and forth at the speed of sound.
John was just about ready to cum, there was only so much stimulation he could withstand within a single moment. And so, he did. In front of an anal loving princess he came underneath a dining table, getting a blowjob by an air spirit. He fell back in his chair when his body relaxed. “Life is pretty great,” he stated and closed the ‘Challenge beaten’ window that popped up.
Sylph, to his surprise, did not instantly start talking again, but instead turned underneath the table. She crawled out next to Lydia, who stared at the small girl in surprise, having never seen Sylph in her ‘big’ form before. There was an even bigger surprise for everyone when the tempest elemental pressed her mouth on Lydia’s and French kissed her.
The princess’ eyes opened wide, first in shock, then in curiosity and finally in wonder, as an extremely tasty liquid landed in her mouth. She must have realized within the second she tasted it what had been happening.
Gently, she pushed Sylph away. The amount of control she had as she gulped, then rinsed his cum down with tea, was staggering. John broke a bit of a cold sweat as a deafening silence filled the room. Had he known that Sylph would be this much of a perverted idiot, he wouldn’t have gone through with this. Or maybe he would have. ‘Why is there never any pre-nut clarity?’
“John Newman, did you just enjoy a blowjob while trying to talk to me?” Lydia finally asked, staring him down with pure, grey eyes.
“Yes,” John answered, having the decency of sounding guilty. He had that almost forgotten feeling of regretful realization, occurring after having jerked off to the weirdest kind of porn one could find.
“I suggest you get more practice in concentrating then, your conversation skills were severely crippled,” Lydia suggested.
‘Wait, what?’ he thought. “Wait, what?” he repeated out loud.
“What what?” Sylph asked.
“Be quiet, Sylph,” Aclysia commanded.
“I REFUSE! I just shared a tasty treat with the princess, and I demand a thank you. Say: ‘Thank you, oh greatest concubine’, princess.”
The princess twirled the end of her braid around her index finger, blushing a bit. Her eyes darted from Sylph, to the table, to John and back. She couldn’t actually be giving that a thought, could she? In the end she didn’t say what Sylph wanted, but what left her mouth was a surprise nevertheless. “I agree that it was a delicious treat, thank you, Sylph.”
“Not good enough, NOT GOOD ENOUGH!” Sylph said but was dragged away by Aclysia.
“I will take disciplinary measures,” the artificial guardian promised as they left the room.
“You look like you are trying to solve an incomprehensible riddle,” Lydia said and used the Ferforitum still on the table to pour herself a new cup, now that a sentient metal girl was no longer around to do it for her.
“I assumed you would be furious with me,” John spoke his mind.
“I am slightly annoyed by the lack of respect, both from you for going through with this act and from Sylph for literally shoving your seed down my throat. Why is it that delicious, by the way?”
“I got a Perk for it…. You are really not angry?” he probed further.
Lydia resumed playing with her braid as she carefully picked her next words. “Ehem, how do I best put this?” she mumbled and slowly turned red. “As you may or may not have noticed, I am a bit of a sexually interested individual myself,” the princess then stated, her tone that of a nineteen-year-old girl who was talking about her interests in bed for the first time. Which, John had to remind himself, was almost exactly what she was. Under the stern and metallic layers was a pervert just like himself, normal people didn’t enjoy anal sex as much as she did.
Lydia cleared her throat again and, perhaps following an old habit, opened her hair – just to immediately start braiding it again. “To be honest, I was considering a way to find a new partner… finding someone with the right mixture of discretion and sexual ability is difficult though. By my estimations, you fit the bill,” she stated, parting her flowing brown hair into three big strands. “You are a Latebloomer, but you are not unstoppable yet. If you betray me, I can have you removed. By the time you realize your potential, the relationship will cause much less public outcry,” she started braiding her hair into a cohesive unit again, only some shorter strands escaped and framed her face. Despite what she just said, she seemed increasingly more flustered.
How was it that this girl could carefully threaten to murder him, ask him to fuck her without a second of hesitation, but, now that they were talking about her perversion, it was suddenly embarrassing.
Then it clicked in John’s head.
Her embarrassment stemmed from the fact that she was talking about herself. Before she was just using him for whatever she wanted, to win the tournament, to get some stress relief, to kill some time. He could have been literally anyone, there was a sense of distance, a stone wall between them. A stone wall that was now slowly getting chipped away. ‘But why?’ John wondered, ‘Why is she opening up to me?’
“Honestly, I wanted to watch from a distance for a while first,” Lydia continued, “See if you were even ready to engage in these sorts of activities. Check if Magus’ reports weren’t overblown. Even then I thought I would keep you at arms-length.”
John leaned in, listening closely. The princess wasn’t even looking at him, instead shifting in her seat, eyes downcast, when she did raise them she was surprised at how close he had gotten. For a moment she was taken aback, blushing deeply. Then she found her composure again and sat straight, her voice finding balance again.
“However, as Rave demanded for things between us to be more open and I agreed to comply, I am opening to you at this sooner date. The fact is that I am interested in these debaucheries your group evidently is already heavily practicing,” she said, although her tone was iron again there was a warmth to it now that was missing before. “In short, John Newman, I would be happy to be a part of whatever perversions you can think of. Under the condition that whatever relationship we have stays private.”
“Absolutely,” John agreed and got a new kind of window – definitely his new favourite.
“Just lust or… more, wherever this goes, I’m happy to comply.”
The princess seemed quite relieved at that answer. They had a basic agreement before their little engagement yesterday, but this felt more thorough and official. With it out of the way, she also seemed eager to return to the formal talk. “Now, any more questions in actuality? Or do you have another spirit waiting to give you a blowjob?” Lydia wanted to know.
“Nope,” John peeked over to Mono who was shaking her head at how the conversation had concluded. “I’m just happy to have someone new understand how we do things in the bedroom.”
“Why is there such chaos going on?” Lydia asked.
The princess had exchanged her uniform for a knee-length, loose skirt, black stockings and a white blouse, all of which was tailored to fit her perfectly. John’s dick reminded him that it hadn’t been used in a bit, by his very warped standards, taking the mere sight of the princess as an excuse to tax away some of his blood. It wasn’t enough to get a full erection, but his pants were growing tighter. Not tight enough to prevent him from wondering where the princess had left her rapier, however.
Lydia sat down next to Mono (who took no interest in her whatsoever) at the dining table and eyed the opened package in front of the couch with interest. “I did not take you for a sweet tooth,” she commented.
“I am not, Sylph is,” John said, “which is also what that noise is about.”
“Was about,” Aclysia, following the rather sudden evacuation of the kitchen by Salamander and Sylph, corrected.
“It is…pretty hard to control her,” John apologized, watching as Sylph vanished upstairs with the gummy bear, dubbed Marvin, in her arms.
He kept an eye on her through their mental connection, last time she only had some small gummy bears and even that had caused her to get a sugar rush. God alone knew what would happen to that girl if she ate that whole thing, which, John had no doubt about it, would happen. Also, he wanted to know if she kept her promise. He quickly checked if his class was correctly set-up. The worst thing that could happen was that he managed to work the miracle of getting her to shut up for 20 minutes and then forgot to make it count.
“As long as there has been no damage done to my property,” Lydia shrugged it off.
“Aclysia, would you mind preparing some more tea?” John requested and made his way over to the dining table. That earned a questioning look from the princess. “Might as well kill time, or do you have anything else to do?”
“Not immediately,” she admitted and put her chin on her raised wrist. Like that, giving him the slightest of smiles, the beauty of her blue eyes really came out. She was sizing him up, like she had so often before. The purpose was different though. Rather than a pawn in her game or a sexual partner, now she seemed to be evaluating if she could have a worthwhile conversation with him. “Fine then, John, what do you wish to talk about?”
“Truth,” he stated, and fished his smartphone out of his pants, as he sat down opposite her. “I have many things I have yet to understand, and you know most of these I reckon.”
Lydia nodded, “Good, I was afraid for a moment you would waste my time with ceaseless flirtations.”
“Maybe another time,” John teased, “Who knows? You might like it.”
“I very much doubt it,” the princess stated. In contrast to her harsh words the princess’ relationship points had risen to 53, although John couldn’t pinpoint what the exact reason for that would have been. Could have been just that sex helped pair bonding. Could have been how direct he was with her. He really wanted to know.
John considered himself a good guy by nature, but he still had some selfish motives for most things he did. If he had been just selflessly nice, he would have gone with Moira, on that fateful day when he had met Rave. His first and foremost hope was, still, to build a harem, and, even as big as it already was, there was always room for a stern German princess. He liked her, not as much as Rave or Aclysia of course, but she was a breath of fresh air. Even if she decided to only keep him around as an ally with occasional sexual favours, he still would have a very powerful friend in her. However, bending his character to make friends was not what he had in mind.
“I think I can put a dent in that foundation,” he hummed as suavely as possible. Then, his tone swung to informal. He had every intention to make good on the promise of ceaseless flirtations, but first he would prove that he had a head besides the one between his legs. “So, Jane informed me that there apparently is some difference between lightning and electricity magic, mind filling me in?”
Lydia seemed somewhat relieved that the talk moved from social to informal topics. It was clear what she was more comfortable with. “It is an issue of having limited words for similar things,” Lydia told him, “Lightning magic is light magic that behaves like electricity but isn’t. You can’t power a machine with lightning magic, and it is much more effective against magical creatures than physical beings. Electricity is what you think it is, just control of electric currents.”
“Okay, and that difference is because…?”
To that Lydia had no clear answer, “Why is a ball the most desired state for liquid matter in zero gravity? Some things are just at the base and can’t be explained.”
“Unless you are a theoretical physicist,” John pointed out.
“Mhm,” Lydia hummed, “Indeed, there are certain individuals who aim to find the core of every truth. An honourable effort. All I know about this matter is that these powers are different in nature, even if similar in name and appearance. It is like Blank and Lorylim powers. They cause the average person instinctive repulsion, yet they are as different as water and oil.”
John raised an eyebrow and just let Lydia pick up on his questioning gaze.
“Are you not aware of the Lorylim?” she asked, disapprovingly.
“I have heard the term before and that they’re kind of nasty, but that’s about it.”
“You are a summoner and yet you only describe the Lorylim as ‘kind of nasty’,” Lydia clicked her tongue. “Listen and listen well, John, this is important. Tangled to our reality are the six elemental realms of fire, water, air, earth, shadow and light. They have many terms, from Kingdoms to planes, the latter being much more common. Between these six entangled realms exists the plane of the Lorylim. Sometimes we call it the void, but it is far from empty. How and why somebody eventually took a peek into that plane, I do not know. Important is that they let them in. These creatures, called Lorylim, are grotesque, illogical things. You cannot bargain with them, you cannot gain anything from them and they are only out to corrupt everything they can. If you ever have the misfortune to run into one of these, stay your distance and kill it from as far away as you can.”
That sounded highly alarming. It would have been nice to know of the existence of some eldritch trans-dimensional aliens sooner. “Do these Lorylim, voidlings, whatever, things cross over often?”
“Hardly,” Lydia said. “The last sighting in Germany was twenty years ago. They are more numerous in the Middle East, for yet more mysterious reasons. Likely just the lack of human activity there, since Babel.” She paused for a moment. “Nevertheless, they are a dangerous and enigmatic force one should be informed about. Especially as you contract beings from other planes of existence.”
John nodded, what Lydia just told him was like education about nuclear bombs. The likelihood that he ever had to face, less even use, one was close to null, but, if it were to happen, it was better to know that the big red button was something he shouldn’t press. ‘Although, given my potential and potential longevity… actually, maybe I should treat the eventual encounter as guaranteed?’
Aclysia came back with the tea, and, at the same time, John started to see things through Sylph’s eyes he could not entirely comprehend. Apparently, the furniture was made of chameleons now? Something like that was taking place. ‘Overexposure to gummy bears makes Sylph trip balls,’ he noted mentally.
Aclysia put down two tea sets in front of John and Lydia. After pouring both of them a cup, she put the porcelain can on top of a metal cage, which held a small candle in the middle she had ignited in advance. It would keep the tea hot for a longer time.
“Any more questions?” Lydia asked.
“Yes, and let me be direct here,” he said and handed her his smartphone. “What do you think of this?” What he showed her was the prophecy, together with all of the things he had gathered about it up to this point. Including her as one of the potential subjects. John hoped that the princess would understand his caution and not make a scene.
He had a very simple reason for doing this: he was stuck. Contrary to what he had wanted, he had spent most of the date thinking about this prophecy, especially while heading back. He had realized nothing of value. Nothing that would help him potentially dodge the fate aimed at Herman as per this prophecy. If Lydia was the schemer she would hopefully reveal herself, either through error or through truth. Even if she remained capable of hiding herself, John could hardly lose anything, since he was already at a dead end.
“Concerning,” Lydia said, after having read through everything twice. She handed him back the phone. “Your idea that I could be said schemer is both flattering and ridiculous. I only need you for emperorship over Germaniae Rex. However, this answer will not help you, so you may keep your suspicion about me.”
“I am sorry,” John said, watching her relationship score drop to 37. This created a dent in their young relationship, but the prophecy was an immediate concern that didn’t allow much leeway. The score went up to 43, following his apology, but Lydia remained cold for the moment. ‘Her feelings seem genuine,’ John thought as he put his phone away.
“Magus’ report included that you were told a prophecy by the Horned Rat. I didn’t want to be included due to this god’s reputation, and I still stand by that sentiment. If you want any aid in this matter, understand that I will keep it to the effortless and easily denied,” Lydia spoke and waited for him to ask further questions.
John shook his head. “I wanted to know if you could be the schemer and I no longer think you are, that is enough for me,” he explained.
There was a moment where they both just sipped tea until Lydia finally said. “If you have no other questions, I can educate you on another topic,” she suggested.
“Please do,” John eagerly agreed. The more he knew, the less bad surprises he would have in the long run.
“Aclysia, would you bring me a bowl, a shot-glass and a pitcher of water?” the princess then suddenly asked.
“Of course, princess,” the artificial guardian readily agreed and returned a moment later with the requested items.
Lydia placed the glass inside the bowl. She needed to stand to reach all the way to the middle of the table. Her braid fell down the left side of her head as she poured water into the bowl until it was just high enough to reach the edge of the shot glass inside, without spilling any into it.
“This is the modern theory of how gods are born,” Lydia explained and spilled a little bit of water on her hand. “Gods are a talkative bunch, but they are rarely happy to be inspected and even rarer weak enough that they can be forced to be. The theory I am about to present to you is about forty years old and not necessarily the absolute truth; however, it is the closest we have.”
John gestured his understanding, and Lydia hovered her index finger over the still empty shot glass. A single drop fell from the digit into the small glass.
“It always starts with a target of faith, usually an animal,” Lydia said, “It is important to note that Faith doesn’t necessarily mean worship, it can just as easily be the scapegoat for anger, hatred, fear or other negative emotions. That symbol develops into an abyssal creature, time passes, it absorbs power from the worship or becomes stronger through unifying its consciousness with others. We call that a legionnaire lifeform.”
That John had already known, the Vermintide Observe had told him as much.
“As time goes, and a central will forms or dominates in that legionnaire lifeform, it either stops in its development, becoming an imposing beast, or it claims human Faith,” the princess said and nodded at the bowl full of water. “Faith is energy all humans generate just by existing. If the conditions are right, one of these already extremely powerful magical entities connects with human faith,” Lydia took the pitcher up again and poured into the glass until it spilled over, the two bodies of water, bowl and glass, connected into one. “Thus, a god is born. It is important to note that Faith can take many forms outside of simple belief as well. Morning routines, a love for chocolate, all that can be faith. The strongest form of faith is, as far as theory goes, a dying wish. The entirety of the remaining human soul is likely converted into Faith in that moment. Many strong gods have been born from the souls of humans that died in similar disasters. Even something as unimportant as looking forward to breakfast could create a god. Although, in all due likelihood, it would be combined with another, less specific variety of food worship.”
John thought about that for a moment. “And only animals or symbols can become gods? What about humans?” he then asked. Lydia smiled, she had expected that question. Her stockings started to flow from her legs. ‘Oh, so that’s where she left her rapier,’ John realized.
The liquid metal formed a tall cylinder around the edges of the glass and once again isolated two bodies of water from each other. “Human souls do not ‘spill over’,” she explained as she poured the rest of the pitcher into the cylinder. “We have sheer infinite room to grow by nature, and, because we cannot connect our own power to the power of Faith, we cannot become gods. Not that we need to, talented humans can overcome gods.”
John raised an eyebrow, “But what if someone were to do this?” he asked, reached into the bowl and used Craft on the glass. It shattered into four even pieces, and the water in the cylinder now escaped into the bowl. It quickly flowed over and onto the table. Lydia created a new ring around the flowing water to keep it from dripping onto the floor.
“A warning would have been appreciated,” she stated.
“I brought the maid, I can create some of the dirt,” the Gamer replied jokingly.
“…A not entirely unfounded retort… in any case, that question is redundant. I cannot imagine the amount of power needed to break the natural barriers of the human soul so thoroughly that one could connect to Faith. Not even Romulus has tapped into godhood yet. The closest humans get to it are demi-gods, the very rare children between gods and humans, and even those resemble Innate Fighters more closely than they do gods.”
“Okay, thank you for the lesson,” John said and put the glass back together via a second use of Craft. Aclysia had gotten a towel in the meantime and now mopped up the spilled water.
“Anything else you would appreciate knowing?” Lydia asked.
“I always have more questions,” John admitted and was about to speak up when he felt a hyperactive poking against his leg.
He looked down to see Sylph, in her big form, kneeling between his legs, underneath the table. She must have sneaked down there in incorporeal form and was now trying to get his attention. For what purpose was a mystery to John. ‘What do you want, Sylph?’
There was a quick succession of gestures, so quick in fact that her movements were almost untraceable to his eyes. A bored expression, a silent yapping of her mouth, her hands shaking something invisible and then she poked the inside of her cheek with her tongue, finishing the scene with a wink while she put on an imaginary crown.
‘Okay, so you are bored because you still can’t talk, so you want to suck me off in front of the princess?’ he asked. Sylph turned into one of those bobble-head figures, her head nodding at a massive speed. John was concerned thrice over. First, because that sent her green hair flying in all directions and second, because he was able to translate all of Sylph’s madness on the first try, and thrice, because he was into the idea.
Public sex wasn’t his cup of tea, but a secret blowjob in front of a princess he had fucked up the ass? Yeah, that sounded nice. Sylph didn’t wait for his voiced approval and instead unzipped his pants, using her abilities to mask the sound.
She couldn’t mask John looking at the floor for that long however. “What are you looking at?” Lydia asked and was about to check under the table when Aclysia intervened.
“Another cup of tea, princess?” the servant suggested.
“Of course, thank you,” Lydia answered and stopped in her motion; the diversion was successful.
‘I got your back, master,’ he heard a mental comment from the artificial guardian.
The gratitude he felt at that moment was only surpassed by the feeling of Sylph’s shocking tongue licking over his semi-erect dick. Already hyper by nature, the extreme sugar rush must have sent her into some sort of ultra-speed. Her worshipping motions were lightning fast. However, she was also under the impression that John’s dick could talk, so not everything was sunny in the tempest elemental's head.
Sylph was busy coating his dick with that fine mist that was her saliva replacement, and, within a few seconds, she was already rushing up and down his lubricated dick at speeds he had never imagined. Somehow, perhaps through passive use of her powers, she did all of that without creating a single sound.
“Perverts, all of you,” mumbled Mono as she turned a page.
“I thought you had more questions for me, John?” Lydia probed after sipping her tea.
“Ye-aha, sorry,” he gasped. Sylph was using her tongue to tease every last bit of the engorged head. Trying to talk at the same time as receiving such attention was slightly straining. “Just was away for a moment,” his hand clawed at the edge of the table. A gesture that Lydia didn’t miss.
“Are you not feeling well?” she asked with a raised eyebrow. Her iron tone only showed the slightest bit of concern. “I will need you to be at maximum capacity tomorrow,” she reminded him, “I want to see your abilities in action.”
“Do not worry…princess” he suppressed a groan there, “I am always at maximum capacity after ten minutes of relaxation.”
“Impressive, so you need next to no sleep?” Lydia wondered. “The reports indicated that you do.”
“No-mhm-t what I was talking about,” he waved it off as Sylph took him all the way down to the base into her throat. Just for a moment though, she was way too hyper to stay deepthroating for an extended period of time. Better bob back and forth at the speed of sound.
John was just about ready to cum, there was only so much stimulation he could withstand within a single moment. And so, he did. In front of an anal loving princess he came underneath a dining table, getting a blowjob by an air spirit. He fell back in his chair when his body relaxed. “Life is pretty great,” he stated and closed the ‘Challenge beaten’ window that popped up.
Sylph, to his surprise, did not instantly start talking again, but instead turned underneath the table. She crawled out next to Lydia, who stared at the small girl in surprise, having never seen Sylph in her ‘big’ form before. There was an even bigger surprise for everyone when the tempest elemental pressed her mouth on Lydia’s and French kissed her.
The princess’ eyes opened wide, first in shock, then in curiosity and finally in wonder, as an extremely tasty liquid landed in her mouth. She must have realized within the second she tasted it what had been happening.
Gently, she pushed Sylph away. The amount of control she had as she gulped, then rinsed his cum down with tea, was staggering. John broke a bit of a cold sweat as a deafening silence filled the room. Had he known that Sylph would be this much of a perverted idiot, he wouldn’t have gone through with this. Or maybe he would have. ‘Why is there never any pre-nut clarity?’
“John Newman, did you just enjoy a blowjob while trying to talk to me?” Lydia finally asked, staring him down with pure, grey eyes.
“Yes,” John answered, having the decency of sounding guilty. He had that almost forgotten feeling of regretful realization, occurring after having jerked off to the weirdest kind of porn one could find.
“I suggest you get more practice in concentrating then, your conversation skills were severely crippled,” Lydia suggested.
‘Wait, what?’ he thought. “Wait, what?” he repeated out loud.
“What what?” Sylph asked.
“Be quiet, Sylph,” Aclysia commanded.
“I REFUSE! I just shared a tasty treat with the princess, and I demand a thank you. Say: ‘Thank you, oh greatest concubine’, princess.”
The princess twirled the end of her braid around her index finger, blushing a bit. Her eyes darted from Sylph, to the table, to John and back. She couldn’t actually be giving that a thought, could she? In the end she didn’t say what Sylph wanted, but what left her mouth was a surprise nevertheless. “I agree that it was a delicious treat, thank you, Sylph.”
“Not good enough, NOT GOOD ENOUGH!” Sylph said but was dragged away by Aclysia.
“I will take disciplinary measures,” the artificial guardian promised as they left the room.
“You look like you are trying to solve an incomprehensible riddle,” Lydia said and used the Ferforitum still on the table to pour herself a new cup, now that a sentient metal girl was no longer around to do it for her.
“I assumed you would be furious with me,” John spoke his mind.
“I am slightly annoyed by the lack of respect, both from you for going through with this act and from Sylph for literally shoving your seed down my throat. Why is it that delicious, by the way?”
“I got a Perk for it…. You are really not angry?” he probed further.
Lydia resumed playing with her braid as she carefully picked her next words. “Ehem, how do I best put this?” she mumbled and slowly turned red. “As you may or may not have noticed, I am a bit of a sexually interested individual myself,” the princess then stated, her tone that of a nineteen-year-old girl who was talking about her interests in bed for the first time. Which, John had to remind himself, was almost exactly what she was. Under the stern and metallic layers was a pervert just like himself, normal people didn’t enjoy anal sex as much as she did.
Lydia cleared her throat again and, perhaps following an old habit, opened her hair – just to immediately start braiding it again. “To be honest, I was considering a way to find a new partner… finding someone with the right mixture of discretion and sexual ability is difficult though. By my estimations, you fit the bill,” she stated, parting her flowing brown hair into three big strands. “You are a Latebloomer, but you are not unstoppable yet. If you betray me, I can have you removed. By the time you realize your potential, the relationship will cause much less public outcry,” she started braiding her hair into a cohesive unit again, only some shorter strands escaped and framed her face. Despite what she just said, she seemed increasingly more flustered.
How was it that this girl could carefully threaten to murder him, ask him to fuck her without a second of hesitation, but, now that they were talking about her perversion, it was suddenly embarrassing.
Then it clicked in John’s head.
Her embarrassment stemmed from the fact that she was talking about herself. Before she was just using him for whatever she wanted, to win the tournament, to get some stress relief, to kill some time. He could have been literally anyone, there was a sense of distance, a stone wall between them. A stone wall that was now slowly getting chipped away. ‘But why?’ John wondered, ‘Why is she opening up to me?’
“Honestly, I wanted to watch from a distance for a while first,” Lydia continued, “See if you were even ready to engage in these sorts of activities. Check if Magus’ reports weren’t overblown. Even then I thought I would keep you at arms-length.”
John leaned in, listening closely. The princess wasn’t even looking at him, instead shifting in her seat, eyes downcast, when she did raise them she was surprised at how close he had gotten. For a moment she was taken aback, blushing deeply. Then she found her composure again and sat straight, her voice finding balance again.
“However, as Rave demanded for things between us to be more open and I agreed to comply, I am opening to you at this sooner date. The fact is that I am interested in these debaucheries your group evidently is already heavily practicing,” she said, although her tone was iron again there was a warmth to it now that was missing before. “In short, John Newman, I would be happy to be a part of whatever perversions you can think of. Under the condition that whatever relationship we have stays private.”
“Absolutely,” John agreed and got a new kind of window – definitely his new favourite.
“Just lust or… more, wherever this goes, I’m happy to comply.”
The princess seemed quite relieved at that answer. They had a basic agreement before their little engagement yesterday, but this felt more thorough and official. With it out of the way, she also seemed eager to return to the formal talk. “Now, any more questions in actuality? Or do you have another spirit waiting to give you a blowjob?” Lydia wanted to know.
“Nope,” John peeked over to Mono who was shaking her head at how the conversation had concluded. “I’m just happy to have someone new understand how we do things in the bedroom.”
