Judas stared at Sera in her combat gear, a far cry from the vulnerable girl who'd been crying in his arms just minutes ago.
The black spandex clung to every curve of her body like a second skin. The material stretched across her full breasts, and her waist was impossibly narrow.
"Okay," he said slowly, tearing his eyes away to look at her face. "I feel like we should probably change into something more… appropriate?"
"No need," Sera hummed, summoning a purple dagger out of midair before twirling it casually. "Just basics today. You need to learn what it means to fight as a gambler."
"'As a gambler'?"
She nodded, looking curiously at her reflection in the dagger's blade. "Other gamblers are your biggest threat after all, and chances are you will run into another."
He stared dumbfounded. "There's others like me? Actually? With the whole system thing and all?"
But before she could reply:
[DAILY LUCK: 7/10]
"Ahh, there it is. That's perfect. We can start there." She raised her free hand holding up a single finger. "First rule: your daily luck is an important factor in a fight. If two gamblers enter combat, whoever has the higher daily luck will have an inherent advantage."
"Advantage how?" Judas asked, trying to focus on her words instead of the way the spandex seemed to highlight every perfect curve of her body.
Sera grinned, the expression making her violet eyes sparkle mischievously. "Watch this."
She hurled the dagger at the wall behind him with lethal precision. The blade should have embedded itself in the plaster, but instead it ricocheted off at an impossible angle, bounced off the ceiling, spun through the air, and landed perfectly in her outstretched hand.
"There's no way that's real," Judas gasped.
"Exactly." She leaned against the wall. "High luck bends reality in your favor. Weapons miss when they should hit, perfect opportunities present themselves, environmental factors work for you instead of against you."
"Wait," Judas said, a thought occurring to him. "Your luck... it's tied to mine, isn't it? Since you're my guide?"
Sera's smile widened. "Very good. Yes, my daily luck matches yours exactly. Right now I'm at 7/10, same as you. That's actually quite good for training purposes."
She gestured, and the cramped bedroom transformed around them into a spacious training dojo with padded floors and mirrored walls.
"Pocket dimension," she explained, bending over to adjust something on her boot. The movement gave him a perfect view down the front of her outfit, and he caught a glimpse of smooth pale skin and what might have been a very small black sports bra. "One of the perks of being a guide."
"That's actually incredible," he managed, his voice slightly strained.
"I know, right?" She smiled, tilted the dagger in her hands, then met his eyes again with seriousness. "Second rule: your abilities are amplified by luck. But as you progress through your skill trees, you'll unlock something even better."
"The skill tree thing?"
"Right." She said with an approving smile. "Intimacy, Charisma, and Combat primarily." She raised her hand, and five identical purple daggers materialized in the air around her. "But in the Combat tree, there's a special branch called Gambling Abilities. These are called Bets."
"Bets?"
"High-risk, high-reward abilities." She flicked her wrist, and all five daggers launched toward targets that had appeared around the room. Every single blade found its mark with impossible precision. "A Bet has a base success chance plus your daily luck. Simple formula: Base Percentage + (Daily Luck × 5). So a Bet with 60% base chance would be 95% likely to succeed for you right now."
"That sounds powerful."
"It is. But..." Her expression grew serious. "If a Bet fails, there are penalties. Real ones. Temporary stat debuffs, ability cooldowns, sometimes even physical damage to yourself."
She dismissed the targets with a wave. "The higher the potential reward, the worse the penalty for failure. It's literally gambling with your life."
"Now you try your Phantom Step," she said. "Feel how your luck influences the ability."
Judas focused on a point about ten feet away, trying to visualize moving there instantly while also trying not to stare at how the spandex hugged every inch of Sera's incredible figure.
He felt that strange tugging sensation in his chest and took a step—
"Holy shit," he said, looking down at his hands. "That felt insane!"
"That's your luck working." Sera moved behind him, her hands resting on his shoulders. Her breasts pressed against his back through the thin material, soft and warm. "With low luck, abilities fight against you. With high luck, they enhance you."
Her touch was incredibly distracting, especially with her body molded against his like this.
She's already… back to her old teasing self.
"Third rule," she whispered, her lips close to his ear. "You'll never fight alone."
"W-what do you mean?"
"Every gambler has a guide, and guides always fight alongside their gambler. It's always 2v2." Her hands slid down his arms, and he shivered at the contact. "Some guides are... better than others."
She stepped away with a teasing smile, leaving him feeling suddenly cold. "Let me demonstrate what having a powerful guide means."
Focus. Focus. Focus. Judas clapped both hands on his cheeks, steeling his resolve.
She raised her daggers, settling into a combat stance that somehow made her look both graceful and deadly. Her legs were spread wide for balance.
"Attack me," she commanded. "Use everything you have."
"I'm not going to—"
"Do it." Her voice carried absolute authority. "Trust me."
Judas reluctantly activated Phantom Step, teleporting behind her and aiming a clumsy punch at her back.
What happened next defied physics.
Sera spun impossibly fast. Her daggers became a whirlwind of purple light, creating a defensive barrier that was somehow both beautiful and terrifying. The air itself seemed to solidify around her, deflecting his punch harmlessly aside.
Her weapons disappeared as she straightened up. "When a guide fights at full power, we can manipulate the fundamental forces of reality."
She moved closer, close enough that he could see the individual drops of sweat on her collarbone where the spandex clung to her skin. "Most guides are... adequate. They can provide basic support, maybe some healing, and simple attacks."
Her smile became predatory. "I'm what the system classifies as an SSR-Rank Combat Guide. There are maybe five others like me in existence."
"What does that mean?"
"It means," she said, reaching up to trace a finger along his jaw, "that most gamblers will take one look at me and decide you're not worth the risk. Fighting an SSR-Rank guide is basically suicide unless they massively outpower both of us."
The implications hit him. "So having you as my guide..."
"Makes you one of the most dangerous gamblers in the system, yes." She leaned closer, her breath hot against his skin. "Lucky you, getting paired with someone so... powerful."
The way she said 'powerful' made his pulse quicken.
"But," she continued, stepping back with a mischievous grin, "that also makes you a target. Other gamblers might try to eliminate you early, before you get too strong to handle."
"Great," Judas muttered. "So I'm both protected and hunted."
"Don't worry my little gambler. I'll keep you safe and sound." She raised her weapons again. "But we still need to make sure you can actually use that luck of yours. Ready for some real training?"
For the next hour, Sera put him through increasingly difficult combat scenarios. She taught him how to read luck, how to chain his abilities together, and how to coordinate attacks with her.
She also, either intentionally or not, provided an extremely distracting view as she moved. Every spin, every dodge, every attack made the spandex shift and cling in new ways. When she demonstrated a complex maneuver that required her to bend backwards nearly in half, Judas completely lost focus and nearly took a training blade to the face.
"Concentration," Sera chided, though her smile suggested she knew exactly what was distracting him. "In a real fight, getting distracted by your guide's... assets... will get you killed."
"Maybe my guide shouldn't wear such distracting training gear," Judas shot back.
"Maybe my gambler should learn to multitask," she countered, executing a spin that made her breasts bounce hypnotically. "Besides, this outfit enhances my mobility."
By the end of the session, Judas was exhausted, bruised, and sweaty—but he was also moving with a confidence he'd never felt before. His Phantom Step had become second nature, and he was beginning to understand how to coordinate with Sera in combat.
"Much better," Sera said, lowering her weapons, faint sweat trickling down her skin. The spandex was now clinging to her skin like paint.
[SUBQUEST COMPLETE: ADVANCED COMBAT TRAINING]
[REWARD: +3 SP, +1 AGILITY, ABILITY UNLOCKED: LUCK SENSE]
"Ah that's good. You should really look into spending the rest of your SP soon." She smiled at him warmly, her daggers dissolving into air.
"You know Judas, I missed you," she confessed pulling him into a gentle hug, resting his head on her chest. "I'm… glad we talked things out."
"Mmmf–" Judas couldn't properly reply, his voice muffled by spandex.
"For now, you should probably get ready. Your new 'girlfriend' is going to be here soon."
Right. Amelia.
Judas pulled away from her just enough to glance at his phone screen. 1:30 PM. Amelia would be here in thirty minutes, and he was currently shirtless, sweaty, and very obviously affected by spending an hour watching Sera move in skin-tight spandex.
"Shower," he said quickly. "Definitely need a shower."
"Good idea." Sera's expression grew complicated. "I should make myself scarce before she arrives."
"You don't have to—" but Judas didn't even believe his own words.
"Yes, I do." Her voice was firm. "Amelia needs to feel secure. Having a succubus guide in skintight clothing hanging around her boyfriend would be... problematic."
"We're not technically–"
Before Judas could argue, his phone buzzed.
Amelia: Meeting's over early! On my way now! Can't wait to see you! <3
"She's early," he said.
"Then you really better hurry." Sera was already beginning to fade. "And Judas?"
"Yeah?"
"Remember what I said about us being a team. In combat... and maybe in other things too."
The way she said it, combined with the lingering image of her in that spandex, made his face burn.
Then she was gone, leaving him alone with the scent of vanilla and some very complicated feelings.
Judas rushed to the bathroom, stripping out of his sweaty clothes and jumping into the shower. The hot water felt amazing on his bruised muscles, and he finally allowed himself to process everything that had happened.
He had a succubus guide who looked like a goddess and apparently had no concept of appropriate training attire. He was going to have to fight other gamblers who wanted to kill him. He had access to literal gambling abilities that could backfire catastrophically. And an obsessed class idol was about to arrive while he was in a very obvious state of arousal.
"My life is absolutely insane," he muttered, finally allowing himself to deal with the physical reaction he'd been suppressing for the last hour.
But as the water ran over his increasingly athletic frame, he couldn't deny that he felt more alive than ever before. Powerful. Ready for whatever came next.
The shower door suddenly opened.
"Surprise!"