CHAPTER 34: TRAITS

At the end of their spar, Vale hadn’t suffered too much damage, and Salome used her very versatile Vitality Drain Trait to drain her own vigor to heal Vale.

But, despite the succubus apparently taking on his burden, she looked unfazed by the peril she absorbed from him.

’Tch...’

Next, it was Toy’s turn to face Salome for her preliminary assessment.

After a bit of convincing, sending the imps to her location and flushing her out, the two women began a pitiful spar.

If Vale got thrashed, then Toy got decimated.

Toy was not only physically weaker than Vale but also slower, and her fighting sense was nowhere near as keen. She fell for feints with fantastic ease and threw reckless attacks that were easily dodged and countered. Even if Salome was going easy on her, the difference in ability was stark.

On a different note, Vale was able to learn a lot from watching their fight from an outside perspective. While watching Salome would have been somewhat meaningless, since her extra appendages created a unique, unreproducible fighting style, watching Toy was a different matter...

Vale observed her missteps and mishaps, taking mental notes of what she did wrong and the few things she did right. Salome was planning to review this all in theory with them afterward, but seeing it in practical action helped Vale put his own flaws into perspective.

***

Vale looked up at Salome, who stood before her two ’students,’ who lay sprawled on the ground, taking long, taxing breaths.

"Where should I start... Ah, balance. Balance is the fundamental principle of attack and defense. You should always know where your center of gravity is and where your opponent’s is. As well as your contact and connection with the ground."

Salome looked over at Toy, whose eyes were closed and chest rapidly rising and falling.

"Toy, my sweetie, you jump too easily and lift your leg without forethought. While a fast reaction isn’t necessarily a bad thing, a wrong reaction is. Your startled reactions force you into mistakes that, in a real battle, would result in death."

Her gaze drifted toward Vale.

"As for you, you’re reacting properly, but late. I do praise you for your ability to analyze my movements and read my muscles, but your hypervigilance is trumping your reflexes. If you can find a harmony between those two factors, your potential will be quite high."

Salome waited for a response from either of her tired pupils, but seeing them still in too pitiful a state to give one, she continued her lesson.

"Of course, many of our opponents will be beasts, a majority of them mindless or dull. While I was able to assess your ability to fight me, a humanoid, I’ve yet to bear witness to a fight involving savage beasts."

Her gaze stayed trained on Vale.

"While you showed promise with the whip during your fight with Toy’s former compatriots, then and now, you showed an obvious lack of killing intent. While I’m flattered by your concern for my safety, I’m sorry to be so curt, but you’re in no position to look down on me. As for the goblins..."

Vale finally opened his mouth.

"I figured I’d be unable to kill them... so, I wanted to injure them to help you."

Salome’s expression muddled and twisted into a grimace.

"As I thought... you’re unaware of your own power. Or you’re subconsciously scared of killing."

Vale, still drawing labored breaths, looked up at Salome. Salome spoke:

"You told me a bit about your old world... and your ability when you lived there. You’re strength, from what you described to me, was on par with a mundane human with an unawakened Aspect. Now, you are an Aether Construct unbound by mortal limitations and the highest tier at that. Even if your core is unsaturated and at its lowest level, your base strength is still far greater than anything you experienced in the past."

Salome slowly dropped and straddled Vale.

"Though I may hold barely a fragment of my former power, the force I hit you with was enough to kill Larry with a single blow."

A particular artisan’s panicked gaze snapped from the stone spear it was trying to create over toward its masters.

"Baddduhh?!"

Vale’s eyes widened.

’Was she trying to kill me?!’

Salome slowly traced the contours of Vale’s naked torso.

"Plus, you’re Traits, you’ve yet to utilize them in battle at all..."

Vale looked up at Salome, who straddled him much like Toy had during their competition the day before.

"I... I don’t really know how."

"Baduh!"

Salome smiled while dropping her hand over Vale’s trousers.

"It should be intrinsic... a feeling. Read the description, interpret it, and take action. If your interpretation fails, then refine it and try again with a new perspective. Then, try and try again until you find an angle where you’re correct, but never grow complacent. Never act like you’ve mastered a Trait. That goes for you, too, Toy, even though you lack a Trait at the moment."

Salome continued feeling up and down Vale’s leg until she felt the soft worm starting to grow into a hefty stick.

"As for how to practice such an action..." Salome spoke with a hellacious smirk. "We possess the same shapeshifting Trait... While I don’t want my interpretation to influence yours too much, as each person can develop an ability in their own unique way, I will push you in a helpful direction. I will share part of my interpretation with you. I want your goal to be... stifling your erection."

Vale stared up at the woman who was inflaming his desire as she continuously rubbed the fabric of his pants.

"That—"

Salome cut off Vale’s complaints while simultaneously lowering her head to rest above his...

"Shapeshifting for me is but a change in form, providing a new function. It bestows pliability to the immalleable. Function for the functionless. However, don’t forget that your base form is still the same and must be adhered to."

’This...’

Vale was making very little sense of what Salome spoke to him, but he tried his best to interpret it nonetheless.

"Succeed and I promise a sufficient reward. As for you, Toy... quiz time..."

Salome got off Vale and slowly dragged Toy closer, then began to question her. With every correct answer, Salome would dip closer and closer to...

’Damn it! This is curbing my focus!’

Vale paid attention to the task at hand and closed his eyes. It was the exact moment he entered the right mojo that Larry let out another scream, distracting him.

"Baadduuh!"

It sounded as if the little imp was saying, ’So, we’re going to ignore the fact that the woman just said she can kill me with a single punch or kick!’

Vale screamed at the imp:

"Quiet!"

Larry sneered before standing up and waddling away into the core room to continue its work, its flower crown drooping a little to this side on its head.

Salome, meanwhile, continued to goad Toy while teasing Vale, making sure his desire didn’t naturally wane.

Vale was a little questionable about whether this practice was one a mentally stable person would indulge in... but when had he ever been mentally stable?

Vale focused again and reread the Trait’s description in his mind, focusing on two key phrases: ’mastery of the body’ and ’cater to anyone’s desire.’

While his true knowledge of the ability came from the information unsaid when he first read the description, perhaps these words held actual meaning and weren’t just superfluous.