Chapter 7: Clothes
The numbers on the mana gauge flickered once, twice, then stabilized at a soft, pulsating pink. Candice stared at the display, her breath catching in her throat. Level 25. She had actually done it. In less than five weeks since her transformation, she had rocketed from the lowest point in her academic career to a level that placed her firmly in the upper third of her graduating cohort.
She let out a shaky laugh, pressing her palms flat against the cool obsidian surface of the testing altar. The Crimson Lotus chamber was quiet, the only sound the faint hum of ambient magic and the distant murmur of the city beyond the curtained windows. Kendra had insisted on installing the gauge in their room weeks ago, claiming it would help them track Candice's progress. At the time, Candice had thought it was just another excuse for Kendra to show off her wealth and influence.
Now, she was grateful for it.
She stood there in the dim pink light, tracing her fingers along the numbers that had just changed. Level 25. Twelve more and she'd hit Level 30. She'd be eligible for graduation. She'd be free of Mage University, free of the crushing weight of failure that had pressed down on her shoulders since her very first year.
Her dream was becoming possible.
"You look like you're about to cry."
Candice spun around. Kendra was leaning against the doorframe of the bathroom, wearing nothing but a sheer silk robe that did nothing to hide the magnificent curves of her tanned body. Her hair was loose, falling in waves of gold and pink over her massive, bare breasts. She smiled at Candice with genuine warmth.
"I'm not crying." Candice wiped at her eyes anyway. "I'm just... I'm happy. Really, actually happy. For the first time in five years, I think I might actually graduate."
Kendra padded across the plush carpet toward her, each step a sinuous sway of hips and heavy tits. She wrapped her arms around Candice from behind, pressing her chest against her back, and rested her chin on Candice's shoulder.
"I told you," she murmured. "I told you that you could do this. You just needed the right push."
Candice leaned into the embrace. The hunger had been sated earlier that morning, but Kendra's presence still made her skin tingle with awareness. The succubus magic had changed the way she perceived everyone, but Kendra most of all. Her best friend was a constant source of warmth and desire, a fixed point in a world that had turned upside down.
"5 more levels," Candice whispered. "I can do that. I can definitely do that."
"I know you can." Kendra pressed a kiss to Candice's cheek. "We'll get you there. Together."
They stood in comfortable silence for a long moment, Candice's heartbeat slowly regulating in the wake of her euphoria. She felt safe here, wrapped in her best friend's arms. For so long, she had resented Kendra. Resented her transformation, her power, her shameless embrace of a magic that had once seemed so tawdry and wrong. Now, she understood.
Now, she was becoming just as shameless herself.
Candice shifted, and the fabric of her t-shirt scratched against her skin in a way that made her wince. It was subtle, almost imperceptible at first. A rough seam against her nipple. A coarse stitch at her collar. She tried to ignore it, tried to focus on the warmth of Kendra's body against her back. But the sensation refused to fade—it clawed its way up from her nerve endings, prickling and wrong.
"Hey, are you okay?" Kendra's voice broke through her discomfort.
"Yeah, I just..." Candice pulled away, rubbing at her arm where the sleeve of her hoodie was starting to irritate her. "I don't know. I feel weird today. Everything I'm wearing feels too heavy. Too rough."
Kendra's eyebrow arched. "Rough? That's a cotton t-shirt, Candy. It's about as soft as clothes get."
"I know, but..." Candice tugged at the collar, trying to relieve the pressure against her throat. "It's like my skin is more sensitive all of a sudden. Every seam is driving me up the wall. I feel like I'm wrapped in sandpaper."
Kendra studied her with that knowing look. She was the same beauty who had grown accustomed to wearing nothing but the finest silks because anything cheaper felt unbearable against her hypersensitive demonic skin. For a long moment, she simply watched as Candice squirmed and shifted, plucking at her clothes like they were infested with biting ants.
"Your body is changing," Kendra said slowly. "The succubus magic is making you more sensitive—everywhere." Her gaze swept over Candice's body with an appreciative hunger. "It's probably starting to get hard for you to wear these old clothes. You'll need better fabrics. Something slinkier."
"Better fabrics?" Candice laughed, the sound brittle. "Kendra, I can barely afford food. I definitely can't afford—"
"I can."
Candice opened her mouth to protest, but Kendra cut her off.
"I can afford it. I have more money than I know what to do with from working at the Lotus." Kendra moved closer, her fingers tracing down Candice's arm, sending a shiver through her. "And I want to help you, Candy. I want to take care of you. Let me style you. Let me dress you the way you deserve to be dressed."
"I have my own clothes."
"Do they fit who you're becoming?"
The question hung in the air between them, weighted with accusation. Candice looked down at herself. Her oversized hoodie, faded and patched at the elbows. Her baggy jeans, worn white at the knees. Her scuffed boots that she'd bought secondhand at a pawn shop in her second year.
None of it felt like her anymore.
"It's a hoodie," she said lamely. "It's comfortable. It's normal."
"Comfortable." Kendra's lips curled into a slow smile. "You just told me it felt like sandpaper. Is that comfortable?"
Candice's jaw tightened. She hated when Kendra was right. She had always hated it, even as children—when Kendra had correctly guessed which candy she'd choose from the sweets shop, when Kendra had known she'd fail her first practical exam months before it happened. Through their years of friendship, Kendra had always possessed an uncanny ability to see through Candice's bullshit.
"Okay," Candice admitted. "Maybe I need a few new things. But I don't want anything crazy. Just... softer. Lighter."
Kendra's smile widened. "Of course. Softer. Lighter. I know exactly what you need."
---
An hour later, Candice was wishing she'd kept her mouth shut.
"What the fuck is this?" She stared at the pile of clothing Kendra had draped across the bed. It was a mountain of shimmering silk, satin, lace, and latex, gleaming in colors ranging from innocent white to neon pink and deepest black. "Kendra, this isn't softer. This is... this is underwear."
"It's not underwear." Kendra held up a tiny scrap of pink fabric that looked like it had been designed by someone who had never actually seen the human body. "It's a bikini top. See? There's a matching bottom."
"That's the point. I'm not wearing a bikini to class."
"Why not?"
"Because I'm not a whore?" The words left Candice's mouth before she could stop them. She winced. "Sorry. I didn't mean—"
Kendra's expression flickered, but she recovered quickly. "You don't have to call yourself that, Candy. But you're a succubus mage now. You're going to need to embrace your sexuality if you want to reach Level 30." She held up another outfit, a sheer black bodysuit that left absolutely nothing to the imagination. "And what better way to start than by dressing like it?"
"I'm not wearing that."
"Fine." Kendra tossed the bodysuit aside. "What about this set?"
She held up matching bra and panties in deep purple, trimmed with delicate black lace. The bra was structured to lift and support, the cups barely covering a nipple. Candice felt a flush creep up her neck.
"That's just a bra. I can't wear a bra to class."
"Sure you can. Girls do it all the time."
"Without a shirt?"
Kendra grinned. "There's a sheer kimono you can wear on top. Open in the front, sleeves that hang to the floor."
"What's the point of that?"
"It's stylish. It'll show off your figure." Kendra's grin turned wicked. "And everyone wants to see your figure. Trust me."
Candice looked at the outfit in Kendra's hands. The purple was pretty. Lace was soft. She thought she'd hate it, but even the thought of wearing it to the university was making her pulse race. The succubus magic hummed beneath her skin, whispering that she would look beautiful, that she would be seen.
"I can't."
"You can."
"I'll get kicked out."
"Adrian already gave us special permission to dress however we want. Remember?" Kendra stepped closer, pressing the outfit against Candice's chest. "He wants us to push boundaries. He wants the entire student body to wonder what we're hiding."
"And what does everyone looking at me actually get me?"
"Power." Kendra's voice dropped to a husky murmur. "Every pair of eyes on you is a source of energy. Every hungry look, every suppressed desire—it all feeds us. Make them want you, Candy. It'll make you stronger."
Candice stared at the pile of clothes. At Kendra's hopeful expression. At the sparkle of mischief in those beautiful eyes.
This was a terrible idea. She knew it was a terrible idea. She was going to look ridiculous, and everyone was going to laugh at her, and then she was going to fail out of Mage University for a completely different reason.
But the succubus magic was already purring inside her. Already imagining the way the sheer fabric would cling to her curves. Already anticipating the heat in the eyes of every student she walked past.
"Fine." She snatched the purple outfit from Kendra's hands. "I'll wear this one. But only this one."
Kendra beamed. "Of course. We'll start with this one." And then she pointed at the pile. "Start with that one. Wear it to class tomorrow."
Candice gritted her teeth. She didn't want this. She didn't want any of this. And yet, even as she thought it, she was already lifting the bra to her chest, imagining how it would feel.
---
The fabric clung to her like a second skin as she walked through the university gates the next morning. The sheer kimono fluttered open with every step, exposing long stretches of her pale, freckled thighs. The purple bra barely contained her modest yet firm B-cup chest, but the way the lace sat against her skin made her nipples strain against the fabric.
She could feel eyes on her.
Dozens of them. Hundreds. Whispers chased her down the main hallway, high-pitched and excited. She caught fragments of conversation as she walked past: "Is that Candice Dixon?" "What the fuck is she wearing?" "I didn't know she had a body like that." "Please tell me I'm not the only one who wants to—"
It was mortifying.
It was thrilling.
Candice kept her chin up, her gaze fixed straight ahead, and tried not to acknowledge the heat pooling between her thighs. The succubus magic drank in every bit of attention like a woman dying of thirst. She felt more powerful with each passing step, each lingering gaze.
She slid into her seat in Professor Chen's lectures and tried to focus on the material. The rune diagrams swam in her vision, as they always did when her mind was elsewhere. The whole morning passed in a blur of stained-glass windows and whispers and stares. When the noon bell finally rang, she fled the lecture hall.
This was insane. She was trying to graduate, not become a sideshow attraction. And yet, something about the attention had her core clenching with something more than revulsion. It was hunger. The same hunger she had been feeding nights ago, when she had asked Kendra to give her less fabric to wear.
She had felt ashamed of that request at first. She'd known full well that wearing less would expose more, but with every passing day, the sensation of clothing against her enhanced skin had become increasingly unbearable until she had been forced to ask for help. That was how Kendra had found her—half naked and desperate, asking her best friend for something simpler or nothing at all. Now she was here.
She was wearing skimpy clothes to school and people were reacting to her and she... she hated it.
She loved it.
She hated that she loved it.
The chamber door opened and Kendra swept in, looking like a goddess in a shimmering pink dress that hugged every curve of her incredible body. She took one look at Candice sprawled across her bed and burst into a delighted laugh.
"You survived!" Kendra crossed the room in three strides and climbed onto the bed, straddling Candice's hips. "How was it? Tell me everything. Who looked at you? Who wanted you?"
Candice groaned, pressing her palms against her face. "Everyone looked at me. I think half the school has seen my tits by now."
"Your beautiful, fantastic, perfect tits. I saw them this morning too." Kendra leaned down and pressed a kiss to Candice's lips. "I love them. I love all of you. But especially your tits."
"Shut up."
"Make me."
Candice didn't need to be told twice. She wrapped her arms around Kendra's waist and rolled them over, reversing their positions in one fluid motion. Kendra let out a surprised gasp, then a pleased laugh, as Candice pinned her to the bed.
"You like being on top, don't you?" Kendra murmured, running her nails down Candice's back.
"I'm starting to."
Candice ducked her head and kissed Kendra's neck. The hunger was a living thing between them, a creature of pink fire and wicked need. Candice wanted to taste everything. She wanted to devour her best friend whole.
"I'm getting a headache from all that fabric," she murmured against Kendra's throat. "Need less. Need you."
"Well, you've come to the right place." Kendra's hands moved to pull at Candice's kimono. "Let me help you out of all these restrictive clothes. We'll find something better for you to wear."
What little clothing remained was peeled away in short order. The purple lace bra and panties, the sheer kimono—all gone. Candice lay naked against Kendra, grinding her bare cunt against her friend's thigh. The friction was delicious, each movement sharper than it had been before. She moaned, pressing harder.
"That's it," Kendra purred, kneading Candice's ass in her strong hands. "Use me. Whatever you need, whenever you need it. I'm yours, Candy."
Candice's head was spinning. Her whole body was so sensitive. She was so close already, and they'd barely even started. The succubus magic was different tonight. Stronger. More demanding.
She reached down and tore at the fabric of Kendra's dress. Instead, she let out a frustrated growl. She pushed it up over Kendra's hips instead, exposing her beautiful cunt. Candice dipped two fingers inside her, coating them in the slick wetness that greeted her.
"You feel that?" Kendra gasped. "That's all for you. Every drop."
Candice pulled her fingers out and brought them to her mouth, tasting. The flavour was intoxicating, driving every lingering doubt from her mind.
She aligned herself over Kendra's slit and slid her aching core against her friend's. The touch was electric. Pink sparks flew between their bodies, dancing along their skin. Candice cried out, shuddering at the sudden jolt of pleasure.
"Yes," she whimpered. "Yes, that's—fuck—that's incredible."
She began to grind in earnest, sliding her slick heat along Kendra's. The sensation was amplified beyond anything she had experienced before. The succubus magic hummed through their joined flesh, magnifying every touch, every spark.
Kendra moaned beneath her, arching her massive chest upward. "Just like that. Fuck me with your whole body."
Candice rode her with abandon. She had no rhythm, no technique, just pure desperate need. She chased the feeling, chasing the pleasure that built like a wildfire between her legs. Kendra held her hips, directing their movements together, making the friction deliciously sharp and electric.
"I'm gonna cum," Candice gasped. "I'm gonna cum so hard. Don't stop. Don't—"
Her words dissolved into a scream as the orgasm hit her. It was different this time—deeper, more potent, drawing power from some primal well within her. She felt herself cumming, her body convulsing against Kendra, waves of pleasure washing through her.
And through the haze, she felt Kendra's release as well. The succubus magic flared between them, feeding on the pleasure, growing stronger. When Candice finally collapsed, trembling and breathless, she saw the numbers on the mana gauge had changed again.
Level 26.
"You see?" Kendra wrapped her arms around Candice, holding her close. "This is the path. Every time you give in to your desires—every time you let yourself need someone—you grow stronger."
Candice smiled against Kendra's chest. The fear and shame that had plagued her earlier felt far away now. There was only the warmth of their bodies, the satisfaction of her increased level, and the growing certainty that she would reach Level 30 and reclaim her graduation dream.
"We should do this more often," she murmured.
Kendra laughed, soft and tender. "I've been trying to tell you that for a month."
And in every pair of eyes at the university tomorrow, Candice would see exactly what she had become—and she would love it.