104: Azris

Excellence {Active} {Evolution 1} {Level 3}

For each Crafting Point spent on Excellence, the Potency of the craft is increased by {150%}. This bonus is increased by {300%} when 50% or less of your total Crafting Points are spent on this ability.

Wonders of Artifice {Active} {Evolution 1} {Level 3}

Designate up to 5 willing people as your Allies. Until you designate different targets, the chosen Allies gain {1000%} faster level progression, you receive the same amount of level progression they do, and you receive skill progression resources from their sinful acts.

Eris let the recently-upgraded skills sit in her mind, as well as the four thousand extra points of Desire that Eris neglected to mention earlier just to draw out the six-some as long as possible. Since only she could see the excess in points, it would just be her little secret. Meanwhile, she gave a goodnight kiss to Jaxie, Alex, and then even Meghan because the Shaman asked as a joke. It was disappointing to watch them get dressed and leave the room so they could return to their own quarters. Eris would much rather have all of them stay in a big naked snuggle pile to sleep in- or at the very least have Jaxie to hold her. However, that simply wasn’t to be. There was a test to be done- if sleeping with someone was ‘intimate’ enough for the silver chain hanging around her neck.

Azris

Durability: 100%

An emblem of the Oculus, designed for a hopeful soul to bear when the world most needs their light. Imbued with the essence of Lust. Created by Vojemala Ywer. Made from silver and diamond.

Provides a Legendary boost to Craftsmanship.

Provides a Legendary boost to Control.

Additional effect: Unrelenquished

Azris may only be worn by an Echo of the Oculus, and cannot be removed from the wearer unless the wearer wishes otherwise.

Additional effect: Eternal Bond

While an Echo of the Oculus is alive, Azris cannot be damaged or destroyed. Additionally, Azris will always return to an Echo of the Oculus when lost.

Additional effect: Gifts of Pleasure

After eight consecutive hours of intimacy with another individual while wearing Azris, the wearer may replicate and permanently gain one skill from their partner. Only one skill may be replicated from each partner, and the chosen skill cannot be changed.

Eris sat nude and alone in the bed, which had been scrubbed down with the Cum Sponge as well as given a once-over with a Cleansing Stone. As clean as it could be, but Eris swore that she could still smell the sex. A mostly-flaccid member started to rouse at the thought, but Eris forced it away. What was going to happen next was testing, and testing only. There would be no ‘activity’ between her and the individual chosen to warm her bed. While it was fairly implied that eight hours of sex would be enough to trigger the effect, this was less certain, but more importantly, more efficient.

Having to take eight hours of her day in a sex marathon to gain a skill would cut into the time needed to do other, very valuable things like crafting. The ability to gain them passively by simply sleeping with somebody was a tremendous boon if possible. That way, there was zero extra effort on Eris’s part, while still getting the full benefit of the necklace’s effect, and also getting to keep all of her time to do the crafting she needed.

Or to double down on getting more skills and possibly have a sex marathon during the day, then sleeping with another at night to get two skills in a single twenty-four hour period. Technically three was possible, but that would probably be refrained only for specific circumstances where Eris wasn’t expected to do anything that day but get skills and Desire.

That being said, Eris found herself oddly disappointed at the thought of what it would mean if sleeping was enough for the effect to work. For one, it meant that there wouldn’t be the incentive to have long, sloppy sex encounters with each and every single person that could give her a useful skill. It was one less excuse to have if the two of them could just sleep in the same bed to get the effect.

At the same time, it also meant that Eris’s ability to sleep while curled up in Jaxie’s arms plummeted to ‘Zero’. As long as there was a useful skill that could be copied and a recipient willing to bed with Eris, then the redhead would never, ever have an excuse to spend the night with the love of her life.

Granted, Jaxie was probably going to be deployed on missions more often than not so the opportunities for them to have that time would be few and far between regardless, but it hurt to think about that little time they would have being taken away. However, the thought that Eris would have a perfect excuse to have a different, sexy naked girl cuddle up with her every single night for the foreseeable future was juicy enough that it almost distracted her from her concerns.

Almost.

Right now, though, the only thing that mattered was the softness of the bed beneath her, the warmth of the blankets pulled over her lap, and the closed doorway that would eventually open with the person that would snuggle with her tonight. Eris didn’t know who Kull, Konderlacht and whatever other officials were brought in on the conversation would choose.

Sure, Tatum was a fantastic option because of Masterwork, but there were multiple others that were viable. Addison with Borrowed Material, Hima with Fell Fibers or Bear The Standard, Ophelia’s Specialist: Baking, Rachel with Mending Touch, or Grace with her multitude of skills that could all potentially be useful. In fact, the only one that Eris was positive she wasn’t going to see tonight was Rocky and that was because the Leatherworker’s skills were frankly atrocious.

Thankfully, Eris didn’t have to wonder for long as the figure stepped through the doorway before closing it gently behind her. She also happened to be the option that already seemed the most likely, so Eris wasn’t surprised in the slightest when the dark-skinned girl turned towards the bed while wearing a fluffy gray bath robe tied shut.

“Remember, no naughty business,” Tatum offered a grin and a wink. “It’s just cuddling, so your big girl down below better not get any ideas.”

Eris returned the smile, reaching over to lift the corner of the sheet in an invitation for her companion to join. Eris didn’t care in the slightest that her own nudity was being displayed as part of the act.

“We’re going to be completely naked and pressed up against each other the entire night. There’s gonna be plenty of ideas.”

“True,” Tatum said, undoing the loose cinch at the front of the robe to open it, then shrugging her shoulders to let it fall. Her body was, in no simpler way to describe it, beautiful. Smooth, flawless dark skin wrapped over a toned and shockingly athletic form. Eris could see the outline of abdominal muscles, as well as the definition in Tatum’s arms and legs. Not to the same extent as Jaxie or Alex’s musculature, but perhaps closer to Elmas. Very much in shape, and a very lovely sight for Eris to rake her eyes over while Tatum stood still to present herself for Eris.

Moderate and well-proportioned breasts standing proudly with pert black nipples, the smooth valley of cleavage leading to the athletic stomach, and then leading further down to a fuzzy-but-rather-well-kept patch of black fuzz. As the girl lifted her leg to crawl into the bed, Eris could see the cute-looking folds of a dark pussy winking back at her for just a single moment.

“But regardless of what ideas pass through our heads, we’re here for business, not pleasure. And we’re going for Masterwork. There were some arguments for Slow Is Fast and Erosion, but everyone ended up agreeing that Masterwork is simply too good to pass up, and too rare for you to potentially get it from someone else on short notice.”

Tatum smiled, getting herself situated to sit with her back against the headboard just like Eris. “How are we doing this? Big-spoon/little-spoon? You laying on my chest, me laying on yours, what?”

Eris considered for a moment, forcing herself to keep her eyes locked onto Tatum’s face and not her chest. Eris felt her face grow a tad warm. “I- uhh… I like being the little spoon.”

Tatum smiled, brushing a few strands of her floppy mohawk back behind her ear. “Alright then.”

A few moments of positioning later, Eris felt Tatum’s soft breasts squish into her back while warm arms gently wrapped around her waist in a hug. Naturally, the situation was arousing enough that Eris’s new body part was eager to show it, stirring to life and slowly growing despite having given up a frankly ridiculous volume of seed in the last few hours between Bailey and the six-some. However, Eris felt Tatum’s face nuzzle into the crook of her neck with a low whisper.

“The alarm’s set for eight and a half hours from now to give a little bit of leeway just in case. And no funny business- the Syndicate’s serious about this.”

Eris groaned. “If anything, it just makes it more likely I’ll get the skill…”

Tatum chuckled, her body shaking slightly against Eris’s back with the movement. “Yeah, but they want to figure out the bare minimum requirements before pretty much anything else. Even this is actually pushing it a bit. They wanted to test and see if simply having both of us in the same bed was enough intimacy- neither of us naked and not cuddling at all.”

Eris let out a little noise of disapproval. Tatum chuckled again, rubbing her thumb in little circles around Eris’s belly button.

“Well, it was decided that the limit testing wasn’t important enough to risk that much time loss. Instead, the furthest the testing would go for their ‘minimum line of intimacy’ would be this. If this doesn’t work, it seems pretty clear that genuine sex needs to be involved, and if it does, this is easy enough to do on any given night.”

Eris faltered. She wanted to ask the question, but it was a dumb question. It was stupid, and embarrassing, and would probably be met with a ‘no’ anyway since they weren’t allowed to do anything. Not to mention the fact that Tatum was, for all intents and purposes, almost a complete stranger. Still, Eris found herself squeaking out the words.

“Can I- umm… can I at least have a goodnight kiss?”

To her surprise and delight, she felt Tatum smile into her ear.

“They said that as long as we don’t start making out, a bit of light kissing shouldn’t skew the results too much.”

Eris felt the flutters in her chest and stomach as she twisted her shoulders and neck just enough to glance into Tatum’s green eyes. The next moment, both girls’ eyes closed while their lips made gentle contact.

Tatum’s breath tasted like brownies and toothpaste.

Eris didn’t know where she was.

There was grass under her feet and between her toes. The air was comfortably cool against her bare skin. It was dark, but not too dark. A gentle breeze. The flickering of stars in the sky. Chirping crickets. Fireflies. Nighttime. Peaceful. Quiet.

Except for the heartbeat.

Everything shuddered with each pulse- from the grass twitching as the ground vibrated to the breeze faltering as if the world stopped working for a single moment. It wasn’t a matter of volume- Eris could feel that heartbeat in the ground, in the air, and see it in the fireflies that pulsed with the beat.

Even the cold metal of the necklace between her breasts was humming along. Except when Eris looked down, there wasn’t a silver necklace. She couldn’t even properly regard her own nudity and the fact that her proportions seemed off, since there was something else far more distracting.

Veins of light ran just under the surface of her tanned skin, wrapping over and around her body and her limbs. It would have almost seemed like the fractured pattern of the Obelisk, and Pravala’s prison after the Summoner had died, except for the fact that this light was bright pink instead of gold- identical to the light of when Eris was doing lustful crafting. Furthermore, it was pulsing in time with the heartbeat shaking this entire place, glowing with each beat and actively flowing under her skin to make it even more clear that it was her veins. Where it all connected towards her heart made her chest turn almost completely solid in colour- every single blood vessel alight with magic that shone right through her dark skin as though every drop of blood in her body had been replaced with glowing energy-

Wait.

Eris looked closer at her hand, bringing it up to her face. Her skin was different. It was darker. The blemishes weren’t the same. Her nails were different. And even though the pink light running underneath the skin was distracting, it let Eris see with clarity that this was not her hand.

“What the fu- Eris Limeen Kadell.”

When Eris tried to speak, her words were cut short immediately as her voice didn’t want to obey anymore. Instead, it nearly felt like she was punched in the chest with different words being pulled out from the gasp that followed. It continued.

“Vaela nu. Mo ra’nu azris.”

Eris gasped, the voice stopping. “What? What the fuck?”

Suddenly, Eris’s arm-not-arm reached up gently, touching her chin and lips as if to hush herself. When it moved a moment later, her voice-not-voice continued.

“Mo vaela nu navon. Lero, Eris, Lero. Meri.”

She was speaking Ra’lan. That much she could recognize. Lero was ‘Courage’, and Meri was ‘Peace’. Was she telling herself to be calm? Wait. Eris gulped.

“Can you, uhh… say that again? That first part?”

A moment later, the voice inside her crept back up. “Mo vaela nu navon, Eris.”

Eris thought for a moment. “I- uhh… me see you person?”

Eris shook her head lightly, with a hand pointing to her own chest. “Navon.”

“Person, person… uhh… body? I see- wait! I’m in your body? I’m controlling your body?”

Eris’s head nodded. “Mo, nu, eiranzi Oculus. Nu argo, mo azris. Nu cirmol, id bazra. Demenal. Havajel manst. Havajel mo.”

Eris shook her head. There were a few words. Oculus, obviously, along with ‘Sorry’, ‘Important’ and ‘Fix’. However, between the oddity of the situation and a lack of knowledge about the language for anything more than the very basics, Eris was lost. “I’m sorry, I don’t understand you!”

Eris felt herself pause a moment, then give a deep sigh. Her finger lifted up to press back into her chest, right where the light glowing under her skin all converged towards her heart.

“Nu arsji Vojemala. Nalm nu a’lon.”

Eris faltered, her voice going weak. “You… you’re Vojemala?”

Eris vision bobbed as her head nodded. Then, her voice vomited back out again. “Nalm nu a’lon. Nalm nu a’lon.”

Eris didn’t completely understand what that meant, but it seemed important. “Nalm nu a’lon?”

Eris/Vojemala nodded again. “Nalm nu a’lon. Awaren.”

Eris watched one hand lift and press a finger into the base of her neck, right where the necklace should have been.

Then, Eris’s eyes were shooting open as she lurched up with a gasp. A muffled voice from behind her followed along with a tangle of limbs. “Nngh, fuck! What? What?!”

Eris glanced behind her to see Tatum rolling over in the bed, blinking her eyes in alarm. A few seconds later, a low chime started humming from the nightstand as a runic alarm clock went off. However, there was a warm, almost vibrating pressure on Eris’s chest.

Looking down, her skin wasn’t covered in pink light, and it was pale again- not darker like Nima’s. Furthermore, the silver necklace was hanging there innocently, but Eris could feel it, speaking its presence as warmth and tingling like it was trying to get her attention. Then, Tatum paused.

“Uhh, Eris? The necklace is glowing.”

Eris swallowed, the pale pink light hovering against her chest. “Yeah. Yeah, it is.”

“So it worked? Did you get Masterwork?”

More than a little frazzled, Eris tried to look inwards to see if anything had changed- a moment of panic setting in as Eris wondered if the effect already happened. She had intended for Masterwork, but what if the effect was actually random, and chose a random skill? That would put a real dampener on the Syndicate’s plans.

Granted, Eris wasn’t even supposed to have the opportunity to copy skills in the first place so she had no right to be picky about not copying the skills she wanted. Thankfully, though, the effect didn’t seem to be randomly chosen and already applied. Even better, it seemed to work, period. The concern that the necklace wouldn’t work on Gifted since they weren’t at the same power of Echoes had been a major concern.

Eris’s information being blocked by a display of skills that weren’t hers was all the proof of that.

Additional Crafting Points {Passive} {Maxed}

Your Crafting Point total increases by 4.

Steady Hand {Active} {Level 1}

For each Crafting Point spent on Steady Chisel, the Potency of the craft is increased by {25%}. Can only be used on stonework crafts.

Affixed {Passive} {Level 1}

When permanently affixed to another craft, your crafts gain a {40%} bonus to their Quality. Applies only to crafted gemstones.

In The Rough {Active} {Level 1}

You may designate a type of gemstone. Doing so allows you to sense the exact direction and distance of the nearest nonmagical gemstone of that type. Cooldown: {10 minutes}.

Detailed Engravings {Passive} {Maxed}

Your crafts gain a second stat modification. Applies only to stonework crafts.

Rock and Stone {Active} {Maxed}

For each Crafting Point spent on Rock and Stone, you may add 1 applicable enchantment to the item. Can only be used on stonework crafts.

Perfectly Cut {Passive} {Level 1}

When all of your Crafting Points are spent on a single skill during the process of crafting, the craft gains a {10%} bonus to Quality per Crafting Point spent. Applies only to stonework crafts.

Mineral Mutation {Active} {Maxed}

You can mildly alter the attunement properties of minerals you are crafting with, without reducing the effectiveness of any effects.

Slow is Fast {Active} {Level 1}

While active, your Control stat is reduced to the minimum rank, but your Craftsmanship stat increases by a number of ranks equal to {0.5} of the ranks Control lost.

Favourite Tool {Active} {Level 1}

You can designate one specific tool or piece of equipment used for crafting as your Favourite Tool. While using your Favourite Tool to craft an item, you have greater influence over the nature of enchantments and stat bonuses on that craft. Cooldown: {1 week}.

Erosion {Passive} {Level 1}

While you are benefitting from a magical item that you’ve created, the benefits you receive from that item are increased by {50%}. However, the item suffers an 80% penalty to its Durability.

Masterwork {Active} {Maxed}

You may permanently designate a finished craft you made as a Masterwork, imbuing it with capabilities beyond any equivalent at the cost of limited production. When you do so, the Quality of the craft is doubled and it gains 2 additional applicable enchantments and stat bonuses. You may only have a number of Masterwork crafts at a time equal to your Crafting Point total.

Eris could feel each of the skills being displayed tug at her, obviously asking her to choose in some esoteric way. However, just this was a lot of information, and answered many questions.

One: Naked cuddles were enough ‘intimacy’ to trigger the necklace.

Two: The skills seemed to stay almost exactly as they were, but were all first-level with a visible indication that Eris could spend Desire on them to make them more powerful, aside from specific ones that were ‘Maxed’.

Three: Certain skills were missing. For example, Crafter’s Cunning wasn’t present at all, not that Eris would have picked it anyway since it would have done nothing for her. Likewise, both of Tatum’s skills that were ‘upgrades’ to already existing skills weren’t present. It seemed as though any skill that was simply a worse version of something Eris already had, or was an additive to a different skill that Eris would need in order to use, weren’t options to choose. The only outlier, though, was Additional Crafting Points.

Definitive confirmation that copying another crafter’s Crafting Points did not give Eris another pool of points that didn’t have her own benefits, but rather increased her existing quantity.

Which supposedly worked with the secondary bonus that gave her four extra CP any time she spent five on one skill.

And if she could get Additional Crafting Points from every crafter in the Syndicate…

Eris swallowed, but set her sights down to the bottom of the list and the skill that had already been picked out. Focusing her intent on Masterwork, there was a rush of cold that shot through her entire body. A chill that sent every hair on end and made her gasp, only lasting a split second before warmth washed back through her. At the same time, Eris saw the glow of the necklace fade until it was visually mundane. Still extremely pretty, but normal.

“Did you get it?”

Eris blinked, realizing she didn’t answer Tatum before. “Uhh, I think so. I saw a bunch of your skills and focused on Masterwork so I think I got it. Lemme check.”

She looked inwards once again. Unlike previously, there wasn’t a slew of skills pining for attention. Instead, she was greeted with the normal mental image.

Name: Eris Limeen Kadell

Age: 18

Class: Artificer of Lust

Level: 2

Vitality: F-

Physical Defence: F-

Magical Defence: F-

Tenacity: F-

Strength: F-

Dexterity: F-

Mind: F+

Control: E

Craftsmanship: D

Skills: 12

Well, that wasn’t good. Logically, the number should have gone from twelve to thirteen if Eris got another skill. Glancing further revealed that everything seemed the same as it had been before. The exact same skills, with the same values, nothing more and nothing less. However, it seemed a bit… off. There was something else that Eris was now aware of. Like looking at a pillar head-on, but getting the feeling that something was behind it, and only needing to shift just a little to the side to see from a new perspective.

Moving to view what was hidden was just as easy as willing it to happen.

Bonus Skills: 1

Masterwork {Active} {Maxed}

You may permanently designate a finished craft you made as a Masterwork, imbuing it with capabilities beyond any equivalent at the cost of limited production. When you do so, the Quality of the craft is doubled and it gains 2 additional applicable enchantments and stat bonuses. You may only have a number of Masterwork crafts at a time equal to your Crafting Point total.

Eris let out a low breath, then looked at Tatum.

“Yeah, it worked.”

The dark girl smiled, letting the blanket she had held to her chest slip just a little. Enough for a bit more lovely cleavage to appear, but no nipple. “Awesome. Let’s go tell Professor Kull.”

“And I can tell him that I possessed the body of an Artificer who’s supposed to be dead in my dreams and talked to her.”

Tatum blinked, the blanket dropping fully and revealing her nude chest. “Excuse me-... what?”