I tensed as I processed the extraordinary information that my probe gave me.

There was no doubt about the accuracy of that outcome. I pushed the layer of disguise, and there was no one underneath.

It was supposed to be an impossible conclusion, one that I was supposed to dismiss as a crazy conclusion. Just to make sure, I cast a more ordinary detection spell. It was a healing-based one, essentially a variant of what I had been using to detect the undead, only geared to detect life rather than unlife.

The result told me that, other than the intensity of her life force — which was a very indirect indicator of her level — there was nothing extraordinary about the beauty in front of me.

Someone else might have been more inclined to believe the healing probe, but I had a different idea.

I was certainly more inclined to believe the results of Tantric

That didn’t mean I stopped probing, of course. On the contrary, it was just an invitation to intensify my exploration. I repeated my attempt, but this time, I combined my healing spells with Tantric.

A subtle operation.

Well, subtle in terms of the real objective and the aspect of mana, as I also needed an excuse to get a sample to experiment on.

I reached forward and grabbed the deficient fabric she was using as a top. I pulled it off aggressively before she could react at the inversion, while I did so, I made sure to grab one of her hairs and pulled it along.

And, the experiment wasn’t exactly without side benefits.

[+1500 Experience]

[Level Up!]

[Grandmaster Tantric (113/130)]

The improvement was certainly welcome, I thought.

Then I turned my focus on the experiment. Not the greatest sample perhaps, but more than enough to start. Despite her angry gasp, she didn’t bother to cover her chest, which was an interesting choice that would have surprised me before the earlier conclusion.

But her possible non-existence put the dismissal of her nudity in a new light.

Interesting, not as much as the little mana invasion I directed toward that single hair, healing mixed with Tantric, which evaporated that tiny sample into mana.

Just like a conjured item would have done under attack.

It was not pure mana, I recognized immediately. It reminded me of elemental, but not exactly. It was not a type that I recognized immediately.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t yet at a point to focus on that aspect, so I quickly created storage and pulled that mana inside me, to be analyzed later on in case I failed to extract more samples for any reason.

I certainly wasn’t afraid of it escaping, as that storage could hold Divine Spark without an issue.

Mana, no matter its nature, was nothing in comparison.

I decided to distract them to focus on my experiment without getting afraid of their interaction. I grabbed the warrior’s breasts, squeezing them hard enough to earn a beautiful breast. Their fakeness was unable to reduce the amazing sensation.

Even though the said fakeness reached a degree that was hard to comprehend.

Conjuring a full, working body was a great challenge, especially since it was not a mixture of biological and magic, but pure magic — at least, according to everything I could detect, as I used my connection to replicate the same trick a few times, stealing some extremely small samples from different parts, only for them to turn to be made from that unique form of mana.

[+2000 Experience]

Yet, the notification popped reminded me that, their little conjuration was real enough to actually trick the System.

Fascinating…

Delia distracted me from my thoughts as she leaned to my ear, her breasts once again pressing against my neck. “I’m feeling neglected,” she whispered. “Maybe you should pay some attention to me,” she followed, but even as she said so, her hand sneaked toward my stomach, caressing my muscles for a fleeting moment before reaching to my shaft, dancing up and down softly.

“Not a bad idea,” I said as I turned slightly, capturing her lips in a searing kiss, my tongue invading her mouth aggressively. She accepted that, unaware that I was using the connection to send a similar spike of mana inside her to check her soul space while taking a tissue sample as well.

[+1 Tantric]

Both experiments returned with the same outcome, confirming that Delia was fake as well.

Amusingly, that outcome relaxed me a bit more, because it gave an explanation for two critical questions that were making me doubt my senses. Why they were so willing to turn things into a full sexual encounter rather than trying to minimize the contact, or at least trying to bargain…

And, why they were giving the exact same reactions, the intense reactions I expected from not-Delia.

I was yet to discover how they were being controlled, I was willing to make a very considerable bet on both were controlled by not-Delia.

Moreover, considering the speed of their reactions, their instinctual responses, and their inability to fully erase their emotions, I was willing to believe that the control was more instinctual than deliberate.

Of course, to understand the exact nature, I needed to discover the control method, which certainly wasn’t a trivial task.

Luckily, I was not in a hurry to do so. Since not-Delia was kind enough to give me two magical dolls that could still give me experience, I decided to use the opportunity to achieve another level, maybe even more if the Divine Spark I allowed the System to absorb would allow me to go for more.

I pulled back from the kiss even as I wrapped my arm around Delia’s waist, and stood up.

The warrior looked shocked at the sudden move — one that I could also see echoing in Delia’s gaze, giving credence to my assumption about both conjurations were controlled by the same person — but before she could react, I grabbed her chain and pulled.

“Stay on all fours,” I ordered as I tugged her chain, feeling much more comfortable pushing her limits more than I would have otherwise tried, knowing that she was just a magical puppet, indirectly managed by the mysterious woman behind it.

She growled in anger while Delia tensed in my arms, but neither followed their reaction with an action, obediently accepting my dominance as I dragged them toward a particularly large crimson cushion in the room.

“You can sit,” I said to Delia even as I grabbed her dress and ripped it off her body. It was already around her waist and wasn’t covering much, but I wanted to get rid of it completely to get an unobstructed view of it.

[+3000 Experience]

Since someone had gone through all the trouble of creating it, it would be a pity not to enjoy it properly.

The warrior growled in anger, only for me to flick her nose. “Bad girl,” I admonished, unable to keep my chuckle down as I saw her anger growing more, treating her like a pet angering her more than anything else I had done.

I acted like I ignored her growing tenseness as I walked her around the room. It was certainly fun, especially with eye candy like Delia sitting on the cushion, her legs parted open invitingly as she did her best to look seductive.

Yet, it wasn’t as effective as her skills would have otherwise allowed, because as the warrior tensed angrily at my treatment, so did Delia, showing the nature of the connection between the two.

And, as I dragged her around, I noticed two important things. First, as I dragged the warrior around the room, the smoothness of her movements was changing slightly. It wasn’t a great degree, one that would have been impossible to detect even with my observational abilities if I hadn’t been looking for it especially.

Yet, considering there was a noticeable difference even with a simple movement like crawling on all fours, the difference would have been much more intense if the magical puppet was fighting or casting spells.

More importantly, by using that performance change, I was able to identify the direction of the controller. It was just behind the wall opposite side of the entrance, in the direction where the girls first appeared, quite near to where Delia was currently sitting with her beautiful legs parted, her wet core begging for my attention.

The second important thing I focused on was the physical differences between Delia and the warrior.

Or, more accurately, the lack of it.

Considering they were magical constructs, I would have expected them to look wildly different. It would have been the smart thing to do to distract people from their nature.

Yet, there was suspiciously little difference between them. The lines of their faces were different, and their blonde hair was in a different shade and model, but that was almost the full extent of it.

Their naked bodies were suspiciously similar, the warrior was slightly more muscular while Delia had marginally bigger breasts, but that was the full extent of the differences. Examining them, I was almost completely sure that their creator was using her own body as the template.

I remembered the first time I had seen the princess and her handmaidens. At that time, I assumed it was something to protect her against assassinations through convenient disguises while using it as an excuse to hide an expert among them — an expert that almost successfully robbed the headmistress — but the recent details I had managed to discover certainly threw that into question.

Maybe they were similar because all of them were magical puppets, constructed from the same mysterious energy.

And, if that assumption was true, not-Delia was the only one that could create such constructs, and she was behind the wall, controlling the two puppets.

More importantly, I had a very good guess about her identity.

“That’s enough walk,” I said suddenly as I dragged the warrior to the large cushion Delia was sitting on.

It was treason to keep such an exalted member of the royalty waiting…

[Level: 35 Experience: 599670 / 630000

Strength: 46 Charisma: 63

Precision: 40 Perception: 42

Agility: 40 Manipulation: 45

Speed: 39 Intelligence: 49

Endurance: 39 Wisdom: 51

HP: 7140 / 7140 Mana: 8242 / 8750 ]

SKILLS

Grandmaster Tantric [114/130]

Master Melee [100/100]

Master Biomancy [100/100]

Master Elemental [100/100]

Master Arcana [100/100]

Master Subterfuge [100/100]

Master Craft [85/100]

Expert Speech [75/75]

PERKS

Mana Regeneration

Skill Share

Empowerment (0/1)

Teleportation

COMPANIONS

[Titania – Level 35/38]

[Cornelia – Level 22/26]

[Helga – Level 22/26]

[Marianne – Level 21/29]