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I thought the weirdest part of today was going to be the part where I got kissed by a half-naked succubus in front of her sisters.
I was wrong.
Because now, I was in the middle of the palace's training hall—a room bigger than my entire house—with five dangerously powerful women… and they all wanted to "train" me.
Not kill.
Train.
Lucky? Maybe.
Cursed? Also… maybe.
Lilith, of course, stood at the edge of the marble platform, arms crossed like a queen overseeing her newest soldier. "We'll each train you in our own way. Fail, and you're useless to me."
Standard demon queen motivation.
Then Vera, the war goddess, stepped forward first—bare feet slamming against the stone floor like thunder. Her toned arms flexed as she cracked her knuckles, smirking.
"You ever held a sword, human?"
"I—uh—once swung a mop," I muttered.
She laughed. Loudly. Offended but entertained. "Close enough."
She summoned a glowing crimson blade and threw it at me.
I caught it by accident. Almost dropped it.
"Good reflexes," she said. "Lesson one: Don't die."
Then she attacked me.
Hard.
For ten minutes, I was tossed, pinned, choked, kicked, and once, accidentally mounted—don't ask. My muscles screamed, but something strange happened with each hit: a spark, a warmth in my core. I was… adapting?
Before I could figure it out, Vera backed off. "Not bad. You're learning."
Then Neve, the Ice Witch, approached. She barely spoke. Just looked into my eyes, her palm glowing blue. When she touched my chest—
Cold. Like I'd swallowed a glacier.
But inside that frost, I felt clarity. A flicker of focus.
"You control heat," she whispered. "Balance requires cold."
The moment ended before I could say anything. And then…
Then came Syla.
Barefoot. Sleepy-eyed. Wearing nothing but a thin shirt and underwear that really didn't count as armor.
"I'll train him now~" she purred.
I barely had time to panic before she backed into me—pressing herself against my chest, grabbing my arms and placing my hands around her waist, guiding them downward.
"This is heat training," she murmured. "Lust stirs warmth. Heat follows desire."
I gulped.
"Don't fight it. Let it flow into you."
The moment our skin connected, something surged. A warm, pulsing energy rushed from her back into my arms, like a river of fire. My vision blurred for a second.
Power. Raw and addicting.
Lilith barked something in the background, but I barely heard it.
Syla just smiled and whispered, "That's it… you're awakening."
---
Before I could even enjoy—or survive—the moment with Syla, she let go of my hands and practically floated backward, her long hair brushing over my chest like silk.
"Next~," she sang, spinning lazily toward the side.
Then came Iria.
The dark-skinned enchantress of storms.
She didn't walk. She glided. Barefoot, eyes glowing faintly gold, with lightning crackling at her fingertips. Unlike the others, she didn't say much at first. Just reached up, cupped my face, and tilted it so I was forced to look into her eyes.
"The body adapts through force," she said softly, her voice like thunderclouds before a downpour. "But the soul? It learns through sensation."
She touched my chest—right where Neve had—and this time it wasn't cold or warm.
It shocked.
Electricity danced through me, snapping every nerve awake. I gasped. My knees buckled. She held me in place.
"You must learn to channel the storm inside you. Want me to show you how?"
I blinked, nodding mutely.
She smiled with faint amusement, then placed both palms on my shoulders and said, "Then brace yourself."
Lightning tore through me.
Not enough to kill—just enough to make my heart feel like it was being rewritten. Every nerve ending was firing at once. My body convulsed, then… adapted. The pain morphed into strength. My blood hummed with energy.
When she stepped back, I was still shaking.
Vene just said, "Not bad. You're still breathing."
Cool. Barely.
And then… then came the last one.
Lysa.
The quiet one. The observer. She stepped forward slowly, dressed in a long robe that fluttered behind her like smoke. No flashy magic. No weapons. Just a calm, unreadable expression.
"You've learned to feel," she said. "Now learn to think."
She raised one hand and touched my forehead.
Boom.
Instant silence.
My thoughts stopped. My vision blacked out for a moment—and then returned sharper. Like someone had taken off a blindfold I never knew I was wearing. I could hear the heartbeat of everyone in the room. See the twitch in Lilith's fingers before she crossed her arms. I could sense their power.
"You've opened your inner gate," Lysa whispered. "The heat in you will consume you unless your mind leads it."
She stepped away without another word.
And finally… Lilith.
The Demon Queen herself descended from the platform. Her steps echoed with command. No smile. Just fire in her crimson eyes.
"You're feeling the power now, aren't you?"
I nodded.
"Good," she said. "But power without control is just chaos. And you belong to me now. So if you fall apart, I'll break you myself."
Romantic, right?
But then she placed her palm on my chest—and everyone's power surged at once.
Heat.
Cold.
Lust.
Lightning.
Mind.
All of it exploded inside me like a storm trying to escape its cage. I screamed. Dropped to my knees.
Lilith leaned close, her breath hot against my ear.
"Endure it," she whispered. "Or be destroyed."
I gritted my teeth.
And for the first time… I didn't just feel the power.
I wielded it.
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