Okay.

  That enter ihroom had been … a lot.

  Especially how desperately Natalie had o eat Jordan out. Being jerked off had been amazing, but nothing pared to getting to taste Jordan. And how aggressively she’d done so—and how she’d spoken to Jordan. Taken trol. In the moment, something else had taken her over. Just, the way Jordan had let her desire slip through. How couldn’t have Natalie been captured? Been forced to act like that?

  Because it was normal to bnk out when hearing a friend’s arousal. Yeah. Totally. That made sense.

  Natalie deliberately didn’t think about it.

  Because it wasn’t that it had been Jordan. Just, a hot girl, needing to be taken care of. That was what had Natalie losing trol. That it was her friend was tal.

  Her head was a mess, right now. For all sorts of reasons, but especially because of her and Jordan’s future. The new arrahey had. How … Jordan would frequently be ‘training’ with Natalie.

  It did make sense. Natalie needed a reputation at Te. If her first times with Te’s eager students were a letdown, with Natalie finishing too quick, then finding other partners would bee difficult. But if she set good first impressions—especially with the promiscuous girls, who would spread the word—then Natalie’s css had a smooth pathway for all sorts of energy gathering.

  And how would she set good first impressions? By practig. Getting aced to the thiween her legs.

  It was good Jordan was looking out for her. She hadn’t sidered the points she’d brought up, obvious as they were. She was lucky Jordan wasn’t bothered by the idea. Apparently, less than bothered. She’d been more than willing to have Natalie’s head between her legs., then to jerk her off.

  And hadn’t that been a mind-blowing enter? Or sequence of enters, both giving and receiving. Natalie was still shaky, remembering it.

  It was hard to keep in mind that that Jordan wasn’t ied in her, not in that way. Not romantically. Just, their enters worked her up, as it would anyone, and so Jordan had hat pressure vented. Undoubtedly, Jordan would prefer someone else to be taking care of her, but Natalie was the one she’d gotten involved with, thanks to her css. Sure, they’d taken on a title of ‘friends with bes’, but it was under extenuating circumstances. Her css’s fault. It never would have happeherwise. She had to remember that.

  Though, with the noises Jordan had been making … it was hard.

  Fortunately, Natalie had plenty to distract herself with. With her and Jordan’s daily session dohey had other tasks to handle. A packed schedule. First up ars with Sofia, and after that, cheg out the Exge. A student of Te had little time for rest. A big relief. Having time to think would be horrible for Natalie’s mental state.

  Spars against Sofia. That was a rexingly familiar thing to fall ba.

  They set up at the training facility. Strangely, Sofia was quickly being not the worst person in the world to be around. Natalie was looking forward to this event. A spar. Getting to bash Sofia around. That anticipation, Natalie assumed, was returned on Sofia’s part. Their spars had been limited in the past few months, since Sofia had earned her css much earlier than Natalie. An uncssed individual fighting a cssed one—well, clearly, those could only ever be lopsided. Not just the passive boosts to a person’s physiology, but the HP system, too.

  So. Bailiarity. A mostly even pying field. That was something Natalie could use, right now.

  Plus, it was bat practice. Heavens knew she hat. She’d been holding her own in m training, but certainly not dominating the opposition, like she’d prefer. She supposed she ought to be happy with mediocrity—even a bit above it—sidering that she was at Te, but Natalie couldn’t find it io be so. Like most aspirant delvers, she had a petitive streak a few miles wide.

  The spar started off normal enough. Natalie was more than aced to Sofia’s fighting style, and the same in reverse. Truthfully, it made these fights less valuable, not more. Down in the dungeon—or in other spars, or duels—adaptability was key. Adjusting to your oppo’s unique bat abilities and figuring out, quickly, how to effectively use yainst theirs. But fights against Sofia? The two knew each other’s styles too well.

  Except, not pletely true, anymore. Their csses had ged things, regardless that they knew each other’s tendencies and fighting habits. Not only that, but the improved speed, strength, and ability to take hits had ged how Sofia moved aed—what her risk tolerances were. Natalie, having only gotten her css less than a week ago, hadn’t yet digested those ges. Sofia had.

  Which meant, unfortunately, Sofia was making even shorter work of her than usual. Natalie growled as another swipe of her rapier scraped against her, dipping that valuable resource lower. She was so fast. And slippery. A buzzing mosquito. Sure, her jabs and scrapes wouldn’t be nearly as devastating as Natalie’s hammer nding a direct hit, but they added up, chipping away at her HP—which would eventually mean she’d have to yield.

  Natalie was going to have to employ her own ued tactics if she wao win. Sofia knew she had an illusion ability, but she didn’t know how it worked, or even what it was capable of. Because Natalie had barely been using it in spars.

  So she could use the surprise. Maybe pull a round off Sofia by catg her off guard. How incredible would that be? Especially with Natalie’s disadvantage, her ck of familiarity with her css, where Sofia had been training for months.

  And, seeing that infuriating furrowed brow of Sofia’s, her slightly pursed lips as she danced away from Natalie’s attacks, her annoyance spiked.

  She made a pn.

  Why not use her illusion to its fullest? The less-than-typical application she’d discovered?

  Because Sofia? The prude? An inappropriate illusion would definitely catch her off guard. And, this was a horrible idea, but the fact Sofia was winning—again, for the millionth time—erased her better senses.

  So, she made good use of her css.

  She activated [Illusion].