“A class’s rank primarily defines how extensive and deep your skill tree is,” Vespera explained calmly, her fingers lazily rubbing the soft skin on the girl’s thigh.
“The higher the rank, the more powerful and unique abilities you can unlock within it. Of course, the extra stat growth is a huge bonus as well. An S-rank class gets noticeably more attribute points with every level than an A-rank, and an A-rank gets more than a B-rank. Purely in theory, then, a character with an S-rank class will always be more powerful in direct combat than someone with an A or B-rank.”
Lily listened with her mouth slightly agape, analyzing the complex intricacies of the System, as the demoness continued her exposition:
“However, remember that this world is not a simple game. Skills can be acquired not only from a pure class tree, but also through daily study, training, and combat experience. So if two people with a Demon King class stood face to face - one A-rank and the other B-rank - and the former relied solely on her innate class talents while the latter spent years learning extra spells, fighting, and acquiring vastly superior gear, the B-rank could butcher the A-rank without much trouble.”
“Aah, I get it... So level and rank aren't everything; what you fight for yourself matters just as much,” Lily muttered, nodding with a look of realization on her face.
The Demon Queen offered an approving nod, and her black-painted nail smoothly moved lower on the interface, stopping directly beside the [Class Parameters] section.
“Every class in this world possesses its own unique parameters that define its nature,” Vespera said, reading the visible values aloud. “In your case, they look like this:
Submission - 3/100
Mistress Bond - 22/100
Pleasure Energy - 14/100
“These three counters tell you about three extremely important matters,” she explained, tapping her nail against the first line.
“Submission is primarily a measure of your internal surrender and obedience to your Mistress. In this way, the System measures how deeply you’ve accepted your new role as my helpless, obedient pet. Additionally, once you reach a sufficient character level, every ten points in this counter will unlock special, unique class skills.”
Hearing this explanation and seeing the tragically low digit “3,” Lily suddenly tensed up completely.
She held her breath, a panicked thought instantly flashing through her head that Vespera was about to fly into a rage over such a pathetic score and deem her unruly or disobedient.
But it’s not my fault! Just moments ago, I was dumped without a word into a completely alien futanari body with bunny ears and a sex slave class!
Lily didn't understand what was going on around her at all, so it was hardly reasonable to expect that in a mere fifteen minutes her gauge would hit a hundred points, or that she’d fully accept being a living toy with sparkling eyes and a joyful smile on her lips!
Though the girl tried to keep a poker face and show nothing, her body betrayed her at the worst possible moment - both of her long, fluffy ears stiffened terrifyingly and stood straight up.
Seeing this massive tension and the pricked ears, Vespera instantly read the emotions swirling inside her new pet’s head. Instead of getting angry, pinching her, or scolding her, she reached out her hand and began fondly, gently kneading and squishing her soft, fluffy ears, flawlessly helping her relax.
“Don't be so nervous, bunny,” she purred softly, moving her nail to the second entry.
“Mistress Bond is something entirely different. This gauge shows how emotionally strong the bond connecting you to your Mistress is. To make it easier to understand: imagine someone has Submission at level 60, but Mistress Bond at level 15. That means such a person is a perfectly trained, ruthlessly obedient pet, but on the inside emotionally doesn't trust her Mistress at all and would gladly run away from her at the first opportunity.”
Lily listened intently to her deep voice, feeling the tension slowly fade under the caresses.
“On the flip side,” Vespera continued with a playful spark in her eye, “if someone had Submission at level 20, but Mistress Bond as high as 75... it would mean you were deeply attached to your Mistress. You’d worry about her, trust her unconditionally, and long to be around her... but you’d still be stubborn as a mule and hate it when your Mistress gives you strict orders.”
Lily digested these words and nodded. The mechanics of both parameters had become clear and logical to her.
However, as her gaze fell again upon her current Mistress Bond value of 22 points, the girl froze in mild shock.
Vespera also glanced at the result, and in that exact fraction of a second, a radiant, devilishly wicked smile bloomed across her face.
“Oho! Look at that!” she chirped in a high, amused tone, beginning to shamelessly tease her pet and ruffle her hair.
“We haven't even known each other a full day, and my tiny bunny already has twenty-two points of emotional attachment! I haven't even had the chance to train you properly, and you like me this much already? What a darling little clingwrap you are!”
Lily flushed a deep crimson. She felt utter embarrassment at the mockery, but she had no intention of passively enduring this teasing treatment.
“I-I can’t help it, Mistress!” she huffed weakly, turning her head slightly to hide her burning cheeks.
“After all, you were the one who dragged me out of that horrific, black abyss and gave me a second life! Maybe... maybe it’s a bit perverted and absurd, but it’s still my new life, and I’m grateful to you from the bottom of my heart!”
Hearing those genuine, adorable words, the Demon Queen smiled with incredible gentleness and warmth.
However, that heartwarming moment lasted for a split second.
Before Lily could even exhale, Vespera’s hands seized her chest, grabbing her bare breasts - which fit perfectly in her palms - and squeezing them ruthlessly and powerfully!
“Aaaahn~!” Lily gasped out loudly and deliciously as a wave of scorching heat surged through her entire body.
Vespera leaned over her, pressing her lips right against her burning ear, and whispered in a deep, terrifyingly sultry voice:
“You have no idea just how perverted this new life of yours is going to be... my sweet little bunny.”
For a long moment, the only sound in the bedroom was quiet, rhythmic purring and the soft squish of kneaded flesh. Vespera effortlessly squeezed her bunny’s breasts, but her carmine eyes weren't focused on the girl’s red face - instead, they were fixed entirely on the floating System window.
The gauge next to Pleasure Energy twitched, smoothly jumping from fourteen to sixteen points.
Seeing the 2-point increase, the Demon Queen nodded in satisfaction and released her breasts without warning.
“Aahn...” A quiet, disappointed whimpered escaped Lily’s chest as the overwhelming caresses suddenly ceased.
Hearing that sound of pure disappointment and seeing how the girl’s bunny ears collapsed in grief over the lost touch, Vespera let out a quiet snort and laughed mockingly.
“What a proper little slut you are, bunny,” she tossed out in amusement, ruffling her hair.
“Focus on your System at last. You’ll have more than enough opportunities in the future to act like a perverted pet.”
Lily flushed a deep, intense red, feeling monumental embarrassment. She looked at the Demon Queen with pure reproach in her eyes - after all, Vespera was the one who had grabbed her chest out of nowhere and kneaded her new breasts like a pervert, and now she was calling her a slut!
However, already understanding her Mistress’s capricious nature, she decided not to pursue the argument and simply directed her gaze toward the black-painted nail pointing at the line:
Pleasure Energy - 16/100.
“This is your personal energy resource,” Vespera explained calmly. “Its amount simply increases whenever you generate the energy of desire in your body and mind.”
Lily glanced at the gauge, noticing the recent increase from fourteen to sixteen.
“And it just grew for you precisely because, like the proper little slut you are, you felt pure pleasure when I kneaded your sweet new boobs,” the demoness added with a radiant, malicious smile.
Lily’s bunny ears drooped even lower.
This woman will literally use every single situation, no matter how small, just to verbally humiliate me and poke at my feelings... she thought to herself.
Not wanting to endure any more dirty jabs, she quickly decided to change the subject.
“A-And... what is this energy used for, Mistress?” she asked briskly, pointing at the numbers.
“You have two main ways to use it,” Vespera replied, adjusting the girl's position on her lap.
“On one hand, it functions simply as your backup energy reservoir. If, for instance, you ran completely out of mana during combat, you could use a conversion ratio and consume this energy to instantly regenerate your magical reserves.”
After those words, the Demon Queen let out a quiet sigh filled with slight disgust.
“But that is the boring, mundane part of its application...”
“The boring part?” Lily repeated, intrigued.
Vespera nodded, and her nail clicked on a strange, small icon depicting a stylized tree, situated right next to the Pleasure Energy bar.
“The more important and far more interesting thing is that you use this exact energy to unlock and develop your unique skills and perks from your personal progression tree.”
At the exact moment the demoness’s finger touched the icon, a gigantic, semi-transparent System window flared to life before Lily’s eyes.
It displayed a massive, sprawling purple tree whose trunk split into four thick, heavy branches extending in four different cardinal directions - one to the right, one to the left, the third straight up, and the fourth downward.
“Since you possess an S-rank class, you have a terrifyingly vast number of class skills and perks available to unlock,” Vespera said, a predatory, exceptionally excited smile spreading across her beautiful, voluptuous face.
The Demon Queen’s red eyes gleamed with delight as her gaze scanned the four main progression paths, each featuring a unique branch name at its start.