Available Uses: 1

  Recharge Time: 168h

  ※ ※ ※

  Primary Scaling Attribute: Intelligence

  Secondary Scaling Attribute: Wisdom

  ★━━━━━━━━━━★

  Contract Familiar (F)

  Enter a pact with a summoned familiar to become its true master. The bond will not form unless both sides accept each other completely. Each side is entitled to present its conditions for entering the pact.

  ★━━━━━━━━━━★

  “Is that a seven-day cooldown?” I blinked a few times. “Damn. That’s harsh.”

  “It is.” Levia nodded gently. “Otherwise people would be able to abuse it and keep summoning new entities to try and coerce them into assisting the summoner with their issue without forming a contract almost indefinitely. Besides, this kind of magic consumes a lot of mana and vitality so only the strongest Defenders would be able to use it consecutively.”

  “What kind of things can you summon with that ability? I assume it’s nowhere as impressive as actual Summoning Magic,” Aisha asked.

  “You are correct. While the strength of the familiar depends on the one casting the spell, the entities that answer are usually considered critters or are generally small, possessing minor abilities that might be very situational. Oftenmost, Witches summon them for comfort rather than purely offensive means since our kind is quite solitary.” Our Witch companion showed a barely noticeable reminiscing stare.

  “So, something like Rose, right?” I reached up to stroke the adorable Pixie that zoomed to us the moment she’d heard her name.

  “That could be an accurate assessment, yes.” Levia gently patted the enthusiastic orb of pink energy after Rose flew to her.

  It was quite obvious that the two got along quite well.

  “Witnessing the summoning and contracting will certainly be an incredible experience.” For a moment, we petted Rose together, finding each other’s eyes in the meanwhile. “Should we check the new one now?”

  Receiving a silent nod in response, I brought up the last ability.

  ★━━━━━━━━━━★

  Dealer’s Flick (F)

  Condensing mana in your fingers, you can launch the card you are holding with an increased force, making it fly much further than through normal means. Your control over its flight path is much greater too. At higher ranks of this ability, you can even affect it directly.

  Available Uses: 3

  Recharge Time: 2h

  ※ ※ ※

  Primary Scaling Attribute: Mystique

  Secondary Scaling Attribute: Strength

  ★━━━━━━━━━━★

  “I do not recall having this ability in the past,” Levia commented.

  “Interesting. Maybe it was influenced by the cards we made together? They are certainly a bit heavier than what you were using during your first run since metal is still metal. You are also focusing on them from much earlier, I guess. I wonder how we can make effective use of this.” I squinted my eyes and pondered.

  “There are some spells that activate around the arcana or from the card itself. There are also some that I do not usually consider since they might be harmful to the caster due to their nature. This ability might allow me to throw them at our enemies, removing that personal hazard from the equation. The range of spells I can imbue into my arcanas should rise considerably. It is a very useful skill that could have changed a lot when I was alive.” She sighed a bit dejectedly.

  Aisha placed a hand on her shoulder. “You are alive. And dare I say, you are in a much better situation than before. With Lucas by your side, you can grow much stronger than your past self while fully focusing on your talents instead of having to divide your attention due to fighting alone. And I think you have already realized how helpful he is, haven’t you?”

  She stared at Levia while showing a warm smile until the Witch made a curt nod again. “Yes, I do have. I have advanced my techniques much further during these ten days here than during over half of my lifespan. I truly appreciate the help and guidance you two provide me with.”

  “I did nothing. It’s all on this overly thoughtful human male. You should be thanking him, not me.” Aisha gestured at me with her eyes.

  “Thank you, Lucas.” Levia respectfully bowed her head.

  “That’s too much. Get up.” I chuckled quietly and brought her back up. “I’m only doing what every leader or superior should, which is making sure that their subordinates are comfortable and are provided with enough chances to develop their skills. Your strength is my strength, in the end. And I don’t mean the skill I recently unlocked. But, you are welcome.”

  “You are still too humble. It looks like I need to raise the intensity of my true drakan male behavioral training to properly get through to you.” Aisha snickered and started drilling her fist into my side.

  I giggled a little as her actions tickled me quite a bit. “Calm down! I thought that was one of the things you found me attractive for! Are you going to change me for the worse?”

  We fought for a minute or two as I attempted to stop my playful mate from torturing me. At one moment, I thought that I’d seen a mild smile on Levia’s charming lips as her face flashed in front of my eyes but it was gone after we finished our battle with Aisha.

  “Okay, Mr. Attractive. Carry on with your duty now or we won’t get to the end of this before the sun sets down.” Aisha snickered and put my phone back into my hands.

  “Thank you for the permission, Mrs. Attractive. Where have we left off… Ah. I see.” I found the last notification and brought forth the next ones.

  ★━━━━━━━━━━★

  Through continuous training, practice, and combat experience, your abilities have become stronger.

  Mental Fortitude (E) -> Mental Fortitude (D)

  Handaxe Proficiency (E) -> Handaxe Proficiency (D)

  Transfer Lifeforce (F) -> Transfer Lifeforce (E)

  Transfer Spirit (F) -> Transfer Spirit (E)

  Summon Bonded (F) -> Summon Bonded (E)

  Recall Bonded (F) -> Recall Bonded (E)

  Armsweaving (F)-> Armsweaving (E)

  ★━━━━━━━━━━★

  “That’s a lot of upgrades. But I can see how they could have accumulated at this moment. Half of them are related to fighting while the other half is related to me assisting you girls after the battle.” I rubbed my chin.

  “Your Armsweaving is finally going up. Nice.” Aisha patted me on the chest as she’d returned to acting like a koala on my back. “Just a little bit more and you’ll get your second title.”

  “No way it will come that fast.” I laughed it off. “But, out of all of them, I’m curious about the last one. Can I now bond with more weapons?”

  I checked the updated description

  ★━━━━━━━━━━★

  Armsweaving (E)

  As a powerful Overlord, you can dominate, bond, and command an entire arsenal to follow your orders, be it swords, axes, hammers, or even shields. Rain down weapons at your enemies without lifting a finger, using your domineering presence as the fuel of your armory.

  Effective Range: 25 m

  Available Bonds: 2

  Bonded Weapon’s Mana Usage Reduction: -40%

  Bonded Weapon’s Weight Reduction: -35%

  Bonded Weapon’s Range Increase: +35%

  ※ ※ ※

  Primary Scaling Attribute: Charisma

  Secondary Scaling Attribute: Leadership

  ★━━━━━━━━━━★

  “Looks like you can. That’s great.” My drakan girlfriend squeezed me harder.

  “The values increased too. The ability has become more effective and efficient,” Levia added in a sagely tone.

  “Yeah. It’s a good rank-up. Let’s move on.” I scrolled further.

  ★━━━━━━━━━━★

  Through continuous training, practice, and combat experience, the abilities of your Subordinate have become stronger.

  Berserk (D) -> Berserk (C)

  Launch (E) -> Launch (D)

  Impairing Blast (F) -> Impairing Blast (E)

  ★━━━━━━━━━━★

  “Nothing bad, nothing great.” Aisha tipped her head from side to side. “I don’t think there’s anything worth investigating deeper right now. I can check the small differences later. Go on.”

  “Sure. Levia’s turn, I guess.” I complied.

  ★━━━━━━━━━━★

  Through continuous training, practice, and combat experience, the abilities of your Subordinate have become stronger.

  Hex (F) -> Hex (E)

  Voodoo Magic (F) -> Voodoo Magic (E)

  ★━━━━━━━━━━★

  “As expected. Those are the skills I use the most right now,” Levia stated.

  “If your curses and hexes are getting stronger, I’m more than happy. They are just so amazing for both support and offense. I’m really glad you joined us.” I smiled at her.

  Aisha did too. “I agree. Your magic is so fun. That fight when we were deaf was unbelievably exciting. Alone, I would have to come up with a solution to those monsters’ abilities by myself. And since I’m nowhere as creative as the two of you, that could take a long time.”

  “I will continue practicing them, then.” Levia slightly bowed her head.

  “Alright. This seems to be all of them for now. That took a moment.” I stretched up while still in Aisha’s hold. “Time to count our money. The anxiety is fucking me up. I need to know if we flopped or went to the moon again.”

  “What are we waiting for, then? Let’s get to your desk and check on our mercantile empire!” Aisha cheered and we crawled off the bed together.

  Chapter 25

  Another Chick on the Team

  I stretched lightly as Aisha sauntered towards the PC with an alluring step. She just never missed an opportunity to tease me, knowing very well how appetizing her body was. Or, she had already reached the level of doing it subconsciously, which was even worse. Keeping myself sane and clear-minded was a real challenge with the hot Berserker boldly showcasing her shapely behind, and most importantly, her thick, grand tail.

  As I finished, I noticed that Levia had been looking at me the entire time with that neutral but also extremely charming in its own way expression. I smiled wryly and followed my drakan mate. There was no doubt that the perceptive Witch had caught me staring at Aisha’s ass for a prolonged time. I really hoped I hadn’t lost even more in her eyes. The day she’d walked in on me nailing my draconic girlfriend in a quite sadistic position had already ruined my reputation for sure.

  Aisha was proficient enough with the usage of my PC to navigate to the D-Market and check our product page without my assistance. We joined her with Levia as the crimson-haired lady opened the correct menus and brought the results of our blood and tears for all of us to examine.

  “It’s slow,” she commented while scrunching her nose adorably.

  I chuckled, placing a hand on her shoulder. “What did you expect? Another insane boost from some random, well-known user? It’s impossible to be that lucky.”

  “I know. I know. But still. There aren’t that many reviews and we aren’t showing up on the front page.” She grunted in dissatisfaction. “We are certainly missing out on so much exposure without it.”

  “That’s also not guaranteed. Especially now that our product actually consists of many variations of subproducts. I bet each of them is tracked separately even if they can be purchased through the list on the base page of our arcanas. They are different things, in the end,” I replied, tenderly massaging her muscles.

  She sighed, partially in annoyance, partially in physical relief. “It still feels bad after our first attempt. That was something.”

  “Show us actual earnings instead of this. It’s money that matters, not how many people have commented on our stuff. Don’t forget that the price is much higher since it’s a premium product. Our commission is a few times greater than before.” I grinned.

  With a skillful flick, Aisha moved to the more technical side of the D-Market available for the sellers. I was pretty sure that she had been ready to complain or groan again, but the graphs and numbers effectively shut her up as she paused for a few seconds after everything loaded properly.

  “That is an impressive amount of money,” Levia commented calmly. “A few thousand in a day or two is very remarkable. Our labor is not that extensive either after we set everything up.”

  “Alright. I admit it. This does feel nice. It’s not at the level of our holy water but we won’t starve.” A small smirk crept up onto Aisha’s luscious lips, no matter how unamused she tried to sound. “We might be able to comfortably add another bedroom with that for Levia so she doesn’t have to cramp up with us.”

  “I do not think that is necessary. It would be a waste of Lucas’ funds. I find nothing wrong in sleeping beside the two of you anymore. It is a pleasant and comfortable thing if I had to be honest,” the blue-skinned Witch replied with a gentle shake of her head.

  The sly drakan troublemaker grinned at me cunningly and I didn’t have to think twice before deciding that she hadn’t brought up that comment randomly.

  Trying not to sigh at her obvious antics, I glanced at our quiet friend. “Not anymore? Was it uncomfortable at the beginning? If so, then I apologize. I thought we weren’t forcing you into anything.”

  “You did not force me into anything as I had suggested that arrangement out of my own free will.” Levia met my gaze and held it confidently. “It was an issue on my side as I was not yet able to trust both of you to the extent of the current day. My mind was wary, thus it had issues relaxing properly. But, do not worry. That period passed quickly as I soon learned about your personality and it was much easier to accept your goodwill without second thoughts.”

  “Still, you should have said so, really.” I rubbed the back of my head. “We could have at least bought a simple mattress and set it up next to the bed for the first few days. You didn’t have to go through that just because you felt grateful for the workshop.”

  “Yes, I know that now. At that time, I did not want to create too many favors right from the start. I was not sure if it was not your way of ensnaring me,” she replied, which was followed by a muted snort from Aisha, definitely cracking up from the Witch’s choice of words. “I understand your kindness today and find it respectable. So, do not feel bad about my own mistakes and doubts. Unless my presence interrupts your usual activities, I shall remain in our current nightly arrangement. If it is so, I will be happy to give you two some space.”

  I could feel my cheeks heating up at her offer. She took me for a total horndog, didn’t she? I couldn’t believe she’d considered herself a cockblock and suggested fixing that.

  “No, that’s alright with me. You can stay around if it doesn’t bother you.” I chuckled a little awkwardly. “On the other hand, your presence keeps Aisha’s teasing nature in check and I’m really grateful for that. She can be a handful at times.”

  “Please, you do not need to limit your interactions around me. I do not find the way that you two show each other affection uncomfortable.” Levia glanced between us.

  I caught Aisha smiling at me devilishly and a deep sense of foreboding overcame me as possibly the last straw holding the mischievous draconic woman from revealing her true colors had just snapped. Now I had no excuse to use Levia as a reason to tame her naughty side.

  “Thank you,” was the only thing I could say in that situation. “Don’t hold back either. We are all friends here, right?”

  “Yes. We are all friends here,” Aisha parroted me with slightly more emphasis near the end.

  “So, anyway, more money will be good. We might get some better equipment or consumables after finishing this Dungeon. Or before we take down the boss. We need to step up. We wasted pretty much half of our assignment chasing after this slimy fucker. There is no room for any mistakes now. Ten days might feel like a lot but we know close to nothing about the depths of this place.” I attempted to divert the topic back to something more appropriate.

  “I agree. We should put all our effort into exploring alongside our temporary ally tomorrow.” Levia nodded sagely. “I suggest adding some new arcanas to our shop and heading to rest. The lust imp has most likely already gone to sleep so she will be up early.”

  “That’s her problem.” Aisha crossed her arms over her impressive chest. “Lucas doesn’t have to suffer because she is weak. He deserves a good night of rejuvenating sleep.”

  “It doesn’t hurt hitting the bed a little early.” I moved my hand to her lush, scarlet hair and brushed through it affectionately. “Come on. Let’s do some work together. Unless you would like to relax while we take care of it.”

  She playfully swatted my hand away and stood up. “I’m not that lazy. Gotta earn my keep, right?”

  We smiled at each other and walked to Levia’s workshop. To make things faster, we divided the work amongst the three of us. I operated the laser engraver, picking the designs on the interactive panel and overseeing the entire process; Levia applied her magical ink with our makeshift painting device; and Aisha watched over the heat lamps, replacing the cooked cards with new ones. We chatted about random things now and then, often related to our Witch’s interesting craft.

  Ending up with a satisfying number of cards, we hauled them to the storage and added those to the market that we hadn’t yet had in our offer. As Aisha had said, the sales weren’t fast but the higher price was making up the difference. We wouldn’t become D-Dollar millionaires anytime soon but the money wasn’t bad. It was definitely worth the small effort and time.

  Then, we moved to the bathroom, washed up, and gathered in the kitchen to satiate our hunger. Each of us picked something different and the instant delivery brought us the fragrant goods in a blink. At some point, we somehow got into looking through our statuses and discussing what to do with the new attribute points and skills.