A vine wrapped around Kanae's waist and yanked him away as the ogre clobbered the ground in front of him. Dragged back to Arenade and Edina, his two companions looked ready to abandon the quest and run for their lives. Kanae returned his gaze to the ogres, their stocky build and lumbering forms, wielding human-sized clubs that from it single hit could nail him to the earth.
He extended a hand to one of them and casted," Charm!"
The spell didn't work. The ogre scratched his bald head and shrugged at his companion, then they advanced unimpeded, each step causing quakes in the ground.
At level 50, even charm didn't work? Monsters around Lograin were no joke. They weren't in Orturic anymore, where every monster was a breeze. Now each encounter was just as dangerous as the dragon and could possibly mean their lives.
"Hey, Kanae!" Edina shook his shoulders from the back. "I like the glitter of gold too much to be ogre chow yet!"
Edina was right. Retreating was the best option. Even now, Kanae shuddered as it hit him that his spells were useless despite being the highest level here.
Sensing that they were going to escape, both ogres took a running start.
"Okay, retreat it is!" Kanae agreed.
The three of them made a run for their lives, but the ogres proved faster in spite of their larger size. They felt the booming thud of the monsters' heavy footfalls.
"It's no use! They're gonna catch up at this rate!" Edina cried.
"Fine!" Arenade clenched her jaws. "Use that damn spell on me, Kanae!"
Not wasting another moment, Kanae slapped a hand on Arenade's back and activated Bond. The priest jerked to a stop, clutching herself and trembling where she stood. They sensed each other's souls, strength, and even relative health. Her beating heart throbbed faster and faster between his ears. The spell that linked the succubus master to their sex slave thrall empowered Arenade, empowering the priest and bathing her with holy light.
"Plant Growth!" Arenade raised snaking vines from the earth, but they weren't just meager stems this time. Instead, the roots and appendages were as thick as tree trunks, covered in bark, and with thorns protruding along the length of them.
The vines completely immobilized the ogres. They started bashing away at their restraints, muscles bulging in an attempt to use raw strength to rip them off.
"My turn-- Necrotic Swarm, attack!" Edina flourished her staff and from the crystal tip, created a buzzing swarm of insects that flew towards the ogres. Since Arenade's vines held their arms still, they couldn't swat away the necromancer's spell which was slowly nibbling away at their skin. "It won't kill them, so we gotta take this chance to run!"
"No, I can finish them. Holy Armament, Bow!" Arenade's staff glowed a bright gold and transformed into a bow. She pulled the bowstring back, nocking a golden arrow, then fired twice. Both arrows plunged into the ogres head as though guided by divine force.
When her vines released the ogres, the slain monsters fell limp to the ground.
"Talk about holy shit. Nice one, Arenade!" Edina whooped.
"Arenade, you did it!" Kanae, overcome with joy, threw his arms around the elven priest.
Right then, a foreign sensation distracted Kanae. A pleasant feeling that enveloped and warmed his own heart. He had used the Bond skill on Arenade before, but he didn't feel it as strongly last time.
The two of them locked eyes. With Bond still active, he could hear Arenade's chest pulsing harder and louder. An overwhelming urge to satiate the skill's condition welled up, and...
Kanae stumbled back, pushed away by Arenade, who herself also took a step away from him.
"The fight's over," Arenade mumbled, still holding herself as if a chilly wind had blown in. "Can you... release the spell now?"
"Oh, sorry." Kanae undid Bond between them.
Arenade placed a hand above her chest, slowing her breathing down as though in meditation.
"L-Let's hurry back and turn in the quest." She briskly walked ahead of them in the direction of the city.
"What's her problem?" Edina asked.
Kanae wished he knew. For some reason, Arenade was so against being bonded. It wasn't until the ogres were right on top of them that she finally relented. Did she hate him now? He thought he had been making progress.
Sighing, he pushed the intrusive thoughts aside to follow after her home.
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"Oh, wow!" Sellica marveled at their success. "I was skeptical about letting your party take on the quest due to a level difference, but you really showed me. I expected nothing less from the heroes of Orturic. Well done, you three! The rewards have been added to your coffers. Would like to pick up another quest?"
Kanae glanced over his shoulders to the hall entrance. The doors opened and shut constantly from adventurers coming and going. Turning his gaze to the windows of the tavern on the west wing, some of the magical lamps were beginning to turn on to make up for the sunlight dwindling outside.
Aside from it already being late in the afternoon, Arenade, who was leaning against a fence partition that separated the main lobby and the tavern, didn't look particularly interested in another quest that might require Bond again.
Kanae shook his head. "It's getting dark soon, so maybe not. We'll get back to it tomorrow. Thanks, Sellica!"
Smiling, the centauress bowed and clopped a front hoof which he understood was a gesture of approval from her race.
"We still got the whole night ahead of us," Edina said as she and Kanae joined Arenade by the tavernside. "I was thinking about hitting up the casinos. I'm getting the feeling lady luck is watching over me tonight."
"In that case, what about the Red Harpy? It's a casino, and Thedia said Renya was expecting to see me at some point. Probably best not to keep her waiting," Kanae suggested.
"Oh, great... That bitch who pulled a gun on us last time?" The squirreling groaned.
"You two go ahead. Gambling isn't my kind of vice. I'll visit the cathedral of The Many and see if they need a helping hand." Arenade turned to leave, but Kanae instinctively reached out to grab her hand.
"Arenade, wait--"
The priest snapped away as soon as she felt his touch, then her face wrinkled into something akin to shame.
"Sorry... I-I need to clear my thoughts," she said, hurrying out the hall.
Edina sighed. "I like you both. I've come to like that pompous priest, too. But whatever is going on between you two, it doesn't feel like we can continue being a party if this continues. Can you, I dunno, charm her into making up with you or something?"
"I think that's only going to make it worse." Kanae frowned.
Angry priest or not, it changed nothing that they had grown closer over the last few months. There used to be a time where he would have traded Arenade away for literally anyone else. Now, she was irreplaceable. And he would do anything to make it up to her.
With one less member in their party, Kanae and Edina left the hall to head into the Carnal District. As the setting sun casted a orange and purplish glow over the horizon to herald Lograin's nightlife, they were surprised to find less people out than usual.
The main plaza they came to, which was one of the few major streets that the main thoroughfare of the city shared an intersection with, was less crowded. Prostitutes weren't soliciting passerbyers, and instead stayed within their respective buildings and came no farther than the porch. Only a handful of brothels were open, as the others had their lights off completely.
"Damn. Who turned off the lights?" Edina asked.
A canine beastman dressed in a cooking apron tossed a drunk human man out of his restaurant. The man landed face-first into the ground near Kanae and Edina's feet.
"Sorry, there. Didn't see ya. Getting rid of drunks is hard work," the beastman said.
"Isn't it supposed to be party hour for Lograin at this time?" Kanae asked the cook.
"Aye. S'posed to be. Then that bastard Rudo came 'round kicking up a storm. Got a whole bunch of places shut down for investigation. If ya lookin' for a brothel, try the smaller ones a'fore they get squashed, too." After spitting at the passed out drunk on the ground, the beastman returned to his tavern.
"This Rudo guy sounds like a real piece of work. Good thing we aren't hitting up a brothel tonight. After all, you had your fill last night, didn't you?" Edina teased, nudging Kanae on the sides.
"Uu... Well... Until Rudo interrupted and got the place shut down." Kanae sighed. It was the worst case of being cockblocked ever. Whatever he's doing was working, judging by the larger brothels shut down on this street.
They found the Red Harpy crossing over a canal bridge, at another block towards the back of the Carnal Districts. Around here, the lampposts weren't made of crystals. They were torches and candles instead, many of which weren't even lit and had long gone out. Although the streets and sidewalk was littered in trash, with rats scurrying about to pick up discarded and rotting food, the buildings here were just as nice as the front. It was as if the city had forgotten about maintenance, leaving owners to continue lavishing up their own establishments in a contrast of filth outside and wealth inside.
The Red Harpy was distinguishable by the large signpost image of a harpy, facing forward and lying on her front, unfurled wings flaring out to the sides. Two bouncers, large beastman standing to either sides of the ornate doors, each decorated with the motif of feathered wings. When they opened the doors for Kanae and Edina to step in, they were blinded by the extravagance.
Their feet stepped onto polished granite tiles. Drunk gamblers, dressed in fine clothing, shouted over each other at the many tables on the side of the floor where dies were cast and cards shuffled over. Kanae shielded his eyes looking up at the gold and glass chandeliers, and painted on the ceiling were a swarm of naked harpies in flight.
In fact, all the dealers and workers in this casino were harpies dressed in bunnysuits. Fishnet leggings sunk into their thick and shapely legs. There were women with chests as large as melons and as flat as cutting boards. A black-feathered, short-haired harpy, carrying a tray of champagne, winked at Kanae as she passed by.
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