Having to process all these notifications first thing in the morning immediately makes me regret putting it off until now. I just sit there and reread the Level-ups a few times as the voices down below begin to get more frantic until a door slams open and a new pair of voices join the fray. I hesitate on whether I should investigate or not, but the decision is made for me when I hear something crash and a high-pitched scream. I rush to my feet at the noise, immediately smacking my head on the relatively low ceiling, and as I rub the tips of my horns that tingle slightly from the impact, the voices calm down again.
I guess that means whatever happened wasn't that much of an issue.
Nevertheless, the combination of hearing someone scream and my inadvertent headbutt of the ceiling above me is enough motivation for me to get out of bed and head downstairs. As I turn towards the door to the room, I notice the bag I had left behind before leaning next to it, so I head over to get a change of clothes. Pulling out one of the cloth tunics, I find that what had been a somewhat comfortable fit of apparel is now much too small, obviously. Sighing, I toss down the tunic onto the bag and accept my fate of questionable appearance, leaving my stuff there as I open the door to leave the room. I yawn and head towards the stairs as I pull up a few things that I saw that are new, deciding that I don't really need to rush until the discussion below becomes heated once more.
[Aura Of Broken Chains]:
An Aura is the manifestation of the user’s being. The [Aura Of Broken Chains] encompasses what it means to be a {Countess Of Broken Chains}. This is a Skill under the (Holy), (Unholy) and (Enchantment) Categories.
Wow, this is probably the first time I have gotten a Skill description that is actually unhelpful. [Light Of Justice] is probably the closest with its vagueness regarding justice not exactly being concrete and specific like things in most Skills are, but even then it is easy to understand. Hopefully the next one will be more helpful.
[Shadow Meld]:
The user’s flesh turns to shadow, gaining some intangibility. Mana cost is proportional to the amount of the user’s body turned to shadow and the amount of light present. Additionally, sufficient amounts of exposure to light will end [Shadow Meld] in the affected area, draining an additional portion of Mana. This is a Skill under the (Shadow) Category.
I bring up my hand to my face as I climb down the stairs, activating the Skill and feeling a not-so-insignificant drain of Mana begin, at which the entirety of my hand turns pitch black and translucent. I try poking at it with a finger from my other hand and it goes in my shadowy hand. I also notice the draining feeling increases by quite a bit while the appendage is inside so I quickly pull it out, the drain returning to what it was before the instant I do so.
“Well aren’t you quite a hungry Skill, you're worse than my second Tier [Light Of Justice].”
Still, while I am a tough son of a bitch, being able to turn parts of my body to shadow that are about to be cut off or being grappled is a big boon. It's just a shame that the Skill is tied to one of my worst Categories of magic. I mean, I don’t even have [Shadow Affinity], just [Shadow Ability].
[Skill [Shadow Ability] Has Gone From Level 2 To Level 3!]
Speak of the Devil.
Well, I shouldn't complain, now I've got a Skill that seems to be a bit more useful than [Shadows Of Doubt], at least in the sense that I haven't had much need for sneaking around. [Shadow Meld] should also be easier to Level as it doesn’t need another party to become active and useful like [Shadows Of Doubt] did. I do hold off on doing just that though, as I am not exactly comfortable with draining myself of Mana at the moment, especially as I finally step down into view of the common room and see the mess that has been made.
My attention is first drawn to a knocked over table where the young teen, I think Charlie is his name, is being helped up off the ground by a young woman that I barely recognize with a bandage on her chest. Behind the two, in a corner where they look sheepishly at the scene are two more young women in apparel similar to the one with the chest injury. Lastly, I turn to the last figure sitting on a chair across from Charlie, wiping down her muddy legs with a towel to little success due to it matting the fur that covers the limbs. I finally start paying attention to the words coming out from her lips as she continues to speak, none of the figures having noticed me descending as she proceeds to angrily rebuke the boy with a growl.
“-I mean seriously! What made you think making a run for it was a good idea. Fuck, now I’ll have to take another bath.”
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Ember tosses the muddy rag at the {Priest}, who is covered in remarkably more mud than her. The trail of the mud coming from the entrance towards the overturned table where Charlie now sits himself next to must mean the boy was dragged over here by Ember, hence her poor mood.
But did she mean by “making a run for it?”
Before I can voice my question, the next stair step I take squeaks loudly and the attention of the room turns towards me, to a variety of mixed reactions. First, Ember turns to me and gives me a beaming smile. Next I see the two furthest from me duck beneath the table they are sitting at, peeking at me from behind their impromptu cover. The last thing though, that puzzles me the most. Charlie begins to tremble in fear as he crawls backwards on the floor, further trailing mud, which if I have to be honest is completely fair. I mean, if I saw an eight feet tall Demon heading my way I would be scared as well, but that is not what puzzles me. It’s the woman who stands up straight and spreads out her arms protectively while facing me, even though she trembles nearly as much as Charlie is. What she says next only increases my confusion.
“Stay back Demon! I won't let you devour the one who saved ma life! If you want to get to him you’ll have to go through me, and I won't go down without a fight!”
I blink stupidly at the woman who is facing me down like her life depends on it, and to her, I suppose it does. Before I can respond, I am interrupted once more, this time by laughter erupting from Ember.
“HA. By Snowflake’s Splendid Shaft you Humans sure are stupid as a rock. What do they teach you in the Theocracy?”
Ember continues to laugh as I try to process the odd turn of phrase she just used.
“‘Snowflake’s Splendid Shaft,’ what the…”
Ember responds to my muttering jovially,
“Oh you haven't heard of ours before? Then how about ‘by Lilith’s Luscious Lips?’ Maybe ‘by Pudicitia’s Perky Peaks?’ I don’t know the one for Iusti.”
The Tigerkin woman shrugs as if that explanation sufficed, regardless of how that didn't answer anything to me. Well, actually it kinda did. After thinking over what she said, and my recognition of a couple of names, mainly Iusti and Lilith, I infer that Ember just listed out some choice swears. This assumption is proven true when Charlie turns to her with an aghast look, momentarily forgetting his fear as he responds.
“Y-you shouldn't use s-such foul language! Pudicitia may forgive you i-if you renounce your previous statement!”
That only makes Ember laugh louder before responding sardonically,
“Well maybe she needs to get that stick out of her ass. Snowflake apparently had quite a good sense of humor, and I doubt He minds us mentioning His ‘Splendid Shaft.’ As the Father of Beastkin, He definitely put it to use or I wouldn't be here right now.”
Charlie begins to splutter as a blush comes on his face, and the woman trying to guard him from me starts to look as confused as I am, dropping her arms to her sides. I take this moment to finally break into the conversation, putting my two cents into the discussion.
“Well, personally, I just switched over from the basic ‘God’ to ‘Goddess’ for my curses. Maybe I can ask Iusti what her epithet is, though I don't know if she'll tell me. Haven't really spoken with her enough to tell what she is like.”
I take a seat on the floor next to Ember, as the chairs are too small to fit me, before addressing the woman beside me,
“Deific dongs aside, what's going on. What's this about Charlie running off? How did he even get out of the cell in the guardhouse?”
Embers face becomes serious in a moment, and she responds with a bit of consternation in her voice,
“Well, it might have to do with whatever happened to the three debtors over there. When they woke up in the morning, they all found that their collars had all fallen to pieces, only small strips of leather remaining. I thought it was weird, but nothing to be that worried about, but when I went to bring some breakfast over to Charlie, I found the shackles he was wearing in pieces and the door to the cell wide open. Luckily he didn't get far and I am quite good at tracking. Anyways, if I had to guess, I think that this is probably all your fault Chloe, seeing as this is your Domain and all now.”
She emphasizes that last statement by pointing to my neck, which is blessedly collar-free.
“WHAT! So this is your fault as well! Now what are we supposed to do!”
That exclamation comes from one of the women hiding behind the table in the corner. She stands up and points an accusatory finger at me as she continues,
“Don't you know the penalty for removing your collar before your debt is paid! 100 GOLD COINS! I only had three more gold before my debt was paid and I became a free woman again.”
The woman begins to sob as the one next to her tries to comfort her, but I but in as yet another thing these people says confuses me,
“But aren’t you happy that you aren’t enslaved anymore? I mean, Weston is dead now, right Ember?”
I turn to her for confirmation, as I never actually checked what she did the night before, and she nods. The woman turns to me, a little bit of heat in her tone coming through the tears,
“I would've been a free woman after spending just a couple months in this shithole. Probably less with how much that {Rogue} liked to spend the night with me. But now I can never go back home unless I want to be a slave for a decade! I’d have to ruin myself and take a {Slave} class at that rate!”
“Well at least you would get to leave at some point,” Ember snarls at the woman, “I'm ‘just an animal’ so I have no rights. I don't get to pay off my ‘debt.’ Why don’t you go f-”
I cut off Ember as I speak over them by projecting my voice without actually yelling,
“Enough, please. Ember, I get where you are coming from, but you don't need to take it out on, uh, miss-”
“Pearl.”
“Right, Pearl. I don't fully understand the nuances of what's going on, but she was a slave like you. Maybe in a different way, but she was in captivity nevertheless. Weston is dead. That is what matters. And Pearl, I don't know your situation, I've only been on Dharta for a few days so I don't know where to begin, but I will help you however I can. All of you.”
I move my gaze and lock eyes with each of the women in the room, before continuing once more,
“Now then, how about we start over and get things onto the right foot. Hi, I'm Chloe Wright, it's nice to meet you all. Can you please tell me about yourselves?
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Have a great day!
