Blessed Curse of Lust

After the lunch break, they all returned to class. Next on their schedule was combat. This one was something they all looked forward to. In recent days, they were divided into two groups. One that knew how to wield a sword and one that was full of complete beginners who needed to learn the basics.

Now, they were all together. They will be learning something that no one in the class knows yet. The very thing that defines a warrior. The ability to use life force to enhance their bodies. It was what made warriors so powerful. Enough to even face off against mages.

“Is she okay?” Thea asked while pointing at Lily.

The girl was but a shell of her former self. She looked exhausted, barely even awake.

“Yeah, she is fine. A little tired. The people at the Spectral Flame got a little too enthusiastic about her. They’ve made her try all sorts of different level-0 spells to see what kind of effect they would produce.” Yelena explained why Lily was in such a sorry state.

Thea chuckled a little. She expected it might end up like that. The Flames were known to be complete nerds when it came to magic. Someone like Lily was nothing short of a blessing from the gods themselves to them.

“You need to learn how to say no to them, or they will suck you dry every day.” Thea shared friendly advice.

Lily groaned in response. She didn’t even have the energy for a proper reply. She knew Thea was right. She will need to stand on her ground. She won’t be able to go on if every day with that group is like the half-hour she spent with them during lunch break.

The instructor arrived and looked around. She happily concluded that everyone was present.

“Okay, class! Today is the day you were all waiting for. We will start learning about Vareen.” She noticed a lot of the faces light up.

“Vareen is an ancient word, meaning strength. Which is very fitting for this technique. It uses the life force within your body to strengthen it. It is the main tool for all warriors. It can grant you physical strength beyond that of normal humans. Those who reach higher ranks can easily punch through walls or survive wounds that would be fatal for a regular person.” The instructor explained.

Vareen had a very powerful skill. Just like magic, it also had a 0 to 10 scale to categorize one’s strength. Level-0 would be someone who has yet to unlock the ability, and 10 would be someone who could probably level mountains with their bare hand.

Just like with magic, the higher levels are just theory. Nobody ever reached that high in recorded history. Currently, the highest-level warrior is around level 7. Such a person was considered to be a one-man army.

“In the past, it took people decades of hard training to even unlock these powers. You are lucky. You won’t have to go that far. A technique was developed to significantly speed up the process. Instead of years of grueling training, it will take but a few days to reach the first level.” Erica explained.

She lifted her right hand and pointed her index and middle fingers up. The students could see the green energy covering her fingers. What they are going to go through is the thing called the trial of pain.

“Most of you probably already heard of this method. It helps stimulate your life force, making it much easier to learn how to control it. Unfortunately, it comes with a little side effect: it's extremely painful.” The instructor’s face showed she remembered her own experience.

“Line up! I’ll go around and perform this technique on each of you, one by one. Try not to throw up.” She smirked.

The students formed a line. Most looked concerned; they knew what was coming, but it was unavoidable. The pain will last but a few minutes. It was worth it considering what they would gain.

She stepped over to the first student in the line.

“Ready?” She asked the student.

The guy nodded and braced himself. Erica got ready, then with one swift movement stabbed her finger into his navel. The next moment, he was hunched over, wrapping his arms around his stomach. He looked like he wanted to scream from the pain, but no sound was coming out of his mouth.

The instructor walked down the line and performed the same technique on other students. Each had a similar reaction to the first one. Some did end up throwing up from the pain. Not that anyone blamed them. It was also very unfortunate that they had this class scheduled right after lunch.

Erica arrived in front of Yelena. They looked into each other’s eyes. Yelena nodded, showing she was ready. The instructor stabbed her finger into the girl’s navel, just like she did with the others.

The stab itself wasn’t the painful part. It was what came after. A sharp, piercing pain started spreading around Yelena’s stomach. The longer it went on, the more the pain spread outward in every direction.

The girl hunched over. She was trying to breathe, but it felt like she couldn’t. Her vision blurred, and her legs felt weak. She had to struggle just to stay on her feet. The pain continued to spread around, covering her entire body.

Yelena didn’t know how much longer she could hold on. It was the worst kind of pain she had ever felt in her entire life. Her consciousness was fading. Then, it stopped. Just as fast as it began, the pain disappeared, only to be replaced by something different.

There was this warm feeling in her body, coursing through her. She could sense it. The very energy that gave life to all things. It was an odd sensation, but not unpleasant. The instructor waited until the last student recovered and spoke up.

“I assume now you all can feel the life force within your body. Over the next week, we will work on how to control it and harness its powers.” Erica explained.

For the rest of the class, the students practiced controlling their life force. As expected, none made any major breakthroughs. It was not an easy feat. That being said, it was still very productive. They all made the first step towards getting stronger.

****

Later that afternoon, Yelena and Lily met up in her room. Something both have been looking forward to. Yelena already decided to focus more on the teaching part and try to keep affection to a minimum. At least until they are done.

Lily had already taken a seat on the bed, and Yelena was browsing her bookshelf, trying to find the correct one. After a minute or so, she pulled a thick tome off. She sat on the bed next to Lily and opened it.

Just within a couple of minutes, they’ve both changed their position to a more comfortable one. Yelena leaned against the headboard, and Lily took her place between the other girl’s spread legs. She leaned against Yelena while holding the book. The white-haired girl peeked over her shoulder, pointing out important parts as she explained.

“As you can see, there are countless different types of spells. The elemental ones we've practiced in class so far are just the tip of the iceberg.” Yelena explained as they looked at all sorts of circles with different patterns.

“For example, this is a level 1 combat spell, called mage bolt. It is fairly simple, but can be quite useful.” Yelena pointed at one of the circles.

The girl then raised her hand and summoned the magic circle in the air. It was blue, a bit darker than the shade of what water spells looked like. Lily looked down at the book, then back at the one Yelena summoned.

“It looks a bit different. Like here, this rune is a different one.” Lily pointed at one of the runes on Yelena’s circle.

“Good eyes! It is indeed. As explained, the runes are basically commands that tell the spell how to behave after being cast. The one in the book is but an example. When you actually use magic, sometimes you will need to change things up to better fit your needs.” Yelena told.

Lily watched the glowing dark blue magic circle that was floating in the air, just an inch away from Yelena’s palm. There was beauty in its complexity. Something Lily admired a lot. Yelena cast the spell, holding it for too long was mentally exhausting.

A blue bolt of energy shot out from the middle and flew through the air. In a moment, it impacted against the opposite wall.

“What are you doing?” Lily blurted out.

Yelena laughed and pointed at the place where her magic hit the wall. There was no sign of any damage on it.

“The school is protected by a barrier. A spell of this level couldn’t even make a scratch.” She explained.

Lily let out a sigh of relief. She was worried for a second that they would get in trouble for damaging the school.

“Then, it would be fine even if I tried, right?” Lily asked back.

“While the school building is protected, my furniture is not.” Yelena pointed out the obvious issue.

Lily could understand. While she might not be able to damage the walls, anything inside was still a fair game. Yelena would likely not be happy to have her furniture soaked in ankle-deep water or burned to a crisp.

“Fair enough. Still, the whole thing with the runes sounds very complicated. I don’t even know where to begin.” Lily looked back down at the book.

“That is fine. It takes time to fully grasp it. Soon, we will go through the specifics in class and start learning about the runes specifically. The main thing is that each has a meaning. Based on that meaning, you can arrange them in certain ways. It is almost like forming sentences. Once you start learning the meanings of the words, you will begin to better understand how to create commands.”

Yelena leaned down and kissed Lily’s neck. She just couldn’t hold back from showing a little affection. Lily didn’t seem to mind either. She leaned back against Yelena and allowed the girl to place several kisses on her neck.

“You make it sound so easy. I feel completely lost still.” Lily complained.

“I’ve been learning magic since I was 5. That is why it sounds like I know a lot. You just started, it is normal to be confused. Magic is complex. Believe it or not, I struggled a lot in the beginning too. You are smart, so I’m sure you will get it. Besides, you have me to help you, and now the Sectral Flames as well.”

Yelena didn’t stop kissing as she explained. Lily was trying to think, but it was not as easy with this distraction. Still, she knew the girl was right. She had Yelena, who knew plenty, not to mention the Flames, who were absolute nerds when it came to magic. She just has to put in some extra effort.

It didn’t take long for their earnest study efforts to be shattered. Lily put down the book and turned around. She reciprocated those kisses she received earlier. Yelena tilted her head, letting Lily have a better angle on her neck.

“Is it still there?” Lily asked, looking down between Yelena’s legs.

“No, it disappeared during the night.” Yelena chuckled a little.

Lily looked a bit disappointed. Yelena noticed this and raised an eyebrow.

“Is that a problem?” She asked.

“What? No! It just… I was thinking I could try some different things with it the next time. I don’t mind it either way.” She explained.

Yelena laughed. She was originally worried about what others would think about her extra part, but it seems that with Lily, she won’t have to be afraid. The girl was more than eager to try all sorts of things.

“You are a naughty one. What exactly did you have in mind?” Yelena asked.

Lily blushed a little; she was prepared to do it, but talking about it somehow felt more embarrassing.

“You know, this and that. Taking it into my hand, maybe… giving it a little taste.” She nervously giggled as she finished her sentence.

“Well, next time it is back, I’ll let you experiment with it. Until then, we will have to do things differently.” Yelena leaned down and kissed Lily on her lips.

Their plans to study were completely ruined by their raging desire for each other. Something Yelena already predicted, and despite her best efforts, she couldn’t prevent. Not that she minded it. Exploring the inside of Lily’s mouth was far more interesting than any old magic book could ever be.

Still, they didn’t go any further than some kissing and light touching. Despite how things started, both of them agreed it would likely be a better idea to take things a little slower. Both were just figuring out this whole relationship thing, and they didn’t want to rush too much.

Lucia was watching the events unfold. She not-so-secretly hoped things would go further and that the girls would provide her with an interesting show. Despite it not happening, she still watched with a gentle smile on her face.