[Avardum: Day 026 | Location: Howling Plains | Marcus]
Marcus felt uneasy. There was something about the man and the three women with him that made him uneasy. Marcus gave them each a once over.
The man was the most distinct. He was not human, well, at least not only human. If Marcus had to hazard a guess, then he would say that the man was a half-human, half-lizard folk mix. The man stood at around five and a half feet tall. His head and most of his body had scales rather than hair. Despite his normal face shape, he had large lizard eyes and pointed teeth. Every now and then, a deceptively long tongue snaked out from his lips to taste the air.
"Hurry up sluts!" The lizard man barked in broken English, shoving one of the women. Marcus wondered momentarily at the language commonality.
Marcus moved on to the women. The first thing he noticed was they were all nude. This was not something crude and, apparently, something not new to these women as none of the three even tried to cover themselves. Marcus could only guess, given their nakedness and the chains around their wrists, that these women were slaves and had been for some time. Two of the women, both human, were clearly in rougher shape, with their ribs showing through their flesh. The third woman, and only Elf in the group, still had the plump yet supple form of a woman used to eating well and exercising regularly.
The man pulled a lump of meat from a pouch at his and began to eat it. One of the human women looked at the meat. And swallowed a lump in her throat. She screwed up her courage and then spoke. "Please, master, none of us have eaten in three days. Might we have a small piece of meat to share?"
Marcus could feel the woman flinch at the cruel smile that came over the man's face. "Oh? Slut want eat? Silly Jarev, forget sluts need eat. Here, come take slut."
He proffered the meat to the young woman, and she shuffled over, hope in her eyes, only for that hope to be smashed when he grabbed the chains between her wrists and yanked her off her feet and onto her back. The slaver, apparently named Jarev, stood and placed a clawed foot on the stomach of the woman, tossed the meat into his mouth, and began chewing vigorously. He spoke while he chewed, pressing down into her stomach. "ew 'ant eat? 'lut 'ill 'ant?"
Marcus felt that he could understand perfectly well what was going on. And was about to start forming his bolt of energy when he received a notification.
[https://bluebox.akmedrah.com/VV_Notification-010.png]
Marcus knew he could not kill this man in one shot, so he would have to simply hope that they slept and let him build his
The woman, crying from the pressure Jarev was applying to her stomach, knew what was coming, but her stomach wanted food more than anything. Marcus had seen men in battle who had swallowed their pride to do heinous things for victory or simply because war brought out the worst in men, but he knew this was about to be a similar situation. The woman looked up at Jarev from under his foot and nodded.
Jarev smiled and gestured. She knew what was coming at the gesture, so she opened her mouth, and Jarev spit the chewed meat into her mouth. The meat paste was arguably more saliva than meat at that point, and the young woman knew it. Marcus watched as she nearly gagged but ended up forcing the food down. Marcus cheered for her silently, as he could imagine what would happen to the woman if she were to puke the meat up. Jarev would surely take it as an insult. Jarev looked up at the other two women, his mouth still mostly full of slop. "'ew 'luts 'ant 'ood too?"
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"No master," the other human woman said.
"I do not." The elf woman said. Marcus knew she was the current High Priestess of the faith of Elina and that he was tasked to save her, but he did not know her name. He also knew that he had respect for this woman. According to the quest, she was 'recently enslaved,' and she seemed to be doing all that she could to survive. But she was not bending. She did not call him master like the other two women.
Jarev shrugged and swallowed. "More for Jarev. Sleep good sluts."
The man dropped to the ground, curling up in a way clearly connected to his lizard heritage and began to sleep. Quietly, the three women huddled together, speaking in voices so soft Marcus would have had difficulty hearing them if not for the assistance of Aurora.
"Raya, you knew what he would do. You know that the only way we get food is if he hurts us or if someone else has paid to use us." The second human woman said.
"I know," Raya, the first human woman, said, "but I needed food. Look at us. If we aren't being passed from one man to the next, then we are being starved. I just... I can't do it anymore!"
Raya burst into tears, and the High Priestess pulled her close, mostly to comfort her but also to smother the sounds of Raya's crying. "You two sleep. I will stay up to make sure nothing disturbs him."
"Fine by me." The second human woman says and moves to lie down.
"No!" Raya hisses. "I am done. I would rather die than continue like this."
"What the fuck do you want to do about it?" The first woman snapped back at her.
"We kill him." The Priestess said, even quieter than before. "You rest for an hour or two, and then I will wake you up. And once I have my chains around his neck, all you have to do is hold on to an arm each. Before he knows it, he will be dead, and we will be free to do as we wish."
"I... I will help." Raya said with a certain conviction in her voice. "What about you, Kaia?"
"Fuck it," The second human woman called Kaia said, "worst case scenario, nothing changes, and he beats me to death. At least then I don't have to service him anymore."
The two human women lay down and closed their eyes. The priestess closed her eyes, and Marcus saw her pull in mana from around her and begin to cast a soothing light on Raya and Kaia. Marcus also began quietly forming a
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[Avardum: Day 027 | Location: Howling Plains | Marcus]
Several hours later, yet still early in the morning, the priestess quietly shook Kaia and Raya awake. Both women looked refreshed, and the three of them nodded to one another. The priestess quietly stepped over to Jarev and looked at Kaia and Raya before quickly wrapping the chain strung between her wrists around his throat and yanking back. Jarev woke and began thrashing.
"Quickly! Grab his arms!" The priestess called out.
Without missing a beat, Kaia stood and bolted out the door without a second of hesitation. Raya glanced between the door and the fight.
"I'm sorry," Raya said before also running out the door.
Jarev began thrashing harder and harder as the priestess began to lose her grip. Suddenly, the priestess renewed her grip as she prayed under her breath, her arms glowing slightly.
"Elina, my goddess, the true ruler of Avardum,
Grant me the strength to do as I must.
Grant me the power to slay those who trample upon your garden
Bring strength to your follower, for though I am small, you are mighty.
Elina, Goddess on High, empower me!
Embolden me, and shower me in your love!"
The prayer came to an end with Marcus getting a notification.
[https://bluebox.akmedrah.com/VV_Notification-011.png]
Marcus had no idea if this was the right move, but he figured any skill with the word 'Divine' in the name had to be more powerful than his level 2 Mana Strike. He quickly indicated yes, and the mana projectile he had spent the entire evening charging suddenly dissolved and flowed into the priestess, causing golden light to emanate from her entire body. Her muscles swelled, and she suddenly possessed a strength beyond anything she would normally achieve. Jarev struggled for a few more minutes before finally succumbing. Marcus received several notifications, and the priestess slumped back.
"thank you, my goddess." She exclaimed and collapsed to the ground.
Marcus flagged the body of Jarev for assimilation, as well as all of his belongings. Then Marcus started reading his notifications.