They gathered at the edge of Blue’s land, where he’d put standing stones that looked weathered and ancient despite being no more than a week old. Within those bounds, [Warding] kept them undetected by magic and possibly even the naked eye. They weren’t sure what the limits of a dungeon Power’s Skill were. She exchanged hugs with Iniri and Cheya and Tulk, bowed to Huron and Joce, and clasped hands with everyone else.

Her target was Wildwood Retreat, which was a fairly coy name for one of the most dangerous spots in Iniri's kingdom. Though there was no Great Dungeon within the borders, the powerful Mana spring that Wildwood was named for was nearly as strong. Classers and would-be Classers alike went there for training and practice, or to hunt. Powerful beasts and strange materials could be found at the heart of Wildwood, where the Mana was so thick you could almost drink it.

Hopefully some of the Classers who had fled the initial onslaught, or simply didn't hang around cities in general, could be found there. On her way she was to find and help any of Iniri's subjects she ran across. The mage-king's monsters, both Vok Nal's and Tor Kot's, had free reign over the countryside. Just letting people know Iniri was alive and fighting back would be a boon.

It seemed a tall order, especially for a level one, but nobody was expecting her to save the whole kingdom. Just run a message and talk with people on her way. Blue's [Warding] made her uniquely capable of moving without tripping any divinations, though Shayma personally thought they were overestimating how much the mage-kings cared. Without the city-cubes, so far as they knew, Iniri couldn't possibly threaten them.

“Stay safe,” Iniri commanded her before she activated [Ghost Step], the world fading into fog and muted colors. Though [Ghost Step] was draining when used for teleportation, the long-distance version made her feel like her body was light, the wind was at her back, and the land before her was an open road. Trees and underbrush barely tugged at her tail, and only truly formidable obstacles such as actual mountains were more than a minor inconvenience.

“Thank you again for gifting me these Skills,” she said, sotto voce. Not that anyone would be able to hear her during [Ghost Step] but the intended recipient. “This is wonderful.”

“Well, I'm not sure how much credit I deserve,” Blue said, sounding a little embarrassed. “It just kind of happened.”

She found it endearing that he could still be a bit shy, given that he was an actual Power and, after the completion of her Bargain, she technically ranked several levels below slave to him. Let alone what they got up to in the evenings. But he insisted on treating her like an equal, which was nice if occasionally alarming.

“Really, though. Being locked out of any combat skills was...a little depressing.”

“How did you end up with Seeker anyway? The ability seems amazing, the Class and the restrictions, not so much.”

“I’m not sure I’m proud of it, but...after Taere and Invin fell, Iniri said that the only real hope we had was the Adamant Fortress.”

“Which is inside those cubes, somehow.”

“Yes. Most people thought that was just a legend. But I just thought Iniri knew things nobody else did, so I went back into Taere to find it despite the fact that Tor Kot’s forces were securing the city and everything was on fire. Thing is, I did find it. Or at least, one of the cubes, lost and forgotten in the library archives. That moment, when I knew exactly where it was, I formed the [Seeker] skill...and the Class followed. Normally you can reject forming a Class if you’re not ready, but [Seeker] forces it.”

“Well, I don’t see why you wouldn’t be proud of going back into an active war zone in order to save your people. That’s pretty impressive.”

“Well, and naive. Iniri didn’t even know the city-cubes existed!”

“Lots of people fight for things that don’t exist. That doesn’t make them any less brave.”

“Okay, now you’re sounding like a Power.”

“Powers speak in aphorisms? That must get awful tedious.”

“I haven’t spoken to any others, though. I don’t even know of any others anywhere near here. I heard there’s a God-King somewhere in the southern isles, and a living storm in a hidden valley far to the east. I don’t know if either of those are true.”

“I could believe them. I mean, I’m a sapient dungeon who turned you into a spirit. My metric for believability is basically anything goes, at this point.”

“I think I like you better when you don’t sound like a Power, actually.”

“That’s fine, I usually don’t have clever things to say. Hopefully when I do though, they’re extremely clever.”

She laughed, the rarefied atmosphere of [Ghost Step] snatching the sound away. “You know, I don’t know that I’d be able to do this if I had to actually go by myself. Even if you’re just a voice in my head, it helps.”

“Hey, I’m more than just a voice! I’m also an extra pair of eyes and ears.”

“Too bad you’re not anything else.” She grinned at the shadowy fog of a lake as she ran overtop it. “I’m going to miss our evenings while I’m out and about.”

“Who said I’m not anything else?” Blue asked mischievously. There was a faint whisper over her skin, and suddenly a pair of tendrils groped her breasts.

“Ah! Hey!” She laughed, trying to swat at them and finding nothing there. “How are you - ah!”

Another set squeezed her rear. “Remember, you’re part of the dungeon so I can manifest things through you...including these.” Yet another rubbed between her legs, stroking along the lips of her pussy, and she snapped out of [Ghost Step], unable to maintain the skill in the face of Blue’s teasing.

“That’s not fair!” She accused, stumbling to a halt in the middle of the woods. Already, she was far enough away that the terrain was completely unfamiliar, but there was at least a tree near enough by to support her as tendrils turned to tongues teasing her nipples.

“I know. Isn’t it fun?”

The only reply she was able to make was a small gasp as more tongues began to lap at her sex, carrying away the wetness of arousal there. From the outside, she just looked like a fox-girl leaning against a tree, but one of Blue’s breeders was already spreading her wide, smooth and strong as he slid inside her.

The sense-link kicked in, letting her feel his satisfaction at the tightness of her body around him, the warmth of her breasts against him. Her hands blindly gripped at a branch as he slowly stretched her, tiny sensations of touch running along her outer sex, sliding toward her clit. “Oh gods,” she breathed. “Just don’t do this when I’m fighting…”

“Of course not,” Blue chuckled, another tendril teasing her back entrance. “But now I’m tempted to see you try and spar while I’m playing with you.”

“Don't you even - ah! - dare.” She twitched as he tweaked her nipples, pinching and pulling as his breeder began to fuck her slowly, the textured length plunging into her with delicious friction, prickling within her as it slid out. Then it drove back in even deeper, making her arch, while tiny frills began to caress her clit.

“Aww, but it would be fun!” It didn’t take long for him to get her panting, the force of his thrusts rocking her slightly. His tendrils squeezed her breasts gently, caressing her nipples even as her sex squeezed around him, helplessly trying to pull him deeper inside her. Then one of them began to wriggle into her rear, slicked with something warm and tingling with mana, and she moaned softly as it stretched her even further.

Her pleasure rose in a wave of heat, and Blue’s breeder flexed, rubbing hard against the most sensitive spots inside her, pressing against the tendril stretching her backside. “Ah...ah!” The stroking of her clit pushed her into a sudden orgasm, clenching over Blue as he filled her, her body shuddering and squeezing as the breeder continued to impale her. The teasing didn’t let up, rubbing and pinching her nipples and sucking lightly at her clit while Blue’s release powered toward her like a wave, suddenly turning into hot, sticky seed spurting deep inside her as he came. The sensation wrung another, surprise orgasm from her, sending her to her knees, and then Blue’s appendages withdrew, leaving her a little sweaty.

“There, see? We don’t have to wait for you to get back.” Blue’s voice was smug.

She laughed, sucking in air. “Lustful beast,” she accused.

“What? It’s not my fault you’re distracting when you run. Besides, I’m pretty sure you provoked me.”

“Provoked you, was it?” She snorted, easing herself onto a nearby log. “I need a break. And a drink, please.”

“Your wish is my command.” A glass appeared in her hand, with chilled water, from Blue’s inventory.

That link made it possible for her to travel light. Very light, since she didn’t bother bringing any equipment or supply. It was just herself, and anything that she needed could be pulled from the dungeon. It wasn’t entirely free, Blue had said, but given his power it was something he could sustain easily enough.

Since her trip counted on that link she should have realized it wasn't just a connection to Blue's inventory. Where she went, he did, in a very real way. It did make her curious about what else he could manage, though. “I don't want to sound greedy, but can you make me armor or something that way? The Flame Knight stuff is nice but I feel I should be wearing something more... you. Blue and black, rather than red.”

“At the moment, I can do...this?” Her hands suddenly were covered in a sheen of stone, clicking as she tried and failed to flex them. The stone vanished a moment later. “But it's a good point. I'll have to think on it and maybe experiment a bit. It probably needs its own Skill…”

“If nothing else, I should see about getting something made.” She hadn't given much thought to soldiers wearing regalia for House or Guild before. Her parents were independent adventurers, but too small for their own organization, and by the time she entered Iniri's service, proper uniforms were very far down on their list of concerns.

“That would be nice,” Blue mused. “But it's probably better you don't ask me to design it. I actually know less than nothing about armor, leather or otherwise. Let alone armor with enchantments. How even do you make magic armor?”

“Usually you start with material from a Great Dungeon or mana spring,” she replied seriously. Sometimes the gaps in Blue's knowledge were very strange. “So it's already saturated with mana. Crafters usually use an advanced, specialized version of Mana Manipulation to transform the Affinities into something closer to what they want and then the crafting Skill does the rest.”

“That makes a lot of sense. I wonder if I could figure out crafting. I definitely have the spare mana, but I have no idea about the rest of it. Actually I don't really even have anything that isn't dungeon-stuff. Or rock.”

“You have trees and flowers,” she pointed out. “That's not armor, but it's a start.”

“Oh, true.”

“Now, time to go clean up. Then I have to get back to running,” she said, watching as Blue vanished the glass back into his inventory. “No distractions this time.”

“Spoilsport.”