We spent an hour in the tavern talking and working out the details, and with Diofra's help, drew out the map for the area were the bears were. With five gold, Mr. Liehman said he could get all the best workers started right away on building the things I wanted, like a separate viewing area that a viewing bubble could be put in permanently in case the minibears were shy at first. He laughed at the idea and said that he could hire a magic user to help construct the series of caves that I wanted to protect the bears and do a few other things like hiding the bears from being found.
I impressed upon him that it had to be done as soon as possible, and he agreed. After talking to him for a little while longer and giving him more ideas, I eventually discovered that he wasn't interested in the bears themselves, only in the revenue that they could generate.
“You are not to sell the bears or their cubs.” I said, and I saw the disappointment on his face. “You might get a good amount up front; but, keeping them exclusively here will mean you have a lock on the product and its accessibility to the public.”
The man's disappointment disappeared and I imagined the money bags floating around his head again.
“I'd suggest getting a good tailor who can make sturdy and cheap clothing, then get an artist to paint images of the bears on them. Vests, scarfs, gloves and boots in the shape of bear paws...”
Mr. Liehman's face was glowing with excitement just as much as Afyne's was when we left. We went across the street to the mayor's office again and I talked to the mayor's secretary and discovered the value of the land, then I registered the map of the restricted area with her. Diofra had made several copies of it for us and I sent a couple of them with the guard to bring to the other guards.
After that, I went in to see the mayor, without an appointment, and dropped the appropriate amount of money for the land onto his desk. He didn't speak or even look at me, so I left him to his brooding. I knew it was cruel to cut him completely out of everything like I had; but, he had been completely unreasonable and wouldn't listen to me at all. I got the deed for the land from the secretary and I shook her hand, to her shock, and we left the office.
“Can we really just leave like this?” Imiryl asked as we untied our horses and mounted up.
“We'll visit again on our way back to the capital and see how things are going.” I said. “If they are going well, we can visit again. If not, and something happens to the bears...”
Afyne's hands gripped mine and gave them a squeeze, so I kissed the top of her head and her face didn't flush red this time. We rode out of town and several people waved at us, including a couple of the guards. Without having to discuss it, we travelled to the next place on the queen's list, since it was so close, and arrived at what seemed to be a town-wide celebration.
“Welcome!” Several people hollered as we rode into town and they pointed. We followed that direction and we ended up meeting a large delegation with the mayor and several other people that I didn't get the titles for. After a very one-sided introduction on their part, we were brought to a large private residence and our horses taken to an attached stable. Afyne thought that was the best thing in the world and watched the horses being treated very well and nodded her approval.
We were led inside the house by a fairly nice looking woman dressed both conservatively and provocatively. It was almost a business suit and looked similar to the riding outfit that Afyne wore; but, the shirt she wore was barely buttoned up at all and each time she turned slightly to point things out or took a deep breath, it gaped open and revealed quite a lot of her chest.
I normally didn't notice or pay attention to things like that, though. I wasn't sure if it was her casualness with us or her seeming lack of inhibitions that had caught my attention, because each time she moved my eyes fell to her top and I wanted her to move just that little bit more so I could get a better view of her breasts. Of course, once it happened a few times, I realized that it wasn't my own thought and something was affecting me.
The feeling faded slightly and I looked at Evus and Allirynn to see if they were doing the same thing, and I saw their eyes dart from side to side as they tried to look and not look at her chest. I held a hand up and brought everyone to a stop and the woman walked on. It took her a moment to notice we were no longer with her, so she stopped and came back to us.
“What is it?” She asked, innocently.
“Stop that spell, or glamour, or whatever it is you're using.” I said with a stern voice.
“I don't know what you mean.” The woman said.
The Presence wavered a lot, so I turned around and motioned for everyone to leave. No one questioned me and we all walked back down the hallway.
“Wait!” The woman said and tried to move around us and in front of me. “You can't just...”
I felt whatever it was get stronger, so I used a Presence Hand to grab her by the neck to shut her up and moved her over to the wall and held her there.
“Hunter, what are you doing?” Evus asked and looked at the woman with concern.
“P-please...” The woman managed to squeeze out.
I ignored her and Evus and walked on. Once we were outside the house, whatever it was that caused had eased, and I had to assume it was because we were far enough away from her or something in the house.
“What was that?” Allirynn asked and rubbed the side of his head and Imiryl touched his forehead.
“Some kind of effect.” I said and looked down at the ring on my hand. At least now I know it works.
I turned around and looked at the woman I still held against the wall inside the house, and she pulled out a green glowing dagger. I didn't want to take the chance that she was going to try to cut her way free, so I squeezed the Presence Hand and snapped her neck. The dagger fell to the floor and flipped over to land on the tip and stuck into the wood, which meant it was balanced for throwing with the weight in the tip.
“I don't feel so good.” Evus said and Diofra caught him before he fell. He bent over and threw up.
“Who did they say owned this place?” I asked as a wave of nausea passed through me and I let the woman's body fall to the floor. I didn't throw up, though.
“She just told us.” Maylia said. “It's the magister.”
“I honestly didn't hear anything she said.” I responded. “Where is he?”
“It's a woman.” Maylia said, concern in her voice. “Are you okay?”
“No.” I said and looked at the stable. All of the young men there were bent over and throwing up like Evus was. “Diofra, how's the healing working on Evus?”
“It's not.” Diofra said and pat Evus on the back as he braced himself on hands and knees to dry heave. “There's nothing wrong with him.”
“Allirynn and I will stay here with Evus. The rest of you need to search this place.” I said.
“What are we looking for?” Maylia asked.
“Spells, notes, magic crystals, hidden rooms, or even little creatures.” I said. “Something let that woman affect us, and I don't think the men should go back inside in case it gets worse the closer we are to it, assuming it wasn't the woman herself.” I sat down and Afyne sat on my lap without being asked and hugged me. “Take everything you find.”
Maylia nodded and she, Imiryl, and Diofra went back inside the mansion. I watched them search the woman first and Maylia shook her head at me, then they stripped her of her valuables and weapons. It took about half an hour for them to search the entire house and I watched them the whole time, while I held Afyne and waited. When they came out, Maylia had a smile on her face and reached into her bag of holding.
“No, just tell me.” I said. “Evus and the stable hands can't take another dose of it, whatever it is.”
“It's ingenious, really.” Diofra said. “It's a spell-charged mana crystal.”
“Can you tell what spell?” I asked.
“Not specifically. I can only tell the type, and it's a charm of some kind.” Diofra said.
“That only works on men, apparently.” Maylia said and pulled out a stack of notes. “It's only subtle at first, then eventually the subjects would give up their livelihoods and become servants.”
“Well, I guess this is why the queen sent us here.” I said and stood up with Afyne still in my arms. “Evus, how are you?”
“I feel like I've been drunk for days.” Evus said and wiped off his mouth. “Why would someone do this to us?”
“Some people think having devoted servants makes them feel important, or gives them social status.” Allirynn said.
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“Or it gives them access to skills and abilities they wouldn't normally have.” I said, and he looked at me. “If we had stayed here for the few days of the festival, how much do you want to bet that we would do anything that woman asked us to do?”
Allirynn reluctantly nodded.
“Diofra, prepare to cast a fireball spell.” I said and looked at Imiryl and Maylia. “Get the horses out of the stable and take all the supplies that are there.” I created five Mana Presence Hands and pulled the dry heaving young men out of there and over to us. I absorbed the hands and then took Diofra's hand to share my mana. Once again she gasped at the mana I had and the anger I felt as the mana crystal turned dark green.
“R-ready.” Diofra said and Maylia and Imiryl took the horses past us and farther away. Since I knew what the mana from a crystal felt like, when Diofra cast the spell, I channelled my mana like that through her. A huge fireball shot out of her hands and hit the large personal residence and engulfed everything in only a second with a satisfying 'whoosh' sound.
“W-w-wow.” Afyne whispered as everything lit up with fire.
“Burn baby, burn.” I said with satisfaction.
After about ten minutes, the entire house and stable were gone and left nothing but charred remains on the ground. We had to wait a bit longer before the stable hands and Evus were up to walking, then we walked back to town. Everyone was still celebrating and as we approached the main gathering, I felt the same kind of pressure, now that I knew what to look for. I quickly stopped everyone from walking and moved us back, just out of reach.
“Ladies, it's up to you.” I said and Maylia, Diofra, and Imiryl nodded and moved off into the crowd. After about five minutes, there was a short scream that was barely heard over the uproarious crowd, then the three women came back with a woman propped up between two of them.
“Hunter, I'd like you to meet the magister.” Maylia said and shook the unconscious woman to make her slightly frosty head nod. I chuckled and waved everyone to move away and we left the five stable hands mixed into the crowd. Hopefully, they would think they partied too hard and would go home with no other ill effects after however long they had been caught in this woman's web.
“No one is getting sick.” I said as we moved away.
“It's probably because she's still alive.” Diofra said. “If the charm works like I think it should, she's both the object of the spell and the conduit for the link to another mana crystal.”
“Which we found.” Maylia said with a smile.
“Which means until she dies, they'll still be under her influence.” I said, and they nodded.
“I don't think waking her up is a good idea.” Evus said and glared at the unconscious woman. “Even if the two crystals are in a bag of holding, it doesn't mean she doesn't have more stashed around.”
“Agreed.” I said. “Let's mount up and get out of town.”
“What about the party?” Afyne asked and looked around. “Isn't it for us?”
“By the looks of things, they don't need us here to have fun.” Diofra said with a chuckle.
“A few miles away should be far enough, then we'll stop and talk to her.” I said and helped Afyne up onto my horse. “Maylia, can you tie her up and carry her?”
Maylia nodded and tied the magister's wrists and ankles, then climbed up onto the horse and the others propped the woman across her lap. We all mounted up and rode out of town to the approximate distance I mentioned and came to a stop. The magister started to convulse and shake, and we all dismounted and helped her to the ground. After a few moments, her skin turned from a flushed pink to a dark red. We all watched as her face distorted and grew long spiky teeth and her hands and feet grew into twisted claws. Her body lifted up slightly and I saw two stubs starting to grow out of her back.
The magister opened her eyes and saw us above her, and she screamed with a pulse of mana. I quickly covered Afyne's ears so she wouldn't get the brunt of it, since she was closer to the source, and I covered the woman's mouth with solid Presence and a bit of mana so the others would know why the sound was dulled. Imiryl put her hand over Afyne's face as Allirynn lifted a foot, then he stomped down with a sickening crunch and the woman's head was no more.
“Damn succubus.” Allirynn said and moved his blood-covered foot.
“We need to go back and clear the town of them.” Imiryl said.
“I don't understand.” I said.
“We've encountered them before.” Imiryl said. “I've never seen them take human form, though.”
“Did you say succubus?” Diofra asked, surprised.
“We have to go back and find the nest before they breed and spread.” Imiryl said. “Assuming they haven't already.”
“Is there any way to detect the things?” I asked. “I didn't see anything different about her or the other woman.”
“I didn't notice any difference, either... and it's supposed to be my job to.” Maylia said, disgusted.
“It could be a glamour.” Diofra said. “If it is, we need to either stop it or scare them enough to drop it on their own.”
“Overcharged fireball over the town?” I asked with a smile.
“Considering what it did to that house, it should work.” Diofra chuckled.
“It didn't scare me.” Afyne said.
“I guess that means they aren't as strong as you.” I said and she grinned. “Once we get into position, it should take them a few seconds to change, if this one is any indication.” I motioned to the body on the ground.
“I'll be ready.” Imiryl said with a deadly tone.
We went back to the edge of town and Diofra took out her mana crystal and I took her hand, while Imiryl and Allirynn went forward into the town. After seven seconds, Diofra cast the fireball spell and I boosted her and the mana crystal with my own mana. The massive fireball shot out and exploded above all the partying revellers and everyone screamed, men and women included.
Imiryl quickly grew and slid her ice along the sides of the street and watched and listened for the high pitched screech of the succubus as they panicked. As each of them was revealed, she either grew a spike of ice to impale them or threw ice at them to freeze them in place. It didn't take her long to find fifteen of the creatures that were hidden in the crowd. The frozen ones were dispatched by Allirynn efficiently and the pair came back to the edge of town.
“We need to search all the buildings, and probably the basements and storage areas, for any signs of a nest.” Imiryl said.
“We also need to search for any cracks nearby.” I said, and Imiryl caught her breath.
“Allirynn!” Imiryl said and took his hand.
“I don't know how we can get a message to them.” Allirynn said, sadly.
“To who?” Evus asked as Diofra prepared the energy location spell.
“A village not far from the border of Third Nogam.” Imiryl said. “We thought we dealt with the problem they had; but, if there's a crack nearby...”
“What you did was only a temporary solution.” I said. “The same thing happened to me a couple of times on my way to the capital.”
“What happened?” Imiryl asked.
I told her of the encounters Maylia and I had, and Kara's group going back to find and seal the cracks, then the large twenty foot wide greenish see-through bubble with the map in it appeared around us.
“It's right there.” Afyne said right away and pointed to one of the buildings in the town.
“Good eye.” I said and she smiled.
We kept looking around, just in case there was another one. We didn't find any others, so we went into the town and to the building. I was surprised there wasn't any spells or traps to stop us as we went inside. Diofra had the Truesight square out and held in front, so we could see the crack, and inside the crack were hundreds, if not thousands, of succubi.
“Good god.” I whispered, then after a moment whispered. “Allirynn.”
Allirynn left for a moment and came back with a body of a succubus and tossed it into the crack. That got an immediate hostile reaction from the succubi and they rushed towards the crack. I created a solid Mana Presence wall in front of the crack and they bounced off of it.
“Dear god, hear my prayer...” I started to pray and ask for his help, then I felt the weight of his Presence as his consciousness formed.
“I see you picked a great one this time. This won't be challenging at all.” My mouth said sarcastically without me moving it.
“Can't you just seal it?” I asked.
“Not with so much pressing on it from the other side.” My mouth said. “I'll need to use you as a puppet again.”
I sighed. “You just want to fight them up close.”
“You don't really have a ranged attack, except for Presence Lightning, which we physically can't use until we are across the barrier anyway.”
“Good point.” I said. “Just be careful with my mother's Light sword.”
“I don't need it this time.” My mouth said as I felt god's Presence seep into my body to just below the skin, then my body stood up and walked right through the solid Presence that covered the crack without disturbing it.
“How did you do that?” I asked as my hands grabbed the necks of two succubi and snapped them, and pushed them back into the mass of succubi behind them.
“It's your Presence. You can manipulate it, remember?”
“I've never walked through it like that before.” I said, slightly exasperated.
“You've never tried to.” My mouth said and a very strong Presence built up in my hands, then the familiar Lightning rolled around them. “Let's shoot for a thousand deaths this time.”
“Shoot for...” I stopped talking as a hundred Presence Lightning bolts shot out and twisted and turned to hit as many succubi as it could. Each bolt hit their hearts and burned through them instantly and I felt it go out and out and kill as many as possible.
“Ha! A thousand and seventy-six!” My mouth laughed as all the surrounding succubi dropped dead.
“Why aren't they flying?” I asked and saw the stubs of wings on some of their backs.
“They need to keep absorbing the lust of men to maintain their appearance and their powers.” My mouth said and my body jumped several hundred feet to land in the middle of another mass of succubi. Presence Lightning blasted out and directed to hit them all in the heart, despite them all trying to dodge and flee the onslaught. I watched in odd fascination as god dispatched all of the succubi in the area, then we looked up at the stars.
“There's no sun.” I said when I couldn't feel it with Presence. “Is this the same world?”
After almost a full minute, my head shook.
“No, this is another one. The stars are different.” My mouth said, and I heard the concern in god's voice. “This might help us find where it is, or mess up our search completely by doubling where we have to look.”
“You couldn't find it from the last time?” I asked, and my head shook again.
“They are still looking.” My mouth said and my hand waved at the closest bodies. I heard popping and snapping sounds and then hundreds of small horns floated over.
“What are you doing?” I asked as a bag of holding appeared from nowhere and all the horns floated inside. As we walked back to the crack, god kept waving his hand and harvested the horns off the succubi that had them.
“Give one of the horns to the archmage when you meet them in a couple of weeks.” My voice said with a chuckle. “She'll know what to do with it.”
“You're playing a joke on me, aren't you?” I asked, and god laughed.
“Only in what her reaction will be when she sees what it does.”
I thought about that for a few seconds, then smiled. “All right.”
That made god laugh again as he tied the bag to my belt on the opposite side of the other one, then we stepped through the crack. Diofra still had the Truesight square out and they all had seen everything, then she and Imiryl gasped as they saw my hand physically grab the crack and pull it closed. It was sewn shut and healed with a massive amount of Presence, and a stunned Diofra put the square away.
“Dear god, thank you for visiting and having fun...” I started to say, then my mouth barked a laugh.
“All right. This once I'll change the food for your benefit.” My mouth said and a burst of mana and Presence came out of me and all of our bags of holding glowed for a moment. “You can't say I never give you anything.”
“Does a headache and exhaustion count?” I asked, and he laughed. “Amen.”
The massive Presence faded away and I dropped to my knees. Maylia and Afyne offered to help carry me by propping me up on their shoulders, and I let them after I turned on my powered armor. Although Afyne just ended up just hugging my side.
We left the building to see all the men throwing up and all the women trying to comfort them or trying to get away from them. With our task done after a quick search of the town for a nest, we went back to the edge of town and mounted our horses. Instead of me controlling the horse like I usually did, Afyne had the reins and I held onto her to stop myself from sliding off. We rode away from the town towards the next destination.