Hearts, Spells & Passion [Lewd Slice Of Life Progression Fantasy]

Rennia sprinted through the woods, trying to match the forest trail she had come from. Ishmere's naked and limp body bounced on her shoulder—surprisingly light and as floppy as cloth. The forest had grown dense since she'd ventured deeper.

Behind her, the monstrous meter-and-a-half spider gave pursuit, its mandibles clattering together and long limbs skittering across the ground as it stalked her. Its body was far too wide to traverse between the trees easily, though its strength allowed it to force its way through. It shrieked as she ran.

"Leave me the fuck alone!" she shouted to the thing behind her, her weapon clasped in her non-dominant hand. It rattled it's mandibles in response.

It spat sticky web balls at her. The splattered spheres decorated the ground in wide swaths of asymmetrical cobwebs. Her skill [Sixth Thread] activated—a funny sensation, like her nerves compelling her to move in a certain direction. Rennia jumped sideways and narrowly missed one large mass of webs. She kept running forward, though her eyes occasionally drifted to Ishmere's body. This was no time for such distractions.

The trees stood several meters away. Marking them had given her a significant advantage, so she seized the opportunity to slip behind one and dash to another. The path ahead was paved, and she was significantly faster than the creature. The tavern wasn't far from here. She might make it to the Ebon Guild in time, but then what—could Ishmere deal with it in her current state, or would she have to hide in the basement?

Rennia burst from the treeline, nearly tripping and dragging the naked Ishmere along with her. She crashed through the tavern's back door, slamming it shut with Ishmere's body in tow, then collapsed to the ground, releasing both her sword and the specter's body.

A bloody blue bruise formed along the sides of the specter's body. She reached out to touch Ishmere's skin, then jumped back in surprise. The spider rammed the tavern wall, one of its spindly limbs jutting through the window. It tapped the ground, and its leg smashed one of the kitchen tables to pieces. Rennia crawled backward, dragging Ishmere's limp body with her.

The actual Ishmere materialized out of nowhere—smoky, with sharp eyes full of irritation.

"What the hell did you bring to my tavern? And look—you bruised my body!"

"I did no such thing! Why didn't you tell me the body was being kept in a fucking spider's cave? It nearly chomped me to death. Can't you do something about it?" Rennia shouted at her.

"What! I can barely exist in this state, and you want me to cast spells!" she rebutted.

"What the fuck am I supposed to do? I can't fight that thing!"

The spider slammed again, and a beam cracked overhead. A chair crashed to the ground, and a protective glyph suddenly surrounded the tavern.

"Why couldn't you lead it somewhere else? I'm tethered to this place. Do you have any idea how long it took to anchor this location? You let that thing touch my tavern and soon it will thrash my wards!"

A piece of rooftop debris threatened to fall from above. Rennia dove over the lifeless body and bore the pain of the falling roof.

"Do something, Ishmere, or it will chomp me to death!"

Ishmere floated like a judge and folded her arms. "This is going to mess me up for days. But fine, if you can't handle a simple beast like this."

Rennia didn't care what it took or what Ishmere was capable of. She wanted to be free of the spider immediately. She couldn't deal with it—it was easily a Silver-level threat, something you'd ask the guards at Kibblestadt to handle, or a large party. This was suicide. She couldn't risk facing it. She shifted toward the basement, dragging the body.

"You don't get it, Rennia. I'm bound by rules and restrictions, much like a djinn. I need you to beg." Ishmere spoke much more calmly now, but crueler too.

"Are you fucking stupid?" Rennia asked, dumbfounded. "What does it matter?"

Ishmere clicked her tongue. "When it comes to magic, intention matters more than power. Specificity and meaning. I need energy, Rennia. Astral projection is a strain. I need you to offer your energy to me. I need you to ask."

The spider's leg smashed through the window. The ward shattered, and blue light splintered into pieces. It stopped, eyes searching for the fleeing adventurer. Rennia gripped her longsword, standing ready to parry its leg, but it didn't strike yet. Its body was halfway stuck through the opening.

"Rennia, just... some humility. Just say please."

Rennia began trembling but didn't forget her fury. She didn't submit this way unless she was psychologically damaged. "You can't be serious."

"Just do it. Make up a chant, anything—please, for both our sakes. I'm sorry I'm such a hardass."

That she was.

She recalled her time with Lyanna, when she often heard Lyanna practice her spells. The intent was always different with Lyanna—it often hinged on how she felt. When Rennia learned to command fire, she didn't care for the complexities. She chose a common phrase and stuck with it, and it worked. This was ritual magic. She would essentially be worshipping Ishmere, which was taboo where she came from. It went against everything she knew.

Rennia gave in, clenching her teeth. "Ishmere, Ishmere, tethered soul of the Ebon Gild, Ishmere, Ishmere, I give you my energy in hopes I'll be spared by your will."

Something changed.

"Atta girl!" The spirit began glowing blue, and Rennia felt the air sucked from her lungs. She dropped to the ground as the sword clattered away and energy seemingly drained from her.

This, wasn't normal. They had barely affirm a spell, she didn't see Ishmere, prepare anything.

Ishmere lifted her hand. There was no fanfare, zero theatrics, no observable spell. Halfway into the tavern, the air distorted and a spark of light burst and bloomed in silence. Reality began to bend and the heavens started shaking. A flash of lightning struck halfway through the room from Ishmere's palms.

The creature convulsed with electricity. The spider howled in pain as its body began jolting. Its head fell first to the ground, then its body.

Green sticky liquid burst from its abdomen, and the acrid, oily smell filled the surroundings. A massive piece of crystalline rock fell from its backside, clattering to the ground.

A [Monster Core], a very big one.

Dust fell everywhere, but the walls stopped shaking. Ishmere turned to Rennia, arms proudly at her sides, the cloudy ghost fog disappearing into thin air. More questions, no energy to ask. The spider normal, she suspected that it had drained off the immortal's life force.

"There. We've preserved my floors, at least." Her arms dropped as she looked around. "Though this is going to cost more than a couple of silver coins, isn't it?"

Silver. She clearly hasn't been around for too long. In her kingdom, silver has become obsolete. Gold coin standard, and inflation was ridiculous.

Rennia, exhausted and drained, stood up. She felt like she'd endured a long day of walking, even though she'd barely traveled five miles in any direction. She felt tired again, but she couldn't sleep—not with the beast's corpse staring at her.

"You couldn't have done that before—"

"No. Spells need mana. Bodies generate mana. Astral projection is maintained by the body. You're speaking to a magical construct, Rennia. If I'm thinking a bit slowly, it's because I'm barely using my head. It's like an antenna."

"A what?"

An antenna, Rennia has never heard of the word.

"Never mind, all that ends well, ends well I guess."

Rennia fell on her ass against the collapsed support beam, eyes locked on the specter before her. The astral-projected woman hovered over her own body, staring down at herself with cold detachment.

What irked Rennia, though, was the projection's anatomy—specifically, the very real appearance of Ishmere's genitals. Her penis was way smaller in reality. So were her breasts. The ghost version? Everything was exaggerated. Her tits looked bolted on, too perky and round to be natural, and her cock was easily twice the size it should've been.

Not that the ghost looked unattractive. Far from it. It was... cute, actually. Just—

off.

She slapped herself and closed her eyes. This goddess of eros situation was going to be detrimental. She had just engaged in sex, fled from a monster, killed rats, taken a bath, and was already thinking in lustful ways.

She had hoped the living system would reward her for surviving that encounter, but apparently not.

"There you go—your body, as requested. You've taken three things from me, Ishmere: my body, my energy, and my time. You better be worth all the trouble."

Ishmere grinned at her.

"You carried me well, save for the bruise. I hope whatever agreement we form after this will benefit both of us."

Rennia spat on the ground. Her lips were dry, and saliva wasn't nourishment. And she was feeling a bit sick, nauseous and feverish. Perhaps rest would be good.

"This retrieval is complete. Now we're almost done—one more thing."

No.

"Oh, for fuck's sake. More monsters? You want me to delve deeper to find more monsters? What, did you lose your cock ring?"

Ishmere giggled. "Actually, yes, I've lost many. But that isn't the problem. When I astral projected, I bound my connection with a lock—sex magic, to be specific. When this happened, I asked one of the attack survivors to help me with this. That's why I was in that cave—it's a long and complicated story, and I'm hoping you'll be patient enough to wait until we're done here."

"Cut to the chase."

"Long story short, I need you to fuck me."

Rennia nearly fell on her face when Ghost Ishmere spread her own legs open. Her tight, barely parted pussy lips were visible, along with her dormant but appealing cock nearby. Rennia felt her own arousal rising again.

If staying with Ishmere meant a combination of chores, sex, and monsters, then perhaps it wasn't so bad at all or was it. She did want adventure, she lived for that like the heroes of the old.

She wondered what they would think of her, disgust perhaps.