Chương 113: Limitless Path Chapter One Hundred Thirteen

The next morning, Beth woke slightly late, though likely it was still early in the morning. She felt her small, naked girlfriend pressed against her, feeling Sabs' even breaths still washing across her chest. She slowly and carefully resumed her grip of the previous night, gently kneading Sabs' rear with her right hand.

It took a surprisingly long time for the shorter woman to wake, likely a combination of her tiredness as well as just how comfortable she felt solely in Beth's presence, let alone in her warm embrace.

"Hmmm, that's nice, Beth. I like that as a wake-up," Sabs eventually murmured, weakly pressing deeper into Beth's front instead of pulling back. Beth chuckled and used both her arms to grab ahold of Sabs before rolling onto her back, bringing the smaller woman to lay on top of her. Sabs gave a weak squawk but, after readjusting her position slightly so she was face-first in the middle of Beth's ample cleavage, quieted back down.

Beth combed her fingers through Sabs hair for a moment before moving her left hand down to join her right, taking one of Sabs' lower cheeks in each hand and squeezing firmly. Sabs grumbled a moan into Beth's chest, not bothering to move at all. Beth spent a minute on Sabs' rear before sitting up, bringing the older woman with her. Sabs grumbled for a moment before shuffling back a little.

With a bit of a gleam in her eye, she darted her head forward and gave Beth's right nipple a firm kiss, causing the younger woman to let out a squawk of her own.

"That's for getting me up so soon."

"We can't stay in bed all day, Sabs. Much as I'd like to," Beth replied, turning to shuffle to the side of the bed. Sabs simply latched onto her, piggy-back style, letting Beth take them both to and then off the edge of the bed. Beth grabbed Sabs' ankles where they were crossed over her midriff and squeezed them lightly before walking over to the door to turn on the light. She walked over to the dresser with her passenger, sliding the towel to the side before starting to pull some underwear out of the drawers.

Sabs climbed down with another grumble and grabbed her set of underwear before turning to head to the door. Beth brushed against her as she did so, and the two caressed each other as they walked over to the door.

"We're just incorrigible," Sabs commented as they got to the door.

"I'd rather lean this direction than barely having the time or will to say 'hi' to each other."

"Oh, totally," Sabs replied, pulling Beth down for a quick, sloppy kiss before they left the room. Blood woke as they entered the living room, Sabs blushing a little as she thought about what they had done the night before, noting the wall screen was still on.

"We didn't make too much noise last night, did we, girl?" Sabs asked as she moved over to pet Blood, Beth heading over to open the bathroom. The two of them definitely needed a shower after last night, which got Beth thinking about what the best order of operations would be. She didn't really mind a quick shower in the morning, so maybe they could just keep on like they had been?' I couldn't hear anything through the doors.

I only heard and saw what you did in here,' Blood sent to Beth, who relayed it out loud so Sabs was in the loop.

"Oh, that's good," Sabs sighed, scratching Blood's neck and shoulders, getting a deep growl out of the wolf in response.' Your mating went well, sister?' Blood then asked, causing Beth to stumble a little in the bathroom.

"Yes, Blood, it went very well," Beth replied aloud. Sabs blushed furiously at that, able to easily deduce what the question was from the answer.

"Thanks for being so patient with us," Sabs whispered to Blood as she kept scratching her.' It is not a problem; I enjoy the two of you being so close,' Blood said. That was about the end of that conversation, and they both showered and cleaned up before having breakfast and heading up to the lounge. Beth walked in to see Kim sitting at a table with James and another young man she didn't recognize. Apparently, the membership was continuing to grow very slowly.

Sabs made a beeline for the table to join their conversation, whereas Beth moved over to Baelvyr's table with Blood to sit for a minute until her instructor was ready. The ogre didn't take long before rising and motioning her to follow, Beth giving a wave to Sabs and the rest of the table as she and Blood headed out for their training for the day. They made their way down to the normal room where Beth dropped her pack, grabbing her sword before moving to the ring.

Normally, she would have to use training gear, but the ring could technically handle real equipment, and it wasn't as if she was going to put even a scratch on Baelvyr.

"Ya got any money, girlie?" he started by asking her.

"Not much. I'm fucking broke right now," she replied.

"Ya got a gold?"

"Yeah, just under two right now."

"Give me one and I'll give ya this," he said, holding up a memory crystal. Beth used her new eyes to analyze the crystal as it sat in his massive mitt. Copper Body Skill Crystal {This crystal contains information that can impart the Copper Body skill to anyone who uses it. This skill renders a person's body as strong as mana copper, reducing the damage they receive.}"Wait, so that just makes my defenses higher, just like that?" she asked, pulling out her last gold coin and flicking it to Baelvyr.

"Ain't that easy, girlie," Baelvyr replied, tossing her the crystal. She just held it until he was done with his explanation.

"At Copper rank, that'll passively make yer body a tiny, tiny bit more resistant, basically just to physical damage. Ya gotta actually pump mana into the thing to get it to give you a small boost. Other than havin' to spend mana on it, it'll overall just make you a little less agile; sacrifice a little agility for a little defense. Always worth it, in my opinion, long as ya ain't turtle slow." This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it"And what tier is this?" Beth asked.

"Ah yeah, right. That one's a tier two skill, oughta charge ya more than a gold for it, but I got a couple copies of it sittin' in my amulet. No sense in my hoggin' the thing, I ain't some crazy collectin' type.

"That skill'll naturally become Silver Body, Gold Body, Platinum Body, and Diamond Body, as long as ya can meet the minimum requirements for evolvin' it. As for gettin' beyond Diamond Body, well, that bridge is so far away ya shouldn't even worry 'bout it." Beth held the crystal up to her forehead and learned the skill just like she had done for Swift. She looked over to Blood, who just shook her head, so she moved over to her pack and tossed it inside.

Maybe Sabs would be interested in learning it, though likely she would want to ask John about a skill that lowered her overall agility before using it.

"So, ya and the real little girlie finally went all in, huh?" Baelvyr said as Beth returned to face him.

"What, you got some kind of Detect Sex skill or something?"

"Nah, girlie, I'm just old as fuckin' dirt. I could tell soon as ya walked in the room this mornin', the way ya twos moved and looked at each other; was real obvious. Well, maybe only Tazeen would have that keen an eye, but I could see it right away."

"Glad I'm an open book to you," Beth replied slightly tersely.

"Any more witty comments, or we gonna train?"

"I ain't ever got any witty comments, girlie. Now let's get that sword and those fists strong enough to back up that mouth." Beth spent the entire day with Baelvyr, training mainly in her use of the sword. She felt it had become a little easier that day and, when she checked her stat page at the end of the day, saw she was now Journeyman[1] in Swords. Smiling, she made her way down to the room, followed by Blood, who was in nearly as rough a shape.

Though the wolf didn't have any weapon skills, at least, not yet, Baelvyr still ran her through complex combat situations, requiring her to have sharp situational awareness and rapid, precise movements. After returning to the room, she and Sabs washed up before eating dinner, with Beth saying they should probably change the bedsheets. That led to them washing the old sheets, which led to them hopping in bed in the fresh, warm sheets and falling asleep almost immediately.

Beth remembered the skill crystal the next morning, hopping out of bed and strolling out into the living room in her birthday suit. Sabs had quickly pulled on some underwear before following, and Beth tossed her the crystal from the corner of the room, eliciting a squeak as Sabs' high Dexterity was the only thing that kept her from dropping it.

"What's this?" she asked, looking at the crystal.

"Ah, right, you can't see item info yet. It's a skill crystal for Copper Body. Baelvyr gave it to me yesterday. It passively gives you a very tiny defense boost, and gives you a somewhat bigger one when you actively use mana with it. The downside is that it lowers your agility a little bit. I thought you might want to also use it."

"I'll have to ask John about it," Sabs said tentatively, eyeing the crystal.

"Just toss it in your pouch." The next three weeks continued in a very similar fashion until Sabs stopped Beth one Saturday morning.

"We heading home today?"

"I guess we can. Something happening?" Beth asked a little puzzled.

"Well, firstly, we haven't been around for a few weeks. Well, you haven't been back for a few weeks. But secondly…it is Christmas, Beth."

"What, today?!"

"No, Beth, not today," Sabs laughed.

"It's Christmas Eve today, making tomorrow Christmas."

"Fuck, I didn't get you anything," Beth groaned, rubbing at her temples as she frowned.

"Beth," Sabs sighed with a little shake of her head before climbing in the taller woman's lap and pushing her arms back, kissing her deeply on the lips. When she broke it off for some air, she continued, "I don't care about gifts, I just want to spend time with you and everybody else. But you in particular."

"I still feel bad," Beth replied with a sigh before giving Sabs a warm kiss on the cheek.

"I'll see if I can get you something in the next couple days. I shouldn't forget about my girlfriend like that."

"I'd rather spend time than have gifts," Sabs said, snuggling against Beth for a little while.

"We'll take the next couple days and chill. I think I might even be ahead of where Baelvyr expected, anyway."

"How has that training been going?"

"I got Swords to Journeyman[1] and Unarmed to Journeyman[2]. Apparently, I'm actually pretty good with Unarmed overall, and I have to work a lot harder with the sword to get the same progress as with my fists and feet."

"So, you'll be ready for this trial thing pretty soon?" Sabs asked.

"Ah, I mean, I don't know about 'soon.' Baelvyr doesn't want me to wait too long, but I'll keep training for probably…I don't know, two more months? Maybe a little longer? Then Blood and I are off to the trial."

"And how long is this thing?" Sabs asked as they got ready to head out for the day.

"Shouldn't be more than two months itself, if Baelvyr was right about it. Speaking of..." Beth said, leading the way to the lounge to tell Baelvyr they would be out for a few days, picking up her sisters in the process.

"You finished the gauntlets?" Kim asked, looking at Beth's gear as they made their way to the lobby.

"Yeah, worked on 'em a few times the last couple weeks. Baelvyr didn't want me on nothing but combat training. Got one more level in Blacksmithing while I was at it," Beth replied with a nod.

"They don't have any enchantments on them?" Soph asked from the rear of the group, eyeing the gauntlets with a raised brow and a slight frown.

"If you're at the point where you think you can etch something in them without busting them, you could do it," Beth replied.

"I just don't want to have to re-forge them right after getting done fixing them the first time."

"You think I can't handle something so simple," Soph replied, sticking her nose up, which is why she didn't see Beth stop to wait for her so the tall woman could flick the pretentious girl's forehead.

"Ouch!"

"I don't know how you can keep that attitude after all this time, but you're a real brat," Beth scolded as the group came out into the lobby. There were two people standing at the counter talking to Tazeen, though they didn't appear to be hostile or with any kind of major organizations. The group of girls ignored the discussion happening at the counter, with Beth giving a lazy wave to Tazeen as they left the lobby.

Making their way to the Bell household, they spent the day relaxing and eating and drinking, Sabs having more than a bit of wine before they went to bed. On getting up and ready the next morning, Sabs noticed that Beth was pulling at her own hair a bit and frowning.

"Something up," she asked the much taller woman.

"Hair's too long," Beth grunted, frowning a bit as she tried to come it out.

"We should go see my mom, then," Sabs replied, doing her best to ignore the reflection of pure sexiness in the mirror as she got ready to brush her teeth.

"Your mom a stylist?" Beth asked, quirking an eyebrow as she slid a little to the side, now standing behind Sabs and setting her hands gently on the smaller woman's hips.

"Mm-hmm," Sabs replied around the toothbrush with a quick nod, spending another handful of moments to finish cleaning before spitting in the sink. As she was doing so, Beth snagged the brush out of her hand and put a little more toothpaste on before starting on her own teeth.

"Beth!" Sabs exclaimed.

"Wha-? It'sh mah too'brushh," she replied while brushing.

"Not with your mouth full," Sabs said, giving Beth a little slap on the thigh to emphasize her point. Beth just snorted, having stepped up beside Sabs, and continued brushing.

"And yes, to return to the topic, my mom's not just a stylist, she works as a professional, uh, what is it? Beautician or something? She does hair and make-up for models, actresses and actors, even singers and all that. She could give you a professional-level cut, if you want."

"Mmph," Beth replied intelligently before leaning down and spitting herself, rinsing the brush afterwards.

"Yeah, I'd like that. You think she'd mind doing it today? I don't know what anybody's plans are today."

"I don't think my parents are up to anything," Sabs returned.

"We can just walk over and check. After, that is, you put some clothes on."

"C'mon, you like what you see," Beth shot back with a grin, flexing into the mirror but watching as her girlfriend's eyes stuck to her reflection like a magnet and her face went bright red.

"W-well, yeah, of course," Sabs stammered before taking a deep breath to calm herself. She then turned and wrapped an arm around Beth's waist, giving it a squeeze as she gently kissed the side of Beth's right breast.

"I like it very much, but we can continue later today back at the Hall, after we take care of anything else we have planned."