Blade Over Magic

Discussing ’Compensation’

”A more in-depth explanation, huh?” She blinked, then slowly adjusted her posture when she realized that Xander was actually taking her abilities seriously with his question.

”It’s a bit rude to ask a girl what she can do, but if you insist...” She leaned against the wall, her whip-like tail flicking back and forth idly.

”Most mortals assume that a dream is just a mashup of random experiences throughout the day. Random garbage or mental noise. That’s all wrong.” She shook her head. ”In fact, it’s a looot deeper than that.” She tapped her forehead.

”Picture this. There are 4 distinct layers. Physical reality, which is everything you see. Then there’s the conscious surface. These are where your thoughts typically are. Then there are two important ones. The Dream Plane, which is the subconscious, and the Soul, or Soul Core.” At this point, Xander set down Abscinde as he listed with rapt attention while Mira continued.

”The Dream Plane... think of it as a buffer layer that acts as a bridge between your conscious surface and your soul. When a person sleeps, their rational filters gradually shut down. Hence, their mental defenses weaken, and their guards drop because their conscious mind is naturally subdued.” She gestured lightly with her sharp, manicured fingernails.

”As a Succubus specializing in the Dream Domain, I don’t need to break through a mage’s active barriers. Instead, I use three distinct methods to enter the Subconscious Buffer.” She raised three fingers.

”Dream walking: This allows me to slip into someone’s sleep cycle via emotional or memory anchors. Which is to say, if someone is either feeling something or remembering something intensely, it makes entering easier. Like a passageway.

Next is Subconscious Anchoring: For this, I attach a thread of my charm to my target during the day. It’s more effective if they have a unfulfilled desire that’s easy to exploit. Granted, I can just brute force it by utilizing a lot of charm to infiltrate while they sleep. It’s how I entered your own dream last night.” She lowers two fingers until one remains.

”Lastly, there’s Nightmare Inoculation. Basically I plant a seed inside their Subconscious which plays on pre-existing fears or anxiety, which manifests into nightmares when they sleep. Nightmares are actually remarkable at weakening any defenses because their subconscious is in a state of chaos, making it easier for me to slip inside.” She chuckled.

”And let me tell you. That stunt you pulled? It caused a LOT of anxiety. I’m talking cognitive dissonance galore.” Xander raised a brow.

”Cognitive dissonance?” Mira bobbed her head up and down.

”Yup. Their conscious minds wanna think you’re an anomaly. And to be fair I think you are. But yeah, they wanna believe you’re just a very extreme case of uniqueness when it comes to the sword. But in their dreams? Actual terror. They keep dreaming about a guy in a cloak standing over a dead wyvern while their spells are cut through like paper. If your goal was to plant a seed of doubt, then you definitely went overkill.” When she finished, Xander went silent briefly as his mind considered the operational advantages of all of this, but before he could lay out a plan, he brought his attention to her earlier request.

”You said you want compensation and refuse to work for free. But physical money is useless for a demon working in human territory, so what exactly are you looking for?” He first probed.

Mira paused, her gaze flickering with a mix of hesitation and what looked like genuine hunger.

”Well, you’re right about the gold part, that won’t help me much, even in hell.” She mumbled, her tail wrapping around her thigh. She looked oddly sheepish and embarrassed.

”You see, Succubi don’t need to eat in the conventional sense. We can still eat food, but that’s more of a hobby than a necessity. Rather, we derive sustenance from more... esoteric means.” Xander raised a brow.

”So sex.” Mira’s wings fluttered.

”Yes, but not only that. Or rather, that’s more of an ’endgame’ method to it. We can derive it from lust alone as long as the emotion exists.” She began to pace.

”However, that method is only for low level succubi/incubi. In the end, all it does is satiate hunger. Nothing more. However, there’s a more advanced method of it that doesn’t only satiate us, but helps increase our strength.” She paused and looked at him.

”Different Succubi call it different things, but I personally call it ’Refined Intent’. Basically stronger people’s emotions aren’t... normal. Whatever emotion they exhibit, even things like lust, are refined to an extreme level. And if we consume stuff like that, it’s not just filling, it actively strengthens us. The issue with getting this type of intent is that it’s hard to come by, and even if we find someone with it, they are usually powerhouses that are difficult to even come near.” She looked at Xander, her throat visibly bobbing up and down as she looked like she was using all her willpower to stop herself from pouncing on him.

”And you... it’s not just your body that draws me in so much, granted, that’s a big part. But your intent. It’s like... like.” Her eyes glazed over slightly as one hand inched towards her thighs between her legs, but she caught herself at the last moment and coughed upon seeing Xander’s blank stare.

”N-Needless to say, it’s very appealing, and I can sense that if I could have some, it would help me greatly in both in the short and long run.” She looked away. ”That said, I don’t know how you do it, but your intent is locked down very hard. It’s impossible for me to even get a taste. Which is... very annoying, you know? It’s like being dehydrated and having a bottle of water dangled in front of you. I feel like I’m being teased, and I’m the Succubus.” She huffed and puffed out her cheeks, clearly frustrated and bothered.

Xander looked at her for a moment before his gaze turned contemplative.

’Refined Intent, huh? Actually that makes sense. Whenever I use Myriad Paths to observe the intents of others, depending on the person, their intent lines can be more potent or weaker, not including how likely they are to commit to an action. The intent of the wyvern for example was definitely very solid, and someone like the Major General even moreso. But mine... Hm, I never actually thought about how potent it might be. Interesting.’ Xander was silent for a few more seconds, then he nodded to himself.

”We’ll address that shortly. Actually that gave me a few things to think about, so we might end up doing one or two tests.” Hearing this, Mira’s eyes lit up, but Xander continued.

”That said, the compensation I had in mind was actually a little different, which is why I asked about the details of your abilities.” The Succubus blinked.

”Uh, no offense, but how exactly do you intend to compensate me that way? Wanna give me a power up or something?” She said half-jokingly, but Xander just gave her a meaningful look and spoke.

”Yeah, you’re spending way too much mana in your endeavors.” Mira blinked, then her tail flicked sharply as she glared at him.

”Ex-cuse you! I just told you how I bypass barriers to enter the dream plane and your takeaway is that I’m wasteful?” She grumbled, but Xander just shrugged.

”What I’m saying is that you’re picking locks when the house opens its doors on a timer,” He replied calmly. ”You said that mortals think dreams are just random noise and garbage, but it’s deeper than that. Which is true. But that noise does exist. And do you know why the mind generates that noise when people fall asleep?” Mira paused, her indignation giving way to intrigue.

”Enlighten me, then. Pretty boy.” The term made Xander’s eye twitch, but he ignored it.

”It’s a cleanup crew pretty much. Every night, the mind sorts through everything it experienced during the day. Trash gets removed and memories that matter are put into the vault.” He looked her up and down. ”As things stand, when you infiltrate, you are walking in through the front door with your own boots on. But what if... you disguise your magic as a piece of trash or an important memory the mind already wants to sweep inside?” Mira froze, and Xander continued.

”You said it yourself. Succubi excel at Charm, Dreams, and Illusions. And most can do all three but do especially well at one. You being dreams. But you could still utilize illusions to achieve a certain effect. After all, the sorting process is automatic. No one will be able to notice in their sleep that the automatic filing of memories done by their subconscious has something that isn’t truly a memory. Why not exploit that?

So rather than wasting mana looking for a weak point to enter, you simply disguise yourself as a relevant memory and allow the automatic sweeping to carry you in. That way, you have unobstructed access to actual key memories without too much strain? Free ride.” Mira’s mouth slowly fell open.

”... Bloody Hell! Are you sure you aren’t a Succubus? That’s... that’s some advanced knowledge right there!” She exclaimed, and Xander just smiled slightly.

’Earth knowledge for the win.’