Silas ordered for the group, mixed meals each served with alcohol. This would be the first meal he had eaten since coming to this world, and the first of many periods they would all eat together like this, so he figured he'd make an effort to spoil them, and himself. After all, he'd already given them the stick, now for the carrot to ease their minds.
When the food arrived, for once they seemed like a normal group, the alcohol serving to calm the mood instantly. The 4 each took part in conversation, even Dromund, albeit rarely; while Silas only served to listen attentively as he ate and drank quietly. No one wished to disturb him.
He combined the small sized steak from his plate, putting it on a cut loaf of bread. Then slathering it with the cameline sauce, as it was the only sauce available. He then applied the vegetables, and took a bite. Quickly thereafter, washing it down with a mug of beer.
'Ah… Would be better with some barbeque sauce', he couldn't help but reminisce about the one sauce he'd apply to everything on Earth. It helped to make cheap food taste decent during his impoverished times.
It was odd, the food was appetizing, but it couldn't compare to the flavors he was used to. Even from memories of this world, he'd never tasted anything better than some of the stuff he had on Earth. Though at least it was better than noodle cups.
'Or perhaps I have yet to taste the best this world has to offer'
Even though he was amongst nobility, even the food treatment he received was less than the rest of his family. He was barely ever allowed to eat with the main family, the eyesore that he was. While he had a small allowance, Leoghan was never really fussed about food…
'I'll reach that point eventually', but he couldn't help but hope.
As the afternoon turned to night, the discussions at the table only served to become more rumbustious. Galgael had drunk every cup of beer in one go, proclaiming how it had been a while since he last had a good drink, Ferlein trying her best as not to fall behind, but failing. While her body was bigger, and her metabolism worked faster, she could not beat the dwarf's insane tolerance to beer.
But while she lacked in her immunity to alcohol, she made up for it in her appetite. She ate more than double of everyone combined. Plates stacked up, as she asked for more meat, but the only way to receive it was to beg for it from Silas himself.
She was hesitant at first, but after the chuckling and the drunken egging on from all but the elf and Silas himself, she seemed to find the inner child in herself, pleading with puppy eyes until Silas found it in his small cruel heart to relent. It didn't help that he had more than a few beers in him, from idly sipping as he watched them, and that his experience in the poison, between both selves was meager at best.
'Why are these people so lively?', he began to think, a thought amongst many he held while watching them and passing the time. He found it weird how the slaves he bought seemed to open up so easily.
'Shouldn't they be more depressed? I would, in that situation… I had… Or that vampire girl with the hollow eyes', his thoughts continued and his feelings turmoiled.
It was Dromund to stop the purchasing from going too far, as he realized the insatiable hunger of the beast. It seemed only he had truly been avoiding the temptation that the drink induced. Silas recollected watching him switch it with Galgael's when he thought no one was looking.
'To think Ferlein competed with Galgael who had doubled the load, yet still lost to him', he chuckled due to his thoughts, unnoticed to all but a single man. Dromund seemed to stare at him, catching Silas's attention. It made him realize in an instant, 'fuck, I've had too much'.
He tried to put more effort in composing himself, but he had still more left to do for the night. He got up from the table, stumbling over to the receptionist, as Galgael and Ferlein competed in an arm wrestling match, egged on by Thaite.
"Fer, Fer, Fer, Fer", he roared, hoping to carry some favor with his bias.
Ack, someone moaned as their knuckles made contact with the table top.
"Ohhh", he screamed. His loud roars were drowned out by similar noises from other tables. It was at this time of night that the adventurers guild was at its most rowdy. Never a quiet night passed in this place. And only the mornings were somber, as guild staff had to clean up the place.
"Haa haaar, I've stiiill got em", Galgael clenched his flexed muscles, his shirt long gone to expose his healthy pack of abs. The man was well defined for his age.
"Gaaah, you've bested meee… Leeeet's go again next tiioome… blech", Ferlein lost her composure, vomiting some of the many things she digested that night.
She spent a while removing her insides, minutes passed before she could lift her head again with some clarity to her. When she did, she saw Galgael at another table regaling to his new friends some of his past exploits, merrily indulging in the drink that swayed in his hand as he articulated himself while he did so.
Her ears perked suddenly as she heard a familiar voice utter hushed whispers.
"Hey girl, if you're my world, I'd love to be the moon so I could always be around you and light up your darkest moments"
At her table, Thaite was accompanied by a girl on each arm, whispering sweet nothings into each of their ears, as they both caressed his exposed chest. While he had drowned in their embrace, he seemingly did not notice her staring at him. Instead all he did was turn to the other girl beside him.
"Did the sun come out or did you just smile at me?"
"Oh, stop it", she giggled, grabbing at his package deal that bulged out of his undergarments.
Next to them Dromund remained, being elbowed in the face occasionally by one of the girls while she was massaging Thaite. He sat there, just taking it, as he stared off into the distance, focusing on something elsewhere.
Ferlein followed his gaze, to see Silas at a counter talking to a receptionist. "The master's gone away", she pointed, "weeeeeeeee, 'ave to bring 'em back! 'Or mooooore, cuisine!", she slurred as she stumbled her way towards him.
Meanwhile Silas spoke to the receptionist lady, "I need… mercenary contracts", he stumbled to think of the right words, doing a good job at pronouncing himself properly. "Newly… Mercenaries. 4 of them"
"Sir, are you sure you want to do this now? You don't appear to be in the best…"
"No, no. Now, it has to be now…", Silas waved away her remarks.
"I see, well here are the documents. You'll just need the signatures of your party signed right here, here, here, and here, as well as their aliases, and proof of citizenship to be reviewed. Then we'll have to make an appointment to have your ranks checked, and get your IDs sorted for work"
'Poof- proof… of citizenship? Hm, I hadn't known that was required. The slaves have been for the most part imported illegally. Even the rare former residential slaves don't have their certificates with them. Good thing I have casual attire and not my student clothing on'
Students were not allowed to receive contracts of work while studying at the academy. At least not until the semester was over, as one could get expelled for doing so. But he was willing to take a risk, he only had a year and a month or so left anyway.
He slammed his hand on the desk, causing the receptionist to be taken aback.
"I-I meant, the other one", he twirled his other hands finger in the air, "the… th-"
"You mean the adventurer's contract?"
"Yeah, newly adventurer contracts… 5 of them"
"Didn't… you need 4 earlier?"
"No? 5 of em", Silas reiterated.
The receptionist shrugged, figuring the boy before her was too drunk that he had just made a mistake. So she gave him another contract, this one with 5 name spaces and aliases to be filled out next to them.
"You'll need to fill out all these spaces here, write your leader's name here, and then book an appointment to get your ranks checked. There are other procedures but well… Adventurers are treated a bit uniquely here. You'll see if you make it past your very first mission"
Mercenaries would normally gather in groups of 3 to 5. Adventurers in groups of 4 to 6. But there were less adventurers at this junction, due to more demand for the other service. The reason for this was simple, mercenaries were tasked to protect, either as an escort, or guard type job, whereby adventurers were often tasked to collect or explore, and subjugate. Though there were occasions that mercenaries subjugated or explored as well. And those times were often regulated directly from external employers rather than the guild.
Considering many nobles attended the academy, there were strict rules against them leaving the city unless in groups of 5. To fill in this number, students would often have to employ mercenaries to guard them, making it the more lucrative job here of the two. And other times they wanted guards to show off their authority, or hold their bought equipment, just noble things to remind them of their status since they couldn't take their personal knights here from home.
Silas was going to employ such services, skipping all future fees as he owned the mercs. Meaning he wouldn't have to pay the bonus to the guild, only pretending to hire them. But plans changed, and the only way to keep his efforts from being wasted was to enlist as an adventurer instead.
Yet since adventurers didn't engage in protection services he was to enlist with them as well, risking his schooling but he was in disguise already and frankly didn't have much going on in the academy anyway, outside of being subjected to abuse.
There was a silver lining to this, since adventurers typically earned more money from the jobs they took. Not only would they receive commissions, with a part going to the guild, they could sell any parts scavenged from corpses or items gathered from the wilderness. There was much more freedom than a simple escort service could provide. And since adventurers were the type to always move around from city to city, proof of residency was not necessary.
While mercenaries were normally the odd job in any other city, due to the drawbacks of being less protected by the guild had their job gone wrong. The only provided benefits were that they could split off from the guild and form their own company at any time keeping their status and ranks. While adventures were bound, and forced to start from the ground up had they retired, mercenaries were autonomous, and could even take contracts other than the guild while working for them.
Here however, mercenaries allowed for a more consistent, and stable income, often at little risk. And if they were willing to suck up to their patrons, perhaps they would receive donations or the chance to be hired outside a young nobles stay here, earning the chance of a much greater paycheck.
"Yesh… yes. Can be book it for tomorrow?", Silas asked. This was an important question to him, considering he only had tomorrow to test his abilities, lest he wait a week for the next opportunity.
"Well… Yes that can be arranged, if you manage to get your signatures turned in tonight"
"I see…"
Ooof.
"Master, master, you mustn't go. COME BACK", he felt a tug at his shirt, causing him to turn around, but he already knew who it was. He wasn't that drunk.
"Ferlein, just the beast for the job", he passed the fallen woman the paper with the contracts, smiling and whispering in her ear, "pass this around to everyone. No, to our party. If anything else happens to this paper, you get no more oxygen for the rest of this night"
She sat there in stunned silence, sobering up a little, "y-yes master!", but scurried off after comprehending her orders, and the weight of her punishment.
He watched as she moved across the room, her large body agilely avoiding most of the scuffles that broke out around the tables, or anyone that got in her way. Or she did most times, but the few times she stumbled over she got back up immediately to ensure the paper was protected by holding it to her chest.
'Eh, it's in good enough hands', he thought, knowing if she fails he could always get the receptionist to write him up another. 'Oh while I'm here, I should pay for the bills', he thought, asking the receptionist for this information.
"Huh?", he stared at the paycheck in disbelief. Everything seemed right, with the abnormal load of food, but the alcohol… wasn't it a little too expensive? He could have sworn the quality of alcohol he bought wasn't worth this much. While his eyes never failed him in the past, maybe now was a time to check with a fresher pair.
"Hey wai-"
Bam
His face caught a mouthful of elbow, sending him flying to the ground.
"Oh I didn't see you there", the voice came from a man encased in rock. He had some kind of stone armor applied to him, whether from a gift, magic, or equipment, Silas couldn't decide as he lay there before him on the ground.
"You dare… look down on me?", Silas roared, his eyes bloodshot, as he leapt back up, punching the rock man, but only serving to rupture his fist, causing it to bleed.
"The weakyling dares retort? Bwahahaha, Burrrrp", the stone man roared, clearly also intoxicated by the devil's drink.
"You. Fucker", Silas didn't relent. Losing himself to his rage, as the alcohol took away his clarity.
"Hit me, you won't cause a dent", the stone man roared, so Silas did. Causing the bones in his same fist to crack, and blood to seep, dripping onto the floor.
"Arrrrgh", Silas recoiled in pain, but no one stopped him as he prepared to send another strike with the same broken fist. The only difference being the dagger that appeared in his other hand. Yet the only thing it cut was his own arm, something he was used to doing. Something both of his lives experienced at least once.
"Hey no weapons", the receptionist finally addressed. But the weapon went back to his side, only the blood he drew floating around.
Watching the blood float, the stone man couldn't help but mention, "you're a mage? No wonder, weakyling. You can't hurt me"
But as Silas's fist hit the stone one more time, the blood around his fist served to penetrate the rock a little bit, pushing the rock man back a bit, and all the leftover blood that didn't go into his punch, the blood that continued to spill from his arm. It all served to race towards the man, piercing his rock hard chest. But only by a little.
"Oh, oh man. You little fucker", the rock man smiled as he hit both of his clenched fists together. The splinter-like pain Silas brought him seemed to have sobered him up a bit, "I'm going to crush you".
The rock man threw another punch at Silas, hitting him square in the stomach, sending him flying backwards. But he was caught in the air, as his savior screamed.
"Master! I've the paper with tiny letters!"
Silas coughed out some blood, taking the paper and standing up from her grasp. He stared at it contemplatively, as he calmed himself down, reminding himself of his goal, instead of letting his emotions overwhelm him.
"Look at you, getting your girlfriend to save you"
This served to catch Ferlein's attention, "you think you're stronger than me?", she questioned in response. While not exactly being the most appropriate comeback.
And then they fought, Ferlein sending a flying kick sending the rock man away, crashing onto another table. The people at the table all backed away, laughing boisterously at the entertainment, but only one amongst them moaned in anguish at having his meal disrupted.
Ferlein and the rock man continued their fight, neither dodging and only continuing to punch and kick at each other, all while Silas placed the paper on the desk, writing in the final empty space to declare Thaite as the leader. The hood he bought from earlier was to mark that difference, with the reason being his human nature.
While Easthrer was a city that was racially diverse, humans still dominated the place, being a city located in the middle of 3 human kingdoms. While he too was human, he wasn't planning to always be there to complete their commissions, figuring he'd let the team be self-sufficient.
Bloody and bruised, with blood dripping from his lips, he asked carefree all the same while turning the paper to the receptionist.
"Are we due for an appointment tomorrow?"
The receptionist only smiled, having seen it all before, "you'll be due at dawn. Don't be late".
Silas nodded, and turned his attention to the rock man and Ferlein's fighting, but had found that Ferlein was already standing on top of her opponent muttering how it was no fun since he was already weakened, before vomiting once more on his rock hard chest.
He walked a few steps before collapsing on one leg, giving in to his injuries, his stability influenced by the drink. Little did he know Ferlein was already beside him, giving him aid by hauling his arm over her shoulder.
"Weee'll getcha better", she claimed.
Silas was confused how she got over in such a short time, but confirmed, "bring me… bring me to my room".
"I'll have one prepared for you sir", he heard the receptionist mutter.
'But that's not what I meant', he thought as he got dragged away, carried by Ferlein.
They went past the counter, past the broken table. Up the stairs, and into a room, one with a single bed, with a lit candle atop a table to set the ambiance. It was a smaller but similar room to his own on campus, as if all was made by the same architect.
"Hm", he groaned, his head just a tad bit hazy, "stri- swip, strip… me", he commanded Ferlein.
"U-um, okii", she blushed.
But the command forced her anyway, and her stupor kept her interested. Yet instead of stripping only his disheveled shirt, she stripped him all the way, even caressing his tattoo as she took away the cloth around his hands. When she undid his pants and undergarments, making him fully nude, her blush grew further, as he stood there, his large package on full display.
Silas was past the point to care. What changed his mind was when she suddenly started stripping as well. Standing naked in front of him, she fondled his broken hand, placing it to her stomach as it slathered her in his blood. A trail slowly emerged as it dripped down her body and leg, some splitting to stain her furry pubes a tinge of red.
He snatched his hand away from her grip but she was unperturbed as she leaned closer, purring, "you're strong", and licked the blood streak coming from his lip to his chin.
"Nooot body, but mind. Like father. You lead… Us pack. Yes, we pack now… Now… We sleep now"
While speaking her mind was all fine and dandy, Silas was not paying attention to any of it. No, the drink made his head tingle, it probably made hers tingle even more. But more than anything he couldn't help but eye her up as she stood before him at full display, his blood rushing down to a certain area.
"We do?", his eyes glanced across her most attentive body parts, between her breasts, down to her slit, lingering across the black fur acting like pubes above it.
He started caressing her, inciting an unusual moan, "b-b-but we're sleepy", she blurted, blushing, but didn't do anything to stop it.
"First, another of me must rest", he replied, as he slapped her buttocks aggressively, causing her to yelp.
But as his hands caressed around her, pulling her body close to him, her breasts pressed against his, his package serving to warm her nether regions like a heat pack in return. And his hands only served to warm her body more as it trailed around, stopping only to grab at her tail, stroking and petting it, as well as yanking it for a time.
This behavior seemed to incite a moan from Ferlein in response to all this, as she licked at his neck. Biting it suddenly, as she was provided an overly amount of stimulation from her tail, flooding her with a feeling of relief as she felt a sticky feeling crawl between her legs. Her tail was sensitive, but Silas didn't stop there, promptly pushing her onto his bed as he straddled her.
He started caressing her as his hands moved their separate ways, one going back to stimulate her lower half, while the other wrapped around caressing her toned abs, and working its way up to her double Ds, clenching ahold of the mass, and pinching at her nipples. It didn't take long before the forplay ended, as they held each other in a tight embrace.
A hole entered and a pleasant squeal later, Silas roughly plowed her as she seemed to squeal incessantly in a high pitched animalistic induced state of ecstasy. She clawed at his back in return, unleashing her feral nature. Neither of them held back, as love marks slowly accumulated, staining each other's bodies.
That night was long and hard. But equally so, it was the most alive he felt he had ever been. Outside perhaps, of hunting down Leo. And as if as a trigger, a cold glint emerged in his crazed eyes, as he started choking Ferlein with his hands, squeezing with a sinister intent.