Some well-deserved rest and leveling.

One Class Upgrade Remaining.

A huge rush of experience points flooded me as the Priestess hit the dirt, easily enough to level both a Class and a Monster Race again. She was defeated in every sense of the word. Beaten, humiliated, ****, impregnated, broken, and faithless. She was stronger than me in the use of her magic. That was unquestioned. Had I not used dirty tactics and hostages, I may not have been able to defeat her at all. But I had defeated her. Soundly. That's what counted in the end.

Standing over my latest and most satisfying conquest, I felt the fatigue of a very, very long day. Contrary to human physiology, sex seemed to invigorate me rather than tire me, but I was still exhausted. My body was immensely powerful, but even I needed sleep now and then, unfortunately. I wondered if I could upgrade that away with enough Monster XP. Hm. Probably, actually. That was an exciting prospect.

I took a deep breath, content. It had been a good day.

The Priestess lay motionless at my feet, lying on her side in a large puddle of various fluids. Except for the steady rise and fall of her chest she looked like any of the corpses I'd left behind, her vacant eyes staring into eternity. She may have even technically been conscious, it was hard to tell.

My mana was all spent, I realized when I thought to heal her abused body. Her holes had been stretched to their absolute limit and she was covered in tiny cuts and punctures from struggling my tentacles. The sight of her perfect beauty in such a state gave me great satisfaction, knowing her mind had been similarly ravaged. It's what I'd wanted, but I still desired her body to be kept in working order. Oh well, she'd live. I picked her up with an arm around her middle. She remained limp, her arms and legs dangling towards the ground as I carried her to the church.

The skeletal minions I'd created had formed a perimeter around the structure as instructed. A fresh corpse with a bashed-in head lay on the ground by one of the doors. It seemed someone had tried to leave. It was for the best. The rest would likely fall in line once an example had been made. My minions were only first level creations and would have been easily dispatched by anyone worth killing, but untrained villagers were easily cowed. Especially in light of everything else that had happened that night.

A number of candles or torches had lit on the inside of the church; shadows moved behind some of the windows. I wondered for a moment what they must be thinking, cowering like rats in a cage from an unknown horror that had appeared in their midst. Hostile undead had mysteriously appeared to serve as prison wardens and the night air had echoed with the screams of their valiant Priestess for the better part of an hour, and now silence.

I wondered with a grin if they'd also heard her whorish moans towards the end.

Judging from the position of the bright moon in the sky, it was only a few hours until morning. I suspected I could actually enter the church if I wanted. I'd just be uncomfortable and probably limited in power. That was no place for me to sleep. Instinctively, I knew I could turn the place. Strip it of its enchantments and turn it over to the Dark. It would take work, however. The church had served the Light for many years and I was tired. It could wait.

I wanted to be alone.

I could turn the Priestess over to the undead and have them put her with the other humans, but there was no telling how they would react to the sight of her. It could inspire vengeance just as easily as despair. More than that, the last thing I wanted was for her to come to her senses and regain her strength while inside the church, surrounded by those she would die to protect. She might opt to fight me again, Alpha perk or not. She was a fierce woman.

I decided to take her with me. She was the only threat to me in the entire village and I wanted to keep her away from her seat of power until I had a chance to recover my own strength.

I commanded four of my minions to keep up their work, as well as to kill anyone who came into the village not bearing a Mark of Melanoche or traveling with such. The remaining two I sent to the surrounding farmhouses. There were only a few hours before morning, and I didn't want them to become loose ends. They were instructed to simply kill anyone they found, and once they'd cleared all the houses, to return to the church. They were simple creatures and I didn't need more captives.

I carried the unresponsive Priestess into the home closest to the church. I didn't need comfort; I just wanted four walls around my companion in case she woke before I did. Locating a smallish room with no windows, I set her down by the far wall, then curled up on the floor in front of the door and closed my eyes.

The single point of Light remaining in my core wouldn't let me sleep. Like a light in my eyes that I couldn't shake no matter how I tossed and turned. It hadn't been anything distracting while I was active, but now that all was quiet and calm, it demanded my attention. For that matter, my accumulated experience points felt like a pressure in my skull whenever I tried to just **** myself to sleep.

Fine. I would level up, but I wouldn't be happy about it.

I made choices quickly, without any particular forethought or planning. I just wanted to get a few hours of sleep.

I had enjoyed a bit of self-indulgence as I defiled the Priestess. I took pleasure in knowing I could bend and break such a pure, beautiful servant of the Light. I felt a little closer to my depraved mother, Carnachias. With her influence in mind, I poured the Monster Race potential into my Devil blood.

-Devil Level 2-
Health 66/66
Mana 10/110
Physical Attack and Defense Bonus +5%
Spell Power Bonus +20%
Dark Spell Power Bonus +60%

Gain Access to Tier 1 Devil Magic.
Two Monster Upgrades Remaining.

Devil Magic?? I hadn't even realized that was an option. It roused my interest a little. It was a decent list of spells. Mostly offensive. Some utility or even defensive. Summoning? All of it was Dark; all of it subject to my enormous bonus to Dark Magic. Fascinating.

Twin points of Darkness formed in my Core, as before. I found it interesting that Class levels offered three upgrades while Monster Race levels only offered two. I chalked that up to the notion that the Light was more about growth than was the Dark. It was possible that I only had the growth potential that I did because my Core was formed from a human soul. If it was the unholy marriage of Light and Dark within me that allowed me such potential, even on my Monster side. I wondered if I could learn the truth or what I could do with that information. Still, despite being only two, the upgrades were extremely useful.

I wanted to be hardier. Having to stop to heal myself periodically was tiresome, and after taking catastrophic damage to my tentacles in the fight against that Dwarf, I desired some kind of insurance.

New Monster Trait: Regenerative Body
Recover health and regrow lost limbs, up to 10% of your body per hour.

The Priestess's scent was thick in the small room. She smelled of me and my seed, almost overwhelmingly, but I could still make her unique scent out in the mix. Female. Fertile. Scented oils and incense. Arousal. I grew impatient waiting for my children. A month was too slow.

Monster Trait Upgrade: Breeding Add-on
Your seed is even more powerful. Multiple births are guaranteed. Gestation time shortened to ten days.

Much better. It likely wouldn't have any impact on the three women I'd already impregnated, but there were at least twenty women in that church. I'd just boosted my reproductive potential with them substantially. What was going to be a month-long wait for maybe fifty children was now a potential for two hundred children in the same time period. Assuming the women needed no time to recover between pregnancies. Hm. I hadn't considered that. Still, I was excited to get started.

Now for my Class. I should have done this one first. After the thrill of discovering Devil Magic, leveling my Class was comparatively tedious.

I was already a Level 3 Priest and a Level 2 Assassin. My initial instinct was to advance Assassin to keep things even: Priest may allow me to better protect and cultivate an entire army, but Assassin could neutralize threats to that army before they could manifest as such. Ugh. I didn't want to weigh the pros and cons. I was tired, and the Priestess's scent was making me horny again. Or maybe that was just my newly improved Breeder trait. Either way, I just picked one.

-Assassin Level 3-
Health 71/71
Mana 15/115

Deal increased damage to enemies caught by surprise.
Magical healing is slightly less effective against wounds you inflict.

Four Class Upgrades Remaining.

Four? Oh right, the one from my last level. These things were not as interesting as the Monster Upgrades. But they were numerous, and I was getting them at a steady rate. Well, my mana had been a limiting factor. So I pumped that a bit.

Mana 30/130

Three Class Upgrades Remaining.

I looked over at the Priestess. She'd demonstrated a lot of surprising capabilities of the Priest Class. I doubted she had access to the powers of a second Class, and she was likely highly specialized in Light Magic, but what did I know? She had so many enchantments... I wished I had more understanding of the way things worked here. I was learning quickly, but I needed more.

For now I would focus on what I already knew. Sharpen the tools I knew to be useful.

Upgrade Assassin Skill: Shroud
Duration extended for both stealth and adrenaline surge.

Two Class Upgrades Remaining.

I was about to enhance my Dark Magic simply because it was my highest bonus but I remembered I'd gained a bunch of new spells simply from leveling up my Devil Race. I didn't want to limit myself too much and get caught unprepared for something. I leveled up Light Magic instead.

New Priest Skill: Light Magic - Ward
If cast on an area, gain awareness of intruders or hostile intent within that area, or can prevent beings aligned with certain elements to enter or leave the area.
If cast on a person or object, protects against energies of a chosen element. At higher levels will cause harm to being of the chosen element who come in contact with the warded person.
New Priest Skill: Light Magic - Bind
Physically restrain a target and/or seal away the target's access to magic for the duration.
If cast on an enchanted object, neutralizes the enchantment's effects until Bind is dispelled.

One Class Upgrade Remaining.

That was going to see some use. I noticed a distinct lack of a Consecrate spell to match the Desecrate spell I'd gained previously. It dawned on me that all Priests may not be created equally. I was a Priest of Melanoche, and as such drew my power from her. No god of Light would grant a power like Desecrate to their favored champion. Interesting. I thought about that for a while. My pet priestess could have access to specific powers and magics I could ever attain. But that also meant that I could gain powers she'd never seen, herself.

I leaned into my Dark goddess's power, letting the last Class Upgrade go wherever it wanted.

New Priest Trait: Mantle of Blackest Night
At will you may project an aura of Melanoche's power around yourself, causing all intelligent creatures in the area to know you as an emissary of the Black Night. This aura produces a minor mind-altering effect resulting in such feelings as fear and reverence.
Exact effect varies per person affected.
It is impossible to hide while this effect is active.
The strength of this effect varies depending on the faith, temperament, and relative power of those affected.

Hm. Not what I'd have picked for myself; it didn't scream power. But it seemed appropriate, and I had taken a bit of a gamble on that last Upgrade. I did note that Class Upgrades could be used for virtually any kind of effect. New traits, new skills, upgrading existing skills, enhancing base stats... the list went on and on.

I closed my eyes and was met with blissful darkness and silence. Finally.

I slept, letting the time pass as dreamless nothingness.