Flank town was once a vibrant border town. It was the gateway into greater Eastern Audi. In the time before the great teleportation, it was a shining oasis amid a harsh desert. The grand bazaar of Flank town was legendary; more money, items, and people were traded in the grand bazaar than the merchant's guild proper touched in a week. The taur country held many great peoples melted together in the border town. Minotaurs, centaurs, pantaurs, orcs of all shades, and the rare lizardmen called the border town home and lived there. It was the great melting pot of Eastern Audi.
My friend awoke as a rich man in that city. He didn't see the people as living things. So, long before we arrived, he hunted them with more savagery and gluttony than a thousand blood-starved vampires.
My investigation started when I tripped over an empty pile of fur and tumbled through the sand. A yell from me stopped Kale before the shocks could startup.
"I have no time for your foolishness. Get up; we must hurry." Kale yelled.
With a yank, I unearthed an empty sack of flesh and hair. Kale trotted closer, eyes wide and body tensed. She was on high alert for any predator.
"What do you think happened to him?" I asked. Holding the boneless seamless skin in my hands, I thought of Cell from DBZ. While a lot of shit might be in this world, I hoped to God the bio android didn't fall out of a portal and end up here. If that happened, then I might as well turn around and take my chances with my shock collar's kill switch.
She took the sun-dried fur coat from my hands and ran her hands through it. Even the face was perfectly preserved. This wasn't normal; it couldn't be. Even cell would leave a stab wound but only clothes.
"Did some bug crawl inside of them, eat them from within, and crawl out the mouth?" I asked.
Kale shivered.
A look of determination appeared in her large blue eyes. "We won't make it to the herd without water from the oasis and solar wards to protect against the heat," Kale said.
I reached down and pulled another empty skin sac from the sand. Under Kale's gaze, I unearthed more until hundreds piled on top of each other. One skin sac was of a centaur with the same hair color as Kale. There were humans wearing collars, dogs, and camels. All of them were hidden beneath the desert sand too skillfully for it to have been a mere predator.
"If we go into the town, we might not make it at all. Do you want me to scout it out for you?" I asked.
This could be my chance to get my collar off. Then, if I played it right, she might release me.
"No, out of the question. I won't send a pathetic human to brave a terror I would not. We will go together, and that's final." Kale said.
"Don't regret it then. If you want to masturbate one last time, I'm not going to stop you." I tried to move my wanking hand, but my fingers only twitched. That was a no-go. Wanking without fleshlite chan or using my proper wanking hand wasn't done. So I'd have to go without a last send-off.
I expected a shock for that, but instead, she looked determined. "Many of my people have already died to whatever haunts Flank Town. That is because I wasn't here. I am a Beta rank mage trust in my skills, Red, and save your final gratification for when we face a foe I cannot defeat." Kale said.
After calculating my chances of getting away with it, I pulled my phone out, snapped a few pictures of the skins, and sent them to my brother.
"Geez! You should turn around and head the other way from whatever did that. Oh, and my master told me how to break the collars. Do you have the magic parameter?" Blue Star asked.
"Yes, I couldn't resist magic," I said even though it came to me by chance.
"Here's a PDF with the spell you need to ward against electricity and the spell equivalent of magical bolt cutters. My master has been nosy the last few days, so I'm going to play good apprentice. Text me again in two days, and don't fight whatever sucked the inside out of those taurs." Blue Star said.
In a few minutes, the PDF downloaded, blasting my screen with text and diagrams spanning hundreds of pages. They looked to be pictures taken from the pages of multiple books combined in a PDF.
"What is that?" Kale asked.
She stared down at the phone in my hand. I inventoried it before she could shock me. Then I thought about it and smiled.
"It's an image capturing and communication device. I contacted my brother and asked him what he thought of what we found." I said.
To be fair, my other brother was only out of signal range.
She looked me in the eyes before nodding slowly.
"What did he have to say?" Kale asked.
"Run the other direction, and don't mess with a creature that can do that. But, unfortunately, the other direction is back in lion territory, and there's no guarantee that stream hasn't dried up yet." I shook my head and changed the subject. "There are hundreds of dead here, will there be anyone left in the town? Maybe the creature has already left." I asked.
Kale stomped her hoof and swung her wand. The wind kicked up and blasted a dust devil across the sands.
Kale grinned at the display of power and turned to me. "We aren't alone; there are tens of thousands in town, and even as we speak, I'm sure the best of us are investigating the monster that did this.
I wasn't impressed by some cheap trick. A dust devil wasn't going to stop something that bodied and dumped hundreds of powerful, intelligent taurs. From my borrowed memories, I knew taurs were much stronger than humans, held the speed advantage, and made an attempt to take over the world every few centuries. The taur empires ebbed and flowed like the tide. Humans were better at magic, most of the time. If a taur equaled a human in magic, then victory went to the taur most of the time. If we were dealing with a human mage of some kind, then we might have a chance if Kale is around their level of magic. The sophistication of sucking muscle, organs, and bones out of someone didn't sound like ordinary magic. It made me think of cell, and I didn't like it one bit.
Ding!
7th Quest
Locate the Scourge of Flank Town
Stipulation: Don't leave until you've identified the Scourge
Reward: 1 Bronze PARAM Die, 1 Bronze Skill Die
"Fuck," I yelled. A sharp buzz traveled through my collar.
Kale raised a finger to her lips and pointed to a group of hyena women riding our way on horseback. "Keep your eyes on the ground, and don't look any of them in the eyes. They'll see it as a challenge. If one propositions you for sex, do it and remain hard for the love of the spirits. The Spotted Pack is a hyenoid group that makes up most of the military scouts in flank town. No nose is better than a Hyenoid, and no vagina looks more like a dick." Kale said.
In moments the scouts were on us. I dutifully stared down at the ground and tried to make myself look as unappealing as possible. Damn animal planet to hell. After seeing them, all I could think about was how long their clits must be. If the females were anything like actual hyenas, the females were larger, stronger, and more intelligent. So, I was dealing with bitches with dicks that might be bigger than mine. It was disconcerting.
One dismounted and stepped forward. I watched the hyenoid's weird clawed and padded humanoid feet silently stalk towards me. Even to my enhanced senses, I couldn't hear the hyenoid's footsteps for the desert wind. Instead, she avoided us and ruffled through the pile of skins, sniffing them loud enough to make my ears twitch.
A heavy slap on my ass snapped me to full wakefulness.
Ding!
+1 RP With Silent
Silent 21/100 She sees you as a new solidly built male specimen ripe for a proposition.
She bumped her nose against the back of my neck and sniffed. I felt a warm wet tongue lap at my neck. This was officially the weirdest thing I've ever experienced. She placed a hand on my head and stepped to the side.
"This isn't the creature we're looking for; he's just a human slave." Silent said.
"Please tell me, mistress Hyenoid what's going on. My slave tripped over all these bodies. Is there some creature hunting the town?" Kale asked.
Silent stopped in front of my face giving me a good view of her loincloth. The hyenoid lifted her tail, showing off a 13in monster that made my dick turn around and hide. Oh, she was female; I could smell it. She shook her hips at me, and I felt this morning's breakfast threaten to spill up.
These were the worst waifus ever, and by the look of the skins, it was becoming clear that I'd gotten the genre wrong. This world was clearly horror dressed up as an issekai.
"My name is Silent; my companions are Stalker and Jester. I shouldn't tell you anything; the governor ordered us to keep this quiet." Silent said before lifting my chin.
I stared at her brown, almost black eyes, mohawk of brown hair, and soft C-cups. After the eyes and hair, what else would I judge? Her face was primarily human with the slightest snout. She was taller than I expected, easily standing a head and shoulders taller than me. Though her features were feminine, Silent's hard-packed muscular arms spoke of a powerful physique. I wasn't sure if even my parameters would be enough to win a fight against her in pure strength.
She placed her padded digit against my lips. "So soft and thick their lovely." She turned to one of her companions. "We should collect the bodies and guide these two back to town. The slaves are going to be busy sorting these for their burial." Silent said.
She lifted my lame arm and let it drop. I almost pulled away when she tugged it towards her loincloth. Then, when my arm didn't twitch, no matter how hard I tried, she rubbed it against her genitals. "Oh, you aren't faking it. That or you're a great actor." Silent said.
"Mistress Silent, please stop molesting my property. His arm is indeed lame; I've witnessed its lack of use through many beast attacks. Red does have an excellent talent for spatial magic, but that is it." Kale said.
"You poor thing, and here I am taking advantage of you instead of doing my job." She leaned in closer. "I think you're teasing me." I gasped as her hand groped my junk. "How do my soft pads feel? I felt that twitch; you're something special, Red." Every time I felt as if I couldn't become less comfortable, this crazy hyena woman took it further.
I turned to Kale and pleaded with her silently. Her face lit scarlet. "I will not have my property fondled with right in front of me. Time with my slave is expensive." Kale said.
Silent gripped my junk a final time before pulling her hand back. "Oh, his package isn't anything to brag about. My younger brother has him beat; just ask Jester he's one of her favorite husbands." A shiver crawled down my spine at that. The Hyenoid shook her head. "Whatever, how much for a night." Silent said.
Kale looked torn. I knew how she must have felt. Somehow, Kale translated that to me without words. If she requested too much, Silent would see it as an insult and might cause unending trouble. Too little, and my ass would be used up well before Kale gathered enough supplies to leave comfortably. Not to mention there was the creature killing. But of course, my ass was more interesting to talk about.
"One silver per night." Kale declared.
Silent stopped her groping and took a step back. "That's pricy for a lame slave." She turned her head to the side. "Is he a grower instead of a shower?"
"He is a slave that has earned my respect. I could rent out his service for no less than a silver a night."
Ding!
+2 RP with Kale
Kale 17/100 Through this situation, some of her feelings for you have been sorted out. To her, you are a respectable slave.
Ding!
+5 RP with Silent
Silent 26/100 She sees you as a valuable slave worth a delicate touch.
"Alright," Silent tossed two silvers to Kale. My centauress companion caught the two glittering silver coins and stared at them dumbstruck. Just like that, my ass was rented out to a heavily hung Hyenoid. What the heck did a delicate touch even mean?
My mind betrayed me with an image of her spitting on her member once. In the image, she grins at me, "there you go, that's delicate."
Kale handed Silent a small rock covered in strange symbols. My eyes widened, and a sense of extreme energy struck me. That little rock was the power source, lock, and key to my collar.
"I'll return him in 48hrs. Don't worry, I might dress him up a little. That beard could use some color." Silent said.
She scooped me up and walked back to her mount. Then, she mounted her horse with me stuck between her legs with the ease of sitting in a chair. "You smell nervous. Is this your first time riding a horse?" Silent asked.
"No, I'd ridden before," it wasn't that at all. It was the bulge grinding through a loincloth against my rear. I wanted out of here.
We traveled quickly over a harsh prairie until the smell of smoke became unbearable. "Was there a fire recently?" Kale asked.
"Yes, one of the granaries it spread quickly. Our fire team had to demolish several buildings to stop it. Those skins belonged to the merchant caravan sent to help us resupply. If this keeps up, we'll starve this winter. If there are any of us left." Silent said.
"Is this preparation for a raid?" Kale asked.
"I thought the same until I saw the skins. While it may still be a raid from the west, I think we have a rouge Flesh Mage." Silent said.
Jester added her two cents. "Why can't they ever use their powers for good instead of evil? So they can twist flesh; it wouldn't be hard to make a living using that power." Jester giggled.
"You just want larger penises for the men of your harem." Silent said.
I didn't want to mess with anyone who could manipulate flesh like clay. A longer dick would be nice but being slurped out of my skin sounded terrifying.
"I've never heard of flesh mages. Is it another term for blood mages?" Kale asked.
I've heard of both, and in most settings, blood mages are outlawed. There are tons of plots about the evil blood mage summoning demons and extending their lifespans. Flesh mages were more hentai powers than actual magic. That didn't seem to be the case here.
"No, they're different. A blood mage can manipulate blood with mana and often double as a ritualist. That is frowned upon in Taur country but not illegal. Flesh mages are different; they can manipulate the whole body, and worse, they don't leave many clues. We can normally track down a crazy blood mage; they're sloppy most time. They often leave their scent in their footprints, and that makes tracking them beyond easy. This guy masked his scent with something and seems to know how to throw us off his trail." Silent said.
"So, he's experienced. Have you contacted nearby settlements for similar occurrences? There is a chance he might have slipped up early in his career." I said.
I felt something monstrous push against my bottom and squeezed my legs around the horse's flanks hard. "Oh, you have a brain in that pretty little head of yours. And here I thought you were just another pretty face. Careful, or might not give you back."
Ding!
RP +4 with Silent
Silent 30/100 She sees you as more valuable than the common slave.
Ding!
RP+2 with Kale
Kale 19/100 You have invoked a sense of pride within her for owning an intelligent slave.
"Captain, should we follow his advice. I know humans are often a little backwards, but it isn't bad advice." Stalker said.
"Jester, go to the communication tower when we get back and ask around. We might be able to find some clues." Silent said.
"Awe, I wanted to go out to eat with you and your toy," Jester said.
"Mistress, what will you do while I'm preoccupied?" I asked.
"I'll prepare for the next leg of our journey and purchase a solar ward for you. I can't have such a valuable piece of my property burnt before I get home." Kale said. Her tone was snobbish and completely for Silent's benefit. I noticed by the way the Hyenoid grinding against me increased. The feeling was terrifying.
We rode in silence for a while, giving me time to think. Finally, after exhausting hundreds of fantasies of escaping my fate, I thought about the Scourge of Flank town. The mint reminded me of someone I knew. It was weird, but I once worked with a man named King Refer, King for short. The guy liked to go hiking in Colorado, or that's what he told everyone. Then, on one fateful trip to a Chinese restaurant, the guy spilled the beans, he ran weed. He bought it legally in Colorado and sold it back home. Mint was one of the scents he used to throw off the drug dogs.
We used to partner a lot on a mobile bleach game together. Ugh, I spent so much money on that game, but I wanted H Ichigo full Vasto Lorde maxed out. That character and Ulquiorra Hogyoku mode were my jam.
I wanted to get my phone out and search for his number but resisted the urge. That was two phones ago, so my chances of finding his number were nonexistent. One silver lining if anyone could do well in this world, it would be him. If I survived, then I'd see him again.
We regrouped with the bulk of the Spotted Clan's patrol. Several mounted three-woman cells joined until three hundred Hyenoids entered Flank town.
The town, what could I call it other than a mixture of rustic and almost modern. In this world, magic functioned as technology. A nearly limitless energy source flowed from the air into great machines and did everything. Water heated through magic in the equivalent of water heaters, it was recycled for repeated use, and it was drawn from the air itself from great turning moisture farms. Grand water towers covered the highest buildings in the city. Thousands walked about to fulfill any number of purposes. Every street was clean of shit, refuge, and the homeless. From the glittering skyscrapers to the mom-and-pop eateries, this place felt like a mix of city and town.
Once the gates closed behind me, the smell of ash disappeared. Then, in the distance, I spotted the reason behind that. Great air filtration machines worked tirelessly to cleanse the air in Flank Town. If they didn't, then the people would smell nothing but smoke all day.
"Is this your first time seeing what magical engineering can do?" Silent asked.
Ding!
RP+2 with Silent
Silent 32/100 Innocence turns her on; she believes two silver was money well spent.
How would she feel when I didn't put out? "It's really different from what I'm used to. That's not a bad thing. I've never been to any of the major cities in my country." I said.
We approached a large official building, and she hitched her horse to a shaded post. "Wait here while I report my findings with the boss. I'm off duty for the next few days anyway with the skins as evidence it's the Slither Clan's problem now. So don't get into any trouble. I'm setting your collar for long-distance, but it'll still shock you if you mess with it. If you even try and run away, I'll track you down; I know your scent now." Silent promised.
"I'd probably only get lost here anyway," I said.
Silent's ears flattened. "We all have our lots in life. You could have found a worse slave master than that centaur mage. Their kind doesn't normally take to humans. She could have rented you a copper per night and left you in a brothel year-round." Silent said.
"I'm not running away; if I'm not here when you get back, then I've probably been kidnapped," I said.
"Then I'll track you down and arrest whoever stole my property. You have my word on that." Silent grabbed my face and stared me in the eyes. "Don't react if you smell mint." Silent said.
I opened my mouth and closed it. The message was clear. If the serial killer found me while she was gone, I shouldn't react if by some act of God. While the possibility was low, my luck might make it a certainty.
She left, and I sat on the porch for an hour. Then, finally, I picked up a rock, tossed it up, and caught it. Then I grabbed another and began juggling one-handed. With my enhanced reflexes, powerful senses, and deft hands, juggling wasn't complicated.
Every couple of minutes, I added a rock. Once I had 10 in rotation, a snake girl and her mother slithered up to me. The girl took a copper coin from the mother and threw it to me. I caught the coin and tossed it with the rocks. The little girl clapped while I juggled 11 items.
Ding!
DEX +1
DEX 6
For a while, people watched, and on occasion, one or two people would throw me a copper coin. I always caught them adding to my juggling.
Three hours flew by, and I'd increased my juggling to 21 items, 11 of which were copper coins. Already I'd made twice as much as I was worth. That was troubling. Either this town was obscenely wealthy, or a one-armed slave wasn't worth much.
By the fourth hour, my juggling hit 34 items, 15 of which were coins, and the rest were rocks the kids threw at me when their parents refused to give them more coins.
Ding!
DEX +1
DEX 7
My hand flashed like lighting inventorying all the coins until there were only stones in the air. Then as the rocks fell, I stacked them on top of each other until there were no more. The children clapped one last time before the parents pulled at them to leave. Then, I spotted someone I recognized.
He dressed richly without a slave collar. I recognized him right away for the man who once sat across me at the new China buffet. The later food poisoning had solidified the memory, like mixing concrete hardens on shoes after mixing. King smelled like weed and AXE body spray. It seemed that three years hadn't changed my old friend much.
"Red is that you. Man, it's been, I don't know how long. Why didn't we keep in touch?" King asked.
"You know how it is. I woke up one morning, went to take a piss, and my cat jumped on me. My phone fell in the toilet right as I was flushing. I never saw it again." I said.
King blinked, then shook his head. "Yea, I believe it. So, what are the odds we'd pop up in the same world? You're the first actual person I've seen. This place is crazy. What parameters did you pick? Mine turned out pretty useful." King said.
Above his head were the words King in red letters. But below that was something I hadn't seen before. He had a health bar.
550k/550k could be read in a crimson bar. Oh, King was practically glowing with his full head of black hair and round spectacles. But why did he have a health bar? I didn't have a health bar. I knew that for sure. At the time, I concluded it was either a hiccup in the system or a difference in our parameters.
"You know just the classics for any RPG. I saw a bunch of weird stuff like qi, colors, sins, and virtues. Those sounded like a lot of trouble, so I stayed clear. As for skills, just a bunch of D and E's, you know my luck." I said.
"You're a one-armed slave with terrible skills; I think the game is a troll. What are your quests like?" King asked.
"You know I just have to fight lions, zebras, and backflip a thousand times or lose what parameters I scraped together. How about you? What awesome quests do you have to do? Are you in business again?" I asked.
"I'm always in business, but no, nothing like that. Though, those centaurs love to smoke. My former body belonged to a well-off magic engineer here. I guess my former training proceeded me." King looked me up and down. "Do you want some help out of your situation? I could use someone normal to talk to, so I don't go crazy." King said.
Some force hit me then. All of a sudden, it was like nothing existed but the two of us. If King asked me to do something, I'd be glad to do it.
King held his hand out, and my hand raised without my intention. Suddenly, I realized I was under some type of skill. If I didn't do something, then King would take me away from here to God knows where. Sure, we were friends, and I wanted out of my situation, but something felt off. I sniffed the air, and my eyes widened. The scent came from King's shoes. It was faint and entirely overpowered by the other aromas, but I could smell the barest traces of mint.
Instead of taking King's hand, I grasped my collar. A powerful shock struck me then, and the sensation faded. The world around me came back into focus.
"Alright, why would you do that?" King asked.
"I'm not going with you."
Ding!
7th Quest Completed
Locate the Scourge of Flank Town
Stipulation: Don't leave until you've identified the Scourge
Rewarded: 1 Bronze PARAM Die, 1 Bronze Skill Die
While many have accused me of being smart over the years, the accusation never stuck. That fact was made worse when perception is involved. My senses have been heightened to incredible levels. While many can detect a charisma technique after the fact, few can at the moment. By shocking myself, King's spell was broken, but that did little to deter the man.
"Red, it's ok, buddy; I know it hurts. Let me help you." I tried to pull away, but King seemed to flow by force all his own. He grabbed my lame arm, and I felt it shift and pop. Lightning coursed through the limb. My hand twitched, and suddenly, I could move my arm. King smiled before putting a finger to his lips. He leaned forward and whispered in my ear. "You're my friend Red, and that's why I want you to know that I can send you to hell on earth if you sell me out. Tell a soul about me, and you'll never move again in your life. You'll sustain yourself on shit and piss until you die." King said and took a step back. He patted me on the shoulder, and my body felt like it was made of clay.
His message was clear. King could heal my body as easily as he could destroy it.
I engaged Force Aura. Suddenly his touch stopped well before it landed on me. He raised an eyebrow and looked at me. "So, you stopped me from touching you with my most basic skill. Do you think that matters?"
"550k health sounds like a lot for a week's worth of leveling," I said.
King tugged on his robe and shook his head. "Who would believe a slave anyway? Your just property: if I tap your collar a little too hard, you'll be shocked to death. No, I've covered my tracks well this time. I've perfected my method while you backflipped in the desert and fought a bunch of dumb animals." My one-time friend turned his back on me. "If you tell anyone, you'll regret it. Forget you saw me and remember the help I've given you. What are the lives of a few hundred NPCs worth, after all? We're all just ones and zeroes in the end." King said.
I watched my one-time friend vanish in the crowd. Another hour passed before Silent tapped me on the shoulder. Slaves worked tirelessly cleaning up waste in the streets while giving me jealous looks.
"Wow, what a meeting; how did you hold up out here in the sun. While the air cleansing systems keep the city cooler than the outside, the sun can still be brutal." I reached up and flexed my wanking hand.
"Some traveling magic engineer healed my arm. Did you have something to do with it?"
While I knew good and well she didn't, I needed an excuse to send good people to their deaths in a vain attempt to expose my old friend. That made me think seriously. If King had his shit together, then a little investigating wouldn't do much good.
This wasn't something they could handle. King was my friend I knew some of his tricks. I opened and closed my hands. He gave me back my arm and I was preparing to take him down. There were humans among the dead. King was killing indiscriminately I didn't want him around. I'd have to either kill him or chase him off.
"Well, did you get a good look at the good samaritan? Not a lot of our engineers will get out of bed without some gold as a reward." Silent asked.
I shook my head. "No, I was too excited about having two working arms to memorize his features. He wore expensive robes." I said.
Of the system users with the VIT parameter, King was by far the most dangerous. My fight with him would set my stance against vitality users in stone. For a flesh, mage vitality is the fuel, while intelligence is the engine. While some genuinely gifted flesh mages have proven to be good people, their power is nothing compared to those with vitality.
Nickname: Red
Title: Traveler
Parameters
STR 3 (5)
CON 13
DEX 7
AGL 17
QI 6
PER 19
MAG 5
World Waifus Relationships
Kale 19/100
Silent 32/100