Succubus Quest, Ch. 6

I hope you guys have been enjoying the story so far! If you have any feedback about what you've enjoyed or what you're hoping to see, I'd love to hear from you in the comments, DMs, or on Discord. I've been really having fun writing Vivian's adventures.

First things first, Vivian thought to herself. Assess the situation. It had been a while since she’d been assigned any field work in her past life, and truth be told she’d never been great at it. But her instructors had drilled the basics into her well enough that it was coming back through the lingering mental haze. Breathe, she thought to herself. Focus.

She was in a fortified village called Kampi. It had at least two security personnel, including the mayor. She was imprisoned somewhere within the walls, locked in a cell that she had no way out of. She had a set of three keys, but no idea what they opened. Seduction had been effective against the guard, but hadn’t yielded the desired result.

What else was there? She knew one spell, but didn’t have the mana to use it. Her skills were minimal, her ability scores disappointing. Vivian reopened her character sheet, trying to think if she had missed anything.

Would you like to expend energy to learn the stolen talent?

Spectral words blipped into view a few feet in front of Vivian’s face, hovering ominously. It looked like nothing so much as a computer prompt. She hadn’t thought anything of the messages at first, but now that she had time to mull it over the visual was strange. There were no computers in this world, right? No, you’re getting distracted. Vivian refocused on the image, trying to tap the words, but her finger passed through.

“... yes?” she said at last.

New talent learned: Insight

As if written by an invisible pen, the word began to appear on the character sheet hovering in front of Vivian. What had it meant by stolen?

“Wait…” Vivian glanced over at Lucas, but the guard was pointedly not looking in her direction as he finished cleaning and moved to put away the mop. Hadn’t that been the skill he was bragging about? She began prodding at her character sheet, surprised to find that Sleight of Hand had improved, as had her Seduction skill. Vivian had also expended the little energy she’d managed to drain.

It took a great deal of mental effort, but Vivian could see words starting to spill onto the scroll as she focused on each item. Twenty minutes later her head was pounding, but she’d managed to squeeze a short description out of each feature she’d inspected.

Name: Vivian Nihala

Race: Demon

Class: Minor Succubus, Level 1

Might: 3  Agility: 7

Endurance: 4  Wits: 4

Intellect: 6  Allure: 7

Health: 20  Mana: 4/10

Energy: 1/10

Talents:

Energy Drain (weak)

• Allows the succubus to extract vital energies from her victims, usually during an intimate act or through the use of certain magics. At this level, the drain is always non-fatal.

Memory Drain (weak)

• Allows the succubus to siphon skills and talents from her Energy Drain victims. At this level, only common skills can be taken. Low chance to siphon a talent, and it always requires a significant expenditure of energy.

Insight

• Allows the user to gain additional information about their skills, talents, and

spells through mental effort. At higher ranks, the ability grants more information and can be used when viewing others.

Spells:

Charm

• Seduction magic, close range. Mana cost: 6. The caster attempts to inflict the charmed condition on her foe for a short duration.

Skills:

• Flee (rank 1)
• Seduction (rank 2)
• Succubus Magic (rank 1)
• Sleight of Hand (rank 3)

It wasn’t perfect and it wasn’t everything, but Vivian needed to get through whatever came next without her head exploding. The morning sun had become visual torture, creeping insidiously through the window to torment specifically her. She closed her eyes, willing the pain in her temples to go away. She made a note to explore her new ability in more detail some time when she wasn’t in mortal danger.

Vivian risked a glance up, squinting despite the dim light. Her migraine had dimmed to a more regular sort of pain, but her mental faculties remained in mild disarray. Had Lucas left? He was outside her field of vision and she couldn’t hear anything. Maybe he’d run off to get the mayor. Vivian tried to imagine what they were discussing right now. Something about the goblin threat, no doubt. She sighed, rubbed her eyes a little too hard, and curled up in the corner to wait. If she was going to play the part, she should at least try and play it well. Maybe if she looked miserable enough the man would take pity.

Five minutes later she heard the creak of hinges, then wood and metal slamming against stone. There were voices. Both male. This is it, Vivian thought, bracing herself. Show time. She tried not to focus on how the mayor could just execute her on the spot. It wasn’t a helpful thought, certainly not wise to dwell on, but it crept along the border of her mind all the same.

“… but I didn’t fall for it, sir.” Lucas.

“Fall for what?” The second voice wasn’t quite as deep, the accent less rustic.

“The tricks, sir. You know how them goblins do, sir.”

“Right. Sure. Any tricks in particular? Something new?”

A pause. “Just tricks in general, sir. Nothing of note. Nothing that’d get past ol’ Lucas, that’s for sure.”

“Got it. Well, you did good, buddy. You’ve been up all night though, haven’t you? Why don’t you get some sleep? Kosk’s on patrol by now, and I can handle this.”

Another pause. Vivian could hear the reluctance in the guard’s voice. “... it’s just, I thought you might want an extra set of eyes on this one, sir.”

“Because…?”

“Because of the tricks. Sir.”

An exasperated sigh came from the second speaker. “Get out. Sleep, whatever, I don’t care. Just… go.”

Vivian heard the sound of a door closing, the turning of a lock, then of footsteps approaching. Moments later a man stepped into view: he was broad-shouldered, clean-shaven, with a boyish youthfulness that looked out of place on his muscular frame. He wore a cream-colored doublet and trousers that were bound at the waist with a thick leather belt, all of it immaculately tailored. The man smiled as he saw her, like he was looking at a birthday present he’d asked for but never really expected to receive.

“You don’t look like a goblin,” he observed. “Talk. What are you really?”

Vivian examined the man in front of her, taking her time before she answered. He was certainly imposing, in a disjointed way. The rich clothing gave the impression of money, and if this was the mayor he was at least a man of influence within the village. There was something off, though. Maybe the way he carried himself. Vivian couldn’t quite place it, and the uncertainty made her nervous.

Best to keep this simple, stick to her first story. “Oh, are you the mayor?” she asked, letting hope creep into her voice. “I died, and then I woke up, and I walked all day to get here, and then that man threw me in jail!” She faked a sniffle, rubbing at her cheek with the back of her wrist. “He said I was a goblin, but I’m not! I don’t know what he means, I’m just a person. And then I saw that I have these horns, and it freaked me out, but they won’t go away. I figured I’d just use a hood to cover them up. I was trying to find someplace to stay for the night. But then…”

The man nodded. “Right, cool. So what’s your class?”

“Excuse me?”

“Your. Class. What is it?” The man leveled an accusing finger. “If you really did come from another world, you’ve got a class. We all did. Tell me what it is and I’ll believe you. If not…” He shrugged. “Maybe you are some weird goblin. Maybe I tell Lucas I need his help with the interrogation. What do you think?”

“Um…” Vivian could feel her heart beating in her chest. Should she make something up? But what if she guessed wrong? Maybe it was better to come clean. Memories of her own death flashed in front of Vivian’s eyes, a steely-eyed man plunging a blade into her chest. She shuddered, remembering the moments of pain and fear and the taste of ash in her mouth.

Better to lie. People burned demons, no matter what world you were in. “Thief,” she blurted, not wanting to hesitate too long. “I think. Something like that.”

“And your skills are…” the man prompted.

“I’m good at… running away, I think? And sneaking. And something with hands.” Stealth had been a lie, of course. But she’d played enough RPGs while trapped in mother’s safehouse to know it was a safe guess to round out the list. She watched nervously, trying not to show it, as the man continued to scrutinize her appearance.

After a few more seconds he smiled, the brittleness leaving his features. “Right, cool.” He chuckled, pulled out a key, and used it to open the cell door. “Just wanted to be sure. Crazy shit out here on the borders. I’m the mayor, obviously. Jericho. But you can just call me Jerry, it’s cool.”

“Nice to meet you, Jerry. I’m Vivian.”

Jerry extended a hand. Vivian stepped forward cautiously, mirroring the gesture, and was immediately pulled into a tight one-armed hug. Their closeness emphasized the man’s intimidating physique and Vivian’s thin frailty.

“Vivian, cool! Great name.” He stepped back, gave her a pat on the shoulder, and nodded. “It’s a lot, right? They just kind of dump you out on your own at the start. And I know Lucas is a lot, total jerk, but he’s an NPC, so…” Jerry shrugged. “What can you do. But hey, don’t even worry about it - I can totally help you get started. I’m basically the boss around here, so I can help you get set up and everything. We’re gonna be really close friends, I can already tell.”

Despite the whiplash from cold scrutiny to aggressive friendliness, Vivian managed to blink off her surprise and play along. “That’s really nice of you, Jerry. I could definitely use the help. I mean, that goddess talked a little but she didn’t explain anything! And then I’m in the middle of the woods, and - ”

Jerry nodded, rolling his eyes. “Tell me about it. I figured it out pretty quickly, cleared out the bandit camp and fought off a goblin raid before I made it back to town. It was pretty cool. But if you’re not good at thinking on your feet, I can see how it would be a lot.” He put a hand in the small of Vivian’s back, guiding her out into the sunlight. “Let me show you around. I’ve been working on a ton of stuff out here. The whole village is basically my pet project, I run the whole place. It’s super cool, I really think you’ll like it.”

Blinking in the sudden light, Vivian allowed herself to be herded through Kampi Village as Mayor Jericho continued to talk.