∼ Day 22 ∼
Walking down the wide and tall corridor of stone, we pass many different offshoots and cells lining both sides of the corridor. The muffled noises bleeding out from inside some of the cells indicated a varied collection of imprisoned monsters and creatures. Some were even human, who were muttering and screaming in mostly what seemed to be the Mordrian language.
Completely ignoring the despairing cries and pitiful plights coming from the cells, the orc, Felendren, simply continued his stroll down the corridor utterly unfazed. When we reached a staircase spiraling upwards, the only sounds that accompanied us had become the rattle of my shackles.
Reaching the end of the stairway, I was almost blinded by the light coming from the midday suns. Adjusting my eyes, I saw that we were standing before a smaller metal barred gate with an orc guarding it. We were in a large and open stone building, which had two large archways to the outside on both sides of the building, and it didn't take long before I realized that I was currently standing in a medieval gatehouse of sorts.
The keep with all the cells that I had been imprisoned in, apparently led directly into this gatehouse from a side entrance. After the orc saw Felendren behind the iron gate, he hastily unlocked it with a respectful but mostly scared expression on his ugly orc mug. Walking through the gate, I by reflex appraise him.
-Appraisal!-
[Appraisal: Orc]
Name: "???"
Race: Orc
Sex: Male
Rank: F+
Level: 15/35
Health: 202/202
Stamina: 80/80
Mana: 0/0
[Attributes]
STR - 32
VIT - 30
AGI - 22
DEX - 15
INT - 12
CHR - 4
WILL - 12
MAG - 0.5
[Trait, Titles, and Skills].
Skills - ???
Traits - ???
Titles - ???
[Resistances]
Phy. Resistance - 8
Mag. Resistance - 2
Men. Resistance - 4
Off-handedly noting the orc's power level, I continued following Felendren. Moving towards the left opening the gatehouse, I looked behind me to look out the other entrance.
Halting in my step, I was completely stunned at the scene that laid bare before my eyes. Through the large arc of the gatehouse opening, I could see a huge city. Due to the limited field of vision that I could see out of, I wasn't exactly sure how just big it was.
But from what little I could see, I knew this city was an absurdly massive one. Thousands upon thousands of houses and buildings laid chaotically side to side creating a medieval tone to it all.
But what truly captivated my eyes though, was the absolute behemoth of a colosseum directly in the heart of the bustling city, casting its imperious shadow far and wide. I could barely believe that such a massive structure could even exist.
It was first now that I realized that what I had thought to just be the noise of a lively medieval city, was actually mostly coming from the colosseum itself.
The roar of an uncountable number of monsters was overflowing out from the colosseum over the city in large pulsing waves. I was suddenly pulled out of my stupor as the annoyed Felendren tsked behind me.
"Enough gawking boy, the Mistress does not appreciate waiting." - Felendren
Tearing my gaze from the epic sight before me, I first now realize where I stood. We had just crested the left-side opening of the gatehouse and had entered into a flowery courtyard.
Behind me was high stone brick walls, and when reflecting the light of the suns, gave off a dark hue reminding me of the Mistress' magic. In front of me, encapsulating the courtyard, was large stone structures build seemingly of the same material, rising even higher to the sky than the walls.
This... -this is a bonafide castle!
The sheer workmanship of the castle surprised me. That with their primitive technology that could build something so grand and big. But thinking about it some more, it really does kind of make sense.
If you have workers that can lift twenty times that of normal humans in ancient eras back on earth, it should also be possible. With magic and monsters at your disposal, something as outlandish as the massive colosseum should also be possible.
While the castle wasn't something that screamed beauty and art like some medieval castles back on earth, it was just the sheer granduer and magnitude of the structure that had taken me off guard.
While greenskins did have a surprising ability to build and construct as soon as they become hobgoblins, they usually don't build with finesse in mind. So the way it was built does definitely make a lot of sense.
Moving into the castle, we pass two heavily armored orcs about the strength of Gurok. But that's not even factoring in that they might also have a mark. But seeing as this is the last line of defense directly into the castle, I could understand why they would have such strong fighters stand guard here.
Moving through numerous rooms, that were surprisingly well-decorated to the theme of the castle, we finally stop before two massive lavishly decorated double doors.
Lifting his hand, Felendren, put his palm onto an indentation in one of the doors. Glowing purple-dark light lit up from underneath his hand, and with the sound of a rumble, the doors opened.
The first two things that caught my senses was the interior decoration and sounds that bled into my ears. What the double doors opened into was a big and open room.
Scattered all about was the colorful length of purple cloth hanging from multiple places in the ceiling and walls. Covering the floor was an uncountable number of pillows and blanket in all sizes. The only thing I could relate this scene to was something like a Persian prince's paradise inside his palace.
But the other thing that took me off-gaurd rather than the lavish nature of the room was the sounds of flesh slapping together and the carnal moans of desire echoed throughout the lavishly decorated room. Looking towards the origin of the sounds, I was a bit stifled at what I saw.
A huge woman, twice the size of a normal adult human, was riding the familiar form of Morgath, the ogre. Her skin was dark purple with a tinge of red.
Flowing down her immaculate curves were long jet-black hair. Not only her size was abnormal, but the proportions of her breasts and ass were crazy. She was a giantess in every sense of the word.
Suddenly feeling the push of a hand on my back, I was unceremoniously shoved into the room. Before I could turn and say anything, the doors had closed with a loud thump, and Felendren was nowhere to be found.
A bit miffed, I just stood there at the entrance, unsure what I should do. For another few handfuls of seconds, the scene before me continued. Hearing a sigh of pleasure, my ears were suddenly assaulted by the alluring and lulling voice of the giantess.
"So... you've finally arrived. Took you long enough, I had to find a... distraction... to kill the time." - ???
Getting up, she turned around to reveal everything, especially the absolutely massive breasts sitting on her chest. Walking over to the side with a seductive and alluring gait, she picked up a very loose gown that did nothing to hide her assets as the gown was almost completely translucent.
Laying salaciously down on a large collection of pillows and blankets, she inspected me from head to toe. But suddenly her eyes lit up in intrigue as her gaze locked onto my chest.
"Hmm... interesting. So my hunch wasn't wrong." - ???
Tearing my eyes from the seductive woman's assets, I smirked, contrary to my rather dire situation.
"The Mistress, I presume?" - Me
She chuckled with a sly grin.
"Your deductive skills are immaculate, I must say..." - The Mistress
Hearing the sarcasm in her voice, I just snorted.
"Well, I suppose that's the only thing I've got going for me right now." - Me
Her eyes narrowing, she spoke in a curious but commanding tone.
"So, what is an unusual and weak creature like you doing with a core of unknown alignment?" - The Mistress
Letting a bit of snarkiness bleed into my voice, I answered her question.
"Well, I suppose I started by picking it up." - Me
That... was a dumb decision.
The teasing and alluring nature of her beautiful face disappeared as she got up and started walking towards me. Not really having anything I could do in this situation, I just simply stood my ground as the Mistress approached me.
With each step, an aura of vile darkness seeped out of her which caused my heart to speed up. The sheer menace I could feel from her was enough to make my body shiver involuntarily. Now towering over me, I had to crane my neck to look at her. A sudden glint of what looked like insanity flickered in her eyes, but it disappeared as fast as it appeared so I was left wondering if I had just imagined it.
Without any warning, she suddenly grasped hold of my neck with a hand and lifted my up to meet her gaze. As my hands were shackled, I could do nothing to resist.
"I'm not fond of snarky remarks or cocky tones. When I ask, you answer." - The Mistress
"Now... what magic can you perform?" - The Mistress
"B-blood magic." - Me
Hearing my answer a puzzled expression contorts her face.
"Blood magic? Do you mean water magic? You have a water-aligned core, don't you?" - The Mistress
Now it was my turn to become confused.
Just what the hell does water magic have to do with blood magic?
But it clicked pretty quickly for me. Is guessed that water mages, or simply creatures with the water element as magic could control blood to a certain degree seeing as blood is primarily water and a liquid at that. But I doubted it would be wise to spin a lie here as I had no next to none knowledge about magic, so I answered truthfully.
"No, my core is crimson-aligned, and my I can perform blood magic." - Me
Another glint managed to find its way into her eyes, as she once again studied me curiously.
"Hmm, deep magic maybe? Interesting..." - The Mistress
"What's deep magic?" - Me
Instead of answering me, she instead adopted a snarl and clenched tighter around my neck, obviously not wanting to broach that subject. But before anything escalated any further, I needed to see what I could glean from appraisal.
-Appraisal!-
I had expected a nice prompt displaying some cursory information about her, what I had not expected, was the splitting headache that radiated throughout my mind instead.
"ARGHH!" - Me
Her eyes lighting up, she chuckled once again.
"Oh? A divination skill? You're becoming more and more intriguing by the second. How come you also have such a rare and unusual skill relating to divination?" - The Mistress
Once my mind calmed down, I managed to respond.
"I-it came with my evolution." - Me
Once I again a small white lie to hide how I actually got it.
"Hmm? You've already evolved? Was it your first or second time?" - The Mistress
Thinking over it, I've actually already evolved three times. But I know that monsters native to this world go by different evolution rules than I do, so due to the structure of her question, I simply answered without giving any information that might implicate me.
"S-second ti-me." - Me
I barely managed to squeak out the words, but I could see the words had an immediate effect as the intrigue in the Mistress' eyes dulled a bit as she heard my answer.
"How unfortunate." - The Mistress
"H-how come?" - Me
With some melancholy tinging her face as if the world's rules and limitations were cruel, she responded.
"It makes sense that you don't understand... You see, monsters usually can only evolve twice in their lifetimes. In incredibly rare cases, some can even evolve three times, but that is almost something only of legend." - The Mistress
I see, with Limit Breaker, I have absolutely no worries about such a limitation. I'm loving this skill, more and more. I wonder how many times the Mistress has evolved but I doubt it would be wise to ask in my current situation or that she'd even respond.
"As you are still of some use, I won't dispose of you. But seeing as I don't have a need for a wild magic user in my care, I will be locking it up for now." - The Mistress
My eyes going wide at the implication of her words, I'm barely even able to react before she slammed a palm of glowing purple darkness onto my chest, directly onto where my core resided.
A suffocating feeling began enveloping me as the purple darkness seeped into my body. Once the feeling resided, I immediately tried to summon any mana. But... I had lost all control over my magic, or rather the mana within my core.
Inverting my senses into my body, I could feel the Mistress' magic, grasping tightly around my core making sure I couldn't use it. Sighing, I could only accept the reality of my situation.
Throwing me aside, I land towards the door. But as she threw me, it didn't escape my notice two very small protrusions on her forehead barely breaking the skin, that was before hidden by her long and luscious hair. Are those... horns?
Actually, my appraisal hadn't been a complete let down as she hadn't blocked the skill immediately. So I actually managed to glean her race; Lesser Daemoni. Against my better judgment, because my curiosity got the better of me, I asked.
"What exactly are you? Are you a demon?" - Me
Seeing her snarl at me, I was worried that I might've fucked up bad. But then with a thinking expression, it seemed that she had realized that I must've seen her horns and she was completely effective in blocking my appraisal.
"I'm a Daemoni." - The Mistress
"So like a Succubus?" - Me
Her eyes suddenly went wide with fear and respect as she hastily blurted out.
"How the hell do you know about the Succubi?!" - The Mistress
I was stunned at her reaction combined with the palpable aura assaulting my body, and I barely managed to answer.
"I-I heard i-it from some h-human stories." - Me
I could barely get out the words as her aura was on full blast, effectively shutting down most of my body's motory functions. I doubted that it would be wise to tell her that I knew about succubi from mythology back on earth, so I just made up a quick lie, hoping it would work.
Luckily for me, it seemed like I made the correct choice as she visibly began to calm down. If I were to guess, then Daemoni were apparently very low-level demons.
So something like a succubus could be almost a legendary existence to someone like her, which makes sense due to her drastic reaction to the mention of them. Restraining her vile and menacing aura, she just sneered at my prone form as she called out.
"Felendren! Get some maids to clean off his filth, then send him to the barracks." - The Mistress
The barracks?
Only a few seconds later, the doors opened, and rushing in was four hobgoblin women, who promptly pulled me to my feet and pushed me to move along.
The last glimpse I got of the Mistress, was her standing at the entrance to her chambers with a thoughtful expression plastered on her bewitching face as the lavishly decorated double doors slowly shut.