The Friendly Spar

"Hngh… Master. Aaaah…! Hah…"

I pulled Liliana against me and drove my hips like a man possessed, slamming into her again and again. Mana pinned her body to the mattress; all she could do was gasp and moan, each breath coming shorter than the last.

"Nnngh… hah… ahn… hhnn…"

I savored the slick, clutching heat of her pussy beneath me and came again without the slightest attempt at holding back. Being the one in control — the one doing the fucking — felt a hell of a lot better than getting jumped.

"Hahk, Master… stop… I'm sor…"

The feral, heat-drunk girl who'd tackled me had vanished about an hour ago.

"Sorry for what? You're enjoying this."

I could feel every ripple as she squeezed down around my cock, clinging to it like ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠she never wanted to let go. Her mouth said one thing, but her legs were still locked around my hips. She could take more.

"Hngh… I-I really can't… hhk! ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Mmph… chup."

I sealed off whatever nonsense she was trying to say with my mouth and kept thrusting. Beyond the window, the world was still dark.

"The night's still long, Liliana."

I laughed and gathered her unmoving body into my arms.

"Hah… mmph… hnnnnngh!"

Instead of answering, she bit down on my cock with her pussy and held on.

I'd lost count of how many times I'd come. Neither of us had the strength left to moan.

"Hahk. Ah, nngh… hhk…"

Liliana lay twitching beneath me, repeating the same broken little sounds.

How many hours has it been…?

The heat magic had already worn off. I couldn't remember the exact number, but we'd gone at it long enough for the spell to dissolve on its own. That had to mean a serious stretch of time.

"Ah, ah… hnnnngh…"

I spent myself inside her one last time and checked the clock.

Eight in the morning.

Roughly eight hours, start to finish. No wonder the heat magic had given up.

Haa… if I fall asleep now, today's as good as over.

I'd thrown away the first day of the festival for nothing. A shame, honestly.

"Liliana. Liliana. Come on, wake up."

She'd climaxed with my last load and was still lying there with her tongue hanging out and her eyes rolled back. I flicked her cheek.

"Hweh… eh…"

"Hmm…"

The training still hadn't stuck, I see. A whole night of instruction and she still couldn't follow a simple sentence.

I gathered a thread of mana at my fingertip, set my hand on her stomach, and stimulated her womb the same way I used to work over Elise.

"Ha, ahk! Aaaaaaaahn!"

Her lower body — which had been sprawled limp as a rag — convulsed, and she squirted in messy, shuddering bursts.

"Uh… Liliana?"

That might have been a little dangerous.

I poked her. Poked her again. She still reacted, so at least I hadn't broken anything. Maybe the stimulation had been too much. Then again, it wasn't like a succubus was going to die from getting laid too hard.

"Hweeeeh……"

"You're alive! Thank god."

Conversation, unfortunately, was off the table. What a pathetic succubus.

"…"

Ah, whatever. She'd be fine.

That's what she gets for jumping me first. If she'd just come clinging to me like a normal person, I would have settled the week's tab nice and gentle.

"Good grief… this room is a disaster."

I left Liliana where she lay and looked around. What the hell had she been doing all week? Had she reverted to her slob days the second I was gone? Then again, thinking back to my first time living alone, the sight was familiar enough.

I started clearing the trash with magic, and that was when I noticed the computer still running. A single notepad file sat open on the monitor.

"What's this?"

"Huh…"

It was a list of everything Liliana wanted to do during the week-long festival. Picturing her sitting here writing this while I was gone put an unexpected ache in my chest.

"I can't play with her every single day…"

Nothing was set in stone, but I still needed to make time for the other heroines over the next few days. Still, I'd give her a proper night out tonight. I'd sleep, wake up to evening, and take her out then.

That was when my smartwatch chimed.

The sender was Su-rin. A message first thing Monday morning… what now?

"…?"

I scrolled back through the messages I hadn't checked yesterday.

Ah… now I remembered.

The festival always opened with a student council event to fire up the crowd. And this year, that event was a one-on-one spar with the vice president.

The time was 8:48 a.m.

The opening ceremony started at nine.

"Ah… fuck."

Think, Ho-yeon. You let your dick do the thinking again.

I scrambled up and checked the mirror. A week of tension and exhaustion had painted heavy dark circles under my eyes, and forcing my body awake with heat magic had left them bloodshot on top of that.

"I look like a corpse."

I did not like my odds.

"I've got no confidence I can win this."

I still had to get ready. No time to shower — I scrubbed myself down with Clean and left it at that. The bedhead, the dark circles, and the bloodshot eyes weren't going anywhere, but I pulled on my cadet uniform anyway.

"Master…?"

She must have come around while I was tidying up and grabbing my clothes. Liliana looked at me with faintly unfocused eyes.

"Go back to sleep. Tonight we'll go get chicken skewers together."

"Okay…"

She thudded straight back down. Soft, even breathing followed a moment later. Out cold.

I wanted nothing more than to crawl in beside her. I didn't have the time.

"I'm gonna have to fucking run."

I fired off a reply as I moved.

Fortunately, I knew where the festival opened.

The Victoria Academy grand auditorium.

I ran.

"President… still no word?"

"…Have the emcee go out and stall for time."

"Yes, ma'am."

Victoria Academy's festival. The opening ceremony of the Celestial Festival. The student council usually kicked things off with a handful of events to get the crowd going, and this year's headliner was an exhibition match between the rising rookie Lee Ho-yeon and the student council vice president.

On paper it was a friendly spar with a foregone conclusion — a first-year against a third-year. But with Ho-yeon's stock climbing by the day and Vice President Shin Dong-min standing opposite him as heir to the Shinyoung Guild, the cadets had been buzzing about it for days.

The problem was that the star of the show still hadn't answered his messages, with ten minutes left until he was supposed to be on stage.

"When it actually comes down to it, he tucks his tail and runs."

Shin Dong-min sat with one leg crossed over the other, perfectly at ease. Ho-yeon's absence had killed even the rehearsal. The event was as good as cancelled.

"The special exam was a week-long survival test. Scheduling a duel the very next day never made any sense to begin with…"

The secretary — a female cadet — hung her head at the thought of an event she'd prepared going to waste.

"And what exactly do you expect me to do with that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠now? I never imagined the special exam would be a survival exercise either."

The vice president smiled as he said it. Mun Su-rin snorted inwardly.

Liar.

By the time Su-rin had realized the special exam let out directly onto the festival's opening ceremony, the paperwork had already been finalized. The vice president had seen to that. Riding the Shinyoung Guild's recently swollen influence, Shin Dong-min had been steadily expanding his faction inside the academy.

He still wasn't a match for her — not even close — but reversing a process that had already run its course was beyond even the student council president. Being the chancellor's granddaughter didn't change that.

She'd considered going to Chancellor Mun Jae-cheol and asking. Then she'd remembered that brick wall of a personality and given up. There was no world in which that conversation worked.

"We need to fix this, and fast…. President…"

"…I'm sorry. I was being stubborn."

Su-rin knew it too. The moment Ho-yeon had stopped answering, she should have cancelled the event and prepared something else. This had been pointless pride. She'd anticipated he'd be in rough shape after a survival exam and trusted him anyway. That was on her.

Did I lean on Ho-yeon too much?

Maybe she'd been working so hard her brain had started to slip.

Her smartwatch chimed.

The moment she read the message, a smile bloomed across her mouth.

"I'm sorry. Really sorry. I'm late, aren't I?"

A stretch that should have taken a few dozen minutes, covered in five with Acceleration. My appearance, as a result, was not fit for public viewing.

"…Ho-yeon. We can still call this off."

"Don't worry. I can do this."

Su-rin hovered, restless with concern.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"Are you sure?! You don't look like you can spar!"

"I'm fine. I can do it."

My head ached a little, but I could manage.

"Um, excuse me. We really need to start… you're actually okay, right?"

"Yes, yes. I'm fine."

I climbed onto the stage under a barrage of worried looks from the student council officers. Opposite me, Vice President Shin Dong-min was coming up as well.

This wasn't an exam or a ranked duel. It was an exhibition match, which meant the emcee could stand inside the ring and talk to us directly.

The grand auditorium was packed. Most of the second- and third-years had shown up, and the first-years had filled in the rest of the seats — everyone except the cadets who'd survived until the very end of the special exam.

The emcee worked the crowd and ran through our introductions. Once that wrapped, the questions would start.

"I'll grant you this."

"?"

I was waiting for the emcee when Shin Dong-min, who'd been watching me, suddenly opened his mouth.

"Lee Ho-yeon. For a first-year, you're genuinely strong. Equal to me — perhaps even more."

"…?"

"But I'll show you the difference that experience and composure make."

He huffed a short laugh and looked me over.

The hell was this asshole talking about.