Rebirth of the Nephilim

“You fucking bitch…”

“Excuse me?” Aila raised an eyebrow at Kerr’s grumbled curse. “Care to repeat that?”

“No, I don’t!” the therion whined in exaggerated petulance. “You heard me! It’s not fucking fair!”

“What is not fair?” Meli asked, looking up from her breakfast with the slow blink of someone who had fully woken up yet for the day.

“Kerr’s complaining about Aila being better than her,” Bridget explained around a mouthful of bread and beans. “The usual.”

“She’s not better!” Kerr pointed an accusatory finger at the red head. “She’s a cheater!”

“How exactly am I a cheater?” Aila coldly glared at the archer’s dramatic antics.

“Because you can blow up Demons by the shipload! No one else can do that! C’est des conneries!”

“First of all,” Aila held up a finger for each point, “I never agreed to any sort of contest with you, so I therefore cannot be cheating at a contest that I am not participating in. Second of all, aside from the ambush three days ago there haven’t been any large groups of Demons for me to ‘blow up’ in the area, so I would not have any advantage. Third, even if I was participating in your contest, using the spells I have available to me would hardly be considered cheating. And finally, you are still fifteen levels higher than me. Stop being such a crybaby.”

“Jadis!” Kerr whined in the most obnoxiously high-pitched voice she could manage. “Aila is bullying me! She called me a crybaby!”

“Are you planning on keeping this up all day?” Dys stared in befuddled amusement at the tantrum-throwing horned woman.

“If Aila keeps forcing me to!” Kerr glared with all the force of a five-year-old who had been denied her favorite snack at the freckled mage.

“I’m literally not forcing you to do anything,” Aila threw her hands into the air.

“What if I take you to the back of the airship and fuck you with raw, animalistic need for the next half hour? Will that make you happy?” Dys asked seriously.

“Oh, yes please,” Kerr immediately perked up, holding her arms out towards Dys. “Standing! I want to feel my feet dangle while you pound me.”

Setting her bowl of porridge down, Dys scooped Kerr up and tossed her over her shoulder. Chuckling at the way her lover’s wagging tail kept slapping against her face, Dys worked on undoing her belt while walking to the back of the cabin, past the section that Sabina had turned into a makeshift workshop to reach the engine compartment. As she left the group, she passed by Severina and Noct, the two of whom had just entered the cabin after landing on the deck outside.

“Where are they going?” Severina asked, tossing a look over her shoulder at Dys and Kerr as they moved out of sight.

“To fuck,” Aila answered. When Sev gave Aila a confused double-take, the mage elaborated. “Kerr is throwing a fit because I gained more levels than her and Jadis is distracting her with sex.”

“Ah.”

As Severina took the seat that Kerr had been occupying, Jay leaned across the aisle to add her own commentary.

“It’s also because Aila has a stat that surpasses one thousand points now. Kerr feels like she got beat twice.”

“Well,” Severina shrugged helplessly. “I would think that she would be happy that her close ally and friend has achieved such greatness.”

“She is,” Jay replied. “She just—”

Jay was momentarily interrupted by the muffled yet still quite loud cry of pleasure that came from the back of the cabin. Smirking, she continued a second later.

“She’s just using this as an excuse for sex.”

“Of course,” Severina’s cheeks colored a light pink as she acknowledged the explanation, then turned her attention to the bowl of honey-sweetened porridge Sorcha passed to her.

Aila had, out of everyone in their group, increased her levels the most over the course of the past three days, which included the day of the ambush. One in her primary, two in her secondary, and four in her tertiary, for a total of seven levels gained. The numbers were impressive, especially considering how much the bonus experience points that slaying Demons normally gave were being sapped by so many soldiers in close proximity. The fact that Aila had still gained all those levels without even ranging that far from camp while power leveling showed just how much effort as well as novelty she had put into her advancement.

While the group did not have the time to go into the in-depth skill discussions that they would have under typical circumstances, the skills that Aila and the others chose were still reviewed where and when possible, so Jadis had the full rundown of what her lover had selected. Aside from the twelve free attribute points Aila had gained, ten of which she had earned from reaching level forty in her arcanist class, she had unlocked four new skills in total.

Favored Vehicle

Active Skill. Mark a vehicle as your preferred method of transportation. Your favored vehicle will see a decrease in wear and require less maintenance so long as it is marked. You will no longer lose stamina while operating your favored vehicle. This skill does not eliminate the need for sleep.

Lesser Ally Exemption

Passive Skill. Decreases the amount of damage your area of effect spells, such as explosions, do to your allies by 0.4 of the total damage dealt to their health. This skill does not prevent equipment damage or dismemberment.

Magister’s Greater Force Shield

Ritual Spell. Encompass a target object, vehicle, structure, or area with a powerful magic shield that lasts until broken or the ritual is cast again. You will always know the current durability of the shield while it is active. This spell cannot be cast upon individuals or their gear.

Magister’s Meditative Stance

Active Skill. Regenerate magic power at 3 times the rate of the Will attribute. The proper form of meditative stance must be maintained during the duration of the skill’s use, or the effect will be cancelled. No combat skills or spells can be in active use during Magister’s Meditative Stance, but non-damaging spells such as shield or transportation spells can be cast.

In Jadis’ opinion, the Magister’s Greater Force Shield spell was the most interesting new addition to Aila’s repertoire, though it was also the most disappointing. It was essentially a means for Aila to protect the Leviathan from enemy attacks, which was a defense that was sorely needed. While Aila had been unhappy that she couldn’t use the spell to protect Jadis directly, Jadis had brushed that concern aside. What disappointed her was the fact that the ritual wasn’t sexual in nature. It was just a basic ritual, even with her involvement using Bonded Lover’s Ritual Aid. There wasn’t even any kissing.

Regardless of Jadis’ dissatisfaction with the lack of lewd activity, Aila was happy with the skills and spell she had received. The twelve points she had were all put directly into her Arcane attribute, which when combined with the increases Jadis had gained, brought her total just barely past the one thousand mark.

Aila of Red Tree

Race: Human

Primary Class: Cart Driver (35)

Secondary Class: Nephilim Powered Arcanist (40)

Tertiary Class: Bonded Magister of the Arcane Soul (15)

Combined Level Rating: 90

Health: 1350/1350

Magic: 860/860

Attributes

Strength: 13

Dexterity: 15

Agility: 20

Vitality: 90

Fortitude: 35

Endurance: 15

Arcane: 1006

Divine: 0

Eldritch: 0

Focus: 61

Resilience: 30

Will: 15

   While Aila had leveled up the most, it wasn’t as though everyone else had not also put in the effort and gained a good number of levels. In fact, Kerr herself had gained six levels, bringing her past CLR one hundred. More importantly, out of the three skill slots she had been given, Kerr had finally received the skill she needed to redistribute her stats the way she wanted to.

Archery Mastery III

Passive Skill. Provides a greater boost to the offensive value of bow-type weapons.

Slut Sniper’s Sloppy Seconds

Passive Skill. Having sex with an individual that your bonded lover has had sex with within ten minutes of their climax grants you temporary health equal to 0.5 of that individual’s maximum health pool. All damage you suffer will come from this temporary health pool first. This effect lasts for 24 hours.

Physique of the Lewd Lover

Passive Skill. Choose one attribute from your bonded lover. Your same attribute will gain 0.5 of their selected attribute. Oral sexual contact is required every three days to maintain the bond between you and your bonded lover. This skill cannot be replicated. This skill cannot be used on an attribute that is already being boosted by your lover.

Physique of the Lewd Lover seemed to be a paired skill, one heavily influenced by Jadis’ own Lewd Lover’s Bond. The link was not a surprise, since Jadis was certain that the fact that she used that skill on her lovers was a part of why they were always offered bonded classes to begin with, but the outlined limitations were a bit curious. In Aila’s opinion, she thought it was more of a shock that more of their skills didn’t have similar stipulations considering how powerful they all were thanks to the open nature of their compatible and replicable abilities. If Jadis had to guess, she supposed that the system, however it worked, was trying to keep some kind of balance. Probably no one had ever had the kind of combination of high-powered classes and closely bonded lovers that Jadis did, so patches were being implemented as they progressed.

That, or one of the gods was getting upset that D’s champion and her companions was getting all the good stuff and threw a hissy fit.

Either way, Kerr was happy to make the change she had been hoping for. With a little help from Jadis, she switched her Lewd Lover’s Bond to her Dexterity, then matched her Physique of the Lewd Lover to Jadis’ Strength attribute. The end result was far more in line with the sniper build that Kerr knew she needed if she wanted to get the kind of long-range skills of legend she was hoping for.

Kerr of Clan Nox

Race: Therion

Primary Class: Nox Archer (44)

Secondary Class: Far Wilds Traveler (36)

Tertiary Class: Bonded Slut Sniper (25)

Combined Level Rating: 105

Health: 600/600

Magic: 0/0

Attributes

Strength: 366

Dexterity: 702

Agility: 75

Vitality: 15

Fortitude: 105

Endurance: 31

Arcane: 0

Divine: 0

Eldritch: 0

Focus: 0

Resilience: 16

Will: 0

   As huge an increase to her Dexterity as the change was, and without even having to fully sacrifice her high Strength, Kerr’s main stat still fell over three hundred points short of Aila’s Arcane attribute. The six free attribute points the archer had earned couldn’t make up that much distance. Hence Kerr’s upset with the mage, or at least the pretense.

Of course, the fact that Kerr wasn’t truly upset with Aila over the levels was made even more obvious when one looked at Bridget. If one counted the ambush, which Kerr did by her own rules, Bridget had gone from CLR fifty-nine to sixty-six, which was also seven levels and therefore she had also beaten the archer. And yet, Bridget was safe from all of Kerr’s complaints and accusations. Not safe from teasing about turning into a blue candle, but at least Kerr wasn’t calling Bridget a cheater.

The extra four levels Bridget had earned since the ambush had all been in her new tertiary class. As a result, she had gained two more free attributes in addition to the three she had already earned, and she had also unlocked two new skill slots. The points had all gone into her Fortitude stat, bringing her closer to her goal of making her Agility attribute her lowest attribute. That goal, while unchanged, felt far less urgent thanks to one of Bridget’s new skills.

Armor Insulation

Passive Skill. The armor and garments you wear is no longer negatively affected by your Flamesoul body, regardless of what material it is made of. Your resistance to fire damage is carried over to your armor.

Speed of the Flame I

Passive Skill. Increase your Agility attribute by 0.1 of your Arcane attribute while in Flamesoul form.

While not having to worry about melting her armor or burning her clothing was nice, Bridget was most excited about the increase to her Agility. Her lack of speed was starting to become a problem for her, as many of the more dangerous enemies they faced were capable of moving faster than her and therefore could dodge her attacks. With Speed of the Flame, Bridget would be able to increase her Agility by over ninety points, just to start. Looking at the name and the skill wording, Aila predicted that future evolutions of the skill would upgrade that increase even further.

Bridget of Clan Warsong

Race: Orc

Primary Class: Lantern Light Landsknecht (34)

Secondary Class: Ardent Light of the Reborn (26)

Tertiary Class: Bonded Flamesoul Warrior (6)

Combined Level Rating: 66

Health: 900/900

Magic: 500/500

Attributes

Strength: 55

Dexterity: 20

Agility: 26

Vitality: 25

Fortitude: 23

Endurance: 20

Arcane: 936

Divine: 0

Eldritch: 0

Focus: 50

Resilience: 66

Will: 31

   No one else had gained as many levels as Aila, Bridget, and Kerr except for one person, and her large advancement was also a product of the ambush. However, unlike everyone else, she had decided on falling back on a previously offered skill to fill one of her skill slots, rather than going with all of the new options. It was for that reason in particular that Jay was rushing through her breakfast.

“Are you ready to go?”

“Yes,” Eir replied, setting her empty bowl down on the table between her and Jay. “I have everything I need to perform the ritual.”

“Are you sure you don’t want me to set up some privacy for this?” Jay asked after standing and offering a hand to help Eir from her seat.

“No, that isn’t necessary,” the elf smiled warmly up at Jay. “But thank you for offering. Nothing we need to do for this ritual will require anything so extreme as many of your rituals.”

Pausing for a moment, she gave Jay a knowing wink.

“Though perhaps that is a disappointment for you?”

“Mm, as much as I am happy to take every opportunity to have your beauty at my fingertips—and other parts of me—I think I’m glad that Rose Tinted Memories isn’t too lewd. I’m pretty sure most locations we would want to use this spell will be… grody.”

“Grody?” Eir tilted her head in confusion at the unfamiliar word.

“Gross,” Jay explained as she walked with her lover to the cabin door. “Smelly, disgusting, or just plain dirty. Nowhere that I would want to put you.”

“I appreciate that,” Eir said as Jay lifted her into her arms in preparation for diving off the airship. “Thank you for always taking care to protect me.”

“With my life,” Jay said before activating her Succubus wings and diving off the deck.