(36.1) Bleed
Two years – coming up on three in under three months – had passed since Aki came to Tsarjar and yet in all that time, there is one very simple thing she had failed to think of in all that time.
Now, standing before the towering bartender holding open a thick book, Aki is blanking on how to answer the ork's question.
"How old am I supposed to be??"
*
Capture and enslavement had occurred mere hours after appearing in Tsarjar. From there, she had gotten stuffed into a slave cart and transported through a Space Gate and ended up in a desert.
After that, enduring life in the slaver city while looking for a way out was all that mattered. The real Acolyte of Mune, Shur, was laser-focused on ensuring Aki and the rest of the otherworlder slaves were capable of hiding in Tsarjar as well as surviving the whims of the slavers.
Yet somehow, the idea of a defined age never came up as a topic of discussion in all that time.
Regret weighs heavy on Aki's mind now as her mind races to come up with a response.
"I can't say I'm 23. Wait no, I'd be 25. Still, Nalv's are a long-life race aren't they? I'd be a baby if I was that age here, so… how old am I exactly?"
Her thoughts grind relentlessly as she tries to think of a reasonable answer. Nalv's are the children of an eltan and any shorter lived race.
Regardless of parental genetics, nalvs always have black eyes, boxy pointed ears, and a long lifespan. She could use her illusion magic to masquerade her appearance but if she made herself too different, any interference would make it obvious she's masking herself as a different race.
The problem is, Aki can't remember what an adult's age is for a long-life race, let alone any other.
A flash of red and white passes by in the corner of her vision.
By the state of their outfits, the colours belong to a red-faced adventurer who speaks like words are going out of style to his party members.
This tippet-wearing, cloaked patron complains loudly to his companions about climbing the Deika tower on the surface city. Something about magic being obstructed in the area like some sort of manaless freak world.
"Phoebe…" Aki then thinks of the stone towers raised in New Pinacca.
"I'm 113-"
"Hello again, granny! When I said to go get a drink, I wasn't expecting you to show up here." A boisterous voice interrupts. Its owner, the same fishman that was taking a beating outside of an alley earlier in the day.
"Boss Itona! Wasn't expecting you till tomorrow." The ork bartender steps aside for him but keeps a hand on the thick book he had been looking through. "You know this woman?"
"Yeah, I met him -"
Again he interrupts with a forced laugh and closes the cover the bartender has.
"Well the details are unimportant. This nalv is fine for whatever." His finned ears flap quickly as he gives her a quick wink. "Go on and take a break, big guy. I'll take care of the house."
The bartender bows and takes his leave as requested.
Once the bartender is gone, the mieleren speaks again. "Here in Abe-Vi, the drinking age for nalvs is 120. I recommend brushing up on common laws if you're gonna be breaking them."
"You're more chatty than before."
"Customer service needs a special touch."
"Sure."
Aki and the bar boss Itona stare at each other for a long second in silence.
"Now, can I trouble you to repeat what you ordered, miss?" Itona's smile remains firmly in place but his eyes narrow with barely masked suspicion.
"Freedom's Bliss."
"Is that so?" His smile thins. "Please find yourself a seat and your specialty drink will be delivered to your table."
His knuckles rap on the wooden countertop before stepping back to make the drink and something else.
Aki squeezes her wrist and finds an unoccupied table to wait. In the meantime, she decides to look around.
Light scones lit by fire are neatly placed at even intervals along the walls and wooden support beams. There are wooden tables, square tables, and booths furnished with dark leather and stonework details. Shells, oceanside paintings, and seafaring weapons decorate the interior as well.
The more she looks, the more astounding it is that the wood and stone interior is neat and cozy. A stark contrast to the seedy looking exterior of the three storey building she found.
Were it not for the range of the patron's appearances, Aki might have confused it for an above board business, not one associated with slavery.
"Healers, sailors, gangsters. All different races but none of them has the desert flower."
None of the chatter she hears sounds at all relevant to her search either.
"Your drink, ma'am." A vibrash woman with an oddly deep voice says from behind Aki.
The glass clinks heavily on the wooden tabletop, set down somewhat forcefully by the frowning woman. A scar stretches down her face from how the flesh had fused over the eye socket from an old injury.
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[Gift Activated: Empath]
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Anger broiled beneath the barmaid's surface thoughts, feeling more than a little vengeful and irritated.
"Customer service does that…"
"Something good must've happened to order this kind of bliss."
Aki nods. "I'll be celebrating for a week."
"How exciting! Then, dear patron, allow us to kick your celebration off right in a private room. Will any colleagues be joining you today?"
Dent's face crosses her mind.
"No. Just me."
"In that case, please follow me."
The barmaid moves quickly, leading Aki from the main floor into the hallway, past the staircase leading to the upper floors, and opens a door leading to a back alley and motions for Aki to go through.
"Apologies for the exposure, but the private playrooms can't be in the main building without trouble. You understand."
"Yeah." Aki walks past her and quickly scans the alley, making it obvious she's scanning the area.
Bloodlust spikes suddenly behind Aki.
A bladed tentacle narrowly slices past her face followed by an irate groan.
"I'd be beyond pissed if you couldn't dodge that, Acolyte. I'd feel a fraud that our last fight was a fluke of adrenaline instead of skill."
The deep voiced vibrash woman's body is extending itself, rising in an arc to stand over Aki. Limbs extend from other limbs, wiggling like tentacles from every joint. The scarred face melts and morphs, reshaping itself into the familiar visage of the changeling assassin.
"Francis!"
"I'm Fremont!!" His fanged scowl stretches disgustingly wide as it adjusts to his preferred face. "No matter, your information gathering leaves much to be desired. Were it as good as your reflexes… well it doesn't matter."
"What does that mean?"
Aki barely manages to raise a shield and blocks a flurry of bladed tentacles in response to her question.
"Few months of training and you think you can speak easily with me, huh?" Fremont morphs into a large serpent with dripping fangs and tackles her.
The initial tackle misses. Aki leaps over the head more easily as expected.
"Saw that coming!"
Jaws close in around Aki from a surprise second head.
"Awh damn."
Water forms a bubble shield around her fast enough to block the massive fangs from piercing her but not fast enough to cement her position.
The inertia of the tackle combined with Aki's spherical defence rockets her down the alley. Like a ball, she goes bouncing off building walls and cobblestone at the mercy of gravity.
She crashes against a building at the end of the street.
Water bursts violently behind Aki in a final effort to cushion her landing.
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[Gift Activated: Precognition]
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A vision of getting trampled on rapidly changes into getting sliced to ribbons.
She quickly rolls to the side, avoiding the stampeding charge of Fremont's rhinilla form as it blasts through the wall of the – luckily vacant – building behind her.
Mana sparks from the hole in the wall. Possibly a reinforcement spell judging by how it feels.
A sudden bout of dizziness strikes Aki and her vision swims. Everything blurs together, even worse as a window pops open and the scene changes rapidly as a precognition activates.
BOOM!!
"GAAH!" Pain shoots through her body as something gut punches her.
Had she not tried to slide step away, the attack would have surely sent her flying. Still, the attack doesn't let up as a giant scorpion-centaur form Fremont has taken on bursts out.
"Feeling cocky, are you, nalv?" He growls.
His arm morphs into a bladed tentacle right as he swipes at her.
Its movements are strange, flaring out unnecessarily to the side despite being an otherwise direct swing.
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[Tactician Lv.3 -> Insight Granted]
[Gift Activated: Precognition]
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Information overloads her eyes and mind.
"Just a bit."
Aki clenches her jaw, jumps backward onto her hands, and surrounds her feet with water.
In a single move, she simultaneously dodges the initial horizontal swing, a follow-up stab from the drill stinger, and a sudden leaping hammer swing from a crab pincer.
She catches his surprised expression right before throwing him off with a spinning kick Aki follows up to stand upright.
"Water Manipulation."
Puddles all over the alley come together and lash at Fremont like razors. The water's surface catches the reflection of distant lamplight, shining dimly beautiful as blood taints the dirty blue.
"Minor Illusion."
He cries out and blocks his face with his arms before he shapeshifts into a massive snapping turtle.
The sudden growth in size blocks the lower path of the back alley street, closing Aki into just one path blocked by rubble.
"Come now, poppet. I won't be led by the nose again." Fremont huffs, bile and snot flying from the turtle nose. "This is for my eye!"
He snaps fast as lightning, biting Aki in half in an instant.
Then the illusory Aki vanishes and the real one appears over his head. Fist raised and a spell at the ready.
"Reaver take you!" Fremont curses. His tail morphs into a snake and lashes at her.
Aki spins midair, swinging her leg to kick the serpent head out of her way. Then she uses the momentum to land a punch solidly between Fremont's eyes.
"Heart Shock!"
She feels her muscles tense as electricity flows through her into his head.
Fremont's shape breaks with a roaring cry. He recoils, snapping his hands over his face and falling to his knees.
"Time to get outta here." Aki adjusts her cloak and turns to run.
However her escape is cut off by Fremont hitting her with a tail attack.
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[Gift Activated: Precognition]
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