Reborn as a Succubus: Time To Live My Best Life!

The tension in Javir's office was thick enough to cut with a knife. Melisa stood with her arms crossed, her tail curled around her own left leg.

Beside her, Isabella leaned against the wall, her usual playful demeanor replaced by a simmering anger. Armia sat rigidly in a chair and Raven lurked in the corner, silent as always.

Javir paced behind her desk, her face etched with worry and fatigue.

She'd spent the last couple of hours interrogating the captured Shadow Mage. By now though the sun hadn't fully disappeared behind the horizon, the twin moons had already made their appearance.

"Alright," Javir said, finally breaking the heavy silence. "I've got some information."

Melisa's stomach clenched.

"What did that guy say?"

Javir pulled out a map of Syux. She spread it across her desk, pointing to several marked locations. Naturally, both were on the exact opposite side of the city from Javir's manor.

"These are their next targets," she explained. "At least, according to our... guest. They're planning to hit these nim households next, following the same pattern."

Isabella pushed off the wall, leaning over the map with a frown.

"Hold up. You really think they're going to stick to this plan? After we just kicked their asses and captured one of their own?"

"She's got a point," Armia chimed in. "They'd be idiots to not change their strategy now."

Melisa nodded slowly, her mind racing.

"There has to be more to it. A backup plan, or... something." She turned to Javir. "Did he say anything else? Anything at all that seemed... off?"

Javir shook her head.

"Nothing concrete. But..." She hesitated, glancing at each of them in turn. "I get the feeling he was holding back. There's more he's not telling us. I mean," she sighed. "I literally had to put a gag in his mouth to keep him from biting off his own tongue.

It looks like there's things he doesn't even trust himself to keep quiet on."

Raven spoke up for the first time, her voice soft.

"Of course there is. Large-scale plans like these don't get made without contingencies. And, right now, Melisa is their biggest enemy in the city."

Melisa's tail swished as she thought, her eyes narrowing.

"Javir," she said suddenly. "Where is he now? The Shadow Mage we caught."

Javir raised an eyebrow.

"In a secure room at a friend's house."

"I want to talk to him."

Javir paused.

"Melisa," Javir said carefully. "I don't think that's a good idea. He's dangerous, and-"

"So am I," Melisa cut her off, her voice flat. "Besides, if he could have slipped away he would have by now, right? I'll be fine. And, I think it's worth a shot, isn't it? We need more information, and we need it fast. Before they can hurt any more innocent families."

"But, how will you get it?"

"... I need a few hours to figure that out," Melisa replied. "So, where's this friend's house?"

The weight of her words hung in the air. Javir closed her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Fine," she said after a long moment. "Give me that map of yours. I'll mark it down."

Now, all Melisa had to do was figure this out.

She had something in mind, she just wasn't too sure it would work.

---

Melisa flopped onto her bed, her mind racing with the events of the day. The Shadow Mage attack, the interrogation... it all swirled in her head, moving in circles in her mind.

But one thought stood out above the rest: how the hell was she going to get that extra bit of information out of their captive?

She had an answer, though.

Her pheromones. The very thing that made her a nim, that set her apart from humans and other races. They were the key to unlocking the Shadow Mage's secrets, she was sure of it.

Melisa sat up, running a hand through her hair. She'd been practicing, learning to control her pheromones to some extent. She could aim them at a specific person now, or retract them to affect a smaller area. But this... this would require something different.

She needed to empower them. On purpose.

"Fuck," Melisa muttered, her tail twitching nervously. "How the hell am I supposed to do that?"

She closed her eyes, thinking back to the times when her pheromones had been at their strongest. Two instances stood out clearly in her mind.

First, during sex. That much was clear. The more she had it, the stronger her pheromones seemed to become, though the buff wasn't permanent.

The second way to increase the potency of her pheromones was through the use of Blood Magic. That said...

[Lately, it feels as though it's gotten weaker. Though, maybe that's just on account of the work I've been doing reeling it in. What if I just... let them loose?]

Suppressing her pheromones had basically become as natural as breathing. She was going to have to work to actively let them out in full force again.

But, that wasn't all she wanted to do.

[What if...] She blinked, eyes still fixed on the ceiling. [What if I can focus them into a more... direct form?]

"Charm magic." The words spilled out of her tongue aloud slowly, like she was tasting the notion. "It's a thing in most fantasy worlds that I knew about back on Earth. Theoretically... It should have a way to happen here, right?"

She knew it had to be possible. Her nim pheromones could already be considered a passive form of charm magic already. All she wanted was to focus it into an actual spell.

[This is different from the other spells I've been making, though. With those, I took pre-existing incantations and mixed and matched them. If I'm going to do this, I'll need to come up with the new incantation myself; and the spellsign, obviously.]

It sounded like something she could do.

She just needed to figure out how.

---

The following day, Melisa stood beside Zephyra at the gardens. They'd just gotten started with the day's lessons and Melisa had been looking for the right time to bring her question up. She figured now was that time.

[Here goes nothing,] Melisa thought, taking a deep breath.

"So," she began, trying to keep her voice casual. "I've been thinking about something."

Zephyra raised an eyebrow, a small smile playing on her lips.

"Oh? Do tell."

Melisa's tail swished nervously behind her.

"I want to create a new spell. But not like the ones I've made before. I mean... completely new. No pre-existing incantations or spellsigns."

Zephyra's eyes widened, genuine surprise flashing across her face. It wasn't an expression Melisa saw often on the composed sorceress.

"That's... quite ambitious," Zephyra said slowly. "Creating a spell from scratch is no small feat. Lots of mages go their entire lives without attempting such a thing."

Melisa nodded, her determination growing.

"I think it's necessary. For what I want to do, I can't just mix and match existing spells."

Zephyra studied her for a moment, her amethyst eyes seeming to pierce right through Melisa.

"Alright," she said finally. "Let's talk about how you might accomplish this. First, you need to understand that magic, at its core, is about intent and will. The incantations and spellsigns we use are just tools to focus that intent. Ways to manifest it in reality, using our Essence."

Melisa listened intently, her mind racing with possibilities.

"To create a new spell," Zephyra continued, "you need to have a clear, precise idea of what you want to accomplish. Then, you need to find a way to channel your will and Essence into manifesting that idea."

"Well, yeah, I know that much," Melisa said, nodding. "I mean, I've made my own spells. But how do I come up with new incantations and spellsigns?"

Zephyra smiled, a hint of mischief in her eyes.

"Patience. I was getting to that."

"Sorry."

She continued.

"What texts and your classes likely never told you is where incantations and spellsigns come from. That's where it gets interesting. The words and spellsigns themselves are derived from the Old Tongue. You could theoretically use any words or movements, as long as they resonate with your intent and you have the capacity to use them."

Melisa's eyes widened.

"The... Old Tongue?"

"Yes," Zephyra chuckled. "To give you an idea of this, here, look."

Zephyra put her wand up (she liked it a lot, apparently) and spoke, drawing a spellsign.

"Aqua, nel nismar."

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From the tip of her wand, a ball of water manifested. Zephyra began to move it around in the air, explaining:

"This spell I just used creates a projectile of water that I can manipulate before throwing. The word 'Aqua' is related to the word 'water', in the Old Tongue. The word 'nel' is associated with 'hold', and the word 'nismar' means something like... 'crash'. Put them all together, and you get this."

She then threw the spell at a dummy. The sphere of water exploded on impact, though not with enough force to destroy the dummy.

"See?"

"Y-Yeah," Melisa nodded, eyes wide. "I get it. But," she paused, "what's the Old Tongue?"

Zephyra smiled.

"Surprising, isn't it? That a mage like yourself can come this far without even knowing the background of the magic you wield? That's by design, my dear. Allow me to explain."

She kept going.

"It is said that during the age of creation, the gods used words to create the world around us. They would, presumably, think of something, vocalize it, and, boom! It would come to be."

"Really?"

"Indeed. What we now call the Old Tongue is the language of the gods, Melisa. The language that was used to shape the world. It is from the gods that life and Essence come from, it is by using their words that we can manifest our will into being. Spellsigns, as well, are just a different way of viewing that language.

It's like the difference between writing the word 'tree' and drawing a tree on a piece of paper. They used these words to create the world around us and it's through borrowing them that we create spells."

[Wow... I... I think I understand. I'm actually kinda surprised by how much sense this makes. I feel like I understand what she's saying perfectly.]

"Of course, just because you know the words doesn't mean you can do anything, Melisa. You need to have the Essence to cast the ability. Think of Essence as... a price for purchasing something. You can put an item on a counter, at a store, but that doesn't mean you have the money to buy it, right?"

"Right."

"And, if you don't," Zephyra smirked, "you explode."

"WHAT!?"

She cackled.

"Okay, okay, no, no," she said between fits of laughter, "but, seriously, it can kill you. After all, you'd be trying to create an effect in the world with more Essence than you have. This is why people don't just spend all day making overpowered spells, Melisa. This is why this knowledge I'm giving to you is something we mages keep secret.

No need to have the common rabble going around literally killing themselves because they don't understand what they're doing. Get it?"

"Yeah."

"Now," Zephyra said, her tone growing more serious. "What kind of spell are you looking to create? The approach might vary depending on the effect you're aiming for."

Melisa hesitated for a moment, choosing her words carefully.

"I want to create a spell that... helps me take advantage of my own strengths. Something uniquely suited to my abilities as a nim."

Zephyra's eyebrows shot up.

"I see... So," Zephyra continued, "to create this spell, you'll need to borrow words from the Old Tongue, see if any spellsigns exist that can be associated with what you want to do, and... Put it all together."

Melisa nodded, her mind already racing with possibilities.

"Is there an Old World dictionary or something I could use?"

"Dictionaries? I believe so. Only the most respected of mages are allowed to view them, however. You know, for obvious reasons. I..." She considered it. "I suppose I could procure one for you."

"Wow! Thank you, Zephyra," she said aloud. "This... this helps a lot."

The court sorceress nodded.

"Just be careful. Creating new magic is unpredictable. Start small, and don't push yourself too hard. And..."

Zephyra narrowed her eyes.

"Do not make me regret the trust I'm placing in you."

Melisa shook her head firmly.

"Never! Trust me, you won't regret it at all!"

[... Okay, maybe you will, but, whatever. There's too much at stake!]