Experience gained

Sly woke with the dawn. This was only the second time he had actually slept since his transformation and while his body could go without his mind felt she strain. Ariel was where he should be, wrapped in his arm and curled close his wings hidden away so Sly could hold him closer. It seemed that angels and sidhe have similar sleeping habits, the only time Sly saw Ariel sleep was after a long night together. Post-coital bliss is relaxing after all.

Sly didn't want to move. Laying with his lover sleeping gently in his arms was just too nice. However he was very bad at being still unless his mind was occupied. The ruined shirt, tossed onto the floor the night prior, was a grim reminder of just how precarious his position was. Sly had been in more than his share of fights but combat like that was new to him. If that orc yesterday afternoon had landed a second hit he might be dead. If it had been the minotaur swinging that club he most certainly wouldn't have survived the hit. ****, even here, was quick and brutal and both of them were higher levels than him.

~Thank fuck for overpowered magic.~ He thought.

Still, he shouldn't have been caught off guard like that. His combined perception abilities were enough that he could have seen that that wasn't a killing strike. The thing no one warned him about was just how overwhelming it could be when he let it all wash over him at once. Sly had pretty much put it to the side since emerging from his earthen retreat. Now he had paid the price. It was time to dig in and see what this could do.

***

When Lara entered the longhouse with breakfast the sight in front of her was startling enough that she dropped the bowl of honeyed oatmeal and berries with a clatter. Her lord lay gloriously naked in bed, reclining with one arm tucked behind his head, exuding grace and power like she had never encountered. His antlers had sprouted into a tree of gossamer strands of pale light. Seemingly unperturbed his eyes roved the branches and limbs, guiding the tree's growth with his will. The petite blonde man she had seen with him the day before lifted his head from her lord's chest and looked up to meet her eyes, shushing her and she turned her gaze to the floor embarrassed. The sounds of soft, soothing noises and gentle kisses provoked a deeply confusing flush and she turned to flee the building catching a glimpse of the blonde kissing his way down a muscular torso.

***

Sly had long since finished setting up a 'combat mode' with relevant information and allocating his experience. He had a frankly stupid amount of tiny rewards that he just dumped into his race level because that had been advancing the slowest. As soon as he got the next level he could feel a change occur. (Having claimed a realm, named an heir and established diplomatic relations {Hostile} with your neighbors you have established a noble house. Sidhe Tier III is now Noble Sidhe Tier IV.) That seemed like a low bar until he realized that this was on a one to ten scale. It also seemed to take a lot more experience to level as he only got one further level from the thousands of XP he had dropped. It did come with upgrading illusions to glamours which were real enough when reinforced but got extremely draining to do on a large scale.

His classes had both benefited from the combat more than anything else he had done and with his growth rate he shot to level five which gave him a serious boost. He got to refine his skills a bit more picking up beast and urban lore as well as a dodge boost from ranger. Then some extra magical efficiency and a familiar bond from sorcerer, both of which had some synergism with his race and other class respectively. He briefly felt more confident before remembering that almost all of his real threats were still miles above his current powers. Looking down at the stirring Ariel he compared some of their stats briefly and paled a little at how badly he'd lose any straight up fight with his lover.

With a new bar set he looked past where he was on the tree of self he was using to visualize all this to where he needed to be. Time passed as he planned and plotted and discarded ideas, the realm around him fading into the background as he focused. The clattering didn't bother him, he just willed some pixie-like worker emanations to clean up.

Ariel's soothing voice brought him slowly back. The kisses that started behind his ear became distracting. By the time Ariel reached the line of dark hair running below his navel the visualization construct shattered. When Ariel's warm lips enveloped his rising erection Sly decided that it was a good time to start the day and start it right. He let his scent fill the angels world as he gripped a handful of blonde hair. With his free hand he sent a small stream of power to his digits and gently fondled the angel who hummed in appreciation. Their movements stayed in sync as the pace quickened, finally Sly let out a groan and Ariel moaned around his cock as they came together.