Her hand moved almost on its own, fingers brushing the glowing third icon. The pink shimmer pulsed warmly, sinking into her chest, filling her body with a strange but comforting energy.
[Sensual Resistance acquired.]
Stamina recovers faster during Wrestling Battles. Opponents' exhaustion rate increased by 20%.
The words burned into her vision, then faded. Darkness blinked rapidly, cheeks burning as if someone had caught her in the act of making an embarrassing confession.
"I-I can't believe I picked that one…" she whispered, pressing her palms together nervously. "But… it makes sense, doesn't it? My attacks are already strong enough… I've beaten eight goblins with just a stick, after all."
Her heart raced as she remembered the last fight, her lips pressed against that goblin, the flood of heat sliding down her throat, and the victory message that had appeared immediately after. She squirmed, her thighs rubbing together.
"I-if I'm going to keep getting dragged into those matches… then I need to be sure I'll always win. Even if my body is weak there… I can't lose."
Her voice cracked into a small laugh, contradictory to her flustered words. "So embarrassing… but it's perfect. Hehehe…"
A faint warmth lingered in her stomach, the mark of her new skill. It was subtle, yet she could already feel her pulse calming faster than before, her breath returning more easily, as if her body had been secretly rewired to endure longer… and to outlast anyone who tried to wrestle her down.
For the first time, she felt prepared—not just for combat, but for whatever "special" challenges the dungeon might throw at her.
Her fingers lingered on her chest where the warmth had seeped in, as though her very heartbeat had been reshaped by the system's blessing. The cave's stale air suddenly felt fresher, her limbs lighter, her lungs deeper. She curled her toes against the dirt floor, amazed at the subtle shift flowing through her.
Her lips parted, letting out a shaky breath that turned into an awkward giggle. "S-still… what kind of knight invests in that kind of skill…?" She pressed a hand over her face, hiding the smile that kept tugging at her mouth. "Ahh, I'm hopeless…"
But her thoughts betrayed her—circling back again and again to the way the goblin's strength had crumbled the longer he held her, how his desperate thrusts had turned sloppy before he collapsed. She hadn't needed to fight harder; she had simply endured until he lost. That victory had tasted sweeter, sharper, than the others.
Her thighs squeezed together before she realized it, her body reacting with that same treacherous heat. She shifted uncomfortably, whispering into the empty cavern as if speaking to herself might steady her.
"I-it's not like I enjoy it… I-I'm just… optimizing… that's all. If my body is already… h-hot… then it only makes sense to turn that into an advantage, right? Yes, of course…"
Her voice trailed into silence, only to rise again in a nervous laugh, airy and almost happy. "But it's so shameless… so wrong… hehehe…"
The memory of the glowing pink shimmer replayed in her mind's eye, the warmth of it still resonating deep inside her belly. Darkness hugged her knees to her chest, rocking slightly as if to ground herself, but the corners of her lips kept lifting into that tiny, traitorous smile.
With a final sigh she pushed herself up, brushing the dust from her legs. The faint shimmer of her armor repaired itself, glinting faintly in the torchlight. She picked up her makeshift branch, tightening her grip.
No matter what form the battle took—blade against blade, or body against body—she was ready.
And if it was the latter… she was certain now she could outlast any opponent until their strength failed them first.
"…Let's see how many more I can take down today."