Zell sighed in relief as he accepted Elizabeth as his battle slave, however instantly after he clicked accepted the girl vanished into the black vortex that Griselda and veronica vanished into earlier.
He was stunned for a moment, however remembered Infra was still with him. She never abandoned him and stuck beside him. Thanks to this, he could focus on the situation. Before he could check the experience gain in his logs, the people chasing Elizabeth were now very close.
"Hmmm, I should leave the forest, too. Those guys are pretty powerful!"
He tried to step forward, only to find he was stuck. A moment later, his entire world trembled and began spinning around, causing him to feel a little nauseous. He tried to focus his vision, only seeing the grey and black trees becoming blurry and distant as they fused together with the ground and sky.
Suddenly, his body seemed to fall endlessly into the darkness. He smashed down onto a black leather sofa as his body sank down. The room had a solemn atmosphere.
However, this one contained several chairs, a bar, wooden table in between four large sofas. He noticed they covered the floor with a strange animal pelt. The wall contained various images of beasts that moved when he removed his gaze. Almost like they were alive and watching him.
"So, you're finally here, Zell. We should speak face to face."
Zell turned quickly. This sensual and husky voice could belong to one woman alone! He expected a beast like visage, instead a wonderful and charming woman sat across from him.
Her hair, deep red, like a fine wine, long and wild, with a straight fringe and silver hairpin. She wore a black headband with a diamond like points along the band. She had two long fluffy horizontal beast ears on her head.
Identical to her lynx ears, thick and fluffy with long thin tips that swayed as she breathed, wiggled as she spoke, or tapped her pipe into her ashtray.
Although he thought gods wouldn't smoke as it was unhealthy, he noticed the smell wasn't tobacco, rather a deep scent, like roasted fruits or a freshly opened bottle of wine.
She watched him, with a faint smile that seemed sarcastic, resting her hand against her cheek wearing a laced back glove, with small black rose upon her wrist. Her dress was narrow across her body, then frilled out like a massive black rose, with two large black roses on each side of her hips. Underneath was a blood red underskirt that matched her hair perfectly.
A pair of jet-black stockings, both sensual and alluring, as he felt her shiny black high-heeled shoes were cute.
He tried to ignore her barely covered breasts that were about a D-cup, maybe a big C-cup at worst.
"Hello, I am Infra." She greeted the man before her. His clothes were a mess, face dishevelled and dried blood all over him. He honestly looked like a joke.
"The woman behind the system is nice." He said in reply, feeling relaxed.
Infra leaned back, tapping her pipe once more before placing it down, her movements graceful and practised. She slowly lifted her left leg, crossing it over, showing her inner garments under the black stockings for a moment. Her eyes narrowed, enjoying his thick glance towards her lower body.
"Since that's over and done with, may I suggest something quite important?"
"Go ahead..."
"Honestly, you are terrible. The way you fight like some useless amateur, despite years of practice, how can you not realise the benefits of your system and class?" said Infra. Her voice was neutral, seeming to scold him. However, inside that was a sense she wanted him to realise something desperately. Since he seemed oblivious, she gave a hint out of goodwill.
"How about you replace those slow spells, with long cast times with more efficient ones, using the system to merge them with Rika's spells? You could then aim for a high damage, burst type combat style. It's wrong of me to tell you, but if you combine your Flamra and her Beat rush, you would both get a very beneficial skill."
She leaned back, looking to the ceiling, her eyes narrowing, a hint of sorrow filling her brows, as she seemed to fight off her tears.
Zell only focused on her words, considering the possibilities. Since he was incredibly weak in the last life. He became absorbed in having awesome skills, thinking this was the limit, this was his best.
--|Zell: 'I can strengthen them? How... I don't understand!'
"I see... You don't understand, being weak and useless for so many years limited your brain, right?" Infra said, a deep sign leaving her lips as her figure leaned forward, stretching her right arm to grasp the small glass of whiskey and ice, taking a small sip before swaying the glass in her hands.
"Have you never played games before? Don't you think an instant cast spell used immediately after striking with your sword would create more of an opening for your team? Rather, wouldn't it kill most weak monsters? With the rapid burst of damage?"
Zell leaned back as he tried imagining that scene, using your Blade Rush to dash into combat with a fierce thrust, followed by the arcing slash. His usual follow up was to back off or cast a spell. However, what spells would the fusion unlock? He wondered.
"Flambur"
"Glafreza"
"Tempera"
Infra spoke three words. They seemed related to the games' spells. Fla usually represented fire spells, Gla represented ice and Tem was wind. She looked at him with soft eyes and gave a nod. Despite her anger, she wanted him to learn something. Use her for his own benefits, gaining strength, not caring about what may happen to her or others.
--|Zell: 'She's so strange in this form, not all happy and bubbly, she seems melancholy and solemn...'
"Flambur; a burst of intense flames with a maximum range of 5 metres and a radius of 15 metres. I believe this spell after your arc slash would kill most meagre mobs, no? If not, how about…?"
She took another sip, swirling it around her mouth in delight. Then looked towards him endearingly. Infra crossed her legs slowly, showing her thick thighs and smooth curves. Her sensual movements distracting his thoughts for a moment. Infra wanted to build his immunity towards women. She worried women would cause his death if he didn't change.
"Glafreza blast the target with frozen winds slowing or stunning them. A maximum range of 5 metres and radius of 10 metres. This spell, would it not help save you from enemies' agile counter attacks?"
She took another long sip of whiskey; her throat rang out with a sensual gulp. Before she finished the drink, placing the glass down with pink cheeks. Her sensual, long tongue sliding around her lips to savour the last taste.
"Tempera, attack the target with a tempest of wind blades. A maximum range of 15 metres and single target, this spell would be ideal in moments for pure damage situations, no? You can gain these spells right now if you wish…"
"Did you think to check the spell tab?"
"Are you really a gamer?"
Zell felt this was brilliant advice. However, he knew this was against those rules the goddesses spoke about. He felt like asking, not wanting to speed up his planet's demise. Which was quite fair. He saw everything crumble once before. But she saw the battle from a larger perspective.
"This information must be against the rules." He said. With his voice being slightly sarcastic, wanting to hear her answer.