I Was Called A Demon

“… and just make sure that if you are separated from your owner, you make it very clear that you’re taken. It’s… unusual for those who smell like you do right now not to be available for sex of some kind,” the woman kindly brushing Song Ming’s hair reminded her, “You know, as prostitutes or even just for their own enjoyment.”

“Uh… T-Thanks for the reminder,” the young woman’s cheeks reddened again as she remembered what happened the night before, “I’m sure that I… that my owner will take good care of me.”

“Hm, if the kitsune was your owner, then I’d share the bad news. However, I’m pretty sure that it’s that other woman, what was her name… Bianca? I’ve not heard of her before, but she certainly made you glow today,” she winked, “It’s her, isn’t it?”

“I… I’m not sure what you mean.”

“Yes, you do~,” the woman leaned in and whispered into her ear, “I’ll keep the secret for you if you want. It’s of no importance to me, after all.”

“Well… yes, she is the one that… owns me.”

“Aw, good pet,” she used her free hand to pat Song Ming’s head, “I’m Qi Er, by the way. I like seeing girls that have been used as much as you, so if your owner makes a bit of a mess again, I’ll gladly help out again.”

“T-Thank you… Is this, uh, sort of thing… common?”

“What, the pet and owner thing? Not particularly, but I’ve run into a few people like that before. Sometimes it’s a subordinate that enjoys their position a bit too much, and sometimes it’s even the other way around, with some leader or higher-up submitting to a servant or maid or something… Though most of the time, it’s just two people that get along and match one another in this regard.”

“I see… Good to know…” she sat up and reached for the ribbon that had been left on the table, “Could you help me with this? Hard to tell how I look without a mirror.”

“Sure, you cute little thing. Sit still for a moment,” Qi Er grabbed the crimson ribbon and returned to Song Ming’s back, grabbing her hair and quickly styling it into a high ponytail, “Let me guess, did you like your owner pulling on your hair? Did you want to impress her and give her an even more convenient place to grip onto?”

“M-Maybe… It did feel… really nice.”

“I’m sure it did, cutie,” she patted Song Ming’s head again, “Oh, if you’d like any advice on how to please that gorgeous owner of yours, feel free to ask. I may not have met many with draconic features, nor do I know many other people that have, but I hear that when their dick is doing the thinking, their preferences aren’t too different from most men, and I’ve heard about plenty of those… Then again, with how much you were covered in, it seems like you’re pretty good at it already.”

Song Ming could do little more than blush for what felt like hours before she finally mustered the will to respond, “I… I could still use some advice.”

“Then I’ll happily provide it. I wouldn’t mind looking in one of these times, but from what I recall, the kitsune and your owner were rather fond of their privacy, so maybe some other time…”

 

Although she had almost no clue about men, and had no intention of ever learning about them with or without Bianca being around, the information provided was certainly… informative. Qi Er had either slept with a lot of guys, or she knew some people that had.

‘I’ll need to think about trying it next time that B- my owner is up for it… though… I do like her other parts as well, and she seems a bit concerned that they get too little use, so…’ Song Ming thought, desperately trying to resist the urge to lick her lips at the brief thought about Bianca’s dick, “I hope she likes the ponytail, at least…”

She muttered to herself as she proceeded through the ship until she got to the stairs and returned to the deck, where Bianca’s and her eyes met right away.

A hint of surprise flashed across her owner’s face before a smile grew on her ruby lips, arms reaching out to pull Song Ming into an embrace the moment that she got close enough. Her grip remained weak until she inhaled through her nose, at which point Bianca switched to an incredibly tight hug. If her body had been strengthened more than just a little, it might’ve been an issue, but as she currently was, it just ended up being rather reassuring.

“I see you changed your hair. Feels odd to see you like that, but… I like it,” she said, and then sniffed again, “And I really like the way you smell. Very… me.”

Embarrassing as it was, Song Ming couldn’t help but smile as she replied to her, “Thank you, my owner… I like smelling like you as well. No, I love it… I almost don’t want to wash myself any more… or… well…”

“Hm? Go ahead, I won’t mind even if I disagree.”

“I almost don’t want you to… to wash your cock… when you’ve got it out, that is. I liked how sweaty and musky it got, and how strong that scent got… it really drove me wild.”

“I noticed,” Bianca chuckled, “I don’t plan on keeping it around too often, but when I do, I’ll think about it… Though, even then, it has to get cleaned one way or another, or else it might just end up being rather gross… I get the feeling you wouldn’t mind keeping it clean whenever I need you to, though.”

“Mhm,” Song Ming happily nodded.

“B-By the way… I wanted to ask about pet names, since Xue Yaling kept coming up with new ones each time she… well, you know.”

‘Pet name? She wants to name- ah, no, pet names are something else… Heh…’ the young woman pushed the other thoughts away for the moment, “What did you have in mind?”

“Stuff like cutie, sweetie, honey, darling… you are so absurdly cute while you’re blushing. I take it that you like them?”

“W-Well… uhm… up to you… owner… Mistress.”

“… I wish my cock hadn’t vanished after the second time. That’s hot,” Bianca muttered, her breathing immediately growing heavier, “If you’d like, we can head off and do a few things together… just later. Apparently, the kitsune will be fighting some woman called Qi Er, and I’m a little curious what that will look like.”

“Qi Er… She’s the one that helped me wash all of your… stuff… out of my hair. Is it just a casual sparring match?”

“Eh, I think so. I don’t really remember all the things that were said, they tend to be rather… obtuse.”

“If it’s just a casual spar, then there shouldn’t be any danger. Any excessively lethal skills won’t be used, and the rest will be infused with enough energy to let them appear threatening, but their actual strength will be limited… it probably won’t be enough to harm you at all, even if you got hit directly,” Song Ming explained, their hug moving to a side by side cuddle as they leaned against the edges of the vessel and looked upon the emptied space in the middle, “What exactly are you curious about… Mistress?”

“Hng… You are… ahem. I just wanted to see how others use planar energy. I’m a little limited in that regard, after all, and I’m stuck with this hostile aura that I’m pretty sure everyone else feels as well…” Bianca sighed to herself.

‘Hostile aura… I remember it feeling bad, but now… I just want to nuzzle up against her and feel more of it,’ she did as she wanted and said, “I like your aura… and I’m sure that you’ll see plenty of different skills around. We are trying to head to a distant sect, after all, and things have hardly been peaceful along the way so far…”

“You like it? Uh… Well, I can agree with the other stuff, but still. Apparently, this Qi Er uses something called the Prismatic archetype, and it sounds… interesting.”

Song Ming tried to recall any mention of such a thing, but before she had a chance to do much thinking, she spotted the kitsune and Qi Er arriving onto the deck, the latter staring at the former silently while Xue Yaling didn’t seem to care. They pushed past a few people that had gathered to observe the spectacle and stepped into the middle, sharing one more look before parting and heading to opposite corners.

Xue Yaling happened to go away from them, and Qi Er approached them, smiling at both of them when she spotted them. Her eyes initially met with Song Ming’s, then her gaze moved onto Bianca. Whatever she saw in her, it earned a wink.

She made sure to make a mental note to ask about this later, then allowed herself to relax into Bianca’s arms as she watched the two prepare.

The kitsune made use of her usual sword and threw out a number of ghostflames, though they were different than usual. The outside of the flame acquired a faint golden shade, the origin of which was unknown to anyone but her, Bianca and the kitsune herself. To most, such a change wasn’t even worth mentioning, since most might not have even recalled the original state of the flames.

Meanwhile, Qi Er produced something resembling the body of a bow, except it was made from thin glass or crystal, and there was no string to use in combination with traditional arrows. She also didn’t bring out any such arrows, so it was obvious that this item was meant to be used with one of her skills, or even made specifically for her archetype. It didn’t seem to quite match the level of a low-grade artefact, but there was definitely some planar energy flowing within the glass.

‘Prismatic… It is some kind of light-based archetype? The glass might be for scattering light…’ Song Ming tried to guess, but ultimately couldn’t be sure. Regardless, she’d be given the answer in moments, so she didn’t choose to dwell on it for too long.

Of course, there was another person making preparations, and it was the captain of the ship. Even with their skills being deliberately weakened to avoid injury, there was still the risk of energy flying all over the place and injuring other people on the ship, or damaging the ship itself. Although a river-faring vessel like this one wasn’t exceptional in comparison to boats that were full of arrays and inscriptions and could be considered to be artefacts in their own right, it was still far more precious than some random pieces of wood stuck together.

Thus, the captain released his energy to cover the deck in a thin barrier, and once he made sure that nobody was within the space dedicated to Xue Yaling and Qi Er’s fight, he raised that barrier to form some walls and then a ceiling, just in case. Combat among cultivators could get rather intense at higher realms, so it was possible for some stray bolt to be shot out into the skies and ruin someone’s day.

“Xue Yaling… You’re braver than I expected. You have noticed my realm, haven’t you?”

“I know what the rules of fights like these are. You don’t plan to cheat just to prove some kind of point, do you?”

Qi Er shrugged, “I didn’t say anything about cheating. I’ll beat you up without any of that, so don’t you worry.”

There was a lot more hostility in their words than Song Ming had expected, and the moment that Bianca tapped on her shoulder, she knew that there was at least one other person that had no idea what this was about.

“Do you-”

“No. Though, with what we heard about the kitsune’s book… maybe…” she stopped when she saw Xue Yaling staring directly at her, “Uh… she can hear us from here, I think.”

“Fucking spiritual perception…” Bianca muttered to herself, just loud enough for Song Ming to hear, “Anyway, what realm is she in, and what difference does it make? I’ve probably been told before, but… I don’t remember, and I can’t tell from here.”

“The fourth realm, Active Core. It’s the next one after Xue Yaling’s, and it requires the cultivator to pass another tribulation in which you’d need to provide a Display of Excellence, and passing it allows the use of a special movement skill that is far, far faster than anything you’d usually be able to do…” she shut her eyes to recall what she had read about that realm, “A Display of Excellence is… well, I don’t remember the specifics, but the main idea is that you provide some unique insight to the heavens, where it will be stored within the Heavenly Gallery forever.”

“Sounds… fancy. Do people get to view said gallery?”

“If I recall correctly, you do it in the process of submitting your insight. The greater and more unique it is, the higher in the Gallery it will be, and the more other contributions you’ll be able to view in the process. Though, to be honest, I’ve got no idea what that looks like, or if any of the description I read were even literal.”

“You are still two realms away, so it’s no big surprise… Wait, what stage are you in right now?”

“Seve- ah, eighth, I nearly forgot… That means I’m near my tribulation…” Song Ming realised, ‘That’s… if it supresses my physique, then it will be fine, but if it amplifies it and causes it to rampage in my body yet again, then…’

Her growing fear was supressed by a firm grip pulling her deeper into a comfortable embrace, “Don’t worry about it, my pet. We’ll handle it, and you’ll be okay, and I’m sure you’ll even become more powerful than Xue Yaling. Eventually, we won’t have to put up with her teasing us all the time, and we’ll be able to do it back to her. We do have some material already, after all…”

Bianca didn’t keep going, and had lowered her voice prior to mentioning it, though Song Ming still felt as if the kitsune’s gaze happened to focus on them again just as she did so. Nevertheless, she couldn’t help but stand a little taller and not back down from Xue Yaling’s attention quite as quickly, as Bianca’s words were as encouraging as always, even if it was, as always, obvious that she had never seen a tribulation, nor did she know much about it beside what little she or the kitsune had told her prior to this.

Perhaps it was silly to be so encouraged by – if one looked at them in the worst light – meaningless words spoken out of ignorance, but the optimism Bianca showed was difficult to disregard. Back in Xi Village, although most were glad to see her succeed in cultivation, few believed she’d get far. It wasn’t out of malice, but simple realism: most cultivators would remain within the first and second realms because they simply lacked the skills and opportunities to advance further.

Without resources to accelerate cultivation or special techniques, like Bianca’s Demon’s Commanding Rod, it took weeks and then months to progress, as Song Ming had experienced herself. Hence, she and Lin Shuming were stuck in the second realm for years.

To encourage her when Xi Village was all she knew would’ve been cruel. To say that she could somehow attain the third, fourth and fifth realms, surpassing the cultivation speed of those far more knowledgeable and skilled than her, would be setting her up to expect things she couldn’t possibly attain on her own. It would make her see all of her achievements as failures to reach her greater goals.

Now, she didn’t need to fear such a thing. In just a couple of months, she had made more progress than in the entire year prior, and she had met two people that ultimately turned her life for the better. The kitsune wasn’t a great person, but she was knowledgeable and seemed to have saved their lives several times, whereas Bianca, even with what she had ultimately done at Xi Village, had given her so much that she couldn’t even begin to imagine a day without her. She couldn’t even stop herself from trying to nuzzle deeper into her embrace.

And once she felt Bianca’s hand land on her head and begin stroking her hair while the other pulled her back to Bianca’s front and into her soft, full pair of boobs.

‘I won’t be able to see the fight this way…’ she thought for a moment, though she let that worry fade away. She could use spiritual perception to get some idea of what happened behind her, but more importantly, she would much rather have Bianca’s company than some random fight.

After all, it was Bianca, her wonderful owner, that had wanted to see it in the first place, so she might as well relax and let her do as she wishes.

“I… I love you, Mistress…” she whispered into Bianca’s chest.

For a moment, she felt the hand patting her head stop, but it barely lasted for a moment before her patting returned, and with even more energy than before.

“Not sure that’s how you’re supposed to tell me, but… love you too, my cute pet.”