Becoming Monsters: In the Mirror Ch. 33

This is still a story of the Becoming Monsters Universe by Ai Loves, setting used with permission. All canonical and mechanical errors are my own. The yarrb is the creation of FelisRandomis, used with permission.

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Chapter 33: Inner Power

I awoke with my wife still in my arms, the first rays of the morning sun shining through the window. It was Friday, did I forget to set my alarm? Oh, right. Guild Hall things today. We had time. I hugged Lucy closer. Still half asleep, she snuggled against me more. We stayed there for a bit, just savoring the feel of each other. At least, until both of our stomachs growled at us. We laughed a bit. It was nice.

There were vague and threatening memories of a nightmare overnight, waiting in the back of my head. I decided to put them out of my mind for now.

The only other person who was fully awake was Whitney, stretching out and doing her morning workouts in the buff. I decided to get the breakfast drinks started, Gloria emerging with a shy kind of smile to firmly remove me from the kitchen before I had quite managed to finish putting them together. We were all assembled before too long, Amber dropping a bag onto the table as Gloria finished up omelets (how she was doing eight on a four-burner seemed to defy physics).

"Jay, you're probably going to need these. Open it up."

Well, I like getting gifts as much as the next guy, so I did. Inside were three boxes. The first was the largest of the three. I opened it up to find a phone, a very similar model to the one I had just lost the afternoon before. "Do you have replacements for these on tap? That was quick, thank you!"

"Not quite. Glad you got the insurance on your last one. Paige and I couldn't sleep, so we went over to the store and used Guild status to get your replacements for you."

"Plural?" I opened the second box, finding a watch within. "Have I mentioned that I appreciate how thorough you are?"

"Well, box number three isn't me. Sarah, you're up."

"I was intending to do this one slowly over time, but all of a sudden you lost the weapon I made for you last time."

I winced. "Sorry about that. It did serve me well."

Sarah smiled a bit. "It was always meant to be temporary, but you did some great things with it. Open up the box."

Inside was an orb of bronze, weighing perhaps a pound. On one side, a variation of our Guild insignia was etched. Instead of a circle, the shield was surrounded by a heptagram. On the other side, there was what looked like a screw hole. It was meant to attach onto something. "I like the look, but what is this?"

"It's the pommel of your new weapon. It just has to be charged first, we need to gather a ton of power for it to prime. Basically self-sustaining once it's full. It was gathering a slow charge via ambience and me dumping mana into it each night, but you are weaponless right now. You need one befitting a leader."

"So, how do we charge it?"

"That's the fun part. After breakfast, Jay." That was when some remarkably strong coffee was set in front of me, along with a not-so-miniature mountain of eggs, sausage, and vegetables. I had the feeling I'd need the fuel.

It was with a certain amount of curiosity that we stepped out into the living room. The furniture had not been returned to their proper positions after being pushed to the sides last night, and Sarah once again called her ring to its large circle form. This time, it was as large as it could be without touching furniture, taking most of the room in its area.

To one side, on the table that usually sat in the center, was a sword. It was about three feet in length, thin and very slightly curved, with a comfortable-looking guarded hilt. Designs were etched along its length, unclear from this distance. This was a weapon pattern I knew, common among swords held by Guild Officers, the cavalry saber. Perhaps a bit larger than many, but I was not a small person. At its pommel, it had a small post. This one was intended to have a pommel weight for balance.

Sarah stopped at the edge of the circle and removed her clothing before stepping in, a look of concentration on her face. "Everyone, please strip to nothing and join me." We did, rapidly and efficiently. It was not the strangest thing we've ever done for the group, and the view was remarkably good. Emily held the pommel stone high in the air, and let go. It floated upwards until just below the ceiling. "Alright. We have to convert as much thaumic power to a usable form as we can, as quickly as possible. Nobody leaves this circle until we are finished, or it will unbalance the whole thing. We thankfully have access to an incredibly efficient tool for this use. Jeremiah, that tool happens to be your balls."

All seven of my ladies were staring at me. Well, one part of me.

"This circle has enough juice left in it for one good ritual. Jay, you need to make us all orgasm as often and as strongly as you can while we keep constant stimulation on you, but the second YOU cum the ritual will end. That will channel the power you gathered into the pommel stone. The better this goes, the stronger that sword is going to be. Last detail is that you need to start with me."

Wild eyed, I asked "to make sure the ritual is in secure motion?"

"No. Because I set this up and want to be first. Now get to it!"

No further instructions were given. None were needed. Sarah, I knew, preferred to be bottom. She wanted her lover to use her as they desired, to lay back and enjoy a relaxing ride. Between me filling her completely and the other girls going after her lips and nipples, she did not last long.

Whitney had exactly two modes. Dominantly taking her pleasure, or melting into a subby mess if you knew her weaknesses and chose to apply them. I let her pin me for a bit, but as soon as I felt her get close I grabbed her by the base of the wings and pounded her into a screaming orgasm of her own.

Gloria required more care. She never cared much about her own pleasure and would not enjoy most of my normal tricks. Instead, I borrowed one of Lucy's favorites, using my tongue to maximum effect as she writhed under me, Whitney kissing her deeply, Amber keeping the pressure on me as I did so. I was proud when I felt her peak, hearing her muffled moans.

Compared to her, Amber was almost a break. She was so turned on and so easy to pleasure that she was going off almost before I got started. Paige was after her, and someone who thought a physical action was the key here would be doomed from the start. Paige wanted to be desired for herself, for her every curve to be intimately admired and felt. I held her close as she kissed me deeply, thrusting up into her as she spasmed around me.

Emily was simple enough. I had been very thoroughly her type since well before she ever joined us, and the fact that she was a bit of a size queen meant that my well-above average equipment hit every button she had... and that was before I Shapeshifted it up until I felt her stop stretching.

Then there was Lucy. Normally, "get a Succubus to cum first" was a task so impossibly difficult it was a punchline. Thing is? Nobody knew my wife like me, and after watching me manhandle all six others she was practically dripping with lust. My tongue found hers, my hands held hers, my body pressed into hers. We joined together in body and soul, beyond mere sex. That said, after a moment of pure intimacy, I began to take her with the kind of force I knew she loved, and she surrendered herself to me. She came, explosively, a minute or two later, and that would have done me in had Whitney not stepped over to us.

"Oh, no, you don't. We aren't done with you yet!" She reached under me and grabbed me gently by the balls. She concentrated for a moment, and I saw the area glow. Suddenly, I was nowhere near orgasm anymore. It was like I was just getting started instead of being over twenty minutes into pleasuring seven wonderful women.

Conserve Potential. The same trick she used to swing her sword, she had just applied to my freaking balls. Lucy's eyes widened as I renewed my aggressive assault, and came again for me before too long.

What followed was a blur of lips, hands, and vaginas. Orgasm after mighty orgasm took my ladies as I used every relevant skill I had ever acquired and many that I had not thought to utilize in that context. As I Double Teamed Paige and her own Double, I built up. As I tested Lucy's ability to stretch, I built up. As Whitney rode me to another powerful orgasm, I built up. As the ladies discovered that Emily's tail tips were nearly as sensitive as Lucy's while she begged me to take her again, I built up. Finally, I could hold on no longer.

The ladies knew that the kind of power I had built up would be dangerous in the extreme for any one of them to take inside of themselves. As my abdomen tightened, as my balls churned, two things happened. My wife, who had been taking her turn to ride me again, felt it coming and dismounted me, reaching with both hands to keep pumping me. Whitney saw this, and released her hold on my Conserved Potential as all seven of them crowded around me.

Even without that, what commenced might have been the largest and most powerful orgasm of my life. With it, and the fact that I was still sized up to please and stretch my ladies, and what occurred went beyond a mere spray of my essence. It transcended hoses, and did its best to move along towards rivers and tides of cum. Rope after rope of powerful pleasure shot from me, arcing high into the air with the force imparted. It went on and on and on, blinding me with the overwhelming bliss that came with it. It was still going minutes later as I opened my eyes, seeing the strangest part of the whole affair.

The cum was floating in a particularly sticky reenactment of Saturn's rings, rapidly circling the hovering pommel stone. My orgasm eventually ended as we saw it begin to glow, taking in the power from what I had sent towards the ceiling. Faster and faster the rings of white spun, glowing brighter until, with a flash, it suddenly stopped. Of course, this last also meant that there was no force holding it all up there anymore, and with an enormous splash it fell back to the ground, covering us and the carpet in sticky goo.

Lucy, standing there in her now-frosted glory, looked rather shocked. "Years of working in this field, living this life, and I can honestly say that was a new one." Paige, next to her and equally frosted, could only nod.

The pommel stone floated down, and Sarah delicately plucked it from the air. "I think we need to get cleaned up before I attach this. Um. I wasn't expecting this one, but the good news is that it managed to hold against the dramatic amount of overcharge you fed into this."

I looked in her direction. "Sarah, please don't tell me we almost nuked this entire building."

"Okay, I won't."

I waited for her to elaborate, then realized I was probably happier not knowing.

Cleanup was an... involved... process. Those of us closest to the showers got there, making sure to use somewhat stronger cleaners than usual in order to break up the immense amount of now-inert cum. Once clean, they started working from the edges of the circle inward. Those of us waiting for space did the opposite, working from the center of the mess outward. Sarah apologized several times through this process for not realizing that it would all come raining down at the end. The rest of us were just too impressed (or focusing too hard on not slipping) to care all that much.

Although it was a lot of cleanup, the fact that we had eight people all working towards the common goal meant it was done much faster than it might otherwise have. It was also helped by some significant investment of magic from Lucy, Sarah, and Amber. Finally, we were able to witness as Sarah performed the last piece of the process, attaching it to the saber still waiting patiently just outside of the splash zone.

As she did, the edge began to glow with a silvery light, the etchings along the blade showing geometric patterns that defied the eye to try to trace. The design on the pommel glowed gold, as well, showing the remarkable amount of raw power it now held. Sarah handed it over, and the lights flashed as my hand held the hilt for the first time. It felt like it was getting to know me, almost. A moment later it dimmed, and Sarah handed me its scabbard... and cleaning cloth. That seemed like it might become important.

The sword felt... right? It was heavier than most, sized for me, but was balanced so perfectly that it almost felt weightless. I sheathed it in its scabbard, the lights extinguishing for now.

"Alright, everyone. This morning was a bit more involved than I was anticipating going in." Everyone laughed a bit. The combined afterglow was about enough to light the living room even if it had been midnight. "The dungeon delve doesn't go down until three this afternoon, so I figure we can get suited up and head out to Base Camp for lunch. Get some supply runs done and wait on standby until Whitney and Gloria get back. Possibly hunt the forests a bit if nothing else, get a bit of practice going and contribute to things. Gloria, I still have the Messenger Egg from when we went down last time, I want you to carry it on your descent." Nods all around the table.

The trip itself was uneventful, but it occurred to me that this was the first time that all of us were traveling together. Other passengers gave us a bit of a wide berth. One or two Delvers on the bus were nothing of note, perhaps a curiosity. Eight with a pet meant something else. I caught a little boy looking and waving, and decided to wave back. His smile was worth the trip by itself. We dismounted at camp, and got ourselves settled out.

The standard checks were interrupted by a roar. One I liked hearing less than I did the Balar. "JEREMIAH!" Ryan Daniels was back in sight. Still a mountain of stinking Troll, still no more pleasant than when last we spoke a lifetime ago. He seemed mad, and a crowd was already gathering. "I have a bone to pick with you, Kithkin!"

I could feel the rage boiling off of him. The pure, destructive intent. He was going to take any opportunity to hurt me, to the greatest extent he could. It was not a fight I could avoid by any reasonable means. All I could do was define how it went down, and make sure the gathering observers knew I was not seeking it out. "Ryan, I have to say this is a surprise. I'm not aware of having crossed your path in a while, much less having the opportunity to transgress."

"Quit the act, Kithkin. What is this I'm hearing about the Black Cat?" There were murmurs among the observers.

I probably should have figured. "I put out word of her deeds. To the best of my knowledge, no full judgment has been passed by the Camp yet."

"Oh, they did alright. Ostracism was the sentence. With contagion, too. Anyone continuing to associate with her voluntarily is to be severed from Camp. Who are you to do that?"

"I'm the one she tried to kill, Ryan. I am a Guild Leader, in case you forgot who got you started, authorized to bring forth this kind of accusation. I was not permitted to speak at the counsel itself, nor even aware it had convened, but I stand by my words. Do you defy the Judgment?" If Ryan was in league with Julia Aster, that would be really bad news the next time she tried to take a swing at me. I would have to cut them off from supply, from support. Ostracism with Contagion was not the most that could have been applied, but it was close. I was invoking it specifically now.

"I say you lied, Kithkin. You are smearing more than one person's name, now, leading to a false Judgment. Withdraw your claims, or face my wrath."

The crowd very suddenly stopped talking. Among the Delvers, there was no currency more valuable than trust. The accusation that I deliberately bore false witness against another Delver was one that would end us if borne out. The eight of us would be able to stick together, but essentially nothing else. Support, sales, contracts, everything. Gone. I would be back to the deepest struggles to put food on our table, to keep the roof over our head. Now for eight and a yarrb instead of just two.

"What I have claimed is supported by more than my words. I reassert my statement, and if necessary will defend it by force of arms, as is my right. I am not the person you think you are facing, Ryan Daniels. This is your last warning to cease this encounter, to avoid this fight."

He sneered at me, fangs bared. "I know you, Kithkin. Out of the game for years, and now that you duped a few people into following you again, you think you're back on top. You will never beat me in a fair fight, like the one you just agreed to."

"I am the challenged party here. I choose for the Dungeon Gate to bear witness, we will clash at the staging ground, under the Combatant's Protocol. Meet me there in one hour, unless your wits come back to you before then."

The Dungeon Shuttle pulled up then, one of four trips it would make before the time so stated. It was filled to capacity in seconds, those who could fly latching onto the roof as able. The crowds dispersed. Ish.

"It seems your conversation wasn't finished after all. Glad I caught the entertainment." A rough female voice came from behind me. Quite a trick, considering that meant she had walked through the entirety of my guild unobserved to do so.

"Leah, good to talk to you again. Last time I was at camp I was looking for you, but you were Below freelancing." I didn't bother turning to look at her. She would let me see her if she felt like it.

"Hah. I am not a big believer of coincidences, Jeremiah. Especially not ones this big." The pale assassin strolled into my line of sight. "He was on our front line for that dive. It seems I have information that you could use, if you're willing to make an offer for it."

"Guessing that Coin is pointless."

"More that you don't have enough Coin in your coffers. I give you this, and I want to hear the story. The whole story, Kithkin. Not what's up online, not just what is between you and Ryan. All of it."

"Only way you're getting that is under Binding Contract non disclosure. I'd rather not have your info than risk mine getting out."

"Fascinating. Utterly fascinating. I think I will take those terms, though I will provide that contract. No offense, but I don't know you like that."

"Fine by me. Where do you want to do this?"

"Meet right here in about ten minutes. Crowd should be thinner."

"Sounds good." She was gone. Again.

Paige was the first to speak up. "That happen often?"

"Senior assassin being mysterious? All the time. Getting challenged to a duel to the death? Not so much. "

"Wait, WHAT?" This was not Paige alone. Everyone but Lucy had apparently missed that detail.

"I'll explain in a moment. Sarah, what were your intended enchantments on this weapon? I'm going to have to test them the hard way, apparently."

"Uh..." she was a bit off balance. The swing in mood from this morning was a bit much, apparently. "It's supposed to be a Defender, paired with the Shield. Light and fast, with a dampener as well, and an atomic-scale edge. Plus basically unbreakable, but you probably figured that out on the last one. Wasn't supposed to glow on the edge, so I know at least that picked up something unintended. Also helps communicate instructions to us seven specifically."

"Okay, I'll have to see how it does. As for what I just got into, the Combatant's Protocol is simple and brutal. Loss is by death, unconsciousness, or surrender. Period. All tricks, tools, and abilities you can bring to bear. It was the only way I could make sure this wasn't in a Circle, because he would have murdered me there without breaking a sweat."