The Sword Saint Also Has A Succubus Class

Where she was from. It was a reasonable thing to ask, to want to know more about the naked woman she had found wandering around the forest. But Vale still withered slightly.

Because 'home.' She'd had two homes so far, and they were both gone.

"Far away," Vale said. "I'm not sure I could even tell you where."

The name of the Empire, sure, but the Master's mountain top had been in a remote area, and while there had been a city some distance away, Vale wouldn't be surprised if time had weathered that place into dust the same way it had her Master's home. More relevantly, she had been hurled thousands of miles at a minimum. Distance would explain unfamiliarity with anything Vale knew, much less the indeterminable time that had passed.

"Ah," Suzi said, maybe sensing the lack of enthusiasm in her voice. "And, uh, how'd you end up here, then?"

Vale considered whether to remain vague. There was merit to keeping her circumstances hidden. Who knew what sorts of people might take interest if she were to go telling outrageous stories? And especially in her weakened state, Vale didn't want to draw notice of entities she couldn't beat in a fight, should it come to that.

At the same time, brushing aside every question would be rude, and make Suzi suspicious of her. Vale could give the general idea without drawing undue attention: or at least attention of a dangerous sort.

"I was involved in a," she paused, "magical mishap, on behalf of my Master and another entity. It left me like this, and a great distance from home. I apologize, but I want to stay vague until I better understand what's happened to me, if that's fine with you."

'Like this.' At the reminder that she was naked, Suzi glanced sideways, and it didn't seem intentional how her eyes flicked down to her bare breasts, but flick down they did. They went back up to Vale's face just as quickly, like a hand burned on a stove top, but Vale's whole body tingled, knowing another girl had, once again, seen her naked. At least it was only half-naked now.

Vale doubted Lust, supremely powerful as she was, couldn't have returned her clothing if she had wanted. Somewhere in the heavens, there was a mischievous entity laughing at her discomfort.

These promises of 'power' better be worth it…

"A magical mishap?" Suzi repeated. "Sounds like you've had one heck of a day."

"It's been chaotic," Vale agreed. Especially because said day had only been a few hours.

"I'll stop pressing then," Suzi said. "Jeez, though. Far away from home and without even clothes, much less money or a map. I'm glad I found you, so I could help. I wouldn't know where to start in a situation like this."

Vale had been unsure as well. Some of the dilemma was solved simply because she didn't plan on returning home—not right away. Why would she? Even if she wanted to investigate the assault on the mountain hundreds of years later, then she needed to be much stronger than she currently was.

"Right now," Vale said, "all I'm worried about is getting some clothes and finding my footing."

"Clothes," Suzi said. "That might be an issue. I'd lend you some of my own when we get back home, but…" She tittered. "I don't think they'd fit."

No, they wouldn't. Even if Suzi had been of similar height—she was near ten inches shorter, a small woman, though not unusually so—their builds would have made clothing awkward to share. Vale's chest was significantly larger, and she was more curvy in a general sense as well. Not that Suzi was totally flat and lacking in curves. She had an attractive squeeze to her waist, and swell to her chest. Vale had just been especially gifted in that regard. Sometimes to her mild annoyance. A man's figure would've been much easier to maneuver in combat.

"My mom's clothes might be a little better," Suzi mused. "But probably not. She was also kind of short. And not—uh, well, you know." She made a gesture with her hands that imitated a woman's figure. Her cheeks dusted pink, and she brushed past it. "Sorry for making you walk around like this," she said. "I'd go straight back to the cabin and help get you situated, but it's important I find one of those mushrooms."

"You're not making me do anything," Vale said, "and I'm already flattered by your generosity. Say no more on the subject." She asked curiously, "This mushroom is for a sick person, you said? Someone you know?"

"Ah. Yeah. A lot of someones, actually… the affliction has taken a number of people. We don't think it's natural, there's been scratch and bite marks on all of them, and it's not a normal sickness. They fall asleep and don't wake up, but they're… fine. For a meaning of the word."

"I see," Vale said, troubled. She was no expert on afflictions either natural or supernatural, so she had little to say on the subject. The bite and scratch marks stood out though. "Is it caused by a monster?"

"That's the leading theory," Suzi said. "And probably a safe one. No way of knowing though. And it's elusive, if so, we've had trackers out looking around to no avail." Though few had been willing to search the Caelvarn Forest, which was where such a beast would likely be nesting. "Anyway, that's what the mushroom is for, and why I'm out in a green zone."

"Green zone?"

"Because of the mana density, I mean. It's where they would grow."

That hadn't been what Vale had meant with her question. She wanted to know what the term 'green zone' meant. And now she had another question:

"Mana?"

Suzi paused, then glanced at her. Again, the girl couldn't help her eyes from flicking down to Vale's naked chest, once again reminding her of her situation (not that she'd forgotten), and the two of them blushed and didn't comment on the continued slip-ups.

"Yeah, mana. Green zones have denser mana. The mushroom is magical, so they're found here, in the Caelvarn Forest, because it's a green zone. Sorry, am I being confusing somehow? Sometimes I say whatever I'm thinking, and forget to explain where those thoughts come from."

"I meant, what is a green zone, and what is mana?"

Suzi abruptly stopped walking. She turned and gave Vale a bewildered look, and Vale had to fight the urge to cover her chest with an arm now that they were fully facing each other.

"You don't know what mana is? Or green zones? Do they… call them something else where you're from?"

"That depends," Vale said, "on what they are."

"Oh, right." Suzi turned back and kept walking, organizing her thoughts. "Well, green zones are places the Adventuring Society have labeled as a threat to anyone under level ten. They're places of higher than normal mana density and are dangerous because of that, usually because monsters spawn there. Though a region's mana density doesn't guarantee a threat rating," she said. "Some places with lots of mana vent it in safer ways. The Caelvarn Forest isn't one, though, as you can tell by all the monsters," she joked. "Mana, though. Mana is just… mana? You know, latent magic."

Vale quietly considered this. "I understand now," she said, which was half true. "We call mana vital energies, where I'm from."

"Vital energies?" Suzi repeated, cocking her head. "I thought everyone in the Haecyinth Kingdom called it mana. Or at least knew of it by that name." She shrugged. "Shows what I know. I'm surprised you haven't heard of the Adventuring Society's classifications system though, that goes past even the Kingdom's borders. You call that something different too?"

Vale chose her words carefully. "We simply knew which areas were dangerous. We didn't use a formal system for it."

"Interesting," Suzi said.

Vale wanted to ask more about this 'Adventuring Society,' but she was fairly certain she could intuit the basics, and didn't want to raise suspicion further. The Adventuring Society was clearly some group responsible for managing various aspects of life related to—well, adventuring. Specifically because killing monsters was required to level up. Vale could make sense of how society would shape to accommodate that new power system. It was hardly strange, at least in concept. Though seeing the world she once knew fundamentally changed was, of course.

"You're out here alone," Vale said. "With just that staff. You're Bestowed as well." Suzi had a class. She hadn't made that connection right away, but it was obvious under even brief contemplation.

"Well, yeah. I wasn't trying to hide that."

"May I ask?"

"It's not like it's a secret," Suzi said. "Everyone in Silverdale knows I'm a [Witch]."

"A witch?"

"My mom was one too," Suzi said. "And she trained me. I got my class pretty late, though, so I'm still low level." She scratched her cheek bashfully. "I also don't like hunting much, and maybe I'm a bit lazy… so yeah, pretty low level."

A life of seeking power wasn't for everyone. Vale didn't judge a person in the slightest for that. She, personally, needed to get stronger, to stop— to stop things like—

Well. What had happened twice to her, now.

But she didn't judge other people for not pursuing such a path either.

"What does a witch do?" Vale asked.

She knew the word, of course. Witches were especially skilled with techniques involving the manipulation of external vital energies rather than internal: they were often weak themselves, but had old knowledge, and were crafty. Vale didn't necessarily have a good opinion of the average witch. They could be useful members to a community, but just as often, they dabbled in things they shouldn't. And after what had happened to her village… Vale didn't respect those who called up powers they couldn't put down.

Still, she reserved her opinion, because Suzi by all presentations was a good-hearted young woman.

"Oh, you know," Suzi said. "Talk to demons and turn people into frogs and stuff."

Vale paused.

"That's a joke," Suzi said. "Well, sort of."

"Sort of?"

"I don't actually turn people into frogs. Though I've considered it, if I'm being honest. There's this boy, Alden, who…" She coughed. "Well, never mind."

"But you have talked to demons?"

"My mom called one up, once," she said. "And I guess I did tell it hello. I was young. That half counts. I don't like summoning, though. I'm more of a hexing and sorcery kind of girl."

"I… see." Vale tried to slot this new information into her perception of her unexpected companion, and mostly failed. "It sounds like—"

In what Vale would consider a permanent mark of shame, she realized she'd grown distracted by the conversation. Earlier, she'd been quite stalwartly maintaining the dialogue while also watching the forest with as much solemnity as her promise to keep Suzi safe demanded. Yet her attention had lapsed, learning not just so many interesting things about the shape of the new world but also about Suzi herself.

So, she spotted the monster a full second later than she should have.

Still plenty in advance, of course, since she was the disciple of the Saint of Winter Frost himself, but Vale would nevertheless be scolding herself for months to come. Had they been in a more seriously dangerous area, even a minuscule lapse of attention could have had catastrophic consequences. And sure, she had let her guard down the smallest amount because of the lack of real threats, but Vale didn't accept such excuses: it was still a mark of poor judgment, and she had dishonored herself.

Stepping forward, she jabbed her crudely sharpened stick out and skewered the dive-bombing bird-like creature as it swooped down toward Suzi, its talons outstretched. Being a stealth monster—and only level three, a glance indicated—it died even easier than most of what she'd fought so far.

"My apologies," Vale said grimly, shaking the stick to dislodge the bird's corpse. "My attention lapsed. I reacted slowly."

Suzi spun in a circle, looking here and there, eyes only now going wide. She turned back and gaped at the monster that had been skewered by Vale's primitive spear, now lying on the floor, dead.

"You— you stabbed it out of the sky? Just like that?"

Vale tilted her head, wolf ears twitching in confusion. "Yes?" Clearly that had been what had happened.

Suzi's mouth worked. "Wow," she said. "Well, thank you. That would've been unpleasant. I didn't see or hear anything."

"Don't thank me," Vale said. "I reacted slower than I should have. I was distracted by our conversation." She bowed her head slightly, tail drooping in shame. "It won't happen again."

Okay, no, really, why did this girl blush at the strangest things?

"Alright then," Suzi squeaked. "I mean, I'm still saying thank you, and I don't think you did anything wrong, but uh—yeah! I'll pay more attention too. Probably not the best idea to get distracted out here."

"No," Vale agreed. "It isn't."

Even if the caliber of opposition was low, only a fool let their guard down when trekking through a dangerous forest.

"Brown cap with blue dots, white stalk," Suzi said, turning back forward. "Surely we'll find one soon."