Graded [Liudong Lianhua Monastery] 'I'll Make Them Flourish No Matter What! I Can't Believe My Slaves Are This Capable!'

[TheTimePiece]

Hello viewer! This rp is part of the Isekai Hell community! If you like fantasy and or anime feel free to check out the links provided to see if it is something you’d be interested in!
---


Time: Mid Morning

Temperature: Temperate

Place: Toward the South West part of the West Empire, On a path leading toward dwellings, nearby the Liudong Lianhua Monastery Complex

Mention: Elvario

After the fire elemental incident Saoirse Desrosiers and her slaves found themselves on the road again. Injuries had since been healed in part thanks to Scylla and Ryuuji. Only time would tell if they would encounter the allies they had worked with back in their recent excursion. Unfortunately the wealth which they had found was not exceptional in amount, but at the very least it had helped to pay for their traveling expenses and cost of living if anything. Hopefully it would be the fuel the trio needed to get to the next place to make some serious profits.

Saoirse’s owning class status did also give them some more leeway had she not been. Many people were more naturally inclined to respect her on their journey as was the way of etiquette. After all not everyone could claim they owned one slave, never mind two, and they indeed served dual purposes as status symbols for her to others. The fact she was a beast as well helped quite a bit, as people were more likely to take her seriously.

Regardless, Ryuuji and Melia Hayward followed along diligently. The particular section of the dirt path they were on had been well maintained and cleared, there was not a lot of bulky vegetation around them, instead much of it was grassy fields, with the occasional flower here and there.



As the three traveled along the path it wasn’t all too long before a couple frog people in some sort of monk-like attire walking along the side of the path stopped nearby the trio. They weren't all too much taller than Saoirse had been.

???

​

“<Hello sister, do they belong to you?>” A decidedly masculine voice asked Saoirse in beastial, this particular one was carrying what looked like a bo staff.

“<If they do what are their talents? And I must ask why is someone of your status moving along these paths with only humans by your side? Sure she looks strong, but I can guarantee you she could be more formidable if you just hear me out.>”

“<And this young man here why he hardly looks like he’d be much better than throwing himself in front of you if a group of bandits attacked perhaps there are other skills suitable for him?>”

It didn’t look like the frog person was too concerned with being nosey.

“<If you are not going anywhere urgently I believe that what our monastery can offer may be of great service, you may not know this but we are a martial order, with disciplined practices, and we are currently inviting visitors in to see what we have to offer. I believe that we could teach your traveling party here some valuable things, depending on what their uses to you are, of course for free..all that I ask is that you visit and if you like what you see, you may consider supporting our efforts.>”
It was pretty clear he was suggesting a donation at a later date from the language being used.

Ryuuji Kamimura

​

Ryuuji looked at the monks and his instinct was to roll his eyes but instead he played the part and stayed quiet, trying his best to appear subservient to Miss Desrosiers. Unfortunately Ryuuji still didn't understand the language which the monk spoke, but he assumed he was asking for money or something. For all they knew this monk looking guy was some criminal in disguise, and it wasn’t like Ryuuji knew much about the West Empire and it’s geography yet, he hadn’t even been in this world that long ago. But he did give a sincere bow of acknowledgement, should Saoirse decide to engage in conversation with the supposed frogman monk.

On the other hand it wasn’t unheard of monasteries to open up to the public for various events, perhaps this was a genuine invitation and he had been sent out to get people to visit, regardless it should be easy enough for them to keep going to the nearest settlement if it didn’t pique Miss Desrosiers’ interest.

 

[Elvario]

Saoirse Desrosiers

Spoiler: Full Image and Source

From: https://twitter.com/morteraphan/status/1445408350116712460

Mentions: TheTimePiece
Languages Common | <Beastial>

Her search for flourishing had led them to the other side of the Empire, as she was still looking for opportunities. They had yet to fix one of the bigger issues. Money. Having a lot of that would make everything else significantly easier. One of the reasons she'd wanted to travel all the way here was to try finding someone who'd buy the dragon scale halves they got at a high price. Turns out it might be worth a lot, but only to a very limited few people. Finding the right buyer wasn't going to be easy, even if they'd passed from north to south in an attempt to do so. She learned there might be some religious folk in this part of the world, so she figured they might have some sects or cults they could pawn off their dragon scale halves too.

That said, the frog monks they encountered first didn't seem like the intended clientele at all. At least their leader was polite. “<Indeed.>” She replied, wondering what in the world this was going to be about.

The next line of questions made her raise an eyebrow. “<I'm looking for someone interested in buying a mana rich dragon-scale.>” She figured she might as well see if these would be interested, even though the other questions suggested they wouldn't be. “<More formidable, you say? Consider me interested.>” She replied, as that certainly caught her attention. “<She's a warrior, he's a healer.>” She added, regarding the previous questions about their talents.

His proposal didn't seem the worst. That said, she figured she could abuse it a tad more. “<If you provide is free lodgings and food for the duration of our stay, I'm willing to give it a shot. Of course, should your endeavours show results, I'd be inclined to support them further in the future. >” That should get them a place to stay for free at worst and some progress at best. Not too shabby.

“They're challenging you two to train with them, thinking they can teach you some new tricks.” She translated for her slaves. “We're taking them up on it, in exchange for them providing us with lodgings and food.” She announced, already having settled on that next course of action.

 

[TheTimePiece]

Time: Mid Morning

Temperature: Temperate

Place: Toward the South West part of the West Empire, Liudong Lianhua Monastery Complex Outskirts

Mention: Elvario

Nong Shui
​

“<Oh and where were the rest of my manners? My name is Nong Shui, I am the Duijan of the Liudong Lianhua order.>”
( Narrator note: Duijan is essentially a religious leader)

The more distinguishably dressed looking monk with the bo staff who had spoken to them first said.

The frogman’s eyes appeared to light up a bit when Saoirse mentioned the fact that she was looking for someone interested in buying a mana rich dragon-scale.

“<Why, I believe I can provide you with that very opportunity should you come back with us! The open house is an opportunity to meet great people.>”

He said, sounding excited. However he did not seem to elaborate further at that moment, perhaps it was something worth asking further about.

“<You have chosen most wisely!, of course we will not ask such an esteemed guest as yourself and by extension your property to pay for lodging or for food during your stay. I will do my utmost to ensure it is worth your time.>”

“<A warrior and a healer I see, There is plenty to work with then, we have people who can help with both skill sets, as well possibly help build some other skills which are most beneficial. >”

Melia Hayward
​

Melia was quick to give Saoirse a physical sign of acknowledgement with a bow, which probably looked a bit more extreme compared to Ryuuji's gesture, given their difference in height.

“Yes Ma’am, I promise I’ll do my best to make the most of your time and this opportunity.”

Ryuuji Kamimura
​

Ryuuji was quick to follow suit. “I promise you the same Miss Desrosiers. I know that I’m capable of much greater things than I showcased earlier..I can feel it's at my fingertips.”

If what the monk said was true then perhaps it would be worth their time to travel all the way here, at least he hoped so, it had been the profits from their last excursion that let them get this far, free meals and lodging would help make traveling this far worth it no doubt. Of course he would have been excited at the prospect of them selling the dragon scale had he understood that bit of the exchange.

Nong Shui guided the group toward another well maintained path which led away from the field in the direction of one of the closest bodies of water.

"<Not to be imposing but I am most curious about your background, I am more than open to share the same regardless if it strikes your interest.>"

“<If you have any questions of course I would be more than happy to elaborate. We will not be too far from here. >” Nong Shui added.
---
There was an opportunity for further discussion during the travel period.

As they moved across the land, thankfully unlike their last trip this one was less eventful besides the eventual shift of what could be seen. In the distance there were large ornate stone obelisks of sorts which had beastial text inscribed into them. If one took the time to read the text became religious in nature quickly. The two large Obelisks on either side of the path marked the start of the land which belonged to the monastery and that they were very close to the littoral zone of the lake.
Even further in the distance parts of the complex became apparent, quite a few towering pagodas visible now. In order to sus out more details the group would need to get even closer but it was quickly evident they were almost there.

 

[Elvario]

Saoirse Desrosiers

Spoiler: Full Image and Source

From: https://twitter.com/morteraphan/status/1445408350116712460

Mentions: TheTimePiece
Languages Common | <Beastial>

“<Saoirse Desrosiers.>” She replied upon the frog's introduction. “<Melia and Ryuuji.>” She pointed out her slaves. It'd probably be easier to train them if these frogs knew their names from get-go. Assuming the frogs would be able to back-up their words, of course.

She was surprised the frog might know a chance to sell their scale. “<The open house... Is that a type of auction?>” It sure sounded like one, but at the same time, it also sounded like a commercial for the frog's training courses as well.

That said, upon hearing lodgings and food were free, she figured the deal was made. “<Sounds like we have a deal.>” After all, now the worst that could happen was wasting some time in exchange for free food and lodgings. That'd still be an acceptable outcome. Even so, when he mentioned building some other skills, she was a tad more reluctant. “<I'd rather see them flourish by having them dedicated to their specialities. There's no use in knowing many skills without ever fully mastering any of them.>”

She'd nod at Melia and Ryuuji. It's not like they had much of a choice, but their obedient and even somewhat eager replies were still appreciate. “Good, very good. Perhaps I'll even see about joining in myself.” She stated, out of the blue. She did have the [Natural Weapons] and [Jumping] to perform a decent Jump-Kick. It might not harm seeing if she could improve upon it, as she'd already needed it before.

When the frog asked about her back-ground, she was a tad weary. How much of it should she share? Probably just the basics. “<My family's been in the slave trade for a few generations. Rather than taking over in the business as usual manner, I'm trying to develop them more. Quality over quantity. Besides, I enjoy trying to develop talent where other believes there is none.>” That was probably the extend of what was useful to share. Anything else wouldn't be worth it.

As for questions of her own, she did have some. “<So why are all of you doing this? As a ritual to some sort of deity or as a self-development path to enlightenment or something?>” It might be nice to at least know some of the frog's motives, just in case.

 

[TheTimePiece]

Time: Mid Morning

Temperature: Temperate

Place: Toward the South West part of the West Empire, Liudong Lianhua Monastery Complex

Mention: Elvario

Nong Shui
​

Nong Shui gave Saoirse a nod, before looking to Ryuuji and Melia with two more small nods. At the very least acknowledging their presence even if they were at the very bottom of the cast.

“<Hm, by no means do I mean anything by this, but, have you ever considered how different that name is from the young man there? His name sounds like something you might expect from the beasts of Kuridan.>” Nong Shui simply commented.

“<Of course that’s not all that caught my attention, Melia is quite tall for a human woman is she not? Regardless I’m certain that feature will suit her well for what you envision.>”
Nong Shui continued with a bit of a cheerier tone toward the later part.

Melia Hayward & Ryuuji

​

Melia didn’t appear to react one way or another as she was described, while Ryuuji continued to play it safe for the time being, both of them respectfully acknowledging Nong Shui’s acknowledgment of them nonverbally.

“<Well as I was mentioning prior, we are currently inviting those who travel the paths in a significant radius, I felt that it was only fitting that I partake in this process too, since It is only right for all of us to help.>”

“<The open house has many purposes, it allows the public to enjoy what benefits the Liudong Lianhua Monastery has to offer, while potentially bringing in additional funding to maintain our way of life.>”

“<While not explicitly an auction in name, if people perhaps see something valuable which we possess and they are interested in buying, then I believe that it mutually benefits all parties involved, wouldn’t you agree?>”

“<In effect, there will likely be some others there who would be quite interested in buying that scale, depending on how well my brothers and sisters have been spreading the word to the right people.>”

From the sound of things the open house was multipronged, to get in the good graces of the public and potentially fund raise.

“<Very well then, but should you decide there is value either of them knowing the tea ceremony or divulging into calligraphy, then please do let us know, and I can make it so.>”

Ryuuji was a bit surprised to hear Saoirse willing to partake in something like martial training, but given how she had used it earlier, he thought perhaps it wasn’t as out of the blue as it had seemed.

Melia did not show surprise, perhaps on account of living with her longer and knowing Saoirse much better at this point.

“<Of course! You are more than welcome to join in on any of our offerings should they interest you, powerful kicks will certainly come in handy in some of the exercises.>”

As the group moved along the conversation continued.

“<I see, a generational business, I wish you well in your endeavor then, and I’m happy to hear that it sounds like your aspirations align well with what you are trying to accomplish.>”

“<I especially appreciate it when someone like yourself treats them properly, in my belief I am called to care for all, so to not see any bruise marks or sign of malnutrition is reassuring.>” Nong Shui said pretty openly.

“<Why yes, our order is dedicated to the lady of the lake, Aku Ya Nushi, for she has provided for the people of this region for many generations as a benevolent force who believes in the value of all life. As she has shown us kindness time and time again, is it only fair that we protect her and our home, and show others the kindness which she has shown us. The closer one can aspire to be like Aku Ya Nushi, the more fulfilling and honest their lives will be.>”

While the monk continued to speak Ryuuji mentally almost wanted to scoff at this whole situation of going with the monks, but he refrained from doing so. A bunch of kumbaya monks probably. He wondered if one of them was going to pull a lute out and they were going to sing about the beauty of nature around a campfire when they got there. Granted he was somewhat jaded essentially being an atheist in his past life only to find out that some sort of divine being existed..recently. For now he did not say a word.

Melia, not knowing the language either didn’t appear to react much, however she did keep herself close to Saoirse, and looked at Nong Shui when he spoke.
---

Liudong Lianhua Monastery Complex​

The trio eventually found themselves passing the large obelisks which when Ryuuji was close enough to them he appraised one of them out of curiosity to see what information he could gather, Melia also finding her attention taken by them, the architecture was pretty unique all things considered. The slaves continued to stay close to Saoirse.

Beyond the obelisks was a path of well placed smooth stones which looked like they were sourced from the bottom of a freshwater source. The pathway eventually lead into the main Courtyard of the monastery.

Despite how relatively undefended the area looked, there was another faint magic dome of sorts which was actually quite extensive that only those who were attuned to magic could see in lieu of not having additional sensory skills to sus it out.

Some of the aforementioned Pagodas became accessible in the main courtyard on the sides of it. Far off to the side of the courtyard there was a square space with a wooden fence around it designated where there were some monks in identical robes. While many were, they were not all frogs, the commonality between them all however was that they all looked like they were related to freshwater animals. As usual some of them looked more beast than others. Some of the monks were striking wooden targets with their appendages, while others were also brandishing bo staffs.

The scent of a pleasant floral incense could be smelled even from where the small group stood, which permeated throughout the space, as well as the occasional sound of a wind chime.

At the very center of the sizable courtyard however was a serene body of pure gleaming water surrounded by lush gardens and blooming lotus flowers. The ground around the watery space showed what looked like some kind of stone pathway which could be walked in a circular motion through a zen garden of sorts, perhaps for meditation purposes. Not all far in the distance from this part of the monastery was a great view of the nearby lake.

“<Shall I show you to your accommodations first? Naturally a general tour will be provided if that is of interest too”> Nong Shui asked, as the monks who had been with him eventually went off on their way after being dismissed.

 

[Elvario]

Saoirse Desrosiers

Spoiler: Full Image and Source

From: https://twitter.com/morteraphan/status/1445408350116712460

Mentions: TheTimePiece
Languages Common | <Beastial>

She was a tad surprised by the frog's comment. “<I had not considered it, as the names of Humans and slaves aren't of any particular interest to me.>” Even so, if it hadn't been of it interest before, it was now. “<Even if you claim to mean nothing by it, it seems to be relevant enough for you to bring it up. Why is that?>” She asked, now sufficiently interested in the topic to want to know more. In fact... “Hey, Ryuuji, where did you come from?” She'd ask, rather out of the blue for him, considering he didn't speak Beastial. That said, slaves didn't need to be in the loop, they just needed to answer when asked.

She laughed at the mention of Melia being tall. “<A species like mine doesn't need a particularly big person to shield them, but at the same time, it never hurts. Besides, perhaps it can help with the intimidation factor. The best battles are the ones that don't even need to be fought, after all. Or is that not to your order's standard?>” She replied, figuring she might as well get more of an idea of what these frogs were up too while at it. “<Either way, she's got a great potential to grow as a warrior. You'll see it soon enough.>” After all, her [Fighting Style] was already rather [specialized], so all it took to increase her abilities was to master the overall style further.

When the frog mentioned they were bringing in travellers from a radius, it was the second part that stood out. Was she dealing with a frog monk bigwig? She wouldn't have even noticed it. She wasn't one to know much about religion, let alone monk sects. Then again, the fact he addressed her rather casually would suggest he had the status and caste to match hers. “<An interesting method.>”

As for the open house and auction, she nodded. “<Spent money to get money, I see.>” Another interesting method. One that was highly open to exploits by those less generous and more self-centred. In other words, this should be good. “<That seems peculiar, but valid.>” She added. regarding the ongoing market-place that seemed to be this monastery. That said, she couldn't help notice that it sounded like they were in dire need of money if they needed to sell their possessions to whomever offered money for them. Perhaps there was even more to exploit here. She made a mental note to discuss that with Ryuuji later.

She scoffed at the idea of tea ceremonies or calligraphy. “<If I wanted either of that, I'd just buy a slave more suitable.>” The idea of either Melia or Ryuuji wasting their time on it, rather than fulfilling their actual potential and striving towards flourishing, was simply outrageous.

“<Offerings?>” She asked. That was an odd way to describe training. Perhaps he meant the training schedules on offer? Either way, she figured she might need to be a tad more careful. That said, sitting still wasn't of any use, so she might as well see what these 'offerings' would be like. At least from a distance, at first.

His speech on treating slaves made her scoff again. “<It would be most foolish to damage your own wares, regardless of any believes.>” She stated, as that was perhaps her first and foremost reason for disliking most of the common slave practices. It was too illogical and unreasonable. “<Although they need to be in good condition in general, if I want to develop them.>” She added, stating the more personal reason for wanting the best for her slaves. “<Ah, right, it's also nice to know they'll be more inclined to keep you safe rather than murder you in your sleep.>” Another great reason to treat slaves well. “You two would keep me safe, right?” She'd ask Melia and Ryuuji, wondering if the frog would be able to tell whether or not their 'yes' would be sincere. She herself, at least, expected it to be.

The whole story about a lady of the lake was a tad less interesting. It sounded like a stray from the path towards flourishing. In other words, she deemed it best not to make any statements regarding it.

The complex itself was impressive enough. Even her slaves clearly seemed to think so, being taken by the obelisks. The groups here certainly looked like lake-folk. All in all, the place was pretty nice. She'd not mind owning such a facility to train slaves. Perhaps in the future... “<Give us the tour first.>” She replied. They were packed lightly and hadn't travelled that far today, so she figured it'd be best to see more of their surroundings. It might also be their best shot at making up their minds on staying in this place, should the frogs be hiding things and/or be up to shady business. No that she minded shady business. Just not when it was used behind her back. Ryuuji couldn't heal back organs just yet, so it'd be troublesome if she suddenly woke up missing some.

 

[TheTimePiece]

Time: Mid Morning

Temperature: Temperate

Place: Toward the South West part of the West Empire, Liudong Lianhua Monastery Complex

Mention: Elvario

Nong Shui
​

“<Well, It just stuck out to me as odd that a human would have a naming convention so close to a beast’s. It could be as simple as he was raised by beasts from Kuridan I suppose, or maybe even immigrants, but frankly I find it hard to believe many would go to such lengths to accept a human as one of their own.>”

Ryuuji Kamimura
​

Of course Ryuuji was somewhat caught off guard with the question since he had the pleasure of listening to a conversation in which he felt like there were words which he practically should understand but unfortunately was unable too. Why did this language have to be so close to Japanese yet not it? It was more than a bit frustrating. But that’s when his mind registered the question and he felt a bit nervous suddenly, which was not like him. Great now he had to either try to lie, which if Saoirse was suspicious of his response could only cause trouble for him, or he could tell the truth which could be problematic too, perhaps he’d need to say some sort of truth with some omission thrown in. Now even Melia was taking a look over at him which really wasn’t helping things any, the frog too, all eyes, for trying to be the side character slave he sure had a way of getting people’s attention on him.

He also knew he couldn’t keep the hare waiting too long.

“I originally came from an island community. An island which has some similarities to the place known as the Republic of Kuridan. I traveled from there to the West Empire.”

He spoke technically the truth with some omission, While the details were technically true he was not going to admit this early on that he was from another world and had been from Japan, hoping that would saitate some curiosity. Perhaps they’d just assume he was from some obscure human tribe which wasn’t well known.

Melia Hayward
​

Melia looked curious at hearing him say that, but she didn’t speak her mind on the matter.

Nong Shui was also curious. <”Hm, well this world is a pretty big place I’ve heard.>”

With Saoirse's response about the height comment pertaining to Melia, Nong Shui chuckled a bit himself.

“<Oh no there is no problem with her height, there are others of us who are tall, she should be able to partake just as the rest, many shapes and sizes which we beasts take after all.>”

“<And of course peace is preferable to conflict, but in order to protect this lake and our way of life, our philosophy, it was decided early one we must know how to fight should the need come.>”
“<I look forward to the opportunity.>”

“<I'm pleased to hear you find our methods to be interesting, I hope that you’ll find them to be mutually beneficial.>” He summarized in his remark after her comments on what she thought of what he mentioned they were currently doing as far as fund raising went.


“<I understand, you know what role is most suitable to them and as their owner I am certain you know best then. Regardless the offer shall stand.>”

“<Indeed offerings as in knowledge and pleasantries.>” He responded plainly at her restating the word.

“<Whether it be out of pragmatism or necessity, my sentiment of thanks still stays the same, that you see the there being value in upholding the dignity of other life.>”

Melia was quick to respond to Saoirse’s question.

“I would offer up life to protect yours should it come to it.” Melia sounded pretty serious with her words too, as did the expression which she had when she said it.

Ryuuji gave a slight bow once more. “Of course Miss Desrosiers.”

He was quick to answer too. He also sounded quite serious, which truthfully was true. Running away with a title like he had was a pretty difficult endeavor even if he wanted to. Frankly he’d much rather be owned by her than anyone else at the current time especially given what other slave owners could be like..plus their mindsets for profit seemed to be pretty compatible which he had enjoyed so far.

“<Looks like from the sound of things you won’t have to worry about disloyalty anytime soon.>” Nong Shui commented.

By the time they were far in Nong Shui nodded, “<Very well then!>” " I shall show you all around. If you have any questions, of course feel free to ask.”

Nong Shui then proceeded to show off some of the more important closest attractions.

He made his way over to central gleaming water in the garden and explained this time in common, so that Melia and Ryuuji could understand presumably,

“Here is the spirit pool, believed to be a gift from Aku Ya Nushi herself, it is said that those who bathe in the water will have heightened spiritual awareness and martial prowess. It is not uncommon for some to rest in the water to meditate.”

After explaining that some more, Nong Shui gestured to the area where people were training, “This is a popular spot for martial training. Equipment is typically exchanged depending on what we are focusing on for the day.”

“We also have an area closer to the lake for training requiring a greater source of water to be present.”

After some more time of talking, He then approached a much more ornate building placed like a building might on a campus, suggesting that Nong Shui likely did have some form of wealth if it was a communal asset.

“This is the Hall of Scholarly Tranquility.” Nong Shui spoke much more quietly as they got close. The building was sizable with sweeping eaves and lapis lazuli colored pillars. Within the hallowed halls, a colossal ornate golden statue of a wise looking beast Bodhisattva type figure overlooked some more monks who were seemingly active in silent contemplation in front of the statue. To the sides ancient scrolls lined the walls similar to a library. Flickering lantern light illuminated the faces of monks engaged in the study of esoteric texts in the form of scrolls.

Nong Shui would also show them to the mess hall which had simple but efficient. A wide wooden space with a bamboo ceiling with lots of traditional pillow seats with low tables. A kitchen was off to the side, as well as a place where presumably one could collect their meal.

There was another similarly basic inside space with seating and a lectern of sorts presumably for speeches inside which he showed them, however there were a few more fairly impressive statues near the entrance to the space. There had been a space outside curated with stones for seats instead for similar purposes depending on what made more sense which he had also shown them.

There was a walking trail which went around the lake which they maintained, which he mentioned in passing.

Of course several of the Pagodas were additional prayer spaces for various purposes. However some of them also contained some of the more valuable objects which he had been speaking of, some of them arranged similar to how a museum might. Objects like smaller ornate statues, finely crafted traditional weapons and armor, jewelry, pendants, fine pottery, even some calligraphy pieces and block prints, clearly being treated as fine art.

Toward the end he’d also then show them to the accommodations for sleeping which were at the very least nicer than where the trio had spent nights before with proper canopy beds with some elegant looking pillows, as well as some nearby chests to store belongings, a chair and desk and a lantern and means to light it as well.

“<Now then I presume you’d like three separate rooms?>” He’d ask facing Saoirse at this point since the slaves counted as part of her ‘property’ it was pretty natural to ask the question, not all slave owners would probably feel the same about the topic.

So far there hadn't been much that stuck out as super suspicious. At most given there was supposedly an open house going on, despite having been around quite a good deal of the place, there didn't seem to be many other outsiders around and about at least obviously.

For the duration of the look around Melia hadn't really asked anything, but she had paid attention respectfully. This was similarly true for Ryuuji, who didn't really want to push his luck by annoying the frog man with too many questions even if he had many. During the process however Ryuujji had been keeping track of the valuables, and compartmentalizing them, since they'd give him potential insight into what was valuable. The religious and culture explanations really only seemed to confirm his feelings earlier that these really were just a bunch of overly optimistic types that their chosen way of life was somehow going to lead them to the truth. Thankfully though what it did mean was that there might be opportunities for them to seize moving forward.

 

[Elvario]

Saoirse Desrosiers

Spoiler: Full Image and Source

From: https://twitter.com/morteraphan/status/1445408350116712460

Mentions: TheTimePiece
Languages Common | <Beastial>

“An island community..?” There weren't many of those known in this world. She assumed he wasn't speaking about the Sky Islands either. To that extend, island communities reminded her more of the Greeks or Cypriots from her old world, although those definitely hadn't been similar to Kuridan. “You should point it out on the map sometime. You've got me interested.” She replied, having gotten curious to see if this world had island communities similar to those of her old world.

'Offerings as in knowledge and pleasantries.' She still thought it was a dubious word to have been used by a monk, but she decided to risk it. After all, a good deal was ahead of them if this offer was true and if it was as exploitable as she hoped it would be.

She couldn't help feel a tad proud at their responses of protecting her. She'd trained them well thus far. Not like she'd ever want to see them at risk of dying, as that'd be a pretty big financial set-back and it'd ruin her plans for further develop them while at it. Their deaths would be horrible, all in all. “Good, good~ Although, we'd best make sure it'll never be needed~” She replied to them. After all, during the last dangerous encounter, she'd been the one hopping through fire and risking her life instead, which had turned things upside-down for a bit.

“<If things go well, I hope to never have to do so.>” She replied to the frog's comment of worrying about loyalty. After all, how could she develop someone that was disloyal? She feared that'd be a near impossible task.

She looked at the pool with mixed interest. It was definitely an odd place to show them first. That said, simply bathing to gain more power sounded like it'd be too easy to be true. Yet bathing in itself was nice. “Are those freely accessible?” She figured she might try them out, even though she might need to share them with the common rabble. With some luck they'd steer clear, at the very least, if she did so.

As they passed the equipment room, she quickly checked to see if there was equipment specialising on legs. After all, both rabbits and frogs were known to have stronger than average legs. There might be some things she could use here. Either in all seriousness or just to pass some time. She'd yet to settle on it.

“What type of training do you need so much water for? Swimming?” She asked, wondering why he mentioned it. Did they train fish-folk as well or something? Most of them looked at least somewhat aquatic, at least. All in all these folk remained rather odd.

As she looked across the library like-building, highly decorated as it was, another question arose. “Do you have any scriptures on reincarnation?” Perhaps she could find out some more about her arrival to this world. That'd be intriguing.

At the question of having separate rooms, she debated her options. In the end, she figured she'd risk being rude to their frog hosts. “I'd prefer one with two or more beds. I'd rather have one or both of them stick with me. They are my guards, after all.” Considering her intention would be rather clear even if she didn't add the latter part, she figured it was best to be upfront. “With so many varied guests that may or may not arrive at your establishment, I'd rather not take unnecessary risks.”

That said, she hadn't spotted many of those varied guests just yet. Peculiar. Perhaps this frog place was less popular than expected, which made her wonder why. If they were going through so much trouble to promote the place, they didn't seem to have many results to show for it. That said, she spotted Ryuuji glossing over some of the supposed valuables. Perhaps he'd seen more than she had; opportunities for profit. If these were in dire need of money, picking up some of those artefacts for cheap and selling them at high margins would be great.

 

[TheTimePiece]

Time: Mid Morning

Temperature: Temperate

Place: West Empire, Liudong Lianhua Monastery Complex

Mention: Elvario

Ryuuji Kamimura
​

Ryuuji almost gulped to himself, hopefully this whole thing would be forgotten about eventually and even if they stumbled upon a realm map he wouldn’t be asked to point that out. He didn’t even know if there were any islands in this world, but it was the best that he had to say for the time being.

“Certainly Miss Desrosiers..” He responded respectfully as perusal, doing his utmost not to sound suspicious, so he could just get back to playing the discrete side character role well enough once again.

Both slaves gave small bows at her saying it would never be needed.

Nong Shui
​

Nong Shui looked to her thoughtfully before replying to her statement, “<I have a good feeling.>”


“<Yes you may wash yourself there if you please during this visitation period it is free of charge.>” suggesting it might not necessarily be free in the future, but also not confirming it would definitely be pay to use later.

Had Ryuuji been capable of understanding that exchange he would have probably thought it was ridiculous not to charge money for someone to use an amenity like that, but alas he did not speak beastial.

As for what Saoirse could gather of the equipment room, there were some leg weights for the purpose of strength training in the form of blocks with ties appropriately scaled for larger and smaller beasts, as well as leather combat boots like one might see on West Empire soldiers.

“Well some certainly swim for exercise or leisure but many of us are capable of underwater combat, and we train for such appropriately.” He explained matter of fact to Saoirse.

“There are also breathing exercises one can practice intermittently beneath the surface and above..even if many of us are capable of breathing underwater in various forms.”

At the library part of the tour Nong Shui nodded, “Yes we do have texts on reincarnation, you may take a look if you’d like, our library is open to visitors, but I cannot guarantee everything in there will always be the easiest to understand.”

This also intrigued Ryuuji a bit now that he understood what was going on, looking over at Nong Shui in thought, was there perhaps information on that divine like figure he had seen earlier? That was definitely of interest.

Melia Hayward

​

Melia on the other hand maintained her neutral, a bit serious and focused look, akin to what a bodyguard might look like typically.

At the room conversation, Melia and Ryuuji weren’t going to dare give any input into that, It was completely up to Saorise as their owner to settle matters like that, Ryuuji himself might have chosen a solitary room if it were up to him, but that it was not.

Nong Shui almost looked a bit surprised when she said that much before he nodded, “Very well! I can make it so, we’ll place you in one of the larger rooms and we can move some additional beds along the walls.”

Whether it was generosity, or her reasonable explanation about there being more strangers than usual or hoping that if he pleased Saoirse she might benefit the order somehow financially, it seemed offense was not taken. After some time the plan was communicated and aquatic monks went to work moving additional beds into the aforementioned room space which Nong Shu showed the trio too, the room arrangement now modified so that the three beds fit comfortably into the space.

“If there is anything else we could offer this space, please let me know, and if you have any other questions please feel free to ask, I imagine after traveling so far you might appreciate a rest, if there is nothing else I will leave you be now.” There were probably others Nong Shui foresaw wanting to greet. Depending on how Saorise answered he would leave the scene.

This would provide the trio an opportunity to plan and strategize moving forward during a bit of down time.

 

[Elvario]

Saoirse Desrosiers

Spoiler: Full Image and Source

From: https://twitter.com/morteraphan/status/1445408350116712460

Mentions: TheTimePiece
Languages Common | <Beastial>

Free access to the baths. That sounded like something she should make use of. She'd just need to check when the least amount of people would use them. Or perhaps she should bring Melia to ward off unwanted attention? She'd think on it.

She listened to the frog's explanation about swimming and training with half-interest. It was the part on reincarnation literature in the library that interested her more. “I'll read up on it later, in that case.” She replied, wondering what she might or might not learn from it.

Considering her request was granted relatively easily, the frogs were a tad less suspicious. That said, she still didn't trust them all that much. She had no more questions. “No thanks, that'll be all.”

Upon the frog leaving, she checked the room a bit for anything suspicious. Then, upon hopefully confirming there was none such thing and checking no others were nearby, she'd speak up, keeping her tone down. “Well, it seems these frogs are desperate for money. It's best we be weary. Should give us chances to exploit, but also puts us at risk of being exploited.”

Those were her general observations. “That said, I've seen more than one slave be sold to be drowned as a sacrifice to some water deities, so regardless of their talk, it won't hurt to be cautious.” She wasn't entirely sure how much she believed in their whole goody-two-shoes act to begin with.

“I'd say we have someone keep an eye out during the night and just be careful on our own during the day.” She said, the former explain the reason she hadn't been eager to split up rooms. “For as far as I'm concerned, staying here is akin to camping out in the wild.” That was the same level of concern she had about frogs or strangers trying something in here.

“On the positive side, I think I'll check out these baths sometime tomorrow.” She'd also made up her mind. “Melia, you accompany me.” It'd be nicer to have someone to be able to get rid off unwanted attention, should it be needed, than to have to deal with it herself. “Ryuuji, considering you were eyeing them earlier, I'd suggest you go check out if there's anything of value for sale. If we can get enough for the dragon scale, we can buy some things and make an even bigger profit later. If they're desperate enough for money, I'm assuming some decent deals should be possible.” She barely even hid the fact she was hoping to rip them off.

“Although for now, we should just observe on that front. It's best we see what their training is worth first.” It wasn't good to get on a bad note with their hosts before sampling what they had to offer. “So long as you don't waste your times on calligraphy or tea ceremonies, I'm inclined to leave it up to you to decide which ones are worthwhile. For now, at least.” She wondered if her slaves would have the right ideas on how to work towards flourishing by themselves. Hopefully they would, as that'd be helpful.

 

[TheTimePiece]

Time: Mid Morning

Temperature: Temperate

Place: West Empire, Liudong Lianhua Monastery Complex

Mention: Elvario

Nong Shui
​

Nong Shui nodded with agreement before confirming that he heard Saoirse before he would exit, also reiterating to her that she was certainly more than welcome to read the script at her leisure.

Her check of the room did not reveal anything suspicious thankfully, it just looked like a pretty normal looking room.

Ryuuji Kamimura & Melia Hayward

​

As she began to speak Melia and Ryuuji stood close to her at respectful attention, both of them pretty quickly catching on that she was keeping her voice down for a reason. Ryuuji thought this was pretty reasonable all things considered, who knew if there wasn’t one of these monks just outside their room listening in after all. Since Ryuuji knew how far he was willing to go for a profit, it made him naturally skeptical toward others intentions. He did give her a nod when she mentioned that the frogs appeared desperate for money.

“That’s the feeling I got myself Miss Desrosiers. In one way, it is advantageous if there aren’t too many more outsiders who come since it might give us greater haggling power, presuming you want to acquire any of those items we saw earlier..however on the other hand, they may try to charge us later, or with there not being as many people being here there might be less of an opportunity for us to part with that scale..which would go a ways of helping us..I suppose it’ll depend just how it all unfolds.” He finished.

For the time being Melia was relatively quiet, perhaps it not being business she felt as comfortable speaking on.

At that next comment while Ryuuji’s face maintained it’s somewhat elegant neutral look, on the inside he couldn’t help but feel a bit nervous when she mentioned potential drowning, this made him wish he had picked the water breathing feature when he had talked to that god..but hindsight was 20-20.

He and Melia gave additional nods of acknowledgement at that line.

“As Melia’s training is likely to be more physically exhausting than my own, perhaps I should take the night watch at least more often than not.” Ryuuji offered, figuring it seemed like a logical move. Granted he wasn’t sure if training in magic would take a big physically trying toll as well as mental, but he figured Melia would benefit from getting some proper sleep.

Melia looked to her owner and gave another gesture of respect, “I will do as you wish, and I promise I’ll keep you and your property safe.” She said with assurance once more.

She actually lit up subtly at being told that she would get to accompany Saoirse to the baths, with a faint smile. “Of course Ma’am, wherever you want to go with me I’ll follow.”

Ryuuji gave another bow of respect. “Understood Miss Desrosiers, thank you, I believe that plan will allow me to make good use of my current..unfortunately limited skillset. I also did see some items of interest which I believe would have nice resale value at the appropriate auction or collector audience.”

Ryuuji couldn’t help but think that calligraphy wouldn’t be a terrible use if one could use the skill to become a commercial artist of sorts and generate some revenue, but it was pretty clear Saoirse wasn’t thrilled with either of them doing the idea since she would simply acquire slaves more suited to it she had suggested.

Both slaves gave acknowledgement and signs of agreement when she said they should first see if the training is even worth it. If it didn’t seem worth it that would probably change the priorities some, as far as trying to profit as much as possible and then dipping quickly, Ryuuji figured but she was right that was a smart first move.

“ Thank you for granting us this opportunity. I couldn’t bare the idea of squandering the time you’re investing in us Ma’am, I’ll make sure my choices are considered to the best of my ability.”

“I feel a similar sentiment to Melia, I also greatly appreciate this liberty. I’ll use my best judgment then, and hopefully will be able to meet the aforementioned magic user who can best assist me which that monk mentioned earlier.”

 

[Elvario]

Saoirse Desrosiers

Spoiler: Full Image and Source

From: https://twitter.com/morteraphan/status/1445408350116712460

Mentions: TheTimePiece
Languages Common | <Beastial>

So far so good. The room was normal at least.

She listened as Ryuuji confirmed he'd gotten the same vibes as her, from what he'd seen here. She just nodded at him, agreeing without feeling the need to more explicitly point it out.

A bit of a smile formed on her lips when Ryuuji offered to be standing most of the night's watch. Her slaves coming up with such agreements amongst themselves was a great development.

“Good, good. I'm in a good mood, so you can wake me up early and I'll personally keep an eye out during the last two hours.” She offered, figuring she'd chip in a bit so her property had more energy for development during the coming day. Besides, I'd also give her some time to prepare.

With all that settled on, as well as their plans for the next day, all that remained was to spent the night there and start up their plans the next morning. She'd spent the two hours she woke up earlier going through some of her slaver's documentation, checking to see when she'd be able to afford a new slave. One of the main things she'd been wondering was whether or not there was flourishing to be found in servitude by itself. Someone fully dedicated not to the protection of another, but to the absolute and total comfort of another. Could someone so centred towards a target outside of themselves flourish as such, or would that be a lost cause? It was an interesting thing to ponder about. For now, she figured giving Melia and Ryuuji enough freedom to focus on themselves would definitely be needed to really make them flourish, at least.

That said, when it was time to get into action, she'd wake them up with a; “Let's move. I'll be checking out the library first, Melia, I'll meet you at the baths in the afternoon. Ryuuji, unless something comes up, you can report to me in the evening.” She was fairly sure Ryuuji could handle the freedom whilst she'd give Melia her own choice of training to join for the morning, figuring it'd be best to use her own bath time to let Melia rest whilst keeping an eye out, so that she could possibly go for a second training in the evening.

With that arranged, she'd personally set off for the library, wondering what she might find about the reincarnation literature she was curious about.

 

[TheTimePiece]

Time: Morning

Temperature: Temperate

Place: West Empire, Liudong Lianhua Monastery Complex

Mention: Elvario

Ryuuji Kamimura
​

Ryuuji, should he notice the subtle smile, was feeling a bit better about his role of trying to stay a side character for now. Appeasing Saoirse really was all he needed to focus on at the moment, it made things simpler to think about his actions in term of that in many ways. Regardless it was fortunate that she took well to what he had to say as far as plans went.

Melia Hayward
​

Ryuuji and Melia were both pretty quick to give thanks to Saoirse for her saying she’d keep watch in the last two hours.

“That’s quite generous of you ma’am, should you change your mind I’m certain either of us could take over.”

Ryuuji bowed some , “Thank you..Miss Desrosiers, more should aspire to care as you do.”

That was probably the best way of putting it as far as Ryuuji was concerned. He had probably gotten an idea by that point Saoirse was pretty into the idea of them being successful so it was probably largely motivated by that rather than an intrinsic kindness, but he could certainly relate to that, Ryuuji himself could relate in many ways which in some ways was preferable to having someone who was naturally inclined to give and not prioritize themselves.

Thankfully during the night nothing eventful happened when they had slept there. Perhaps there would be more visitors who might provide some use now that some time had passed, which was something else to seriously consider.


Both Melia and Ryuuji woke up diligently and without prompting beyond what she woke them up with. Thankfully both slept rather well during the portion of the night they were able too. Even if the monastery accommodations had been rather modest it was a deal better than what that tavern had been providing them.

“Yes Ma’am, I’ll check out what’s available and join accordingly.” She said with a bit of a reserved smile, seemingly still glad that Saoirse was still intending to share some bath time with her, an appealing prospect to Melia evidently.

“Understood Miss Desrosiers before the day is over, I’ll take another look at those items and get into a training of my own then.”

For Melia the natural place for her to go was back to where she had seen the martial training toward the center in the closed off area. Thankfully by the time she got there, there were some monks who had congregated, and some appeared to be sparring in some form of martial arts which she was personally unfamiliar with but had seen beasts before who were capable as some of the moves appeared somewhat familiar.


What she hadn’t quite been expecting was when an older looking frog man wearing the same bluish hued monk robes approached her who was similar in height as Saoirse.

“Hello there young mind, Nong Shui informed me that someone like you would probably be heading over here..I prepared some practice Wudangs, since using actual blades would be dangerous..as to my understanding that is your weapon of choice, yes?” He asked her in good enough common for her to understand if abeit with a Western Empire accent.

Melia nodded and gave a bow, following the social class protocol. “Yes sir, I appreciate you accommodating me.” She replied politely.

He then gestured to the wooden stylized swords, “Why don’t we begin over here then?”

Melia graciously took one of the wooden training swords and the older frog man began to show her basic forms, and how to hold it properly. Learning some stances could prove to be useful in her combat abilities should this be something she pursued long term.

Thankfully the Monk bunch so far had seemed pretty tolerant of humans which was probably in part on account of their belief systems from what Nong Shui described, regardless it would help training in good faith take place.

While that was on going, Ryuuji had made his way out as well, first and foremost he wanted to check those items out. Thankfully he was uninterrupted making his way through the area, now however as he traversed the monastery he did see some more outsiders who looked like they were possibly of the more wealthy sort. That was a possibly good sign, meant they might have a higher chance of selling the item, he didn’t get as friendly looks from some of them as he had the monks, definitely getting the typical vibe he had from many that he was an outsider and therefore more suspicious. Regardless he made his way out back to the museum area. He started to use appraisal on some items, like the combat-like boot tools he had seen earlier that would probably suit Saoirse well if she decided knocking some teeth in was necessary.

He examined the traditional light armor as well, and some of the traditionally made Wudan style weapons like the bow and sword which were antiques for sure, as well as some jewelry, however as he was getting up close to look at some ring. Yeah these were the sorts of things they could definitely resell if the monastery was desperate..a bit of a smirk falling on his face at the thought..wondering how well Saoirse could barter with them..since so far they’d felt like pushovers in a lot of ways..moving the beds just like that..

Nong Shui
​

However in the middle of his scheming thoughts, Ryuuji felt a tap on his back almost causing him to leap out of his sandals. Before he turned around and saw Nong Shui standing there, feeling his heart still racing he immediately bowed.

“Deepest Apologies Sir..”

“You’re fine Ryuuji, but fancy seeing you here, I hope that you’ve been enjoying looking at our wares, I'm afraid that some of it will need to go soon to upkeep maintenance costs.”

He paused momentarily before continuing.

“But I do imagine that you should get to training soon enough, that’s why your Mistress brought you here is it not?”

Ryuuji gave a nod of confirmation. “That is the main reason why sir..”

“Well then don’t want to upset her do you? I know that there’s plenty of nice things around here too look at but I’d say results should be your priority, and you’re just in luck, follow me it won’t take too long from here, that person who I think will work well for your purposes isn’t far from here.”

Ryuuji didn’t really feel like he had much choice at this point, there was no way he wanted to risk disrespecting the leader of this place when there was so much potential profit to be had.

The walk had been a tad farther than he was expecting however, due to the path they went, Ryuuji could see Melia training with the elder frog, and it was quite a sight..it looked pretty serious, perhaps these monks knew what they were talking about..of course he wasn’t a sword fighting expert or anything but it looked pretty legit.

Ryuuji found himself at the water’s edge..it was gleaming, and serene in a way, with how the cool wind blew, the circular roofed open gazebo in the distance which went out into the water some, which again reminded him of traditional Chinese architecture, which was where he was being led, and the aquatic plantlife nearby. There were some more of the now more familiar looking wind chimes set up as well.

Ryuuji was a bit confused at first when he stood at the entrance however, this was where the person who would be able to help him with healing was, but all he saw was what looked like some kid just standing there with some sort of staff.

That was his thought until he saw Nong Shui stopped and gave a bow to the young looking girl.

“I hope you are having a pleasant day Miss Xia, this is the young man who I was telling you about earlier he could greatly use your assistance in getting better at healing magic."

Miss Xia
​

Miss Xia looked up at Ryuuji, and it wasn’t long before it looked like she was practically holding back laughter. “Y-You didn’t tell me he was..so..p-pretty!” She’d start giggling before it escalated into laughter. “He has such a masculine name too! Like one of those samurai from the Republic of Kuridan yet…” She’d start laughing again.

Ryuuji just stood there, trying his best to keep his composure and not say a word, yeah this was a great start apparently he was supposed to be mentored by some kid.

Nong Shui gave her another bow,

“It’s nice to see you two getting along so well already. I take it you’ll take care of things from here Miss Xia..and thank you, I really appreciate it, success with him could improve our chances of meeting our goals.”

“I-I’ll try my best.” she regained enough composure to give a more obviously practiced feminine bow back.

She then turned to Ryuuji. “Well, get in here then, and let’s see what we’re working with.” She said with an edge of impatience almost, to which Ryuuji gave her a bow again before heading in and begin to explain his situation after she asked him details.


As for Saoirse the library was looking as grand as it had earlier. On her way there she had likely noticed some other non monk beasts as Ryuuji had, even if they weren’t in great numbers, the visitors had increased.

Once she arrived the first thing in the library which probably stood out was the large golden statue towering in the space like yesterday. Once again there were monks who were studying and writing with ink on scrolls. None of them seemed to mind Saoirse’s presence but even if they did would any speak up given her class? Nevertheless it was pretty clear the library-like area hadn’t exactly been optimized for visitors unlike the item area. While there were some labels on the library shelves in beastial a many were related to concepts of the order, thankfully for her there were some scrolls organized and which were labeled in such a way that it was clear they discussed the topic of reincarnation, the author names suggesting they were written by people who were high ranking members of the order.

Arranog


​

The silence in the library didn’t last forever however, as a tall shirtless man with some dragonic like features casually walked his way into the space not really seeming to care much about how much noise he was making, looking around the scene a bit bored, before he set his eyes onto Saoirse, his tail shifting around a bit behind him.

???
​

Not far off there behind him appeared to be a white long haired young adult elf woman who looked rather nervous, a chained collar around her neck, with links leading to the dragon man’s left hand like a leash. If one got a closer look they’d see some bruising on her wrists. She also wasn’t wearing much more than some very basic silver colored plant fiber shorts and a similar material top which exposed her midriff at least offering some coverage for her chest. She was carrying what appeared to be some sort of largish broad sword which had a red gemmed hilt on the center which didn’t look like it was the easiest for her to carry.

Without much regard for the volume of his voice the dragonic man called out to Saoirse “<Hey there little lady, what’s someone as pretty as you doing hitting the books in a place like this? Isn’t it a total bore? The name’s Arranog. I’m guessing you came here cause those monks are looking to fund raise or whatever, but nobody said you couldn’t enjoy yourself. Why don’t you come hang out with a real beast like your’s truly?>

He began to flex somewhat flamboyantly showing off his musculature once more, not paying much mind to the elf who struggled a bit to readjust with his sudden jerking movement.

Between flexing he continued, “<I can guarantee you whatever's in those scroll has nothing nearly as interesting as me telling you about one of my grand adventures, I really think it’s a no brainer. So what do ya say?>” He announced again, the monks around them visibly doing their best to focus and not be distracted by him.

 

[Elvario]

Saoirse Desrosiers

Spoiler: Full Image and Source

From: https://twitter.com/morteraphan/status/1445408350116712460

Mentions: TheTimePiece
Languages Common | <Beastial>

She yawned and stretched as she was waking up a little whilst heading over to the library. It felt like everything was pretty much as they left it yesterday. Reaching into her pack, she took out a carrot for breakfast. That was one stereotype she didn't mind spreading. Carrots were good. What else was there to say? That said, the place being as she left it meant their plans would not have to change. She could go scout out for the scrolls she wanted. Reincarnation. Occasionally hopping up a bit with her [Jump F] rabbit legs to check what was on the higher shelves, she eventually found them, gathering them up in her arms to carry over to a better place to read them.

Sadly enough, she couldn't enjoy her find for long. She hadn't even opened up the first scroll when some loud obnoxious fellow barged in. Everything about him annoyed her the very moment she first saw him. She wondered, for a moment. Was there any profit to be made from a man like this? She doubted he'd be worth enslaving. Those with a big ego were tough to break and make obedient. Besides, if she broke his spirit along with his ego, there would be little left to make flourish afterwards. Yet it was clear a lizard-brain like him wasn't going to develop much on his own. She clicked her tongue. This is why even among beasts, some species were clearly not meant to be of higher caste. Eitehr way, that wasn't the point right now.

She eyed his slave. Another warrior-woman. Elven, in this case. Clearly treated in a less than optimal manner. The only reason to chain up and misuse a slave was to use them as an example for others slaves. Create a bit of fear or even a 'at least I'm better off' sentiment to make them do their jobs better. Considering he didn't seem to own any other slaves, or at least not have them around, she doubted that was his intention. Perhaps a simple power-play? Tssk. Lame. The true power-play was having slaves as willingly obedient as Ryuuji and Melia. Fools that didn't understand such basics weren't really worth her time. Except, maybe he was? Well, not him... She eyed the slave again, trying to appraise her. You'd expect an Elf to be more of a magic type, being a Fae, but she was wielding a sword for some reason. Yet it didn't seem like that was her natural weapon. Or was she carrying his weapon for him? Could be. Still. A Fae, huh, those could be interesting to try make flourish. That gave her an idea. She'd humour this man for a bit.

At least that was the plan... What had he been saying again? She clicked her tongue. She'd barely paid any attention to what he was saying. Not the brightest move if she wanted to extort him. Ah, but she'd only just decided on wanting to do so, so perhaps she could be forgiven? As she justified herself like that, she got even more excited. After all, she did learn one thing from buying her previous two slaves. The slaves most likely to cooperate with her ideals of developing them into flourishing were the ones convinced that they escaped a faith far worse than what Saoirse had in store for them. This might be such a case.

Needlessly to say, unless he had some great levels of insight, the lizard folk would merely see Saoirse stare at him and his slave for a while, looking deep in thought. Perhaps he could convince himself she was checking out his abs while at it. She herself figured she'd assume what he was saying to her was something about his name and probably why he visited here. She hadn't caught either, but she might as well state hers as it looked like he wanted an answer. “<I'm Saoirse Desrosiers. I was here to read up on some topics of interest and see if these frogs can teach my slaves some new skills.>”

She stated, as she was debating how to proceed from here. Luckily enough, a thought arose. “<I'm assuming you're here for similar reasons? Or are you here for your own training?>” She clicked her tongue a bit. This was where it might become a bit fun. “<After all, you seem like a strong fellow who could easily beat any and all of these frogs, but you clearly have a lot to learn about being a proper slave trainer.>” A compliment to bait him and an insult to challenge him. That was the line she was throwing out. Now let's see if she could make him bite and catch on.

 

[TheTimePiece]

Time: Morning

Temperature: Temperate

Place: West Empire, Liudong Lianhua Monastery Complex

Mention: Elvario

Ryuuji Kamimura
​

Thankfully for Ryuuji so far the training hadn’t been so bad. Even if they looked like a kid..granted Ryuuji wasn’t so sure if this Xia was beast or fae..or maybe some combination there of? She had physical qualities which could describe both, so it probably wouldn’t be the best idea to express that he was questioning her age to her in a forward fashion. The more important thing was listening to what she had to say so that he could improve his magical abilities.

Ryuuji went through the steps of explaining to Miss Xia that his particular magic should be castable without the need for the use of a catalyst at a base level, yet for some reason it didn’t seem like the magic wanted to flow properly through him, and he wasn’t sure why. Granted the information which he had been given on being reincarnated didn’t exactly feel the most complete as it could have been retrospectively.

Miss Xia
​

“Okay, so the full picture is that you’re having some kind of problem getting your magic through you to manifest into something useful then huh?”

“I..would say that is an accurate summary of the current situation..I should be able to not only cast healing but this particular art which I’ve studied in should allow me to support allies in other ways as well..”

“Well if it’s really a catalyst free casting art and the key to it as you say is your hands, lemme see what’s going on.”

Ryuuji nodded in agreement, lowering and extending his hands to her.

The young looking one then took a hold of Ryuuji’s open hands with her interesting appendages and her eyes lit up a bluish hue. Ryuuji then felt an odd warmth move through his hands, like some sense that she was looking deeper than anyone else had so far..the whole feeling was just so strange. Was she using some sort of appraisal ability on him that would let her see something of use? He supposed only time would tell.
---

Melia Hayward
​

While that was going on Melia was still diligently training with the older frog man away from the rest of the group as he continued to show her very baseline offensive and defensive stances for the martial art sword style. Every now and again Melia would ask a clarifying question when necessary or he would show her how to properly hold the blade and how to orientate her body better for what she was trying to achieve.
---
Thankfully Saoirse’s hopping efforts hadn’t gone in vain since was successful in getting the scrolls which were at various reading difficulty levels. There were spaces open where she would be allowed to read in peace easily enough, with the seating areas in the library, and none of the monks appeared bothered she was there, unfortunately with the recent guest that would probably prove to be pretty difficult now without being interrupted.

Arranog Dranth
​

Thankfully Arranog had been so busy boasting and acting like he usually did that he didn’t particularly notice Saoirse appraising the elven slave next to him, nor did he really have amazing perception or insight skills from the looks of things, he just perceived her as giving him and his property a look over. Nor was he obvious to the fact that she hadn’t really been paying much attention to him as he spoke.

“< It’s alright you must not be used to seeing guys built like me, don’t worry spend enough time around me and you might just get used to it.>” He followed up with a bit of an overly confident smirk, after the extended period of silence. It looked like he had been assuming that she had in fact been checking him out, his sense of ego on display, to him why would there be any other reason she had been speechless so long.

“<Saoirse Desrosiers huh? Wouldn’t surprise me if you already knew my full name, family’s kind of got a reputation, the last name’s Dranth.>” He further stated proudly.

He didn’t seem to ask further about what she was interested in reading about.

But he did seem to nod to the other part, “<So you own some too then, not sure what you’re hoping to have these monks teach them about though, I mean slaves don’t exactly need to learn how to read or write, or poetry or calligraphy>” He’d snicker at the later part pretty ignorant to what value could be brought from teaching those to a slave it seemed.

“<I mean do I look like I need training? Sure I’ll probably humor them just to show the difference in where we stand..hopefully I won’t end up hurting any of them too badly.>” He presumptuously said once again.

At the tongue click his left ear twitched a bit, “<Course I’m strong, I’m way more than any of these monks could possibly hope to handle.>” He grinned once again with a flex, causing the elf to have to pivot again to stop herself from dropping it the sheathed weapon not calibrated for her stature or build.

But after his smugness returned for that period of time when he heard the next line his face shifted to one of displeasure, getting a bit closer.

“<What do you mean I’ve got something to learn about being a proper slave trainer? Last time I checked I can do whatever I feel like with them, all they need to know is how they'll always be beneath me and to obey, so what’s the big idea?>”

“<The only real reason this one’s even out with me is cause she recently finally stopped being such a bitch, the other ones are chained and secured back in my room, because I just don’t need the hassle right now when I’m trying to scope out the place to see if there’s anything worth my time here.>”

???

​

He spoke very casually about the current slave, and ones not near him, the elf still looked perpetually concerned, looking around every now and again. She wasn't saying a word, instead keeping her eyes averted from him and Saoirse, like she was just trying to keep things together.

 

[Elvario]

Saoirse Desrosiers

Spoiler: Full Image and Source

From: https://twitter.com/morteraphan/status/1445408350116712460

Mentions: TheTimePiece
Languages Common | <Beastial>

“<Perhaps I'm indeed not used to it.>” She replied to his boasting about his looks. It wasn't like they were bad, after all, although she wasn't one to care too much about such things unless it mattered to someone's flourishing. Then again, making an egomaniac flourish sounded like more trouble than it'd be worth.

As for his family name, it didn't exactly ring a bell. Perhaps if she'd check the customer lists of her father's business she'd find it, but she didn't exactly have that on hand. “<I'm afraid you're the first Dranth with whom I have the pleasure of meeting.>” She replied, indicating she hadn't heard of the name.

She chuckled at the mention of what some slaves should or shouldn't learn. “<You'd be surprised at how convenient it is if you have someone take notes for you or go through some of the more boring paperwork.>” She pointed out the obvious, wondering if this guy would be, in any way, receptive to such ideas.“<Poetry or calligraphy I'll admit won't easily be useful for them.>” She had to agree to that much. You'd need a very specific type of slave for that to work, which wasn't impossible, but also not all that likely.

His comment on needing training also made her chuckle. “<Yes, it looks like you'd need your training and exercise to maintain such a magnificent shape~>” She wondered what sort of reaction she could get out of him by making such a peculiar statement. His claims also made her curious. “<It'd be an honour to watch you defeat them all one after the other. Perhaps with one arm behind your back..?>” She tried challenging him a little.

His attempt at intimidation failed. She'd seen far scarier things, like a blazing fire elemental to hop through. “<Of course you can do what you want with them. Wouldn't be much of a point to them being a slave otherwise, no?>” She'd reply to his first statement. “<However... There are a lot more benefits to gain from them then just having them as decorations or sword-carriers, you know... at least, I'm really hoping you're not expecting her to swing that herself~>”

She stared into his eyes with a hint of defiance. “<Having a slave voluntarily risk their life to protect yours or even just to serve you is one of the most magnificent feelings you can get when it comes to making someone flourish as a slave, yet having them flourish as a being can be an equally interesting challenge.>” She started off, but then realised she had no need to explain this egomaniac her philosophy. She doubted he'd be the type to understand it to begin with. Few people did.

“<You say it yourself. If your slaves are a hassle, what's the point of having them? I can proudly say that mine are working hard to improve their value to me as we speak.>” She figured this was the time to play a gamble. “<Or are you the type to not believe that developing slaves can be a worthwhile endeavour? Or... perhaps you'd doubt my methods work?>”

“<How about we have some fun, hmm? Your slaves against mine. We'll have the frogs act as a neutral party to determine which ones hold the most value. In fact, I'm confident enough I'll have the two of mine pitted against all of yours.>” She stated, but she figured she'd need to put in a bit more of a possible risk and reward. “<I'd normally offer to put a bet, slave for slave, but it seems you've already got enough of them to deal with...>” Besides, she had a better idea. “<So how about I'll be your date for an entire day if your slaves win? Yet, in case my two slaves turn out to be superior, I'll be taking one of yours off of your hand.>”

She realised a slave for a date might not be entirely enough to convince him, unless she'd play it smart. “<I'll admit that suggesting a date with me is as worthless as a slave is a bit counter-intuitive, but considering you've got your looks going for you, I'm willing to offer such a high reward~>” That should certainly make it more difficult to refuse the offer. Especially as he was already coming off on her badly enough.

 

[TheTimePiece]

Time: Morning

Temperature: Temperate

Place: West Empire, Liudong Lianhua Monastery Complex

Mention: Elvario

Melia Hayward
​

After some more stance training it wasn’t all too long before the older frog man was having Melia use the basic strikes she used on him while he showcased her proper block form in response to each one. With trial and error, while it was pretty obivous the elder frog was much more experienced with this blade and martial art, Melia seemed to be getting gradually better as she went along. Eventually she and the elder frog traded off and now she was practicing blocking while he demonstrated proper striking form, and gave her feedback on how to better block and anticipate his movements. It was all and all quite fitting for a first lesson in the sword art he was showing her.
----

Miss Xia
​

“Well the good news is I can totally feel that you have magic running through you, but from what I can tell is that whatever way you've been trying to use it has been pretty knotted.”

Ryuuji Kamimura
​

Ryuuji looked back at her curiously , “‘knotted?’” He questioned quietly curiously, looked like there were still plenty of concepts he wasn’t really sure about. Hopefully whatever was going on could be remedied.

“Mhm, you aren’t properly controlling the flow of your magic, I like to think of it sort of like strands which can get tangled up, poor magical circulation can be like a mess that needs to be untangled which comes from experience, don’t worry nothing that many amateurs
before you haven’t had to overcome, probably doesn’t help that casting without a catalyst can be an even more advanced art to master.”

Ryuuji nodded, “Did..you have any idea for how I could best resolve this issue then?”

“Course I do silly, that’s why Nong Shui asked me for help, I like to think I know quite a bit about this sort of thing, now then take my hands.”

Ryuuji gave another bow this time albeit more apologetically, “Of course I didn’t mean to suggest anything contrary, I fully believe in your abilities..Miss Xia.” He then extended his hands toward her, to which she took them.

“Now then I want you to focus on feeling the magic, let me help you guide it along, before you have any hopes of gaining access to your full potential you need to get this much down..”

Ryuuji nodded once more before he tried his best to focus and feel her magical presence as they began to work together to ‘untangle’ his magic flow to his hands.
----

Arranog Dranth
​

Arranog’s confident smirk returned when Saoirse said she wasn’t used to it, as he continued to show off his physique passively with the way he shifted his body. However the confident look didn’t last as long as it might have otherwise, as the smirk turned into a bit of a frown and a raised brow when she said that he was the first Dranth which she had met.

“<Tch I find that hard to believe.>” He said a bit dismissively at the possibility that she hadn’t met a Dranth before he lit up a bit more again, “<But then I guess that means you’re in luck since you got to meet the best one around first.>” His confident look returned pretty quickly,seemingly not deterred by her apparent lack of knowledge on his family’s name.

Arranog looked at her a bit skeptical once more when she mentioned the benefits of teaching a slave how to read and write and do scribe work, “<I guess those royal types do have scribes or whatever, not a terrible idea If you put like that, but you’d have to trust them not to screw up on anything too important..>” Arranog didn’t seem entirely against the idea with the way he spoke, but there was a suggestion that his idea of what slaves could normally be wasn’t as well developed as Saoirse’s. Regardless his smile kept true when she was in agreement with him, of course there was use for both, both art forms could be potentially monetized with the right slave, it just looked like Arranog was more pleased that she seemed to agree with him than anything.

“<Of course you need discipline for something like this..and It is pretty difficult not to notice huh? Feel free to look as much as you’d like.>” The bit of overly confident suggestive edge returning to Arranog’s voice when she commenced on his shape.

“<Oh you’d like to see that huh? I don’t see why I couldn’t make it happen, I bet they’d be pretty game for a lot of things if there was a higher chance of getting some coin out of it, I doubt I’d need both arms to crush as many as I felt like.>” He boasted.

“<If you’re gonna stick around maybe I’ll have to see if it can be arranged.>”
He seemed a bit more passive when she discussed there being benefits of the slaves compared to his annoyance at her comment about his ability to keep slaves. He actually looked a bit more interested, but he did scoff a bit,

“<Yeah nah, that’s my sword, I don’t really feel like lugging it around to be honest. Not really worried about what she could do with it either, she already knows her place.>” He reassured Saoirse.

With her look of defiance he looked back, with a bit of a narrowed eye look again, but it wasn’t exactly aggressive, just a bit uncertain at what she was saying, like he was confused by it. “<I mean, not sure I’d go that far, but I guess that would mean you’d be a powerful slave owner.>” Perhaps while not understanding the extent of the philosophy or really even the true value, it Arranog appeared to understand that it was at least a good way to demonstrate one’s power to have willing slaves.


“<Improve their value on their own because they want to? I find it strange that you even bother with all that, I mean slaves just need to be good enough to do what’s needed of them, I have ways of making them do what I want to too which seems like a lot less work for me.>” He responded.

However he did look interested when she mentioned fun.

“<As if a Dranth would step down from a challenge! Of course I’ll take you on!>” He proclaimed confidently with his hands at his hips perking right up after listening to what she had to say on it.

“<The frogs will ensure a neutral fair assessment, so I find them agreeable.>”

“<Plus all I really hear is a guaranteed date for us, which I can assure you will be far from the last, I’ve heard I can be pretty addictive.>” He’d smirk. The ego only further driven by her further compliments of his looks,

“<Even if I can already see the results, on the minuscule chance that you beat me, you can take any one you’d like.>”

“<Anyway now that we have that settled, you gonna stay here and hit the books or you coming?>” He’d ask once again. At best it looked like Arranog was greatly underestimating Saoirse as a tangible threat, perhaps in part because she revealed she only had two slaves, at the very least he didn’t seem any more eager to go train his slaves.

???
​

Meanwhile the fae slave continued to stand by silently still looking overall rather nervous. If Saoirse was paying attention she’d notice that occasionally the slave appeared to instinctually wince or flinch when Arranog made a more grandiose flex or gesture that was closer to her while he talked, as if she was automatically anticipating and bracing for the possibility of being struck.

 

[Elvario]

Saoirse Desrosiers

Spoiler: Full Image and Source

From: https://twitter.com/morteraphan/status/1445408350116712460

Mentions: TheTimePiece
Languages Common | <Beastial>

She chuckled a bit at his commend about the Dranth, still wondering if they were actually meant to be famous or not. Considering he seemed like an egomaniac, she couldn't exactly trust his word for it. Even so, she figured playing along would be more beneficial. “<How truly lucky I am~>” She replied with a smile.

Although she wished to sigh at his mention of the slaves screwing up, she decided to keep it in. Of course slaves could screw up, but that's why you needed to train them. “<That's why you teach them not too or simply double-check the important stuff yourself. In the end, it'll still save you a lot of trouble.>” She was still convinced slaves could be a lot more useful than he gave them credit for.

Considering how easy it was to get him to be more agreeable, she decided to keep playing around with it. “<You must've practised very commendable amount of disciple for sure, to the point that it makes me wonder whether you shouldn't be the one teaching these frogs instead.>” She stated, figuring that stroking his ego a bit more might pay off later. “<It'll take my some discipline of my own to focus my eyes elsewhere~>”

On the other hand, she loved how easy it was to bait him into a challenge. “<Seeing you beat up some silly frogs with just a single hand would be a lovely sight~>” She stated, as it probably would be, although she secretly hoped to see him getting his ass handed to him even more. Then again, if he won, he'd show her these frogs weren't worth staying at. If he lost, she'd know the frogs were worth something. Either outcome would be useful.

As expected, he at least wasn't as foolish as to give the slave a sword she could barely even carry around. Still, to have a slave lug it around felt like it was little more than a risk of seeing it damaged or getting lost. To here, there was little added benefit to such an act.

To her surprise, however, he seemed to be capable of grasping the concept of having willing slaves. At least to a degree. She wondered if it'd be worth trying to teach him a few tricks to see if she could have him pay off a debt or show some gratitude for it later. For now, she'd keep the option open.

At his mention of improving value, she shrugged. “<Perhaps I'm just a lot more demanding on what I want from my slaves. I might be noble, but I don't have bottomless coffers of money to spent, so I'd rather ensure the slaves I got are worth as much as possible to me.>” She wasn't above admitting to having some slight recourse shortages at times if that might be of use later.

Now, his acceptance of her challenge got a laugh out of her. “<That's great~! A fun game where I'll win even if I loose, I couldn't be more lucky~>” She replied, deciding to let him have his moment, whilst hoping Ryuuji and Melia would crush whatever challenges came at them. Even if she didn't mind play coy with the man her and there, a full date wasn't exactly something she'd be as eager about as getting to pick a new slave.

There was one thing she wondered about. “<You know, slaves can be like dogs sometimes.>” She looked at the slave again. “<If you punish them without them realising why they're being punished for, they might only get confused and more useless as they won't comprehend their wrongdoing and learn from it.>” She shrugged. “<I got no clue what the deal is with this one, but it seems she's expecting punishment at any moment, which is distracting at best and annoying at worst. It seems she hasn't linked punishable actions and accompanying punishments at all and just expects them at random.>” The latter was probably what happened, but she figured she'd not be that direct to this lizard.

With all that said, the topic of their 'game' was up again. “<I'd gladly leave it to you to set-up something with the frogs. I'll be going through these texts for a bit and join you when all is set-up. A girl like me needs a break after meeting a guy like you~>” She teased him again at the end.

That said, when he was out of sight and hearing range, her tone would switch. After looking around, she'd call for one of the frogs. “<The monks here have a more pacifist way of dealing with slaves, no?>” She'd ask to reconfirm. “<I'm sure you've overheard our conversation. If you want to prove less violent methods work, you'll know what to do when you're deciding topics the upcoming challenges. Just don't make it too obvious.>” She'd state as if it was the most normal thing ever.

Well... technically she wasn't asking them to cheat, just to set-up the game a tad bit more in favour of showing of the type of qualities her slaves could display over what those of Dranth could. She figured the frogs would consider that much to be an acceptable type of advantage to give her based on their ethics, which would help her get what she wanted out of this.

With that mentioned, she'd finally have a bit of time to gloss through the texts on reincarnation. Truthfully, she'd lost some of her curiosity and interest by now, but she'd already gathered all the scrolls, so she might as well check them out.

 

[TheTimePiece]

Time: Morning

Temperature: Temperate

Place: West Empire, Liudong Lianhua Monastery Complex

Mention: Elvario

Melia Hayward
​

Melia seemed to be following along well for someone who had just started using the very basics of the style of sword play the old frogman was using. Before getting into an actual sparing match, the Frog man appeared to have a moment of clarity, before placing the practice blade down, he then began to demonstrate a variety of stretches, to get the body limber and ready to rumble, commenting that he realized that they probably should have done those first, but had been eager to get into the action like when he was young. Melia didn’t seem to mind regardless, she was very agreeable and acted politely, which allowed her teacher to feel respected, setting up some ideal conditions for long term flourishing should they stay long enough for her to get proper training.

Miss Xia & Ryuuji Kamimura
​

Meanwhile Miss Xia and Ryuuji appeared to still be pretty focused on getting the magic to move through his hands properly. He could almost feel it, but like it wasn’t quite connecting right. He wondered if should have been more specific to that god-like figure that had reincarnated him, like maybe don’t let him take powers which weren’t going to work as intended unless he fixed issues, but just like anything else it was part of the learning process he supposed. The only reassuring thing was that whatever magic touch she was doing seemed to be helping him along quite a bit as he could feel the ‘unraveling’ process take place, maybe if they kept at this long enough it would result in him being able to try some sort of evidence that he could use his healing ability without a catalyst as intended.

Ryuuji continued to try to supply his mana into the process whilst being guided with manipulation techniques.

Arranog Dranth
​

His smirk was still quite prominent when Saoirse only further reiterated how lucky she was to be in the presence of a Dranth like himself, being acknowledged how he believed he should be appeared to be working to Saorise’s benefit for the time being.

It was a good move for Saoirse to hold back her sigh at what he said, since she had an upper hand with the current strategy.

“<Yeah Yeah..I guess that makes sense when you put it that way, but I think it’d be better if they could just get it right the first time, this one here took more than a few times of experiencing discipline to finally start getting things right..>”

“<Course I did, discipline is like..totally one of best of my many best qualities..and it’s only natural I’d be better off teaching them, not sure if they’d be able to keep up with my routine though in all honesty, it’s pretty tough..>”

He seemed even more pleased when she said something that could have been interpreted as flirting, even if it hadn’t genuinely been made that way, at hearing that he gave her another flex, “<Heh see what I mean, you won’t have to worry about that when we go out, then you can look as much as you’d like.>” He said this all quite assertively and matter of fact at that.

“<Hey I’ll show you what I can do like I said, can’t promise any of them won’t get hurt though even if they work together, and even if I went easy on them.>” He gloated a bit more.

“<When you’re a natural predator and as strong as me it’s harder than it looks to properly restrain yourself..>”


He appeared to listen to her when she shrugged, not particularly bothered by her words but not particularly moved, a bit neutral, just sort of giving her a look over, perhaps in a way which suggested he was checking her out while she spoke.

However the laugh did prompt another confident smile out of him, “<Yeah I’d say it’s a win win, given how the results are going to be you’re probably be more fortunate that way since I’d say a date with me is much more valuable than any one who you could take.>” Of course he was still speaking as if he had already won, while this might have been his perception it was more likely he had done much less than Saoirse in terms of properly taking care of his slaves or making them more valuable.

His smirk changed into a more displeased look and a scoff when she mentioned the slaves were like dogs part, and she commented on how his slave was behaving. It wasn’t at what she said but more so looked like he found the topic of this one to not be his favorite subject.

“<I know right..this one wouldn’t stop talking about Fae supremacy and how there’d be people coming to get her, insulted me, said a bunch of other really stupid things, did it till I got tired of and I eventually got her to shut up, like the other ones, but it took longer than I would have cared for, not sure what the big deal is, her life is to make me happy and in return she’ll have an easier time..I’m not sure why that was such a difficult topic to understand. But I mean look at her now, don’t you think she’s pretty subservient, I say I did a pretty good job at showing her whose in charge anyway.>” It seemed he was more interested in giving his perspective and complaining about her rather than directly addressing what commentary of wisdom Saoirse had given about the dogs, even if had heard her.

“<Oh yeah? I can go do that, you’ll be ready to come see me after getting some reading time? I doubt the frogs care much when there's possible money for their monastery on the line or whatever, I could probably throw some coin their way even to speed up the process so you can watch me totally dominate them. But yeah I get it, I am a lot to take in~ I know it’s not much but maybe after I beat those frogs up you might like to come back to my room and see the others? Then you’ll have a chance to see that I’m pretty good at slave keeping too.>” He offered.

???
​

“<Anyway see ya, and enjoy your strange texts.>” He then tugged the elf slave along, which she then followed not saying a word, seeming to still struggle with the sword. Thankfully both of them were out of view not long after leaving the library presumably to go set up a sparring match.

One of the nearby frog monks who looked sort of similar to the older frog training Melia except younger nodded, he was dressed in the common blue uniform as many of his compatriots were.

“<I understand what you are getting at, and yes that is true we believe in treating others with kindness regardless of their status, what that Dranth demonstrated is less than savory in my opinion..I heard that Nong Shui invited you in, I can certainly discuss, the possibility of picking events which should help teach a valuable lesson.>” He replied giving Saoirse a nod and then a slight wink toward the latter sentence.

By the time she was able to look over the reincarnation texts she would see some different ideas presented before her, there were some notes on more obscure gods and goddesses who were related to reincarnation, that wasn’t atypical in the West Empire where there were many religions at play all over, however there were also texts with more uniform ideas. One was a form which believed that there was a path to enlightenment through being good in one’s life with the eventual goal to break free of the cycle of reincarnation and ascend to a higher plain. The consequence for living a highly immoral bad life was possibly being sent into a place known as “the void” which was like wandering in darkness. There was text that looked like it had been written in more of a Kuridan style which was very similar to what the Western Empire text mentioned. Some of the texts were more ornate than others, some with crushed gemstone put into the ink, making them look illuminated with art. Others much more plain and clinical looking. A more interesting section to Saoirse however might have been one which had been written by a Western Kuridan Philosopher Ye Yan who had been highly educated. Their work spoke of there being the potential for people being brought into the realm of IH through reincarnation, and that there were some people who believed they saw a similarly looking elderly figure, a god of sorts who had spoken to them or told them different things, and some memories of people were much clearer than others. While the text wasn’t conclusive on the issue it did discuss the topic and catalog some of the experiences for reflection. Some of the text was more difficult to understand conceptually without a religious background, while others were more friendly to the non educated, thankfully this one had been written in a bit more of a casual reader friendly way. She had some more time to explore if she so desired.

 

[Elvario]

Saoirse Desrosiers

Spoiler: Full Image and Source

From: https://twitter.com/morteraphan/status/1445408350116712460

Mentions: TheTimePiece
Languages Common | <Beastial>

She'd played along well enough with most of what Dranth was saying. Some things she was looking forwards to. Seeing him loose to the frogs would be pretty hilarious, although if he'd win, she'd know to stop wasting time here, so either outcome would be useful. Still, she wasn't sure if she'd be able to avoid laughing, were he to loose to the frogs, so she'd best assure she'd get her slave first. Either that, or perhaps she could make Dranth's fight against the frogs the first part of their date. Oh... that'd be fun. Even if she lost the slave bet, seeing him beaten up by the frogs could mean she'd get out of having to date him. On the other hand, if he were to win both the slave bet and a fight against the frogs, he'd actually be a worthwhile date. A good thing to keep in mind.

All things considered, she couldn't abstain from chuckling at the thought of Fae supremacy. Such a moronic notion could only be laughed at, after all. She wasn't foolish enough to deny the fact that some of those magical creatures were rather strong, but the vast majority were just forest-dwelling twigs compared to the noble beastfolk. She still wasn't entirely sure if just beating her into submission to the point she feared being beaten at any movement was the ideal way to deal with it, as she still doubted how much his discipline really taught the elf, but at least she sort-off understood why he'd done so. Having a slave think they're better than you would be rather infuriating, after all.

On the other hand, however, Saoirse had a feeling there was a considerable chance this slave would slid Drarth's throat one night, if given the chance. It was a world of difference. She trusted Melia and Ryuuji well enough to stand guard for her at night, whilst she'd be worried enough about such a slave to want someone to stand guard against her. It's what made her realise that simple beating someone into submission definitely wasn't her style. She wanted them to believe that serving her was their best option, to not even really long for freedom. That was far more desirable than mere submission out of fear of punishment. Needlessly to say, she didn't waste much more time and energy trying to explain that to Dranth.

“<I can see the others when you bring them out for our bet, can't I?>” She relied to his offer to come back to his room. She wasn't going to set foot in there that easily. “<That'll give you more than enough opportunity to show off how well you can keep slaves.>” Or how much he sucked at it, which she still believed to be the case.

With Dranth finally out of sight, she could sigh deeply. He could definitely be an opportunity, but it'd take some work. Luckily enough, her guess about the frogs was correct. She smiled. Goody-two-shoes were so easily manipulated, it was almost too easy. Even so, this was great. She didn't care too much about lessons, she had a bet to win, but if both those things were aligned, she'd gladly play moral compass in this story.

With what she'd planned, it was a bit troublesome to get into the texts. Upon reading about some reincarnation theory, she realised she was glad she'd been leading a good life, focussed on making her slaves flourish, being patient with lower caste fools and using violence only as a final resort. Perhaps the fact she'd lived like that in her past life as well was why she'd reincarnated here, rather than into that void. She wondered, if she'd gotten more results, more slaves, more flourishing, would she have reached that higher plain? Perhaps...

What stood out more, however, was the mention of reincarnate from other realms in specific, by some Ye Yan from West Kuridan. That was worth investigation for sure. She wondered if the philosopher was still alive, as she'd like to meet them. For now, however, that was all she wanted to know. Figuring she'd be 'nice' for now, as she still needed favours from these frogs, she actually took the effort to put the scrolls back where she found them. It's a task she'd normally leave to the lower castes, but making a good impression upon the frogs would aid her chances of manipulating them further later on, which was a worthy pay-off.

That said, it seemed like it was about time to meet up with Melia. Considering it'd likely take a bit more for Dranth to set things up with the frogs, she could still check out those baths. Good. Having put the scrolls back, she made her way to the baths, seeing if they were busy and going through their lay-out to find the best spot/place... and of course seeing if Melia was already awaiting her there at one spot or another.

 

[TheTimePiece]

Time: Midday

Temperature: Temperate

Place: West Empire, Liudong Lianhua Monastery Complex

Mention: Elvario

On his way out the dragonic slave owner just had a bit more to say, being the type who liked to get the last words in it seemed. “<Oh, so we’re playing a bit hard to get now huh?> He said almost with a teasing tone,

“<Yeah yeah that’s fine with me I’ll just show you them then, and you’ll see just how effective my method of total domination is.>” He reaffirmed.

With that all out of the way Saoirse was finally able to just chill out and do the reading which she had been trying to do earlier before she had been interrupted by the apparent potential suitor.

The frogs on the other hand didn’t seem to sense an ulterior self-serving motive from Saoirse with the way she had proposed her plan. The good thing was it just so happened that her motive to win the bet, and the monk’s apparent desire to uphold some sort of lesson about the preferred way to own a slave just happened to line up with Saoirse’s goal. With them being so agreeable it looked like that plan would go off without a hitch, presuming that she was right about Arranog not being the best slave owner to cultivate additional value in his slaves.

Thankfully no one else appeared to bother her while she did her reading. Some of the nearby frog monks took notice of Saoirse’s effort to put the scrolls back neatly and one of the ones next to the one who had caught her attention commented softly toward her direction,

“<Thank you for being so respectful of our literature collection, unfortunately not all visitors are as thoughtful as you are.>” Little did the young adult frog monk with a decidedly masculine voice have any idea of what Saoirse had been doing up until that point.

Melia Hayward
​

The time which Melia’s training took actually lined up pretty well with meeting Saoirse where she said she was going too. After she completed the initial training set and warm ups to start getting into this traditional martial West Empire sword art, of course she made her way back to the Spirit Pool which had been set up in such a way that bathing would be possible in the central area in the zen-like garden space.

When Saoirse got there she would see that Melia showed signs that she had been hard at work with the way she sat on the edge of the water with her feet in the water, suggesting that perhaps she was still a bit sore from the training.

Upon her Mistress arriving she immediately stood up and gave her a bow of respect.

“Greetings Ma’am, thank you again for inviting me, I’ll go wherever you’d like us too.”

The nice thing was that now that it was about midday, there weren’t all that many others in the water currently, thankfully it was pretty sizable too, some privacy offered with the surrounding plant life, as well as a few nice wooden canopies with benches on some sides of the bathing area where one could rest and not be in direct sunlight if they did not desire to be.

“Were you successful in your activities this morning?” She asked respectfully, seemingly out of genuine curiosity and care.

There were several spots which could provide some back support if desired, some a bit more private than others depending on what was desired.

The water itself was pleasantly warm and still took on that vibrant hue like one might expect in a fine art painting.

Ryuuji Kamimura & Miss Xia

​

For Ryuuji however it had taken him quite some time to work through with Miss Xia just how he was supposed to deal with his magic issue, a large bulk of the time spent had been him and her incrementally dealing with the apparent ‘tangle’ which was going on in his body when he tried to utilize his magic as he was supposed to without using a catalyst.

Given how many hours they had been at it he periodically had to take breaks from the exertion. The good news was that on occasion, Miss Xia was able to supplement more energy into him when he was running low, so that they could get back to it, only when he truly felt the toll did he stop. Even if he wasn’t training physically hard like Melia was, with how much energy he was using it sure felt like it.

“Thank you..Miss Xia I appreciate your help..I believe it will truly allow me to reach my true potential faster, and I am grateful that someone of my caste has the opportunity to work with someone as skillful and prestigious like yourself..”

Miss Xia smiled, “Well yeah, I am pretty awesome right? That’s like I said, again, kinda of the whole reason Nong Shui sent you to me, but even for a human, I sense quite a bit of potential within you, so keep at it Ryuuji and when we get past this first blockage in the path, I’ll be able to really start teaching you some useful skills.”

Eventually another blue clad frog monk came out with some dumplings, sweet and sour tofu soup, and tea for the pair, to which they both sat together and partook, which Ryuuji was quite thankful for, he had not eaten in quite some time. It tasted quite delicious too..once this was all set and he was energized physically he’d get back to it. If he could do it today, he had no doubt it would impress Saoirse if he could perform as he had been advertised to her when he had been sold. It only seemed like the most logical way to improve his value and by extension a chance at an even higher quality of life.

 

[Elvario]

Saoirse Desrosiers

Spoiler: Full Image and Source

From: https://twitter.com/morteraphan/status/1445408350116712460

Mentions: TheTimePiece
Languages Common | <Beastial>

She'd allow Dranth to have the last word as to not time-bend so much into the past that she'd risk causing a disruption in the space-time continuum due to knowing she'd be the one to have the last laugh soon enough.

“<Naturally.>” She'd replied to the frog with a smile. Having these folk think she was a naturally kind person would only make it all the easier to get what she wanted out of them, as it seemed insanely easy to make them think so.

That said, keeping up the act had her a bit tired. She knew she was a good enough person, but she didn't like trying to be overly polite to lower castes without proper need for it. That always felt too extra to keep up. It's why she was glad she got to relax for a bit. “A more quiet spot.” She simple replied. She wasn't exactly used to greeting back a slave and didn't figure she'd need to act that much like a goody-two-shoes towards these frogs.

Upon finding a somewhat private spot, she stretched. “Well enough.” She replied, still in thought, as she took off her clothes and placed them upon one of the nearby benches. She wasn't the type to be ashamed easily, as she was convinced she had nothing to be ashamed about. “You should join me.” She then stated to Melia, gesturing to a spot across from her. A respectful distance away, even though some might say sharing the same bath with a slave was already degrading. Saoirse had more important worries in mind though.

She leaned down into the water, letting the pleasant warmth cover her entire body, other than her head and ears. She wasn't sure what what in this water, but it was definitely worth it. She was about to close her eyes and relax, when she realised she had a job to do. “Some fool thought he knew better how to deal with Slaves than I do. You and Ryuuji are to prove him wrong later today, so get your rest while you can. If this water's got any good properties to it, you'll be able to make good use of it soon enough.” She explained.

Ah, right, she should also ask. “What did the frogs teach you thus far?” It'd probably be good to check on whether or not it sounded like they were doing something useful with her slave of if they were just wasting precious development time.

 

[TheTimePiece]

Time: Midday

Temperature: Temperate

Place: West Empire, Liudong Lianhua Monastery Complex

Mention: Elvario



Indeed so far Saoirse had had very little open skepticism of her purposes there, if she were fortunate enough perhaps that trend would continue throughout her visit. Even with the demands she made earlier, she had done a pretty good job of putting up a public face that she wasn’t only looking to primarily meet only her interests with every action that she had taken so far.

Melia Hayward
​

Melia gave a respectful nod in response, before diligently following her mistress to the chosen more private spot provided by some of the greenery in the garden area. Thankfully it was a gated area around the perimeter to give some additional privacy

“It's a privilege which I do not take for granted to be here with you, one which I really appreciate. ”

She responded politely once more. After they got to the spot she removed her clothing also placing it near the bench but being careful with how she placed it, as not to make direct contact with Saoirse’s own garb. Her well worked physical physique now on display some once more thanks to the long term effort she had put into becoming a much more capable warrior. Despite the strength there of course was evidence of the physical battering which she had undergone from long past activities which still lingered on her form. While some might call it imperfect, others would argue it gave Melia more character and proved the hard work she had put in to get the point in life that she was at.

First she would wait for Saoirse to take her spot first of course, out of respect, not wanting to get in her way. Once Saoirse looked like she had gotten into a comfortable position.

Melia then carefully made her way over to the bathing spot which Saoirse had gestured too, making her way into the water.

It became apparent that she was enjoying the temperature as a calmer look fell upon her face not long after. Truthfully even if she didn’t verbally express it the so called apparently blessed water felt really good on her body after her earlier work out.

“Wherever this water comes from....it feels quite nice.” She commented softly. Of course there was a lack of certainty if it was actually as beneficial as Nong Shui had said, it certainly didn’t hurt to try, who knew maybe it’d actually prove some use later like Saoirse said.

However Melia was at attention when Saoirse answered the question she asked, giving an appropriate amount of eye contact and facing her.

“I agree it’s laughable that anyone would make that claim against you, I’ll do whatever it takes to impress you, whatever the challenge is.”
Melia was quick to respond, taking on a more confident and assertive tone. Very much sounding like she wanted to assure Saoirse that her decision to trust her with this important task was put into good hands.

When Melia heard a question posed toward her, she was quick to respond, a bit of a smile forming on her face.

“I think you’ll be most pleased to hear that one of the monks demonstrated to me a traditional monastic West Empire martial sword art using training swords. He showed me how to warm up properly, foot work, stances, as well as blocking and striking techniques. It was something different than what I’m used to, that’s for sure, but I think you’ll see that even after my first session I’ll have picked up some tricks which’ll help me moving forward, maybe even sooner if there’s any need for combat skills in the upcoming event.”

Melia almost sounded excited to share what she learned with her owner, which was probably a good sign if nothing else since that would convey to Saoirse that she had at least found it useful in her goal of becoming the best warrior she could possibly be.

Ryuuji Kamimura
​

By the time the pair’s bath time had concluded and presumably they had been able to have a leisurely one with talk here and there as Saoirse desired and they had gotten back into their clothing to head out to do anything else Saoirse wanted them to before the meeting with Arranog for the bet, it wasn’t long before Ryuuji was leaving his session with Miss Xia, he felt much more tired than he looked at that point.

Who would have thought untangling magic like that would be so strenuous? It’s not like I had to do some insane work out like Melia..Like seriously that whole experience just made me feel even weaker than I did in my last life He thought to himself. The good news was however was that with hard work he had finally been able to undo the problem which had been plaguing him for as long as he had lost that training catalyst. That god really has some nerve letting me think I was all set with the abilities I selected..Ryuuji couldn’t help but internally think to himself as well, practically grumbling to himself. As he walked along through the complex every now and again he found beasts looking at him, some a bit more skeptical than others, but by this point he was pretty well used to it.

Hopefully the rest of the day would be pretty low key, unknown to Ryuuji that was far from the case and it was likely that he was going to have to perform in another high stakes event where he wasn’t going to be allowed to take on his side character persona, but instead was going to be thrown into the limelight as a main character once again.

However it was at that point he saw Saoirse and Melia not all that far away from the gated bathes at that point, so he quickly made his way over, before making a low bow once again, needing to put in the effort to get low enough for Saoirse given her height, but just like the looks he had gotten used to that too.

“I would like to report that my first session was a success, Miss Saoirse. For the rest of the day I am currently free for whatever you deem fit.” He stated with a respectful tone as perusal, not speaking or bowing until he was absolutely certain he wouldn’t be interrupting anything important. For now he was at attention, ready for her.

 

[Elvario]

Saoirse Desrosiers

Spoiler: Full Image and Source

From: https://twitter.com/morteraphan/status/1445408350116712460

Mentions: TheTimePiece
Languages Common | <Beastial>

“I know, right?” She chuckled a bit upon Melia's agreement that it was laughable that anyone would claim to be better. She knew that Dranth's slaves would never admit such a thing so openly and honestly, which was already making her feel [Prideful] and superior.

She nodded at Melia's explanations. She was a bit worried at first. Melia didn't need to learn new fighting styles, she just needed to improve upon what she already had. Luckily enough, it sounded like that's exactly what they did through their warm-ups, foot-work and whatnot. “Good, good. So you'd say these frogs were worth it thus far?” She'd ask, wanting to reconfirm she'd understood Melia's assessment of them well enough.

Upon meeting with Ryuuji a bit later, he would give her his report without the need to ask about it. That'd speed things up a bit. “Good, good.” She nodded. “So the frogs helped you continue to access more of your magic, then?” She asked, a bit curious as to what exactly Ryuuji had been taught thus far.

As for his statement of being free, she smiled. “Good. I hope you've got some energy left, as you might need it.” Her smile turned into a mischievous smirk, as she checked to confirm nobody was around. “I found some big lizardfolk, more muscle than brains. He believed the only proper way to train a slave was to beat them into submission, but all I could see was wasted potential, so I challenged him to have the frogs set-up a competition to see which of our slaves performs better. Considering the frogs are setting it up...” she looked around again, just to be safe “... I'm assuming you might have an advantage. He does seem to have a fair few slaves, however, so you might be up against more than one person in whatever challenges they bring.”

The best part was yet to come, however, as she pondered whether she'd share it or not. In the end, she figured she'd do so. “If you two perform well enough, you might even gain a new companion.” There was, of course, the possibility of them loosing, in which case she'd have to 'date' this Dranth and might be a tad more inclined to test out his methods. Even so, she decided not to share such thoughts. For now, she'd use her own method. In this case, that would be positive reinforcement. “How about this. Ryuuji, if you manage to impress me well enough and we win this, I'll give you limit power to command the newest slave to join our ranks. Melia, if you manage impress, I'll splurge on getting you new gear soon.” Such 'high' rewards should definitely get her slaves motivated to give it their all.

 

[TheTimePiece]

Time: Early Afternoon

Temperature: Temperate

Place: West Empire, Liudong Lianhua Monastery Complex

Mention: Elvario

Melia Hayward
​

Melia appeared to be receptive with her smile at Saoirse’s chuckle, like she was pleased that she had managed that much.

“I would say so. I’ve learned some fundamentals which I believe will help and compliment my already existing combat abilities, in an offensive and defensive capacity based on what I learned. Some of the monks here are a bit deceptive if you were to base them on a surface level appearance, the one who is training me is quite advanced in age from what I can tell yet he was more than capable of keeping pace with me and appeared to have masterful form from what I could tell at least.”

That news might be a good sign for Saoirse’s chances at the bet she had made with the Dranth, if there were more monks like the one which Melia described.
---

Ryuuji Kamimura
​

Ryuuji on the other hand listened diligently to his mistress as perusal, not wanting to miss a word.

“Yes they did, I believe that I should be able to operate as I did when they described what I could do when you purchased me. Nong Shui introduced me to this..younger looking magic user, who at first I was skeptical of, but then again I’ve heard that some may not look the age they actually are based on their appearance particularly If they are fae, regardless if that’s the case the important part is that Miss Xia spent many hours working through with me to get my magic flow back in order, and I’ve subsequently been able to cast without the need of a catalyst at all. This will allow me to use my healing abilities freely on our excursion which I think will certainly come in handy.”

Ryuuji spoke politely and eloquently during the process of answering her question.

But then he heard the next part about needing energy, sure he had been working hard for most of the day, hopefully whatever he needed it for wasn’t going to be too difficult..seeing her smile shift to a mischievous smirk however intrigued him, when he saw that look surely there was profits to be made, which was actually a bit exciting in it’s own right for him, when she profited he did by extension.

When Saoirse looked around, thankfully there didn’t appear to be anyone else nearby who was listening in with the trio, here were mainly some monks in the far outdistance here and there traversing the monastery grounds as well, a scarce number of outsiders too based on their garb who were wealthy enough to warrant inviting other.

A set up was definitely favorable to Ryuuji when he heard that detail, so was the idea that whoever she was going up against wasn’t the brightest person in comparison, that’s a good sign that there were profits to be had if their cards were played right. Hearing about this strong guy believed that physical domination was the best way to train his slaves, only made Ryuuji feel more thankful that if he was going to end up in slavery, instead he at least got to be owned by Saoirse who at least at the moment hadn’t taken to severe physical discipline like it sounded like that guy’s slaves had.

Going up against more than one wasn’t exactly what Ryuuji was hoping to hear, but he did nod to show that he was paying attention here and there as well as making respectful eye contact. If that was the case he just hoped that what she said was true and that the dice were in fact going to be weighed at least a bit in their favor.

Upon hearing that they might get a new companion, Ryuuji’s eyes lit up a bit on his usually pretty calm and somewhat serious resting face. If someone was going to be a slave, it was better they were under Saoirse, and a bit selfishly, if they were to join he hoped it was someone skilled who could help them bring in even more profits so Saoirse could further her status and power. On the other side of things what he didn’t want was for her to pick up dead weight, but it seemed like she was pretty good at assessing whether or not she wanted to bother investing into a slave or not, as she had picked Melia and himself, which in his humble opinion had been sensible choices. So he was sure whoever she picked should it come down to it, it’d be someone who’d provide some use to her in allowing their abilities to get better.

What was a bit more surprising was that it sounded like Saoirse was willing to trust him with some authority should he impress her and they win. That wouldn’t exactly help him maintain his side character ruse, but at the same time if he was able to manage their new group member well enough, that would definitely do him well for ‘resume’ building with Saoirse which was by far one of the most important things he could realistically be doing.

When Melia heard that she could be getting new gear she was quick to bow low as well.

“I understand. It humbles me to hear that you trust me with such a responsibility. Now that my magic is working properly, I am in a better position than other to come out on top, particularly with these advantageous situations you have described. And as usual your ability to judge situations to seize opportunities never ceases to impress me.” Ryuuji responded when all was said and done.

Lower energy or not the idea that they could significantly improve their situation was enough to motivate him to perk up.

“I sincerely appreciate the opportunity to impress you. Your offer is generous, and as I told you earlier, I fully intend to win and make you proud.” Melia reaffirmed showing her gratitude through gesture and words. She had been with Saoirse long enough that she did care for her, even knowing her true ambition more deeply than others, new gear was a great reward for what Melia was trying to achieve.
---
Presumably after they continued their strategic meeting and got prepared as needed Arranog stopped by to inform Saoirse ahead of time that they were ready to rumble on the bet, and by that point she, Ryuuji, and Melia were ready.

There was a gathering of monks at the open field like training area now. When the trio approached it was apparent that accommodations had been made for combat if there was to be any, Arranog was currently waiting near a group, surprisingly the elf from before was the only one who was still chained to him on the forged collar.

Saoirse would be invited to join in a respectable spectating area near him, while the monks took care of hosting the event as for what slaves were expected to do what.

There were a few others on the scene near Arranog who were less than familiar faces. Perhaps the choices suggested that Arranog had some sort of type when he picked his slaves out, the exception being one of them.

The other ones present didn’t look terribly better than she had earlier.

???
​

One had horns who was shorter and presumably more agile than the others. It looked like she had some form of horns, but she wasn’t particularly dressed better than the one chained by the man had, wearing basic black clothin essentials tops and bottoms so as to not be indecent, covering her chest, and shorts. At the very least she had been permitted to wear some more durable looking shoes, and a belt of sorts to hold what she needed, it looked like two sets of daggers with gold and black handles which were currently put away. The expression on her face was one of nervousness, as she glanced back and forth at Arranog and then to her compatriots. Her golden hoop earrings shifting as she turned her head now and again.

???
​

Near her was another fae like the one who had been chained up, whose hair took on a more golden hue, wearing the sort of attire one might expect in a brothel or as a suit at the beach to show off. It was pretty clear they were dressed this way because Arranog probably preferred it at this point as something he found nice to oogle at when he felt so inclined. What made her stick out a bit was she had a red face marking, as well as an ear with multiple pierces she had a sort of darker aura then some of the others, that and her catalyst was peculiar between the skull on top and the wings, as well as the gemstone which was clutched. She looked pretty concerned too, there were a few marks on her body as well suggested that Arranog had gotten a bit rough, particularly on her wrists, and sides. She was a pretty typical height at about 5’4.

???
​

The one which broke the trend of women who Arranog probably found attractive, was a young male human, who looked like he very much belonged in a school, a farm, or following his father’s trade. He had somewhat longer hair and was carrying something long and concealed on his back, unlike the others he didn’t look like he had been ruffled up too much, but he didn’t look entirely like he was all there and distant.

Arranog Dranth
​

"<So Waddya thing of them? Pretty great just like me huh?>" Dranth asked as arrogant as usual, facing Saoirse from a distance, with another flex for good measure.

“It..sure looks like he has a..sort of slave he goes for.” Ryuuji murmured softly toward Saoirse quietly.

Melia could almost be heard audibly scoffing, like she wasn’t particularly impressed by the showing,

“And who has slaves intended for combat going out..dressed like that?” She added in softly, as well, presumably so Dranth wouldn’t hear and take offense to their comments.

Thankfully it didn't look like he did.

Ryuuji and Melia took their respective places near the other slaves, while a youthful frog monk began to explain what some of the events would entail.

“<Since there is not an equal number of slaves, Dranth agreed to pick two of his own to compete. For the first set it will be a trial of combat in the training ring, leaving the boundary will result in disqualification, the fighting will continue until it is obvious one cannot continue and or they yield. For the second, the two magic users will compete and demonstrate their usefulness. The judges will be a panel of three monks who will rate the usefulness of the slave on a numeric scale of one to ten.>”


Arranog then looked at Saorise, “<I take those are agreeable terms? I’m even being fair by only using two of my own. Of course just one of them might be more than yours could handle, so just think of it like I'm respecting your abilities.>” He said with a grin.

It didn’t sound like Arranog was keen on giving out his slaves names, or perhaps he hadn’t even told the monks because he didn’t see it as important.

Presuming that the Saoirse agreed that it was agreeable and everyone was in position to view, the first slaves selected to throw down were Melia and the horned one, who both made their way into the fenced circular arena taking opposite sides.

Instead of using real blades they were using blunt training ones which were enchanted in such a way that they’d deal blows which would be quite uncomfortable to experience. It looked like one of the benefits which Saoirse had been given here was that Melia looked visibly stronger than her opponent, it would be potentially easier for Melia to put her target into submission out of the ring, and more difficult for the more nimble slave to knock Melia out, perhaps that rule had been added for Saoirse’s intended benefit once the frogs sized up the competition.

And just like that the match began. While the horned slave attacked with a look of desperation like a cornered animal might, overcompensating with aggressiveness, Melia was more patient using practical application of the footwork and blocks she learned to protect herself against the sloppy rapid blows. It was pretty apparent who the more skilled and disciplined fighter was, reflective of the fact that Arranog probably hadn’t put nearly as much time into advancing his slave. The rest of the audience watched with anticipation at the back and forth going on.

"I have a good feeling Melia has this handled Miss Desrosiers." Ryuuji said with a bit of a soft smile looking toward her, before back at the fight.

Conversely if one looked over to Arranog Dranth the dragonic man looked tense, with a clenched fist a displeased look already forming on his face.