"Come in," the professor's voice sounded from inside. She entered and closed the door behind her.

  Professor Horne stood at his desk, his face full of anticipation and barely concealed lust.

  "Valentina," he said, his voice rough. "I'm glad you came."

  Valentina nodded silently. Her eyes fell on something new on Horne's desk – a riding crop. She swallowed hard.

  "Oh, this is going to be interesting," Vyxara whispered amusedly in her head.

  "I thought we could try something... something new today," Horne said as he picked up the crop and gently slid it through his hands. "Only if you agree, of course."

  Valentina felt her stomach tighten – from fear, but also from an unexpected excitement. "I... I think so," she heard herself say.

  Horne smiled, a hint of triumph in his eyes. "Very good. Then come here and bend over the desk."

  With trembling knees, Valentina obeyed, shocked at how routine it had already become. She felt Horne pushing up her dress, the cool air on her now exposed skin.

  "Count," he ordered, his voice harder now.

  The first blow came without warning. Valentina gasped, more from surprise than pain.

  "One," she counted, her voice barely more than a whisper.

  The blows followed in a regular rhythm. Valentina counted obediently, feeling a mixture of pain and a seemingly paradoxical, confusing pleasure.

  "Just enjoy it," Vyxara whispered. "It's just a means to an end, isn't it?"

  Valentina bit her lip to stifle a moan. Valentina closed her eyes and surrendered to the feeling. Yes, it was just a means to an end. She was doing this for her future, for her family. If it gave her pleasure, that was just a bonus, wasn't it?

  After the fifteenth stroke, Horne paused. His hand gently stroked her now reddened skin. "You're doing very well, Valentina," he praised, his voice hoarse with excitement.

  Horne stopped the beating, rustling behind her.

  Valentina turned and saw him standing in front of her, his pants open, his manhood in his hand. It was slimmer, but longer than Crispin's had been and she could see he was hard. He stroked his length looking at her bare red ass, at what he had done.

  He noticed the look on her face. "Shall I stop?" Horne asked with a slight smile.

  Valentina hesitated. Part of her wanted to call out to him: Yes! Stop it! But another part, deep inside her, was attracted to the sight in front of her, to how much she was arousing him.

  She shook her head timidly. "No," she whispered, "go on."

  He continued energetically. Valentina watched him with fascination as he became faster and faster until his movements became choppy and jerky. She felt a pulling sensation in her abdomen, which became warmer and warmer as she watched him.

  Horne was panting loudly now, his face contorted with exertion. Valentina knew what was about to happen and bit her lip.

  The hot jet hit her bottom, sticky and warm. It felt weird, but at the same time she felt a fascinating relief, and not just because it was over now.

  Horne exhaled heavily, pulled his pants back up and reached for a linen cloth.

  "Come here," Horne then said gently. He took the cloth and cleaned himself from her bottom, then applied the soothing balm to her skin again, which was burning much more intensely from the riding crop than it had last time, and Valentina could feel him begin to rub it on her bottom thoroughly.

  "That will ease the pain," he said.

  Valentina felt strangely comforted by his care. She no longer knew what to make of it – whether it was right or wrong, what it meant that she kind of enjoyed doing these things with her old professor.

  When he had finished, she hurriedly pulled her dresses down while he sank into his armchair, a satisfied smile on his lips.

  "That was... I really liked it, Valentina," he said. "I hope you think so as well."

  Valentina nodded silently. She wanted to leave, but she knew she still had something to do.

  "Professor," she began hesitantly. "I wanted to ask you something about the competition."

  Horne's eyes lit up. "Ah yes, the competition. You've really earned a reward, haven't you?" He leaned forward. "Well, I can tell you this much: the final round will revolve around practical application of advanced Essence Weaving, but you probably know that much already. The tasks themselves will be several timed surprise tasks where you'll have to prove your skills under pressure."

  Valentina listened attentively, memorizing every detail. This was valuable information that could give her a decisive advantage.

  "And," Horne added, a sly smile on his lips, "let me put it this way, it wouldn't hurt if you took a closer look at the advanced configurations of Z?t-Essence."

  Valentina's eyes widened. Z?t-Essence was notoriously difficult to control. This advance hint was worth its weight in gold...

  "Thank you, Professor," she said quietly. "That's very helpful."

  Horne nodded with satisfaction. "I'm sure you'll put this information to good use, Valentina. And remember, our... arrangement has to remain strictly confidential."

  Valentina nodded hastily and made her way to the door. As she put her hand on the door handle, Horne's voice stopped her once again.

  "Oh, and Valentina? I'm already looking forward to our next lesson."

  With a final nod, Valentina left the office, trying not to move too hastily due to the pain. She walked through the dark corridors, glad that there were hardly any students around at this late hour.

  "Well, that was really productive," commented Vyxara. "You gained valuable information and even had a bit of fun in the process."

  When she was back in her attic room and lying in her bed, she could still feel the warmth in her abdomen. She hesitated, then made up her mind. "I don't want to hear a word from you, Vyxara!" she said firmly as her hand found its way down between her thighs.

  Vyxara willingly retreated to the far corners of Valentina's consciousness.

  ~

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  A week had passed since Valentina's last meeting with Professor Horne. The days had been filled with intensive study, especially of the complicated manipulations of Z?t-Essence.

  Valentina sat in her usual place in the library, surrounded by stacks of old books and complicated diagrams. Her fingers were stained with ink and the dark circles under her eyes were now a constant companion of hers.

  "You should take a break, little Weaver," Vyxara muttered in her head. "Your brain will be spilling out of your ears soon if you keep this up."

  Valentina snorted softly. "No time for breaks. The competition is getting closer and Faustus is planning something. I have to be prepared."

  She let her gaze wander through the library and noticed Faustus and his followers sitting together in a corner, whispering. Her stomach tightened with worry.

  "You know what you have to do," whispered Vyxara. "We have to get ahead of him."

  Valentina bit her lip. "And how do you imagine we do that? Am I supposed to break into his room and steal his notes?"

  "That would be a start," Vyxara replied, amused. "Or you could seduce one of his friends to get information. I'm sure you have enough experience for that by now."

  Valentina felt a blush rise to her face again. "This isn't funny, Vyxara. Stop suggesting that. I can't just-"

  "Why not?" the demon interrupted her.

  Valentina shook her head. "No, that's going too far. I don't want to. There has to be another way."

  She thought, her fingers drumming nervously on the table. Suddenly an idea came to her. "What if I... What if I sabotage his Essence patterns myself during the competition? Just a small intervention, nothing major. Just enough to throw him off his game."

  Vyxara was silent for a moment. "That could work," the demon finally said. "But it's risky. If you get caught..."

  "Then I just won't get caught," Valentina replied resolutely. "I just have to wait for the right moment."

  She began to work out the details of her plan, sketching disruptive Essence patterns on a piece of parchment. She was so engrossed in her work, that she didn't notice Crispin and Innogen approaching her table.

  "Hey Val, how are you? Are you coming to dinner today?"

  Valentina winced and hastily covered her notes. "Oh! I... Yes, everything's fine. You guys go alone, I'm working on my strategy for the competition."

  Crispin frowned. "You look really exhausted. Maybe you should take a break?"

  "No time for breaks," murmured Valentina. "There's still so much to do."

  Innogen studied her with furrowed brows. "You're even harder on yourself than you used to be", she said. "I swear, sometimes you act like you have a voice in your head constantly pushing you."

  Valentina stiffened but forced a laugh. "That’s called ambition, Innogen."

  "That's called burnout," Innogen muttered.

  As they left, Valentina let out a pained sigh. She hated lying to them, but she couldn't possibly tell them about her plans.

  "Sentimentality will not lead you to victory, little Weaver," Vyxara reminded her.

  Valentina sighed. "I know. But sometimes I wish my life had a little more room for it."

  She worked late into the night, fine-tuning her plan and practicing clever methods to sabotage Essence patterns unnoticed. When she finally fell into bed, her head was full of patterns and possible scenarios.

  The next morning, she woke up full of determination. She was satisfied with her plan. If Faustus tried to sabotage her, she would be ready to strike back.

  As she entered the dining room for breakfast, she felt Faustus' gaze on her. She returned it coolly, a slight smile on her lips. Whatever he was planning, she would not back down.

  "That's my little Weaver," Vyxara whispered with satisfaction. "Show him that it's dangerous to underestimate you."

  Valentina nodded slightly as she scooped porridge onto her plate. Yes, she would show Faustus that there was a price to be paid for messing with her. And if that meant she had to break a few rules... Well, so be it. The victory was worth it. He'd already taken the kid gloves off with his dangerous sabotage in the last round.

  ~

  Two weeks later, the day before the final round of the Greystone Competition, Valentina strolled through the narrow streets of Bridgewater, clutching a small bag of herbs from Mara, the herb woman.

  "Was that really necessary already?" Vyxara asked mockingly. "Or are you planning to get even closer to our good professor in the near future?"

  "No, but I have to take the herbal decoction every day for it to work and I don't want to risk running out of herbs. You never know," Valentina replied in thought to Vyxara's taunt and turned a corner when she suddenly bumped into someone.

  "Whoops!" called a familiar voice. "If it isn't our talented Essence Weaver!"

  Hobkin of Foxhollow stood before her, a mischievous grin on his face. His red hair shone in the morning sun and his green eyes sparkled mischievously.

  "Hobkin," Valentina said in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

  He winked at her. "Oh, you know. A little bit of this, a little bit of that. The question is, what's a promising student like you doing in the city so early?"

  Valentina felt the blush rise to her face. "I... I just had a few errands to run."

  "Alright, keep your secrets to yourself," Hobkin said with a laugh as he tried to peek furtively into her pocket. "But speaking of secrets, you know, I've been hearing some... intriguing things lately."

  Valentina's heart began to beat faster. "Oh yeah, what?"

  Hobkin leaned closer, his voice now a conspiratorial whisper. "Well, let's just say your friend Faustus seems to be very busy lately. Meeting with shady characters, buying strange ingredients. Almost as if he's planning something big."

  Valentina froze. That sounded exactly like what she had feared. "And... what exactly did you hear?"

  Hobkin grinned and winked at her. "Oh, those are just rumors, of course... but how about we go for a drink together at the Burning Quill? Maybe I can be persuaded to tell you more."

  "See?" whispered Vyxara excitedly. "This is your chance! Wrap him around your finger and find out what Faustus is planning!"

  Valentina hesitated. It would be so easy to take advantage of Hobkin's obvious interest in her. A few well-placed words, perhaps a promising touch...

  But something inside her resisted.

  "That's very interesting, Hobkin," she finally said, her voice calmer than she felt. "But I think I'd better trust in my own abilities."

  Hobkin raised an eyebrow and suddenly looked a little guilty. "Are you sure? I don't want there to be a misunderstanding. I was really just trying to persuade you to have a drink with me, nothing more. I would have told you what I know in the tavern anyway."

  Valentina shook her head. "Thanks, but no. I really have to go now."

  As she turned to leave, Hobkin's voice stopped her once more. "You know, Valentina, I admire your pride and know how to take a rebuff with dignity. And unlike you, I'm not proud, Valentina, I'm completely shameless. I'll just try again. If you change your mind, you know where to find me."

  With a greeting and a last friendly laugh, he disappeared into the crowd, leaving Valentina behind with a feeling of uncertainty.

  "You should have taken the chance," grumbled Vyxara. "Who knows what he knows. That could've been important information."

  "Maybe," murmured Valentina. "But I don't want to be like that. I don't want to see every relationship as a means to an end... as... as a transaction. I know it's necessary sometimes Vyxara, but that can't be everything there is in life."

  As she made her way back to the university, she couldn't shake Hobkin's words. Had she just made a big mistake? Or was it a move to stay true to herself?

  The thought haunted her all day. She could hardly concentrate in her lectures, her eyes kept wandering to Faustus, who was sitting in the front row, smug as ever.

  What was he planning? Should she go back to Hobkin and ask him what he knew?

  She shook her head and made a decision. No. She would trust her own plan. She had a plan for how she would respond to his attempts at sabotage and that would be enough.

  "A noble decision, little Weaver," Vyxara said, her voice projecting a mixture of mockery and grudging admiration. "Let's hope you don't regret it."

  Valentina nodded grimly and went into the library. Dusk was falling over Bridgewater University, but the activity on campus did not diminish. First-year students who participated in the competition were frantically making final preparations. There was an atmosphere of tense concentration in the library.

  Valentina worked there until Matilda Ravencroft, the librarian, gently but firmly asked her to leave. It was already dark outside, and a cool breeze made Valentina shiver.

  Once in her room, she immediately began with practical exercises. She wove intricate Essence patterns in the air, her movements precise and fluid. But suddenly, in the middle of a particularly difficult sequence, her concentration broke down. The pattern dissolved and Valentina sank exhausted onto her bed.

  "I can't do this," she whispered, tears of frustration in her eyes. "What if I fail? What if it was all for nothing?"

  "Now listen to me, little Weaver," Vyxara said sternly. "You haven't worked hard for months and made so many sacrifices to give up now. You're stronger than that."

  Valentina swallowed hard. "But what if I'm not good enough? What if Faustus-"

  "Faustus is a pompous idiot," Vyxara interrupted her. "You're superior to him in every way. And don't forget, you have something he doesn't – me."

  Despite everything, Valentina had to smile. "You're right. We are a team, aren't we?"

  "Exactly," Vyxara confirmed. "And together we'll win this damn competition."

  "I have to do this," she said quietly to herself. "For my family. For me."

  "And for us," Vyxara added. "Remember, little Weaver, we're in this together. Whatever happens tomorrow, I'll be by your side."

  Valentina nodded resolutely. She returned to her books, determined to make the most of every remaining minute.

  The night flew by and before she knew it, the first light of dawn heralded the start of the competition day. Valentina got up, stretched her stiff limbs and began to get ready.

  As she left her room to go to breakfast, she felt nervous but determined. The competition could begin. She wanted it to finally begin and be over with it.