Chapter 226: Trio [I]

Thea’s message came through while Kalon was still finishing breakfast.

[Thea]

[I need to tell you something. I awakened Life.]

Kalon set the cup down and typed back.

[That was fast.]

[Thea]

[There’s more. I got a skill from both affinities together. Ouroboros Circuit. S-rank. It turns death energy into a life circuit. I can heal with it, or store it and fire a death pulse at range. I tested it in the garden this morning.]

Kalon’s eyes widened at the sight of the text.

He could hardly believe what he was seeing.

Thea’s awakened an S-rank skill? That shouldn’t be possible...

Wait a minute, could it be that she’s indirectly being influenced by the space seducer system from spending time with me on other planets?

If so, doesn’t that mean I have a direct method to strengthen my harem?

He put the thought aside for now.

[Send me the full description later. How do you feel?]

[Thea]

[Still weird, but much less scared than yesterday. I want to train it properly though.]

[Then tomorrow,] Kalon replied. [I’ll take you somewhere you can use it for real.]

[Thea]

[Promise?]

[Promise.]

...

The next day Thea showed up at his building just before noon in fitted black training leggings and a cropped athletic top that left her smomach bare. Her blue eyes looked sharper than the night before. She had skipped school without a care in the world.

"You sure about missing class?" Kalon asked as he let her in.

"If they want to mark me absent, they can. I have more important things to deal with right now."

Thea stepped past him and dropped her bag by the wall. The cropped top rode up slightly as she bent, showing more smooth skin along her waist.

"I’d rather get stronger than sit through lectures after awakening two affinities in two days."

Kalon looked her over once. The tight leggings hugged her hips and thighs cleanly, and the cropped top lifted whenever she breathed a little deeper.

It was hard to pay attention around her sometimes.

She noticed the glance but didn’t care. If anything, her cheeks coloured slightly and she held still for it, blue eyes flicking up to his face before she looked away again.

"We will go to Venduros first," he said. "Josinia awakened lightning. She needs training too. Then we go somewhere more dangerous."

Thea nodded. "I’m ready."

...

They arrived near Josinia’s place on Venduros.

Josinia opened the door in light training wraps that clung to her glossy purple body from earlier drills. Sweat still shone on her collarbones and the upper curve of her chest. The thin fabric stuck to her breasts enough to show their small shape clearly when she breathed.

The moment she saw Kalon her pink eyes lit up, then jumped to Thea with open recognition and a bright smile.

"You’re both here."

The trio greeted each other before Kalon got to the matter at hand.

"Thea awakened Life," he said. "She’s got a new linked skill. You’re still sharpening Travelling Spark. We’re taking both of you to Delphinium today to train further."

Josinia’s expression filled with interest at once.

"Another real fight?"

"Yes."

She stepped in and hugged Kalon first, pressing her warm body against him without shame. Her soft chest flattened against his front and she held there a second longer than necessary before turning and hugging Thea in a friendly manner as well.

Thea stiffened for half a second at the contact before returning it.

"I’ll get my gear," Josinia said.

She returned quickly, still in the same tight wraps, and took Kalon’s hand without needing to be told. Her fingers squeezed his once, pink eyes warm.

...

Delphinium hit them with open wind and bright sky.

Seraphina was already waiting when they transferred in. Her silver-white hair was loose and her formal wrap sat low enough across her chest that the heavy shape of her G-cups was impossible to ignore. The fabric strained when she breathed, and her storm-grey eyes moved over Kalon, then Thea, then Josinia with clear assessment.

"Three of you this time. Interesting."

"We need another hostile island," Kalon said. "These two are training new skills, and in the process, we also get to stabilise one of your islands."

Seraphina’s wings shifted behind her. For a moment she looked like she might argue, then she glanced at Kalon again and the resistance faded.

A faint colour touched her cheeks, as if the memory of kneeling in her chamber had surfaced whether she wanted it to or not.

"There is a northern fracture island under a grey-wing group. They raid supply lines and kill when it suits them. I can take you to the outer ridge."

"Sounds good."

Seraphina’s gaze lingered on him a second longer than necessary before she spread her white wings.

"Hold on."

...

She flew them hard across the open sky.

Thea clung tight to Kalon’s side during the flight, blue eyes wide against the drop and the moving islands below. Her breasts pressed against his arm through the cropped top whenever Seraphina dove.

Josinia handled the height better, though her grip on Kalon’s other arm stayed firm the whole way, purple body warm against him.

Seraphina’s heavy chest shifted with every turn in a way that kept catching the edge of Kalon’s attention, G-cups moving freely under the low wrap while her wings beat with steady power.

The fact she was able to hold them all at once told Kalon that her strength attribute must be A rank, minimum.

She released them on a broken outer ridge overlooking the target shelf and did not stay long.

"If it turns worse than you expect, signal," she said. "I’ll be above."

Then she lifted off again, white wings opening wide as she rose.

The island below them held dark stone and cut cloud bridges. Figures moved between rough structures with no civilian traffic around them.

Thea’s fingers flexed at her side.

Josinia’s hands already carried a faint restless charge, and her wraps still clung damply to her chest from the earlier training and the flight.

Kalon started walking down the ridge path first.

"Stay close. Thea, you focus on using your Ouroborus. Josinia, you’ll be upfront with your spark. I step in only if either of you gets trapped."

Both women nodded.

They were halfway down the ridge when the air changed.

Several strong presences shifted in the structures below, sharp enough that all three of them felt the hostility turn toward them at once.

Wings opened somewhere out of sight. Metal scraped. A low call moved across the island, and the island stopped feeling empty.

Thea’s blue eyes squinted.

Josinia’s pink eyes did the same, soft chest rising faster under her wraps.

Kalon rolled one shoulder and kept walking them forward into it.