At first were the old skills with no changes.
* Veteran Shooter (B) – Upgradable: When used, time slows down for 18 seconds. Can be used once every 20 minutes.
* Spiritual Gaze (C) – (Cannot Be Upgraded): Can see over great distances with high precision. Also allows user to see the flow of mana and view the world at 400 frames per second, Can see Spirtual beings.
* Paralyze Bullet (D) – Not Upgradable Further: After using this skill, the first bullet fired every ten minutes will carry a paralyzing effect. It can immobilize monsters and awakened individuals up to High-Tier D-rank for around 20 minutes.
* Echo of Restoration (A) – Upgradable: Heals wounds 'Almost Instantly' by "echoing" moments in time when the user was uninjured. Injuries slowly mend to match their previous healthy state. Can be used, As long as user have enough mana.
* Temporal Metabolism (B) – Upgradable: Reduces potion digestion and absorption time by 80%. Potions can now be stacked up to 9 times for stronger effects.
Skill: Rewind Step (B) \[Not Upgradable]
Description: Instantly return to the position you were in 5 seconds ago.
Cooldown: 1 minute.
Skill: Time Lock (B) \[Not Upgradable]
Description: A clean hit freezes one target in time for 3 seconds. They cannot move, attack, or use skills.
Cooldown: 45 seconds.
Then, another notification popped up in front of her, catching her attention.
A new screen appeared, detailing the upgraded skill.
Skill: Steal Life (A) [Not Upgradable]
Description: The user can absorb life energy by touching any living being. This increases the user's own lifespan. Rate of sucking out life has been enhanced further, and the amount of lifespan gained is also increased.
No cooldown. Can be used as long as the user has enough mana.
Also: Can fire an invisible wave that rapidly ages the target. Targets may grow old instantly—or even die from old age.
Notice 1: Lifespan can only be gained by direct touch. The weaker the target, the less lifespan the user will receive. The aging wave does not add to lifespan.
Notice 2: Repeated use on the same type of people will reduce the amount of life gained. Stronger targets are needed for better results.
Shadow Slash (A) [Not upgradable]
- Increases the offense of death aura. The scythe and its attacks will automatically get a layer of black death aura, having destructive offense.
Soul Splitter (B) [Not Upgradable]:*l The attacks can damage astral body (Souls) or intangible creatures as well.
Sigil of Death (B) [Not upgradable]: Ones under the required radius without any pre-protection, the target will get a sigil of death on them. An astral scythe will form upon its head, and after a certain period of time, if nothing is done by the target, it will fall down as the judgement bringer.
Note: The damage inflicted will be based on how powerful the target is. The weaker the target, the bigger the damage.
Esdeath looked at all of the skills. They were sure useful and very powerful, definitely enough to make her an S-rank Awakened as long as her mana capacity reached the level of an S-rank. Still, Esdeath had already decided to use them as little as possible.
Although she did find two things quite unusual.
The first thing was—
"There are no new time path skills?" Esdeath thought to herself.
Although Esdeath didn't think much about it, since Jeanne had explained in her backstory that most of her time path Essence stones were destroyed during her process of deducing the future. It was already a good thing that she actually had at least a few useful ones with her.
While the other weird thing was the new skills.
"They are quite similar to the rule path. Now that I think about it, human documents always say that Demon King Aurora was an expert in the rule path," Esdeath muttered to herself.
Although Esdeath knew that it wasn't entirely true. It was just that Aurora's fighting style was quite similar to rule path Awakeneds, which is why people were mistaken.
But in reality, Aurora never had any path to begin with. Only a few people knew about it.
Except for divine rank essence stones, any type of essence stones that he refined would immediately get destroyed the moment they were absorbed into his body.
Only divine rank Essence stones had enough power to save themselves. This was the curse from his affinity to chaos; in return for unfathomable power, he could only use the strongest of sources.
"Close!" Esdeath willed, and the system screen immediately popped, vanishing into the air.
She looked towards the window. The sun was setting down, and the clouds were golden and shaded orange. It was only evening.
"How long will they take?" Esdeath sighed to herself, a feeling of impatience growing inside her.
But then, the door of the room swung open and Lortell walked inside, bending her height to match the door's height and then standing straight again.
Esdeath immediately gulped and looked away instantly, her heart starting to pound.
"So, have you decided?" Lortell asked in a cold voice.
"I-i...!" Esdeath gulped again, her mind going completely blank. She forgot all the excuses she was supposed to make.
Lortell didn't say anything. She walked towards her and then went on all fours on the bed, climbing over Esdeath, her body hovering just above hers.
Their eyes were looking at each other without blinking, and then Lortell opened her mouth, revealing her fangs, and directly bit down on Esdeath's collarbone.
And she sucked. The blood even dripped from her mouth, sliding down Esdeath's neck in a warm, red trail. Somehow, being bitten like this, there was more pleasure than pain. Esdeath's feet curled up, her bits fingers twisting and clutching at the sheets.
"Not so rough~!" Esdeath slightly moaned between her words, her voice a mix of pleasure and protest.
"Your blood tasted even sweeter today. Is it because you're nervous?" Lortell asked calmly, her lips stained with Esdeath's blood.
"It's because I loved you more each day!" Esdeath added with a smile, although she wasn't lying.
"Then talk!" Lortell added with a darker voice. Simultaneously, she took out a kitchen knife from seemingly nowhere.
"Do you know being stabbed from a kitchen knife hurts more than being stabbed from a dagger?" Lortell asked, smoothly sliding the cold, flat side of the kitchen knife against Esdeath's skin, making her shiver.
Esdeath's lips twitched slightly. "I know. Because the stab wound is more rigid and most of the time takes more than one stab!" she answered in a light panic, her voice trembling.
"Perfect score. Now have a personal experience!" Lortell said, stretching her hand up to stab directly into Esdeath's belly.
But before she could, Esdeath shouted immediately.
"WASHROOMMM!"
"What?" Even Lortell felt confused by the sudden, desperate shout.
Esdeath chuckled dryly. "I wanna go to the washroom! It's been a while since I'm like this!" she said, trying to sound convincing.
"..." Lortell stared at Esdeath with narrowed eyes full of suspicion and then said,
"Then do it here. I'll wash you!" she answered confidently, a smirk on her face.
"C'mon, don't be like that! I'm not a baby! It's urgent, it won't take long!" Esdeath said in a desperate voice, trying to convince Lortell.
"Tch!..." Lortell sighed, sounding annoyed, and then turned around. She opened the handcuffs and chains attached to the bed.
Esdeath stood up and stretched her limbs, feeling quite free. "Feels amazing!" she muttered to herself, enjoying the brief moment of freedom.
But then KACHA!...
Lortell immediately bounced a metal choker around Esdeath's neck, attached to a metal leash, catching Esdeath completely off guard.
"Now it's good!" Lortell added with a side smirk, holding the other end of the leash.
"Well, it's not like I was gonna run away!" Esdeath said, trying to act as if nothing had changed, though her heart was hammering against her ribs.
They both walked towards the washroom. Esdeath was at the front while Lortell followed behind with the metal leash in her hand. It felt like Esdeath was some kind of puppy and Lortell was its master, a humiliating yet strangely thrilling dynamic.
They arrived in no time. Esdeath walked in and sat down on the toilet and was about to close the door for some privacy.
But before she could, Lortell stopped it with her hand and walked inside, closing the door behind them.
"Why are you here?" Esdeath asked, her face flushing a deep red in an instant.
"To watch. What's there to be embarrassed about!" Lortell replied calmly, like it was the most normal thing in the world for her to watch her wife use the washroom.
"It doesn't work like that!" Esdeath whined lightly, tears forming at the corners of her eyes. She was trying to be all cute and pookie in front of Lortell, hoping it would work.
But instead of being filled with cuteness, a mischievous smile appeared on Lortell's face. She saw right through the act.
"Do you want help?" Lortell asked, sitting down directly on Esdeath's thighs, her weight pressing down. She leaned closer to Esdeath's ear, her warm breath sending shivers down Esdeath's spine.
"Let's pee together then!" she said, blowing a soft puff of air from her mouth.
"She never lets go of any chance for flirting!" Esdeath thought to herself, closing her eyes and trying to control her blush.
"I mean, I'm not only gonna pee!" she added, trying to sound suggestive.
Smack!...
Lortell lightly smacked Esdeath's forehead with her index finger. "Relax, I was only joking. But who knows, I might change my mind later on!" she added, standing up and walking out of the washroom. The door wasn't closed, just open enough to let the metal leash pass through, which Lortell was holding from the outside.
After some time, "Are you done?" she asked.
"Not yet!" Esdeath answered, buying as much time as she could.
A few minutes later, "How long more?" Lortell asked again, her voice sounding slightly irritated.
"Few minutes, promise!" Esdeath answered.
Actually, Esdeath was just wasting time as much as she could, just sitting there and wishing for the rescue to come any second.
After a few more minutes, Lortell's temper couldn't hold it anymore. "Esdeath, are you coming, or should I come inside?" she shouted, her patience clearly gone.
Before she could open the door, Esdeath immediately came out with an innocent smile. "Done... done, I'm done!" she said, repeating it three times in her hurry.
Lortell lightly pulled the metal leash and then started walking back towards the room. Esdeath followed quietly, but she still felt unsatisfied since she didn't waste enough time.
"Lortell, isn't this choker on my neck giving us a vibe of master and slave? How about we do some roleplay? I'll become the slave. Sounds good?" Esdeath asked, jumping in front of Lortell to block her path.
"Anything to waste time!" Esdeath thought to herself, her mind racing.
But Lortell didn't even take a second to think. "Not interested!" Lortell declined flatly as she walked past Esdeath and inside the room.
Esdeath sighed in disappointment and entered as well.
"Strip!" Lortell exclaimed out of nowhere, her voice sharp and commanding.
"What?" Esdeath was unable to process this sudden request, her mind blanking for a second.
"I won't say it twice!" Lortell said. She extended her hand, grabbing the collar of Esdeath's red and black frock.
RRRIP!...
She tore Esdeath's clothes in one go. Even her bra tore apart in an instant, leaving her completely naked with her bare chest exposed to the cool air.
Still, there was no change in Esdeath's expression. Instead, she was kind of disappointed. "It's not gonna work. I wouldn't mind no matter how rough she'll be," she thought to herself.
She had higher expectations from Lortell, something that would truly work on her. But she was also happier that she would have an easy time surviving around Lortell if this was all she had in mind.
But then, as if crushing her hopes, Lortell extended her hand, and a blue-colored swimsuit materialized in her palm. It wasn't a bikini, but a usual school swimsuit for girls.
"Wear it!", Seh commanded.
"Who would have thought that Lortell has a fetish for swimsuits?" Esdeath chuckled to herself dryly, the situation feeling absurd.
She nodded and wore it immediately. The swimsuit was tight, wrapping snugly around her body and leaving her thighs bare.
Esdeath might not have an extremely beautiful face like Lortell or Kailith, or a big chest like Maruti, but she surely had high-grade thighs and ass. The swimsuit only made her look more erotic and sensual.
Esdeath rubbed her thighs together, feeling a little embarrassed under Lortell's intense gaze.
But Lortell didn't stop there. Without saying anything, she grabbed Esdeath by the waist and hurled her up into the air like a sack of potatoes.
"There's no need—" Esdeath thought that Lortell was trying to take her to the bed, but her sentence immediately got cut off as she felt something wrapping around her leg.
She turned her head and saw that Lortell was tying her with ropes that were attached to the ceiling. In less than a minute, the rope was wrapped all over Esdeath's body, from binding her legs to going in between her chest and between her thighs.
"Huh?", Her eyes were wide with confusion, She was trapped in a quite awkward and erotic position, hanging from the ceiling with her body bent and exposed.
At that moment, Lortell finally chuckled. "Didn't I say I'll be more rough as time passes!" she said with a teasing tone, her eyes gleaming with mischief.
SLAP!...
Lortell directly slapped Esdeath's butt, leaving a bright red mark behind. The sharp sting made Esdeath gasp, a mix of pain and surprise shooting through her.