28 All In The Cards

In a week Stefano had shown promise in combat. Now that his body had been warmed up, it was now time to forge it in the fire of rigorous physical training.

"One. Gah!"

His voice labored as he's currently doing push ups right in the middle of the guild's training ground. Gloria sat on his back, smiling and postured like a mermaid on the shore.

"T-two!"

"Come on, put your back into it!" With her arms crossed, Yulia encouraged her squire. 

"Three!" 

"Four!"

Looking like he's reached his limits, the muscles in his arms burned as he tried to push himself to the limit, beads of sweat on his head as he gave it his all to at least reach five.

"F-f-Five!" 

With that, Stefano falls flat on the ground. If he wasn't acquainted with Yulia, the other guild members would've labeled him as a weirdo for doing push-ups with a mermaid on his back. If only they knew that it was Yulia's idea in the first place. 

"Good job, now rest there for a bit, give me two more sets before we go move on to combat training." 

"Some mentor you are. Did Garreth also train you to do push ups with a mermaid on your back?" Still catching his breath, Stefano let a bit of his ire slip.

"Don't be ridiculous, he would never resort to something as crass as putting someone on my back….he used a boulder. Would you like for us to switch your weights?" 

"Yulia, you are the greatest Mentor a student could ever hope for. And have I ever told you that Gloria's the perfect companion for this exercise? Not too light but also not too heavy!" 

The tiefling laughed, "Damn right I am. By the way, are you free tonight? We're going to do some…spiritual training."

For Stefano, spiritual training sounded like they would do prayers and meditation. A perfect way to spend the evening. Maybe his mentor wasn't that sacreligious after all?

"Count me in."

"Good, now let's resume your training."

+++

Later that evening. 

"You lied to me. What part of this is spiritual training?"

It appears that Yulia had led Stefano into a brothel, a rather lavish one at that. Its floors up to the stairs are draped in red carpet, the walls and pillars ivory, the ceilings had extravagant chandeliers. 

A shangri-la for the licentious. 

"It's a spiritual training for you to be able to easily resist the temptations of the flesh!" 

Yulia argued with Stefano near the purple haired Naga receptionist wearing a red formal dress that was slit from the waist down to accommodate her snake tail.

The tiefling hasn't thought her excuse through, but what the hell, since they're already here might as well just get on with it. 

She doesn't frequently go to places like these, with her looks she could just go to other taverns and she would find one or two women in there who's feeling promiscuous for the night. In truth, it was all for Stefano, surely there is no way for him to fumble a paid encounter? That and she was actually curious to check out what Elaria's number one brothel was like. 

"Resist temptations!? You damn hauled me into one!"

"Just quit your yapping and follow me!"

The receptionist welcomed the duo's approach with a smile, "Welcome to Arcana! A place where you can revel in fate's touch." With a flick of one of her hands, 21 cards raised to be suspended in the air, close enough for the two to make out what they are. Tarot cards. "Choose that which catches your fancy." 

Taromancy. A magic often used for fortune telling. Their real power lies in being able to summon the entities behind the cards, this brothel seems to have copied the theme and put their own twist to it. Can you imagine how awkward it would be if they fully embodied the concept and just randomly assigned cards for you depending on your fortune?

Yulia smirks at the four armed beauty in front of her. Not only was the snake woman a looker but the fact that she has four hands opens up a whole lot of possibilities.  

The tiefling leans in closer to the receptionist's desk, her voice suggestive as she stares the naga straight in her slit eyes irises, "I've already chosen one, but it's not a card."

The Naga brushes her right hand past her ear. She responds to Yulia's advance with a coquettish grin.

"Tempting. But I would have to apologize. I'm not allowed to sleep with potential customers. House rules. Please, pick a card, I'm sure you'll find all of them to be as alluring - maybe more so."

"Worth the shot."

The first card to attract Yulia's eye was the 8th card. The Strength arcana. She grabbed it from the air. Once she examined it in her hand, the tarot design was replaced by the image of a toned female orc wearing a leotard, her long wavy black hair was side-shaven, her face captivating. Even her molars added to her charm. Definitely inside Yulia's strike zone, but tonight wasn't her night, it's Stefano's. 

Yulia handed the card to Stefano, "What do you think?"

"How many times have I told you, I have sworn to Mithra not to…" Stefano swallowed his throat once she saw the orc. "...okay, she is gorgeous, I'll give her that." 

"Is that all you want to give to her?" Yulia gave Stefano a coy grin.

"What do you mean? I didn't carry any gold on me, only silver since I thought we were just doing some prayer meditation."

The tiefling grumbled, "Nevermind, just hold that card, I'm going to go check the other ones."

Her eyes fell onto the 1st card, The magician. Technically the 2nd but the one preceding it is numbered 0. Once the card changed, Yulia almost burst out laughing. 

Exhibiting his age like fine wine, it appeared to be a jacked wizard, he proudly flexed his biceps while wearing nothing but a smug grin. His white beard is long enough to cover his junk.

"Hey, Stefano, you have got to see this!" 

Stefano's expression contorted in disgust. It wasn't because he found the wizard disgusting, he only did so because he wasn't expecting to see a ripped wizard with nothing but a white beard to cover his schlong. 

"I'm not gonna hold on to that, return it at once!"

Yulia hung the card back in the air in line with the others. Her eye darted to the 3rd card, the empress. She snatched the card and the image changed right before her eyes. "Nice."

It was a tiefling sitting on a throne with her legs crossed, horns slanted the same way as Yulia's. Her skin is as pink as strawberry, giving the impression that she is just as sweet but the stare in her eyes hinted at a different flavor, piquancy. Yulia wanted to give her a taste.

"Let me see." Stefano said.

His words prompted a grin on Yulia's mug as she handed the card to her friend. Is tonight the night where Stefano finally gets laid?

"Careful, she's a tiefling, she might be too much for you to handle since it's your first time."

"What? I think 'too much to handle' would be a better description for this orc."

Yulia let out a condescending laugh. Some of her best lays had been with her fellow tieflings, just reliving the memory of how they worked their tail whilst the heat of passion was enough to send tingles down her spine.

"You have no idea how wild some of us can get, pick her and I can guarantee you, her tail will be going…places."

Yulia discerned it from how the tiefling in the card glared, she was definitely a bedroom-fighter.

Stefano's eyes widened, "No way, she's so innocent looking and cute!"

"I'm not stopping you from picking her, It's just a friendly warning on what to expect."

Yulia returned her attention to the cards.

Meanwhile, Stefano alternated his stare at the two cards in each hand with indecision. Not only was he having a hard time picking a partner, he wasn't ready to abandon his vow. It is Mithra that clothed him, gave him food and shelter and all the vow asked of him is that he remains chaste until marriage. How did it become so easy for his church brothers to fall into lechery and abandon their vows? 

As Stefano's piety clashed with his carnal desire, the topmost card caught Yulia's eye.

It had a radiant light that differentiated it from the others. The 21st card signified the end of the journey, completeness.

The World. 

Once in her hand, the radiant light faded so she could better see the image. Like the ones before, the original tarot image was replaced by a different one that rendered Yulia speechless.

A majestic succubus wearing black dress mixed with gold. Like the Naga receptionist, her dress was also slit from the waist down but hers was to showcase her lush thighs. Her chrome horns that shot up to the sky were similar to an impala's. The bat wings on her back were jet black. Her grey skin and tail might not give off the same intensity as her red or blue skinned brethren, but the sensuality she exuded as she simply stood with a hand on her waist more than made up for it. 

Reasoning that Stefano already had two to choose from, Yulia is going to take the succubus for herself. 

Yulia showed the card to the Naga, "How much?"

"All the other cards cost 7 pieces of gold. But she's different, she's considered as this establishment's number 1 in terms of satisfaction so she's a little bit expensive."

"Expensive, huh? Try me." Yulia sneered, her purse was still a bit fat from their last quest. The naga could name her price. Was it 10? Maybe 15? Hell, she was even willing to spend 20 just for a single night.

"40 pieces."

The exorbitant amount shook Yulia..

"40!? No fucking way, is her pussy gilded in gold!?"

Suddenly, an alluring voice came from someone descending from the stairs. "I am more than just a body part, My dear tiefling." 

"Magna, what the hell are you doing down here!? The Madam is going to give you an earful once she finds out that you left your room!"  The Naga said. 

"I was bored, besides, the cards told me that I'm going to meet someone special tonight."

At the same time, Stefano had reached his conclusion. He cannot just abandon his faith for momentary pleasure! He returns the cards to the desk, "I'm sorry, Yulia. I can't do this just yet. Aaaaah!" 

Without looking back, Stefano bolted out into the streets.

Yulia was about to run after Stefano when what Magna said caught her intrigue. 

"Your friend, he's a virgin, isn't he? Don't rush him, I'm sure his encounter will happen without your intervention."

"How did you know he's a…"

"How did I know? I'm a succubus, dear. And you…" Magna scrutinized the tiefling, whatever insight she found amused her as her lips grinned. "...it's nowhere near mine but you have quite the body count."

"Body count. You make it sound like I'm some sort of serial killer."

"Forgive me if it sounded that way. So, are you just going to stare at me all evening or are you going to chase after your friend?"

Yulia palmed her head. "Ah, right. Stefano, wait!" The tiefling gave chase, no matter how attracted she was to Magna, Yulia wasn't going to leave a friend in distress hanging.

With just the two of them left, the naga asked her succubus coworker, "Is she the one in your prophecy?"

"Yes, the one who would either help me summon 'The World' or lead me to ruin."  Magna's gut told her that it will be the latter more than the former. 

"What happens now, are you going to sleep with her?"

"Don't be silly, I plan on avoiding her like the plague but I'm certain that we're bound to meet again…" 

Extremely hypocritical she might be, Magna was a bit put off by the amount of partners Yulia had. Magna was a succubus, she needed to sleep around. The tiefling had no excuse to toy with the hearts of women like that, especially since the one in question is a woman herself. 

Their paths had converged now, this wasn't the last that they've seen of each other. 

"...fate ordained it."

+++

Author's notes: 

Here are the inspirations I used for the tarot card characters. (These artworks are not mine.)

The Strength :

https://ibb.co/HKTtsKw

The Empress : 

https://sinadraws.artstation.com/projects/mqBe5a

The World: 

https://www.artstation.com/artwork/X9k2n

Magna is a new addition to the cast. I replaced her angel wings with bat wings and added a tail. 

Sadly, I couldn't find any artwork that could contain the awesomeness of muscle wizard.