The Mage's Cunning and Shallow... (2)
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"Though you do not wield Divine Power, does not the source of your unique ability ultimately originate from the Goddess?"
Ariel said that, then asked if I had an area-of-effect skill like Area-of-Effect Healing.
But I didn't have anything like that.
Of course, I could buy area-of-effect spells from the general shop, but what Ariel wanted was an area-of-effect Sex Skill.
Area-of-Effect Pleasure, huh.
Strictly speaking, it didn't necessarily have to be an area-of-effect skill. What mattered was making the target aroused without touching them or letting them notice.
But... was that even possible?
"Wait a moment."
There was no harm in trying. Fine. I would try making one.
[Specialized Skill Proposal Form]
[Skill Name: Pleasure - Area-of-Effect Type]
[Skill Effect: ▼]
[Exerts a pleasure effect on targets within a designated area. Direct contact with the target is not required.]
[Skill Intent: ▼]
[I've already done 3P, and won't there probably be plenty of times when things go beyond 4P into multi-partner sex? If that happens, I won't be able to attend to everyone, so I believe this is an absolutely necessary skill for me.]
Done. Now, submit.
[Under Review...]
-Ding!
[The 「Pleasure - Area-of-Effect Type」 skill has been rejected.]
[Rejection Reason: Skill is redundant. A similar effect can be achieved through a combination of existing skills. / Non-contact actions cannot be recognized as a sexual act.]
Mm... as expected, it didn't work.
Honestly, even I had thought it probably wouldn't work. I didn't know how many people I'd end up doing it with, but it was unlikely to exceed 10P. I could produce a similar effect for that many people with Invisible Hand.
Still, non-contact actions couldn't be recognized as sexual activity. The Goddess had a conservative side too. Did sex not count unless our bodies touched?
But even so...
I tried once more with the same content—only changing the skill intent this time.
[Skill Intent: ▼]
[Does sex really only count as sex when bodies overlap? And could there not someday be a situation where I have to embrace around a hundred people at once? I would literally not have enough hands. I would be grateful if you would consider it.]
I submitted it again.
A hundred-person simultaneous orgy... I'd just thrown it out there, but I couldn't even picture it. Was I supposed to line them up like cattle on a ranch and move down the row fucking them? I'd said it myself, but it was kind of hilarious. Hilarious and hot.
-Ding!
[Rejection Reason: *Mocking laughter*]
"This fucker."
"...What did you say?"
"Ah, no. It's nothing."
"Are you alright?"
"I'm fine. Yeah. I'm fine."
Ariel looked at me suspiciously. I wished she would not look at me like that. Sure, I had probably looked like a lunatic, grinning at empty air before suddenly cursing, but she still did not have to look at me that way!
"Ahem. Hm. Anyway, it's not going to work."
Ariel still looked at me with suspicious eyes.
"Why is that? Can you determine that so easily?"
"Mm. Just like you create magic, I can develop my own abilities. But I can't just whip them up whenever I feel like it—there are restrictions. Well, there are various conditions, but the most important one is that the Goddess has to approve."
"The Goddess has to approve?"
"Yeah. You said you were being assessed today, right? Just as a bank reviews you for a loan, my proposed skills are reviewed to see whether they suit the Goddess's tastes...? I mean, the standards she set. You're not the only one being judged against various conditions."
I briefly explained the Skill Proposal system. However, Ariel seemed more shocked by something else than by the fact that I underwent a review.
"...You converse directly with the Goddess?"
"I do communicate with her, but it's not the kind of conversation you're imagining. I can only confirm her intentions on specific topics, and most replies amount to yes or no. If I stray from the subject, she doesn't answer at all."
Ariel let out a sigh.
"....I want to ask many things about that, but something is more urgent right now. In the end, to activate your ability..."
"Mm. It seems I have to make contact somehow."
Ariel fell silent and looked out the carriage window as though organizing her thoughts. Before long, she spoke again.
"....About that making contact. Must it absolutely be done with the hand?"
"What do you mean?"
"The medium for activating the ability. From what I experienced last time, it didn't necessarily have to be the hand. Did you not use various body parts—hands, lips, the body?"
"Ah, right. I can use my whole body."
"....Then contact is what matters, not the hand."
Ariel was right. 'Laying a hand on' was just a figure of speech. As long as I touched them somehow, that was all that mattered. The Goddess had also said that contact was important. But Ariel took it a step further.
"In that case, what about your bodily fluids?"
"Bodily fluids?"
"I am referring to your saliva, tears, semen, and so forth."
"...What?"
She really just said whatever came to mind. Talking about semen and whatnot without so much as changing her expression.
Unlike me, Ariel was not flustered at all and simply continued her explanation.
"If contact does not strictly mean skin contact, then could your bodily fluids or body scent not also serve as a medium for the manifestation of your unique ability?"
"I-is that so?"
I hadn't even considered that line of thinking.
...Come to think of it, there was no reason it wouldn't work.
"....Wait a moment. I'll give it a try."
Let me see.
[Skill Name: Pleasure - Bodily Fluids]
[Skill Effect: Skills can be activated using bodily fluids as a medium.]
[Skill Intent: Wouldn't it be nice to feel pleasure even when exchanging saliva during a kiss?]
Alright... I submitted it!
[Under Review...]
"..."
[Under Review.......]
"Not yet?"
"Mm. Wait a little longer. The Goddess isn't that quick and snappy..."
"What?!"
"No, it's nothing."
The long wait made it obvious that the Goddess was deliberating. But I had precedent on my side.
After all, I already had several skills that used semen as a medium. For starters, my semen itself had a holy attribute, and above all, there was 「Once You Swallow Semen, You Can't Move (S)」. It was a skill that turned monsters into familiars by feeding them semen. The Goddess herself had granted it under the guise of a gacha. If she now said, 'Semen can't serve as a skill medium,' it would contradict what she'd already done.
[The skill meets the conditions.]
[Adjusting balance...]
[Registering...]
-Ding!
[Skill: Sex Warrior's Holy Water]
[Type: Active]
[Effect: Skills can be used using bodily fluids as a medium. However, effects are limited.]
[Limitation: 1/5 the effect of a normal skill. Time Limit: 30 minutes.]
Right. This much was fine.
"It worked just as you said. I can use skills through semen too. It definitely serves as a medium."
Ariel clenched her fist.
"But there's a time limit. The effect disappears after 30 minutes."
"I see..."
With that, Ariel sank back into thought, and I, for my part, started brainstorming ideas for how to utilize this skill.
If I applied Pleasure to my saliva and kissed someone, would they feel it all the way down their throat? I was curious about that, but something else intrigued me even more.
What would happen if I applied Pleasure to my semen and filled the inside of a womb with it?
I'd applied Pleasure to the tip of my penis and struck the cervix plenty of times, but I'd never reached beyond it. With this skill, though...
Would I get to see a uterine orgasm that I had only ever encountered in fiction?
".....I did not mean for you to try it out here and now."
Ariel shrank back slightly and shifted her hips toward the outside of the carriage, as though trying to put some distance between us. And her gaze had settled on my crotch...
"M-mm, alright. I understand. Give me a second."
「Post-Nut Clarity」!
.....I calmed down a little.
.....My dick immediately shrank. The more I used this skill, the more fucking awful it felt. It was an utterly unpleasant skill.
Ariel sighed when she saw my erection subside.
"But even if we use bodily fluids as the medium, we have no way to make the target ingest them. As for body scent... we would be fortunate merely not to be thrown out."
"True...."
Wait.
Something felt as though it had started working in my head. Post-Nut Clarity was a shitty skill, but it did have the additional effect of calming me down a little.
First, bodily fluids were unusable. There was no way to make them ingest it, and we couldn't exactly spit on anyone either. Body scent was the same. Emitting a smell while we were on our way to such a formal function? Absolutely out of the question.
But what if I did this?
[Specialized Skill Proposal Form]
[Skill Name: Pleasure - Body Scent]
[Skill Effect: Skills can be used using body scent as a medium.]
[Skill Intent: This is a skill intended to give even greater pleasure to women with a body-odour fetish.]
Alright. I submitted!
[The skill meets the conditions.]
[Adjusting balance...]
[Registering...]
-Ding!
[Skill: Sex Warrior's Body Scent]
[Type: Active]
[Effect: Allows skills to be used through body scent as a medium, though their effects are limited.]
[Limitation: 1/10 the effect of a normal skill. Time Limit: 15 minutes.]
Yep. I knew it would work. It would have been illogical for bodily fluids to be allowed and body scent not to be.
Of course, body scent was called a scent, but it was still a smell: body odour, the smell of semen, and so on. Becoming aroused by the smell of semen... It was exactly the kind of skill that would appear only in hardcore conditioning hentai.
Naturally, I wasn't going to leave it at that. I had no hobby of emitting a disgusting smell, nor a hobby of forcing people to smell a disgusting smell. I preferred things clean.
So next, I tried this.
[Specialized Skill Proposal Form]
[Skill Name: It Tastes Like Fruit!]
[Skill Effect: Makes bodily fluids and body scent taste and smell fragrant.]
[Skill Intent: Some women may find a man's body odour or the smell of chestnut blossoms fragrant, but this skill is for women who do not. Goddess, you dislike that sort of thing too, do you not? Of course, I keep myself clean, but there is no harm in making a good thing better.]
Perfect. I submitted it as is!
[Under Review...]
[The skill meets the conditions.]
[Adjusting balance...]
[Registering...]
-Ding!
[Skill: It Tastes Like Fruit!]
[Type: Active]
[Effect: Gives bodily fluids and body scent a pleasant flavor and fragrance. The type is determined at random.]
It worked. It worked!
Thanks to Post-Nut Clarity, I felt a little smarter. Perhaps I was a genius. Well, that aside, the Goddess also tended to play along more readily whenever I claimed something was for women's benefit.
Ariel lifted her head with a snap at my cheer.
"What worked? What is it?"
"I think I can make them aroused through scent!"
"How so?"
"...Well, about that."
Come to think of it, it was a fairly absurd method. I began my explanation while trying to hide my embarrassment.