Chapter 55: Chapter 131 – More Than Warm Welcome

The girls stopped leaning into Asterios as much and they all caught up to Silvia after she slowed down a little. They could spot a faint tinge of rosiness on her noble face but the princess stayed fully composed. It wasn’t like she was oblivious to such things. Not that she had expected stumbling on them in the heart of a city.

Thanks to the simple map Svertaniel had given them, and Asterios following Umbra’s general location, they arrived in front of a peculiar building. It stood out with just its silvery color, quite unusual in the sea of black. And to add to that, it was tilted, just like the name of the inn suggested. The Tilted Plating.

Miria marveled over the funny design for a brief moment, examining the angled walls of the weird place, and they all walked inside. It was not just the outline of the building that was tilted. Literally everything had some angle to it. 

From doors, windows, chairs, tables, counters, to most of the decorations. An extremely bizarre sight greeted the party, making them a little dizzy for a few seconds after entering. It took them a while to steady their confused brains and head for the angled counter with the innkeeper behind it.

But, before they reached the handsome demon man with green skin, Svertaniel showed up at their side.

“Ah, you are finally here. How was the town? Nothing like you have seen so far, right?”

Silvia glanced away and Miria giggled quietly, making Asterios chuckle a little.

“Truly, you could call it a cultural shock in all meanings of that phrase. But, it is both beautiful and intriguing,” he answered.

“This is just the beginning. I know you’ve read and heard things about the Demon Continent but these lands have plenty of things you can’t find anywhere else. Logic sometimes gets thrown out of the window and, at some point, you will understand why. I’m sure you and your companions will enjoy your time here,” Svertaniel explained with a proud smile.

“There’s no doubt about that.” Asterios nodded.

“Also, good idea with the change in looks. Demons pay more attention to what in other regions goes as normal, so with your clothes like this, you won’t stand out as much as in your other adventuring gear. And your fierce eyes certainly fit right in. I commend Lady Silvia’s attire too.”

Silvia lightly nodded her head. “Thank you. And, please, just Silvia. I’m an adventurer and nothing more while outside of my home.”

“I apologize, then, and will remember that, Silvia.” Svertaniel returned the nod. “Now then. I have spoken with the innkeeper and reserved a bunch of rooms but you need to pick them yourselves since I wasn’t sure about who would like to stay with who.”

“And the prices?” Asterios asked.

“Nothing much. I’ll deal with lodging costs. And I got a little discount since I know the man running this place.”

“If you say so.”

They walked up to the innkeeper together and picked their rooms from the list of reserved ones. The demon man named Vohren scrupulously avoided mentioning any prices while talking to the group. 

In the end, they chose three chambers, with an obvious split. One for Svertaniel, one for Silvia, and one for Asterios and his girls. They most likely wouldn’t be spending many nights at the Tilted Plating, but it was good to have a place they could return to when necessary.

After checking their respective rooms, the party gathered in Ast’s chamber to discuss their course of action.

“Do you have any plans already, Asterios?” Svertaniel began.

“I got a tip from a friend to try something out so I will be holding a summoning ritual first. We’ll most likely head to the Adventurer’s Guild here and find a good location to do that. Having in mind our past experiences with summoning, and generally, things happening around me, we’ll preferably choose a safe place with no people in the close vicinity.”

Svertaniel kept nodding while rubbing his chin. “Alright. You don’t really need me for that so I’ll see if I can get any information on the person we are looking for in the meanwhile. I do have a few ideas on where and who to ask. And you, Silvia?”

“I would like to accompany Asterios if he doesn’t mind. I’m a little curious since that would be the first time witnessing summoning with my own eyes. Our Cour—ekhm, Summoner friend always made it sound amazing but didn’t want to show anything.”

Miria smiled at the princess warmly. “I’m sure Master can take you with us, right, Master?”

Asterios brushed through her soft hair. “Yeah. No problem. We are going to share each other’s knowledge and experience anyway since that’s kind of the main point of traveling together. But, it won’t be exactly a normal summoning this time.”

“I would still like to stay on the side and watch.” Silvia showed a faint smile.

“I guess that’s it then. For now.” Svertaniel stood up first. “Good luck with the ritual. I’ll start my investigation.”

“I’ll send Umbra to check on you regularly. Let us know about anything you find out.”

Svertaniel nodded and left the room. Miria scooted a bit closer to Asterios and hugged his side.

“So, is there anything we need to get?”

“Blood Summoning is a bit different so not exactly. Everything I need is already in my possession.”

“Blood Summoning?” Silvia raised a brow at them. “I think I’ve stumbled on a mention of it once or twice. It wasn’t the safest, right?”

“Yes but all that risk can be mitigated by proper preparations and mindset. Many people lost their lives when it was popular back in the day because they tried to go past their limits. Although, I can’t be exactly sure what happens in my case. There’s a lot of weird things happening around me.”

Selene moved closer to his other side and placed her fluffy tail on her thighs, bringing Ast’s hand to it. He started gently combing through the piece of white heaven with his fingers while she smiled at him softly.

“Maybe we will get a clearer hint regarding the many mysteries that surround you, my Lord.”

“Who knows. I just hope nothing dangerous happens, like the past outbursts of fire.”

“We will protect Silvia in case of emergency, my Lord. Don’t worry too much.”

Seeing how her vulpine friend was receiving caresses from Asterios, Miria rubbed her cheek into his face while purring affectionately. It didn’t take long before Ast’s other hand was delicately brushing around her round ears.

Silvia observed them with a curious eye. She had to admit that the sight was somewhat adorable. The amount of affection and care the trio shared between themselves were plenty. It looked very intimate but without that crude, lecherous element she had often noticed when some nobles got into a bit of physical contact in public.

“What entity are we going to try summoning, Master? Can we even influence the Blood Summoning or how does it work?” Miria’s voice brought Silvia out of her contemplation.

“As Grea mentioned back when we were in the castle, it could potentially relate to my bloodline. With Blood Summoning, there’s a big chance that highly compatible entities will be attracted by the Summoner. From what I know, it’s hard to influence, honestly. But also, it has the highest chances to just fail so I do have in mind the qualities I want to look for if we hold a more conventional one,” Asterios explained.

“Oh? Please, do tell, Master!” Miria’s eyes sparkled with curiosity.

He chuckled and pecked her cheek. She loved it so much when he did. Even more than on the lips sometimes.

“Since Silvia will be joining us from now on, and Tina probably in the near future too, I think we should get someone or something specializing in healing and recovery. I thought about a more defensive familiar but you girls are decently tough and I’ve been getting a bit stronger with all these weird events too so I think this is the better choice.”

Selene released a long, blissful sigh as he fluffed her tail. “I agree, my Lord. We’ve been in many situations where means other than potions and consumables would have been much better. We can recover quickly with your techniques, but it will be good to have a way to help others outside of our bond.”

Miria nodded vigorously. “I think the same. And we promised to protect Silvia so it will surely help.”

The person in question smiled weakly. “I feel like my presence interrupted your plans. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. As I said, I already had this in mind because of Tina. A dedicated healer is always a good thing to have.”

No one had any more questions so Miria and Selene left a kiss on Ast’s lips together and they all stood up to head out. They had already located the guild’s building during their stroll so there was no need to ask or look for it. A few minutes later, they walked inside a black metal building resembling a small fortress.

A full rainbow of sexy demon girls manned the counters, some clearly being hit on by the male population, shrugging the advances off with polite smiles and a professional tone. The party approached the first free receptionist and ended up in front of a young woman with pink skin and hair of a similar, darker shade. A very thin tail with a spade danced behind her back.

“Welcome, Adventurers! How can I help you today?” She greeted them with a nice smile.

“Hello. We are completely new in this region and would like to receive some guidance if possible,” Asterios replied.

“Oh, of course! Do you already have an advisor or…?”

“We don’t. We just came in,” Miria answered with her tail dancing excitedly.

“Then I’ll be happy to become one! My name is Trish. Do you mind?”

“We’ll oblige then, Trish.” Asterios smiled.

“Great! Can I get your names, ranks, or party name if you have one so that I can get your information from the network?”

“Asterios, B-rank.” He bowed his head courteously. “The leader of Scarlet Scale.”

“And we are Master’s familiars!” Miria beamed a smile at the receptionist while raising her chin up into the air, with Selene mirroring the motion.

Trish raised a brow at him and a broad smile painted her lips. “Interesting… And you?”

“Silvia. Also B-rank. I would like to be registered as a member of Scarlet Scale if we could.”

“Naturally. Let me just fetch your data from the system…”

Trish made some movements under the counter on her side and a few flashes of faint light in various colors followed. Her eyes suddenly widened for a very brief moment and she shot Asterios a glance while gently nibbling on her lower lip.

She quickly returned her gaze to whatever thing was under the tabletop and made some more movements before looking at Silvia.

“Done. You are officially part of the team now. And I registered myself as your party’s advisor. Anything I can do for you? A-ny-thing?” She winked at Asterios with an impish smile.

“Well… We are currently looking for a safe, secluded spot somewhere far from any people and landmarks. We want to train a bit and would like to avoid damaging something or harming an innocent passerby by accident.” Asterios smiled wryly.

“Give me just a moment and I’ll bring you a list of the best possible locations,” Trish said with a melodic tone and spun around.

She stepped towards the curtain separating the back rooms from the main hall and dove into it while sensually arching her back. Her thin tail shot up, raising Trish’s short skirt, and briefly flashed her plump pink butt decorated by sexy black panties before she disappeared on the other side.

Miria and Selene exchanged glances.

~She’s trying to seduce Master, isn’t she?~ the panthergirl asked.

~Clearly,~ the foxgirl replied.

They both smiled, knowing that her efforts were completely futile, and nodded at each other with understanding.

The moment Trish came back from behind the curtain, both Miria and Selene quickly pulled themselves into Ast’s sides and brought his arms into their chests. The receptionist stopped for a moment, noticing the change, and her smile grew even more as she squinted her eyes at them.

She placed a packet of paper sheets on the counter and spread them over like a fan. Discreetly pulling down the top of her guild uniform, she leaned forward to display more of her rosy cleavage, and pressed her finger on one of the small maps, matching her gaze with Ast’s.

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“If you are looking for something that can shelter you from the outside, this alcove will be great. If you need a big open space, the plains here are the best. If you’d like a more diverse terrain, this valley is decent that far. Or, if you’d prefer some dense trees to obstruct your activities, the Bronze Forest will do.”

Trish kept poking different pieces of paper while not dropping her eyes from Ast’s for even a second. Finishing, she gave him a mischievous smile and slid herself off the counter, making her breasts bounce seductively after falling off the edge.

Asterios chuckled internally. 「What a show.」

“Thank you, Trish. I assume we can have these, right?” he asked.

“Oh, naturally. You can take everything on this counter,” she replied, resting her elbows on the black metal again, squishing her breasts together.

Asterios reached out to collect the maps but she was faster and bundled them up before his hand touched the papers. With a sweet smile, she slid the packet under his fingers, lightly grazing them with hers, and withdrew herself back to her side of the counter.

“We’ll be off, then. Thanks again for the help, Trish. See you later.” He nodded politely and turned around.

“It was my pleasure! Please, come again! I’ll always be here to offer you my services, Dungeon Slayer.”

Asterios shook his head with a wry smile after Trish whispered the title in a sultry tone. It seemed that a few other receptionists picked up her quiet voice and glanced their way so the party hurried outside to not garner more attention.

Miria and Selene let go of his arms and the former giggled. “That was fun.”

Asterios sighed. “Maybe for you, girls. I’m glad she didn’t mention the last part out loud if this will be the standard amongst female demons. Not generalizing anyone, of course.”

As he shuffled through the maps in his hands, a small note fell out and landed on the ground. Silvia picked it up and handed it to Asterios after taking a brief glance.

“What’s this?” he asked.

“Looks like an address to me. The Wandering Tail. Room 27. Ask the innkeeper about strawberries,” she replied.

Selene chuckled softly. “She’s really going for it, isn’t she?”

Asterios shook his head and pocketed the note. “The Demon Continent is going to be a ride.”

“A few noble girls I’ve met could learn a thing or two in the art of seduction from that receptionist. Maybe then it wouldn’t look so awkward watching them try to gain favor from noble guys,” Silvia commented.

“Nobles try to seduce each other?” Miria tilted her head curiously.

“Almost every noble banquet is a battlefield. Many women fight for attention on that very battlefield. Of course, it’s not just women. Men try to court girls too. It depends on the standing of each person and their influence. I have only attended a few, but after the first two, you start noticing the pattern.”

“Must have been hard. I can only imagine the attention someone of your standing was getting,” Asterios said.

Silvia smiled wryly and nodded. “It’s honestly very refreshing meeting someone my age who isn’t actively trying to gain my favor.”

“Well, I would lie if I said that I’m doing this out of complete selflessness, but we both can benefit from working together, I think. And I still owe you for the duel.”

Silvia’s smile turned into a softer one. “I hope we can learn a lot from each other.”

“So, do you know where we are going, Master?” Miria asked after the exchange between the two seemed to have come to an end.

Asterios looked at the maps in his hands and everyone huddled up together in a circle.

“I’d cross out the alcove in case something damages the structure and we end up buried under a pile of rubble. Considering the possible emergence of fire, woods are out too. That leaves plains and hills. I think the latter is better. Any input?”

“I would also pick up the valley after what you said,” Silvia replied.

“Yep! It shouldn’t be as flat as the plains!” Miria chimed in and Selene nodded.

~A wise choice indeed,~ Umbra joined in too.

“Let’s go then. We should be fine getting it done today. Ah.” Asterios glanced at Silvia. “You don’t mind riding with me on Miria, right?”

Silvia’s eyes sparkled briefly. “As long as it won’t inconvenience the two of you.”

“No sweat!” Miria beamed a smile at her and morphed into her panther form.

“Amazing…” Silvia murmured while brushing her smooth black fur.

Selene pecked Ast’s check and returned home while he jumped onto Miria’s back and pulled the princess to sit in front of him. They darted through the streets of the metal town by bouncing off the ground and buildings and making the pedestrians stare at them in awe.

It took Miria around forty minutes to get them to the marked location by following Ast’s tips and Umbra’s scouting from above. Silvia greatly enjoyed the ride. It was like nothing she had experienced so far. The speed, the wind, the warmth and softness of Miria’s fur, and Asterios supporting her from behind.

She had ridden horseback with her father or instructors before and had even flown on a Wyvern and a Griffon but this felt somehow different. She wasn’t sure if it was due to Miria, Asterios, or both of them. Even as a passenger, she could notice how unified the two seemed in their movements. Like they truly were one.

The trio arrived in an area with wavy terrain. Small hills and valleys riddled the surroundings, almost completely clear of any trees. Such a place would be hard to build on without terraforming it a lot or designing the construction specifically to fit the area. It was of no surprise that the grassy valleys were currently empty.

Umbra located a trench slightly bigger than the others and they chose it as their summoning destination. Miria shifted and both girls eagerly awaited instructions and explanations to help Asterios set everything up. Even Silvia was roped into it by the sly Selene while Umbra took the skies.

With the help of the princess, they safely burned enough ground for the summoning circle, and the fox lady cleaned it up with her spiritual energy. Blood Summoning required a much bigger formation and they ended up with a ring of around fourteen meters in diameter.

Asterios asked his shy mate to bring out some tools from their storage in her world and started drawing something on a piece of paper in the meanwhile. Miria brought a few small, narrow shovels, spikes, and chisels, laying them on the ground.

After the drawing was finished, Asterios explained what they needed to do, and everyone started carving shallow paths in the earth according to the formation on the paper. As he explained to them, he would need to literally fill most of them with his own blood, which made the girls both very curious and anxious.

While they worked, Asterios sat down on the side and began filling some diamond-shaped crystals with his scorching hot energy. It required quite a bit of focus and looked like he was meditating with his aura slowly leaking out. Selene had to rebuke Miria to keep doing her job instead of staring at him.

Around the same time as the girls finished, Asterios was done too. He buried the charged crystals at various points by the edges of the formation they had created, with their flat tops peeking out of the ground. Each gem blocked a few paths that ran through the point underneath it.

“Alright. Now comes the slightly uncomfortable part. Do we have the potions and other things ready?” Asterios asked after they were done with the initial preparations.

“Yes, my Lord. Just say a word.” Selene nodded, standing near a bunch of flasks and other consumables.

He spotted Miria’s worried expression and her slightly lowered ears.

“I promise to not go too far. I’ve failed plenty of times in the past and one more is nothing. I’ll drop everything the moment something feels off.”

She sent him a timid smile as Selene brushed through her hair.

Asterios rolled up his left sleeve, took down the bracer underneath it, and used his ceremonial dagger to create a cut in one of the arteries running through his forearm. He quickly positioned his hand above the formation’s trenches and made the blood flow down to his wrist and then onto the earth, dripping off his extended fingers. Not a single drop could fall outside of the paths or the whole thing would be ruined.

Silvia had doubts about Asterios filling the whole array with his blood. The circle was big. He would clearly bleed out if he kept this up for a longer period of time. 

But, after two long minutes, Selene approached him and fed Asterios a dark purple potion, following it with two thumb-sized balls of medicine. She left a peck on the side of his forehead and jumped away. 

“What did you do?” Silvia asked curiously.

“The potion raises the speed with which Master’s body produces blood by a lot. As you can imagine, blood doesn’t just appear out of nothing so he will be burning through his energy quickly. The two pills hold massive amounts of nutrients, supplying him with enough fuel for his body to burn through without sacrificing too much of its own resources. A close friend was generous enough to provide them for us,” the fox lady explained with a proud smile.

“Amazing. You really have everything covered.”

“Fufufu~ Master is a very careful person. He knows Miria would be heartbroken if anything happened to him.”

“And you wouldn’t?”

Selene’s face turned a bit more serious. “I would most likely take my own life if anything serious happened to my beloved Soul Mate. I don’t think I can bear the loneliness again.”

Silvia’s eyes widened a little and she returned to watching Asterios fill the circuit with his blood. She had seen Miria and Selene act close, affectionate, and intimate with him, but only after Selene’s words, she understood how much they loved their master. It was honestly a little scary but also… wonderful. A strong bond like that.

This continued for around half an hour. Selene would come closer to Asterios, feed him a potion and the pills, wipe some sweat off his face, and return. Sometimes, Miria would replace her. And finally, the whole array was filled with scarlet liquid, without a drop spilled.

After Asterios took a short break to heal up and got rid of some of the mental fatigue from the heavy focus he had upheld for quite a long time, he moved to the edge of the circle again.

“Selene, Miria, take care of Silvia. Pay close attention to everything. You too, Umbra,” he conveyed, glancing at the group standing a bit away from him.

~Don’t worry Master and leave everything to us. I’ll move Silvia away if anything the other two can’t handle happens.~

He nodded and brought forth another long and spiky crystal. Sitting down, he took a deep breath and stabbed it into the inner side of his left palm. As a wave of pain shot through his body, a web of crimson paths followed, glowing ferociously.

Asterios leaned forward and put his pierced hand over the last spot that was missing a crystal. The flat part of the gem sank in the small pit filled with blood and the whole circle glowed dark crimson.

Intense searing pain traveled through Ast’s spiritual circuits as the scorching hot energy spread through his whole body. He clenched his teeth and upheld the connection between his internal circuits and the external array.

The girls and Umbra watched from the sidelines how the formation flashed irregularly in scarlet hues. His clothes fluttered from the spiritual wind emanated by the magical array. The pressure in the atmosphere kept increasing gradually and Selene had to start creating protective layers to shield them.

Then, an overwhelming wave of spiritual energy burst out from the circle, almost making everyone trip. An enormous scarlet tear appeared in the air above the formation like a crack in the fabric of reality.

Suddenly, an earth-shaking roar caused the whole world to tremble, tearing the fissure into a giant crimson breach as wide as a barn. 

The thunderous cry went silent, still echoing into the distance through the countless valleys.

Three seconds later, a huge crimson-scaled claw stepped through the scarlet tear.

 

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