Lewd Ascent - A Futa LitRPG Ch. 196-205

6.16 - Potions

The team worked efficiently at leveling up their bodysuits. Bit by bit, the material crept from gray toward white, becoming a shiny, bright, glossy color the shade of freshly fallen snow. Every so often, the team would return to the boss antechamber room and test their new level of heat resistance. That indeed seemed to be the functional purpose of the bodysuit: slowly, even dipping their hands into lava became tolerable.

But only 'tolerable' in the vaguest sense of the word. And only for short periods of time. None of them particularly wanted to submerge themselves completely and risk traversing the goop, especially considering the difficulty of moving around inside it. Getting cooked alive had to be one of the more gruesome ways to go, much less getting slow-cooked if they got lost or stuck. So they wanted plenty of protection.

But further killing of monsters seemed to have diminishing returns. Already glossy white, the bodysuit didn't seem to have much more resistance to offer. It had capped out. Further safeguards would have to come from other means. Seeing how Zoey had alchemy skills to play with, and a collection of reagents she'd been gathering, it was time to see what she could make to help her team with the climactic battle of the third-tier shard.

As she had once before, Zoey set up an impromptu alchemy station, laid out her collected reagents, and got to work.

The most important discovery came rather quickly. Throughout the magma caverns, there had been glowing red ore nearly everywhere—something an inspection informed her was called 'cinderstone ore'. Considering its prevalence and the way it radiated warmth even sitting in her palm, Zoey suspected it would catalyze into a number of heat-related potions. Perhaps even the exact one their team needed for easier passage through the lava lake.

And sure enough, a few test brews later, Zoey found something that did exactly that.

Igneous Salvation: Consume to improve resistance to environmental heat. Effectiveness rises proportionally to temperature.

Even better, it sounded like it was especially suited to what they needed. The potion might not do too much for staying cool in a sauna, for example, but it became proportionally stronger when dealing with extreme temperatures. Like submerging into lava.

It was a shame it wouldn't help much against flame-based attacks, though. Environmental heat only, the description said.

She handed the first batch off to her team to experiment with. While they tested its duration and effectiveness, she continued working. While they weren't in any dire rush, Zoey knew Rosalie didn't want her to sit around and play with potions all day; she had to work quickly.

Next up, she created something suitable for combat, also catalyzed through cinderstone ore.

Potion of Infernal Shielding: Absorb a small amount of heat-based damage.

A simple, straightforward potion that would undoubtedly be useful in the upcoming fight. The team would appreciate having a few to quaff at appropriate times throughout the engagement. A more classical 'useful' potion, as would normally be expected from an alchemist.

After making extra batches of both those discoveries, Zoey focused her efforts on other promising reagents. She unsealed a bottle of sulfurous spring water, which the team had found less than an hour ago. The effect she ended up catalyzing she didn't even intend to make—it happened nearly by accident. Sometimes, alchemy worked like that.

Potion of Lavasight: Improves visibility when submerged in lava.

The team had been prepared to fumble their way around, perhaps following a wall to make it to the other side, and it would have been unpleasant, having so little ability to navigate. Zoey hadn't been looking forward to it. So, while not a strict necessity, this potion would also be a welcome utility.

Next, she pulled out a collection of scaldblossoms, red and orange flowers that the team had found infrequently gathered around lava lake shores. Peeling the petals off and crushing them into a fine dust—going slow, else they would burst into flames—she prepared the reagent.

Potion of Relieve Burn: Restores a moderate amount of health inflicted by heat-based attacks.

In a way, it was another variation of the flame shield potions. These just worked after the fact. Since individual potions became less effective when taken in immediate succession, the variance in technical effect was important. It meant both could be used at full strength without cannibalizing each other.

The last of Zoey's successes came from 'molten pearls', which were shiny black orbs found inside roughly one in five of the scaldblossoms, which were already a rare resource. She only had four of them, and the first batch failed to catalyze. The second, though, succeeded.

Potion of Consume Blaze: When potion is broken, explode and extinguish nearby flames.

A portable fire extinguisher. Rather than a consumable, this one could be thrown as a weapon, presumably highly effective against enemies comprised of molten material, as the boss would be. At the very least, it could be useful to extinguish fires created by their attacks. Zoey didn't know exactly how they would utilize it in the upcoming fight, but she was sure they would find some use.

There were other reagents Zoey had stored away in their hours-long adventure through the shard, but it was time to get moving. The reagents weren't going anywhere. She would have them after she left the shard, just, her Resourceful skill wouldn't trigger. But at the same time, she would have Sabina to aid her, and a much better workshop.

After gathering her things and standing, Zoey opened her mouth to say they should get going—but paused.

"Oh, right," she said, remembering. "There's one more potion we have to check on."

Her three teammates looked at her curiously, including Maddy, who should have known better. She'd forgotten as well, it seemed. Or maybe she was too embarrassed to bring it up.

So, Zoey pulled out her and Maddy's loot reward.

The hollow two-sided pocket pussy appeared in her hands, still dripping with her and Maddy's loads—having been supernaturally preserved inside her inventory. The smell hit her immediately: thick and musky. Zoey pulled the two hollow ends up, keeping it in a 'U' shape, to prevent the sticky material from drooling out.

Potion of Spellcasting Alacrity: Provides a moderate boost to how fast spells can be cast, and how efficiently. Will expire upon shard exit.

It had finished brewing, then. And even better, it sounded like a pretty decent potion.

"Wha— What the hell?" Delta said. "Is that a pocket pussy? And why is it called a 'potion'? Why is it dripping cum?"

Zoey laughed. "It was called a 'Brewing Chamber,' earlier. The name got replaced, I guess. The way it works is, uh, by filling it up with, well, you know, and letting it brew for a while, it makes a potion." A second later, she added, "Oh, and it's stronger the more people who cum in it. So I had some help."

Rosalie and Delta turned to Maddy, whose face was, of course, rapidly turning scarlet.

"W-We would hardly let it go to waste," Maddy stammered out. "We're professionals."

"You fucked that with her?" Delta asked, shocked. "Which means, you grew a cock? I didn't know that happened. Did you like it?"

"She liked it," Zoey said, grinning at the girl, whose face continued to redden.

"Lucky you," Delta said enviously. "I can't believe I got stuck with blondie when all of that was happening."

"T-The potion is really good," Maddy choked out, trying to change the topic. "Spellcasting alacrity is a pretty high-tier potion. It effectively boosts your mana pool and makes you a faster caster."

"And it'll expire soon," Zoey said. "So there's no saving it for later." A grin spread across Zoey's lips at the implication. "You're obviously the better mage, so it goes to you."

Maddy stared at the cum-stuffed pocket pussy. "Um."

"What's wrong?"

"But it's full of... our..."

"That was the goal." Zoey took a step forward, grinning. "Open up, cutie."

"S-Seriously?"

"Better to take it now, in case the fight starts before we have a chance. We're all ready to head in, yeah?" Turning to Rosalie, it took the blonde a second to respond. She jolted and nodded in confirmation to Zoey's question. She was watching the show with heated cheeks.

"Oh," Maddy said. "Okay. Um. I-If that's what's best."

Zoey's heart started to slam as she drew the lewd mess of a pocket pussy closer to Maddy's lips. The smaller girl shivered, then closed her eyes and opened her mouth. Arousal raced through Zoey as she slowly pressed the edge of the toy into Maddy's lips. It was still warm and slippery from their shared use.

She began to feed the lewd potion to the other girl, tipping the toy forward and watching the sticky shared mess ooze from it, dribbling and spilling into Maddy's mouth. Maddy groaned, swallowing the thick mess as more and more of it poured out. Their musky load coated her tongue, lips, and chin, dripping down onto her breasts as Zoey tipped it further and further, Maddy trying to keep up. The three of them watched, the air growing hotter—even Delta watching silently, wide-eyed.

When finally Zoey had spilled the last drop into Maddy's mouth, she pulled the toy away, and Maddy shivered. She opened her eyes, a dazed look in them as she drank the last of the sticky substance. Her eyes flitted away from Zoey, to Rosalie and Delta. She looked nearly faint at being so blatantly the center of attention. And for doing something so lewd in front of them.

"T-There we go," Maddy squeaked out. "Um. Time to go fight a boss, now. Let's get going, yeah?"

6.17 - Boss Three

As much as Zoey would have liked to pin Maddy down after the arousing display, the potions had limited timers on them, and they really did have a boss to attend to. All four of them quaffed their heat-resistance and lava-sight potions, then stepped up hesitantly to the shore.

Even Delta, the risk-taker and reckless of the group, eyed the superheated material with a doubtful look. Seeing Rosalie dip a foot in, though, then step more firmly into the pool, the foxgirl quickly followed, not wanting to be outdone.

Zoey, for her part, came to terms with her task. It was fairly difficult to force her body to obey. Kind of like hurling herself from a cliff. The lizard part of her brain was demanding that she in absolutely, under no circumstances, walk into a pool of lava.

But she overrode those survival instincts. They didn't know how long the trek through the lava pool was, and Zoey didn't want to get caught halfway through when the potions expired.

Her foot sank into the thick, viscous material, and Zoey thought lava should probably be more solid, nearly impossible to move around in, but that wasn't the case. It was far from being as loose as water, instead only somewhat thick—maybe like honey. Though, Zoey supposed, for all she knew, this was some magical material that only seemed like lava.

Slowly, she submerged herself.

The combined defenses of her bodysuit and potions meant the lava didn't scald to the touch. That said, it was an intense heat, like stepping inside a sauna turned up way too high. Bit by bit, the mild burning sensation crawled up her legs, then her stomach, and finally her neck. With one last steeling of her nerves—since she was already falling behind her teammates—Zoey took a deep breath and plunged under the surface.

As expected, the heat was even more unpleasant on her face, the part of her body the suit's protection didn't fully extend to. But it was tolerable. Painful, but only mildly. Prying her eyes open took another great over-ruling of her instincts. When she did, though, the underground space revealed itself to her—her eyes burning as she looked around. The lava-sight potion did exactly as it described. She could see up to thirty feet in every direction, the environment covered in something similar to thick orange fog. The pain on those sensitive organs were too much to bear constantly, though: she identified the direction her teammates were moving, then closed her eyes and started swimming.

'Swimming.' Maybe not the most accurate word; it felt more like struggling through thick mud. She also wasn't sinking properly; she had to angle her body down and propel herself to get deeper, under the lip of the cavern wall holding the boss mural.

Oxygen was as much a limiting factor as potion durations. Progressing through advancements came with a whole host of physiological advantages, and the ability to hold her breath was one of many things that had been greatly amplified as Zoey moved through the ranks. But that didn't mean she had an infinite supply, nor even a massively improved one, and it was slow progress, swimming through such thick material.

Cracking her eyes open every dozen seconds or so to re-orient herself, Zoey and her team swam through the lava, progressing as quickly as they could. Rosalie and Delta, whose physical stats were far higher than her and Maddy's, moved much faster—which meant they led the way, exploring the underground tunnel system and identifying the proper direction to head in. They disappeared into the thick orange fog once, which incited a brief panic in Zoey, but Rosalie quickly returned, pointing upward, indicating it was time to emerge.

Soon enough, Zoey burst from the lava lake and gasped in air. She wiped her eyes of magma and blinked as she looked around.

They had, indeed, emerged into a massive boss chamber.

Rosalie and Delta were already climbing onto the shore, and Zoey and Maddy rushed to join them. Her teammates' weapons appeared in their hands, each of the girls peering around with concern. Stumbling up onto the rocky ground, Zoey wiped off the clinging globs of magma and drew her own weapon.

The arena was a spectacle. A lava moat, ovular in shape, encircled the massive space. Like the rest of the magma caverns, stalactites and stalagmites sprouted in various places. Red veins of cinderstone covered the walls and ceiling, and instead of branching natural patterns as before, they were now organized and geometric, forming straight lines and swirling diagrams as if laying out some arcane ritual.

And in the center, of course, lay the boss monster. Asleep or otherwise inert, the massive pile of rocks was sealed together with glowing orange lava. It heaved up and down in a slow rhythm—breathing, while asleep.

The team had a moment to talk, then. And quaff another round of potions and brace for the battle. Undoubtedly, the fight would begin when they approached, or perhaps struck the first blow.

Without needing to explicitly state it, the team did just that, drinking the appropriate potions.

"Alright," Rosalie said, wiping her mouth and looking at the three of them. "Just be ready for anything. This might be regular combat, but I doubt there won't be something strange. Zoey's aspects were less common in this shard, but very much present."

"So it'll be on me to handle it, then? If there is?" Zoey asked. Like against the second shard, it had been Zoey's job to fuck the reflection senseless; Rosalie and Delta had sat on the sidelines.

"If it's something a single person can handle, yes," Rosalie said.

"And if you need backup," Delta grinned, "I'll be there."

Zoey nodded. It all depended on how that encounter shaped up. And if anything lewd appeared in the first place. But as Rosalie had said, the odds seemed high. It might not be a pure fuck-fest like against Mel, but Zoey was certain there would be something.

"Here we go, then," Rosalie said.

Without further ado, Rosalie gripped her spear and strode forward. Delta hung a dozen feet to her right, ready to flank or sneak around, depending on how the fight started. Zoey and Maddy hung back, both ranged casters needing to stay out of the fray. The typical formation.

As they approached, the huge pile of magma-sealed rocks started to rumble. Slowly, the boss emerged from its slumber. Glowing orange lava poured upward, quickly forming legs, a torso, arms, and a head. Rocks flowed across its body, creating armor and weapons—four weapons for four hands, as the image from earlier had depicted. Sword, ax, spear, and hammer.

When its transformation had completed, a hulking fire elemental standing twenty feet tall towered over them, easily the largest monster Zoey had fought yet. Throughout her deadly adventures in previous shards, she'd been learning to push away the terror that came with engaging literal monsters. She'd admit that a pang of horror shot through her, though, seeing this particular beast. Smoldering onyx eyes sat on its square and brutish skull, and a mouth made entirely of lava ripped open to release a roar that shook the entire cavern. Bits of molten goo flew from its body as it shook in rage, steaming the ground where the globs hit.

Rosalie responded to the very intimidating display without a single ounce of concern. She snorted, then charged forward, spear held at the ready.

"Don't be so dramatic," Zoey heard the blonde mutter.

6.18 - Elementals

As Rosalie rushed forward to score the initial strike—and seize hold of the beast's attention as best she could—Zoey and her two other teammates also acted. Delta flanked to the right of the elemental, Maddy raised her weapon and started to cast her first spell, and Zoey, of course, did the same.

Aided by the specially brewed potion of spell alacrity, Maddy brought to life her first illusion quicker than ever. In many encounters, she would create copies of their opponent to goad or distract their target, but this time, she summoned something smaller: one of the rock-encased orange crystal beasts from early in their adventures. Either creating a copy of the boss would be too difficult, perhaps because it was too large, or Maddy didn't think it ideal in this instance for some other reason. Zoey wasn't sure.

While casting, Zoey also focused on activating Pressure Point. Even more than the average encounter, identifying the weaknesses of a boss could come as an enormous advantage. But as she scanned the four-armed hulking elemental, nothing jumped out at her. She received a number of natural intuitions, but all of them were obvious: that the elemental's rocky armor was highly durable and that its gooey orange interior was what she should target. Its 'weak point'. But there seemed to be no secret critical hit zone. At least none that Pressure Point identified.

Arriving at her target, Rosalie thrust forward. Her spear dove into a gap in the elemental's rock armor, and when she pulled back, globs of molten goo erupted from the wound, dragged along by her spear. The goo splattered both Rosalie's surroundings and the girl herself, who couldn't dance away in time. The blonde cursed and retreated, wiping the material off as she went.

Her attack had done the job though: the beast roared in pain, then retaliated. It slammed both hammer and axe down in rapid succession, shaking the ground with the strength of their heavy metallic impacts. Rosalie dodged both, still scraping lava from her body, seemingly unperturbed despite the frenetic action. As expected from her.

Delta, in the meantime, edged in with her two daggers. She looked tiny in comparison to the hulking beast, but Zoey knew that didn't mean she wouldn't be effective. The moment Delta lunged forward to score her own attack, though, the arm with the spear in hand jabbed toward her in response. Not only did the boss have four arms, then, it had the coordination and awareness to fend off multiple targets at once. Delta at least wasn't caught off guard: expecting retaliation, she aborted the attack and dodged away.