147-148

The day at the Academy passed by uneventfully, with Jillian and Ayla still remaining a god distance away from us, only occasionally casting glances our way.

Jahi started getting us prepared to graduate from each class early, talking to the professors and letting them know that we wished to eventually take the finals early.

Of course, this made Anput blanch slightly when we all fixed her with a stern look, the Jackalkin gulping as she realized that a real long study session awaited her each night for the next week, and not the kind that she wanted.

As for Leone and I, we needed to study as well, but our grasp on the History material was pretty decent, and I still had a pass to just… excuse myself from a class due to my status as a servant.

Again, I still wanted to pass the test, so that I could unlock the ability to take Monsterology courses; since the March Asmodia was located along the border of the Labyrinthian, we were the first line of defense against any major monster outbreaks, and as such I wanted to get a deeper understanding of monsters and their weakness', so that I could better prepare Jahi against the threats that we would be facing.

However, that was the future, and my main focus was the here and now; so, during each class, I tinkered with my Stealth skill, remaining as quiet as I could throughout the day, and keeping my footsteps as like as possible when we walked between classes.

I did the same outside of the Academy, and having such a large, eye drawing woman to 'hide' behind in Jahi was certainly helpful.

Though, I had a feeling that I would need to start making nightly excursions throughout the city to really train myself…

Which, with the current political climate, was very dangerous…

When we returned home Jahi pulled Anput over to the kitchen, laying the history textbooks before the pouting Jackalkin before sitting beside her, forcing the girl to read the books aloud.

As for Leone and I, we went outside, as I had expressed interest in something that Vice-Headmaster Bijilo had talked about today.

Magic Dueling.

It was a specific spell that had been invented centuries ago, and the spell had been created because people wanted a way to gauge one's magical prowess without needing to be in harms way.

The spell wasn't strong enough to kill, and it made it easier for people to settle disagreements the same way those more physically inclined did; a spar.

Before this spell had been created, mages 'competed' with their research or with their ability to 'summon' and cast a powerful spell in as little time as possible.

Even today, one of the requirements to pass most of the Magic Courses at the Academy was to display your casting speed with a strong spell, both to gauge your precision with runes and how knowledgeable you were of magic.

However, some teachers also required you to go against them in a Magic Duel, as they wished to test how well you controlled and output your mana.

So, Leone and I stood apart from one another, tracing the runes needed for this basic spell.

It would create a bridge between us, connecting my mana to hers and vice versa.

Then, we would join our mana together in the center, before attempting to push the others back.

It was a simple task, and the only thing that felt like it was missing was a wand…

Since both of us were accomplished mages; that is to say, we know what we're doing with our mana, this duel was weighted heavily in Leone's favor, what with her element being 'superior' to mine.

However, I insisted on trying it, as the worst case would be the Vampire across from me having to learn how to hold back her potent mana, or best case…

I win, and she needs to learn how to suppress my mana.

Nodding to her, I completed the spell circle in front of me and pushed my mana towards her, watching as the ethereal blue mana floated towards the vibrant red that Leone created.

Joining together, we took a deep breath before nodding to one another again, this time starting the duel.

Keeping my mana steady, I 'pushed' against Leone's mana, watching with interest as the connected area fizzed and popped.

The vibrant fire mana tried to devour my ethereal ice, but it had to rear back as I poured some more mana into the spell, making the blue flare.

As the connected spot of our mana grew closer to her, Leone pursed her lips before grinning, her fire mana sparking as it easily enveloped my own, swiftly coursing over the bridge and rushing towards me.

Frowning, I made my mana pulse inside the 'mouth' of Leone's mana, forcing it to stop as chunks of her mana was destroyed, replaced by my own.

The beam between us grew multicolored as the connected orb of energy returned to the middle; both ends were spotted with the others color, but now we were evenly matched.

Since Leone was relying entirely on Fire Mana, I could alter the Ice Mana to take on more of my Water then Wind, the freezing liquid dousing Leone's flames with ease.

The problem was the potency of her mana; even as I put out her Fire, she would simply raise the heat and evaporate my Water, returning our duel to an equilibrium; neither was able to truly push the other back by pure strenght, so…

Conceding some ground, I weakened my mana output gradually, which made Leone smile slightly.

As the connecting orb sparked and fizzled as it grew closer, I chuckled as I started pushing back again, switching from entirely Ice to only Water.

With the way my mana worked, when I used my Ice it was always surrounded by a sharp gale of wind, which was strengthening Leone's flames.

Now that that gale was gone…

Leone grit her teeth as she had to watch her flames be quenched slowly but surely, the orb being pushed back towards her.

Even as she poured a little more mana into the spell, she could only groan as the orb 'popped' in front of her, signifying the end of the duel, and my victory.

Chuckling, I canceled the spell and approached her, grinning at the Vampire as she glared at me.

"Come on Leone~! I won fair and square, didn't I~?"

Leaning closer to her, I continued to grin as she pouted, letting out a huff as she turned away.

Before I could continue teasing her, Anput and Jahi walked outside, the Jackalkin storming over to the weapons rack, while Jahi just let out an exasperated sigh.

Moving to stand beside Jahi, I watched as Anput started swinging her blade, the wooden sword thunking against the training dummy, her tail and ears bristling with each swing.

"What..?"

Shaking her head, Jahi sighed as she explained, her voice low.

"I gave her a mini verbal quiz at the end of the chapter, and while her answers were technically right, she didn't explain anything at all, only giving short, concise answers… and when I asked for me, she got a little…"

Falling silent, she gestured to the woman, the sword in her hands a blur as she expertly, and angrily, beat on the training dummy.

"Annoyed, I guess? Well…"

We both glanced over at Leone, who had moved to sit on the large boulder at the back of the yard, her eyes shut as she started practicing her mana control, her face cold.

Sighing, I muttered "So is she…"

Giving one another a mildly frustrated look, we both shrugged as I said "So should we train as well? Start with blades, move to magic?"

Getting a nod, I grabbed a wooden dagger and a wooden sword, watching as the Demoness easily caught and spun the sword in her hands.

Moving to the center of the yard, we nodded to one another before beginning our spar, focusing more on improving the techniques we used then winning this mock battle.

I practiced on my precision and agility, deciding to go with hit and run tactics on the larger woman, who used my technique as a way to hone her blocking and parrying skills.

The sounds of our blades crossing echoed around the yard, and eventually we swapped what we were doing, allowing me to focus on my evasion and redirections while Jahi attempted to perfect her shorter, quicker attacks.

While we were fighting, Anput eventually managed to cool herself down enough to not have bristling fur, and when Jahi and I finished our exchange we opened a space for her, creating a hectic free for all.

Since I was more focused on speed and precision, I was the one attacking them both the most, while Jahi defended against me and attacked Anput, who was a solid in between of Jahi and I.

The day slowly passed, and when we finished I returned to Leone's side, going through some of the less fun Dual Cultivation with her for a half hour before starting dinner.

—

Last two days have been tiring, hence the slower, SoL chapters; might do one more tomorrow depending on how I feel again, should be back to normal after that I hope~

Other books may or may not get updated today or tomorrow too, so if you read my other stuff don't be surprised if they're not updated…

After we finished training as a group, I returned to my kitchen and prepared some beef slices over rice for dinner, cooking the beef and some vegetables together and pouring them over a plate of steamed rice.

Paired with the wine that Jahi pulled out as an apology to Anput, the three women were laughing and chatting away, each one enjoying the delicious meal and sweet wine.

While they talked and giggled, I checked my quests, a little disappointed but not by much.

[Active Quests:

Daily:

Cook a Meal that your Mistress' enjoy – 150xp per meal / 300xp awarded

Clean the Cottage – 500xp / 500xp awarded

Satisfy your Mistress' cravings (Sex Quests) – 500xp per ejaculation / 14,000xp awarded

Help Jahi train – 1,000xp / 866xp awarded

Help Anput train – 1,000xp / 562xp awarded

Help Leone train – 1,000xp / 798xp awarded

Train your Dagger Skills – 1,000xp / 801xp awarded

Train your Ice, Water, and Wind Magic – 1,000xp / 523xp awarded

Train your other Skills – 1,000xp / 728xp awarded

Total xp: 19,078xp

Total sp: 8sp]

Looking over the list, I reviewed the day and wondered where I should put more effort to squeeze out more experience.

I wanted to increase this number to at least 20,000, since I could then reliably level up in a month and a half by doing just the bare minimum; if we go down to Zhu'Rong Caverns, that expected time will decrease by a lot.

The main two that I could think of attempting to increase my training of was my Stealth and Magic; Wind Magic was versatile, and when considering the fact that any Beastkin like Anput and I would rely more on our noses and ears then anything else, I could utilize my wind to quietly diffuse any scent I put out, as well as muffle my movements.

Besides that, I needed to go buy myself some newer shoes, or at least alter the ones I currently wear.

A softer sole would make my movements more quiet naturally, so I wouldn't need to invest too much mana into silencing my footsteps, which could instead be used for something else.

This entire thought process led to me having one conclusion.

I needed to start traveling around the city at night, blending in with the crowd or traversing the rooftops to avoid detection.

Doing so during the day was currently too risky at my current level, and I would likely get caught too easily by even just normal passerby's.

However, at night, I should be able to blend in decently enough; besides that, I don't plan on doing anything crazy just yet; I only want to experience the nightlife and see how much experience I get for doing so.

Though, the main problem would be convincing Jahi to let me out; there would be no sneaking away from her, as even I could tell with the Servant side of our Soul Bound where she was, and if she had gone far away.

I can only imagine what she would feel with the Master side of that bound, and how easily she must be able to tell that I was gone.

The last thing I wanted was to worry her, so we would need to talk and discuss this new training of mine…

Besides that, I needed to… 'talk' to her about my new class; not truly diverging my origins and all of that…

That will be taken to my grave.

Instead, I wanted to tell her that I want to train myself to be her hidden blade, used as she saw fit.

This would likely lead to argument, as Jahi wanted me to get the recognition she thought I deserved, and since we were both stubborn and adamant that our point of view was correct, there was no way that she wouldn't argue with me…

Taking a sip of my wine, I savored the sweet, yet semi tart flavor that warmed my tongue, the familiar burn of alcohol making me smile slightly.

I missed some of the hard liquors of my world, but I was also grateful they weren't as common here; hangovers were dreadful as a human, but I can't imagine the pains I would feel if I had to have the smells and sounds amplified as well…

I would truly be as sick as a dog, huh?

Holding in a chuckle from my own stupidly childish joke, I continued eating, watching as Jahi scooped out more rice for herself.

When I finished my own plate, I got up and started preparing dessert, which was just me shaving a block of ice and pouring a the remaining coulis from this morning over top of it.

Simple, but delectable…

Ferrying the cups over to the girls, I watched as they marveled over the treat, each one letting out small moans of pleasure as they took bite after bite of the shaved ice.

Dinner finished with ease, and I could feel the mood in the room shift from the jovial, light atmosphere of chatter grow heavier, each woman eyeing up the other as their cheeks flushed, the wine taking effect as everything grew ambiguous and heated.

Sensing that, I decided that I needed to talk to Jahi before she got going, as conversation with her during coitus was nigh impossible, unless we discussed better ways to satisfy our boundless lusts.

Standing up, I moved to stand behind Jahi, placing my hand on her shoulder as I leaned down, my breath tickling her ear as I whispered "We need to talk…"

Her amethyst eyes moved towards my hand, a smirk on those plump blue lips as she nodded.

Anput and Leone watched us, their eyes glued to our movements; Anput's tail thumped, while Leone's fangs slid into view, the two women preparing to get up and join us as well.

However, I wanted to discuss this with Jahi by herself first, before opening this up into a family wide debate.

I wasn't fond of putting myself at a disadvantage for no reason, not when there was an easier way to attempt my negotiations.

Glancing at the two women, I murmured "Alone…", my voice low and sensual, making them frown.

Jahi, who was still feeling the effects of the wine, nodded slightly, her hand covering mine as she spoke, her raspy voice entering everyones ears.

"You two can go start up… when we're done discussing… whatever it is, we'll join you…"

Rubbing her thumb over the back of my hand, Jahi added "And if what she says annoys me, we'll all partake in her together, as a… punishment, of sorts…"

That made the other two grin, their eyes hot as they stared intently at me.

Raising a brow, I shoo'd the two girls away, smirking as I muttered "Don't count on it…"

However, they didn't hear me, and I watched on as they slid into our bedroom, the two already whispering to one another, likely discussing who would do what to start.

I was happy that they had opened up to one another, which-

Dragging me onto her lap, Jahi held me by my waist, her amethyst eyes narrowed.

Was helpful for when Jahi wouldn't be available; the two outcomes of this talk of ours wouldn't involve Anput and Leone, sadly enough.

I would either have my wish granted, or I would be sufficiently 'punished' by this Demoness, depending on how well I articulated everything.

When the two others were gone, Jahi stared down at me, her features serious as she asked "So? What did we need to discuss?"

Leaning against her chest, I stared into her eyes and pursed my lips, before sighing.

It'd be best to just dive headfirst into this argument…

"Over the last few days, I've been thinking. About what's happening around us now, about what we've experienced, and about… about what I want to do."

Jahi tightened her grasp on my waist, her other hand resting on my knees.

Her eyes narrowed further, and I could see the contained emotions within.

"With the Sariel's, the run in with the Ikala's…"

Glancing away briefly, I muttered "Lord Pele…"

She clenched her hands on me further at that, and I could feel our bond surge for a moment.

Taking a deep breath, I returned to her eyes and continued.

"It's all just… further entrenched my desires. I do want to get stronger, like you and the others, but I know that my strenght lies… on a different path from each of yours."

Jahi tilted her head, her eyes hard as she hissed "How so?"

"Each of you is akin to a star, Jahi. Bright, brilliant, meant to be seen. With the talents each of you possess, you will all be the future of this Empire, leading one of, if not the strongest Noble House underneath the Empress' banner."

Another deep breath, and I added "I don't wish to be that star. I… dislike the idea of people seeing me as some genius, ready to be raised into the Nobility due to my talent and skill. I don't want it; I never have, and I never will.

What I want… what I've wanted ever since I met you, just a few years ago, was to keep this happiness around us alive and well for all of eternity. And my talents simply don't lie on the same path that each of you will take; sure, I could be a normal warrior or mage, but neither calls to me like they call to you; to Anput; to Leone.

So… I made my decision. I made it long ago, and I'll continue to stand by it. I want to keep our family happy, I want to support each of you, but I don't want people to see me. I don't want the attention, the multitudes of Houses attempting to forge ties with me, promising to nurture me as some talented genius.

I want to remain hidden; a secret, nothing more than a maid. All four of us know what I'm capable of, and that's enough. I want to continue how I've lived since we've moved here; a Servant, your maid."

Reaching up, I placed a finger on her lips before she could speak, stifling the anger in her eyes.

"And eventually, your wife. I'm fine with the Marquess eventually raising my Mother and I to the rank of Baroness, but that is more than enough. Yes, I will marry you and stand by your side, raise our children, but I don't want anything else.

To get to that point, I do know that I'll need strength, but I am content with being a concealed blade for you to use, Jahi. And you will never change my mind; you've known that all the time. I don't wish for glory or honor like you and Anput do, nor do I desire to etch my name in history as an incredible research like Leone.

So, I will continue what I've been doing; shrouding who I am from the masses, concealing myself behind the three amazing women I love, and supporting them the best I can. Which…"

Releasing her lips, I saw her swallow hard, her eyes frigid as she continued to stare at me in silence.

She was angry, and rightfully so; I was taking her one desire, the desire she's told me of multiple times, and spitting on it in front of her.

Jahi has always wanted me to stand by her side as her equal, not slightly behind her as a Servant.

The only argument we've truly had in these years together has been that, but it was something neither of us would concede to the other; we knew what we wanted, and we were going to do our damndest to change their views to fit ours.

"Is why I wish to start training more; to hone my skills further, to conceal myself better."

Not wincing even as her fingers dug into my flesh, I stared into her now golden eyes, the Demoness leaning down, an inch between us as she growled "How? What is this… 'training' you wish to do? Training to do something I've already made clear that I utterly despise?"

The growl she let out was low and guttural, and if this had been when I had first come to this world, I would've been frightened.

No one had ever spoken like that to me, least of all a seven and a half foot tall, blue skinned, horned Demoness with liquid gold eyes.

But, I wasn't that same pathetic woman; I had grown, albeit in a twisted way, since that point.

So, feeling my own emotions frost over, I rested my forehead against hers, my voice icy as I spoke again.