Chapter Nine Spirit’s Hearth, Once More (Patreon)

Chloe watched the buildings move past, dozens of women moving around conducting their business. Tyna was a true melting pot, but what merchant city wouldn’t be? So she saw people of all kinds including dark elves, drow, several varieties of spider women, a few different breeds of ant-girl, and a few varieties of beastkin that favored the underdark. Surface races could be seen as well, but she could not help but notice how few humans were in the crowd. They were one of the more prolific mortal races. Their very adaptability meant they could live almost anywhere. Not only that, but humans could, given the right conditions, evolve into any given race. A property she’d spent a couple of cycles studying. 

Her methods had been pretty simple. All she needed were a few humans, some variables to alter and an environment where they could level up. The fact evolution could only occur at certain level milestones, one of which she’d been stuck at for tens of thousands of years. Those milestones were what divided the tiers. Scholars had split the races into twelve tiers, thirteen if you counted common beasts. For common beasts, they were labeled tier zero and would evolve upon reaching level 5, which brought one to the first tier. It was occupied by fairly weak monsters and mortal species like the Low Goblin, the Lesser Elf and the Dire Rat all occupied this tier. Beings in the first tier would evolve upon reaching level 20.

Tier two was the tier mortals were often born at, along with many of the more common monsters. Much of the world lived and died at the second tier, but plenty of individuals, be they a member of the sapient races or monster, would reach level 100 and evolve into a high race. Yet every once in a while a truly exceptional individual might reach level two hundred and reach the fourth tier. Chloe’s spectral form however, was far beyond that, she’d passed through the tiers and now sat at the peak of the 11th tier which technically made her a Demi-god, a thought that reminded her on how the tiers were named.

Tier Zero:

Common Beasts (Levels 1-5)

Tier One:

Weak Monsters and Races (levels 1-20)

Tier Two

Common Races and Monsters (Levels 1-100)

Tier Three:

High Races (Levels 100-200)

Tier Four:

Advanced Races (Levels 200-300)

Tier Five:

Pseudo Mythic Races (Levels 300-400)

Tier Six:

Mythic Races (Levels 400-500)

Tier Seven:

High Mythic Races (Levels 500-600)

Tier Eight:

Pseudo Legendary Races (Levels 600-700)

Tier Nine:

Legendary Races (levels 700-800)

Tier Ten:

Pseudo Divine Races (Levels 800-900)

Tier Eleven

Demi-God Races (Levels 900-1000)

Tier Twelve

God Races (Levels 1000+)

Of course Chloe was in the interesting position of being an eleventh-tier being occupying a mortal vessel of the second tier. Something she would have to fix, but that would take time. Merely occupying the vessel forced it to grow, a factor that manifested as a superior version of a hero’s boosted growth rate. In other words she would gain experience faster than normal, and since this vessel had hero’s blood, she’d have exceptional growth even for her. Chloe wasn’t yet inclined to really pursue strength just yet however. She still wanted more information. Traveling with Alicia and Sae seemed appealing.

Zoey shifted beside her, “Okay girls, we are almost back to my inn.”

Sae pushed her head to the front, “We are!? Yay!”

Zoey giggled, “Bored back there are we?”

Sae nodded then turned to Chloe, “Another game when we get back?”

“Sure! I had fun with that board game of yours.”

Sae grinned, “Sure we can play that one!”

Zoey’s cart came to a stop a moment later, and the three of them disembarked the cart. Chloe watched a human girl walk past, beside her was a drow. Only reason she paid much attention to the human was that she wore less than the drow. The drow was wearing a thigh-length leather skirt with a brace of knives on a belt, a bow strapped to her back and a single breast plate that covered so little that her large breasts spilled out the top. Meanwhile, the human girl only wore a matching breastplate with a belt holding a few potions, and a pair of short swords on it.

Local adventurers, perhaps? Chloe didn’t get an answer however as the pair vanished behind a corner and her own group was heading up the stairs to the inn. Zoey opened the door and Chloe followed a step behind. The inn’s attached tavern was already busy and unlike in the morning it seemed Zoey wasn’t the only one providing service for the patrons. Several young ladies could be seen, the nearest was a dark elf of average height. She was very pretty with clear creamy purple skin of a fairly pale shade, bright golden eyes, and long silver-white hair. She was dressed in a specially cut black and purple maid’s outfit with a skirt so short her panties should have been visible, if she’d been wearing any. Meanwhile the chest area was cut so that her breasts spilled completely out of the outfit, they were decently sized with a teardrop shape and pink little nipples. Her pussy was slim and delicate with an enlarged clit that was poking out just a little. She smiled upon seeing Zoey walk in, “Welcome back. We had a few adventurers rent rooms while you were away. As for the dinner service, business has been going well, most seats are filled.”

Sae’s belly rumbled, “Dinner sounds good!”

Zoey chuckled, “Right, it is about that time, could you get these two fed?”

“Sure thing, do you like stew? The bakery sold us some really good bread to go with it today.”

Sae nodded and Chloe let the waitress lead them to a table, while she looked around. All the wait staff was dressed in a similar manner, visible pussies and naked breasts spilling out of their clothes. Zoey however had already left the room, so she didn’t have a chance to ask her about the staff.  Chloe did notice several of the waitresses had swollen bellies with the least swollen looking around six months pregnant, while the most swollen looked like she could give birth at any moment. Chloe was briefly reminded of the strange shop and what she had witnessed. Bysha had offered to buy any babies born recently.

Bysha was a question mark for her, the shop almost looked like a Lykeri’s shop, but it was too clean. None of the displayed body parts had been mutilated and the usual tentacle monsters acting as guards were missing. Meanwhile Bysha herself was a question mark, Chloe actually didn’t know what race she was. She might have been of mixed blood but Chloe wasn’t sure of what races. One thing she did understand was that the shop was selling people. Not the first time she’d encountered such things, mortals have had a long and storied relationship with slavery. It was frowned upon to be sure, but mortal kingdoms and queendoms often had differing stances on the practice. Chloe didn’t know what the local stance was and in her book dealing in slaves wasn’t enough to go busting a shop. Still she couldn’t discard the idea that a Lykeri might have had some hand in the shop. The magically disassembled slaves were certainly their style, but it wasn’t enough to prove it. Mortals could do the same with magic afterall.

Chloe did have to wonder what this shop wanted with babies and why they were moving some in the cargo. Other questions abounded over Zoey. Her group was moving some other cargo, but she couldn’t help getting the impression that Zoey wasn’t a big fan of Bysha’s group. Perhaps a loose alliance of convenience. Still sitting around wouldn’t answer any questions. The caravan would be a great place to look around, and she could always come back to the shop. 

The waitress came back over with a pair of steaming bowls of stew and placed them in front of her and Sae. Chloe set her thoughts aside for the moment and dug into the bowl.

She was about halfway through the meal when the door opened to admit Alicia and co. The trio were dressed the same as when she first saw them but they were covered with soot. The smell of ash and charred flesh drifted her way. Sae stared at them with a frown. Chloe blinked, then waved them over. As Alicia drew close, she inquired, “What happened to you?”

They groaned, “Sewer cleaning... not fun.”

Chloe just looked back at them blankly. “How do you get covered in soot while cleaning a sewer?”

The trio chuckled wryly. Alicia let out a breath, “It’s not the kind of cleaning you are thinking about.”

The waitress came over, “I see you three had a productive day. I’ll get the bath ready. In the meantime, is anyone hungry?

“Famished,” replied Alicia, “what is on the menu?”

“Stew and fresh bread,” replied the waitress.

The three adventurers each ordered a bowl and joined them at the table. 

Sae wrinkled her nose, “Sister? You stink.”

Chloe grinned wryly while Alicia chuckled.

_______________

  Chloe and Sae followed Ellie and Alicia into the bathing room. Derrick wasn’t coming with them, not that Chloe was surprised, she had noted the sign about only females being allowed into the bath. Apparently there was a separate bath somewhere for the boys. Curious she’d put a Shadowed Eye on Derrick. Giving her a view of where he was and what he was doing. The other waitress had escorted him to a room at the back of the first floor, adjacent to the gardens. Not the best view of the garden but that was likely why the room was used for a bath.

One eye on him she followed the girls past the curtain into the bath. Or rather the changing area. A set of cubbies with baskets had been set up on the left, while on the right was a row of wooden shelves with an array of soaps, shampoos, towels and other bath products, both mundane and magical. Beneath her feet was smooth polished stone, etched with enchantments to prevent slipping and moisture erosion. Other enchantments were etched into the walls keeping the room at a comfortable balance of temperature and humidity. The room was lit by a strange purple light from a strange stone above. It gave the room an odd feel.

Chloe ignored the light and walked over to the shelves. Picking a product off the shelf, she scanned it with her senses. It was high end soap laced with an aphrodisiac. Nothing unusual, she’d seen the same one before it was a common one in mortal brothels. Not one you often found in an inn. Frowning, she picked up a shampoo bottle and scanned the contents with her magic. Again a quality soap but also laced with pleasure-inducing compounds.

Chloe turned, a question on her lips but it died the moment she saw the others. All three of them were naked now, eyes glassy and unfocused. She focused on Sae for a moment, there was something different about seeing her standing there with glassy, unfocused eyes. A weird sensation roiled through her gut, one she couldn’t place. Sae managed to look every bit as adorable as usual even without the light in her green eyes. Standing naked next to her sister made the family resemblances even clearer. They were so cute together. Now that she thought about it, Alicia wouldn’t look that bad without a head either.

A side door suddenly opened admitting two young women, both entirely naked aside from a little headdress and pregnant. The first one was a human girl with auburn hair and brown eyes. She had a slim build and she was on the short side for a human. Her breasts were quite large however, suggesting mixed blood. Chloe didn’t think she was that far along in her pregnancy, maybe around three months at most.

The other girl was a spiderkin, there were countless breeds. Still there were always ways to tell which breed of spider you were dealing with. This young lady was a rare breed with a carapace of pure white. Like many spiderkin she was human from the waist up. Her hair was silver, and she had bright pink eyes. She was taller than her counterpart and her belly was quite swollen. Chloe figured she was almost ready to give birth, she’d be due in just a couple of weeks at the most. Her naked breasts were of roughly average size.

Both girls noticed her and blinked twice. The human girl frowned, “Um hello. I’m Aria, and you are?”

“Chloe,” she replied, not sure what was going on yet.

“Well, um, Chloe, why aren’t you blank-eyed and docile?”

That was actually an easy one for her to answer without revealing the true reason that is. Mind control didn’t work on her because of who and what she was. “Well I have a heroes blood, my body was blessed by Furea, and I’ve been baptized in the Flames of Passion.”

Chloe didn’t recall any of that happening, but she knew her status, for her to have the Traits Flames of Passion and Blessed Body? It was easy to guess how she received them. It was even possible for her body to have been born with the traits, if her mother had undergone the proper rituals while pregnant. Chloe was certain that was actually the case with her body.

The human girl Aria blinked, “Ah damn. I guess that explains why you are walking around, rather than waiting like you should,” she sighed, “Just don’t interfere with the ritual, okay?”

“Um, sure?” she replied while the Spider girl was collecting some soaps from the shelf near where she was standing.

Aria then turned to Sae, “Alright you must be Sae, come over here girl.”

Chloe watched Aria lead Sae over to a shelf, she hadn’t checked. Aria grabbed a few different soaps, a couple bottles of shampoo and a wash rag, which she placed into a handbasket and gave to Sae, “Carry this for me.”

Aria turned back to the shelf, then found a few brushes and comb, which she tossed into the basket Sae was now obediently holding. Chloe frowned, “Do you always make the guests carry things for you?”

“Yup, makes my job so much easier.” She grabbed one last item and added it to the stuff Sae was holding, “Now I’m going to take care of you and Sae. Talia is doing the adult ritual.”

“Ritual? This is religious? What does it involve? I’m a follower of Furea.”

“Sure is, and don’t worry we respect the other faiths and don’t worry about Alicia and Elie. I believe it was? We just need to borrow them for a ritual of ours.”

Chloe followed the pair into the bath proper, her head full of questions.