Nabiki sighed. She was walking in between Kasumi and Ranma. Luan Ko, who had previously bounded ahead of the walking group, was playing in a field chasing a butterfly. Nabiki noticed that Ranma was still vigilant, scanning the space around him, even though the road was very quiet and no one else was around. Before they got too far from Luan Ko, she stopped chasing the butterfly and happily bounded once more ahead of the group. The road they were on led to a nearby town. The road sign they passed twenty minutes prior had said it was named ‘South Town’. A remarkably uninspired name, or so Nabiki thought.
It was not long before they had reached South Town. Upon entering the town, they had met an old man who was just standing around, doing nothing aimlessly.
“Good day, sir.” Ranma greeted the man.
“Welcome to South Town, travelers. A once prosperous town, we have hit some hard times. After the dreaded drought, the South River dried up. Then, bandits and ogres started to raid our lands and town. The Bandit King has made his stronghold in an abandoned Wizard's tower to the northeast. To the west is R'aul's Dungeon. Please enjoy your stay.” Once the old man had finished talking, he returned to staring at nothing with glassy, unfocused eyes.
“Any bathhouses here, sir?” Nabiki asked, wanting to wash away the dust and grime on her skin.
“Welcome to South Town, travelers. A once prosperous town, we have hit some hard times. After the dreaded drought, the South River dried up. Then, bandits and ogres started to raid our lands and town. The Bandit King has made his stronghold in an abandoned Wizard's tower to the northeast. To the west is R'aul's Dungeon. Please enjoy your stay.” The old man repeated himself before returning to his dazed stare. In fact, Nabiki got the same response for anything she tried to say, leading her to believe the man was hard of hearing.
Ranma and Kasumi looked on in amusement as Nabiki got frustrated. “Don't bother, little sister. He is only programmed to say that one thing. Let us enter this town, where we shall meet more people who will only say one thing. Most will probably say something similar. Someone might know something about the Bandit King or R'aul. We may even find a mini-sidequest. Perhaps saving a lost kitten from some goblins in a mine or something,” Kasumi explained to Nabiki.
“Come, we should look for a weapon's shop to sell this junk, we should look at some equipments, and we need to find an Inn, too. Maybe we can figure out where we want to go next.” Ranma interjected.
The group was now heading into a shop, having just sold the equipments they looted from the dead bodies back in the dungeon. ‘What was it that Ranma called it?’ Nabiki thought to herself, ‘Ah yes, Dumping the Booty.’
The store that Ranma and Kasumi turned to go into had a plain, but clean, front. The sign proclaimed, ‘Armor, Clothing, and Equipment’. Inside, a buxom blond beauty manned the counter. She wore a blue corset over a frilly, lacy, white camisole. However, both were midriff baring, and besides accentuating her perky, gravity defying bosom they revealed toned and tanned abs. The rest of her outfit was out of sight, hidden by the counter. It was easy, though, to imagine her bottomless as all you saw was skin where her body disappeared behind the counter. Although her hair was worn up, curly, golden tendrils fell to frame her delicate face. Blue eyes shined from her face like a pair of sapphire pools of water. Pouty lips pursed as the counter maiden checked out the incoming customers. Nabiki could not help the visceral response her body was experiencing, and she felt betrayed once again by her body, which was being turned on by the understated gracefulness of the store owner.
“How may I help you?” The maiden politely asked.
“I am looking to buy clothing for my slave, as well as a nicer looking slave collar. May I see what you have?” Ranma asked, while looking around the store.
“I hope you find something to your liking,” the blonde said as she laid a thick book out onto the counter. Flipping it open, Ranma started to peruse through the catalog. Nabiki, looking over Ranma’s shoulder, could see that each page showed a picture of an item with a name and price underneath it. Ranma hastily flipped through potions of all kinds, camping equipment, and amulets and jewelry before coming to clothing. Ranma kept flipping until the clothes had the word slave in its name.
“Slave rags, Slave halter, Slave skirt ... is that even a skirt? Looks like half of a necktie. -Slave’s see-thru sun-dress, Harem rags, Harem cottons, Harem velvets, Harem silks-” Ranma was interrupted by Kasumi.
“Ooh, looks like the one I have.”
Ranma and Nabiki stared at Kasumi for a moment before Ranma just shook his head and returned to the book. Nabiki raised her eyebrow at Kasumi.
“... Slave’s skin- That looks like it is painted on ... oh it is! -Slave’s sweat... huh, magical water that keeps the slave clean? Who would spend 5,000 gold pieces so their slave can wear nothing at all but some moisture? Slave’s suds, let me guess, for that soapy look? Slave belts- So, an extra wide belt worn low on the hips and extra wide belt wrapped around the breasts, with a leash attached. Who designs these things? Ah, here we go, corsets, skirts, sandals, normal things. All designed for sex slaves too. Kasumi, what color do you think would look best on Nabiki?” Ranma stopped flipping the pages on a picture of a strapless mini-dress. It was pleated, flouncy, and slitted up both legs to the bottom of where the ribs would be. Only 2 inches of material formed a band at the top that would hold the dress up. One good gust of wind and Nabiki would be wearing it more as a flag then a dress.
“Light green would go well with her elven looks,” Kasumi answered.
“No way am I wearing that hideous travesty of fashion!” Nabiki retorted, angry that Ranma would pick something so exploitative, even if it was better then a lot of the clothes he passed over.
“Hahaha,” Ranma chuckled. “Just kidding, it would only look decent if you never moved about, hehe.” Nabiki just rolled her eyes and suppressed a sigh. Ranma turned the page again, finding a more normal looking outfit. A small low riding thong that got the job done, a micro skirt that did cover the important bits if just barely, and a midriff bearing tube top that was really just an elastic chest binding. It, at least, promised to be decent in a stiff wind, even if a lot of skin was on display. Ranma turned the page again, finding an outfit reminiscent of Bavarian beer wenches. It revealed a lot of leg and arm, but it did cover a whole lot more then the previous entry. “Too frilly,” was Ranma’s evaluation of the outfit. The next page had a simple, silk, sleeveless dress that fell above the knees. “500 gold pieces. A Slave Temple Dress, to be worn when bringing one’s sex slave to a place of worship. Not needed at temples dedicated to sex gods,” Ranma read from the entry. “I want this one, does it come in light green?”
The seller reached under the counter and pulled out a light green version of the dress, with red embroidering on the hems and trimmings. Ranma returned to looking in the book. Flipping some more, Ranma found where the section of slave irons and chains. “I guess I’ll have to replace those cuffs I took off of you. So no one else tries to take you away, again. I’d like a pair of the Genie Wrist Cuffs. Magically keep you within a 50 foot radius of me without hampering mobility. Importantly, not hampering MY mobility. I can’t fight if I have to hold your leash all the time. I also would like this silver Etruscan chain leash. Can I get it in the 2 axis version? The leash will be good for walking about outside of battles. I also want to get a slave collar to hook the leash onto, the silver one with the emerald. Also, light green silk slippers as well, please.”
“Not a bad looking combo, Saotome. I could live with those choices,” Nabiki evaluated the items on the counter, “At least the leash does not look like it belongs on a dog.”
“Would you like your name engraved on the collar? It is only 5 gold pieces extra to get it done, and many owners usually opt to get it done.” The girl at the counter asked as she totaled up the purchase.
“Can I get my gold collar engraved with his name too?” Kasumi asked while taking her torc off.
“Certainly, as long as he is your owner.” The girl responded. Nabiki raised an eyebrow at that revelation.
After paying for all of the items, the group left the shop. “That was a lot of things to buy at once. I always new little sister was high maintenance.” Kasumi said that last part with a smirk. “Luckily we still have plenty of money left and can afford to stay at an inn tonight. You did well, got a good haul at that dungeon, Ranma.” Kasumi mentioned after finishing counting what was left in the belt purse. “Where to next? Maybe I should buy myself a cute, cuddly pet cat like you got, Ranma,” Kasumi said with a mischievous smile. “Maybe a nice warcat. I hope it looks like a black leopard or cheetah. Or perhaps a battle-boar. I could name it Pig-kun.” Kasumi chuckled at her weak joke. Ranma and Nabiki just rolled their eyes.
Nabiki was carrying all of the new purchases in a haversack. The only thing Ranma had put on her was the collar and chain leash. “I don’t see why I have to be a pack mule,” Nabiki groused. However, she did notice she got a bare amount of experience points when Ranma handed the sack over to her and she took it without question.
“Come on, let’s go eat at the inn. I’m hungry. Also, we can probably find people to talk to and get an idea of where to go next. Maybe see if anyone knows how we can get Nabs out of this game.”
Nabiki sighed. She was left at the bar with Luan Ko holding her leash while Kasumi went off to find an empty table and Ranma went to talk to a group of some adventurers. Sitting next to Nabiki was an unshaven man, looking sad or depressed, staring into his beer. Nabiki cursed to herself, ‘Damn this libido attribute!’ Nabiki was even turned on by the bum sitting next to her. Trying to start some small talk, Nabiki turned to the man and said, “Nice little town, you have here.”
The depressed man sighed, “Times are Tough.”
“Er... yes, I suppose. However it can be hard to tell. Just look at all the people here tonight. Surely, the inn is doing some good business?”
“*Sigh* Times are tough.”
Nabiki was stymied for a moment. She was confused if he was one of those non player people, or maybe he was just a weirdo. Luan Ko diverted Nabiki’s attention away from the strange man with a gentle tug to the leash. Raucous laughter erupted from where Ranma was talking to some guys and Nabiki looked over his way for a moment.
Ranma was enjoying himself. He was in mixed company, meaning he was among elves, dwarves, and humans of all kinds. Not only were they all social and fun to talk with, but also willing to buy and share drinks with any of their fellow adventurers. Dereth’kin, a tall, brown skinned, white haired elf, summoned, with a gesture, a bar maid. She was curly red-headed, freckled, wearing a white short sleeved and poofy blouse over a black skirt. Buying another round of house ale for everyone, Dereth’kin turned to Ranma and asked, “Have thee any jovial story to tell us, friend Ranma?”
Ranma immediately thought of a joke he heard from some Marines in Okinawa. “Well, I know of this one story. Where I am from, we have something called fraternities. Sort of a brotherhood, but among friends. And one of the things these groups of friends enjoy is partying, dancing, having a good time, those sorts of things.” Ranma began, explaining a bit about fraternities.
“Yes, we have a similar thing too, down in the mines,” one dwarf interjected. The dwarf went on to add, “After a long work cycle digging, carving, and hauling metal ore, it is nice to be able to blow some steam with your friends. Usually these are the blokes you dig with, your dig-crew and shaft-mates. And, I speak for all dwarves when I say this, but the bonds you form working and drinking with your boys are just as strong as any bond among real brothers.” The dwarves present all nodded at this.
“Yes, even among the elves, we have something like these fraternities. A brotherhood of friends. Usually formed young, during our adolescence, while attending an educational school of some sort. More like a gang, really, but in the nicer sense of that word. Not every elf choses to be in one. And these gangs are known for pulling pranks or breaking rules, time to time. But all in good taste and good fun. I still keep in contact with those I used to run with. I do so fondly remember that time in my life. The pranks we pulled! The parties, trying to impress the girls, sneaking drinks of fireberry wine or of strongwater. The girls usually had their little cliques too. This one gang of girls, they called themselves ‘The Pink Eyes’, hung out with us often. So whenever we went out for some fun, they usually joined us. Real good girls, all of them. We were all just kids, anyhow, having some fun.” Galith’noth, another elf there, sighed in reminiscence.
“Good, so you all understand how when you let a new guy join, you have to give him a bit of a hard time. We called it, hazing.” Ranma noticed how everyone around him nodded their heads while smirking at some old memory. “So, there was this party thrown by the fraternity to welcome its new members. And, of course, each member got a sort of challenge. So for this one guy, they gave him a six-pack of ale bottles...”
“Six-pack?” One of the listeners asked.
“Er... Where I hail from, they sell bottles of beer and ale in packs of 6, cases of 12, and so on. This way, you can bring them home to drink another time,” Ranma explained. Seeing everyone was still following him, Ranma continued. “So they gave him a lot of beer to drink. They told him to drink the beer, go into the countryside to wrestle a bear...”
“Haha, how dwarvish of you humans. Wrestle a bear, he he. Seems much to dangerous though, for a prank,” Goldwyn said.
Dereth’kin replied, “Nay, we elves do the self-same thing. Tis a nonsense quest. Usually there lies no bears about. Actually it is trolls, and not bears, that we send out to hunt. Tis the same idea, though. And should there be trolls about, the elf has not the idea on how to find one. So the elf always ends up lost in the woods until morning.” At this, everyone broke into laughters. “I do so find pleasure in sending someone out on a ‘Troll Hunt’.”
“A wild goose chase, we call it.” Ranma continued his story. “So, he had to drink a lot of beer, wrestle a bear, then finally he was to sleep with a fat, ugly girl.” At this, everyone broke into laughter again. “So, he drinks the 6-pack and then stumbles off to go find him a bear. Now, he doesn’t return that night but his fraternity is not expecting to see him ‘til the next day, anyways. The next day comes and goes, so that by the following night, his new brothers are worried about him. Finally he shows up on the second day, all dirty and covered in scratches, his clothes torn and ripped. He looks to be in quite the bad shape. So, when his brothers open the door and sees him, he says, ‘So, where is this fat, ugly chick I have to wrestle?’” At this, everyone breaks out into deep laughter. The dwarves bang their mugs on the table tops while Galith’noth tries to catch his breath.
Dereth’kin wipes the tears from his eyes. “Surely, friend Ranma, that is a good story. And a great inspiration for jokes.”
“That was a good story, Ranma. Reminds me of the time me and my friends got this bloke we did not like much drunk. After he passed out, we snuck him into the village overboss’s house. We left him, naked, in the first bedroom we found. The next morning, the overboss awoke to find a naked man in bed with his mother.” The group broke into peals of laughter at Goldwyn’s story. “You’re a fine lad, Ranma. If you ever find yourself on an island to the northwest, come look me up.” Goldwyn raised his mug in Ranma’s direction before quaffing his brew.
Meanwhile, Kasumi was talking to some people as well. “I did not know that slaves could compete in mudpit wrestling. But, wouldn’t that be considered combat. My slave is a ‘Spared in Combat’ non-combatant, and as such can not get into fights.”
The young man Kasumi was talking to scratched his chin in thought for a moment. “Actually, I don’t think that would be a problem. These fights are not actually real fights. Normal people can not get into them, as they are reserved just for sex-slaves. Also, experience points is not awarded the same way as in real combat. The number of attacks one can do does not play any role in the mudpit fights at all. The wrestling is actually more dependent on strength, skill, and stamina. Also, many who chose to role play as a slave chose the non-combatant status. This village does not have a mud-arena. If you want to look into this some more, the closest town with mudpits is Lesterton to the east. It is found near some swamps on the other side of the dragonridge hills. Remember, your slave needs to have a minimum amount of EP to compete.”
“Thank you. I just might look into that.” Kasumi shook the guy’s hand. “Also, thanks about the local information. Sounds like the ruins to the west should not be too difficult. I also think the Bandit king might be worth the trip after we level up some.” Stopping to look around for a moment, Kasumi spied a table opening up. “I better collect my friends so we can sit down to eat. Thanks again.”
“The menu may not be big, and the food is plain and simple, but it does taste good. A little overpriced though. I mean, 3 silver pieces and 5 coppers for stew, a goblet of mead, and a turkey leg.” Ranma mentioned to Kasumi, before taking a sip from his goblet. “For now, let us not stay too long away from any villages. Later, we can get some camp gear, so we can cook out in the wilds. As long as we keep looting, we can afford to eat.”
“Ooh, camping. I can’t wait to see what little sister makes for dinner. To think, someone cooking for me, for a change,” Kasumi said with humor, while looking at Nabiki.
Nabiki just grumbled under her breath and took another spoonful of stew.
Kasumi just smiled to herself at Nabiki’s reaction. “How did your networking go, Ranma-kun?”
“Very well. I met some nice guys and learned that this part of the continent were for those who graduated from being a beginner. It gets tougher to the west, and if we go east enough, we can find a port town from which we can charter a ship. Yourself?”
“I found out some of the local challenges. No one had any idea on how to get Nabiki an account after starting a game. We might have to find the owner of her current account and defeat him. Not sure about that, though. Did you and Luan Ko have fun, Nabiki-chan?”
Nabiki looked for a moment at Luan-Ko, who was holding her bowl of stew in her hands and eating it like a cat. “No one tried to walk off with me. The bartender didn’t even look at me twice, and the only person who would talk to me had nothing to say. What do you think?”
Kasumi just smiled obliviously, “Oh good! Glad you had fun,” before her facade dropped into an annoying smile. “I also managed to get us a room for the night. If there is nothing else to do, we should get some sleep after dinner.”
“It will give us a place from prying ears to figure out where to go next. Luan Ko will want to stretch her legs before bedtime, so we’re going for a run about town. We’ll meet you up in the room, then?” Kasumi nodded at Ranma. “I also want to see what might be in that well in the middle of the town square. Wells tend to hide treasure or doorways. The drought is bound to have dried up the well, it would be a great opportunity to check and this drought may end. I bet one of the quests releases water from upstream or something.” Ranma looked to Kasumi to see what she thought.
Kasumi just smiled at Ranma and said, “OK, but don’t go to far if you find a tunnel down there. We can all go together, it is safer and we don’t have to worry about getting split up. Otherwise, enjoy your run. Don’t get back too late. We do have to figure out what to do next and we need to get an early start tomorrow.”
A quiet fire was gently burning in the fireplace. The fire and candles cast warm, dancing lights about the room. Kasumi had removed her armor and robes to reveal her harem suit. Stretching out on the bed, Kasumi looked over to Nabiki, “You don’t know how lucky you are. Sex slaves don’t often get underwear at all, let alone two outfits. Ranma is spoiling you, little sister. That said, you do your own laundry at the next river we cross... ours too. It’s a shame water is so hard to come by here, I could use a bath. *Sigh* We need to find a proper save point too.”
Nabiki just sighed, “Somehow, this wasn’t quite what I thought an adventure would be like. Pack mule, chef, laundry lady, healer. Combat hasn’t been so much fun as just plain terrifying. I thought I would just hang back, watch the fight, and then charge for healing. Not unlike what I do everyday back home. Watch Ranma fight someone and make some money from it. And now, I am stuck here, maybe ‘til I die. How is it you look like you are having so much fun, Kasumi?”
“I enjoy this kind of life. Adventures, no responsibilities, and getting to spend time with Ranma. Life can be so boring, but not here. And Ranma is anything but boring...” Kasumi was interrupted by a knocking at the door.
“Hey, Kasumi? It’s Ranma. Let us in.” Kasumi could also hear Luan Ko meowing. Opening the door, Kasumi let the duo in.
“Did you two have fun? Find anything in that well?”
“There was a small chest at the bottom with this compass in it. Problem is, it does not seem to point north. There was also an opening. The compass seemed to point into it. Otherwise, we just had a bit of a jog and stretched out our legs. Luan Ko found some R.O.U.S. To stalk and pounce on. She’s so cute when she wants to show me what she caught and killed.” Ranma smiled at the thought of Luan Ko squatting in front of him holding an oversized rat in her mouth. “The well was dry, and some village girls mentioned how a bathhouse opened up in the mountains. However, seems some girls who went there disappeared It was all those girls could talk about, if you know what I mean.”
“So, our choices is to save some silly girls from an evil bathhouse owner, follow the tunnel in the well, Bandits and their leader up in an abandoned Wizard’s tower, ruins to the west, R’aul’s dungeon also to the west... I wonder if the two are the same? What else was there, Lesterton to the east, or, finally, we can go back north to find easier pickings for a couple of levels. We have no idea how tough any of the local stuff are, other then being at least level 10 would help. Is that about it?” Kasumi ticked off on her fingers as she mentioned each destination.
“What is in Lesterton?” Ranma asked Kasumi, not having heard of the place before.
“Not too sure, but they do have an arena Nabiki could compete in. Mud wrestling among slaves seems to be common here. Other then bedding her, it will help Nabiki level up faster.”
“You want me to wrestle in mud? Are you even my sister or are you Kuno in disguise?” Nabiki was shocked and dismayed to hear that her sister was planning on making her do something so raunchy and tasteless. “And why do you keep on mentioning me sleeping with Ranma?”
Kasumi sighed, “Nabiki, Nabiki... have you given any thought to what you are going to do with yourself? Especially if you manage to log off and get back home? Do you really want to walk around Japan as an elf? You can transform into a human in this game, but I have my doubts if you can manage it. For one thing, you have to actually survive to level 20. Maybe, I am not really sure. More then likely though. However, if we can fix your race, or your class, or anything at all, it will probably require you to be leveled up. Even if you are stuck like this forever, you’ll still need to level up. Life tends to be short and helpless when you are only a level one. Face it, you need experience points, and a lot of them. Mud wrestling may help you there, and you know Ranma will help teach you a bit. If the idea bothers you that much, you don’t have to do it.”
“Would you want to?” Nabiki asked heatedly.
“Nope, and I couldn’t if I wanted to. Only sex-slaves can enter. But, if Ranma wants you to, you have no choice in the matter.”
“So, our choices are to head west to the ruins or dungeons, northeast to deal with the bandits, the bathhouse, the well, enter Nabiki into some sort of slave-fight, or something else entirely? How about we sleep on it and decide after breakfast?” Ranma asked, feeling exhausted. “Luan Ko will keep first watch, I’ll grab the second watch.”
“Uh, Ranma?” Nabiki’s face start to whitened, “We seem to have more people then beds. Actually, there is just the one queen sized bed.”
“Do we smell, little sister? If you don’t want to sleep with us, you can always curl in front of the fire with Luan Ko.” Kasumi smirked at her embarrassed sister.
“No, no ... uh, that’s OK, let’s just sleep and tomorrow we can go... No place to tough, OK? I don’t mind checking out some training dungeons or something.”
Ranma just smirked and looked at Kasumi, “Boring! Especially with such mystery and conspiracies that surround this place. I want to explore this part of the world a bit more. Let’s just get some sleep.” Ranma started to remove his armor. “Uh, Kasumi, why do you look like a genie?”
“Do you like it, Ranma? When I saw it, I had to get it. I grew up watching ‘I Dream of Jeannie’ and ‘Bewitched’. I always wanted to be a magical girl.” Kasumi stretched out again onto the bed. “Tomorrow we can...
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(Posted Thu, 03 May 2007 02:09)
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