Dark Lord in Chains 94 (Patreon)

I frowned as I turned my thoughts toward the next step of my plan. 

I was tempted to ask Cinder to practice for the next hour as an example, but that would be just an attempt to delay time. I had already learned all I needed to learn from her earlier show. 

Stopping the practice completely was also tempting. Maybe I shouldn’t bother trying to learn a new school of magic, one that worked much differently than my other abilities, while dealing with a crisis that threatened the whole world. 

However, ultimately, I decided to ignore that direction as well. 

I was already in a safe location, far from any kind of civilization that could be threatened by a dangerous mishap, under the observation of the most competent teacher on the subject unless I discovered the secrets of dimensional travel. 

“No time like the present,” I murmured. 

“Did you say something?” Cinder asked as she shuffled, showing that she was distracted by the pleasure of her current seating arrangement to pay much attention to my words. 

I reached to her naked breast and squeezed, earning a beautiful gasp from her. “Don’t worry sweetie, I was just talking to myself before experimenting with this new energy. Why don’t you pay attention to that while I experiment.” 

“Umm… Do you think that’s a good idea to start experimenting that quickly. Living fire is a dangerous thing.” 

“How long do you recommend studying before we start.” 

“Not too long,” she answered, and I smiled. Maybe it wouldn’t be too bad to let her lead teaching. I didn’t expect her to have a concrete idea. “For a human … maybe just a decade,” she added. 

“Right,” I said, the sincere desire to help on her face the only reason I didn’t start spanking her immediately. I certainly didn’t have a decade to slowly work off the kinks of my new ability. “I have somewhat a more accelerated strategy in mind,” I answered. “Just watch, and don’t intervene unless I explicitly ask you to, alright?” 

“But — “ she started, only for her words to be interrupted by a spank. 

“Understood?” I repeated. 

“Yes,” she gasped, though her shocked affront was laced with arousal as well. 

She was truly developing a taste for punishment. I let my left hand linger on her body while I raised my right hand, and raised my hand, ready to experiment. 

Surrendering myself to this unique magical energy was out of the question, especially since it was showing signs that the first part of its moniker might not be an exaggeration. It wasn’t just a choice, though, but an actual impossibility. 

Even the thought of it was as impossible as pushing my head under water, and trying to breathe. A lifetime of habits and reflexes prevented it. 

Instead, I gathered the smallest amount of the special energy I could manage, and flared my mana, to see whether it could be leveraged as some kind of boost to my usual spells. 

The answer turned out to be negative, in a very spectacular manner. The small sliver of energy suddenly grew into an explosive flare, searing my finger in the process as it broke the shield I established for this exact purpose. 

Even then, the only reason the rest of my hand stayed intact was my reaction, tapping onto the ability of the Shield to create a layer, pushing the crazed magic away. 

Interestingly, Cinder flinched away from the resulting reaction as well. The first time I saw her reacting against any kind of fire, suggesting it wasn’t entirely shocking that it managed to push through my newly-acquired flame resistance. 

However, even before casting another spell, I spanked Cinder’s ass. “Don’t intervene unless I order,” I said as I felt her magic moving once more. 

“But —“ she tried to say, only to receive another spank. 

“That’s the nature of experimentation, there’s no gain without at least some pain,” I said even as I cast a healing spell on myself, which, frustratingly, resisted the healing energy much more than I had expected from such a simple wound. 

A rather amusing little detail, especially since the pain lingered even after I had been cured. 

“But the pain of the cursed burns —“ Cinder tried to intervene, showing that she was very much aware of the impact. 

No wonder she warned me many times. 

“It’s not that hard to ignore,” I said, but still, during the next few experiments, I created a much stronger ward, consisting of several layers, not wanting to risk it. Even then, the subsequent experimentation didn’t work any better, every single attempt to control it resulting in a backlash that would have been deadly if I hadn’t been using only a sliver of energy. 

Pity, it wasn’t useful as an offensive weapon, as the moment it flared, it bounced back to the caster rather than targeting the others. 

It would have been an excellent suicidal attack, but that was hardly my style of doing business. 

“Are you sure that’s the best strategy?” Cinder whispered as she watched me, flinching every time the living fire turned chaotic. 

“Best, definitely no,” I said with a chuckle, caressing her comfortingly, aware that the presence of my hand on her naked skin was the only reason she maintained her current position. “But definitely fastest.” 

And that was not an exaggeration. While the results looked similar, every repeat, I had been using a different strategy of control, trying to understand the details of the reaction. It didn’t take long for me to understand that the fire was reacting with intelligence that surpassed my initial expectations, enough to rival some of the smarter animals. 

In a way, it was bad news, meaning none of the mana control techniques that were available for me could be used even after re-purposing. It was like trying to use a dam to herd a cat. Hardly useful. 

Meaning, I needed to use a different approach. 

What would happen if I could trick the fire about the source of the manipulation, I suddenly decided as I started constructing a ward, and then tried to channel the fire through it. 

The attempts didn’t work as I intended. As long as I maintained the connection, the fire attacked me, as if it somehow realized I was the source of its issue. And, considering the ward made it much more difficult to control it, it wasn’t exactly a useful tradeoff. 

Even worse, no matter how much I tried, the ward failed to manipulate the living fire without my direct input. 

“Maybe you should take a break,” Cinder whispered after almost an hour of experimentation. 

I was about to reject it, but then, I realized that the break offer was not exactly for my benefit or hers. She had been flinching badly with each chaotic flare of the living flame, building up her stress. 

The only reason she was able to resist it for an hour was her special seat, feeling my erection under her while my fingers continued to caress her body. 

Though, the growing arousal might help her to control her fear, it hardly helped to make the situation bearable. 

Especially after a long hour of teasing and torture. 

She earned a reward, I decided even as I let my fingers drift lower, her silver panties melting to clear the path, allowing me to touch her wet core. As I flicked my fingers, a moan exploded off her lips, showing just how close to a climax she was already. 

How fun was to tame her, I decided as I freed my shaft and slid inside her, enjoying the way she clamped around me. 

And, just like that, the inspiration struck. 

The living fire acted like an unwieldy mount, doing her best to free herself from my control. Just like the beautiful girl on my lap had been doing before I had educated about the perks of listening to me, and now, rather than running around, giving orders, she was begging for her pleasure. 

And begging loudly, her every jump making her tits dance vigorously.  

As I pushed her forward, making her land on her hands and knees, I started thinking about how to achieve a similar effect for a sentient piece of magic. It wasn’t a simple problem, naturally, but pushing inside Cinder repeatedly as her cries turned into a symphony, I had something to keep me busy while I tried to find a solution to that problem. 

It was a risky direction, as while it was not a total surrender, it was not exactly the isolated way I was used to casting magic. Yet, it wouldn’t be the first time I faced something that was too big to pass up, and took a challenge that was above my head. 

At least, this time I wasn’t trying to deconstruct a spell to save myself from certain doom, which was something I had managed to put myself in my youth more than once. 

While I continued to slide inside Cinder, I constructed my wards again once more, but this time, I didn’t seek efficiency. Instead, I did my best to replicate the magical pathways of Cinder, giving the living fire a comfortable living area. 

Hardly the most accurate description of what I had been doing, but a good verbal metaphor to explain it at least. 

“Are you still —“ Cinder gasped as another explosion occurred not too far from us, but I once again silenced her with a spank, not even bothering to answer as I created the wards again. 

She maintained her silence for a while. Well, not saying anything was a more accurate description. As, under my repeated invasions, it didn’t take long for her to collapse in a climax, moaning repeatedly. 

I continued experimentation, and soon, she finally commented again. “Impossible!” she gasped, but I didn’t punish her this time. 

Because, I was watching a rudimentary flame arrow flying in the air with an equal fascination. 

My first success.