"Say 'ahh,' cutie pie."
I opened my mouth to protest that I could feed myself just fine, but the moment my lips parted, Ebonara slid the fork in anyway. A perfectly cut piece of something that looked like an egg, except the yolk was a deep, shimmering violet and glowed faintly, disappeared between my teeth.
She watched me chew with eight expectant eyes, tail swishing like a dog waiting for praise.
I blinked. Then blinked again.
"…It's actually delicious," I admitted, surprised. Sweet, smoky, a little spicy—like someone had mixed crème brûlée with barbecue sauce and somehow made it work. "What is this?"
"Sand-drake egg. Don't worry, the mother laid hundreds. She won't miss one." Ebonara beamed, already scooping up the next bite. "Open again~"
I let her feed me the entire plate. The toast, thankfully, was normal toast.
When the last crumb was gone, she set the plate aside and licked a stray fleck of purple yolk from her thumb, never breaking eye contact.
I cleared my throat. "Hey… I've got a favor to ask."
"Anything for my cutie pie," she sang, leaning forward so her cleavage threatened to spill out of that poor, suffering crop top.
I tried very hard to keep my eyes on her face. "Arm-wrestling. One match. I want to test something."
Her eight gem-like eyes cycled through colors in rapid succession (surprise, curiosity, mischief). Then she tapped a black claw against her lips and gave me the cutest little head tilt I'd ever seen on something capable of bench-pressing a tank.
"Ehhh? Okay~ But don't cry when you lose."
We cleared the low table, pushing cushions and furs aside until we had a decent patch of smooth stone floor. Ebonara sat cross-legged, planted her elbow, and offered her hand.
I locked fingers with her.
Her skin was warm, soft, deceptively delicate. I could feel the monstrous strength humming underneath like a dormant volcano.
"Three… two… one. Go!"
I pushed.
Nothing happened.
She pushed back (playfully at first), then with real effort. Veins appeared along her pale forearm. Her tail stiffened behind her.
"Why… isn't… your hand… moving?!" she hissed through clenched teeth, eyes wide.
Meanwhile, my internal monologue was having a full-blown panic party.
Holy shit. I'm not even straining. I can literally see her status floating above her head like a game HUD:
Ebonara – Level 100 – Queen-Class Arachne Scorpion
Level 100. And I'm holding her still with one hand while sipping imaginary tea with the other.
Sorry, Ebo-chan. Looks like this round's mine.
I gave the tiniest nudge.
Her knuckles hit the floor with a soft thud. The impact cracked the stone in a perfect spiderweb pattern.
Silence.
Ebonara stared at her hand like it had personally betrayed her. Then she looked up at me, all eight eyes shimmering gold with something between shock, pride, and blatant lust. Women you need help.
I scratched the back of my neck awkwardly. "So, uh… it happened like this…" I told her everything I knew or understood about my situation and level. And the main part Like how I unlocked it after having sex with her.
She nodded slowly. And asked me what it is called?
"It's called Sex Beast. Level shows as infinity. And apparently strength, stamina, everything scales infinitely too. I didn't know until just now."
Ebonara processed that for half a second. Then, without warning, she flopped sideways across my lap like an oversized cat, rolled onto her back, and grabbed my wrist.
"Belly rubs. Payment for emotional damages."
"W-what?"
"You beat me," she pouted, guiding my hand to the smooth, warm expanse of her stomach just above where her skin should have met chitin. But now that she is human form her stomach was smooth. "Compensate me."
I swear my brain blue-screened. But my hand moved on autopilot, tracing slow circles over her abs. The moment my palm made contact, a low, rumbling purr started in her chest, vibrating through her whole body.
Holy hell, she really purrs.
Her tail curled contentedly. Her eyes half-lidded into sleepy crescents with tiny glowing hearts dancing in the irises.
"Keep going," she murmured. "Lower is okay too~"
I obediently rubbed her belly while she melted into a puddle of happy monster girl. The purr got louder. Her legs (currently human-shaped) kicked idly in bliss.
Several minutes of this extremely therapeutic activity later, she spoke up, voice drowsy and syrupy.
"What's your real name, cutie pie? I wanna keep calling you cutie pie but you would mind. So that's why I wanna know."
"Hyun-woo."
She repeated it, tasting the syllables. "Hyun-woo… weird name. Cute name. I like it."
More purring.
I was starting to get way too into the belly-rub thing (my fingers had developed muscle memory at this point) when suddenly Ebonara shot upright, nearly headbutting me.
"OH NO. TODAY IS REPORTING DAY!"
I yelped as her tail accidentally whipped the air an inch from my face. "Reporting day?"
"I have to attend the quarterly monster-lord meeting at the inner sanctum! If I miss it, the others will send search parties, and then they'll find you, and then they'll try to eat you, and I just finally got you house-trained—"
She was rambling at mach speed now, hands flailing.
I grabbed one of her flailing hands. "Ebo. Breathe. Why don't we just go together?"
She froze. Eight eyes blinked in unison.
Then her face lit up like I'd offered her the moon on a silver platter.
"Genius! Why didn't I think of that?" She clapped her hands, then immediately seized my wrist again and planted my palm firmly on her left breast. "Reward for brilliant idea."
Soft. Warm. Perfect handful, even for my newly upgraded grip strength.
I wheezed. "Meeting sounds important. Maybe focus?"
"Right, right." She stood, reluctantly releasing my hand (though not before giving it a little squeeze). "Get dressed, cutie pie. We're going to introduce my new boyfriend to the scariest women on the continent."
I swallowed hard.
She flashed a fang-filled grin over her shoulder as her lower half shifted back to full scorpion glory, eight legs clicking excitedly against the stone.
"And Hyun-woo?"
"Yeah?"
"If anyone tries to mess with you…" Her tail rose, venom dripping in fat green droplets that hissed where they hit the floor. "Tell me OK. I'll turn them into modern art."
She said it sweetly.
Like she was talking about the weather.
But somehow, I found it beautiful.
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Chapter 9 is now available on Patreon.
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