A gentle but insistent sucking sensation stirred Jadis out of a deep slumber. At first, her groggy consciousness mixed up the odd feeling with the dream she had been enjoying which involved nine slightly different versions of Eir holding her down and doing things that would make a goddess of love blush. However, it didn't take long for her to come to a more aware state of being and she quickly recognized the metaphysical touch for what it was.

"Hungry again?" Jay murmured as she sat up so she could see over the edge of Hope's crib.

The little Succubus burbled happily at her while holding a small stuffed rabbit that Sorcha had sewn for her. It turned out that teddy bears weren't a thing on Oros, which sort of made sense considering Valbjorn, but toy rabbits were currently popular. After Sorcha had spent a few hours making Hope one out of some spare cloth, the baby had laughed and cooed happily as she played with the little stuffed doll. A dozen more variations on stuffed rabbits had appeared over the next day, made by those who had seen the baby and her new doll, filling the crib Sabina had made for Hope to the point where there was almost no room for the infant.

Jadis could see that it was going to take a lot of effort to avoid spoiling the tiny Succubus rotten.

"You're a greedy little demon spawn, aren't you," Jay grinned at her child as she gave the baby a few kisses, which prompted more delighted giggles from Hope. "You're going to be a giant, just like your mother, aren't you? I mean, like me, not your other mother. Alex isn't that big."

If Hope was confused by the technicalities, she didn't let on.

While her Jay self continued to play with her baby, her Dys and Syd selves got up and worked on getting ready for the day. The bedroom that they had been living in since they had arrived in Glanum was empty except for her and her daughter, which was to be expected. Jadis had spent all night helping Noll and General Voss defend the city against another attempt at infiltration by hostile Demons and hadn't gotten to bed until after dawn that morning. Everyone else had already started their day while Jadis had slept under the effects of Sleep of the D. Looking out the window, she guessed it was close to noon. Hopefully that meant there would be lunch to be found somewhere nearby, since Hope wasn't the only one feeling hungry.

"Up you go!" Syd said as she scooped the baby into her arms. "You're going to follow me around all day, aren't you? We're going to go see your mother and your aunts, and then we're going to visit Cobbler again! You like Cobbler, right?"

Jadis presumed Hope's squealing laugh to be an affirmative response.

"I do, too. And then, maybe your other aunts will arrive today! And then I probably won't get to hold you again for a long time because Eir isn't going to want to put you down. No ma'am."

It had been five days since the Playwright's attempt at kidnapping and Hope's birth. During that time, Jadis had learned many things about motherhood in general and mothering a succubus child in specific. The first one being that when one let the baby sleep in the same room as the Eldritch Sign, Sleep of the D, the infant would gain the "benefits" of the ritual spell as well. It wasn't really too much of a problem, since Hope seemed to sleep more soundly in the presence of the sign than when she was elsewhere, but those shortened naptimes meant one had to be ready to keep the baby entertained far more frequently.

Another thing Jadis had learned in those five days was the answer to Villum's rather important question. That answer was a surprising yet not unhappy no. Apparently, a diet of pure magic meant there was no waste product to get rid of. Or at the very least, Succubus excretions were few and far between, since no mess had stained the infant's wrappings yet.

Nonexistent bowel movements weren't the only topic at hand. Quite a lot of the group's discussions had involved Hope's eating habits. Hope ate frequently throughout the day, usually consuming about forty points of magic every two hours. That was almost five hundred magic a day, which was a not insignificant amount. Alex had more than enough magic regeneration thanks to her high Will that she was easily able to keep up with the insatiable infant's demands, but others not so much. Jadis would be able to keep up if she had to care for Hope alone, but without her new meditative magic regeneration skill, her overall daily regeneration would have been halved. Fortunately, everyone with some magic was happy to contribute to the baby's meals, so there was no pressure.

One of the other interesting discoveries that was made was Hope's ability to "eat" enchantments. The little Succubus tended to latch onto any magic source that was nearby when she was hungry, and at one point she had done so to one of the enchanted weapons that Sabina had been working on while they were all gathered at the dinner table. Jadis had used her Eyes of the Succubi spell to see what was happening, so she had been able to observe the interesting effect. So long as Hope had fed on the minor enchantment, the magic running through the eleria-infused runes had flickered like a lightbulb on the cusp of burning out, disrupting the magic effect from working.

Sabina had wanted to test other, stronger types of enchantments to see if Hope's magic eating ability would do the same, but Jadis had decided against turning the newborn into a guinea pig for a mad scientist's experiments. For the short term, anyway. She had told Sabina that they would hold off on any such tests until after Hope was old enough to talk, which appeased the enchanter's impatient curiosity. After all, it didn't look like that was going to be too long of a wait.

Hope had been born larger and more developed than a human baby. When they had returned from their unwelcome trip to Kastoria, Thais had insisted on weighing the cheerful infant and they had found that she was a hefty fifteen pounds. Part of that had to be her above average size, as it was clear that Hope would be taking at least partially after her sire, though she was still obviously further along than a newly born infant would ordinarily be. The idea that Succubi would mature more quickly thanks to their demonic heritage was solidified three days later when Thais weighed the little hellion again. She had gained a full pound in that short amount of time, which had them all wondering about how quickly Hope would be growing.

However fast her development might be, her baby wasn't walking or talking just yet, so Jadis happily carried Hope around in one arm as she went about getting something to eat.

"There you are," Severina said as she entered the dining room, a bundle of papers held under one arm. "There you both are," she amended when she spotted Hope in Syd's arms. "Good morning, for what is left of it."

"Good morning," Jay grinned at the Seraphim before giving her a quick kiss as she drew near. "Do you know where everyone else is? I haven't gone looking yet but I assume everyone is inside the manor premises."

"They are," Sev confirmed before stepping over to where Syd held Hope and giving the tiny Succubus a kiss on the forehead. "Sorcha came with me when I visited General Voss, but no one else has gone out this morning."

After returning from the Kastoria incident, Jadis had instated a buddy-system policy. No one was allowed to leave the warded and protected area of Aelius manor alone. Not even Jadis. She wasn't going to risk any more kidnapping attempts, not while they were in such dangerous territory where the enemy had more opportunities to attack.

It was possible that Jadis was being a little overprotective, but no one was arguing with her about it. She was tired of the Playwright's convoluted attempts at her and her lovers' lives, and so was everyone else. They were all willing to adhere to a few annoying precautions if it meant less chance of another kidnapping or assassination attempt.

Not that there had been any since returning to Glanum. There had been no further sign of cultist activity at all. There had been fairly regular attacks from Demons against the city, but all had been easily repelled. Even the one from the night before had been sneaky in the regular way some Demons tried deception, rather than the Playwright's brand of frustrating subterfuges. She and Noll had dealt with the small horde that had tried circling around to the southern shore of the city by crossing the river far upstream so quickly that the troops with them had barely had to do anything. The only reason they had been out all night had been because they had wanted to make sure no other Demons were hiding in the farmlands and had thus dedicated hours to a thorough search.

Jadis still wasn't going to let her guard down.

"Sorcha has joined Meli and Violetta. They are experimenting on a few ideas for armor," Severina continued her answer to Jadis' question. "Bridget and Thea are with most of Tegwyn's team in the training yard. The only one not with them is Cora, and that is because she and Thais are performing prayers and benedictions at the front gate for any soldiers who are passing by."

Jadis nodded along to Sev's explanation. While she was glad to hear that Thea and Bridget were keeping up with the advanced training regimen they had developed together, she was more interested to see what ideas Violetta would come up with. The young half-elf half-gnome had finally unlocked her primary class, and it was a good one. Prism Enchanter. While not unique, it was a rare and valuable class that focused on skills and spells that would allow her to better carve runes into eleria and other types of crystals. She didn't have the full breadth of freedom to create whatever enchantments she wanted the way Sabina's Enchanter Smith of the Reborn worked, but she wasn't hard limited like the more baseline enchanter classes tended to be.

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Jadis hadn't been able to dedicate as much time to power level Violetta the way she had originally intended due to the circumstances that had befallen them on their eventful trip, but she had still managed to boost the young craftswoman to level fourteen after only a few outings. That was the equivalent of skipping months of dedicated, non-stop work with novel enchantments in only a handful of days. Violetta certainly wasn't complaining.

As part of her training, Sabina had instructed Violetta to work with Meli on developing some armor that the Dryad could wear that would better defend her without hindering her Agility or flexibility. As Jadis had plainly told the wooden woman, she wasn't going to bring her out on the battlefield again unless she found something to wear that was sturdier than a toga. Meli had reluctantly agreed, though she had insisted on being involved in the crafting process, as the idea of donning metal armor made the Dryad's skin crawl.

"What about Alex and Sabina?" Dys asked after taking a sip of juice. "I assume Sabina's in the workshop with her father and brothers again. But what about Alex?"

"Alex is with Sabina," Severina answered the question after clearing her throat. "Earlier this morning, Sabina requested Alex's 'assistance' with sourcing some fresh… material. For her new enchantment ideas."

Jadis smothered several grins at the explanation. Sabina had been on something of an enchanting spree ever since they had come back to Glanum. She had drafted what had to be over a hundred new enchantment sketches, and she had made quite a few of them, at least in prototype form. While many revolved around new flight enchantments and airship improvements, a large number of those sketches had involved the kinds of ingredients that made Severina turn pink.

The thought of her loveable smith dragging Alex away to a corner where she could perform an extraction on the obliging Demon made Jadis' pants involuntarily tighten. While she was still riding high on the baby endorphins, Jadis was starting to get a little pent up thanks to how restrained she had to be with Hope around. They couldn't do any of their normal nighttime activities with the baby in the room, so she and her lovers had resorted to more one on one, clandestine encounters in various secluded areas of Aelius' mansion. She didn't want to be disrespectful to their hosts, so their activities were highly limited, but Jadis was starting to reach the point where her restraint would be exhausted.

Shaking her heads, Jadis focused on the present, rather than the things she wanted to do to her beautiful lovers.

"I want to go check on Cobbler and the unhatched eggs, so I'll have to convince Sabina to let Alex go. Did you want to come with us?"

"I would be willing," the blonde nodded, though she held up the stack of papers she had in her hand as she took a seat between Jay and Dys. "However, I think we should review these, first. You said you were interested in learning more about military preparation and troop movements."

"Are those the plans?" Jay asked as she perked up. "For Kastoria?"

"They are," Sev confirmed as she spread the documents out in front of her. "Now, these are likely not final, but they should be close enough that you will have a good idea of what goes into a large-scale offensive maneuver such as the one General Voss is planning."

"Excellent," Jay said as she eagerly leaned over Severina's shoulder. "Teach me, master. I am your pupil."

Jadis' idea to attack Kastoria had not gone unheard. With Demon Prince Vinea dead and so many of the demonic forces slain over the past few days, General Voss agreed that the overrun city was an ideal target for counterattack. The Demons who had entrenched themselves in Kastoria were weakened, and the Playwright had likely expended all of his best resources in the area. Using the imperial army to capture the city made sense, though it wouldn't be as simple as just walking over and breaking down the door. A massive number of troops would need to be transported across hostile territory where even the air was trying to kill them. Whole divisions of soldiers would need to be organized, along with all the food and equipment that would keep them alive as they traversed hundreds of miles to get to Kastoria. Any smaller settlements along the way would have to be cleared and garrisons would need to be left behind to keep supply lines open. They had the Siren Sea, which would help with troop and supply transport significantly, but navel involvement didn't make things magically easier. There was a lot to coordinate and account for in order to make such a massive undertaking successful.

Jadis didn't know anything about how the military worked when it came to higher-concept things like troop movements and supplying divisions, but she wanted to learn. Luckily, Severina was well trained in such topics and was happy to instruct her.

Over the next several hours, Jadis worked on three different things. While one self studiously paid attention to Severina's lessons on troop management, a second self kept little Hope fed and entertained. This Little Piggy was a crowd favorite. Her third self kept busy by checking on everyone while updating her journal. As sort of a present for Aila, Jadis had taken to writing down the level progress that she and the others had made while she, Eir, and Kerr were gone. She knew the analytical arcanist would appreciate the data.

Aside from the three levels that Jadis had gained, she recorded the level that Thea had earned as well as the three levels that Alex had received.

Alex had gained one level in her primary class and two levels in her secondary class. That equated to levels thirty-four and twenty-two, respectively. Aside from the four free attribute points she had received for the two even levels, Alex had unlocked a level twenty-one skill slot, which meant a new powerful improvement for her Bonded Alex class.

 

Bonded Alex's Physical Enhancement

Passive Skill. Gain the full numerical boost of one physical attribute that you received when you incorporated a vessel into your being and became a Greater Demon. This choice cannot be altered once made.

Alex had received the same option essentially twice, with the only difference between the versions being physical attributes versus magic attributes. Alex had chosen to take the physical option, as she had wanted to boost her Agility stat so that she could attack and dodge faster, as well as increase the power of her as of yet unused Rings of Blood skill, which was dependent on the speed-granting stat. Doubling the single attribute gain she had received from when she had taken Eike's body for her own had ended up equaling to a fifty-two point boost to her Agility. Accounting for the four free points, which were split evenly between Fortitude and Resilience, and Alex's updated status sheet looked even more impressive than it had a few days before.

Bonded Alex

Race: Demon

Primary Class: Paladin of Jadis (34)

Secondary Class: Bonded Alex (22)

Tertiary Class: None

Combined Level Rating: 56

Health: 1150/1150

Magic: 500/500

Attributes

Strength: 55

Dexterity: 60

Agility: 114

Vitality: 105

Fortitude: 50

Endurance: 42

Arcane: 0

Divine: 95

Eldritch: 0

Focus: 50

Resilience: 50

Will: 829

"Now, where did that extra hundred points in her health come from?" Syd tapped the underlined stat in her book. "Oh, right. Unbroken Will."

Jadis had almost forgotten that Alex's Greater Demon of the Unbroken Will active spell was granting her a hundred points of health every week, so long as the Demon dedicated the time and energy to cast it. That was only once so far, but Alex had taken the first step towards becoming an unbreakable bastion of life force.

"Can't believe it's only been a little more than a week…"

Brushing the thought aside, Syd headed for the workshop where she knew she would find Sabina and Alex so she could both doublecheck her math on Alex's numbers and see what the smith's level progress had amounted to. She knew Sabina had gained at least one level with all of her frenetic enchanting over the past few days, but she didn't yet have the details due to the other distractions going on combined with Sabby's natural flightiness.

It was as she was walking between the training yard and the workshop that she heard the watchtower horns blare in the distance.

Instantly on alert, Syd leapt from the ground onto the roof of Aelius' manor. The soldiers on watch sounded warning with horns whenever Demons attacked the city, using different combinations of length and tone to indicate the size of the force and direction. Listening carefully, Syd paid attention to the horn calls as her other selves got ready to head into battle.

"What is it? How many are there?" Bridget shouted at her from the ground below as the rest of the team who had been training outside gathered around her. "Doesn't that mean southeast?"

"It does…" Syd muttered under her breath as she scanned the horizon to the southeast of the city.

That was the safe side of the Haliax, where the empire was in control. No significant demonic forces should be coming from that direction, unless there had been another crossing in the night that the army had missed, or she and Noll had somehow failed to find a large number of enemies the night before.

Or…

"The Leviathan!" Syd cried out in joy as she pointed towards the sky. "They're back!"

Jadis' hearts swelled with joy at the sight of the distant black dot. It was hard to see at so great a distance, but she could still make out the massive dark dirigible that was carrying three of her lovers. The sight put such a longing in her that she was tempted to cast her wing spell and rush out to meet them in the air right away.

However, as the others on the ground below cheered at the news, Syd squinted at the distant airship. She could see the vessel approaching, but she could also see a second dot following along next to it. The mote was even smaller than the Leviathan, though even at that distance Syd could tell that it was white, instead of black. She couldn't make out any details just yet, but she didn't need to. There was only one other airship in the whole world other than the two that Jadis and her company owned.

"I guess the empire has sent some flying reinforcements," Syd said to herself as she frowned at the sight. "Why do I feel like whatever's on that ship is going to spoil my mood?"

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