Madam Orchid's rival business, the Sword's Sheathe, was also built along the river, but on the exact opposite side of town as her. Like the Violet Palace, it was built on the edge of the town where the river met the wall.
Adam led the way there, walking in front of me, trying to stop himself from staring at my newly transformed self. Chloe walked next to me, and she made no effort at all to avoid staring. She looked at me with absolutely blatant thirst.
"M-Mistress…" she whispered. "Can I lick you?"
"Not right this second, no," I replied, raising an eyebrow.
"But um… maybe later please?" she asked.
"Sure, but why the sudden urge?" I asked.
"You sort of… smell good, now. Really good. And if you taste like you smell…" she didn't finish saying the thought out loud, but I understood what she was conveying.
"Sure, but later," I said.
"E-even the b-back hole… the umm… there… probably tastes amazing too… c-can I…?" she muttered quietly.
"You can taste your fill of both, once we get some alone time, how's that?" I said.
"Yes… thank you Mistress," Chloe replied.
We lapsed back into silence, and continued to walk. Chloe stared at my ass with hunger. I smirked at her, and made an effort to sway my hips a little more.
We were in a sort of run down part of the town now. It wasn't a slum, exactly, this town was too small and too rich to have a proper slum, but if there was a 'least good' part of town, this was it. The road here was narrow, the buildings tall. We crossed the mouth of an alleyway when I felt a sudden chill shoot down my spine, like I was being watched.
I gasped and stopped, looking around me for anyone suspicious. I saw a man hiding in the shadows of the dark alley staring at me. Thanks to the darkvision that came as part of the whole demi-angel package, he was perfectly visible in the shadows, clear as day. The only thing I couldn't see in the darkness was colour. Apparently darkvision was black and white only.
The man was tall and bald, with a dark cloak worn over leather armour. He couldn't have looked any shadier if he tried. He even had a stereotypical scar over one eye. Seriously dude?
What did this weird feeling of being watched remind me of? Oh yeah… the priest's [Status Appraisal] ability.
The creepy man smiled at me, like he'd just discovered something good. Wait… shit! I wasn't a human anymore. This could be troublesome. Would he try to enslave me? Were Aasimar considered a Tainted species worth of enslavement, or an Untainted one?
Okay, what to do? Fighting him pre-emptively seemed like a bad idea. Staring at me and looking creepy wasn't a crime. I'd walk somewhere a bit more public, and hang out near some crowds or town guards. He wouldn't start shit in public. With that in mind, I looked away from the guy, and kept walking.
"Mistress?" Chloe asked, noticing something was up.
"Some creepy guy just Appraised me. It's giving me bad vibes. Keep alert," I replied in a low voice.
Chloe nodded, and looked around carefully, taking note of everyone around us with her superior Perception stat. Aside from the three of us, the street was strangely deserted. This was not good.
We kept walking for a few more minutes, when Chloe whispered, "We're being followed."
Shit. I quickly glanced over my shoulder, and didn't see the same creepy guy, but a new pair of thuggish gentlemen were following us. I glanced ahead of us, and two more men came out of an alleyway and blocked our way forward.
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Adam stopped, looking confused, only now realising something was wrong. The creepy guy I saw before came out of the alley ahead of us. The other thugs reacted to his presence with respect, looking at him like he was a leader.
"Can I help you?" I asked, with all the snark I could muster.
"Hey kid!" the leader called out, ignoring me and looking at Adam, "Leave the girls and get out of here, we ain't interested in you."
"Explain yourself!" Adam called out aggressively. "I am an Acolyte of the Holy Order, serving directly beneath Father Jordan!"
"Don't give a shit 'bout some hick town's priest," the thug replied. "You're out of your depth. Get out of here. Last warning."
"No!" Adam took a nervous step back, and puffed out his chest, "I-I… won't just let you-"
There was a faint whistle, and then an arrow was poking out of Adam's throat. He gurled and grasped at the arrow, his white robe quickly turning red as blood poured out of the deadly throat wound.
Fuckballs!
I spotted the guy with the bow. With my shiny new willpower buff and recently unlocked [Advanced Mana Manipulation] Skill, it barely took a second to weave together a Firebolt spell. I launched a huge barrage of flames at the bowman. The first one struck him dead in the face, knocking him over and setting his clothes alight. The other two flew over his head as he ducked and rolled, screaming and trying to put out the flames.
"Chloe heal him!" I shouted.
Chloe dove for Adam, trying to stabilize him. The five thugs around us all charged for me. I flung another barrage of firebolts at all of them. Most missed. The first bolt that hit something struck a man in the chest. He seemed to be unhurt, his leather armour cooking a little, but absorbing all the damage. The second man I hit screamed, clutching his freshly burnt arm. Neither hits were lethal.
[Fire Magic I] Skill has reached rank 3
Shut up, not now! I dismissed the message.
And then, the leader-thug was suddenly in front of me, staring me dead in the eye. He was fast. I hadn't even seen him move. I yelped and hopped back, trying to cast another Firebolt. I felt something smash against my stomach, and my vision blurred. I flew back, crashing on the hard ground, rolling a few times before I came to a stop. My focus on the spell shape shattered and the magic unravelled.
I groaned and clutched my tummy where I'd been hit. I looked up just in time to see a boot flying toward my face. Everything went dark.
I woke up with a splitting headache, feeling the pulse of my own heartbeat behind my eyeballs. I saw nothing but blurry blobs. The air was cold on my bare skin. I'd been stripped of all my clothes. A minute or two passed as my vision slowly recovered. The world returned to focus again.
I was in a dungeon. Like… a literal medieval dungeon. The air was cold and damp, the smell of urine and blood in the air. The walls, ceiling, and floor were a dirty grey stone brick, damp and probably growing mold. The ceiling overhead was a low arch, probably three feet tall at the edges, and five feet tall at the apex. It made the space feel oppressive and claustrophobic, too low for an adult to stand. The cell's dimensions seemed to be about eight feet deep and four feet wide, a horrifyingly tiny space to find yourself trapped inside. To make matters worse, there was no window, only a heavy wooden door against one wall, reinforced with iron bracing.
There was no light source at all, and the dungeon was dead silent. The stone seemed to absorb all sound. If I didn't have magical darkvision thanks to my new species upgrade, I'd be absolutely losing my shit right now.