"What I am doing will surely make her happy," he murmured, a subtle hum of energy rippling from his fingertips as he delved deeper into Sofia's latent potential, unlocking further intricacies within her skill profile.
"Done!" Draven exhaled, a faint bead of sweat trickling down his temple, the expenditure of the full 250 points leaving him momentarily drained.
"Hmm..."
His attention shifted to the elf, whose eyelids fluttered delicately before slowly parting. Her body, still slightly askew from their previous intimate encounter, began to turn. As her gaze finally locked onto Draven, her golden eyes snapped wide open, a mixture of confusion and dawning recognition flooding her features.
"Who are you?!" she exclaimed, pushing herself upright and instinctively creating distance between them.
"You didn't ask that with my dick in your mouth," Draven retorted, a knowing smirk playing on his lips, his eyes glinting with a hint of amusement.
"....."
A wave of recollection washed over the elf as Draven's words pierced through the lingering haze of her unconsciousness. The events of their unexpected intimacy flooded back, painting her cheeks with a vibrant crimson blush. Her gaze darted away, unable to meet his.
"You bastard!" she hissed, drawing her knees to her chest in a defensive posture.
A sudden wave of vulnerability washed over her as she registered the absence of her clothing. Her hand instinctively moved downwards, a gasp escaping her lips as her fingers confirmed her worst fears.
"Where is my underwear?!" she exclaimed, her head snapping back towards Draven, only to find him lifting a delicate piece of fabric to his nose, inhaling its scent with a disturbing contentment.
"So sweet," he murmured, a soft smile gracing his lips.
"You?!! You!!"
Speechless with a potent cocktail of outrage and mortification, she scrambled towards him, snatching the missing garment from his grasp. With trembling fingers, she quickly put it on, her eyes burning with a furious glare as she finally met his gaze.
"Why the look? Aren't you happy I didn't take advantage of you?" he asked, pushing himself to his feet. He was now clad in his familiar black shirt and pants, his once-prominent fur now neatly stored within the System's dimensional inventory.
"You!! I should be happy?! What did you do to me?!" she yelled, her voice laced with disbelief and lingering trauma.
"Hey lady, shouldn't you be thanking me? I saved you, and if you remember correctly, you are the one who jumped on me. Why should I refuse a beauty who is so eager to have my dick?" Draven countered, his tone laced with a provocative nonchalance.
Alexandra's face flamed anew, the heat of anger battling with the deep embarrassment that threatened to consume her. He was right, she couldn't deny the memory of her own desperate actions, yet the circumstances surrounding them remained shrouded in a confusing haze. A deep sigh escaped her lips, a reluctant acknowledgment of his words.
"I am sorry for what I did... And thank you," she mumbled, her gaze fixed on the ground.
"That's more like it," Draven nodded, a hint of satisfaction in his voice. "Can you tell me about these Krakens?" he then inquired, his tone shifting to one of genuine curiosity.
"Krakens?" Alexandra echoed, her brow furrowing in confusion. "What are you talking about?"
"The monsters that chased you? What did you call them?" Draven clarified.
"We called them invaders," she replied, the word carrying a weight of fear and resentment.
"Ok... Tell me where this is, and what these invaders are after," Draven pressed, his eyes intent.
"Sorry, that's a long conversation, and it is late," Alexandra demurred, glancing towards the darkening sky. "I need to find what I came for and go back to the village."
"What are you searching for?" Draven asked, a frown creasing his forehead.
"You won't understand, but these invaders attacked my village and injured a lot of villagers. I need this herb to create a healing potion," she explained, smoothing down her blouse and skirt and attempting to tidy her disheveled hair.
"And no one should know what happened here," she added, her eyes meeting his with a plea for discretion.
Draven nodded slowly, his expression thoughtful. With a silent command, the familiar blue glow of the system screen materialized before his eyes, displaying Alexandra's skill profile. He scanned the list, his gaze settling on two specific skills: Herb Locator and Potion Maker. With a mental affirmation, he activated them, allocating three points to Herb Locator and two to Potion Maker.
'To gain more points to help her, I will have to either fuck her or have her blowjob me... Which won't happen any time soon, unless I use my powers... No, I shouldn't draw too much attention now, the Krakens shouldn't know I am here yet... But I killed their King, who is ruling them now?' His thoughts raced, a complex web of concerns and calculations forming in his mind.
"I found it!!"
Alexandra's sudden, excited voice shattered his internal monologue. He turned to see her holding aloft a vibrant green herb, a look of pure relief and joy illuminating her face.
"I can't believe it was here all along... But the next moment, it revealed itself!" she exclaimed, her eyes wide with wonder.
She then turned her head, her gaze drawn to another patch of greenery nearby. Without hesitation, she walked towards it and carefully uprooted another identical herb.
"It's like I know where these herbs are," she mused aloud, a hint of bewilderment in her voice.
"All thanks to me," Draven said with a wry smile, watching as she raised a skeptical eyebrow at him.
"What are you saying?" she asked, a frown now firmly etched on her face.
"Don't believe me?"
With another mental command, Draven withdrew all the points he had allocated to Herb Locator. Alexandra's eyes widened in surprise as she suddenly felt the intuitive pull towards the herbs vanish.
"You? You really?" she stammered, a mixture of disbelief and astonishment in her tone.
"Yes..." He then redistributed the points, and the familiar sensation returned to her. "How did you do that?" she asked, her confusion evident.
"Just one of my skills. I help any woman I sleep with, and she gains an increase in power... I didn't sleep with you, so you didn't gain any increase... Maybe we can," he suggested, a playful smirk returning to his lips.
"Shameless!"
Alexandra spat the word, her face flushing crimson once more as she turned and strode away, though a faint, almost imperceptible smile flickered across her lips.
Draven chuckled softly and followed behind her. "Where to now?" he inquired, his tone light.
"Well, it's already dark, and it's not safe... The invaders always move around in the night... So I am going back to the village." She glanced at Draven, who walked silently beside her.
"You are new here, right?" she asked, breaking the comfortable silence.
"Yes... I don't even know where I am," Draven admitted, his gaze sweeping across the dense foliage of the surrounding forest.
"Well... This is Everice Continent. Hundreds of miles north from here is Astranor, the Human Kingdom. South from here is Starfall, my Kingdom... While East will take you to Galadon, the beast folks' land... The West..." Her voice dropped, a shadow passing over her features. "The invaders conquered it, turning the whole land theirs... These monsters appeared one year ago. At first, they were weak and unorganized. But their insatiable desire for pleasure always led them to the cities... They would kidnap young girls and take them to their hideouts, abusing them every day and every night... They would torment them until the ladies died in the act. Not only that, but they'd come out again and take others." She sighed, the weight of her words heavy in the twilight air.
"The three leaders had enough and called the powerful families in their lands to take care of these monsters. The three kingdoms attacked and wiped them out. Or so we were all led to believe." She looked up at the last sliver of the setting sun, its fading light casting long, eerie shadows.
"We don't know what happened, but after two months, these monsters revealed themselves again… But this time, stronger than anything we had faced. They were bigger... some standing at least sixty feet tall! They attacked countless villages and cities, taking all the women for their vile pleasure and killing all the men. That was five months ago." She paused, her voice thick with emotion.
"Still now, we are still fighting this war, and with how things are going, we are losing."
Draven listened intently, absorbing every word, his eyes narrowed in thought. After a brief moment of silent contemplation, he finally asked:
"What about the ones who attacked your village? Why are you all still alive?"