Chapter 275. Restoration

Feeling the 'enthusiastic' response to his touch, the Necromancer felt his breathing quicken as he put slightly more force into kneading her muscles.

Seeing her legs clamped together, he slowly ran his fingernails on her skin to her inner thighs and gently forced them apart.

Hearing a low moan the tigress couldn't keep in, he chose not to focus on that area but continue lower.

From her thighs to her calves, then lower to her ankles, and finally to her feet. 

Feeling the dainty feet in his hands, he focused all his attention on them. Their previous intimate interactions had shown that Helen's feet were a very erogenous area.

So he began with the heel, gently massaging it. Then, he moved to the sole, putting more pressure as his fingers dug deeper into the flesh.

Before he could even reach the toes, the tigress's body had already arched, and she was panting heavily.

But that didn't mean he should stop. On the contrary, he continued by giving all his attention to her toes, letting his fingers move through them, provoking a loud moan from the woman every now and then.

After finishing the left leg, he moved to the right and repeated the process. He also got so into it that he didn't realize that he had already used half a bottle of massage oil.

Seeing Helen hide her face in the pillow as her body trembled, he bent over to whisper in her ears. 

Being asked to turn on her back shouldn't have fazed the tigress before, but the distance she felt from Michael in the past two days created an odd feeling of shyness.

With her eyes firmly closed, her hands covered her chest while her legs were clamped together again.

Smiling, the Necromancer poured more oil on her collarbone area, allowing it to drip further down into the hidden valley. 

Feeling Michael's hands reach around her neck as he carefully massaged her prompted her breathing to intensify again. He could feel her swallowing her saliva every now and then, remembering how much she enjoyed being choked during sex.

Moving to her earlobes, he gently massaged them for a while, then moved down to her neck and onto her chest.

There was no resistance when he removed her hands and placed them next to her body as he regathered the oil to her breasts.

Feeling the plumpness in his hands, he took his time caressing the beautiful mounds, sometimes softly, sometimes in a more violent manner, carefully observing Helen's reactions.

Seeing her chest heave up when he was pulling and lower when he was pressing, Michael greatly enjoyed her cooperation.

Sensing that he had played enough with her breasts, he moved lower to her abdomen and carefully teased her from the side as he allowed his fingers to reach her pelvis, but no further.

Sometime during the process, her legs were undone, and a slight space was created between her thighs. 

Feeling the heat her body was emanating, Michael bent over and saw her eyes were still tightly closed, making him want to tease her some more.

Moving closer to her ear, he bit it gently and then whispered.

"What should I do? I was planning to use more oil for the massage, but a certain area seems wetter than the rest of your body..."

Hearing the moan, he got as a reply, while his lips were still near her ear, his left hand descended between her legs.

With a loud gasp, her thighs clamped around it, but not fully. He could still move his fingers, which he did without hesitation.

Gentle touch after gentle touch, while his breath was touching her ear and neck, Helen's body shuddered and arched before his fingers could find their way inside.

As she was gasping for air, trying to recover from the dizziness, she felt both of her legs slightly raised from under her knees and pulled apart.

Feeling her lover's tongue caress her immediately made her body tense as her hands grabbed hold of his hair.

Acting as if he hadn't noticed her actions, Michael continued the 'massage' until the point where Helen was lying weakly on the bed, chest heaving violently.

Wiping his mouth with an intense sense of satisfaction, the Necromancer took off his underwear and slowly positioned himself above her.

Feeling his body warmth, the tigress cradled her arms around his neck as she felt her body slowly welcoming him in.

Truth be told, Michael was having a hard time himself. Watching a woman as beautiful and tempting as Helen was gasping, moaning, and climaxing under his hands for such a long time, he was way over his limits.

Since this was a 'thanking' session, he could only focus mentally and try to last longer.

With each thrust, he felt her tighten around him. With every kiss, he felt her arms pulling him closer, as if she wanted to meld with him.

Letting his hips do all the work, he grabbed her ass with both hands while still in the missionary position, prompting her legs to lock around his waist.

Now, he would thrust even deeper, provoking loud moans and sloppy sounds with each movement.

Eventually, his focus slackened as he felt her teeth into his neck, prompting a low growl to follow.

Even if he finished, seeing the lascivious woman below him filled him with a sense of hunger. 

Grabbing her legs, he closed them together and placed them on his chest as he continued thrusting. 

Faster and faster. Deeper and deeper.

To avoid monotony, he grabbed her waist and turned her over. Seeing the tigress raise her firm ass without him prompting her to, the 'thanking' session devolved into an almost feral struggle between the two parties.

Between his growls and her loud moans, they indulged until daybreak.

Finally satisfied, the Necromancer rested his back against the wall as Helen's head lay on his lap.

Running his fingers through her hair, he calmly analyzed his feelings as he watched her sleep.

He compared it with his memories and realized the interaction felt more intimate than before.

The most important thing was that he wasn't against it. 

While the sex itself was terrific, the intimate feeling Helen showed him during the sex was much more appealing to him.

She allowed him to be in total control, practically saying aloud just how much she trusted him.

Glancing to the left upper corner of the room, he gently shook his head. He felt magic fluctuations from there during the night, but none of the 'usual' suspects were home.

This meant that the one spying on their love-making was none other than the fiery Aylin.

Deciding to let things develop naturally instead of running away any longer, he gently moved Helen's head back to the pillow.

He didn't feel tired even if he hadn't slept a wink. On the contrary, he was more energized than before.

Furthermore, he had his 'appointment' with the Dungeons today.

Sensing movement, the tigress lazily opened her eyes, only to see Michael dress up and put on his equipment.

Realizing she woke up, he bent over and kissed her.

"Go back to sleep."

[Mhm...](Helen)

Seeing how peaceful she looked, he chuckled and headed straight for the kitchen.

It was already 6:45 a.m., and the staff was working hard to prepare their meals.

To his surprise, Aylin was also there, though, unlike him, she looked slightly tired.

Smiling to himself but deciding not to make things awkward, he greeted the fiery mage.

"Good morning, Aylin."

[Eh!? Uhm... yes. Good morning.](Aylin)

Seeing her evasive gaze and how she kept throwing glances at his lower body and mouth, he felt like he should tease her a bit.

Moving abruptly, he closed in on her and pressed his forehead onto hers. 

Barely able to contain his laughter as he saw her eyes swimming, Michael could pretty much hear the cogwheels in her brain turn, but eventually unable to come up with a reaction.

Removing his face from her personal space, he put on a concerned look.

"Are you okay? You look like you haven't slept at all. I thought you might've come down with the flu or something, but you don't seem to have a fever."

[...](Aylin)

With how smart she was, Aylin understood the implied meaning and blushed furiously.

Realizing she was about to explode, Michael calmly smiled at her, took the four sandwiches she had probably prepared for herself, bade her farewell, and bolted out of the house.

Thankfully, there were no explosions or loud yells like it happens in movies and anime, but he decided to avoid courting death so openly in the future.

Eating one of the sandwiches and appreciating how good of a cook Aylin was, Michael made his way to Demyan first.

He found the Occultist unlocking the door to his shop.

When the man saw him, he waved for the Necromancer to follow.

"Good morning, sir."

[Good morning. Did you come here for the usual?](Demyan)

"Yes, sir. I have two items from which I want to extract the Legendary Aspects."

[*Sigh* I'm afraid I must disappoint you this time. Did you visit Zivek yesterday?](Demyan)

"Yes, sir."

[Then, did you see the changes?](Demyan)

"While I didn't see them yet, I was planning to do so this morning. Sir Zivek asked me to return after I left two Manuals to him."

[Manuals?](Demyan)

"It is a new recipe-like item. Related to the changes, no doubt."

[I see. Well, just like in his case, my occupation also experienced some changes. I can no longer extract Aspects.](Demyan)

Helen's father explained to the baffled Necromancer how he could still imprint Aspects on items and craft or salvage sigils - a newly added method through which one would gain access to Nightmare Dungeons in the near future - but that was it.

As for how extraction works now.

[If you find an item you like and want to extract the Aspect from it, all you need to do is have Zivek salvage it for you. The Sanctuary would automatically register the Aspect in your Codex of Power. By the way, the Codex will become a new interface page in your system now.](Zivek)

Following the instructions, Michael opened his interface and indeed saw the Codex of Power as a new page.

In conclusion, once a Wanderer finds an item with an Aspect they like, they can salvage it, and the Sanctuary automatically adds it to their Codex of Power, allowing them to imprint on other items.

Due to the same reason, the previously existent inventory where Aspects could be stored also vanished.

Also, if one finds two consecutive items with the same type of Aspect and salvages both, the one with the highest 'Affix' will be registered.

That also meant that if you later find an even better Aspect than the one currently registered in your Codex by salvaging the new item, the Sanctuary would automatically overwrite the lesser one.

'There's also the fact that you no longer have to pay for the Aspect Extraction, but it's better not to mention that in front of Demyan.'

"I see. I'll come back later once I gather some items. I'll have to change my skill build soon, so I reckon I'll visit after I make my decision."

[No problem. Just be prepared for the prices to increase since I lost a good portion of my monthly revenue because of this change.](Demyan)

"..."

Leaving the Occultist behind, Michael rushed to Zivek's Blacksmith, where he found the middle-aged man looking haggard and angry.

After saying his greeting and finding out the man hadn't yet gone to sleep or eaten anything since noon yesterday, the Necromancer took out another sandwich and a cup filled to the brim with a smoothie made of vegetables.

While the blacksmith enjoyed his breakfast, Michael opened the interface, where four sub-pages related to item modifications appeared.

There was the usual 'Salvage' interface, which gave him an approximate amount of materials gained after agreeing to salvage items that he hadn't seen before.

Everything in that regard was approximated and decided by Zivek in the past.

The second tab was the 'Repair' interface, where he was given a 24,180 bill if he wanted to repair his currently equipped items.

Remembering that he had a lance pierce through his Chest Armor yesterday, the Necromancer postponed the repairs, hoping he would find a better item in the meantime.

The third and fourth tabs were related to the new changes and the Priority Quest he got.

The third was 'Tempering,' and it showed a slot to place the item in, as well as six slots below to choose between.

There was even a prompt saying, 'Select a Rare/Legendary item or Recipe.'

Curiously, he checked the six slots, which appeared to be categories of recipes like the ones he gave to Zivek yesterday.

[ Tempering Recipes

*Weapons

1. Bone Augments (expand for more details) ]

Deciding to do just that, he opened the recipe to see what it offered.

[ Bone Augments

Magic Temper Manual

Weapons

-----------------

* +[18.5 - 27.5]% Chance for Bone Spliters Projectiles to Cast Twice

* +[8.0 - 10.0]% Chance for Bone Spear Projectiles to Cast Twice

* +[21.0 - 30.0]% Bone Spirit Explosion Size

* +[15.5 - 20.0]% Bone Storm Duration ]