The Hero Became a Succubus, and the Only Way to Level is to… What?!

In the beginning of time and creation, the Supreme One exploded into existence much like the big bang that brought about the universe. Multiple realms formed with him right after, but they weren't made by him. They were created alongside the greater god a mere fraction of a second that followed.

For a time, the veils between those realms were much thinner. People and animals were able to traverse from plane to plane like going from one city to the next. It was believed, though never confirmed, that races like elves, beastmen, Cylia and the fairies of Faebog, dryads, and monsters of dire status ended up here long ago by such methods, while dwarves, humans, and demonkind were the original inhabitants.

However, a devastating event transpired that forced the Supreme One's hand in closing shut the veils, thus sealing the realms apart from each other. An event so ancient that no records of it existed today. An event so calamitous that it had split the landmass of the known world into two major continents.

That event was—

"Hey, you stupid ratwhore! Are you listening to me?" Arenade huffed.

Kanae glanced over to the adjacent seat, where Edina was fast asleep. The snoring squirreling was curled up with her big fluffy tail, head resting on the mound of fur like a makeshift pillow. Two undead grunts beside their master offered an apologetic nod.

After everyone agreed on traveling to Faerealm, Arenade insisted that she give a short history lesson and warning about what to expect there. Fairy Rot would destroy the Kh'shanti seedling otherwise, so they had every reason to go. To that end, the three had taken the comforts of a private room in the Eminence of Sin church.

"Forget Edina. Don't stop there! I want to know what that event was. You were getting to the best part!" Kanae, on the other hand, had been at the edge of her seat.

Arenade groaned. "If Edina's snoozing, I guess I can give you the unrevised telling of what happened. A primordial world serpent called Yormund slipped in from one of the other realms and started eating everything. That thing was so damn big, the length of it was able to circle this world twice! Before Yormund, there was only a single landmass. But he chomped it down to size to what we have today."

"W-What ever happened to Yormund?"

"The Supreme One blessed ten individuals with great magical power. The first ever crownings. It's actually the same system you and adventurers have! They were tasked with growing stronger, strong enough to slay Yormund. They succeeded, but the realms still needed to be sealed. All ten of them split up to the other worlds and performed a ritual to close the veils. Unfortunately, at the cost of their lives," she explained.

Kanae gulped hard. Although Yormund didn't come from Faerealm, it didn't escape her that Arenade was trying to convey how dangerous monsters from other realms were. If they were to go, then they would have to be extremely careful. There was also no telling what other races lived in Faerealm. Or if they were still around.

"If that was the unrevised version, what's the telling you normally give?" Kanae asked.

"Mega-volcanic explosions and tectonic plate movement." Arenade shrugged.

"Well, that's anti-climactic… What about getting to Faerealm? The veils are closed. Don't tell me, it's some convoluted ritual that requires us to go collect a bunch of different ingredients for…" She wasn't prepared to go on another fetch quest, especially after coming back from one in Kandis.

Actually, considering what they were going to Faerealm to do, this probably was another fetch quest! Kanae buried her face into both hands and sighed.

"Oh, that's easy. I'll just get one of my coworkers to open a nearby veil with a key," Arenade said.

"Huh?" Kanae looked up from her hands in shock. "You… You're going to have them open a veil… after the Supreme One closed it?"

"Ah, he doesn't have to know. And besides, a different pantheon department oversees Faerealm. I can just blame it on them if we're found out!" she exclaimed with a snide smirk.

Kanae was worried. Extremely so. However, she didn't want the Kh'shanti to just wither away. Talahurah suffered a great deal in the war from the loss of their tree. As queen, she wanted to do right by them.

Still angry about Edina sleeping through the story, Arenade pointed Great Retort directly at the sleeping necromancer. Both undeads stepped aside as holy energy converged on the tip. Before Kanae had a chance to stop her, a bright column of divine magic enveloped Edina whole.

"Nngh… Who's cooking— IT'S ME?! STOP, STOP! IT BUUUUUURNS! I'M AWAKE!" Edina cried in agony.

When the spell subsided, Arenade had burned the squirreling to a holy crisp.

"That's for falling asleep on me!" Arenade stuck her tongue out.

"You could have… shook me awake…" Edina wheezed.

They descended to the main worship hall. Citizens of Talahurah, mostly of the beastmen races, were seated and muttered prayers wishing for the Kh'shanti seedling's good health. Sisters of Sin tended and prayed alongside them.

Kanae, Arenade, and Edina occupied a pew in the very back corner. The trio clasped their hands together and shut their eyes to begin praying. But for very different reasons. Their holy priest led the prayer in reaching out to the gods.

At first, there was no answer. Only a deep well of silence that echoed in their minds. Then…

"Ho, there! Why if it isn't Arenade?" The rumbling voice of Glentir answered.

"Damn it. I was hoping for Threcia. You'll have to do, old goat. I need you to open a veil into Faerealm for us," Arenade demanded.

The broken-horn minotaur god bellowed with laughter. He laughed so much, tears streamed down his eyes. When he was laughing, his smile flipped.

"You're serious?" Glentir gasped.

"We have a Kh'shanti seedling that needs saving. I know what we're asking is serious, but can you do us this favor and look another way?" Kanae pleaded earnestly.

"Hmm. Having someone close to achieving Deification owing me might prove interesting. Very well. I will open a Rift. Inside it is where you may find a thin veil. This way, no one may accidentally wander into it. I look forward to you becoming deified." He nodded and snapped his fingers.

They came back to their senses still sitting on the pews. Right then, a Rift portal tore open in the middle of the chamber. Sisters of Sin and congregants flew out of their seats in panic. Kanae and Arenade slapped a hand to their faces. Glentir couldn't have opened a Rift somewhere more private or remote?

"At last, the Many have answered my prayers! A portal to escape my responsibilities, here I come!" An elven man made a dive for the Rift, only for a few Sisters of Sin to dogpile on top of him.

"Three hells, did some god really spawn a Rift inside our church?" Erin came in running from the back with her sister Taileen in tow.

"Alright, ladies!" Edina clapped her tiny hands to get everyone's attention. "Close up shop. Arenade, Kanae, and I are going to tackle this Rift and close it before anything comes out. Keep it guarded so no one goes in and gets hurt!"

"Right away, High Priestess Edina!" Taileen gathered Sisters of Sin to begin corralling disappointed congregants outside, then formed a perimeter at the entrance.

"Quick thinking." Kanae nudged her friend, and Edina fired back a grin

Each of them traded glances. They took a deep breath and entered the Rift. Darkness. Pure darkness. But the three had control of themselves unlike other times entering Rifts. The small, formless world was only a short hallway, at the end of which was an almost diagonal mist of colors. Red, blue, green, orange, and yellow… like graffiti with no real intention to make art.

From it, however, Kanae felt a pulling sensation. As soon as she touched the mist, a bright light blinded them. They stumbled out the other end into a pile on top of each other in… some kind of jungle.

Glancing behind, a giant tree's roots gnarled into an archway appeared to have been where they came out of. Kanae recognized some of the trees around them. Kh'shantis! There were so many. However, they weren't the only trees around. Large mushrooms with woody, moss-covered trunks, exotic flowers that oozed a nasty-looking goo, and bulging-eyed insects on branches stared down at them.

A flock of birds landed on some kind of pitcher plant. They dipped their sword-like beaks into the cavity to drink from it. Suddenly, vines draped down from higher up in the trees to grab them. Most of the birds escaped, but an unlucky pair were reeled out of sight. Only a few feathers floated down after.

"Mmmh! MMM!" Edina's muffled screams could be heard beneath Arenade.

"Oh, oops!" Arenade quickly got up, and the squirreling sucked in a hoarse breath.

"Those cowtits of yours are the most dangerous thing about you!" she complained and slapped the massive boobs.

"Don't do that! Just because they're full of fat doesn't mean it won't hurt!" The elf shielded her own breasts.

"Quit fighting over tits. Arenade, we're in the Faerealm now, aren't we? What exactly do we need to look for to cure Fairy Rot?" Kanae asked.

Arenade fished into her satchel and pulled out a long list. They were full of names of things that were not only tough to pronounce, but Kanae had never heard before.

"Yours truly was ready beforehand. We just need to find all these ingredients to make a draught out of!" Arenade proudly flaunted the list.

"You ain't an alchemist. How did you know what ingredients are needed to make a cure for Fairy Rot?" Edina asked.

"While you and Kanae were off screwing around in Lograin, I worked with Lani and Chappy to figure out how to make the Kh'shanti seedling grow. It was pretty comprehensive. I remember Fairy Rot being on the list of susceptible diseases," she explained.

"Great! Let's start collecting from the top of the list. What does a…" Kanae squinted at the name and sounded it off. "Goo… coupol… ague herb look like?"

Arenade's proud demeanor faltered. Kanae and Edina slapped a hand to their faces. She didn't know. None of them did. They had a long list of ingredients that were completely foreign to them, with no way of identifying any of it.

In an attempt to look smart, Arenade brought the list right up to her eyes. She scanned the surroundings for a few moments, and then marched right up to a flower on the ground with red-tipped leaves and blue trumpet bulb.

"Th-This looks like a goo-whatever herb!" Arenade got her fingers around it, but the bulb sprayed her with gas. She backed away in a fit of coughs. "Stupid flower!"

Before Kanae and Edina's eyes, Arenade began to shrink in size until she was two-feet tall. Their jaws dropped in disbelief. When the high elf glanced back at them, she threw both hands up in an exasperated fashion.

"What now? How in three hells did you two get so big?" Arenade folded her arms.

"We didn't get big. You got small!" Kanae retorted.

"Hahahaha! You're so small, Kanae could wear you like a pocket pussy if she has that cock ring on!" Edina rolled on the ground laughing her ass off.

"That's not funny!" She kicked the squirreling, but such a small stature couldn't so much as inflict pain. "Kanae, dispel me right now!"

Kanae picked up her wand and cast Dispel, but nothing happened. Arenade remained pint-sized.

"I don't think it's an offensive or defensive spell. It might be classified as something else entirely. You're just going to have to ride out the effects." Kanae put Arenade on her shoulders like giving a child a ride.

"There's a suspiciously-placed cabin in the distance that looks abandoned. Wanna go wait it out there?" Edina suggested, pointing to a dilapidated hut.

They agreed to do just that. Faerealm already looked dangerous for regular-sized people. At Arenade's current height, those dangers increased several folds, so it was best not to tempt fate.

Suspicious was right. The little cabin Edina had found was a mud hut with a straw roof. There was nothing inside except for dust, moss, and a tattered round carpet. Just so that they wouldn't get attacked, Edina summoned undead wolves to patrol around the immediate area for danger.

Kanae put the pouting, loli-sized Arenade down. She was about to pull the list out again for them to go over until everything leaned right. They hit the side of the cabin. The entire place lurched, rose, and began to move.

"What's going on?" Kanae steadied herself against the wall and asked.

"Uh, oh. I think it's a house mimic!" Edina cried.

"WHY IS THAT A THING?" she screamed.

The entire cabin was on two legs now, marching through the jungle on a belly filled with three adventurers.

"Mmmm!" Arenade, who was pinned between the wall and Kanae's chest, desperately flailed both hands.

"Sorry!" Kanae panicked and backed off, fearing that she might have crushed her wife.

"Supreme One's ass… I know how Edina feels now…" She panted for air.

They tried to leap out of a window, but fleshy tendons formed a web to seal them in. Rows of sharp teeth lined what used to be the door now. The rug at the center of the room elongated into a whipping tongue. If all the jostling around from the house mimic moving wasn't bad enough, they were getting bludgeoned like a large slimy tongue now.

The entire hut's muddy structure transformed into flesh. Steaming secretions oozed all over and stung their skin. Arenade climbed to the top of Kanae's head, grabbing onto one of her horns.

"I can keep healing you guys healed. Do something before we're mimic poop!" Arenade yelled.

"Eat this, bitch!" Edina pressed a hand, bristling with magic from Necrotizing Touch, against the fleshy wall.

Kanae did the same. Before long, the necrosis from their skill spread across the inside of the mimic. The entire hut heaved. It gagged and threw all three of them up. They hit the muddy ground with a splat. The mimic, however, teetered from side to side before collapsing in a heap of festering flesh.

"No more going inside of suspicious cabins," Kanae said.

"Agreed," Arenade and Edina mumbled.

It became increasingly clear that in order to find the cure of Fairy Rot, they were going to need the services of someone native to Faerealm. Reaching out to Cylia and her friends in Faebog wasn't an option anymore. They would just have to make contact with natives here.

As luck would have it, the three stumbled upon a large oily-rainbow lake interspersed with islands of odd trees. Their trunks were blue in color, and their canopies were spherical orange sponges. Wooden gangways connecting from tree to tree suggested there were living people around.

Beyond the spongy trees was a much larger willow. Instead of leaves, it was a massive web of branches with pumpkin-like fruits hanging from every arm. Humanoid beings moved about from the walkways, but without getting closer, it was hard to make out what they looked like.

"I vote we talk to them," Kanae suggested.

"I'd trust an Ortesian lord before any Faefolk. You do know how capricious and unhinged they can be, right?" Arenade asked worriedly.

"Have you forgotten Cylia? I managed to make friends with her! What's the worst that can happen?" She ushered her companions to follow along.

The first step out, and they stepped into a mushroom ring that exploded with gas. A strong bout of drowsiness struck them all at once.

"Is this… some kind of… sleeping gas…" Kanae face planted on the ground.

"Oh, great! A tra—" Arenade knocked out.

"I better not lose a kidney when I wake… up…" Edina collapsed next and started snoring.

Heat brushed against Kanae's cheeks. She snapped to consciousness in front of a bonfire with Edina. They were both naked and hogtied. The enormous pumpkin willow tree towered over them. Dozens of midgets in wooden feather masks danced around them, wielding primitive spears and stone knives.

"What the fuck is this?" Edina tried to wriggle free to no avail.

"The sacrifices are awake!" one of them howled. "Nourishment for the blood god!"

"Nourishment for the blood god!" the others chanted after.

Tree vines lowered down a throne, upon which a still tiny Arenade was sitting on. She was also naked. But her body was painted red and black in ornamental patterns that looked like the sponge trees.

"Arenade! What the hell are you doing there?" Kanae asked.

"How am I supposed to know? I woke up sitting on this damn thing!" Arenade shouted back.

"It has been prophesied," began the chief midget, "that a shortstack elf with the biggest honkers we've ever seen will one day appear and lead us into war! A war that will elevate us, the Porupo people, to the top of the Faerealm food chain! Huzzah!"

"Huzzah!" everyone cheered.