V2Ch100-Enjoy the High
Everyone’s heads turned slightly as the zombie stepped into the room.
“You don’t need to get any closer,” Tybalt said quietly. He didn’t want the others to be too close when the monster fell apart.
The creature stopped, and Tybalt reached out to it with his necromantic power. He felt what he thought of as the thread, the binding force that held an undead together - the same power he built upon and adjusted every time he performed Undead Repair on one of his creations - and he simply tugged the thread.
Before the group’s eyes, the zombie came undone. The flesh that had looked normal, almost living, grayed and shriveled and then turned to powder in a few seconds. The body crumbled into dust.
Tybalt sucked in a deep breath.
I never did that before. Not for real. Just thought about the fact that I could. I didn’t expect this.
It felt good. Really good, like what he’d heard other people describe experiencing when they smoked the sensen leaf in the sensen bars of Verma. Like getting high. Except Tybalt wasn’t high on a naturally occurring leaf. He was enjoying a concentrated dose of his own power.
His numbers reflected it. Not his base stats - strength, agility, will - but the derivative ones.
Health: 323/281
Mana: 369/355
Stamina: 676/636
“How do you feel?” Victoria asked in a curious tone.
Like I could fight a dragon.
“It’s a pleasant feeling,” he replied, managing not to convey too much of the euphoria in his voice.
“You feel powerful,” Dero said, looking him up and down with an analytical expression.
“I can tell you’re more powerful right now,” Mariella agreed, nodding. “It’s not a permanent boost, though, right?”
Tybalt nodded.
“Then we’d better not destroy too many undead to test it,” Vidalia said dryly. “From darling’s demonstration, I think we’re all satisfied that he can use this skill casually if he needs it.”
The others nodded.
“So, time to pick something else,” she said. She looked at Tybalt. “You infected thousands of people with your undeath virus. Maybe you should pick Pathology Purge or Pathogenic Persecution to take advantage of that? It could make taking the next town easier.”
“If he’s not choosing offensive skills, and he doesn’t want either of the ones that helps him recover energy, maybe he should pick Nekya Divination,” Dero said. “I think that consulting the spirits is supposed to be a good way to gain information. Some of them should even be able to tell you the future like that Osteomancy skill.”
The others looked awkwardly back and forth between the dark elf, Tybalt, and Vidalia.
“You realize that’s sort of my thing, right, Dero?” the foxgirl asked after a moment.
“It’s not a perfect power, though, right?” the dark elf replied with no sense of hesitation.
Tybalt sensed a bit of a silent power struggle between the two women. He opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, Vidalia broke the tension in the air.
“It isn’t perfect, no,” she said through gritted teeth. “I’ve… I’ve missed things before.”
“Maybe with Tybalt consulting the spirits, he would close that tiny gap, then,” Victoria said delicately.
Kistana and Mariella nodded in silent agreement, both looking at each other rather than at any of the actual participants in the conversation.
“It might be worth looking at,” Tybalt said in a deliberately unimpressed voice. “Bear in mind, guys, Vidalia sees actual possible futures. I’ve seen those visions with her. None of the rest of you have. But there’s more than one possible path. It’s hard to believe the spirits would actually know more than her about almost anything important. On the other hand, the skill comes with the ability to sense spirits like they’re living things. That by itself would make it worthwhile, if we don’t come up with something better to pick.”
Vidalia’s tense expression cracked and turned into a smile. She reached out and rubbed her palm along one of Tybalt’s biceps.
“That’s a good point, darling,” she said. “And have I mentioned how handsome you look yet today?”
“No, but I’m always happy to hear it,” the necromancer replied, returning her smile.
Dero made a little clucking noise but smiled as well. She wasn’t actually trying to piss off Vidalia, Tybalt could tell. She was just doing her thing of saying the things that she thought needed to be said, that other people wouldn’t say.
“So, I’ll work on training Mystic Blast and Undeath Drain,” Tybalt said. “For the skill slots I have, I’ll select Magic Sense, Undying Transformation, Moderate Regeneration, and I guess Nekya Divination. And now I won’t feel like I wasted the chance to make decisions when things were relatively peaceful, next time we get into a fight.”
“Prudent choices, my lord,” said Kistana quietly.
“What else should we handle in the town?” asked Victoria.
“Let’s just go get something to eat,” Tybalt said. “I think our troops know what to do at this point.”
“After that, I want my wedding present,” Vidalia said, looking at Dero.
“You’re up for that tonight?” the dark elf asked in a tone of slight surprise.
“Why not?” the foxgirl replied. “Don’t think you’re getting out of your promise!”
Vidalia doesn’t get rattled so easily, Dero, Tybalt thought. He could tell the dark elf had expected her to hold some sort of grudge. But Vidalia was reasonably good at managing other people’s emotions, which in Tybalt’s experience meant that she also had some practice managing her own. The foxgirl wouldn’t be nearly as useful as she actually was if she was so fragile that someone questioning her capabilities ruined their relationship.
Rather, Vidalia was used to being doubted.
“All right then,” Dero said after a moment, shrugging.
***
It was hours later, when Mariella and Tybalt were lying in bed, when he heard Vidalia through the walls.
“Yes! Yes!” the foxgirl exclaimed.
“I think she got some good news,” Mariella said lightly, pushing herself up off of Tybalt’s bare chest with one hand.
“No, she’s probably just really enjoying the process of being tattooed,” Tybalt said, winking.
Less than a minute later, the bedroom door burst open. Vidalia stood there, wearing only a towel.
“Guess what!” she said, tail whipping back and forth so quickly that it blurred.
“Um, you decided you don’t like tattoos?” Tybalt asked.
The towel hit the floor, and the glowing womb tattoo lit up the space between the foxgirl and the couple in bed. Tybalt’s eyes barely paused on the tattoo, since Vidalia’s slender form, naked as the day she was born, was on full display.
“I love them,” Vidalia said. “I fucking love this one, at least.”
Tybalt saw Dero standing in the hallway behind Vidalia, looking like she was trying not to laugh.
“I told her I wasn’t finished,” the dark elf said. “I’m supposed to put bandages over it, like the ones Mariella’s wearing. But she really wanted to show you.”
“That’s amazing,” Mariella said with unfeigned joy. She sat up, breasts fully on display, and opened her arms to embrace Vidalia.
The foxgirl rushed over to the bed, and the two women hugged, a long and close embrace, Mariella supporting some of Vidalia’s weight as the foxgirl leaned into her. Tybalt paused for a moment, deciding whether to just lay there and look at his fiancees embracing in front of him, just join the hug, or do something more to try to take the evening in a more sensual direction.
He had already expended some passion with Mariella, but there was no reason they shouldn’t all celebrate together.
“So, this is good news, I take it?” asked Dero in a tone of quiet surprise - the second time that day that Tybalt’s harem had surprised her.
The necromancer turned and saw that she had entered the room after Vidalia, and for the first time, he noticed the dark elf wore a skimpy silken nightgown. He could see she wasn’t wearing any undergarments, and the cool air made her nipples stand out on her flat chest. But the thing he noticed most was her strange, conflicted expression.
She looked at the two women and then at Tybalt, and a few different emotions crossed her face. She seemed happy for them - but also sad, like she thought the joy wouldn’t last - and maybe slightly frustrated. One of the emotions was distinctly envy, though it was hard to be certain who she was jealous of: Tybalt, Mariella, or Vidalia.
The fire mage pulled her head slightly back from Vidalia and faced Dero.
“I know there’s some element of competition here,” Mariella said. “That’s present in lots of houses. But I care about Vidalia a lot, and I know how much this matters to her. I could never not be happy for her when something like this happens.”
“Same,” Vidalia said, giving Mariella an affectionate look.
“Good for you two,” Dero said. She opened her mouth like she was contemplating saying something else - maybe raising the possibility of a succession crisis or referring to some historical event where half-siblings had killed each other - and then she just smiled and shook her head. She looked at Tybalt. “No, I mean to say, good for you three. I’m glad you have such a good relationship. I hope every year of your marriage will be this happy.”
Whatever envy the necromancer thought he’d seen seemed to have gone away.
At her words, Tybalt rose from the bed and impulsively wrapped his arms around Dero, pulling her into a close embrace. He only recalled as his skin touched her silk that he was completely naked. Hopefully she wouldn’t mind. She had invited herself into the bedroom, after all.
“You’re not so sour, after all, are you?” he muttered into the top of her head.
“I’m not - you can’t just - let go of - ”
Her words were smothered as the other two women pulled the dark elf and the necromancer in and turned Tybalt’s surprise embrace into a group pile of tangled limbs and flesh. Dero quickly gave up on complaining and hugged the other three back.
With the door left hanging open, Victoria and Kistana showed up within a few minutes to offer Vidalia congratulations. Victoria joined the group embrace, while Kistana at first tried to only give Vidalia a quick hug before being dragged into the embrace by everyone else.
For one night, everyone just relaxed and enjoyed each other’s company.