The Sword Saint Also Has A Succubus Class

The sizzling of meat on a hot metal pan woke Vale from her nap, eyes fluttering open as she drifted out of deep sleep.

Sleep? She'd been sleeping? She'd only meant to rest her eyes. The fatigue had hit her abruptly and powerfully: she'd drifted off in moments.

What a delightful smell, though.

Elbowing off the hard wood floor, Vale became aware of a few things at once.

First, that the cover she'd been using for her lower half had fallen open somehow, the loose tie coming undone while shifting around. Which meant she was sitting in a stranger's home naked—not even half-naked like she'd been before, but completely.

Secondly, that Lust's graciously imbued weapon was standing at its full extension, hard and veiny and even leaking a bit at the tip, a bead of liquid visible atop its lewd head.

Vale almost died of embarrassment.

Maybe… maybe the erection had come after Suzi had arrived home and started cooking, not before? That would still mean Vale had been laid out on the floor, but it was many times less mortifying than if Suzi had walked into her home only to be greeted with the very unwelcome sight of ten inches of achingly hard wolfgirl cock.

Vale scolded herself. How inconsiderate could she be? She could at least have covered up properly. But she hadn't meant to fall asleep, so she hadn't planned for that.

Her face red, she hastily tied the cloak back around her waist.

"There's clothes next to the fireplace," Suzi called, hearing Vale's movements and knowing she'd woken. "Should fit. Little loose, probably, but they're something."

Sure enough, there was a pile of neatly folded clothes on the brick platform surrounding the fireplace.

"Thank you," Vale called back.

She wondered whether to apologize for what must have been waiting for Suzi when she walked in, but decided against it. Better to just ignore it and move on. Vale kept scolding herself for being inconsiderate, though.

The pile of clothes included pants, undergarments, a belt, and a blouse, but no bra. Which was fine, since the fit mattered most for that last one, and she'd rather wear none than something uncomfortable. It all smelled fresh and clean, laundered recently and thoroughly, not that Vale had any right to be picky, but she did consider herself a clean person and so she was appreciative of the fact.

She pulled the clothes on. As she'd been told, they were loose, obviously meant for a plumper woman, though at least that meant her chest wasn't strained. She secured the belt last and peered around at herself. Her tail was a bit cramped, but it wasn't the first time she'd needed to wear human clothes.

Frowning, she paid particular attention to her chest. It wasn't cold inside the cabin, but her nipples were hard, and without a bra or chest wrapping, they poked through her shirt. Her cheeks colored, but compared to walking around naked, it was a big upgrade.

Besides, Suzi wouldn't pay enough attention to notice. She was clearly a proper young woman, based on how much she'd been blushing at Vale's immodesty earlier.

Walking into the kitchen, Vale murmured, "That smells amazing, by the way."

Suzi glanced over her shoulder, opening her mouth to reply, but paused when she saw Vale.

"You're kidding," she complained. "How can you make Missus Hazel's clothes look hot?"

Vale blinked.

"S-Sorry," Suzi said. "Just, it's kind of unfair, that's all I'm saying. I could throw you in a potato sack and you'd still make it work." She cleared her throat. "I hope you like venison, it was cheap at the butcher's today. Also have some carrots and potatoes roasting."

Vale's stomach rumbled, which was embarrassing, and Suzi threw a grin over her shoulder.

"I'll take that as a yes," Suzi said.

"I continue to sink further into your debt," Vale agreed solemnly.

Suzi rolled her eyes and flipped the slice of meat over, sprinkling an unidentifiable spice over it.

Vale didn't understand how the stove top worked. There was no obvious source of heat. The metal pan Suzi was cooking with was laid atop what appeared to be more metal, though the meat was sizzling and popping so there was heat somehow. She considered commenting on it, but she was trying to minimize how strange she came off, so she didn't. It might be a normal device in this world. She did wonder whether it was some clever personal solution, though. Suzi was a [Witch], so it was more than plausible she'd enchanted it herself.

Vale sat at the dining table. It was a simple sturdy piece of furniture barely large enough to hold two, tucked away to be space-conscious. She sat in the chair across the table as to keep facing Suzi.

Her attention lingered on the witch. An apron had joined her outfit, and she was humming idly as she went about preparing lunch.

“Have a nice nap?”

Vale stirred, having briefly grown distracted.

“Yes,” she said. “And I apologize for earlier, I hadn't meant to fall asleep.”

“You apologize a lot,” Suzi said.

“I just understand the inconvenience I represent. And I want to emphasize that I appreciate your kindness.”

“It's nothing,” Suzi said, waving a hand dismissively.

“It's not,” Vale said. “And so, thank you.”

“You're so polite,” Suzi said, rolling her eyes. She set the tongs aside and walked over to a cabinet. “I haven't gotten to cook for someone in forever. Really, you're doing me a favor. I think I'll even use the nice plates today.” Opening the cupboard, she reached up for the top shelf, where Vale could see the ‘nice plates’ she'd mentioned.

Except Suzi was just a few inches too short to reach. She strained on her tiptoes and bounced up and down, trying to grab the lip of the stack but failing.

Vale hurried out of her seat to help. She pulled two plates down and replaced the rest.

“Yes, yes, make fun of the short girl,” she pouted dramatically.

“I would never,” Vale said seriously.

Suzi paused, then snorted at her. “No, you wouldn't, would you? You're much too chivalrous for that.” She took the plates. “Sit! You're my guest! No helping!”

Only because of the insistence in her voice, she did.

“The clothes are comfortable?” Suzi asked as she returned to meal preparations.

“Yes, tha—”

“And if you thank me again, I'll smack you with a spoon." She scooped up and brandished the mentioned hefty wooden weapon. "Don't try me.”

Vale considered.

“There is gratitude in my heart,” she chose diplomatically.

Suzi's eyebrows went up. “You're one of those. You abuse loopholes. Mom warned me about girls like you.”

A brief pause in the conversation. Suzi continued:

“And thank Missus Hazel if anyone. I just ran over and fetched them. She's the real sweetheart.”

“I'll find a way to repay her,” Vale said. “And you as well." She stirred, remembering something she'd thought about earlier. "I saw some uncut firewood outside, would you like me to handle that for you?”

“I already said,” Suzi began, but then faltered. “Wait. You? Cutting firewood?”

Vale tilted her head, ears twitching once in confusion. “Yes, if you would like me to.”

Suzi's mouth opened and closed once, then for some reason Vale would never understand, she blushed.

“W-Well, I suppose if you want to, though you really are my guest, so there's no need.”

“I insist,” Vale said earnestly, sensing an opening.

“Alright then,” Suzi said. “But I get to watch.” Her eyes widened and her mouth clicked shut, as if she hadn't meant to say that.

Vale tilted her head from side to side in confusion. Suzi was completely normal at times, but also very odd at others. She didn't understand anything about the exchange they'd just had.

“Of course you can watch,” Vale said, mentally shrugging things away. She didn't know why Suzi would want to watch her take care of some random manual labor chore, but it didn't matter.

Suzi didn't reply, except for how her face turned another shade redder.

Vale had probably said something weird. She'd been awkward even when she hadn't been hundreds of years and thousands of miles from home. Too many years spent swinging a sword atop a mountain and cultivating, she supposed.

 

 

 

The lunch Suzi prepared was delicious, and not just because it was Vale's first meal in hundreds of years, but because the witch was a talented chef, especially considering the sparsity of her ingredients. When Vale was done, she leaned back in her chair, sighing happily, her tail swishing in satisfaction behind her.

"Will you want to head into town with me again, later today?" Suzi asked, carrying their plates off toward the washing basin, after scraping the scraps into a refuse can, though Vale had basically licked it clean. Would have literally, if it wouldn't have been embarrassing. "You said that was what you were aiming for, right? Finding a nearby town, to, uh, orient, I suppose?"

"Mostly to ask somebody questions," Vale said. "But now that you bring it up… if you aren't bothered, I was wondering if I could ask them to you, instead."

"Oh, uh, sure. Of course. What do you need to know?"

"Can we talk while I work? I'd feel better if I've done something for you in return, even if it's a small chore."

"Oh, fine," Suzi said. "But only because you keep insisting."

They walked to the door, and Suzi started pulling on her boots. "Sorry there's no shoes for you to wear," she said. "Those are a little harder to get loaners for."

"It's fine. Going barefoot doesn't bother me."

"Part of your class gives you durability?" she asked. "Or just natural stat gain?"

"Stat gain?"

"Yeah, like, you've got some fighter class, I can tell. High on constitution?"

Walking out the door together, Vale stared blankly at her.

"Oh, come on," Suzi said. "I know I can be unintelligible at times, but what did I say that's possibly confusing?"

"Sorry," Vale said. "I don't know what stats are."

Suzi stumbled in place, and Vale reached out to steady her.

"You don't know what stats are?!" she exclaimed. "Knowing mana by a different name is one thing, but stats? Those are built into the System!"

"They are?" Vale asked, growing wary. This was the sort of situation she'd been trying to avoid, not wanting to come off too strange, but she'd known it would be inescapable. "I might know them, but understand them differently. Can you explain?"

Suzi continued giving her a baffled look, but she did end up explaining—while walking over to a shed attached to the side of the cabin and pulling out an axe, which she handed to Vale.

"Stats are stats," she said. "They grow when you level up, but you can also allocate free points manually. Okay, so, obviously you know what stats are, but you just call them something different. But what? The System itself calls them stats."

Vale was quiet for a moment as she retrieved a piece of firewood and carried it over to a nearby tree stump. The stump had clearly been used for similar purposes earlier in the year.

"No," she finally decided to say. "I haven't heard of them. Can you elaborate? I think this is important for me to know."

Suzi gaped at her. "Does that mean you haven't spent your level two points?"

"No, but then again, I only hit level two this morning," she said. "Just hours ago."

"Oh." Suzi visibly oriented to those announcements. "But… still, how could you possibly not know what stats are?" She was insistent on that question, and it told Vale just how odd her ignorance was.

Vale carried over another few pieces of wood to create a small stack to cut, thinking over what she wanted to say.

"I owe you for your hospitality," she said, "but there's certain things I can't explain for my own safety. I hope that doesn't upset you."

She trusted Suzi somewhat at least, but she had a healthy amount of caution ingrained into her. The odds were low that spouting incredible tales of being a Sword Saint's disciple from the long past would result in someone powerful taking notice, but they weren't zero, and they raised with every person she told.

"Well… of course, then. Your business is your own." Suzi clearly wanted an answer to the mystery, which made Vale feel bad. "Alright, then. Stats. There's not much to explain, but I can, if you need me to."