Charisma 100: My Academy Life As A Heartbreaking Commoner-Chapter 180: Houseguest*

Nazraya arrived at Starcaller Manor with a single trunk.

Aegis had expected more. A professor of Nazraya’s standing, with her taste for expensive things and dangerous hobbies, surely owned more than one trunk’s worth of possessions. But there she stood at the manor’s front gate, looking way too elegant for the dusty road, with nothing but a leather trunk.

"Traveling light?" Aegis called from the doorway.

"I prefer to keep my important things close." Nazraya smiled, that slow curl of lips that always made Aegis’s stomach flip. "Everything else is replaceable."

The trunk drifted past Aegis into the foyer, settling gently on the floor.

"Welcome to Starcaller Manor." Aegis spread her arms. "It’s not much, but it’s mine."

"Show me."

So Aegis did.

They started with the ground floor. The main hall with its freshly polished floors, the dining room that could seat twenty, the kitchens where two of her laborers were already preparing dinner. Nazraya trailed her fingers along the banister as they climbed the stairs, red eyes taking in every detail.

"The east wing is mostly storage right now," Aegis explained, leading her down the second-floor corridor. "Guest rooms are here, here, and here. Scarlett and Kanna have quarters in the west wing when they’re not out hunting or training at the academy."

"And your room?"

"End of the hall. Master suite." Aegis grinned. "Obviously."

Nazraya hummed.

They moved through the gardens next. Rosalie’s herb plots took up most of the south side, flowering bushes and decorative trees filling the rest.

"You’ve done well," Nazraya said, sounding almost surprised. "This place was a ruin when you acquired it."

"It had potential."

"Most people can’t see potential. They see what’s in front of them." Nazraya turned to face her. "You see what things could become. It’s a rare quality."

Aegis felt heat creep up her neck. Compliments from Nazraya always hit different.

"Come on. There’s one more room I want to show you."

She led Nazraya back inside, down a side corridor, to a door that looked like all the others. But when Aegis pushed it open, the room beyond was anything but ordinary.

The private study had been her passion project. Stone floors instead of wood, easier to clean, harder to burn. Heavy curtains that blocked all light when drawn. Shelves lined with books she’d been collecting, some mundane, some decidedly less so. And in the center of the room, a clear space marked with faint geometric patterns she’d copied from one of Nazraya’s own texts.

"For training," Aegis said. "No crypts, no sneaking around, no worrying about some random student stumbling in."

Nazraya stepped inside slowly, examining the space with the critical eye of someone who knew exactly what to look for.

"Defensive wards?"

"Basic privacy enchantments. Nothing that would raise suspicion if someone detected them, but enough to muffle sound and discourage casual scrying."

[Had Evelyn make sure those would be implemented all throughout the manor, actually. Sure was expensive, though.]

"The ventilation?"

"Carved channels in the walls, leading to vents on the roof. Any residual energy dissipates into the open air instead of building up."

[I didn’t ask for this one; the laborers thought of it on their own. Good on them.]

Nazraya completed her circuit of the room and turned to face Aegis with an expression that made her mouth go dry.

"You built a dungeon."

"I built a training room."

"Same thing." Nazraya’s smile widened. "I’m impressed, pet. Genuinely impressed."

Aegis couldn’t be prouder.

---

That night, they broke it in properly.

No candles this time. Because they didn’t have to worry about privacy here, Nazraya conjured floating orbs of soft purple light that drifted near the ceiling. Aegis stood in the center of the practice space, rolling her shoulders, trying to focus on anything except how good Nazraya looked in that outfit.

She’d changed for training. Gone was the formal professor’s attire, replaced by something looser, lighter. A simple black dress that moved when she moved, cut low enough to be distracting and short enough to let her move her legs (while also showing off supple thighs).

[Man, this definitely beats training in the crypts.]

"Tonight," Nazraya said, circling her, "we discuss something I should have mentioned earlier. A consequence of our particular art that many practitioners discover too late."

"That sounds ominous."

"It should." Nazraya stopped in front of her, close enough to touch. "Tell me, have you noticed anything unusual since you began learning shadow magic? Heightened emotions? Impulses that feel stronger than they should?"

Aegis thought about it.

She wasn’t too sure, to be honest.

"Maybe," she shrugged.

"Shadow magic leaves a sort of... residue." Nazraya raised one hand, and darkness pooled in her palm. "Every time you channel umbral energy, traces of it remain in your body. Your aether pathways. Your very soul, if you believe in such things." The darkness in her hand writhed. "In small amounts, it’s harmless. The body purges it naturally over time. But practitioners who train intensively, who push themselves to advance quickly—" Her eyes met Aegis’s. "—the corruption accumulates faster than it can be cleansed. And accumulated corruption amplifies certain aspects of our nature. Aggression. Paranoia. Recklessness."

Aegis swallowed.

"How do you purge it?"

"There are several methods. Meditation. Certain alchemical compounds. Extended periods without casting." Nazraya let the shadows dissipate. "But the most effective technique requires a partner."

"Of course it does."

"The corruption can be circulated and expelled through a controlled technique. It requires precision. One practitioner channels their own shadow magic into the corrupted individual’s pathways, forcing the residue to flow in a specific pattern until it can be safely dispersed." Nazraya gestured to the practice space. "Sit. Cross-legged, back straight."

Aegis did as instructed.

Nazraya moved behind her, settling close. Her hands came to rest on Aegis’s back, palms flat against her shoulder blades.

"This will feel strange. Do not resist."

"What are you? A police offic—fuck."

Shadow magic flooded into her. Not an attack, but a directed flow that slipped into her aether pathways like water through channels. Aegis felt it moving through her, pulling something with it. Something dark and sticky that had been clinging to her insides.

The corruption.

Nazraya’s hands moved in slow, deliberate patterns across her back, guiding the flow. Down her spine, across her ribs, circling around to her core. The corruption gathered there, a writhing mass of darkness that Nazraya forced to move in tight spirals.

"And, now we bring it out," Nazraya murmured.

The corruption burst from Aegis’s skin in wisps of black smoke. She gasped, feeling lighter, clearer, like she’d been carrying weight she hadn’t noticed until it was gone.

Nazraya’s hands stilled.

"Better?"

"Yeah. That was—"

Nazraya’s hands slid forward, cupping Aegis’s tits from behind.

Aegis’s breath caught. The shift from clinical magic work to this was instant and deliberate. Nazraya’s fingers squeezed, like she was testing the weight of them through her shirt.

"The technique is complete," Nazraya murmured, lips brushing against Aegis’s ear. "You’re cleansed. For now."

"For now?"

"Corruption will build again. It always does." Her fingers found Aegis’s nipples, rolling them slowly. "You’ll need regular sessions. Weekly, perhaps. Daily would be better, but I know you’ve got stuff to do."

Aegis’s cock was already getting hard.

"That so?"

"Mm. Such a burden for both of us." Nazraya’s teeth grazed her earlobe. "Having to meet so frequently. Having to maintain such close... contact."

"Sounds terrible."

"Doesn’t it?" Nazraya’s hands slipped under Aegis’s shirt, fingers splaying across bare skin. "Of course, since we have all night and no interruptions..." She scraped her nails lightly down Aegis’s stomach. "I’ve been thinking about something."

"Yeah?"

"I want to fuck your ass until you can’t walk tomorrow."

Aegis’s cock went fully hard.

[Fuck yes.]

"I’m not hearing a downside here."

Nazraya laughed, low and dark.

"Stand up."

Aegis stood. Nazraya rose with her, hands never leaving her body. She turned Aegis around, backed her up against the desk, and kissed her.

It wasn’t gentle. Nazraya’s tongue swept into her mouth, claiming it, and Aegis opened for her eagerly. She reached up, threading her fingers through Nazraya’s black hair, pulling her closer.

Nazraya broke the kiss, leaving Aegis chasing her lips.

"Strip."

Aegis pulled her shirt over her head and tossed it aside. Her pants followed, then her underwear. She stood there naked, cock fully hard and pussy dripping, watching Nazraya watch her.

"On the desk. Face down."

Aegis turned and bent over the desk. The wood was cool against her skin. She gripped the far edge, fingers already white-knuckled, anticipating what was coming.

Behind her, she heard Nazraya’s clothes rustling. Fabric hitting the floor. Then footsteps.

Nazraya’s hand came down on her ass. Not quite a slap, just a possessive squeeze, but it made Aegis flinch all the same.

"You know," Nazraya said conversationally, "I’ve been very patient with you, pet. I even let you lead last time." Her fingers trailed down, teasing. "But tonight? With no plans later, no risk of interruption... Tonight I want to hear you scream."

Aegis inhaled slowly.

"No clever response?" Nazraya’s fingers slipped between her cheeks, finding her hole. "How unusual."

"... I’m kind of hoping you’ll just get on with it already."

Nazraya cackled.

"Would I be wrong to assume you’ve got some lubricant nearby?"

"... No." Aegis gestured at the relevant drawer. After that night with Serilla, she ordered quite a bit of lube. Evelyn asked no questions.

"Ah, good."

Slowly, after applying it, Nazraya began to work her open. One finger, then two, teasing, pushing, and pulling.

Aegis pressed her face against the desk, breathing hard. The stretch was good, that edge of too much that always made her brain short-circuit.

"More," she managed.

"How greedy." But Nazraya added a third finger, making Aegis gasp.

[Oh fuck.]

Nazraya withdrew her fingers, and Aegis heard her spit. Then the blunt head of her cock pressed against Aegis’s ass.

"Tonight, I’m going to fuck you senseless."

She pushed in.

Slow. Devastating. Inch by inch until she was fully seated, and Aegis couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe, could only feel the overwhelming fullness.

"There we go," Nazraya murmured. "As usual, you take me so well, pet."

Aegis couldn’t respond. Her fingers dug into the wood, knuckles white, as Nazraya started moving.

Long, deliberate strokes. She’d pull almost all the way out, then sink back in. The drag against every nerve ending made Aegis’s vision blur.

"Louder," Nazraya commanded, picking up the pace. Her hips snapped forward, driving deeper. "No one can hear us here. Let me hear you."

Slowly, Aegis’s moans rose in volume.

Until she outright screamed when Nazraya hit that spot inside her that made her whole body light up.

"Good, good. More."

Aegis then begged when the pace became punishing. Her cock leaked against the desk, untouched but throbbing, and when Nazraya reached around to stroke it once—just once—Aegis came with a shout.

Her ass clenched around Nazraya’s cock, her whole body shaking, cum spurting across the desk in thick ropes.

Nazraya didn’t stop.

She fucked Aegis through it, relentless, until Aegis was sobbing with oversensitivity. Then she pulled out, flipped Aegis over like she weighed nothing, and shoved her legs up.

"Again," Nazraya said, lining herself up.

"I just—"

Nazraya leaned in close, tits against Aegis’s own.

Her wide, red eyes peered into Aegis’s own as she smiled.

"Again."

She slid back in. This angle was deeper, more intense. Aegis wrapped her legs around Nazraya’s waist and held on, watching her face. Red eyes blazing, black hair falling around her shoulders, lips parted as she moved.

"You really are beautiful, pet," Nazraya breathed, watching Aegis fall apart beneath her. "Absolutely beautiful."

Her pace was brutal. The desk shook with every thrust. Aegis reached down, grabbed her own cock, which was still sensitive but already getting hard again somehow, and stroked in time with Nazraya’s rhythm.

"That’s it," Nazraya purred, never breaking eye contact. "Show me. Let me see you cum again."

After a while, Aegis did.

Her second orgasm hit even harder than the first. She came across her stomach, her hand, and still kept stroking as Nazraya’s hips stuttered.

She groaned, burying herself deep, and Aegis felt the hot rush of her cum filling her up.

They stayed like that for a moment, both panting, bodies trembling.

Then Nazraya pulled out slowly, and they collapsed together on the floor. The cushions Aegis had stashed in the corner became their landing pad, soft enough to catch them.

They lay there, tangled together, trying to remember how breathing worked.

"Round two in ten minutes," Nazraya said eventually.

Aegis laughed, breathless.

"You’re going to kill me."

"Would you rather go out some other way?" Nazraya smirked.

---

Later, after rounds two and three and a brief break for water, they lay sprawled across the cushions in a tangle of limbs.

Nazraya was curled against her side with Aegis’s head on her shoulder and one leg thrown over Nazraya’s hips. Her black hair was a mess. Aegis’s whole body ached in the best way.

"You’re advancing faster than expected."

Aegis blinked, pulled from the edge of sleep.

"Hm?"

"Your shadow magic." Nazraya’s fingers traced random patterns on Aegis’s stomach. "The rate of your progression is unusual. Students with your raw potential typically take years to reach your current level. You’ve done it in months."

"I’m motivated."

"Clearly." Nazraya’s hand stilled. "But speed comes with risks. Controlling your own power is a skill in itself, darling. I’ve seen promising mages lose themselves entirely. Consumed by their own power."

Aegis thought about the notification.

"I can handle it."

Nazraya lifted her head, red eyes searching Aegis’s face in the dim light. She was still smiling, but she looked tired.

"That’s what they all say."