1.4 – Stranger

Ilse stirred, her body felt drowsy, but her skin was warm. She was indoors somewhere, a stark contrast to the cold stone floor she was thrown on, she remembered vividly. Her fingers twitch in response to her nerves itching. Soft fabric surrounded her like a nice warm blanket.

Beneath her creak echoed, she lay on something old. Perhaps decaying bedframe. 

She blinks uncomfortably. And her senses fight to become aware of her surroundings. There was the electronic crackling of the blue light which shone above her. Then the smell of something metallic but biological mingled with her nose. 

A silver-haired woman leaned across her, her bangs swaying horizontally as she moved overhead, Ilse caught the purplish eyes scrutinizing her. 

She felt her skin was uncomfortably smooth. She touched her arm and found it covered in a strange thick glowing ointment, it smelt like a wildfruit, sweet but intoxicating. 

The silver-haired woman pulled off the blanket that covered Ilse's body, spreading the ointment slowly and gently across her tummy with smooth smokes. Her touch was surgical and yet sensual, Ilse shivered when her touch lingered near her chest.

Wait a minute.

She was entirely naked, in front of a stranger. Her arms jerked awkwardly as she pushed the woman's hands away covering herself in the blankets. Her cheeks were flushed, she was a horny bitch but who the fuck was this. She started breathing quickly recalling what happened. 

She'd been attacked by that other girl, without cause or explanation, all she did was ask for help.

"Ah, ah, ah. That won't do." the stranger said

The woman threw the cover off, pointing a finger at her face that said. "Wait."

Ilse gave in as her hands pressed against her bare breasts, massaging the ointment into the circumference of her breasts, slowly and with rhythm. The act of 'generosity' made the heat in her crotch start spiraling again, her body reacting without input.

Her heart started pulsing faster as she felt the strange energy rise in her skin– like a rope strangling and twisting, then releasing. The red, purplish hue started to fade from her skin. 

The woman, A nun? Lips curved into a smirk. "Breath," 

Her accent was strange, eastern European was the closest thing she could think of.

"You have questions I'm sure," she said calmly. "For a moment forget about it, my name is Katarina, just ease into it."

The 'nun' stopped massageing, tilting her head upwards. She took a bottle of something ocean blue from a desk, pressed it against Ilse's lips, and told her to "swallow." 

As it fell on her tongue, the taste of burnt sugar came to mind, everything cooled in her body as it slid down her throat. 

[Corruption: deplenished.]

[Corruption 15%]

A wave of relief came over as it crept away, she felt clarity, and mindfulness, maybe not rationality because things were fucking insane. 

Katarina stood up, her long hair flowing as a faint morning breeze, escaped into the room. She stared at the rising sun outside. 

It was morning already? Just a moment ago it was late afternoon.

"New," she started, but hesitant. "How new are you."

Ilse's throat struggled to form a word. Her hands clenched the sheets, the blanket, she tried to get up and ground herself. 

The nun nodded to herself. "Ok, you're definitely week one new, and you've been touched by corruption already, very curious."

"W-where exactly am I?" She asked, frightened and scared.

"The world? Earthfall we call it. It's what the first reincarnated group dubbed it." she resumed not stopping to hear If Ilse understood it right. "The land and city you're in? It's called Erytheim."

"Erytheim?"

"Hmmm," she murmured. "A place where broken and unwanted souls get trapped in an endless cycle. Either you break the cycle or it breaks you. "

Her tone carried a flicker of sadness, her eyes said nothing at all. 

"Is that even a much of a choice?" Ilse asked. 

Her lips twisted into a sardonic smile. "Choice? No. We don't get to choose, it's do or die."

Katarina leaned forward, their faces pressed together lips apart from Ilse's. The air was charged, and the gaze was fierce, dominating. "You're a bit different, I like you," she commented, her breath tickling Ilse's face.

"What?" Ilse asked brow furrowed. Her voice broke in confusion. Mentally she was confused, physically she was sick, sexually she was aroused.

Katarina pulls her head back, ignoring the conversation. She stands up, and tosses a bundle onto the bed, a fresh pair of clothing, less raggy more pajama-like. "Take that bundle, there's some mana packets in there. Should keep you alive for the next week. Just remember it's hard to reset corruption without proper sustenance. Find a job, learn to get by, or…wither away."

Katarina shoots towards the door. "You may stay here for the night, though please be respectful, the goods I keep in here I have to share with the rest of this district."

"Wait!" Ilse voice cracked, her desperation apparent. "None of this makes sense! I don't know what I'm doing–I don't know where to go. The voice never said which place It would take me, I didn't get an instruction manual. I don't know if this is heaven or hell, I thought I made the right choice reincarnating here, I…I was wrong."

Katarina's eyes widened. "Choice…you chose to come here to this hell?"

Ilse fell off the bed, crawling towards Katarina, clutching at her. Her full body is nude and exposed. 

"Please, I don't know what to do?"

Katarina stops, her hand holding Ilse's face, her fingers caressing. "That depends, ms…?"

"I-Ilse, she coughed out." "Ilse." 

"Are you willing to learn?" she said cold and unforgiving.

Tears started falling out of her eyes, but she didn't cover her face. She nodded. Her grip tightened, clawing into Ilse's skin. "Please…teach me. I'll do anything."

Katarina's expression shifts from cold to warm again. She crouches meeting Ilse on the ground. She brushed a stray lock from Ilse's crying face. The gesture was gentle but there was an unsettling feeling to it.

"You're serious, you're already halfway from not being a zero, you're honest," Katarina whispered "I really like that."

Katarina pushed her away. Making her fall on the floor. "In this world nothing is free, everything is an exchange. Surviving goes as well. You Ilse you'll have to pay a price. Are you willing to pay for it? "

Ilse's heart accelerated but she listened intently, she was sick of living like shit. Past, present future. "Anything."

Katarina had a smug seductive smile, her warmth disappeared again. "Prove it to me then," she said. "Then I'll decide if you're worth keeping around. "

"thank you, thank you."

"Tell me, Ilse, how well do you squirm?"

Ilse braced herself.