Eni accepted the artifacts with a sneer, eyeing them as if she’d been handed trash from a back alley. Her uniform was still coated in a layer of gray draconic soot, and the anvils beneath her hem felt heavier than usual from sheer exhaustion. "What is this junk?" she spat, idly waving the bottle.
The priest scurried forward, wringing his thin fingers. The golden mask on his face quivered with every breath. "Forgive me, Lady Hero! Please, do not be angry. The gauntlet you see is the 'Gauntlet of Retribution.' It passively augments your attacks by 4 units; you need only slide it onto your dominant hand. And in the jar... inside the jar is a trapped Thundercloud. It helps to..."
He never got to finish. Eni, having no patience for lectures, popped the cork with a characteristic thwack. A thick, sparking white vapor poured from the neck, smelling of ozone and pre-storm freshness. Without a second thought, she brought the vessel to her lips and literally swallowed the entire contents in a few greedy gulps.
"W-what?! You... what are you doing?!" The priest recoiled in horror, nearly toppling onto his back. Eni froze. Something inside her bubbled and tickled, and then a powerful surge of air rushed up her esophagus. She covered her mouth with her palm and let out a short, ringing belch. "Chill out," she exhaled, feeling a strange lightness in her chest. "How was I supposed to use it? Rub it on my skin or something?"
"W-well... that works... too..." the priest stammered, his eyes wide behind the slits of his mask. "So what does it do?" Eni tapped her foot impatiently. "Double jump. In mid-air. Though I am not entirely certain of the side effects when... consumed internally..." he muttered softly.
Eni decided to test the novelty immediately. She kicked off the ground, soaring into the air, and then, at the apex of her flight, instinctively jerked her legs again. An invisible platform of condensed vapor materialized beneath her soles, thrusting her even higher. In that instant, a strange impulse shot through her body. Her abdominal muscles relaxed treacherously, and for a split second, a chilling terror gripped her—she felt as though she had failed to hold the pressure and had shamed herself right there in the air.
When her feet hit the ground, she stood perfectly still, listening to the sensations beneath her uniform. Fortunately, the theory didn't hold up; she remained dry. However, the realization that this phantom feeling of "catastrophe" would haunt her with every jump made her face flush deep crimson. Pretending everything was fine, she turned her gaze to the remaining item.
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"And these slippers?" Eni asked, trying to keep her voice from trembling. "Ah, those? They are not exactly slippers. They shift their essence to suit the wearer," the priest spoke with reverence. "They were once worn by our High Leader’s daughter, but she forgot them when she ascended to the Archons. To us, they are a sacred treasure; to them, a mere old trinket."
Eni picked up the soft, furry kitten-slippers. "Um... they haven't changed. They still look like a ridiculous piece of loungewear." "You must put them on, Lady Eni. Only then will the bond be forged."
Eni let out a heavy sigh and headed for a nearby wooden bench. Sitting down and pulling off her heavy, dust-caked boots, she tugged the fluffy slippers onto her feet, though they were clearly the wrong size. In that heartbeat, the artifact responded.
The fur began to melt, transforming into an incredibly fine yet impossibly strong thread that raced up her calves. The fluffy kittens vanished, morphing into the violet silk of stockings. They didn't just cling to her legs—they began to constrict her flesh with a frightening intensity. The fabric shot up past her knees, reaching the very edge of her panties and biting into her thighs so deeply that the skin above the bands bulged enticingly.
Eni felt a jolt of electricity slam into her spine. Every micro-movement, even a simple muscle twitch, turned into an exquisite torture. The fabric of the stockings was infused with a magical essence that converted friction into a searing, burning pleasure. The restraint was so severe that Eni felt as though her legs were clamped in a vise, and this tightness sent her blood pulsing deep in her lower abdomen.
She felt as if, with every breath restricted by her rigid corset, her body was trapped between two poles of crushing pressure. She could barely move without triggering a wave of mounting ecstasy that teetered on the edge of actual pain.
The priest, meanwhile, was shaking like a leaf. He saw Eni’s face contort, saw her pupils dilate as a feverish flush spread across her cheeks. He was certain she was in a rage and was about to slaughter him for this "gift." "I-I’m sorry! I... I have failed again! I didn't know they would be so intense..." he wailed, backing away.
"No... just... go away," Eni rasped. Her voice had dropped to a low, throaty growl. She gripped the edge of the bench so hard her knuckles turned white. The stockings squeezed her thighs with such persistence that she could feel every beat of her heart within that tight, lecherous snare.
"V-very well! I'm leaving!" the priest shrieked nervously, throwing one last sentence over his shoulder as he bolted. "That artifact makes you completely immune to fall damage! From any height!"
He vanished around the corner of the tavern, leaving Eni alone in the emptying courtyard. She sat there, afraid to move even a toe. The rigid corset thrust her chest upward while the magical stockings mercilessly pulled her skin downward, creating an unbearable, commanding tension. Eni bit her lip, feeling the world around her start to swim. She was utterly helpless in the face of this new, vulgar power pulsing through her thighs.
