CHAPTER 22: A DAY IN THE LIFE OF..

~Amanda POV~

I awake before the suns breach the horizon, grumbling to myself I slow get up and get about readying myself for another dreary day of dealing with self important adventures and their inane attempts at either flirtation, or more likely their unmatched ability to cause trouble that will somehow become my job to fix.

Sighing I ask my self once again ’why do I still work there?’ Freshly turned 19 and could easily find myself anothe job with less headaches. But.. I sigh once more shaking my head as I dispel the thought resolving myself to continue with my original plan. After all eventually someone interesting will turn up right?

After a quick bath I dress in the guild uniform of a tight black skirt, shite shirt and back blazer embossed with gold trimmings, my badge already adorned in the blazer. Making my way to the guild office I stop by a stall to get some breakfast, grimacing at the necessity of it.

Arriving at the guild just as the azure sun breaches the horizon first I smile slightly ’hmm maybe today won’t be too bad after all be’ it is said that when this occurs good luck can be granted to the one witnesses it. I don’t exactly hold much hope in that but if it makes my day easier then I’ll hold onto that thin ray of hope.

Opening the doors I am greated by a quite guild hall only 2 adventures are present currently clearly waiting on teammates to arrive. Making my way over to my desk I great Shara my colleague and plop down in a seat ready for another boring day to begin.

The morning passes with no excitement, a few adventurers arrive but thankfully no one seems to cause any trouble. About an hour after I started the door opens once more and I glance up only to freeze as I take in the sight before me.

A petite red head adorned with a dress made entirely of flowers provoking a sense of ethereal beauty that is only slightly offset by the sinful cut of the dress which flaunts her body. However it is her eyes that captivate me in that moment, an emerald so deep it feels like I’m looking at the depth of a Forrest with speckles of golden light enchanted their beauty. Feeling myself flush just from that Quick Look I quickly lower my head and try to calm my racing heart.

Why am I effected so much from just a look? I don’t quite understand it and my mind races with unanswered questions. However, before I can get them fully under control I hear 2 sets of footsteps heading in my direction. Looking up once more I manage to maintine my mask of polite indifference as I once more see the woman walking towards me.

I take note of her compainion who I register as a half demon of some kind, likely a succubus with thoes curves before snapping my mind back to the present. "Welcome to the adventures guild how may I help you today?" I repeat the standard greeting falling back on routine to hide my racing mind.

The succubus takes the lead in the conversation stating that they are there to register her companion into the guild and then to seek some materials. Smiling to myself I happily lead them back into one of the testing rooms, glad to be able to spend more time with this woman that has caused such thoughts to run rampart in my mind.

Sitting down I open up with my usual greetings "So first off my name is Amanda, what is your name?"

Awaiting her reply I feel a shiver run up my spine at her voice. "My name is Lilliana but you can just call me Lilly." Her voice is low yet melodic and she holds herself with a level of dignity that is hard to fake as if she unconsciously believes that it is only right that she becomes the center of wherever she currently is.

Things process as usual from there with me slowly gaining control over myself as the usual routine continues. When it comes to her injecting her mana into the crystal I hold my breath whilst tightly gripping my own in preparation to note down anything of interest on her status. However, once I see her status displayed all of my composure cracks. An elf!! And nature magic!! I can hardly control my racing thoughts.

"H-how is this possible" I mutter out, and why is she here of all places I never though I would be lucky enough to meet one as they are truly a blessed race and only spoken off in myth and legends nowadays, but I know something that most normal people are unaware of. Something that has been kept a secret throughout my clans history dating back to when elves walked this continent. Its that woven blood holds deep power, and I can only imagine what one that weirds nature affinity would be like.

Now it’s not a mystery that blood holds power, nearly everyone knows that. And the stronger the individual that the blood is from the stronger that blood will be. That is the whole principle behind blood magic after all. But no to some elves blood is something truly mira.

Before my thoughts can go any further she confirms she is both an elf and holds nature affinity even going so far as to summon a vine from the solid stone floor and has it wave at me. My mind is almost fully blank at this point and my body runs on autopilot going through the motions to finish up registering this Lilly to the guild.

I hardly even notice when we move to a separate room to analyse their loot my already shocked mind only briefly registering supprise at the prefect Moss Bear hide she presents.

But in the background my mind is racing. I must get closer to this woman I decide I have to do so or I will be stuck in mediocrity for too long. As this resolves in my mind a deep hunger that I haven’t felt in years rises up. Not since my awakening at 16. Not since a ran away from my old life.

As I watch the two women leaving the room I begin to think, how can I get closer to her. How can I get her to accept me? Will she even be willing to do anything? With these thought once more running havoc in my mind I quickly open up my status to try and calm my mind down.

[Status

Name - Amanda

Species - Vampire

Age - 19

Titles - none

Boons - Blessed of Blood

Class - Sanguine Apprentice

Stats - Mind 2. Body 4. Soul 3]

Well regardless of anything else, as I feel my fangs poking extending I know one thing. I need to have a taste of her.

———

~Lilliana POV~

After exiting from the back rooms I feel a shiver run down my spine and I feel as if iv just managed to escape from a preditor.

"Well that was an experiance" I quietly say to Kana. "It felt like she was looking at me like I was a 5 star meals that just landed in her lap." I shiver once more at the way she was looking at me towards the end of our talk.

"Well you are a delectable snack." Kana jokes back to me, before pulling me into a side hug she she sees my exasperated look. "But in all seriousness are you sure your not overthinking things? She seemed perfectly normal to me, I mean if you ignore the look of incredulity on her face when she saw your status, which I can kind of understand."

Sighing I decide to just let it go for now. "So what do you fancy doing today? Don’t know about you but I’d like to get a few things to make sleeping outdoors better. Ohh and some cookware I don’t want to have to be eating meat skewers every day!" This was something that I was quite adamant on, and whilst I’m not exactly the best cook I’m pretty sure I can do a whole lot better than just meat on stick.

Laughing Kana replied. "Yeah that seems reasonable, and given your storage space we could probs get away with storing a whole bed away!"

"Ohh I like the way you think! So we need a bed, a big enough tent for said bed and some camping gear, seems reasonable." Smiling at Kana we made our way out of the adventures guild and back onto the new considerably busier streets. I instantly noticed several eyes on me but ignoring them I turned to Kana and asked. "So where do we need to go to get alll of that?"

Thinking for a moment she taps her finger to her lips. "Hmm iv got a couple of ideas so follow me!" Happily doing so we make our way down the street with me being able to better appreciate the town we have found ourselves in as well as the multitude of different people.

Our first stop is a general good store of sorts, or just a store that has near piles of random items spread everywhere with a older dogkin lady sat behind the counter. Smiling at her I make my way around the store finding a few items that seem good enough, I scrounge out some basic cooking equipment and find some nice furs and blankets that look comfey enough. Approaching the elderly lady I pile up my choices on her counter as she looks over what iv selected.

After a moment of looking she croaks out. "That’ll run ya 1 Iron lassy." Thinking that seemed decent and not really one to haggle I easily hand over the coin and then make all the items vanish into my necklace. I notice with a small smile how her eyes widen at that display before I turn around and head for the door after flushing her a grin.

The next store we find ourselves in seems to be more focused on adventures with a variety of potentially useful items from torches and rope to tents and fit aid equipment. Making my way to the tents I find a decent sized one that is more of a gazebo with only4 of its 5 sides fully covered decoding that it will be easy enough to camouflage with my nature moulding I pick it up, I also grab some more general equipment that I think would be useful for adventuring ending up with a 2 iron 3 copper price tag.

Down now to just over 2 iron we make our way to odd looking store that doesn’t have a sign but comes recommended from a few people that we asked when looking for a bed. Walking in I am greeted by a store that has innumerable beds, blankets, pillow and throws, anything and everything that could be classified as comfort can be found here. Deciding that I don’t want to skimp out I happily spend most of my remaining coinage on the best bed I can get and it is supprisingly comfey and will easily fit within our new tent!

Satisfied with my purchases and with the suns getting low in the sky we make our way back to the inn we stayed at the previous night to get some food and drink before heading to bed. The inn is bustling tonight with every table nearly fully occupied. However, I manage to find one table that only has one occupant, saddly this one occupant is someone I wasn’t expecting, or particularly wanting to see again so soon. Amanda, and she is waving at us with a big smile on her face. "Well fuck." I mutter before forcing on a smile of my own and making my way over to her.

——-

Well looks like we got a new stalker for our unfortunate little Lilly, wonder how this one will turn out eh?