"HEY!!!" she snapped her fingers in his face. "Did you just go somewhere??? Don't zone out on me friend! Trust me, that's one sure way to shorten your lifespan!"
Zooey's outburst had violently dragged him away from his train of thought. His eyes settled back on her, and instantly, he saw the real reason why she was doing this.
To those in the know, it was common knowledge that the nine-tailed fox clan had serious issues with dominance. They NEVER submitted to anyone. Wherever they were, they made sure to do all they could to assert their dominance. Subservience was something they did not understand. Their very DNA was built to be in control. It was simply their nature.
Alex had come across a unicorn. He had been presented with a rare opportunity to do something he had always wanted to do. Totally unexpected, fate had gifted him the rare opportunity to break the proud spirit a member of this haughty clan. He was going to teach this little fox a lesson, and boy, he was definitely going to enjoy it.
There were so many ways to approach it. But he decided to on a more subtle approach. Trickery was not beyond him. Not at all.
Alex looked at her with a fondness that would have made any woman budge. And smiled as he addressed her;
"You are certainly not what I expected Zooey. The tales do you no justice at all..."
Her face and body language remained stoic, but her eyes gave her away. She tried to act indifferent, but it was obvious that she liked what she heard. It was a vaguely suggestive, and incredibly ambiguous compliment. It was the best kind really, for it left a lot of vacuums, which the victim often filled with their own self aggrandizing, vain thoughts.
Sparing no excesses, Alex continued in the same vein;
"I mean, I thought I was being punished. But seeing you, I feel like I finally understand the phrase 'a blessing in disguise.'"
She laughed, triggering her humongous boobs to gyrate in sync with her heaving shoulders.
"I can't say I've heard that one Alex. Maybe you won't be such a bad sidekick after all."
There is it again, Alex thought, the pathological need to assert dominance. That was all the inspiration he needed. He doubled down on his plan and let out the teaser;
"Zooey, I simply must ask you this; why does an enchanting woman such as yourself bother with sidekicks in the first place??"
"RIGHT???" She beamed. "Finally, someone around here's asking the right questions!"
Alex continued to lead her down the honey trap.
"You're a B-rank aren't you?"
"A-rank actually."
"Good. Then you're gonna wanna hear this..."
Zooey was not sure what this newbie was up to, but one thing, she was definitely curious to find out his angle.
"Go on."
Alex took a deep breath, pretending like he was about to divulge a serious secret.
"What I'm about to tell you is top secret, but as my partner, I feel you need to know. I happen to have a very special ability that might just benefit you greatly. It's in my bloodline, and only peculiar to me. I never share this with just anyone, but for a queen like you, I am more than willing to engage you."
Zooey was definitely intrigued. She snapped impatiently; "Are you going to tell me? Or are you going to keep beating around the bush?"
"Easy there tiger. First things first. I want you to tell me how exactly you plan on thanking me for this gift?"
She gave him an impetuous look, as if she could not believe he had just asked her that;
"You've got balls, I'll give you that. Well, if this ability of yours is any good, I'll give you whatever you ask for. Deal?"
Alex knew that her word was as worthless as toilet paper.
It was glaring that there was no way she would honor this agreement once she got what she wanted. He knew her type well enough. She reminded him too much of Lilith for they both had the same temperament (except Lilith was a thousand times smarter than this child). Alex was thankful for that three hundred years of experience he had with her. He was now more than equipped to handle any kind of dominatrix-wanna-be that would cross his path.
"Deal."
She nudged his almost immediately; "So, spill this interesting power in your bloodline. This better be good!"
"Oh trust me, your mind is going to be blown."
In the next three minutes, Alex concocted an elaborate tale, talking about his ancestors and how they had come to have the power to upgrade their females to terrifying levels of cosmic strength. He spun catchy tales of how these women went on to do exploits in their time, and how they came to be known as heroes.
At first she was skeptical, but as time wore on, Zooey's eyes began to burn aflame with wonder. She was no child. She had lived long enough to cultivate the ability to discern lies from truth. So, listening to this newbie enlighten her on his family's history, and their mysterious doings, she could instantly tell that he was not lying.
This was pretty interesting becasue Alex was not actually lying. Not completely anyway. When he spoke of 'the person of his bloodline' from a two thousand years ago, he was referring to himself. As for the 'matriachs' who had been empowered, he was referring to none other than the plethora of human women and goddesses who had been priviledged to receive numerous doses of his seed.
It was all in the details, and Zooey ate it all up.
Judging from the kind of person Zooey was, he could tell that in as much as she was the power-hungry abitious type, patience was definitely not one of her attributes.
So, he cut the story short, and finally arrived at the punchline she had been waiting for;
"...it's all in our semen. Therein lies the ancient power to enhance the abilities of women. A good dose"
Zooey was the farthest thing from shy. Any other 'modest' lady might have blushed at the casual mention of the name of the secretion of the male sex organ. But not Zooey. Instead, she appeared to be in deep thought.
To any normal person, this would have sounded like pure schlock in its rawest form. It would have been considered comical at best, even laughable. But to mages and non-muggles, everything had a double meaning. And this, (even with how implausible it sounded), actually made sense.
In the world of magic, it was common knowledge that the semen packed all the essence of a male. Now, this did not necessarily mean that it could be transferred to women via sex or oral ingestion. No mage had the power to do that. However, theoritically, it was actually possible. Zooey's greedy mind was already lusting after all the opportunities that this would offer her if it worked.
As if Alex knew, he played on her ambitions by presenting her with the juciest benefit yet;
"Zooey, do you know what an apotheosis means?"
Her already hungry eyes burned even brighter with more greed. She swallowed, as if she could not dare to even believe it;
"Alex you'd better not be exaggerating. Is that an actual possibility?!!! I could actually become a god???"
The word 'god' rolled out of her mouth like honeyed butter. Even as she asked with doubt, she knew it was actually true.
"You're a smart woman Zooey..." he continued with the wanton flattery; "I believe you've figured it out already. I'm an A-rank with the power to enhance. You are already an outsanding and skillful A-rank mage. Imagine the limitless possibilities for you once you're enhanced."
He looked her directly in the eye; "Given your current strenght, I'd say you would be unstoppable. That's right, you would practically become a god."
It hit home. His words struck a chord in her heart, enflaming her already enflamed ego. Like a rodent heading straight to cheese in a trap, Zooey had been lured into taking the bait. And heavens, she had chewed hard.
But almost immediately, a certain reality dawned on her.
There was a certain aspect of the plan that Alex had tactfully avoided. She herself only just realized it now, but it was clear that, for this plan to fully work, she was going to have to let Alex penetrate her.