CHAPTER 110: MOTIVATION*

The morning mist clung to the forest floor like a drunk noble to their dignity—barely there and not fooling anyone.

Aegis adjusted her grip on Ruby & Sapphire, watching Scarlett stretch beside her. They’d left the academy before dawn, telling the gate guards they were going for "training purposes." Which was technically true. They were training to get rich.

"So remind me why we’re hunting Moss Lurkers?" Scarlett asked, rolling her shoulders. "They’re basically just angry bushes."

"Angry bushes that drop Verdant Cores."

"Which are worth?"

"Fifty gold each to the right alchemist."

Scarlett raised an eyebrow.

"For something I could kill with a strong sneeze?"

"That’s the point."

[The beautiful, profitable point.]

Moss Lurkers were a joke enemy in the game. Level 3 at most, slow as molasses, with an attack pattern so predictable that speedrunners used them for free experience. But their cores were essential for high-level plant growth potions that the nobility loved for their gardens.

[Classic game economy oversight. Weak monster, valuable drop, and nobody else knows because why would anyone hunt tutorial enemies?]

"There’s a whole grove of them about a mile north," Aegis said, starting to walk. "Should be about thirty or forty this time of year."

"That’s like... two thousand gold?"

"For a morning’s work."

"Why isn’t everyone doing this?"

"Because everyone else is an idiot."

Scarlett laughed, falling into step beside her. The forest was quiet except for birds and the occasional rustle of small creatures fleeing from two women with weapons.

[Three days until the Masquerade. I need to secure at least twenty thousand gold before then to lock in the merchant contracts. The Moss Lurkers are just the start.]

The math was simple but daunting. Noble status could be bought outright, but there were other ways. The Winter Trials, for instance, had a special provision—anyone who placed in the top three could petition for minor noble status as a "Champion of Valdria."

[I don’t need to buy my way in completely. Just enough to qualify for the trials, then win my way to nobility. Should only take about a hundred thousand to register as a ’provisional merchant house.’]

She could earn that by year’s end if she played her cards right. Corner the right markets. Hunt the right monsters. Maybe do a little light insider trading based on game knowledge.

[And then I can propose to Talia properly. As a noble. Someone her mother can’t just dismiss.]

"You’re thinking hard about something," Scarlett observed.

"Just planning our hunting route."

"Bullshit. You get this little crease between your eyebrows when you’re scheming."

"I don’t scheme."

"You absolutely scheme. Remember the thing with the play?"

"That was improvisation."

"The thing with Varyn?"

"Creative problem-solving."

"The thing where you convinced me to—"

"Okay, fine, I scheme a little."

They found the grove twenty minutes later. It looked unremarkable—just a clearing full of moss-covered rocks and fallen logs. Unless you knew what to look for.

"I don’t see anything," Scarlett said.

"Watch."

Aegis picked up a stick and threw it at the nearest ’rock.’

The rock immediately sprouted tentacles and screeched like someone had insulted its mother.

"What the fuck!"

Three more ’rocks’ started moving, revealing themselves as Moss Lurkers. They looked like someone had crossed a sea anemone with a tumbleweed and given it anger issues.

"They’re camouflaged when resting," Aegis explained. "But they’re attracted to movement and—"

Scarlett had already charged forward and cut one in half.

"They die super easy! This is amazing!"

"Wait, we should be systematic about—"

Scarlett was already spinning through the grove like a redheaded tornado, her sword flashing. Moss Lurkers screamed and died in rapid succession.

"This is actually kinda therapeutic," she called out, decapitating two at once.

Aegis sighed and started collecting the cores from Scarlett’s victims. They were about the size of marbles, glowing faintly green. Each one worth fifty gold to the right buyer.

[At this rate we’ll clear the grove in ten minutes.]

But she wanted to make it interesting. And maybe she was feeling a little competitive after walking in on Scarlett and Sophie yesterday.

"Hey, Scarlett?"

"Yeah?" Scarlett paused mid-swing, a Moss Lurker dangling from her sword.

"Want to make this a game?"

"Always."

Aegis sauntered over, making sure to put some extra sway in her hips. She saw Scarlett’s eyes track the movement.

"If you can kill fifty Moss Lurkers in the next hour..."

She leaned in close, lips nearly touching Scarlett’s ear.

"I’ll give you the best head you’ve ever had. Right here in the forest."

Scarlett’s entire body went rigid. The Moss Lurker slid off her sword with a wet plop.

"Fifty?"

"In an hour."

"Starting now?"

"Starting..." Aegis stepped back. "Now."

What happened next would probably go down in history as the Great Moss Lurker Massacre of Year 792.

Scarlett moved through the forest like death incarnate. Her sword became a blur. Moss Lurkers didn’t even have time to screech before they were bisected, trisected, or in one impressive case, quintsected.

"FIFTEEN!" she roared, drop-kicking one into a tree where it exploded.

"TWENTY!" A spinning attack that cleared a whole cluster.

"THIRTY!" She was actually dual-wielding now, having picked up a fallen branch as a second weapon.

Aegis followed behind, collecting cores and trying not to laugh. She’d never seen someone so motivated by the promise of oral sex. It was genuinely impressive.

"FORTY!"

Scarlett was sweating now, red hair stuck to her forehead, muscles straining against her shirt. She looked wild. Primal. Incredibly hot.

"FORTY-FIVE!"

She was running out of Moss Lurkers in the immediate area. But Scarlett Lionheart did not give up. She started checking under logs, behind trees, anywhere a Moss Lurker might hide.

"FORTY-EIGHT!"

"FORTY-NINE!"

She froze, looking around frantically.

"Where’s the last one? WHERE IS IT?"

Aegis pointed up. A single Moss Lurker clung to a tree branch, probably hoping if it stayed very still, the crazy human would go away.

Scarlett threw her sword like a javelin.

The Moss Lurker exploded.

"FIFTY!" She turned to Aegis, pupils blown wide, chest heaving. "Time?"

Aegis checked her pocket watch.

"Forty-three minutes."

"So I win?"

"You absolutely win."

Scarlett’s grin could have powered the academy for a week.

"So about that reward..."

Aegis walked over slowly, making sure Scarlett could see the intent in her eyes. She pushed Scarlett back against a tree, dropped to her knees on the soft forest floor, and started undoing Scarlett’s belt with deliberate slowness.

"Right here?" Scarlett’s voice cracked slightly.

"I did say in the forest."

"What if someone sees?"

"Then they get a free show."

Scarlett’s cock sprang free, already rock-hard from adrenaline and anticipation. It was thick and veiny, with a slight curve that Aegis had learned to use to her advantage.

Aegis started with just her tongue, one long lick from base to tip that had Scarlett’s hips jerking forward.

"Fuck—"

"Patience."

She wrapped one hand around the base, stroking slowly while her tongue circled the head. Scarlett was already leaking precum, salty and perfect on Aegis’s tongue. She lapped it up, making sure to maintain eye contact the whole time.

"Aegis, please—"

"Please what?"

"Stop teasing!"

"But you’re so cute when you’re desperate."

She finally wrapped her lips around the head, sucking gently while her tongue worked the sensitive underside. Scarlett’s hands flew to her hair, gripping tight but not pushing.

Aegis took her time working down the shaft, inch by inch, letting Scarlett feel every movement of her tongue. She’d gotten very good at this over the past months—knew exactly how to relax her throat, how to breathe through her nose, how to suppress her gag reflex.

When she finally had all of Scarlett in her mouth, nose pressed against red curls, she swallowed.

"OH FUCK!"

The convulsing of her throat around Scarlett’s cock had the desired effect. She pulled back slowly, letting Scarlett feel every inch sliding out, then immediately took her deep again.

She set a rhythm that had Scarlett cursing. Deep, shallow, deep, shallow, with her tongue constantly moving, finding every sensitive spot. Her free hand found Scarlett’s balls, rolling them gently.

"Aegis, holy shit, your mouth—"

She pulled off with a wet pop, strings of saliva connecting her lips to Scarlett’s cock.

"No talking. Just enjoy your prize."

She took Scarlett’s hands and placed them more firmly in her hair.

"You can fuck my mouth if you want."

Scarlett’s eyes went impossibly wide.

"Are you sure?"

Instead of answering, Aegis opened her mouth and stuck out her tongue, waiting.

Scarlett started gentle, just shallow thrusts, but Aegis grabbed her ass and pulled her deeper. The message was clear: don’t hold back.

"Fuck, you’re perfect."

Scarlett started fucking her mouth properly, and Aegis relaxed into it, let herself be used. The sounds were obscene—wet and sloppy and echoing through the silent forest. Saliva dripped down her chin. Her eyes watered. She loved every second of it.

She could feel Scarlett getting close, the rhythm becoming erratic, the grip in her hair tightening. So she did something she’d been practicing—swallowed Scarlett completely and hummed.

The vibration combined with the throat constriction was too much.

"I’m gonna—fuck, AEGIS—"

Scarlett came hard, pumping directly down Aegis’s throat. Aegis swallowed everything, then kept sucking through the aftershocks until Scarlett was whimpering from oversensitivity.

Only then did she pull off, giving one last kiss to the tip before sitting back on her heels.

"Holy shit," Scarlett panted, slumped against the tree. "That was..."

"The best you’ve ever had?"

"I can’t feel my legs."

"Then my work here is done."

Aegis stood, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. Scarlett was looking at her with something soft in her eyes.

"Come on, champion Moss Lurker slayer. We’ve got cores to sell," Aegis smiled at her.

"After you."

They gathered up their loot—fifty-three cores total, since Scarlett had gotten a little overzealous. That was 2,650 gold from one morning’s work.

[At this rate, I’ll have my seed money in two weeks. Then I can start the real business.]

"So what’s next?" Scarlett asked as they walked back. "More Moss Lurkers?"

"Tomorrow we’re hunting Shade Wisps. They drop Ethereal Dust."

"How much is that worth?"

"Hundred gold per ounce."

Scarlett stopped walking.

"Are you trying to get rich?"

"Maybe."

"Why?"

Aegis thought about how to answer. The truth was too complicated, too insane.

"I want to change things. Make something of myself beyond just being the academy’s scandal magnet."

"You’re already something."

"I want to be more."

Scarlett nodded slowly.

"Alright. Then I’ll help."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that. Plus, the head thing was really motivating."

"I’ll keep that in mind for future hunts."

They made it back to the academy by noon, pockets heavy with cores. The merchant who bought them didn’t even question where two students had gotten so many—gold was gold.

As they split the profits, Aegis did the mental math.

[Three more days until the Masquerade. Then a week until the Winter Trials. If I can maintain this pace...]

She’d have her hundred thousand. Her provisional merchant status. Her shot at nobility.

And then, finally, she could give Talia a real choice.

And that was worth all the effort she was expending now.