12 years..

I scream up to the sky. "Talk to me you Useless Goddess!"

Silence is my answer. The same silence I've met with for over 3 hours now.

I scream then I fume, then I keep walking.

I'm still naked and the foreign bugs in these woods are getting annoying. They are only useful for target practice with my new powers..

It's been a little hit and miss. I swear the little fuckers can sense the air about to magically combust around them.

I got a little lazy and made myself a wood fly swatter.

So now I am covered in flyswatter marks, naked and lost in the woods.

"That bitch.."

Dicking around with magic is an excellent way to work out some frustration. The little things they taught us in high school chemistry and science have really helped the process. Turns out that it's not hard to make atoms snap together and chemical compounds rearrange themselves when you have direct influence on that scale of matter. 

Just like that turning oxygen into gold becomes child's play. The only limit is my mana.

I can feel it inside of me. I am running on fumes compared to when I arrived. But I am naturally recharging all the time. It even seems to be directly related to my breathing. When I run, my body grows exhausted but something like my spirit grows full.

And as I fill with spirit and mana in my torso, my head fills with Violent Rage.

I see a rustle around the base of a tree. Within a second the pebbles in my hand whip from my hands. My mana swirls around the rocks to lower air friction to nearly non-existent and I use my magic to amplify their speed. The result is a crater in the base of the old tree the size of my head, unearthed roots and a cloud of dirt to choke me out for my efforts.

I cough and gag as I claw around in the epicenter of my panic attack.

There is blood and fur in a wet stain in the ground. Bits and pieces of bone and meat mixed in the dirt.

I'm starving.

I pull some stringy meat from the fur. I have enough for a steak strip or two for a quesadilla.

A little magical fire later and I have my first taste of this new world..

It tastes like charred fur.

I'm still starving.

"That bitch.."

I continue walking.

I see smoke up ahead. 

I can smell it.

Civilization.

People.

Food.

All I have in this world is this sack of silver and my balls. I'm about to put one of them on the table for a meal. I'm still not sure which.

The village seems 16th century or something. Not just stones and straw but.. not much better. Seems like someone just figured out tiled roofing and it's only some of the buildings in the center. 

I see a large white building with a domed room. A giant silver-blue ring adorns it's crest. 

I see a few shops with wooden boards hanging from chains out front.

I see people in way too many layers of clothing all looking at my nakedness as I pass them by down the road.

Some of them are cute.. my appreciation is starting to show.

I cover myself with my hands a time or two.. but that just made things harder to deal with.

Fuck it. I was robbed by bandits. My nakedness isn't my fault. That's my story, if you don't like it look away.

But I would love some clothes..

I see a shirt on a sign and assume that's the spot.

"Good morning." I announce into the store, a chubby slapping into my legs as a bell rings with my entry.

Of course, a black haired woman with a heart- shaped face looks up and stares, a smile frozen on her face mid-speal.

"I have a little problem. I Have No Clothes. I'm here hoping you can change that." I flash her my dumbest smile as I lean on the front counter, right hand on my hip.

She meets my eye. 

She laughs.

She laughs Hard.

I can hear her running out of breathe.

I am stonefaced.

She comes back for a second and meets my eye.

I break.

They we are. Two strangers laughing together.

Thankfully that killed my erection.

"Please.. please sweetie.. put on these old clothes before you flash half the town and give a widow a heart attack." The woman says in a voice that's almost sways to a country rhyme."

I catch the clothe she throws at me. A scratchy pair of pants that feel like some kind of thick wool and a less scratchy shirt that feels like cotton.

"Some bandits caught me while I was sleeping. They ended up stripping the boots right off my feet. Damn basterds." I try to take a country accent as I spit out my bullshit story and I slip my shirt over my shoulders. Maybe I'll be seen as less weird if I sound similar.

I slip a coin from my purse before I turn around to face the amused woman.

I catch her staring. She doesn't look away.

She's fanning her face, it's a little red. That amused smile hasn't gone away. 

"I'm a little lost out here.. Maybe we can talk for minute.. get to know each other better." I say with all the boldness I can muster. I did just walk naked through the street a few minutes ago..

"Oh~? Well wouldn't that be nice deary. This is the little town of Hillwood just 2 days ride south of Evenfall. I am the seamstress of Hillwood and this is my shop. Speaking of which you do owe me for the clothes on your back. If you can't pay you will have to work off yo-"

A loud thud comes from a back room. In the blink of an eye the seamstress is on her feet and screaming.

"ELISIA!!" 

Another thud comes from the back room. There's a shuffle of feet before a five foot nothing girl appears. The first thing to note is her skin. It's red. Scarlet red with touches of black around her eyes, freckled on her cheeks and covering her exposed hands. 

She's the cutest thing I have seen in any world ever.

She's cuter than every puppy that ever existed.

She's fucking adorable..

.. and her eyes are dead.

It crushes me.

The seamstress slaps the girl so hard she slams into the wall and falls to the ground. The next thing I know the seamstress has her foot on the short red woman's head.

"I told you to stay QUIET when I have Customers. Get back there and clean up your mess. You have TWO MINUTES." The seamstress grinds her foot into the young woman's hair before lifting it. 

The red girl is away in an instant.

I'm in shock.

I still can't move.

I can't even process what's going on.

This is some 12 years a slave kinda shit.

12 years a sla..

Oh..

"I apologize for that. The help is usually better behaved but something has been wrong with that thing lately. Might be it's mating season. They get frisky around that time."

I slap a silver coin on the table.

"How much for her?"

In my head I know this isn't solving the problem. It's not as small and simple as paying for freedom. 

But this is a start.

The seamstress cocks her head at me. She doesn't the change in atmosphere. But she takes a moment herself.

Of course she can smell a profit.

"It is invaluable as help. I can easily get three times as much done with it's magical ability."

"You are starting to bore me. I asked the price." My voice is cold. I fight to keep myself in check. I see fire. I see fire burning so hot it melts starts to melt the stones from the walls. But I'm too new to the area. I'm too new to this world. I can't start shit untill i know more.

"10 silver pieces." She declares as if to scare me off.

Ping p-ping ping ping.

The silver spills from my purse. The seamstress eyes the bag with greed. But she purses her lips as she counts. 

She looks satisfied as she nods her head and calls out.

"ALICIA. COME HERE."

There's a rough shuffle in the back. But in a moment the girl appears in the doorway. Her head lowered.

"Alicia, this man is your new master. You are to be his whore, you understand? Come here."

The red woman looks up at me. I see fear for the first time in her eyes. She masks it quickly. Her eyes die and she lowers her head before approaching the seamstress.

The seamstress pulls put a knife and slits her own thumb. A drop of blood pools before she forces the digit into the red girls mouth. "Your hands are my will no longer, for I give you to another. Your body and soul are no longer bound to my will. You are to be bound by the next man who see's you.

The sound of a lock clicking into place fills the small space. 

Alisia meets my eyes.

She tugs at my spirit.

Before I can even explain what's going on the sound of a lock clicking forms again.

Just like that, I can feel this woman. I can feel our connection. 

Somehow I feel more full inside. My mana surges with vitality.

I will need to look into that later. For now, I need to leave before I make emotional decisions.

The seamstress continues. "We have a lot of more comfortable clothes in th-"

I slam a fist down into the front counter. 

I look at the woman as if she were inhuman. All of my anger pouring out as cold indifference.

"Bored now. I'm leaving."

I storm from the shop without a glance behind me. I can feel the red woman ghosting along behind me like a kicked dog.

My feelings are conflicted. I don't know why I just bought a slave when all I wanted was to not be naked.

I don't know why I didn't bang that seamstress.

I do know that I'm hungry and that sign has a bed and a beer on it. So it's either mattress plus or a tavern.

One way to find out..