The shadow sheaths her own sword in response. The moment they touch the fake Arthuria merges with the original. A moment later the runes leading from the stone sword to the arch start lighting up one by one, glowing with green light.
Behind her Arthuria hears Sara moan as the housewife rides the stone dick. Looking over her shoulder the blonde sees the runes leading from the stone phallus to the arch also starting to light up, one by one. Finally, just as Sara comes with a rather loud scream, both sets of runes light up fully and in response a swirling green portal fills the inside of the stone arch. Where it might lead is impossible to tell, but hopefully back to Marika.
“H-help me...” Sara begs, still impaled on the stone dildo and sounding exhausted.
Thankfully the box is not trapped. Opening it Avella finds the stolen necklace inside, as promised. It seems the thief kept his word, if nothing else.
As the elf examines the stolen heirloom her eyes stop on the medallion and the crest engraved on it. She gasps as she recognizes it – it is the crest of House Leonis, one of the oldest, wealthiest, most powerful and most influential noble families in all of Tarnia – and one of the few to have weathered the troubles of the previous few years largely unaffected. If she were to personally return the necklace she would earn the gratitude of the Leonis, which would be of great benefit for Avella and her family. But first she would need to convince Lathrul to let her have the necklace...
“You have what you wanted, now leave me alone and get lost!” The thief interrupts her thoughts, his sword still pointed at her as he watches her from afar, apparently waiting to see her leave.
If Lusserina noticed the similarities between her and the “slut”, she does not show it, too focused on his words. Seems like his guess might be correct, as she no longer tries to push his hands away, lewd moans coming out of her mouth instead. As the old man continues telling the story and groping her he notices the elf's hand moving to between her legs again.
“Well, your task was to just visit the outpost and find out why they have gone silent, nothing more.” Edward shrugs. “You do get a significant discount on any land you decide to purchase, though – let me know when you have decided where you would like to have your future holdings. As for a noble title, that will require the approval of someone a bit higher-ranked than us, I am afraid.”
“Though with how helpful you have been the Queen might decide to...
reward you with a noble's title.” Victoria adds and Ida does not miss the way the word “reward”.
The two men move to stop him, the one with his cock out leading the charge, the other one – who has finally managed to get his dick back inside his pants – following closely behind.
[spoiler-Ganith's Attack]1d100 = 58
Sword fighting: +20
Draconic Strength: +10
Total: 88[/spoiler]
Big mistake, as it turns out. The two men are no match for his skill with the sword or his draconic strength and quickly fall before him, one after the other.
“What the hell?!? Who are you? You friend of this bitch?” The last of the men has finally noticed the new threat. He quickly pulls out of the woman and pulls up his pants, then unsheathes a pair of arming swords. “Well, come on, then! Let's see what you've got!” He manages to sound somewhat threatening.
The two women are no interested in any sort of advanced tactics. They head directly for her, the blonde making the first move...
…and pays for it as Lydia's sword cuts her down. She falls down on the dirt path, unhurt but unconscious. Thanks to the thief's planning she is able to avoid the redhead's attack and strike at her next.
The second woman falls down, unconscious as well.
With both opponents defeated Lydia is able to stop and catch her breath. Though she can't explain it she feels like she has learned the basics of fighting with a short sword.
(She gets the skill at level 1).
With no immediate threat Lydia is able to take a look down the split path:
* To the left she seems some tents in a clearing, 5 naked women sitting around a fire. They would be perfect targets for an archer – but alas, she does not have her bow right now, only the short sword. Surprising them is impossible and there's no way to tell if it is just those five, or if there are more in the tents. Individually they seem no more challenging than the two she just defeated, but in a group they might be a serious threat.
* To the right she sees some sort of wooden cottage, a lone woman standing guard outside next to the door. This one is wearing leather armor and has two short swords on her belt. The cottage behind her has two windows – one on each side of the door – but the curtains are drawn, making it impossible to see inside. This there is no way to be sure if anyone is inside.
Looks like each path offers a different challenge.
