I Was Called A Demon

“This thing is handling the heat way better than I expected… It’s still cool,” Bianca muttered, savouring the last few remnants of her not-slushy while standing at the edge of one of the hottest things she’d been around, most of the women she’d met in the Planar Continents aside.

It felt like she was standing beside the surface of the sun, and yet she was only at the very edge of the building, at its entrance, while Yu Juan went inside in order to get the blacksmith’s attention and introduce her to them. They would’ve shouted for her, but even out here they could barely hear anything over the loud slamming of a hammer onto metal, loud clangs echoing into the street they were in.

She felt that the sound was curiously satisfying, as though each strike was directly creating the next, advancing whatever was being worked on in some tangible way. It was a hard feeling to describe, or to even understand on her own, but she most certainly felt a certain sense of accomplishment despite not even being part of it.

‘I doubt I’d be up for it, but maybe this blacksmithing thing isn’t as boring as I imagined from hearing about it in history classes…’ Bianca thought, ‘I wonder if there’s anything that could motivate me quite as much as those sounds… Well, cultivation may have done the job if it wasn’t for how awful the consequences end up being, since it is very neat in terms of its progression… Very neat, actually. Wonder how that came about.’

She didn’t get to spend too long pondering this matter, as soon she saw the source of the scent that had clung to the Yu Juan so strongly. The heat of the forge did nothing to obscure the blacksmith’s smell, and if anything, the heat had allowed so much sweat to build up on her body that it was impossible not to perceive.

The blacksmith was a little shorter than Bianca, with light skin that somewhat resembled her current paleness. She had boobs on the smaller side, though her impressive hips and fine ass more than made up for it. Better yet, she had a very fit body, with some muscle visible on her arms and likely more on the rest of her body, which was currently obscured – rather frustratingly – by a dark and soot-marked blacksmith’s apron and a bland grey shirt and dark trousers likely meant to put up with the heat of the forge and little more.

Despite that, she wore no gloves to guard her hands, nor did she even attempt to contain her long black hair, which she left to loosely flow down her back.

And when Bianca looked at her head, there was no chance she wouldn’t notice the blacksmith’s gorgeous orange eyes and her beautiful face, as though she had been carved by a master sculptor and then improved by whatever will the heavens had within this world.

She wasn’t quite what Bianca usually looked for when she had the choice – and porn certainly offered a lot of that back in the day – but she couldn’t deny that she would’ve been extremely happy had someone like this offered to take her out on a date. Of course, had she been a little taller, it would have made her all the more attractive, though there was one factor that made Bianca somewhat reluctant, although it wasn’t obvious for the moment.

Her baggy pants likely did a good job of hiding it, but this dragon-blooded blacksmith smelled very similar to the musk hanging around Yu Juan, which… again, wasn’t quite as bad as she would’ve initially assumed. Perhaps having a cock of her own was making her used to the concept, but it didn’t turn her off much, if at all.

‘… Why am I thinking about whether I’d sleep with her already? We’ve not even met properly,’ Bianca nearly slapped her own cheek out of shock and managed to calm herself before she gave herself a boner right in front of the blacksmith.

At least, she did her best.

“These are the newcomers,” Yu Juan quickly introduced them, “The kitsune is Xue Yaling, and the ones next to her are Song Ming and Bianca. And for you three, this is Han Rushu, the best blacksmith in the Abode… Though I will freely admit to being rather biased.”

“Mhm, quite the bias, and lovely lip- Ahem. Newcomers, yes. Welcome to my forge. If you need any weapons or armour forged, or fixed up, I’ll happily take your money… and deliver on the request, of course,” Han Rushu chuckled, the corners of her lips curling up and making her look at the prettier, “I don’t do basic shit like nails and horseshoes, though. If you need those, just visit any other smith and show them your ass or something.”

“Rushu, they’re not-”

“They’re free to take it as a joke, then. It is one to begin with, since most of the people here see enough asses daily not to be too bothered by them,” the blacksmith shrugged, “Anyway, you three look cute, so feel free to visit if you’re bored.”

“U-Um, so, yes, I’d highly recommend her skills. Han Rushu knows quite a few unusual techniques and should be able to satisfy any of your nee- Bianca?”

She tried to hold back the chuckle that tried its best to escape her mouth, and shook her head, “No, nothing, just, uh-”

“Noticed what her mind was actually on?” Han Rushu finished for her, saying the thing she had been trying to keep quiet, “Bianca, right? Let me tell you, this girl puts on a shy act every now and then, especially in front of those that don’t yet know her, but at her core she’s just a slut through and through. Great at sucking cock, too.”

“Ahem! That’s not why we came here!” Yu Juan raised her voice, though she couldn’t help but look meek in front of the blacksmith, “Could you show them an example of your work, maybe?”

“Sure, get your clothes off and-”

“Like a weapon or armour or something! Please…”

“She’s just upset because I’m getting her horny and she won’t be able to get release for a while if she’s going on a tour with you,” the blacksmith chuckled, coming in closer and grabbing the dancer’s ass, “Isn’t that right, you naughty slut? Want me to tell them about just how much you enjoy it?”

“Weapon display, please!”

“I have a lovely weapon for you… but fine. I had just finished something anyway,” Han Rushu let the dancer go and walked back into the warm depths of her forge, “Just one moment!”

“… I’m not sure what to say about that, to be honest…” Bianca muttered.

Yu Juan blushed and sighed.

“I, uh, won’t comment. She’s a decent enough person, but-”

“Makes you blush like the slut you are?” Xue Yaling imitated the blacksmith’s tone, “You two are quite the entertaining pair to watch, to be honest. You could get up on stage and perform in front of people and get plenty of attention and income that way.”

“I-”

“Now now, don’t bully her too much, she’d probably cum if we do it enough,” Han Rushu returned with a black sword in hand, the metal still glowing a little from the heat.

Yu Juan pouted, but everyone focused their attention on the weapon instead, even Bianca. After all, despite being in the shape of a rather ordinary sword in these parts – a thin, long weapon akin to the weapon Song Ming preferred – it had a certain unique feel that made it seem special and powerful despite her knowing next to nothing about why.

It also reminded her of carbon fibre ever so slightly, with the way that the material seemed to be many individual strands woven together.

“Is this… no, it can’t be star metal. What is this weapon?”

“You sure? Perhaps there’s a reason that Yu Juan brought you to me rather than any blacksmith,” Han Rushu suggested in response to the kitsune’s doubts.

“It’s obvious if you know the basic properties of star metal. Every single account I’ve seen states that it must be woven rather than forged in the traditional manner, thus creating these patterns on the surface,” the kitsune said confidently, tapping the warm surface of the blade with her finger, “This thing was clearly made the traditional way, and it would not produce such patterns unless they were somehow inherent to star metal, which no account considers to be the case.”

“Heavens, you do know more than most. Fine, this isn’t star metal, and frankly, I never sell these kinds of weapons as such. It’s still a very good three star weapon, and more importantly, heat aside, can you tell that it isn’t made of star metal?”

“What, with my spiritual perception?” Xue Yaling seemed to focus for a second, then her frown softened, “It seems that it isn’t quite so obvious in that regard… I see the value of this already.”

“Good. Do you two need an explanation, or are you lot smart cookies too?”

Song Ming thought about it for a moment, then shook her head, turning to Bianca in a rather familiar way. Clearly, she had figured it out and was checking whether she’d need to be helped in order to clear things up. As such, Bianca focused on the sword for a brief while and tried to think like someone in this world would, and then a possibility hit her.

“When you’re fighting someone, they wouldn’t be able to tell this from the real thing. They may be warded off from attacking simply because they believe you to be better equipped or perhaps more powerful than you appear…”

“Yes, that’s correct… your companions seem relieved. I guess I’m missing something,” the blacksmith shrugged, placing the weapon on a nearby counter, “Regardless, I can make weapons of high quality, but I’m good at making them seem even better. I always advertise them as such, so no need to fear me scamming you out of any coin, but you don’t need to tell your enemies what your weapon is actually made of.”

“… We’ll keep that in mind, I’m sure,” Xue Yaling nodded, “And perhaps consider not mentioning this if we ever sell such a thing…”

“Hah, go ahead and do what you wish, so long as you don’t tell them I made it. It wouldn’t do to sully my reputation, after all,” Han Rushu shrugged, her fingers idly tapping on the carbon fibre-like steel, “Though I’d prefer it were used in combat if you did buy it. I do like making useful things, even if I do spend half the time in the forge fucking nowadays.”

“Damn…” Bianca thought, though judging by everyone’s gaze, she forgot to keep the words in her head.

“Impressed, cutie? Not sure about most, but I can keep going all day if I so desire. The clean-up afterwards is certainly not fun, but the hours of hard, rough se-”

“I was thinking of something else!” Bianca cut her off, just barely keeping her voice at a reasonable volume. It was likely obvious anyway, but anything that made things better than they could be was still good.

However, her thoughts did drift away no matter what she might’ve preferred. She imagined what the blacksmith’s cock looked like, how it must’ve felt and smelled while hard and ready, how it might warm her hand with a single touch… Of course, she also imagined fucking her, or the two fucking one another’s throats in a 69, or even forgoing her own cock in a similar position, but the main point was that she was getting far, far too excited for someone in nearly skin-tight shorts.

As such, she very quickly tried to distract herself, thinking of all the worst thing she could… and it seemed to work. Xue Yaling was still looking at the dark sword, seeming to be deep in thought, and Song Ming had already looked away at some of the other weapons on display, leaving only the blacksmith’s gaze upon her.

Fortunately, it didn’t linger for long, as she soon looked back to the kitsune and said, “Regardless, much as I like greeting interesting newcomers, I do still have work to do. Actual work, since Yu Juan wants to leave with you. If you’ve got an actual request for me, I’ll be happy to accept it later.”

“Mhm, and I’ll be happy to order something from you. For now, though, fuck off,” she waved and turned away, grabbing the black blade and retreating into the hot depths of the forge.

It felt as though she gave one last glance towards Bianca, but it was easy enough to disregard, especially when both Xue Yaling and Song Ming were immediately interested in moving on. Xue Yaling voiced her desire first, turning to Yu Juan.

“I believe you mentioned a place to sleep for us. I hope we can get there soon so that we may rest up on everything we’ve learned and absorbed during our journey.”

Yu Juan nodded, “Luckily, the place I’d recommend isn’t far away, and more importantly, it, like most of the places here, has really good soundproofing thanks to the materials used and the arrays within each wall. They block sound and most vibration, meaning that you’re unlikely to be disturbed unless you’re going out of your way to catch attention.”

“So, if you were to stick your head out of the window and moan really loudly, you’d have people looking?” Bianca muttered, her mind glad to shift to anything other than the blacksmith.

Unfortunately, she forgot to keep this in her mind as well.

“W-Well, yes, that would attract attention…”

“… Did I say that out loud?”

“Yes.”

“… You know, I think I could do with more sleep as well. Where is that place?” Bianca looked around, as if she could locate it within the immediate vicinity.

Considering the places she’d been in before, it would’ve have surprised her too much, but when Yu Juan took the lead out of the sweltering heat of the forge, it turned out to be quite a bit further way than she expected. They had to walk for quite a long time – even with the use of movement skills at a low level – but when they did arrive, it certainly didn’t feel like a waste of time.

The building was certainly not comparable to most modern hotels, which were often huge towers with numerous rooms to accommodate the billions that went out to holidays every summer, if not more often, but it stood out nonetheless. A grand entrance with wide double doors that were currently open and led straight to a soft carpet and towards a reception desk. The structure had five floors in total, with each one full of windows looking out into the street, though none of them were entirely transparent.

Instead, they were darkened and blurry, meaning that the most Bianca could guess about the rooms behind them was that some were lit and others were not, with a few having something between the glass and light, presumably flower pots or the like.

“This place is one of the best inns in the entire Abode, though it’s far from the most expensive one, contrary to outside appearances,” Yu Juan introduced them, “However, the people here share in Yan Taijun’s vision, and willingly contribute most of their earnings to creating the best place for those without permanent accommodation to reside in.”

“Huh…” Xue Yaling seemed to be stunned by this, which gave Bianca the perfect chance to voice her own concerns.

“While I appreciate your suggestion, I think it would be best if we looked around ourselves and confirmed the pricing. This place seems far too, uh, expensive, for lack of a better word,” Bianca said, giving the dancer a concerned glance as she pondered whether she might be a scammer playing the long game, “We passed some placed that seemed decent, and they were bound to be significantly less pricy.”

“I understand the apprehension, don’t worry. I stay here myself on occasion, so if you choose to stay here, feel free to visit me in room C7. If I’m in, I’ll gladly spare some more of my time for you,” Yu Juan nodded, gesturing to her sides, “Feel free to look around. I can accompany you if you prefer, or if you think I would influence-”

“No no, we wouldn’t be concerned about that. However, we’ve taken up quite a bit of your time already, so it wouldn’t be fair to take up any more of it,” Xue Yaling said, “We’ll visit you once we decide. Right, Bianca?”

After a moment of mentally catching up to the conversation, she ended up nodding, “Uh, well, yes, that would make sense. After all, you’re a dancer and have to earn your stay here, no? I would hate to get in the way of your work.”

“You two… Well, so be it, I’ll leave you three alone for the moment. I hope you enjoyed my admittedly simple tour, and that you’ll considering hiring my services if you ever feel the need to do so.”

“We’ll be sure to consider it,” Bianca said first, in no small part because she was doing so at this very moment, “See you, Yu Juan.”