Chapter 2: Shared Skills and Outsiders

Night.

The aroma of cheese tomato soup and rabbit meat spread throughout the wooden cabin.

The two ate at the table and under it.

Enjoying their meal while mumbling words with full mouths.

"What a pity, Master."

"What's a pity?"

Luo De took a bite of tender rabbit meat, his expression satisfied.

"That young lady seemed to be someone of status, but you didn’t manage to charm her~"

"Don’t act modest after getting what you wanted—I know you deliberately made noise so you could come out."

"I didn’t! You suddenly admitted you kept a succubus, and it threw me into a panic~"

Daphne was of noble birth; her father was a count of the Atheron Kingdom.

Luo De had zero interest in developing a Romeo-and-Juliet-style romance with Daphne.

Besides, Daphne was too childish and didn’t suit his taste.

Luo De picked up the wooden bowl of cheese tomato soup and sucked it to his lips.

Tally made the same sound.

"Since it’s out in the open, I’m done hiding—starting today, you don’t need to stay shadowed beside me outside."

Tally lifted her face, astonished.

"Really? Yay!"

"But you can’t show your true form—at least appear as a human woman in normal clothing."

Luo De was too lazy to hide her, but he couldn’t let her roam around looking like a full-blown demon.

"No problem!"

Tally didn’t care about this restriction.

As a newborn succubus, she was filled with curiosity about the human world.

【Tally’s obedience toward you +2】

【Obedience surpassed 51, unlocked shared skill with Tally】

【Beginning random draw…】

Oh?

Luo De watched the terms roll across his vision: from 【Shapeshifting】 to 【Shadow Magic】, from 【Soul Loss】 to 【Charming Bodily Fluids】—all skills Tally possessed as a succubus.

【Draw successful】

【Shared Skill: Second Heart】

【Details: Succubi have two hearts—one in the chest, one in the abdomen. The powerful pumping of this heart greatly enhances your physical constitution. Due to its proximity, your sexual prowess becomes exceptionally strong.】

Instantly, Luo De felt a warm current flow through his body.

Within moments, the weakness he’d felt these past days vanished entirely.

Moreover, the warmth continued stimulating his body to grow stronger.

Shared skill!

Great find!

Even though Tally had finished eating.

Luo De still felt full of energy.

"Then let me see your limits."

Seeing Luo De take the initiative for once, Tally looked delighted.

The two matched each other perfectly—master against master—engaging in a battle so intense thunder rumbled, and small animals around the cabin fled in terror.

The next morning.

Refreshed and invigorated, Luo De secured his gear on horseback and prepared to patrol.

Tally leaned against a tree, half-asleep.

Humans and succubi alike, once full, grow drowsy.

"What did I say yesterday?"

Luo De reminded Tally not to forget their agreement from last night.

She was still in her true succubus form.

"Okay~"

Tally mumbled a reply, cast Shapeshifting, and transformed into a woman with short red hair cut at ear level.

The two sat on horseback, one behind the other.

"I need to sleep—I ate too much, can’t digest it."

"Fine."

Tally curled up in Luo De’s arms and gradually fell asleep.

Her current transformed form was much smaller than before—about one meter fifty-five tall. Luo De, standing at one meter ninety, easily cradled her in his arms.

Amid morning birdcalls, the horse moved steadily southward.

Windwall Forest was vast; with only one forest warden—Luo De—it was impossible to patrol the entire forest daily.

So Luo De divided the forest into seven zones, patrolling one zone per day over seven days.

Of course, he couldn’t visit every corner of every zone—five watchtowers within the forest were enough for him to monitor conditions.

Two hours later.

Luo De climbed to Watchtower No. 2 on his route.

"Not bad."

Through his telescope, the trees in this area clearly showed better condition than yesterday’s.

Each time he climbed a watchtower, Luo De’s gaze was drawn to the distant, boundless golden desert.

The Death Desert.

Located at the far western edge of the Atheron Kingdom.

From November to February each year, violent sandstorms blew from here all the way to the kingdom’s center.

At those times, the entire sky turned a hazy yellow.

To combat wind and sand, the kingdom had dispatched officials a century ago to plant forests.

In the last thirty years, results had begun to appear.

Hence the name Windwall Forest.

Gazing at the distant desert, Luo De always recalled the insect civilization mentioned in history books—on the other side of the Death Desert.

The race known for invasion and destruction: the Igo.

Supposedly, Igo were creatures without a brain center—their neural cells and neurons distributed throughout their bodies.

"What are you looking at?"

Tally had woken up but still refused to move.

She transformed into a younger girl and sat directly on Luo De’s neck.

"Nothing. Just remembered the Igo on the other side of the desert."

"The Igo? Just hearing about them makes me want to vomit."

Tally’s face twisted with disgust.

"You’ve encountered them?"

"Of course! The great succubus Tally Lilith drained the essence of every race—including those disgusting, slime-covered Igo worms." She spoke proudly.

"But I recall the Igo were driven to the far western isolation three hundred years ago."

"Exactly—I drained them three hundred years ago."

Luo De glanced at Tally’s age on the panel.

【Slave 1: Tally Lilith】

【Race: Succubus】

【Age: 100】

【Obedience: 51】

【Evaluation: Fun fact: newborn succubi spend 100 years in their eggs learning their mother’s XX experiences and spells. Do you not know what a 100-year-old succubus implies?】

Of course—this thing was bragging about her mother’s experiences.

It seemed Tally’s Shapeshifting hadn’t reached its peak—her intelligence changed with her form.

Right now, she was just a chattering, arrogant brat.

Of course, perhaps that was exactly what a succubus intended.

"The Igo’s language and behavior differ greatly from other races on the continent; no other race has ever communicated with them."

"But Tally’s methods are so brilliant? A little trick, and they were overcome with desire—only to find, after the deed, that they wanted to rip off my head!"

Luo De nodded.

Very consistent with the historical records of the Igo.

They were a race of scientists obsessed with studying brains.

"Luckily I escaped quickly. Later, I heard many succubi went to the Igo seeking thrills—and never returned."

Luo De:

The book’s illustrations described the Igos as a single mass of slugs covered in backward-facing hooks, with four tentacles: two ending in mouths, nostrils, and eye-tendrils, the other two like pincers.

Tally rubbed her chin.

“I think the insane spell the Igos developed back then had a share of credit from our succubi’s heads.”

“That spell that drove all twelve hundred people in the village mad—I felt my mother suspected something extra in it. I think it carries the meaning of succubus soul-stealing sickness.”

Luo De listened as she chattered in his head.

Meanwhile, he observed the forest in this area.

“Hmm?”

“Was it this open before?”

Luo De magnified the lens tube and quickly confirmed the tree density in that small patch didn’t match his memory.

He was certain.

Someone had cut down trees.

This area was strictly forbidden from logging; even if townsfolk were short on wood, they wouldn’t be foolish enough to venture into this hard-to-navigate deep forest.

Then it must be outsiders.

“In this direction—poachers, or visitors from the desert?”

(End of Chapter)