I was breathing heavily, and Gloom sighed in pleasure as she stood up after riding me to completion three times. "I needed that," She said with a sigh and turned to look down at me sitting down. "Sorry, Elli," Gloom said, "I get in heat once a month for a couple of days, and I tend to act a little more sadistic and take what I want instead of asking for it. I will be troubling you probably in the mornings for the next couple of days."

Gloom's smile was wry, and her tail was flicking back and forth as semen dripped from her pussy. She opened the door. On the other side, Iona and Viccy were looking angry about being kept out of the bathroom. Fidel was standing in the background getting ready as I finally started to get up and could see her. "It is okay," I said suddenly as Gloom stepped past Viccy and Iona. "Let me shower, and we can do a meeting about what we found yesterday and then get some breakfast, okay?"

A couple of glares later and a hot shower, I entered the room with my legs trembling a little. I stepped out and opened my wardrobe and pulled out a little black short that stopped halfway down my thighs and a tube top that covered my small breasts that my character had and sat on the bed still feeling spent. Gloom looked much happier now that she had temporarily fulfilled her need.

"I will start with what I learned," I suddenly said, and the girls nodded.

I went on about the general situation I learned about from Seraiah, and everyone followed along intently. I even saw some understanding from Naughty and Iona, as they probably recalled something, and it took a bit before I was finished. "Although it isn't much, I more or less gathered general knowledge about how the City functions as it is. The City is divided into war zones where the Hellfire religion was fighting for a spot among the slums. That means that the Hellfire citadel is hiding power that they are fighting with in order to attack the proper target once we reveal them or that we are about to get neck deep in something I don't believe we can handle." I finished, and the party nodded to my assessment.

"Well, Naughty and I went around looking at the general situation of the slums yesterday, and we found a bunch of gangs protecting almost all the corners." Viccy took over, and we all turned to her. "These gangs have names that seem to be related to organizations loosely. I think like the Bright dwellers were one of the names which I felt was unnatural for a gang in the slums." I couldn't help but nod at that as she continued, "The situation, to sum up in a word, is messy. Territories are all over the place, and there isn't a guard to be seen in sight most of the time. The law there seem to be the various gangs. When Naughty Bunny and I went into a shop deep in the slums near a brothel, different gangs were eyeing each other on different corners. At the least, the business area of the slums is controlled by gangs, and there is marked territory, which we will need to observe and record, I believe. We need to make a map and get a subtle understanding of what is happening." Viccy paused for a moment to let that all sink in, and I frowned.

That would take a lot of time, and we wouldn't be leveling at all. It would stagnate our progress, but if we did do it and kept it updated, we might make more progress later on for quests making them faster, and we could catch up that way. it was a risk at the minimum.

"That will slow our progress majorly, but I talked it out with Naughty yesterday," viccy said and nodded to Naughty, "If we do it slowly and quest in the meantime outside the City exiting through the slums, we can do it while not slowing our progress too much. We can also get a better lay of the land in the meantime while we do so."

It was a good argument and one I hadn't considered. "Before we continue about that, I think we should talk about the living situation," I said, turning to Iona and Gloom.

"Ah, I zoned out a bit thinking," Gloom said, her tail swishing back and forth a lot. "The living situation here seems to be good." She began, "Both Iona and I went to a couple of places both in the slums and in the neighboring areas not too far from the adventurers guild. Buying a place is a bit expensive, but I think we can afford it in the end. That only makes sense if we want to be here permanently. We can also rent, but that will be more expensive with not as much payoff down the line since we cannot modify it a lot." Gloom said, her expression wry. "In fact, I found a place that I think would be perfect for our short-term plans and maybe for our long-term ones if we start making plans for the long term." Gloom said and pointed toward the casinos, "There is a large house that just opened up for sale with a small backyard that we could practice in between the casinos and the slums. It would even be close to a straight line from the Adventurers guild to the city exit through the slums." Gloom paused for a moment, and I realized that it did sound optimal if we were staying long-term. "The problem lies if we are going to stay here permanently or short term. If we set up a base of operations here on the edge of the slums, then it would make sense for us to map out the slums Gang activity while we do quests too." Gloom continued, her voice sounding sure of herself. "This would be what I believe to be the perfect place for us to set up the base so that we can do a variety of things inside the city while still being in a safer place in town and questing." Gloom finished.

Silence filled the room, and I was thinking about it. Fidel was the only person whose expression didn't change, and we were all lost in thought. Minutes passed, and I coughed, gathering everyone's attention. "So we have two options that I think are good in this case." I began acting like the party leader I believed I was at this point. "We either drop the Hellfire citadel quest and don't care about the slums, or we risk everything and do the quest. In this case, we purchase a place and begin to stake a claim with us secretly working with the Hellfire citadel. We will take the time while adventuring outside of the City and gather information while inside the City. We will start to make a name for ourselves among the slums and eventually try to find out who is attacking the Hellfire citadel while we take in a deep understanding of what is happening inside the slums in particular." I paused only for a moment to let that sink in. This would be an all-or-nothing gamble. "If we go down this route, we will be deep learning the area and focusing only on slums and just outside the gate of the slums for the foreseeable future till we out-level this area. That will hurt us in the short and long term while we learn what we need to complete the quests. Or it will only hurt us in the short term and become what we need to excel in this area allowing us to finish quests quickly and get more powerful."

I laid it out flat, and everyone was lost in their thoughts.

Minutes rolled by, and I felt myself on the fence, waiting for what others thought. "I think we stay and buy a place. Elli here can permanently ward and maybe set up a business where we can make gold doing it as well. We could even establish businesses around the area to help us gather information and subordinates that we cannot do if we are always on the move. I think we make a stand and set roots here in a mixed area where we all can flourish." Viccy put down her stance, and everyone was silent for a moment.

"Agreed," Fidel suddenly joined in, and I nodded.

"I think so as well," I added in, and Iona and Gloom nodded, with Naughty smiling brightly.

"I would rather do my quest than not since it ties to my class. So I wanted to stay but kept silent." Naughty said, "Plus, I am new here."

I appreciated her not talking first, and Iona just looked at me. "I follow you, and I hope we can eventually learn where my homeland is so I can see it again," Iona stated, and I nodded.

"Easier to find information in a city like Dark City than in the Elven forest," I told her honestly. "People come here from all over," I stated as a matter of fact, and Iona nodded.

"Then it is agreed?" Gloom said, "We set roots here in Dark City to grow?"

blah

"Take us to go see that house you recommend, Gloom," I told her with a smile, "I believe we all agreed."

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