Recovery and Shopping

It had taken two weeks but Connie had recovered from her starved state. She had been nurtured back to health by the demoness Zelena. At first Connie was wary of her and questioned if the effects of gambler would somehow have Zelena turn on her, but it never happened. Plus despite the fact that Zelena swore she loved Connie with all her heart, she never made any advances on her. She focused solely on Connie and her recovery, and made every effort to make sure Connie was comfortable even in the shabby inn they were staying at. Zelena’s efforts were well rewarded though as she got to witness first hand Connie’s vitality return to her. As she recovered her once matted hair returned to its former bright blonde luster. Her body filled out to how it was before her journey began, she was still small, skinny, and didn’t have much to speak of in regards to tits, ass, or curves, but she looked like a healthy 18 year old woman. Her eyes of course stayed grey, but they sparkled with life again, and Connie caught Zelena looking deep into them many times while they ate their meals together. However, with her life having been returned to her she knew she had to depart before gambler made her.

“Zelena, thank you for everything, but it’s time for me to go.”

“Oh? Where are we going?”

“N-no you’ll stay and I’ll leave…alone.”

“Why! I can’t let you wander alone! I love you! Is it because I’m a demon that you don’t want me?”

“What no! I’ve told you many times already Zelena gambler rolled for your affection! That love you feel isn’t real. Forget about me and live for your own sake.” Connie desperately wanted a companion, but knew what gambler had done. She couldn’t handle bringing someone along just because she was **** to love her.

“For me it’s real though. I’ve never been in love before, but every time you say you won’t see me anymore my heart feels like its been pierced by an arrow. Connie please, I want to be with you.”

“I-I just feel guilty, you had no say in all this.”

“You are too sweat Connie!”

“Eh! How so?”

“You are the one suffering the most right now, and you’re concerned about me more than yourself. I probably would have fallen for you without gambler.”

“S-stop it Zelena! You’re only making this harder than it needs to be.”

“Stop making it hard then! Please, trust in me. I want to be there to pick you up when gambler pulls you down.” Both girls blushed deeply at this. Connie knew she’d lost this fight, and Zelena would be tagging along.

“Aye ta’ be young ‘gain” The two girls jumped and turned to see the inn keeper, a middle aged woman with a sweet motherly face and body. Since they were in the bordering area of the two nations (AKA the boonies) it wasn’t uncommon to hear this type of unrefined way of speaking.

“Oh, good morning ma’am”

“Pssh, ya noble gals ‘re far too kindly with your words. None need fr that ’ere.”

“Haha don’t mind her Ilbari you can take the girl out of the capital but you can’t take the capital out of the girl as they say.” Zelena said to the Inn keeper that she was friendly enough to be on a first name basis with.

“Hehe, ain’t tha’ tha truth honey. Any who, figrin you lot’ll be hoppin’ outta ‘ere soon ey?”

“That’s correct ma’am, er, yeah we are Ilbari.”

“See waz tha’ so hard! Ah, right me bein’ ‘ere waz fr a reason! I got somin’ fr ya Conn!”

“Uh-oh.” An unnatural reaction for a gift for sure, but Connie could feel in on her skin. Gambler had just activated.

The number 20 flashed briefly and she sighed in relief, it seemed with gambler the higher the number the better the results. Ilbari pulled out a box she had kept out of sight and handed it to Connie. The box was a simple wooden thing that looked weathered by age, there was nothing special about it except that it had a small note etched into the wood that read good luck.

“This box been passed down in me fam since me Gran’ Gran’ Gran’ Gran’ Gran’ Gran’ Pappy. Said to give ‘er ta ‘nother Gambler. Said th’ box were his treasure, an he hoped it’d be yers too. Course he’d said it weren’ up ta him what ya got.”

“Well no time like the present to find out right?” Zelena encouraged Connie.

“R-right!” And with that bit of motivation Connie ripped the lid open.

“Oh my!” Inside the box lay a bright orange-red robe, and as soon as Connie brushed her fingers across the fabric she was aware of what it was.

“TH-THIS IS A PHOENIX ROBE!?” It was true, it was an incredible item to get her hands on. The robe was woven with fibers composed of Phoenix feathers. It had many great stat advantages.

Pheonix Robe:

+10 Defense

+50 Magic Defense

+Fire Immunity

+Cold (Temperature) Resistance 50%

+Ice Magic Resistance 30%

+Fire Spell Boost 30%

+Rebirth (Armor): No matter the damage this robe will reconstruct on its owner’s by the next day.

+Reroll to Ashes (Unique): If a gambler wears this robe they may reroll once in exchange for the robe.

“Oh man that’s lucky!” Zelena cheered alongside Connie.

“Ay I reckon ya ‘ere born under a lucky star. Me fam said Pappy ‘ere miserable ‘cept tha’ box there, but lookie you with a partner already! He’d be happy ta know.”

“Thank you! I hope I can lift this curse and live a happy life!”

“Oh! So our target is Solum Tower then right?” Zelena said excitedly.

“Ay reckon tha’ be th’ place ye wanna go. If ya believe th’ fables.”

“Solum Tower?”

“Yeah it’s a very mysterious tower that is located in a lava lake at the base of Mt. Carna on the border of the Rotgoth wastes and Virum Desert. The only thing that is known is their connection with magic is strong, and some say they can even cancel curses created by the gods.”

“Arg! I was just in Trinita! Are you saying I went the wrong way!” Suddenly she felt gambler again.

“Ha—— We head north from here.”

“What! Why that’s the dumbest way we could go!”

“I know but I don’t get a say! You still want to go with me!” Connie said flashing her arm, marked by the number one, at Zelena. Zelena immediately felt guilty about questioning Connie, she should have know it wasn’t up to her. Still though, now they’d have to go through Libidine’s two most inhospitable lands the Zelvin Tundra and the Rotgoth Wastes to get there.

“Okay! Time to stock up on supplies if we’re going to be going on a quest. Oh, Connie here’s some cash to get what you need.”

“Ay lemme give ya a little bit too!” Both Zelena and Ilbari pulled out their coin bag and dropped a few copper and silver coins.

+2000 copper acquired

+200 Silver acquired

(1000 Copper= 1 Silver)

“You guys didn’t-” She tried to reject that sum of money, but Zelena covered Connie’s mouth with her finger.

“Shh, we can’t have you getting hurt because of lack of funding right?”

“An I’m rootin’ fr ya too, kid!”

“Thank you!” Connie said with teary eyes.

The first stop for Connie was to go to the magic shop to see if she could get a short stave so she could wield both magic and a sword. She opened the door to the quaint shop nestled in the back ally of one of the small market streets. Sitting behind a desk was a mage woman dressed in blue robes so she probably specialized in water magic. However, before Connie could even speak Gambler kicked in.

“Get your Gambler ass out of my shop!” The shop keeper yelled. Connie looked down and saw a four fading from her arm and knew that she needed to be quick here.

“Your… your cheapest short stave please?”

“Will you get out of my hair if I sell you one?” The shop keeper spat out.

“Y-yes!”

“Fine this is what I’ll sell ya!” The shop keeper slammed a splintered and faded short stave down on the counter. It was clear this item was already on the verge of breaking, and was generally just a poor product. It could be sold for no higher than 500 copper and even that would only be if the person buying it was ****.

“That’ll be 900 copper.”

“900!” Now Connie knew what the roll was, she’d be paying an 80% markup on all items and it seemed to also affect the vendors mood towards her too.

“F-fine I understand now. Could you please get me something at least useable?” With a long sigh the shop keeper rushed out back and brought back an apprentice short stave.

“That’ll be 100 Silver.” Of course an apprentice short stave should only cost 20 silver, but clearly she’d have to pay an overage due to Gambler.

“Fine, fine, I’ll go with that.” Connie said annoyedly as she practically threw the silver at the shop keeper. In turn the shop keeper threw her her short stave. It was an easy to grip stave that had a deep brown color of wood from an oak tree, so nothing special. Fixed into the top of the wooden stave was a pure black onyx stone, which Connie figured the Shop Keep did on purpose as one last disservice to Connie. Onyx is a material that allows for more powerful dark magic, but almost no one can use that magic, except Connie can. She was grateful for the fact that at least she benefited somewhat from the shop keeper’s disdain. She pulsed magic through it once to feel the material used in the stave itself, it was goblin ash the bare basic staff/stave conductor. Well it’ll do, she thought to herself as she holstered it to her right hip.

Apprentice Short Stave of Darkness:

Mana drop reduction on intermediate and beginner spells: 20%

Dark Magic boost: 30%

As she left to go to the next shop she reminisced about her childhood and how she learned magic and swordsmanship.

---

Gambler is a cruelty of the Gods it is said the Gods of light made a deal with the Gods of darkness to allow them one mortal plaything every 500 years. The result was Gambler, it is created by the full **** of every god as a result it is a curse that can’t be broken. However, the Gods of light were able to slip in one act of kindness in that Gambler can’t activate until the victim is 18. This benefitted early Gambler users greatly as no one thought much of a square being on their arm until Gambler started working. However, after many Gamblers have lived and died people were aware of it. Through fear of angering the Gods of light no one dared throw away or kill a Gambler before they reached adulthood, but they would grow up neglected and unloved. A burden to the family that they couldn’t wait to throw away like trash. This was especially true of nobles born as Gamblers. Connie of course was one such noble, unloved by her family who couldn’t wait to transfer her registry to the Maple “household”. However, her siblings took pity on her and trained her a bit in their specialties. Her little sister Grace was adept at magic and was receiving lessons that she would then teach to Connie. Little did Connie know Gambler will activate passively before someone turns 18 if a Gambler starts learning a skill before they come of age. In this case she was practicing magic which means that in secret Gambler rolled to check her magic affinity, and skill level. She grew up thinking she was naturally gifted in Earth, Wind, Light, and Dark magic but it was in fact a gift from Gambler. Since the average mage has at most two affinities and Dark and Light magic are the most uncommon magic affinities, having access to four magics, two of which being Light and Dark, was exceptional. Few in history could claim they were better off in the field of magic than Connie was. She also thought she was just quick to absorb magic lessons and improve through natural ability but it was, once again, actually Gambler. Connie would never know this but her roll made her a magic master, only falling behind a Sage, Great Sage, and Divine Caster. That meant she could cast terrible strong magic, but couldn’t break the limits of what any other mage could work towards. Basically she was placed by Gambler at the finish line of the path of magic for mortals, but she couldn’t break through to magic’s true power. She was still better than 95% of all mages in the world though.

Next was sword lessons with her older brother Owen. If she was good with magic she was a true prodigy with the blade. She overtook her brother, who had been training hard for 5 years at the time, in skill after one month holding a blade. That was the inevitable outcome though because as soon as she was able to hold a sword Gambler decided for her how good she’d be. The result was incredible, on that day Connie became a Sword Goddess. There has been only one other Sword God in all of Libidine’s written history, and legend said he was a Gambler too. He was the hero who defeated the first Demon Lord. Gambler is a power that transcends the Gods as such it can grant the Gambler the power of the Gods even without their consent. As such Connie and the First Hero held the power of swordsmanship of the War God Kurrath. It displeased him greatly to see his power in the hands of a frail noble maiden, but the Gods could do nothing but watch in the face of Gambler.

She thought she had gotten close to her siblings despite her parent’s best efforts to shun her completely, but on her first day with Gambler truly activated it quickly rolled a 1 and then a 3 and just like that her siblings no longer wished to interact with her, and no one was there to see her off when she departed. A sad girl saddled with the Gods’ most cruel game departed to be exiled from her homeland, and everyone she’d ever known was relieved.

---

She shook her head furiously to steer her focus away from her painful past. Next came the blacksmith and she hoped she’d have better luck there. Of course no sooner did she reach for the door to the workshop Gambler activated.

No sooner did she get into the store she was greeted gruffly by a towering man.

“Oy this ain’t no place for a girly like you.”

“I can hold my own in a sword fight.”

“Fine then show me the way you hold a blade then, ay!” He threw an iron broadsword down into the ground right in front of Connie’s feet it sliced right into the stone and stuck there. Clearly this smith was very good at his trade for an iron sword to manage that. She picked it up unafraid of the challenge. He called in his two apprentices and each carried an armful of wooden practice throwing knives. Connie stanced up ready to clear the challenge. The two apprentices were clearly skilled with these weapons, but Connie was too good for any man of this world when it came to a blade. She stood firm and not only deflected the blades but parried them back at her attackers. They quickly flinched away from their own projectiles, and the burly blacksmith called them off.

“I was wrong about ya kid. Ye ain’t no ordinary swordsman. ‘Ere it’s the best sword I got. I’d charge 1 Gold {500 Silver} for it, but for someone of your skill I’ll only take 100 Silver.” He said as he slammed down a Orichalcum broadsword onto the counter. As Connie looked at the craftsmanship of the golden bronze colored blade she knew she had to take that deal. Unlike with the other shop keeper she gratefully placed most of her remaining money {2000 Copper remain} in the blacksmith’s hands and she departed the store with the broadsword holstered on her left hip.

Orichalcum Broadsword:

Unbreaking: Weapon will not break under normal conditions

Swiftness: Agility +50

Nimble: Evasion +50

Might: Strength +50

**Precision: Accuracy +50- - - - - -

**

Connie waited at the Inn as Zelena arrived in the carriage she had purchased to take the two of them up north.

“Hello, like the ride!” Zelena said happily as she popped out of the drivers area of the carriage.

“It looks like any other carriage I’ve been in what makes this one so special?” Connie asked not getting that Zelena was just kidding around.

“Well this one will be just for the two of us. That’s gotta count for something right?” Zelena said brightly to Connie deciding to roll with Connie’s inability to pick up on her teasing.

“Um, well I’m glad I don’t have to travel alone anymore!” Connie said cheerfully, and it made Zelena want to make her happy no matter what.

“Well then, shall we get going!” Zelena said brightly.

“Yes le…UGH!” Connie was about to agree to depart when she felt a burning in her arm, and she knew this roll would be different from the others.

Connie stumbled into the back of the carriage in pain as the numbers 1, 2, 1, and 6 displayed in quick succession on her arm. She shouted for Zelena to get out of the city, and Zelena quickly spurred the horses pulling the cart into action. Zelena was grateful that the guards at the gate didn’t question why a demon was driving a carriage with the only passenger being a writhing young woman in it. They made it to a little forest not too far north from the city for privacy before Zelena stoped the carriage and dashed out back to check on the woman she loved.

“HANN! AUGH! OHHHHH!” Connie was writhing, panting, and moaning as Zelena poked through the canvas tarp drape covering the entrance of the carriage. What she saw shocked her, Connie had rid herself of her trousers and was now staring in lust and horror at the cock that was growing from her crotch. It was standing proud and erect at 2’ and it showed no sign of stopping. To make matters worse descending slowly down her leg like a fleshy glacier was a huge nut sack that right now extended halfway down her thigh. The balls within so bulbous it looked as if they would engulf her legs.

“Zelena help me!” Connie stared desperately at Zelena **** for her companion to help her.