Chapter #19: The City of Tlos pt3

I gasp involuntarily, temptation gnaws my resolution to finish my current quest. I know she tries to use Charm in every chance she gets, but I'm immune to it. Ever since we faced down the knights in the forest, all she can do is try to seduce me. So far, I wasn't able to deny her. Not that I wanted to anyways. In fact, it's one of the things this body-avatar of mine longs for daily.

Despite arriving late, the city is alive and full of wide avenues and places to sit, drink, and eat. The merchants are still open and offer their merchandise to the passersby. For the first time in my life in this world, I see a sky tower at the center that most likely houses thousands of people. The rest of the city is full of parks and wild spaces, giving the folk a chance to admire nature and enjoy the trails. What amuses me is the river that flows throughout the city, splitting it in half. As I walk throughout the Agora, we cross several bridges and sometimes I pause to admire the view. There's no shortage of nice buildings and the crowds gather around performing bards listening to their songs and tails.

Tlos may have looked battered and weak from the outside, but the inner city is extraordinary.

My sexy ally is rather interested in shopping and this place is truly a utopia for devotees of prim and proper clothing with a twist in outrageous styles. Ambrosia always exaggerates with her ostentatious looks, the tight corsets, and gigantic hoop-skirts. It goes without saying that every dress she has an interest in, is provocative, stylish, and at the same time shows signs of respectability.

"This fantastic dress was made for your body," the middle-aged owner with a curved mustache of an expensive retail shop tells her, amazed when he sees her elusive figure. I can see he has a crush on her and Ambrosia plans to take full advantage. I get a feeling she won't need to Charm him to get what she wants.

"You want me to believe what a salesperson says? I'm sure this dress costs a fortune and all you're thinking right now is how you can make a huge profit off of me," she challenges him with a seductive smile.

The owner gulps and shakes his hand in denial. "This dress was made for your body type when I envisioned making it," he replies excited, ecstatic even.

She giggles in a way I've never heard before, then approaches a few steps the guy, then coils her hands below his neck, slightly grazing him. He moans slightly but doesn't respond. Ambrosia stares at him with her casual, snobbish look. "Then I say yes to the chic gown."

It's late and we're the only individuals here. To the surprise of the owner and me, she removes the dress she wears with a single move. Bare naked now, both pairs of eyes are on her back. My gaze trails even further, lower to her ass as she turns. Her pale and milky skin against the fiery red light of the shop makes me aroused and from the owner's look, I'm sure he's in the same state as me. With light, deliberate movements reminding me of a gazelle, she walks toward the display holder and takes the gown. With a single move, she wears it effortlessly, a perfect fit for her perfect body as the owner had said. Backless and with her cleavage exposed, it's both classy and sexy. Literally, our jaws drop and all we can do is perform a long exhale in unison.

"Well?" She demands with a cold look.

Demanding payment after such a performance of strength is impossible and the blushing owner gifts the gown to Ambrosia. As I hold the dress she wore a couple of moments ago from the floor, all the owner can say is, "Won't you thank me for the gift?" He gulps, hoping for a kiss.

"This gown was made for me, you were simply the tool," she replies mysteriously, leaving him there stunned.

"Thank you!" I tell him with an awkward grin as I follow Ambrosia, but he ignores me entirely.

After a long walk in Agora, I find myself loaded like a mule, carrying several bags of clothes. Eventually, we decide to stop and eat something, as my growling stomach protests. It's been hours since the last time I ate dried meat and bread, the kind of food I've been provided by my companion for days. I could eat a horse right now and Ambrosia notices that. To my surprise, she proposes we have dinner and we sit at the tavern Hey Kitty.

Inside we are greeted by several cat-girls, only none of them are real. Each waitress inside the Hey Kitty is wearing fake cat-ears, tails, and little else. A few of them are wearing mittens that look like cat paws that match their black and white wardrobe. Even the menu is decorated with cartoon drawings of catgirls sprawled across the pages, a few of them holding the tavern's best meals in their hands.

It makes me wonder about the name choices the owners of these taverns made. Every name is stranger than the last. Ambrosia said we would stay at the Crazy Shrimp earlier and it made me wonder if the concierge would be dressed similarly. That's something of little importance. My nostrils are bewitched by the aroma of fresh and well-cooked food. I can't believe my torturer brought me to a fancy place like this.

"I like my pets well-fed," she comments, licking her fleshy lips and smirks as I devour my first dish, a big wooden bowl of Tomato Fritters with sauce.

As I taste the first Tomato Fritter, I pause for a moment, my thoughts freezing entirely and both of my eyebrows cock. Ambrosia seems worried momentarily from my reaction, thinking that something has happened to me.

"Pet, have you been poisoned?" She asks with a wary look, ready to come to my aid.

"Holy shit! That tastes good!" I exclaim exhilarated and open my mouth as wide as I can and eat a huge Tomato Fritter in one massive chomp. I swear, if I could, I would eat everything in one massive bite. I gulp down my food without pausing to breathe, chewing and swinging bites at the rest of the dishes, leaving my vampire companion dumbfounded, now her mouth having an O shape.

Ambrosia's composure returns, smiles, and throws back her head laughing. "Well, you live only once, lick the bowl like a good pet," she teases me and without warning places her foot over my member, then runs it below my balls and rubs them lightly.

I choke and at the same time I feel my erection growing again. Immediately, I cover my mouth and flinch from my seat, coughing, somehow managing to catch my breath again. "Why did you do that?" I ask her and I see that I've grabbed the attention of several patrons around me.

All Ambrosia does is smirk lasciviously with a sexy shrug. My gaze falls on the cleavage of her ample breasts, both heaving up and down, making my cock throb, demanding immediate release, but I know all my torturer wants is to tease me.

Sitting back down at the table, I start eating again in a more reserved manner and Ambrosia tells me I can order anything I like. Momentarily I worry about the bill, but then I understand that the waitresses are Charmed and even the owner of Hey Kitty comes to greet us as if we are old friends. As expected, the owner wears the same attire as the rest of her staff. She has brown cat ears and a long tail. What parts of her body are not covered in fur are smooth, human. Unlike her staff, she is wearing attire that covers but does not completely hides her petite figure.

"Are you both enjoying your meal?" She asks holding her right arm up. She kneels down towards Ambrosia who for a moment I fear will bite her. Instead, Ambrosia pets her behind her ear and tells her how cute she is. The owner paws at Ambrosia playfully and laughs. I take a moment to wonder if they really are old friends.

Eventually, we leave without paying and I must admit that Charm and Dominate are two handy skills. A slight part of me regrets not choosing it as my second skill, but I'm sure as long as Ambrosia is by my side I won't have to want for anything.

Although I'm not full, Ambrosia tells me, "I like my pets well-fed, but not full, so that they can perform as I want them," she winks at me and smiles.

We walk for another full hour and I notice that the city changes every few minutes as we head towards the Crazy Shrimp, an inn located at the south-west side of the city, flicking between poverty and affluence. An ideal place for a vampiress and her companion to crash for the night.

The misery in these streets is present everywhere. The sidewalks are cracked and full of filth and the people who live here mostly trade with garbage rather than actual stuff. I hope we won't be attacked by anyone, but for their bad luck, we gather unnecessary attention and someone or some people are following us. It must have been our clothes and garments that drew their attention, and once more I curse the fact that my partner didn't want me to cast Disguise on us. I know what her response would be: My sweet pet Athanasios, if we disguise ourselves, then I wouldn't have been able to get that knockout gown. It was fate before anything else and neither I nor you can deny destiny!

Once more I wonder if I actually had an option to take this path. Seemingly, the Real-World Game provides the Players unlimited options and if there are several others like me, then the creators have taken the extra effort to personalize each Player's Quest, which is something I've never thought would be possible for Elysium's processing power. Probably the Supreme Administrator holds several pieces of the puzzle hidden from us, the common folk of the virtual realm, but I'm determined to find out what's happening. Finishing the Quest the Supreme Administrator has bestowed upon me is of secondary importance at the moment.

And here we are now, surrounded by mindless mobs, ready to rob us, if not kill us, and all we can do is fight for our lives. All I can do is hope this won't affect my Karma grievously, but I can't deny the benefits I'll get from leveling up from this battle. Despite my limited vision from the pile of clothing I'm forced to carry out, I see four stumps behind us and five at the front, all with Threat Levels ranging between 2 to 3. Their clothes are ragged, the complete antithesis as to what me and my vampire ally wear.

"What is a pretty lady doing here alone?" The leader of the mobsters asks Ambrosia with a sly smile, inspecting her from head to toes with his intense gaze.

"Em, I'm here as well," I tell them, but I'm completely ignored, my presence irrelevant before my sexy aide per usual. Not that I care much. I'm ready to reach down for Lush, my sword. On the other hand, I've leveled up a few times and there are plenty of new spells I haven't tried yet, such as Primal Savagery.