sjar Chapter 210: Punishment Collar
Chapter 210: Punishment Collar
[ Punishment Collar: You can create a collar around a female’s neck. The target will be unable to fight, run, or lie to you, and must obey any of your orders until you choose to dispel the skill. If the target is an Awakened, her HP must be below 100 for the skill to work successfully.
Cost: 5MP ]
’Why do I have a skill like this, Freya?! Are you trying to make me put a girl on a leash?!’ I thought inwardly. If Brandish heard my thoughts, she didn’t defend her Master.
I told my Valkyries about the skill I had received, and all of them looked at me in disgust.
"Hey, I didn’t ask for this skill! It’s Freya’s fault!"
"Nothing good comes from blaming the gods, Rick," Alicia said to me.
"That’s right," Sarah said, supporting the princess. "You only receive these skills because you’re a perv, you perv."
"How did my standing in the group manage to fall so low?" I asked them, but I got no answer.
After a while, Justine shifted her posture and looked at me again. "But thinking about it, this skill could be pretty useful to us."
"Eh?" Erina looked genuinely surprised. "Don’t tell me... You want to use that collar—"
"That’s not what I’m talking about!!" Justine turned red at her friend’s comment. "Think about it for a second. This skill lets us keep an Awakened hostage, and even interrogate her since she can’t lie, right?"
"Are you thinking of using this skill on Equidna?" Diane asked her.
"Or against any other member of the Night Apostles," Justine added. "The location of their hideouts, where each member might be in this timeline... We’d be able to know everything she knows."
"Sounds like a good idea to me," Diane agreed.
"Seems like a good use for a pervert’s skill," Sarah said, still irritated.
"Can you please stop calling me a pervert?"
There was another skill I had gained for my class. I was more surprised by this one than by the first, since it completely changed the way I would fight from now on.
[ Healthy Body: This passive skill makes you immune to ailments such as poison, sleep, arousal, and paralysis. ]
"Hey, doesn’t that mean..." Alicia seemed to understand the real usefulness of this skill.
"Yes, now I won’t be affected by the ailment from Ero Boost anymore! Now I can increase my Status Points without thinking twice!"
This was great news for me. As long as I had mana, I could use Ero Boost and increase my power. The feat I pulled off against Vulcan was something I could repeat from now on without having to pay the price afterwards.
Even so, I could see that my Valkyries looked pretty—
"Why the long faces?" I asked them.
"N-No reason!" Sarah said with such an obvious reaction that it was clear she was lying.
"It’s just that the first time we did it was because of Ero Boost," Erina said, a little embarrassed. "It’s kind of sad that we won’t have to use it again."
"Yeah," Alicia agreed. "There were so many good moments..."
"Hey, you know I almost died a few times because of that. But if you miss it that much, I can use the effect on you," I said, staring at them. "And you girls call me a pervert, but you’re the ones who like doing that kind of thing."
"It’s because..." Justine said, avoiding my eyes. "It’s exciting when you’re under Ero Boost."
"You’re a bit rougher in that state."
"It’s so unfair!" Camula started complaining, beginning to whine. "I didn’t even have the chance to experience my Master under this skill!"
"What a shame, Camula," Alicia said to her. "Rick’s dick gets much bigger when he uses Ero Boost."
"Eh? Is that true?" she asked, turning her face towards me and staring at the area between my legs.
"Of course not! Alicia, stop lying to Camula," I scolded my blond princess and went back to checking the skills.
There were no more skills gained on my part, but my Valkyries had gained quite an arsenal of new abilities.
[ Sarah Lockhart ]
[ Demon Slash: The user’s sword is surrounded by demonic energy that, upon wounding the target, causes bleeding that cannot be healed until the end of the fight, dealing damage over time.
Cost: 10 MP ]
[ Wind Cutter: The slashes the user’s sword makes through the air are carried forward, creating medium-range aerial attacks.
Cost: 8 MP ]
"Looks like even Freya agrees that Sarah looks like a demon," Erina teased her. "That’s why she gave you that skill."
"Stop calling me Red Demon!"
"But it really is a very powerful skill," she continued. "At short and medium range, it’s almost unfair when you stop to think about it. Not that you could surpass me at long range."
Erina was right. In a one-on-one fight, if Sarah managed to hit the enemy with one of those attacks, she could gain the advantage as the fight dragged on.
Wind Cutter gave her another kind of advantage, increasing the range of her attacks or even working as a surprise attack. Sarah might not like it, but the title Red Demon fit her skill kit more and more.
[ Diane Stollen ]
[ Death Rush: The user considerably increases her speed for a short duration. Each enemy defeated during this period increases the damage she deals while the skill is active.
Cost: 10 MP ]
[ Sixth Sense: This passive skill allows the user to detect nearby hidden enemies, ignoring skills that make them imperceptible. ]
Diane also gained a frightening skill, one worthy of a Shadow Assassin. Death Rush was perfect for taking down large groups of enemies, especially when combined with Darkness Walker’s invisibility.
Sixth Sense, on the other hand, was great for protecting us from ambushes, allowing us to counterattack.
"Ugh!" Sarah stared at Diane up close.
"Is something wrong, Sarah?" Diane asked her, a little startled by how close the girl was. Sarah’s breasts were almost pressing against Diane’s.
"Aren’t these skills too OP?" she asked Diane, as if it were her fault.
"I could say the same about yours," Diane answered, trying to move away, but Sarah kept pressing forward.
"Hey, Sarah," Erina said, sounding dejected. "I’m supposed to be your rival."
"Shut up!" she snapped back at Erina harshly.
"You’re so cold, Sarah..."
[ Erina Ashburn ]
[ Hawk Eye: The user temporarily increases her long-distance vision, allowing her to even see through obstacles.
Cost: 10 MP ]
[ Analyze: The user is able to identify an enemy’s weak points.
Cost: 5 MP ]
"Eeeh! I didn’t gain any offensive skills this time, but I can’t complain about these skills either."
My Marksman seemed quite satisfied with her new skills. They really couldn’t deal damage, but they had very interesting tactical potential.
"For someone like Erina to have a skill like that..." Justine crossed her arms and gave her a disapproving look. "Disgusting."
"Eh? Why?" Erina asked.
"Isn’t it obvious? You’re definitely going to use that new power to snoop on others."
"I would never..." Erina was about to say she would never do that, but she stopped because she didn’t believe her own words.
[ Justine Blackwood ]
[ Ice Spear: The user can create one or more ice spears and launch them at will.
Cost: 6 MP ]
[ Muddy Trap: The user can turn the nearby ground into quicksand, hindering the movements of anyone standing on it.
Cost: 8 MP ]
"Simple, but effective," Justine said with a small smile on her face. "I quite like those skills. They are copies of my past skills, though."
[ Camula ]
[ Drain: This skill allows the user, through physical contact, to drain HP and MP from the target while contact is maintained.
Cost: 0 MP ]
"Ooh, that means now I’ll not only be able to endure damage from my enemies, but I can also recover HP from them." Camula said with her index finger on her chin, pondering her new power.
It wasn’t surprising for a Slime like her to have a drain ability. But there was another possibility in my mind. Using Skill Hoarder, I could gain access to that skill, and with it, another source of MP.
No, this went beyond just Drain. All the cheat skills my Valkyries had gained today could become mine. And for that, I only needed to have sex with them as usual.
"Ahem." Sarah faked a cough. "Now, changing the subject, we still have the matter of the competition to settle."
"Ah, that’s right." Erina followed along with a mischievous smile. "Unfortunately, we couldn’t break the tie, so we’ll have to share yo—I mean, share the prize."
She didn’t need to pretend. We all knew she meant ’share you.’ In this case, me.
"Yes, I know. A promise is a promise, and you two certainly deserve a special reward for your hard work."
"Of course we do," Sarah said, a little grumpy. "So what is this ’special reward’ you’re going to give us? Don’t think you’ll get away easily by doing the usual."
"Don’t worry about that. I’ll give you something different tonight," I said with a smile. "Courtesy of our late bee friends."