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

Kanae and her companions didn't stay put with the Sandstriders for long. Since the obstacle was gone, Vizier Duran grew antsy about getting on the road again. He really wanted to get to Bravost. Kanae didn't even know it was possible for someone to be so anxious. The vizier might have felt somewhat safe in Kandis, but his usual comforts and securities were gone. There was nothing but sand, canyons, and the constant heat cooking them from above and below.

However, traveling through a desert wasn't easy. Kanae was beginning to wish she hadn't volunteered to come to Savir. The blistering sun was unbearable. She would do anything for even the smallest relief from the hot weather. If a mage came by right now and offered to shoot an ice spell at her, she would gladly offer her body in return.

Too bad they weren't going to get that sort of good fortune in the middle of nowhere. They would sooner run into another sandstorm or face a monster attack.

"I think I got a tan, and not the good kind." Kanae sighed and wiped the sweat from her face. "How are you handling the heat, Renya?"

Renya Rown, their illustrious stagecoach, sat beside Kanae in front of the cabin. She held the reins to a gork that the Sandstriders had kindly given them. The pirate lord and Chairwoman of Rown Company looked perfectly fine in the heat, still dressed in her full admiral regalia, coat, hat, and all.

"What? Oh, I'm handling it just fine!" Renya grinned.

Something was off. Renya didn't have even a single bead of sweat on her.

"Wait a minute… You're a clone, aren't you? The real you is inside!" Kanae opened the slat into the cabin and felt a surprisingly cool breeze caress her.

"Hey, close the window! You're letting out the air conditioning!" Claudia pouted from within.

Renya lounged inside with her long coat and hat off. Her white shirt had been unbuttoned down enough to show cleavage. Sitting beside her were Claudia, Alicia, Vizier Duran, and a peeved Edina, whose right hand emitted a chilly wave of magic.

"Are you kidding me?!" Kanae exclaimed.

"Listen, buddy. They forced me. I went from being the world's greatest necromancer to a fucking fan. I didn't want this!" Edina complained angrily.

"Someone has to stay outside and keep watch. You volunteered! Is one clone not enough?" Renya asked with a grin.

"I thought we were in this heat together! You know what?" She cast Turn Horny into the cabin and slammed the window shut as they erupted into surprised moans.

Maybe not exactly the same as what Edina was casting, but Kanae did have Hailstorm, a spell gained through Feed the Queen some time ago. She considered the ramifications of casting a spell for the sake of comfort, but the miserable heat convinced her.

[Hailstorm: Call forth a shower of hail to bludgeon foes in a large area with physical and cold magic damage.]

Kanae held Lust aloft and casted Hailstorm down the road. A localized blizzard pummeled the sandy earth with hail and snow, all of which quickly began to melt. But as the gorks pulled the carriage through, the relief of cool air washed over her. Only for a meager hundred feet though, and the atmosphere returned to its usual sweltering business.

"Kanae!" Vizier Duran knocked on the cabin behind her. "By early evening, we should arrive at a trading post called The Diamond by early evening. It's operated by the East Saviran Trading Association, a merchant's guild that has historied ties to my family."

"Great. That means half a day longer in this heat." Kanae groaned.

Thanks to Cursemark of Horniness having been applied to a large number of prisoners back in the Commonwealth, Kanae boasted a steady supply of regenerating mana. In any normal situation, she was never going to run out. So, she casted Hailstorm down the road again. The carriages passed through under the comfort of cooler weather. She repeated the process over and over again, thus successfully escaping Savir's desert heat.

"Much better~" Kanae smiled to herself and cast another Hailstorm farther away.

"AAAHH! WHERE DID THIS SNOWSTORM COME FROM? IN SAVIR?!" someone shrieked from afar.

Kanae nearly fell off the bench. Someone was out here? First of all, why? Second, talk about unlucky!

Worried for the safety of whoever had been hit with Hailstorm, Kanae left the caravan and flew in the direction of who screamed. Ahead, a broken down wagon sat in the road. One wheel had been broken. An odd kind of red and green fruit with spiky protrusions were strewn all over the sand. Some of them had been squished by crates. A figure was hiding underneath the vehicle, seemingly scanning the skies for any more hail.

Kanae winced at the destruction she had wrought. While not the worst case scenario, it certainly was a terrible situation for the person down there.

"Are you okay?" Kanae asked as she landed.

"Who's that? You better be careful, lady. There's something funny going on here. A freak blizzard just came through! It mangled my wagon, destroyed a quarter of my goods, and scared my ronoas away!" he cried.

"Y-Yeah…" She avoided eye-contact. "Those damn freak blizzards sure are spontaneous…"

When Kanae helped the man out, she didn't expect him to be a heavyset beastman. A large, unbuttoned vest draped over his rotund belly. He had big floppy ears, a snout that was flat against his face, and incredibly chubby cheeks. Small tusks protruded from his jaw that couldn't possibly gore anything. Some kind of boar? A porcine beastman race?

The boar beastman picked up a small hat that looked like a red cup with a golden tassel coming from the top. He brushed away a few grains of sand, then placed it neatly on his head.

"Please forgive my manners and misfortune. I am Sadul Hadin, a well-respected member of the renowned East Saviran Trading Association! And you, lady harpy?" Sadul asked, extending a hand to her.

"Oh, I'm not a harpy. I'm actually a succubus! I'm Kanae, a Rookie rank adventurer from Kandis." Kanae introduced herself and purposefully omitted the important bits.

When Kanae took Sadul's hand, he lifted it up to his lips and kissed the back of her knuckles. She noticed then that his own fingers were adorned with rings and jewels. Fake, most likely. None of them had the same luster that she was used to seeing from Edina's collection of stolen jewelry.

"A succubus? No wonder you're as beautiful as an opal jewel! Your presence enriches all of Savir. I cannot remember the last time I laid eyes on a succubus." Sadul rubbed his chin.

"Hey, uhm… My friends are actually close by. I'll go call them over to help put your wagon back together," Kanae said.

"Thank you so much. I'm in your debt!" He bowed.

Feeling guilty, Kanae flew towards where she had left the caravan. But they were there. Nothing but sand dunes as far as the eyes could see. Weird. She wasn't away for long, so they couldn't have gone far.

After flying up and down the road, it became increasingly clear that they had gone off without her. Even stranger, Kanae couldn't spot them no matter how far or high she traveled.

"Uh, oh." Kanae uttered.

Think! Vizier Duran said they were traveling to a place called The Diamond. It was run by the East Saviran Trading Association. The man she met, Sadul, was a member of that same guild. There was a good chance he was headed there.

When Kanae got back to Sadul, the beastman had fixed the wheel back onto the wagon. He was collecting the weird-looking fruits back into the crates now.

"Bad news," Kanae said. "I think I lost my friends. They were headed to The Diamond though. Do you know where that is?"

"Do I? Of course! The only problem is, I cannot— I refuse to leave my goods behind. Would you find my prized ronoas? They are large, flightless birds that walk on two legs. I think they fled west when the blizzard hit," Sadul recalled.

Kanae headed west in search of the birds, and unlike with the carriages, she was fortunate enough to find their tracks in the sand. The constant dry winds were quickly erasing the trail though.

Luckily, it didn't take long to find them. Both ronoas were nesting on top of desert grass they had trampled down. She descended to meet the birds, who towered over her and had legs strong enough to kick someone's head off.

"Alright, you two. I need you to come back with me—" As Kanae got closer, one of them kicked her in the stomach and sent her flying. "Ow…"

If they were playing hard to get, then so be it. Kanae returned to them and tapped her Collar of Domination. One ronoa fell under her control, and she compelled it to follow. The other, not wanting to be left behind, jumped from the nest and pursued them.

Kanae led the ronoas right back to Sadul, who was overjoyed to see them.

"Ah! My beloved ronoas! Thank you, Kanae. A Rookie you may be, but the heart of a Veteran you have!" Sadul gave each ronoa a fruit and hitched them back to the wagon while they ate.

"You'll take me to The Diamond with you now, right?" Kanae asked.

"Take you there? My lady, as a member of the East Saviran Trading Association, I'm a very busy man. You see these fruits? I must bring them elsewhere before I go to The Diamond. But… You are an adventurer. Perhaps you can help me."

"Like a side quest? I'm in!" she exclaimed, eager to do some adventuring again.

"Y-You're rather quick to accept! That's great. It's a much smaller outpost than The Diamond. I only need you to stand guard as I conduct the trade," he explained.

That, Kanae could do. She eagerly joined Sadul as they traveled swiftly through the desert. His ronoas turned out to be fast creatures, a lot faster than the gorks. They dashed across the sand, despite pulling a mostly full wagon and two people on it, seemingly unaffected by the weight. In the ride went fast enough that it offered Kanae a somewhat decent breeze. Granted, the dry winds were making her lips cracked.

Sadul offered Kanae the spiky fruit and called it a dowugut. They grew on cacti and reminded her of dragonfruit back on Earth. Except these had more pronounced spikes. The dowugut's flesh was juicy and citrusy, a refreshing treat that made her temporarily forget she was in the desert. Supposedly, the fruits were hard to grow and was a regular a delicacy for the upper class.

As the sun was coming down, Savir slowly became colder. An orange paint brush colored in the bright blue sky. Kanae saw blinking lights in the distance. They turned out to be standing torches and braziers. Sadul rode up to an encampment made entirely of wagons, carriages, and tents. Banners and guards wore the crest of a four-pointed star with different jewels at each end— blue, red, green, and black. A symbol that, Sadul whispered, that designated one employed under the East Saviran Trading Association.

"Halt. State your business," a dark elven guard said.

"Business." Sadul retrieved a silver coin with the same star symbol from under his hat.

Both of them nodded, and the other guard pressed the copper counterpart of the coin into Sadul's palm. The two stepped aside to let them in.

"What's with the coin?" Kanae whispered.

"The association has a peculiar way of operating." Sadul tucked the copper coin into his hat. "We exchange these coins to do 'business'. When a member performs well, they may be given a coin of higher value to conduct trade in the upper echelons of the guild. When seeking favor, a high value coin is traded for one of lesser value. Our exchange just now was to gain access and skip bureaucratic nonsense. Before leaving, it is my hope to receive a coin of higher value. Oh, and don't think for one moment any of us would consider stealing. A death sentence most cruel awaits thieves."

They entered the encampment to hushed whispers of trade and commerce. Kanae realized real fast that Sadul's carriage was a dwarf compared to other vehicles and caravans. Around a group of carriages arranged in a crescent, a human man handed a large bag of gold to some beastmen. Two well-to-do elves bartered over a wagon full of silk textiles. More shady transactions were conducted at the fringes, away from the light. A group of cloaked individuals checked on satchels dusted with suspicious white powder.

However, it wasn't only economy going on here. Someone sold beer and wine from the side of their vardo wagon. Amidst the chirping insects, two harpies played music from wooden flutes and human dancers performed in front of them. Kanae recognized the dance as the same one Will dragged Aisha into during Arum Taum. They were Arkesian humans.

Sadul drove the wagon up to a duo of hyena beastmen. One was a woman, the other was a man. Both of them wore a brown coat of coarse fur with black spots. The female beastman was a lot bigger than the male next to her though. Their skittish nature had them all twitchy and anxious.

"Hello, Nadia and Nadir! I've brought the goods as promised. Shall we conduct business?" Sadul asked as he descended from the wagon.

"Sadul, you fat pig. Not only are you late, but you brought a succubus with you?" Nadia snarled.

"We're not doing business with you until she gets lost," Nadir said.

"Maybe it is best if you step away. This won't take long. But keep close in case the trade goes awry," he whispered.

Kanae got off the wagon and wandered out of sight from them. She was still able to hear their whispers, just not the specifics of what was being said. A subtle glance around the corner, and the three appeared to be in the thick of discussions. The hyena pair were snappy and aggressive, but Sadul disarmed them with his politeness.

It seemed like things were about to conclude uneventfully until Kanae noticed a trio of Ortesians entering a tent. A hellhound beastman woman looked left and right, as though checking to see if they were followed, then entered after them. Suspicious of what they were up to, Kanae casually strolled over to investigate. She pretended to warm herself up by a brazier when guards passed by. Thankfully, they ignored her. As soon as they were out of sight, she drew closer to the tent's entrance to listen in.

"Cerberus extends your people an invitation to Avanesse, the Ruby Jewel. How you get there is on you. We won't have a hand on escorting you there. Sultana Dudula's gotten even more paranoid lately, and the Harpy King has eyes on the ground and in the skies," the hellhound said.

One high elf clicked his tongue. "We're the ones who came out to this gods-forsaken desert out of the kindness of our hearts, and the Mutt won't even send a welcoming party?"

The hellhound snarled and flexed her fingers until sharpened claws came out.

"Call Cerberus 'mutt' one more time…" she dared them.

"Now, now. Let's not fight," a man's smooth voice urged calm. "Ortesia intends to do right by Cerberus. We have a plan to hand Bravost and Sultana Dudula over to him, and in time, Elusis and the Harpy King. Your beloved Cerberus shall be the one true Sultan of Savir. I swear this on my name, Zacheriah Lafore of House Lafore, seventh in line to the Ortesian—"

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" A guard grabbed Kanae by the shoulder and yanked her away.

Shit!

The Ortesians and hellhound woman poured out of the tent with their weapons drawn. Several more guards rushed over, too. From afar, a larger squad of high elves were pushing their way through. They were far too many for her to fight alone.

"Get that succubus! You, hurry and drink this!" Zacheriah shoved a potion into the beastman woman's hand.

"Mass Charm!" Kanae placed everyone except for the Ortesians under her control, including the hellhound who was too slow to drink.

A massive fight broke out between the Ortesians and those who had been charmed. In the meantime, Kanae returned to Sadul and interrupted their transaction.

"K-Kanae? What's going on? What's that commotion over there about?" Sadul stammered.

"We got to go! Now!" Kanae yelled.

A guard flew across the road and into a tent. The drakeling dragoon who punted the poor guy met Kanae's gaze.

"Over here!" he shouted.

Kanae shoved Sadul into the back of an empty covered wagon which had its own ronoas hitched to it. When the hyena pair attacked, she charmed them into a frenzied bloodlust into fighting the incoming Ortesians.

"Go, go, go!" Kanae whipped the ronoas with Lust.

They let out a screech before bolting through the camp, knocking over stands and stalls. People jumped out of the way to avoid them. Guards, who thought better than to stop a vehicle running at full speed, decided against intervening. 

However, the Ortesians wouldn't give up. They commandeered beasts from merchants in the encampment and gave chase.

"You're not getting away, succubus!" Zacheriah bellowed from atop one of Sadul's ronoas.

"Damn it. I don't want to hurt your birds, but… Conjured Caltrops!" Kanae fired a spell that sent metal spikes across the ground.

The ronoa skidded to a halt, and the abrupt stop threw Zacheriah off its back and him into the caltrops. He rolled around in pain and only made it worse for himself. His fellow Ortesians dismounted to help him out.

A squadron of harpy guards belonging to the trading association pursued them from the air. They hurled javelins and fired arrows. One arrow struck the bed of the wagon next to Sadul's head. He went white as a ghost. Things flying in the sky were harder to stop, but she had just the magic spell.

"Hailstorm!" Kanae created a magical blizzard that knocked them and their projectiles away, forcing the harpies to give up the chase.

Their wagon sped off into the cover of night.

Everything had gone terribly wrong, but by a stroke of luck, Kanae learned of a plot to dethrone Sultana Dudula and hand Bravost to Cerberus. Now, if she could just rejoin the others. They should be in The Diamond by now since it was completely dark out.

"That was a close call, wasn't it? Whew!" Kanae heaved a sigh.

"Kanae… the spell you cast just now… Hailstorm? It looked suspiciously like the blizzard that struck my carriage," Sadul said with a simmering fury underneath his visage.

"Er…" She deflated and figured it was better to confess. "Sorry I-I was just… trying to cool off? Aha…"

The furious beastman loomed over Kanae menacingly. Sadul pulled his pants off to reveal a fat, corkscrew cock that was dripping with precum. The sight of it made her salivate from between her legs.

"Everything was going fine until you showed up!" Sadul shoved his dick into Kanae, knocking the wind from her lungs and making her see white. "I just needed to deliver the fruits, get paid, and rise in the guild! Then you came out of nowhere and destroyed some of my goods. If that wasn't enough, you ruined the trade deal! You're going to pay with your body, succubus! I'm going to make use of your slutty body as recompense!"

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Aaahhh! I'll do whatever you want to repay you, just…I need to get… to… The Diamond… mmmh! I'm cumming! Aaahhhh!" Kanae howled like a bitch in heat.