[RedHuntressLive]: I searched the CCT, there's nothing about this city, and the slime was very real. Can you tell me, are you a magician? Is this the realm of fairies? Do they have cookies in the fairy realm?
I continued walking in a direction close to the city while reading Red's comments.
[RedHuntressLive]: Seriously, why are there only slimes? There have been 8 of them, I'm counting. And why do they have random stuff inside them? A coin? A piece of copper? LOL!
I sighed, putting another slime core in my inventory. As Red said, this was the eighth slime I had killed. This one was red, there were some blue ones, and others green. The strongest and most dangerous must have been the purple one I encountered just after descending from the hill.
"I really don't know, I've told you, Red, I woke up here. There's just as much chance of this being the fairy realm as anything else." I shrugged. I wasn't used to using my arms for strikes; they were already hurting a bit.
"And I'm starting to get stressed out about it too. They even seem friendly until they see me and try to melt my face."
I found out the hard way that, contrary to my expectations, the slimes were indeed acidic, but only when they wanted to be. I scratched my still reddened left hand.
The biggest slime, the purple one, managed to grab my hand when I was distracted. It wasn't anything serious, like a strong acid; it just felt like I had put my hand in hot water. I quickly pulled it out, so nothing happened; it just turned a bit redder. But I guess with enough time, it could burn and melt the skin.
[RedHuntressLive]: Yep, they're cute. They'd make good pets if they weren't trying to kill us, but cats are like that, right? Slimes are soft cats? But cats are soft, slimes are cats?
And there was that too. Red was shy at first, but after talking to him for a bit, he opened up and started talking about various things, becoming more communicative.
[RedHuntressLive]: And you told me you weren't a hunter. You hunt slimes, unlike Grimm. Are you a SlimeHunter? Seems more fun than hunting Grimm, and less dangerous.
Another thing he told me, it seems like his world, yes, another world, my first viewer is from a different world than Earth. I thought he might be from Earth or even my current world, but no, he's from a world called Remnant, and from what he told me, I'm glad I don't live there.
My stomach rumbled. Damn, I'm hungry. I must have been walking for about two hours and haven't eaten anything since morning. I was going to make some coffee, maybe a burger to eat before getting kidnapped.
Anyway, Red's world, from what he told me, is a post-apocalyptic world where humanity survives in only four large kingdoms and small random villages and settlements. And the enemies that humanity faces? Grimm, soulless shadow beings that only seek to kill humans. They don't eat, don't kill animals, and, as Red said, there are few reports of Grimm sleeping. So, it's pretty bad for them.
"At least they have cat girls," I murmured softly. "I guess I prefer regular animals."
[RedHuntressLive]: What did you say? That was really quiet. Is it about SlimeHunters? I knew it, you really are one?
"No, Red, I'm not a SlimeHunter, I was just thinking out loud. But let me ask you something. You mentioned that the humanity in your world had another sister species? What were they called again?"
[RedHuntressLive]: Ohhh, yes, the faunus. They're similar to humans but have animal parts, some tails, others eyes, maybe ears! I wonder if there's a faunus slime? That would be COOL.
Faunus, another name from Greek mythology, the same with the floating kingdom, Atlas, a coincidence? At this point, I really don't know, but seriously, whose dumb idea was it to anchor one city on top of another city? Besides the fact that you lose the advantage of having a mobile floating city, if anything goes wrong with what makes it float, everything goes downhill.
Scratching my head at human stupidity, which seems to be a multiversal constant, I said, "A faunus slime would be weird, imagine just a squishy green person." I shuddered, already thinking about the darker possibilities of a certain number after 30. "I think I prefer regular animals."
[RedHuntressLive]: LOL, true, it would be weird. How would they walk? Would they wear clothes?
I spent the rest of the way to the city gates talking to Red, or at least reading his messages and talking to the air. As I approached the city, it became apparent that what seemed to be a main road connected to the gate.
As I walked along the road's edge, I could see carriages passing by, people talking and walking towards the gate. It was bustling like a big metropolis.
[RedHuntressLive]: WOW! There are so many people. They wear strange clothes.
Most people wore simple outfits, made of what seemed to be linen or cotton. Others had swords or daggers strapped to their waists and wore small leather armors. The only ones who seemed to wear full iron or steel armor were the gate guards.
"Yeah, like they stepped out of a fantasy book..." I said more to myself than in response to Red. "It was already obvious, but I'm really not on Earth..." I sighed, feeling melancholic as I walked towards the gate.
As I got closer, some people looked at me strangely, probably because of the clothes I was wearing. When I got closer, I could get a better view of the gate and the wall, and I could only say, "Holy crap..."
Seriously, if from afar the city looked magnificent like a giant, up close it was even more so. The city walls seemed to be between fifty to seventy meters high, and the gate was enormous, almost twenty meters. I felt insignificant looking at it; the city seemed impregnable, like a bastion.
[RedHuntressLive]: You swore! I didn't say anything before, but you owe the swear jar two coins now.
I almost stumbled when I read this message. "Nice way to break the ice." You swore? Was he, what, fifteen years old? "If I ever show up there, I'll pay, alright?"
[RedHuntressLive]: Alright, I'll remember that! Now run, I want to see what's in this city. It's huge! It's bigger than the Vale!
"Let's go, then."
Walking towards the gate, the guards glanced at me briefly but didn't seem to care much. It seemed that the inspection was only for carriages. Passing through the gate, the city was as magnificent inside as it was outside.
Although people wore simple clothes, the city seemed different from what you would expect compared to the few people I had seen. The houses were made of what seemed to be bricks, most were painted white with light red or brown roofs. It still looked ancient, but was it nobility? If I can say that.
As I walked through the city, I noticed something I hadn't thought of before. I could understand the people. I'm glad that whatever the cell phone did gave me an understanding of the language of this world.
There was a great diversity of people, vendors in small stalls on the streets, what seemed to be adventurers straight out of a fantasy RPG, and, most incredible of all...
[RedHuntressLive]: Ohhhh! a dwarf, is that a faunus? Are there faunus there too?
There were other races, in this short time of walking, I had passed what could only be described as a dwarf from a fairy tale, and next to him was a larger man with two horns that I thought might belong to a bull.
As I walked, I could see even more, women with cat ears, sheep ears, giant men over eight feet tall carrying large bags, the city was a meeting place for many races.
[RedHuntressLive]: HOW COOL! Is it a magical realm? An RPG? WOW!
I could only nod in agreement; it was magical just to look at it up close.
[RedHuntressLive]: By the way, what are you looking for? You seem to be walking back and forth for a while.
"I'm looking for a stylist or a fabric factory, but I think I'll need to ask someone for directions." I noticed what looked like a weapon shop with some armor displayed at the front. "That should work."
Passing by the armor at the store's entrance, the first thing visible was the weapon racks, armor, and ornaments. It looked like the store was an arsenal with all kinds of possible war equipment.
[RedHuntressLive]: WOWWWW! IS THAT A WAR AXE? A TRIDENT? THERE, THERE, THERE, A FIRE WHIP!!!!!!!! THAT'S SO COOL!!
Another thing I discovered about Red, he seems to be a fanatic about weapons, all kinds, from classics like he said about my copper sword to the weapons of his world. He even told me he has a hybrid between a scythe, a precision rifle, and a war scythe. Who uses something like that?
"Answering your question, I want to try selling the clothes I'm wearing. I stand out too much, and, most importantly, I'm broke, zero, zip, no money at all." This was one of my initial plans, besides the fact that I would blend in better with people, I really needed the money, at least to spend the night somewhere. I didn't want to try sleeping in the forest.
Red didn't respond, probably paying more attention to the weapons than to me. Shrugging, I went to the counter. Not seeing anyone, I noticed some sort of bell, something to ring and call the attendant, perhaps?
I rang the bell a few times, and a voice echoed from the back of the store.
"I'm coming, hold on!"
A woman, judging by the voice. After waiting a few seconds, a young girl ran out from the back of the store. She looked sweaty, with her light brown hair sticking to her face. When her eyes saw me, they seemed to scan me from head to toe, pausing a few moments longer on the short sword at my waist.
She walked up to the counter and leaned on it. "So, what will it be? Armor or a weapon?"
Before responding, I quickly examined her. She was young, as I had said, but I could see that her arms were muscular, probably from time in the forge, and even the leather apron she was wearing did little to hide the two assets she had on her chest.
I cleared my throat and looked away, hoping she hadn't noticed.
"In reality, I'd like to ask something first, if possible, or I'd appreciate a recommendation." I pointed to my clothes.
"I'd like to sell my clothes and buy new ones, but I'm new here, so I don't know the place very well."
She nodded without seeming surprised. "Yes, you have the look of people who come here for the first time, the look of a tourist."
She waved and began walking towards the back of the store. "Follow me; let's see what I can do for you." In the middle of the way, she turned and said, "By the way, my name is Emily, pleasure." Then she continued walking towards the back of the store.
I just followed behind her. "I'm Devas, pleasure, Emily." She just raised her hand in agreement and kept walking.
Passing through the back of the store, I could hear the sound of hammers hitting metal and what seemed to be a forge being used, so she didn't work alone here.
Passing by the forge, she took me to a room with some mannequins and clothes, both for women and men. Then she turned and looked at me.
"What?"
She shook her head. "Are you waiting for an invitation? Come on, take off your clothes so I can see what they're made of."
I raised an eyebrow at that, confident, wasn't she? I wasn't going to ask something like, with you in the room? Or could you leave, please? I'm not a generic Japanese protagonist.
First, I took off my shoes and socks; even though I didn't want to sell them, I might need to. Then my shirt and pants, leaving only my underwear. I had already put everything I had, except the sword, into my inventory, so I didn't have to worry about anything in the pockets.
I ignored her gaze on me; I wasn't ashamed of my body. I might not have the best physique, working and going to college didn't leave much time for the gym, but I still had a reasonably toned body with not too much fat.
"Here, all yours, see what you think." I handed her the clothes along with my shoes and socks. She took her eyes off my body and took the clothes. I sat in a chair and waited for her to finish.
She seemed to know what she was doing; she quickly examined the clothes, both the shirt and pants. The only interesting part was that she actually put on my sneakers to test them, the jumps she made did wonders for her assets, blessed be gravity.
Something seemed to shine in her eyes after she finished testing my shoes, and then she looked at me, or more specifically, my underwear.
"Take it off."
"Excuse?"