"Hi, my name is Yuri, and I want to fuck you!"

The mage, who Yuri had learned was named Katia, woke to Yuri's admission and upon realizing what she was hearing, her tired eyes began to water and her lips started to quiver. A weak, defeated whimper escaped her throat.

"Whoa, whoa," Yuri replied, quickly switching from aggressively horny to damage control. Crying pretty girls was absolutely not part of her Way! "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you. I'm not going to **** you or anything like that! Please don't cry, beautiful." Yuri slid off the bed and got to her knees, trying to look as non-threatening as possible.

Katia sucked in a few difficult breaths, eventually coming down from her emotional high. She turned her face away from Yuri, thinking. With a start, she realized that she wasn't wearing her robe underneath the covers and she brought the blanket up closer to her chin. Yuri continued to smile at her, saying, "I'm not gonna hurt you. I can be gentle, you know?" The swordswoman brought her hand, with its sharpened nails, up to caress Katia's cheek. Too frightened to retreat or push her away, the girl trembled under Yuri's touch.

A knock sounded at the door. "Come in," Yuri called out without looking away from Katia. She could tell just from sound and smell that the person who entered was the old woman with the red robes who had spoken with her the night before. Both the old fire mage and her apprentice smelled of ashes.

The old woman closed the door behind her and stepped toward the bed. "Yuri," she said, "Let me explain things to her first."

"Yeah, go ahead," Yuri answered. The old woman began to speak in the language Yuri didn't know. Apparently, according to the old woman, it was called 'Common,' which was kind of ironic because Yuri had never heard of it before. Although, maybe she had and she just forgot while she was training in the mountains. Yuri let them speak for a few seconds before a new thought struck her. "Hey, old lady, why are you speaking in Common? Katia knows the Ancient Tongue, too, right? Are you hiding something from me?"

The old lady sighed, and then answered, "No, Yuri, I assure you I am hiding nothing. Katia knows some of the Ancient Tongue, but she is still only an apprentice. She is not yet fluent enough to hold a full conversation in it. I am simply explaining to her about your 'Way.'"

"Ah, that makes sense. Carry on then," Yuri said. She had never imagined that communication would be such a serious problem for her. This old lady sure was helpful. Last night, at the city gates, after Katia fainted, the guards had still been ready to fight her until the old lady showed up. Yuri told her about her Way, including finding and fucking virgins and collecting swords. After that, the old lady had convinced one of the guards to give her a spare sword, because she wanted one. Then, Yuri was allowed to carry Katia to the cozy, two-story home she shared with the old lady near the center of the city. After that, she waited until Katia woke up, and now the old lady was explaining to her apprentice how Yuri wanted to make her the first member of her harem. Yuri had also asked the old woman about the young blonde guard at the gate, and the old woman said that she could become part of her harem later.

For now, it was just Yuri and Katia time, albeit with the old lady as an interpreter. Yuri figured that she could probably get the old lady to take on a few more pretty apprentices and teach them all the Ancient Tongue, and then all of her communication problems would be solved. While Yuri daydreamed about her future harem, she overheard the old lady teaching Katia a new word in the Ancient Tongue. The old lady said the word, 'Fuck,' and then seemed to explain it in Common. When Katia finally seemed to understand, she looked at Yuri with fear in her eyes, and backed up further into the corner of her bed, against the wall. Okay, Yuri thought, maybe this old lady wasn't as helpful as she first assumed?

"Hey, what's going on?" Yuri asked the old lady, "Why does it look like Katia is afraid of me? Just what kind of lies are you telling her, old woman?"

"No lies. Only what you told me," the old lady answered, "That you desire to take her virginity and make her one of your permanent lovers. Katia has little experience in romance. I do not spare my apprentices much time for such frivolous matters."

Yuri took a second to consider the old lady's words, and then asked again, "Okay, so why is she afraid? She was swooning over the sight of my cock just last night."

The old lady took several seconds to consider her response, which annoyed Yuri. Any time not spent fucking beautiful women was a waste of time, as far as she was concerned. After an eternity, or roughly thirty seconds, the old lady spoke, "Tell me Yuri, what would you do if I said that none of the virgin beauties in this city wanted anything to do with you?"

Yuri grimaced at the horrifying idea that the women she was interested in wouldn't also be interested in her. Good thing that couldn't be true, she thought. "Well, I'd call you a liar, 'cause that's not part of my Way at all. Can you answer my question now?"

"Yes, that 'Way' of yours again." The old lady sounded a little tired. Maybe she needed a nap or something. "I'm getting to the answer, but first, tell me why you think you were attacked by the guards at the gates."

"Because they're led by a stupid man, of course," Yuri answered easily, losing interest and beginning to twirl one of her braids. "They probably attack everybody who comes here."

Another pause. Yuri turned to face the old lady, beginning to lose patience with her. The old lady frowned and spoke, "They thought you were a demon, Yuri. You arrived at twilight, chasing a frightened farmer, carrying his stolen goods, and speaking the Ancient Tongue, which is known only to mages and ancient beings. Then, you stole Lucia's sword and helmet in a feat of superhuman agility, knocked her off her horse, and captured her…" Yuri furrowed her brow, losing focus, and not understanding what the old lady was trying to tell her. The old lady pressed on, "I can tell you are a simple creature, Yuri. Your desires are honest, and less harmful than they could be. But you've come at the wrong time. Just yesterday was the third anniversary of Ashnir's Leap- No, nevermind, I can see that means nothing to you. Just know, we do fear you, Yuri. We fear that you may hurt us, even if you won't. You can hurt us, and that's enough to sow fear. You can take Katia's virginity. You can take Lucia's too. They can't stop you. But they will not want to be your lovers unless you follow their 'Way's, so to speak."

That struck a chord. Yuri pondered the idea that other people could also have 'Way's, or life pathways and codes and dreams of their own. It made perfect sense. She probably knew it, in the past, and had just forgotten, while she was too busy mastering her own Way. With this new information, Yuri was able to quickly align her Way to keep things on track. She spoke her next step aloud, so the old lady could hear her decision, "I want to follow Katia's Way to convince her to become my lover."

"Good," the old lady answered. She let out a relieved sigh, and then went on, "Katia is not ready to give you her virginity. She wants to continue her studies under my guidance. Her goal is to become a sage powerful enough to properly defend this city that she has lived in her entire life, the city of Kendar. The road to becoming a true fire sage is long and fraught with peril, so much so that I gave up my own attempts long ago. Even should she succeed in surpassing me, a lone fire sage will do little to guarantee Kendar's safety during these turbulent times."

"But that's where I come in," Yuri said, beginning to formulate a plan.

"Correct. If you were to help Katia defend the city, then we might be able to hold out against the greater nations and empires that desire our resources."

"And then she would put out!"

Katia, who had been following the conversation to the best of her abilities, shifted uncomfortably at Yuri's exclamation. "I would…" She took a moment to converse with the old lady in Common, searching for the right words. "I would, consider, becoming yours, Yuri."

"That's great news," Yuri said, bouncing to her feet in excitement, "Bring it on world! No one can harm Kendar while Yuri is here!"

"But," Katia added, snapping Yuri back to reality, "For the present, may you, please, cover yourself?"

Yuri looked down at her complete nudity, with her breasts and cock on full display, only an arm's length away from Katia's cute little nose. "For you, love? Anything!"