Cambrian’s Emporium of Everything (Multiple Settings)

 

The symbol that Caleb ultimately ends up very lightly cutting into the nape of Alyssa’s neck is a surprisingly simple one. It’s a slightly stylized ‘C’ with a thick middle and thick ends. Nothing too special or magical or grandiose. Is it meant to symbolize the first letter of his name? He’s not sure, truth be told. But it would make sense, Caleb figures. He doesn’t… have much else besides his name. Not even a last name to call his own. He’s just Caleb. So a ‘C’ is as good as anything else, really.

 

More importantly, the Enthrallment Ritual works, just as Reynad had said it would. Once the symbol is carved into Alyssa’s flesh with the glowing ritual dagger, there’s a transfer of some sort between him and her. All of the sudden, the blonde’s trembling and shaking stops and it becomes a lot easier to hold her in place with his magic… mostly because she’s no longer fighting it.

 

Pulling the ritual dagger back, Caleb is rewarded with a bright flash as the C emblazons itself permanently upon her flesh, like some sort of magical brand or tattoo. The collar of runes does the same. Before, he was having to focus on keeping it in place, his push to subjugate and dominate her with his magic making the runes show up.

 

But now? Now he’s not really doing anything. Caleb only realizes how dumb this might be a moment later when Alyssa suddenly collapses forward onto her palms, gasping. Shit, he’s not holding her in place anymore. But then… does he really need to?

 

For a long moment, Caleb tenses up, ritual dagger in one hand and the other raised and ready to call upon his magic. He could only hope it would come as easily as it had the first time, if she did suddenly start attacking him. But… that doesn’t happen. Instead… instead Alyssa begins to laugh.

 

“Hah… aha… ahahaha…”

 

The laughter is disturbing, but then it becomes interspersed with crying. Caleb isn’t sure what to think about that, but before it can become too uncomfortable, it all abruptly ceases. Alyssa lets out a low hissing breath and finally speaks.

 

“Fuck… fuck, I’m such an idiot. A stubborn, hateful, short-sighted bitch.”

 

Huh? Caleb had to admit, none of this was what he expected from what Reynad had said about the Enthrallment Ritual. More than a little befuddled, Caleb swallows dryly and wets his lips before speaking.

 

“… Alyssa?”

 

Her head immediately shoots up.

 

“Yes, Master?”

 

That’s more what he was expecting, though it also makes him feel rather strange. There’s not a trace of deception in her voice either. Or at least, Caleb doesn’t think so. He’s not much of a people person, but she sounds so… earnest. On top of that, when she sees the flummoxed expression on his face, she ducks her head, abashed.

 

“Ah, apologies Master. I was just lamenting what a stupid cunt I was.”

 

Um.

 

“You don’t need to worry. I’m yours now. The ritual worked and I am your Thrall. Congratulations, Master.”

 

Alyssa, she…

 

“It’s just… it really didn’t have to be like this, did it? You didn’t even want to enthrall me. You killed Reynad specifically so you wouldn’t have to. And then I forced your hand anyways because I was so shortsighted about things.”

 

That was true. It didn’t have to be like this. He didn’t want it to be like this. But also…

 

“The hatred is gone now. Replaced with loyalty to you, of course. But with the hatred gone, I can see all the other ways I could have gone about things. It’s so much more obvious to me now. I didn’t have to kill you. I could have turned you against the other magic users. I could have helped you become the bane of their existence. You were already halfway there, after all. But now-!”

 

“Alyssa, stop!”

 

His Thrall freezes in her tracks, staring up at him with her hands mere centimeters from his crotch. See, ever since she started talking, Alyssa’s hands hadn’t been idle. He’d been… well, a little overwhelmed by not just her rambling, but also her actions, so he hadn’t exactly stopped her ahead of time… but the woman has gone and removed her leather corset and her white blouse, exposing her full, milky breasts to his gaze. Each capped with a cute pink nipple, her bust almost seems to draw the eye, leaving Caleb’s face flaming red.

 

She’d stripped half-naked while blathering at him and Caleb honestly hadn’t known what to do… until she finally reached for him, making it abundantly clear she was about to try and take his cock out of his pants. That was when Caleb had called for a halt to the madness, leaving her frozen with her hand outstretched in his direction.

 

“Back… back off for a second. What are you doing?”

 

Sitting back on her knees, hands settling in her lap in a way that leaves her arms perfectly framing her rather large bust, Alyssa smiles up at him.

 

“Apologizing, Master.”

 

What?

 

“I know you find me beautiful. Not to sound too conceited, but I’m a very beautiful woman. My parents made sure of that. After all, if I was going to be some wet-behind-the-ears High Wizard’s broodmare, I needed to be pretty enough to not just catch his eye but hold it for a good long period of time so that my family could benefit from it.”

 

Caleb’s mouth is dry as he considers that. It’s not the first time Alyssa has disparaged Reynad. For all that the man had seemed incredibly put together and very powerful, she’d been the one to call him out on only having been a High Wizard for three days… and he hadn’t corrected her on that accusation either.

 

Still, she’s right of course. She IS beautiful. Drop dead gorgeous, even. Hell… now that she mentions it, her beauty could be considered downright supernatural. Magical, perhaps?

 

But…

 

“I don’t… I don’t want that from you.”

 

“Yes you do, Master.”

 

Caleb frowns.

 

“You just feel guilty about taking advantage of me. But you shouldn’t. If you hadn’t enthralled me, I would have killed you. And despite what I said before… I didn’t want to die. I’m glad you didn’t kill me. I’m glad you made me your Thrall. Please… let me show you how grateful I am… and how sorry I am that I was such a stupid, stubborn bitch that you had to resort to this in the first place.”

 

He would be lying if he said he wasn’t aroused right now. He would be lying if he said the crotch of his pants hadn’t gotten a little tight. His only saving grace is that the pants he has on are a size two big for him instead of a size too small, held up by a piece of string that he’d been able to sneak out of a craft supply store.

 

Alyssa is a very beautiful woman, kneeling in front of him topless and begging him to take advantage of her. Only the runic collar still visible around her neck stands as stark reminder that mere minutes ago she was plotting to murder him and even begging him to kill her instead of enthralling her. Fuck, this was such a fucked up situation.

 

“What if I just use my breasts, sir? That will leave my mouth free and I can answer any questions you might have while I pleasure you with my chest.”

 

That… Caleb knows he should say no. That’s not a compromise, that’s just capitulation. And yet…

 

“O-Okay.”

 

Smiling up at him, Alyssa shuffles forward and reaches for his crotch again. This time he doesn’t stop her from untying the string and freeing his cock from the confines of his stolen pants. The young homeless man… no, the young wizard just finds himself swallowing hard as she straightens up to her full kneeling height and wraps her breasts around his cock.

 

It feels good, but then he could have guessed it would. His first woman. His first pair of tits wrapped around his cock. But… he needed to focus. Like she’d said, he had questions. Two immediately come to mind.

 

“Why? Why did you want to kill me so badly?”

 

Sighing, Alyssa looks up at him with an expression filled with regret.

 

“I was a fool, Master. I truly believed that there was no such thing as a good wizard. I thought, given everything you knew from Reynad, that even with him dead you would eventually be corrupted by the power you now know you wield.”

 

Caleb blinks as Alyssa stops for a moment to hock some spit into her cleavage, providing some extra slickness while continuing to slide her large, pale tits up and down his length.

 

“I was wrong, of course. And I’m not just saying that because I’m loyal to you now, sir. I was a vindictive, spiteful bitch. I’m still glad I’m your Thrall and not Reynad’s concubine of course, but the arrangement that my parents and Reynad made was about as good as it could possibly have gotten. I just let my jealousy and anger at my sister’s magic get in the way of living the best life I possibly could as a magicless being.”

 

She gives a half-shrug at that, causing her full breasts to jiggle around his member. It’s getting harder to concentrate on her words and not on her technique if Caleb is being honest, but even as his member throbs and pulses in between her incredibly soft breasts, he’s still picking up what she’s saying. Like for instance, the mention of her having a sister who did have magic.

 

It explained just why Alyssa hated magic and wizards so much. Growing up as a magicless only child surrounded by magic would have been one thing. But Caleb knew full well what it was like to find yourself in a home where the other kid or kids got more than you. Either because they sucked up to the foster parents more, or because they were of the fairer sex, or even in a few rare cases, they were the foster family’s actual flesh and blood kid.

 

He could understand why his foster parents would get their actual kid an Xbox and a skateboard and a gaming PC while he was lucky to get lunch money. But that didn’t make it feel any better. Didn’t make the jealousy any easier to deal with. Luckily for him, he’d only ever had to handle that sort of thing for short bursts of time. And some of it was interspersed with better foster homes and better, more evenhanded experiences that were then only ruined because of HIS strangeness.

 

Alyssa though… she’d been raised in that environment. All her life, she’d been her sister’s magicless shadow. Still…

 

“I wish you hadn’t been so full of hate. I wish you’d chosen to use me against the other wizards instead.”

 

Smiling up at him with her breasts still wrapped around his length, Alyssa chuckles ruefully.

 

“A part of me wishes that too, Master. But the far larger part of me is quite happy with how things turned out. After all… you’re much more interesting than Reynad.”

 

… What? Giving him a coy grin, Alyssa leans forward and suddenly licks the head of his cock, sending a jolt through Caleb’s spine that makes her giggle.

 

“He might not have looked it, but he was ninety years old. They don’t just make anyone a High Wizard, you know. To become a High Wizard, you have to already be pretty boring. You have to toe the party line.”

 

Shrugging her bared shoulders again, Alyssa giggles some more.

 

“I may not have had a choice in the matter, but you’re a far better option then Reynad ever could have been. And I’m not just saying that because of the Enthrallment Ritual, Master.”

 

… She was totally just saying this because of the Enthrallment Ritual. Caleb would have to remember that. Even… even as he used her like the resource she was, he would always need to remember that Alyssa hadn’t had a choice. He’d made her his thrall… his slave. He shouldn’t even be entertaining sexual acts with her, not really… but he couldn’t bring himself to stop now.

 

He wasn’t a good person. Caleb knew that by society’s standards, he was trash. A literal bottom feeder sucking on the scum left behind by society’s footsteps. As it plodded along without him, he and everyone else like him were left behind, scrambling to keep up and get what scraps they could for themselves. Except he wasn’t like all of the other homeless people living on the streets anymore. Or rather, he never had been.

 

Case in point, Caleb suddenly lets out a heartfelt groan and begins to cum without warning. He feels a pang of guilt at that, but clearly Alyssa had been more on the ball then he had, because she happily slips her lips over his cockhead right as he starts to cum and proceeds to swallow every last drop. He doubles over the top of her head from the force of her suction, shuddering as his hands card through her hair for a moment.

 

Then… it’s done. She continues sucking, her tongue swirling this way and that as though to clean him up, but otherwise it’s over and he begins to soften. Alyssa even makes a point to tuck his cock back into his pants and retie the string he was using as a belt for him before sitting back on her knees and smiling back up at him again.

 

“Sorry if you would have preferred I wear your seed instead of swallow it, Master. If that’s how you want it in the future, just say the word.”

 

You know, even though he’s the one who enslaved her and she’s calling HIM Master, somehow Caleb almost feels like he’s the prey and Alyssa is the predator. Still, there’s one other question that Caleb has to ask before anything else can happen. One thing he has to know to assuage the other source of guilt currently burning in his chest.

 

“Alyssa… if I tell you not to lie to me, will you be forced to tell the truth?”

 

The smile drops off of Alyssa’s face as she hesitantly nods.

 

“Yes, of course sir. But I have to recommend you not tell me I can never lie to you. I promise I would never tell a lie that could harm you in any way. But… sometimes there are white lies.”

 

Caleb shakes his head.

 

“For this next question, I need the absolute truth from you. Understood?”

 

“… Yes Master.”

 

“What does the Ritual of Apprenticeship entail exactly? And what do YOU think, honestly, were Reynad Sinclair’s plans for me?”

 

Alyssa looks relieved, probably because he’s not forcing her to tell him the truth about everything she’d said before now. Selfish as it was, she was right… he preferred some white lies. But… he’d killed the High Wizard who’d offered to teach him magic half on instinct and half because he didn’t want to enslave the topless girl kneeling in front of him. And then he’d gone and enslaved said topless girl all the same. He… he needed to know if his instincts had been wrong or not. Had he murdered Reynad Sinclair for nothing? Or…

 

“I believe… he was trying to take advantage of you, Master.”

 

Caleb frowns. That was too open ended by far. Of course he was trying to take advantage of him. But how MUCH?

 

“Elaborate.”

 

“Well… the Ritual of Apprenticeship is an antiquated thing, sir. Basically, it’s like a magical contract. It would have tied you to Reynad as his apprentice until such time as he decided you were ready to become a full blown wizard. Emphasis on him being the only one who could decide that. On top of that, you would have been expected to tithe a certain percentage of your magic to him each week… as decided by him.”

 

Well, that didn’t sound very good. Alyssa gives him a rueful smile.

 

“If I’m being honest… which I am because my Master told me to be honest… then I don’t think Reynad Sinclair would have taken one hundred percent of your magic as tithe and turned you into a magical battery for the rest of your life. But he might have planned to do so. Or he might have planned to take something crazy like seventy or eighty percent of your magic and make you think you were a very weak wizard with little magical potential so as to prolong your apprenticeship to him.”

 

Caleb blinks. That also didn’t sound very good. He’s feeling better by the moment. Which of course means Alyssa has to open her mouth and ruin it. But really, it’s his own fault.

 

“Unfortunately, there’s also the chance that he was being above board with everything and would have kept the tithe reasonable, at around ten to twenty percent of your magic.”

 

Jolting, Caleb can’t help but squawk indignantly on behalf of the version of him that would now never exist.

 

“Ten to twenty percent is reasonable?!”

 

Giggling, Alyssa shakes her head.

 

“Like I said, Master… the Ritual of Apprenticeship is incredibly antiquated. It comes from centuries ago and was used by powerful wizards who stumbled upon unknowing Potentials and decided to take them under their wing. Since the Potentials usually had nothing to their name except for their magic, no gold or gems or anything the Potential could use as payment… a weekly magical tithe made sense.”

 

Oh.

 

“In that way, Reynad’s plans to perform the Ritual of Apprenticeship with you makes some sense. These days, there aren’t many Potentials found out in the wild anymore. My sister, for instance, won’t have to undergo a Ritual of Apprenticeship. Our parents will pay a High Wizard to take her on as an apprentice, and if the High Wizard doesn’t decide she’s ready to become a proper wizard within six or so months, they’ll pull her out and find another High Wizard who will.”

 

Of course. Nepotism at its finest. Living on the streets, Caleb was already pretty removed from society, but he’d still had a handful of years of schooling while growing up. There was always at least a handful of rich kids at each school he’d found himself at. Caleb himself was in his own world under the feet of modern civilization. But those rich people… they were living in their own world ABOVE it all. Heaven, Hell, and Earth. Except Heaven and Hell were on Earth, and the vast majority of humans just didn’t realize it because they weren’t rich or poor enough to.

 

“But you were still right to kill him, Master! Reynad Sinclair was an opportunist at heart! I truly believe he would have taken advantage of you and there’s every possibility he never would have let you go once he had you under a magical contract HE controlled.”

 

Alyssa’s fervent words make Caleb feel a little better… but only a little. Because he told her to be honest with him on this and he can read between the lines. She doesn’t know for sure that Reynad would have treated him like shit. And now… now they’ll never know, truth be told.

 

Looking over at the High Wizard’s cooled corpse, Caleb swallows thickly. He just got an infodump from a pretty topless girl while she gave him a titjob and swallowed his load. He should probably feel on top of the world. Instead, he just feels tired.

 

Turning back to Alyssa, he sighs as he palms his forehead and rubs at it for a moment.

 

“What… what now?”

 

The smile she gives him in turn is all too toothy and he has to remind himself for a moment that she’s not just on his side now, she’s literally his thrall. No need to run screaming, no matter how scary she suddenly looks.

 

“Oh Master… I thought you’d never ask~”