I was having one of those nights. I had a few moments of blissful sleep. Followed by a period of confusing, moderately traumatic, dreams. Then suddenly I was awake a whole seven hours before my actual morning was set to start and I couldn’t for the life of me go back to sleep again.

Technically, directly shutting off my brain and going into an inert state was an option due to the machine-parts of my mind but ‘that’ wasn’t sleep. That was kind of like being dead. Not restful at all.

Unless I was willing to go through the hassle of setting up a virtual world for the non-machine parts of my mind to wander through and unwind, I’d wake up exactly as stressed as I was now.

Lastly, I’d found myself filled with an energy that made it hard to retreat into nothingness like I used to.

Margot was feeding me regularly and because we were having s...e...x now, and ‘I’ was part-incubus that basically counted as double feedings. A thing that shouldn’t have been possible, but was, because draining sexual energy was a different kettle of fish compared to draining vital essence through blood.

Most beings didn’t use their own sexual energy. Despite its potency, sexual energy like all other emotional energies, was usually simply expelled into the ether. For most mortals, it was basically just a waste product, created from the interactions between their minds and reality. Sort of like carbon dioxide for oxygen breathers.

It was very possible to over-do things till you ran down your victim/donor’s body and ended up tapping into something that you shouldn’t. However, so long as you knew what you were doing, one could feed on the same person safely for quite a while.

Increased feedings meant my number of limited actions was bumped up from three to five. It also meant that Margot’s overall growth and development was being accelerated to an almost scary level because of all the energy I was sending back her way. Which meant ‘my’ growth was being bumped up to an almost scary level because of our tethered existence.

This was probably a very good thing in the long run. I’d eventually become an even more world-breakingly powerful eidolon of the cosmic corridors. In the short term, it kind of sucked because I was just sort of ‘on’ all the time and having to deal with all that excess energy and new growth was kind of a headache.

On top of just always being in my head about “life shit”...my mind and my soul were now constantly preoccupied with the task of watching over my cultivation. It might sound strange for a half-machine to say this but I kind of hate math. Now I suddenly had to do even more of it. I had a huge amount of math that had to be done every second of every day.

I can’t tell you how many numbers needed to be crunched to calculate the proper route and method of controlling and compacting the sympathetic energies I was accumulating due to my connection to Margot.

Also, my body was going through all sorts of changes because of our relationship...A sort of second, or third puberty, which should tell you all you need to know about the unpleasantness of the process.

Becoming sexually active not only woke up my inner-incubus, but it also woke up other parts of me. I was having a tough time keeping my true visage from influencing my physical body.

I randomly found myself excreting things. Waking up in the middle of the night to run to the bathroom so I could vomit, cry out, or piss out various troubling materials. A shortlist of the least terrible of these materials includes: spiders, snakes, several humanoid skeletons, lava, acid, dark matter, and blood.

I suspect that this very uncomfortable period was due to conflicts with my true-self and this stupid, limited, three-dimensional, universe. My expectation was that things would straighten themselves out.

While it had been a while since I’d last experienced this kind of growth, it wasn’t my first time dealing with a sudden growth spurt.

Eventually, I’d adjust and things would return to being some kind of normal. Naturally, I was taking measures to help things along, but it wasn’t easy, and some of the manual adjustments I was making were more than a little painful.

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Rather than focus on my general discomfort, I decided to do something productive with my time. I turned my attention to the FC-fleet. I now had roughly 2,432 rockets exploring a set of solar systems between 20 and 30 light-years away from earth.

Their number was increasing geometrically as they consumed entire planets and moons used the mass to create new rockets, stations, satellites, and drones.

The biggest news yet was that I’d finally found a solar system, with no inhabited planets and no signs of any other beings having called dibs on it. Naturally, I immediately gave the order for the system’s sun to be engulfed.

The star would be enclosed in a dyson sphere and pulled into my subspace. The sphere itself was not made of physical matter but was instead made of modified space-time and a variant-form of aether. Which would make it very easy for me to make the star into the first of a series of massive batteries that would be used for any number of purposes.

I immediately gave the order for the fleet to begin the process of capturing the star. Not for the first time, I was glad this universe seemed to be a relatively young one. You can’t imagine how competitive things could get in the older universes with civilizations that were much higher up in the kardashev scale.

Better yet, if I could collect a few stars and print up a few more fleets for even deeper exploration, I’d probably be able to capture a black hole. Then we’d really be cooking with gas.

The energy trapped in a single, supermassive, black hole made your average star look like a triple a battery in comparison. Yes, it could do some very wonky, very destructive, things to the surrounding space-time but if I harvested a black hole from far enough away, it wouldn’t matter…(To me at least.)

Worst case scenario, the energy from a black hole would be more than enough for me to teleport any solar systems with inhabited planets out of the area. Which would keep the angels, gods, and myriad spirits of good, off my back.

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“....Morning.” said a soft voice at my side.

I froze. Startled. I looked down and saw Margot looking up at me. Her eyes still half-closed. Her orange-brown hair fanning around her pale freckled face like a fiery halo.

“Morning, M.” I said.

“Last night was… fun.” said Margot. Sitting up and languidly stretching. Allowing the sheets to drop because she’d apparently moved past the point of feeling self-conscious around me when she was naked.

Her breasts rising and tilting as she stretched her arms and leaned backwards. Spilling away from the center of her chest in a glorious jiggling waterfall.

“I… uh… Thanks.” I said.

Feeling oddly nervous and relieved, though logically there should have never been any doubt. If I could fail at sex at this stage in the game, it meant that A) I had to be an inordinately selfish lover and B) absolute trash as a lust demon.

Luxuriae were evolutionarily designed for making orgasms happen. We were literally built for sex. Our bodies naturally shifted to accommodate our lovers’ desires, and physical needs. Our body fluids held powerful chemical cocktails that amplified the experience by increasing the sensation and stamina of our prey. Our auras did the same thing, except on a metaphysical level.

Also, as gross as it was when you really thought about it, most of us, luxuriae, inherited the genetic memory of our predecessors so on top of all the fucking I’d done in eons I’d been alive I also had my demonic parents’ experience to fall back on. As well as my parents’ parents, and their parents’ parents’ parents and so on and so forth.

There were other lust demons and spirits of desire within the second circle of hell but luxuriae were considered lust demon royalty for a reason.

Yet, there I was, blushing crazily. Trying to resist a fist pump because I didn’t somehow manage to break the odds and fuck up something that should have been as natural as breathing to me.

This was the point I realized, ‘oh no’, my dark prophecy of the future was coming true, and I was starting to seriously like this girl in a romantic way.

I don’t know why that surprised me. I’d already said I wasn’t the kind of guy who could play it cool and stay casual, but it’d be barely been a month and I’d still kind hoped I’d be able to hold out longer.

“So, uh...do you have any plans for the day, beautiful?” I said. Deciding to check if I had any emails because I was hoping to distract myself from my own awkwardness.

“B-, beautiful?” said Margot.

“Uh, yeah… So about those plans?” I said.

“Huh? Oh… Nah. At least they’re nothing that you’d really call plans. I have this comic series I have to binge read and this film I just bought but nothing serious. Beyond that, it’s just the usual meditation and maybe a light workout. I’m not sure but it feels like I’ve been getting stronger recently. The last time I lifted weights, I maxed out at 86,000 pounds.”

“R-, Really? That’s quick.” I said. Eyes widening. Being able to lift a house meant she was now squarely in the A-ranks, physically speaking.

“You expected this to happen?” said Margot.

“I expected ‘something’ to happen. I already explained how my peculiarity works and how that’d probably ramp up the effects of the energy I’ve been passing back to you.” I said.

“Nh… That’s true. Is this something I need to worry about?”

“Nah. The fail-safes will keep you from going all Frankenstein and kicking shit over by accident and so long as you keep training like you’ve been you’ll get used to the continual improvements in your physiology in no time.”

“Oh… Okay. Good then.” said Margot. Looking like she didn’t know what else to say.

“Yeah.” I said. Feeling similarly speechless. Wondering if my peculiarity had gotten stronger while I slept the eons away, or if I’d just forgotten how dramatic the effects could be.

“Oh!” said Margot.

“What?!” I said. Startled again.

“Did you get around to reading the details on that job I was looking at?” said Margot.

“Hm? Oh, yeah. A long time ago, actually.” I said.

Her eyes jumped up, and she gave me an exasperated look.

“Then why didn’t you say anything?!” said Margot.

“Sorry… I got distracted by other things.”

“Ugh, Monty… Anyway, so what did you think about the job?” said Margot. Looking like she was going to get mad for a second, then sighing, and moving on to the topic at hand.

I tilted my head to the side as I quickly read the job posting over again and went through the small dossier I’d built up based on the details surrounding the job.

“Well,...What do ‘you’ think? Do you know what kind of job you picked?” I said. Using my professor's face as I tried to gauge Margot’s response.

“I think I know what kind of job it is... I picked it because it looked like it’d be pretty different from what we’d be doing and potentially have some big rewards too.” said Margot.

“Yeah, but those big rewards come with big risks, you know? Huge risks in fact.” I said.

“I know… but what’s life without a little risk. A mage can’t grow if they’re not willing to venture out a little.” said Margot. Fidgeting as she spoke. Going from looking uncertain to looking determined. A radiance filling her gray-green eyes.

I chuckled.

“Well, so long as you’re sure, then I think you already know my answer. The good thing is that we have nearly a month to prepare.”

“Ah… Th-, Thanks. Are you sure? This really might turn into something involved, and it’ll definitely take longer than our usual jobs.” said Margot. Looking uncertain again.

“I’m sure.” I said. Nodding. Taking her hand and kissing it.