Ch 112. Antiam

With the changes in Marcella's behavior, the rest of the trip had become far more interesting. 

Not only did Tammy play with Marcella's body at night, she had taken to using her openly in the carriage as well. Going so far one day as to have Marcella sit between her legs the entire time we were traveling, putting her mouth to work for hours on end. But no matter how extreme Tammy made it, Marcella's body still reacted lewdly, shivering in anticipation the whole time. So long as she was 'rewarded' at the end, she would seemingly endure anything. But over time the 'punishments' she had to endure stretched on longer and longer, and the rewards were pushed back further and further. 

And at the end of every hard day, I slept alongside her. Not even in a sexual manner, just acting just as intimately and just as lovingly with her as I did with Belle or Tammy, offering her a brief reprieve from the day's weariness as she fell asleep in my arms. Stroking her raven hair and unblemished back to calm her as her breath turned softer into sleep. 

The days passed and the scenery changed. The roads began improving, turning from little more than winding muddy paths into fully paved stone construction. The grasslands that I had grown up in, had now fully transformed into woodlands that surrounded all but the path itself, and even despite this, the wayward attacks by monsters had drastically plummeted. The men were still somewhat unnerved by the lack of visibility, but compared to the imposing and towering nature of the mana-fed trees in the wilderness the small domestic trees like this were only like cute imitations. 

Mounted knight battalions could even be seen on occasion, passing us by and ensuring the peace was kept in the King's land, their signature white armor and red cloaks giving them away from even miles before we approached them. Given the obvious wealth of our procession, they were especially courteous to us and let us pass without hassle, only warning us to be on the look out for brigands.

Which as our luck would have it, we encountered later that day. Actually it really wasn't really bad luck at all, my [protective instincts] skill triggered as soon as we came into their view. Allowing us plenty of warning.

Taking a step out of the carriage, I took a deep breath of the forest air. The short pines that surrounded us gave a wonderful freshness to the atmosphere that I had never encountered before, the feeling invigorating my senses before battle. Having the cart stop dead center in the middle of the path while I alone approached a rocky outcropping from which I could imagine several bandits were hiding. Stretching and adjusting my classes beforehand. This was actually the first time I had fought since receiving Crow's treat, also the first time fighting since reaching level 10, which happened to offer an additional class equip option. Thanks to my unique circumstances I already had two classes from the start, so now it was as if I had four, and the range of skills I could use at one time in battle had advanced by leaps and bounds. Putting on everything that seemed useful and leaping off the carriage.

Each stride I took covered what would take a normal man dozens, bringing me to the outcropping within seconds, climbing what appeared as a sheer rockface within a single powerful bound. Peering over at the pack of waiting and armed men who panicked at the sudden turn-about. Screaming about a monster while scrambling backwards away from my spot on the top of their hiding spot. 

"Let's just get this over with quick... alright? Don't make me chase you." I spoke to them all calmly, the only one with any poise in the situation as my words sent even more waves of panic as they all realized their lives were over. 

Grinning devilishly at the feeling of superiority my powers gave me. It was like playing with ants. 

...

Not even a minute later my hired soldiers were picking through the remains, scavenging anything worth value. I wasn't petty enough to take that from them for myself, but I did have them collect the bodies as proof of my subjection. Finding that these brigands had the same mark on their soles as Gawn and his thugs, and hearing these were likely a known criminal gang, I hoped for a little bit of compensation for my good deeds once we reached our destination, or at least enough to ease our current financial troubles, before we could offload our speciality 'Keaton vitality potions' that was. Storing the piled bodies whole in one of my inventory rooms, throwing them in haphazardly like they were sacks of vegetables. 

Seeing Marcella shudder with fear as I returned, my armor bloodied with that of the criminals, I asked her clean the armor for me with a bucket of water. The fate of those killed today much too close to that of her own miserable experience for her to be comfortable with as she reluctantly wiped the metal clean with a kind of dark reminiscence. Even so, she had become much more obedient recently, not saying a word as she complied with my orders. The only hint of her true feelings revealed in the briefest of facial twitches. 

It was two days later when we finally broke out of the forests, coming to a great clearing that appeared as if spanned miles, arcing in a circular pattern around and down into a minor valley that seemed to be our destination. Shining walls and minarets piercing the cloudless sky in the most grand manner that I had ever gave witness to and a massive city more sprawling than I had imagined possible, town blocks stretching for miles in the distance as we looked down from our local vantage point. A river of grand blue water flowing through the center of the city, splitting in two as the walls seemed to rise and incorporate the watery terrain into its construction, a maze of bridges connected the two sides.

This was Antiam.

Keaton's stat window

Kaguro