Arganthes: The Capital Of Dungeons

I"ll finish working in a few minutes."

"That would be nice, I"ll wait until you"re done then."

As I said there waiting for a few minutes Amaris finished working and got into her normal attire. It was just as daring, yet it suited her better.

She had a white, yellow dress with little glowing gems on the ends of the dress that matched her eye color.

Her hair was not pulled back anymore as it was hanging naturally down now.

To me, she was even more stunning being herself as she was in her working attire.

"What are you doing? Gazing in the distance like that?"

I was thinking about what would be waiting for me tomorrow.

"Don"t worry the night is young and you still need to find a place to stay."

Amaris grabbed my arm and pulled me along. I looked my eyes out as we entered the center of town, there were all kinds of small buildings and even campfires in the distance on the gra.s.s fields. "It seems like they are rather hardcore, am I right?"

I pointed at the campfire as Amaris was wondering what I saw.

She put her arm around my shoulder and jokingly said. "That will be you for long."

This was when we arrived at a rowdy place called The Drinking Maiden.

"We have arrived, I"ll go ask if they still have some rooms left. The owner of this place is a friend of mine". Amaris said as she went in first. The gate had what you call an old western gate like in the wild west. the wooden gates opened through both sides as it didn"t cover the entirety of the gate. This helped to spread those jolly sounds coming from inside.

I heard people laughing and singing, clattering gla.s.s against one another.

This felt familiar. I opened the door and looked around. There where all kinds of species. Not just Humans. There where, beastmen, Lizardman, Pigman, but no regular humans. What was up with that? Aren"t Amaris and I regular human beings?

There where even hooded people giving a mysterious vibe.

I must say I felt a little out of place being here with no other humans around.

I saw Amaris talking with the lady behind the bar as she turned and called out to me.

"Yo Michael, get over here!". Suddenly it was quiet. Not your normal bar quiet, I"m talking real quiet. Even so that when the towns bully dropped his victim of the night everyone could hear the victim fall.

I noticed everyone"s eyes staring at me, but this didn"t do me much as I was used to it because of my wheelchair in my past life. Having said that, this felt different. Their gazes pierced me as if I was kind of unwanted, at least I thought it was because I was an unfamiliar face in town. But hey, what do I know? Could it be because I"m just a regular human being?

"Michael I want you to meet my close friend, Lady Midnight. Alice Midnight. I"m from the Thumper family. "So it"s Alice "Midnight" Thumper then madam?" That is correct! You can call me Midnight since you seem to be a friend of Amaris."

The lady at the bar had a unique look to her as she was clearly a bunny demi-human.

Her ears where long and especially fluffy at the sides of her head as they could cover her b.u.t.t and her skin was a soft, smooth and fluffy brown, grey an white. The thing that seemed odd yet cute to me is that she also had hair other than her fur. Her hair was black, covered a bit of her face as the left side was longer than the right side of her hair. As everything was combed to the left.

Her eyes were light blue, like the morning sky of my past life.

Her nose was wiggling up and down all cute like as she was sizing me up, while being curious and positive towards me.

Her work attire matched her hair and even her skin as it was all black with brown stripes running up from the bottom of her leggings to her top. She was being all bouncy which made her already impressive chest wiggled up and down at the same time.

"My girl here asked me if I might still have a room for you, as there will be a few opening up tomorrow it should be okay to make you share a room with one of the

co-workers or me if you don"t mind of course. Midnight grinned as she continued.

If you want to stay for a night it"s 6 copper, including breakfast and dinner this amounts to 15 copper. But when you decide you want to stay longer there will be a discount for a weekly, monthly or longer. So let me know by tomorrow if you like to stay here longer handsome. *wink*

"5 beer please!" A customer yelled in the distance

"Coming right up!" Midnight yelled back as she began preparing the beer.

Midnight winked at me as she hopped to another customer at her bar with the drinks they ordered. Wiggling around her fluffy tail. As the coast was now clear,

Amaris came closer to me as she needed to tell me something.

"It is my duty as her friend and towards a fresh face like yourself to let you know that it is a full moon tonight Michael. That means the attractiveness animals feel will be doubled. This means that you could be getting a lot of attention so please be cautious."

"Aaww, you"re worried about me? I"ll be fine. I"ll keep what you said to mind.

See you in the morning, Mary." "Don"t say I didn"t warn you..."

I waved goodbye as Amaris left the Tavern. 

To make sure I could reserve a room for tomorrow I gave Midnight a silver coin when she got back getting some dirty dishes with her and gave me eighty-five copper back.

Amaris stormed back in the Tavern as she remembered that she would show me the room I would be staying at tonight. She showed me Midnight her room so I could get an impression of where to put a mattress as it was rather busy in The Drunken Maiden.

She left as it was late and I got ready for bed.

While figuring out where to put the mattress I was recollecting what had happened today.

"What kind of amazing world did I get myself into? I can"t wait to see what tomorrow brings me. When I have hunted my first few Spirit Beasts I have to ask Amaris if she knows about these Ancestral Forest Ruins somewhere hidden in this area.

As I was managing my money and counted that I had four silver and eighty-five copper left. Took fifteen copper with me and put the remainder of it away under a loose wooden plank. "Just in case someone would see me as an easy target," I said to myself.

I had to collect a bit more information about this world.

What I knew right now was that I was in a world called Arganthes, that the Nation we all arrived in is called Kintheris and the town I am at right now is called Sharoo.

Other than that it seems that magic is a rather common usage here even though not everyone can use it. There where Beasts that use magic as well called Spirit Beasts that cause a constant threat to the living. which is why adventurers are tasked with bringing down their numbers. But before I would completely dive into combat I had to know what these beasts exactly where, how they formed and what was their connection with spirits in general. Thinking back at what Amaris said that the attractiveness doubles during the full moon, shouldn"t it be six times as high compared to my world?

As the thought made me drift of into more explicit thoughts I got pulled out by tapping on the gla.s.s window. Tapping, tapping as I turned to look I couldn"t see anything.

As it suddenly stopped I turned around for it to start again...

Knowing it was something trying to get in my heart began racing.

Turning towards the window I slowly opened it to meet a gorgeous looking bird,

black as the night itself it was difficult to spot. As it flapped its wings my heart calmed down, as a familliar voice filled my head once more. "Nevermore."

"Here we meet again, guided by my words. I thought it appropriate to turn into a bird.

Ebony as the night a Raven of some sort? Familiar I may seem... This is only a reflection of your dreams."

"That explains why you talk in tongue famous for its lore? Edgar Ellen Poe, that man will help you hide in the shadows."

All to make her pressence unknown, she chose a medium with a rather mysterious undertone.

Head my words as they will fall, like the sun before nightfall.

The Ruins in this forest to most unknown, will guide you to a tumbstone.

This tumbstone will contain a relic of origins unknown, once there insert your gemstone.

This will make it bond to your soul, like fire to coal.

Soon there will be a party forming, forming for expedition. Be sure to join as one of them as you take action.

Now I will leave for real this time as we will meet; Nevermore."

The raven spread her wings wide showing its inkblack feathers as it flew off and vanished into the mercy darkness of the night.

I decided that I would find out eventually just how in heat everyone was.

On another note, I needed to find out as much about spirits as possible tonight, I closed the door behind me slowly decending down the stairs. It was still as lively as ever downstairs as everyone enjoyed their free time.

There were a few maids running around taking and bringing orders.

Together with Midnight at the bar, I counted four workers in total.

A cat girl, an elf and a human girl? At least, she looked like a normal human being.

As I walked to the bar Midnight was bringing out orders for some customers as well.

When she walked back to the bar she didn"t notice me sitting at the corner.

"Business is booming isn"t it?" Midnight looked up and was surprised to see me.

"Not hitting the hai yet love? You seemed rather tired when you got the key to your room just now." "Can"t sleep, I am just too excited for my adventure to start. I have no idea where to start tomorrow... Any recommendations or pointers you could give me?

"Hmhm... Of course, I could give you some pointers dear, but it won"t be cheap.

Tell you what.. You drink with me tonight and I"ll give the advice for free". Midnight grinned as she was waiting in antic.i.p.ation on how I would react to this.

"Hmm... I don"t know... It has been a while since I last drank some. But I think a beer or two wouldn"t hurt." "Tell you what love, let"s make this interesting. If you stay with me till I close the Tavern I"ll tell you all you want to know and maybe even throw in a bonus." Midnight said with longing eyes as she winked at me.

"Here is your beer dear, I have to bring the rest of the drinks to the other customers,

let me introduce you to the rest of my girls when they get the chance."

Midnight put down a huge pint of beer in front of me and walked towards the customers in a playful manner sweeping her hips and but from side to side. 

As this had never happened to me I didn"t know how to react and got a bit fl.u.s.tered.

Thinking back I was glad Alessia didn"t approach me as I wouldn"t have known how to handle the situation. As I was thinking back at when I first arrived, being lost in thought. One of the maids got to the bar to get new drinks for a customer since they ordered a lot of drinks she had some time to spare and approached me.

"Nyan, Master must be new here. What might sir be thinking about?"

She gently scratches behind her ear as she continues to prepare all the drinks.

Seeing as I was deeply in my own thoughts she found in peculiar and fascinating.

"Sir?" I looked up as she was looking straight at me a bit worried that I did not react right away. "Here, it"s on the house. My favorite drink. *Meow* The cat girl handed me a cool gla.s.s of milk. "that should help you sober up a little, knowing mother Midnight she is trying to get you drunk Nyahahn.

"Where are those drinks, Shirley?!" A customer in the back yelled towards the front."Comming~ Nyan Nyan. She rushed off towards the group of customers in the back with a huge plate of beer and other beverages.

"She seemed rather cute, is it true that all women just as cute here in Arganthes? If so, man.. I might be a lucky guy haha. I must say that Midnight has chosen the right outfit for her workers. As it was a basic maid outfit like how I remembered it from home it emphasizes their femininity yet made them a tread for the eyes of the customers making them more approachable and cute for the customers.

The Catgirl had a unique hair color that went from yellow blond into reddish pink.

Her hair was short and straight but curled up a little at the ends.

The cutest part was that she had hair that almost covered her eyes,

yet let them through showing her cheerful sapphire blue eyes.

As she was cheerfully helping the customers one of the other girls came my way holding a plate with all kinds of empty gla.s.ses, plates and some cleaning stuff.

It was the elf girl. She smiled at me and greeted me after bringing the dishes to the back and telling the cook two more orders had to be made.

Like the catgirl, she was really cheerful, yet she had another air around her.

She gave me the feeling she wasn"t as innocent as the others.

Her hair was, strangely enough, the exact opposite of Shirley, going from a cherry red to a soft and gentle yellow. She had her hair in a different way than the others as she had two pigtails which made her look cute. I liked it a lot. Her hair was quite a bit longer as the two pigtails

"Good evening sir, I saw you talking with Shirley, I must say I haven"t seen you here before. Enjoying your visit so far?" "Yes, rather lively here... although I don"t see any others like me, is there a reason for that? I"m Michael by the way, nice to meet you."

"Haha, I totally understand what you mean, the thing is... it"s normally a Demi-Humans only Tavern here, with the exception of Amaris sometimes visiting Mother Midnight.

I am Elanor, the pleasure is all mine."

"Ah, so that must be the reason why everyone looked so awkwardly at me when I entered. It still does not explain why they were looking rather irritated as well."

"You see, the relationship between Humans and Demi-Humans drastically diminished during the World Changing War, this was was known that way because of there where several Revolutions and Rebellions during this period, yet even now as we speak those b.a.s.t.a.r.d n.o.bles up in Mineral still shame and discriminate us wherever they can."

"The World Changing War? That sounds huge!"

"I"ll tell you more about it later as it is too late right now, I heard from Midnight that you need a place to crash?" I sighed *Sigh* and nodded. "at least it"s just for one night so I hope I"m not intruding or anything." Elanor laughed. "Hahaha, don"t worry about that! A friend of Amaris is a friend of the mother and us. It seems mother has taken an interest in you, seeing as she gave you a few drinks on the house and even offered to lend her room to you for the night. I would have known if I were you."

As Elanor finished her sentence I noticed a slight twinkle in her eyes.

"Elanor, the food"s ready!" "Yelp, that"s my cue.. It was nice getting to know you. I have to continue, for now, talk to you later."

Elanor walked towards the waving customer as the orders she gave to the cook where done.

Looking around the Tavern observing everyone a little I noticed that one of the maids was not present anymore. "hmm.. could she have finished working before the other two were done?" Midnight came back to the bar as she took most leftover dishes from the tables with her and started washing them.

"Is it always this lively here?" I asked in a curious manner.

"Haha yes! Most around here are Demi-humans which is why they prefer our Tavern as they won"t be bothered by the annoying n.o.bles and such, just having time for yourself partying away haha." "Say Midnight... About your offer. If I"m not intruding too much already I would be happy to stay with you tonight. I must say that I am completely in your care as I have nowhere to go. I really appreciate your help."

"Oh dear, it"s my pleasure. It"s not every day that Amaris brings over a friend and a handsome one at that, cute too. She licked her pulsating nose as she was sizing me up.

Midnight sat down next to me as she touched my leg. "You are always welcome here to stay dear." As I noticed her coming on to be a bit stronger than before I tried to change the subject a little asking about the maids. "One of the maids seemed to have left before the others where finished tonight?" Oh, Lily? Hmm... you like her? Midnight toyed a little with me giving me a little push while smirking. "I haven"t seen her yet, was rather curious as I hoped to see her too, just like the other girls." "Knowing Amaris she told you about this already, that it"s a full moon tonight?"

I nodded as I tried to fight her tempting allure.

"The Full moon Cycle is a cycle where all three moons become full over the course of one month as one of the three will be full at the end of the week. This greatly increases the urge to mate. It is in our biology to give in to this urge which is why we combine it with parties every week and a festival at the end of the month.

At the end of the month when all three have been full there is a time as all three become full together, three nights and days long, they will double the effect of each moon, making us unable to fight the urge any longer. We will give of pheromones to indulge our partners into l.u.s.t as well as we ourselves will greatly be affected by the natural scent of the opposite s.e.x. The Savage Festival as we call it will start during midnight, as I am the owner of the Tavern I already instructed everyone here to go to their most comfortable locations as this phenomenon can be destructive to the unaware.

I hope you still want to spend the night with me knowing all this?" Midnight said as innocent as possible. As I saw she was worried about how I might react towards her honesty I pulled up my shoulders and gave her a hug.

"Knowing that even during such an intimate festival that you are willing to spend your precious time with me, an outsider who doesn"t know anything about the riches in this world. I am honored to stay by your side." I said proudly.

Of course, I wanted to secure a safe place to stay in this unknown world and who would be better to spend the night with than someone who was to be trusted? Or so I thought.

Midnight was touched by my confidence as a tear fell down her eyes.

She brushed it away and went towards the other customers.

As she was the only one working at this hour she needed to make sure the customers got their share of food and drinks. Before going Savage on the civilians.

As she tended to a few customers I had a bit of breathing s.p.a.ce again.

Trying to clear my head I thought back at my tram mates. What would they be doing now?

Would they miss me? As I thought of them a tear fell down my cheek.

"You have to make your actions count, don"t let others deceive you, fight for what you believe in and survive!"