42: Planning
Eris wiped the sweat and brushed away some locks of too-long hair from her eyes. The sound of a chisel carving away stone sounded through her white-marble workshop, even though she hated calling it that. If the count of the watch she kept meticulously wound was correct- and Eris was quite sure it was-, then she’d been here for twice as long as she’d even been at the school. Two entire weeks, right down to the day.
Eris grit her teeth and pushed the thought aside. No sense dwelling on it- she had a lot she needed to accomplish. Of course, the thick wooden door then gently swung open and revealed a mane of poofy blonde hair. Eris couldn’t help but smile.
“Okay, that cavern of Ichryte the miners found has officially been carved out and they’re working on transporting it back up out of the mines. It should arrive here by tomorrow afternoon.”
Bailey read over the clipboard in her hand, using her other to slightly adjust the position of her glasses while she did. Unfortunately, the combination of Eris not being any sort of eye doctor, it being a rushed job to make the glasses as quickly as possible, and Bailey not remembering the prescription she used to have made the lenses barely functional at best. Still, the blonde seemed to be adapting well enough- even if her old shirt was too baggy to wear. She was now wearing a simple button-down from one of the younger kingdomfolk that probably only fit because her chest was almost as flat as a board.
“The scaffolding by the ocean has been completed and is ready for your final approval before the outfitting of the braces and the trap, and everything else appears to be pretty much ready. At this point, it all kinda comes down to whether this is possible.”
“You mean whether or not my first-level ass is even strong enough to overcome ancient magic that’s been in place for hundreds of years and was crafted by an entire legion of Artificers, all to let us escape a prison that reshapes the very laws of reality in order to keep anyone from leaving?”
Bailey was quiet for a moment before giving a quick nod that sent her hair bobbing. “That’s an unenthusiastic way of putting things, but pretty much.”
“Great.” Eris held up her hammer in a brief salute before returning to her work and continuing to carve away at the marble. A moment later, another voice chirped up.
“You left the door open.”
“Ah- fuck. Sorry.” Bailey winced and turned around to face the other figure that entered the room. Elmas waved her three-fingered hand, then purposefully ensured the heavy wooden door to the workshop was closed.
“I may not be a teacher, nor are we in Marrix, but I am still your commanding officer and I expect you two to retain proper manners and composure while we’re stuck here.” Elmas then turned her gaze more purposefully towards Eris with the faintest smirk. “Don’t think you’re exempt from that just because you’re the most important person in the world.”
Eris nodded. “How is it?”
The brunette raised an eyebrow expectantly. Eris rolled her eyes with a grin. “Lieutenant Major Elmas, how is your wound?”
The woman smiled, then reached to the buttons of her shirt and undid two of them approximately halfway up. She then pulled aside the flaps of fabric to show the patch of skin between her belly button and her breasts- not that anything was visible. Instead, there was a long bandage was wrapped taught around her midsection. “Bailey’s stitches seem to be holding up okay and it still hurts to breathe, but I’m alive.”
“Sorry I can’t really do anything…” Eris mumbled. Elmas buttoned her shirt back up and her smile took an edge of softness. Eris also watched the way the woman winced ever-so-slightly when carefully taking a seat on a stool off to the side.
“If there’s nothing that can be done, then there is no need to apologize. There are no compatible ingredients anywhere to make a healing potion and gambling on a random item to have a Lust-imbued healing enchantment would simply be a waste of time. If I was actively dying then of course- do what you can. But I’m not. I’m alive, and I’m healing, which means you need to focus on the more important matter- getting us out of here.”
Bailey was quiet for several moments, idly drumming fingers against the clipboard held to her chest. “Do we really think this is a good idea?”
The subtext of the question didn’t need to be spoken aloud. It made Elmas’s face fall into a frown and Eris scowled. She didn’t care if Pravala was listening- she wanted that awful woman to know exactly what she thought.
“Well, let’s see. She’s committed crimes way beyond reasonable in any sense of the word, so much so that she was seen as an evil required to be locked away for eternity. She then forcefully brought every single person she enslaved under her power into the Obelisk with her. Because Obelisk prison realms don’t cause the people inside to age, it meant that the fourteen hundred innocent people whose souls were bound to hers were forced to suffer for centuries as she built an entire kingdom of slaves that couldn’t disobey her and worshipped her as their queen.”
Eris set down her hammer and chisel, then backed away from the huge marble slab in the center of the floor.
“Not only that, the very first time that anyone new ever entered her prison, her first and only response was to enslave both your souls. The thousand-plus people enslaved by her for the last four centuries- and now you two as well- have been feeding her with an almost-identical kind of skill-progressing energy as me when I do lustful things, so even though she’s only third level, she managed to pretty easily beat a sixteenth level Abjurist who also happens to be one of the most well-trained and capable individuals of the Syndicate.”
Elmas and Bailey both looked down at the floor, but Eris continued.
“Now, I have to try and bypass the enchantment on the Obelisk that’s keeping all of us trapped here, and getting us out is going to release her back into Tonshlur. Of course, she’s promised that she won’t enslave or hurt anyone else when we get out and will aid in our efforts to end the Hollow, but there isn’t a single fiber of my being that believes her in any way, shape or form. Unfortunately, because she knows everything that you two know, she knows that I am physically incapable of trying to kill her because of my Pacifist skill, and the fact she is actively watching and listening through you two means that we can’t even come up with a plan to keep her from being released.
“Not only that, even if I did somehow come up with a way to kill her, I can’t do it because I am completely and utterly incapable of overpowering the magic of the Obelisk without her help. Therefore, it puts us all in a dilemma- either we keep ourselves and her locked up but condemn the world to death by the Hollow, or we trust the word of a psychopathic Echo and let her back into the world we’re trying to save.”
Eris rested her hands on her hips, breathing hard after her abrupt and angry rant. “But yeah, obviously this is a really good idea.”
When Bailey spoke, the inflection and the accent was off. Secondly, and most notably, the patch of blackened skin curling around Bailey’s right wrist like a brand of barbed wire began faintly glowing a pale green shade. Eris tried to keep a straight face and not show that she wanted this to happen. Bailey gave an exaggerated frown.
“I’m terribly sorry you feel that way, Darling.”
Eris pointed with an angry finger at the former Alchemist. “I am not your ‘Darling’- I will make that explicitly clear for as long as I need to. You are a pathetic parasite of a human being, and the only reason I even considered the idea of working with you to get out is because I can’t afford to be trapped in here while the world ends. As a first level Artificer going up against magic that was probably made by ones all level fifteen and up, I physically don’t have the magical power to do this on my own. Now; since you’re insistent on being here right now...”
Eris turned around and grabbed a fine-pointed chisel with the handle broken off, then showed it to the blonde. “One of my chisels broke earlier and I’m really pressed for time. Can you summon me a new one of these to tide me over for now just so I can get this done before needing to work on repairs?”
Elmas’s barbed wrist brand/tattoo was glowing too, now, and her voice took a more sensual undertone. Her lips curled into a grin. “Already done. A servant is on their way to deliver it right now.”
Eris raised an eyebrow. “What, you can’t just summon it through your puppets?”
“Sadly, no. Though, you should get it in the next couple of minutes.”
“Forget it,” Eris waved a hand. “I can fix this one in a ‘couple of minutes’. It’ll work better than whatever you can make me anyway. Now, since you can’t help me right now, I’m gonna have to ask you to let my friends go.”
Elmas smiled.
“Oh, but I’m always with them. Even when they’re the ones in control, I’m there. I see what they see. I hear what they hear. I can even feel your soft skin under my palms and the wetness of your sex on my fingers when you and Bailey are gathering Desire every morning and night. I could so easily take over and be the one pulling out your sweet moans, but I’m a respectful lover.”
“You are not my ‘lover’.” Eris growled. Bailey chuckled.
“But I could be. I could give you whoever you want and no secrets are hidden from me. For example, lovely little Leyla here…”
Bailey set down the clipboard, then walked up behind where Elmas was sitting. Bailey then leaned down, hugging the thirty-something-year-old woman from behind with one hand reaching down even further to begin massaging the front of Elmas’s pants. Elmas then spoke in that same seductive tone- wrist continuing to glow.
“She watched you in the throes of passion with all those others back in Marrix, and she liked what she saw.”
Eris could only look on through gritted teeth as Elmas grinned wickedly and looked up to face Bailey. For her part, Bailey smiled downwards and lowered their faces until both girls’ lips connected sweetly. Meanwhile, Bailey’s hands had undone the button of Elmas’s pants, letting Eris watch as an already-erect and nice-looking cock was gingerly pulled free. While Bailey’s digits clasped around it and began stroking, both her and Elmas stopped kissing and turned their gaze back towards Eris. They spoke in odd unison.
“They can be yours. They’ll enjoy it, and you’ll become more powerful. Anyone you could possibly want could be yours. All you have to do is accept me.”
Bailey reached one hand up just underneath Elmas’s chin, who then sloppily spit into the blonde’s palm. Bailey then returned her hand back down to Elmas’s cock, using the spit as lubrication to leave it shiny and slick while she stroked. Eris simply walked forward, right up to them, then leaned down just enough so that her face was inches away from theirs.
“If you want me to ‘accept’ you, then prove it to me yourself.”
Elmas smiled, even as Bailey ceased her stroking. “Eris dear, you want me to prove myself, but you haven’t given me the opportunity.”
“How so?”
“In two weeks, we haven’t had a single conversation that lasted longer than thirty seconds, much less a genuine… what’s the term? ‘Heart-to-heart’? Your obsession on maintaining a grudge makes you quite difficult to talk to regarding anything but our way out. Given that I’m needing to place so much trust in this plan of yours, the least you owe is a chance for us to talk properly.”
Eris bit the inside of her cheek, let out a sigh, then pulled out her pocketwatch to glance over it. She certainly wasn’t expecting this, but she’d be an idiot not to take the opportunity. “You want to take away time that I need to figure out our escape? Fine. Let them go, then you can plead your case over dinner tonight.”
Bailey smirked. “Dinner? I can certainly have something prepared for us.”
“If I have to suffer your presence for an extended conversation, I’d like to get something useful out of it. And you won’t have dinner prepared- you’re going to make it yourself.”
“Is that so?” Elmas cocked an eyebrow. Eris had to try really hard to keep her gaze from lowering to the older woman’s exposed penis.
“If you have your slaves make a dinner during your attempt to better my image of you, it certainly wouldn’t help your efforts. Two hours. I’ll meet you in your dining room. Now let them go or I rescind the offer.”
The last thing Eris saw was an amused look flash across both faces before both girls suddenly blinked several times. Bailey stumbled back a number of steps and Elmas thrust her hands into her lap to cover her erection. Both of their wrist tattoos faded to their dull black, and both girls were blushing. Eris knew they had been conscious the whole time- fully aware of what they were doing but all their control being given to someone else. Neither of them spoke, leading Eris to grit her teeth and turn to walk back towards her project.
“You two should leave. I have work to do.”
Eris didn’t look over her shoulder once. Only when the door closed and the sound of a chisel against marble were the only noises in the shop did Eris take a cautious glance to confirm that they were gone. Then, just to be absolutely sure, Eris glanced down at her own wrist and ensured that the troublesome magic item was still there.
Band of Second Presence
Durability: 96%
An intricate leather band perfect for subterfuge. Imbued with the essence of a multi-existent monster. Rewarded from a slain Neutricore. Made from golden thread and neutricore leather.
Provides a Minor penalty to Physical Power.
Provides a Minor penalty to Vitality.
Provides a Major boost to Magical Power.
Additional effect: Sensor
The user may create a sensor anywhere within their line of sight, or move an existing sensor to somewhere they can see. As long as this sensor exists, the user may transfer their sense of sight, hearing, or smell and perceive through that sense as if they were in the sensor’s location instead of their own.
Such a strange item, and yet it may very well be the focal point of their method to getting out. Though, Eris may have lied about needing it with her to perform experiments on how to figure out the magic; she just needed it out of Pravala’s hands. Err- Elmas’s hands, but since Elmas could be instantly turned into a puppet and Pravala was permanently aware of everything the woman saw or heard…
Eris walked over to the door of the workshop, locked it tight, then stuffed a bit of cloth to plug the keyhole. It wouldn’t stop the door from being unlocked from the outside, but it would potentially prevent someone from peeping through that tiny opening. She did the same thing with the thin gap under the door- shoving a large towel until there was no space revealed. Then, Eris quickly strolled to the other side of the fascinatingly-large workshop, grabbed a modestly-sized wooden dildo off of one shelf, undid the button on her pants, and stripped her lower half while walking back towards a cushioned chair. On the way, she grabbed her notebook and a pencil.
Getting situated in her chair so that she was comfortable, Eris sighed and flipped open the pages until she reached page twelve. It was filled with diagrams of nets and springs and runes with different scaling formulae. Then, Eris bit her lip and used one hand to rub the tip of the wooden dick against her bare folds. She could feel herself getting wetter- the moisture and lubrication preparing for impending pleasure drawn out by the magic of the dildo. It meant she needed little more than a few seconds of idle probing foreplay before slowly sinking the wooden member a number of inches inside. However, her attention remained locked on the notebook held in her other hand.
Images, diagrams, and crafting plans vanished away like morning fog under the sun, only to be replaced with notes and notes and notes of information that hadn’t been there previously. Grinning, she couldn’t help but cast a proud Inspect.
Notebook
A standard notebook designed to hold information.
Eris willed aside the shrouded illusion she put up as a false Inspect window and let her grin grow even wider.
Deciever’s Codex
Durability: 100%
A well-crafted notebook designed for obscuring information. Imbued with the essence of Lust. Created by Eris Kadell. Made from fish leather and ironwood paper.
Provides a Minor boost to Crafting Speed during the planning process.
Additional effect: Second Text
While the writer is engaged in sexual acts, anything they write in the Deveiver’s Codex is invisible and undetectable my any means. Information written in this way is only made visible when the reader is engaged in sexual acts.
Eris bit back a bit of a moan while she slid the dildo all the way in until the flattened base prevented any more from entering, then sat up a little bit more so that it wouldn’t easily slide out. Her now-free hand then reached over and grabbed a pencil from the nearby workbench and scanned over the writing on the page to see if there was anything new she could conceivably add to the improvised stat window.
Name: Pravala
Age: Mid forties (before imprisonment)
Class: Summoner of Envy
Level: 3 (if she’s telling the truth)
Stats: Unconfirmed. Presumably has higher Mind and Magical Defence, little to no bonuses in other stats.
Skills: 9 known, any others unconfirmed.
Envy Sight- level unknown
Prav specifically didn’t drain me in that first encounter. Likely has some way of knowing people’s classes, which is why she left me alone. That, or she can see other Echoes. Does not appear to learn levels or skills. More information required.
Envy Spending- level unknown (likely maxed at 1)
Prav spends gathered envy to increase the power of her skills.
Enslavement- level unknown
Prav binds target’s soul to hers, removing their class, skills, levels, and bodily changes from gifting. Target gives envy for skill progression as long as they remain enslaved. Prav is aware of everything slaves perceive and experience, shares all of their knowledge, can possess seemingly over any distance. Slaves have mark on right wrist that glows while possessed. Cooldown to repossession of same target unconfirmed- shortest duration between observed repos ~18 hours. Skill level: likely gave the perception and possession- other benefits unknown.
Mana- level likely maxed at 1. Pravala uses mana for her magic. Total capacity unknown.
Summoning- level unknown
Prav creates any inanimate object she wishes, only in hand or place she can see. No apparent number, size, or complexity limit, duration unknown. Conjured objects nonmagical, approximate durability unknown. When unsummoned, objects crumble into sand and smoke. Skill level: likely increases creation size and/or number active at once and/or duration and/or durability. Assume highest effectiveness in all regards.
Eris paused, tried to ignore the seven-ish inches of ironwood nestled lovingly in her pussy, then brought her pencil to the page to add onto the end of the paragraph.
Only summons where SHE sees, not her slaves.
Eris moved on and kept reading.
Creature Summoning- level unknown
Prav makes a creature to fight or do her bidding (largest summoned: dragon). Creature obeys mental commands. Maximum duration unknown. Creature dissolves into dust and smoke when sufficiently damaged. Maximum quantity unknown. Line of sight requirement unknown. Maximum distance unknown. Skill level likely increases distance and/or quantity and/or quality. More information required.
Teleport- level unknown
Pravala can instantly teleport. Distance unknown. Line of sight unknown. Cooldown or mana cost unknown. Skill level effect unknown- presumably increases distance, lowers cockdown or both. More information required.
Eris’s eyes narrowed, then re-read just to make sure. ‘Cockdown’? Hmph. It was already rough to try and make her handwriting legible even to herself while stuffing herself with a dildo, she didn’t need to start worrying about lewd spelling mistakes. She scratched out the word, then wrote ‘cooldown’ in tiny letters to fit overtop the line of text. Eris shifted into a better position- instantly swore at the shudders of pleasure the movement elicited- then read more of her impromptu research of Pravala’s skills.
Healing- level unknown
After being injured, her wound was fully healed and no scar is present. No clear spell cast or skill used. Effect of skill level unknown- extent of healing unknown. More information required.
Power Transfer- level unknown (presumably 93)
With maintained physical contact, Prav temporarily increases the effective level of one of my non-maxed skills to 94. Desire’s Reap maxes level 5. CP, Resilience and Novice Artificer no apparent limit. Nov. Art. chosen skill to boost to try and get out. Skill level effect presumably increases level of boosted skill. Using skill appears to tire Prav greatly.
Eris leaned back in the seat, letting a breath pass between her lips. There wasn’t a sheep’s chance in a wolf pen that those nine were all of Pravala’s skills. After all, Eris herself had seven at first level and got five more last week with the arrival of level two. Even if Pravala was only third level, the bare minimum number of skills that Eris would expect from the woman was at least twelve- and that was lowballing it. Pravala had skills that simply weren’t obvious, or weren’t ones she used on a consistent enough basis to be observable. Of course, she couldn’t even ask about them without being too shady. It didn’t matter that they were forced to work together to get out, if Eris started asking for a bunch of really specific questions about every single one of Pravala’s skills and weaknesses, even a blind ladybug would be able to see that Eris was plotting against the Summoner. Well, plotting more, that is.
It didn’t matter how obvious Eris was in her disdain for the woman, as long as Pravala ultimately thought that Eris was forced to accept the idea of Pravala escaping with them. If Eris started getting too obvious about trying to learn more, then Pravala might become more suspicious of a legitimate attempt to keep her trapped.
Either way, unknown skills were factors that Eris had no way of accounting for, which made the act of coming up with an air-tight plan tedious at best. She set the pencil down and flipped through a few more of the pages. There were diagrams of potential creations, most of which had been haphazardly crossed out. Anything less than the absolute best possible circumstances would only end in failure against someone like Pravala, and even the best of them may end up being thwarted by some unforeseen skill. Even her emergency option she was still working on- the one hidden in a compartment she carved into one of the legs of the shelving units- almost certainly wasn’t going to be enough and that was with the pretense that the item had the exact effect she wanted when it finished. All she could do was keep making it and hope that whatever slightly-guided-but-ultimately-random Lust effect was something that may have the slightest chance at being effective.
“Fuck!” Eris groaned and tossed the notebook back onto the workbench, throwing her head back in frustration. She glanced back over to the marble plinth she had been carving and frowned. She needed to get back to work.
Of course, Eris took a cursory glance downwards, where she was naked from the waist down and the very bottom of a wooden dick was sprouting between her spread thighs. She felt her cheeks heating up, then one hand reached for where the base of the dildo emerged. Fingers wrapped around it, pulled it free a single inch, then gently eased it back inside while the quivers of pleasure brought a tremble to her bottom lip. Eris brought one leg up to brace a foot on the edge of the chair- further opening her sex in an invitation to herself. A teeny smile curled across her lips.
A five-minute break probably wouldn’t hurt.