“Wow…” Lillia breathed, her eyes wide with wonder as she took in her surroundings. “I’ve never seen so many books in one place before ….”
Mati also seemed impressed by the sheer number of volumes that were contained within this room, but she didn’t say anything, opting instead to simply follow after us as we started browsing through some of the titles.
After spending a couple hours in the library, we managed to find quite a few interesting books, including a map of Fishbar village, which would certainly come in handy later on.
Once we were done there, Gloria took us to an inn. It was a small building with a sign that read "The Watering Hole."
"This is where you will be staying while you're in Fishbar," Gloria said as she led us inside.
The interior of the inn was cozy, and there was a fire burning in the fireplace. There were a few people sitting at the bar, and they all turned to look at us as we walked in.
"Gloria, who's your friend?" one of them called out and we looked over.
"This is Zack," Gloria said as she gestured toward me. "He's from the surface world."
The man at the bar whistled softly before he took a swig from his mug.
“A surface dweller, eh? What brings you down here? ” He asked curiously.
I considered my answer for a moment before replying, "I'm just curious about this place. I've never seen anything like it before."
The man seemed to accept that explanation; because he nodded his head and went back to drinking his ale. However, the other people in the inn didn't seem so easily convinced.
"I don't believe you," a woman said as she stood up from her seat and walked over to me. "What are you really doing here?"
"I told you; I'm just curious," I said with a shrug. "There's no need to be so hostile."
The woman narrowed her eyes at me before she turned to Gloria and asked, "You're sure about this? He doesn't seem like he's telling the truth."
“Of course, I’m sure,” Gloria replied, sounding offended that the woman would even suggest such a thing. “He was brought to me by King James himself; why would he lie about something like that?”
The other people in the inn seemed to take this information into consideration before they finally relented and went back to their own business. The woman who had been interrogating me also sat back down, although she continued to give me suspicious looks every now and then.
After we had settled into our room, Lillia immediately started going through all of the books we had borrowed from the library. Mati, on the other hand, appeared to be more interested in exploring our new surroundings. Thus far, she hadn’t found anything too interesting; but I was confident that would change given enough time.
As for myself? Well … there was something that I wanted to do, but it wasn’t something that either of them could help me with. And so, after making up some lame excuse about needing fresh air, I slipped out of the inn without being noticed and made my way towards where Harry’s stall was located in the marketplace.
When I got there, Harry was nowhere to be seen; however, his assistant Jesse was manning (or should I say mermaiding?) The counter in his stead. I had been curious about a sword on the wall, and it was still there.
"Boss said you were here before this, but you didn't buy anything. Whatcha doing back here now, stranger?" The sexy Mermaid said with a slight attitude.
"I wanted to take a closer look at that sword," I said as I pointed toward the weapon in question. "How much is it?"
“Hmmm …” Jesse mused as she tapped her chin thoughtfully with one finger. “It’s not for sale, but if you can beat me in a duel, then I’ll let you have it .”
I was a bit surprised by her offer, but I didn't see any reason to decline. After all, how hard could it be to defeat a girl? She was floating, but I assumed that would be something to do with her belt that was glowing. I could see the same teal crystal in the belt as that I had seen in the blaster. It had to be the source of their power.
I agreed, and we stepped into an open area where people were already gathering around to watch. I wasn't sure if this was a common thing or if they were just curious about me.
"So, how do we do this? " I asked, my eyes never leaving Jesse’s as she floated in front of me.
"Simple," she replied with a smirk. "First one to hit the ground loses."
With that final declaration, the duel began.
Jesse immediately moved towards me, her arms outstretched as if she was going to hug me. I jumped backward just in time to avoid her embrace and then countered with a punch of my own. I didn't want to hurt her or reveal myself too much, so I just gave it normal power. My fist connected with her stomach, but it didn't seem to faze her at all. In fact, she simply wrapped her arms around me and squeezed tightly, cutting off my breathing in the process.
“Time for plan B,” I thought desperately as I tried futilely to pry Jesse’s arms off of me. However, no matter how much I struggled, I couldn’t break free from her grip. It was like being hugged by an anaconda.
"Do you give up yet?" Jesse hissed as she tried to smother me, but I really didn't need to breathe. I just needed to figure out her weak spot...or wet spot?
I concentrated and pressed my Orgamsmoura into the Mermaid's hips as she suddenly started to shake. Jesse let out a long cry of pleasure that made everyone step back.
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