The streets were packed as we made our way through the crowd, but between myself and Terroth, people got the hell out of our way. Good. Maybe people will actually be smart and not give us any shit.
We walked for roughly 15 minutes through the busy streets, looking around at all of the different businesses and architecture as we went. I had to admit that the place looked nice. Soon though, we reached a large stone building orange in color, with multiple banners hanging from it that had a a sword and shield printed on them. There was a wooden plack hanging over the large double doors in front of the building that read, "Arbigold Adventurer's Guild." I was way too excited about this.
"Here we are." Terroth said as he walked towards the double doors, and pushed them open.
Once the doors were open, noise greeted us. People cheering, talking, and laughing surrounded us on all sides as we walked in. A few people sitting at the tables close to the door looked over at us, and some nodded to Terroth, while a couple sneered. Their gazes traveled to Cici, but my own had them turning their heads rather quickly. Dressing like this had its perks, let alone my red eyes.
"A lot of people in here." Cici said, her tail wrapping around my waist as we walked.
"Just ignore any stares. They aren't worth worrying about." I said.
"I can get a table for us if you guys want to go to the guild desk." Serena said, and Terroth nodded.
"Cici, do you want to stay with me, or go to the table?" I asked, and Cici looked up at me, and considered, turn she looked over at Clarissa, who was following Serena, Clarissa, Benji, and Sheila to the table. Marina was still sticking behind her at all times. Cici's eyes stayed locked on Clarissa for a while, before she reluctantly released my arm.
"I'm gonna go and see what I can get out of Clarissa. You boys go and have your fun up there. I want to sit down." Cici said, before quickly leaning up and kissing my cheek, before turning around and sauntering off towards the table. I watched her tail sway hypnotically right above her tight bubble butt, which I was also paying close attention to.
"The Cat race rarely ever talk to humans, let alone taking them as their mates. You really must be something special, Elias." Terroth said, and I grinned as I turned to face him.
"Just... call me Eli. And... I don't know. She's truly the special one. Best woman I've ever met." I said, and he smirked at me.
"You must be a very busy man." He said, and then leaned in close, "I can smell it. Didn't want to embarrass the poor girl."
I flushed a but, but he wasn't wrong, so I just nodded. He chuckled.
"Sorry, didn't mean to embarrass you." He said, before looking at me curiously, "For someone so strong, you seem quite young. Your face, and your mannerisms... but your eyes have seen many battles. You are a curious one, Eli."
I scratched my chin.
"Lets just say, I can handle anything that comes up." I said.
He nodded, and turned around gesturing me to follow. I followed him towards the back, passing numerous tables along the way. Many people, both casually dresses, and wearing various sets of armor, sat and talked, drank together, or were playing different card and board games. Terroth nudged my side.
"Hey, look there." He said in a whisper, and angled his head to the side
I looked and saw a group of 5 people sitting at a table in the far back corner of the Guild, keeping themselves away from the rest of the guild. They all had on super expensive and gaudy armor, clothing, and equipment. There were 3 men, and 2 women.
One man had on green light armor with a golden trim, and had a longsword at his hip, the, and the sheathe was covered in various runes. He had short black hair, and a pair of cold blue eyes that looked like he thought everyone else was beneath him.
[Name: Maleek Norhund]
[Age: 27)
[Race: Human]
[Class: Swordsman (A-)]
[Designation: A member of the Adventuring Party, "Tempest"]
My eyebrows rose. They weren't as strong as I was, but this guy was still the highest ranked person I'd seen besides myself. I also had no doubt that the rest of them were just as comparable. I went on to the man next to him, who was almost as big as Terroth, he had no hair to speed of, and his brown eyes were duller, but he wielded a heavy looking hammer that was resting on the ground next to his chair. It was black, with red runes engraved along it. His armor was a pretty spiffy looking set of black heavy armor with sharp accents. Honestly, the suit of armor looked like it weighed hundreds of pounds.
[Name: Morgan Hethos]
[Age: 28]
[Race:Human]
[Class: Mauler (A)]
[Designation: A member of the Adventuring Party, "Tempest"]
Well, that's definitely a violent sounding class. He also had a small mace on his hip, so my guess is that he's a huge fan of blunt objects. With a class like Mauler, it made sense. He looked like he was the main damage dealer of the party. I moved on to the woman sitting across from the two men.
She was a pretty sharp looking blonde with bright green eyes. She had on a a very skin tight set of leather armor, black as night, and had two small daggers on her sides, and a medium sized black bow on her back. She was small, but looked quick, but something about all of them so far rubbed me the wrong way. Their energy, their souls, were murky and dark. Not quite Baron levels, as that guy truly was a next level asshole, but I didn't like it. We'd have to watch out for them. I used my skill.
[Name: Dessia Varuva]
[Age: 24]
[Race: Human]
[Class: Assassin (A-)]
[Designation: A Member of the Adventuring Party, "Tempest"]
Not exactly what I expected, but looking at her more closely, it did make sense. Her soul was full of death. She had taken many lives, probably for money or something. It... probably wouldn't go over well to murder the strongest party in the city. They just better hope they steer clear of me.
There were only 2 others left. A man sitting at the perceived head of the table, and then a woman who actually stood behind the man sitting down. She had her hands behind her back as she just observed everything but the party. The man had on a blue and silver set of armor that actually looked both practical and expensive at the same time. Long blonde hair cascaded down his face and blie eyes stared impassively around the Guild, and he wore the kind of smirk that you just couldn't help but want to wipe off with your fist.
[Name: Delvin Montenago]
[Age: 29]
[Race: Human]
[Class: Stormweaver (A+)]
[Designation: Leader of Adventuring Party, "Tempest"]
How does a fucking tool like this dude get such a cool sounding class? A+ was also a lot higher than I would have imagined. Terroth caught my gaze, and explained a quietly.
"That man is a battle demon. He can infuse everything he does with electricity. His attacks, his movement, his weapons... the only people stronger in the city are the Duke's personal guards, and the Duke himself." He said, and I nodded. I'd actually be meeting that dude soon.
Finally, I switched my gaze to the woman I noticed behind him. She had long black hair, and and had ruby red eyes that seems to glow, much like my own. She was pale, with creamy white skin, and when I looked at her closer, I saw she had a pair of pointed ears that were just barely longer than a normal human's. She she wore a black set of leather armor, with a hood thay was currently down, and a small cape connected to the back. The black pants clung to her thighs, and the pair of black boots she wore gave her a couple of extra inches in height. She had good taste.
[Valerie Helgana]
[Age: 26]
[Race: Dhampir (Half-Vampire, Half-Human)]
[Class: Blood Mage (A)]
[Designation: Slave to Delvin Montenago]
Holy shit. I could barely believe my eyes. I didn't even consider something like this being a thing that existed on this world. A Dhampir, those with the extraordinary abilities of a Vampire with the benefits of being a human. But... that Designation really rubbed me the wrong way. I hated slavery.
"Terroth, what's with the girl in the back?" I asked, and Terroth grimaced.
"That... is what Delvin calls, 'His Little Pet.' I feel bad for the girl, you know? She's a Dhampir. Half-Human, Half-Vampire. Still... look at her. She looks miserable most of the time. It's not her fault her dad shagged a vampire." He said, and I looked at him in confusion.
"Can you... explain? I'm... not familiar with a lot of this." I asked, as I looked back over at the woman.
"Oh, sure. I thought you would know. Most people do." He said, before leaning in closer, "As you know, male vampires are unable to breed, so they cannot bear children in a human mother." I did in fact not know that, but I just nodded so that he would continue.
"Female vampires are usually unable to give birth as well, but every now and again, a female can be impregnated by a human male, and produce an offspring. I'm sure there has to be more to it than that, but I don't know all of the information. Just that it happens. Framework knows why." He said, before he too looked at the girl, and frowned, "Unlike full vampires, Dhampir's have control over their animalistic impulses and tendencies, and need very little blood to survive. More blood will strengthen their bodies though. That's an imborn trait of theirs. Unfortunately, despite knowing this, they are still treated as dangerous, and usually kept locked away, or in cages, used for experiments or other nasty things."
As he talked, I felt myself getting... upset. He was right, and not only that, but when I looked at her, ahe actually had one the cleaner souls I had seen since coming to this city. Much less dark and disgusting than the others. That leader douche of theirs... his soul was putrid. My instincts practically screamed at me to remove him from existence.
"There is another unfortunate side effect to her being a Dhampir as well," Terroth continued after a moment, "Their half-human side makes them easier to be affected by certain magical items. Such as that." Terroth said, gesturing to a black metal collar around her neck. I growled at seeing it. I hated that kinda shit so much, "That slave collar wouldn't work at all on a Vampire of the same rank, but on her? Works just like it would on a person. That collar is bound to a crystal, which is bound to the owner's mana. As long as he has that, she has to do every and anything he says. So, those that aren't lock up or cut up? They just get sold... they're treated worse us Beastkin..."
"You think anyone would get pissed off if I decked him in the face?" I asked, feeling my anger rising just by looking at the man.
"I wouldn't recommend that... that man is a monster. No one has ever beat him in this city. He's also hot headed, and regularly will challenge people to duels just to blow off steam, or to take something he wants. I'd be wary of all of them." He said, but something he said caught my interest.
"Duels?" I asked, and he looked at me like I was a country bumpkin.
"I swear... did no one teach you anything?" He asked, and then sighed, "It's just what it say it is. A one on one fight, instigated by one party, and accepted by another. The two agree on a fighting arena, and they both pick something they want from the other. It can be a favor, words, items, and even... people. The winner gets what they asked for... that fucker has dueled guys just because that prick wanted to fuck their women, and those cocky assholes were stupid enough to accept. The only good thing is that you are not allowed to kill in a duel. First knockout, or first to surrender."
"I see..." I said, looking back at the sad looking eyes of the Dhampir woman. She was incredibly beautiful, and I found myself feeling like... I wanted to help her.
Suddenly, I saw her blink, and then without moving her head, I saw her eyes turn to lock onto to mine. I held those eyes of hers, not wanting to turn away. The vulnerability of her eyes in this moment made my chest feel tight.
"Come on, enough staring before they notice. Lets go to the front, sell your troll, and get you registered." He said, and began walking, gesturing for me to follow him.
"Wait a little longer." I whispered, and I saw the girl's ears twitch, as if she heard me. With how her eyes opened a tad more from my words, I was certain she did.
We held eye contact for a moment longer before we both turned back to what we were doing. Her, watching over her shitty party, and me? I was going to go and do what Terroth said to, but after that... I think I wanted to make some waves. I think a duel would be in order. I don't know why I suddenly cared so much about this woman... I hated slavery, yes, but that look in her eyes, and what I could see underneath it all? She deserved better.
"This is already getting interesting."