《Elrich Saga Yellow Springs Book One》 Chapter 1 I Get into a Fight with a Gorilla Chapter 1 I Get into a Fight with a Gorilla Getting involved in a fight at the zoo sucks. Being punched into the grizzly bear enclosure sucks even more. Now dying of grizzly bear attack sounds really cool! It''s better than being hit by a car, or being shot getting mugged on the shady side of town. That''s not how I died. I died by breaking my neck on the fall into the grizzly enclosure. I broke my damned neck. News reports would later show cell phone video of the bear walking up to sniff my corpse. No one knew I was dead yet and the zookeepers rushed to my aid. Poor Boris the Bear was also killed that day. I don''t even mind he tried to drag my body across his moat. I was already dead. The dead don''t care that much. I do feel bad for poor Boris though. Rest in peace Boris. What was I thinking as I fell fifteen feet to my death? Not much actually. I think there was an oh shit moment, then dead. It didn''t even hurt all that much. The dying part, before that I was thinking damn being punched in the face hurt a lot. My vision went red then black and I could literally hear my ears ringing as I flew back. The momentum had me up and over the barrier in seconds. There was a short 2 foot mulched dirt brim right after the barrier. At first, I landed on that, but toppling backward I rolled right off and fell head first fifteen feet onto concrete. Why did a 6-foot 4-inch Gorilla punch me? (Not a real gorilla. I can see how that can be confusing considering we were in a zoo.) This large, drunk, Viking of a man took exception to my interfering with the beating of his lady. Wife, girlfriend, I never caught the particulars. I''m not even sure what they were actually fighting about. I was just standing there, wishing I was indoors out of the sun. I had been with a group of twenty-four other graduate student volunteers. We weren''t there to observe the animals, but to observe people. We were to document how many visitors showed interest in the enclosure we were assigned. Stand there in bright purple polo shirts and stamp the children''s Explore the Zoo cards with the animal of your assigned area. I''d been standing there stamping away answering questions about Boris when Gorilla Viking wonders up. I could smell the alcohol on him immediately. They had been arguing as they walked up and seeing the situation most parents had the sense to herd junior away to see the nice kangaroos. I had this walkie-talkie thing they gave me in case of emergency, but I had no real idea how to use it. I hit the button and hoped someone on the other end could hear me. "Hello, is anyone listening? I''m at Grizzly Bear Boris'', um, I think I need help."If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. "Yes, is there an emergency station 16? Over," an annoyed old lady answered back. Oh, well I felt stupid. They had drilled it into us during training that we were supposed to use station numbers when calling in. Was I also supposed to use ''over'' too? What about ''copy'' and ''roger that''. Hell, I didn''t know. "I have a drunk man here, um, I think I need security. He''s arguing with this woman and it''s getting pretty bad. Oh, and over." "Right section 16, security is en-route please be advised. Over." "You might need one of those tranq guns, he''s huge, over." "I''m sure that won''t be necessary section 16, but thanks for the heads up I''ll be sending D team and H team your way. Please keep us updated on the situation. Over." Well, the situation wasn''t looking good. Gorilla Viking had the woman pinned up against the fence and was screaming right in her face. Now I''m not certain if the woman was actually a slut whore, but the Zoo didn''t seem like the place to air that sort of dirty laundry to me. The woman was crying at this point and asking him to stop. When she asked him to calm down he practically roared that the baby wasn''t his. Then he pulled back his fist and punched her in the stomach. I hit the button on the walkie-talkie, ran, and screamed. "Jesus Christ! Pregnant! Punching! Son of a Bitch." Then in a panic, I threw the walkie-talkie at the man. To be honest with you I wasn''t thinking. I also didn''t hear the response. I mean I''m just supposed to stand there and stamp cards and tell people how old Boris is a hundred times a day. I''m not built for kicking Viking butt. My 5-foot 8-inch self was going to be pounded. "YOU GOT A PROBLEM WITH ME, ASSHOLE!" Gorilla Viking roared running at me like a linebacker. "NO!" I yelled back throwing the stamp at him. In all honesty, my aim sucks. I missed him both times. I was also running out of things to throw. Maybe my shoe? Could I even get it off with a Gorilla chasing me around the observation deck? I wished I had my phone, I''m sure I could have chucked it with just as much accuracy. Oh, but I had a foldable table! Could you throw a table? They did it all the time in pro-wrestling. My grand idea of pulling a table smash quickly turned into chase the dumb kid around the table. Him on one side of the three foot table me on the other. I dodge right he goes right, I go left he follows. I was nearly out of breath. He had sweat pouring down his face, veins popping out on his neck, and he was screaming nonstop incoherently. "AHHHHHGGGGGGGHHHH." I certainly heard the full extent of the usage of fuck. There is a small part of me that was mildly impressed. I''m sure that guy, Rocco, from the Irish assassin movie would have been impressed too. I try a table flip. I''m pretty sure I''ve seen some karate guy pull off a table flip. I succeeded in making my end of the table collapse when the leg folded in on itself. It was right then, out of the corner of my eye, I spotted an orange shirt! Yay, security had arrived. I let my guard down. I should have never looked towards the orange shirts. It was in that moment Gorilla Viking impersonated his name sake and practically vaulted over the half-collapsed table. He got me with a very solid and accurately aimed right uppercut hitting, my jaw, scraping along my chin and hitting my nose. I hate the color orange. Chapter 2 I Sort of Save the World Chapter 2 I Sort of Save the World I wake up sitting at a cafe table, a delicate flowered porcelain cup of hot chocolate in my hand. It even had mini marshmallows, bonus! Lord, hot chocolate would definitely make my top ten things to bring with me to a deserted island. Well, if the island was cold and not tropical. There was just something about a good cup of hot cocoa to calm people down and make them happy. I take a sip. Perfect temperature. Heaven, literally since I was dead. "That''s right. I''ve also noted that you''ve chosen hot cocoa as one of your reincarnation perks." I hate to say it, but I spilled some of my cocoa on the nice white tablecloth when the woman spoke. She was standing behind me so you can''t blame me for being startled. "Whaa?" I splutter while trying to dab up liquid with the hem of my purple polo. God, I died in a purple polo! How embarrassing is that? The woman was beautiful. Prettier than any celebrity. Her skin was a nice tanned gold that beach bunnies and middle-aged housewives would kill for. Her hair was straight, fell down to her waist, and so black it had purple and blue highlights. Her eyes were honey gold and sparkled with mischief. She wore a pink and blue pastel sari. Her belly button peeked out and was pierced with a tiny little diamond. She was entirely barefoot with her nails painted transparent shade of light pink. She glided across the floor as she made her way to the other side of the table. It was a bit of a mystery how she managed not to sit on her hair. "I would concur it is rather an ugly shirt, but the khaki shorts are just as bad you know. Also, I apologize for startling you. My name is Amoris, I am one of the twelve main deities of this world. It''s a pleasure to meet you, Veritas, or should I call you Veri, Eri? I have records that you''ve gone by all three in your lifetime. Which do you prefer?" She leaned back in her chair and placed both her hands in her lap. "Um, Eri is fine. Deity? What? I don''t..." "It''s alright, I will explain," The goddess interrupted. "I am Amoris. Oh, but I already said that. I am one of twelve... Oh, I said that too." Was this Goddess scatterbrained? "That''s not nice!" The goddess scowled, making a little V form between her brows. Could she read my mind? I hadn''t said that out loud right? Wait, I hadn''t said the part about hot cocoa or my shirt out loud either. Wait, I did die right? "We''ve already established that. We are in Heaven, or one of them at least. You said so yourself. Well, you thought about it. We call this place Sumorland, it''s only just a part of the Great Abyss. You are dead! Congratulations!" She smiled and her hands gave a little clap. "Somehow, I don''t think dying is something you should be congratulating someone on." I put my cocoa on the table my hands were shaking slightly. "Well, not normally, no. Most people just die go to whichever afterlife they prefer, hang out a few decades then reincarnate back into their world if they wish. Eri, you are a special case. You have done a great deed for my Papa, the head god of my pantheon. He is very pleased with you at the moment and had me pluck your soul from the Abyss." She mimed plucking a piece of fruit off a tree and smiled. "I haven''t..." I began, but once again the goddess interrupted me. "Oh, but you did! You interfered when the demon tried to kill Papa''s baby!" She clapped her hands again and bounced up and down in her chair. She wasn''t wearing a bra and it was very noticeable, but not distracting enough, unfortunately. "Papa got the mortal woman pregnant. It happens sometimes. Children born of the gods usually grow up to become great leaders of men. This particular child will grow up to become one of the best physicists of his generation ushering in a new age of physics. These theories usher in a new era of technology,] will lead to better exploration of your solar system, and eventually giant habitable space stations will be built to encompass all of Earth''s overpopulation. By stopping the demon-possessed human from damaging the woman''s womb you have saved your world. Good Job!" She actually gave me two thumbs up. "I saved the world...with a walkie-talkie..." Can you blame me for having a hard time believing that? "Yes, would you like some pie?" Amoris waved her hand and a trolley tray laden with pie wheeled itself up beside my chair. Why the hell not, I mean the situation was already absurd enough. Why not add eating pumpkin pie with a goddess to the list. I selected a fork but waited for a second for Amoris to pick a slice of strawberry pie before I took a bite. Manners were probably something to observe when eating with a goddess. "Ummm, I love strawberries. They have some of the best strawberries on Elrich. If you choose to reincarnate I highly suggest trying the strawberries at my temple." She tackled her pie with gusto. She was already reaching for a second piece before the next question came to me. "Reincarnate, don''t I have to wait for that. Isn''t that what you said? Oh, and you''ve got a bit of whipped cream just there." I reached over and wiped the dab of cream from the corner of her mouth. Then I froze. The tip of my finger hovering over the table with cream on it. Was I even allowed to touch a goddess? Was she going to zap me back to oblivion for touching her? She materialized two napkins and blotted her face with one while handing me the other. "I''m not going to zap you. I just told you, didn''t I? Papa wants to give you a reward!" She didn''t say that, but I wasn''t going to quibble. I wasn''t going to be zapped, I had pie, and cooling cocoa. The day was looking up. "Papa wants me to give you a choice. I can toss you back into the Abyss," she mimed tossing away a piece of trash, "where your soul will eventually find its way to your specific heaven or you can be reincarnated now to the world where our pantheon are the main deities. That would be Elrich by the way. I mentioned they have amazing strawberries, didn''t I? Right now we are having a bit of a population problem. You see, a soul has to choose to reincarnate and most of the people of Elrich choose not to." "Why not?" "Elrich isn''t like Earth it''s more like... well...to put it bluntly, it''s not easy to live there. There are monsters, magic, and demons a real fantasyland. For a normal person, just living takes a lot of work. Most technology relies on magic, so for people without magic it can be difficult to survive. On top of that, you have demons trying to destroy your village, and monsters eating your livestock." She puts down her fork and gives me a very serious look. "However, if you choose to reincarnate into this world I can guarantee that you will be able to use magic. I have been authorized to let you pick one magic power of your choosing that you will be reincarnated already knowing. I have a list with the magic descriptions you can pick from." A book, the thickness of three phone books, materialized on the table. "In most cases, mages must work years to acquire magic powers. You will be able to pick one power from this list without all the work." "You won''t have to worry about being able to read or speak the language. You will be able to understand the common language. Any other languages you''ll have to learn on your own. If we send you down with too much information at once, there is a possibility your brain will dissolve into mush." She smashed a strawberry with her fork.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. "You will also receive an Inventory Bracelet as a personal gift from Papa. These are rather rare and will be very useful to you. It lets you store items into it using space dimensional magic because it uses space dimensional magic items won''t age. So hot items will remain hot, cold items will remain cold, and food will never rot." She pulled a silver engraved cuff from her wrist. I was pretty certain it hadn''t been there before. "The only person who can take it off is you. So it''s not going to fall off by accident. It also can''t be stolen. The only way for you to lose it is if someone plucks it from your dead body. In the case where you take it off to bathe and someone steals it, then the cuff will magically reappear on your wrist when you go to sleep. That person will be unable to access any items you have stored in the cuff. Pretty handy item." She placed the cuff on top of the triple sized phone book. "Um, I don''t know," This was happening at a rapid pace. Magic, demons, I would be sent to a world that mimicked our best tabletop games. Amoris must have thought I was going to decline reincarnation because she suddenly became animated and leaned forward out of her chair. "I will also give you a Blessing! A personal Blessing from me! Do you want women, men? I can make you irresistible. Wealth, it''s not really my area, but I can see that you are wealthy. What do you want?" "No, I really don''t," I held up my hands in protest. "Two Blessings!" She shouted over me. "Plus, I''ll let you choose which race you would like to reincarnate as. You don''t have to be human! Ever wonder what it would like to be an elf? Here''s your chance to find out." She sounded like a car salesman. Ever wonder what it would be like to drive a brand new BMW, act now, limited time offer, free financing. She was practically laying on the table putting her face closer to mine in order to convince me. "I don''t want to be an elf," I told her firmly. I meant it. I didn''t want to be an elf. They always seemed sort of alien to me in games and movies, even if they were beautiful. The Goddess sighed deeply and held up three fingers as her head hit the table. "I will give you three Blessings. You can choose to reincarnate as a human or another race, but since I''m giving you three Blessings instead of two I get to pick which race you reincarnate as. If you were to pick a complicated race like a dragon on top of three Blessings I don''t think my power will allow for a complete reincarnation and you might end up some grotesque amalgamation of human and dragon. This is all I can offer. Please accept." "Why do you want me to reincarnate so badly. I understand the population issue, but you seem desperate." "Papa really wants you," she said talking to the table. "We have to give you a choice, it''s the rules. Papa sent me to persuade you. I am Amoris Goddess of love, romance, consensual sex, sexual fertility, strawberries, among a few other more minor things like happy marriage, pregnancy, and virgins that I share with other goddesses. I also have a reputation of being very persuasive. If you say no, then Papa will be upset with me. Do you know how long a God can hold a grudge? So, please say yes." She practically begged tears welling up in her honey eyes. "I''ve got questions. I don''t really know where to start with all the questions I''ve got. What exactly is a Blessing should be first, I think. Will I be reincarnated the age I am now or born as a baby? Can you reduce this book down to the size of a pamphlet only putting really useful magic in it and leaving out all the mundane stuff like being able to direct a mop to clean? On top of that, demons? That seems like a huge negative." "Not all demons are bad. Some even choose to live and have children with the humanoid races. I''m sure you''ll be fine. I mean they mostly just keep to themselves and do their nasty demony things in their own territory. There hasn''t been a demon war in centuries, ever since Apep got his ass handed to him and fell asleep." She waved her hand like it was all really silly and unconcerning. "Who is Apep? Why is him being asleep preventing the demon war?" I mean we were talking about demons here. This was not really something to be waved away like a pesky bug. "Apep, he''s the Demon God of Chaos. Papa doesn''t like him much and we are very happy he''s taking a nap. Whenever he wakes up he gets jealous of Papa and his children and starts a war. He''s sleeping now, so no worries for you." She tapped the side of her head and smiled. "OK, so the demons won''t be a big issue. What about the magic and the Blessings? How old will I be?" "Really useful magic? What I consider to be useful and what you consider to be useful might differ a bit. Is that OK? Also, there are magics that can''t be used by humans but can be used by other races. There is a sub-index for that." "I can''t really sit here and read through this entire book plus the sub-indexes now can I?" "Well, technically you can. You won''t age here, but I see your point about it being rather large. How about this. I''ll narrow it down to a few categories. Really rare magic, powerful magic, the magic of either category that can only be used by a race other than human. Would that work?" "It''s a place to start." I nodded. She moved the cuff off the top of the book and placed her hand on the center. Soon she held a thin white book in her hand. While not quite a pamphlet it seemed more manageable than before. "Thank you," I said reaching for the book. "About my other questions?" "Yes, well, you will reincarnate into Elrich at the age of majority for whichever race you choose. For humans and most other humanoid species that would be eighteen. There are exceptions as dwarves mature around age thirty, elves around one hundred and twenty, and dragons two hundred and fifty. The reason for this is because at the age of majority is when most young people set out to make something of themselves. A random older stranger showing up in a town with no credentials or occupation will cause hostility and even persecution in some cities. Like I mentioned before, Elrich is a hard world. So passing yourself off as a fresh-faced newly minted adult will allow the locals to view you as less of a threat." "I guess that makes sense, but I''m not looking forward to going through puberty again." "I''ll keep that in mind." She laughed a bit. "Now Blessings are a bit more difficult to explain. In Elrich the people can become priests and receive a Blessing from a god after many years of devotion. However, normal people can get a Blessing from a god in a much quicker way. You could save a nunnery from being sacked by bandits. Or even save a god''s favorite goat from being sent to slaughter." "It seems really random," I commented. "To mortals, I suppose it would seem that way since you can''t know beforehand what sort of action would move a god to perform a Blessing. I once gave a Blessing to a child for protecting a strawberry bush from being eaten by cows." She smiled beautifully. It really was completely random. "Now to what a Blessing actually is. It''s entirely up to the god what Blessings they chose. The little girl I mentioned before was Blessed with the ability to grow the best strawberries. Certain gods can only grant Blessings within their power base. Since I am one of the major twelve deities I can grant Blessings outside my normal power-base." "So my three Blessings will be completely random and up to you?" Somehow that seemed a bit unfair. Would it be worth it to trust this unknown goddess? "No, No, No," she hurried to reassure me waving her hands around. I wondered if she had been reading my thoughts again. "I would be more than willing to be open to suggestions. Keep in mind, that if you do choose to be reincarnated as another race and you use your three Blessings for gifts outside of my power structure I will be left with less power to work your race transformation. So I will have to transform you into one of the races completely devoted to my worship rather than a dragon or elf. Though a dragon is off the table anyway since I can''t transform that on top of three Blessings. " "So if I use all three of my Blessing for combat-related gifts, you will be forced to transform me into a being who worships you. However, if at least one or all my Blessings are related to love or sex you will be able to change me into nearly any race." "Yes, I can take into consideration races or species you don''t wish to be, but if I am to give you three Blessings and a transformation I''m afraid I will have very little control as to what you will be changed into. When your spirit self is placed into the Abyss I can direct your transformation up to the point of deterring transformations you don''t want. It''s a matter of power. If you want to forgo one of your Blessings I can guarantee a 100% successful transformation into whichever race you choose." Hey, wait a minute so that part about three Blessings and a transformation of her choosing wasn''t really true. Her choosing my foot! She was just planning to throw me into the abyss and hope for the best! What kind of lackadaisical planning was that? What if I had been turned into something horrible like an Orc! "It wasn''t as bad as that!" she protested. "Have some pie. I need to read this and think." I handed her another piece of strawberry pie. "Are you going to reincarnate?" She asked in between bites. "I''m thinking about it. After all, if I go back to my original reincarnation cycle I might be able to enjoy those nice planet orbiting space stations you were telling me about." I thought I''d tease her a bit as a slight punishment for nearly turning me into an Orc. "It really wasn''t like that! I wouldn''t have let you be an Orc! Besides, there is still a chance you could get reincarnated as a human. Humans are one of the races that worship me and they are the most abundant race in Elrich. It would be the easiest path magically to let you remain human. So if I am running out of power at the end, being human is still on the table." She pouted a bit around another bite of strawberry. Then she smiled. We both knew I had already decided to reincarnate, all that was left was to read my Reader''s Digest Magic Guide and negotiate my Blessings. Chapter 3 I Count A Lot Chapter 3 I Count A Lot Name- Eri (Veritas) Level- 1 Age- 18 Race/Species- Unknown Gender- Unknown Exp- 0 Physical Power- 1 Stamina- 1 Agility- 1 Magic Power- 1 Metal Rain Lv 1 Items Equip Inventory Bracelet Blessing 1- All Map Exploration Blessing 2- Exp Increase X Proportional to Level Blessing 3- Item- Gamer Glasses Titles- Devotee of Amoris The two of us were standing in what Amoris called her throne room. There was a large, fuzzy, pink, faux fur chair in the middle of the room, but other than that the room was lacking. Black walls, black ceiling, and black stone floors. Other than the pink chair, the room was entirely black. The chair could only just be charitably called a throne. It looked like something you would find at a thrift store. If she''s one of the twelve main deities shouldn''t her throne room reflect that? I began to feel uneasy again. "This will be your status upon waking in Elrich. When you get to a town the gate guard will ask you to place your hand on a stone tablet called an All Seer. It won''t actually show the guard everything like the name suggests. All they will be able to see is your name, race, gender, age, level, and any titles. There are two other categories the guards are able to check which you don''t currently have. The first being an occupation. The second is status anomaly. Occupation is self-explanatory, so let me explain status. It allows the guards to see if you have any unusual status effects, like if you''re poisoned or carrying a disease. It also allows them to see if you are a wanted criminal." Amoris smiled looking over her cheat sheet. She wanted to make sure she got it just right and didn''t forget anything. "Why is the gender unknown and am I a Devotee of Amoris?" I asked looking at the paper upside down. "You better be! I''m giving you three Blessings after all!" She puffed out her cheeks. Then let them relax with a sigh when she realized I was teasing her again. "The gender is still unknown because some races have more than two genders. Other races are asexual. So until your race is decided your gender can''t be decided either." "Oh, I don''t think I''d like being asexual." I was just imaging a blob race reproducing by splitting itself in two. "That''s not exactly what asexual means, but in either case, the odds of becoming one of the asexual races is zero since none of them are my followers. You will only become a race that primarily worships me. I''m a sex and sexual fertility goddess. Asexual beings don''t worship me much." She shrugged as if it didn''t matter much to her. "Alright, let''s get started." She directed me to stand right in front of the flamingo-colored chair. "Stand still, do not move. If you move I might accidentally forget something important."Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. She began waving her arms around dramatically. At first, I thought nothing was happening and she was just being silly, then a glowing silver circle with all sorts of symbols around the outside surrounded me. "I, Amoris, Goddess of Love, bless thee in my name. May you never be lost and always find your way. I bless thee with All Map Exploration." The silver circle began to glow bright and with a sudden blinding flash, something that felt like a needle struck me in the back of the head. On instinct, I turned and looked behind me with my hand on the sore spot. That hurt dammit. "Don''t move!" Amoris shouted. "That was the power entering you. It''s supposed to hurt." "You didn''t say anything about it hurting," I protested. "I told you that too much information entering your brain at once would turn it to mush. What did you expect fluffy bubbles or magic sparkles? Now stop distracting me. Where was I?" She looked down at her cheat sheet. "I, Amoris, Goddess of Love, bless thee in my name." she paused a second looking at the paper again. "I bless you with the power, experience needed divided by your level of power. No, wait that wasn''t it. The X means multiply doesn''t it. Um, I bless you with experience gained multiplied by your current level of power. Yep, that''s it." She nodded pleased to have corrected herself. The circle around me pulsed twice and suddenly a baseball of light hit me right in the forehead. I ended up on my hands and knees. My vision seemed to go a bit hazy in the corners. I had one of the worst migraines I had ever had. Even breathing hurt. I could hear my pulse pounding in time with my head. The pie I had eaten made a quick exit all over the floor. "The next one is an item it shouldn''t hurt, so bear with it for a while more," Amoris called from what sounded like the other end of a tunnel. She was still standing in front of her chair, so it must have been my ears ringing. She didn''t look too great either. Sweat had popped up on her forehead and she looked really pale. "I, Amoris, Goddess of Love, bless thee in my name. Love of games and the vision to see may you always be self-aware. I grant you Divine Item Gamer Glasses." The light circle pulsed again, but thankfully this time I wasn''t hit with any light spears. Instead, a pair of wire-rimmed black glasses were perched on the end of my nose. "They work on the same basic principle as the Inventory Bracelet; they can''t be stolen and they won''t work for anyone else but you. The main difference is that you can''t give this item away, if you die the glasses lose power. It is a divine item given by a Blessing intended for use of one person. It is an item that will use your own magic power to activate. The glasses don''t need to be equipped like other items either." Amoris said all this with her eyes shut and swaying side to side. I wasn''t sure if my own vision was just that shaky or if she was trembling. Everything was just so fuzzy and hazy. "Now for the reincarnation," She murmured. "Wait," it sounded like I shouted, but in reality, I probably was just whispering."Don''t forget Metal Rain and the language skills. Those are both important." I was surprised that I was able to remember them in my state. Since I had read her cheat sheet, I knew she was skipping some steps. Amoris groaned, she probably had forgotten that part. She wasn''t looking at her cheat sheet anymore. "As per our contract and with the authority given to me by the All-Father I grant you the Magic Power called Metal Rain. I also grant you the gift of common speech. May the All-Father bless us all." A more golden colored light flashed from the circle this time. I got a quick glance of Amoris collapsed in her chair before a bowling ball of sunlight fell on my head. I passed out in my own sick mess. I knew I had passed out. I could remember everything about myself. I was fully conscious, but it felt like I couldn''t wake up. I was floating, weightless. I couldn''t feel anything, hear, smell, or open my eyes. It was probably a good thing I couldn''t taste. I probably would never enjoy pumpkin pie again. I was trapped within myself. Was I in a coma? Is this what it was like being in a coma? Maybe I had survived the fall into the grizzly enclosure and everything else was the dream. I was laying in a hospital bed in a coma. Bored inside my own mind, at some point I began counting. I kept losing my concentration sometime during the ten millions. I had to restart over again multiple times. I had a feeling I got a little bit further each time. The counting kept me focused. It stopped me from falling apart. I didn''t want to fall apart, but maybe if I did fall apart something else would happen. Only fear kept me from trying, but there would come a point where even fear wouldn''t stop me. Anything to stop the darkness. Pain, lots of pain. I could feel my body. In the beginning, a part of me welcomed the pain. It was something different, new, something other than the darkness. I welcomed that pain, but even that started to wear on me. I began thinking when will this pain stop. I couldn''t even count to ten million anymore because of the pain. Chapter 4 I Become a Gamer Chapter 4 I Become a Gamer I woke up under an apple tree. A green and white striped lemur monkey glared at me from the branches. As soon as I tried to roll over it started screeching and began throwing apples at me. "Dammit stop!" As one well-aimed apple pinged off my shoulder. I caught the next apple mid-flight and threw it back. Lucky for me my aim was a bit better than with my fight with Viking Gorilla. The monkey got knocked out of the tree and fell. With the sound of bells, a transparent status window appeared in front of me. *You have defeated Green Tailed Ape~ *You have leveled up please check your status~ *Skill Gain- Rock Throwing ~ *Do you wish to activate this skill now? Yes/No~ I touched the little X in the corner of each popup. Amoris had said that the Gamer Glasses used my own magic power to activate, but how did I use the magic power? Suddenly, a status screen popped up in front of me again. *Would you like to start the beginners tutorial. You can skip this now and come back to it later if you wish. Yes/No ~ I clicked yes. *Welcome user is your name Eri? If this is not correct and you wish to change it you may do so now. Confirm name/Change name~ I confirmed my name. *Thank you, Eri. From this point on we will start the beginner tutorial. If at any point you wish to stop you can do so by clicking on the red button at the top of this screen.~ The red button blinked twice to make sure I saw where it was. *Gamer Glass is fully interactive. You can choose to use your hands to select and scroll or you can just think about selecting and scrolling and Gamer Glass will react according to your thoughts. To activate your Gamer Glass all you need to do is want the Gamer Glass to activate. Please try closing this screen by willing it closed then reactivating Gamer Glass using just your mind. If you need assistance you can say ''I need help Gamer Glass.''~ OK, I just have to think at it? I focused and willed the screen to close. The transparent screen went away. Then I wanted the screen to come back up. A screen with my name and stats in the left center and several smaller circle icons lined up along the bottom right edge appeared. *Congratulations! You are now on the main menu. From here you can view your basic stats and current power levels. First is your name, this option can not be changed at this time. Gamer Glass will prompt you if the option to change your name becomes available again. Second is your race. You are currently at an insufficient level to reveal your race. The third is gender. You are currently at an insufficient level to reveal your gender. Forth is...~ "Wait," I said out loud. The Gamer Glass paused. I double checked just to be certain, but I definitely had male genitalia. Can I get the Gamer Glass to elaborate? Just as I thought it a secondary window flashed. *Your race or species is currently unknown. A gender cannot be assigned without a known race or species. However, you currently have two race-specific abilities. The first Hidden Among the Masses- 20. With this ability, your status screen can be altered. It allows one to blend in among the dominant race of the area. It is a race-specific disguise ability that will fool even the All Seer. Your current gender alteration is male. You can not alter your gender at this time. At level 20 you can alter your Race/Species category. Your current alteration is Human. Would you like to change this now? Yes/No~ So I wasn''t human, but I looked like a human and my status would reflect human when I found a town. No, I didn''t want to change that. I could handle being human. I''d been doing it all my life. I chose not to change it. At what level did my race become known I wondered. *Unknown, I am unable to access this information at this time. Would you like to continue with the tutorial at this time? Yes/No~ Yes *Specific racial ability Stealth- 2. Stealth is a sneaking ability that allows the user to pass unnoticed. Your current level is 2. ~ *We will now resume the main tutorial. Occupation-Undecided You are currently unemployed. When you become employed or acquire a profession this category will automatically update. ~ *Age- Eighteen, this is the age of majority for your race. You are currently an adult. Your birthday is listed as today. For every year of the Elrich calendar, you will become one year older.~ *Level-2 You can gain levels by completing quests and killing monsters. You can also level up by choosing to expend Experience Points, or Exp, on a level up. A Level up automatically increases Physical Power, Stamina, Agility, and Magic Power. Level increases allow for greater skill gain and increases. The higher your level the more Exp needed until the next level up. Monster Kill Exp can be distributed by percentage automatically towards level up. To adjust the percentage of Monster Kill Exp allocated towards level up you simply click on Level and adjust the percentage using the scrollbar. You are currently allocating 50% of Monster Kill Exp towards level up ~ *Exp- 25 Experience Points. You can gain Exp by completing quests, killing monsters, and leveling up. You can also gain Exp by choosing to train a specific skill or ability. Exp points can be used on level up, abilities, or on physical and magical skills. To allocate your Exp select your level, ability, or a skill from the main menu then choose how many points you wish to allocate.~ *Monster Kill Exp can be distributed by percentage automatically towards Exp, as well as Magic Power and Level. To adjust the percentage of Monster Kill Exp allocated towards Exp, MP, or Level, you simply click on Exp and adjust the percentage using the scrollbar. You are currently allocating 50% of Monster Kill Exp towards Exp and 50% towards Level.~ *Physical Power- 10 Ability. Your physical power determines your overall strength. Abilities can only be increased with training, Exp allocation, or a level up.~ *Stamina- 10 Ability. Your stamina determines how long your body can maintain a current action.~ *Agility- 12 Ability. Your agility determines your speed and dexterity.~ *Magic Power- 8 Or MP for short. Your magic power level limits the number of consecutive magic skills that can be used. When your magic power is drained you will enter a comatose state. A person with low magic power will not be able to use higher level magic since their magic power would be insufficient. As you master magical skills you may find that you will automatically learn new skills of an increased difficulty. For example, a level 1 fire skill will allow for the starting of cooking fires at level 4 fire skill you will automatically learn the more advanced type magic fireball.~ *The exception to this rule is Metal Rain-1. Originally, only usable by the Dragons the technique for this magic is considered a lost art. There are no longer any living Dragons who have any knowledge of the skill. Metal Rain produces a shower of thin metal needles over the targeted area. The needle number and size will change depending on the level of skill. The skill also produces an invisible canopy over the caster to protect them from being injured by their own magic. The size of the canopy can be adjusted to cover more people other than the caster. The limit of how many canopies can be produced is dependent on the level of skill. Metal Rain is a master level magic attack skill. The MP consumption for a single use of Metal Rain is 400. However, you are currently able to use a significantly reduced version of Metal Rain with the MP consumption of 6. As your Magic Power levels up and if you allocate Exp Points to Metal Rain it will increase the target area, needle size, needle number, canopy size, and canopy number.~ *Skills- allows for the execution of an action. While you can attempt an action without the skill the attempt will fail or succeed based on the difficulty of the action. You can learn skills in many different ways. The first by completing a successful attempt at the skill you are trying to acquire. You can also have a skill taught to you. You can learn skills by reading books or even just by observing your surroundings. There are countless skills and just as many ways to learn how to use them. Skills can be either passive or active. An active skill has Exp allocated to them to raise their levels. A passive skill cannot be used and has no Exp allocation. You currently have one passive skill, Rock Throw.~ *Item Equip- all items with magical properties must be equipped before use. Items without magical properties can be used as normal.~ *Blessings- bestowed upon a person by a divine being. Blessings vary greatly depending on which deity bestows the Blessing. You currently have 4 Blessings from the Goddess Amoris. Would you like to learn more about your Blessings? Yes/No~ I should only have 3 how did I get 4? This tutorial was getting long, but I had the feeling that I would need to know this stuff sooner rather than later. I selected yes. *Blessing 1 All Map Exploration a map used in tandem with Gamer Glass that allows the user to view all surroundings and territories on a virtual map. To open the map select the map icon on the far right of the bottom of the main screen.~ I selected an icon that looked like a compass. A screen showing a map of roads, towns, water sources, and landmarks popped up. You could zoom in and out. My ranged seemed to be concentrated only in this Crystal Kingdom. I could see the borders, but I didn''t get much information on what was on the other side. It looked like you could toggle certain aspects of the map on and off. You could toggle people and little blue and red dots popped up all over the map. Most of the dots were concentrated in towns and cities. However, the further out I zoomed the less detail was given. Dots still showed in the cities, but they consolidated and became larger or smaller depending on the population. I zoomed back in and I turned off people and toggled monster. Red and green dots appeared. Single monsters were gone as I zoomed out and what was left were ''hot spots'' of monster nests. I zoomed in on the map, from the looks of it I was surrounded by a bunch of green dots. Then I tapped one of the green dots. *Green Tailed Ape Lv 2 currently non-hostile. Normal type monster.~ So the green dots were all apes? *Green markers designate non-hostile monster. Red markers designate hostile people and monsters. Blue markers are non-hostile people.~ I tried the search function next. I entered my name. A little yellow marker popped up in the middle of the map. I decided to play with the map later and prompted Gamer Glass to continue with the tutorial. After all, what I was particularly interested in was the mysterious fourth Blessing. What had that scatterbrained goddess done?A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. *Blessing 2 Exp Points Required by Level Up / Current Level. A level up requires increasingly larger amounts of Exp in order to reach the next level. Exp Points Required by Level Up / Current Level takes the current amount of Exp needed to reach the next level and divides that by your current level. Example: It costs 100 Exp to reach level 3. Your current level is 2. 100 Exp divided by 2 equals 50. Because of Blessing 2, it will only take 50 Exp points to reach level 3 instead of 100. ~ That air-headed Goddess may have actually given me something good. It wasn''t exactly what we had discussed but it would be useful nonetheless. I could imagine the levels getting more difficult to achieve the higher they got. With this Blessing, I received a pretty decent cheat of the system. *Blessing 3 Exp Increase X Current Level All Exp gained from Monster Kills, quests, training, etc will be automatically multiplied by your current level. Example: Green Tail Ape''s Exp drop is 50. You are currently level 2. Kill another Green Tailed Ape and you would receive a 100 Exp drop. Note: Level-1 will not multiply Exp drop.~ This was the Blessing I had negotiated with Amoris for. It made sense that any level 1 Exp wouldn''t be multiplied since 1x50=50. I was just grateful that I didn''t start out at level 0. I was a bit worried Amoris would forget about that small flaw in the math. I really didn''t want to live my life never gaining any Exp. So not only is the amount of Exp needed for the next level up reduced, the Exp I gain is increased. Isn''t this a very good situation? I would be able to power level like crazy. Eager to test this out I skipped past Blessing 4. *Titles are designations you earn. Current Titles include Devotee of Amoris. Titles allow for small hidden power boosts if activated. Exp is not needed to activate a Title. The Devotee of Amoris title allows for hidden power boosts to all skills related to the Goddess Amoris. Current skills receiving hidden power boost are Hidden Among the Masses- 20 Stealth- 2.~ I decided to skip the rest of the tutorial and explore the rest of the main menu myself. If I came to something I couldn''t figure out I could always turn it back on. I hit the button beside the compass on the main menu. It had a little picture of a silver bracelet on it so I assumed it was my inventory. On the left side of the screen was a list of items. On the right side of the screen was a grid board with more little icons. There looked like there was more space near the bottom of the grid for more add-on icons. I tapped the first Icon that had an apple on the front. Food popped up at the top of the left screen. The food item was listed then the quantity of the item was beside it. The words Hot Chocolate with an infinity symbol was first on the list. Strawberries with another infinity symbol were next. It was nice knowing I wouldn''t be going hungry anytime soon, even if all I had to eat were strawberries. I tried selecting Hot Chocolate and a packet of instant mix appeared in my hand. It had marshmallows. I tore open the packet and tasted the mix by licking my finger and dipping it into the powder. It tasted the same as Earth''s instant cocoa. If not better than the cocoa I was used too. It had a richer chocolate flavor like it had been made from scratch rather than being instant. Unsure what to do with an open packet the inventory suddenly began to blink. There was a little waste paper basket icon in the far left corner. It looked a lot like the trash bin icons used on modern computers. I opened the trash bin and thought about the open packet being in the trash. It suddenly appeared there. *Would you like to delete this item now? If you confirm the item will disappear. Items that are deleted cannot be recovered. If you decline you may come back to delete this item later. It will be stored in the Trash Bin until deleted or removed from this area of inventory. Yes/No~ I selected yes and the packet disappeared from the list. So littering this world with garbage wouldn''t be an issue. If they had something like this on Earth it would be a much more Eco-friendly place. I selected the next icon on the grid it had a little sword pictured on the icon. The words thick stick appeared on the left-hand side. I selected the stick and found it was more of a 6ft tall walking stick. It just appeared in my right hand. Not what I was expecting, but a handy item all the same. I swung it around a bit to get the feel of it. *Skill Gain- Staff Fighting ~ *Skill Gain- Basic Sword~ *Do you wish to activate this skill now? Yes/No~ Was it always going to be that simple to acquire skills? I activated both skills by adding 10 Exp to each one. I tried swinging the stick again. I didn''t really feel much of a difference, but I somehow instinctively knew how to stand while using the stick as a staff, then again as I used it as a sword. So skill gain will automatically allow for a person to become more proficient in a skill. I practiced a bit with my staff imitating the moves I had seen on TV. I tried lunges and two-handed twirls. More than a few times I dropped the staff testing out fancy spins and turns. I also cracked myself in the head twice and had to fetch it out of the apple tree when an out of control spin landed the staff in the branches. *Skill Gain- Dancing~ *Skill Gain- Martial Arts~ *Skill Gain- Pain Tolerance~ *Do you wish to activate this skill now? Yes/No~ I didn''t have enough Exp did I? I double checked on the main screen. I had somehow earned 30 Exp. A notification window appeared to the right of my status. On it was the Skill Gain notifications along with three notifications about gaining 10 Exp for successful training. I tapped on the window and found that you could toggle Gamer Glass'' notification system on and off. I left the Skill Gain and Level Up notifications on, but scrolled through and turned off everything else. I then used those 30 Exp and activated Martial Arts and Pain Tolerance by giving them each 10 Exp. I used another 10 Exp on Basic Sword. I double checked the skill but it didn''t level up. For a brief moment, I had imagined myself becoming an amazing swordsman with just a couple practice swings. Laughing at myself, I brought up the inventory again. There was an icon with a shirt on it labeled clothes. It was empty. Next was a picture with a book. In the books section were four books and a letter. The letter was a basic welcome to Elrich hope you enjoy your new life type introduction. It got placed in the trash bin. The four books were more promising. Two of them I had seen before on Amoris'' cafe table. The Big Book of Magic and Book of Powerful Magic were at the top of the list. The next book was Introductory of Races and Species. I tapped on the book and discovered I could actually read the book through the inventory. There was no need to actually physically hold the book. The book was organized by estimated population so humans were the first on the list. I skimmed the book briefly mostly just looking at the pictures rather than reading it. The last book was the Introduction of Common Languages. Panic set in a bit at that. I was told that I would automatically understand the Common Languages. Here was a book with an explanation of the 6 most commonly used languages. Would I have to learn all 6? I barely was able to pass Freshman Spanish let alone learn 6 languages. That''s when it occurred to me that what I was reading wasn''t in English. I had been reading in the human language of Elrich and hadn''t even noticed. *Ability Gain- Intelligence. Intelligence levels correspond with how quickly a skill can be learned. The higher the intelligence the fewer Exp points a skill will require to level up. You can gain Intelligence by completing quests, killing monsters, and leveling up. You can also gain Intelligence by reading books and solving problems. ~ I checked my status screen and Intelligence was right under Agility. I had also gained 20 more Exp points for gaining Intelligence. I once again distributed them towards Basic Sword hoping for a level change. There was no change. I wondered if it would level up if I used the skill to attack monsters. Opening the map I searched for weaker leveled monsters. Green Tailed Apes were flashing on my screen. There was one just a few yards to my left hiding in a bush. There were also two more in a nearby tree. Rushing towards the bush I steadied the staff in both hands above my head. In a huge swing, I brought the staff down upon the head of the startled Ape. The Ape lay there dead. *You have leveled up please check your status~ *Skill Gain- Skull Bashing I opened my status. My Level went up to 3 and I gained 100 Exp. As I was thinking about how to allocate my new Exp the two Apes that had been hanging out in the tree attacked. They both charged at the same time. Using the staff like a baseball bat I swung at them in an embarrassingly haphazard way. One went flying towards the apple tree the other got smashed to the ground, but not before he bit my leg. It felt like getting bit by an angry cat. *You have leveled up please check your status~ *Ability Gain- Defense. Defense levels determine how much damage you can take from an attack. The higher your Defense the lower the amount of damage you receive from an attack. You can gain Defense by completing quests, killing monsters, and leveling up. If you fail to repel an attack, points will be subtracted from your Hit Points. ~ *Hit Points, or HP for short, is the numerical value assigned to indicate how many attacks, or damage, one can receive~ *HP bar added to the permanent visual display. This bar will remain active in combat even if Gamer Glass is not being used. A level of 0 HP will result in death. A level of 15 HP will result in unconsciousness. HP will replenish itself slowly over time but may be boosted by using potions or healing magic. Max HP is determined by Level, Stamina, and Defense. The higher these three abilities are the higher your Max HP will become. ~ A long red bar with 115/120 showed in the bottom of my vision. I''ve come across similar displays in games. In some games, HP replenished automatically, in other games you had to drink potions to bring your HP back up to max. It seemed this system used a mix of both. Seeing the red bar there was a stark reminder that I could die. I checked my status again. I had gained another level and had 320 more Exp added. A few of my other abilities had gained a few points as well. Name- Eri Veritas HP 115/120 Level- 4 Age- 18 Race/Species- (Human) Unknown Gender- (Male) Unknown Occupation- Unemployed Exp- 445 Physical Power- 15 Stamina- 10 Defense- 1 Agility- 17 Intelligence- 1 Magic Power- 8 Metal Rain Lv 1 Skills Staff Fighting Lv 1 Basic Sword Lv 1 Martial Arts Lv 1 Pain Tolerance Lv 1 Racial Ability- Hidden Among the Masses- 20 Stealth- 2 I looked at my HP bar again and decided on the spot to raise my defense. I added 200 points to Defense. It now read Defense 32. The HP bar also increased to 205/210. That left me with the decision on what to do with the remaining 225 Exp. Speed was important you would be able to dodge attacks if Agility was high enough. However, that wouldn''t matter much if you ran out of breath due to low Stamina. If I added Exp to Intelligence then used the rest of the Exp towards Basic Sword it might level up. In the end, I decided on 50 Exp to Stamina and 75 to Agility. Stamina became 18 and Agility 36. I used 25 Exp on Intelligence bringing it up to 5. Then I added 75 Exp towards Basic Sword. Basic Sword became Lv 2. My HP bar also raised again. It''s max was now 260. Pleased with myself I glanced down at the Green Tailed Ape. In RPGs, monsters could be eaten or sold for parts in towns. I bent down and touched the Ape. While I had no idea if it could be eaten I was eventually going to head towards a town. I didn''t have any money so being able to sell these creatures would go a long way in gathering some start-up cash. I added the Ape to my inventory. An icon with a monster skull appeared. I gathered the other three Ape bodies and stored them as well. Thinking about selling the monsters in a town reminded me that I had no camping supplies and that I should probably consider where I was planning on sleeping that night. I had no money at the moment so hunting the Apes along the way was probably a good idea. Food was also important. I really shouldn''t rely on the assumption that I will be able to sell or even eat the Apes at all. They could be completely worthless for all I knew. Glancing up at the apple tree, I began to gather all the ripe looking apples. I wouldn''t be able to keep eating strawberries forever. I hoped that the fruit of Earth and the fruit of Elrich were similar in composition and I wasn''t gathering something poisonous. The Apes had been eating them and that was a good sign, but I still didn''t want to take a chance of eating something until I had confirmation it wouldn''t kill me. After all, I did still have the strawberries. I could live off them for a short while at least, but eventually, nutrition would become an issue. *Skill Gain- Harvesting~ I checked and there was an additional 10 Exp added. For the time being, I chose not to allocate the points. If I was in a dire situation having some Exp ready to use to power up an ability or skill might be the difference between life and death. Opening the map, I searched for nearby towns or cities. There was a large city on the western border of the territory and a few small towns dotted along a road leading east. I was currently on the eastern end of the territory with the nearest town being the one on the furthest eastern border. It was a decent sized town called Yellow Springs. Selecting the town from the map a brief overview of the town was displayed. *Yellow Springs, A walled town of mostly human habitation. Has a town guard rather than a militia. Known for its hot springs. This town was built up along the merchant highway as a way station and tourist destination. The town has a third tier Adventurers Guild III, a second tier Merchants Guild II, a public library, a jail, marketplace, and multiple inns. The area''s government is run by House Holjior and to a smaller extent a town council.~ It seemed like a good place to start to me. I wouldn''t reach it by nightfall, but I might be able to reach it by midday tomorrow. Looked like I was sleeping outside tonight. I never went camping on Earth so I had very little idea of how to go about selecting a proper sleeping spot. I just knew you were supposed to have a fire and a tent. I had no way to start a fire, and I lacked the knowledge of how to start one by rubbing sticks together. I also had no tent or even a blanket. With a sigh, I headed in the direction of the merchant highway. If I met with some fellow travelers then maybe I could learn a few things about camping. I made sure to leave the map open with monster toggled on so that I could hunt the Green Tailed Apes along the way. Name- Eri Veritas HP 255/260 Level- 4 Age- 18 Race/Species- (Human) Unknown Gender- (Male) Unknown Occupation- Unemployed Exp- 30 Physical Power- 15 Stamina- 18 Defense- 32 Agility- 36 Intelligence- 5 Magic Power- 8 Metal Rain Lv 1 Skills Staff Fighting Lv 1 Basic Sword Lv 2 Martial Arts Lv 1 Pain Tolerance Lv 1 Rock Throwing Dancing Skull Bashing Harvesting Racial Ability- Hidden Among the Masses- 20 Stealth- 2 Items Equip Inventory Bracelet Blessing 1- All Map Exploration Blessing 2- Exp Points Required by Level Up / Current Level Blessing 3-Exp Increase X Current Level Blessing 4- Item- Gamer Glasses Titles- Devotee of Amoris Chapter 5 Amoris Becomes the Goddess of Chocolate Chapter 5 Amoris Becomes the Goddess of Chocolate I made it to the merchant highway before nightfall, but there were no kindhearted humans to teach me the practical skills of camping. I did detour a bit for water. Even with my lack of basic camping skills, I knew water was important. I was successfully able to put water into my inventory without it first being in a vessel. I didn''t really have a concept of how much water would be needed. Was water free access in Yellow Springs or did you have to pay for it? So, I sat by the stream for a while watching the quantity number tick up. The problem was when I took it out of my inventory it looked like my hand had become a water faucet. Still, it was drinkable and I was able to wash up by rubbing my faucet hand over my body and through my hair. There were more than a few Green Tailed Apes. My Level had risen to 8 by the time night fell. I had made due sleeping in a meadow off the side of the highway. There had been a slight rise of a hill and I slept out of sight of the highway on the other side of that hill. I had some paranoia that people would walk past in the middle of the night and try and rob me. Not that I had much to rob, but it''s not as though a bandit would believe a person when they said they had nothing to steal. Oddly enough, I did manage to sleep quite soundly. With my increase in stamina and agility, I was able to maintain a decent jog along the highway with frequent stops and small detours. If I went for too long my legs would start cramping and I''d become winded. The short breaks helped keep my progress steady enough that I would reach Yellow Springs by late morning or early afternoon. I opened my main menu again as I loped along and just stared at my progress debating if I should continue to allocated my Exp or save it up. I had gained a large Exp bonus for killing a Lv 12 Red Wolf while I was at level 6. So I had gained 3000 Exp with one kill. Half the Monster Kill Exp still going towards my level up and half into my Exp. The Red Wolf had been eating an Ape at the time. I snuck up on it and used Skull Bashing. It turned out that when activated Skull Bashing was a technique used in Basic Sword. So when used it raised the Sword skill. I had also gained a new title and increased my Racial Ability Stealth. Name- Eri Veritas HP 640/640 Level- 8 Age- 18 Race/Species- (Human) Unknown Gender- (Male) Unknown Occupation- Unemployed Exp- 4587 Physical Power- 44 Stamina- 78 Defense- 102 Agility- 175 Intelligence- 23 Magic Power- 8 Metal Rain Lv 1 Skills Staff Fighting Lv 2 Basic Sword Lv 3 Skull Bashing Lv 1 Martial Arts Lv 2 Spear Lv 1 Stalking Lv 1 Jumping Lv 1 Running Lv 2 Pain Tolerance Lv 1 Rock Throwing Dancing Harvesting Racial Ability- Hidden Among the Masses- 20 Stealth- 43 Titles- Devotee of Amoris Enemy of Apes I opened my inventory and while still maintaining a steady pace I began to read Introductory of Races and Species through the transparent screen. I could still see where I was going through the screen so I didn''t have to worry about running into a tree. The road was flat enough, but I did have to watch out for ruts left over from wagon wheels going through thick mud. Thankfully, the road was currently dry. I had skimmed through it the first time and hadn''t really read much. I had a general idea of the races and species in the book but hadn''t read any of the actual information pertaining to each race or species. I was half hoping for a clue as to what my own race was. I could be fairly certain the species was humanoid, so I skipped to the humanoid races first. Zyanthropes were first as the second most populous humanoid race. A Zyanthropes were any humanoid that showed characteristics of animals. This race had multiple sub-races and the racial ability changed with each sub-race. Cat People had high Stealth and Nightseer. Dog People had higher Physical Power and Stamina than normal humans. Lizard people had high Defense and Immunity to Poison. There were Tiger, Fish, Bird, Snake, and Cow people too, but they were rarely seen outside of Zyanthropes territories. Each one with their own racial abilities. There was a comment near the end of the section about there being even more sub-races than listed, but they were rarer and often lived in isolated communities even within the Zyanthropes territories. I was fairly certain I wasn''t a Cat person. While a Cat person has Stealth as one of its Racial Abilities there would be no need for a Cat person to hide its identity. The Zyanthropes had a tumultuous relationship with the humans as a result of many wars fought over the years, but that still wouldn''t explain the need to hide one''s race. Dwarves were third. I was not a dwarf. I was far too tall. I skipped over Dwarves since the information about them was the same knowledge as on Earth. They had great smithing abilities, lived in mountainous territories, liked to drink, basic knowledge really. Demonia, Not to be confused with actual demons. Demonia are a race stemming from human demon breeding. Appearance is varied among the Demonia, the only consistent racial marker they all carry are horns. Every Demonia has a set of horns, though the appearance of the horns also varies depending on the demon parent. Demonia are a magically superior race second only to Elves. Each Demoni has it''s own personally unique Racial Ability. This ability is always magic based and is dictated by the type of demon the parent was. Some Demonia live in peace with their demon parents. They live in the far southern territories and don''t encourage travelers. Note: Demons who live among the Demonia are placed under strict magical control. For the most part, demons who live among the Demonia are safe to interact with. However, that would require entry into the Demonia Territories first. Neither of my Racial Abilities was magic based, but being Demonia within a human territory might be reason enough for the concealment of the race. After thinking about it, I left Demonia as a slight possibility, even if I didn''t have horns. Elves are highly logical thinkers. They very rarely act on emotion and are often described as being cold and calculating. However, they are also deeply curious people and young Elves venture out into the world to satisfy that curious nature. This may be a product of their very long life spans. Even though they are very long lived Elves have very low birth rates. An Elven child will never be seen by any other race. They are carefully protected and are not allowed to leave their forest even with parental supervision. This practice most likely stems from the Elves curiosity. Children are often unaware of their own mortality when combined with an Elf''s curious nature, the children have a high mortality rate. When an Elven child dies, it is said that the entire race mourns their loss. The Elves have the highest potential for magic among the humanoid races. Elven magic tends to be either elemental, nature, or spiritual magic. While they can learn other magics, they mostly concentrate on those three categories. This is due to their Racial Abilities. The Elven Race Ability can be any combination of three. Nature''s Child, a power that allows for the manipulation of plants and wildlife. Elemental Child, a power that allows for the manipulation of the elements earth, water, air, fire, and metal. The sixth element, void, can be used by Elves but is not an element boosted by Elemental Child. Spiritual Child, is the manipulation of spirit energy. Elves with this ability can summon spectral entities and are adept at healing. All Elven priests are required to have the Spiritual Child ability, but not all Elves with the ability are priests. I wasn''t an Elf, thank Amoris she didn''t mess that up. I really didn''t want to end up an Elf. They had always seemed so cold and alien in most of the fantasy stories I had read. I''m sure that there were perks to being an Elf, but being detached from my feelings didn''t seem like a good trade to me. I always thought of Elves as similar to Vulcans. I came upon a herd of sheep grazing along the road. A young man with brown hair, brown clothes, and brown skin was sitting on an embankment watching them with his black and white shaggy dog. The dog gave a bark as I approached. I slowed down and waved at the young man. He waved back. I was more than a little excited to meet my first real Elrich person. I decided on the spot to talk to the young man. I was getting hungry and it seemed to be a good time to rest. I probably had another 2 hours of running before I reached Yellow Springs and it wasn''t as if I was in a hurry. "I was just thinking of stopping for lunch. Do you mind if I join you?" I called to the young man. He gave a weary look at first then looked me over from head to foot. Assessing that I wasn''t a threat he agreed and waved me over. "You''re the first traveler I''ve seen today," He remained sitting but held out his hand for a shake. "My name is Henry and this is Tick." He nodded to the dog. A display slightly different from usual suddenly popped up. *Name- Henry Level- 10 892/892 Human- Male Age- 19 Shepard Companion- Tick (Dog)~ So I could see the basic stats of people I met. Knowing that I was at about the right level for my age range also was good information. It was likely the same information the guard would see when a person touched an All Seer. So my Gamer Glass could act as an All Seer. That was interesting. I really should finish that tutorial. "I haven''t passed anyone either. My name is Eri. I''m not from around here. Yellow Springs is ahead right?" I already knew this, but explaining that I had a transparent map in my head would make me sound like a lunatic. Besides, it never hurts to be friendly to the locals. "That''s right," Henry nodded as I sat down."Are you going there for the hot springs or looking for work?"This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. "Work mostly, but I wouldn''t be against trying out the hot springs as well. I have some strawberries would you like some?" I asked him. "They are looking for laborers to help fix the town wall right now, you should ask the gate guard who you should talk to if you need work immediately. Otherwise, there are always job postings at the tavern in the town square." He paused looking at me. "You don''t have a bag, I thought I had just missed it with all the running around you were doing, but you really aren''t carrying anything, but that staff. Where do you plan to get your strawberries from? Thin air? Magic?" He looked at me with a teasing smile and a bit of sarcasm. "Something like that." I pulled two handfuls of strawberries out of my inventory. To him, it probably did seem like I pulled them from thin air. "Would you look at that. What kind of magic was that if you don''t mind my asking?" He held out his hand for the offered berries. "It was a gift from a god, it''s called Inventory Bracelet." I held up my wrist. Henry''s eyes went wide. "A Blessing huh? You''re lucky, Blessings tend to go wonky more often than they are helpful. I''m sure they mean well, but I wish the gods would put a bit more thought into the gifts they bestow upon us poor mortals." He sighed. I didn''t bother to correct his misunderstanding. The Item Bracelet was a gift from a god but wasn''t really a Blessing. It seemed like too much effort to explain the details. So I asked another question. "Did you receive one of those wonky Blessings?" I bit into the berry. Amoris was correct, the strawberries of Elrich were incredibly tasty. "Unfortunately, I was given a Blessing from the God Beurn that gives me a sort of affinity with sheep. Sheep really like me, they never wander off, and my sheep will always produce the best wool. It''s not that I''m not thankful for the gift, it''s provided a decent living." He sighed again. "That doesn''t sound so bad," I answered. "No it wouldn''t, but the sheep really like me. Even sheep that aren''t my own flock. The sheep from other farms inevitably end up coming to me. They get my sheep pregnant. Then I get angry shepherds showing up at my door calling me a thief. I was nearly killed when I first got the Blessing." "Killed! I wouldn''t think shepherds to be homicidal types." Henry laughed, "Most of us aren''t, but stealing another person''s livestock is a crime. One night all my neighbor''s sheep disappeared. He had about 40 just up and vanish in the middle of the night. He shows up at my place and finds all his sheep sleeping peacefully with mine. So he confronts me, punches me in the nose, and runs off to fetch the guards from Yellow Springs. I was arrested and sentenced to death by hanging for stealing 40 sheep. No one had ever heard of a Blessing for sheep or of the God Beurn." So Beurn wasn''t one of the major gods then? Just how many gods were running around this world? "What happened next? Since you''re still here I guess something happened?" "Sheep, my sheep, and every other sheep in the area showed up to my hanging," he laughed. "They had to believe me at that point. I had been sitting in the town jail all night it''s not like I could have gone out and stolen all the sheep in the area. My conviction was overturned and the local shepherds have all begun tagging our sheep. So when one shows up at my home that''s not mine I can return him to where he belongs." "That is quite the Blessing," I nodded. I could understand how Henry would have mixed feelings about Blessings. "What did you do to get the Blessing in the first place?" "Hu," he let out a breath and wrinkled his forehead, "I don''t really know to be honest. I was laying in the pasture with Tick and suddenly the god shows up. He points at me, says ''I, Beurn, God of Herds, bless thee in my name. I grant thee the protection and love of sheep. May your wool be thick and your lambs be strong.'' Then there was this flash of green light that hit me right in the head and then he was gone." "That sounds familiar," I commented. *Skill Gain- Small Talk~ What kind of useless skill was that? I was distracted by the alert and missed Henry''s next question. "I''m sorry," I apologized, "I was remembering my Blessing. Would you repeat that please?" "Don''t worry about it, I was just wondering who gave you your Blessing and if you had any more of those strawberries. Those are really good for being out of season." I handed over more berries while I decided how much to tell Henry. He seemed like a nice guy but explaining that the bracelet had been a gift from one god but given by another might seem odd. I wasn''t yet sure how involved the gods were with mortals. So I decided to lie a little. "It was given to me by Amoris." Not quite a lie, but not the entire truth. I gave the cover story that Amoris and I had worked out before I was reincarnated. "I was orphaned when I was a baby and the nuns at the Orphanage of Amoris raised me. As a departing gift Amoris gave me her Blessing." The last bit still was not exactly a lie. *Skill Gain- Deception *Skill Gain- Poker Face Oh, that was interesting. Deception allowed for lies to be believed no matter how fantastical and Poker Face somehow physically boosted Deception. I knew that a Poker Face on Earth was a way card players were able to lie without showing facial tics. This probably worked the same way. You could lie all you wanted with Deception, but if your eyebrow began to twitch every time you lied people would catch on. While I didn''t want to become a world class liar I also didn''t want people questioning my motives and personal history. I activated both skills and allocated Exp bringing them both to level 1. "You must be from further away than I thought. I don''t think there are any Orphanages of Amoris in this territory. We have temples," he paused, then changed his train of thought, "I guess that Winter City could have one. I''ve never actually been to the territory capital, so I''m not certain." He glanced at me and asked the question with his eyes. "No, I''ve never been to Winter City either. This orphanage is far to the north nearer to the kingdom''s capital, but not really in King''s Cross." I was looking at All Map Exploration and had found an orphanage run by the Temple of Amoris. I glanced at the information and continued my lie. "It was an orphanage set up by the main temple in King''s Cross, but with real estate being so expensive in the capital they decided to build it further south. We earned an income from growing and selling strawberries in the capital." "That would explain why you have so many strawberries. I had heard they were favored by Amoris." Henry laughed biting into another one. "I know, you would think the Goddess of Love would prefer chocolate or something," I commented thinking that chocolate was the go-to romantic gift on Valentine''s Day. "Strawberries are a little heart-shaped," he said then looked at me. "What is chocolate," he pronounced it chalk late, "is it something from the capital? I''ve never heard of it." "You don''t have chocolate here?" I asked. Surely, Elrich had chocolate. I searched for chocolate on my map. Nothing. I repeated the search and tried again. I searched cocoa and repeated the search. I could feel the blood rushing to my head. Then finally I got a ping. Cocoa Fruit, grown in the far south. Was a delicacy in Demonia territory. Very difficult to grow as constant flowing water and steady heat are needed. I actually said a small prayer of thanks to Amoris for supplying me with an unlimited amount of hot cocoa. To me chocolate was life. On Earth, I had little mini candy bars in every drawer in my apartment. My glove compartment had my registration and a bag of chocolate. I always had a bar ready to go in my pocket. *Title Gain- Grateful Petitioner~ "Where I come from chocolate is given to someone as a gesture of love and romance. So that''s why I thought it would be something Amoris would be the patron of. As to what chocolate is, it comes from a fruit that is grown in Demonia territory. I''ve never actually had the Cocoa Fruit, but I''ve had chocolate bars and hot cocoa. At some point, someone decided to try drying out the fruit and turning it into a powder. They then mixed the powder with sugar and melted it together with milk. When the mixture hardens it creates chocolate. It''s really sweet and very good. I don''t have any chocolate with me, but I do have some hot chocolate mix. It also uses powdered Cocoa Fruit and sugar. You are supposed to mix one packet in with either warm milk or hot water." "I''d like to try it," Henry said eagerly. "I don''t have water, milk, or a way to heat it," I told him. However, I did hand him 5 packets and explained how he could make it when he got home. He looked at the packets and smiled. "You said that giving this to someone was a sign of love?" "Well, giving chocolate to someone usually is. I think hot chocolate would be a good gift." I handed him 5 more packets for his romantic endeavors. "This isn''t expensive, is it? I don''t have much coin on me, but I can pay you." "I have an infinite supply of strawberries and hot chocolate as part of my Blessing from Amoris," I held up the bracelet again. "You probably could sell it around here, but I don''t know how much you would receive. Since you don''t have anything like it here you might be able to earn some money from it," I shrugged. I hadn''t actually thought about selling the hot cocoa packets. If I was desperate for money I guess I could sell the strawberries and cocoa. I did have an infinite supply after all. I felt a bit stupid for not thinking of it before. "If Amoris Blessed the bracelet with an infinite amount of this hot chocolate. Doesn''t that mean she is the patron goddess?" "You could be right," I said. Chocolate was more my thing and she was just being nice adding to my inventory but letting Henry think that didn''t hurt anything. Besides strawberries and chocolate were amazing together. If the idea of giving chocolate to someone you loved caught on then chocolate would probably come under Amoris'' power anyway. "Can I ask you another question?" Henry asked, "Are those clothes also from the capital? I''ve never seen a shirt or pants cut like that before, and those shoes look dangerous." I had completely forgotten that I was still wearing my hideous purple shirt and khakis. I certainly didn''t match Henry with his brown clothing that made him look like he stepped out of a Renaissance Fair. "No, not really. This was my uniform at the orphanage. The pants are cut short so that we didn''t snag them on the plants." *Deception level up.~ Hey now, I hadn''t been lying that much. It certainly wasn''t enough for a level up. What was with this arbitrary way of distributing Exp? Sometimes a skill leveled up on its own, and sometimes I had to feed it Exp. What a crazy system. On top of that, I had no way of knowing just how much Exp would level up a skill. Henry was nodding away like my explanation made perfect sense to him. We talked some more about chocolate and Amoris. Then I left him standing on the side of the road with a sack of strawberries, the sack had held Henry''s own lunch. I had learned some important information from Henry. I had also gained a few new skills that would come in handy. While I still felt bad about using the skill to deceive people, I felt that it was a necessity since I couldn''t actually tell anyone I was from another planet. They might not have an Area 51, where they performed autopsies on aliens, but they had magic. Who knew what kind of experimental magical labs there could be. There was a public library in Yellow Springs. It would probably be a good idea to make that stop high on my list of priorities. I really needed to learn more about this world. I also needed a change of clothes. I hadn''t even thought of my clothing not matching in with the locals. I''d hate to lose my shoes though. I was sure they didn''t have Nike''s in Elrich. Another ping interrupted my thoughts. *Incoming Message. Please check your inventory.~ *Items Received. Please check your inventory.~ Incoming Message, what on Earth, or should I say Elrich, was this? I opened my inventory and found another letter waiting. I tapped on the icon to read it. *Dear Eri, It feels like it''s been a while since we last spoke. Your reincarnation went well enough considering the circumstances. I will admit to a slight error on my part. As you have noticed you were granted four divine Blessings instead of three, because of this my power was insufficient and you were caught in the Abyss for longer than anticipated. I do apologize for that, but since the benefit was an extra Blessing I hope you will forgive me the pain you went through. I was listening to your conversation with the nice shepherd boy. You should be pleased to know that I love the idea of becoming the Goddess of Chocolate. I had always envied Earth''s St. Valentine for cornering the market on tasty love tokens. You are correct in thinking that chocolate goes well with strawberries and I am grateful. I have decided to help the shepherd. He is in love with a girl from the nearby town. I will be visiting him shortly. I plan to tell him that if he gives the chocolate to the girl, and she accepts it, that I will personally bless their love and their eventual marriage. I will also correct the poor child''s Blessing. Sometimes it does happen that a particular Blessing becomes a burden. We try to correct these mistakes as best we can. He will no longer be burdened with his neighbor''s flocks, but I will leave the rest of the Blessing intact. The young couple should have a decently comfortable life with his sheep being of an increased quality. I predict chocolate will become fairly popular. I plan on sending messages to all my Oracles telling them about the wonders of chocolate. I will be gifting all temples with a small supply. I will also inform them about the Cocoa Fruit. I have worked out your plan to turn the fruit into chocolate that tastes even better than the chocolate on earth. How to make, prepare chocolate, and successfully grow the Cocoa Trees will all be included in the messages. However, growing the trees and obtaining the fruit will be difficult. I have faith that my followers will be up to the task, but it may take years. In the meantime, I have added another infinite item to your inventory. It''s a standard sized chocolate bar processed from the Cocoa Fruit. You may choose from dark, milk, or white chocolate. I hope you like it. Don''t eat too many you''ll get fat! All I ask is that you sell these bars to my temples at a discount. I have informed my Oracles of who you are. I have also told that little white lie and explained that your Inventory Bracelet, and the infinity items in it, are all part of a Blessing from me. Temple Priests will be trying to contact you soon. With this, you shouldn''t have to worry too much about money for the next few years. I have also added a change of clothing to your inventory. I should have had you change before your reincarnation. I had the clothes already picked out and everything. Good news is that the boots I had prepared will feel and act like your athletic shoes. It has been requested by the Godly Council that I ask you to use your inventory to delete your current clothing items. Having items transferred from one world to another is taboo. If you fail to do so we both might be in trouble. As of now, they have recognized that the slip up in no part was your fault. Currently, I am holding all of the blame. If you fail to delete the items after receiving this message you will be partially responsible as well. I will be watching over you and I look forward to your progress. With Love, Amoris XoXo~ *Title Gain- Oracle of Amoris~ Name- Eri Veritas HP 640/640 Level- 8 Age- 18 Race/Species- (Human) Unknown Gender- (Male) Unknown Occupation- Unemployed Exp- 4514 Physical Power- 44 Stamina- 78 Defense- 102 Agility- 175 Intelligence- 29 Magic Power- 8 Metal Rain Lv 1 Skills Staff Fighting Lv 2 Basic Sword Lv 2 Skull Bashing Lv 1 Martial Arts Lv 2 Spear Lv 1 Stalking Lv 1 Jumping Lv 1 Running Lv 2 Pain Tolerance Lv 1 Deception Lv 2 Poker Face Lv 1 Rock Throwing Dancing Harvesting Small Talk Racial Ability- Hidden Among the Masses- 20 Stealth- 43 Items Equip Inventory Bracelet Blessing 1- All Map Exploration Blessing 2- Exp Points Required by Level Up / Current Level Blessing 3-Exp Increase X Current Level Blessing 4- Item- Gamer Glasses Titles- Devotee of Amoris Oracle of Amoris Grateful Petitioner Enemy of Apes Chapter 6 I Become a Chew Toy Chapter 6 I Become a Chew Toy While all that information was nice, and I had a steady source of potential income. I would have like to have had a very concerning question answered as well. What was I? Was it possible that even Amoris didn''t know? She said that she ran out of power at the end. Did that somehow affect my race? If she ran out of power there was the possibility that she really didn''t know. However, my racial abilities should have told her what I had become. There were no excuses! I sighed and headed for a copse of trees. While there was no one on the road it would be embarrassing to change out in the open. *Skill Gain- Etiquette~ A skill that would be handy in keeping me from making a complete fool of myself. I activated it and allocated Exp until it leveled up. I had meant to distribute more of my Exp before I met Henry, but I had gotten caught up in reading Introductory of Races and Species. I promised myself I would think about which skills I wanted to level up as I pulled out several items of clothing from my inventory. Amoris had been kind enough to give me several pairs of underwear. While the boxer style would take some getting used to I wasn''t going to complain about that. They didn''t use elastic but rather a drawstring much like athletic shorts at home. However, one pair was going straight into the trash bin. They were patterned white with little pink hearts. Very funny Amoris. I had a few undershirts that closely resembled t-shirts, but you could tell that they were hand sewn. Looking back over the underwear, those too had been hand stitched. Did sewing machines not exist in this world? My modern clothes would really stand out if that was the case. Not to mention the elastic and synthetic fibers. I briefly wondered at Henry for believing all my lies. I had several pairs of socks, but without elastic, I wondered how they remained up. I pulled on them a bit and discovered they were very stretchy. They probably stretched over the leg and stayed up that way. Once again I marveled at Amoris'' taste in clothing. Why would I ever need a pair of orange socks with purple argyle? I was just glad most of her style choices of under clothes were solid shades of white. I was given one long sleeved over shirt. It was a dark hunter green. I knew I looked good in green. It matched my eyes. It had some short lacing in the front that I loosened to pull over my head, then tighten again so the shirt didn''t gap. The sleeves were a bit puffy for my taste, but Henry had been wearing a similar style. The pants gave me some trouble. They were leggings. My underwear kept bunching up in the legs every time I pulled them up. I finally got the hang of smoothing down the underwear with one hand while pulling the pants up with the other. They were made of the same stretchy stuff the socks were made of. Henry''s pants weren''t leggings. His pants didn''t make it obvious the size of his member. I kept trying to readjust so things weren''t as obvious. Was this Amoris playing another joke on me? Surely this wasn''t the fashion. People didn''t just run around showing off like this. Thankfully, the boots were standard, went up to mid-calf and laced using a hook and eye style. They were black and had a slight heel. Amoris had been right, they felt no different from my Nike''s. There was even some arch support which surprised me given the more medieval vibe I was getting from the rest of the clothes. The black hip length jacket was also nice. It was made of some sort of thick fabric that I suspected was wool. It reminded me of a pea coat that the girls at my college wore. It had double breasted buttons like a pea coat too. Falling to mid-thigh it hid everything the pants were putting on display. Pity it was too warm out to be running in it. Changed, I gladly put the hated purple polo and khakis in the trash bin. Socks and shoes followed. I debated about keeping my old underwear but decided it wasn''t worth the risk of godly wrath and in the bin they went. I hit the delete button and they vanished from this world forever. Back on task, I opened the map to check for monsters in the area. Oh, another Red Wolf. I would be able to get even more Exp if I were to hunt it. It was a bit out of the way. I would have to travel nearly a half mile in the wrong direction. I would still be able to make it to Yellow Springs by mid-day even if I detoured again. Thinking it was worth the side trip, I headed deeper into the trees. With my recent level ups, traveling through the woods was a lot easier. My feet seemed to instinctively pick out the correct footing. If I thought about it too hard I would trip and stumble, but if I just let my body react I could wander the woods like a seasoned pro. It was a bit difficult not to get caught up in the new ways my body was able to move. I couldn''t really feel a difference, but the logical part of me knew I had never been this graceful on Earth. For that matter, I had never been much of a runner on Earth either. If I was this active I wondered how long it would take before my body''s physical appearance matched the movements I was able to make. While I wasn''t exactly overweight I wasn''t physically fit either. I had a slight paunch from all the chocolate I ate. I was lucky I wasn''t fatter. I was only 5 foot 8 inches. A slightly less than average height for most Americans. I had played some soccer in college, but it was always pick up games between friends. I was more of the indoor type. I would probably begin to lose weight and build muscle. I''d never seen my body all muscle bound. A nice six pack would be a decent goal. I hoped I didn''t end up looking like the Gorilla Viking. Someone tall could carry off that kind of build. It was harder for someone short. Some guys could do it, but I wasn''t one of them. Nor did I have any intention of shaving my head. It always seemed like super muscle-bound guys always had shaved heads. I liked having hair, even if it was a mess most days.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. Would I have to start shaving? When I was on Earth, sadly, I didn''t start growing facial hair until my junior year in undergrad. Even then it was patchy and made me look like a hobo or the creepy neighbor you didn''t want living next door. When I did shave, it was usually once or twice a week. I was, unfortunately, a very late bloomer and puberty didn''t really begin for me until I was about 16, when I was about 18, I had finally had a huge growth spurt. Until then I was even shorter and could pass as an 8th grader. That summer my senior year had been wild. I left school looking like a 13-year-old kid and in a few months my hormones had kicked into full gear and I was suddenly an average high schooler. If I was 18 now, would that mean I was still growing? Would I grow taller? I felt like I was the same height I was when I was on Earth, but it was hard to be certain. I didn''t feel any shorter than normal. It would be nice to be a little bit taller, and if I was still growing maybe other things had room to grow as well. Especially, if I continued to grow from the same size I was at 24. Suddenly, going through puberty twice didn''t seem so bad. Feeling optimistic about future bodily changes, I slowed down and double checked the map. I was close. The little red dot was slowly headed in my direction. I readied my staff and prepared for my prey to come to me. It would pay to be cautious. After all, it was a lv 12, and this one wasn''t distracted by food. A wolf with burgundy brown fur rushed the bushes where I was waiting. It had saliva dripping from its jowls and had a deep baritone of a growl. It''s body shape looked more like a hyena than that of the wolves I was used to. The four canine teeth were absurdly long and were extremely menacing. Getting a closer look at the monster you could see it had bright red eyes. I had missed that before having snuck up on the last one. It gave an ear ringing bark. It sounded like what you''d imagine a bear would sound like if it barked. I could feel the vibrations of the bark all the way down my spine. *Status Anomaly- Paralysis~ What! Shit, I couldn''t move! I tried shifting my feet, then my arms. Then I desperately tried to lurch out of the way as the wolf came barreling in. Shit, shit, SHIT! There was nothing like this mentioned in the short description I got on the wolf from the map. Quickly, I mentally opened my status menu and began allocating Exp to Defense. The wolf bit down hard on my leg. God, it fricken hurt! Dammit, Shit, FUCK!. The wolf brought me down, and without being able to move or brace myself for the fall, I received even more damage. I mentally added Exp to my pain tolerance. Hell, if I was going to die I didn''t want to feel it. With the pain ebbing, I could think clearly again. I needed to move. I had to move. I''d die if I didn''t move. I focused all my mental will on the hand that still gripped my staff. Nothing happened. The wolf had stopped dragging me by my leg. Perhaps it had noticed I was trying to resist? That couldn''t be the issue, I still was stuck inside my own body. It looked me right in the eyes, then slowly, as though to take its time about it, opened it''s large mouth and brought those huge teeth towards my neck. MOVE DAMMIT! I mentally screamed at myself. There! Did my arm twitch? Not enough! *Skill Gain- Paralysis Resistance~ YES! I mentally shouted. I could feel the hot putrid breath of the dog as its teeth bore down. The wet hardness of the teeth pressing into my flesh made me desperate. I activated the skill and allocated Exp like crazy. At Lv 3 I could move. I punched the wolf in the head using my free arm. Then I rolled over and in a very undignified manner scurried away. The wolf bit down on my leg again and tried to rip it off. Flipping over on my back I brought the staff down square on its head. Once, twice, a third time, I just wanted it off me. The jaws of the wolf suddenly slackened. I literally watched as the red light went out in its eyes. I had killed it. *You have leveled up please check your status~ I ignored my status screen for a moment and just lay there. I had almost died, again! Here I was thinking I was off to a good start in this new world and I go and almost get myself killed. It had only been a little over 24 hours! I was sure I hadn''t done anything particularly heroic this time around for the gods to let me have a redo. Shit. I needed to be more careful. I had been cocky. Too damned cocky for my own good. I had all this extra strength and power and it made me so confident. It was just occurring to me that everyone else in this world probably had the same strength and power. Amoris had said this world was hard. People stronger than me probably got eaten by monsters all the time. In order to stay alive, I had to do better. Where had I gone wrong this time? Attacking from the front was not a good idea. I didn''t know about the barking paralysis attack either. If the wolf hadn''t used that attack I was fairly confident I could have beaten it in the first attack. There was that confidence popping back up. What if it hadn''t been paralysis but super agility or high defense instead. I couldn''t dare to predict how an attack would play out. I needed to get better, but to get better I needed more Exp. The fastest way to gain Exp was to kill monsters. I was going full circle. Perhaps the core of my problem was lack of knowledge. If I had known about the paralysis attack I would have approached the wolf differently. The short descriptions of places, things, and monsters I got from my map just weren''t adequate. I needed more information. To get that information I needed to either ask people or find that library. First things first though, I needed to buy a new pair of pants. Well, maybe not first, I still didn''t have any money. Shit. I opened my screen and allocated my new Exp. Name- Eri Veritas HP 1863/2335 Level- 11 Age- 18 Race/Species- (Human) Unknown Gender- (Male) Unknown Occupation- Unemployed Exp- 192 Physical Power- 220 Stamina- 278 Defense- 348 Agility- 489 Intelligence- 84 Magic Power- 8 Metal Rain Lv 1 Paralysis Resistance Lv 3 Skills Staff Fighting Lv 2 Basic Sword Lv 2 Skull Bashing Lv 2 Martial Arts Lv 2 Spear Lv 1 Stalking Lv 1 Jumping Lv 1 Running Lv 2 Pain Tolerance Lv 3 Deception Lv 2 Poker Face Lv 1 Etiquette Lv 2 Rock Throwing Dancing Harvesting Small Talk Racial Ability- Hidden Among the Masses- 20 Stealth- 95 Items Equip Inventory Bracelet Blessing 1- All Map Exploration Blessing 2- Exp Points Required by Level Up / Current Level Blessing 3-Exp Increase X Current Level Blessing 4- Item- Gamer Glasses Titles- Devotee of Amoris Oracle of Amoris Grateful Petitioner Enemy of Apes Chapter 7 I Break the Law Chapter 7 I Break the Law I could smell the town before I could see it. Sulfur, most likely from the hot springs. It wasn''t very strong. I could still smell the manure that had been left by the passing animals on the road, but it was a very distinctive scent. The residents of the town probably became nose blind to it after a while. The wall was made of wood and had a walk where I could see people in uniforms keeping watch. There were towers placed in intervals to either side of the gate. They probably had towers going all the way around the town. The town was far bigger than I was expecting. If the size of the outer walls were any indication it was huge. I would dare to call it a small city rather than a town. It was possibly bigger than the town I grew up in back home. There was some minor activity at the gate. I stood in line and waited while a man with a string of cows talked with the guard. The last cow in line flicked its tail at my face and I backed up. Perhaps queuing up behind a 1600lb beast with unknown temperament wasn''t wise. A second guard came out of a room to the side of the gate. She had her blonde hair braided and pinned on top of her head in a bun. Her skin was slightly on the tanned side. Her build was delicate, and she was on the shorter side of average. Her uniform hid her chest, but you could still see the slight curve that let you know something was there. She wore the same blue and gray uniform as the other guard, but she wore a loose flowing, blue, knee-length skirt instead of pants. There was a poofy garment that made the skirt stand up a bit, were those called petticoats? Whatever they were called, the underlayer of the skirt fell a bit further than the blue upper layer and was trimmed in a gray lace to match the rest of the blue and gray uniform. Black boots similar to my own were worn. She had the same matching short sword as the other guard but also had an unstrung bow and quiver slung over her shoulder. We made eye contact, she had stormy grey eyes. I didn''t blush. Thank you Poker Face. Her eyes got a bit wide when she took in my appearance. To be fair I had washed the dirt and blood off myself, but I probably still looked like a walking triage case. It wasn''t like I had anything to bind the wounds with, that wasn''t my underwear, and they were still dripping blood. It was only my lower half that had been damaged. My upper body was still intact. "Are you OK?" she asked walking up to me concern written on her face. *Name- Lotte Lanister Level- 19 1750/1750 Human- Female Age- 18 Yellow Springs Guard~ "I was attacked by a Red Wolf on the way here." I tried to smile in a reassuring way. "I see," she tilted her head in thought, "are you new to Yellow Springs? Here for vacation, work, or would you like to file for residency?" "Work first, I do plan on living here while working." "If you plan on living inside the town for longer than a month you will need to fill out the forms for residency." She nodded crossing her arms. "Do you have your identification card on you? You don''t look to be carrying anything." Then she frowned, "Will you be able to pay the town tax?" "There''s a tax?" I asked dismayed. "Hum, yes, but as long as you pay the tax before you leave the town, it''s fine. If you are unable to pay the tax you will be forced to work for the town until the debt is repaid." She looked me up and down again. "Please follow me. We can get the paperwork started and check your identification." She held out her hand leading me to the room she had just come from. "Can I get a new card here? I currently don''t have one." "Yes you can, but the cost of the card will be added to your debt. Will that be fine with you?" "It shouldn''t be an issue," I said sitting at a rough wooden table she directed me to. She picked up a large flat circular stone off a shelf and placed it in the middle of the table. Then she put a piece of paper and a blank card under it. "Put your hands here and here," she placed both her hands on either side of a small magic circle etched into the stone. She lifted her hands and I placed mine where hers had been. She put her finger in the middle of the stone circle. "All Seer sees all. Identification required," She said and the stone glowed with a golden light, then stopped. A small piece of paper and what was obviously an ID card, because of the intricate seal in the corner, lay under her finger. She handed me the card and read the paper. Eri Veritas Level- 11 Human- Male Age- 18 Occupation- Unemployed Residency- Yellow Springs Debt- 43 copper to be paid by 10.10 43 copper, I wonder if that was a lot. I still didn''t know how the currency worked here. There wasn''t any information on it in my map or in the books in my inventory. "This looks good," she said placing the paper on the table and putting the stone back on its shelf. While she was digging through a drawer I looked at the paper upside down. It was the same information that was on my card but with a few more lines. Status Anomaly- None Titles- Devotee of Amoris Oracle of Amoris Grateful Petitioner Enemy of Apes For a second I wondered if those titles were normal. Then I wondered how my nickname became my first name and my real name my last name. "Um, this isn''t quite right," I said holding up the card. She placed the papers and a metal stick on the table. "What do you mean?" she asked. "My true name is Veritas, but I go by the name Eri." I handed her the card. She frowned and glanced back at the paper on the table. "You''re not a noble?" She muttered to herself. "I should have caught that." She stood up and went to the door calling for the other guard. She showed him the paper. He nodded and ran off somewhere into the town. "I''ve requested for my supervisor, I''ve never come across this issue before," she said. "It''s odd that the All Seer would give you a last name and you not to have a noble title." "Do all nobles have last names?" I asked.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. She paused, looked at me oddly. "Of course. It''s against the law for a commoner to carry a last name." "Am I in trouble?" I didn''t want to be arrested for something that was most likely Amoris'' fault. "It is illegal to have a last name without a noble title, so technically yes. We sometimes get people who try to pass as nobles. Merchant sons with too much money taking a last name. They think that if they are noble they can get away with all sorts of misconduct. That doesn''t seem to be the case here though. You don''t have any Status Anomaly, and from what you said one name is a nickname and the other your true name. It doesn''t work that way for people faking nobility. So you shouldn''t be in trouble. Maybe the All Seer is malfunctioning. I''ve never heard of it doing so, but there are always firsts for everything. By the way, my name is Lotte, it''s short for Charlotte." She held out her hand. I noticed how she kept the fact that she did have a last name quiet. She probably had her reasons, but I had to remember not to mention it by accident. "Nice to meet you, Lotte. I hope we can get this straightened out. Would a Blessing mess with the All Seer''s readings?" That''s right, set up the groundwork to blame it all on Amoris. "You have a Blessing?" She shook her head and sighed. "It''s possible, I mean us mortals can never really predict what kind of gifts that gods will give us. Normally, it''s not standard to ask, but when my supervisor gets here you should tell him about this Blessing. In the meantime, I''ve filled out your residency forms and you just need to sign here. When you find a place to stay you will need to fill this form out and return it here, or at city hall." She handed me a small stack of papers and had me read and sign. I got to keep a condensed copy just for myself. "Now to do something about that. I''m not a temple healer, but even I can fix something like that." She pointed at my leg. "You can fix it?" "I was hired by the guard partly due to the healing skill." She smiled and knelt by my leg. A golden light surrounded both her hands. As she touched my leg I could see the bite mark close and heal, not even leaving a scar. *Skill Gain- Healing Hands~ I activated that right away with the 10 Exp I got from gaining the skill. "Thank you" "No problem just treat me to a meal sometime and we''ll be even." "Of course," I agreed. It would be fun and slightly nerve-wracking to have dinner with this girl. "Out of curiosity, what are your immediate plans for employment? It''s not often you see an Oracle not being a priest. It does happen, I guess." She pulled out a metal pot and a metal tin from a shelf. She placed the pot on a cast-iron tripod with a large red stone underneath the pot. She lifted the lid of the pot and took a blue stone from the same shelf. Suddenly, water poured out of the blue stone like a faucet. She added leaves from the tin, then the red stone caught on fire. That was really cool. "Don''t misunderstand, with all the gods there are more than a few Oracles in this town, but most of them are priests. Do you plan to enter the priesthood?" She asked as she brewed a pot of tea. "No, becoming a priest isn''t high on my list of career choices. I was hoping to sell some things. I''ve got several Green Tailed Apes and two Red Wolves carcasses I was hoping someone would buy. I also have some Strawberries I could sell. I''ve also been informed that I should find a priest of Amoris, that they would be willing to buy some items from me. After that, I''m open for suggestions." The tea she handed me was amazing. The scent alone was heavenly. I was never a tea drinker back home, but if the tea was this good here consider me converted. It didn''t even need sugar. *Title Gain-Lover of Leaves~ Perhaps I should stop being surprised anymore. What kind of dumb title was that? "Did you leave them outside? I didn''t see any baggage?" What? Oh, I really should pay more attention to my conversation partner. "I have a Blessing from Amoris," I explained the Inventory Bracelet to her and even produced some strawberries and a chocolate bar for us to enjoy with our tea. "You will be able to sell the monsters at the Adventurers Guild. Even if they aren''t dismantled someone there should be able to do it for you for part of the profit. There is currently a quest out for Red Wolves so they should be selling at a higher than normal price. You should be able to make enough money to be able to get a room for a week, pay off your debt, and have a little left over to spare if you sell this many. "You should consider registering with the Guild. You can do quests for them as long as you are registered. I''m a member myself; you can have your main job and do Guild quests in your spare time. "You''ll need some better equipment though. You can get some cheap gear at the guild, but for the better quality stuff you will want to go to the marketplace." She bit into the chocolate and it was as if everything stopped. Her face froze up for a second and then a huge smile. "This stuff is amazing!" Lotte gushed biting into the chocolate. She was rushing through the first milk chocolate bar. "I can give you a few of them, but if you eat too many you will get fat," I warned producing a few more bars of each type. "We wouldn''t want that now would we?" A deep baritone voice said from the door. Lotte stood up quickly and saluted with the chocolate still in her hand. "Sit down girl," the man said dragging a chair from the desk in the corner. I didn''t think they made them bigger than the Viking Gorilla. If you stood this man side by side with the Viking Gorilla, this guy would have been at least three inches taller and about 40 pounds heavier. Unlike the Viking Gorilla, this guy I liked immediately. Brown hair that looked like he just woke up, blue-gray eyes and a smile fit for a toothpaste commercial. If he had been on Earth he would have been picked up by some ''Smell Like a Man'' advertising campaign. He had an amazingly friendly face and a smile that was so welcoming it was infectious. He seemed to be a genuinely happy person and it was nearly impossible not to like the man when he looked you right in the eyes and grinned like a little boy. "My name is Sturgis, I''m one of the captains in this town." He picked up one of the bars on the table undid the paper and took a big bite. "This stuff is good! You planning on selling this boy?" He took a huge bite and ate with even more enthusiasm than Lotte. *Name- Sturgis Level- 28 5232/5232 Human- Male Age-31 Captain Yellow Springs Guard ~ If that introduction pop up happened every time I met someone I would go nuts. I appreciated the Gamer Glass, I really did. However, I felt like I was being sent pop-ups on my computer and I had to keep tweaking my spam filter. While the Captain was still chewing I located the toggle to turn off automatic introductions and changed the settings so that I only got an introduction pop up when it was requested. It took seconds, but the happy looking Hulk was still waiting for my answer. "Yes sir, but I''ve been instructed to let the Priests of Amoris buy some first. It is part of Amoris'' Blessing after all." "Hum, I see here that you are a Devotee of Amoris and her Oracle." He waved the paper with my status on it in the air. "What is this stuff called?" I explained again about my inventory and about the chocolate. Then Lotte explained the problem with my name. "This isn''t the first time I''ve seen this happen. It''s rare, but it does happen. There was a woman who came here about 7 years ago. We thought the All Seer was broken sent for a magician from the capital to look at it. Turns out the All Seer was fine. The problem was with the woman," he said, pouring himself a cup of tea and eating a strawberry. "Problem?" Lotte asked. She had slowed down on her bar and was just nibbling at the end between sips of tea. "Well, not so much a problem. The magician said that it sometimes happens with people who are Devotees of Amoris. The magician didn''t know why it happens, most of them think it''s a glitch caused by the Goddess. She has a tendency to do that. So, even though it''s rare, it''s common enough that we have paperwork for it." He stood up and produced some papers from a bag on his hip. "Don''t lose this," He ordered handing me an official-looking document with a silver seal at the bottom. "This makes it official that your name is Eri Veritas. You are granted special dispensation for having a last name without a noble title. As long as you have this, you can''t be prosecuted for violating the law. Do not lose it," he emphasized again. "If you do I can''t just give you another one. You will have to go to the capital to have your status checked by the Great All Seer at the Magician''s College before you can be given a new one." We enjoyed our tea and I promised I''d stop by to see Lotte by the end of the week to let her know where I was living and how I was doing. Sturgis teased her a bit, but in the end, she made me promise to return my paperwork here at the gate and not at city hall. She also handed me a map she had sketched by hand showing where the Adventurers Guild, Amoris Temple, and a circle with a star that she said was a local tavern that rented rooms. Sturgis was standing there laughing out right when he saw the map. The map was completely incomprehensible. He was kind enough to offer to take me to the Adventurers Guild himself since it was on the same route as the town jail where the city guard had officer offices. I agreed to follow him and we left Lotte waving to us until we were out of site. Name- Eri Veritas HP 1954/2335 Level- 11 Age- 18 Race/Species- (Human) Unknown Gender- (Male) Unknown Occupation- Unemployed Exp- 192 Physical Power- 220 Stamina- 278 Defense- 348 Agility- 489 Intelligence- 84 Magic Power- 8 Metal Rain Lv 1 Healing Hands Lv 1 Paralysis Resistance Lv 3 Skills Staff Fighting Lv 2 Basic Sword Lv 2 Skull Bashing Lv 2 Martial Arts Lv 2 Spear Lv 1 Stalking Lv 1 Jumping Lv 1 Running Lv 2 Pain Tolerance Lv 3 Deception Lv 2 Poker Face Lv 1 Etiquette Lv 3 Rock Throwing Dancing Harvesting Small Talk Racial Ability- Hidden Among the Masses- 20 Stealth- 95 Items Equip Inventory Bracelet Debt- 43 copper- Yellow Springs Blessing 1- All Map Exploration Blessing 2- Exp Points Required by Level Up / Current Level Blessing 3-Exp Increase X Current Level Blessing 4- Item- Gamer Glasses Titles- Devotee of Amoris Oracle of Amoris Grateful Petitioner Lover of Leaves Enemy of Apes Chapter 8 I am Employed Chapter 8 I am Employed The town was very picturesque. All the buildings were made with a combination of brick and wood. Every single home and business along the main street had little flowers growing in boxes, yards, planters, etc. The streets were clean and there were street lamps even though they were currently unlit. The grass was maintained and there were more than a few trees. It was not really what I was expecting. In my mind, I had pictured something more along the lines of mud and straw huts, dirt floors, and just an overall dirty appearance. With the horse-drawn carts, it could have been a scene from a small town in 19th century America. I had once been in southern Georgia on vacation as a child and the old antebellum houses with the brick storefronts built around them looked very much like the road leading into Yellow Springs. I was suddenly hit hard with a deep sense of homesickness. I had been raised by my Grandma for most of my life. I had never met my dad, and my mother died when I was 6. She had been hit by a car as it was fleeing the scene of an armed robbery at a gas station. I didn''t have many memories of her, but that vacation to Georgia was our last vacation together. My Grandma had died right after I had finished my undergraduate degree. I was accepted into grad school and I figured I was so far into student debt already that more wasn''t going to make much difference. I''d picked a school close to her so that I could live with her, take care of her, and still go to school. I didn''t really have any other family. My Grandma''s brother was still alive with his kids, but he lived on some winery in California. I had met him at my Grandma''s funeral for the first time. His daughter had come with him and had told me that he was going senile and that I shouldn''t be expecting him to take me in. She was sorry, I''d have to figure out something on my own. That had been two years ago and I still had mixed feelings about it. I wasn''t missing the family I had when I died. I was missing the family I had as a child. Those rose-colored memories only children seem to be able to have. "Hey, are you listening?" Sturgis placed his hand on my shoulder. "I''m sorry," I said honestly contrite. "I was thinking about what a beautiful town this is and it reminded me of home." "Yes, the town council is very adamant on keeping the main roads nice. It''s mostly for the tourists, we''ve got our poorer and richer sections just like anywhere else. Sadly, we''ve even got a small homeless population. They work on town projects and the town sees that they are paid, but most of that pay goes back into the town to pay for the residential tax. We''ve got more than a few people willing to take the easier route and try and steal the funds they need from unsuspecting newcomers. So be cautious. This town might look pretty, but it can also be dangerous." Just like that, he popped my idyllic little memory bubble. "I was saying though," he pointed down a side street to a storefront with a bright yellow sign. Durmond''s said the sign. "That''s where most locals go to get their clothes. It doesn''t look like it from the outside but they have a decent selection of pre-made clothing for men. They have an in-store tailor too, so if something doesn''t fit right it can be altered on site." "I will be needing a new pair of pants. These were a gift, and now I have a legitimate reason to be rid of them." I sighed, wondering how much a new pair of pants would cost. Sturgis laughed, "I had wondered about that. Those pants are," he failed to find a nice way of saying what he was thinking. "Let''s just say the type of people who wear pants like that are the rich merchant boys who like causing trouble for the fun of it." He slapped my back in a friendly way and pointed out all his favorite stores on our route. He left me in front of a building that took up an entire town block. It was brick and had large double doors made of a dark sturdy looking wood. There were people practicing in the huge fenced in backyard. Then there was a stable to the side of the building where boys ran around taking care of the horses that had been left there. It was the biggest building I had seen so far and I was suitably impressed. Inside were tables with people drinking and enjoying their meals. Girls in green waitress uniforms ran around refilling drinks and taking orders. One of the girls hurried up to me since I was just standing there gaping like an idiot. "Would you like a table?" "No, thank you, I''d like to register with the Guild?" I made it a question because this looked more like a busy restaurant rather than an office building. "Over there," the girl pointed to the back of the room where, much like a bank, people stood waiting at little windows behind a counter. I thanked the girl and stood in line behind a woman with a conical breastplate. One pointy cone was big enough to fit my head. Give her a horned helmet and she would be singing Brawn Hilda. She certainly had the blonde braids and girth to match. Her ax probably weighed more than I did. I was called up to the counter. Once again I had reason to be grateful for Poker Face. The middle-aged woman who called me had long curly horns and a long wispy goatee. She was a goat, or rather a goat person. I met my first non-human and she was a middle-aged goat. The games always had an austere elf or a clumsy fox girl at the guild counter. I got a middle-aged woman with a beard. Sometimes life just didn''t want to cooperate with fantasy tropes. "Whaaaat, caaaan I help you with todaaay?" I paused for a second holding back a laugh. Come on Poker Face don''t fail me. "I''d like to register with the Guild and I have some monsters I would like to sell. Can I do those both here?" "Yes, maaaay I haaave your identificaaaation caaard?" I handed the woman my new ID and to be safe the special dispensation Sturgis had given me. "New members must taaake the exaaam." "Exam?" The woman explained that the exam was similar to the All Seer, but it tested your skills and abilities instead of verification of identity. It wasn''t as though it printed off a paper with all your stats on it like the All Seer. It was more of an overall assessment, then the exam stone would print off information about possible positions you could hold within a party. This information was important in party organization. Essentially, it was an aptitude test. Would you be a good healer, magician, infantry, ect. Most people can perform more than one role and knowing where you had the most potential helped in focusing on where someone could focus their Exp distribution. The exam also assigned new recruits within the Guilds ranking system. It was a fairly standard system, A being the best-ranked adventurers, H being complete newbies. You couldn''t have newbies going off and trying to take on A ranked quests. So you could only accept quests at or below your current ranking if you had a party of 3 members of the same rank you could choose to do a quest one level higher. You had to take an exam to upgrade to rank E. Rank E Guild members were able to take on bandit exterminations and could be hired as merchant guards. Rank F members wanting to upgrade to rank E were given a mentor of a member D rank or higher. This mentor helped transition the rank F into the responsibilities of rank E. Basically, the mentor had to determine if the rank F member could kill a human being. Killing monsters and killing people are completely different. The mental strain was too much for some people. The mentor did their best to help guide the rank F member, but sometimes it didn''t work out. When this happened the person who wanted to upgrade to rank E would still be allowed to take on Rank E monsters, but they wouldn''t be allowed to take on any contracts involving protection of people or bandit extermination. If they got strong enough to upgrade to rank D, they would be able to take the mentoring exam again or they could continue on and be a purely monster based adventurer. It was simple and, unlike the goat woman herself, fit nicely within the adventuring guild fantasy trope. She brought out a small box, and within it was a palm-sized crystal ball. She had me pick the ball up and hold it in my hand while she turned over a little sand egg timer. We both waited for the sand to fall down. Then she had me put the ball back into the box. She then left the counter taking the box with her to the back. Hey, hey, hey, she seriously had goat legs! Oh, Poker Face help me now. I waited for her to come back. Other customers came, finished their transactions, and left. Some people handed over slips of green paper to the Guild workers and got paid. Some people went over to the front wall, looked over a signboard, wrote something down using the pen and paper provided, then talked to the Guild member behind the counter. That was what I assumed was the quest board. "Excuse me, sir?" A middle-aged man appeared with the goat woman. He had salt and pepper hair and the beginnings of a paunch, but you could tell he had been well muscled in his youth. He looked like an old football player after they retired. "We would like to discuss the results of your exam in my office." "Is there a problem?" It wouldn''t surprise me considering what had happened at the gate. "No, sir, there are potentially sensitive matters to discuss that Mildred isn''t qualified to handle. Please follow me." The man gestured towards the entrance to the back room. He held open the door and led me down a hall with conference rooms, then up a flight of stairs. Then another hall with offices on either side, some with plaques reading hospitality services, maintenance, washroom, break room. Some without plaques at all, but with open doors and people busy working at their desks. The office he led me to was at the end of the hall and had two windows. His door plaque said Guild Head. Standard desk, chair, two guest chairs, shelves, stacks of memos and invoices were piled on the corner of the desk in a box. Very neat, no signs of personal items, but welcoming in that the atmosphere of the place seemed worn in. His nameplate said Dunbar- Head-Adventurer''s Guild III- Yellow Springs. "Please sit," he said pointing to the guest seats. He had been carrying a small stack of papers and he placed these in the center of his desk in front of him. "My name is Dunbar and I am in charge of this branch of the Guild. Let me get right to the point, young man." He leaned back and steepled his fingers. I was getting the feeling I was being confronted by the principal in grade school. Amoris just seemed to enjoy getting me into trouble. It was all her fault, I was certain.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. "Your exam results were surprising. You have an amazing amount of potential considering you are just at level 11. In fact, even though you are just at level 11 the exam has recommended placing you directly into Guild Rank D. It''s not unheard of to skip ranks when first taking the test, but your level is low for such a high placement. Taking this into consideration, I would like to ask you to provide some more details about your abilities and skills. This is entirely voluntary of course. I understand that most people would be reluctant about disclosing such things. I can, however, guarantee that any information you give me will not leave this room. If you choose not to tell me more about yourself I''m afraid that in good conscience I can''t authorize a level 11 jumping to rank D." "Do I have to tell you everything?" I thought that I should probably keep my racial abilities secret until I found out what I was first. He paused, then considered. "If you can tell me why you think the exam gave you a D rank without disclosing the information you want to keep to yourself, that is fine." "It probably has something to do with my Blessings," I said frankly. "Blessings, you have more than one?" His eyebrows went up in surprise and he leaned forward. "Yes, I was given four Blessings from Amoris and a gift." I held up my bracelet when I said gift. "This isn''t an actual Blessing, but a gift, though it''s easier to explain it as a Blessing." "What is it?" He asked looking at the cuff. "This isn''t what I think gave me the rank D, but it''s called an Inventory Bracelet." "Hum," he nodded, "I have heard of those. The Guild Master in the capital has one. Very useful item. However, that wouldn''t be any reason for you to be elevated to rank D. Items aren''t taken into consideration with the exam. Will you tell me about your other Blessings?" "The first one is called All Map Exploration. I can access a map of the territory I am currently in. Towns, roads, streams are all part of the map. It will show me my current location, the location of monsters, and the locations of people. I can search for specific items or monsters using the map and I will be shown where they are located." "That is a very interesting Blessing!" The man smiled and laughed. "That would explain some of the potential party positions that were suggested, but please continue." "Amoris gave me my Blessings," I began. "Um, I don''t know if you''ve ever actually seen her, but she can be a bit..." I paused trying to think of a good way to say it without offending either the Goddess or Dunbar. After all, I didn''t know his religious affiliation. "I''ve never met her myself, but I can guess your meaning. She messed up her Blessing didn''t she?" He gave a wry smile. So Amoris regularly messed up her Blessings. No wonder she needed a cheat sheet. "She had intended to give me my third Blessing, but messed up the wording and gave me both my second and third Blessing simultaneously. My second Blessing decreases the amount of Exp I need for my next level up. The third Blessing increases the amount of Exp I get when I kill a monster." I intentionally left out the part of both of them being determined by my current level. I had a feeling that that information didn''t need to be known. *Skill Gain- Discretion~ What kind of skill was that? Closing the pop-up I reminded myself to look at it later. "That would most likely be it," Dunbar muttered. "If you gain extra Exp then that would give you more Exp to allocate than the normal person. You probably didn''t focus on raising your level, but your overall stats instead. Am I right." "Mostly, my last Blessing is more complicated to explain, but simply put it allows me to micromanage my Exp distribution." "Can you explain that a bit more? I mean even I can decide where my Exp is distributed. You don''t have to go to a temple you mean?" So the people of this world went to temples when they wanted to distribute their Exp. I guess they would need a way to distribute it considering not everyone had Gamer Glass. "No, I can allocate any Exp I gain from monster kills and quests however I wish. Though, Exp gained by training or studying will go towards that skill instead. It''s useful in that if I am in an emergency situation I can immediately allocate saved up Exp towards whichever skill or ability I need at the time. For example, I was recently attacked by a Red Wolf who used paralysis on me. In order to escape, I allocated Exp towards paralysis resistance." "I see, I see," he was nodding and thinking about it. "Being able to boost your stats in any situation would be advantageous. More than once, when I was in the field, I had wished for more strength or power. With your Blessing, you could literally make that happen. Still..." He let his thoughts wander off. "Are you literate," he suddenly asked, "can you read and write?" "Well, yes." I was able to read the papers at the gatehouse and I could read the words on the signs I had seen so far. I figured I was literate. "Will you mind writing down your ability and skill levels for me? Only the ones you feel comfortable disclosing of course. I would like to ascertain just how you''ve been distributing your Exp." "That''s not a problem." I picked up the pen and paper he handed me. I wrote my name at the top and copied my stats for him leaving out my Racial Abilities. Eri Veritas Max HP- 2335 Level-11 Exp-202 Physical Power- 220 Stamina- 278 Defense- 348 Agility- 489 Intelligence- 84 Magic Power- 8 Metal Rain Lv 1 Healing Hands Lv 1 Paralysis Resistance Lv 3 Skills Staff Fighting Lv 2 Basic Sword Lv 2 Skull Bashing Lv 2 Martial Arts Lv 2 Spear Lv 1 Stalking Lv 1 Jumping Lv 1 Running Lv 2 Pain Tolerance Lv 3 Deception Lv 2 Poker Face Lv 1 Etiquette Lv 3 "If I would make a recommendation," Dunbar stated. "I would start leveling up some of your magic. The healing skill is rare and very valuable within a party. I''ve never heard of Metal Rain. Is it an attack magic or a smithing magic?" "It''s an area based attack magic." "I don''t know how it works, but a wide range attack magic like that would also be very useful within a party." "I want to keep some Exp put aside for emergencies, but the next time I have some extra to spare I will take your advice." "Looking at your stats, you certainly are above average for a normal level 11. These stats would easily be for a person around level 20. However, you really don''t have very many combat related skills." He put the paper down and looked out his window in thought. "Even with everything you''ve told me, I still can''t give you level D status. I believe you have some really incredible potential, but you currently lack diversity in your skill set. May I ask how many abilities or skills you are keeping hidden?" "Only two skills," I answered. "I see, I had thought that if you were keeping 10 or 12 skills secret I might consider it, but with only two..." he paused again and rubbed his hand over his knee a few times. "I am going to suggest something. It''s only a suggestion, but I hope you will consider it." He looked me right in the eye. "I want to offer you a job with the Guild." "I''m here to join the Guild," I answered. "You misunderstand, adventurer''s while members of the Guild are not employed by the Guild. Each adventurer is more of a freelancer. What I am offering you is a job being directly employed by the Guild. I want to offer you the position of Surveyor. We currently only have three people in Yellow Springs with enough skill to perform the Job. Two of them are with the guard and aren''t allowed to hold a position with the Guild at the same time. They both do some scouting for us as regular adventures from time to time. The third person is a priest and, unfortunately, he''s only able to work for us part-time. Two years ago our full-time Surveyor was sent to White Rapids to assist in a Purple Mandrake subjugation. He decided to stay there and get married. Left us without a full-time Surveyor." "Um, I don''t mean to interrupt, but what is a Surveyor?" "Right, I guess being new to the Guild you wouldn''t necessarily know. Every town, city, or really any place with people needs to know what monsters are around them and how many of them there are. That''s where the Guild steps in. The Guild, among other things, pays adventurers money to subjugate monsters. In exchange, the adventurer brings us valuable monster material which we sell at a profit. However, if we end up with too many types of the same monster then the market value drops. If we have multiple adventurers showing up wanting to sell parts from the same monster type we have a problem. To control the market value we set up quests. "The value of the monster parts have several factors. Rarity, the higher the population numbers the less we need to pay for them. Value, some monsters are more valuable than others because their parts are highly prized. Risk, the more dangerous a monster means higher risk for the adventurer. Towns and cities will subsidize the Guild for these types of quests. While the value of the monster parts could be low, nobody wants one of the really nasty monsters living nearby. Sometimes the town guard will team up with the Guild to take out these monsters in a combined quest. "Monster Quests are issued for two reasons. If there is a particularly dangerous monster nearby, or if the population of a certain monster exceeds normal limits. We can control the market value of a certain monster by issuing the quest of culling the monsters. We pay the adventurer''s slightly more than normal value for the monster parts in these quests. The parts are placed into storage and slowly sold to maintain market value over time. This keeps the market fairly stable, which is good for us, the adventurer, and your average person. The monsters get killed, adventurer''s get paid more, we can maintain a steady market value. "That''s where a Surveyor comes in. A good Surveyor can estimate when a certain monster population is about to rise, approximately how many there are, and where you can find them. They bring these estimates to us, and we can determine how much we are going to pay adventurers for a certain type of monster. It is also a Surveyor''s job to locate any potentially dangerous monsters in the area. This information is given to the Guild. Then we can act accordingly on this information. "Information is money for us. As it is we are losing money because we only have one part-time Surveyor. He can only go out a few times a month scouting, but what we really need is someone who can go out a few times a week and determine if there has been a population boom. As you know some monsters have very short periods between birth and full growth. The Green Tailed Apes, for example, only take two weeks to fully mature. If our Surveyor can only go out a few times a month we could possibly see the ape population double in that time. "You with your All Map Blessing, you would be able to give us exact details about all the monster populations in the territory without even leaving the building. I am prepared to pay you the standard Surveyor''s pay, plus bonuses for every C ranked monster and above you discover. "You, will have to have some training with our current Surveyor. Personally, I believe that you could benefit a great deal by getting this training. You will be able to expand your skill set and learn valuable skills that will keep you alive if you plan to become a high ranked adventurer. If you decide to take the job and the training I am willing to immediately elevate you to E rank. I will be doing so knowing you are gaining valuable skills. However, if you chose not to take the job and the training I would start you out at G rank." "The higher the rank the higher the quests we can take right?" I finally asked. His explanation had been long, but it cleared up how the Guild was run. "Yes, I wouldn''t recommend you taking on any level E quests by yourself without your trainer. You also won''t be permitted to take on any protection quests as you haven''t taken that exam. When you level up, you can take it. The Surveyor doesn''t necessarily need to be able to kill humans, so even if you decided to not take that route it wouldn''t affect your position with the Guild." I really didn''t have anything to lose in taking the job. I had a lot to gain. A steady income, someone who would personally lead me around and teach me. It was obvious that the stronger I became, the more likely I was to survive in this new world. I could live off selling chocolate and become a merchant, but Amoris had said that in a few years her priests would be able to produce their own chocolate. If I wanted something with potential job growth, allowed me to gain Exp, and taught me new survival skills I should take the job. I only hesitated over one issue. While I planned on staying in Yellow Springs for a while, I wanted to travel. On Earth, I had very little chance to travel. While the United States was huge I had never gone further west than Michigan, let alone out of the country. I had always wanted to travel more, but money, an aging grandmother, and responsibilities of college always held me back. This was my chance to change that. "My plan was to stay in Yellow Springs only on a temporary basis. I wouldn''t want you to put in the effort of having to train me only for me to leave in a few months." "That is unfortunate for me, but not really a problem for the Guild in general. If you took this job you would be an employee of not just the Yellow Springs Guild, but all Guilds. You could go anywhere there is a Guild and be employed. Being a Surveyor for the Guild doesn''t mean you have to stay in Yellow Springs, you could go anywhere. While I''d prefer it if you remained, you would still be a huge asset to us as a whole." "Alright then, I''ll do my best." I stood up and shook Dunbar''s hand. Chapter 9 I Eat Dinner with a Queen Chapter 9 I Eat Dinner with a Queen Mildred was instructed to issue me my employee Guild ID that doubled as my new rank E Guild card. The card had an added circle with an X on it to designate that I haven''t passed the mentoring exam. She showed me around the Guild as a new employee tour. Dunbar would have done it, but there was a situation involving hospitality and he had to handle it. Considering the mess a few drunk men were making of the dining hall, I didn''t begrudge that he left the duty to Mildred. She showed me the conference rooms that were mostly used for strategy meetings by larger parties. The break rooms and washrooms were covered. We had a cup of tea in the break room when she gave me a Guild employee manual and went over it with me. I was expected to act as a representative of the Guild at all times. Any criminal behavior would be met with termination. While personal preference was always taken into consideration I was to understand that I could be transferred to any Guild branch at any time at the discretion of the Guild leader. I was supposed to maintain a clean neat appearance, but clothing types and styles were left up to me. I got a ''look'' from Mildred when we went over that rule. I don''t think she approved of the bloody torn up style. After our tea, she went over the quest board, how to submit a quest, how to show proof of a quest completion. The Guild required the monster cores as proof of a monster kill. You didn''t have to have the dismantling skill to get a monster core, but if you just cut up a monster without taking into consideration the value of the rest of the parts they would lose value. To help with this the Guild employed several full-time dismantlers. He was set up in the backyard and all you had to do was give him your monster and he would take it apart for you. Even if you dismantled the monster yourself, he was still the one who assessed the quality of the parts and gave the authorization for the Guild to buy the parts from you. He would give you a piece of paper with the list of monsters killed and valuable parts to be bought by the Guild. Then you took the paper to the clerks at the desk. They paid the going rate for the monster parts and for killing the monster in general. Minus any dismantling fees, of course. I left my apes and Red Wolves to the dismantler and was brought to the stable. As a Guild employee, I was given free access to the stable if I needed it. However, for normal adventurer''s they had to pay 4 coppers for every hour their horse was stabled there. There were plenty of stable boys running around and plenty of horses being led in and out. There was even a cow standing in a stall near the end. After the end of my tour, I picked up my paper from the dismantler and Mildred paid me as she went back on duty. I didn''t even have to wait in line. "3 Silvers for each Red Wolf plus the hides aaand gaaall blaaaders comes to 6 silvers aaand 68 coppers. 15 coppers for Green Taaailed Aaapes plus hides comes to 5 silver aaand 50 coppers. Your totaaal is 12 silver aaand 18 coppers. Taaake 40 coppers off for the dismaaantling fee, 11 silvers aaand 78 coppers. Or would you prefer 1 gold, 1 silver, aaand 78 coppers?" She asked. So 100 coppers were worth 1 silver and 10 silvers were worth 1 gold. At least the monetary system was simple. Thinking that smaller denominations were best for now I went with the silvers. She handed me a small cloth bag and I placed it in my inventory. "Very well done. Normaaally, aaan aaaverage person wouldn''t be aaable to bring in this maaany monsters aaat once." I smiled at her and she waved as I left. I still had my debt to the town to pay, but I could do that when I checked in with Lotte. I needed to find a place to sleep tonight. I had to be back at the Guild in the morning to meet my trainer. So did I look for the tavern Lotte had recommended, find the temple of Amoris, or go to the library? I opened my map and found that the Tavern was right off the center square of the town. This was a tourist town so it would be bad if I lost a chance at a room because I decided to wait. According to the map, the library was near the tavern, in fact, I would pass it on the way there. The Temple of Amoris was near the other end of town. So I guess I would skip visiting there today. Setting off, I decided to skip site seeing and head straight to the tavern. Lotte had mentioned that it was a little more pricey than some inns, but the beds were clean and the food was good. She knew I was broke when she suggested it, so it should be well within my price range. I slowed as I passed a small building with lots of windows. This was the library. Unfortunately, there was a little sign on the door that said closed, then gave opening hours. A little disappointed, I continued on towards the square. I hadn''t considered that certain places wouldn''t be open all day. At home, businesses stayed open until long after dark. I guess it wasn''t the same here. While it was still only late afternoon it was about time for some people to begin dinner. I didn''t have to meet my trainer until 11 the next morning. I could stop by the library in the morning and still have time to make it to my meeting at the Guild. The square was really something to see. There was a large circular fountain right in the center. Traffic circled around it and departed into one of six main roads. Couples were seated at the fountain sharing street vendor food. Children waded and splashed each other enjoying a last burst of summer heat before fall really kicked in. The street vendors lined the sidewalks on all sides selling food of all types. There was a cafe/bakery with couples seated at outdoor tables. Beside it were some large, scantily dressed, muscular women with chin stubble who were trying to lure passing people into their establishment. It took me a few seconds to realize that the building they were in front of was where I needed to go. No wonder Sturgis had been laughing. "Hi, honey, care to have a meal with me?" One lady with red hair asked as I approached. "I was told you rent rooms?" I asked. "Of course we do, dumplin'' follow me." The red-haired woman led me inside. I was a bit surprised to see it moderately busy inside with customers eating and drinking. "Florence, you and the other girls can come in now. The dinner shift is about to start and we need you waiting tables." A short woman with a stocky build and a 5 o''clock shadow yelled from behind the counter when she spotted Florence at the door. The short woman''s hair was pinned up on top of her head in a messy bun. Her eyebrows were as thick as caterpillars but well groomed. Her nose was rather squat for her face but still suited it well since her eyes were large. She was a handsome middle-aged woman. I wondered if all the women who worked here were of the more masculine persuasion. "Marge, this one here would like to rent a room." With that, she passed me over to Marge and went back outside to presumably gather the rest of the girls. "It''s 60 coppers a night for a single room, 375 for a week. Our bigger rooms are booked. Dinner is included, but other meals will cost extra."This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. "I''ll take the room for the week. I''ll be staying in town for a while, so if possible I''d like to reserve the room for next week as well" "That''s fine. You can either pay 750 now or wait and pay another 375 next week." "I''ll pay 375 now and 375 again next week." I handed Marge 3 silver coins and 75 copper coins. As she stepped down from behind the counter I realized she''d been standing on a step. It suddenly occurred to me that Marge was a Dwarf. She looked human but her bone structure made her build a lot thicker. She was also a lot shorter, her head only coming up to my mid-chest. She was the second non-human person I had met that day. I was led to believe that non-humans living in human towns was rare and here I was meeting two in the same day. She showed me a side door that had a long hallway, a staircase, and a second door beside the stairs. "We close at 12 am, the front door and this door," she pointed to the door we had just entered from, "get locked. It closes off access to the tavern, kitchen, and pantry. The backdoor to the kitchen also gets locked. Those rooms down there," she pointed down the hall, "are being rented by my girls. My wife and I are the last door on the right. Only wake us up if the building is on fire or you are dying. If you wake us up for a reason other than that you will wish you were dead." Marge gave me a very steely look. "Understand?" "Yes, ma''am," I nodded gravely. Marge was small, but I could just picture her chasing wayward drunkards around with a battle ax. "This door," she opened the door beside the staircase. It led outside to a small stable. I hadn''t seen the stable from the front of the building, but it looked to be up against a side road. "Will be locked, but can be opened with your room key. If you lose your key, you can sleep in the haystacks. I will also be charging you 1 gold because I will have to change all the locks. So don''t lose your key." She closed the door and gave me another ''if you do I will kill you'' look. We went up the stairs and she showed me my room. It had one window, a clean fluffy looking bed, a small desk with an attached bookshelf on top, a chest of drawers, a trunk, a nightstand with an odd portable lamp that looked like an old oil lamp but had a yellow stone where the oil would normally go, and a sink with a mirror. "Every room comes with a water core sink for washing up. If you don''t use magic there is a well behind the stable. There are buckets there you can use. Candles are in the desk. The toilet is down the hall, fourth on the right. You can either have your meal in your room or have it downstairs. Dinner is served between 6 and 10, if you miss those times there isn''t a refund. So will you be eating now?" She asked as she handed me the room key. "Um, I''ll eat now. I''ll get settled in and be down in about five minutes. Will that work?" "Yes, I''ll keep a spot open for you at the counter." With that, she left. The first thing I wanted to do was check myself out in that mirror. Here I was reincarnated and I still didn''t really know what I looked like. I approached the mirror and stared. I was me, but not me. I wasn''t a younger me either. The way I had looked when I was on Earth had been your normal young scruffy kid. Now I felt like I could be in an ad campaign for underwear, well based on my face, my body still needed work. My hair was still black and messy and my eyes were still green. The shade of my eyes was different. Before they had been more green mixed with brown. Now they were the color of a granny smith apple. Did humans even have eyes that color? Wait, I wasn''t human so I guess that did fit. The rest of my face, well I looked like the hotter twin sister of myself. My facial features had definitely softened, but my chin was pointier. My eyes a little further apart. I also had no signs of chin stubble. My skin had smoothed out and was several shades paler than I was used to. How did I miss that when I was getting dressed? I lifted my shirt to check, yup the little paunch was still there like this morning, but when I looked at the skin it seemed the same. Then I realized I had lost my tan. I had no tan lines. That would explain the paler skin. I guess my body was starting fresh. I checked for the scar that had been on the underside of my arm, gone. Further testing that theory I opened my mouth. Nope, all my fillings were gone, thank Amoris my teeth were still straight. I wore braces for years trying to get straight teeth. It would suck if all the effort went to waste. My teeth even looked whiter. I would have to find out what they did here for oral hygiene I did not want to be visiting a dentist. I began to play with the sink. Water core, I didn''t know what it was, but Lotte had used the blue stone to make tea in the guard room. This one was mounted above a basin. The basin could be stoppered and there was a stack of towels below the sink. I touched the stone and nothing happened. How did it work? Stumped, I thought I''d search for water core to see what information came up. *Water Core, A water core is the blue colored core that comes from a monster that uses water-based magic. An uncommon household item.~ So it was a magic monster core. Then it probably used magic to work. I touched the core again and thought about putting magic into it. A stream of water poured out. Success! I washed my hands and face. Then I played with the lamp. It too was probably a magic core. When I use my magic on it the lamp began to glow with a soft yellow light. *MP, or Magic Power, bar added to permanent visual display. This bar will remain active even if Gamer Glass is not being used.~ A yellow MP bar appeared under the red HP bar. It read 62/64. I turned the light off, there was no MP drop. I turned the light back on and there was an MP drop of 1. So each activation cost a little bit of Magic Power. It was logical that if you used magic to work something your magic would be depleted. I turned the lamp back off, then went downstairs for my meal. I sat down at the counter where Marge pointed. She placed a plate of dark brown and butter bread in front of me. "Today we have a chicken beer cheese stew with carrots, onions, potatoes, and celery. Next, we have a lamb curry with rice. Finally, marinated lamb kabobs with squash, onions, tomatoes, and pineapple served with rice. You can also have your choice of cider, our house ale, or water." She told me. "I''ll have the stew and the ale," I decided. She nodded and came back with a large bowl filled with a white stew. She waited until I took my first bite then went to serve a woman who had sat down at the other end of the counter. The stew was a thick creamy cheese sauce with chunks of chicken and other vegetables. It tasted amazing but was really rich and heavy. I buttered the bread and ate. I was pleased with the taste but wished I had gotten something lighter. The ale was really good too. It was a lot better than the stuff I bought in cans back home. As I ate, I thought about what to do next. The library was closed and it was still too early for bed. Should I try to go to the temple? I didn''t want to make the journey only to find out that it was closed as well. The quickest solution was to ask someone. When Marge came back to clear my bowl I took the opportunity. "Do you know what time the Temple of Amoris closes?" "Amoris, of course, everyone here worships Amoris. The temple and the hot springs are open until 10 unless it''s a healing emergency. Amoris is one of the better healing temples in Yellow Springs." She paused then continued. "It is on the outskirts of a more colorful side of town, so keep your money safe." "Colorful?" I questioned. "Prostitutes," she leaned in and spoke quietly. Then she gave me a long look like she wanted to give me a momma-bear lecture, but was restraining herself. Then she sighed. "Look you''re young and new to town so I''m not going to give the talk. Just be careful of where you go, some places care about their girls, while others...will send you home with your member rotting off. That''s all I will say on the matter." With that, she closed the subject and began to pour mugs of ale for a group of men who had just walked in. Name- Eri Veritas HP 1954/2335 MP 61/64 Level- 11 Age- 18 Race/Species- (Human) Unknown Gender- (Male) Unknown Occupation- Surveyor of Adventurers Guild Exp- 202 Physical Power- 220 Stamina- 278 Defense- 348 Agility- 489 Intelligence- 84 Magic Power- 8 Metal Rain Lv 1 Healing Hands Lv 1 Paralysis Resistance Lv 3 Skills Staff Fighting Lv 2 Basic Sword Lv 2 Skull Bashing Lv 2 Martial Arts Lv 2 Spear Lv 1 Stalking Lv 1 Jumping Lv 1 Running Lv 2 Pain Tolerance Lv 3 Deception Lv 2 Poker Face Lv 1 Etiquette Lv 3 Rock Throwing Dancing Harvesting Small Talk Discretion Racial Ability- Hidden Among the Masses- 20 Stealth- 95 Items Equip Inventory Bracelet Gold- 8s 3c (803c) Debt- 43 copper- Yellow Springs Blessing 1- All Map Exploration Blessing 2- Exp Points Required by Level Up / Current Level Blessing 3-Exp Increase X Current Level Blessing 4- Item- Gamer Glasses Titles- Devotee of Amoris Oracle of Amoris Grateful Petitioner Lover of Leaves Enemy of Apes Chapter 10 I Take a Bath Chapter 10 I Take a Bath The Temple of Amoris was not what I was expecting. I was thinking something like an old Greek temple like in the movies. What I got was a hospital combined with a church. From the outside, it was a white stone building with three floors. There were stained glass windows and huge wooden doors. The doors were propped open with a large brick. People stood in line at the door and were let in by an old man with a clipboard. A little boy of about 8 would run up, the old man would say something to the boy, and the boy would lead the person into the building. I got in line behind a young scantily dressed woman. She turned and looked at me up and down. "When I''m done here perhaps the two of us can have a good time." She leaned in and showed her cleavage while simultaneously lifting her skirts and showing her leg. My Gamer Glass started flashing with an alert. *Status Anomaly- Mushroom Rot~ I didn''t know what Mushroom Rot was but since I was getting the alert it probably wasn''t a good thing. "No, thank you," I said firmly. She clicked her tongue at me and turned back around. I entered Mushroom Rot into my search. *STD- Mushroom Rot- Contagious, Mushroom Rot causes boils and lesions to occur in and around the genitals and mouth. Can be cured by any temple healer. (Charges may vary depending on which temple you visit.) Treatment involves visiting the temple every day for seven days. A magical film is placed over the infected area and left on for one day to be replaced the next day by a new magical film. The temple healer will need to have direct contact with the infected area in order to place the film. During this time all sexual activity must be discontinued as the act of sex breaks the film disrupting the course of treatment. While the film is in place a patient may perform normal bodily functions without concern.~ Well, then. I had been strangely curious about the prostitutes which worked nearby, but standing in line behind one who was infected curbed that curiosity. Marge wasn''t kidding when she said that I could return with a rotted member. When it was my turn in line the old man asked. "Healing, springs, or devotion?" "I''m not sure, I was told to come here by Amoris." "Our Lady blesses us, you will be wanting to talk to one of our priests then." He turned to the child who had just passed the prostitute to a woman with a white apron. "Andy, who is free right now?" "Darcy and Crue just finished their shifts they haven''t gone upstairs yet," the boy answered. "Fetch Crue for me please." "Yes, sir." The child ran off. "Crue is one of our healer priests. He should be able to take care of you. If you would be so kind as to wait on that bench over there." The man pointed to a bench along the wall. The little boy returned. "He''s on his way, he''s just cleaning up," the child reported to the man. The duo sorted out more people in line. Some were wanting to visit the hot springs, some were here to pray to Amoris, but the majority of the people were in line for healing. Perhaps that was why the inside of the building looked more like a hospital than a temple. A young man approached, he had brown messy hair, blue-gray eyes, and a very white smile. He had a slight chin dimple with just the slightest remains of chin stubble. He was wearing normal brown clothes but had a pink vestment with magic circles embroidered in silver worn around his shoulders. "Hello, my name is Crue." He introduced himself with a handshake. "I''m one of the healing priests, what can I do for you?" His smile was contagious. It was that open friendly smile that made me ask my question. "My name is Eri, you wouldn''t happen to have a brother?" I shook his hand. "So you''ve met Sturgis! You''re not the first person to say we look alike. Though I''m not the size of a tree!" He laughed. "I''m his younger brother. Nice to meet you Eri. Are you new to Yellow Springs?" "Yes, I just arrived today. I know this might sound odd, but Amoris told me that you would be expecting me? It''s about the chocolate." Crue''s eyes got wide and his smile became even wider. "We had been told that someone would eventually show up at a Temple of Amoris with the chocolate, but we never expected it to be our temple. We had just assumed it would be in the capital. Our head priest, Dickson, will want to meet you immediately. Please follow me." He led me through the temple, past an area that had a huge statue of Amoris. It was a surprisingly good likeness. There were people placing offering at the foot of the statue. Some were talking to other priests with pink vestments. Towards the back talking to a young woman, was a man whose vestments were even more heavily embroidered than Crue''s. We waited while he finished with the woman and then approached. "Dickson, this is the man Amoris spoke about," Crue introduced me. Then stood to the side as I spoke with the middle-aged, slightly overweight, man. "Amoris sent word to all our oracles today. This new chocolate stuff is amazing. A true gift from our Lady. We are all simply ecstatic about it. It''s not often that a deity decides to patron something new. I''ve been in contact with some of the other temples and we''ve all been eagerly waiting for Amoris'' Emissary to show." Dickson gushed at me. He gripped my forearm after the handshake and pulled me into a bear hug. He smelled of old leather and incense. *Title Gain- Emissary of Amoris~ Well, that was new. Not only was I a devotee and an oracle now I was her emissary as well. I explained to Dickson how my Inventory Bracelet worked. I told him about the three types of chocolate bar and the hot chocolate. Dickson had Crue fetch mugs of warm milk and the three of us stood there in the middle of Amoris'' Temple drinking hot chocolate. When we were done, we negotiated a price for each chocolate bar and for the hot chocolate packets. They weren''t yet sure just how much chocolate should sell for or even if there would be a demand for it. However, having tasted the chocolate himself, Dickson was certain there would be a demand. We agreed on 1000 bars bought for 3 coppers each and 200 packs of hot chocolate at 1 copper each. The three of us went to a back storage room. There were three boxes of chocolate sitting on a shelf. It looked like the room had been cleaned out recently. I briefly wondered what the room had been used for before it became the chocolate room. "If I might make a suggestion," I said sitting in the middle of the room pulling bars of chocolate out of my inventory in hundred unit boxes. Crue was busy stacking them up on the shelves. "You might consider giving the chocolate away for free as a celebration gift to the devotees. Celebrate Amoris becoming the patron of chocolate for the next week, then after word has gotten around about the chocolate, you can sell it." A very small part of me felt like a drug dealer. Have one little try, the first one is free, after that, I own your soul. Chocolate was just as addictive as any drug in my opinion. "That might be a good idea." Dickson frowned trying to work out the logistics of buying a product then giving it out for free. "How much cost would the temple have to eat before we see a profit?" He wondered allowed. "None," I told him. "Amoris was very adamant about my helping you out. This costs me nothing, but my time. I am more than willing to double our agreement with the extra being free. However, instead of giving out the entire bar to the devotees, you can make it so that each person only gets a small sample sized portions of each flavor plus a small mug of chocolate. You can then give them the option to buy the full bars and packs." "That is very generous, and it would work like the samples the street vendors hand out to attract customers. I like it." He slapped my back in thanks. "What about the other temples?" Crue asked stacking more boxes. "I know they were just as excited about this as we were." "It was already decided that wherever the Emissary of Amoris showed up that temple would act as a testing ground. We will figure out just how popular chocolate is and determine the value. Besides, right now we can''t afford to purchase chocolate for every temple in the kingdom. They will begin sending priests with gold as soon as the logistics are worked out." "Do you mind if I ask how you are in contact with the other temples?" It had been a question I''d been meaning to ask ever since Dickson mentioned talking with the other temples earlier. "We are blessed enough to be able to afford a communication mirror. They are rather expensive, but we petitioned the main temple in the capital about three years ago. Our temple mirror can communicate with all other communication mirrors connected with the Temple of Amoris. Everyone else has to wait for the slower mail system to receive communications." So they could communicate long distances in real time. It was an expensive technology, but if you had the money, a convenient one. I was handed my gold when I was done. Dickson left to work out and plan the upcoming chocolate celebration. Crue was still with me and invited me to enjoy the hot springs with him. "Have you ever been to a hot spring before?" We were on our way to the back of the temple, passing more than a few people coming and going. "No, I haven''t." "Well, this will be a treat. Normally, it would cost 20 coppers to enjoy our bath, but since you''re with me I can get the fee waived. In fact, since you are an Oracle of Amoris and the Emissary, even if you''re not a priest, you should get free admission anyway. I''ll talk to Dickson about it. It''s been a while, but if I remember right, if you are an Oracle of Amoris, you are supposed to receive certain temple services for free. Don''t quote me on that though. It was before I became a priest that the last oracle who wasn''t a priest visited the temple." "That would be nice, the place I''m staying provides a wash basin, but a nice bath every now and then is good for the soul." "We believe the same thing, that''s why we set up the temple over a hot spring. They are even better in the winter. The snow on the ground, your hair froze to your head, but your body nice and warm, there isn''t anything better than that." He paused and grinned, "Well, except love and sex. Those are pretty great." Were priests not celibate? Well, this being Amoris the Goddess of Sex, Love, and Marriage maybe it made sense that the priests enjoyed those things too. I would have to look it up at the library in the morning. He waved at a woman at a desk, and she waved him past towards a door marked MALE. He grabbed a few small wooden pots from the top of a stack on her desk. Different stacks had different colors painted on them. Each lid of each pot fit perfectly into the bottom of the next pot so there was little chance they would get knocked over. We entered a sort of locker room. Crue picked up a stack of towels from a large shelf of towels. Then handed me two of them. "Shoes go here," he slipped off his boots and shoved them in a cubbyhole by the door. Then we went further into the room with a bunch of baskets. "Take your clothes off and put them in the basket. Wrap yourself in the towel," he picked a basket and started to take off his clothes and fold them placing them neatly in the basket. "Are you allowed to marry?" I continued our conversation from before. He gave me a look then answered. "I care about everyone I''ve been with, I do love them, but I haven''t experienced the type of love that would make me want to marry." He glanced at me, a little crease between his brows, then he turned and began to take off his pants. He was very well built for a priest. He had large back muscles and a very firm behind. It made me and my paunch feel inadequate. He turned around suddenly, securing a towel around his waist. Did he notice I had been staring at his butt? Don''t blush, oh, hell don''t blush, poker face work dammit. I could feel my face go a little red. Shit. What the hell was I doing checking out another guys body anyway? I liked girls, but I could still appreciate a nice male body. "You''re new to Amoris aren''t you?" He looked me right in the eyes. "I know you said you grew up in an Amoris orphanage, but that''s not true, is it?" I was standing there shirtless, scrambling to come up with an answer. "What makes you say that?" I finally asked. "You were surprised when I mentioned I enjoyed sex. Then you asked me if I could marry. If you grew up around Amoris you would have known that Amoris is one of the few temples that allows for her priests to be sexually active. You would have also known asking a priest of the Goddess of Love about his love life is also taboo. We have to counsel people on their love, we can''t do that if the people know about how much or how little love experience a priest has." What did I say? He was right that I didn''t know much about Amoris. Did I try to come up with another lie? Did I tell him the truth? Amoris, what was I supposed to do? Suddenly, Crue held up his hand and tilted his head to the side. Did he hear something? I listened too but didn''t hear anything, except for running water. "Are you OK?" I asked him when he was silent for a little too long. Then I got an incoming ping. *Incoming Message. Please check your inventory.~ *Dear Eri, You can trust Crue. I have told him everything about your reincarnation. He is a good man. I know that you and Crue will get along well. He can teach you many things about your new world. However, not all my priests are as trustworthy. I look forward to seeing how your relationship progresses. Love, Amoris XoXo~ "Did you just receive a message from our Lady too?" Crue asked. "Too? Are you also an oracle?" I asked him. "I wasn''t until just a moment ago. It''s really remarkable having her speak to you. I''m feeling a little overwhelmed. Until this point, I had always just had faith. I had to trust that it was all real. Having her talk directly to me. It feels like the ultimate confirmation of faith." He was tearing up a little while wearing the biggest smile I''d seen from him yet. Then he reached out and hugged me. "I''ll take really good care of you. It''s amazing. You not being from Elrich." He released me from my hug and gave me an eyebrow wiggle. "Just so you know while I like girls, I''m also into guys," then he laughed. "Your face, I''m not going to eat you." "Um, I..." I really didn''t have an answer for that. I wasn''t sure he was serious. I had flashbacks to high school. I had been going through a lot, struggling to figure myself out. I was mostly into girls, but I found myself with a crush on my best friend''s brother. It had been just a crush that stemmed from my idolizing him. He was popular, funny, and had dated every cheerleader. Then one day he walks up to me with his group of friends and asks me on a date. Then his friends all started laughing and calling me gay and homo. It was a cruel joke and it hurt, but I played it off. I began to date a girl from the drama club two days later. We broke up after a week.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. Was he playing a similar kind of joke on me? I had been looking at his butt, but that didn''t mean I was interested. A hard knot began to form in my stomach. Objectively, the idea didn''t bother me, but I still would prefer to date a girl. *Skill Gain Empathy~ "Don''t worry about it," he smiled. "Finish getting undressed I''ll go make sure there are showers open." He shook his head and headed towards the next room. I glanced at my screen. Why had I gained empathy? I wasn''t feeling very empathetic. I would look up what the skill actually was later, right now I needed to focus, to make a choice. I thought about just leaving, but Amoris said I could trust him. It''s not like his preferences bothered me. I was very open-minded about the LGBTQ community. I just had a hard time believing that anyone could seriously be interested in me. In college, I had a few hookups. I officially dated two girls, both were rather short relationships. I had better luck in maintaining friendships with people than I did romantic involvements. Still, when undergrad was over and we moved on, to either go into the workforce or on to grad school, none of my friends really kept in touch. While in college we all had that bond of ''being a student''. Once that bubble was popped by graduation, you found yourself not really connecting like you used to. Different goals, jobs, family planning all got in the way of maintaining that friendship bond. Amoris said I could trust him. While she was scatterbrained I didn''t think she''d be wrong in that. She also said she looked forward to our relationship. Did this mean that Crue and I would become friends? I would be nice to have a friend in this place. I stepped into the shower room, and steam hit my face. It was hot in here. If I paid enough attention I could probably feel each individual pore open on my face. "Over here," Crue waved from a spot near the other end of the room. He was seated on a wooden bench. In front of him was a spigot with a detachable shower head and a bucket under the spigot. I sat beside him, in front of my own shower head, spigot, and bucket. He handed me a wooden pot with green paint. It was one of the pots he''d snatched at the counter earlier. "These are a copper each if you don''t work here. You can bring your own if you want." He twisted off the lid of his pot. I got a slight scent of pine. "Crue, I don''t know what this is?" I said after opening my own pot and finding a portion of pine-scented white paste at the bottom. "You don''t have soap where you are from?" He gave me a look that was part curiosity and part trying to hide disgust. "Oh, we have soaps, all sorts of soaps," I hurried to reassure him waving my hands in protest. "We''ve got separate soaps for hair, skin, and laundry, but none of our soaps look like this." I held up the pot. "Most of our stuff comes in plastic bottles." "Plastic? Bottles? If it''s in a bottle how do you add the water?" He asked. "The water is already added, I think. Plastic is a building material, I''m not sure you have it here. It''s sort of like glass, but it won''t shatter or break." He nodded taking that in. "I guess you probably have a lot of things we don''t have, and we have many things you don''t either. I can see why my Lady asked me to teach you." "What did she say about me exactly?" I asked him. He had turned on his water and added a small amount to his wooden pot. I watched and did the same. "Not too much water or it won''t lather," He instructed mixing his soap with his finger. "She said that you had done a great service to the gods in your old world. She snatched your soul from the cycle of reincarnation and brought you here. You were given a few Blessings as an incentive to become a great person here as well." "There wasn''t much service to it. I ran around like an idiot, got punched, fell and broke my neck." "The essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well. You chose to stand up and not back down even when the odds were against you. Even though you died, your fight meant something." "I guess Amoris'' ''Papa''," I made finger quotes, "went and got a woman pregnant. I guess I saved that baby and the baby will grow up to be amazing." "I see," he nodded, "that would do it. Saving Zeus'' child would be considered a heroic act." "Wait! Zeus?" I was more than a little surprised. "Old Greek Sky God with thunder and lightning? There is no way it''s the same." "Zeus is the father of us all. He is the Lord of the Sky, the All Father. He does use thunder and lightning. Why does this surprise you? He''s obviously in your world too or he couldn''t have gotten that woman with child." He gave me a slightly confused glance. "In my world, Zeus is considered a myth. He was worshiped centuries ago by a small portion of the world. Seriously, it couldn''t be the same Zeus? He didn''t have a daughter named Amoris for one. The Goddess of Love in my world''s pantheon was named Aphrodite and she wasn''t Zeus'' daughter. She was born fully formed from the sea." "I guess it''s possible to have two gods with the same name. Amoris is definitely Zeus'' daughter. She was born from the love he had for humans. I''ll have to tell you more about it sometime, or better yet I have a book you can read. Narrating the entire creation of this world would take a while." He turned the water on for the shower head and sprayed himself until his hair was wet. "Get your hair wet then use about a third of the lather in your hair. The rest on your body." "Going to the library is the first thing I''m doing tomorrow, but yes I''d like to borrow your book." I leaned forward and scrubbed my hair. This new soap really lathered a lot. I felt like a little kid making soap spikes with my hair. Crue pulled down his towel a bit to wash his chest when I saw a metal glint out of the corner of my eye. Wait, was that a belly button piercing? Shit, it was. Was it something to do with Amoris? She had a little diamond. Crue didn''t have a diamond, but a simple metal crescent. He flicked it with his finger. Shit, I had been staring again. He was going to think I was a weirdo. *Skill Gain Mind Magic Resistance~ "Do you want to touch it?" He asked twisting the piercing. "I guess they don''t have them where you''re from?" "Did you just use mind magic on me?" I ignored his question and focused on why I just gained a new skill. Soap dripped from my hair into my eyes. Damn, that stung. I began to rinse it out. Crue actually looked a bit shamefaced. "I have the skill empathy..." "That''s why it popped up!" I exclaimed. "You were using it in the other room weren''t you?" I pointed at him with the end of the shower head. Water sprayed us both. "I was, I was testing you. I wanted to see how you''d react to my question about Amoris, before she sent her message I mean. After that, I used it to see what sort of person you were. Even though Amoris likes you, you are still a stranger here." "Still, it seems... invasive. Stop it." "Easier said than done," he shook his head. "Empathy is one of those skills that is slightly different for each user. While I can easily trigger it, it takes some time with me by myself to turn it off. If there is someone nearby with fluctuating emotions I get distracted. I had hoped coming in here first would give me enough time, but even in the other room I could feel you." He sighed and began to rinse off. "I''m sorry, I''ll go dry off and find that book. By the time you''re out of the bath, I should be fine. When you go in, make sure to keep the towel on." He pointed to the shut doors leading to the outside. "You don''t need to feel bad about it." I did feel bad about it. While yes he had been peeping on my emotions, he originally had a good motive. Would I trust me if I suddenly showed up? Probably not, even with a goddess'' backing. I still didn''t trust him completely either. "You don''t need to go. Because of you, I may have gained a good skill." "Did my using empathy on you cause you to gain a skill? It doesn''t usually work that way or that fast. It took me at least a year of Darcy using it on me and my studying to get it." He looked at me with a bit of a shock. He still had some soap in his hair and it was leaving little bubble trails down his neck and shoulders. "I think it''s because of my Gamer Glass Blessing, but even though I gained empathy that''s not what I''m talking about. I gained mind magic resistance. You see what I mean by it being useful? I can activate it and then your empathy won''t be an issue." I quickly activated the skill. "Mind magic resistance? Wait," he paused, "you don''t need to go to the devotion hall to activate a skill? Your Blessing really is amazing." "It was actually Amoris'' idea. I wanted some combat-related Blessing, but I guess she had read about this in a book and wanted to try it out." "She used you as a test subject for a bunch of new Blessings, didn''t she? Our Lady has always been a bit unpredictable." "Isn''t love always unpredictable?" I added a few more Exp to boost the mind magic resistance. "Can you still feel me?" "You''re right it is, and only slightly. I''m just getting mild impressions I can ignore them and focus on shutting you out." "You know," I said, changing the subject. "We have those on Earth, but I''ve never actually met anyone who has one. Did it hurt?" I pointed to his piercing. "Yes, a little, but I''m a healer so after the initial pinch I healed myself and that was the end of the pain." He looked down at his ring again and began to twist it a bit. "Amoris had one," I told him, "a little diamond." "A few of us priests here have them. It does stem from Amoris having one, but there is another meaning behind it." He hesitated before he continued. "I am a healer it''s my main duty here at the temple. Amoris is a goddess of sex as well as love. Not everyone needs physical healing. Some people need emotional healing. Priests of Amoris who have this," he touched the piercing again as a group of four men came into the shower room. "Let''s finish up here, I''ll tell you about it when there are fewer people around." "Alright, but are you OK? Are you still getting my emotions?" "Yes, I''m fine, it''s just not something I personally want others to overhear." We finished scrubbing and rinsed off. He had me place the used pot on another shelf by the door. We both smelled of pine as we walked outside. "This area is cut off from the woman''s area by that wall," He pointed to a panel made of wooden boards. "When we clean it the panel folds up and we can scrub the entire bath at the same time. There are special days when we have mixed bathing. They only happen during certain celebration periods though." The open bath was lined with gray stone and looked more like a decorative koi pond. There were benches along the edge, inside the water, for people to sit on. Small trees and bushes made the atmosphere seem more like a garden. They sort of hid the tall stone wall that surrounded the bath. I guess it would be bad if random passersby could just look over and see people bathing. It was just past dusk and there were short squat lamps being lit by a small boy. He walked around the perimeter touching each one. They glowed a soft yellow and made the space fairly bright. They must use magic cores like the one provided in my room at the tavern. "Those lights, I have one in my room. I also have a water core sink, I have a short explanation of them in my Gamer Glass index, but they are new to me. They come from monsters right?" I commented nodding at the lights. Crue lowered himself into the water and waded to the far side of the bath. I followed after him. "It''s hotter over here since the spring''s source is just there." He pointed to a spot near the wooden wall that looked deeper than the rest of the bath. The surface of the water over there looked like a jet had been placed right under the surface. He was right the bath did drastically change temperature as we got closer to the source of the spring. When you first entered it felt like a nice warm bath at home, as you wondered nearer to the source, it felt more like a hot tub. "All monsters have cores, not all of them are magic. Only the monsters that use magic have magic cores. Magic cores are crystals that are in the bodies of monsters. The most common cores are those fire cores. They come from monsters who can use level one fire magic. We don''t have many monsters that can use fire magic around here, but towards the south nearer the desert, they are all over the place. Adventurers down there kill those monsters and sell the cores to the Guild. The Guild then distributes them to all the other Guilds. Where we can buy them. "The same thing with water cores. We do have monsters around here with water magic. So the cores we get here will be distributed elsewhere. "The level one water and fire cores are the most common cores. If a monster can use a magic above level one the core is stronger and bigger. A level two fire core can be used to heat ovens and are particularly sought after by bakers since they can maintain a constant steady heat. They are expensive and can cost nearly 100 gold for one stone. Blacksmiths almost always use level three fire cores for the same reason as bakers, but their forges need to be a lot hotter. Those cores can cost nearly 300 gold depending on the size. Anything above a level three fire core is difficult to come by and is regulated closely by the kingdom. "While the fire and water cores are the most common. There are other types of cores, but most of them have limited uses. There are earth cores, wind cores, lightning cores, for example. "Metal cores are a bit special. Metal is a good conductor of magic. The metal cores can be used in making armor and weapons and they produce some of the higher quality stuff. Magic items are usually made with metal cores, like your Inventory Bracelet. The higher the level of the metal core the more magic it can hold. Your Inventory Bracelet was probably forged from a high-level metal core. While metal cores are amazing they are really rare so it''s cheaper and easier just to make armor and weapons from combining regular metal and monster parts. There are some monster parts that can conduct magic too. Though nothing as strong as a metal core." "So the higher the magic core''s level I''m assuming the more dangerous the monster? Is that why they are so expensive?" I asked leaning back against the stone bench. It was surprisingly comfortable. It had probably been worn down over the years by all the butts sitting on them. "Partly yes, but as long as there are monsters to kill there will always be someone willing to take that risk. I think most of the expense is due to there just not being that many monsters with that level of power. We have the Green Tailed Ape here. Now normal apes don''t use magic, but perhaps one out of every hundred or so gain level one water magic. We aren''t sure just how they learn the magic, but it does happen. "So you have a population of a thousand apes ten of them can use level one water magic. Now adventurers go out of their way to kill them right away because the cores will gain them extra profit and apes are really simple monsters to kill. There is another reason though. If left to themselves sometimes these magic using apes can learn level two water magic. These are called Queen Apes and can be rather dangerous. So adventurers try and kill the magic users before they become dangerous." "So a Queen Ape can be killed for a level two magic core, but there are higher levels right?" "Yes, the Green Tailed Ape is a really weak monster normally. Their stats are usually Lv 2 or so. So an ape that can use water magic at level 1 typically has a stat of Lv 15. Their Queen Ape that can use level 2 water magic has a base stat of Lv 30 or so. These are weaker monsters normally. You won''t find a Green Tailed Ape with a level four magic core. To get the higher level cores you need to kill stronger monsters. "If you want a level three core you''d have to find a monster with base stats of around Lv 50. Level four cores would take a monster about Lv 100. Very dangerous monsters and usually for monsters like that the army gets involved. You would need a combo team of army and adventures to take down a Lv 100 monster. "If you think of it a level three fire core is hot enough to use in forges. So what would a level four do? Theoretically, the core levels are as infinite as the monster can continue to get stronger. Adventurers try and prevent that sort of disaster from happening to begin with by killing the monster while it''s still fairly weak." "Has there ever been a monster so strong it took an army?" I asked. "Not recently, I think the last time was when I was a kid. There was a Sand Wyrm that had a level four earth core that the army had to team up with the Guild to take down. Now they have been active in taking down large groups of monsters, but single powerful monsters, no." "So the army took that core, right? What did they do with it?" "Well, they take them and put them away. I think the last time any of them were used was during the last big war. That would have been nearly forty years ago I think." "Who were you fighting against. Demons?" "No, We haven''t had a war with the demons for hundreds of years, thank the gods. It was with the Zyanthropes." I tried to picture Mildred the goat going to war. Somehow, I had a hard time imagining her in armor, let alone wielding a sword. "We should probably get out now, if you stay too long you can get heat stroke." We got out and dried off. It was unfortunate that I had to change back into my dirty clothes, but they were my only set. I looked at my pants. I had tried to rinse the blood off them before I got to town but you could still sort of see the stains around the edges of the rips in the fabric. "Would you like to borrow a pair of mine? They will be big on you, but at least they will be clean. You can return them later." "That would be nice. Thank you," I agreed. "Wait here I''ll go get them and that book I promised." Crue left me sitting in the changing room examining my pants. I had some money now, pants shouldn''t be that expensive. There was that place that Sturgis pointed out on the way to the Guild. I should go there tomorrow. I wanted to go to the library in the morning and I had plans to meet my trainer later in the morning. I didn''t know how long that would take. It was possible they would want to set out and begin right away. In that case, I might not make it back in time. I didn''t know when Durmond''s closed, but it was possible they held similar hours to the library. "You know we should meet up tomorrow to take you shopping for the things you need," Crue said as he came back, book and a pair of brown pants in hand. "You don''t really have any of the things you need. Soap for example, even if you don''t use our hot springs you will need soap to clean yourself up in your room. Some extra clothes and I doubt you have any night clothes either." He looked at me and smiled, "Of course I won''t judge you if you prefer to sleep in the buff." "I was just thinking I needed to go shopping. Sturgis showed me where Durmond''s was and I thought I''d go there for pants, but to be honest I don''t really know what I''m looking for with anything else." "I''ve got some work to do in the morning, but if you want to meet up sometime around mid-afternoon I can take you shopping for the stuff you need." "That should work," I thought if I told my new trainer I had to purchase necessities they would cut the meeting short. Crue''s pants really didn''t fit right at all. They were tight around the waist and really long in the legs. He didn''t look like it, but he really was a tall guy. Maybe not as big as his brother, but still hitting at least six foot. I had to roll up the hem. "OK, I''ll meet you at Durmond''s at 4 o''clock tomorrow. That should give us enough time to get some clothes then head towards the market for some other stuff. I''m going to be busy for the next few weeks so we should really try to get everything you need in one go." "Thank you for your help, I appreciate it." "It''s not a problem, I need to get a few things for work too." Our plans made, Crue saw me to the front of the temple and waved as I left. We had our awkward moments, but a small part of me hoped that we would end up as friends. I guess I was just lucky so far that most of the people I had met had been friendly. Name- Eri Veritas HP 1954/2335 MP 61/64 Level- 11 Age- 18 Race/Species- (Human) Unknown Gender- (Male) Unknown Occupation- Surveyor of Adventurers Guild Exp- 167 Physical Power- 220 Stamina- 278 Defense- 348 Agility- 489 Intelligence- 84 Magic Power- 8 Metal Rain Lv 1 Healing Hands Lv 1 Paralysis Resistance Lv 3 Mind Magic Resistance Lv 1 Skills Staff Fighting Lv 2 Basic Sword Lv 2 Skull Bashing Lv 2 Martial Arts Lv 2 Spear Lv 1 Stalking Lv 1 Jumping Lv 1 Running Lv 2 Pain Tolerance Lv 3 Deception Lv 2 Poker Face Lv 1 Etiquette Lv 3 Rock Throwing Dancing Harvesting Empathy Small Talk Discretion Racial Ability- Hidden Among the Masses- 20 Stealth- 95 Items Equip Inventory Bracelet Gold- 4g 0s 3c (4003c) Debt- 43 copper- Yellow Springs Blessing 1- All Map Exploration Blessing 2- Exp Points Required by Level Up / Current Level Blessing 3-Exp Increase X Current Level Blessing 4- Item- Gamer Glasses Titles- Emissary of Amoris Devotee of Amoris Oracle of Amoris Grateful Petitioner Lover of Leaves Enemy of Apes Chapter 11 I Dont Pet the Bunny Chapter 11 I Don''t Pet the Bunny The book, The Gods and Creation, Crue let me borrow was interesting. I probably stayed up later than I should have reading it. Just as interesting was that when a book was stored in my inventory, then taken out, I could still read the contents of the book with my Gamer Glass. So I had a permanent copy of the book I could access. I tried taking my Introductory of Races and Species out of the inventory. It was laying right there on my bed, but when I looked there was a changed icon. The icon, instead of being a book, looked like a piece of paper. It had the same title and the same contents. When I tried to take the paper out of the inventory. *This item can not be removed.~ So even though it was in my inventory it was just a digital copy. This new aspect of Gamer Glass would be very useful. As long as a book had been entered into my inventory at one point I would be able to access its information any time. I tried a search, and the information from The Gods and Creation had been added to my search. So now if I wanted information on Amoris all the information that had been in the book would show up on my search list. So it wasn''t even necessary to read all the books I was putting into my inventory. This would make my trip to the library easier. I entered a search for Zeus. I wanted to know if he was similar to the Zeus I had learned about in school. The Greek deity was probably the most well known of the mythological deities. Probably because archaeologists have been able to gather so much ancient stuff. Homer probably had something to do with it too. Though, trying to work your way through the Iliad in sophomore English was not fun. *Zeus the All Father, God of the Sky, lightning, rain, and storms. He is known to reward truth and charity. He is one of the three original Gods of Elrich born from the Abyss. He is known to take a parental interest in the actions and overall prosperity of mortals. However, this can lead to a fascination with single female mortals. Many of his godly children were born from Zeus'' love of mortals. (*With only three exceptions.) There are records of mortal children as well. Many of our current countries were once originally founded by the children of Zeus. *Footnote: For more information see Amoris, Erasmus, and Zyanthis. In the beginning, there were only simple animals and plants on Elrich. Then Zeus and his brother Edomael were born from the Abyss. While Zeus became Lord of the Sky, Edomael chose to remain the Lord of the Abyss. Zeus seeing the land of Elrich already rich in animals and plants created humans with his brother Edomael. Together they formed humans out of air and earth. Zeus breathed life into the humans while Edomael made them mortal. They were both pleased with their new creations. That was when Apep woke. No one, not even the gods, knows if Apep was here before Zeus and Edomael or if he was born later. What they can agree on is the Apep was born of chaos. Rising from chaos with a humanoid upper body and a lower body of a snake he gazed upon the humans with jealousy. Zeus had ten godly children. Those children created more mortal children. This is how the different races in Elrich were born. Seeing these mortal children Apep''s jealousy deepened. Footnote: For more information on the races born from the Twelve Gods see Chapters 3-15. Apep decided to create his own children, the demons. They were beings created from Apep''s scales and had many different appearances and abilities as each of his scales was slightly different. Since Apep was born from chaos many of his children also carried that chaos within them and were able to use magic. Apep sent his children to attack the mortal children of the gods. The Twelve Gods saw their children dying at the hands of this chaos magic and decided to harness the Abyss. Working together the gods granted mortals with the ability to use magic as well. However, since the mortals were not originally created to harness magic only some of the population could use it. The mortal children of the gods could now fight back against the demon children of Apep. Apep enraged by this sent his most fearsome children after the gods themselves. There was a great battle in which the mortals teamed up with their godly parents to defeat the Great Demon Kings. The Twelve Gods triumphed against the Great Demon Kings with the help of their children and launched a counter-attack. Apep, seeing his children under attack by the gods, went forth into battle himself. The forces of chaos against the forces of the Abyss released untold amounts of power into Elrich. Monsters were born, species born of both chaos and abyss came to be, Oceans were turned to deserts, deserts became mountains, mountains were blasted to nothingness. Still, the gods fought. They fought until one mortal hero sent the God Apep back into the chaos. When asked what reward he wanted for helping to defeat Apep the hero told the gods. ''I only wish to live a simple life. I do not want to be remembered or lauded as a hero. I only wish to live peacefully. If you must give a reward give it my fellow mortals who fought this battle with us. Give them your Blessing so that they may forever live in peace.'' Zeus moved by the unselfish nature of the hero agreed. All the Gods swore never to speak of the hero and forbid anyone from chronicling his name. However, his great deed would always be remembered every time a god Blesses one of their children.~ Creation myths were certainly interesting. In one story I was able to learn quite a bit about this world. Still, I couldn''t really decide if the Zeus of Elrich''s pantheon was the same Zeus as on Earth. They had a lot of similarities, but the story clearly states that Zeus was born from the Abyss with his brother. The story from Earth had Zeus born from Cronus and Rhea and when Cronus started eating his kids, Zeus kicked his butt. They sounded nothing alike. I decided it wasn''t worth overthinking and tried to fall asleep. It was harder than I thought it would be. I had had a busy day and you would think I would be exhausted, instead my mind was running a gymnastics marathon. I was filled with anxiety about this new life I was going to start living. All the ''what ifs'' filling my head, bouncing around like a classroom filled with sugared up kindergartners. Still though, I finally was able to shut down. My mind falling peacefully into sleep after only two hours of tossing and turning. ~~~~~ The morning came too quickly. I woke up groggy and wishing for a strong coffee. Lucky for me there was a bakery cafe right next door to Marge''s. I stood in line with a bunch of housewives, waiting as each person ordered enough bread for their family. Loaves of baguette-style bread were packed into baskets. I ordered the strongest tea they had with lots of sugar and three muffins. I sat at the outdoor tables and drank the tea. It was strong, perhaps not as strong as coffee, but still strong. I made a mental note to ask Crue if appliances to make tea were expensive because if I could afford it I wanted to be able to make my own. I ate two muffins and stored the third in my inventory. It was early and I might get hungry again before lunch. Then again, I would probably still be at my meeting during lunch, but the Guild did serve some sort of food. We would probably have lunch while discussing the particulars of the job. If all else failed I could eat some more strawberries, I was trying to lose my paunch so no chocolate for me until it was gone. Not that eating muffins and lots of sugared tea were any better. I really hoped I wouldn''t have to go on a crash diet. I tended to get cranky when I was hungry. I walked to the library with those thoughts on my mind and chocolate in my inventory tempting me to partake. There was just something about having an abundance of something and not letting yourself have any that really made you want that thing more. It probably didn''t help that I probably could certify as a hardcore chocolate addict. Telling myself that I could have a single bar a day, made me feel a little better. If I knew I could have it whenever I wanted then it was easier not to think about it. I opened the door to the library with the tinkling of bells. The building was two stories, but the main library was a single large room with only a separate room behind the librarian''s desk. While there were a lot of windows the interior seemed sort of dark. Even that second room had windows to let in what light they could. Dark wooden floors, dark wooden shelves, the same dark wood paneled walls. The desks and chairs by the windows were also made of dark wood. There were a few of the magic core lamps lit sporadically in the room that brightened the place up a bit. "Hello, how may I help you?" A young looking girl came from between the shelves several books in her arms. I was guessing she was a rabbit Zyanthrope, with her long brown ears hanging like a lop-eared rabbit. Her long curly brown hair was pulled into twin braids that trailed in front of her and down to her waist. On her nose a pair of black metal glasses that slightly obscured eyes that were an odd color, both green and brown, but I would be reluctant to call them hazel since the colors didn''t really mix. Her outfit looked too big for her. A long ankle-length blue skirt and a white long sleeved blouse with a high collar really made her look even smaller than she actually was. Her clothes were made to suit someone who was tall and slim. The girl in front of me was short and curvy. Even with her 3-inch heeled boots she still would have only come up to my shoulders. Slightly taller than the dwarf Marge, but not by much. She was so cute. Super cute, I wanted to touch the fuzzy looking ears. They looked so soft. To have her hair unbraided and run my hands through those curls. My hands itched to pet her. "My name is Eri, I''m new in town and I''d like to use the library. Do you know where the librarian is?" I figured that speaking to the librarian would help me get acquainted with the shelving system they used. "My name is Illia. I''m the librarian. Would you like to become a member or just use the reading rooms?" Surely this little girl wasn''t the librarian? I opened my Gamer Glass and requested a status screen for the girl. *Name- Illia Cloverheart Level- 9 932/932 Zyanthrope- Rabbit- Female Age- 19 Yellow Springs Associate Librarian She was older than me! The old former high school student inside me sympathized with her. I knew what it was like to be the small guy. I was just lucky I had hit my growth spurt eventually. I wonder at what age a Zyanthrope rabbit hits their growth spurt. Maybe this was as big as she was going to get? "Sir?" Illia questioned. I hadn''t been paying attention. Did I miss a question? "I apologize, it''s still rather early for me and I was distracted, you''re the first rabbit Zyanthrope I''ve met." She smiled the same smile people in customer service have been giving absentminded clients for centuries. "That is quite alright. There aren''t many of us this far north. I was asking if you''d like to use a reading room or become a member." "What is the difference?" "To be able to borrow the books you must become a member. There is a fee of 40 copper coins to join and 25 copper coins every month after that. We can waive the membership fee if you pay for at least six months in advance. Of course just reading the books here and not taking them with you is free. "You have a membership fee for a library?" That was a surprise. I had never heard of a library charging membership fees to be able to take books home. "We have to be able to fund ourselves somehow, but like I said if you can not afford the membership fees you can always read the books here." She gave me a look that clearly meant what do you expect? "I don''t know how long I plan on being in this town." "Then I would recommend the monthly payment plan. However, if you think you might be staying longer than six months it''s cheaper." "I think I will take the six-month membership, please." I could just put books in my inventory and have a copy but I liked the idea of having a hard copy book to be able to read if I wanted.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Illia smiled and placed her books on the desk. She pulled out some paperwork and had me fill it out. She went over the paper and using something that looked like the All Seer she made me a library card. "That will be 1 silver and 50 coppers for a six-month membership." She handed me the card and accepted the money. "If any books are lost or damaged you will be responsible for repayment. If you are unable to pay then a debt will be added to your ID. You will be unable to leave the town until that debt is repaid. Please keep that in mind." She bowed her head a bit when giving this speech. Somehow it felt like she was apologizing to me. Well, the speech did make it seem like she didn''t trust me with the books or that I would be unable to pay if a book was damaged. "I''d like to see any books you have on identifying the monster of this area. Then maybe books about monsters in general. Perhaps if you have any books about the history of the Adventurers Guild?" "Are you an adventurer then?" She asked she seemed to be interested in the actual answer and not just giving lip service. "Well, I just recently was hired by the Guild to be their new Surveyor. While I have the skills needed to perform the job, my actual knowledge about monsters is lacking." "Oh, I see! Then you might consider some of our monster behavior and biology books to go along with just the identification books you requested. Would you also like to see our dismantling books? They might give you a better understanding of which monsters are more valuable since they itemize the usable parts of particular monsters." "I''ll take a look at all of them and then pick a few to begin with if that''s OK?" "Of course," she looked around the room. "Let''s set you up over here by this window." She took me to a desk that was in the back corner next to a window letting in the morning sun. Then she ran off and shortly came back with a stack of four books. "These are just a few of our most popular monster books. This one," she tapped the top one on her stack, "is more specific to this region. I suggest you start with it. I''ll be right back with the other books you requested." "Thank you, these will be a big help." "Well, having a Surveyor that knows his monsters is beneficial to everyone in town. I will do my very best to help you out. I helped our current Surveyor a few years ago when he started. It''s a shame that he''s only able to do it part-time, but he''s really happy being a priest. So I guess you should do what makes you happy. He''s done a lot for me personally so I want to help you out as much as I can since you are his replacement." She beamed at me her ears twitching a bit. If she had had a tail it would probably be wagging back and forth. She seemed really excited to help me out. "Oh, so you know him? What''s he like?" "He''s a very kind man. He likes to tease people and that can sometimes get him in trouble, but he is very kind. He''s the type of person that honestly wants to help others. He has a fairly famous military family even though they are common. It''s a shame that he''s considered a bit of a black sheep for joining the priesthood. If you get the chance to meet him I just know you''ll like him. He''s really hard not to like." "I have a meeting to meet him later this morning. He''s going to be training me. I''m looking forward to it." "He''s actually taking time away from the temple to train you? That''s unusual." She frowned a bit then shrugged it off. "I''m sure he''s got it worked out. "I''ll go get the other books. You get started on those and let me know if you think they will be of some help or if this stuff is too basic for you." "I''m sure this will be fine, thank you." I held up the first book and waved it a bit. Illia came back twice more, leaving a pile of thirteen books on the desk. I began by flipping through them and glancing at the index. The monster catalogs would be a great addition to my search function. Even if I couldn''t remember all the monster and their attributes having the information in my search would make it easy for me to look it up if I needed it. I quickly placed the books into my inventory and brought them out again. Just like before there were digital copies left behind. I did a few random searches and compared the information in the book to the information given to me on my screen. While the information in the book was more detailed, the information on my screen didn''t leave out anything important. I promised myself that I would be diligent and actually read the books and not just rely on the search. Next were monster biology books. While the monster catalogs had briefly touched on the biology of the monsters these books went in-depth about their reproductive abilities and body structure. *Skill Gain- Monster Biology *Skill Gain- Entomology *Skill Gain- Zoology So it was possible to learn skills from books. If I leveled up the skills would I automatically know the information in the books without relying on the search function? I would test it out later when I had more Exp to spare. I had my meeting next, then later I would go shopping with Crue. Depending on my work schedule I would have to find time to kill monsters and gain some Exp. I also needed to remember to pay off my debt and visit Lotte. I also wanted to make some time for visiting the library again. It all depended on my future work schedule. Well, with the time I had, I was going to read some more of these books. *Skill Gain- Dismantling *Skill Gain- Appraisal "How are you getting along here?" Illia stood beside the desk interrupting my reading of a basic monster dismantling guide. "Actually, I''m really getting into this one." I held up the dismantling guide. "To be honest I didn''t realize how much technique went into cutting up monsters. I have a bit more respect for the guys that do this at the Guild." "Many of those guys are butcher''s sons. They were raised learning the craft so to speak. When I go out and bring something back I always have the dismantling team at the Guild take care of it. I don''t have the confidence to do it myself and it takes a lot of strength to be able to cut through muscle and tissues like that." "You are a Guild member too?" "Most people in Yellow Springs supplement their incomes by hunting the monsters so most of us are Guild members. I''m still only rank H though. I don''t get to go out as often since I usually need to have a supporter." "What is a supporter?" I asked curious. She paused and gave me a slightly odd look. Why was she looking at me like that? Did I say something dumb? She suddenly started as if she had been pinched and continued. "Oh, I have some low-level mid-range magic, but I don''t have any physical attack skills. So I need to go out with someone who is willing to support me as I fight and come to my rescue if I get into trouble. It''s similar to being in a party, but with one person attacking while the other acts as a bodyguard in case something goes wrong. There aren''t very many people willing to help out a newbie like me so it can be difficult" "I see, I''m new myself, but most of my skills are physical. I guess it would be problematic if you couldn''t fight off an attack if a monster got close." "It''s because of that I don''t get to go out often." "What do you do instead when your not out fighting monsters or here?" I waved at the library. "I spend a lot of my free time writing," She smiled a beaming smile as if she was happy I had asked. "Someday I''d like to become a novelist. I want to write stories about a fearless mage adventurer. You always see stories about the strong hero saving the day, I want to make a story where the main hero is a really powerful mage. He''ll have a child companion who is his apprentice. They run around the kingdom battling monsters and evil armies." "That sounds like a lot of fun. Have you made any progress with it?" "Well, I''ve written and rewritten my first story dozens of times. Each time I submit it, it always gets rejected. People don''t want to read stories about mages, they want to read stories about sword-wielding heroes." "That''s a pity, I think a story about a hero mage sounds interesting." "I think so too!" She got really animated and pulled a chair over from a neighboring desk. "I think my problem is that I am too inexperienced with powerful magic. I think the story would be more believable if I could accurately understand the way magic reacts to the world." "Aren''t there books on that? I mean books with lists of magical powers and how they work? Can''t you use a reference like that?" "There are a few books that chronicle magic and magic types, but none of them really detail how they work. They might tell you that fireball is a type of magic. They will even tell you what the magic looks like. A ball of fire that is a long-range magic and can cause fire damage on impact. That''s not very helpful to me. I need to know how that fireball will react to being thrown against a tree versus being used against a monster. "I would imagine the smell at the very least would be different. The smell of burning wood is a lot different than the smell of burning fur. Then there is the impact. A tree is stationary and I would think it would explode upon impact. I know a monster doesn''t explode because there are adventurers who are able to bring in intact monsters after killing it with a fireball, but why is that? Why don''t they explode?" "I see your point. You need first-person experience." "And to get that experience I need to get stronger, but since it''s hard to find a supporter it''s been difficult to level up and gain some of that experience." This was a good chance, but did I want to take the risk? I really liked this girl and this would be a good opportunity to make a good friend. Who was I kidding? I wanted to impress her. I didn''t have a lot of experience with women, but I knew that you wouldn''t get anywhere if you didn''t ask. "Couldn''t your boyfriend take you out?" Not very subtle, but I would find out if she was single. She laughed in a self-depreciating way, then blushed. "I don''t exactly have a boyfriend, but I do have a friend who is willing to help me out when he has time. He''s really very kind, but as I said earlier he''s very busy." "Earlier? Do you mean the priest who''s going to train me as a Surveyor? He takes you out hunting monsters?" I was getting the impression that she might have some feelings for this guy, but that nothing had come of it. Did I still have a chance? Should I go for it? "Yes, he sometimes lets me tag along with him when he does his scouting as a Surveyor." "Well, I wouldn''t mind taking you out. I think I need some training first, but if it''s just taking you out to kill some Green Tailed Apes it should be fine." I didn''t really have any issues with the apes so watching her back as she killed a few wouldn''t be too dangerous. I could also keep an eye on the map for surrounding monsters and get out of the area if something as strong as a Red Wolf showed up. I would also be able to observe some minor combat type magic. It would be a win-win for me. "Really! That would be amazing," she jumped out of her chair in a burst of enthusiasm. "When do you think we can go? I will need to take the day off. I''ll have to tell Mary," she paused and turned to me, "she''s the other librarian." She was so cute with her hands held up against her chest her ears twitching with her happiness. Once again I really wanted to pet her. I held myself back. Don''t go molesting the librarian, even if she is cute and fluffy. "I look forward to meeting her," I held out my hands in a calm down motion. "I don''t really know what sort of schedule I''ll be working on yet. I really should get some training on the local monsters first. I promise that when I figure it out I will let you know. We can plan to go out sometime in the morning and spend the day killing monsters." "The entire day," her smile dropped a bit, "that would be a lot of back and forth bringing back the carcasses to the Guild. It would be a waste to just leave them." "Oh, we don''t need to worry about that." I held up my Inventory Bracelet and explained its functions. We discussed when would be the best time for her and I promised once again to come by and let her know when I would also be free. After talking for so long it was nearing the time for my meeting. I checked out all the books she had suggested and with a wave, I left the library. I was feeling somewhat optimistic about the future. Sure, there were a lot of uncertainties, and that made my anxiety act up a bit, but this world seemed like a good place filled with good people and interesting new things. I had gained a few skills by reading those books, which was another bonus for the day. It made me wonder if the same could be done for other skills. If I read a book on magic then would I gain that magic skill? I had the list of magics Amoris gave me, but I hadn''t gained anything from flipping through it. I didn''t have the Gamer Glass at that time though. Had I looked at either of those books since I got the Gamer Glass? I couldn''t recall. So on my walk to the Guild, I opened the phone book sized magic list. I read the first few pages. It was the same as the condensed version. It gave the name of the magic, the type, the power, and how it could be used. None of the magic listed gave any sort of detailed information. *Ember, a fire type magic. It is a level one type magic. Can be used in cooking and starting fires.~ It was like that. Not really an explanation of how to use it or even what the skill looked like. It was like Illia said there wasn''t enough information to really get an understanding of the magic itself. I wondered if I would get a skill gain if I found a magic book with more detail. Perhaps one specifically oriented to teach magic theory to the reader? I made another mental note to ask Illia if such books existed. Closing the screen I began to mentally prepare myself for my first day of work. The first day on the job was always slightly stressful. I wasn''t the type of person to go busting into a job full of confidence. Usually, those types of people just screwed up more than the people who were more jittery. While I knew I could do the basics of the job, search for monsters, it was the training that had me nervous. I was new to all of this and until this point I hadn''t been a very outdoors type of person. This was a new world and I had to function within it. To do that I had to learn some basic survival skills. This training wouldn''t just be for my job but would be important to my overall survival period. I could, in theory, just live off the money I made from selling chocolate. However, if the town was ever attacked by monsters, or if I was personally attacked by another Gorilla Viking, I would need to be a lot stronger to survive the encounter. I really didn''t want to die again. So while selling chocolate seemed like the safest route, in the long run, it would become the most dangerous path. While this town seemed peaceful and idyllic there was always a looming threat of disaster. Amoris had been very clear on that point. I would need to become strong in order to survive. So while hunting monsters was dangerous it was my best chance for overall survival. I tried to maintain my optimistic attitude and not let the nerves get to me as I opened the door to begin my employment. Today was going to be a good day. Name- Eri Veritas HP 2335/2335 MP 64/64 Level- 11 Age- 18 Race/Species- (Human) Unknown Gender- (Male) Unknown Occupation- Surveyor of Adventurers Guild Exp- 217 Physical Power- 220 Stamina- 278 Defense- 348 Agility- 489 Intelligence- 92 Magic Power- 8 Metal Rain Lv 1 Healing Hands Lv 1 Paralysis Resistance Lv 3 Mind Magic Resistance Lv 1 Skills Staff Fighting Lv 2 Basic Sword Lv 2 Skull Bashing Lv 2 Martial Arts Lv 2 Spear Lv 1 Stalking Lv 1 Jumping Lv 1 Running Lv 2 Pain Tolerance Lv 3 Deception Lv 2 Poker Face Lv 1 Etiquette Lv 3 Rock Throwing Dancing Harvesting Empathy Small Talk Discretion Monster Biology Entomology Zoology Dismantling Appraisal Racial Ability- Hidden Among the Masses- 20 Stealth- 95 Items Equip Inventory Bracelet Gold- 3g 8s 28c (3828c) Debt- 43 copper- Yellow Springs Blessing 1- All Map Exploration Blessing 2- Exp Points Required by Level Up / Current Level Blessing 3-Exp Increase X Current Level Blessing 4- Item- Gamer Glasses Titles- Emissary of Amoris Devotee of Amoris Oracle of Amoris Grateful Petitioner Lover of Leaves Enemy of Apes Chapter 12 I Find Out Im a Sex Maniac Chapter 12 I Find Out I''m a Sex Maniac The Guild was packed with people. People were waiting in line to be seated at a table. There was even a line curling around the side of the wall where people were waiting for a spot at the Guild counter. Every spot at the counter was manned, even Mildred was there handing out coins and paperwork. I had been told to meet Dunbar in one of the meeting rooms in the back. As I walked past the line, I could feel the dirty looks of people thinking I was trying to line jump. I pulled out my Guild ID and waved it a bit. The tension in the air immediately decreased. I could just imagine what would happen to me if one of those ax-wielding muscle guys got a hold of me. Best to remain on their good side. I even tried smiling at a few of them. I even got a few head nods for my effort. Look at me being friendly with the locals. I showed the ID to the clerk closest to the entryway to the back. He looked at it, frowning, pointed me in the direction I needed to go, then immediately went back to helping reduce the line. So much for being friendly Mr. Grumpypants. "Oh, Eri," Dunbar came striding down the hall, "right on time." "Is it always this busy out there?" I pointed towards the way I had come. "Around this time of day, yes. People are just coming back from their morning hunts and are waiting to be paid. Then they usually want lunch too, so they wait in line for that. It will die down around 1 o''clock. Most people try and get here before the rush, but it can''t always be managed. "I''m glad you''re here on time. I just got finished with some paperwork or I would have met you near the door. Did you have any issues getting to the back?" "No, considering the lines, I was able to pass by without any problem." "That''s good," he commented as we both stood in front of the conference room door. He opened the door for me and ushered me in. "I had left a memo that you were coming, but you can''t always trust that all employees will read the memos." The conference room was lined with windows along one wall so a lot of natural light shone through. The rest of the room was gray, gray tables, chairs, floors, and white walls. The one spot of color was the very familiar looking brown haired man with the charming smile. Crue wasn''t wearing his pink vestments today, but he was wearing some fairly bright blue clothes. Dark blue pants and a light blue shirt with a gray belt that matched his gray boots. To be fair, blue really looked good on him with his is tanned complexion and blue-gray eyes. He stood as we entered the room and beamed when he saw me. "Eri, I never would have thought you''d be the new Surveyor. So the meeting you said you had was with me," he laughed hands on his hips and shaking his head. "The two of you know each other?" Dunbar asked. "We met last night at the temple," I explained, "Crue showed me around." "Yep, we even had a date planned for later tonight." Crue chipped in. Hey, now I wouldn''t call it a date. "I see, that makes things far simpler if you two are already acquainted." Dunbar nodded his head in acceptance. Don''t just accept that! "So we can skip the introductions and get right to business." "It''s not a date," I hissed at Crue as I took a seat beside him. "If you say so," he hissed back with a smile. "Now then," Dunbar interrupted. "Does Crue know something about your skills Eri?" "He knows about my inventory, but about other specific skills, I don''t think so." "You mentioned your Gamer Glass yesterday. It helps you allocate your Exp," Crue added. "With your permission, Eri, I''d like to share the list of your skills with Crue," Dunbar pulled out the paper I wrote my skills on yesterday. "I think it will give him an idea of where to start in your training." "I don''t mind," I nodded at the paper as Dunbar handed it to Crue. Crue looked at the paper, glanced at me, then back to the paper. He put his hands on the table and you could see him thinking. Then he picked the paper up and looked over it again. Then he glanced at Dunbar then back at me. "The reason you were given the position of Surveyor has to do with one of your Blessings, right?" He tapped the paper in front of him. It didn''t have my Blessings listed since I had discussed those personally with Dunbar. "Yes, I have All Map Exploration. By using it in tandem with Gamer Glass I can search for monsters on the map and I can see how many are in the area. That''s why Dunbar," I nodded at the older man, "offered me the job. However, as you can see my survival skills are lacking." I leaned over and tapped the paper. "Lacking..." Crue trailed off. Then he looked at Dunbar and sighed. "It''s not as bad as that," Dunbar said misinterpreting Crue''s sigh. "Eri has two other Blessings that can easily make up for the lack of training. One of his Blessings increases the amount of Exp he gets when he completes a task. The other decreases the amount of Exp he needs to level up. So it shouldn''t take as much time to train him as you are thinking." "That''s not the issue really," Crue glanced up. "Though that explains some things." He looked down at the paper again. Then back up with a frown. "Eri, how much of this has changed just since yesterday? I know when we were together you gained two new skills. You activated one of them, but that means you left one inactive. This," he held up the paper, "only shows your active skills. I''d also like to know what your inactive skills are." "I have gained seven new skills since yesterday, I think. Though, I only activated the one." "Seven!" Dunbar looked surprised. He jerked a bit in his chair and looked like someone smacked him upside the head. "I see," Crue looked at Dunbar. "Sir, I''m afraid to bother you, but I think I need to speak with Eri alone. "I formally agree to train him as Surveyor, so you don''t need to worry about that. We can work out the compensation at a later date." "Seven," Dunbar was really shocked it seemed. He shook his head as if to clear his thoughts. "Right, I was mostly here to offer introductions and to get your formal consent to this training. Since the two of you already know each other and I now know that you will train the boy, I don''t see why we can''t move forward. I''ll talk to you later then Crue." He stood up and shook Crue''s hand. "You too Eri," he shook my hand as well. "I have a feeling we''ll be seeing some amazing progress from you. Good luck." He patted my back and left the room. Crue waited a few seconds before he brought up the topic he''d been dancing around. "Eri, you managed to get to these stats in less than a day." He waved the paper around in a circle. "Do you have any idea how insane that sounds?" "They seemed normal to me. I thought it would look suspicious if I showed up at the gate as a level 1 considering how old I''m supposed to be." "Well yes, it would look odd for you to be eighteen and be a level 1," then he stopped mid-sentence. "How old are you?" "On Earth, I was twenty-four. Amoris said that she was going to reincarnate me as younger since it would have been harder for a twenty-four-year-old unemployed newbie to show up at the town gates." "That is true," Crue nodded, "I''m just glad you''re not actually a fifty-year-old man. That would have been odd." Then he flashed me his signature toothpaste commercial smile. "In all seriousness though, if you keep progressing this fast you might have issues later. Strong people get noticed and that''s not always a good thing. People will want to know where you came from, what you were doing, how you managed to get that strong. For you, this would become a problem since you literally have no history. "The Guild may be able to protect you to some extent, but if you show too much progress..." He trailed off looked at the paper and gave me some serious direct eye contact. "There are people who will stop at nothing to use you." He sighed running his hand through his hair and leaning back in his chair. I could see how that would be an issue. Shit, I hadn''t even thought of that, but what was I supposed to do about it? It''s not like I could change my stats... or could I? I quickly looked up the information about my racial abilities. I held up a finger when Crue looked like he was going to talk again. "Wait a moment please, I think I might be able to fix this." *Hidden Among the Masses- 20. With this ability, your status screen can be altered. It allows one to blend in among the dominant race of the area. It is a race-specific disguise ability that will fool even the All Seer. Currently receiving a Title power boost from Emissary of Amoris, Devotee of Amoris, Oracle of Amoris, and Grateful Petitioner. At level 10 your gender will be concealed. Your current alteration is male. You can not alter your gender at this time. At level 20 you can alter your Race/Species category can be altered. Your current alteration is Human. Would you like to change this now? Yes/No~ Once again I selected no. Would Hidden Among the Masses let me change other things about my stats? I didn''t know, but would it be worth spending the Exp to find out? "Crue," I paused, considering how to bring up the matter, "do you know of a skill called Hidden Among the Masses." "I''ve never heard of it," he shook his head. "What is it?" "Did Amoris explain the particulars of my reincarnation? Did she tell you the deal she made with me?" "Only that you were given Blessings in exchange for you being reincarnated and for service to the gods. Why?" "That was only part of it," I paused. I didn''t really know him that well, but Amoris said I could trust him. Did that include this information too? Shit, at the last minute I decided to play it safe and keep quiet about it. After all, Amoris had proven herself to be rather flighty. "The skill is sort of part of the deal we made." Not really a lie, exactly. Crue tilted his head to the side. I knew that look. Amoris was talking to him again. A small lump formed in my stomach. She had to know what I was. Was she telling him? "You are not human. This is a racial skill," Crue looked at me. I could feel my face draining of blood. So much for Poker Face. "It''s a lot easier to talk to you face to face than to keep messaging you both." Amoris appeared from out of nowhere behind us and scared both of us nearly out of our seats. She had her hair braided today but other than that looked very much the same. "My Lady!" Crue jumped up out of his seat and literally dived to the floor in a bow. Was I supposed to do that too? I wasn''t feeling very bowy today. "There''s no need for that child," Amoris sat down across from me and pointed to Crue''s chair. "Please, sit down. It will be difficult to talk to you if you are on the floor. "Cake?" She looked at me and materialized a slice of strawberry cake and a fork. Thankfully, it wasn''t pumpkin. "Why not," I said with a sigh and took the cake. She placed another slice in front of Crue. He looked at it as if it was a precious stone. "If you''re not going to eat that I will." That prompted him into taking a bite. "I think I should get to the main issue at hand," she waved a strawberry speared by her fork in the air. "When I reincarnated you, I ran out of power. You were stuck in the Abyss for a while. You got my message about that. What I didn''t tell you is that it wasn''t just my power that reincarnated you. I put my best into it but didn''t have enough power in the end. So, there you were stuck. I guess my mistake really upset my lover," She sighed and examined the berry. "He is not happy that I left a half-formed mortal floating around in his territory." She bit the strawberry off the end of her fork and chewed. "The Lord of the Abyss, Edomael," Crue whispered into his cake. "That''s right. Anyway, Eri, it was his power that pushed you into full reincarnation. You are a child born of both our powers. Milk?" Crue started to cough on his cake. Little crumbs scattered all over the table as he tried to clear his windpipe. I thumped him on the back a few times and Amoris gave him a glass of milk. "This child has figured it out rather quickly," she reached over patted Crue on the head like a puppy. Crue nearly choked on his milk. "Edomael is your lover? I thought he was your uncle?" Leave it to me to focus on the unimportant part of the conversation. I thought Crue was going to have a seizure when I said that. I pounded his back a few more times. "Stop hitting me, you idiot," Crue got out between pats. He swatted at my hands spilling his milk. He tried to discreetly dab it up with the hem of his shirt. "Technically, yes, he is," she smirked like she thought the entire thing was funny. She handed Crue a napkin and he blushed red from the tips of his ears down his neck. "Divine beings don''t really have familial bonds like that. I was born of a concept of love. Edomael was born from the Abyss. So while yes we are related as niece and uncle we aren''t actually blood relations. Though there are a few gods who are a lot more picky about that distinction between Edomael and I so be careful not to bring up possible incestuous relationship ideas with other gods. "You missed the point though. I am here to tell you what you are. As you know you aren''t really a human. We discussed the possibility of you being born as something other than human." "Yes, but that information seems to be hidden from me. I can''t access it from my Gamer Glass." "That''s because you haven''t matured yet. I''ve already updated your information. It would be quicker for you to read it then ask questions." She took another bite of her cake and waved at me to hurry up with her other hand. "Would you like more milk, tea?" She asked Crue. He shook his head no. I opened up my status screen everything still looked the same. I checked my inventory and nothing new there. I looked at Amoris through the transparent screen for help. "Try searching for Succuba," she said gently. "S-U-C-C-U-B-A." *Race- Succuba Succubus ¨C Female Incubus ¨C Male The Children of Amoris, the Lady of Love, and the King of Dreams, Wings of Death, Edomael. Amoris and Edomael had mortal twins Samil and Esau. Both twins were gender fluid and could become female or male at will. They became the mother and father of the Succuba race. Most Succuba have only two forms. The first being the humanoid form they are born into, this form is usually the same as the non-Succuba parent. The second form is the appearance of a Succuba. A Succuba has a very distinctive form. Much like bird Zyanthropes, they have feathered wings that can be used in flight. These are usually smaller in size than the bird Zyanthropes and only have a wingspan slightly longer than the Succuba arm span. Bird Zyanthorpes usually have a very low bone density and they weigh very little despite their overall appearance. Succuba with their smaller wings do not have a low bone density and weigh just as much as the average humanoid. This trait leads scholars to believe that an unknown race specific magic may be involved in supporting the Succuba while in flight. Succuba will also have a prehensile tail that is capable of supporting the weight of an adult Succuba. The tail, while prehensile, has limited functionality. It can grip objects but lacks the dexterity of a hand. They are most likely used for stabilizing the Succuba when landing in windy places. It is usually just about equal to the Succuba leg length, but in some cases can be shorter or longer. The appearance and color of the wings and tail are usually familial traits passed down from the Succuba parent. Succuba, like Elves, have difficulty breeding with other Succuba. Succuba born of a Succubus and Incubus are extremely rare. Because of breeding difficulties, Succuba tend to breed with other humanoid races, most often humans and Zyanthropes. Unlike with Elves, the children of Succuba and humanoid races are never half beings. They are always either born as a Succuba having the appearance of their humanoid parent until they mature at the age of eighteen, or they are the same race as their humanoid parent. (The exception to this would be the child of two Succuba. The child of two Succuba could inherit the humanoid form of either parent. For example, one Zyanthrope Succuba and one Human Succuba have a child. The child could be born with the appearance of either human or Zyanthrope.) Mature Succuba will find themselves needing to supplement their diets by absorbing the magical energy of love, sex, and lust. It is believed that this diet helps feed the magic needed for a Succuba to maintain their race-specific abilities. Be aware that an adolescent Succuba coming into maturity can be potentially dangerous. The change to maturity can take nearly a week. An entire week of feeding off the magic of one person has the potential to kill that person if not fully prepared. It is recommended that a Succuba have several partners to choose from during their transition, to alleviate any risk of damage to any one partner. Many Succuba utilized the services of professionals during this time as well.~ My mind went blank. My ears actually started to buzz with a high pitch tone. I thought I had prepared myself for becoming another race. It had seemed like a nice idea at the time. Shit, wings and a tail, that sounded like a demon to me. On top of that, I was racially required to become a sex maniac. Black spots dotted my vision. Shit. *Special Skill Gain- Abyss Walker *Title Gain- Prince of Dreams ~~~~~~~~ A warmth flowed through me. It felt like I was cuddled up in my favorite blanket and I had just found that sweet spot on the couch. My body didn''t want to move. I was so comfortable. "It''s not my fault this happened," a female voice echoed in my dream. "How is it not anything but your fault?" There was the sound of birds flapping. "There is no way I could have predicted he''d be like the twins," the female hissed back. "I could have told you that!" Oh, the birds were flapping again, "You didn''t bother to inform me that my power had altered him too." Flap, Flap, Flap pretty birds. "Excuse me," that voice sounded familiar, "I think he''s waking up." "He should be," more flapping, "I''m not the King of Dreams for nothing, child." "Yes, sir." Oh, it was Crue. I remembered Crue. Nice guy, nice butt. No, we do not think about other guys'' butts. "It''s perfectly fine to admire his butt, he really does have a nice one." "You would say that in front of me," the bird sounded a little upset, "I am not a bird. "Wake up, mortal, we need to talk." More birds, chirp chirp little bird. I just wanted to go back to bed to the sound of nice little birds. "His name is Eri, at least be polite," the female scolded the bird. "I am NOT a bird!" "Eri," Crue hissed by my ear, "you really should get up now." Was I laying in his lap? Was he pinching my arm? Damn it that hurt. I opened my eyes. I was looking directly at Crue. His face was really close to mine so I could see the relief flood over him when my eyes opened. He looked a bit pale. Was he ok? "You fainted," Crue told me rushing over whatever it was that Amoris was about to say, "you went really pale then just passed out at the table. I''ve been trying to heal you, but you wouldn''t wake up. Our Lady tried too. Um, but..." "She nearly killed you, the only smart thing she''s done today is fetch me for help." A young looking man with an average body, pale skin, dark eyes, and white hair began to talk. He was wearing a black bathrobe and fuzzy slippers.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. "I did not kill him," Amoris protested crossing her arms and stamping her foot at the guy in the bathrobe. "Only because that young healer kept him from falling back into the Abyss, I swear woman. The next time you decide to take a mortal home with you think about the consequences." "I wasn''t trying to take him home, I was trying to bring him to you." "Instead of just waking me up and asking me for help? You know how much strain it causes a mortal when they are taken into the Abyss. He was already in a dream state did you not think that taking him into the home of the King of Dreams would be a bad idea?" "I thought it made sense. He was left dreaming and you are the King of Dreams, so obviously you could help." "You had the right idea, but the wrong execution," the bathrobe guy sighed. Then he glanced at me. "I am not Bathrobe Guy. My name is Edomael. Hi," he waved slightly in my direction. "How was I supposed to know he''d react so badly?" Amoris was looking like a little dog all puffed up and ready to fight. Edomael laughed, "She does sort of looked like a little puppy ready to pick a fight." He began to snort. Amoris gave me a dirty look. "It''s not my fault you guys are reading my mind," I protested. "I guess not," she didn''t look happy about that admission. "Anyway, what happened to me?" I tried to pull myself out of Crue''s lap but he slapped me hard in the chest making me stay put. "Ouch, what the hell?" "I''m still in the middle of healing you, don''t move." "You could have said that without hitting me." "Consider it revenge for leaving me alone in a room with two bickering gods." "They sound just like any other married couple to me," I responded. "Have you ever been stuck in the middle of a couple who is fighting?" "I see your point," I could imagine how surreal it must have been for Crue to have not only his Goddess there being chewed out, but her lover was doing the chewing. Looked like he''d quickly lost the awe he''d been feeling before. "It seems like you aren''t your typical Incubus. You take after the originals of your race, our twins. She," Edomael pointed a thumb at Amoris, "failed to spot that. So when instead of explaining the situation to you she added the information into your Blessing, it basically triggered your maturation. "You are a bit different from any other Succuba," he bent down and look at me. "You have some of my power inside you. If you aren''t careful you can fall into the Abyss." "You mean I''ll die? I still don''t understand what happened." I was beginning to panic. A bit of a delayed reaction, but I would be gearing up into a full on attack here soon. "You know who I am right?" Edomael glanced back at Amoris, but he was addressing me. She shrugged. "He should know." "You are the God of Death, Dreams, and the Abyss." I croaked out the answer around the lump forming in my throat. "Reincarnation too, but yes, that''s me," he nodded. "What happened was that when she reincarnated you she left you half formed floating around in my Abyss causing all kinds of congestion on the road of reincarnation. In order to clear the path so others could be reincarnated, I had to do something about you. So I finished forming you and sent you on your way. My job is to give form to reincarnated beings and only a few ever show signs my power residue. I keep a close watch on these beings. Typically, these beings end up becoming my priests or hers." He cocked another thumb at Amoris. "You are a bit different. You didn''t show any sign of having my power residue, so I left you alone for Amoris to handle. I didn''t know when I found you that you weren''t originally part of this world''s reincarnation cycle. I had thought that Amoris had just messed up another Blessing and it killed you leaving you half formed." "I only did that once and you''ve never let me forget it," Amoris huffed crossing her arms. "Anyway," he spoke over her, "I basically became your godly parent when I finished forming your body. Not really a child born of me, like our twins, but of my power. "What this means is that you are like Samil and Esau. You will most likely develop some gender fluidity. I don''t know yet if you will be able to do a complete change. Your personality won''t change, no matter what, so don''t worry about it too much." Hell, yes I was worried. It was bad enough that I would grow to look like a demon, but that I would also turn into a woman. I didn''t sign up for that. I tried taking deep breaths to prevent hyperventilating. "You kinda did," Amoris commented. "You are not helping," Edomael scolded her. "You are not a demon," he shook his head, "I know that in your world demons are often depicted with wings, a tail, and horns. I can assure you, you are not a demon. Demons in this world resemble humans more than any other being," he paused. "They do have horns though. You don''t have horns, so there''s that. "Succuba take their appearance from me and their need for love from her." He waved behind him at Amoris. "You don''t have wings or a tail." In fact, he was rather normal looking for a god, even if he did have white hair. Amoris was sort of an exotic bombshell. Maybe she was the exception and all the gods looked normal? "How sweet." Amoris began to play with her braid and smiled. "Am called the Wings of Death for a reason." He took off his robe. He was wearing blue and orange paisley patterned shorts. Did Amoris pick out his underwear too? "I like these," he protested looking down at his shorts. "So do I," Amoris touched his shoulder. They were both giving me a look. Solidarity over underwear. I wasn''t going to argue. It just wasn''t my style. "To each his own," Edomael muttered. Then he turned around and showed me his back. It looked like a normal back, maybe a bit more muscled than an average person, but normal. Suddenly, white feathery wings appeared fully formed on his back. He glanced over his shoulder to make sure I was watching, then extended them. Underneath the wings was a tail. It was thicker at the base near his spine and tapered down to a point. It would have looked like a lizard tail if it wasn''t covered in fine white fur. His skin also changed. I didn''t think he had dumped a bucket of crystal dust on himself when I was looking at his tail. He looked like one of those sparkly vampires all the girls were crazy about a few years ago. "Hey," he turned hands on hips indignant, "everyone knows vampires aren''t sparkly." "You''ll probably have black wings since your hair is black," Amoris added. "Will I sparkle?" I really didn''t want to look like I walked out of a glitter factory. "Maybe, but if you do it won''t be this bad," he held out his arm and sparkles caught the sun from the window and made him look like a disco ball. "So pretty," Amoris sighed touching his exposed side. "You should see him when he''s naked flying in the sun. It''s beautiful. It''s not fair that a God of Death is the prettiest one of us all or that he keeps it all hidden being holed up in the Abyss all day." "We are getting off track," Edomael smiled at her. They may be bickering, but their coupleness was giving me cavities. "The point is when you passed out you went into a state of shock. When you found out what you were, you were forced into puberty so to speak. You have begun to mature as an Incubus. "Have you ever heard of something called an out of body experience?" "Yes, you see people talking about it on talk shows." Is that what happened? "What is a talk show?" Crue asked. "Something from Earth," I told him, "I can explain it later." "You went into shock and while your body stayed here, your spirit decided to take a trip. Since you are newly reincarnated your tether to this world is a bit tenuous. Your spirit was trying to protect itself and you ended up popping into the Abyss. "So when Amoris tried to drag you back, then tried to bring you to me, she actually thinned the tether connecting you to your body nearly killing you. You are lucky this one," he pointed at Crue, "was here to stabilize you." "When I realized what had happened I went to fetch him," Amoris commented. "I was able to reattach your soul to your body," he mimed taking something out of the air and stuffed it into his other hand. "What is problematic is that this will probably happen again. Hopefully, in a more controlled manner next time." "What do you mean?" I just wished they would give me a straight answer. "You can travel through the Abyss. With enough practice, you might even be able to take your physical body. My twins were able to travel using the Abyss. It''s one of the reasons you can find the Succuba race on every continent on this planet. To make it simpler you will be able to use the void of the Abyss to enter from one place and exit in another. "It will take some work, and I''m not even sure you''ll be able to get past the soul wandering off phase. That part can be tricky." "Tricky?" It''s not like I wanted my soul to take a morning constitutional into the Abyss. "I wouldn''t worry about it until it becomes a problem. It might not even become an issue at all. Amoris will be watching to make sure you don''t wander off from your body again and accidentally kill yourself. She''ll be monitoring you through your Gamer Glass. Think of it as a vital signs monitor. If it stops beeping on her end she knows you''ve wandered off." He danced two of his fingers across his palm. "So if I''m following, I read about Succuba and that triggered a forced puberty. My body went into a state of shock. That caused my spirit to jump ship, which was made worse when Amoris tried to fix me. You did fix me. Do I have that right so far?" I asked them both. "It''s simpler if you put it that way," Edomael nodded. "Now when Amoris left me floating in reincarnation land, you finished putting me together accidentally adding your power to Amoris'' making me a special sort of Succuba. This super Succuba can travel in the Abyss and turn into a girl whenever, correct?" "We don''t know yet how much of those attributes you''ll get. We can''t know until you fully mature." Amoris cautioned, "Right now we know you are reacting like our twins would have reacted to similar stimuli. This makes us believe that you could be a ''super Succuba''," she used finger quotes. "So you know he''s got some of the traits, but you don''t know how much they will develop until he develops?" Crue asked. He was probably as confused as I was about this craziness. "Yes," said Edomael. "That could be a huge problem," Crue said forthrightly. "We were just talking about Eri''s incredible growth rate. If the people in power find out about all this then it could spell trouble. He won''t be able to go anywhere unsupervised because he''d be considered a possible threat to the kingdom." Huh? We had talked about my fast progress becoming an issue, but what was this about being stalked by the kingdom? "We are aware of your family history, child," Edomael pulled a chair around with the back at his front and straddled it so that his tail and wings dangled down behind. "We are prepared to help you in that, it''s actually part of the reason I decided to show up in person instead of just sending a message." Amoris patted Edomael on the shoulder. "You were talking about the Succuba racial ability Hidden Among the Masses. As you guessed, Eri, it will help you a great deal. As you add Exp to the ability you will be able to alter more than just your race and gender. This ability is specially designed to keep you hidden or inconspicuous. Your level will be what you most want to keep concealed, after your race and gender of course. They all will show up every time you are asked to touch an All Seer. "However, you may want to keep in mind that the system the Guild uses will also give them some idea of your real power. It might be in your best interest to hide some of your ability levels as well. If you go from a grade E adventurer to a grade A purely based on your stats it will also raise questions. "So you shouldn''t have to worry too much about that issue." She waved her hand in the air to show how much of a non-issue she thought it was. Not very reassuring. "What will be problematic, from our standpoint, is a Succuba special skill called Party," Edomael commented. Amoris nodded in agreement. "Party is sort of complicated. It originally was used so that Succuba could keep track of their mates. You would be able to know where your mate was at any time if you thought about them. There were unexpected side effects of this skill. "When you use the Party skill on someone, it is permanent. So if you had broken up with your mate after using the skill, you can''t cancel it. You are stuck with that person''s location every time you think of them." "That''s originally what it was used for," Amoris interjected. "Now it''s used for something much different. "Another side effect of Party was that you shared some portion of your Blessings with the person you used Party on," she looked at me, "You see how that can be an issue if you use Party on someone with your Blessings?" "They would get the four Blessings I have?" "Not the Gamer Glass or the All Exploration Map since those are more like items. I should say your more intangible Blessings will be shared. Mainly, your Exp points needed to level up divided by your current level and Exp increase times your current level." "Times your current level..." Crue muttered. Oh, right this was probably the first time he''d heard about that part of the Blessing. I''d been tactful with Dunbar and left that part out. "So, anyone I would use Party on will have the same issue of concealing their levels that I would have." "Yes, though they would only receive part of the Blessing." "Then I just won''t use Party," seemed simple enough for me. "That won''t work, seeing as you have Gamer Glass." "What do you mean?" How would my having one Blessing effect a skill I didn''t have yet? "Crue," Edomael shifted his weight to better look at Crue. His skin went all disco again as the light refracted. "Ask Eri to go do something with you. It doesn''t really matter what." "We were supposed to go shopping later today. Something like that?" Crue asked. "That will work fine, but you need to make it a very clear invitation to go shopping." "Ok," Crue looked down at my face, "Do you want to go shopping with me later?" *Special Skill Gain-Party~ *Party is automatically activated. Activation of Party has used 10 Exp. ~ *Crue would like to join your party Yes/No~ "Is this?" I questioned through the display screen. "That''s what I was talking about. It won''t do that for everyone who asks you to do things. It will just do it for people you consider to be friends or companions. So if a prostitute asked you to join her for the night it wouldn''t activate." Leave it to Amoris to use a prostitute in her explanations. "Go ahead and select yes. If you say no, you won''t be able to go shopping with Crue without that pop up appearing every 30 seconds." Edomael waved at me to hurry up. I pressed yes. *Crue has been added to your Party. Would you like to place a tracking marker now? Yes/ No~ "That will let you follow him on the map, it''s very different than the old way it used to work. You should be grateful that his location isn''t automatically sent to you whenever you think of him. Go ahead and say yes. Then look at the map." I pressed yes again. My map opened up and right in the center was my solid yellow marker, but beside it was a yellow marker with an aqua blue border. I tapped on it and Crue''s stats popped up. * Name- Crue HP 4590/4590 MP 434/1500 Level- 28 Age-20 Human Male Occupation- Priest of Amoris, Surveyor of Adventurers Guild Exp- 78 Physical Power- 330 Stamina- 310 Defense- 196 Agility- 370 Intelligence- 232 Magic Power- 196 Water Magic Lv 4 Healing Waters Lv 3 Bubble Bomb Lv 1 Liquid Bullet Lv 1 Healing Hands Lv 1 Poison Resistance Lv 1 Skills Basic Sword Lv 4 Skull Bashing Lv 1 Slicing Lv 2 Slash Lv 1 Martial Arts Lv 3 Stance Lv 2 Grappling Lv 1 Smooth Movement Lv 2 Blocking Lv 2 Archery Lv 4 Shooting Lv 1 Aim Lv 2 Sniping Lv 2 Stalking Lv 2 Jumping Lv 1 Running Lv 2 Scouting Lv 4 Eyes of the Hawk Lv 2 Distant View Lv 1 Telescopy Lv 1 Trap Detection Lv 2 Empathy Lv 2 Therapy Lv 1 Etiquette Lv 2 Discretion Lv 1 Mediation Lv 1 Organization Lv 1 Dismantle Lv 3 Alchemy Lv 2 Pharmacology Lv 2 Scribe Lv 1 Special Skills Sexual Healing- 223 Titles- Priest of Amoris Devotee of Amoris Oracle of Amoris Dedicated Runner~ "I can see all his activated skills and abilities," I exclaimed. I couldn''t see his unactivated skills like I could on my own status, but being able to see his stats at all was surprising. "Really?" Crue asked. "What''s my highest ability?" "That would be," I scrolled through his stats again, "Agility at 370." "You really can see it?" Crue shook his head. "Eri," Amoris got my attention, "will you open your Gamer Glass'' explanation of Party for me? It should tell us all how Party will work with your Blessings." I did as she asked, opened then tapped the tutorial area while selecting Party. *Party, A race specific skill used only by certain Succuba. Party will allow you to track your followers and companions. This can be activated only after a being is added to your party for the first time. Party members can share Blessing benefits. The degree of Blessing benefit will depend on the amount of Exp expended on Party. Your current shared Blessings are Exp Points Required by Level Up / Current Level and Exp Increase X Current Level. Party cannot be revoked once accepted. However, a party member can become inactive. Active Party Members are members added to your party who are actively completing a task with you. Inactive Party Members A member of your party who is not completing a task with you. ~ "It''s not as bad as I feared," Amoris commented to Edomael. "What did you think would happen?" I asked, honestly I had every reason to be a bit suspicious when it came to Amoris. "Don''t worry about it. The worst didn''t happen so we should be happy with that." Amoris waved it off. "I still have an issue though," Crue pointed out, "I mean if I''m part of this Party skill then I''m sharing his Blessing. That means my stats will raise. While I don''t dislike the idea of getting stronger faster, I don''t have any way of hiding that like Eri." "I wanted to see how Eri''s Party worked before I suggested this, but why don''t you give him a Blessing?" Edomael said to Amoris. "He''s your priest wouldn''t that be the best solution?" "Yes, but what if he Parties with someone else? Do I have to give Blessings to them all?" "I see," Edomael muttered tapping his fingers rhythmically on his thigh. "Can''t you give Hidden Among the Masses skill to Crue?" I asked. "It''s a race-specific skill. A Blessing, on the other hand, can circumvent that, but if I give out too many Blessings I''ll get yelled at by the rest of the gods. I''m already in trouble for granting you four, but I got a pass on that because Papa requested it no matter what." She was twisting her bracelet around her wrist. "I could do it. However, since I don''t have any connection with the Priest it will have to be worked through Eri," Edomael said, "but we still have the issue of additional Party members." "What if we made it into an item?" She held up her wrist and showed him the bracelet. "We could make it so that it can be duplicated," he looked at me. "We''d have to add duplication provisions. Can''t have him going out and making thousands of them creating a super army." "Hey!" What kind of person did they think I was. I wasn''t the type to go out and take over the world. "We can make it so that he has to request permission from you before it can be duplicated. After all, you are the one who will be creating the item," Amoris pointed out. "I don''t want to deal with it, I''ll just make it so you can give permission. You are his godly liaison anyway. "To make an item that will work with Party, his Gamer Glass, share the Blessings, and be required to have divine permission to duplicate it, the item would have to be large." He held out both hands and expanded them to about two feet apart. "Not necessarily, if you have the item pierce the skin the spiritual flow will more than triple and you can keep the size of the item small. If we connect it to Hidden Among the Masses then it should reduce the size even more, but then you have to factor in the type of material so that the item can grow along with skill. I''ve had some success in that with these," she reached down and twisted her belly diamond. "Maybe earrings?" Edomael thought out loud, "no, in some southern areas having your ears pierced means you are a slave." He shook his head. "He already has the piercing as my priest. So it might be best to go with that. It won''t get yanked out in battle and is in a fairly covered location. If you add stones it will conduct the magic of the skill so that it can grow. Oh," she exclaimed with a hand clap, "make it pretty." "You OK with that?" I looked up at Crue. "I do already have the piercing. Though, we usually tend to go for simpler designs," he looked at Amoris'' diamond glinting as she played with it, "it''s not against the rules to get something a bit more intricate." "It being a gift from a god shouldn''t hurt either," I remarked. "That too, I''m sure Dickson will give even the gaudiest ornament a pass if it was a gift from a god," Crue nodded smiling slightly. "It won''t be gaudy," Amoris pouted at him. I immediately thought about the paisley underwear. Amoris gave me the look again. "Yellow cores, I think," Edomael held out his hand the other remaining at rest on his thigh. "I need both of you to touch my hand. You don''t really need to do anything." Crue let me sit up so that we could both reach out and touch Edomael''s palm. His palm began to glow white, like phosphorus on fire. After a flash that left white after images on my vision, Edomael held up a gold stylized sun. It was about the size of a large man''s thumb. It reminded me of a depiction of an Aztec sun. The metal was gold and was covered in dozens of tiny yellow stones. The back of the sun had a bar that would pierce the skin and a metal ball at the end that had a larger yellow stone. Once Crue put it on the circle part of the sun would surround his belly button while the end of the bar would be in the center. It was indeed pretty like Amoris requested. "If you were to equip it now the only stats that could be changed are your race. Not much good, since you don''t have the ability to change either of those. However, when Eri gets around to adding Exp to his skill, other options will open up for you as well." Edomael handed the item to Crue. Then he did his white flashing hand thing again. When he opened his palm a similar sun lay there, but this one looked like it was made with black metal and had tiny black stones. I expected him to hand it to Amoris since she had been looking at Crue''s sun with a bit of consideration. "This one is yours," he held his hand out to me. "What?" I was confused. Why did I need a belly ring, I already had the skill. "The item works by piercing the skin and being a magical conduit between the person who has the skill and the person who needs to use it. His won''t work unless you have one. You hold the main skill, which means you are the main source of the magic. That," He pointed at Crue''s hand holding the tiny yellow sun, "will be nothing but a piece of shiny jewelry without yours to fuel the magic of his." "I''m not pierced," I complained. I had never even so much as pierced my ears. My belly button with my slab of flab wasn''t going to happen. "We can fix that," Amoris said almost gleefully. A tray with all sorts of medical looking stuff popped up on the table. "Hold him down, dear" Edomael got up out of his seat and pushed me back into Crue''s lap. He only touched me enough to get me in a reclined position, but once there my body refused to move. I couldn''t even talk. *Skill Gain- Restraint~ Amoris walked up and sat on my thighs. She lifted up my shirt and slid the pants down enough to expose my stomach. Shit, I really did have a nice layer of flab. "Now this won''t hurt, much. Besides I can heal you right after it''s done." She started wiping my belly button with a cloth covered in brown liquid she got out of a bottle. Then she pulled out the thickest needle I had ever seen and a set of clamps. Oh, hell no! Move body, move! Damn it! I took a deep breath, vowing to close my eyes when she came at me. She pinched the skin around my belly button with the clamp then quickly followed through by piercing the needle into the skin. I didn''t even have time to close my eyes before it was done. I had this needle sticking through my skin. I stung like hell, but it didn''t hurt. She put her hand over where the needle stuck out and her hand began to glow. Then even the sting went away. She pulled the needle out of my skin and there was a completely healed hole. No need for starter bars or saline solution for me. She attached the black sun into the hole. It really didn''t suit me one bit. Edomael must have released his magic on me because I could move again. Though, having a goddess sitting in my lap was a good incentive not to move. "You''ll lose weight and you''ll start to grow into it. Trust me, in about three months it will look just as good on you as it does him," she waved at Crue. Traitor, letting a goddess pin me down, skewer me, and not even saying anything. *Item Equip- Succuba Star will allow members of your Party to use Hidden Among the Masses. You may choose to replicate Succuba Star when a new Party member is added. You will have to send in an item request to the Goddess Amoris. This item will only work with Party members, active or inactive. When Exp is added to Hidden Among the Masses Succuba Star''s power will also increase to reflect the change. Item will not work unless worn by both the host of Hidden Among the Masses and the recipient. Succuba Star can also be used as an MP reserve. The MP of any Succuba Star can be accessed by any member of the Party also wearing the Succuba Star. The amount of MP storage depends on the wearer''s base magic power. ~ "It can store MP," I said surprised. I glanced down, but then quickly up again. She was having fun teasing me. She leaned forward a bit to show off her assets. "It won''t be able to store a lot, but it should be enough for emergency measures. If a member of your party gets into trouble they can access the collective MP reserve." Edomael shifted trying to get a better view of his lover. "Oh, I see, why you did that," Amoris commented jiggling a little for effect, "Good thinking ahead." "About that," he looked at me again, "I''ve slowed down your maturation, but when you near the end of your puberty phase you will need that MP to keep your party alive. So be sure to fill it as much as you can every day." "What is going to happen when he matures?" Crue asked. "Normally, a Succuba will go into a state of heat. They will literally need feed off of three things sex, love, and lust." Amoris was practically laying on top of me at this point. She reached out a hand and began to play with the hair by my ear. "Any combination of the three will work, but sexual intercourse will be what he most craves. He won''t be able to make very rational judgments during this time. He will be hyper-focused on getting enough food to complete his transformation," she paused and laid her head on my newly pierced stomach. "They don''t feed literally of course. It''s more of an absorption of the emotions and spiritual energy that is given off when a sexual act takes place." "So actual physical intercourse isn''t technically necessary?" Crue asked. Good question, I didn''t want to go around to visit prostitutes with possible nasty diseases if I didn''t have to. "Going to a prostitute will be your best bet during that time. So you should reconcile yourself to that eventually. However, Crue is right in that you don''t actually have to be physical with someone. "As long as you are able to bring your partner to orgasm, or vice versa, then there should be enough emotion and spiritual energy generated to sate you for a short while. The acts of kissing and touching will also generate small amounts of emotion you can feed on, but it will be like taking little sips of water when you are in the desert dying of thirst. "Crue is actually well suited to be your support during this time. He has the Sexual Healing Special Skill," she paused again stiffening and glanced at Crue from over my body. Crue had subtly shifted his weight pulling himself from underneath me. Amoris sighed and lifted herself up and sat on the floor leaning against Edomael''s leg. He reached down and pet her hair. "People can be unusually cruel, child," Edomael whispered looking Crue in the eye, "It''s not shameful to want to distance yourself from that toxicity." Crue got that tilted head look he got when Amoris was talking to him in his mind. He shook his head sadly and looked at her, then shook his head again. "We can''t let this continue," she said to Edomael looking up at him. "I will support you in whatever decision you make, but tread lightly, you know what happens when we interfere too much." I was out of the telepathic loop so to speak, but even I could tell by body language and conversation that something had happened. I''m not that dense to atmosphere, so I didn''t interrupt with dumb questions. Amoris stood up and squeezed Edomael''s bicep. Then she walked over to Crue who had his head down and turned away not looking at any of us. His arms were crossed and he was hunched in on himself. "My child, we aren''t as cruel as to turn a blind eye when something like this is presented before us. We can''t fix every wrong. It''s even taboo for us to interfere in most cases. We are supposed to let mortals work out their own problems, no matter how horrific they may be." She touched the top of Crue''s head and stroked down to his chin forcing him to look up at her. "There are exceptions to every rule. The biggest exception is when something horrific is happening to a child and the mortals cannot act. I swear to you now," she waved back at Edomael, "we will deliver justice." Crue tried to nod, but it was only slight since she still had her hand under his chin. Then Amoris began to glow silver and they both disappeared in a flash of silver light. Chapter 13 I Meet Justice Part A Chapter 13 I Meet Justice Part A "We should probably follow them," Edomael sighed sadly his wings drooping to the floor. "You have a basic understanding of what is going on with your body. I think any other questions can wait until you actually enter your maturation." He stood up and his entire body flashed white. The back was the normal human looking Edomael. He had lost his black bathrobe and slippers and was wearing something more like white light armor. He wore a long-sleeved black shirt but had a white metal cuirass, that covered both his chest and back, over it. He also wore long white metal bracers on each forearm. He had on black doeskin leather pants. They looked stretchy and soft with none of that rock star shine you often see on leather. On his shins, he had white metal grieves over tall white boots. All his armor had stylized white on white pictures of birds. He was also wearing a laurel wreath style crown, but instead leaves, his crown was made with white feathers. I wouldn''t at all be surprised if it had been made using his very own feathers. While all this was very militaristic, the most eye-catching item was actually a bow and quiver. I had taken two semesters of archery in college to complete my physical education requirement and I had learned a little bit about bows. This bow was just beautiful. It was definitely a type of recurve bow. I could tell that even when it was unstrung. Though this one seemed larger than any recurve bow I''d used in college and it looked like it had been made with white marble. I knew it couldn''t be marble because a bow has to be flexible. It would also probably be too heavy. It was honestly something straight out of a fantasy since it also had fine feathers carved onto the surface. Of course, his quiver matched his white on white bird themed armor, but his arrows looked normal enough even though I suspected they were fletched with his own feathers. "Where did they go?" I stood and put my hands firmly to my sides. I didn''t trust myself not to touch the bow to find out what it was made of. "To her temple. She''s probably causing a small riot as we speak." He gave a sardonic smile. "Are you going to tell me what is going on, or am I to be left in the dark?" "Some of the story I can not tell you since it deals with the Priest personally. However, since you will probably hear about most of it anyway..." He trailed off and went to push back his hair with his hand, discovered the feather crown and had to stop. His hand dropped to his side. "Crue is a healer and as a healer when there is an emergency he is called upon. "Several weeks ago Crue had to deal with a case of miscarriage. Only this time the mother-to-be was only a ten-year-old girl. She had obviously been bleeding for a while without anyone tending to her and if they had waited much longer the girl would have died. After stopping the bleeding, he succumbed to magic taxation and passed out, leaving another healer in charge of the little girl. "Even the most inept healer could see that this girl had been suffering from long-term sustained abuse. The woman who took over insisted that the guard be called. It is the law that anything of this nature must be reported. "The mother who had brought the girl in was really upset about this and demanded to see the head priest. When she finally convinced that there was no choice in the matter, she left her daughter alone at the temple to get her husband. "The husband shows up, without the mother, around the same time as the guard. He is ranting and raving about rape and how he knew it was his neighbor. His neighbor had always been eyeballing his girl and everyone knew his neighbor wasn''t right in the head. "The guards take statements from the father then while the father was standing there took a statement from the girl. The girl backed her father''s claim that the neighbor had been abusing her. The guards arrest the neighbor and released the girl into the father''s custody. "Now, the problem is that the neighbor who is due to executed next week is innocent. Before Crue passed out he was able to learn that it was actually the father and both her brothers systematically raping this girl ever since she was very young and the mother knew about it. "When he finally woke up, he told the head priest. Alarmed, they both went to the magistrate with this story. The magistrate heard them out, then dismissed their claims as inadmissible. "Then the magistrate practically tells them both to keep their mouth''s shut. If they were found spreading false rumors about an upstanding member of the town council then they would find not only themselves in jail, but the temple would be shut down. "Crue later found out that the magistrate actually holds a share in the man''s business and that the man''s neighbor was actually the man''s main business rival. "It''s a tale of true corruption with an innocent child being made a victim of powerful men''s plotting. "That''s why we chose to step in. We aren''t allowed to interfere with things like wars or large power struggles that can determine the fates of thousands. We can interfere with the small things and as callous as it may seem, this is something very small in the grand scheme of things." It was a terrible story, and I could see how anyone would be angered at such an injustice. I also knew that Edomael was leaving out parts of the story. The way Crue had reacted told me something else was going on. I could understand the girl not talking in front of her father, but why had she been fine telling Crue in front of her mother when the mother was obviously complacent in the abuse? I also wondered about Amoris. Yes, she was a goddess, but how did that change the circumstances? Would she just zap the entire family to dust? She was a bit unpredictable, so smiting wasn''t out of the question. "When we get involved in something like this, when we give our divine judgment, mortals usually don''t question our authority to do so. After all, we can divine the true hearts of mortals." He paused then added, "there are a lot of you so we can''t go around looking into the souls of every being. "We have limited omnipotence. We don''t see everything all the time. That would drive even a god mad to have that much information constantly inside our heads. We choose where to focus our omnipotence. "Typically, we only get involved when an area begins to accrue a lot of negative energy or miasma. It''s usually the miasma that draws our attention to the problem. So far this town still has an acceptable level of miasma, but given another year the actions of these few individuals would have created so much miasma that we, or some other gods, would have likely stepped in any way. "Even though we have a loose non-interference policy with mortals, clearing miasma is part of our duty. My brother believes that excess miasma would cause Apep to rise again and he does have a point since last time Apep was around, the world was suffocatingly thick with negative energy. So even though we are interfering earlier than necessary, we shouldn''t get into too much trouble." "I see, so you are going to go help Amoris with this?" "She doesn''t really need my help, but since I was present when the situation came to light I am obligated to stand as witness and to perform my duties when this is over." He glanced up slightly then said, "incoming. Don''t say anything stupid." Four seconds after he said something, a woman walked through the door. The first thing you noticed about her was her armor. Scarlet plate mail was worn over top white embroidered clothes similar to Edomael''s. The next thing you noticed was the big fricking sword strapped to her back. I didn''t know much about swords other than the stuff I''d learned playing video games, but this sword looked like a claymore. It wasn''t anything fancy, like Edomael''s bow, but it looked wicked sharp where parts of it stuck out of the odd-looking sheath. The tip of the blade rested in a traditional leather sheath, the main body of the sword was bare, but was held in place by two leather straps snapped over the cross piece. It seemed nearly impossible for someone so small to wield such a large weapon. She was small, shorter than me, maybe a bit taller than Illia. She was very muscular though, I knew without a doubt she''d be able to take on all the big burly adventurers in the Guildhall no problem. While she was diminutive and appeared strong she had this fluid grace about her that was distracting. It was almost as if she was moving to music only she could hear. Her skin was a dark mocha color and her hair worn in a red metal headband was black and very curly. It swayed with her as she walked into the room. It looked very soft, like a fluffy black cloud. Her eyes were completely black, no whites, no iris, just a solid black. Somehow they didn''t seem alien, but they absolutely suited her. She focused her black eyes on me and I could practically feel her judging me. Goosebumps popped up on my arms. It was also pretty damn obvious that she was a goddess. She had that omnipotent feel to her gaze. "This is Aequitas," Edomael introduced us, "Quita this is Eri. His name is short for Veritas. So in a way, the two of you are name buddies." "An Elrich Goddess with a Latin name?" Seriously, who wouldn''t question that? "My father chose this name, Child of the Winged Death and the Flighty One," she pushed some of her hair back off her shoulder. "It is Latin from your world, but have you not noticed child? The language of this world also has similar words to your home. The reason for this is because we gods enjoy world hopping. We frequently have other world visitors to Elrich and some of those other gods brought along some unique words. They''ve stuck around in the common lexicon." "More important than word entomology, why are you here Quita?" Edomael interrupted. "Yes," she turned her gaze towards the window, "I was notified of several grave injustices taking place in this area stemming from nearly eight months ago. Your situation seems to cross mine. I had just finished up the paperwork for an intervention and submitted it yesterday. I just received verification this morning. "I have been watching the magistrate of this town," she shook her head, "This situation is further reaching than either you or Amoris suspect." "Well, I''m glad you were able to get verification. This way we won''t have to have another meeting where everyone scolds her for acting rashly." "She does act too rashly, but in this case, I believe her actions may be time sensitive." "I see, if that is the case why come here to me first before heading to her temple?" "It would be rude to walk into another''s temple while the god is present without an invite. You have that invite so I will tag along." "I think you are the only one who observes that custom anymore." "It''s still considered polite." While this conversation was taking place I was searching for Aequitas in my Gamer Glass. *Aequitas, Goddess of Justice, law, and equality, military justice, honor, and heroic endeavors. Not necessarily fairness since she is also the goddess of military strategy. Considered one of the wiser Gods. Patron goddess of town guards. She is the twin sister of the God of War.~ So she was a military goddess and a goddess of law. It made sense that she would be involved in this situation. There was an innocent man who was going to die. I''m sure that would draw her attention. "It''s not just one innocent man, child," she commented in my direction. She had picked up Edomael''s quiver and was playing with one of the arrows. "There have been no less than five innocent men put to death in this town within the last six months, but you will see for yourself later. "Edomael, do you think you can let me have some of these arrows? I want to gift them to my brother. He''s been grumpy lately because no one is warring. I''m hoping to cheer him up, and your arrows are always the best." She bounced Edomael''s arrow in the air a bit testing its flexibility. "I have a surplus at home, would a bundle of fifty suffice? It would be a gift of thanks of course. After all, you are letting us tag along on your verification so Amoris won''t get in more trouble." "Fifty would be fine. "So should we get going then? Your part in this doesn''t begin until the end, but I need to get there earlier." She placed the arrow back into the quiver and turned to the door. "She should have gotten things started by now, so we probably should," Edomael stood beside me and patted my shoulder. "It was nice meeting you both," I held out my hand. Edomael glanced at me and picked up his bow. Aequitas held the quiver out to him. "Child of the Scatterbrained, you are coming with us." She turned those dark eyes on me. More goosebumps and my scalp began to tingle where my hair was standing on end. "I don''t understand, I don''t have anything to do with any of this. Why do you need me?" "Your role will also be at the end. While the young priest is stable of mind, he''s been dealing with a lot of trauma recently. He''ll need you to distract him when this is over," Edomael explained. "I''m sure he''s got other people who he''s known far longer than me. I just met him yesterday." "It''s because you just met him yesterday. All you really need to do is distract him from his problems long enough for the shock of what''s about to happen to wear off. Take him to dinner, get him drunk, go flirt with women. That''s your job." "Child of the Great Mistake Maker, you probably won''t get the chance to see a true godly triumvirate again in your lifetime. While it is not a pleasant way to meet our worshipers, the people will take any chance to see us in the flesh so to speak. It will literally be standing room only, and you have the chance at a front row seat." Aequitas said patting me on the other shoulder. I was getting the impression that she didn''t think highly of Amoris. "Personally, I can do without the fanfare." Edomael crossed his arms in a sigh. "I need to make it very clear that this sort of behavior will never be tolerated. So I need witnesses to spread the word." "I understand that, but I don''t have to like it." He shook his head and glanced at the ceiling. "Even the gods themselves sometimes have to do things we would rather not. This is perhaps more especially true for you I would think." She patted his bicep in a show of sympathy. "I think there are aspects of us all that we would rather not have to deal with," Edomael sighed and then reached out and squeezed my shoulder. He and Aequitas sort of pushed me towards the door. I opened the door and the three of us walked through. Dunbar and two guild employees were standing right outside. "Gods above," Dunbar whispered. "I see you made an entrance," Edomael commented to Aequitas. "A rather elderly man saw me pop in and come into the room." "Hi," I waved at the three Guild employees standing in the hall, "Um, Crue already popped out with Amoris so the room is free if you need it." I knew they weren''t waiting on the room, but I thought it was polite to say something. "A situation has come up." Dunbar choked a bit, the two other employees stood their jaws open. I hoped the older Dunbar wasn''t prone to heart attacks. He''d had a shock today. Edomael led us both down the hall and passed the three Guild members. "Are we not, poofing," I made a poofing motion with my hands, "away?" "It looks like we are going to walk, to make a show of it so to speak." Edomael shook his head and glanced at Aequitas with a bit of consternation. Well, hell. The last thing I wanted to do was walk around town with two gods on either side. Before that though, we would have to go through the Guildhall. I turned my head. Dunbar and the two other Guild employees followed along behind. Would we develop a line like this all the way to the temple? "Let''s hope so, I want people to witness justice being served." Aequitas linked her arm with mine and had me escort her past the counters with the Guild employees. She probably was trying to keep me from running away. People were still lined up for either lunch or for the service counter. It was rather busy. Neither god did anything unusual that I noticed, but gradually all the hustle and bustle of the room quieted. Perhaps a hundred people turned eyes this way and watched as the gods, and me, passed through the hall. I had a feeling that this would turn into a mini parade by the time we got to the temple. I was surprised that not one person had the courage to ask what was going on. That would be the first thing I would have done, then again I wasn''t born in this world so I probably wouldn''t have recognized a god or goddess if they happened to just walk by on the street. Come to think of it, I don''t think most people of this world would have recognized just any god or goddess either. There were a bunch of minor ones after all. Edomael and Aequitas were part of the original twelve. They probably had statues in their temples as Amoris did. So they would be easy enough to spot if you''d been seeing statues of them all your life. People cleared out of the way and one huge bald guy with an eye patch held the door open. As we came out front there was a lot of jostling at the door. Everyone wanted to see outside, but no one wanted to cross the threshold just yet. There was a lot of craning necks and shoving. We made our way down the road. I glanced back and it looked like the Guild building had just spat out a bunch of people. They followed at a distance, but still, they followed. Street vendors abandoned their carts, people came out of stores looking around at what was happening, children not knowing better ran alongside us until a matronly woman corralled them to the back with the rest of the people. We even picked up a few town guards who simultaneously looked concerned and confused. We ran into Sturgis and his men a few blocks away from the Temple. We intersected at a Y in the road. He stood there for a full three seconds mouth agape before he spotted me. "What is going on," he staged hissed at me from about ten feet away. Good man, asking the pertinent questions. I applauded him in my mind. "Come, stand with us older sibling of the Priest," Edomael waved at him. "Your men can follow behind with the rest." Sturgis'' face paled and he actually stumbled a bit in his step. "He''s not in trouble," I hurried to assure him. Good lord what he must be feeling. A Death God addresses you as the brother of the Priest the first thing you are going to do is come to all sorts of misunderstandings. "He''s just a witness so to speak." I waved my free arm around indicating who knows what, but it was meant to be reassuring. "I was summoned by Commander Tagert. All captains are supposed to go to Amoris'' Temple immediately," Sturgis staged whisper again from nearly 5 feet away from me. He kept giving slightly panicked looks at Aequitas and Edomael. "Were you not told what was going on?" I asked him. That part seemed important for a captain of the guard to know. "No, I was the only captain at the gate when the orders came in," He shook his head in the negative. "Do you want to explain?" I asked the goddess standing on my left. She had been ignoring all of the commotion and was firmly leading me at a steady pace towards the temple. "I do not wish to explain it twice," she said simply. I looked over my shoulder at Edomael. "Your brother inadvertently brought to Amoris'' attention a grave miscarriage of justice. I was just there to save my son from my lover," he nodded at me. Sturgis'' mouth hit the ground. I had a feeling that it wasn''t the part about his brother that shocked him. "If you are going to go around calling me your son, then I should get a birthday present," I laughed making it a joke. The last thing I needed was to stand out even more because people thought I was the literal son of a god. To Sturgis I said, "He zapped me with some extra juice during my reincarnation cycle and viola." I waved at myself. I intentionally left out just when that had happened and just how much godly juju I had been hit with. "Oh," Sturgis laughed, "some of the Priests of Edomael have said the same thing. Murray has a gift of being able to cure the worst insomnia." He nodded his head in understanding. So this was a common enough thing for it to be passed over as just something that happens. "That doesn''t explain this though," Sturgis waved at the parade and the two gods. "I don''t know where to start to be honest," I told him. "I guess it would start with my new job, I think." "New Job?" Sturgis asked. As we talked normally, he came a little closer and he stopped trying to stage whisper. "I was hired to be the new Surveyor for the Guild. Crue is supposed to train me. We had a meeting this morning. Crue is a Priest of Amoris and I''m her Oracle. She decided to pop in on our meeting and accidentally sort of almost killed me." "Sounds like her," he muttered, then gave a quick glance at Edomael to be sure he didn''t offend the god. Edomael just shrugged it off. Really now, how often did Amoris accidentally kill mortals that it was just shrugged off like that? "Crue kept me alive long enough for her to get help from Edomael," I pushed on. I was stretching the truth a bit, but I figured it was for the best. "I guess because of my extra reincarnation juju from him," I nodded behind me, "it was harder for Amoris to save me. So he had to come down and fix me. One conversation led to another. Point being gods can read minds and Crue thought about something he had witnessed a while back." I paused. Then glanced at the parade behind us. We weren''t that far from the temple at this point. The rest would be hard to talk about. I waved Sturgis closer and dropped my tone.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. "Crue was called on to heal a little girl who had a miscarriage. He found out that she was being raped and that the wrong man was going to be executed. When he went to this towns magistrate he was told not to say anything or the Amoris Temple would encounter problems." I used my free hand to make air quotes around the word problems. "I don''t know much about the politics involved, but it was enough to prevent both Crue and Dickson from speaking up." "It''s been tearing the poor boy apart," Edomael sighed, "He hates himself for allowing an innocent man to be executed. He hates himself for knowing that the Amoris Temple closing would mean hundreds of people would go without medical treatment, being that they are the best healing temple in this town. The clients could literally die without the temple. So he''s had to weigh the potential lives of the people of this town against the life of this one man and the continued abuse of this girl." Edomael looked at Sturgis. "Of course he couldn''t go to his family. You might have believed him, but your father? No," Edomael shook his head, "Your father would have sided with the magistrate." Sturgis looked like he would have argued, but the temple was in sight. There was already a fairly large crowd forming out front. The man at the door was doing his best to keep people from rushing the door to look inside. A younger looking priestess was helping him keep order. They looked to be losing as people pressed closer to the doors. That was until someone spotted us. Then everything seemed to get very still in the crowd. Children still ran around and played, but the adults seemed to all freeze. The still people made it easier to spot the commotion coming towards the temple in the opposite direction. A group of eight armed guards was leading a group of people towards the temple. "Excuse me," Edomael suddenly sprinted, would you call something that looked almost like instant teleportation a sprint, towards the group. "Good call," Aequitas muttered. Then she looked at Sturgis obviously annoyed, "Is it common practice for the guards to escort the victim along with the abuser to a trial?" "No," Sturgis said as Edomael picked up a child from the center of the group and disappeared. His sudden appearance and disappearance looked to have scared the life out of everyone else in that party. The woman near the center of the crowd was yelling and demanding that the guards save her baby. "Wait a minute," I gripped Aequitas'' arm, "are you telling me those guys actually thought it was a good idea to bring the girl in with her father and then parade her in front of this crowd?" Just the thought of what that would do to the girl pissed me off. It was bad enough she would have to live with this, but to have to deal with being paraded in front of a crowd? Whoever gave those orders had a lot to answer for. "What," Sturgis hissed. To his credit, I think he pieced together what was going on quickly. He marched off and confronted the other group. He began to yell and shout at his men. A large middle-aged man began to shout back at him. Two younger men began to argue as well. All the while the woman was yelling about her baby being kidnapped. "Enough of this," Aequitas drug me along beside her making a path through the crowd in front of the temple with just her look. Her look was more than a little frightening. If she had been coming after me looking like that I probably would have pissed my pants and fled in the other direction. She went from beautiful to scary as hell in an instant. "You men," she said in a low voice to the guards, "have a lot to answer for." Sturgis took a knee and bowed his head. All the other guards followed suit. Oh, Lotte, was near the back with a middle-aged woman. Lotte bowed too, her face going pale then bright red. "Who the hell are you!" One of the younger men yelled at Aequitas. I thought the temple area had been quiet before, now I could probably hear a pin drop with the intake of a collective gasp. "That is Aequitas Goddess of Justice, among other things. The man who just took off with your daughter is Edomael, God of Death," A woman stood in the doorway of the temple and spoke in a calm voice that barely concealed the rage she was holding in, "I am Amoris, Goddess of Love, but in this case I am acting as the Goddess of CONSENSUAL sex." She spoke the word consensual as if it should be in all capital letters. "Since there are now three of us this should make for quite the triumvirate." "No," the middle-aged fat man whispered. Looking at first one goddess then the other. He looked like he was about to faint. He had been flush-faced before while yelling, but you could literally see the color draining from his face. Then he took a deep breath and tried to collect himself. All the muscles in his body tensed, then he tried to run for it. The guards not only had failed to separate the victim from the abuser they had also failed to tie up the accused. Sturgis had been reprimanding his men about this when the middle age guy started to argue and bluster. Apparently, he had used his position in this town to browbeat the guards. The only thing the guards had managed to do properly was deliver the family to the temple. Once the father ran for it, two of the three boys made a break for it too. The middle-aged woman stood in the back with a confused looking teenage boy. Just by looking at the expression on his face I had the gut feeling that this boy really had no idea what was going on. Aequitas, who was still holding onto my arm squeezed it briefly. Then she let go. It seemed to happen in a span of seconds. Her sword was drawn and somehow it reached all three fleeing men. It was a large sword, but they had fled in opposite directions. Yet, all three were on the ground screaming and holding the stumps of where their left foot should have been. I would swear that she only swung the sword once. How she managed to amputate three people running in different directions, without hitting any of the guards or bystanders, with one swing? I couldn''t tell you. I expected to be shocked or appalled. The scent of blood and someone''s bladder letting loose hit me with the slight breeze. If I had witnessed something like this on Earth I probably would have lost it. You don''t see this level of violence carried out in front of you. Yet, as I stood there expecting disgust or something to manifest in my emotions, I got nothing. I didn''t feel anything, but a slight displeasure at the smell. I was actually more stressed out by my lack of reaction than the event itself. What was wrong with me? "Tie up these men immediately, then get them inside. Drag them if you have to. I am out of patience. Have someone heal them enough so that they don''t bleed all over the temple floor. It would be a waste of magic to reattach the limbs, so don''t bother." Aequitas looked at the group like they were the nastiest of cockroaches. The woman''s face paled even more, and she began to dry heave. The teenager still seemed confused, but moved to help his brothers. A look from Aequitas stopped him. He hesitated only briefly before helping his mother by holding her hair and patting her back. I could see the boy''s emotions as they played across his face, confused, to panicked, to rage as he watched his family being tormented around him. Aequitas used the back of the young man who had questioned who she was, to wipe the blood off her sword. She walked passed me as she re-sheathed it. Then she paused, turned around, looked at me and held out her arm. I caught up with her and we linked arms again. We made our way into the temple with the only sound coming from three screaming men. "There is nothing wrong with you," Aequitas said in an undertone, "You''ve been re-born into a harsher world. If you panic every time a monster attacks or someone dies you won''t survive. So your fight or flight instincts have been changed to reflect the norms of this world. Those instincts are still adapting though so they might be a bit out of sync. Don''t be overly concerned if you find yourself panicking over mundane issues, but blase during times like this." So I wasn''t a dribbling mess of emotion, and wet pants, because my sense of danger had been changed. It was an odd feeling knowing I should feel something, yet not knowing why I couldn''t feel it. In a way, I was grateful for the explanation, at least I could stop stressing out about not reacting the way I thought I should be reacting. Amoris met us at the door, watching as two of her healers went out to heal the three men. Brief orders were given by Amoris as they passed by her. They nodded acknowledgment and descended the stairs to begin staunching the blood. There had been people on the stairs leading up to the temple as we had approached it, but as the situation escalated it seemed as if by agreement all the people had cleared the steps. The crowd now circled the temple on either side of the road. Aequitas stood on the stairs to the entrance of the temple as if waiting for something. She was giving Amoris some serious eye contact. Amoris sighed heavily and relaxed her posture. "Come in and be welcome into my home," Amoris said formally. "Your hospitality is well received," Aequitas nodded her head in acknowledgment. I assumed this was tradition and didn''t even bother to question it. "That was certainly a show," Amoris commented. "And your announcing to everyone who we are and that we are here as a triumvirate wasn''t a show?" Aequitas retorted. "True, but you aren''t here for those three." "Not originally no, but after seeing their thoughts and the color of their spirits," Aequitas winced. "I understand," Amoris hissed, "I would have cut off more than a foot." "Unfortunately, it gets worse. I''m here for the magistrate after all." Both goddess'' looked at each other and seemed to share an unspoken understanding. Amoris came up to me and linked with my other arm. Really now, I wasn''t going to run away at this point. Why did I suddenly become the guy stuck in a goddess sandwich? Dickson stood off to the side of the large room with Crue, a priestess I hadn''t met yet, and a man in full armor. All three priests looked worn out and pale as death. The man in armor looked just as bad. It was probably a good thing we had a death god handy because they looked like they were about to drop any second. What had Amoris done to make them look so haggard? "I yelled at them a bit," Amoris answered hand on hip. "I hope you made it clear where they went wrong. You have a tendency to miss the point," Aequitas commented. "Where they went wrong?" I questioned. "As soon as the temple was threatened by the magistrate they should have gone to Amoris," Aequitas answered. "She means they should have prayed for my help. They are my priests after all and since it''s my temple in jeopardy I should have been told right away," Amoris added. "That one?" Aequitas pointed at the man in armor a question in her voice. "When I found out you were coming I decided to leave his scolding to you. He''s one of your worshipers after all." "Very good," Aequitas nodded in confirmation, "it seems like I am going to have to scold the entire guard and my own priests in this town. It was a series of mistakes made in large part by them that allowed this problem to get so out of hand. "I apologize for the trouble my people have caused you," Aequitas bowed her head to Amoris. "My Lady, no," the guy in armor protested. "You will see in a short while just how lacking you and your men have been," she answered sternly. I wondered who he was, was he a priest of Aequitas? "We should do introductions when everyone gathers," Amoris commented. "Some of Edomael''s men are already here. He brought them in after he saved the child. I have two of this temples best healers working with his people on the girl now. It seems she''s with child again and has been slowly been fed a poison so she would miscarry this one as well. Edomael''s priests say the fetus is already dead and it''s just a matter of time before her body rejects it." I glanced at Crue. I felt terrible for the girl, but Crue''s feelings must be amplified a thousandfold. It wasn''t his fault. He had honestly tried to fix things. It was the father and the corruption of the legal system in this town that was at fault. Still, he probably felt like boulders of guilt were being piled up on his shoulders. The door to the temple opened and the three screaming men were carried in. Followed by the middle-aged woman and the teenage boy. The woman was crying as if it had finally hit her what was about to happen. The teenager was trying to comfort his mother while shooting dirty looks at the guards and, once fully inside, at Aequitas. Sturgis stood to the side and kept trying to make eye contact with his brother. Crue refused to look at anything but the floor. Both brothers stood as if they had rods shoved up their spines, arms clasped tightly behind their backs. You could tell that Sturgis wanted to leave the prisoners to his guards and talk with his brother, but after his men had screwed up so badly, he couldn''t just abandon his duty. "This way," Dickson suddenly spoke up and broke off to lead the group into the room with the statue of Amoris. There were several priests and priestess kneeling out of the way backs against the walls of the room. The prisoners were made to sit on the floor in front of the statue. That included the mother and the teenage boy. The three men had their feet reattached but were bound up so they couldn''t run again. However, while the three men had been tied up like ordered, the woman and the teenager were left unbound. No one commented on this, so I assumed this was fine with Aequitas and Amoris. That''s when Edomael popped in holding another middle-aged man by the arm. He was dressed in old, tattered, and stained clothes that were several sizes too large for him. He had no shoes and his hair and beard were unkempt and looked infested. He smelled terrible too like he hadn''t bathed in months. Amoris jumped into action on that. She instructed a couple of the kneeling priests to have the man bathed, shaved, and provided with clothing that fit. Men sprung into action and they practically drug the man away from Edomael in order to complete their Lady''s bidding. Edomael followed them. The fat man on the floor started swearing when the other ragged man appeared and he didn''t stop when he was escorted out of the room. "Why was he tortured?" Aequitas addressed her guards rather calmly. "I don''t know, Lady," the man in the armor bowed. "You should know when one of your prisoners has their tongue cut out shouldn''t you?" "His," the man paused then gulped, "I should have known, Lady. I don''t understand how this happened." "Your men were swayed by money, Commander," she hissed. Shit, she was going into making me want to flee for my life mode. "You''ll know who they were soon enough," Amoris commented, "We just need to wait for the final people to get here before we start." Aequitas visibly worked on trying to relax. Pacing the room and opening then clenching her fists. She even kicked the corner of a bench a couple times. After taking a few deep breaths she turned around and stood over the fat man who was still swearing. "Shut up," she hissed. That amount of menace in those words literally gave me chills. Her hand moving to grip the hilt of her sword didn''t help tone down the aggression. Goosebumps ran up and down my arms and I shivered a little. The middle age woman actually yipped and hid her head in her hands. "She''s normally a very pleasant person," Amoris commented beside me, rubbing her hand up and down my arm, "but this situation has gotten us a little enraged." "It''s not the worst issue we''ve come across, not even close," Aequitas whispered looking up at the ceiling. She still had her hand behind her head stroking the hilt of her sword as if it were a security blanket. "No," Amoris answered, "Not by a long shot, but even still, it is upsetting every time. You''d think we''d become more jaded by the atrocities that mortals can commit." "We were born specifically to represent the thoughts and ideologies of mortal beings. I am the living embodiment of the concepts of justice and equality. You were literally born from the emotion love. All of us gods, we were created to specifically understand the mortal emotions. It''s probably because we were made to feel, that we can''t become jaded." "You may be right," Amoris said with a sigh, "it feels like it breaks a part of me each time though. There have been moments when I thought I''d shatter." "We are immortal, we can not shatter. No matter how broken you are there is always a way to put the pieces back together." "If you fall apart you''ll just end up in the Abyss anyway," Edomael came back into the room, "Then I''ll just toss you back together give you some wine and let you sleep over." "Aww, will you let us cuddle with your giant stuffed swan?" Amoris teased Edomael, though it sounded rather forced. It was a rather lame attempt at lightening the mood, but she at least tried. Wait, he had a giant stuffed swan? "Roger is mine. He would never sleep with anyone but me." Edomael smiled sadly, playing along. "You actually have a stuffed swan named Roger?" Aequitas asked. Leave it to a goddess to ask the relevant question. "He sleeps with him. Uses him as a body pillow," Amoris smiled a genuine smile. "Telling everyone about my bedroom habits, tsk," Edomael shook his finger back and forth and smiled. It was obvious he didn''t mind if people found out about Roger. If everyone else was like me they were all imagining a death god cuddled up with a swan. I had the added bonus of knowing what he looked like all shiny with wings. Somehow it didn''t seem right that a death god slept with a stuffed swan, a hellhound plushie maybe, but a swan? "I used to have a stuffed pig named Tupper," said the unidentified priestess shyly. "I actually still have him sitting on a shelf in my room." "My daughter has a rabbit she calls Bun Bun," the Commander in armor commented. "She''s going to be married next year." A handful of the surrounding priests commented that they too still had their childhood sleeping buddies. It had suddenly turned into a commentary on childhood toys. Wasn''t this supposed to be a serious occasion? Why was everyone acting as if this conversation at this moment was perfectly natural? Did they just not want a god to feel alone? "Everyone has a good idea of what will happen," Amoris whispered by my side just loud enough for me to hear her. "Sharing childhood memories is helping them cope with the stress." There was a loud bang out in the hall. The Commander jumped then glanced at Aequitas. He had started to head for the door, then paused as if asking permission of the goddess. Sturgis had begun to move as well but was waved back in place by the Commander. Another rather loud bang could be heard, but this time you could also hear swearing. Quite colorful uses of adjectives. Any seaside bawdy sailor would have been hard-pressed to come up with so many insults for a person''s parentage. As the Commander reached the door, it swung inward at the same time. Six heavily armored men drug in a thin, greasy looking, rat-faced man. Literally, drug him in. They had him trussed up like a turkey and were pulling him into the room by a long rope. He could have used his feet if he wanted to, but he lay on his back, arms tied in front, and forced the guards to drag him into the room. A decorative vase, levitated from a nearby stand, flew past me and smashed into the head of one of the guards pulling the rope. Lucky for him, his helmet blocked most of the blow, but shards of pottery went flying in all directions. *Skill Gain- Telekinesis~ The rat-faced man was using magic to attack the guards. That was most likely what the banging had been about in the other room. The offering plate at the base of Amoris'' statue launched itself next, spinning like a frisbee through the air at another guard. Fortunately for the guard, Crue was standing near the statue and plucked the plate out of the air as it spun by. The plate jerked in his hand a few times, then stopped. A tray with ribbons and locks of hair bashed into Dickson, who wasn''t as quick as Crue. Hair and multi-colored ribbons scattered across the floor. All the while the rat-faced man was swearing. A vein was popping on his forehead, and his eyes were going a bit buggy. He was breathing heavy. Every chance he got he tried to kick out at anyone who approached him. His luck ran out when the guards drug him past Edomael and he launched a kick in his direction. The rat-faced man suddenly froze. His eyes darted around and his vein was still pulsing, but other than that he didn''t seem able to move. My guess was that Edomael had used restraint on him. I looked for more flying objects. Nothing, it was good to know that restraint also prohibited magical abilities as well. "I see," Amoris hissed. She looked like a feral alley cat for a second before her features smoothed. I''d never really see anyone with eyes that you could say burned, but hers actually looked like a bonfire had been lit behind them. They blazed with the anger she was attempting to hold in. Edomael had turned his back to the crowd. His shoulders moved up and down as he took a series of deep breaths. He was squatting with his hands on his knees focusing hard on a spot on the floor. At the end of each breath, he''d jerk his head as if fighting with himself. "This," Aequitas waved her hand towards the man, "is why I am involved." "Magistrate Givens?" one of the priests who had been standing quietly along the side of the room whispered the question as if he was truly puzzled at this turn of events. "You," Aequitas pointed at the priest who had just spoken, "go tell the people outside that they may enter. This is a rather large sanctuary so we should be able to fit most of that crowd in here. Warn them that sentencing will take place immediately in the town square after the triumvirate. No children will be allowed to witness this, so have people get them out of the area. Leave some room though because there will be one more person kneeling on this floor. He seems to be heading here of his own accord. "Commander Tagert, have your men assist in preparing the square for sentencing. Not that one," the Commander had turned to give orders to Sturgis, "he needs to be here to witness the triumvirate. Send them." She pointed at four of the guards that had led in the family of prisoners. Lotte was not one of the guards picked since she still stood watch over the untied woman and teenager. Everyone jumped to do as Aequitas ordered. The prisoners were lined up single file facing the statue. I was led to stand over by Crue and Dickson, off to the left-hand side of the statue. The guards stood to the right and directed the crowd into the room as they filed in. Even though the room was large it became crowded quickly. The benches had been pushed to the sides so it was standing room only. Even the minstrels'' gallery behind the statue was filled, though the people up there wouldn''t be able to see much of the proceedings. Three men walked in wearing black clothing and white on black priest vestments. The priests of Amoris all wore the silver on pink silk embroidered scarves with their regular clothes. I couldn''t tell the difference between ranks exactly, but even I could tell that the amount of embroidery around the symbols designated rank. Lower rank less embroidery. One of the men wearing the white on black vestment had enough embroidery to rival Dickson. I could only assume he was the head priest for Edomael. Black and white seemed to be his colors so it made some logical sense. I knew they had been in the process of healing the girl so they would have been in the building. The head priest of Edomael nodded at Dickson, but they didn''t share a greeting since another man wearing a red on white vestment came in. He didn''t have as much embroidery on his, only enough that I could see that he outranked Crue, but didn''t outrank Dickson. He had to be a priest of Aequitas, but why didn''t they send the head priest? I gave a questioning look at Crue, and he explained before the priest of Aequitas reached us. "The head priest died nearly a year ago, the main temple in the capital has to confirm the head priest. They usually wait a year before confirmation. He is the highest ranking priest of Aequitas currently in Yellow Springs." He sounded the same as usual, but he was still doing everything he could to avoid eye contact with his brother,who was standing guard on the other side of the statue. One of the last people to file in was a priestess with the silver on pink. She led in the man that Edomael had transported in. They had cleaned him up and given him a fresh change of clothes that actually fit him. He looked better, but you could tell at a glance that he was undernourished and sickly. Now that he had been cleaned up you could see where patches of his hair had started to fall out from malnourishment. His face, now shaven, looked skeletal and it made his eyes appear bug-eyed. In his hand, he held a glass bottle with some thick white liquid in it. He took sips from it every few seconds. If he tried to take too much at once the priestess would stop him with a slight tap on his wrist. It must have been some sort of medicine or nutritional supplement. I heard somewhere that when you are starved for a long time that if you eat a lot right away you could become sick. That''s probably what the priestess was trying to prevent when she stopped him from chugging the bottle. The poor man was sickly enough without adding that to his problems. There was a shimmer of amber light from the priestess as someone walked by her to find a place to stand in the crowd. She had been letting him use her arm as support, but it looked like she was actually doing far more than that. I suspected that she was using some sort of touch-based healing magic on him. As the crowd stopped trickling in, Dickson cleared his throat. I think he felt like he should take charge since he was the head priest. The room was already quite subdued with the exception of a few excuse mes as people bumped into each other trying to make room, but when Dickson cleared his throat everything went still. Then he glanced at Amoris. "I, Amoris, Goddess of this temple, welcome Lady Aequitas and Lord Edomael." The prisoners had been sat in a line facing the crowd. Amoris stood in front of her statue, standing behind the prisoners, also facing the crowd. Edomael and Aequitas stood to either side of her and they nodded when she stated their names. "Today, a grievous crime involving my temple was brought to my and Lord Edomael''s attention. Later, Lady Aequitas discovered the connection between a case she had already been investigating and our discovery of this crime. We decided to hold a formal Godly Triumvirate to bring all perpetrators to justice." She stopped and in a very graceful manner waved at Aequitas. "Worshipers at my temple have been pleading for justice. Let it be known that we do hear your prayers," Aequitas addressed the crowd calmly and began to outline upcoming events. "A Godly Triumvirate works differently than the mortal justice system. The main reason for this is obviously because we are gods. I am literally justice personified," she touched her chest, "We will ensure that the correct people are punished and that the innocent are pardoned. We do this so that you, our people, will bear witness and spread the word of our divine justice. "We will first ask the accused to admit to their crimes willingly. They can refuse. If that happens then their crimes will be listed by one of us," she waved her hand towards Amoris and Edomael. "We can see into a person''s heart, we can see their intentions and the workings of their minds. No one can hide their guilt from the gods as long as they stand before us in judgment. We have formed a triumvirate to ensure that there is no unnecessary favoritism. "We will then determine if there are any other accomplices to the crimes. We will then request that the guard leave and bring back any further criminals if need be. One more accused is en-route, so we will not need to send guards after him. We do not anticipate the need to gather more prisoners in this case. Most of the other accomplices were either unwitting or were motivated by greed. Once we''ve determined who they are, they will be relieved of any positions of power and will be brought to justice by the guard at a later date. "After the interrogation of the prisoners, we will immediately move on to the punishment. At this time everyone will adjourn to the town square. We would never have gotten involved if the crimes committed were anything less than death offenses. You have been warned in advance." She shook her head sadly. The woman began to wail in earnest and crushed the teenager to her small chest. The teen had gone deathly pale and I expected him to pass out. The four other prisoners remained silent. One was being forced into silence by Edomael, but the other three had already had a taste of the Aequitas'' wrath. "We will commence by asking for voluntary confessions. Do any of you wish to start?" She glared at the prisoners. Surprisingly, the teenage boy spoke first. "I didn''t do anything," he whined at her. Really, he whined. He had just witnessed his family have their feet amputated and he thought it was a brilliant idea to get whiny with a goddess. Next thing you knew he''d be wearing all black and moaning about how life is meaningless. "You may not have committed a crime worthy of death, or even a crime worthy of prison. However, you have committed numerous injustices towards your fellow man. If left on your own it will only be a matter of time before your neck is in the noose," Aequitas addressed him sternly. Her hand was inching back to the hilt of her blade. I wasn''t sure if she intended on scaring the teen or if she was doing it unconsciously. "I didn''t do anything," the boy crossed his arms and pulled away from his crying mother. "We will get back to you and your mother later," Amoris told him firmly, "for now just sit there and watch what happens when you decide to follow a dark path. "You," she pointed to the older man, the father of the children, "why don''t you start first." The man sat on the floor and glared at her. One of his older sons was about to speak up when he reached over and smacked him. "Don''t you dare say anything," the father turned and glared at the thin ragged man who was being supported by the priestess. "John, Joe, and John Jr. or JJ as you prefer to be called," Edomael sighed and shook his head, "You are guilty of multiple instances of rape of a child, abuse of a minor, and a conspiracy to conceal your crimes. "John is also guilty of misappropriation of funds, giving false testimony that almost resulted in the death of an innocent man, and twice guilty of infanticide. Once when you murdered your first newborn daughter nearly sixteen years ago and again last year when you killed your own grandchild." "JJ is guilty of several cases of unsolved rape in this town," Amoris continued where Edomael had left off. She looked directly at the Commander, "You have had exactly five reports of out of town ladies being accosted by a dark-bearded man who wore a brown mask. The beard was fake, you can find it hidden in the bottom drawer of his dresser." "To sum up rape and murder. Now to move on to our magistrate," Aequitas turned to the rat-faced man, "I don''t suppose you want to confess, Magistrate Givens?" "I am innocent. This is all just nonsense. You have no right to dictate your idea of justice towards mortals. What I did was clean up this filthy town. I made it a better place. I made it safer, cleaner, and more," the doors burst open in a sudden loud bang. It made nearly everyone in the room jump. Chapter 13 I Meet Justice Part B Chapter 13 I Meet Justice Part B "What is going on here!" A large older man yelled. He reminded me of my retired gym teacher. He used to have muscles, but they had been lost somewhere with age and inactivity. His salt and pepper hair was closely cropped and he wore clothes that were obviously, even to my untrained eye, of much finer quality than anyone else in the room. His black boots were shined and so was his belt buckle. He wore a large gold ring on one finger. He had come bursting in with three armored men. All three of them had some sort crest painted on their shoulders. It looked like a brown blob in the center of a larger red blob from across the room. One of the three men had his red and brown blob outlined in gold. Looking at him I had the feeling I was looking at Sturgis twenty years in the future. It wouldn''t surprise me at all if he was somehow related to the brothers. He had a scar on his chin that stood out like a white stripe against his tanned skin. I opened my Gamer Glass because everyone else seemed to instantly know who these men were. I would have looked like an idiot if I had stopped the drama and asked someone. I looked up the armored man first. I really wanted to know if he was related to the brothers. *Marl (Sir) Level- 56 Human-Male HP 15584/ 15584 Age- 58 Knight belonging to the house of Holjior. Captain of the Yellow Springs Knights and the Holjior house guard. Two-time Torentig Champion.~ Was that it? Nothing about his family connections? Well, that wasn''t the information I wanted at all. What was a Torentig and why was that information important enough that my Gamer Glass needed to mention it. *Torentig- A championship tournament held every four years on the Crystal Continent. Each kingdom or government takes turns hosting the contests. The most skilled warriors from each land are sent to compete in these goodwill games. The winners of these games are called Torentig or Torentig Champion. Along with the gold and the medal from the games, the winners often receive other incentives such as a low ranking noble title, houses, and plots of land from the participating governments.~ *Would you like to read more about the specific contests of the Torentig Games? Yes/No~ I selected no. So the Torentig seemed to be a martial arts style Olympic Games. So this guy was the best out of everyone on the continent twice. That was very impressive. Still didn''t tell me if he was related to Sturgis and Crue though. I shifted my stare and focused on the man making all the fuss. He was ranting and had made some speech about the ungrateful masses as I had been reading about the Knight Marl. He seemed like a pompous jackass. I already didn''t like the man, but I thought it prudent to at least know who he was. *Horace Holjior (Lord) Level- 29 HP 4059/4059 Human-Male Age- 62 Baronet of Holjior, Uncle to Baron Holjior. Horace Holjior is the highest ranking noble residing in Yellow Springs.~ So this guy was a big deal. I didn''t know a lot about the hierarchy in noble classes. I wasn''t sure if Baronet was high or low on the noble chart so to speak. All I really knew is that he was below a king and below a baron. I looked it up. *List of kingdom nobility hierarchy in order. King, Queen, Crown Prince(ss), Duke, Prince(ss), Marquis, Earl, Viscount, Baron, Baronet. Knight, and Lord. This list does not include religious titles, tribal, or race specific titles. ~ "All that stands before us while we carry out our capacity as a Godly Triumvirate will also be judged," Edomael declared solemnly, "It does not matter to us if you are rich or poor if you have connections or are a recluse, a nobleman or a simple shepherd." "All are equal before us and so will be judged equally," Aequitas continued. "I will have none of this nonsense. Disperse this crowd at once, Tagert," the Baronet commanded. His face was turning red with anger as he helped the magistrate to his feet, "I won''t have this sort of civil disruption in my town." "Sir," the Commander argued, "that is Lady Aequitas herself, Lady Amoris and Lord Edomael as well. They called for this gathering." "So just because some tart dresses up like a god you believe her? Have you all lost your minds? There is no reason for a god to be here in Yellow Springs We have worked too hard for a bunch of impostors to come in and sully the reputation we''ve built," he was waving between both himself and the magistrate. "Arrest those three at once. I want to know who they really are," the Baronet pointed to the three gods. Well, he did have a point. You couldn''t just believe anyone who walked into town claiming they were a god. There were a bunch of minor ones after all and you couldn''t be expected to know what they all looked like. However, Amoris, Aequitas, and Edomael were part of the main twelve deities. Presumably, a lot of people knew what they looked like. Heck, Amoris was standing under her own statue. All the guy had to do was glance up. Sure, there was the possibility of an impostor, or a look-a-like pretending to be a god. Though, you would think the gods had some sort of system in place to prevent that sort of thing from happening. Blessings were the only thing I could think of that would prove that a god was, in fact, a god. However, trying to prove you had a Blessing from a god would be an issue as well. It''s not like the All Seer can detect Blessings. Maybe whatever the priests used to help normal people allocate their Exp would show their Blessings? Amoris turned around and touched her statue. While I wasn''t certain what was happening, everyone else seemed to understand. Her statue began to glow silver and the eyes looked like there were signal lights behind them. I assumed that this was some sort of way the gods had of actually proving their divinity. It made me wonder what the minor gods did though. It''s not like they had handy giant statues of themselves. Did they carry around small porta-statues? I imagined little action figures of the gods. Each one in their superhero-esque glory. Children could collect them all. If every child in the kingdom was collecting them then even the minor gods would be able to prove their divinity with a children''s toy. I was laughing at the image in my head. I had become so distracted by it that I failed to notice nearly everyone was looking at me. Hell, did I laugh out loud? Amoris who had wandered up beside me slapped me hard on the back and laughed. "Why didn''t we think of that?" Edomael muttered, looking at me as if I grew a second head. "We''ll have to bring it up at the next meeting. It''s such a simple idea," Aequitas shook her head. "Who the hell is that!" Lord Holjior practically had a fit standing there pointing at me. "He is my oracle," Amoris answered him simply. "He carries out my will." I didn''t know about that, but it did give a sense of legitimacy of why I was standing there with all the high ranking priests. I''m sure the people in the crowd who had seen me walking with Edomael and Aequitas had been thinking the same thing. Amoris giving the crowd a good reason for the gods to be around me would probably save me a lot of headache later. "Actually," Amoris linked arms with Crue then with me, "both of these men have recently become my oracles. It is because of my oracles that the crimes of the John family came to my attention," she glossed over the circumstances of Crue''s involvement. "So let''s get down to business shall we, Lord Holjior," she unlinked her arms and stood in front of the man hands on her hips. "I have proven myself to be Amoris and as you can see I am not a prostitute." "Now see here young miss!" Lord Holjior blustered. He actually took a deep breath to begin his ranting again, but Amoris stopped him. "No," she said calmly, "you see here. You are under arrest for conspiracy to commit murder and for being an accessory to murder." "Oh, shit," exclaimed Crue. The crowd erupted with noise. He was the only person out of the crowd I could actually understand because he was standing right beside me. I could see Lord Holjior shouting, but I honestly couldn''t make out what he said. Everyone was exclaiming and commenting all at once. It was pure noisy chaos. "QUIET!" Aequitas shouted over the din. She touched her sword handle again and gave everyone a hard stare down. "...arrested at once. To slander the," Lord Holjior continued to rant, as the crowd went silent until Edomael hit him with restraint. The Lord fell to the floor, leaving his friend the magistrate, standing above him. The magistrate glared at Edomael, he too had been on the receiving end of his magic. He was smart enough to not act, he would have been on the floor with his lord. "Let us start from the beginning for those who missed the first part." Aequitas held out her hand towards the knights. They had all drawn their swords but seemed at a loss at whether they should be pointing them at a goddess. "Please do," Sir Marl rumbled like a bear. At some point, his vocal cords must have been damaged. He sounded like a six pack a day smoker. "The John family are guilty of multiple counts of rape. The elder John is guilty of infanticide as well as misappropriation of funds. How his case connects to the magistrate''s and the Lord''s is as follows. "The elder John is on the town council with both of the other men. John is one of the merchant representatives on the council." She waved her hand at the older man. "He is also in charge of distribution of the funds for the building of your wall. The workers are not being paid enough to get them out of debt and so must continue to work on the wall. The excess money John stole, from these poorest of men, was used to pay off the magistrate. "When the guards began to investigate the various rapes surrounding his family he paid the magistrate a small fortune to make the guards stop digging around. The magistrate has been the only judicial recourse in this town since my head priest died last year. He has used his position to knowingly put innocent men in jail and have them executed. One of these innocent men stands before you today," Aequitas waved her hand towards the skinny man who was still being healed by the priestess. He lifted his hand in a very weak wave to the crowd when she mentioned him. "This man was falsely accused of rape by John. The magistrate, aware that John had been committing these rapes, took the money and sentenced this innocent man to first have his tongue cut out so he couldn''t proclaim his innocence, later to be executed. "For this reason alone he is guilty of murder. However, his crimes far exceed even that. "Over the last year he has plotted with Lord Holjior to ''clean up'' this town," she made little air quotes around the words clean up. "The first step would be to get rid of the infected prostitutes. Tourists enjoy going to the brothels during their vacations, what they don''t enjoy is going home with an STD. Using his influence, Lord Holjior was able to learn about which prostitutes were infectious. He gave this list to the magistrate along with a bag of gold. "The magistrate took it upon himself to hire these women. He''d pay extra to have them meet him in a remote location in town. He''d already made certain that no guards would be on patrol in those areas at the time. He would then use his magic telekinesis and would kill the woman from a distance. "That wasn''t the end of the plot though. This town also has a problem with homelessness and debtors, in large part because of the elder John. It doesn''t look good for a tourist town to have a high homeless population. "So once again the men plotted. Who would be to blame for all the dead prostitutes? Random indigent men of course. They are prone to drinking and fighting it made sense that these men would get into an argument over payment and kill the women.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. "That''s how that scenario played out at least fourteen times within the last year. That''s twenty-eight innocent people that these men have had killed. "They will try and justify it by saying that it was for the good of the town. That happy tourists mean more money coming into the city. Which meant more money going towards the town council and straight into their pockets," Aequitas finished her summation of the events and stared down the knights who still had their weapons drawn. "Now child, we will get to you and your mother," Amoris addressed the teenager. I was half expecting the teenager to start proclaiming his innocence again, but he stayed silent. "Excuse me, but are you saying that Lord Holjior knowingly participated in the murder of all those people?" Sir Marl interrupted. "That''s exactly the situation if you need further proof the idiot kept a ledger with the amounts he paid to have those people killed. You can find it in his bottom left desk drawer. There is a false bottom where he kept the real records. Any further questions Sir Knight?" "Lord Holjior is a nobleman. As part of the nobility, he must be taken before the king to be judged for his crimes. I don''t doubt what you are saying is true, my Lady, but without permission from the king, or without having a higher ranking nobleman present, we cannot arrest him." "That''s actually not true in this case, Sir Marl," Dickson spoke up. "He''s right," said the head priest of Edomael. "You see," said the priest of Aequitas, "normally the king is the highest judge of the land. Only he can render judgment upon the nobles. However, there is a power higher than even the king. That is a Godly Triumvirate." "I don''t think it''s happened in this kingdom in over ten years," said Dickson, "so I guess it''s understandable that it wouldn''t be part of common knowledge." "I just can''t take your word for it I''m afraid," Sir Marl shook his head, "It''s my duty to protect that man. I can''t just allow you to execute him based on your word." "It is commendable that you take your duty so seriously Sir Knight," Aequitas said. Then she turned to her fellow gods. "Take care of the mother and son while I go with Sir Marl to assuage his duty." She walked over to Sir Marl and placed her hand on his arm. Then they just disappeared. "He''s going to be in for a shock," Amoris muttered. "Him? Just imagine what King Luden must feel. Even if he is a King it''s not often we just pop in," Edomael commented. I was learning all sorts of new things today. *King Luden Araimen- Monarch of the Araimen Kingdom. Taking over for his grandfather at the age of twenty-four, King Luden is considered to be a more temperate monarch. He is known for his demilitarization of the borderlands and free trade agreement with neighboring lands. King Luden has two wives. Queen Margret Nubencloss and Lady Savina Lanister. He has one son Crown Prince Marcus, born of Queen Margret. King Luden also has five daughters. Twin princesses Iris and Ivy, also born of Queen Margret. Lady Savina gave birth to three daughters, Sophia, Isabella, and Emmaline.~ He had two wives. Was that a common thing here? I hadn''t met many married people so it was too soon for me to know. It could be just something the King did, or maybe even nobility. The cost of having more than one wife wouldn''t be something the average person could afford after all. "...knowingly administered Hiscup juice to your daughter to induce miscarriage," Amoris was saying. I hadn''t been paying attention at all, but it seemed like she was addressing the woman. "No, I was trying to save my baby," the woman bawled hands out pleading. Her eyes were red-rimmed from crying and she periodically wiped her runny nose on the sleeve of her dress. "If you were so concerned about your child, then why did you allow the abuse to continue? Furthermore, why didn''t you inform the authorities of your husband''s crimes? You were only worried about your family''s comfort and reputation. You had no concern for your daughter past that. "You didn''t want her to bear a child because then more questions would be raised. You decided to administer the poison, not for the care of your child, but to maintain your status in this town," Amoris stamped her foot. "No, it was for my baby," the woman screamed at the goddess. She began to yank out her own hair. Lotte tried to step in to stop her but was shoved to the side by the teenager. "Don''t touch my mom," he yelled standing and squaring up to Lotte. "As for you," Amoris turned on the boy pointing her finger straight at his nose. "While we understand that you had no knowledge of any of the crimes your family committed it doesn''t mean you aren''t guilty of your own personal transgressions." Amoris marched up to the boy, passing by the woman still ripping out her hair, and poked him hard in the chest with her extended finger. "Fortunately for you, we can''t judge you for crimes we believe you would have committed if we hadn''t stepped in. You had several futures in front of you and in all of them, you were following in your father''s footsteps. However, you can not be judged for crimes you have yet to commit and seeing as you are still young, there is a possibility of reform." She turned to the crowd after poking the boy in the chest a few more times. "John, Joe, John Jr., Magistrate Givens, and Lord Horace Holjior are sentenced to death. Sentencing to be held after Aequitas returns. "Sarah, for poisoning your daughter and being complicit in her abuse you are sentenced to fifteen years in the kingdom''s penal workforce. I leave it to Commander Tagert to decide where to put you. "Justin," so that was the teenager''s name, "seeing as you are now an orphan and still underage, you will be sent to the Temple of Aequitas. You will remain with the temple for ten years, there we hope you will learn a different set of values. The priests will become your new family and we hope that you choose a more honest way of life. After ten years, you may choose whatever path in life you wish. "The child, Juniper, will be taken in by my temple. She will be provided the best of care here and in time she may choose her own path." She clapped her hands together as if signaling all was closed. "I''ll be eighteen in five years. I''m supposed to stay at a stinking temple even after that!" The boy Justin protested. "You are not innocent, your crimes are just very minor. Bullying, insults, fighting, petty theft, and most concerning your relations with your female peers. Consider the extra time your opportunity to make amends to the people you''ve wronged thus far in your life," she gave him a look that clearly said that he was not to argue the point further. That was the end of that. People began to file out probably heading towards the town square. Personally, I didn''t want to see it, but I wasn''t sure if I was allowed to miss it. For some odd reason, the three gods seemed determined that I did not miss this trial and execution. It made me wonder what they saw in my multiple possible futures. I doubt they would tell me even if I asked. In every book I had ever read nothing good came from knowing your future. Even if the future could be reliably predicted, it''s not like anything was ever set in stone. Edomael was speaking to the Commander and Sturgis. He was giving them orders on transporting the prisoners to their respective locations. Apparently, the mother, Sarah, and the teenager, Justin, were to be spared the site of seeing the rest of their family executed. A part of me thought that maybe letting the kid watch would scare him straight. Even just sitting there he looked sulky, not like he really cared that much about his family at all. He really seemed like a selfish brat. Though, I should try my best not to judge a person based on just watching him react on what was most likely the worst day of his life. "Do we have to go to the execution?" I asked Crue who was still standing by my side. "We are both Oracles of Amoris. She''s acknowledged us publicly, we have to go as her chosen representatives," he sighed and his posture slumped. "To tell you the truth, I don''t want to go either but everyone will expect to see us there." "Damn, it''s not like I need to see that sort of thing." "It wouldn''t just look bad for us, it wouldn''t look good for Amoris for her to have chosen two oracles that refuse to witness her justice. We are obligated to go, unfortunately." "He''s correct you know," the Edomael head priest interjected. Dickson had wandered off to talk with Amoris leaving Crue, the unknown priestess, the priest of Aequitas, the head priest of Edomael, and I standing around. Naturally, the group had formed a circle in order to continue the conversation. "I''m Murray, Head Priest of Edomael here in Yellow Springs." He held out his hand in introduction. "I''m Eri, nice to meet you." I shook his hand. It was dry and calloused, but he had a firm grip. "This is Darcy, she''s the lead healer here at the temple," Crue introduced us and we also shook hands. "Pleasure to meet you Eri. Our temple looks forward to working with you in the future." "My name is Conner," the Priest of Aequitas introduced himself with a wave and a smile. He was younger than both Darcy and Murray but looked older than Crue. I would estimate his age in his mid-thirties. It seemed a little young to take over the head priest position, but I was certain Aequitas and her temple had things under control. "This is one hot mess of a situation isn''t it," Conner continued, "I can''t apologize enough for our temple''s lack in this case." He bowed his head in the general direction of Amoris'' statue. "No, we were scolded soundly before everyone showed up as well." Darcy interjected, "We lacked faith in our Lady and failed to appeal for her help. We are also partially to blame." "We will probably be gathered to hear Aequitas'' divine wisdom when this is all over as well," Conner sighed. "Still, I''m blaming myself for missing something this big. I knew something wasn''t right with Magistrate Givens, but it was just a gut feeling. If I would have followed my instincts maybe this wouldn''t have gotten as bad as it did. Twenty-eight people were killed," he trailed off and shook his head as if clearing his thoughts. "I think there is plenty of blame to go around in this case," Murray said, "We performed the funerary rights for many of the women killed. We should have noticed something was wrong with the bodies. In fact, one of my priests mentioned something felt off about one of the women, but I dismissed his concerns once the ''guilty'' party was found." He used air quotes around the word guilty. "I knew what was happening to the child and I failed her," Crue said all that in one sudden exhale. His posture bent even more and a hand went to his face. Darcy placed a hand on his back. I think she was about to say something comforting, but I interrupted. "The way I see it is that the people who are to blame are about to be marched into the square. We should be blaming them for their actions not playing the what if game. Yes, mistakes were made, but none of your mistakes would have been made if the crimes had not been committed in the first place. It won''t do anyone any good if you continue to blame yourselves for someone else'' actions." "My child is correct," Edomael had snuck up behind me during our conversation. I am not ashamed to say I jumped when his hand came down on my shoulder. "While you were all remiss in some way, you can''t shoulder the blame for another''s actions." "I don''t have to listen to you, you''re not my real dad," I did a pretty decent imitation of the sulky teenager. Edomael laughed and slapped me on the back. "Right, I never did get you a birthday present," he smiled. "My Lord," Murray bowed his head deeply at Edomael, "would you please explain." "Basically, you lot all made a series of small errors that culminated in a larger issue. Normally, any one of your mistakes wouldn''t have mattered because another group or temple would have caught the problem. "Your dismissal of the odd way the females looked normally wouldn''t have mattered all that much. You trusted the guard to know what they were doing. Likewise for the guard. They trusted the Aequitas temple to inform them if a serial killer was on the loose. However, with the death of the head priest, they were not able to have the authority to investigate someone as high ranking as the magistrate. "Now the Amoris temple knew about the abuse of a single child. They had no way of knowing that there were actually murders involved. Dickson may have been the only person who took some direct action in this case. When he went to the magistrate with his concerns and was rebuffed he immediately sent word to the main temple in King''s Cross. "As you know Amoris'' Temples across the kingdom are sending merchants to pick up this new chocolate. The main temple was in the process of sending an investigator. So this issue would have eventually been resolved by human means." "I didn''t know that until I popped in on Dickson," Amoris walked up. She had just seen that the last of the crowd was leaving the room and the guards were making preparations to transfer the prisoners. "Aequitas didn''t know about it either since the investigator was sent out by my temple and not hers. It''s not often that my people get involved in justice. "Our point is that you shouldn''t place blame on yourselves. Learn from these mistakes, take what you''ve learned and build on it. Eri is correct that the ones who committed the crimes are the ones who should shoulder the guilt." She touched Crue on the cheek gently and brought her forehead to his. They stayed like that for a while. She must have been speaking with him in his mind because part way through he began to shed silent tears. She gently wiped them away and held him close to her while he cried. The other priests chose to politely ignore the exchange and proceeded with the conversation as though the two weren''t even present. In normal circumstances ignoring a goddess and someone who was in emotional distress would probably have been rude. However, Edomael was ignoring them and everyone followed his example. Murray started asking Edomael ecumenical questions. The other priests stood in rapt attention at his answers. I wasn''t a very religious person and I was new to this world, so a lot of the content went over my head. Not that I was paying much attention. Long difficult conversations that I didn''t understand quickly lost my interest. I wandered over to the corner where there was a small offering table and began stacking boxes of chocolate on it. I was keeping an eye on the gods and the priests waiting for their various conversations to be over. I figured while I was waiting, I might as well leave the temple a gift. It had been a difficult day and chocolate always cheered me up. One of the lower ranking priests saw what I was doing and came over to help. "We will take these to the back room immediately, Sir," he started picking up boxes. "These are for you," I waved my hand at the priests and the temple at large. "I mean, I would like for you to share it among the priests of the temple." "Very well, Sir, I will have these taken to the kitchens," the man bowed and issued instructions to some other close by lower ranked people. After a bit, I guessed the conversation with Edomael was winding down. I approached the group again and handed each person, including the god, a bar of milk chocolate. "What is this?" Conner asked as I passed them to everyone, except Amoris and Crue. They were still having their mind talk. "It''s chocolate," explained Darcy. She unfolded the paper around the bar and took a bite to show him. "Lady Amoris has recently become a patron of chocolate." Murray, watching Edomael unwrap and bite into his bar, did the same. He nibbled gingerly at the corner, then realizing the taste took a big bite. "This is amazing!" He exclaimed while still chewing. "It really is," Edomael smiled. "Eri keeps coming up with so many ideas for us. I''m waiting for him to think of something new for me as well," he chuckled and patted my back. "After all just moments ago he solved a problem that many of my minor peers have run into. How to prove the divinity of a god without a holy vessel." "Really, what is the solution?" Murray asked curiously. "While the plans haven''t been finalized, Eri thought of children''s dolls. If we can make toys for children of our likeness and make it a collecting game then no matter where we gods roam there will always be at least one child with a god doll in the area." "Dolls and holy statues are different," Conner frowned, "It takes a lot of effort to sanctify a holy vessel," He paused, "well, it takes us mortals a lot of effort." "The logistics still haven''t been worked out as of yet," Edomael shrugged, "but it''s too good an idea to just let go. I''m sure we will be able to work something out." "My Lord, My Lady," a scrawny town guard bowed in the doorway, "the prisoners are at the town square everyone is ready." "Thank you, inform the commander that we are waiting for Aequitas and Sir Marl, then we will begin. They shouldn''t be too much longer." The guard nodded and retreated. "Should we wait here for her or head to the square?'' I asked, I silently handed Darcy another bar. She had finished hers rather quickly and was looking at Conner as if she was going to take his bar and run for it. "By the time we arrive she should be finished with her business and will be able to meet us there," Edomael confirmed. He turned and led the group out of the temple and into the street. Amoris had linked arms with Crue, so I was saved escort duty. I really had been beginning to feel like they had very little faith that I wouldn''t bolt. If I was going to make a run for it, now would be the time. I really didn''t want to witness an execution. Chapter 14 I Get Drunk Chapter 14 I Get Drunk The square had even more people than at the temple, but of course more people could fit in the open square rather than in a temple sanctuary. I sincerely hoped they were here more for a glimpse at a god rather than actually wanting to see an execution. They surrounded a raised platform that was placed in an area where the vendor''s carts usually were stationed. I looked around and sure enough, lining the side streets were the vendors doing brisk business. I couldn''t understand how anyone would want to eat at this point. Though, I had just been handing out chocolate as a comfort food. Perhaps what was being sold was a comfort to the people buying it. Sometimes junk food was good for the soul, if not the body. The cafe at the bakery was filled and a line of people were purchasing baked snacks and drinks. A young woman with a tray was handing out wooden cups and distributing tea. People were talking to the people beside them. People who had been in the temple during the trial recounted the events to other people who were unable to get in. There were pockets of storytellers all over, each one having their own rapt audience. All of it led to the atmosphere being more festive than somber. The people quieted down a bit when Amoris and Edomael entered the square. After a few seconds of ohhh, and ahhhs, and shushing the crowd turned their focus on the two. The crowd once again parted like magic. Edomael led the odd procession, Crue followed behind him with Amoris. The rest of us just sort of formed a line behind her. Dickson was already standing off to one side of the platform and the group met up with him. Amoris left Crue and the rest of us standing on the sidelines once again. Edomael waited a bit then linked arms with her and they both climbed the platform to stand with the prisoners and a few guards. The platform was, in reality, a decent size, but with all the people on it, the platform seemed really crowded. Sturgis stood towering on the far back corner of the stage. His hands were behind his back in sort of a formal parade rest. Beside him were the teenager and the woman. So they were going to make them watch after all. I had thought they were going to spare them. The teen was probably the youngest person in the crowd. The gods had said no children were to be allowed, and with a quick scan, I couldn''t spot anyone who looked childlike. There was another large imposing man standing on the nearer back corner, opposite of Sturgis. He looked like he might be the same rank as Sturgis. He had flaming red hair that, unlike any other redhead I had ever met, fell straight down his back in long silky waves. He had a large hooked hawk nose and a tiny pursed mouth. His cheekbones were very stark and his eyes were a little pinched. He showed signs of sunburn and his ears were already red and pealing. Unlike Sturgis, his skin wasn''t tan at all, but was very fair, at least where it wasn''t burnt by the sun. He was probably one of those guys who never tanned and always burned no matter what he did. Was sunscreen not something they had here? While I knew that most sunscreens on earth were made by mixing chemicals I did recall something about there being natural alternatives. However, I couldn''t at all recall what those were. The Commander stood behind the prisoners and greeted the gods with a bow. Beside him were two lower ranked guards. They moved to make room for the gods. The prisoners were kneeling towards the front of the platform. The Gods were in front of them near the edge. Everyone was cramped up near the front. Near the center of the platform was a gallows. There was only room for one person. How were they going to manage five people? It was a simple upside down L beam with a single cross board for support. There was a trap door under it. I couldn''t figure out just by looking at it how the door was triggered since there wasn''t any obvious lever. "People of Yellow Springs," Edomael addressed the crowd, "by now you probably have heard about the triumvirate and the crimes these five men have committed in your town. The sentence for these crimes is death." The crowd made a collected ohhhhh. Edomael held up his hand for quiet then continued. "As you can see, one of the criminals in this situation is Lord Horace Holjior. As one of his guards noted, normally only the king may render judgment on a noble. However, there is one circumstance which can bypass this rule, a Godly Triumvirate. Still, to alleviate Sir Marl''s concerns, Aequitas has gone to King Luden to formally inform him of our decision. We are currently waiting for her return. "While we are waiting, I would like to thank you for coming to witness justice being rendered. While the deaths of these five individuals will never alleviate the pain they have caused this community, we hope that justice served will at least help soothe the suffering. Know that by passing through the Abyss they will be punished. They will remain in the Abyss'' Hellscape unable to reincarnate until all of their victims have first passed through. However, their spiritual punishment won''t last forever and like with all men, their souls will be cleansed and they will be sent back to Elrich to try and attain passage to the Sumorland." Sumorland, I had heard that somewhere before. Did Amoris mention it? I couldn''t recall. With everything that had been happening you couldn''t blame me for forgetting something. I looked up Sumorland. *Sumorland, the habitable part of the Abyss. Sumorland is a peaceful paradise for the souls ruled over by the gods. Reincarnation is the cornerstone of the religion of Elrich. Once a soul has either completed several positive cycles of reincarnation or has done some great meritorious deed in their life, they may choose to enter Sumorland. By following a life of piety, charity, and morality one can work to achieve the goal of Sumorland. Living a life opposite to the three main creeds will result in a negative cycle of reincarnation leaving the soul further away from Sumorland. Do not rape, steal, or murder. These are rules that every man of every race can agree on. Live a life bringing misery and hardships to others, your soul will collect negativity. Hellscape, and area of the Abyss where a soul that has lived a life of negativity gather. The soul will go through cycles living through their worst nightmares. They are shown the error of their ways in hopes that they will retain some of the lessons learned after reincarnation. Once their soul is cleansed they can enter the cycle of rebirth and once again strive for Sumorland. If you live a life that strives for positivity, being a decent person, then your soul will collect positivity. You can gain more positivity by following the god''s will, helping your fellow man, and by living a life free of sins. Sumorland can be achieved by anyone of any race since the soul is race-less. A soul is a soul, it has no social standings, race affiliations, or prominence. All are equal upon death and Edomael is the judge of your soul. He alone determines if you are worthy of Sumorland, The God''s Paradise.~ Sumorland was like heaven and the gods lived there. So it was like a retirement home for souls who''ve accumulated enough positivity in their soul cycles. So this must have been what Amoris was talking about when she said that souls were refusing to reincarnate. After what was most likely several reincarnation cycles a soul could finally get some peace. If given a choice between reincarnating again and living in paradise, the choice seemed obvious. Why would you want to give that up once you''ve finally achieved your spiritual goal? With a flash of light, Aequitas appeared to the side of the platform. She had Sir Marl by the elbow. The poor man seemed a bit dazed. He looked pale and a bit shaky as if his nerves were dancing on knife edges. She left him standing there running his hand through his sparse hair over and over again. Every few seconds he''d shake his head as if he had water in his ears. I wondered for a second if the poofing godly travel didn''t agree with him or if it was just the way he reacted after meeting a king. Aequitas held up a piece of paper. It had some sort of red blob on it. I could only guess it was a wax seal since I had seen similar things in the movies. I didn''t actually know anyone who used them in real life. Some people in the crowd began to murmur. Apparently, they saw more to it than I did. "This is a document officially stating that the gods have a higher authority in judicial matters over the king. Copies will be circulated through all my temples so that the people know and understand. We realize that intervention like this is uncommon and we take no offense at your lack of knowledge regarding the hierarchy in these matters. "In any case, the point is that a Godly Triumvirate is the highest form of judicial law in Elrich. This means that the execution of Ex-Lord Horace Holjior can commence." There was a resounding applause following this, even one cheer. It seemed like Ex-Lord Holjior was not well liked. Considering his crimes, I guess it made sense that he had probably wronged other people in lesser ways. Amoris and Aequitas moved to either side of the platform leaving Edomael. He stood in front of the prisoners and waved his hand. "You''re wrong..." "You insufferable..." "I don''t want to die..." All the prisoners started talking over each other at once. The only silent one was the magistrate. Edomael must have canceled whatever magic he had been using to keep them still and quiet. One of the young men tried to fling himself off the platform only to find that his feet were stuck in place as if glued. He tried to drag himself, digging into the wood with his nails desperately trying to get away. He was screaming and crying and beating his head against the wood in frustration. The other young man decided to just collapse in a heap of sobbing. He had curled up in on himself like an armadillo. Looking at the stains forming on his pants he had wet himself again. Edomael approached the elder John first. He just stood there swearing at Edomael. Edomael leaned in and said something inaudible. Then he touched the man''s forehead with his index finger. It was as quick as that. There wasn''t anything showy, no flashes of light. Edomael touched his finger to the elder John''s head and then the man was falling down dead. At first, I didn''t really understand what had happened. I honestly was expecting an ax or for them to use the noose. I didn''t for one second think that Edomael would just touch the man to death. It was more than a bit disconcerting. I tried to count in my head how many times he had touched me. I obviously wasn''t dead so it had to be something Edomael had to will happen. It left me feeling a bit queasy. Edomael moved on to the young man who had curled up and was crying. He bent down and brushed the hair from the man''s face. The man gave a high pitched squeal and jerked away. Once again he said something then touched the man''s forehead. The crying stopped and the body that had been all tensed up relaxed. He was dead. Next was the other young man. His fingers were bleeding at this point and he had snot running down his face. He was screaming non-stop, not stopping to take enough air and was having periodic coughing fits. He jerked his head down and away violently when Edomael bent down. Edomael didn''t waste any time on him. He said whatever it was he was telling each man and touched the back of the young man''s head. The screaming stopped. Magistrate Givens was next. He had chosen not to berate the gods and instead spat at Edomael when he approached. A glob of spit stopped about an inch from Edomael''s chest and fell to the ground without touching him. Shaking his head, Edomael spoke then touched Magistrate Givens. The Magistrate fell into a heap like the elder John. Ex-Lord Holjior wasn''t stopping. He seemed determined to tell off everyone. "I demand to see the king''s orders. I don''t believe for a moment he would allow this. "You," he screamed at Sir Marl as Edomael killed the Magistrate and moved in front of him, "why aren''t you stopping them. It''s your duty to keep me alive. You stop him immediately! That is an order! Stop him, DAMN YOU!" Edomael muttered something and reached up to touch his forehead on the last words. Holjior jerked back and Edomael had to chase his head around as he bounced about in place. Finally, Edomael shrugged and grasped his arm. The body which had been off balance because of all the jerking away fell to the side with a loud crash. Slowly, after waiting a few minutes the crowd began to murmur. Were the gods going to make any more speeches? Was this the end of it? Amoris finally walked up to Edomael who had been standing in place looking down at the Ex-Lord. She wrapped her arm around his waist and they both poofed away. Aequitas gave a few orders to the commander then came down from the platform and stood before Conner. "We are going to the Temple, I still haven''t addressed the issues leading up to this mess. The guard members will follow along once this is cleaned up." She waved at the platform with the mother and the teenager. The woman had fainted, the boy had gotten sick on himself. Once again, I wondered why they had changed their minds on forcing them to watch. Aequitas gripped Conner''s elbow and they too poofed away. No one seemed to want to stand around and talk. The other priests slowly walked away and the crowd began to disperse. Crue had started to wander off as well, but I stopped him with a grip on his sleeve. He turned and looked at me with a question written on his face. "I''ve been given my own orders. I''m not supposed to leave you alone," I told him. "I''ll be fine, Eri. You don''t need to worry about me," he tried to shake me off gently. "Nope, they were very specific about this. Come with me," I tugged on Crue''s sleeve. He meekly followed along. The crowd flowed around us as more people went in opposite directions to get to their destinations. Some people stood around to watch the bodies being taken to the Temple of Edomael. Others gathered in groups to gossip about the day''s events. My destination was just across the square, so we just had to skirt around the crowd.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. Marge was standing outside with the rest of the girls. They had trays as well and were serving what looked like little doughnut holes. The crowd in front of the inn was pressing as people stood in line for the cafe and to purchase Marge''s balls. So I took Crue around to the side entrance. To my surprise, Brawn Hilda from the Guild was standing behind the counter. She didn''t have on her conical breastplate but still had the braids. She wore a simple brown dress with a thick leather belt around her ample waist. Over it all, she wore a blue pinafore and a matching blue kerchief over her hair. She smiled at us and signaled us to sit at the bar. We made it to our seats before a couple who had just walked in took them. The tavern was very busy and it looked like only one of the girls was doing the serving for the entire room. "Hello ducks, bit of a crowd today," said Brawn Hilda. "It certainly is," I reached over the counter to shake her hand giving a halfhearted prayer that the huge woman wouldn''t crush mine. "I''m Eri, I just rented a room." "Oh yes, Marge did say something about letting the room out. You''re planning to stay a bit. It''s a nice change from the tourists. I''m Daisy, Marge''s wife." Her grip was firm and dwarfed my own palm considerably. "I believe I''ve seen you at the Guild Daisy." "Why yes you most likely have," she laughed. "I well know that there aren''t many ladies my size wondering around the Guildhall. Me and Marge we stand out a wee bit." "Well, it''s nice getting to know you without having that ax by your side," I joked with her. "Now boy I wouldn''t be using my ax on you," she gave me a wink, "you''re just not my type." She beamed at me then glanced at Crue. He had been silent during this exchange and being a good proprietress she understood when someone wanted to be left alone. She looked at Crue in his priestly attire and nodded knowingly. "The table in the corner will be open in about ten minutes if you want to order now, Netty can have it finished by the time the table is cleared. Caryl won''t mind letting you have the table for as long as you like if you make sure to give her a decent tip beforehand." Daisy said nodding at the tall, slim, blonde girl with a very prominent Adam''s apple waiting tables. "Today, Netty has made her signature mochi balls. They are a sweet made with pounded rice flour. They are sticky and can be served with honey to make them even stickier. There are four balls per serving. She''s made pumpkin, apple, and sweet potato flavors today. I would suggest trying all three." "Are those the doughnut hole looking things the girls are selling outside?" I asked. "Yes, but they aren''t fried. She doesn''t make them often, she started them yesterday and just happened to finish her first batches today. When she makes them, we usually have to hire local children to help with the work. They love that they can get paid and they get to take as many rejects home as they like." Daisy leaned in, "I suspect that she messes up a batch or two on purpose just for the little ones." She laughed as if she shared a big secret. "We''ll start with one of each flavor. What is for dinner tonight?" "Lamb stew with potatoes, carrots, peas, seasonal squash, and onion. That comes with fresh bread. We have some breaded then fried lamb nuggets with sweet and sour sauce served with rice. Finally, we have sliced lamb served over flatbread with cabbage, tomatoes, and cucumber sauce. We also have sweet potatoes that can be ordered today separate from the main meal. It comes with a butter and brown sugar sauce. You can also have your choice of the house ale, water, tea, or cider." "I think I will have the lamb nuggets, and I''d like a sweet potato," I glanced at Crue. When it looked like he''d just sit there I nudged him with my elbow. "I''m not hungry," he said. "He''ll take the stew and another potato," I said firmly. "I''m not hungry," he said again. "You will be when the food comes out. You need to eat. Not eating isn''t going to fix anything, so you might as well enjoy a good meal. Besides drinking on an empty stomach is a bad idea." "Drinking?" he asked. "I''m sure you ladies have something stronger than your house ale that will still taste wonderful with our meals?" I asked Daisy and gave her my best impression of a charming smile. She smiled back, "To tell you the truth our house ale is watered down for public consumption. Marge actually brews it to be strong enough to drop a dwarf. Since your room is right upstairs it won''t be any big inconvenience to toss you both in bed when you hit the floor." Crue winced at her choice of words. Realizing what she had said she reached over the counter and patted his arm. "Sorry, duck. I wasn''t thinking. It''s a bad state of affairs that happened today, I''ll pour you some of Marge''s finest and you just sit there and forget about it tonight, alright." She patted his arm again and waved to Caryl that she was going to the back. "Did you know that where I''m from you aren''t allowed to drink until you are twenty-one." I glanced over at Crue to see if he was paying attention. He didn''t react so I kept talking. "People are considered adults at age eighteen. We can join the army at eighteen and die for our country. We can vote for our elected government officials at eighteen. Heck, at sixteen we are allowed to drive giant speeding metal death machines, but we are not allowed to drink alcohol." Partway through my talk Crue began to glance in my direction. I think it was the part about driving a car that got his interest. "Why not?" he asked. "I''m not really certain why it was put in place like that. However, they''ve done studies that show that a person''s brain isn''t fully formed until they are in their twenties. Drinking causes loss of brain cells. On a developing brain, this isn''t a good thing. I think that''s why it''s generally accepted that you aren''t allowed to drink until you are twenty-one. So, what we are about to do will literally make us dumber. You still up for it?" I asked with a grin. "Yes," he said with a very slight crook of his mouth. "Good answer, generally the teenagers back home wouldn''t wait until they were old enough either. It''s considered a social thing to drink with a group of friends illegally." "We drink socially with friends and work acquaintances." He nodded at a group of four older men near the center of the room who were sharing a plate of the mochi balls and drinking the house ale. "I would bet that those men aren''t really friends, but work together. They all have that hammer hung off their belts." For a brief moment, I wondered if they were the one who erected the platform in such a short amount of time. I wasn''t going to ask with Crue in the mood he was in. "You mean you can go out drinking with your boss and it''s considered acceptable? Wouldn''t it be bad if you got drunk and told your boss off for being a dick?" "Well, that would be unfortunate, but generally it''s fine to go drinking with your co-workers. It''s supposed to support camaraderie in the workplace." "Sounds like a recipe for getting fired to me," I commented. Crue nodded at the wisdom of this, as Daisy approached with two mugs and a plate of the mochi. Her timing was perfect as she came around the counter the people who had been sitting at the table she had mentioned paid Caryl and stood up to leave. The couple who had been standing in the doorway got angry when they saw Daisy taking us to ''their'' table. Caryl had to go talk to them and offered them our seats at the counter. They took those, but the woman was complaining the entire time. Daisy snorted, overhearing the woman bitching and demanding to speak to the owner. She knew people, it wasn''t right to be treated like a second-class citizen. Did Caryl know who her father was? He could have this entire tavern shut down, he was on the council. "So Duck, do you think your papa is going to have time to deal with a little girl who is angry because she had to wait her turn? After all, the council is now three members short," Daisy called the girl as she placed the mugs and mochi on the table for us. The girl got red in the face and demanded to speak to the owner. She would have them all fired. She was a regular customer how dare they treat her like that. "You''re lying," Daisy told the girl bluntly as she took her spot behind the counter again. "I own this place and I have not once seen you here before." "You are not the owner, everyone knows the owner is a man," the girl scoffed as the man beside her tried to get her to be quiet. Several customers who probably were regulars gasped or began shifting their chairs to get a view of the ruckus. Daisy looked up in the doorway, two more people were standing in line waiting for a table. "Looks like two more spots have just opened up at the bar, would you like to sit here or wait for a table?" Daisy asked them from across the room. She was able to do so because the tavern had gotten quieter. It was definitely louder outside than it was in the room. I thought I could actually hear Florence trying to attract customers outside. "I don''t see any other seats," the girl turned her nose up at Daisy acting as if she were daft. "Of course there are because you are leaving. Get out. You are not welcome here," Daisy pointed to the door. "My father," the girl began, but Daisy interrupted. "Is not you. You can be sure I will address your behavior with Fromer at the next council meeting." Daisy looked at the girls face. "Oh honey, didn''t you know. My wife and I have a shared seat on the city council representing the innkeepers. I do know your father, and he would be appalled that you are using his position to try and get your way." The girls face had been going this odd shade of puce as Daisy talked. "Furthermore, I know that you are supposed to be apprenticing to Ginny. Does your father know you''ve been skipping out on your work to meet with a guy in a tavern?" The girl stood up and stormed out. The poor guy apologizing in her wake. The couple who had been waiting did decide to take the two vacant spots. "How many council seats are there?" I asked Crue. "It depends. They try to have a representative of each of the merchant sectors. There is usually one person representing House Holjior, someone to oversee the finances, someone who represents the judicial system, the Guild, a healer from one of the temples, someone they hire to promote tourism, then the various groups of merchants. Nearly every location that has a hot spring has a representative too. Dickson is a representative for our hot spring." "That girl is in here every other week with a new guy," Caryl placed a bowl of stew in front of Crue along with a basket of fresh bread. She also placed a sweet potato that was covered in a buttery glaze to the side. "I''ll be right back." She left and returned with my lamb nuggets that were served with a pineapple sweet and sour sauce over a bed of rice. She gave me a sweet potato as well. "So, she is sort of a regular. She likes to treat us as lower than servants though. Daisy knew about this and called her out on her manners." Caryl smiled and placed a hand on her hip. Her beak of a nose twitched in mirth and her Adam''s apple bobbed as she spoke. "I hope she gets told off well and good by her papa. "If you boys need anything just wave and I''ll be right over." With that, she took off to clear another table that had been left vacant. I bit into a nugget as Crue stirred his stew. The sauce was sweet and tangy with hints of pineapple and carrots. The meat inside the nuggets were perfection. It was very like Chinese takeout on Earth, but no Chinese takeout place I''d ever been to had lamb. It made for a fuller bodied flavor. I wondered if the lamb had been marinated in something prior to being breaded and fried. The sweet potato didn''t really go with my meal, but on its own was really good. I peeled back the skin and the smell of cinnamon sugar hit me. I took a bite and it was super sweet. My meal tonight consisted of a lot of sweet foods. Crue was steadily working his way through his potato as well. He had taken a bite of the stew, determined it was still too hot for consumption and began to work on the sweet potato while it cooled. He took a drink of the ale Daisy placed on the table and made a very peculiar face. "Have you tried this yet?" he asked lifting the mug. "Not yet," I raised mine and took a cautious sip. Daisy had said it would floor us so I didn''t want to go into it with a gulp. I was more than half expecting paint thinner. What I got was a dark full-bodied taste with hints of citrus, but it had a heat to it that made it seem spicy. It burned a bit like a shot of straight liquor, which was something I''d never had happen with any sort of beer variety. "It''s good, but I''ve never had anything like it," I commented sipping again, contemplating the taste. It had the lingering flavor of oranges. "I think it might be Dwarven Rue," Crue said under his breath, "or maybe Marge''s own take on it. I''ve never actually had Dwarven Rue so I can''t be certain." "What''s Dwarven Rue?" I asked in a normal tone. "Shhhh," Crue made the hand gesture for me to lower my voice, "not something you want to advertise that Marge has. It''s highly sought after by the right people because... "Oh," he placed a hand to his temple, "wait for it." Not even a few seconds later I was placing my own hand to my head. The buzzy feeling hit me all at once. I could literally feel all my muscles forcing themselves to relax. A warm feeling began at my core and spread to the rest of my body in waves. It felt less like getting drunk and more like a shot of painkiller in the emergency room. "It''s only made by dwarves. Dwarven Rue while not as addicting as other substances does have its own addicts. It''s not regulated that strongly because it''s not often that you find it outside of dwarven territories. The dwarves have naturally high alcohol tolerances. For them to get drunk they''ve come up with some rather surprising brews. One of them is Dwarven Rue. It''s not addicting to them, but they recognize the problem other races have with their strong brews. There are people who specifically go into dwarven territories to purchase the brews in order to sell them, but with transport, the cost of it skyrockets so that it''s unaffordable to the masses. The dwarves themselves keep the brewing methods a secret so that they can maintain a monopoly of the trade." "I can see how someone could become addicted to this," I held my hand to my head just to make sure it was still stable. With the other hand, I took a bite of my food. Perhaps food would lessen the effects of the drink. I had intended for Crue to get drunk and forget his guilt for a little while, but I hadn''t anticipated this. "If it is Dwarven Rue, I''m honestly surprised Marge can make it. It''s not every dwarf that has that sort of skill and the ones who do don''t normally leave the dwarven territory. I wonder why she left." Crue was tearing up bits of bread and mixing them with his stew. "Well, probably the obvious I would think." I had finished off my super sweet potato and began working on my lamb nuggets. "What do you mean?" Crue was digging into his stew and taking small sips from his mug every third bite. I drank mine at a much slower pace. With each sip, you got a renewal of the warm heat sensation a few seconds later. "While I don''t know much about dwarves, I know that many people would be judgmental of Marge''s lifestyle. She probably left so she could be Marge." "I see your point. Truthfully, I''m not very knowledgeable about dwarven society. I''ve always assumed that it was similar to human. People in this town love Marge, they love her business savvy and what she''s done to bring money into the town. However, other areas of the kingdom aren''t so tolerant. Most of the girls that work here are actually from those other areas. Not one of them is a native to Yellow Springs." We ate in silence for a while contemplating the injustices placed upon innocent people just trying to be who they were meant to be. Caryl cleared our dishes when we were finished and Crue and I being more than a little drunk only half way through our mug, split up the mochi. Both of us got two of each flavor. There was a small pot of honey that Daisy had left with us if we decided we wanted to sweeten them. I bit into an apple mochi. It was chewy! Chewy, and doughy, and sticky all at the same time. The apple tasted more like fresh cider than apples, but it was still very good. I tried the second one with a bit of honey and found that the honey complimented the cider flavor. The sweet potato mochi actually tasted sort of like the baked sweet potatoes we had just had for dinner. The flavors were all there. While this mochi was still chewy and doughy it was less sticky and a bit drier than the apple. The honey made the sweet potato mochi almost too sweet. I cleansed my pallet with a sip of Marge''s mysterious ale. The pumpkin flavor was more subtle. Like the apple mochi, it had a wetter consistency but tasted more like roasted pumpkin than the pumpkin pie flavor I was looking forward too. It was still very tasty, but it wasn''t my favorite flavor among the three. When honey was added, the honey tended to overwhelm the pumpkin flavor altogether. We still ended up ordering more of them though. Caryl brought over another plateful of the mochi. I didn''t count, but I think Crue and I ended up eating a total of twelve servings each. Oddly enough, the mochi really complimented the flavor of the ale. Crue and I sat and talked for what seemed like hours. Unfortunately, I don''t think we were actually talking to each other. We were both pretty shot by the time we finished our sweets and drink. Several times a notification appeared in front of me. I had to ignore them because I couldn''t read them. If it was that important then maybe they should make themselves readable. It was quite rude of them to be written in gibberish. I soundly told them off. Crue was laughing so hard he had hiccups. Daisy came over at one point and made certain I left a decent tip for Caryl before ''assisting'' us up the stairs to my room. Neither of us could walk at this point and I know I had problems figuring out exactly how my legs were supposed to work. Daisy was a duck, she took off our shoes and made sure we were nicely tucked into my bed. She made sure we both drank some water, and she left two paper packets of something on the table. She said we''d need it in the morning. I think I may have tried to sing opera too her. If I did she was kind enough to ignore it. Shortly after she left we both passed out. I fell asleep to the sound of Crue''s light snoring. *Skill Gain Alcohol Tolerance ~ *Skill Gain Party Tricks~ *Skill Gain Singing~ Chapter 15 I Shop Til I Drop Part A Chapter 15 I Shop ''Til I Drop Part A The next morning was a bit of a blur. Crue had gotten up first and his waking up had woken me up. The hangover wasn''t the worst I''ve ever had, but it still wasn''t pleasant. All I wanted to do was kill the sun for being so damned bright. I threw my arm over my eyes with a groan. ¡°Toilet.¡± Crue staggered about. Why on Earth, or rather Elrich, was he yelling this early in the morning. I decided I would kill him too when I got the pounding to go away. ¡°Eri, damnit, where''s the toilet?¡± Right, I was feeling more than a bit of pressure down there as well. I should do something about that. I untangled myself from the blanket and sat up. No, I did not want to sit up. Sitting up was a bad idea. I had almost decided to lay back down, but I had to go. By some miracle, I managed to make my way down the hall silently counting doors as I went. The fourth door on the right was the shared toilets for the guests. There were three stalls and a magic stone hand washing sink. A window was slightly open to let in the slightly chilled morning air. Stupid air being all cold and making my face hurt. Crue had followed me and made a beeline to the back stall. I finished my business and was quite proud that I was able to aim in the state that I was in. Go me! I splashed water on my face. That not being enough, ran my head under the tap. I could smell myself and it wasn''t pleasant. That woke me up a little, sticking my head out the window to let my hair drip outside helped a lot. I used my hand and squeezed out what water I could. The pounding in my head lessened a bit. I sweat a lot in the night and my clothes smelled like beer. There wasn''t a lot I could do about my outer clothing. I had fallen asleep in them without changing. The best I could do was change my under clothes and wash up. I plugged the sink and used a dirty undershirt to wash my naked body. I dried off with another undershirt and wiped up the water mess I had made on the floor. Putting on clean underclothes and socks made me feel better, but I wasn''t looking forward to putting on my green over-shirt and the pants Crue had let me use. I was running out of clean clothes. I would have to figure out how people did laundry here. Crue has made it back to the room before me and was drinking water from a cup that Daisy had left. ¡°Take this,¡± he handed me the half-full cup and a paper packet. ¡°You''ll want to drink that first,¡± he pointed at the cup and picked up the other packet. I drank the water. He refilled the cup and opened his packet. Tossing back his head he dumped brown powder into his mouth quickly following it with drinking the entire glass of water. His face made me not want to try the stuff. ¡°It''s bitter as hell, but it will help with the headache. It''s refined willow bark. Good for fevers, headaches, minor pains.¡± He handed me the glass and I filled it. I tried to do as he did. I tipped my head back and let the powder in the packet fall in. Sweet Giblets! I began to choke. It was bitter was an understatement. I tasted like chewing aspirin. I drank my water and refilled the glass and drank that too. The nasty taste lingered. I wasn''t certain if it was going to stay down. My gag reflex was working in overdrive. ¡°Do you have willow bark?¡± Crue asked. ¡°We have aspirin that''s pressed into tablets so you don''t have to taste them.¡± ¡°Wouldn''t you choke?¡± He shook his head in a sardonic way then began to wash his face in the sink. He smelled just as bad as I had. I handed him a fresh undershirt. He shook his head. ¡°No, I think I will head home and take a bath. You?¡± ¡°I don''t have any clothes to change into and I''m running out of clean underwear. So I really do need to go shopping today. I was going to head over to that shop your brother pointed out. I''m sure I can figure out how to buy a pair of pants and some shirts. You go ahead and get your bath.¡± ¡°No, I''ll go with you. I did promise to take you shopping. I do have extra clothes if you want to bathe first. You can change into them, go shopping, then maybe by then we will feel up to food.¡± ¡°That sounds good,¡± I sat on the bed and tugged on my boots. Crue picked up his priestly vestment from the desk where Daisy had left it nicely folded for him. Daisy really was an angel. We made our way downstairs, it wasn''t yet time for lunch set up so the tavern was closed. So we exited via the stable entrance. The square looked normal. There weren''t any signs of the platform having been there yesterday. The vendors were set up in their usual places and the kids played in the fountain. It was so normal it seemed surreal. I could almost believe that yesterday hadn''t happened. Almost. The aftermath of the drinking was still with me and I wouldn''t have been drinking if the events hadn''t happened. Somehow it seemed like there should be a mark left behind that something momentous happened here. Perhaps, it was only a big deal for me? I''d never seen someone killed before. For the other people in town, they had grown up with executions happening every so often. For them maybe this really wasn''t any big thing. The only difference was that some gods showed up. For me, this would leave a mark. Crue took me to a back door to the temple. He had me wait in front of the woman at the bath counter while he got changes of clothes for us. I spent my time opening and smelling the different soaps in the multi-colored pots. The lady, whose name was Patty, explained that some of the soaps were universal, like the pine soap, and could be used for both your hair and body. Then there were other soaps just for your hair. It wasn''t lost on me that those were mostly stacked on the female side of her counter. Guys didn''t really bother with hair care since they typically kept it short. I remembered my grandmother telling me how she loved to run her fingers through my grandfather''s hair and how soft it was. He used egg in his hair once a month apparently. As a result, as I was growing up I learned to pay a bit more attention to the stuff I was putting in my hair. I was one of those guys who actually used conditioner. Mostly because of my grandmother. I migrated to the woman''s side of the counter and with Patty''s help picked up three jars that smelled like oranges. I paid 3 copper coins for the set. One was a soap shampoo combo, the other was a coconut, avocado, and egg-based conditioner. I was warned not to rinse the stuff out with hot water if I didn''t want scrambled egg in my hair. The last pot was a leave-in detangler. You would add water to the pot and it would make a watery cream you would work into your wet hair. No need to rinse it out, but try not to get it into the hot spring water. Crue arrived and handed me a pile of clothes. He looked at my three pots and grinned. ¡°Just so you know when we go monster hunting you can''t be running around the forest smelling pretty. The monsters will smell you and run off. This,¡± he grabbed a wooden pot with no color painted on it, ¡°is what you will need to wash with when you are working. Unscented,¡± he explained when I tried to smell what was in the pot. He replaced that pot and grabbed the same pine-scented pot her had last time and we made our way back to the bath. I will admit that my hair felt amazing after the bath. The ends of my hair even curled up a bit. I was very impressed. Who would have thought that with all our science and technology and the billions of different types of shampoo on Earth that I would find even better hair care products in a place that lacked technology? I felt ready to be in an Herbal Essence Commercial. The clothes that Crue gave me were in shades of brown and matched his. They were his so I guess that made sense. He took me up to his room and had me put all his dirty clothes as well as mine into my storage. He would be showing me where I could get them cleaned later. Apparently, many people in the town paid other people to wash their clothes, including the temple priests. People that had space could set up their own drying lines and wash bins, but most people didn''t have that sort of space. Poorer people would hand wash their clothes near the public wells at night and hang them to dry inside their homes. My stomach was growling at me while I was placing his dirty clothes in my storage. I made certain our underwear wouldn''t be mixed up and all the clothes lumped in a category called dirty. I could add a category and I put Crue''s clothes into Dirty Crue. He wouldn''t know what I''d called it. ¡°Do you think we can grab breakfast now instead of later?¡± I asked him. ¡°I don''t think I can handle anything greasy, so I''d like to avoid the vendor food. Do you want to see if the temple kitchens are still serving breakfast? It will be simple, but good.¡± ¡°Sure,¡± I nodded and followed Crue. A black bald man that looked like he could dead-lift a car stood in the kitchen sipping at a mug of tea while stirring a pot of broth that was big enough for a child to stand in. He smiled at Crue with perfectly lined white teeth. He wore brown clothes and a pink apron. The smells in the room were wonderful. The kitchen was as large as the man with several stoves lining the wall and a huge brick oven. There was an island counter opposite the stoves with pans hanging above it. There were stools on one side of the counter for sitting like at a bar. Along one wall were several shelves of jars and boxes. There was a massive sink with a pile of dishes in it that a little girl, with a pink flowered apron, was working away at while standing on a step stool. Near her was another door that I guessed lead to a pantry of some sort. On the other side of the door were floor to ceiling cupboards. A door opposite the pantry, that had been propped open with a brick, led to a dining area. ¡°Tea?¡± the black man asked as we sat down at the counter. ¡°Yes, please,¡± Crue said nodding at the man. ¡°Yes,¡± I nodded in reply to the man''s question. He placed a tea kettle on the stove and got down a box of tea. ¡°Tuck, this is Eri. Eri this is Tuck, he''s the cook for the temple,¡± Crue provided introductions. ¡°You the guy with the chocolate?¡± Tuck asked leaning on the counter with a massive hip. ¡°Yes, that''s me,¡± I nodded and pulled a few bars out of my inventory. ¡°I''d like to talk to you about cooking with it. It will go well with desserts,¡± he picked up one of the bars and examined it. ¡°Well, I''m not a cook, but one of the more basic things is to melt it down and drizzle it over things. Strawberries are also really good dipped in it.¡± ¡°Really? Can you show me?¡± Tuck got a little excited and stood up while tugging on his apron. Just then my stomach gave a very loud growl. The little girl in the corner giggled. I blushed a little in embarrassment. ¡°Food first then,¡± he laughed. ¡°We have some porridge leftover, I was just about to send Ginny to the wall with the lot of it.¡± ¡°He means that the temples give our leftover food to the poor working on the wall. There is a food stand near the wall that all the temples pitch in to run,¡± Crue interjected. ¡°Right, I also have eggs. You can either have the boiled ones I was going to send off to the wall or I can fry you up some fresh one. I already gave the leftover toast to the chickens. You missed the ham and potatoes.¡± ¡°Do you have berries and sugar?¡± I asked thinking that sweetening up the porridge. ¡°It''s getting to be a little late in the season for them, but we do have some preserved. Honey too,¡± he added knowing why I was asking. ¡°I''ve got strawberries like I do chocolate if you need some for cooking or anything let me know.¡± ¡°You can produce strawberries too?¡± Tuck asked. To answer him I pulled out a large basket of berries. It was handy when I pulled out a large quantity of an item it came neatly packaged in some way. Then I pulled out another basket and lined them both up on the table. ¡°Sweet Lady,¡± Tuck whispered. He picked up a berry inspected it a bit then bit into it. ¡°These are Amoris Berries alright, they are large and sweet. Wild berries can either be small and sweet or larger and sour. Amoris Berries are the best berries.¡± He eyed me contemplating, then asked. ¡°Can I have eight more baskets this size? I''d like to add to our stock of preserves for winter.¡± I stood up and went to a clean section of counter and placed eight more baskets. ¡°Ginny go fetch Cadi, Andy, and Hoop. Grab anyone else you can find that is free, we will be doing some canning this afternoon. No, it can wait until you are done.¡± He changed his mind as the little girl stepped down from the stool. ¡°I will give you two time to eat before I set the kids to cutting up berries. You wouldn''t happen to have sugar too?¡± Tuck asked with a laugh. ¡°No, only chocolate and strawberries,¡± I smiled with him. He nodded and ducked out of the room and caught a passing teenage girl by the arm and told her to go to the market and buy at least twenty jars of sugar. More if she could get it. Have them deliver it to the temple by this afternoon. With those instructions sent, Tuck pulled two bowls out of the cupboard. He placed them on a tray right as the kettle began to whistle. He got down two mugs and two inverted little ceramic flower looking things with holes. He placed these over the mugs and spooned one scoop of leaves into each flower. Oh, the flower acted as a loose leaf tea strainer that fit over the cups. He poured the hot water slowly over the tea. Then let them sit there and brew while he ladled out two hearty portions of porridge. On the tray, he placed a pot of honey, brown sugar, white sugar, and a jar of berry jam. ¡°Eggs?¡± he asked over his shoulder while he worked. ¡°I''m good with two boiled eggs,¡± I said. Crue agreed. Tuck put a plate on the tray with four boiled eggs still in their shells. Then he went over to the tea and tapped the flower against the mug a couple of times before discarding the leaves in a bowl of vegetable scraps. Ginny ran over and took the flowers from him to put in her wash. The mugs were placed on the tray with spoons then put in front of us. As I added sweet stuff to my porridge and cracked and peeled my eggs, Tuck asked me questions. I explained about a double boiler and that those were the best for melting chocolate. He knew what I was talking about and even brought one out he used for making caramel. As I ate I explained the basics of warming up chocolate for dipping. He got the process started while I ate and by the time I finished my second egg he had a nice melting chocolate. ¡°You are wanting it to look shiny,¡± I commented looking into his bowl. I deemed his first melting good enough and had him get out a sheet tray. I dipped a strawberry into the chocolate turning them as they dripped to get full coverage then placed them one by one on the tray. *Skill Gain Cooking~ Would you look at that? A new skill. I vaguely recalled a few alerts last night. I allocated some points to cooking I could see feeding myself as a necessary skill. Then I looked through my skill sheet. Alcohol tolerance, singing, and party tricks were my three new skills. What exactly had I been doing last night? I had some recall, but most of it was a bit blurry. I was sort of glad I couldn''t recall most of it, I''d probably die of acute embarrassment. Tuck had melted enough chocolate for two sheet trays of berries. By the time I was at the end of the chocolate bowl Crue, Tuck, and Ginny were already eating the first few berries I had dipped. The chocolate on those had solidified already. From the way the little girl squealed and danced around, I took it that the chocolate covered berries were a success. I think Tuck wanted to join her little jig but was trying to keep himself contained. He did bob about in place a bit. Watching them enjoy themselves so much I placed a clean bowl over the boiler and melted some white chocolate as well. I dipped some more berries, but mostly I took the white chocolate and with a spoon a drizzled white lines across the milk chocolate berries. I was actually enjoying myself. It had been a long time since Gran and I made chocolate covered strawberries. My high school graduation was the last time we made them together. While Tuck was distracted in the pantry trying to find other things to dip in chocolate, Crue grabbed my arm and told Ginny we had to do some shopping. I left a couple of boxes of chocolate on the counter as thanks for the meal. ¡°We had to escape while we could. Tuck would have kept you in the kitchen all morning asking you all sorts of questions and we never would have been able to leave.¡± I did notice that Crue had pilfered two covered berries for the trip out. Strange how something so simple brought so many people joy. Our first trip was to the local laundress. Which was out of the way on the outskirts of town near the wall. There was a house and two outbuildings. There was also a large expanse of yard that had multiple moving clotheslines. It operated similarly to a ski lift in that the line went from one end of the yard and back moving the clothes hung on them. The movement of the line probably created a breeze that allowed the clothes to dry faster. Crue led me to the first outbuilding. When he opened the door, it was as if I was walking into a rain-forest exhibit. It was humid and hot, sweat broke out on my top lip. It was almost as if I could feel the thickness of the air as it entered my lungs. A fat dumpy woman with cracked hands and broken nails greeted us. She took down our names and noted where we were living. Crue had all his laundry paid for by the temple. I decided that I would pay for the monthly service instead of paying for a single time cleaning. The monthly service for a one-person household was one silver coin. I could get all the regular clothes washed that I needed, but it didn''t include other items like bedding, rugs, and heavy items like jackets. Those would cost extra. Small mending, like missing buttons or stitching a small seam, would also cost extra. I paid the woman and handed over both my clothes and Crue''s. Included in the service was a free weekly pick up and delivery of the laundry. Marge and her ladies had their laundry serviced through this same woman and their clothes were picked up on Wednesday and delivered on Friday. I had my clothes scheduled to be sent with theirs. Though I could only hand the woman a few soiled underthings and my one outfit she didn''t comment. She placed my items in a basket with a purple tag and Crue''s things went into a basket with a green tag. She had me show my ID and sign some paperwork saying they weren''t responsible for lost items. When asked how they kept track of the clothes, she gave me an odd look telling me I had asked a very dumb question indeed and pointed to the colored tag on my basket. Today my color was purple and all my clothes would be washed and then hung with purple clothespins. Once dry the clothes would go in a regular basket with my name and address on it to be delivered. Right, I knew not to ask any further dumb questions. Her son would come around with a cart that would be filled with laundry baskets. He would deliver the laundry and be able to take payments for further services if a client didn''t want to make the trek to the laundress business themselves. She told me I was not to tip the boy since Marge took care of any gratuity through the business. Good to know. Business with clean clothes finished, we left. Stepping out of the sauna-like building was a bit of a shock to the system. It was simultaneously easier to breathe, but I started to shiver a bit. I knew it wasn''t cold outside, but coming out of the damp hot air into the dry mild air, it felt chilly. I rubbed my arms to get rid of the goosebumps. Crue led me on a route to Durmond''s. The bright yellow sign on the front of the two-story building was eye-catching. The outside of the store looked smaller than the inside. The first floor was dedicated to women''s dress. There were wooden mannequins all over the place displaying the dresses they had for sale. The female attendant on the first-floor desk nodded to us both as we climbed the stairs to the second floor. The second floor was a bit less chaotic than the first. There were fewer mannequins as most of the pants and shirts were folded neatly on shelves. There wasn''t a lot of color as most of the clothes were made in various shades of brown. Oddly, enough black wasn''t as common as the dark brown. I looked quickly at some shirts that were displayed. The black shirt of the same cut cost nearly 5 coppers more than the brown. So that explained why there were fewer black items. Why would someone spend the extra 5 coppers on a black shirt when a dark brown one would work just as well? I promised myself right then and there to not worry about a minor price increase for the color I wanted. Then I checked myself. If a color I wanted was double the price of a brown shirt I wouldn''t get it. With a vague goal in mind, I followed Crue to the counter. The man that stood there was old, very old, I would have guessed his age to have been in his nineties. He was hunched over and had more liver spots than he had clear skin. His white hair was patchy and there was a very dark spot right above his hairline that would have worried the blindest dermatologist. His eyes that had once been brown had gone sort of milky. I was impressed that he still looked like he had most of his teeth. His smile was wry and crooked but willed with genuine happiness. ¡°Good morning Durmond,¡± Crue said shaking the old man''s hand. ¡°You''re young Marl''s boy aren''t you. It seems like only yesterday your pa was coming home winning the Torentig. I was an old man even then.¡± He laughed good-naturedly. ¡°Which one are you the healer or the guard? I tend to get a bit confused nowadays.¡± ¡°I''m the healer, Crue. I''m his youngest. Sturgis is my older brother, he''s in the guard.¡± ¡°I see, I see,¡± Durmond nodded at me, ¡°Mind your manners child, introduce us.¡± He gripped Crue''s upper arm as he came around the counter. ¡°This is Eri, he''s here on business for the Amoris Temple, as well as being our new Surveyor at the Guild.¡± ¡°Nice to meet you, sir,¡± I extended my hand. Durmond surprised me by having a very strong grip belying his apparent frailness. He turned over my hand and looked at my palm studiously. Then he poked me hard near my thumb with his other hand. ¡°You have quite the complex path before you. I''ve never seen such branching and connecting. There will be many loves in your life. Here,¡± he poked me again and circled my hand, ¡°all sorts of lines meeting willy-nilly all over the place. It''s odd because it looks like they didn''t start out this complicated. Godly intervention, lots of it. Some tragedy, always sad, but most of it is behind you. There will be children, but not for a while yet. It is uncertain how many since it is unclear which of these love lines you will eventually end up with.¡± He brought my hand nearly level with his nose and began to blow on it like he was trying to get rid of dust. Ok, weird old guy. ¡°Enough of that Durmond, we are here to get Eri some clothes, not to have his fortune read,¡± Crue told the old man gently leading him back behind the counter. ¡°Do you mind if we look around a bit to get an idea of what he''s looking for?¡± ¡°No, no my boy, go right ahead. I''ll just be sitting right here working on this hemline.¡± Durmond took a seat behind the counter and picked up a pair of pants that had been laying there. With swift deftness, he began to hem the pants. I was impressed at his speed and precision considering his age and his milky eyes. Crue led me to a corner of the store with higher-priced items, but they looked more form-fitting than I was wanting and mostly made of an odd stretchy material similar, but not quite like, the stuff my ruined leggings had been made of. Even I could tell that this material, whatever it was, was sturdier. ¡°You will need a few sets of these for when we go out,¡± he picked up a dark brown long-sleeved shirt. ¡°They look like they will be tight and it''s a bit pricey.¡± The shirt that Crue was holding would cost me a little over one silver. Considering the black shirt I had looked at coming in had been a fourth that price I was balking. ¡°This is made from the silk of monster spiders. It''s really durable and tough. It will protect your skin running around in the forest. Trust me, your arms and legs will appreciate it. You will wear this under the light armor we will eventually be commissioning for you.¡± ¡°Light Armor?¡± I imagined myself running around in heavy plate mail for a second then decided that wasn''t for me and perhaps Crue was right about light armor. Running around in the summer in what was essentially a metal hot box didn''t appeal. Even if I would be playing out my knight errant fantasy. ¡°Yes, there is a place, Merguerty''s, where we can go to have some commissioned. He does have some stuff laying around, but his best work is usually tailored to the customer. He''ll expect you to have a few of these shirts and pants too. Some of your body will be exposed in light armor. This,¡± he held up the shirt again, ¡°and your dexterity will help to protect those vulnerable areas.¡± I resigned myself to purchasing the shirts, I found four that I liked. One in black, one in cobalt blue, one in a burgundy red, and at Crue''s instance one in hunter green. They all fit me like a long sleeved t-shirt made of spandex. I moved my arms back and forth and there wasn''t any resistance at all. It didn''t even really feel like I was encumbered in any way. While clingy, the fabric was impressively stretchy. It didn''t do much to hide my paunch though. He had me get pants of the same material. There were fewer color variations for pants. I would assume that a pair of daffodil yellow pants made from monster spider silk wasn''t high in demand. Browns and shades of black were the most common. There were a few pairs of dark blue, but that was it. Black was my color of choice, and I selected a few to try on. Unlike with the shirts, I had some issues with the pants. They were tailored in a way so that they didn''t look like leggings, which I was grateful for. However, they were still really clingy. They reminded me of yoga pants. I wasn''t a fan, I felt like they highlighted all my worst attributes. My paunch was on full display. You can''t really hide something like that in clingy clothes. Then there was my butt, I had always considered it to be a normal butt. However, in these pants, I began to have some serious insecurities about how big it was. I hadn''t really noticed before but I carried a lot of my excess weight in my butt. Maybe Crue would let me wear my coat over the hunting clothes. I doubted it since he wanted to get me fitted for armor. It seemed like I was stuck walking around looking like I was bulging out everywhere. Crue finally satisfied that I was going to buy the outrageously priced clothes, let me browse around in the normal area. They had the sort of leggings that Amoris had sent me here in. I avoided that area. I''d had enough with leggings. Interestingly, there weren''t many patterns. There were some shirts with embroidery, but unlike with the ladies section downstairs, the men''s area lacked patterns. I was more than a bit grateful for this as I picked up some extra underclothes in white. I didn''t need a repeat of the heart patterned shorts, thank you. Since the regular clothes were more reasonably priced and I did need enough to last a week I picked out ten shirts in a few different styles. They were all long-sleeved since fall and winter were right around the corner. A couple had collars or cuffs, most of them were long-sleeved with the poofy arms and the tie in the front. They were similar to the shirts everyone else seemed to favor and were cheaper too. I did get some black, but I also got a couple of shades of green and blue.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. The pants were a lot simpler. I just got ten pairs of black pants all in a style that seemed to look normal on me. After the spider silk pants, most of the other pants looked normal. Crue sighed at my lack of color choices, but coming from someone who wore mostly browns I ignored him. Besides, my boots were black and I hated walking around in brown pants and black boots. ¡°Oh, Marl! Your boy was just here a while ago,¡± the old man said to Crue as we went up to the counter. ¡°He brought in a boy with the oddest fate lines I''ve ever seen. All over the place, they were. You should have seen it. The boy is a real ladies man let me tell you,¡± the man laughed and nudged Crue in the ribs. ¡°Really? You should tell me about it next time I''m in. Right now I''d like to buy these please,¡± Crue pretended to be his father and got the old man to begin to tally up my purchases. The old man rang up my purchases and said he would have a boy take them around to the inn, later tonight. I nearly got sick when he told me my total. I hadn''t realized just how much the smaller items had added up. The old man just waited patiently while I counted out 1 gold coin, 2 silver coins, and 10 copper coins. While I handed him the money I told myself I would have more income coming in soon and that I wasn''t exactly broke. When we left Durmond''s I insisted that we go by the town gate and pay off my debt. It had to be paid by the end of the week and Crue was planning on taking me to do some more shopping. I had to pay it off while I still had money. I had to make sure I had money for next week''s rent as well. Crue told me I was being silly but gladly followed along as I led the way to the gate. To my slight disappointment, Lotte wasn''t there. I told her I''d be by at the end of the week, so I was early. The guard at the gate asked for my ID. I handed over my ID and my special dispensation document. I gave the guard my tax of 43 coppers and left. At least I didn''t have to worry about forgetting the tax debt and the town putting me to work on the wall. Crue had a mental list of some things I would be needing. On the top of the list were armor and a weapon. In the marketplace, he took me into a shop with a clumsily hand-painted sign on the window that said Merguerty''s Armor and Leather Craft. The writing looked like it came from a slasher movie with dripping red paint and smeared letters. For a place that sold swords, I wasn''t sure if it was worrying or reassuring. Crue stepped in and walked up to a really large person, it took me a second to realize she was a woman. She had a curly red mohawk and the arms to rival a tree. He told the woman what he was basically looking for. The woman took us to several different types of armor. ¡°Until I get a feel for your fighting style I think simple leather armor would be best. It will be lightweight and you''ll be able to learn in it,¡± Crue commented as the woman held out several pieces. ¡°You''ll probably lose that weight too, so it would be best to hold off on getting custom metal work done,¡± the woman said helpfully eyeballing my waistline. Seriously, kick a guy when he''s already feeling insecure lady. This blunt woman was not going to be my favorite person in this town. Her name was Grette and she was the apprentice blacksmith. While most of the women in town wore dresses and skirts, Grette chose to wear men''s clothes. To be fair, with her huge build the dainty dresses I had seen in the shop would have looked ridiculous, but Daisy had managed to find a dress for someone her size so it should be possible. Not that women needed to wear dresses to be feminine, it just seemed to be the custom here. I''d rarely seen a woman, outside the Guild, in a pair of pants. She held a leather breast piece up to me, as I was questioning myself on if I was being chauvinist. Then she shook her head rejecting the piece. I wondered what she noticed about me that made her put it back down. She had me try a few on and she ran around me testing the fit. After several options and rejects, Crue had me pick between three similar items. They were simple chest guards with thicker bands on the leather straps to act as the back guard. They covered the vitals leaving the rest exposed. I wasn''t sure about leaving so much of my sides and back out in the open. When I put on the armor I understood why Crue had picked the less restrictive sets. In the sets that covered more of me, I felt like I was enclosed in a turtle shell. With this, I could move around without really noticing the leather straps crisscrossing around me. ¡°Range of movement is best in this sort of armor, but you are giving up some protection. I hope you have some speed,¡± Grette commented before she was interrupted by Crue. ¡°Range of movement, plus the lack of armor will train him to dodge and not rely on the armor to protect him.¡± ¡°I wish more people would learn to dodge, it would lessen my workload. Do you know how many breastplates I''ve had to hammer out this week?¡± She shook her head in mock despair. The brown piece rubbed in awkward places so I put it aside. The dark brown piece and the black piece both fit me about the same. The dark brown piece looked bad-ass. It had decorative straps and buckles. It looked more like bondage gear with the spikes than a work of armor. Still, I knew my own personal aesthetic tended towards the simpler darker piece. It was made from the hide of a Nurrgal, a cave-dwelling wombat. It was naturally black leather, it hadn''t been dyed. The buckles were a dull silver, not that they were tarnished, instead of being a shiny silver they were more matte. Grette pulled out matching arm bracers and greaves. For a bit, I wondered what would be protecting my manhood, but then I figured that if something was going to try and bite off my junk I would be learning to dodge faster. The silver codpieces that were paired with a few sets of armor didn''t make me want to question it further. She had me put on the entire set as she worked around me adjusting the straps. Once she got them where they were comfortable she took chalk and marked the straps. She took the pieces to the back room while Crue and I tested out the weapons. There was not a huge variety of swords. I was expecting a large assortment of every type and size imaginable. This shop did not have that. What they carried were the basics. Crue did most of the picking since I didn''t know what I was looking for. He went through a ritual of holding the sword, letting it drop, then swinging it a few times, before he would either reject it or hand it to me to test. To me, they all seemed the same. Some had better grips than others and some were slightly heavier. I really didn''t know what I was looking for in a weapon. Until Crue handed me a sword that based on appearance looked like all the rest, but when I gripped the handle I immediately knew what he was talking about when he was muttering about balance. This sword had a leather grip and a small cross brace, but when I picked it up I couldn''t feel the drag I had been feeling with the other swords. I barely had to use any strength in keeping the tip from dropping. I placed it to the side and dutifully tested the other swords Crue handed me, but only a few came close to that one sword. By the time I had selected it Grette came back with the armor. She had cut the straps so that I didn''t have excess dangly bits. She had done something so that the cut ends didn''t look unnatural, it all blended well. Noticing that I had picked a sword and sensing the possibility of another sale she showed me a few of the knives. Some of them were as flashy as Vegas hooker, but you didn''t want to take them home with you. I picked a simple hunting knife used in dismantling. Crue nodded at my choice and tested it himself. Finding nothing wrong with it he added it to the pile of items. I knew the armor and weapons were going to cost me, so I mentally prepared myself for the damage. However, we weren''t done. Sheaths weren''t included, so I had to have those. Then I needed a way to carry them. Just holding them in my inventory wasn''t good enough. More leather, measuring, and strap cutting commenced. In the end, had a sword I carried at my hip and a knife sheath that could be strapped to my leg, arm, or attached to the back of my belt. I felt sort of like a medieval Rambo. I tested out the draw of each weapon making sure things were working correctly and that I was able to pull the sword without cutting off a toe. In a gesture of goodwill, she added a complimentary bottle of leather oil and a sharpening stone. She showed me how to maintain the leather and how to clean it. Then she showed me how to use the oil and the stone to sharpen both the knife and sword. She didn''t want me coming in her shop every week asking her to clean my gear and sharpen my blades. So part of this tutorial was so that she would see less of me in the long run. Though she was very careful about letting me know that if I did need some help the shop would work on my gear for a fee. If any of the leather started to fray or was damaged I was to have them look at it. *Skill Gain- Leather Work~ *Skill Gain- Metal Work~ What was metal work? Did I just acquire blacksmithing? I opened my screen while Grette tried selling Crue some metal arrow tips he''d been looking at. They sold arrow tips but not arrows or even bows which I found odd. *Metal Work- a skill used in metal maintenance. Used in maintaining metal armor and weapons. Also used in designing and decorating arms and armor. Level of the skill is equaled by the varied possibilities for adding to the aesthetic qualities of functional items. Gilding, inlay, enameling, embossing, engraving, and pattern welding are all possibilities of this skill.~ So it wasn''t blacksmithing, but the ability to maintain your armor and weapons and, if you were feeling skippy, to decorate them as well. I checked on the leather work to see if that was just decorative as well. To my surprise, it wasn''t. *Leather Work- beginning level for leather crafting. This skill allows for leather maintenance and basic leatherworking. Once this skill has reached level 3 leather crafting will become automatically available.~ I activated both skills but didn''t allocate any extra Exp to them as of yet. They both seemed useful just for the skill in maintaining my gear. The decorative aspect was intriguing, but I wasn''t feeling very crafty at that moment. Crue had decided to pass on the new arrow tips, so Grette turned her attention back to me. Another adventurer was eyeballing the axes along the wall so she was trying to move on to a new sale. She added up my total for my purchases. I once again had kittens when I was quoted the price for the lot, 1 gold and 56 coppers. Grette started to give me a dirty look when I hesitated. She probably thought I didn''t have the money. I did, but I was still feeling a bit panicky at spending so much at once. Her face relaxed slightly when I handed her the coins. ¡°Getting started right is worth it,¡± Crue commented as we left, my new gear stored in my inventory. ¡°In a way, you are rather lucky to be able to afford decent armor that is durable and will protect you. I hate to say it since we are both employed there, but the armor and weapons the Guild sells to newbies isn''t good. It''s made cheaply, isn''t durable, and you will be lucky if it protects you against a flea bite. ¡°Keep in mind that you will have more money coming in from the temple periodically and that even though you are cringing at the cost, it''s all necessary for our job. Survive first, even if it costs you literally everything. Your armor and weapons are literally your life when you are fighting against monsters. Don''t ever choose the cheaper path when it means your life.¡± ¡°I know you are right, but at the same time, I''m having some issues with the concept of money here. I just spent a lot of money, didn''t I? If one copper here is similar to a dollar back home, I just spent more money than I ever have just shopping. My first car didn''t even cost that much.¡± ¡°I don''t know about equivalents from your world, but it was indeed a lot of money. Most people wouldn''t be able to make that much in a month of normal labor. I would estimate that the average pay for unskilled labor would be about 4 silvers a month. Your own pay with the Guild will raise as you learn more skills pertaining to your job as Surveyor. Right now your base pay should be about 6 silvers since you are still in training, but already possess the skills needed to get the job done.¡± He glanced at me for confirmation. ¡°Dunbar said that at the end of the month I would be paid 7 silvers, more depending on how my training goes.¡± ¡°That sounds about right. You have a skill and people with skills get paid more than people without skills. Your concept of skills might be a bit skewed due to the unorthodox method you have for obtaining them, but a skill actually takes a lot of study and practice. People can literally work for years at a task and not gain the skill. Some skills are harder to obtain than others, but it still takes a lot of work. I think I mentioned it took me about a year to get the empathy skill?¡± I nodded that I remembered him mentioning it. ¡°That was actually fairly fast. My having the healing skill helped speed along my training as an empath. That was just to get the skill, I''ve worked even more in order to level it. Some of that was allocating the Exp, but even more of it was using the skill repeatedly.¡± ¡°So if you use a skill a lot it will level up on its own eventually?¡± ¡°Eventually, but the quicker solution is to allocate your Exp.¡± ¡°So if you have a dormant skill it can activate without Exp allocation?¡± ¡°Yes, but it takes a lot of work for that to happen. People who have studied skill allocation and leveling up have all agreed that it''s all fairly random per person. For one person it might take a year of cooking to gain the cooking skill, for others, it could take five years. Some people believe that your skills actually work together. ¡°My healing ability most likely helped along my understanding in becoming an empath. If you are a cook having a hunting or dismantling skill will help your understanding of cutting up the meat for cooking. Then some skills, once leveled, allow for more complicated skills sets. The basic sword is a good example of that. ¡°My point is the more useful skills you have the higher your pay will be. Since people who are skilled are harder to find than people without skills.¡± ¡°What do you get paid?¡± I was curious about it since we were on the topic and he had mentioned he had skills that would be considered useful. He smirked at me. ¡°With the Guild, even just working part-time, I make about 4 gold a month,¡± ¡°4 gold!¡± I interrupted. Part of me was feeling a little cheated. ¡°4 gold,¡± he confirmed, ¡°if I worked full-time it would be more than that.¡± He shook his head. ¡°There are only three other people in town with the skills to be the Surveyor. ¡°My brother, his apprentice, and you. My brother is swamped with guard duties, the same goes for his apprentice. Sometimes when they have time off they do some work for the Guild, but it''s not something they can commit to. I have a bit more free time and I''m able to go out more regularly. ¡°No one else in town can do the job, so the pay is higher because it takes skills most people just don''t have. Eventually, your pay will be just as high. As your skills increase and Dunbar feels more comfortable with the accuracy of your monster assessments. ¡°My pay for being a priest is based the same way. A normal priest without any skills would only earn about 2 silvers a month, but you have to keep in mind that priests live rent-free at their temples. Their basic necessities are seen to in most ways. That money is usually used on clothing and for trips out with fellow priests. ¡°Healing priests make more, as do priests skilled in Exp allocation or spiritual counseling. I have eight skills that can be used in my position as a priest. Most of those skills are used in my healing arts. I''m not the best healer in the temple, but I do have a skill set to become head healer one day.¡± ¡°So how much does a healing priest make?¡± ¡°It depends on the temple. Amoris temple has some of the more skilled healing priests so we do a lot of business. Because of our reputation as one of the best, we have more clients and get paid more than a healing priest from a temple that doesn''t have a lot of clients. Our pay is based on how many clients we can see, the difficulty of the healing task, and how much time that healing task requires. ¡°An Amoris Temple healing priest with the basics of healing knowledge can earn about 1 gold a month. I personally can earn up to a maximum of 10 gold, but I usually only make about 5. My special skill sets aren''t used often and recently I''ve been declining taking more clients for personal reasons.¡± Dude, was Crue actually loaded? He didn''t dress like it, but that was a lot of money from both jobs. He couldn''t possibly spend it all. He frowned deeply as if remembering why he had limited his patients. I could take a guess and thought it probably had something to do the little girl, Juniper. ¡°Want to talk about what happened yesterday?¡± I asked after a lengthy pause in front of an old lady selling apples. Feeling a bit bad that we were just standing there while Crue was busy stuck in his own thoughts, I bought a couple dozen and put them into my inventory. ¡°I was wondering if you would bring it up,¡± Crue said slowly. ¡°Have you thought about it?¡± ¡°I was right there, it''s hard not to think about.¡± ¡°I''m glad you''re giving it some thought. Though I''m currently not really practicing, Amoris was correct in that I do have a special set of skills that might help.¡± Wait, what was he talking about? I had thought he wanted to talk about the execution yesterday. Then it hit me. Shit, how could I have forgotten? Well, I knew how I had forgotten. I was so hyper-focused on the execution and then drinking afterward that the entire reason Amoris and Edomael had shown up had pushed itself into the back of my consciousness. ¡°Hey, are you ok? You suddenly went three different shades of pale on me.¡± Crue was gripping my arm and was slowly leading me to a public bench. ¡°I forgot,¡± I muttered. ¡°What did you forget? Whoa, head between your knees, don''t pass out. Deep slow breaths. Don''t go wandering off to the Abyss on me.¡± Crue was forcing my head between my knees and slowly rubbing my back. There was a warmth radiating from his hand. ¡°In and out, that''s right, deep breaths.¡± ¡°I was asking if you were ok after the execution. With everything that had happened, all the crap about me sort of got pushed on to the back burner of my brain.¡± I sounded breathy even to myself. I focused on a row of ants working their way past the bench. ¡°I take it that you haven''t taken the time to process being,¡± he paused and glanced around the sparsely crowded street, ¡°what you are.¡± He decided to play it safe just in case busybodies were trying to listen in on the guy having an episode on a public bench. ¡°Shit,¡± I said succinctly. ¡°No then,¡± Crue continued to rub my back while gathering his thoughts. ¡°I don''t think it''s going to be as bad as you are imagining in your head. They gave you a lot of mights and maybes yesterday. This could happen, or that might happen. Keep in mind that nothing is certain. I think they were just trying to prepare you for a worst case scenario. It might not even happen at all.¡± ¡°I''m going to grow wings and a tail,¡± I muttered into my knees. ¡°There are a lot of people who have them, they manage just fine.¡± He paused again, ¡°What you are don''t run around in that form all the time if they did they couldn''t integrate into society as smoothly. So for the most part, you can choose to be human. So it won''t be that much different.¡± ¡°Crazed sex maniac,¡± I grumbled. ¡°Manageable sexual needs with the correct preparation. I can help with that, it''s probably why Amoris nudged us together. I can''t mention names or specifics, but one of my remaining special clients actually has a similar issue once a month.¡± I glanced up at him while still hunched over, ¡°I''m serious, with preparation there isn''t any reason to think this will be a major problem.¡± ¡°I doubt your other client is a thing like me.¡± ¡°No, she''s not...¡± ¡°And she''s a female,¡± I emphasized ¡°That doesn''t matter. The only problematic issue I can see at this point is that you will need more than one partner.¡± ¡°It matters to me, a lot.¡± ¡°I think if you saw the process you would understand better. It is different between men and women, but the idea is the same. I could talk to Darcy, she might be able to help or I could talk to my client and see if she''s comfortable sharing her medical issue with you.¡± ¡°I don''t know,¡± and I really didn''t know. ¡°Truth is I''d rather not go to Darcy. She''s a wonderful teacher, woman, and priest. However, her greatest weakness is gossip. I would trust her with anything, but a secret.¡± I grunted at him, at this point he knew her better than I did. If he thought that she wasn''t worth trusting then I''d follow that assessment. ¡°My issue isn''t something that you can fix by warming up your hands and healing,¡± I waved my hands in the air indicating his hand on my back. I knew I was being a bit of an ungrateful ass, but hopefully, this new friendship we had going would be enough for him to forgive me. ¡°Um, like I said I have other skills,¡± he paused then asked, ¡°Can you still see my skill list?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± while I hadn''t looked at it since my initial viewing, I figured that it was something I could still do. ¡°Look at my special skills,¡± he shifted from foot to foot. I opened the screen and took a close look at his stats. *Name- Crue HP 4590/4590 MP 1246/1500 Level- 28 Age-20 Human Male Occupation- Priest of Amoris, Surveyor of Adventurers Guild Exp- 78 Physical Power- 330 Stamina- 310 Defense- 196 Agility- 370 Intelligence- 232 Magic Power- 196 Water Magic Lv 4 Healing Waters Lv 3 Bubble Bomb Lv 1 Liquid Bullet Lv 1 Healing Hands Lv 1 Poison Resistance Lv 1 Skills Basic Sword Lv 4 Skull Bashing Lv 1 Slicing Lv 2 Slash Lv 1 Martial Arts Lv 3 Stance Lv 2 Grappling Lv 1 Smooth Movement Lv 2 Blocking Lv 2 Archery Lv 4 Shooting Lv 1 Aim Lv 2 Sniping Lv 2 Stalking Lv 2 Jumping Lv 1 Running Lv 2 Scouting Lv 4 Eyes of the Hawk Lv 2 Distant View Lv 1 Telescopy Lv 1 Trap Detection Lv 2 Empathy Lv 2 Therapy Lv 1 Etiquette Lv 2 Discretion Lv 1 Mediation Lv 1 Organization Lv 1 Dismantle Lv 3 Alchemy Lv 2 Pharmacology Lv 2 Scribe Lv 1 Special Skills Sexual Healing- 223 Items Equip Succuba Star Titles- Priest of Amoris Devotee of Amoris Oracle of Amoris Dedicated Runner~ Sexual Healing, what on earth was that? When I selected the skill my Gamer Glass gave me a surprising answer. *Sexual Healing- Insufficient Data relating to this special skill.~ Rather, I got no answer at all. That was certainly a first. Was it because it was a special skill and not a regular skill? Or was it because it was a skill that wasn''t listed in any of the skill books I had put in my inventory? No, Amoris said that every skill was listed in the big book. So it either had something to do with it being a special skill or something I hadn''t thought of yet. ¡°When I select the skill nothing comes up for an explanation,¡± I stated as I took a better look at his other skills. ¡°Hum, well it is a hard skill to describe. Maybe, it didn''t want to bother?¡± Huh? Did he think my Gamer Glass was sentient in some way? ¡°No, the Gamer Glass isn''t a ''thinking'' being. It''s more like a book. A book doesn''t think it just relays data.¡± ¡°I see, I guess you really wouldn''t expect a book to say this is too complex and just give up.¡± I nodded in agreement, ¡°So what is,¡± I paused thinking about the people walking by, ¡°your skill?¡± He also looked around and made hard eye contact with a little old woman who was shuffling along slowly with a cane. She had been moving a bit faster but had noticeably slowed to watch us. She blushed a little at being caught eavesdropping and picked her pace back up again. ¡°Simplified down to the basics it''s a healing skill that focuses on the sexual nature of a person''s health. Broadly, I help people deal with sexual problems they may be having.¡± ¡°Like helping old men get erections?¡± Crue chuckled ruefully, ¡°No, that can be dealt with by a regular healer. What I do is more complex. Sex, sexual education, and sexual therapy are all covered in the skill. ¡°There is a very real bias against people with the skill. There is a stigma around it, even though I am a Priest of Amoris. A portion of the population considers it to be no better than prostitution.¡± ¡°Wait,¡± I paused trying to think back on what he had said, ¡°you actually have sex with your patients?¡± I was understandably a bit incredulous. ¡°In very rare cases, if during the course of treatment sexual interactions are needed, then yes. However, it''s only after we''ve established that other treatment options were unsuccessful and only after some very intensive counseling.¡± He seemed a bit defensive. Which made sense if the skill was looked down upon. ¡°So you have sex with people in order to heal them? What sort of things would require sex with your healer?¡± I thought it was a valid question. I couldn''t think of anything off the top of my head that would require sex as a treatment option. ¡°There are more than a few reasons, but the majority of our clients are coming to us after having suffered some sort of abuse. Many people just want to talk through their abuse and that''s fine, that''s what we are there for. Some people can move on and never let the trauma change their daily lives. ¡°Other people have problems moving on and developing relationships. These sessions are often done with couples. We help the partners develop an intimate trust. Sometimes that takes being in the room with them while they attempt intimacy. ¡°We also have patients who are questioning their sexual identity. Some of them just don''t know where to turn or talk to when they start feeling like they might not fit into the heterosexual patterns. Going to us they know they won''t be judged. ¡°Then we have patients who have a biological sexual need. Not all the people we treat are human, there are other races, besides your own, that requires a great deal of sexual contact. Living outside of their communities can be difficult for these people.¡± ¡°Is the client you mentioned earlier like that?¡± ¡°Yes, she is, but I can''t tell you more than that. I will talk to her, but she is one of those people who would prefer to keep her visits quiet.¡± ¡°So you have sex with her?¡± ¡°Actually, no. I don''t have intercourse with her, but her treatment is sexual. It''s one of the reasons I think maybe watching one of our sessions will help you better understand how it is you can mature as a Succuba in a controlled manner.¡± ¡°What is it that you do with her? ¡°I would ask that you wait until I talk with her before I answer that. If it turns out that she doesn''t want any of this to come out then I can work up a course of treatment specific to you.¡± ¡°But you think you can help without me becoming a sex maniac?¡± ¡°I think if we prepare for it, have a plan in place, have you trained to some degree in Sexual Healing yourself, and if we can find someone else who is willing to be your partner, then yes I don''t see why you wouldn''t be able to do this with minimal fuss.¡± He patted my back in a ''buck up there pal'' kind of way. ¡°You want me to get the Sexual Healing skill? How will that help?¡± ¡°Well, it can''t hurt. Knowing what goes where and how to get the maximum satisfaction out of an encounter would be useful to anyone. You don''t have to actually use the skill in healing others once you''ve obtained it you know.¡± ¡°I see,¡± oddly enough I was beginning to lose some of my panic. If Crue could come up with a plan then the transition wouldn''t be so bad. Still, he couldn''t do anything about my reluctance to become a winged, tailed, and possibly sparkly lust monster. He did have a point though, I didn''t have to run around with wings and a tail. I could pass as human. I could live my life as a human for the most part. Thinking about it, worrying, and panicking about what-ifs wasn''t going to do me any good. We would get a plan in place for the bad part, then we would work from there. With a sigh, I stood up. ¡°You ok now?¡± Crue asked with some concern. He had kept his hand pressing against my back just in case. ¡°I''m not going to pass out, panicking about this isn''t going to help. So we get a plan in place then figure out everything else later.¡± ¡°Right,¡± he nodded. ¡°Do you want to head back to the inn or maybe the temple?¡± ¡°No, we really should continue shopping. Where were we headed before I had my meltdown?¡± ¡°I was going to take you to the apothecary then to the general goods shop. I promise you won''t spend near as much as you did in the first two stores. ¡°Though with the general goods shop you will pay slightly more than if you hunted the items I have in mind down individually. I guess you are paying for the convenience of everything being in one location instead of having to run around to a bunch of specialty shops. Is that ok with you?¡± ¡°That sounds fine,¡± it was at that moment that my stomach gave a huge growl. I hadn''t even noticed I was hungry. We had had a late breakfast so I thought I would be good for a while. Then I noticed it was nearing 3 o''clock. I guess it had been a few hours since we had eaten. It didn''t seem like we had spent that much time in either shop. ¡°We can grab something from one of the stands, or we can go to this noodle place I like. It''s only about three blocks that way.¡± Crue pointed to his left. He didn''t bother to ask if I was hungry or not, my stomach was making that obvious. ¡°I can eat the apples I just bought if you aren''t hungry,¡± I offered. ¡°I can eat. While I''m not exactly hungry yet, I will be in about an hour. ¡°So noodles or some mystery cart items?¡± He asked waving in the direction of a food cart that had some great looking meat skewers. ¡°Noodles sound good,¡± I offered. ¡°Good, I think you''ll like these.¡± Crue led the way down the road about three blocks then turned into a dark side alley. Chapter 15 I Shop Til I Drop Part B PART B Away from the general foot traffic was housed a small shop. A bright red banner stuck on a pole outside the door declared the place to be Bo''s Pan Noodles and Ramen. Crue opened the door and the smell of soup stock and garlic hit me. My stomach gave a resounding applause at our choice based on that smell. The place was small with only four tables that seat four people each. There was a counter where there were six more seats. Behind that counter was a tiny middle-aged lady with black and gray hair tied back in a high bun. She was squinting slightly at us as we walked through. Her glasses were perched on the top of her head. Behind her tossing noodles around in a large rounded pan was a large middle-aged bald man. He didn''t bother to turn around but yelled a hearty welcome without losing a beat in his cooking. There were two guys sitting at the counter, so Crue sat us in the far corner table. The little lady came from behind the counter and handed each of us a menu made out of thick paper. ¡°Special today is fried veggie noodle 3 copper. We have duck eggs, venison, and pork today for our meat selection. Do you know what you would like to drink?¡± ¡°House tea, please Miss Bo,¡± Crue said. ¡°Tsk,¡± she clicked her tongue, ¡°and you?¡± She asked me. ¡°I''ll take the tea too.¡± ¡°Where are your manners!¡± She tsked again, ¡°Didn''t your mother teach you manners? Is a simple please and thank you so much to ask?¡± Thinking this woman was a bit rude I glanced at Crue. He was trying not to laugh as the lady got up into my face and squinted at me even harder. I had just had a mild breakdown in the middle of the street I wasn''t feeling up to dealing with cranky old ladies. ¡°My grandmother taught me to show respect where respect is given. However, she also told me that I should respect my elders if for no other reason than that they''ve managed to survive longer than I have. So, MA''AM,¡± I emphasized, ¡°I would like the tea,¡± I paused a second, ¡°please.¡± Crue was hiding his grin behind his menu. ¡°Cheeky bastard you are. Fine, Miss Bo will get you your tea, be grateful.¡± ¡°Yes, Miss Bo,¡± Crue answered dutifully as she walked away. I raised my eyebrows at Crue. What on Earth, or rather Elrich? ¡°Miss Bo used to teach manners and deportment to young ladies of status. She was of a wealthy merchant house herself and was well thought of. She did it for years until falling for Mr. Bo later in life. They were married about four years ago. She''s retired from her lessons and helps her husband with this shop.¡± Crue lowered his voice a bit and leaned it while keeping an eye on the lady to come back from the kitchen. ¡°About a year ago she suffered an attack of the brain. She''s fine now in nearly every way except that her personality got a bit rough. It''s as if most the manners she had early in life were reversed. She still expects proper manners from her patrons though. She stopped going by her given name, I think it was Hortence, and started going by Miss Bo. They aren''t noble it''s not a last name. She just took her husband''s name and told everyone her name was now Miss Bo. We all go with it because, if she doesn''t like you she will refuse to serve you. So something you said made her like you, I thought we would end up with street food after all.¡± ¡°You could have warned me,¡± I protested feeling a little guilty for being so curt with the lady. ¡°That wouldn''t have been as amusing.¡± He grinned down at his menu. Thinking some rather rude thoughts, I also looked at my menu. Hand-drawn pictures with simple wording. There was a bowl with noodles with black dots, there was a bowl with noodles and an oval on top, then a bowl with noodles and a few wavy rectangles sticking sort of out of the side. Whoever drew these had little talent since the plate noodles looked like worms with bits of triangles and squares mixed in. The simple written descriptions gave me a better clue. Ramen with green onion, ramen with a boiled egg, ramen with meat. The plate noodles were vegetables and meat. Then there was a simple description, mix and match at an extra charge. Then a list of ingredients. What an odd menu. Though the smell from the kitchen was promising. Miss Bo came back with two cups and a pot of tea. She placed them on the table then stood there her hands on her hips. ¡°Do you know what you want yet?¡± ¡°Yes, Miss Bo,¡± Crue said. ¡°May I please have the mixed vegetable noodles with pork and garlic added.¡± ¡°Sauce?¡± She asked. ¡°Whatever Mr. Bo thinks is best. I''m feeling a bit sweet and savory today. Thank you.¡± ¡°And for the Cheeky Bastard?¡± She turned to me. ¡°Pork ramen with green onion, garlic, and an added duck egg, please.¡± I handed her the menu and reached for the pot to pour my tea. ¡°Butter? Do you want it spicy or regular?¡± she asked. ¡°Regular, why would you put butter in ramen?¡± She gave me a look, ¡°If I may ask.¡± ¡°Butter makes it better. Mixing fats, fuller flavor.¡± ¡°Then I''ll try it, thank you.¡± Once she walked away taking our menus with her Crue smirked. ¡°To be honest there''s very little point in ordering off the menu. You either order pan noodles or ramen. Other than that what you get is sort of a surprise. One time I ordered ramen and I got this huge double portion with meat, eggs, and veggies. I''m not kidding when I tell you the bowl was this big.¡± He held out his hands like he was holding a basketball. ¡°But the food is good even though the service is questionable and you might not get what you ordered?¡± ¡°Yup, they have the best noodles. This place usually has a line around dinner time. At lunch, they are a little less busy. They don''t advertise either. This place is mostly a local spot, it''s out of the way and not many tourists make their way down this alley.¡± I guess it was nice that he took me to a local spot. I still didn''t feel much like a local though. I was planning on staying here a while, but a few days wasn''t long enough for me to get acclimated. I guess becoming a local has to start somewhere. A noodle shop was a decent place to start. Miss Bo came back carrying a tray. In front of Crue, she placed a plate full of Chinese style noodles. I could see all sorts of mixed vegetables sticking out shiny from the oil they had been fried in. The meat he got didn''t look like pork, but I could certainly smell the garlic. My bowl of ramen smelled amazing. Right on top was a sliced egg, and a layer of meat followed by a bunch of noodles. There was corn and green onion, but I didn''t smell the garlic. Miss Bo placed a little plate with a single pat of butter on it beside my bowl. She stood there and waited. ¡°Thank you, Miss Bo,¡± I said thinking she wanted more politeness. ¡°Butter goes on while hot,¡± she muttered as I just sat there. She picked up the plate and using the spoon she plopped the butter directly on the corn. Then she put the spoon back in the bowl and walked away with the plate. ¡°What did you get?¡± I asked as Crue bit into a piece of meat. ¡°It''s venison, instead of pork. The gamey taste actually goes well with the garlic.¡± He spun some noodles onto his fork and dug in. It seemed sort of wrong to be eating ramen with a spoon and fork, but I too dug in. The butter on the corn was amazing. I was sort of glad that I didn''t get garlic in my soup since that would have overwhelmed the flavor. The broth was a clear brown soup, I think it was a mix of meat broths. It made for a fuller richer flavor. The pork was just on the red side of done, so I poked it a bit to submerge it so that it would finish cooking in the hot soup. I picked up a slice of egg with the spoon and the creamy yolk center gave an entirely new flavor to the soup. Crue was right, these were amazing noodles. Definitely a contender for some of the best noodles ever. Certainly better than the instant ramen crap that sustained me in college. There was something to be said about a well-made broth, handmade noodles, and fresh ingredients. Crue and I ate in silence. A few other customers wondered in and Miss Bo was just as curt and abrupt with them as she was with us. Good to know that we didn''t receive any special treatment. I paused a minute to sip my tea. It was good tea, light and refreshing with a slight herbal taste. It had been mixed with honey to make it slightly sweet. Good food didn''t help the inner panic I was still feeling. I felt like a state of calm was unreachable at this point. My Grandmother would have said her nerves were shot. A combination of stress, anxiety, or emotional distress usually brought on this state of nerves in her. Well, I was feeling very nervy. Emotionally empty on one hand and on the other so stressed it seemed like I had to keep remembering to relax my shoulders. I would develop a migraine at this rate. ¡°Will I be able to get something to help me sleep and maybe some of that headache powder at the apothecary?¡± Crue frowned a bit, his inner healer kicking in. ¡°Have you not been able to sleep? It''s understandable being in an unusual place. I wouldn''t recommend anything too strong for that though. Perhaps some light exercises a few hours before bed followed by some meditation. Many of my clients find that those simple things help a great deal in getting to sleep.¡± ¡°It''s not that. I''ve never had the issue of not being able to sleep in new places. ¡°I don''t think I''ll be able to sleep tonight because of stress. I also tend to get migraines when I''m this geared up.¡± Crue nodded in thought, ¡°They will have some stuff you can take to sleep. Some of it stronger than others. There is an herb that will make you slightly drowsy. You can use this every night, but you have to drink lots of water with it. Then there is a syrup you can take. One spoonful of it and you will feel fuzzy and will likely pass out within 10 minutes. It can be addictive, so you shouldn''t take it every night. Some people have hallucinations as part of a side effect, it can also turn your urine slightly green. ¡°The headache medicine is common enough, but if you want something for migraines they have a stronger version that is mixed with a black tea. It''s very bitter and most people have to add a lot of sugar and honey just to be able to drink it. Some people can''t take it at all because the bitterness makes them nauseous.¡± ¡°What do those people do?¡± ¡°If a migraine is bad enough, they can request a healer. Though not many people want to pay for a home visit from a healer. Some people suffer long enough to go to the temples and wait in line for a healer.¡± ¡°Good to know the healers at the temples deal with mundane things like migraines.¡± ¡°We also try to treat the cause of a migraine. If it''s stress related then a simple course of relaxation therapies can help. We are lucky that we have the hot springs as part of our treatment options. They are incredibly relaxing.¡± ¡°That''s certainly true,¡± I nodded in agreement. Miss Bo handled the payment after we were finished eating and she had cleared away the dishes. Only 6 Coppers for me and 5 for Crue, it seemed like an amazing deal. He lead me back down the road and after some walking, we made it to an area with nothing but shops. There were a few tourists buying souvenirs from the stalls. I''m not certain how I knew they were tourists, but something about their clothing seemed different than the simple clothing the townsfolk were fond of wearing. One woman in the crowd had on a dress with one of those butt bump things. It reminded me of something I''d seen in a Victorian period drama. Some of the things women do for fashion just confuses me. How would you sit with that? While eye-catching, it wasn''t exactly attractive. Perhaps, the woman just didn''t have the correct body type to pull off such a look. I suspected few people could successfully wear something so preposterous. ¡°Over here,¡± Crue brought me back from my distraction and went into a nearby store. Leaving the mysteries of odd fashion choices behind, I followed after him. Stepping through the door it was obviously the general goods store. The store was very cluttered. Every space that could be used as a display was used. There was even a small boat hanging from the ceiling with a price tag. Food items were to the right of the store, what looked like camping gear in the center, and household items on the left. At least I thought that was the general idea of where things were supposed to be. Going down the center aisle towards the back with Crue, I noticed that some of the items were new while some of them were used and labeled as such. I guess with camping gear it didn''t much matter if your camping cookware was used. Though, I did wonder at the reliability of few rolled up used tents stacked horizontally in a corner. The smell of the place was also unique. While it didn''t stink, it wasn''t a very pleasant odor. I couldn''t pick out the exact source of the smell, but I suspected that it was some sort of combination of old sweat, dust, and maybe some sort of pine-scented cleaner. There had obviously been some attempts at keeping the place clean, but with so much clutter even a hoarder would be hard pressed to collect, I guessed it was difficult to keep up. We reached the empty counter and Crue collected two round wicker baskets handing one to me. There was precariously perched tower of baskets beside the counter. The handles made of cloth and threaded through a hollowed out palm-sized piece of bamboo. ¡°This place is certainly interesting,¡± I stated honestly. ¡°There used to be more of the shop at that end,¡± Crue pointed to the right, ¡°but about four years ago that half of the building began to collapse because of a small sinkhole. It had to be knocked down and that entire part of the building couldn''t be rebuilt. The council filled the sinkhole but smaller ones kept popping up over there. That''s why that area on that side of the building is a vacant lot. ¡°Anyway, the owners of the store decided that instead of reducing the inventory they would just get creative in their methods of storing their items. The result is this hodgepodge of goods.¡± Crue waved his hand at the stacks of shelves. In all honesty, I hadn''t even noticed the vacant lot. So this was news to me. From a business perspective, I would have tried to sell this half of the building as soon as I was able. It was probably only a matter of time before more sinkholes damaged this part of the building as well. It wasn''t my store and perhaps the locals knew more about the situation than I did. So I tried not to judge the mental abilities of the store owners too harshly. ¡°We will just be getting the basics today. We can do winter preparation later.¡± He walked past the rows of tents and stood in front of a shelf that was stocked with what looked like yoga mats made of layers of pressed leather. They came with a wool blanket and leather cords. When you rolled them up they were surprisingly small considering that they rolled out into a bed. ¡°Bedrolls,¡± Crue explained, ¡°they are made so that they keep you up off the cold ground. If it''s raining, they won''t absorb the water from underneath. Though if it''s raining you will probably be in a tent anyway.¡± Crue picked one out from the limited supply. It was a very utilitarian brown blanket and brown leather mat. It did look a bit thicker than some of the other ones though. The bulk of an item didn''t really matter to me since I could just put anything in my inventory. Crue grabbed an extra wool blanket from the top of a nearby folded pile and added it to his basket. ¡°I have a tent. Most tents are made to hold two people. So until you get used to camping out I would prefer it if you didn''t stay out in the forest at night. When we do go out, we can share my tent and my gear. Though, you''ll need your own bowl, cup, and such.¡± Saying that he took me around the corner and we looked over some of the used camping gear. I got a used tin set with a bowl, mug, spoon, fork, and a few metal skewers. They had some decent cooking sets, so even though Crue already had a set we could use, I went ahead and got a skillet, a stew pot with a handle and lid that fit both the skillet and the pot. My basket was getting full so I left it on the counter and grabbed another one. There was a basket of wound up cords and ropes near the desk. I tossed three different types of cord and rope beside my full basket and went looking for Crue. I found Crue packing his basket with packets of dried stuff. We were in the food section so I assumed it was food. ¡°Dried food. This is lamb, it''s fairly tasteless but if you break it up and boil it with some of this,¡± he grabbed a few brown paper packs with handwritten labels. ¡°This is dried broth. You add water and it''s instant soup. You can do a lot with these. You can use the dried meat and these,¡± he tossed more hand labeled packs into his basket, ¡°onions, celery, carrots, potatoes to make a good stew. ¡°These packs up here are seasonings for meat. Salt, pepper, garlic, are standard. This here is instant curry. You add water and meat and potatoes in your skillet and you have curry. Rice is a bit bulky to carry normally, but that''s not a problem for you.¡± He added a five-pound bag of dried rice to my basket. ¡°When it''s raining and you can''t get a fire started these will stave off hunger.¡± He pointed to a basket of hard looking biscuits. ¡°They are called ration cakes and they have nuts and dried fruit in them. They don''t taste very good, but they will keep you alive if you get stuck out in the forest and can''t start a fire. Do you want to get some? I mean the lack of food won''t be an issue with you since you can pull fresh fruit and....¡± He paused a second then looked at his basket. ¡°Now that I think about it, you can carry fresh ingredients with you. You don''t really need this dried stuff do you?¡± ¡°I think the instant soup base, and the seasonings are important. I can carry around fresh vegetables though. So I don''t really need those. Can you eat the meat as is without cooking?¡± ¡°Yes, you can eat it whenever it doesn''t have to be cooked. There are some people who use it like the biscuits. If it''s raining and they can''t get a fire started to cook they can just eat some of the dried meat.¡± ¡°Then we better keep the meat, get a few of those biscuits and anything else you can eat without cooking. Dry goods, that we can''t get fresh, too.¡± I motioned towards the bag of rice in my basket. Crue nodded and lifted a bag of dried peas. I figured that perhaps fresh peas were harder to come by and held out my basket.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Along the aisle we went, grabbing a rough ground sort of flour, sugar, and tea all went into the basket. All the while Crue was keeping a mental tally of the items that we could get fresh in another part of the marketplace. Personally, I was hoping that tomatoes were still in season. There wasn''t anything better than a good fresh garden tomato. There were small bottles of vinegar above larger one-liter bottles. When Crue placed two one-liter bottles in the basket I had to question it. I couldn''t see any scenario where we would use that much vinegar in cooking. ¡°It''s good for cleaning minor wounds, small cuts and abrasions. It''s a lot cheaper than the stuff we will be getting at the apothecary. You should only use that stuff if you are seriously injured, like a stab wound. However, for minor injuries vinegar will do just as well.¡± Coming from a healer I took his advice as solid. The last few items we got dealt with fire starting. There was this neat little kit that had a bottle of oil, some cotton fluff, and a flint. It even had a nice wooden box. However, Crue snorted at it in derision. ¡°Those kits look nice, but they are only used by people who won''t be out much. You have to keep replacing the cotton and the oil. It''s just simpler to use leftover paper or fabric soaked in this,¡± he held up a pint-size jar of oil. It was certainly bigger than the thumb-sized bottle of oil that came in the kit and it cost the same. ¡°You can use hay, or dried leaves or tiny twigs as well. The cotton will burn for a short time and the burn doesn''t really last long enough for you to really get the fire fed before it''s all burned up. Then you end up having to use more oil on the leaves and twigs. ¡°Plus, the flint in that kit is tiny. Let me ask you how you are going to get a firm grip on it in order to strike when they are that small. No, your best bet is one of these big ones,¡± he pointed to a box of rocks that were all the size of eggs. ¡°or if you are fancy and want to spend the money you can get a fire stick.¡± He pointed to three metal rods sticking out of an old dusty jar. At the end of each one was a small red pebble no bigger than the tip of my nail. ¡°Fire core,¡± Crue explained, ¡°it will save you a lot of time trying to get a spark to catch, but they are pricey. However, you will be more likely to be able to get a fire started when it''s wet out with it.¡± There was a slight gleam in Crue''s eyes. I had the feeling that he actually really wanted one, but hadn''t broken down and got one for himself yet. I checked the price and figured it would be worth the headache of not learning how to use a flint. The fire core rod acted like a lighter, I knew I could work a lighter just fine. I didn''t have faith in my rock smashing skills. I didn''t have a lot of money left, but surprisingly the food was really cheap thus far the most expensive item was the bedroll at 30 coppers. By the time we were done, there was a person at the counter totaling up the baskets we had left. I couldn''t personally tell if it was a man or woman, or even if the person was middle-aged or elderly. They did have white hair that poofed out all over the place like an overly enthusiastic Bob Ross happy bush. The person had deep wrinkles around their eyes and mouth, but the rest of their skin was fairly smooth. The outfit they were wearing didn''t give me any clue either as the apron they had on was so large and encompassing I couldn''t tell what they had on under it. On top of that, they were barefoot with thick cracked soles and nails that needed a good trim. I was totaled out without the person saying a word to me. They just handed me a piece of paper with an itemized list, their prices, and the total at the bottom. Efficient, in a way. I handed over 2 silver coin and 15 copper coins. They didn''t offer any sort of delivery service, so I placed it all in my inventory. I left the fire core rod out because Crue wanted to play with it a bit, to ''test'' it of course. I picked up fresh vegetables from the street stalls as we walked by them. I bought one woman''s entire stock of tomatoes. She gave me a great deal since I bought the lot of them. She said she might have some more tomatoes ripe in about a week and that I should check back then. However, I told her if she could send some green tomatoes to the inn next week along with whatever she had ripened I would pay full price for them. She readily agreed and took down my information. I also bought some pears, watermelon, cantaloupe, summer squash, zucchini, onions, all sorts of different kinds of peppers, red skin potatoes, garlic cloves, an entire ginger root, small pumpkins, and carrots that were purple and yellow rather than the bright orange I was used too. That purchase with all the vegetables to feed a small army only cost me 87 coppers. Meat and dairy items were sold elsewhere. They could wait though because even though meat prices rose in the winter, I would still be able to get the cheese and milk products at around the same price. On top of that, I would be hunting so if I developed a good relationship with my local butcher I would be able to sell him my meat and he should be more than willing to trade part of my pay for milk and cheese. Crue knew a few guys, so sometime in the future, I would be able to do some trade with the local butchers. I was glad that the Inventory Bracelet used space dimensional magic. I would be able to store and keep all sorts of seasonal items through the winter without them going bad. I actually considered starting a small side business re-selling food stock during the winter. I was sure people would pay to have fresh fruit and vegetables during the cold winter months. Visiting the temple kitchen I found out that they had refrigeration. I was just guessing, but I suspected it probably ran on something like an ice core. I would also hazard a guess and say that not all households had refrigeration. So there really could be a market in re-selling fresh vegetables. I could go a few steps further and transport seasonal or local items to one area to another. The Item Inventory would be incredibly handy if I ever decided to become a merchant. However, to become a merchant you needed money in order to purchase items to sell. So I would be working for the Guild for the time being. If in the future I did decide to leave Yellow Springs and venture out and see the other areas I would always have a job with the Guild. That would provide a steady constant income. The ability to buy and store local items and resell them later would just be a possible side job. The money I could save up for my old age and retirement. They didn''t have anything like a pension plan or accident insurance in the Guild, so I had to think ahead. I promised myself that at my next visit to the library I would look at any books on merchant sales. ¡°This way,¡± Crue caught my attention as I was contemplating a stall with rows upon rows of items made of Green Tailed Apes tails. Some tourists were pawing through them and one woman had a long fluffy tail draped around her shoulders like a shawl. Crue led me down a bright side alley. It was positioned in a way that the alley got sun most of the day. When you think about potions and apothecary shops you tend to think dark, moldy, rat-infested looking alleys. This alley was bright and sunny and even had a window box with planted daisies outside the storefront. The stone path was well kept, clean, and had a grumpy looking orange tabby on watch for any stray rodents. The cat flicked its tail at us in acknowledgment as we walked past him towards the shop door. I had the sudden urge to reach down and pet him, but he really didn''t seem like the type of cat that would welcome unwanted pettings from strange guys walking down his alley. He had a job to do and I would leave him to it. The door tinkled with a little bell as we opened the door. A very heavily pregnant woman with long braided blonde hair and a slight smattering of freckles greeted us with a smile. She levered herself up out of her chair, rocking back and forth in order to gather momentum for that final push upward, and waddled up to the counter. She placed both her hands at the small of her back and leaned a bit on the counter. ¡°Hello Crue, who do you have here?¡± ¡°Emily, this is Eri.¡± Crue waved his hand at me. ¡°Eri this is Emily.¡± More waving, then he continued, ¡°Eri is training to take over for me as Surveyor.¡± ¡°Oh, well you''ve been doing a splendid job Crue, but it will be nice knowing that we have someone keeping an eye on the monster situation fulltime. I still remember the time when I was a child and we had a horrible infestation of Red Wolves. They nearly decimated the local herds.¡± She reached over the counter and we shook hands. ¡°Nice to meet you,¡± I said. ¡°Emily is one of the best herbalists in town. Her husband does most of the gathering and collecting and together they run this place.¡± Crue waved at the store with its glossy wooden shelves with bottles, wooden pots, and paper envelopes. Sunshine poured through the window showing that the store was very clean, incredibly organized, and all surfaces were well polished. ¡°I took over from my father when he retired. We''ve been herbalists in this area since my great-grandmother''s time.¡± Emily smiled at me encouragingly. ¡°So I hope we can count on your business in the future.¡± ¡°Why do you think I brought him here?¡± Crue interjected with a laugh before I could comment. ¡°Well, we never really know with you, now do we?¡± Emily poked fun at Crue. I could tell she was teasing him, but I think the joke was between the two of them since I didn''t quite get it. The two of them joked around a bit more, bringing up mutual acquaintances, the lack of certain herbs in the area, and the progression of her pregnancy. I basically stood around politely while they got their small talk out of the way. Emily was a bit of a gossip, nothing malicious, but it was just dawning on me that Crue was a gossipy sort too. I browsed a table that looked like it might have been makeup. The only reason I thought this was because of the little brushes that were stood up beside each group of items. They weren''t packaged like the makeup I was used to. Most of them were in the same sort of stackable wooden pots that the shampoo and body wash came in. There was a color dot on the top of each one. I think the majority of the items were lip glosses. Since they were mostly in shades ranging from pink to burgundy. There were what looked like charcoal sticks wrapped in paper. So some of those other pots must be eye-shadow. I lifted a pot with a golden looking dot. Inside, wasn''t a power like I was expecting but something that looked like hardened beeswax. I put the pot down a bit baffled. Having makeup sold at an apothecary seemed a bit odd to me at first. Then as I picked up different pots I remembered that drug stores usually had a huge makeup selection. I wonder if the origins of drug stores carrying makeup stemmed from pharmacists making makeup. Did pharmacists make makeup back in the day? It seemed like they would since they already had access to all the equipment needed. Crue and Emily seemed to be trailing off in their conversations. Either that or they both noticed how fascinated I was trying to figure out what pot was used on what facial area. I was half tempted to get a charcoal stick and start the goth movement in Yellow Springs. I had skipped that period of teenage rebellion mainly because Hot Topic was too expensive and my Grandmother couldn''t afford it. I was raised on Walmart jeans and t-shirts. Sometimes she would take me to the mall to get new shoes or a winter coat, but most of my clothes came from discount stores. I winced inwardly again at the money I had spent today. It wasn''t over, unfortunately. Finally, Crue gave a list of items that I would be needing to Emily. A basic medical kit topped the list. Emily put them together herself and stocked the kits in the store. They were oiled canvas bags that rolled up into the size of a person''s fist. ¡°There are the clean bandages and wrappings of course,¡± Emily explained as she took apart her kit to show me what was in it. ¡°Needle and thread, for emergency sutures.¡± She placed a curved needle and a packet of thread on the counter. ¡°Hopefully, you''ll never need those, but it''s good to have them just in case,¡± Crue added his commentary. ¡°This bottle here is a numbing liquid, it also acts as a wound cleanser and antiseptic. Burns like crazy when applied to open wounds, but after a bit, the area will numb and you can work on it. I recommend soaking both the needle, thread, and the wound in this before you start to stitch yourself up. It will keep you from bleeding out until you can get to a healer. ¡°It''s made by triple distilling the hazel plant it comes from. It''s a lot of work and this item is the most expensive part of the kit, but don''t let that deter you from using it. If you need it, use it. The longer it''s bottled, the less effective it will be. So you should replace this about once a year or so.¡± ¡°It''s not just for sewing yourself up either, though for this kit that''s its main purpose. You can use it on any wound if you want. Nasty wounds, even if they don''t require stitches, will benefit from being rinsed with it,¡± Crue interjected. Crue had made me get some vinegar for cleaning cuts and scrapes. This stuff looked like it was made so that your wound was able to be taken care of in the field until you were able to get to a real healer. The numbing effect would help. If you couldn''t move because of the pain your wound caused you wouldn''t be able to get to that healer. ¡°This is another painkiller, Valerian.¡± She placed a paper packet with a star drawn on it on top of the counter. ¡°You take this powder orally, but be very careful with it. It can dull the senses and sometimes leaves people feeling more than drowsy. It can cause more harm than good if you take too much. So I recommend the dipstick method. Lick your finger and dip it in the powder and then lick the powder off your finger. Only repeat this once an hour. ¡°There are people who find themselves addicted to this. I won''t sell you a replacement unless you bring me a healer''s receipt. If you truly needed it, then you would be getting your butt to a healer as soon as you are able. This is only to be used in emergencies, not to be taken for recreation.¡± She gave me a stinky eyeball emphasizing her point. ¡°This is just willow bark aspirin,¡± She placed another packet with a circle drawn on it on the counter. It was three times as large as the star packet and she seemed to think it didn''t need any warnings because she moved on. ¡°This is a stomach powder,¡± She put down four packs with Xs on them. ¡°Mix one packet with one cup of water and drink it. It''s basically used to keep you from becoming dehydrated until you can get yourself to a healer. It doesn''t matter what end you are having issues with, it will help you retain the fluids you need. It won''t stop your symptoms entirely, but it will keep you alive for the worst of it to hopefully pass.¡± She then held up the canvas bag. She showed me how to pull out the two wooded reinforcement stays. They were only about six inches long and looked sort of like old-fashioned tongue depressors. They fit into slots in the bag and helped maintain the bags'' shape. ¡°They are small but can be used to splint small bones. The string that ties the bag comes undone as well and has a few uses.¡± She picked up the discarded cord. I hadn''t thought about using the string that tied up the bundle or thought to take the wooden stays out of the bag. So it was good that she pointed them out. ¡°We will also be needing some Sleeping Powder, Nocturn Syrup, Buntel Wart premixed with the tea, and a few extra packets of aspirin,¡± Crue told her. ¡°I will need you to sign for the syrup. The Council is trying to keep track of the sales. It''s not as addicting as Valerian, but they are finding the migrant and wall workers passed out in the streets. Not good for the tourism business.¡± ¡°That''s fine. I think at this point I''m sort of his medical adviser so I''ll be sure to see that he''s using it responsibly.¡± ¡°Thank you, you know how I worry.¡± She pulled out a leather-bound notebook from under the counter. She flipped to the center of the book. She wrote down the item, quantity, and date purchased, then had Crue sign that he was authorizing it as a healer. Then she had me sign beside Crue saying that the medication was for me. She waddled around grabbing a few things off her shelves. There were the large packets of aspirin that I recognized with the large Xs on them. She placed a six-inch bottle of green syrup on the counter. Then she put three packets with the letter Z written on the front. Then she filled a large jar with dark brown leaves and bits that looked like broken mulched twigs. Then she dumped the leaves into a large mixing bowl. Then she filled the jar again and dumped the second jar into the bowl as well. Then she spooned three spoons of a light tan powder over the leaves. She then took a rounded stick and began to crush the leaves and the powder together. Once they were crushed to her satisfaction, she put the now ground tea leaves into another smaller jar. ¡°One of these,¡± she held up the large packet aspirin, ¡°has twelve smaller packets. One packet one dose. Don''t take more than six a day.¡± She showed me that there were smaller packets inside all with the same X label on them. ¡°This is Sleeping Powder,¡± She opened the packet with the Z on it. ¡°Twelve doses. You mix one packet with one large glass of water and drink it. Try and drink a second glass of water before you go to bed. Don''t take no more than two packets every twelve hours. ¡°Buntel wart. One spoon full per cup of water. You make it like tea.¡± She reached under the counter and added a wooden spoon to the pile. ¡°Do you need a tea leaf catch?¡± She pulled out what looked like a metal mesh hat. ¡°Yes, he needs one. Thank you, Emi,¡± Crue nodded affirmation. ¡°Ok, one spoon in here,¡± she held up the spoon and mimed putting the tea into the metal mesh hat. ¡°This goes into your mug.¡± I could see how it would fit nicely into a tea mug. ¡°Add hot water, and let it steep for three minutes. Discard the leaves and add as much sugar and honey as you need. It might make you sick so drink it slowly don''t try and down it all at once.¡± She picked up the green bottle in one hand and the wooden spoon with the other. ¡°Nocturn Syrup, one and only one spoon of this. Do not take this more than three times a week. Green urine is common after taking this so don''t panic. Also, some people develop hallucinations. If you start to see things that aren''t there, try not to panic and just wait for the medication to put you to sleep.¡± She handed over the items and gave a meaningful glance at Crue. I could tell it was meaningful, but once again I was left out of the loop. I wondered how long the two of them knew each other. I handed over the money I owed her. Then we all said our goodbyes and wished Emily well on the impending birth. I even waved at the cat when we passed by him in the alley. He gave me a hearty MEOW. ¡°I think we''ve got most of the shopping out of the way. The rest can wait a bit. Eventually, we will both have to pick up winter gear. I need a new pair of winter boots. You will need all the winter gear. That will be pricey as well, with fur-lined boots, winter mantel, hats, gloves, insulated pants and shirt, snowshoes, skis, poles, balm to keep your skin from chapping in the cold, the list goes on. However, you still have at least two months before the weather really gets cold.¡± ¡°I''ve never been much of a winter person. I was raised in an area where there was some snow, but the temperatures never got too bad.¡± ¡°Oh, we get snow, perhaps not as bad as the northernmost areas. With the hot springs, a lot of the snow melts on contact here. Out in the forest, it''s another matter. We can get about four feet of accumulation in one night.¡± ¡°I don''t think I am looking forward to camping out in the winter,¡± I told him. ¡°It''s not fun, but it''s a skill you should have. You never know when you are going to get caught up in a sudden storm and have to wait out the weather in the snow.¡± ¡°Has it happened to you?¡± ¡°My brother and I spent nearly three weeks stuck up north when the snow came down the mountain blocking the path south. ¡°It will be a few hours before dinner, do you want to go out for a bit? Not far, I just want to gauge some of your basic skills.¡± Crue glanced at me to see if I was willing. ¡°You don''t have any equipment.¡± ¡°I can use your hunting knife. This is to see where you are combat-wise, so I''ll only need the knife if you get into trouble. We should be ok this close to town. There shouldn''t be any high-level monsters this close. If there were, the farmers would never be able to work their fields.¡± ¡°Alright then,¡± I shrugged my shoulders in consent. Once again I figured he knew what he was talking about. Name- Eri Veritas HP 2335/2335 MP 64/64 Level- 11 Age- 18 Race/Species- (Human) Unknown Gender- (Male) Unknown Occupation- Surveyor of Adventurers Guild Exp- 240 Physical Power- 220 Stamina- 278 Defense- 348 Agility- 489 Intelligence- 92 Magic Power- 8 Metal Rain Lv 1 Healing Hands Lv 1 Paralysis Resistance Lv 3 Mind Magic Resistance Lv 1 Skills Staff Fighting Lv 2 Basic Sword Lv 2 Skull Bashing Lv 2 Martial Arts Lv 2 Spear Lv 1 Stalking Lv 1 Jumping Lv 1 Running Lv 2 Cooking Lv 1 Pain Tolerance Lv 3 Deception Lv 2 Poker Face Lv 1 Etiquette Lv 3 Leather Work Lv 1 Metal Work Lv 1 Rock Throwing Dancing Singing Harvesting Empathy Telekinesis Small Talk Discretion Party Tricks Restraint Alcohol Tolerance Monster Biology Entomology Zoology Dismantling Appraisal Special Skills Abyss Walker Racial Ability- Hidden Among the Masses- 20 Stealth- 95 Party- 10 Items Equip Inventory Bracelet Succuba Star Gold- 0g 8s 02c (802c) Blessing 1- All Map Exploration Blessing 2- Exp Points Required by Level Up / Current Level Blessing 3-Exp Increase X Current Level Blessing 4- Item- Gamer Glasses Titles- Emissary of Amoris Devotee of Amoris Oracle of Amoris Prince of Dreams Grateful Petitioner Lover of Leaves Enemy of Apes Chapter 16 I Intended to be Good Chapter 16 I Intended to be Good I was the Enemy of Apes! You would think that would work in my favor in some way. In my opinion, it didn''t help at all. In video games titles like that usually caused the monsters to run in fear. Not so in my case. It seemed like the opposite was true. Crue and I had gone about a mile West. There was a field with some sort of grain that had a few Green Apes. I couldn''t tell my wheat from my barley but whatever it was the Apes had taken a liking to it. We had run into the farmer as he was heading into his field with two dogs. Crue had talked the farmer into letting us handle it. He was more than happy to let the Surveyor and the Surveyor''s apprentice take charge. It was better then him risking his dogs chasing the nuisances away. He offered to pay a few coppers for the job, but Crue explained they we were already being paid by the Guild. It was training and we were being paid for the training. So my first job as a Surveyor was to kill the Green Apes in the farmer''s field. Seemed simple enough. After all, I had been running around the woods killing them just a few days before. I was getting really good at the ambush and attack method before I got into town. I had a real sword now, surely it would be even easier than before. My arrogance had Crue sitting on the sidelines laughing his butt off. Taking on a small group of Apes in a field was different than stalking them and bashing them on the head. Every time I''d get close to one to attack, I was ganged up on from behind by the others. I had some literally nasty shit thrown at me. I''d get close to one Ape and from behind, I''d feel a ''splat'' on my back. I''d turn and find the offending Ape running off to hide for another sneak attack. When I finally managed to kill one of them, Crue lost it. He was full on his back tears running down his face laughing. I was getting rather annoyed with him. I had tried to get him to help cover my back, but he blew off my suggestion because I obviously wasn''t in any real danger. Killing the one Ape triggered the others into a real full blown attack. No more shit, they were going for blood, and to do that they had to get close to me. As they attacked I was able to cut them down without having to chase after them. The more I killed the more enraged the rest became. I had taken down ten of them when I started to notice a problem. When we started there were only nine in the field. Where had the tenth one come from? It wasn''t the last one either, I was facing off against two more. Those two attacked together one from the left one from the right. That was a new strategy with this group. Some of the other Apes I had killed before had worked together, so it wasn''t entirely surprising. Still, I became worried as the two attacked and I realized I had a third one coming at me from behind. I dodged the two attacking from my sides and spun to cut down the third. The wound was fatal, but honestly, it had been lucky that I managed to hit the monster at all. Doing a fancy spin in the middle of trying to fight off monsters wasn''t something I could make graceful or cool. I just managed to lop off a small portion of the Ape''s head. I didn''t have time to be critiquing my own lack of skills the original two Apes were coming in for a second pass. This time they were both coming from my left. I focused on them judging their speed and distance. When the bigger Ape picked up the smaller Ape and threw him at me I wasn''t in a good position for a counter. I had judged that I would have more time to take a stance. Instead, I was pulling off a one-handed baseball swing completely off balance. I did manage to hit the flying Ape with the flat of my sword sending it a few feet in the other direction, but I ended up falling on my butt from the momentum of hitting an object while off balance. The bigger Ape took advantage of this and came running. I just managed to get to my knees when the monster launched himself at my face. Large canine teeth were snapping at me from a foot away. Then he just dropped, sort of skidded and hit my thighs. I tried bringing my sword up, but it was too late. It had to be going for my junk. Shit, I knew I should have gotten that stupid looking codpiece. Nothing happened. No pain, no movement. I cautiously looked around. The Ape just laid there with a hunting knife sticking out of it''s back. So Crue had been paying attention and was willing to act when it looked like I was going to have my face eaten off. Good to know that he had my front if he didn''t necessarily have my shit splattered back. More importantly was this one the last of them? I checked the Gamer Glass and confirmed that with the exception of the small Ape that was under the status of KO, there weren''t any more Apes close by. It was like Crue said there weren''t many monsters showing up in groups nearer the human habitations and farms. I lopped off the head of the KOed Ape. Then I went through and placed all the dead Apes in my inventory. The hunting knife and the sword got wiped off in the dirt then rubbed down quickly with a rag before I placed them in their sheaths. Next, I stripped out of my clothes. Using the water in my inventory I took a quick hand shower. I paid careful attention to my hair. Even using soap right there in the middle of the field to get all the excrement off me. Still naked I rinsed off the soiled clothes the best I could and placed them in a produce bag, minus the produce, and put them in my inventory. I was not putting them back on, but since I didn''t have any of my new clothes yet. I was stuck wearing my old torn up pants and a shirt I hadn''t sent to the cleaners. I considered it a big improvement, bloodstains and all. ¡°That looks like a really handy skill,¡± Crue commented walking up. ¡°What is?¡± ¡°Being able to dump water on yourself from your inventory. The more I see you use that bracelet of yours the more impressed I am. Though I worry someone will get ideas and try and take it from you by force.¡± ¡°It won''t work for them if it''s stolen it will just return back to me.¡± ¡°They won''t know that, and I wasn''t talking just about it being stolen. Something as unique as it is, some people would consider it worth trying to kill you over it. ¡°I know it''s a bit too late to keep it hidden, but maybe start spreading the information that it''s person specific magic. Let people know that no one else can use it or access it. Try and make yourself less of a target for the more homicidally inclined members of society.¡± ¡°I do see your point. I don''t really want to stand out.¡± ¡°I think it''s a bit too late for that as well. Everyone will be talking about you and asking questions after seeing you with the Gods. I''m sure the temple has been inundated with all sorts of people asking for information about you.¡± ¡° Great,¡± I just wanted to live a nice quiet life and make enough money to earn a decent and comfortable living then hopefully retire early in the countryside with a nice loyal dog. I still sort of hoped it would be possible. Even after the blow about my genetic lottery loss, I still had hope that I could somehow make the country life work. Yellow Springs had a red light district and it was considered rural. I could live out here just past the farming area. Maybe make the trip into town once a week or so. Still, I also wanted to explore this new land. I wanted to travel a bit. So while the homebody in me just wanted to settle in and start building a cottage in the woods, the transient nature I had never been able to indulge before was pushing me to exploration. ¡°Most people will just assume you are a priest,¡± Crue interrupted my musings. ¡°Most people, even the ones with a criminal inclination, don''t want to target priests. Not only do we heal people, but there is the possibility that harming one of the Gods'' priests could literally send divine retribution down upon you. Not many people are willing to risk it. So, it''s lucky that most people will consider you a priest.¡± ¡°It''s a win-lose situation.¡± ¡°I would say it''s more of a win. You were seen being social with Edomael. A death god is not someone anyone wants to mess with. Being THE Death God, I would say that no one is going to target you. ¡°Then you have to factor in Aequitas. She''s mostly a law and order deity, but she''s no pushover in military and marital matters. She''s one of the divine warrior ''maidens''.¡± He made finger quotes around maiden. Was maiden a term used loosely here? ¡°So even if you being attacked was ignored by Edomael, a Goddess of Justice wouldn''t let it slide.¡± ¡°You failed to mention the Goddess who actually made me her Oracle,¡± I said a little sardonically. ¡°Amoris doesn''t have the ''I''m going to bring death and vengeance upon you'' vibe that Aequitas and Edomael have. She might kill you by accident but rarely runs around smiting people to death. To be honest, most people don''t take her too seriously as a Goddess of power. We have one of the better healing temples, so we don''t get messed with because no one wants to screw over the person who might be the only person in the city able to heal your raging case of crotch rot.¡± ¡°So I am a target because I stand out, but I''m not a target because people are too afraid of being zapped with not so metaphorical lightning to mess with me. So why even bring the issue up?¡± ¡°Well, most sane people wouldn''t dare to incur possible godly wrath. However, not all people are sane. Not everyone is walking around with a full sack of dice. Unfortunately, many ex-adventurers end up this way.¡± ¡°Adventurers? Why?¡± I could understand the risk to life and limb, but to your mind? ¡°Not all monsters are straightforward. Some of them can use mental magic. They can induce panic, fear, hallucinations, nightmares, and other really nasty shit. Thankfully, those types aren''t really found in abundance and hardly ever in this area. ¡°No what cause, the mental breakdown is usually witnessing death. Death of friends, comrades, random citizens at the hands of the monsters. You see enough people being eaten, disemboweled, or dismembered and it will stick with you. ¡°You see similar symptoms in soldiers after a war. They don''t come back home quite the same. Some of them become unpredictably violent and kill without actually meaning it. ¡°We try and spot these people, but we can''t catch everyone. We can''t force people to get help either. So we are left with a small part of the population, who are skilled fighters and out of their minds. It''s a dangerous mix, but we don''t really have a solution to it.¡± ¡°Sounds like PTSD,¡± I commented. ¡°PTSD?¡± Crue asked. ¡°It''s basically what you just described, but add in any sort of traumatic experience.¡± ¡°The majority of the cases are soldiers and adventurers, but we''ve seen it in other cases as well,¡± he nodded confirmation. He looked at me as if trying to assess if I would be the type to lose it after a traumatic event. It was a good question since I didn''t really know myself. This dying violently and being reborn experience was fairly traumatic. Add on the uncertainty of my new sex-driven genetics I wasn''t certain if I would be able to stay sane. If you were crazy would you be able to know you were crazy? ¡°Anyway, we have a lot of work to do. I thought you said your sword skill was at level 2? And you had other martial arts skills at level 2 as well?¡± ¡°Um, yes Basic Sword at level 2 with Skull Bashing at level 2. I have Martial Arts and Staff at level 2 as well. Spear at level 1.¡± Crue looked at me, a deep V forming in his forehead. ¡°You did manage to pull off a few decent moves that I wouldn''t expect from a complete beginner, but then you would follow it up with leaving yourself wide open and doing something completely dumb even a novice would not do. A level 2 swordsman and martial artist should never have lost their balance like that and fallen on their ass. I don''t get it.¡± He rubbed at his V with the heel of his hand. ¡°You mean to say that I''m all over the place skillswise?¡± ¡°Basically, yes. I don''t know why this is. I''ve never seen such an oddball gaping in skill.¡± He crossed his arms and sighed looking up at the sky. ¡°To be honest I think the only way to fill in those gaps would be to start you from scratch. That way I can be sure the gaps are getting filled in and I know you won''t get yourself killed doing something even a child wouldn''t try and pull off.¡± ¡°Sounds fine,¡± and it did to me. It made sense. There were moments when it felt like I was just swinging around a pointy stick other times I had this instinct kick in and I sort of just knew how to move. Even to me, it felt sort of inconsistent. ¡°I was worried you''d disagree. Making someone with a level 2 skill go back to basics is considered a punishment in the guard.¡± ¡°No, I think the gap is because I gained the skill so quickly. It''s not like I actually sat down and learned to fight from scratch. I just ran around killing Apes.¡± ¡°That does seem likely. If that''s the case though, you need to be careful with your other skills as well. You should keep in mind that there might be some practical knowledge gaps. I''m going to try and cover what I can, but I don''t have all the skill sets you do.¡± ¡°I''ll keep it in mind that even though my levels might be high, I really don''t know what I''m doing.¡± ¡°Well, it''s enough to keep you alive against minor monsters like these Apes. Let''s go tell the farmer his problem is taken care of. Then maybe we should go to the Guild. They have a practice area set up out back.¡± ¡°Actually, I need a bath. I still don''t feel clean. Do you think we can go by the temple then grab dinner and start the training tomorrow?¡± ¡°I''m free in the early morning, but I have the afternoon shift at the clinic. I can meet you at the Guild at six the sun will just be coming up so we should have light.¡± We started walking back heading towards the farmer''s house. ¡°I will warn you that I am not a morning person.¡± Then I thought of something I hadn''t considered before. ¡°How do you keep time here. I haven''t seen any clocks except for the big one in that tower near the square. I''ve been keeping track of time from its hourly chiming, but I think it stays silent at night. At least I don''t remember it chiming at night.¡± ¡°It doesn''t, the last chime is at ten at night and it starts again at seven the next morning. A lot of people keep track of the time by that clock. It''s not just you. However, there are more personal timepieces you can buy. The temple supplies us with clocks in our rooms. When we bathe I can have one of the children get one of our extras for you. Depending on what kind you get they can vary in price. The ones we have are in the moderate range. They can be set, and they will go off at the time you want it too. More expensive ones can be set up with a magic core lamp and lights can go on along with your alarm. Some can even be made to play simple tunes.¡± ¡°A simple one will be fine. I don''t need anything fancy, so thank you for letting me borrow one.¡± ¡°Dickson would have my hide if I made you return it. So please just take it. Small things like that aren''t a big loss for the temple and considering the possible gains we will be having because of you, it''s really the very least we can do in gratitude. Besides, you''ve proven yourself in contact with Our Lady so the temple is sort of obligated to see to your needs. ¡°You really could move in and all your expenses would be seen too, you know? While you''re not a priest, since you''re an oracle it would be fine.¡± ¡°No, I think I''d rather stay at the Inn. Not that your hospitality isn''t great,¡± I hurried to reassure him, ¡°but living in a temple seems sort of odd to me.¡± ¡°It might be for the best anyway,¡± he nodded. I briefly wondered what he meant, but we had made it to the farmer''s house and by the time we had refused payment several times I had forgotten to ask. As we were nearing the gates I spotted something that alarmed me greatly. I grabbed Crue by the arm and halted him. I pointed at the creature. ¡°Is that what I think it is?¡± I was also bringing up a description in my Gamer Glass as Crue followed my pointing finger. *Death Bee. A rare omnivorous honey bee. The stinger holds a powerful neurotoxin. Unlike normal honey bees, a Death Bee can repeatedly sting a person without dying or losing its stinger. Death to an average size male human will occur within ten minutes if an antidote is not given. Healing magic is not very effective against the neurotoxin but can slow down the deadly effects long enough to administer the antidote. You may find Death Bee antidote at any temple, guard post, Adventurers Guild, or mail post. The average cost of the antidote is 2 gold coins. If you do not have the funds for the antidote, you will be put on a payment plan. It is against the law in the majority of the nations to withhold treatment for lack of funds. After receiving the antidote, the mortality rate for a Death Bee sting is 15%. Death Bees live in hives where the strongest female is called the queen. However, a queen female and a Queen Death Bee are not the same. Any strong female bee can run a hive and produce offspring. True Queen Bees have wind or light magic and have an even higher toxicity than normal Death Bees. Being stung by a Queen Death Bee will result in death within two minutes. If given the antidote of a normal Death Bee within the two minutes the mortality rate is reduced to 80%. It is recommended that you avoid being stung by a Queen Death Bee as the antidote for a Queen Death Bee is very rare and usually can only be found within private collections. Honey produced by a hive with a true Queen Death Bee is considered some of the best and rarest honey. If you manage to kill a Death Bee, it is recommended that you leave the location immediately as the death of one can summon the swarm. The intact venom sack, stinger, and wings are collectible material.~ ¡°Oh, that''s a Death Bee,¡± Crue answered as the bee the size of a large potato floated past. ¡°They are fairly harmless most of the time. You leave them alone, they will leave you alone. Don''t kill or piss one off, ever. That stinger is poisonous and will kill you in about ten minutes. Avoid them, and run like mad if you ever stumble upon a hive,¡± he paused looking at me. ¡°There are some idiots in the Guild that hunt the Bees. They do yield high rewards for a dismantled bee, so I see the appeal. However, killing one might trigger a swarm and bring the entire hive chasing you, but there are ways to avoid that. Jumping into water is one of them. ¡°At least a few times a year some down on his luck adventurer gets it into his head that he can make some easy money off the Bees, either by harvesting the honey or by killing the Bees. A few times a year down on their luck adventurers corpses are found littered around the Death Bee hive. ¡°Good thing is they are hard to piss off. Only a direct attack on them will aggravate them or stealing their honey. So if you are fighting and a Death Bee wonders in you don''t have to worry about pissing it off with all the sudden movements. Just don''t accidentally hit the Bee. ¡°There is some debate about their intelligence in the Guild. Members who''ve pissed off the Bees and lived swear that the Bees are more aggressive towards them. While some farmers who leave out gifts for the Bees and swear they''ve actually been protected by the Bees when another monster attacks.¡± ¡°What do you think?¡± ¡°I think they might be smart enough to recognize a person who''s harmed them and know if another person who feeds them is being harmed. I don''t think they are as smart as a dog, but maybe close to it. I''ve seen them do some odd things myself. ¡°One time I spotted a Bee toss its kill into a grass fire. As the mice in the field ran for it, the Death Bee scooped them up, killed them, then tossed them into the fire. Later, once we got the fire under control I noticed a few of the Bees eating the mice. The skin and fur had been charred off and the meat was cooked. So they are smart enough to know that tossing their kill into a grass fire will cook it and clean the fur off for them.¡± ¡°Sounds like they might actually be smarter than a dog. I''ve never heard of a dog cleaning and cooking its own food.¡± ¡°You wouldn''t say that if you had also witnessed them run head first into the same tree over and over,¡± he laughed a bit. ¡°Maybe it was a queen Bee you saw?¡± ¡°You looked them up on your Gamer Glass?¡± He asked. ¡°Yes, it basically said the honey is valuable, their sting will kill you, and there is a difference between a queen bee and a Queen Bee,¡± I put some emphasis on it for him. ¡°Regular queen bees, little q, are a bit larger than the rest of them, but other than that you probably wouldn''t be able to tell the difference between a little queen and a worker at a distance. So it''s possible that it was a little queen I saw,¡± he nodded and held his hands apart to show how much bigger the little queen Death Bee would be. About the size of one and a half potatoes then. ¡°What about big Queens? Would you be able to tell the difference between those and worker Bees?¡± ¡°I''ve never actually seen one personally, but there have been a few spotted in the area over the last few decades. They are rare as it is, but they don''t often leave their hives, so it makes spotting them difficult. They are about twice the size as a normal Death Bee and they have a longer set of wings that shimmer with a green-blue color in the sun. There are two hives in this area. One to the north and one to the west. Whenever there is a big Queen Bee the two hives unite for the lifespan of that Queen. Then they split again. So we usually know when there is a big Queen not because people have seen her necessarily, but because the hives have combined.¡± ¡°How long do they live?¡± ¡°Don''t know really. The combined hives can last anywhere from two years to 10 years, but since we don''t know how the Queens die we can''t estimate their natural lifespans. Usually, some idiot adventurer takes it upon himself to strike it rich by bringing in the honey and the venom sack of a Queen. They end up killing each other more often than not.¡± ¡°Rich? You can get rich off one Queen?¡± He shook his head, ¡°It''s not worth it, believe me. Even the most prepared adventurer ends up dead. The big Queen Bees are classified as a class B monster, even though they don''t cause much harm. They are deadly. Their stingers are sharper than most blades and can pierce through most metal armors. They are not to be messed with, and the Guild never puts a bounty on them because their deadliness ratio vs their impact on human lives is solely based on someone trying to attack them first. ¡°However, for those lucky enough to find a Queen outside her hive and kill her without being attacked or swarmed have been able to earn nearly 125 gold. Provided that all parts are left intact.¡± ¡°125 gold!¡± I could see how that would be tempting for someone. Then a thought hit me. ¡°What stops someone from shooting them down from a distance either with an arrow or magic?¡± ¡°People have tried.¡± he nodded his head. ¡°I''ve even been successful at shooting a worker down at a distance, but it''s very hard to do because they are fast and somehow know when an arrow is coming their way. As for magic, they are resistant. You could lob fireballs at them all day and if you managed to hit one, they''d be fine. It would just piss them off. No, most people who''ve managed to take one down do it with a sword or some other long bladed weapon. They are fast but if you can manage to cut their wings they will fall. ¡°Still not worth the risk of provoking a swarm though. Some idiot kid in a village a weeks ride from here managed to bring an entire swarm down on his village. Killed nearly everyone, including the boy. We have walls, but Bees can fly over walls. Even if you survived the swarm, if you brought one down into the town you would be hung after all the dead were counted.¡± ¡°You would be hung for bringing a swarm into the town? Even if it was by accident?¡± ¡°It''s the law. If by your actions, accidentally or not, you bring monsters into an inhabited area then you are responsible for the damage. If that damage includes the death of innocent townspeople, it''s like you murdered them. If it''s just destruction of property then you''d have to pay for it. ¡°My brother and I once thought we had killed a goblin when we were younger. We brought it back to be dismantled and it woke up and rampaged through the Guild. We had to pay for all the damages even though we were only just kids.¡± He smiled at the memory. ¡°So if a child lead a monster in and it killed someone?¡± ¡°A child wouldn''t be put to death, but they would probably have to spend the rest of their adolescence serving in one of the temples. Most of the time that is. Around thirteen is when you are considered competent enough to know right from wrong. If you are over thirteen and you kill someone you are held accountable for that crime like any other adult. If it was an accident then you could be sent to the temples or be killed like an adult. If you are under thirteen you are sent to the temples... normally. ¡°It all really depends on circumstances with children. All sorts of factors have to be considered.¡± He sighed a heavy sigh. ¡°Thankfully, there aren''t many cases of children committing murder and most of those are kids who are just hitting puberty. I guess it''s lucky that luring a monster into a town and it killing a citizen is rare. I only brought up that boy because he brought a swarm of Death Bees into his town because he screwed up in harvesting the honey. It''s not common, and it''s even less common with children.¡± ¡°So if you are under thirteen you can avoid the death penalty if you kill someone?¡± He shook his head, ¡°It''s not so simple as that. There are three cases I heard about that come to mind. Each case involves someone younger than thirteen, but in each case they were given the death penalty.¡± ¡°Were the crimes similar?¡± ¡°No, not really, people were killed, but other than that the circumstances for each were different.¡± ¡°Can you tell me about them?¡± ¡°Well, the first one involves an eleven-year-old boy. He was the youngest in a gang of orphaned children run by an older man. The man had raised these kids to survive on crime. They stole from people mostly. ¡°As the older kids grew up they would sign up for the Guild and would use their talents for the Guild. The man who raised them would get angry when this happened but would let them go. That was until one of the older boys told the magistrate of the area what was happening with the children. The older boy had begun to realize that being forced into that sort of life as a child was abusive. So he was trying to get help for the kids that were left. ¡°The magistrate understood the circumstances and gave the older boy and any other children that would leave the evil man a full pardon. He also set up positions at the temples so that the children could be raised properly. ¡°The man hated the magistrate and the older boy for this. Many of his thieving children were leaving. He was angry, but he felt like he could do nothing to stop them.¡± Crue paused for breath. ¡°Does the eleven-year-old boy kill the man?¡± I asked. ¡°No, and if he did he probably wouldn''t have gotten the death penalty for it. ¡°No, what he did was worse. He saw that the man was angry and he saw that his friends were leaving him. So he decided to do something about it if the man wouldn''t. ¡°It started with the first older boy. He showed up dead stabbed in the sternum and left in an alley. Then it was the children that had taken up positions in the temples. One by one they were killed, and fearing that they would be next, the children that left came back.¡± ¡°So he killed all his friends!¡± I was a bit shocked. ¡°Yes, and he probably would have gotten away with it too if he had just stopped when the other children returned. He decided to go after the magistrate though and was caught. ¡°He confessed to all the murders. He had stalked his victims, planned the perfect time to kill them, then when through with it. Even though he was only eleven he was given the death penalty for killing all those other children.¡± ¡°Damn, was he crazy or something?¡± ¡°No, they had him checked. Having the Mental Corruption skill isn''t a defense against murder though.¡± ¡°Wait, what? Mental Corruption skill?¡± ¡°Right you probably wouldn''t have heard of it. It''s how we can tell if someone is truly insane. It manifests as a skill.¡± ¡°Mental Corruption,¡± I repeated. ¡°Yes, not all skills are beneficial. Mental Corruption happens when a person goes insane. Some people will lose themselves temporarily, like the conversation we had earlier about the people who witness tragedy having difficulties?¡± Crue glanced at me to see if I remembered. I nodded that I did. ¡°Right, people who only lose it for short amounts of time, but are otherwise normal don''t get the Mental Corruption skill. It''s only people who have been insane for a long time who gain it and the longer they live with the skill the higher the skill increases. The higher the skill the more volatile the person becomes.¡± ¡°So someone with a level 1 could appear like a normal person, but someone with a level 4 would be going around killing the neighbor''s cats?¡± ¡°More like the level 1 would be killing the cats and the level 4 would be a serial killer.¡± ¡°I think I get it. So that''s how you could tell that this kid wasn''t insane.¡± ¡°Yes, but the second case involves a girl with Mental Corruption so it''s a good thing you asked for me to explain it.¡± ¡°So even though this next kid was crazy she was still executed?¡± ¡°Yes, being insane isn''t an excuse for committing a crime and once you have the skill there is really no going back to being a sane human being. Some non-violent ones are helpers at temples. They can live their lives peacefully enough, but like I said as they continue to live with the skill and it levels up they become more volatile and more often than not they have to be killed. ¡°The healing temples do our best to try and help these people. Sometimes the insanity manifests in other ways even as the skill increases. There are a few, not many, but a few with the skill who manage to live out their natural lifespans without committing any major crimes. ¡°We have a woman who steals spoons at one of our temples. She''s nearly eighty now and has a level 8 Mental Corruption, but she has lived her life sneaking out of the temple and breaking into peoples houses to steal their spoons. Once she has them she hides them in the potted plants around the temple. That''s it. It''s a non-violent crime and most people in that town know that if they show up to our temple they can get their spoons back. ¡°It''s because we have people like her that we just can''t execute people with the skill as soon as they are discovered.¡± ¡°Was it like that with the kid? Did she start off non-violent then attack someone?¡± ¡°No. Well, we don''t know. At least I don''t think we know. When she was found she was twelve years old and already had a Mental Corruption of level 6. ¡°When she was found it couldn''t be determined if she gained all her levels in one go over the week she was killing or if she started out as a level 1 and worked her way up to murder. ¡°So wait, killing people levels up the skill too?¡± ¡°Just being crazy levels up this skill slowly over time, but doing violent insane acts levels it up faster.¡± ¡°Ok, I guess that makes sense in a way.¡± ¡°Anyway, this kid was guilty of killing forty-two people before they found her. When the bodies started showing up the guards had no idea they were looking for a kid. It was only at the fourth house where one of the children of the house hid and witnessed...¡± ¡°Wait, go back. The fourth house, what happened at the rest? Start from the beginning.¡± ¡°Well, the investigation didn''t really start at the beginning if I remember. It sort of started in the middle. Then worked backwards and forwards at the same time.¡± ¡°Alright, I''m sorry for interrupting, tell the story how you want,¡± I waved my hand at him. ¡°Well, I can back up a bit. So the guard had a report of an entire family that had been slaughtered in their sleep. Cut up like an animal. All of them had their throats slit then had their bodies mutilated. The bodies were at least two days old when they arrived. ¡°As soon as they finished with one house a report of two more families being found came in. One family was dead at least three days and the other was fresh as if it had been done just that morning. ¡°The guard knew they had a serial killer on the loose because all the bodies were the same. Throat slit, bodies cut up. They put out alerts and word was spread to have people check on their neighbors. ¡°Because of this alert the fourth house was found within the next day. The fourth house was another fresh scene and as they were clearing out the bodies one of the guards found a little boy hiding in a pickle barrel in the pantry. ¡°The little boy told them that it was a girl who killed his family. He had gotten up to pee when he heard a noise in his sister''s room. He peeked in and saw the girl carving up his sister. Without making a sound the boy ran to his parent''s room and discovered them dead as well. ¡°Then he heard her open the door down the hall. He flew down the stairs and noticed the front door was open. Instead of running outside he ran to the pantry and hid in the nearly empty pickle barrel. ¡°He had told the guard that his parents told him he was never allowed to go outside at dark for any reason. So I guess that''s why he hid instead of going to get help. ¡°Probably saved him though. She probably thought he had run outside to get help and chased after him. We don''t really know. We just know that she didn''t find him and moved on to the next family.¡± ¡°So she''s only killing families?¡± ¡°Families with children around her age, yes.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°She''s insane so there doesn''t really have to be a reason, but in this case, there is some speculation later. ¡°So, now the guards know they are looking for a young girl with dark hair. However, that could be just about any girl in the town. So they start by going to the houses where they know there are young girls. That''s how they found the fifth house and eventually the sixth house. That''s how they eventually found out who she was. ¡°At the sixth house, they discovered a family that had been dead several days. It was the oldest scene they''d been to and as they searched the house they found that the middle daughter was missing. She fit the rough description that the little boy had given, but they didn''t want to flat out say that this girl was killing people. What if later on, they found her body somewhere else after all? ¡°They did put out an alert for a missing child. They gave her name and description and because of all the hysteria about a serial killer on the loose, citizens went out of their way to help look for the missing girl who most people thought was a victim. Most of them thought they were looking for a body, but it was one little old lady who liked to look out her upstairs window at night to spy on the neighbors that spotted her first. ¡°This little old lady hated the neighbors across the street and went out of her way to make their lives hell. However, on this one night, she saved their children''s lives. This woman spotted a young girl out alone in the streets. She opened this neighbor''s gate and let herself in. Then she just stood there hiding in the shadow of a tree. ¡°Well, the little old lady knew something was up and quickly gathered herself and went out her back door to the path to the local guard station. As luck would have it she ran into a guard doing his rounds on the way there. She told him her story and made him come back with her.¡± ¡°She made him come back with her?¡± I asked. I had a mental image of an old hunched back woman with white hair leading a guard by the ear all the way back to her house. ¡°She''d been to call the guard on her neighbors before and most of the guard knew her as a busybody old crone and ignored her. I guess this night she refused to be ignored and the guard did follow her. ¡°When they arrived, the guard noticed that the neighbor''s door was open. He sent the old lady back to the guard house to get more guards and he went into the house. ¡°He walked in on the girl just as she was finishing up with the mother. She attacked him with her knife and he got a long cut on his arm before he was able to wrestle the knife away from her. He then used the knife¡¯s heavy wooden handle to knock the girl out. To be careful he used a pair of leggings he found in the bedroom to bind her legs and arms. ¡°He went to check on the children and found them safe and asleep. He woke them both up and told them they had to go wait at their old lady neighbor''s house. ¡°So the girl was arrested and placed in jail. Over the course of the next few days, more houses with dead families were found. There were nine houses altogether with forty-two victims. All killed within about a weeks time. ¡°They tried to question the girl, but she was non-communicative at this point. So they had to piece together what they could. ¡°They don''t know what caused her initial insanity, they don''t know if she had the skill before or after she killed her family. They do know that her own family were her first victims. She killed them and proceeded to kill families at one to two houses a night until she was caught. ¡°They don''t know where she was staying during this time, or if how she managed to go unseen and unreported covered in blood for over a week. She mostly worked at night, but for at least two of the houses, they were done in the early morning. ¡°Anyway, she was tried, convicted, and executed quickly. They did have three eyewitnesses that gave testimony.¡± ¡°So you don''t know why she killed her family? Not even speculation?¡± ¡°No clue, to everyone else they seemed like a normal family. There were no signs of abuse on any of the children, They were even talking about having a fourth child. His business was steady and they lived a normal lower-middle-class life.¡± ¡°It seems so odd not knowing why. Just hearing it as a story you feel sort of unfulfilled as if there has to be more to it.¡± ¡°It''s not just a story though, in real life shitty things happen and sometimes you never do find out why.¡± ¡°And the next story, do we find out why?¡± ¡°Yes, but it in a way it''s just as bad as not knowing.¡± ¡°I''m not sure if I want to know about it then,¡± I answered. To be honest listening about children committing murder was setting my nerves on edge. ¡°Well, you should probably know this one, since it''s the most famous case of the three. Everyone knows about it and if you are the one person who doesn''t then people will know you aren''t from this kingdom. While it''s not brought up in conversation most parents use the story as a cautionary tale for their young kids.¡± ¡°So I avoid children, problem solved.¡± If I was around a child at this point, a small part of me would be half expecting them to pull out a knife and stab me. Not logical I know, but still, these crimes had a ghost story effect on me. ¡°Did I mention that the crime happened in Yellow Springs about thirty years ago? It''s still fresh in the local memories and you could run into people who actually witnessed the event.¡± ¡°It happened in Yellow Springs? Really?¡± There went the goosebumps, until this point everything had a ''this happened in a far-off place'' feeling. You could remove yourself from the story. Know this next one happened in the town I was living in gave me the heebie-jeebies all over and I hadn''t even heard the story yet. ¡°Two boys ages nine and ten. The younger one was a local boy born and raised here. The older one was from a family that moved here from the capital for the mother''s health. They were neighbor''s and became friends right away. Nothing seemed off to anyone, and if you ask people will tell you to this day they were both normal boys.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. ¡°About a year after the older boy moved here is when it happened. A three-year-old boy went missing from the marketplace. He had been with his mother one minute and gone the next. The entire town was looking for him for about two days. After the third day, another child told his parents about a hole in the wall. A hole that all the children knew about and would sneak through to go steal apples out of the orchards. ¡°Thinking that maybe the boy had gone through this hole the orchards were searched. Nothing was found. Some people would speculate that maybe a Red Wolf found him and took off with him.¡± ¡° A Red Wolf? Do they come close to the wall like that?¡± ¡°Back then they did. We didn''t have an established Guild here then. So the monster population was more unregulated. They don''t come close now. They typically stay at least a few miles out. ¡°Anyway, after about a week the search died down. Without any clues or ideas, no one could really do anything. Some people still went out searching the fields, for a body this time, but still found nothing. ¡°After the second week past a woman who had been out early found him, or rather his body. He had been placed under a rose bush alongside the main road. The guards were called and the priests of Edomael. ¡°No one was surprised to find the body of the missing boy, but what they were surprised about was that he had only died within the last day or so. His body other than a head wound seemed fine. He didn''t have any clothes on, and they suspected sexual assault, but that turned out to not be the case. ¡°They didn''t have any clue as to what happened, or why someone would just keep him alive for two weeks then kill him. The case went unsolved. ¡°Three months after the first child disappeared a two-year-old who had been playing in his yard while his mother hung the laundry disappeared. After the first boy even more effort was placed into finding the child. This time no one gave up after a few days suspecting he was dead. By this point, everyone knew that the first child had been kept alive up until he was killed so even after three days had passed it was still possible to find the boy alive. ¡°However, after six days his body was found too. This time under a tree near the marketplace. Once again he was naked and had his head bashed in. ¡°When the body was found a lady who sold apples told the guard she remembered seeing two young boys pushing a gardening barrel down the road. ¡°The guard didn''t even bother to write down the woman''s statement since at this point they thought they might have some weird sort of pedophile on the lose and those were almost always men. ¡°Still the boys didn''t show any signs of sexual assault. It was just guesswork that had the guard looking for a pedophile. ¡°The third boy was a bit older. He was five and when he was taken it wasn''t from his mother like the other two. He had gone out to play with the other children. His mother had been very adamant about him staying with other kids. She didn''t want him kidnapped like the other boys and thought that if the children were together her son would be fine. ¡°When asked the children of the area told the guards that he had been out playing with them. He even left with some older boys to go climb trees. When the guard questioned the boys one of them said that yes they had played with him, but then he left to go home when he couldn''t climb as high as they could. The other boy said that they hadn''t seen him at all that day. They didn''t climb trees they were digging for worms in the garden to use for fishing bait. ¡°The guard knew this boy was lying to him, but why? He didn''t have any reason to lie. Unable to get a straight answer the guard left the boy. ¡°The next day the body of the five-year-old was found. Head bashed in, naked, and found in the middle of some bushes. This time though the body looked to have been in a fight. He had bruises and cuts on his hands and knees. ¡°The woman who owned the house and the bushes told the guard that her dog started barking early that morning and as she got up to let him out she saw two boys pushing a garden barrel down the street. One of them was that new child that had moved here last year. Maybe those boys saw something? ¡°So the guard went back to talk to the boys. What he found were two children with scrapes and one had a swollen nose the other the beginnings of a nasty black eye. The guard asked if they had gotten into a fight. The younger one said no and the older one said yes. The guard told the boys they had been seen pushing the garden barrel that morning. ¡°Before the guard could continue the younger boy took off at a run. The older boy stood there a moment then started to cry. The guard who had four younger brothers knew immediately that they were fake tears and was about to tell the child off when the boy gave the craziest story he had heard. ¡°The younger boy killed all the children. He kept them in the garden shed in between the two houses. He kept them alive for a while telling them that they would be able to go home to their mothers soon and that they just had to wait a bit. Once he felt like he had tormented them enough he killed them by bashing their heads in with a large decorative garden stone. He then forced the older boy to help get rid of the bodies by threatening to kill him. He didn''t want to die like the other boys. ¡°The guard asked him questions and midway through the boy forgot that he was supposed to be upset and began telling his story in a very matter of fact manner. He showed the guard the shed and even the stone, both showing recent signs of being splashed down with water. He was arrested, but up until this point, the crimes he had committed weren''t executable. At most he''d be sent to live in the temples. ¡°When the guards found the younger child, he told a vastly different story. One in which the older boy had killed them. The younger boy didn''t have anything to do with it. He wasn''t there, he didn''t know anything. He just knew the older boy killed them. ¡°So the younger boy was arrested and they were both taken to the Aequitas Temple to tell their stories in front of the Goddess statue. They had already had their status'' checked and they both had the murderer status anomaly so they were both guilty, they just needed to figure out who was guilty of what. The head priest at the time asked her for a sign. For help in getting justice for three innocent boys and to figure out which of the two guilty children were lying. Her statue glowed and two pieces of red paper were there.¡± ¡°Is that something her statue does often? Make paper appear?¡± ¡°No, and it''s not just regular paper. It''s paper that is used only once per person and can detect when someone is lying. It''s not often that she sends things like this to her followers, but it''s not uncommon for her to do it either. She is the Goddess of Justice and if someone is lying in her temple she will know it. ¡°Anyway, the priest made the boys hold the paper and since they were still young and never learned about Aequitas'' truth papers, they began to both tell the lies they had given the guard. The papers flashed blue. ¡°That''s when the priest told them about what the papers were and how they worked. The boys tried to toss the papers away, but they stuck to their hands. They tried to rip them up, but the papers couldn''t be torn. ¡°They sat there for three days telling lie after lie. Finally, the younger one broke down and told the truth. He did torment the children he told them they could go back to their mother''s and laughed at them when they cried. Then when it was gardening day and his mother needed to used the shed, the older boy would kill the child. They would then dump the body in a place where everyone could see it. ¡°When asked how they got the children to go with them. The younger boy said the older boy would use his mother''s sleeping medicine in some honey treats. The boys would lure the kids away with the promise of honey treats and when the child passed out from the drugged treats they would load the child up in the garden barrel and take him to the shed. ¡°They would strip the child and then tie him up with soft silk scarves. He''d be gagged and bound and when he woke up the child was told that he had been taken by the bad man and that if he wanted to see his mother again he had to listen to the older children. Only if he was silent was he allowed to eat. He defecated into a bucket that the boys would spread out on the gardens in the neighborhood. ¡°Once they were done playing with their victim the older boy would drug the child again and bash his head in with a rock. ¡°When asked what happened to the five-year-old. The younger boy said that the five-year-old fought them. He refused to cooperate and he at one point managed to get his hands free and tried to escape. That''s when the older boy had to hold him down as the young one hit him over the head with the rock.¡± ¡°So they both participated in the kidnappings, they both tormented the children, they both committed murder, and they both acted to cover it up, but why did they do it?¡± I asked. ¡°The answer they gave when asked that question was because they had gotten bored and wanted to know what it was like to kill someone.¡± ¡°Budding psychopaths,¡± I shuddered a bit and tried to play it off as the cooling night air giving me chills. ¡°Probably, if it would have continued both of them probably would have gotten the Mental Corruption skill.¡± ¡°Considering they killed three kids I''m sort of surprised they didn''t. Is the skill random like that?¡± ¡°All skills have a high degree of randomness. Mental Corruption has to deal with a state of mind though. You can be a serial killer and still be completely sane or you can be a lady who steals spoons and be completely insane. So yes, it is random.¡± We both had our cards checked at the gate, even though it was obvious that the guard was familiar with Crue. Diligence at its finest I guess. Though I noticed that the other guard stood at attention after spotting Crue. Made me wonder if the guards were more ''on duty'' when the Captain''s brother was nearby. The streets were filled with people leaving work and going home. There was some congestion due to the number of pushcarts and vendors stalls being packed away. There seemed to be a slight urgency in the air, everyone ready to be done with the day and get home to relax. You could hear mothers calling their children in for dinner. I was a pleasant scene, peaceful. A pessimistic part of me was just waiting for the peace to be shattered. A drunken brawl, an argument over someone cheating on them, or maybe even the body of a dead child discovered. Even though the town was idyllic now, I had a feeling I''d end up with nightmares. There was a reason why I could never watch horror movies back home. With some resignation, I accepted the fact that I would need the sleep aids tonight. Too much was happening all at once and on top of that giant killer bees and knife-wielding children? No, there was no way I would be sleeping tonight without help. We turned the corner and since I had my head down and was contemplating my boots for traces of Ape dung, I ran right into someone coming the other way. ¡°Sorry,¡± I mumbled automatically as I glanced up hand flying up to steady myself against the wall of the building. ¡°I wasn''t paying attention.¡± ¡°No, no, it''s fine. I wasn''t either. Oh, Eri! Hello!¡± A short girl with curly brown hair and a blue dress apologized. It took me a second to recognize Illia. Her most distinctive feature was hidden by being flattened down by a bandanna and with her hair poofed up in a cloud of brown curls, it was hard to spot them. Even with her ears hidden she looked soft and fluffy. ¡°Oh, and Crue, how are you?¡± She asked before I could get out my greeting. ¡°I''m fine. You know Eri?¡± Crue responded back. ¡°We met at the library,¡± I finally responded. ¡°That''s right and he even promised to take me out like you do when he gets more acquainted with being a Surveyor.¡± Illia beamed a smile at me. It took more willpower than I thought not to pat at her curly mane. ¡°Well, he''s not there yet,¡± Crue smiled as well, but he had this odd look that made me think he was more than a little bit happy with the situation. ¡°We just went out and while he does have the skills, he also has some gaps in his training that needs to be addressed. So I think we will start from the beginning and work our way from there.¡± ¡°The beginning? Will you have time to train someone who''s at novice level?¡± She looked worried and when she frowned her nose crinkled up a bit. ¡°Dickson has given me some extra time for myself,¡± he frowned and sighed. ¡°After what happened yesterday, all the stress and worry that had been building up for months...¡± He paused and left his thought unfinished. ¡°Training the new Surveyor is a good excuse for me to take a partial break from the stresses of the temple.¡± ¡°Oh!¡± She seemed rather alarmed and she grabbed his arm in what looked more like fear than concern. ¡°You''re not going to be...healing anymore?¡± She paused in the middle of her question as if she had trouble finding the correct words. ¡°I''m still going to be taking my time out of my clinic hours. I''ll still be able to see my regular clients with proper scheduling. Dickson should be sending out notices sometime tomorrow with the new arrangements.¡± He smiled at her. Wait, was she one of his patients? ¡°If there is an emergency Darcy will be able to handle it,¡± he continued reaching out his hand and stroking the top of her head. He only really touched the bandanna, but I was still feeling a niggling of jealousy. I had to keep reminding myself that we didn''t have any sort of relationship. She was her own person and my feelings of wanting to monopolize her were my own issues. I wasn''t even sure what sort of relationship I was wanting with her yet. I didn''t even really know her. I thought she was cute and had ambition. She could hate dogs or something equally horrible. I didn''t know and needed to keep that in mind. ¡°I see that you have it under control. I''ll try not to worry so much,¡± she patted his arm in a friendly way. ¡°Where are you headed now? I was just going to grab dinner at Killigan''s, would the two of you like to join me? I''d end up eating alone if you don''t.¡± She smiled showing teeth. ¡°I know you have a book in that bag and you like to spend your dinners eating alone,¡± Crue teased her. She laughed and nodded, ¡°True, but that doesn''t mean I don''t like company sometimes. You want to come?¡± ¡°We were on our way to the temple so Eri can get cleaned up. He might smell fine out in the open like this, but once we get indoors you''ll start to notice it,¡± he chuckled at Illia''s puzzled look. ¡°Um, I didn''t know that the Apes like to throw their...um,¡± I paused not wanting to say shit in front of her. ¡°Shit,¡± she threw back her head and laughed. ¡°You got into deep shit!¡± I was a bit embarrassed, but at least she thought it was funny. She had a free laugh straight from the belly. Not one of those tee hee girls that thought dainty little squeaky laughs were cute. Crue joined in when it seemed like one of them was going to stop they looked at each other and started to crack up again. ¡°You should have seen him,¡± Crue said between laughter. ¡°Dancing around trying to avoid getting hit, but as he tried to dodge one, he was hit by two from behind. It was hard trying to stay focused on watching him when he was...¡± he broke down into a belly laugh. I let it happen and took the embarrassment like a man. My Gran had told me that sometimes when people are laughing at you it''s not because they are trying to make fun of you, but that they need an excuse to release tension. If they were laughing at me behind my back it would be another issue. They found a comedic situation funny and weren''t trying to be catty about it or make me feel bad. They were just releasing tension. So while it was a bit embarrassing for me, I could look at it and see that yes, my dancing around covered in shit was funny. I even managed to crack a slight smile. Heck, in a few years I''d probably find it just as hilarious as they did. ¡°The point is,¡± I interjected, ¡°I need a bath.¡± ¡°Would you like to join us?¡± Crue asked her, ¡°We can grab dinner after that.¡± Wait, was it normal to ask a lady to take a bath? The sections were separated, but still. ¡°That actually sounds nice. It''s been a while since I''ve been to the Amoris baths. They have some of the best soaps. I should stock up while I''m there. Killigan''s after that?¡± ¡°What is Killigan''s?¡± I asked as we started to move in the direction of the temple as a group. We stayed mostly in a single file line because of the foot traffic and the carts, but when the street cleared a bit we were able to talk. ¡°It''s a bar mostly, nothing noteworthy to speak of drink wise. Cheap ale and beer without any real merit to either. However, Killigan''s wife and daughter are gems in the kitchen. They make an amazing beer bear stew,¡± Crue answered partially in front of me. ¡°I love the fried cheese. They dip it in batter and fry it. Perfect food to go with an ale,¡± Illia sort of half shouted over her shoulder in front of Crue. ¡°Fried cheese shouldn''t even be counted as food,¡± Crue scolded, ¡°Eat too much of that stuff and you''ll start getting fat.¡± ¡°Says the guy who sneaks off every Friday morning to stand in line at the Square Baker just to get one of their giant cinnamon buns,¡± She countered. They bickered about fatty foods the rest of the way to the temple. It was friendly like they had made the same points before and at this point they were just poking fun at each other. We circumvented the line at the front door by going in a side entrance. Not that Crue would have had to stand in line, but it was nice not having to be hustled around those people thinking that you were line cutting. Crue let me borrow more of his clothes since I hadn''t thought to stop by the inn to see if my new ones had arrived yet. He offered clean clothes to Illia too, but she declined, saying her clothing wasn''t as soiled as mine and she''d be fine changing back into them. I didn''t fail to notice that she said this while trying to hold back another wave of laughter. Crue corralled one of the children, a young boy that I''d seen working around the baths before. His name was Hoop and he smiled a toothy grin. His teeth had been stained red with presumably strawberries. Still, I think I had found the child that would appear in my nightmares tonight. With a promise of 7 coppers, he took my boots away to be wiped down, oiled, and polished. We made plans to meet back at the desk in a half hour. It would give me enough time to thoroughly scrub and have time for a short soak. It was also just enough time for Hoop to finish my boots. I certainly felt better after being able to really scrub my hair. I ended up washing it twice. I thought a third time might be excessive, but I still had the urge to do it. I compromised with myself by holding my breath and submerging my entire head in the bath. I scrubbed at the clean hair with both my hands while underwater, really working at rubbing my scalp. I knew my hair was clean, but I still did this a few more times until I noticed Crue trying not to crack up. He did a good job holding it in. We weren''t alone in the baths and him falling into another laughing fit would have made him look silly rather than me. It was mostly older men in the baths with us and they probably wouldn''t appreciate their nice relaxing soak being interrupted by a priest having the giggles. We toweled off and got dressed. We only had to wait for a few minutes before Illia came out. Her hair was still wet and she had it, and her ears, wrapped up in one of those towel turbans that girls seemed to know how to do from infancy. It was a special kind of female voodoo. Interestingly, I finally noticed that she also had human ears under all that hair. They were small and delicate, smaller than a human women''s ears. I wasn''t an expert on women''s ears. It''s not something I would normally take notice of. It did seem that her ears were slightly smaller though. So she technically had four ears. It didn''t look odd like you might think. It looked normal. If one set was used for hearing like a human then did the other set also hear as well? Did they have better hearing? Did she process sounds with both sets of ears simultaneously? The biology behind it was sort of fascinating. Her face was flushed from the heat and there was a slight sheen of moisture beading up on her face. She rubbed at her hair a bit, then undid the turban. A waterfall of ringlets and ears came tumbling out. The fur on her ears stood up in little spikes. She took the towel and ran it across each ear flattening the fur. She finger combed her curls a bit then left them alone to air dry. Then using the towel she patted at the moisture on her face. When she was done she tossed the towel in a basket with a few other towels. I guess more than one patron had wandered out of the changing rooms still in need of their towels. Just as she was finishing up Hoop came back with my boots. I praised him a great deal since they came back looking great. They even smelled like cedar for some reason. I paid him the promised amount and gave him a chocolate bar as a tip. Illia was still finger-combing her hair while talking with Crue about the nice weather we had been having. She let Crue lead the way towards Killigan''s. It was in a new area of town I hadn''t been too yet. Mostly residential, but the houses weren''t nearly as nice as the ones in the center of town. These were more plain affairs with simple wooden beams, no glass windows, and fading whitewash. The yards were small, if they existed at all, with what space there was being used for vegetable gardens. We passed an area with a large tree stump along the side of the road. Two men and a boy were gathered around it using the stump as a makeshift table to butcher a doe. The blood ran freely down the street and we had to go around the drainage to avoid stepping it. The two men were walking the boy through the fine art of butchering and skinning the doe. The kid was trying to cut through the skin, but needed a steadying hand from the man who I assumed was his father. I could see the wall to the left as we passed by alleyways. We were only about three blocks away from it and from glancing down the allies the closer the houses got to the wall the more distressed they appeared. One house actually had a vagrant sleeping on their step. He or she, I couldn''t really tell, was the first homeless person I''d seen since coming to this world. We passed by that alley and turned a corner to the right so we were moving away from the wall. The distressed houses were replaced with two to three-story buildings. They were obviously rooms to rent. These had small windows but instead of glass, they had a thin transparent sheet of a light brown waxy looking material over each window. It wasn''t wax paper, too thick for that, but I had no idea what it was. There were grubby looking men going in and out of these buildings. Some of them looked like adventurers, the crude homemade looking armor made that obvious. Some of the men looked like they had been rolling around in water and dust. I couldn''t guess what kind of occupation they had. Oddly, I didn''t see any women near these buildings. Were these single men housing units? I guess working bachelors had to live somewhere. A part of me was glad that I had rooms near the center of town. I was probably paying a lot more than these men, but at least I was in an area that had windows, lighting, and didn''t have men of questionable hygiene as my neighbors. The ladies living at the Inn were always presented nicely and smelled pleasant. It was amazing what regular bathing did to a person''s overall likability. Crue paused in front of a nondescript wooden building that had a patch of sunflowers growing in the tiny patch of dirt it had by the door. There was a small window above the door that looked like it had been pushed out on its hinge and propped up with a stick. Then there were larger windows, but they were mostly just holes in the side of the building that had been covered up with green shutters. The shutters were currently open letting in what light and air they could into the building. Crue opened the door and I followed him in. It took a minute for my eyes to adjust. It was still fairly light outside with the setting sun and walking into the dimly lit room made me blind for a second. I could smell right away though. The unmistakable smell of beer was there, along with the slight smell of body odor. With the shutters open, neither scent was very overwhelming. I wouldn''t want to be in here during the winter when they were closed though. My eyes finally adjusted I noticed a large fireplace in the corner. It wasn''t currently lit, but it was probably the primary source of heat in the winter. The interior was decorated in what I would call hunting lodge chic, dead animal heads on the walls, rough wooden tables and chairs, a stuffed bear in the corner. The bar was beautiful though. Hand carved ivy motif along the sides and lovingly polished to a shiny gloss. It was some sort of dark wood that really stood out among the rough boards of the rest of the furniture. There was a bit of a crowd. Nothing like what I had seen at Marge''s, but still decent. We found a table in the corner, next to the bear, and sat down. Crue waved at a large brunette girl who was about fifteen. She noticed and waved back that she''d be with us in a second. She dropped off the six pints of whatever the table across the room was having and then made her way to us. Her hair was twisted up in some sort of knot, her nose was pinched, her face was slim and she was the first person I''d seen wearing a pair of large wooden framed glasses. Other people I had seen with glasses all had variations of metal frames. Her hair being up didn''t soften her features any, but in a crowd like this perhaps downplaying her beauty was a calculated thing. Because she really was lovely. She hid it well under large clothes and unflattering style. The glasses hid a lot. Her eyes were a honey brown. Her hair must have been long to have it pinned up in such a large knot, but even with the knot, I could tell that her hair was shiny and smooth. She had a natural blush to her cheeks that and a smattering of light freckles. She was tall, very tall, and she was built like she''d been doing farming all her life. Sturdy, solid, but with curves just starting to form. She might have been the tallest person in the room, and the room was entirely made up of men, excepting Illia. She probably would even be taller than the ladies at Marge''s Inn. She was at least a solid foot taller than me. ¡°Hello Illia,¡± the girl greeted her, ¡°you''ve brought Crue and a new person today.¡± She smiled at me and leaned over the table to shake my hand. ¡°My name is Holly, lovely to meet you.¡± ¡°My name is Eri. Nice to meet you too. I''m new in town and Illia and Crue decided to teach me where all the locals go. They praised this food highly,¡± I gripped her work-rough hand. Lord did she have a grip. I was thanking poker face at that moment since it prevented me from actually wincing. ¡°Oh, I hope you brought a big appetite, Momma found a nest of Ring Rabbits today. She''s roasted the haunches and she made a stew out of the rest.¡± I didn''t know what a Ring Rabbit was. So while Crue told her about my being the new Surveyor and how he was training me, I looked it up. *Ring Rabbit, a monster rabbit weighing at around 25 pounds. A Ring Rabbit is named for the banded rings that circle its fur. Fairly common in wooded areas. They are fast and can burrow underground. Their sharp incisors are dangerous if bitten. The incisors and fur are collectible materials.~ ¡°It will be nice having a full-time Surveyor,¡± Holly commented as Crue finished up his short introduction of me. ¡°I''m looking forward to learning from Crue,¡± I answered politely. ¡°You won''t be when you hear about the training regimen I''m thinking up for you,¡± Crue smiled sickly sweet at me. Well, Shit. ¡°Is it beer stew, Holly?¡± Crue asked. ¡°Yes, Momma put some of Papa''s Spring Ale into it. It''s not as strong a flavor as you would get with a fall ale, but Ring Rabbit has a milder less gamy taste. I do recommend it. I made some barley and millet flatbread this afternoon that is served with it.¡± ¡°I had stew last night,¡± Crue muttered, ¡°What is served with the legs?¡± ¡°The legs are roasted and so are the green beans and garlic. The garlic is used to make roasted garlic mashed potatoes which are served with the green beans and one rabbit haunch. Summer Ale seems to be preferred for the roasted haunch.¡± ¡°That sounds fine,¡± he nodded. ¡°Summer Ale, please.¡± ¡°Um, Holly can I just get some fried cheese. Are the garlic and beans cooked separately from the rabbit?¡± ¡°Yes, the beans and garlic are cooked separately. We also have some leftover sweet potatoes and squash from yesterday that mom can fry up. Would you like that?¡± ¡°Yes, I''ll have the cheese, beans, mashed potatoes, squash, and sweet potatoes with Spring Ale.¡± Was Illia vegetarian? I guess it made sense that she wouldn''t want to eat the rabbit. What she was getting sounded good, but I decided to try the rabbit. If Crue could eat it without offending her, so could I. I too had been eating my share of stews and curries lately, so I debated. I wanted to try both of them. I finally decided on the stew. For no other reason than to irritate Crue when I stole bites of his food. ¡°Which season would you recommend for the stew?¡± I asked Holly. ¡°Spring is very mild, it has a slightly green taste,¡± she explained. How did something taste green? ¡°Summer is sweeter and uses just a bit of honey and a hint of orange. It''s more of a blend of mead and ale, but Papa insists that it be called Summer Ale. Fall is a mix of cider and ale. It is earthy and uses a lot of apples. Winter ale is cool. Papa uses a mix of different herbs to get the ale to have the taste of a slightly frozen stream.¡± It didn''t seem like any of the ales were simple ales. I thought Crue had said the beer and ales were simple. They didn''t sound simple. It sounded like something Marge would come up with. ¡°Is it possible to try small glasses of each?¡± ¡°Papa loves is when people want to sample. He went out and had some cups made so that all four cups added up would equal a normal pint. He loves to pull them out and show them off. He''ll be happy to hear you want to try them all.¡± With that Holly bustled away and told a man who just came back from the kitchen something. Behind his bushy beard, I could see a huge smile. Glad I was able to make someone happy today. He was a mid-sized man, neither big nor small, not muscled, or lanky, just average in every way. Without the beard, he''d probably be very unremarkable. Holly definitely didn''t get her looks from him. Well maybe the nose, but other than that she must take after her mother. It was sort of odd seeing her stand beside him. His own teenage daughter over a foot taller. Was Holly''s mother some sort of giantess? As she went back to the kitchen the man started pouring our drinks. He took great care with lining up four small cups on a wooden platter. Then he filled each one with one of the four large kegs he had behind the bar. Illia''s and Crue''s drinks got far less care. They were just filled and plopped down on the counter. Then he looked up and we made eye contact. His smile became even bigger as he picked up the wooden platter with one hand and brought it to me. With the other hand, he grabbed both Illia''s and Crue''s drinks, holding them by the handles and impressively not spilling a drop. He placed the platter down in front of me and then placed the other two drinks. ¡°I''m Killigan!¡± The man boomed. For such an average man he had a huge voice. ¡°You''re new! I''m always happy when new people want to do a sample!¡± He placed his hand on the table and leaned in. ¡°Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter!¡± He pointed to each cup from left to right. ¡°I had these cups custom made, special! They add up to one pint, exactly!¡± Wow, this guy was enthusiastic. ¡°Yes, Holly told me about the different seasons and I wanted to try them all. Don''t want to get sloshed off four pints though.¡± ¡°YES!¡± He all but screamed and he thumped his hand lightly on the table. I did jump a little in my chair, but he didn''t seem to notice. ¡°That''s what I told Hester! Man wants to try all the ale, but doesn''t want an achy head in the morning! She thinks the cups are silly and a waste! A WASTE, she said!¡± He shook his head in amazed dejection at his wife''s lack of understanding. ¡°I''m really looking forward to it.¡± ¡°Drink!¡± He smiled beamingly, ¡°Let me know how you like it! I''ll be back when you''re done with your meal! I want to hear all about what you think! I''m also going to tell my wife she was wrong! HA! A WASTE indeed!¡± With that, he practically ran back into the kitchen. Probably to tell his wife he told her so. ¡°Well, he was certainly happy,¡± I commented. Picking up Spring and taking a sip. It tasted like a normal ale to me. I didn''t catch any hints of green or anything. I sipped at it again thinking maybe I missed it, but nope no green. ¡°Killigan''s enthusiasm is his charm point,¡± Illia chuckled. She reached into her bag that was by her feet under the table and pulled out her black metal glasses. Then she paused reaching into her bag again. ¡°Silly me, habits.¡± She said as she replaced the book she had been about to pull out. ¡°You really spend too much time by yourself, Illia.¡± Crue chided her teasingly. ¡°I just prefer to be alone, but there are times when even I want to be around people. That doesn''t mean I want to interact with them though. Books are a good excuse to be in a busy place, but not have to talk to anyone. I like reading so that''s a bonus.¡± ¡°Have you tried working on your book in public?¡± She was an introvert type. I understood that since I was mostly an introvert as well. I didn''t take books into public places to avoid talking to anyone, but I had been known to flee to other aisles in the grocery store to avoid making small talk with distant acquaintances. ¡°No,¡± she shook her head, ¡°people are always coming up to me and asking me what I am working on, what it''s about, if they can read it. I can''t get anything done or get into the flow of things with people interrupting me.¡± ¡°So you don''t like people?¡± I asked. ¡°Oh, I like people. I love when people come into the library and want to read in peace. I think a peaceful calming place is rather underrated by most people. So it bothers me when people break up that calm atmosphere. ¡°Despite this, I realize I can''t hide away like a hermit. So I try and get out at least a few times a week and lightly socialize and read my books¡± ¡°You should be getting more exercise. Last time we went out hunting you got winded and tired far too quickly,¡± Crue commented. Sipping at his drink. ¡°In fact...¡± He trailed off a bit thinking. ¡°What?¡± I asked when he wasn''t quick enough with a continuation. ¡°I''m going to be putting you into a training regimen. It will involve getting up early doing some running and strength exercises. Followed by combat-related practice at the Guild. ¡°You also promised to help Illia gain more experience. I was thinking, if it''s alright with both of you, that maybe Illia should join in on the training.¡± ¡°Really! That would be great. I have a hard time keeping to a strengthening workout by myself. It would be a great help if I had a buddy to work with. I''m still so weak when it comes to physical combat.¡± ¡°If you run every day you might get the Dedicated Runner title. We don''t really have any proof, but Sturgis thinks the title might cause a slight bonus when it comes to agility distribution points. You''ll find that with the title your agility will rise faster than if you just gained points dodging attacks. For this reason, both of us run at least four times a week in the morning. ¡°In order for you to get the title, you will have to start running every day. Once you get it we can go down to four times a week. That will give us more time to focus on combat, survival, and scout training.¡± ¡°So you want us to focus on our agility first? Me and Illia training together?¡± I asked. I was a bit worried. I didn''t really want to be training with her if I was honest. I knew I wasn''t in shape and no one actually looks good exercising. If you''re doing it right you look like a hot mess. I didn''t want her to see me like that. ¡°I think it''s a great plan,¡± Illia seemed really pleased. ¡°I really do need some help and since you are starting from the basics as well this will be a good chance for me to benefit from Crue taking some time off to train you. I wouldn''t normally have this opportunity, so I''m going to take it.¡± I''d never done any workout training before. The most physical activity I got was when I played ball in the park. My physical activity had dropped significantly since I started grad school. I was lucky if I made it out once a week. I had a feeling this was going to be bad, embarrassing, and painful, but it''s not like I could be whiny about it in front of a girl who was so gung-ho to start. I took a sip of Summer thinking about all the ways I could make a fool of myself. Summer tasted normal. It didn''t really taste any different from Spring. Maybe a slightly sweeter taste? It was hard to tell. I switched back to Spring to be certain. Yup, it was just slightly sweeter. With a bad feeling, I tasted Fall. Fall was more of the same, but after tasting Summer it felt like it was more bitter. Holly said it was made with apples. How did you get bitter out of apples? Was he using sour apples? Still, the change in flavor was so slight it was hard to tell the change. Winter was different. The other three all seemed to be made with the same ale. Winter, there was something wrong with winter. Maybe he boiled pine needles in it? It reminded me of floor cleaner back home. I decided that Winter Ale was not going to be something I enjoyed. Still, I held my breath and downed it. Better to get it over with and I didn''t want to hurt Killigan''s feelings by leaving ale behind. ¡°Did you actually like Winter?¡± Crue asked in amazement as I downed it. ¡°God, no,¡± I exhaled trying to catch my breath. ¡°I just wanted it over with.¡± ¡°Some people like Winter,¡± Illia pointed out. ¡°I don''t think I''ve ever met anyone who did,¡± Crue said. ¡°I''m sure they exist or Killigan wouldn''t keep making it.¡± ¡°He''s stubborn,¡± Crue pointed out. ¡°The other three aren''t so bad, but there isn''t much of a difference between them,¡± I said. ¡°You can actually taste a difference? To most people, they are exactly the same.¡± Crue looked at me with a smile. ¡°Well, Spring doesn''t taste very green or anything. It just tastes like a normal ale. Summer has a hint of sweet and Fall has a slight bitterness.¡± I picked up Summer and decided it was my favorite of the lot. ¡°He''s right you know,¡± Illia said sipping at her own pint. ¡°Most people wouldn''t even notice a difference. We normally just ask what Holly recommends and as long as it''s not Winter we go with that.¡± ¡°Winter is really bad, but oddly enough it''s what Hester makes bear beer stew from. That is really good stuff. So I guess everything has its uses. Even ale that tastes like pine trees.¡± Crue started sipping on his pint. ¡°Now about your training, I think we should start as soon as possible. Sturgis and I used to get up early before all the vendors were out with their carts. Meet me at the temple at six. We will warm up and run for an hour. As you get used to it we can run longer. Then we will take it outside and we will do some cross country around the fields.¡± Hell, I knew it was going to be bad. Running for an hour just to start? I was going to be a wreck. ¡°Then we will end up at the Guild where we will start basic hand to hand combat practice.¡± ¡°Not the sword?¡± I asked. ¡°No, you need to learn how to stand and move your body before you start swinging around a sharp pointy thing.¡± Ok, that had some logic behind it. Learn to crawl before you could walk. ¡°Even I''m not as proficient at Martial Arts as I''d like to be. I can teach you the basics, but once you get to a certain point I might have to ask for help from someone in the Guild that specializes in it.¡± ¡°Are you thinking of asking Gunter? I think your stats should be better than his.¡± Illia questioned. ¡°He has a better understanding of hand to hand fighting than I do.¡± ¡°But your stats are better?¡± I asked. ¡°He''s dedicated a vast majority of his training focusing on martial arts. So while he has a Martial Arts level high enough to be called an expert, most would consider his overall status underachieving,¡± Illia tried to explain. ¡°He''s a fist fighting nut. Most adventurers try to be more even with their skills. Some might specialize in one thing like a certain type of magic...¡± ¡°That''s me!¡± Illia piped up. ¡°Right,¡± Crue continued. ¡°While some focus on a certain weapon or skill, most people, even if they specialize in magic, try to at least have some physical attributes to help them out in a bind.¡± ¡°Also me!¡± ¡°Yes, most adventurers have more than one skill they can use as a sort of a backup if their main skill just happened not to work against a monster, it helps them escape or fight. ¡°Gunter isn''t like that. He''s poured all his time into focusing purely on martial arts. To the detriment of the rest of his stats. He''s a great martial artist, but he struggles in the Guild because he has very few other skills. ¡°He gets by in the Guild by teaching younger adventurers the basics of martial arts. He gets paid decently for it too. Once someone learns the skill they can usually level it up on their own and they stop paying Gunter to be taught.¡± ¡°But he has a small following of students who are trying to learn from him the secondary skills in martial arts,¡± Illia explained. ¡°So once I teach you the basics, I was going to ask Dunbar to cover Gunter''s student costs for you. I might as well learn something too. I might be able to pick up something new. So I think I will join you in being a student. However, Illia, you might have to pay on your own. The Guild will cover me and Eri, but not you.¡± ¡°I think we should see how far I can get with the basic training before we talk about getting into the more complicated stuff. Gunter isn''t my favorite person and if I can avoid him I will.¡± ¡°Why what''s wrong with him?¡± Illia seemed so nice it was hard to picture her disliking anyone. ¡°He thinks he''s Amoris'' gift to the ladies. He''s really cocky and thinks every girl in the Guild secretly is in love with him.¡± ¡°Really? I had noticed that his students were almost always male, but I hadn''t heard why that was. Does he cause problems?¡± Crue asked her with concern. ¡°He''s mostly harmless, keeps his hands to himself, never gets overly pushy, but it is rather annoying.¡± ¡°Well, I guess we will see how well you do. You should have some close range fighting training. However, I think you will do better with mid to long range attacks. How are you with a bow?¡± ¡°I haven''t gained the skill yet and my bow is for a child. Back when I was a kid all the children practiced hunting rabbits.¡± ¡°So you are ok with hunting rabbits?¡± I asked curiously. ¡°Well, not really. Rabbits are different from rabbit monsters. There is a reason why I didn''t do enough hunting to get the skill.¡± ¡°Can you explain that to me. I noticed you didn''t order the rabbit. Are you vegetarian?¡± ¡°Well, I wouldn''t consider myself vegetarian. I eat meat when I have too, but if I have a choice I prefer not to. There have been times when all I had to eat was what I was able to hunt. I''m more pragmatic to my approach to food. ¡°Rabbits, I''ve eaten them in the past, but I don''t feel good about it. It''s not considered cannibalistic among the rabbit Zyanthorpes. It still bothers me though, so I avoid it and would rather go hungry for short periods of time before eating one. We are human in nearly every way. Our eating habits are the same as most humans. I guess you could say I am pickier than most in some ways, but I also know that you have to eat to survive. I''m just lucky to be currently living a lifestyle where I can afford to be so picky.¡± ¡°So other rabbit Zyanthorpes are fine with eating rabbits?¡± ¡°For the most part, at least within my tribe. I''ve heard that other tribes consider it taboo, but I''ve never actually met anyone from one of those tribes.¡± ¡°So when you go out fighting monsters you are ok with killing Ring Rabbits, but won''t kill regular rabbits?¡± ¡°Monsters are monsters they have to be killed or we will be overrun. Normal rabbits aren''t any danger to anything, save maybe a farmer''s field. I prefer not to hunt them or any other normal animal.¡± ¡°I think I get it. Sorry for asking so many questions.¡± ¡°It''s not a problem. I''d rather you ask. I sometimes get the ''look'' like she''s a rabbit of course she doesn''t eat meat. However, that''s not how most rabbit Zyanthorpes are. It feels like I''m spreading false information when people give me that look.¡± ¡°She''s just an oddball bunny,¡± Crue teased her. ¡°Better than being a degenerate priest,¡± she quipped back. ¡°Ouch, you wound me, lady.¡± He clutched at his chest being as campy as he could be. ¡°Only because we both know you love being a degenerate.¡± ¡°True,¡± he laughed a bit then smiled. ¡°Look here''s Holly.¡± Holly was leading her father out of the kitchen. They both were carrying plates of food on trays. Holly placed a few plates in front of Illia then in front of Crue. Killigan had my food. A large bowl of stew and a plate of flat brown looking bread. As Holly chatted with Crue and Illia, Killigan asked me the question I could just tell he''d been dying to ask. ¡°So! Have you tried them all! Which one do you like best! What do you think!¡± ¡°I really like Summer. It''s sweeter than the others and I have a fondness for sweet things.¡± ¡°That would be the honey! It makes it sweeter.¡± ¡°Winter tastes sort of like winter greenery,¡± I wanted to get Winter out of the way next since I planned to follow up with compliments. ¡°Spring has a fresher taste,¡± It really didn''t but it never hurt to lie in these situations. ¡°Fall was odd,¡± I frowned as if contemplating it thoroughly. ¡°Did you use green apples? When Holly said you used apple I assumed they would be sweet red apples, but Fall has a slight bite to it that makes me think you used green.¡± ¡°Why, YES!¡± He almost seemed to bounce in place. ¡°You can really taste the difference then! Some of my customers say they don''t differ at all!¡± Oh, so he was aware of the problem. ¡°I wouldn''t say there was no difference just that it is subtle. I''m glad I was able to try all of them at once so I could really taste the difference.¡± ¡°That''s WONDERFUL!¡± He banged his hand down on the table and looked about to continue the conversation when Holly stopped him. ¡°The butcher boys need refills, Papa. Let our new friend eat his dinner before it goes cold.¡± ¡°YES! Yes, dear, you are right of course!¡± With a wave, he practically hopped back to the bar. Crue and Illia had already begun to eat their food. Crue was cutting pieces off a leg almost the same size as his plate. The green beans and mashed potatoes had to be put on a separate smaller plate. The leg was roasted golden and crispy, but as he cut I could see juices flowing out. It looked amazing. Illia was pulling apart melted cheese and dipping it into something that looked like green mayonnaise. I wondered what it was. She seemed to be enjoying it and was alternating dipping the vegetables and the cheese. My stew looked like a brown mess but smelled amazing. There were potatoes, carrots, onions, and tomatoes in it that I could see. The sauce was thick and glossy. There was probably a lot of fat from the rabbit in the stew. I took a piece of flatbread. It looked something like naan but had more whole grains in it. I dipped a corner of the bread into the stew scooping up some of the sauce. After blowing on it, I took a bite. The beer flavor was there, but instead of being overpowering it actually highlighted the flavor. There was a tang to it that was really remarkable. This was food that rivaled Marge''s. I now knew why Crue and Illia liked this place. The clientele was rough, the ale was only slightly better than average, but the food was great. If I kept eating good food like this all the time I would get spoiled. I scooped up a bite of the meat. I''d only had rabbit once as a kid. A friend of mine had a dad who hunted. It had been so long ago I''d forgotten the taste. I did recall that it had been greasy though. The Ring Rabbit meat wasn''t anything like chicken. I would say it was closer to pork roast. Not like bacon, but like the pork you would find in pork chops. It might have something to do with the cuts of meat used in the stew. Did rabbits have dark and light meat? I probably could have looked it up, but decided that it didn''t really matter. I was enjoying the food. I stole a bite of Crue''s while he was distracted spearing green beans. He put up a mild protest but allowed me to pilfer some. His was just as good as mine, roasted with something that gave it a smokey flavor. While I was contemplating this, he scooped up a piece of meat out of my stew. I didn''t protest, fair was fair. ¡°You both have terrible manners,¡± Illia laughed at our antics. ¡°That cheese looks good,¡± I commented. ¡°Nooo,¡± she said and guarded her cheese with a bent arm. I playfully poked at her but didn''t take any of it. We were all laughing by the end of the meal. We enjoyed our dinner and promised to meet at the temple bright and early. Name- Eri Veritas HP 2500/2500 MP 64/64 Level- 11 Age- 18 Race/Species- (Human) Unknown Gender- (Male) Unknown Occupation- Surveyor of Adventurers Guild Exp- 3360 Physical Power- 220 Stamina- 278 Defense- 348 Agility- 489 Intelligence- 92 Magic Power- 8 Metal Rain Lv 1 Healing Hands Lv 1 Paralysis Resistance Lv 3 Mind Magic Resistance Lv 1 Skills Staff Fighting Lv 2 Basic Sword Lv 2 Skull Bashing Lv 2 Martial Arts Lv 2 Spear Lv 1 Stalking Lv 1 Jumping Lv 1 Running Lv 2 Cooking Lv 1 Pain Tolerance Lv 3 Deception Lv 2 Poker Face Lv 1 Etiquette Lv 3 Leather Work Lv 1 Metal Work Lv 1 Rock Throwing Dancing Singing Harvesting Empathy Telekinesis Small Talk Discretion Party Tricks Restraint Alcohol Tolerance Monster Biology Entomology Zoology Dismantling Appraisal Special Skills Abyss Walker Racial Ability- Hidden Among the Masses- 20 Stealth- 95 Party- 10 Items Equip Inventory Bracelet Succuba Star Gold- 0g 7s 95c (795c) Blessing 1- All Map Exploration Blessing 2- Exp Points Required by Level Up / Current Level Blessing 3-Exp Increase X Current Level Blessing 4- Item- Gamer Glasses Titles- Emissary of Amoris Devotee of Amoris Oracle of Amoris Prince of Dreams Grateful Petitioner Lover of Leaves Enemy of Apes Chapter 17 Happy Birthday Chapter 17 Happy Birthday When I got back to the inn, Daisy was waiting for me. All my packages arrived and she had even stored my new clothes in the chest under the bed. I was grateful for her effort, but I was a bit embarrassed at having her sort through my undies, new or not. I would just put them in my inventory anyway. I did owe her 42 copper for the drinking we had done the night before. Apparently, I had been too drunk to figure out how to get the money out of my inventory. I had managed to tip Caryl chocolate but somehow wasn''t able to get money to come out. I had to be told about my antics the night before while I solemnly paid her. ¡°It was a bit amusing to me and the girls when you started singing to me, some odd song no one could make sense of. Then you started arguing with yourself. You had the priest in fits of laughter. Then I had to carry you ducks up the stairs. Neither of you had any legs. ¡°Who is Brunhilde by the way? You kept calling me that while you were singing. Do I remind you of someone you know?¡± ¡°She''s a famous fictional character. She''s a warrior maiden.¡± This was embarrassing, once again I was glad for poker face. ¡°I see,¡± Daisy said nodding. ¡°I''ve never heard of her, but anyway, happy birthday. ¡°I found your present last night on your bed, but I thought it would be prudent to hide it until you sobered up. When I put your clothes away, I put it back on the bed. The note is there too. I didn''t open it or anything.¡± Birthday? Technically, the day I was sent here was my birthday. Who would know that though? More importantly, someone sent me a present. The only one I could think of was Amoris. I requested a clock for my room, and Daisy ran back and fetched one for me. It was old-fashioned looking made of wood with two brass bells at the top that were struck by a hammer sitting between them. I gave her some chocolate as a tip for her troubles. Clock in hand, I rushed up the stairs. I really wanted to know what Amoris had left me. It was something Daisy obviously thought I shouldn''t have while drunk. I was drawing a blank at guessing though. I really couldn''t think of anything. When I opened my door and saw what was on my bed I nearly dropped the clock. The gift wasn''t from Amoris at all but from Edomael. It was a twin to his bow, but this one was all black. I picked it up, held it up to the light and marveled. It looked like black marble, but it was made out of something else. Not metal or wood it was too light for metal and too heavy for wood. In the light, it had a slight shine to it like an oil slick with dark rainbow colors. I fingered one of the feather carvings marveling at the detail. This had to be hand carved. So whatever the material was, it was carvable. It was different from the ones I had used. There wasn''t an arrow rest and the grip was different. It looked like a recurve bow and a longbow had a baby and out came a simplified recurve bow that was slightly larger than normal. Was this how they looked traditionally? At school they had us use recurve bows because that''s what was easiest on beginners and because it was the Olympic bow. I guess you wouldn''t need a sight if you had the skill aim. I strung the bow and tested the draw weight. Hell, I couldn''t even pull it halfway back. Recurve bows were supposed to be easy for beginners. I couldn''t shoot this thing if I couldn''t draw back on it. Not to mention balance the arrow and aim while struggling to hold the string in place. Damnit, maybe there was more information in the letter? The letter had also been placed on the bed. On the front of it was scrawled HAPPY BIRTHDAY. Inside the envelope was a single piece of paper. Eri, Happy Birthday. You were right. If I am going to go around claiming you as my son I should do the right thing and give you a birthday gift. This isn''t only a birthday gift. It''s also a ''welcome to Elrich'' gift and part ''thanks for the great idea'' gift. (We are currently discussing the practicalities of having god dolls. The talks look promising and because of this, we thank you.) That''s why this gift is a bit more extravagant than a simple birthday gift. It''s a three-in-one present. As you may have noticed this bow is a twin to mine, forged by my power in the Abyss. I''m not a smithing deity, but I am an archer. I am a god of archery as well as death and reincarnation. So, I know my way around a bow. It''s not magic, but it can be a focus for magic since it''s made of Divine Mythril and the leather string is muscle fiber from the underside of a dragon''s wing. With this, you will be able to shoot arrows that have the properties of whatever magic you use. You use fire magic you get fire arrows. Simple, right? This will work no matter what kind of arrow you use, but when you finally get your wings if you use your own feathers then they will be able to conduct the magic better. To get you started, I have left you a bundle of fifty arrows and a matching quiver, also made of dragon leather, that is twin to my own. Yes, they are my feathers, so they will pack an enormous punch. I wouldn''t recommend using them for everyday monster hunting. The more you use you use your bow as a focus for your magic the more magical and more powerful it will become. It is a weapon that will grow with you, get stronger with you. It''s not indestructible. There are other god-made weapons floating about, and like I said I''m not a smithing deity. If you should go head to head with someone who has a weapon from a smithing deity, I can''t guarantee it won''t fail you. So keep this in mind.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. I wanted to give this bow a name that was twin to my own bow, White Swan. Then I thought that naming your bow Black Swan would have different connotations to you. You probably wouldn''t want your bow named after a ballet. Then I thought Black Hawk, but I decided against that name as well. Black Eagle, Black Swallow, Black Osprey were all names I considered. I wanted to keep the avian theme because of the feathers I had carved into it. So, I decided to simply name your bow Raven. It''s simple and it fits even if it does seem a tad cliche. Ravens are intelligent birds and are excellent at adapting. In a way, I think it is a great name for you who are also adapting to a new environment. You can call it whatever you want, but it''s been registered as Raven up here in the archives. The Amoris priest Crue had a point about you sticking out too much. You don''t want to attract attention from the wrong sort of people. With that in mind, I''ve made it so that Raven will look like a normal black recurve bow to everyone else. Its appearance could possibly change with the amount of magic it absorbs. Not to you, it will always look the same to you, but to everyone else. I suspect that as you develop and begin using better equipment Raven will change to match you. It will always try to stay unnoticed, but it could change from looking like a simple wooden bow, to a nicely crafted bow, to a bow even nobility wouldn''t turn their nose at. So Happy Birthday, My Son, Edomael I looked around a bit for the mentioned arrows and quiver only to find them stored on top of all my new clothes in the chest. The quiver was also black and oiled. It matched the bow in that it had feathers and decorative wind like swirls carved into it. The arrows were normal arrows with normal looking metal tips. The fletching seemed normal until you brought it close to the light, then the feathers shined with that sparkly iridescence. When I grew my wings I would use my own feathers. I honestly didn''t know how to feel about that part, but I pushed it to the back of my mind as something to not worry about until it happens. Normal duck feather arrows would be fine. I needed to learn the archery skill. I also needed to figure out how to use my magic. I had Metal Rain and Healing Hands as active magic. Yet, I hadn''t even tried to use either of them. I would have to talk to Crue about it. I should be working on leveling up my magic as well as my physical abilities. One step at a time. Sure, I was impatient to learn skills because skills would keep me alive. Taking today as an example, there were some serious flaws in just learning the skills without the experience to put those skills into action. It was a catch 22. I could learn the skills quickly but I wouldn''t be able to execute them with any sort of experience. So while having a skill might keep me alive, being overly confident in the skill could get me killed. I hated uncertainties like that. I wasn''t a very motivated person physically. My paunch attested to that, but I wasn''t averse to playing a game of pick up ball either. Did I have the dedication to develop my skills? I didn''t have any confidence that I wouldn''t just say screw it and take the easy way out. The easy way out could end up getting me killed, or it could save my bacon. I placed the birthday present in my inventory and readied myself for bed. I slept in my undershorts. I wasn''t confident enough to sleep naked, but the room was a bit warmer than I preferred. I opened the window as far as it would let me, which wasn''t far since it jammed after about seven inches. There wasn''t much of a breeze so it probably wouldn''t help anyway. I lay down in the bed, still unfamiliar. I had the oddest overwhelming sensation. I really missed my blanket. I had had it for years, getting it when I was a preteen. Made of some sort of fleece material and with cartoon dogs on it, I had taken the blanket to college and even when I slept over at other places. Without shame, I had always taken my blanket. It smelled of me and home. It was a comfort thing. It calmed me down having it nearby. I could feel my emotions boiling up. They were cresting on a wave and I was just waiting to drown. My eyes began to burn and my nose started to run a bit anticipating the meltdown I was gearing up to have. I couldn''t lose my shit now. I had to get up in the morning. I had just gotten a really cool birthday gift, I should be grateful. Trying to talk myself out of an emotional collapse wasn''t working. I got out of bed and taking out the sleeping powder. I mixed it with a glass of water. Tears began to fall as chugged it. It tasted like bitter lemon soap. It shocked me into not crying, that''s how foul it was. I followed it up with a second glass, then more slowly a third glass. With all this water, I decided to use the facilities down the hall. How long did it take for the medicine to begin to work? I only passed one person on the way back. He looked like a nice person and he stopped as if he wanted to chat, but I am ashamed to admit I gave a curt ''good night'' and without waiting for a reply made it back to my room. Then I regretted not talking to the man. I was left alone with my thoughts again. My homesickness, while put on the back burner due to the nastiness of the medicine, flared up again when I climbed into bed. I needed a distraction until I fell asleep. I could play with the bow some more, but I decided that reading would be more calming. Picking up where I left off in the local monster biology book. I read about the nocturnal habits of the Brown Spotted Moth. Having a three-foot wingspan it typically could be found in areas just outside of forests. They hid in the trees during the day, but at night they preferred to hunt in open clearings. They first poisoned their prey with a pollen attack that came from the dust on their wings. The prey would fall victim to the poison then they would use their sharp mandibles to finished the job. They could eat up to twice their own body weight in meat, but supplemented their diets by eating grain crops. When it was time to breed they would kill a monster, it had to be a monster and not a regular animal, and laid their eggs inside the carcass then they would bury it. The eggs would hatch three weeks later and the larvae would consume the rotting flesh. Then they dig themselves out of the ground and formed cocoons using leaves and other plant matter nearby. After one more week, they would emerge fully formed Brown Spotted Moths, though it would take another month to achieve full size. I was just beginning to read how farmers used lights to lure the moths out of their fields to kill them, when it felt like my brain had just given up. Then I was asleep, it''s not like I was aware that I was asleep. It was just the last memory I had before I was rudely awakened by the alarm clock going off. It was a dreamless sleep and because of that it was restful. Even though it was an ungodly time in the morning I was actually feeling fairly alert. A quick wash up and I was actually ready to start my day. No coffee was needed, no stumbling about running into things in a daze. That sleeping powder was amazing. It had been a while, even since before coming to Elrich, that I had gotten such a restful sleep. Chapter 18 Tai Chi Monster Style Chapter 18 Tai Chi Monster Style I didn''t know what to wear to run in. Normally, if I were to go on a run, unlikely in any case, I knew I was supposed to wear sneakers, shorts, and a t-shirt. The best thing to run around it would probably be the spider silk protection clothes. The shirt wouldn''t be much of a problem, but I really didn''t want to wear the pants. I compromised and put on the blue spider silk shirt and a pair of normal black pants. My boots were the only footwear I had and I wasn''t planning on running about barefoot any time soon. I made sure to put the rest of the spider silk clothes in my inventory, partially in case Crue insisted on my wearing the pants. The spider silk clothes being so costly was another reason. While I trusted that the inn would do its best to keep my room secure, you really didn''t know about the other guests. However, I didn''t want Daisy to think badly of me. She had nicely packed my clothes away for me, so presumably, she would do the same on laundry day. I left a few sets of clothes and underwear in the chest but placed everything else in my inventory. I wanted it to appear as though I appreciated her efforts, and I did. She had been more than kind to me and was honestly looking out for my well being. Her actions spoke a lot about her dedication to her patrons and I had to admire her for it. I knew that I shouldn''t eat before running but my stomach began to rumble. ''I was awake now, dammit, why aren''t you feeding me?'' it seemed to say. I drank a glass of water and began to eat an apple as I walked to our meeting place by the temple. I hoped that something as light as an apple would be Ok. I think it would be better than running while your stomach yelled at you and I had a few minutes for it to digest before the running began. Even I knew you just didn''t take off running, you were supposed to stretch a bit first. The air had that chill it got in the morning when fall was just around the corner. Like it had a bit of a bite. Just cold enough to make you wish for a jacket, but you knew that once the sun rose the chill would be replaced with a pleasant warmth. So you would suffer without a jacket because you didn''t want to cart it around for the rest of the day. That wouldn''t be an issue for me since I had my inventory, but I never even considered the possibility that I could wear my jacket in the chill and store it away. Some stubborn habits were so ingrained you failed to see the other possibilities. There weren''t many people on the streets. Only a handful of bleary-eyed men either going to work for the day or in some cases going home after a night on the town. It was still dark out, but the magic street lamps were being put out one by one by a woman in a long patched dress, a shawl, an apron, and her hair twisted up in a scarf. I witnessed her smacking one of the drunks in the shin with the pole she carried with her. She''d lift the pole to the top of the light, tap the light, then the light went out. I guessed it was some sort of magic conductor. Not really a magic wand or staff, but something far simpler. It must have been made of sturdy stuff since she was able to wack at drunks without it breaking. Crue was standing outside the temple. He was wearing spider silk clothes in shades of dark brown. The tight spandex looking clothes actually looked good on him. He wasn''t huge like his brother. If his brother was a football player, Crue would be compared to a swimmer or runner. He had a larger chest than most runners, which made me think his body was more like a swimmer. Him wearing the spider silk didn''t bode well for me, and I was right. He had me go into the temple to change into them. It was going to be embarrassing. I didn''t know why he made me wear something so tight. At least with the leather armor, some of my gut would be hidden. Without it, I was just like the fat lady wearing a rubber-band. It would have been fine if Illia wasn''t joining us. Not that I didn''t want to be around her, I just didn''t want to show her all my embarrassing sides before we even got to know each other. I was feeling like the kid who had toilet paper stuck to his shoe, his fly was down, and he had been hit with the acne stick overnight when his crush walks up to him and asks to borrow a pencil. I did change, but I wasn''t happy about it. When I got outside Illia was standing with Crue. She was wearing something that looked like a tennis outfit made of spider silk. She had on the same long-sleeved t-shirt we had on and as with me, it left nothing to the imagination. Her pants had a skirt attached that fell two inches above her knees. It looked like something you would see at a swimming pool, the little skirt bottoms moms always seemed to have. There was even a decorative belt that tied into a bow in the back. Her bottoms were green, but her top was blue. Her hair was braided back against her scalp showing just how long her ears really were. Her hair being naturally fluffy did a lot to hide her ears. Her rabbit ears which normally looked floppy did stand up a bit. In fact, it looked like she might have control over their movements since they stood up a bit more when I approached. ¡°Morning,¡± she said in greeting. ¡°Morning,¡± I answered back. ¡°Did you sleep well?¡± She asked her ears twitching a bit more. ¡°Actually, yes. I read a bit before bed,¡± I answered intentionally leaving out the part about the sleeping powder. ¡°Alright, so we are going to start running. We will start out easy, to the gate, around the East Quarter, then to the Guild. At the Guild, we will start our combat training. After that, we will run back. We''ll bathe, change, and Tuck will have breakfast ready for us. ¡°I''ve got clinic hours from nine until noon. Then I''d like for us to go out hunting. I''m going to have Tuck pack us up a lunch,¡± Crue explained. ¡°I haven''t had the chance to speak to Mary about my schedule yet, but my hours are similar. I work the morning shift from eight until noon, but the first hour we aren''t open it''s just time for me to tidy up without other people being in the building. Mary won''t mind as long as I show up on time to open. ¡°I can meet you at the temple after I talk to Mary and if we are going out I''ll need to run back home and grab my gear. I can meet you at the temple around twelve-thirty.¡± ¡°That works, and Eri what are your plans?¡± Crue asked. ¡°I think I''ll go to the library with Illia. I need to get some reading done and that''s the best place to do it.¡± I really should read the books I have checked out and maybe find a book that will tell me about the town of Yellow Springs, how the government works, and a basic understanding of the laws and rules in this kingdom. Crue''s stories yesterday made me realize I didn''t understand how crime and punishment really worked here. While I had witnessed the justice system from a front row seat, that wasn''t normally how things played out. I needed to know what sort of things were considered criminal. While the obvious things like murder were crimes, what about the smaller things. Stealing was a crime, but would it be a death sentence crime? What about prostitution? There was a red light district with willing ladies, but were they actually committing crimes? At home, it was a crime and women still sold themselves risking arrest. These were just the what-ifs running through my head. If I knew the rules, then I would be able to relax a bit knowing I wasn''t going to be hung for peeing against the wall while drunk. Crue began us off with stretching. Illia and I followed his movements like school children in gym class. Then as a group, we began to run. It started off as a light jog, but then once we were down the street and around the first corner Crue picked up the pace. My thighs began to burn almost immediately. Shortly after that my breathing became harder. The chill morning air didn''t help with the breathing. It felt like I was inhaling ice shards. By the time we were at the gate, I was a mess and wanted to kick Crue for not even breathing hard. He wasn''t even sweating. He was acting like this was a leisurely stroll through the park. Surprisingly, Illia was doing better than me. With her small frame and admitted lack of training, I expected her to struggle as much as me. That wasn''t the case. She too was treating this like a walk in the park. It was obvious the both of them were slowing their pace for me. It wasn''t a good feeling holding people back. I did manage to make it to the Guild, though it felt like my lungs were burning. I had jogged to Yellow Springs, and I had been able to maintain that pace for a few hours stopping frequently to kill the Green Apes. The pace that Crue set was a lot faster and was harder to maintain even for shorter periods. I could run up and down a soccer field, but the pace was always changing and you got to stop for short periods. Running all out for thirty minutes was harsh, my body even boosted by stamina and agility was yelling at me. On paper, my stamina and agility were higher than Crue''s. It became clear that what Crue had been trying to tell me about experience was true. Even though I had the stats without the work, the numbers on my status screen meant very little. While I wasn''t feeling tired, and the muscle-burning went away as soon as I stopped, it seemed like I had to put in the work so that my physical body was able to keep up with my stats. The recovery time was nearly instant. Perhaps that''s why my stop and go run to Yellow Springs didn''t seem as harsh as this even though I had covered more ground. My breathing evened out, my muscles stopped aching, and my body wasn''t feeling any fatigue. It seemed like my levels would only help me out so much. I could have an incredible amount Physical Power, but still wouldn''t be able to pick up a person and carry them to safety. It was probably like that with all my stats. While they increased my potential without actually putting some work in, that potential would only get me so far. I really couldn''t afford to be cocky. It could literally cost me my life. The instant recovery could work in my favor. As long as I had the time, I could recover and be ready to repeat the exercise. I was sure that I wouldn''t be able to do it infinitely, but it would be worth it to see how much I could accomplish with pauses. I already knew that I could run hours with pauses. The question was did I push myself like I did just now, or did I stop and take frequent breaks? I had the feeling that both were the answer. I would have to push until I was feeling like I was about to collapse, then I would pause. Repeating that process seemed like it would gain me more. There was the lingering thought that I might be able to achieve the same results without enduring the pain. I was by nature a sedentary type of person and really wanted to take the easy way. I was sorely tempted to take the easy route, but I did have some evidence that the easy route wouldn''t be very beneficial. I had run for roughly for an entire day off and on, and I didn''t see any loss of weight. I hadn''t eaten anything but strawberries and water either. If I had burned that many calories my body would be trying to make up for it by getting me to eat. It could be that the instant recovery actually bypassed that, making my caloric intake stabilize. Crue and Illia were doing some stretching. I had just been standing there like a table. I bent over and tried to touch my feet. I made it to the top of my ankles. I needed to work on my flexibility too. How did someone increase their flexibility? I had never really thought about it. So flexibility, endurance, and overall physical fitness were what I needed to work on. Perhaps just running once in the morning wasn''t going to be enough? Even Illia who said she couldn''t go out hunting by herself seemed to be in better physical shape. I know I heard somewhere that you should try and exercise a few hours before bed. Perhaps running both in the morning and at night would help? After the stretching Crue took us to the back of the Guild. The training area was packed earth and was sectioned off with flimsy-looking fencing made of wood scraps. There wasn''t anyone training this early, but there were a handful of people milling about the building going about some random tasks. I wondered if the Guild ever closed, so I asked. ¡°There is a night shift that consists of about three people. Some monsters are easier to find at night so you would need to be able to turn in your kills. ¡°So there is a receptionist, a dismantler, and usually someone comes in and cleans at night and tends to the animals in the stable.¡± Crue nodded at a young man who was busy gutting some odd-looking fish at the dismantler station. So they did stay open. Not that getting my monsters to the dismantlers in a timely manner was going to be an issue. The thirteen Green Apes I had killed yesterday were still in my inventory, and it was not like they were going to rot. Crue led us upwind from the dismantler. Whatever that fish thing was, it smelled super fishy. I was glad to not have to smell it during our entire session. Crue''s idea of martial arts was to lead us through an hour of what felt like Tai Chi. We just followed his movements the best we could as he flowed through the stances. He did call out the stances as he did them. Most of them were named after monsters, animals, or different types of trees. I did notice that the attack like movements were usually named after monsters. The majority of the defensive movements were named after animals and plants. My mental image of a Nurggal was completely wiped clean by the odd leaping movement we had to imitate. This sort of training was low impact, wasn''t straining, and was oddly calming. It didn''t feel like I was doing martial arts, but something more like an interpretive dance. In the beginning, Crue would correct our posture or our arm and leg placement, but towards the end of the session, we hardly needed any guidance. I didn''t quite know how to use these moves in actual combat yet, but some of the stances and the attacks were obvious. Some of the other more flowing movements were a bit harder to guess the practical application. *Skill Gain- Smooth Movement ~ *Skill Gain- Stance~ *Do you wish to activate this skill now? Yes/No~ I activated both of them but didn''t add any additional Exp. I wanted to see if I could get them to Lv 2 without adding anything. I wanted to see if I would still have the skill gaps if I just worked at it instead of adding Exp. However, it might be hard to gauge that just based on martial arts since both of those skills were sub-skills. I glanced through my unactivated skill list. I didn''t want to be going around singing or dancing all the time to test my skill gap. I considered restraint or telekinesis, but both seemed to be more advanced mental skills. It would be good to start off with something basic. Rock throwing was basic but didn''t seem very useful. Dismantling was something most adventurers had some basic knowledge about even if they didn''t necessarily have the skill. It would be impractical to carry an entire monster in if all you really needed was the heart. That problem didn''t really apply to me though. Appraisal would prevent me from being ripped off in the market when Crue wasn''t with me. It would also help in gauging the value of different monster parts, plants, ect. At least that was the idea. It was something I could use repeatedly in everyday life as well. I decided to activate both Dismantling and Appraisal. So I had four new skills to test this theory on. I could test both a mental skill and physical skill as well as testing two sub-skills. I wouldn''t add any extra Exp to them to level them up but would let them level up naturally as I used them. I wanted to test the rate of a natural level up. I would also need to figure out a way to test the skill later for a skill gap. Crue could help with the sub-skills and possibly the dismantling, but not for the appraisal. I''d have to find someone with that skill and have them test me, but that was a bit in the future. I would swear Crue increased the pace of the run back, but we finished at around the same amount of time so it was probably just my brain yelling at me. It just seemed harder because the sun had come up and had swept away the chill in the air. It was going to be a hot muggy day, it would probably rain later on. This combined to make the run just a tad more miserable than before. Nope, I definitely didn''t like running in the heat. Sweat pooled down the crack of my butt leaving me decidedly uncomfortable. Even with the nearly instant recovery, that sticky gross feeling wasn''t going to go away. I was so glad for the baths. I could wash away all the sweat at the faucet. I got into the baths for about five minutes, before I realized that perhaps soaking in a hot spring on a hot muggy day wasn''t for me. I ended up rinsing off again with ''cold'' water from the faucets. For some reason though today the water just felt slightly less warm than the hot water. I wondered where this water was being pumped from? The hot water could come from the spring but how did they pump in the cold water? It was probably something magical, a lot of basic heating was done with magic. I would think cooling would work the same. So even though I didn''t know the technicalities behind the plumbing system I figured it was something I could place on the back burner with other random odd questions I had about this world. I arrived in the kitchen alone since Crue went to his room to grab clothes before his bath and was just entering as I exited. Tuck had made homemade biscuits. These weren''t popped out of the can uniform round biscuits either. These were handmade grandma plop biscuits. They were the best sort of biscuit. Slathered in butter they were amazing, adding fresh strawberry jam made them divine. I had no shame, I was already on my second when Illia arrived. Tuck had just finished my eggs and had placed two questionable looking sausage links next to them. Then I remembered how sausage was traditionally made and understood why the meat looked like it was encased in a condom. I wasn''t that squeamish over food, but I did carefully peel the whitish casing off each link before taking a nibble. Pork, I think, with a lot of spices. It had a lot of anise added to it that gave it that black licorice taste that I wasn''t in love with. No, this sausage was not my favorite thing today, but Illia seemed to love it. Tuck had placed two links on her plate as well and she devoured them before even cutting into her eggs or buttering her biscuit. She was really digging into the meat today. Was today her cheat day or something?Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. When Tuck''s back was turned I lifted the link in her direction asking silently if she wanted them. She scooted her plate closer and I quickly deposited both links onto her plate. Then I helped myself to a third biscuit as she ate those as well. Some people just liked the taste of anise, Illia must be one of them. Crue finally arrived and got his plate and dug in. He used his biscuit to sop up the egg yolk even though it had butter and jam smeared on it. I knew some people in college that liked putting strawberry jam on their eggs, but I wasn''t really expecting Crue to have a sweet flavor pallet. He didn''t really seem like the sweet tooth sort of guy, but then Illia had said he had a thing for cinnamon buns. We chatted idly with Tuck as he worked and discussed the tentative preparations for the chocolate celebration. Dickson was quite pleased with the extra chocolate I had provided the temple, during the trial for the convicts. He had actually expressed some concern that he was drastically underpaying me for the product. The priests were conducting some in-house tests and apparently chocolate was highly popular. Keeping the popular product secret from the public wasn''t actually the goal, but the temple didn''t expect such an interest. Every day they had people lining up wanting to know when it would go on sale, when they could try it, when they could buy it. Tuck had sent a handful of the chocolate strawberries out to local confectioneries and he was expecting those shops would be queuing up to purchase the chocolate in bulk. ¡°Just wait until I teach you how to make chocolate cakes,¡± I laughed. I was right chocolate was addicting. I wouldn''t mind renegotiating with Dickson on the prices, I knew that they could probably sell the bars for a staggering profit because of supply and demand. Soon the demand would exceed the supply. While I didn''t mind pulling out boxes in my free time, I didn''t want to have to do it all day in order to supply the kingdom. So supply would inevitably be lower than the demand then the prices would skyrocket. Even if the temple kept them affordable, the resale value would be high. ¡°He''s really fretting over it,¡± Tuck said. ¡°Over dinner last night he mentioned that he had been in contact with some of the other temples and they had expressed concerns that if they didn''t give you a fair price you would stop the supply.¡± ¡°I wouldn''t do that, Amoris told me to help out,¡± I objected. ¡°Be that as it may,¡± Illia interjected, ¡°they have to be worried about you also being an Oracle and not actually a part of the temple.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± I asked. ¡°She means that you are on the one hand a part of the Amoris Temple, while at the same time being separate from it. Then on top of that, you appeared in an area considered to be very rural, even if it is a vacation spot. You aren''t as accessible as the head priests want you to be,¡± Crue commented. ¡°You are outside of their control in a way,¡± Tuck added, ¡°and they don''t like it.¡± ¡°You make them sound sinister when you put it like that,¡± I laughed thinking I was making a joke. Crue sighed, ¡°There are politics in play even within the temples. You''ve disturbed the balance of power so to speak by showing up here instead of in Winter City or King''s Cross.¡± ¡°Or any other territory capitals for that matter,¡± Illia added. ¡°People will want you to be accessible, and you aren''t very accessible out here. That will make some priests nervous,¡± Crue continued. ¡°That''s why they want to pay you more. They think that if they give you enough money you won''t run away.¡± Tuck turned and re-filled my tea. ¡°I wonder if it might be more than that,¡± Illia mused while nibbling on her eggs. ¡°How so?¡± Crue wondered. ¡°Well, would the priests necessarily know that Eri has a job with the Guild?¡± ¡°I don''t see how that would matter,¡± I injected. ¡°If they didn''t know, then they might be doing this so that they can control your only source of income and thus control you. ¡°If they do know, then they might be trying to pay you enough so you don''t go selling the chocolate to the Guild. The Guild has a better distribution network than the Amoris Temple. Not as good as the Merchant''s Guild, but still noteworthy. You could possibly make more money working with a Guild that has a better network in place to distribute. The more they sell in other areas the more money you would make.¡± Crue was looking at Illia like she had a second head, but he couldn''t come up with any sort of rebuttal to the points. Neither, it seemed, could Tuck, though he didn''t seem to be all that concerned about it. After a moment he seemed to think of something to say. ¡°While I will admit that even the Amoris Temple has its issues, I prefer to think of the more positive side.¡± ¡°What are the positives?¡± I asked. ¡°Both you and the temple will be making money and if you are making money sooner or later you will be able to buy me dinner at Marge''s all the time.¡± Crue smiled while dodging a wooden spoon chucked lightly in his direction by Tuck. ¡°I''ll remember that next time you sneak into my kitchen at night asking for fourth meal,¡± Tuck waved his hand at Crue jokingly. The conversation became more lighthearted after that. Illia told us about a new plot device she wanted to try in her book. Tuck talked about the success of the strawberry jam making. Crue said he''d heard that the bakery next to the inn was getting a new fall flavor pastry in few days and they were keeping it secret. It made the speculation on the new flavor a hot topic for betting. Finishing up, Illia stood and proclaimed she needed to be getting to work. Crue agreed and decided to walk us to the door since we would be heading in the direction of the clinic anyway. Even though we were using a side door, the line outside the clinic was snaking partway around the building so that we had to dodge around the line when we exited. Crue waved us off, then headed back in. I followed Illia to the library and waited patiently while she unlocked the doors. She once again went over the cataloging system with me, then left me alone. She made it clear that if I needed help I could ask her. She usually came in early to clean, process return books, and note which books had been checked out too long. Today, she was running behind on her daily tasks so she was hoping I could go independent. I agreed and found myself a nice corner with a window to sit down and read. I found a hard to follow legal text. It was hard going and I just couldn''t seem to be able to focus on the dull book. I decided to just pop it into my inventory then my Gamer Glass would have the knowledge. If I was in a situation where I was uncertain I could look it up at the time. That didn''t help me with everyday minor infractions. I sighed and almost gave up and asked Illia, but I flipped past a card with a title that caught my interest. A Polite Society and You: A Children''s Guide the short description on the card led me to think it was mostly about manners, but it seemed like there were some indications that some of the book was how to get along in society without becoming a criminal. I found the book on the shelf and I was right, partially. Who knew it would be a criminal offense to invite the king to your gathering if you were not of proper social status? Or that is was illegal to bed the wife of a nobleman? I guess things like this were important to the people who dealt with noblemen and kings. Not really useful to me though. I did learn about proper table etiquette at a fancy party, and what sort of conversations were considered polite depending on if you were talking to a male or female or if they were younger or older than you. Apparently, I''d insult my host if I used the wrong spoon, or if I got up from the table before the lady of the house. This book was supposed to be for children, what sort of child grew up like this? Going to fancy dinner parties and considering inviting the king to your birthday wasn''t completely out of the question for the children this book had been written for. There didn''t seem to be much call for this sort of etiquette in this remote area. I guess it would be possible to run into a nobleman on holiday so perhaps some of it might be used. Still though, who warned children about bedding other people''s wives? While interesting in an odd way, I needed something else. I went back to the card catalog and found a few promising books. One of them was written for prisoners trying to get out of their legal trouble, but I wasn''t too picky. It turned out that the book was really useful in giving me the information in a sideways way. The book would give the generalized crime, like shoplifting, then give you random legal facts about what sort of circumstances would force a judge to reexamine your case and punishment. Circumstances played a large role in the punishment of criminals for certain crimes, but for other crimes, they had a mandatory sentencing that everyone had to abide by. Rape was actually a more straightforward sentence than murder. You automatically received ten years for rape, the death penalty if it was more than one rape. Whereas murder was more complicated. A wife who kills her husband who was abusing her would only receive 3 years and any children would be cared for by one of the temples while she was in jail. However, a man who kills his wife in a rage would receive death. It was like that for lesser crimes too. Stealing a horse in an emergency could be forgiven with a fine, but stealing several horses would result in at least five years. Stealing a watermelon out of a field would be a fine, but taking a sheep would mean spending time in jail. If you stole enough of something though it seemed that the sentence was almost always death. I wondered how many watermelons someone would need to steal to warrant a death sentence. Slavery and forced labor were also addressed. While slavery wasn''t a practice used in this kingdom, the kingdom wasn''t in the position to ''free'' any slaves that were made in other countries. So a slave was still a slave after crossing the border and the guards and soldiers would actually search for them and return them to their owner if found. However, if a slave were to run away and remain out of custody for a year, then they could declare themselves free at that point. There were other ways for a slave to be declared free in the kingdom. The owner couldn''t order his slave to do anything illegal. Nor could the owner do anything illegal to his slave. A slave couldn''t legally give consent, so any acts normally needing consent were off-limits. If an owner was in violation of these laws, then the slave could appeal to the first guardsmen they met and the legality of the offense would be brought up in court. The court would then decide if the slave had a case against his or her owner and would either free them or send them back with their owner. So it was up to the slave to provide proof of misconduct. Seemed to me something that might be difficult to do. This was all very different from forced labor. Forced labor was a punishment in this kingdom for certain offenses. Desertion of the army during wartime was the example given. These people were not slaves, but prisoners sentenced to do forced labor for the kingdom. Mine and quarry work were listed as possible tasks, but depending on the persons'' skill set the labor could be tailored to their skills. Of course, once they served their sentence they were considered a free person, unlike a slave that had a lifetime of servitude ahead of them. A person could petition to be removed from the forced labor sentence, or have that sentenced changed if they met one of the requirements. They weren''t physically able to perform the duty anymore. They believed that their skill set was going to waste at their specific duty. They were mentally unfit for the task. The example given was a large man was sentenced to the mines. While he was physically fit and able to do nearly all physical labor, he was too large to maneuver around in the smaller shafts within the mines and at one point had to be dug out. How big did a guy have to get to not be able to fit in a mine shaft? Was he half-giant or something? I was focused on the book, so I was startled when someone came up behind me and coughed. I turned and there stood a man who was on the far end of middle age. He was balding but had hair on the sides. He had the thickest mustache I''d seen on a man. The contrast was a bit startling. His ears were large and so was his nose. On top of that, he was all over sunburned. ¡°Sorry, but I was looking for Mary. Do you know if she''s in?¡± The man asked me. Mary was the other librarian, right? ¡°Illia is here this morning, I think she mentioned that Mary comes in during the afternoon.¡± ¡°Ah, I see. Thank you. Sorry for interrupting.¡± ¡°No problem.¡± The man walked away, disappearing among the bookshelves. My concentration broken, I couldn''t seem to refocus. I placed a few more texts into my inventory. Then I took them out again leaving behind the digital copy. I spent nearly an hour looking for books that might be useful. Politics, lists of important persons, merchant''s trade guides, wilderness first aid, useful plants and where to find them, a few more monster guides, the last few things I found were magic guides. They were similar to the other books with magic lists, but these taught a person the beginning fundamentals of MP distribution and choosing what type of magic worked best with your particular skills. Just adding the books to my inventory didn''t provide me with the skill. It seemed I had to actually open the books and at the very least glance through it in order to gain the skill. *Skill Gain- Botany~ It only showed up after I glanced through the book. I didn''t activate it, but another notification showed up. *Botany-can become Pharmacology if paired with the Alchemy Skill.~ So some skills could become different skills if paired with other skills. Would this be considered a higher form of the skill, or did it happen just with the presence of the change triggering skill? Crue had this skill so I would ask him about it later. I found an old book that I assumed was magical in nature. I had been going through the magical section of the books and while browsing I found this book stuck behind another group of books on the shelf. It looked like it had fallen behind the shelf from above, so I wasn''t certain about where to re-shelve it. I thought that Illia would deal with it when she had time. Looking through the book, I just couldn''t figure out what it was about. There were a lot of diagrams, math, and even what looked like cookbook lists involved. The book didn''t even have a title, so I couldn''t even guess what it was about from hints about the title. What did drawing an elemental circle mean and what did that have to do with the algebra problems beneath the instructions? I placed the book to the side, adding it to my inventory just to see if a title came up. The place that usually listed the title of the book said ''Unknown.'' Well, that wasn''t helpful. The diagrams in the book were usually full-page examples and were oddly beautiful in a mandala sort of way. I knew the diagrams were magical in some way, but since the book didn''t actually tell you what it was you were drawing the diagrams or doing the math for, it was hard to say in what way they were magical. I had the feeling that this was a more advanced text that needed a knowledge of something I currently didn''t have to understand it. It would be like picking up a trigonometry book without understanding the basics of math. The math done in the book wasn''t as complicated as trigonometry, but the comparison was apt. I spent more time than I probably should have trying to figure it out. The diagrams were art in themselves, so it was easy to get caught up in the ascetic aspect. Some used basic black, others were done in color. The color ones really got my attention because those pages seemed to smell a bit like vanilla and cherry. I think it might have been the ink. The smell was very faint, and you only got the slightest hint of it when you turned the colored page. I went through the book twice before I finally put it on the edge of the desk so that it was separate from my other stacks of books. I had one small stack of books I wanted to check out to read and another larger stack of books to be put back. Some of those books were not what I was looking for and some of the smaller ones I had actually flipped through. My desk was getting a bit crowded and I really wanted to look through a section I found on mapping migration patterns of monsters. Those books were surprisingly large, so I decided to take my books to be reshelved up to the small tea cart Illia used for shelving. I wasn''t expecting the hilarious drama that unfolded. Name- Eri Veritas HP 2500/2500 MP 64/64 Level- 11 Age- 18 Race/Species- (Human) Unknown Gender- (Male) Unknown Occupation- Surveyor of Adventurers Guild Exp- 3360 Physical Power- 220 Stamina- 280 Defense- 348 Agility- 492 Intelligence- 101 Magic Power- 8 Metal Rain Lv 1 Healing Hands Lv 1 Paralysis Resistance Lv 3 Mind Magic Resistance Lv 1 Skills Staff Fighting Lv 2 Basic Sword Lv 2 Skull Bashing Lv 2 Martial Arts Lv 2 Stance Lv 1 Smooth Movement Lv 1 Spear Lv 1 Stalking Lv 1 Jumping Lv 1 Running Lv 2 Cooking Lv 1 Pain Tolerance Lv 3 Deception Lv 2 Poker Face Lv 1 Etiquette Lv 3 Dismantling Lv 1 Appraisal Lv 1 Leather Work Lv 1 Metal Work Lv 1 Rock Throwing Dancing Singing Harvesting Empathy Telekinesis Small Talk Discretion Party Tricks Restraint Alcohol Tolerance Monster Biology Entomology Zoology Botany Special Skills Abyss Walker Racial Ability- Hidden Among the Masses- 20 Stealth- 95 Party- 10 Items Equip Inventory Bracelet Succuba Star Gold- 0g 7s 53c (753c) Blessing 1- All Map Exploration Blessing 2- Exp Points Required by Level Up / Current Level Blessing 3-Exp Increase X Current Level Blessing 4- Item- Gamer Glasses Titles- Emissary of Amoris Devotee of Amoris Oracle of Amoris Prince of Dreams Grateful Petitioner Lover of Leaves Enemy of Apes Chapter 19 Old Man Emissions The man who had interrupted me earlier was sitting close to the librarian''s desk flipping through a small book and taking some notes in a leatherbound notebook. He must not have noticed me since he leaned a little to the side and a few seconds later I could smell it. I know it''s a bodily function, but it''s just rude to do that sort of thing in an enclosed public space. There was a public toilet in the far back corner of the library that could be used. ¡°Edmond!¡± Illia popped out from behind a shelf nearly startling me into dropping the books I was placing on her cart. ¡°I have told you that I will not have you stinking up the place. One more time and you will have to leave.¡± I did see her point it was a rather bad one and it was lingering around. What the heck did this guy eat? ¡°It''s fine Illy! It''s natural. I don''t smell anything.¡± He griped at her. ¡°It''s not fine, and it stinks. Just because you''ve killed off all sense of smell doesn''t mean the rest of us have. One more time and you have to leave, and I''ll let Mary know why.¡± ¡°Now Illy, that''s not fair, I can take care of it.¡± I started to walk back to my desk, planning on ignoring the entire thing, when Illia gave a piercing scream. I turned to see her smacking the old man with a book. While at the same time she was stomping on something. I smelled sulfur in the air and the man had a small box in his hand. I recognized it from the camping gear that Crue had me buy. ¡°OUT!¡± Illia screeched, ¡°Get OUT!¡± ¡°What! Why! Stop hitting me,¡± he was trying to fend off her book attack with his notebook held in front of him as a shield. ¡°You just lit a fire in a room full of books!¡± She smacked him one last time then grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. ¡°I didn''t set fire to the books I was covering up the smell. I was doing you a favor!¡± He huffed as he was hauled up out of his chair by a person half his size. ¡°Don''t do ME any favors. You are banned for the next month. I will talk to Mary to see if that ban will be permanent.¡± ¡°If I''m banned I want my money back!¡± He yelled as she pushed him out the door. ¡°No refunds and all books must be returned within the week or all fines will be doubled.¡± With that, she did her best to slam the heavy door in his face, but since it had some sort of triangle spring thing at the top that prevented the door from slamming, the effect was lost. By this point, a few more people had popped up from behind shelves and were watching the spectacle. A lady with graying hair pulled back into a tight bun, actually applauded lightly. A young man of about fourteen was trying to contain his laughter. Another older man who was standing behind him was grinning from ear to ear. It was nice that the library patrons found it all amusing. Illia was red all over from embarrassment when she saw she had an audience. She started to blurt out an apology but was interrupted by the lady. ¡°It''s fine dear. Old Edmond is a peculiar sort and sometimes you just have to take a stand. He lives out there all on his own surrounded by all that death. It''s bound to make you a bit lax about social graces and common sense. Sometimes the smartest people are the ones who have the dumbest actions.¡± The old lady practically bounded over to Illia then patted her gently on the arm. I must admit the way the lady moved was new. I don''t think I''d ever seen someone of her age with such a big stride and a hop in her step. It was amazing she hadn''t broken a hip. I left Illia still trying to make apologies while the teen and the older man tried to keep their laughter from spilling out. The teen was losing it in a fit of snorts. Which made Illia try to apologize more. I was trying to figure out which of the six monster migration books had this particular region in it when Illia showed up carrying a tea tray with two cups and a small selection of cookies. ¡°I needed to take a break and I thought you''d like some tea,¡± she said lifting the tray. ¡°Yes, that sounds nice,¡± I moved all six of the thick books to a nearby desk and pulled that chair to the front side of the one I was working on. ¡°I wanted to apologize for that incident earlier,¡± she placed the plate of cookies between us and handed me a cup. Placing one in front of herself she propped the tea tray on its side against the leg of the desk. ¡°He came up to me, wanting to know if Mary was here,¡± I commented taking a sip of the tea. It was still a little too hot to drink, so I put it down to wait for it to cool. ¡°Yes, Edmond has a bit of a public crush on Mary. He can be very annoying about it too.¡± ¡°In what way?¡± ¡°It''s nothing too scary, but when he''s in town he always tries to meet with her. Even follows her when she runs her errands. One time he even followed her home. Her brother scared him off, so he hasn''t done that twice. He just doesn''t understand that his actions are more creepy than showing loving devotion.¡± ¡°I can see how some guy following you around could be creepy,¡± I nodded in sympathy. ¡°He doesn''t live in town?¡± ¡°No, he lives about one and a half days ride from here. So we don''t have to deal with him often.¡± ¡°Is he one of the farmers?¡± ¡°No, well, what he does is very grim,¡± she picked up her cup and held it in her hands blowing on it briefly before sipping. ¡°You see, he''s technically a priest of Edomael, but he''s more of a researcher. He studies the decomposition rates of human bodies when exposed to certain elements. That''s probably why he''s in town to pick up the bodies of the criminals. It would be a rare chance to see how a body that''s life was taken by a god decomposes.¡± ¡°Wait, so he studies dead bodies? Can you explain? It seems like an odd thing to do.¡± ¡°He is odd, but no one can say his research isn''t useful. He takes human bodies, mostly criminals, out to his research base. From there he puts them in simulated situations to see how fast the decomposition is. There is something else about bugs and wildlife, but I''m not clear on all of it. Anyway, he then sends his studies out to the priesthood of Edomael and they use that information on murder cases or on dead bodies that are too decomposed to identify.¡± So he was doing dead body forensics. I never would have thought that something like that would happen in a place that seemed to lack technological advances. ¡°That actually seems interesting,¡± I commented, hoping she could tell me a bit more. ¡°While the work might seem interesting, it takes a special sort of person to be able to study a body rotting. Having a bunch of dead rotting bodies near where you live would be enough to give me nightmares so bad I wouldn''t sleep.¡± ¡°I don''t think I could either, though I think I''d be fine living near a cemetery.¡± ¡°We mostly burn our dead out here. We are rural enough that we can''t risk having an old cemetery having an Undead uprising. Every once and a while we get the odd stray Undead bothering the farms, but those are usually the idiots who get killed by the Death Bees. Their bodies become so toxic that scavengers won''t eat them so they rise up as Undead.¡± ¡°That wasn''t in the book I read. So all people killed by Death Bees end up as Undead?¡± I quickly looked up Undead on my Gamer Glass. *Undead. Skeletal monsters that used to be humanoid. Most of the body must be present in order for an Undead to rise. Undead rise with the ability to use any equipment they were killed with. A soldier who becomes and Undead might rise wearing armor, carrying a shield and a sword. A farmer who becomes an Undead might rise carrying a hoe or scythe. To kill an Undead one must first separate the majority of the body from the head. The easiest way to do this is by decapitation. If the Undead is in full metal armor this might be difficult so attacking the limbs first then decapitation is suggested. An Undead that kills a humanoid in combat rises in difficulty. Undead Warrior, Undead Soldier, Undead Archer, Undead General are some of the variations an Undead can take once they have risen in rank. Anyone killed by an Undead eventually becomes an Undead as long as their bodies remain intact. If a member of your party should die because of an Undead attack it is standard protocol to decapitate the victim and keep the head separated from the body until priests can perform funerary cremation. However, if you are in a remote location this might not be possible. It is up to the surviving party members to perform the cremation ceremony themselves to the best of their abilities, making sure that they burn the victim''s body. Failure to perform these duties will result in possible fines, jail time, and possibly forced labor. Some exceptions are made in the case of an Undead uprising where the safety of the majority is paramount.~ ¡°No, there is a lot of debate about what causes an Undead.¡± She shook her head slightly. I was a bit distracted by what I was reading and it took me a few seconds to remember my question. I really needed to get better at holding conversations and reading at the same time. ¡°Some people think it''s just random chance, that as long as the body remains intact with all its bones it can rise. ¡°Others think there is more to it. Edmond has never had an Undead in all the years he''s been studying decomposition. Some think it''s because those bodies aren''t forgotten. That as long as a person is remembered they won''t become Undead. Since Edmond is basically studying them, they aren''t forgotten. It''s just a theory, but there is some merit to it. It''s usually the older cemeteries, battlegrounds that have an Undead uprising. You don''t see that with grave sites that have loved ones visiting.¡± ¡°But don''t Undead create Undead? So it shouldn''t be so random right?¡± Becoming an Undead couldn''t be as random as it just happening. I was thinking that maybe the people who died all fought Undead at some point and some sort of mutated Undead virus or something got into their blood. So even if they did survive an attack, when they eventually died that virus would cause them to rise as an Undead. ¡°Nope,¡± she was firmly negative on that point. ¡°There''s actually a book about a similar theory over in the monster''s section,¡± she waved her hand in that direction of the library. ¡°The group of researchers went out with several theories on why the Undead rise. One of the theories was that if you''re ever in contact with an Undead you become and Undead upon death. ¡°This theory was passed around for generations, I guess. For the longest time, the Guild had a hard time getting adventurers to take on the extermination requests for the Undead, because of this fear of becoming an Undead when they died. ¡°Anyway,¡± she shifted her position in her chair and took another sip of tea. ¡°These researchers went out and they gathered all the data they could on the Undead. Where there were single risings, entire uprisings, and even if the dead had come in contact with Undead within their lifetimes. They mostly had to rely on family and friends accounts on the Undead and that really couldn''t be used as ''evidence'',¡± she made little finger quotes. ¡°It wasn''t until they had the Orphanage Uprising of 989 that the theory of catching Undead was really debunked.¡± 989? There was a yearly system in place? What year was it now? *The current year is 52 in the Cycle of Erasmus God of oceans, seas, sailors, and water.~ Cycle of Erasmus? *The Godly Cycle, every thousand years a new God is given dominion of that era. There have been five eras in recorded history, the first beginning after the defeat of the God Apep named after the God Zeus.~ Illia had seemed to pause in her story which was good for me since I was just learning about how they tracked years in this new world. However, after a bit, it seemed like she was expecting something from me. I didn''t know how to respond, so I tried to come up with something plausible while being partially honest. ¡°To be honest I''ve never heard of this uprising. There weren''t any Undead where I grew up, or if there was it was something you''d hear about from someone''s uncle who heard about it from some guy they met while traveling to someplace.¡± She gave me that odd look again as if she was studying some sort of new creature that had just popped up in front of her in the forest. ¡°It wasn''t that long ago historically, I guess, but it does seem like a long time ago to us. My grandma told me about it when I was a kid. It was such a big scandal at the time that everyone from all the kingdoms got word about it. Scandal does travel fast and far. ¡°So what happened was that this guy left the priesthood and decided to devote himself to helping children. He felt that his temple wasn''t doing enough. My grandma said he was a priest of Edomael, but I''ve also heard he was a priest of Torque and Zanthis. At this point, I don''t think anyone remembers which temple he actually left. ¡°He starts this orphanage with funding from the local nobles. His plan is to offer free medical services to unwed mothers and provide the unwanted babies for adoption and the people would be willing to adopt. There was this really bad sexual disease going around at the time that left most men unable to father children since the cure for the disease was the removal of,¡± she blushed slightly and held up two fingers and wiggled them upside down. I got the idea. ¡°On the surface, the adoption business goes really well. The orphanage actually makes a sizable profit selling the babies. That profit is what got people looking into how the place was run. The other orphanages at the time were barely able to break even with expenses and would often have to ask for donations. ¡°They started to investigate and realized that more mothers were going in and giving birth than there were babies being adopted. Where did all the missing babies go?¡± She leaned in as if she was a teacher asking her student a difficult problem. ¡°Did this sexual disease cause any harm to babies in mother''s who had it?¡± She looked a bit surprised, then shook her head. ¡°I hadn''t thought of that, but no I don''t think so.¡±Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! ¡°Considering that there is an Undead uprising I''m guessing that some of the babies were dying,¡± I answered her. ¡°Yes, while some of the deaths could be contributed to stillbirths many of the women testified to having given birth to healthy babies. So where were all these healthy babies? ¡°This ex-priest had realized that after a certain age it was harder to adopt out a child. So once a child was considered too old for adoption they were given something that made them sleep and in the morning they were found dead. The bodies were then buried in a small grave boarding the woods on the orphanage''s grounds. ¡°The orphanage was shut down and the ex-priest and the people who worked with him were executed for his crimes.¡± ¡°That''s horrible, but how does this tie in with Undead uprisings and the Undead creating more Undead?¡± ¡°I''m getting to that,¡± she ate a cookie and sipped her tea just to make me wait for my impatience. ¡°It was about eight months after the orphanage was shut down that the first Undead appeared. It was a toddler and had walked miles into town. Someone made the connection of the mass grave behind the Orphanage and the Undead Child. ¡°They discovered nearly a hundred Undead Children and Babies walking or crawling around what used to be the orphanage. Some of them too young to even crawl just sort of popped up from the graves and rolled around trying to attack the people who were there. ¡°It was declared an emergency, but since people were still afraid that coming into contact with the Undead, the army had to be dispatched since no adventurers would take the assignment. ¡°They had to decapitate children. I can''t even imagine how horrible that was. They were Undead, but they were also children and babies. It was truly one of those horrifying things that caused the entire world to take notice, and it just happened to be an event that happened when a small group of researchers were looking into what caused an Undead. ¡°So researchers show up and they determine that there was no way that all the children had come into contact with an Undead in their very short lives. So they were pretty much able to debunk the idea that coming into contact with an Undead would make you an Undead, and since the story was so widely circulated so was their evidence.¡± ¡°I''m sort of surprised everyone actually believed in the logic behind their findings. From my experience, once people believe in a superstition it''s hard to get them to see the logic.¡± It was true. Back home no matter what scientific evidence was put forth, people still chose to believe in that one thing that guy on the internet said ten years ago. ¡°I don''t know about that. I''m sure there are still some people out there that believe in survivors of an Undead attack becoming Undead upon their death.¡± We both sipped our tea and ate the last of the cookies while contemplating the horrors of the past. It didn''t feel like an uncomfortable silence to me, but after a while, I felt some pressure to say something. I was glad that a conversation starter was sitting in front of me. ¡°This book,¡± I held up the unknown book and flipped it open to the first page. ¡°I found it behind some magic books. It looked like it had fallen behind the shelf from above, but I couldn''t figure out where to put it since it doesn''t have a title. I thought I''d get an idea of what the book was about by looking at it, but honestly, I''m stumped. Do you know what this is?¡± I pointed out the first diagram, then the cookbook like list, and the math. ¡°Let me see,¡± she turned the book to face her and began to flip through it. She paused a couple times to flip to the back of the book and then to examine the cover again. ¡°It looks sort of like an alchemy book, but not. Hold on a second I''ll be right back.¡± She left the book on the table as she walked off between the shelves. She came back carrying two other books. ¡°These are alchemy books. This one is beginner level and this one is advanced.¡± She opened both at random and showed me pages with very simple diagrams circles with triangles in the first book and concentric circles with more triangles in the second. Both also had math and lists of ingredients but they were also very simple. Neither of them matched the beautifully detailed work of the mystery book. ¡°Could this be an even more advanced alchemy book?¡± I asked her. ¡°I think so. Though I would say this is beyond advanced. If I''m right that is. There isn''t any indication of what each of these spells does. No intro, nothing. It''s like this is a companion book to something else and the reader is supposed to follow along with both books.¡± ¡°I got that feeling too like I was missing part of the book. By the way, did you notice the smell vanilla and cherry? What is that?¡± ¡°You sometimes get the vanilla smell with brown inks. I think the cherry smell is actually almond. Almond oil is used as a thinner in a lot of colored inks. The colored inks tend to clot up quicker so thinning them out with a little bit of oil is common. The smell doesn''t usually linger long though so it''s interesting that it''s stayed so strong in a book that looks so old. ¡°I also think that this book might even be older than the cover indicates. I think this book was rebound at some point. It was done well so there are hardly any indications, but some of the pages look like they had to be re-punched for stitching. They are a little offset from the rest.¡± ¡°How old is this library? Could this book have been here a while?¡± ¡°The old library got caught in a fire that was caused by a sinkhole about twenty years ago. This building used to be the old Merchant''s Guild, but with increased tourism, they needed to expand so they sold this building to the town and the town leased the building for the library. A few years ago the library was able to buy the building outright. ¡°When that happened a few patrons donated their personal collections to us to show support. I suspect this book might be from one of those private collections. We should have records somewhere of what books were donated. I''ll have to show this to Mary and see if she thinks it would be worth digging through a bunch of old boxes to figure out what this book is.¡± ¡°Depending on how many boxes you have, it might be easier to go through all the books that were above where I found this one and match them to the catalog.¡± ¡°That might be easier, but sometimes the books get shifted around on the shelves. We get new books in an entire bottom rows can end up at the top of the next shelf, or we get rid of some outdated and damaged books and two rows might free up in a section meaning another shift of some books to new shelves. It''s hard to tell how long this book was lost, so several book shifts may have happened. I would have to look at the books on the bottom and top of the two adjacent shelves as well. Still, it really might be easier than going through old records.¡± We both admired the drawing in the book as she continued to turn the pages. Until something happened to cast the entire room into shadow. A few seconds ago the room had been filled with sunlight, but looking out the window you could see dark storm clouds rolling in. I had thought the storms wouldn''t come until later in the night. I could faintly make out the sound of thunder in the distance. Illia lit one of the mage lamps she had taken from the window sill. I hadn''t really noticed them there before, but there was at least one in every window. It was just one of those mundane things that you don''t think about or notice until you need them. ¡°Do you think Crue will still want to go out in this?¡± I asked. ¡°I don''t think it''s a matter of want. As a Surveyor, he has to go out in all weather. In all likelihood, he''ll make you do the same. You did buy some rain gear when you went shopping with him didn''t you?¡± ¡°Um,¡± did we get rain gear? We got stuff to camp outside in the rain, but did I get anything to keep the rain off me? Taking my hesitation as a negative, she closed the book and started to collect the tea things. ¡°If you hurry you might be able to make it to Durmond''s before the rain really starts coming down. I recommend the spider silk gear that''s been oil treated for rain. Other fabrics will get torn and caught in the branches. Spider silk has a higher durability, plus you get the added bonus of its protective properties. Hurry up now it''s starting to sprinkle.¡± Taking her advice, and sort of wondering why Crue didn''t have me get one in the first place, I hurried over to Durmond''s. The rain was just lightly coming down, but in the distance, I could see some dark clouds, lightning, and I heard the thunder. Some street stall vendors were rushing to pack up their carts. While most of them had roofs I bet they weren''t proof against the storm that was coming. The wind really started to pick up as soon as I got to the storefront. The gust blew in and caused the displays on the ladies first floor to flutter a bit. One of the ladies clerks looked in my direction. She didn''t have any customers so she was busy tidying up, but she stopped what she was doing to comment, ¡°It looks like this storm is rolling in faster than I thought. I better go close the shutters before the wind really picks up.¡± She hustled past me and outside. In a few seconds, I could see that shutters were being closed along the storefront windows. The room was getting darker as she closed each one, but I already knew my way to the staircase to the upstairs men''s. The upstairs windows had already been shuttered and lamps were lit along the walls. I didn''t see any salespeople and after a quick walk around I couldn''t find what I was looking for either. So I made my way back down the stairs and found the sales girl touching the lamps on the wall lighting each one. ¡°Excuse me, I''m looking for Spider Silk rain gear. I didn''t see anyone upstairs.¡± ¡°Oh, Mr. Parker must be in the back room looking after Mr. Durmond. His bones act up in rain and we don''t get many customers in storms like this. Well, except for people looking for rain gear.¡± She laughed a bit then led me upstairs. ¡°We have four styles of rain gear in Spider Silk. Are you an adventurer?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± I confirmed. ¡°Then you should stick to these three styles.¡± She led me to a back corner with boxes. She took down three boxes. I was surprised at how compact the gear was. Spider silk was thin, but the pants and shirts weren''t as thin and translucent as the rain gear. The oil treatment the silk went through to become waterproof left that material thinner and more like silk than spandex. Each gear was folded up to the size of a person''s palm. Very compact and perfect for traveling. ¡°This one is to be worn under the armor, but over the clothes and is used by mostly by those who use heavy armor.¡± She pulled out what looked like a Spider Silk catsuit in brown. ¡°I wear light armor,¡± she was not selling me on a translucent catsuit. ¡°What weapons do you use. We have different styles to maximize the ease of getting to your weapons when wearing these.¡± She unfolded a short fisherman''s style poncho with a hood. Then a long knee length traditional looking cape with arm holes along each side and a Chinese looking high neck. ¡°Sword, knife, bow,¡± I answered her question. ¡°This one then.¡± She held out the longer traditional looking one. ¡°It has the armholes but also break away clasps so that you can get rid of the gear in case of an emergency.¡± She demonstrated how the clasp worked. Locking one moment then with some pressure unlocking. ¡°That works, does it come in black?¡± The boxes in front of her only looked like different shades of brown. ¡°This style is the same in men''s and women''s. I think we have one in black, but I''m not certain. I know we have green, purple, dark blue, light blue, red, and pink downstairs. I will have to go through the boxes in the storeroom.¡± She led me back downstairs, taking a dark brown cape with her just in case I didn''t like any of the colors in the woman''s section. She took down several boxes and showed me the colors she had on the floor, then she went to the back to see if she had any in black. She came back with four more boxes. The style in the ladies was the same, except that they had embroidery. Every single one had small embellishments added to them. She was going through the boxes pulling out the ones that didn''t have flowers and bows on them. I was talking myself into getting the brown one when I spotted one near the bottom of the fourth box. There was a dark gray one with black and silver embroidered Celtic looking knots around the hem. I picked it up and tried it on. The neck fit a bit loose, but with the hood, I didn''t think any rain would be dripping down my collar. ¡°This one comes with a detachable fur lining. It''s a fall and winter style. Not all of them have the fur, that''s why it fits a bit looser. It''s a bit more expensive than the spring and summer ones, but you can pick out which kind of fur you would like from our stock. They are customizable that''s what makes the winter selection more fun. I think we have some black Ring Rabbit fur in. Would you like to see it?¡± She went to the back and brought out a large box with mounds of colored fur in it. I even spotted a pink one. Digging through the stacked piles, she pulled out a fluffy black cape lining. She showed me how the lining attached with small hidden buttons and how to fit the fur around the collar and hood so they laid smooth and didn''t irritate. Once the fur was attached I tried it on again. The collar wasn''t loose anymore and fit more like a turtleneck. It would take some getting used to, but I figured preparing for winter was probably a good idea. A fur-lined rain cape was a good start. I could wear it over my jacket too, so that was nice. Even with the fur the breakaway clasp still worked fine. I was screaming a bit internally as I paid the nice girl 6 silver and 25 coppers. I kept telling myself that there was a lot more Spider Silk material here. Plus there was the fur lining and embroidery work. It was going to cost for that sort of craftsmanship and quality. I still had some Green Apes I could sell so I still had enough to pay the rent for next week if I didn''t manage to make any more money in the next few days. If I was careful I wouldn''t be homeless. Hopefully, all my pricey purchases were behind me and I could begin to save money. The rain was really starting to come down, the sky had gone darker. Small little rivers began to flow down the road. Hopefully, we weren''t in a flood prone area. I decided to wear my new rain gear out, minus the fur. Tentatively, I stepped out and tested the weatherproofing of the cape. Rain beaded off it like it was a plastic poncho. However, it wasn''t as uncomfortably muggy as plastic. The Spider Silk breathed and didn''t trap in the hot humidity caused by body heat and the rain. It wasn''t as heavy as a coat made of rubber and flannel either. Feeling like taking my new cape out for a test drive I took my time walking back in the rain. Name- Eri Veritas HP 2500/2500 MP 64/64 Level- 11 Age- 18 Race/Species- (Human) Unknown Gender- (Male) Unknown Occupation- Surveyor of Adventurers Guild Exp- 3360 Physical Power- 220 Stamina- 280 Defense- 348 Agility- 492 Intelligence- 101 Magic Power- 8 Metal Rain Lv 1 Healing Hands Lv 1 Paralysis Resistance Lv 3 Mind Magic Resistance Lv 1 Skills Staff Fighting Lv 2 Basic Sword Lv 2 Skull Bashing Lv 2 Martial Arts Lv 2 Stance Lv 1 Smooth Movement Lv 1 Spear Lv 1 Stalking Lv 1 Jumping Lv 1 Running Lv 2 Cooking Lv 1 Pain Tolerance Lv 3 Deception Lv 2 Poker Face Lv 1 Etiquette Lv 3 Dismantling Lv 1 Appraisal Lv 1 Leather Work Lv 1 Metal Work Lv 1 Rock Throwing Dancing Singing Harvesting Empathy Telekinesis Small Talk Discretion Party Tricks Restraint Alcohol Tolerance Monster Biology Entomology Zoology Botany Special Skills Abyss Walker Racial Ability- Hidden Among the Masses- 20 Stealth- 95 Party- 10 Items Equip Inventory Bracelet Succuba Star Gold- 0g 1s 28c (128c) Blessing 1- All Map Exploration Blessing 2- Exp Points Required by Level Up / Current Level Blessing 3-Exp Increase X Current Level Blessing 4- Item- Gamer Glasses Titles- Emissary of Amoris Devotee of Amoris Oracle of Amoris Prince of Dreams Grateful Petitioner Lover of Leaves Enemy of Apes Chapter 20 We have a Party There was still some time until I was to meet with Crue and Illia for our hunting practice. I had left a pile of books at the library so I decided to head back there. I would have just enough time to check out the books I wanted and clean up my mess. Illia had mentioned that her shift was over at noon, but Mary would be in to take over. So there wasn''t a huge rush. Illia was just running around the corner as I was coming around the opposite side. She was probably running home to get her gear for the meetup. She was using a normal looking umbrella to keep off the rain, The only exception was that the parts that would be metal on a modern umbrella were made with wood. I wondered where she got it. Maybe she kept one at the office? I went inside and shook off the rain gear as much as I could outside the door, then left it hanging on a peg near the door that had two other rain gears and an umbrella stand. I didn''t like leaving my new expensive gear out in the open, but it needed to dry a bit before I could put it back on. I found the desk I was working at and gathered up all the materials I had been using. Some of them I placed on the librarian''s cart. Two of the books I wanted to check out since I had yet to look at them. I rang the bell and waited for Mary to show up. Mary was a cow. It wasn''t that she was fat, but she was a cow Zyanthrope. She reminded me of someone''s crazy eccentric aunt. Decked out in bright mismatching colors and lots of layered mismatched jewelry. Her ears and tail were even decorated with bits of sparkly. Her hair was a bit messy too, but it was raining so all the frizz sticking out might not be her fault. ¡°You must be Mary, I''m Eri.¡± I reached over to shake her hand. She, surprisingly, didn''t wear any rings but had layered on bracelets so that they tinkled when we shook. ¡°Nice to meet you, Illia mentioned a new patron. I hope you like it here. She also left me that odd book you found. I''m going to start researching it today. When we figure something out we will let you know.¡± We shared some small talk and Mary helped me check out the books. The old spry woman from earlier queued up behind me so I didn''t talk much. I wanted to ask Mary more about that book, but it would have been rude to keep the old lady waiting. Besides, I was about due to meet up with Crue and Illia. Crue had mentioned having Tuck pack lunch for us, but with it raining I wasn''t certain how soggy lunch would get. I didn''t want to eat soggy sandwiches. I passed by a food cart that was packing up early due to the rain. I bought some hard cheese and grilled squash, chicken, and pork skewers from her. I put them in my inventory so they would stay warm. I figured grilled food on a stick would be better than soggy sandwiches. I bypassed the line at the temple. Even in this downpour, there were people lined up with umbrellas and rain gear. Standing in the rain couldn''t be good for whatever was afflicting them, but I guess you did what you had to do to get yourself healed. Crue was waiting just inside. He was wearing a long brown rain gear that was long sleeved, fit over his armor but under his weapons. It was sort of like a hooded tunic. He had his sword, bow, and a quiver full of arrows with him. All attached to him over the rain gear. It seemed like a far better design than the one I was wearing. Spotting me he picked up a sack at his feet and handed it to me. ¡°Lunch,¡± was the explanation he gave and I added the bag to my inventory. ¡°I don''t remember you getting that. I was planning on making a detour to Durmond''s to get you some gear. Did you borrow it from Illia?¡± He picked at the hem of my cloak fingering the stitching. ¡°No, she sent me out to get one when it started to rain. This one''s fine, right?¡± ¡°It''s fine, it has the breakaway collar so you can get to your weapons. Why did you get a girl''s rain cloak though?¡± ¡°Is it obvious? The sales girl said they were the same style. This came with a fur lining that I thought would be handy with the coming winter.¡± ¡°You don''t see many men''s rain gear with embroidery, but it''s a simple design and it looks good. It is one of the more practical ones for winter. This one,¡± he held out his arms as if to show off his own gear, ¡°is the summer style.¡± I sighed. If Durmond''s would have had something like what Crue was wearing in black I probably would have gotten it instead. ¡°You need to get changed. Illia will be here soon.¡± He pointed to a cleaning closet where I could change. I took off my wet rain gear and laid it over a bench to drip on the floor. I changed into my Spider Silk spandex and my armor. I attached my sword and my knife. I debated a bit, then following how Crue was wearing his, I put on my new birthday gift. I was going to ask Crue if I could use some of his arrows since I didn''t want to use the godly arrows. Crue was more than happy to lend me some arrows after I explained the present and promised to let him shoot with it a few times. To him, it looked just like an ordinary bow, similar to his own, but when I told him that it had a disguising feature he insisted on holding it. Even holding it, the bow still looked normal to him, but he said he could feel the differences when he strung it and pulled back on the string. He let me borrow twelve arrows since this was just going to be some basic monster hunting and practice. He also promised to show me how to make my own arrows. You had to buy the arrowheads, but most people made their own arrows since different people like different fletching. Crue was partial to goose feathers. His arrows seemed a bit longer than I was used to, but they seemed manageable. They were about an inch and a half longer than the arrows Edomael had sent. ¡°I think we need to talk about the possibility of Illia being added to Party. Have you thought about it?¡± He asked. ¡°No, I haven''t, but I guess it is possible. If we are going to make this a routine then it will happen.¡± I commented. I wasn''t comfortable telling her about everything, but it seemed unavoidable to at least tell her about this. ¡°Her levels are lower than ours, so we might be able to keep quiet about it for a while. However, I think we should tell her about it and call it a unique skill. The gain she gets for it shouldn''t be so significant that she''ll need one of these.¡± He touched his stomach where the piercing was. ¡°The issue is that you would have the capability to track her and she won''t know it.¡± He paused, ¡°I guess if we make her a permanent member of this group then we will have to talk to Amoris.¡± ¡°I did promise her to take her out on my own after my training. That was before I knew about Party. So this might actually end up being a less than temporary situation. ¡°I think we should tell her about Party. Maybe have Amoris give permission for another Succuba Star, and tell Illia that it''s the item that causes the Party?¡± I suggested. ¡°I''m not sure if we should lie to her about it. I''ve known Illia since she came to Yellow Springs. I''m sure she''s trustworthy. We don''t have to tell her everything, but we should tell her about Party and what the effects of Succuba Star has. She might even be excited since she can use it as a magic reserve and she will level up faster.¡± ¡°I''m still not sure...¡± I began. ¡°I know you are reluctant about letting people know, but it might...¡± *Incoming Message. Please check your inventory.~ *Incoming Items. Please check your inventory.~ *Skill Gain- Replication. Replication has automatically been activated. This skill is currently at level 1. Exception for Succuba Star Replication level 10.~ ¡°She sent a message,¡± I opened my inventory and found another letter. ¡°Amoris?¡± Crue asked, ¡°What does it say?¡± ¡°Let me read it and I''ll tell you.¡± I shook my hands as if I was reading a letter even though there wasn''t really anything there. *Dear Eri, I''m going to leave it up to you on what you tell the young lady. I will confirm that she is trustworthy. I''ve looked a bit into her past and I must say she is strong of spirit. I won''t go into details because that''s something you should learn from her as you grow closer. I have sent you a skill called replication. What it does is allows you to replicate craftable materials. You, of course, have to have base materials before you can replicate things. That is why I have added to your inventory some magic cores, notably the metal core. You have enough material to produce one Succuba Star. If in the future you make more friends I will send you more material. Your skill for crafting a Succuba Star will be automatically leveled to 10. However, crafting a Succuba Star won''t increase your actual level in the skill. Edomael insisted on that part. He says you have enough cheats you don''t need another one. What you need to do is in your left hand hold your Succuba Star. In your right hand hold all the materials to make a new one. Then THINK about creating a new one focusing on your right hand. You have to focus. Imagine the details, the colors, the way the light twinkles off the stone. Your magic will kick in and provide the rest. It''s fairly simple since you''ve been given a level 10 for this. Love Amoris, xoxo~ ¡°She gave me the skill and the materials to make another Succuba Star. She also said that it''s up to me what we tell Illia, but Amoris thinks Illia is strong and trustworthy,¡± I told Crue. ¡°I see, I think Amoris is trying to tell you to go for it. I don''t think she''d bother sending the material or the skill without thinking Illia was worthy.¡± ¡°Ya, but Amoris is known to be a bit flighty...¡± I trailed off. I had some thinking to do, but Illia was going to be showing up at any time. Trusting Crue seemed to be turning out for the better, maybe I should give Amoris a bit more credit? I did like Illia, I really liked her, but was I ready to trust her with everything? No, but with some things? Yes. A plan began to form as I went back to the storage room to take out my piercing.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Illia arrived wearing what looked like a Spider Silk long-sleeved dress. It was a dark blue and was without embroidery. It had a tight-fitting bodice that flared out at the hips and fell to her mid-calf. Where her boots protected the rest of her from the rain. The hood was deep and seemed to be held in place with pins in her hair. Over the bodice, she wore light armor similar mine and Crue''s, but it was obviously fit for a woman. There was just a bump where the chest was, it wasn''t like fantasy armor where the woman had two conical shaped metal plates there. It covered her stomach and her sides. She also had armor on her forearms. She carried a large knife, not long enough to be called a sword, but really too long to be comfortably called a knife either. It was about 14 inches long and attached to her hip. In her hand, she carried a long wooden staff that had a thumb-sized yellow stone embedded at the tip. The stone was probably a magic core, so the staff was most likely used for magic. If nothing else, she could use it like I had my walking stick and bash things on the head. Never underestimate the effectiveness of a good head bashing. ¡°Since Eri picked up some rain gear we don''t have to make that detour.¡± Crue nodded at Illia in acknowledgment for sending me on that errand earlier. ¡°There have been multiple reports of increased Red Wolf activity close to the town. So we are going to head out and see if we can find any and exterminate them. They usually stay up near the mountains this time of year and only come down in the winter. All the sightings are spooking the shepherds,¡± Crue explained the plan for the day. I wasn''t going to admit that I had some misgivings about hunting Red Wolves after that one almost killed me. Sure, I had gotten stronger, but sometimes fears weren''t rational. My leg gave a few phantom throbs to remind me of my near-death encounter. However, we had a slightly more pressing matter. ¡°Um, Illia, we need to talk,¡± I began. ¡°Whenever someone says that it''s never good news. Are you not wanting to go out with me? I understand if it''s for training, but I would have liked to have had more notice.¡± She looked like she was upset but resigned to being left out. ¡°That''s not what he means. However, I think we should probably commandeer a clinic room for privacy sake. Follow me,¡± Crue swept his arm out in the direction of the clinic. ¡°Why do we need a clinic room?¡± She asked, but she still followed as Crue led us both into a corridor with multiple rooms on either side. I guess these rooms were for the more private healing. It seemed like most people were checked out in the large open area in front of the temple. They were lined up on benches separated by a small curtain and had medical priests visit them along the line. I hadn''t even known they had private rooms. I guess it was easier to get through the patients when you separated people with colds and stomach aches from the people with Mushroom Rot. ¡°I don''t want to go into detail in the open, but I need to discuss one of my skills with you before we head out,¡± I prevaricated. She seemed to realize that we weren''t kicking her out of the party and just needed to discuss something in private. She didn''t ask any more questions until Crue opened a room at the end of the hall and led us in. ¡°So what is this skill?¡± She got right to the point. ¡°I guess I should say this first. I can''t tell you everything. Some of the information, if it got out, could be problematic to me.¡± ¡°And me,¡± Crue interjected. ¡°And him. However, I''m going to be as honest with you as I can be while still trying to protect ourselves. Is that ok with you?¡± This was my great plan. I would flat out tell her I couldn''t tell her everything. I would be honest as I could with her. ¡°How is Crue involved in this? You''ve only been here less than a week?¡± ¡°Amoris and Edomael sort of got me involved. Part of the reason he can''t tell you everything is that the gods are involved. Just know that I''m ok with the situation and I think you will be too.¡± Crue pitched in trying to get her on board. She nodded her head thinking, ¡°No offense to you Eri, but while I like you I don''t know you all that well. However, I trust Crue and if he says the gods are involved and you need to keep me in the dark. I''m ok with that, as long as no one gets hurt.¡± ¡°No one will get hurt,¡± I promised running my hand through my hair. Hell, I was nervous. ¡°I have some Blessings, you know this right?¡± I continued. ¡°Yes, I''ve heard. Not the particulars but that bracelet of yours is one,¡± she answered. ¡°In a way, yes. The Blessings I''m talking about though are different. I have two that cause a person to level up a bit faster than average. One of them takes all the Exp I gain from a monster kill, or from successfully completing a task, and multiplies that by my current level. The other,¡± I rushed to continue before she could interrupt. She looked like she was about too. ¡°Divides the amount of experience I need for the next level by my current level.¡± ¡°Those are some insane Blessings. From Amoris right? I think she might be the only one who would do something like that.¡± ¡°Yes, I was only supposed to get one, but she messed up the wording and I accidentally got two.¡± I glanced at Crue. Was this going well? Her face didn''t give me a clue. She still looked at me like I was the shady drug dealer on the corner. ¡°Sounds like her,¡± Illia muttered, and Crue coughed into his shoulder. ¡°Anyway, I have another skill called Party. It allows me to share my Blessing with other people to some extent.¡± ¡°That''s amazing!¡± Illia was starting to go from wary to excited. Well, at least she got a bit more animated and her ears under her hood perked up. ¡°It''s not all great. What do you think will happen if certain people found out about this?¡± Crue chipped in. ¡°I don''t...¡± She trailed off looking at Crue. ¡°I see, if you start to stand out as being too strong the kingdom might step in.¡± She frowned looking at the floor. ¡°You have a solution right?¡± ¡°Amoris and Edomael came up with a solution. An item that allows a person to hide their levels from the All Seer and the Guild Stone.¡± I held up the newly made Succuba Star. This one was a rose gold with pale pink stones. Illia examined it, ¡°Amoris would be involved in a belly piercing.¡± Then she paused. Looked at me and Crue. ¡°It doesn''t hide the levels from the temple priests during Exp allocation?¡± Shit, it wasn''t an issue for me, but for Crue and Illia they had to go to a temple to get their Exp allocated. I''d never been to a temple priest allocation, so I had no idea how those work. Crue was starting to look a bit worried as well. He must not have thought of that either. ¡°Um,¡± I began. *Incoming Message. Please check your inventory.~ *Dear Eri, Don''t be dumb. Of course Edomael thought of that. Anyone wearing a Succuba Star can have their Exp distributed by you. It''s connected to your Gamer Glass after all, but it only works on skills already active. Since your Gamer Glass can''t see the passive skills you can''t manipulate them, but you should be able to work something out. Let Crue know that problem, and he''ll have a solution. Promise! Love Amoris, xoxo~ ¡°Actually, it seems like I can take care of Exp allocation for anyone wearing one of these.¡± I pointed to the item in Illia''s hand. ¡°Really?¡± questioned Crue. ¡°I haven''t tried it, but according to Amoris, Edomael made that part of the package.¡± ¡°I see,¡± Illia paused again, ¡°but that would mean I could only go to you for Exp allocation from now on. If you choose to leave Yellow Springs what then?¡± ¡°If he does leave we can think of a way to explain the levels. If he''s gone you won''t be rising at as fast a pace anymore. So we should be able to come up with something,¡± Crue thought out loud. ¡°There are other negatives, I''m afraid. I will always be able to know where you are if I use Party. It''s a permanent thing I can''t reverse it. However, if you aren''t in my company the Blessing effect doesn''t kick in so what Crue said is probably right. You won''t be rising as fast so it could probably be explained away. ¡°Then there''s the fact I can''t access your passive skills to activate them. I can only allocate Exp to your current active skills.¡± ¡°There''s probably a simple solution to that,¡± Crue interrupted. ¡°Really?¡± I was intrigued. How did he plan on working around that? Amoris said he''d have an idea, but I wasn''t thinking he''d be that quick. ¡°You gain the skills the priests use. The part where the Exp is allocated is normally done by one of the stones, but the priest that does this has a skill called Skill Stone Activation. They use the skill in tandem with the stone in order to activate and allocate skills. I think your Blessing acts as the stone in this case and is used for allocation, but you lack the skill needed to provide us with activation. With that skill, we shouldn''t have to worry about it.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Well, that did seem like a simple solution. Why hadn''t Amoris just said so in her letter? I mean really, making me look like an idiot. I thought it was going to be a huge hurdle to overcome, but the solution was so damn easy. ¡°There''s also the huge positive, and I think this is one you''ll love Illy,¡± Crue began. ¡°These can store magic and any member of the party can access the magic of any other member¡¯s item. So you won''t just have your magic to draw on, but a backup that is equal to your MP level and the backups Eri and I have.¡± Illia looked really surprised by that and frankly, I think it was what pushed her into agreeing. Illia was added to the Party and Crue performed the belly piercing. I stepped outside at that point. For some reason, she was shy about showing me her stomach. Name-Illia Cloverheart HP 1458/1458 MP 123/123 Level- 8 Age- 19 Race/Species- Zyanthrope- Rabbit Gender- Female Occupation- Yellow Springs Assistant Librarian Exp-12 Physical Power- 115 Stamina- 168 Defense- 97 Agility- 224 Intelligence- 254 Magic Power- 152 Lightning Magic Lv 1 Static Shock Lv 1 Earth Magic Lv 1 Unsteady Ground Lv 1 Skills Staff Fighting Lv 1 Skull Bashing Lv 1 Basic Knife Lv 1 Blade Work Lv 1 Archery Lv 1 Jumping Lv 3 Running Lv 2 Enhanced Hearing Lv 2 Trap Detection Lv 1 Etiquette Lv 2 Appraisal Lv 2 Scribe Lv 3 Teaching Lv 1 Cooking Lv 2 Leatherwork Lv 1 Woodwork Lv 1 Sewing Lv 1 Knitting Lv 2 Special Skills Fertility Beloved in the Forest Item Equip Party Piercing (Succuba Star) Lightning Staff (low quality) Titles- Devotee of Zyanthis Cloverheart''s Hope Sheltered Child Lover of Books Prolific Knitter Teacher of Children Chapter 21 A Party in the Rain It was still raining when we left Yellow Springs. It wasn''t coming down as hard as before, but as if to make up for it, the wind had picked up and was blowing the rain nearly horizontal. The thunder could still be heard in the distance, but there wasn''t any lightning. I wasn''t certain how safe it was to go trekking into the trees with lightning. While the odds were against getting hit, you could always be smashed by a falling tree. I understood that I needed to learn to deal with monsters in all weather situations, but I''d still rather be back at the inn enjoying a nice cup of cocoa and a sandwich. Illia seemed fine with the weather, so did Crue. It was probably only me wanting to hide in his room waiting for a warm dry day. I''d probably fall asleep, rain always made me sleepy. I stifled a yawn as I checked the map. There were three Red Wolves within five miles of the town. Even though I knew where they were, Crue was doing his best to teach me how to spot signs of monsters. Broken branches with fur, prints in the mud, poo, dead apes, basic tracking. Oddly enough, even with him pointing out the things I was looking for I still didn''t get the skill. Illia was taking in everything, her reasoning was that if she could spot signs of stronger monsters she could take steps to avoid them if she were out on her own. That seemed logical to me. My dumbass had gone out hunting Red Wolves when I was level 8 by myself and nearly got my leg chewed off in the process. Oh, what was this? I spotted some purple colored fur sticking to some bark on a tree. *Skill Gain- Tracking.~ Well, there it was. So maybe I had to find something on my own in order for it to trigger. I activated it, then pointed out the purple fur to Crue. ¡°I was wondering if you''d spot it. Do you know what it''s from?¡± ¡°No idea,¡± I answered. I hadn''t been here long, but up until now, I hadn''t run across any monsters with purple fur in my reading. I could check my Gamer Glass to see if there were any monsters with purple fur in the books I hadn''t read, but I figured that''s not what Crue wanted. ¡°It''s probably from a cave bear,¡± Illia answered. ¡°Right, now what is it doing here?¡± Crue moved the bushes to stand by the tree with the fur. ¡°Well, I guess it''s possible a Cave Bear came down from the mountains. Though, I thought they preferred to stay in their caves,¡± Illia answered again. ¡°True, Cave Bears like to stay in their caves. It''s really rare for one to venture out this far from the mountains, but it does happen.¡± ¡°So there is a Cave Bear running around?¡± That didn''t sound good. A Cave Bear sounded a lot more dangerous than a Red Wolf. ¡°I don''t think so, what other reason could there be for Cave Bear fur to be here?¡± Both Illia and I were stumped by this one. If it didn''t come from a Cave Bear then how did the fur end up on the tree? ¡°Oh,¡± Illia exclaimed. ¡°I bet someone was wearing something with Cave Bear fur and rubbed up against this tree.¡± She seemed excited about her theory. ¡°That''s what I think,¡± Crue told her. ¡°See the bark on this tree it''s really rough and would easily snag clothes that were brushed against it.¡± So not only did we have to watch out for monsters, we had to look for people dressed in monster furs so that our tracking didn''t get thrown off. Or this would be the sort of thing to look for if you were tracking people. I guess if you wanted to throw off a tracker then you could place false tracks using this method. It was very complex and I wasn''t sure if I would be very good at hunting people. Monsters were easy in comparison. There was a wolf howl close by. Illia jumped at the sound and fingered her staff. Crue glanced at me and I checked the map. The wolf that had been a mile off was headed this way. ¡°It''s coming this way,¡± I confirmed. ¡°Ok, Eri string your bow. You and Illia are going to attack from a distance. I''ll be in the front with the sword. Don''t hit me when we engage. I won''t kill it right away, but I''ll leave you openings for attack. Wait for that opening.¡± We moved to a spot that was a little more open than where we had been. Illia and I had our backs to a thicket of thorn bushes. It was to prevent the monster from coming up behind us. However, it also impeded our escape if something went wrong. My heartbeat felt thunderous in my ears. Sweat broke out on my forehead. Hopefully, in the rain, Illia didn''t notice. This would be the first Red Wolf since I nearly was killed. I was stronger now, I was prepared, and I had backup. This should be simple, but I cautioned myself against being cocky. Cockiness nearly got me killed last time. I knocked the arrow and tested the draw a few times. I could do this. I''d shot a bow before and I was ok at it. Even if I missed Illia would be there as a backup. I wondered what long-range magic she was planning on using. I glanced at her making sure she was ready. It was then, while I wasn''t looking, that the wolf burst through the bushes to our left. It made a beeline for Illia but Crue was right there to get in its way. He ran up to the wolf and attacked by slashing him with his sword. It only grazed the wolf but it did act to distract it from us. I let loose the arrow and is skimmed along the side of the wolf hardly grazing it. Pretty decent for a moving target, at least for me. *Skill Gain- Archery~ I activated it. *Skill Change- Tracking has become Scouting due to the presence of Archery.~ What? Wait, that was distracting. Go away pop-ups. I readied another arrow, but just as I was ready to shoot, Illia let loose some sort of sparkle magic. *Skill Gain- Lightning Magic~ I quickly activated it so that I could watch what happened without the pop-ups. This sparkly stuff that looked like a Fourth of July sparkler hit the wolf. Given the magic I''d just acquired I had to assume it was Illia''s Static Shock attack. It didn''t kill the wolf, but the wolf certainly stopped while the shock hit him. I took that chance and fired another arrow. This time it hit, right where the shoulder meets the neck. I had been aiming for the chest, but I wasn''t going to be picky. It was at that point the Crue popped in and finished the job. He made it look easy. Two slashes, swish, swish, on either side of the neck and the wolf was down. Alive, but left to bleed out. It didn''t take long. The iron smell of blood hit me as I approached. I hadn''t ever seen an animal bleed out before, and the smell was overwhelming. I didn''t know if it was like this with all animals or if it was just particular to monsters. I would think the smell of pooling blood would be universal. I didn''t want to add the wolf to my inventory still bleeding that much. All my other kills had either been bloodless or puncture wounds that didn''t bleed a lot after the creature had died. This wolf had still been alive as it bled out so there was a lot of blood. Crue showed me how to take a rope and tie up its legs to hang the wolf upside down over a tree branch. This allowed the blood to flow out. I got bloody myself in the process, but the rain gear acted as a splatter guard. The blood was washing off in the rain, but I used the water in my inventory to speed cleanup along. Crue came out of the ordeal surprisingly clean. How he managed to not get blood all over him I don''t know, but he did use my handy water faucet to rinse off his hands. They were a bit muddy. The rain had let up a lot by that point. So Crue suggested we eat while we waited. Illia was game for this, even though I was a bit queasy due to the smell, I was outvoted. I brought out the bag that Tuck had packed us for lunch and began to hand things out. An apple for each of us, ham and cheese sandwiches, carrot sticks, and lastly some fried potato patties that were similar to fast food chain hash browns. I was surprised that the bread used in the sandwiches was harder and didn''t turn soggy in the light drizzle. So there had been no real reason for me to buy the skewers. I should have trusted Tuck a bit more. After all, he''d probably been packing lunches for a while. Still, I gave the others options for the skewers. Illia took hers squash ones picked the ham off her sandwich and gave it to Crue. She then added the squash to the bread and ate it that way. Crue with his double-decker sandwich declined my offer of pork and chicken skewers. I had one of each after finishing the sandwich since I gave Illia my carrot sticks. Lunch completed, I added the wolf into my inventory. We still had some time and the goal was to get to all three Red wolves in the area before we went back. We had an advantage in knowing how many were close by. We also had my inventory. Normally, Crue would have had to leave the days kill in the woods since he only would have been able to carry one back with him. We had my map but Crue demonstrated some sort of tracking mojo and was able to show us how he could come to the conclusion that there was at least one other Red Wolf in the area besides the one we killed. I wasn''t sure how he came to that conclusion, but under normal circumstances, he would have reported to the Guild that there was probably an estimated 1-3 more wolves in the area. So most of the Guild numbers were done by estimates. No wonder Dunbar wanted me to take the job, I would be able to provide accurate numbers that they had never had before. I could get individual information on each monster for at least 10 miles radius of Yellow Springs. Though the accuracy of the information dropped a bit the further I zoomed out on the map, I could still pinpoint hotspot locations where the monsters were gathering in groups. So Crue had explained that he basically sectioned off the area. The center was around the town and had a radius of 5 miles. 15 miles to the north, near the foot of the mountains, was another section. It included rocky forested area littered with caves. To the east was forest, and his range went 25 miles in that direction. The south was mostly farmland and orchards, there were still some woods scattered about, it wasn''t completely cultivated. He covered all the farmlands which extended south nearly 35 miles until he got to ''The River.'' He seemed to forget that I wasn''t as familiar with the area and didn''t bother to tell me its name. I did look it up and found that ''The River'' was called the Millrun because it fed a granary town about 90 miles downstream, also called Millrun. The width of the river was estimated to be nearly 700 feet wide to the south of us but became a smaller 300 feet wide in Millrun. So there wasn''t any crossing, except in places where bridges had been built. The 20 miles west was a combination of wooded areas, rocky areas, more caves in the northwest, and a small spring fed lake. There were people settled on the edge of the lake who fished it and sold their catch to the town. Crue had to make sure that this area was safe most often since the Cave Bears would come out and also fish in the lake, and Cave Bears were a huge threat to the average person who lived there. It was lucky that the Cave Bear population was small and they mostly stayed on the more northern side of the lake. Crue tried to keep his ranges manageable, but that was for a full-time Surveyor. He could only do this part-time so he couldn''t roam as far as he would like. The Guild supplied him with a horse when he had time to camp overnight in an area further afield. Now that he had some more free time, because of his break from the temple for mental health and because he needed to train me, he would be able to take me further out on camping exhibitions. Illia was a part of the party now, so in a way, he was also training her. Whether she''d go with us on the camping trips was to be decided. Her only steady income was her job at the library. She really couldn''t afford to take a lot of time off at the moment. We would be splitting any monster kills 3 ways. It wasn''t a lot when you split it, but we could make up for that by hunting more because of my inventory. In this way, her wages killing monsters would be more than she''d make being a librarian. However, Illia really loved her job and didn''t want to just give it up. She was planning on talking to Mary to get a part-timer to pick up a morning, or two, a week.Stolen story; please report. We were making our way down a game path when something popped up on my map. ¡°Two wolves just strayed into my range, they are headed this way,¡± I said. The two dots had been just outside my five-mile range, but perhaps the smell of blood lured them in. They weren''t making a direct line to us but were heading more to where we had been. I made sure to report this to Crue. ¡°They will probably try and circle around behind us. It''s possible they smell the blood. They aren''t that far off, the rain has let up, and the wind is blowing in that direction. Let me know when they are about a mile off. We will find a spot for an ambush in the meantime.¡± Crue''s plan was the same as before. Illia and I would have our backs to something hopefully impassable, while Crue played bait. ¡°That Blessing of yours is extremely handy, I would be careful who you tell about it though,¡± Illia commented readying her staff. ¡°How so?¡± Crue asked while he was scanning the woods for traces of the wolves. I was actually wondering the same thing. ¡°The Guild has a good reason to keep quiet about the skill because they are the ones who would benefit the most, but what do you think would happen if the Kingdom''s army found out about it? They would conscript you. Being able to accurately know where the enemy is and how many troops there are would be beyond invaluable to them. You really need to be careful Eri, the Guild can protect you to some extent since we aren''t currently at war.¡± ¡°But if war should break out the kingdom would do anything to get that skill on their side,¡± Crue finished. ¡°I see what you are saying. I hadn''t considered that part of the problem with the kingdom, just that if they found out about his other Blessings they would try and control him. This would give them even more reason for them to have him under their thumb.¡± ¡°You guys make it sound like the kingdom is going to come in and kidnap me,¡± I shook my head in disbelief. ¡°That''s just about what they do,¡± Crue commented. ¡°That has to be illegal,¡± I protested. Surely, the government wouldn''t kidnap me in the middle of the night. Maybe my Area 51 concerns were more valid than I thought, but instead of being dissected in a lab, I''d be made to use my Blessings against the kingdom''s enemies. ¡°There are ways for the kingdom to get around the legality of conscripting someone, but that''s not your only concern remember. You have to worry about overly ambitious temple members who want to manipulate you. ¡°You just need to be careful who you tell about your Blessings. It''s too late for the temple, but you might still be able to avoid the kingdom. Once you attract the kingdom''s attention you''ll lose most of your autonomy. You might have to actually flee the kingdom if they become interested and you want to remain autonomous,¡± she explained. ¡°Well, the good news is that even if you do have to leave, you will always have your job at the Guild. You can literally go to any kingdom and find work at one of the Guild''s branches,¡± he paused then continued. ¡°Well, once I''m done training you that is. Good news is that once I''m done with the training you will actually have the skill set to be a Surveyor. You won''t have to tell everyone that you have your map. I don''t think Dunbar will spread the word if you ask him. Special skills usually are treated with a great deal of privacy in the Guild.¡± ¡°That is true, the word of your map probably won''t make it to other Guild branches. It got you the job, and once you have the actual skills you''ll be able to keep the job without telling anyone about it,¡± Illia agreed with Crue. I was glad I confided at least partially to Illia. She was able to pick up on consequences that Crue had missed. I didn''t know enough about this world to consider all the politics in play. There were probably even possibilities none of us had thought of yet. I had to put those thoughts on hold though because the Red Wolves were nearly on us. I readied my arrow and waited. One wolf came bursting out and went straight for Crue. I still waited. Even when Illia unleashed her shock attack and Crue went in for the kill on the first one. The other one was hiding waiting for an opening, it was using its companion as a distraction before it attacked. When Crue went it and engaged the first wolf, the second wolf came out from behind him. When I had a shot, I released the arrow. My aim was off by a bit, but I managed a neck piercing wound that put the second wolf down. Illia finished it off with another shock. Crue killed the first one at nearly the same time. *Illia level up~ Oh! I didn''t know I''d get notifications about them as well. I opened her status screen and sure enough, her level was now 9. ¡°Illia you just leveled up,¡± I told her. ¡°Really? So soon? I wasn''t expecting it on our first trip out.¡± She looked at me and smiled. ¡°These are Red Wolves, considerably stronger than the apes you have been hunting. On top of that, you get Eri''s shared Blessing bonus.¡± Crue congratulated her with a thumbs up. ¡°It looks like you''ve gained a bit of Exp too.¡± ¡°Really? How much?¡± She asked. ¡°The majority of your Exp is being allocated automatically to level up, but you have managed to gain 720 Exp. So far today.¡± ¡°What about me?¡± Crue asked. I opened his screen and checked. ¡°Yours is 867, you have a different level of Exp going into your level up than Illia. So you have a bit more.¡± ¡°Can you allocate some of that for me now?¡± Illia asked. ¡°I don''t see why not,¡± I brought her screen back up. ¡°I''d like to see if I can get my Lightning Magic to level 2.¡± I nodded and began allocating points until the magic changed to level 2. ¡°Alright it''s done, you have 246 Exp left.¡± ¡°Thank you, I''ll think about where I want the rest later.¡± I should probably think about it too. My own Exp gain had gone up as well. ¡°We''ve got another hour before we should be heading back. Do we want to track the other wolves, kill some apes, or head back early?¡± Crue asked us when I had added the two new wolves to my inventory. Illia and Crue began talking about it, but having looked at my status something had hit me. I still hadn''t used any magic yet. Well, except for the passive magic like Paralysis Resistance and Mind Magic Resistance. Those just triggered automatically when needed. I had three other magics that were active. No one needed healing so I couldn''t test it. I still had two attack magics though. Maybe I should try one? Illia had the Lightning Magic skill so she could guide me a bit, but honestly, I wanted to try Metal Rain. I was worried about using it around other people though. It said that canopies could be used to protect the others, but since I hadn''t used it I wasn''t certain how it worked. My magic power was still really low so I didn''t think I could erect more than one. Even if I added Exp to the skill to make it stronger I wasn''t sure if I should use it fresh out of the box with a higher skill power. I brought the subject up, laying out my concerns. ¡°Well, we can always stand right beside you,¡± Illia said. ¡°Or we can stand out of sight behind you. Most magics work in the direction the caster is facing,¡± Crue added. They both seemed eager to see a new type of magic, but I was still concerned about safety. I still thought that trying the lightning skill would be better. Still, they ended up convincing me to try Metal Rain. So how to use magic, the books were sort of vague on the subject. They used terms like casting and activating, but they were never very clear on how to go about doing it. If it was anything like how things had been going then I just had to focus on something and will it to happen. With Illia and Crue standing just behind me, I focused on a tree ten yards off. Nothing happened. ¡°Um, it''s not working,¡± I said embarrassed. ¡°Did you try focusing?¡± asked Crue. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Maybe it''s more a visualization thing,¡± Illia coached. ¡°You need to imagine what will happen in order to make it happen. I think that is something magic users do naturally since we would have seen whoever trained us use it.¡± The problem was I had never seen it before, but the description I got was more detailed than most of the descriptions of other magics. So first thing should probably be the canopy. I kept an image of a thick bulletproof dome floating right above us. I heard Illia gasp, but I was focusing on thin 8-inch long needles hitting the tree. That tree would become a pin cushion. There was a flash of purplish-white light, then a handful of smaller 4-inch needles hit the tree. I could barely see them that''s how thin and short they were, but I knew they had hit. Go me! That''s when the wave of dizziness hit me. It felt like my entire body had been drained all at once. I couldn''t recall ever being so tired. I fell to my knees. I would just rest a bit. The wet leaves looked really soft. I passed out with Crue and Illia calling my name. Too bad guys, this piece of nice soft ground was just for me. Name- Eri Veritas HP 2500/2500 MP 4/64 Level- 11 Age- 18 Race/Species- (Human) Unknown Gender- (Male) Unknown Occupation- Surveyor of Adventurers Guild Exp- 8360 Physical Power- 220 Stamina- 280 Defense- 348 Agility- 492 Intelligence- 101 Magic Power- 8 Metal Rain Lv 1 Lightning Magic Lv 1 Healing Hands Lv 1 Paralysis Resistance Lv 3 Mind Magic Resistance Lv 1 Skills Staff Fighting Lv 2 Basic Sword Lv 2 Skull Bashing Lv 2 Martial Arts Lv 2 Stance Lv 1 Smooth Movement Lv 1 Archery Lv 1 Spear Lv 1 Stalking Lv 1 Scouting Lv 1 Jumping Lv 1 Running Lv 2 Pain Tolerance Lv 3 Deception Lv 2 Poker Face Lv 1 Etiquette Lv 3 Dismantling Lv 1 Appraisal Lv 1 Cooking Lv 1 Leather Work Lv 1 Metal Work Lv 1 Replication Lv 1 (Lv 10 for Succuba Star only) Rock Throwing Dancing Singing Harvesting Empathy Telekinesis Small Talk Discretion Party Tricks Restraint Alcohol Tolerance Monster Biology Entomology Zoology Botany Special Skills Abyss Walker Racial Ability- Hidden Among the Masses- 20 Stealth- 95 Party- 10 Items Equip Inventory Bracelet Succuba Star Gold- 0g 1s 28c (128c) Blessing 1- All Map Exploration Blessing 2- Exp Points Required by Level Up / Current Level Blessing 3-Exp Increase X Current Level Blessing 4- Item- Gamer Glasses Titles- Emissary of Amoris Devotee of Amoris Oracle of Amoris Prince of Dreams Grateful Petitioner Lover of Leaves Enemy of Apes Chapter 22 I Pick a Fight with a Nun ¡°Is the healing not working?¡± ¡°No, I think this is magic depletion.¡± ¡°How did that happen? He only used it once.¡± ¡°I don''t know, but it is a new magic so it''s possible it drained him in one go.¡± ¡°Do we need to carry him home?¡± ¡°I think he''ll wake up on his own soon, but we should plan on it.¡± ¡°Can you carry him or do we have to make a stretcher? Should I go cut some branches for poles?¡± ¡°I don''t think so, I think he might be coming out of it. We have a bit of time let''s wait a few more minutes.¡± It was the smell of wet leaves that brought me back to my senses. What had happened? I''d just completed casting Metal Rain and I felt like my entire body had been drained. I was instantly completely exhausted and unable to function. That couldn''t be normal. I opened my eyes and found myself once again in Crue''s lap. Good guy, willing to sit in the mud for me. ¡°Hey, there buddy, how are you feeling?¡± Crue asked helping me sit up. ¡°Like I got hit in the head with a sledgehammer and I forgot to sleep for a week.¡± ¡°I thought so, You used up the majority of your MP didn''t you?¡± Crue asked. ¡°I have 64 MP normally, I thought it only cost 6 to cast the magic. Looks like I was wrong, I''ve only got 6 Mp now.¡± ¡°You used up too much of your MP at once. Your MP is too low to be using that magic. I wouldn''t be using any other magic until you bring it up to at least 84. That way you can practice the skill without passing out from magic depletion. You have to stop when your MP gets to about 18.¡± ¡°I wish one of the books would have told me that,¡± I said ruefully. Not that the book would have helped. I could have sworn the magic cost was only 6 MP. *Metal Rain, as your MP increases that increase will also strengthen Metal Rain, this means a swifter response. This does not mean the attack is stronger, just that the range and time delay between attacks is shorter.~ So it would cost more MP as I leveled up, but there was a max of 400. This wonky system. At times it made little sense. I shouldn''t complain too much though. Metal Rain was a lost art and who really knew how it originally worked. After all, dragons were fundamentally different. ¡°I think it''s one of those common knowledge things that people who write books just assume that the people reading them knows the standard. After all, you normally wouldn''t have a magic that you weren''t taught by someone else first,¡± Illia added. ¡°I didn''t think you were that new to magic.¡± ¡°I suspect it might be this magic, in particular, that''s giving me the trouble, but I''ll keep your advice in mind and level up my MP before I try again.¡± After all Metal Rain was a high-level magic that had been dumbed down for my low MP. ¡°Well, when you think you can walk we should probably be heading back. I think we''ve done enough for today and we still have to stop by the Guild to turn in the kills,¡± Crue said. ¡°I''m looking forward to dinner tonight. I''ll be able to splurge a little after we turn in the kills,¡± Illia smiled. ¡°I was just going to grab dinner at the inn, then maybe nap some more,¡± I told her my plans. It was true. While I had initially planned to do some exercising before bed, I didn''t think I''d be able to muster up the energy today. I was just feeling drained. ¡°I don''t think I''ll be able to join you either, I''ve got some paperwork I need to catch up on. While I''d love to join either of you, I was planning on grabbing a meal in my room and catching up on work. I need to get everything in order before I officially go on leave.¡± ¡°Well, I guess the celebration party will have to be put on hold. Let''s try again tomorrow.¡± ¡°Sorry,¡± I apologized. I did feel bad for putting a damper on her enthusiasm. ¡°No, it''s my fault for not thinking and getting carried away. Please don''t worry about it.¡± Crue began talking about the different places around town that we could have our little celebration tomorrow. Killigan''s, Marge''s, and Bo''s were all mentioned, but so were a few others. I was more than willing to try other places around town. The place depended on the type of celebration though. Crue was leaning towards sweets and pastries, while Illia wanted snack foods and ale. Both were going to be bad for the diet I hadn''t really been following. I was never going to lose weight at this rate. They debated all the way back. It was friendly and there was a lot of teasing of the other''s preferences. I finally broke the stalemate by reminding them I had an inventory. Why couldn''t we have another picnic and each of us choose something to bring? This was clearly the winner, and I was delegated to pick up the drinks at Marge''s since I was staying there. I was to meet Crue in front of the bakery in the morning before our run to get fresh sweets and Illia in the afternoon after she got off work to get snacks. We would also be grabbing a quick lunch. She wanted to go to a few places to pick up her favorites. Crue told me to pick up some non-vegetarian options while I was at it. He would get some things from Tuck and eat lunch at the temple. Then we would meet at the gate and hunt for a few hours. We would turn in our kills and request the use of one of the tables in the dining hall. They allowed you to bring in your own stuff as long as you paid for the table by tipping the waitress and by having everyone order at least one thing. Both Illia and Crue said that the food at the Guild was ok, but the cook tended to be eccentric with the spices. Thus, why we weren''t just getting all our food there. I practiced my bow a bit on the way back. I was able to shoot down 3 apes. I missed one and lost one of Crue''s arrows, but I could feel my aim was getting better even without my using Exp to level the skill. Perhaps archery would be a good test case for my theory on skill dynamics? No, maybe not. I did have some experience in archery from earth. I wouldn''t be able to adequately judge the skill gap. Well yay, that meant I was free to add Exp to it and level it up. I would become Robin Hood! No, that was just fantasy nonsense. Just to be able to hit where I was aiming would be a plus. Don''t get cocky me. There was some activity at the gate. I suspected it was unusual from the way Illia and Crue looked at each other, but I didn''t have any frame of reference of why. There were a few guards huddled around the gate and they were talking animatedly. As we approached one guard ran off. ¡°What''s going on?¡± Crue asked as we showed our Ids. ¡°Missing kid, he disappeared sometime last night and still hasn''t gone back to the temple. They are sending out alerts to all the guards,¡± the guard told him handing back the card. ¡°What do they think?¡± Crue pressed. ¡°Runaway, the kid was supposed to be doing penance at the temple, but he was discovered missing early this morning. They think he ran off last night. The kid at the trial with the gods? It was him. We don''t think it''s very serious yet. We don''t think he''s left the town. He''s just acting out because of what happened. Still, we have to look don''t we?¡± ¡°I would hope so!¡± Illia huffed, ¡°From everything I''ve heard that boy was a budding monster. The gods were right in saying he''d become a sociopath.¡± ¡°We are keeping that in mind, miss,¡± said the guard. Well, it seemed to me as if they were being kinda lackadaisical about it. It could just be this particular guard though. Maybe he was the slow and didn''t care about much type? Like the burnt-out cop who just coasted along until retirement. We were dismissed and sent on our way. I had the idea to help in the search with my map, but we had just had a conversation about getting on the kingdom''s radar. Presumably, guards had been finding runaways for years now without my help. If he was still missing tomorrow I would take a look and talk to Crue about what actions I should take. Until then, we were due at the Guild. The 16 apes I had in my inventory added up to 10 silvers and 40 coppers. My share of the Red Wolf kill was 3 silvers and 34 coppers. I had to take out some charges for dismantling so I ended up with a total of 14 silvers and 55 coppers. Not bad, and I''d be able to pay my rent. We separated at the Guild. Illia seemed unable to wait to spend some of her money and wanted to head to the market and buy some things. Crue headed back to the temple and I went back to Marge''s Tavern. I was really very hungry and I was looking forward to dinner. I was surprised to find a gathering out in front of Marge''s. Seven women dressed in the same dark brown dress were shouting at people going by. They got particularly animated if anyone tried going into the inn. What in the world was going on? Cornering a man who was watching the spectacle from across the square, I asked him what was happening. ¡°The Sisters are protestin'' again,¡± he told me. Well, that didn''t tell me much and I didn''t want to look like an idiot for not knowing who the ''Sisters'' were. What should I do? Should I try and go around the side entrance? As I neared I could actually make out what the women were shouting about. It just pissed me off. My plans of going through the side entrance evaporated. These intolerant bigoted bitches could go get tossed. Anger fueled me as I walked up to the lead bigot who was blocking my path. ¡°Move,¡± was all I said. I was ready for a confrontation and I wasn''t about to back down to some middle-aged harpy. ¡°Don''t step in that den of filth! Marriage is between a man and a woman! Not men who wear dresses! It makes them worse than Demon Kin!¡± The woman spat in my face. Spittle dripped from my chin and down my neck. ¡°The only filthy one''s I see are standing in front of me. MOVE,¡± I shouted as I wiped spit from my neck, ¡°or be moved. The choice is yours.¡± ¡°You wouldn''t dare harm an Oracle of the Goddess!¡± She shouted back. I still didn''t know what bat-shit crazy goddess they worshiped, but I was about to get on her bad side. Here''s hoping Amoris had my back. Maybe I should be praying for Edomael to have my back just in case. He was a tad more reliable. ¡°I AM an Oracle of the Goddess, you dingbat! An Emissary too! So MOVE your butts out of this square or I''m going to move them for you with Amoris'' divine permission! Or do you want her to pop back down here twice in one week?¡± I was laying it on thick, but the ladies at the inn were all devotees of Amoris and she had set a precedent for not putting up with shit. Some of the women became a bit uneasy at that threat. Amoris had just shown up and was part of an execution. One of the ladies was stage-whispering to the leader. ¡°He was there, she confirmed it in her own temple, Sister Uptence,¡± she was tugging on the leader''s sleeve. ¡°Edomael likes him too. I heard him call him son,¡± another woman hissed. Really? Were these harpies everywhere? I had thought no one would really take notice of me at that execution, but this time it worked in my favor. I crossed my arms and tried looking stern. *Skill Gain- Intimidation~ *Title Gain- Devotee of Edomael~ *Title Gain- Oracle of Edomael~ Hold up, What? So scaring off a bunch of bigots got me intimidation, I understood that. Where did the titles come from though? It was really random how those worked. I mean what the heck? Follow some sort of logical pattern already, damn. *Incoming Message. Please check your inventory.~ Oh, well then. I had a feeling I knew who the message was from before I even opened it. *Eri, Go get em! Those Sister''s of Haidee are a pain in the ass. Amoris has been having ''dealings'' with them for centuries. So it''s fine with both of us if you scare the feathers off those thrice damned chickens. Edomael~Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. *Intimidation has been automatically activated. Please check your status.~ Well, guess I didn''t get much more approval than that. I''d been a bit distracted by all the notifications and the letter. So I''d missed part of the Sister''s whispered conversation. I''d been able to keep my face nice and stern, probably due to Poker Face, but I really needed to work on multitasking while using the Gamer Glass. The lead harpy looked at me and winced. She actually winced. Was intimidation that powerful? I doubted it, the skill was only at level 1. I wasn''t ugly, after the reincarnation I''d place myself at above average, so it wasn''t my face. So why did she wince? I was mildly offended, but since the goal was to scare her off I tried not to show it. I wasn''t ugly, damnit. Shit, was I? Was I just being overconfident and I was actually a short fat little troll? So many past insecurities began to well up inside. Shit. ¡°Let''s go Sisters,¡± the lead bigot said turning from me and walking away. The rest of the Bigot Sisters followed. I let out a breath I hadn''t realized I''d been holding. Jumping into confrontation is how I got killed the first time. I wasn''t concerned I was going to be killed by a group of middle-aged women in the center of town, but it seemed I still hosted some hind-brain fear. There was some sporadic clapping from some of the people sitting at the cafe nearby. Poker Face failed me as I blushed from my neck to my ears. Damn, I was ok yelling at harpies but fell apart with a little praise. I nodded my head in the direction, not even making eye contact with the few people there, then I bolted into the inn. The inside was quiet for the time of night. Marge was behind the bar and only one of the girls was serving. Only two of the tables were taken. Normally, at dinner, she''d have at least one girl on tables and one outside for customers. I saw why she didn''t today, and it made me upset all over again. ¡°They''re gone,¡± I told her sitting down at the bar. ¡°Thank Amoris,¡± she moved her stool over to where I sat so it was easier for her to talk. ¡°Do they come around often?¡± ¡°About twice a month. They have rounds they do around the town. Sometimes it''s us, some days it''s other temples, but most days you can find them protesting in front of the brothels.¡± ¡°Won''t the guard do anything?¡± ¡°Not really, they aren''t violent themselves, but they''ve gotten in trouble before for inciting violence in other areas, so they are careful. They never step a toe from public property. What they say is horrible but they have the right to say it, unfortunately. As long as people don''t get violent they are fine doing what they are doing.¡± ¡°Don''t people try and stop them?¡± ¡°They are backed by a goddess, not many people want that sort of negativity looming about.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Well, no one wants to have Haidee angry at them. They''d get a group of Sisters protesting at their door. No one wants that.¡± ¡°I see,¡± so most people ignored the Sisters because they were such a big nuisance they didn''t want that sort of asshattery taking up in front of their homes or businesses. Seeing how they killed off the majority of Marge''s dinner rush I could see why confrontation was avoided. ¡°Anyway, Daisy is cooking stew today. I sent Netty home when the Sisters showed up. No point in having her stick around when there''s no one to cook for.¡± ¡°I see, well I''ll have the stew Daisy is cooking and some tea.¡± ¡°Tea?¡± ¡°I overexerted myself today so I think tea would be better for me.¡± ¡°Alright, tea it is. I''ll be right out.¡± Marge stepped down from the counter and went to the back. She came back with a tray with a small teapot and cup on it. She also had a jar with honey. Placing these in front of me she poured my first cup. She smiled as I sipped the tea before deciding it didn''t need sweetening. Did Marge blend her own tea too? I wouldn''t put it past her. Daisy''s stew came out shortly after. It was a tomato stew with onions, lots of green pepper, minced meat, and rice. I also got a side of bread. It was spicy! Oh, boy! Daisy added more than green peppers to that stew. There were some ''kick you in the pants'' peppers in there. It wasn''t so spicy to be intolerable but I broke out in a light sweat. I did end up finishing the entire pot of tea much to Marge''s amusement. She went to fetch me a refill. ¡°Hey.¡± A woman sat down beside me at the counter. ¡°Saw what you did out there, good job.¡± She was dark-skinned, coffee with milk shade. Her eyes were also dark, and her hair was black and curly. It was up in a ponytail, but still long enough to fall down her back. Her face was smooth and her cheekbones were high. She had a slightly pointy chin and a rounded nose. She was beautiful. Her clothes were more on the mundane side, even if she was wearing pants. They were obviously Spider Silk and they fit her a lot better than they fit me. Her top was a simple loose fitting blouse that fell to her hips. She wore a dark red woven belt around her waist. I''d missed how tall she was when she sat down, but from the looks of those legs, she had an inch or two on me. She stretched out a leg as if she had caught me looking. Then she crossed them. ¡°My name''s Ave, nice to meet you,¡± she held out her hand. She had a smirking smile on her face. I was unsure if I had been caught ogling her legs or not so I decided to err on the side of ignorance. ¡°Nice to meet you,¡± I shook with her, ¡°I''m...¡± Marge came back with my second round of tea right at that moment distracting me from my introduction. She glanced at the newcomer as she put down the pot. ¡°I''ll have what he''s having,¡± Ave said anticipating Marge''s question. Marge nodded and returned to the back. I poured another cup of tea from the pot determined to get through this stew. The woman, Ave, was sending me these coy looks. I assumed they were coy, I''d never really flirted with someone across a bar before. Was she flirting? I was out of my element. Maybe she was a prostitute looking for a John? If so, I wasn''t interested and if Marge found out she''d be tossed out unceremoniously. The smile slipped from the woman''s face. Then it appeared again. ¡°I meant what I said, what you did standing up to the Sisters was something.¡± ¡°I just got angry and let my temper get the best of me.¡± I didn''t know how to interact with this beautiful woman so I was focusing hard on the stew stirring it around mindlessly in a vain effort to cool the heat of it. ¡°I''ve seen you at the Guild too. Are you an adventurer or something else?¡± She asked as Marge placed another pot of tea in front of her along with a bowl of stew. ¡°Be turning my place into a tea house next thing you know,¡± Marge grumbled to herself and she went to talk to the customers at a table in the corner. She must have known them because she took a seat. ¡°I was just hired as the new Surveyor. I''m currently in training,¡± I answered Ave''s question. ¡°Oh, so that''s why. I had wondered why Crue had been at the Guild so much recently.¡± ¡°You know Crue?¡± ¡°Only by reputation, I''m just your average adventurer, but like you, I''m new in town.¡± ¡°You''re not from Yellow Springs?¡± ¡°Nope, I like to travel. To see new places, experience new things. Adventuring allows me to do that.¡± ¡°You''re not staying long?¡± ¡°I go when the whim takes me, but I am really enjoying the hot springs. Have you tried them yet?¡± She took a big bite of stew. It didn''t seem to affect her at all. Well, didn''t I look like a wimp. ¡°Only the one at Amoris Temple. I haven''t been to any of the other''s.¡± ¡°Amoris Temple is a good one, but you should visit the one at Erasmus Temple, it''s probably the best one in town that I''ve found so far.¡± ¡°What makes it better than Amoris?¡± I asked her genuinely interested. ¡°It''s hotter for one and for some reason the spring bubbles. It''s so nice. All the little bubbles on your skin.¡± Sounded like a hot tub to me. ¡°That sounds really great, when I get some free time I will have to check it out.¡± ¡°There is a small one at Edomael''s Temple too. It''s small, but because it''s small it''s more private and you are more likely to be able to soak on your own. You don''t even need a towel if no one else is around.¡± I was getting the feeling that Ave was becoming a hot springs enthusiast. It made her a bit more approachable. I was starting to relax a bit. ¡°I wasn''t aware that Edomael had a hot spring.¡± I didn''t know Erasmus had one either, but I wanted the conversation to continue. ¡°I don''t think many do. It''s not normally the temple you go to when you think of relaxing baths.¡± ¡°I guess not. Though the priests I''ve met seem very friendly,¡± I paused. She caught my pause and prodded me. ¡°And...¡± ¡°Well, I ran into one Edomael priest that was a bit crude.¡± ¡°Really? Many of them that I''ve met have always had great manners. They seem to have this aura of respectfulness about them. It''s like it''s part of the Edomael priestly code.¡± ¡°I wonder if part of that is a projection of other''s expectations. Considering what Edomael''s a patron of. There is a mystery around death that some people find eerie.¡± I was remembering the morgue attendants at my Gran''s funeral. ¡°You''re probably right about that.¡± The conversation seemed to die off. Hell, what was I thinking bringing up death? Of course it would be a conversation killer. Stupid me. I mentally beat myself up while trying to think of something else to say. ¡°Well, I better get going, see you around Eri.¡± She got up, left a few coins on the counter, and walked out. Well, that didn''t go as well as I''d hoped. She seemed friendly enough, but it''s not like she was that interested in me. She had been intrigued by my intervention with the Sisters, but my bumbling attempts at flirting and conversation, probably put her off. With a sigh, I finished my stew. I''d probably never run into her again. I really needed to work on my personal relations skills. I couldn''t even introduce myself right. I waved to Marge and headed upstairs to bed. I was tired and I had a lot of thoughts to think through. So many my brain wouldn''t shut down. I ended up taking another dose of sleeping powder. Name- Eri Veritas HP 2500/2500 MP 12/64 Level- 11 Age- 18 Race/Species- (Human) Unknown Gender- (Male) Unknown Occupation- Surveyor of Adventurers Guild Exp- 8370 Physical Power- 220 Stamina- 280 Defense- 348 Agility- 492 Intelligence- 101 Magic Power- 8 Metal Rain Lv 1 Lightning Magic Lv 1 Healing Hands Lv 1 Paralysis Resistance Lv 3 Mind Magic Resistance Lv 1 Skills Staff Fighting Lv 2 Basic Sword Lv 2 Skull Bashing Lv 2 Martial Arts Lv 2 Stance Lv 1 Smooth Movement Lv 1 Archery Lv 1 Spear Lv 1 Stalking Lv 1 Scouting Lv 1 Jumping Lv 1 Running Lv 2 Pain Tolerance Lv 3 Deception Lv 2 Intimidation Lv 1 Poker Face Lv 1 Etiquette Lv 3 Dismantling Lv 1 Appraisal Lv 1 Cooking Lv 1 Leather Work Lv 1 Metal Work Lv 1 Replication Lv 1 (Lv 10 for Succuba Star only) Rock Throwing Dancing Singing Harvesting Empathy Telekinesis Small Talk Discretion Party Tricks Restraint Alcohol Tolerance Monster Biology Entomology Zoology Botany Special Skills Abyss Walker Racial Ability- Hidden Among the Masses- 20 Stealth- 95 Party- 10 Items Equip Inventory Bracelet Succuba Star Gold- 1g 4s 55c (1455c) Blessing 1- All Map Exploration Blessing 2- Exp Points Required by Level Up / Current Level Blessing 3-Exp Increase X Current Level Blessing 4- Item- Gamer Glasses Titles- Emissary of Amoris Devotee of Amoris Devotee of Edomael Oracle of Amoris Oracle of Edomael Prince of Dreams Grateful Petitioner Lover of Leaves Enemy of Apes Chapter 23 I See Red Chapter 23 I See Red I met Crue at the bakery the next morning. My butt was dragging. I was still so tired, even though I''d slept longer than usual. I would give a small unimportant body part for some coffee in this world. I stood by Crue sipping at the strongest tea the shop had as he picked out sweets. Personal cakes, things covered in sugar, some sticky looking rolls with nuts, all went into my inventory. Crue was excited about the new fall collection and made sure he picked up some for all of us. They did look good, but I couldn''t bring myself to get enthusiastic about the pumpkin pie smelling fritters. For some reason, the smell made me a bit ill. I''d probably never be able to eat pumpkin pie again thanks to Amoris. We met Illia at the temple and began our now daily run. It was just as bad for me today, if not worse since I was still so exhausted. Why wasn''t my body recovering like it normally did? It was probably because of the MP drain from yesterday, but my MP had fully recovered overnight. Crue led us through the odd Tai Chi and we ran back to the temple. After our baths, Tuck had breakfast waiting for us. The problem was I didn''t feel like eating. Smells were making me queasy. I did manage to eat some apple slices and plain toast. Illia and Crue expressed some concern, but I told them I was going to go back to the inn and nap for a few more hours. Crue gave me some powder to take. He said it would help. I opened it up and sniffed it. How could something good for you smell so sickly? Illia offered to postpone the gathering for another day, but I told her that we should wait and see how I felt later. I would meet her after her shift and we could discuss things at that point. She agreed and ran off to work. Crue went for his shift at the clinic. I went back to the inn. Once in my room, I took Crue''s powder and fell into bed. I didn''t even bother to take off my boots. I didn''t have any issues getting to sleep, I was so tired. My dreams were muddled and made no sense. They were disturbing though. I woke with cold sweat and my heart beating fast. What had I been dreaming? It was something bad, very bad, and for some reason, I could remember the smell. Rotten roadkill in the heat of summer. There was something sickly sweet about the smell of rot that lingered on in my mind even though I couldn''t remember the rest of the dream. Besides my rude wake-up, I was feeling a lot better. I was also hungry. That was a good sign. While not exactly refreshed from my nap, I wasn''t dragging anymore. I splashed cold water all over my body to wake myself up more and made my way downstairs. I ordered some bottles of ale from Marge with the promise I would bring the bottles back when we were done. I guess she reused them. Not something I would have thought of doing back home. When you bought bottled beer you tossed out the empties. You could recycle them, but I''d never heard of anyone reusing the bottles for re-bottling more product. Enough ale to get the three of us nicely sloshed that night, I decided I wanted more of that strong tea from next door. I had some time before I had to meet Illia and a little bit of pick-me-up wouldn''t hurt. I was fairly certain at this point that their dark tea had the same amount of caffeine as a cup of coffee. It was only a bonus that it tasted better than coffee. The sun was so bright when I stepped outside. I had to wait for my eyes to adjust. Still a little sun blind I headed towards the bakery. I was surprised to see Ave sitting at one of the cafe tables. She looked troubled, her forehead was wrinkled and her lips where pursed. She hunched a bit around her cup and was picking at the edge of the open-faced sandwich she had. ¡°May I join you?¡± I asked walking up to her table and pointing to the other chair. She glanced up and gave a brief smile. She pushed the chair out for me with her foot. ¡°Sure.¡± ¡°I''ll have a black tea,¡± I said to the girl who walked up as I sat down. ¡°Anything else, honey, sugar, cream?¡± she asked. ¡°Just a little cream, thank you.¡± The girl nodded and headed to the counter to begin my tea. ¡°Is there something wrong?¡± I asked Ave leaning back in the chair. ¡°You looked like you were thinking about something too hard.¡± ¡°I suppose so. I had to,¡± she paused, ¡°decline a request and my,¡± she paused again picking at her bread, ¡°client didn''t take the news well. I''m worried they might do something.¡± She sighed. ¡°I can''t talk about the details, but adventuring isn''t my only job. I sometimes do consulting work. I''m concerned about how badly they took my refusal. I was debating on what actions I should take moving forward.¡± ¡°Some people don''t take refusal well. I think it''s part of working in a customer-oriented position.¡± Flashbacks of my short time at the returns desk during holiday season popped up. That job was a nightmare. I was surprised more people didn''t walk away from it with PTSD. ¡°I know I''m not exactly responsible for their actions after I refuse them, but there are times when I think if I just would have taken the request then all the shit that follows would never happen. You know what I mean?¡± The girl came back with the tea and I took a sip. Perfection, in a few seconds I would feel the buzz of the caffeine running in my veins. ¡°You think your client will act against you?¡± I questioned. ¡°No, but I think they might do something really stupid that is going to seriously destroy their life.¡± ¡°Did you try talking to them about that?¡± ¡°They refused to listen. I had thought that with a little time to cool off I would go back and talk to them again, but I think they might act out rashly. I can''t stop them from destroying their life, but I feel partially responsible for it.¡± ¡°Even though logically you know you aren''t at fault?¡± ¡°Yes, exactly. There is nothing I can do at this moment to prevent the mistakes I know they are going to make.¡± ¡°Are you so certain they will act out?¡± ¡°I believe so,¡± she sighed. ¡°Well, the future is uncertain. You never know if something will come along.¡± I took another sip of my tea. I was feeling a bit philosophical. I could see her dilemma, but she wasn''t responsible for some idiot''s temper tantrum. If he did something stupid then that was on him, she had tried to warn him. She knew that though, it still didn''t stop her from feeling the guilt. ¡°You''re right about the future. I probably shouldn''t be beating myself up over something that hasn''t even happened yet. Thanks for listening.¡± She gave me a small smile. ¡°No problem.¡± ¡°I think I''ll try talking to them now instead of waiting. Thank you again.¡± She stood up leaving some money on the table. Her food left uneaten. She patted my shoulder as she left. ¡°See ya, and good luck,¡± I called after her. She waved in response not turning around. She strode off like she had a goal and nothing was going to get in her way. I still had some time, so I ordered a second cup of the dark tea before I met with Illia. Illia was just stepping out as I was walking up. Good timing on both our parts. ¡°Hey, how are you feeling?¡± She asked walking up to me and feeling my forehead for fever. I hadn''t been hot before, but she kept checking. ¡°I''m doing better. I''m actually hungry and looking forward to lunch. What do you have in mind?¡± There are a few food stands I want to visit near the market, then there is a place called Hat Yai Fried Chicken where we will have lunch, then circle around to the Red District for more food stalls. We can then meet Crue at the Temple. On our way out we can get stuff from the food stalls at the square.¡± She smiled at me, a lovely childlike smile. However, why was she frequenting the food stalls in the Red District of town? She was familiar enough to know which ones she wanted to go to. I deeply questioned her childlike smile after that small revelation. It would be my first time actually going into that part of the town. I''d skirted around it, but I''d never actually ventured in. A part of me was a little afraid of it after Marge''s dire warnings. I was particularly attached to my member, thank you very much. The reasonable part of me knew I could walk into that area and as long as I didn''t partake of the goods I''d be fine. Logic and sense didn''t work well when it came to someone''s family jewels. ¡°Come on, we don''t have all day,¡± she tugged me along completely oblivious to my misgivings. She took me to the market first. She bought fried sweet potatoes slices at one of the stalls, fried onions at another. At the onion stall, she also bought paper containers of dips. She passed them to me by the handful and I dutifully placed them in my inventory. She then took me north to a place that was part restaurant part food stall. There was outdoor seating and the food came from a permanent outdoor cart. All the seats at the table were full and there was a short line in front of the cart. The entire set up was right on the outskirts of a wide road with larger buildings. ¡°Have you been to Temple Row yet?¡± Illia asked gesturing to the buildings that lined both sides of the street. Some were larger than others, but all had the same overall church feel to their architecture. ¡°No, this is the first time I''ve been this way.¡± ¡°Well, this is Temple Row, every building along that street for four blocks is a temple. Most of them for minor gods, though. The Temple of Aequitas and Torque are at the end where there is more yard. The other temples of the main twelve gods are scattered in other places in town. Well, Zyanthis'' temple isn''t so much in town as out of it. It''s that large building on the outside of the northeastern wall. Have you seen it?¡±Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. ¡°No,¡± I shook my head, ¡°most of my wanderings have been to the southeast or southwest, I haven''t really wondered north along the wall.¡± ¡°Well, there is a small door in the wall near the temple so you don''t have to walk all the way around.¡± ¡°That makes it more convenient...or does it?¡± I asked puzzled. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Why is the temple outside the wall in the first place?¡± ¡°Oh! Zyanthis is the God of Wild Places and Animals. It would be odd for his temple to be in town. Especially, with all the goats.¡± ¡°Goats?¡± ¡°The priests keep goats, they sell the milk to help fund the temple. They don''t do healing of people, but they do heal livestock so they need a lot of space.¡± ¡°So it''s an animal clinic rather than a human one. That''s actually very interesting, I''d like to visit sometime.¡± I was serious. I really did want to see what type of people worshipped Zyanthis and how they kept an animal hospital in this new world. ¡°I''ll take you with me next time I go if you want?¡± She asked me with a question in her voice. ¡°I really would like to visit, just let me know when.¡± She beamed a 100-watt smile at me her entire face lighting up. Wow, I didn''t really take Illia for the religious type but I guess I was wrong. Well, I was supposed to be religious considering my titles, but I wasn''t feeling very devout. It was hard to revere a god when they were so... human, I guess. Some seats were opening up at one of the tables. So Illia and I got in line to place our order hoping that the people in front of us wouldn''t take the newly opened spots. Hat Yai Fried Chicken said a sign on the front of the cart. There was an old lady manning the cart with another older woman, most likely her daughter. They both wore blue smocks and had their hair wrapped up in blue cloth. They ran like a smooth machine. The old lady took the money and handed out the food while the daughter tossed chicken pieces into a giant oil-filled wok. The old lady scooping out pieces that were cooked and adding rice and sauce to hand to customers. The daughter doing prep work for the chicken in the back, then running up front to toss in more chicken. It was our turn in line. ¡°Four Veggie plates please,¡± Illia ordered first. The old woman reached under the counter and pulled out a covered basket. In it were already prepared veggies. She tossed the correct amount of veggies in the oil, then put the basket back. Illia stood to the side as her food cooked. ¡°You?¡± The old woman asked me. ¡°Six chicken plates please,¡± I told the woman. Crue had asked that I get some meat. I might as well get the meat that everyone on Temple Row was lining up for. The woman nodded as I handed over the money. She then scooped out six portions of rice, placing them not on plates but on squares of thick waxed paper. On top of the rice, she placed two pieces of chicken, one thigh and one leg. Then she got poured a thick glaze sauce over top of each one. I missed how she wrapped it because she did it so quickly, but the food wasn''t falling out of the strange plate origami. She stacked the squares on top of each other and passed me the pile. The bottom was hot. I quickly put them all in my inventory so I wouldn''t drop them from the heat. The old ladies sparse eyebrows went up at that, but she didn''t stop her service. She quickly scooped out Illia''s food and did the same paper origami with hers. Illia handed me three of them, leaving one out for herself. That she carried to the open spots at one of the tables. I had to get out one of the chicken plates back out of my inventory in order to eat my food. That''s when I discovered a problem. There were no eating utensils. I glanced back up at the cart to see if I had missed them, nope. Then I looked around, everyone else seemed to have things to eat with. Illia pulled a fork from somewhere and dug in. Oh, so we were supposed to supply our own. Good thing I had gotten some camping equipment. I brought my utilitarian fork out of my inventory and scooped up some of the rice and sauce. Oh sweet and spicy heaven, this stuff was amazing. It was a sweet chili sauce. Not hot like Daisy''s stew, but spicy in a good way. I picked a piece of the chicken off the bone with my fork as it was still too hot to pick up with my hands. I bit into it. Was that, coriander? It was delicious is what it was. Illia had shown me a great spot. ¡°Good right? A lot of places have fried chicken, but this place is the best in town.¡± ¡°I''ll believe you. I''ve never had anything quite like it.¡± ¡°They are from the south, not near the desert, but further east near the ocean.¡± ¡°That''s a long way off.¡± I really had very little frame of reference for this remark accept the few maps I was able to find in books. I was guessing it was probably as far as one end of the US to the other with a rather large desert in between. Though my scale might be a bit off since I could only see as far as the borders of this kingdom on my own map. She nodded in agreement taking a bite of something large and circular. Was that fried eggplant? ¡°There was a war and they fled here to escape it. Crue says they''ve been here as long as he''s been alive.¡± The conversation died off, but it was comfortable. While I wanted to savor the meal, we had other stops to make. Then we had to meet up with Crue. I was a mix of excitement and anxiety of where Illia was taking me next. We made our way through the streets, taking a shortcut through an alley. On the other end of that shortcut was the center of the Red District. I could see why it was called the Red District. Though only encompassing a few blocks nearly every establishment along the way had red banners hanging above the doors or from windows. I was thinking more along the lines of red lamps, but the lamps here were the same as with the other parts of town. Some banners had the name of the place painted on them, others were smaller and were unadorned. It being just slightly after lunchtime, there was some light foot traffic. I was surprised to find out that there was very little solicitation going on. There were a few women, but most of them were in line buying things from the street vendors. I was a little disappointed in how normal it all seemed. Illia made a direct line for a stand near the corner of the street. It was fried dough. Not doughnuts, but more like the elephant ears you got at the fair. She ordered a lot of them. All of them sprinkled with cinnamon-sugar. She gave them to me two at a time wrapped up in more paper. There was no way the three of us could eat this much, but I didn''t want to curb her. The last one she kept and carried with her as we walked to the temple. A woman who was in her late twenties caught my attention. Her hair was a bright red, and her figure was plump and curvy. She had a slight smattering of freckles across most of her skin. She drew my eye, not because of anything she was doing, but because when I looked at her I got an odd tingle at the base of my spine. Was it fear? No, I wasn''t afraid of her. She was just standing there watching the flow of traffic swaying gently from side to side cleaning the front steps with her broom. She seemed to notice my look and glanced my way. She sort of froze. That was odd. I continued to follow Illia as I watched the woman stand like a statue giving me hard eye contact. I finally nodded in her direction and broke off that eye contact by staring at the back of Illia''s head. I could still feel her eyes on me though. What an odd encounter. Name- Eri Veritas HP 2500/2500 MP 64/64 Level- 11 Age- 18 Race/Species- (Human) Unknown Gender- (Male) Unknown Occupation- Surveyor of Adventurers Guild Exp- 8370 Physical Power- 220 Stamina- 280 Defense- 348 Agility- 492 Intelligence- 101 Magic Power- 8 Metal Rain Lv 1 Lightning Magic Lv 1 Healing Hands Lv 1 Paralysis Resistance Lv 3 Mind Magic Resistance Lv 1 Skills Staff Fighting Lv 2 Basic Sword Lv 2 Skull Bashing Lv 2 Martial Arts Lv 2 Stance Lv 1 Smooth Movement Lv 1 Archery Lv 1 Spear Lv 1 Stalking Lv 1 Scouting Lv 1 Jumping Lv 1 Running Lv 2 Pain Tolerance Lv 3 Deception Lv 2 Intimidation Lv 1 Poker Face Lv 1 Etiquette Lv 3 Dismantling Lv 1 Appraisal Lv 1 Cooking Lv 1 Leather Work Lv 1 Metal Work Lv 1 Replication Lv 1 (Lv 10 for Succuba Star only) Rock Throwing Dancing Singing Harvesting Empathy Telekinesis Small Talk Discretion Party Tricks Restraint Alcohol Tolerance Monster Biology Entomology Zoology Botany Special Skills Abyss Walker Racial Ability- Hidden Among the Masses- 20 Stealth- 95 Party- 10 Items Equip Inventory Bracelet Succuba Star Gold- 1g 4s 09c (1409c) Blessing 1- All Map Exploration Blessing 2- Exp Points Required by Level Up / Current Level Blessing 3-Exp Increase X Current Level Blessing 4- Item- Gamer Glasses Titles- Emissary of Amoris Devotee of Amoris Devotee of Edomael Oracle of Amoris Oracle of Edomael Prince of Dreams Grateful Petitioner Lover of Leaves Enemy of Apes Chapter 24 I Take it Easy Chapter 24 I Take it Easy ¡°I saved you a bite,¡± Illia offered the last bit of her elephant ear to Crue as she walked up. ¡°You''ll get fat eating all that junk,¡± he commented taking the offered treat. He didn''t hesitate in shoving most of it in his mouth. He offered me the last bite, but I shook my head in refusal. It didn''t take long for that bit to end up in his mouth as well. ¡°You''ll get fat eating all those sweets,¡± she countered with a smile. ¡°You know I have an extra stomach for sweets.¡± ¡°So do cows and look how big they get,¡± she poked him in the ribs teasingly. Part of me was glad I was left out of this little play. I was insecure about my weight as it was, and I''d been good in not binging on chocolate. Not that eating fried chicken was much better for the diet I wasn''t really sticking too. I sighed. ¡°How are you feeling?¡± Crue came up to me and felt my forehead. Why did everyone think that was something they had to do to people? Well, he was a healer so I guess it was for medically valid reasons. Illia also got a pass, only because we were now friends. The more I thought about it, it''s not like strangers would walk up and do this sort of thing. You only did it to people you felt comfortable with. That gave me the warm fuzzies, they were such kind people. ¡°I''m feeling fine. I don''t know if it was the extra sleep, the powder you gave me, or a combination of both, but I''m really feeling fine.¡± ¡°That''s good, the powder was just some fever reducer and some anti-nausea medication, so it was probably the extra rest. I was worried you were coming down with a cold. Are you sure you are ok?¡± ¡°I thought so too, maybe even the beginnings of the flu the way my body was feeling. Honestly though, I really feel fine.¡± ¡°Well, we''ll take it easier today. I was thinking of heading west near the lake. That sound good?¡± The lake was to the northwest of the town, but we wouldn''t'' be able to go all the way there in a few short hours. We would just be able to explore the woods to the south of the lake. There had been some wolves in the area yesterday. Since we were on the eastern side of the town yesterday, we never got to them. Illia made a short stop at a stand in the square to get some fried pumpkin. Then we were on our way to the northwestern part of the forest. So much for taking it easy. We had barely made our way a half mile into the woods before we were attacked by a pair of Red Wolves. It was alarming how close they were to the town and to the farms further south. Crue planned on teaching us tracking again today, so had me keep the map off. The appearance of the wolves so close changed his mind. ¡°Eri, I need an accurate count of how many are in this 5-mile radius.¡± I opened my map and checked. Most of the area he requested was taken by the town, but he had a good reason to be asking. ¡°There are five headed our way following the wall coming from the north,¡± I reported. ¡°There is another one further west and south of us near the road, but I think someone else is taking care of it.¡± There had been two blue dots alongside the hostile Red Wolf dot. ¡°This is bad, even I know there shouldn''t be this many so close to town,¡± Illia readied her staff and prepared for the fight. ¡°Should we head back to the Guild and tell them?¡± She asked. ¡°We''ll take care of these five, then check to see if those other people need help. We can send them into town to warn the Guild. ¡°Ready, here they come, follow the formation.¡± Crue dropped into an attack stance. This time Crue had me back to back with him. Illia was still on long ranged attacks. Crue could handle two wolves on his own, but if asked to do five he probably wouldn''t come out of it unharmed. A thought occurred to me, we had been planning on allocating the extra Exp at dinner tonight, but right now we needed a little extra firepower. ¡°Illia I''m allocating some of your Exp to Lightning Magic and Static Shock.¡± ¡°Right,¡± Illia confirmed not taking her eyes away from the direction of the incoming threat. I began pumping her Exp into leveling up both skills. I used the Exp she''d gained in helping kill the two previous wolves as well. When they both finally leveled up she was left with only 35 Exp. ¡°Crue?¡± I asked the question. Good thing he understood me. ¡°Sword skills, don''t care which ones,¡± he said. I sent Exp into Skull Bashing, Slicing, and Slash, I didn''t think there was enough left to level up Basic Sword so I dumped most of the rest into Martial Arts. The remaining hundred or so Exp went to Basic Sword. Even if it didn''t level up it might help some. This was no time to be hoarding Exp. I leveled my Basic Sword up to level 4 and Skull Bashing to level 3. I brought my Martial Arts up to level 3 and made Stance and Smooth Movement both level 2. I still had some Exp left, but I had run out of time to allocate it. The wolves came bursting out of the woods. They weren''t trying to be subtle or stalk us. They came at us full tilt, a hundred pounds of pure malice each. Two split off and went for Illia. The other three attacked us. ¡°Shit,¡± Crue swore. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the sparks of Illia''s magic. I just had to trust that she could handle it. I had my hands full. The first wolf dove in, and I brought my sword down. I missed but managed to knock it off balance enough for my follow through to slice its foreleg. *Skill Gain- Slicing~ Dammit not now, I didn''t need the distraction. Another wolf came in going for my ankles. I brought my sword down on its head. This time I connected with the first jab. I was able to stab through the wolf''s neck. Pulling my sword back out was a bit harder since it was caught on something inside. *Skill Gain- Piercing~ Hell, and damn. The first wolf was up again and I was still trying to pull my sword out. It also went for my ankles. I had to kick at it to prevent it from biting me. I made contact in its face, just a glancing blow, but enough to buy time to get my sword free. It came again and just as I was turning to face it Crue was there sweeping his sword in a wide arc, cutting the side of its neck wide open. I jumped out of the way as its momentum kept it moving towards me. Illia had been able to incapacitate one wolf but was fighting off the other wolf by smacking it with her staff if it got too close. There was something to be said about smashing somethings skull in with a large stick. She got an excellent blow in that sent the attacking wolf flying 4 feet backward. Crue and I got to her just in time for it to recover. ¡°Get the one on the ground, I''ve got this,¡± Crue ordered. He was right. Illia had been able to stun the other wolf, but it was still alive and trying to get back up. I ran over to that one and sliced at its neck like Crue did. I had to do it twice to get a deep enough cut for my satisfaction. While I wasn''t looking Crue had dispatched the last wolf. *Illia- Level Up~ *Crue- Level Up~ *You have leveled up please check your status~ Wait that was only four. Then I spotted the fifth wolf not far away from where we first started. Crue must have killed that one, then turned to help me with the other. Decent teamwork. I wasn''t sure how parties usually worked, but we all came out of this with no injuries. So that was a good sign. ¡°Anyone injured?¡± Crue asked. ¡°My leg got a bit scratched up, but nothing major,¡± Illia told him. Crue immediately knelt and began to heal her, even though it was a minor injury we weren''t done today. ¡°I''m fine,¡± I commented quickly going around and collecting the wolves. We didn''t have time to let them bleed out today. ¡°The other wolf?¡± Crue asked from his position next to Illia. I glanced at my map to check. ¡°Still alive, so are the two people fighting it.¡± ¡°We should hurry, if they haven''t killed it at this point they probably aren''t likely to do so without getting hurt.¡± ¡°I''m good,¡± Illia announced as Crue looked up at her. ¡°Then let''s run,¡± Crue led the way through the woods. I only gave him some minor directions. We came out behind the wolf attacking the young couple. Illia was the first to attack, hitting it with a shower of sparks. Crue followed up with a slice along the neck. My job was to catch the girl as she collapsed after seeing the shower of sparks. She was hurt, her dress was torn and her arms were shredded. I immediately thought of all those wounds closing up. I brought us both down so I was cradling her in one arm and working my other hand up and down her wounded body. I wasn''t being a pervert, I was trying to heal her. The scratches and scrapes were healing just fine, but the deeper puncture wounds weren''t really budging. I allocated my new Exp into Healing Hands bringing it to level 2. There we go, the puncture wounds were starting to close up. I imagined the skin knitting together, the cells bonding, any sort of infection being killed. Go away germs, go away, I mentally recited the old hand washing song from my childhood. The girl had passed out, and I wasn''t trained enough to check for internal wounds. So once I had her patched up I looked around for Crue. He was healing someone familiar. Henry, lay on his back breathing heavily. He was looking my way. Gasping for breath. He looked even worse than the girl. I was glad Crue had taken him. I didn''t think I would have been able to fix that. Crue was doing something a bit different from me. His hands weren''t glowing yellow like mine but were a shade of very pale blue. His glow had been yellow with Illia. Was Henry so hurt that the color changed? That''s when I recalled Crue''s skill list. He was probably using his other healing skill, Healing Waters. ¡°I think she''s OK, but when Crue is done he should look at her,¡± I told him. Relief flooded his face, and tears squeezed out of his closed eyes. ¡°He''s still alive, but he''s badly hurt,¡± Illia said from behind me. I craned my neck around to look. Tick lay there, he wasn''t moving, his fur was coated in blood. ¡°Take her,¡± I said to Illia and we switched places. I did what I could to stop the bleeding and close up the wounds, but Tick still wasn''t moving. He was still breathing, but not moving. His neck had been savaged. I focused as hard as I could trying to picture the anatomy of a dog. Imagining tendons knitting, clear airways, and lungs. I ran my hands over his blood-soaked fur over and over. I even pictured little red blood cells flowing in and out of his pumping heart. I tried, I really did. I just hoped it would be enough. When I opened my eyes after focusing, I looked back at one large brown eye. Tick was awake and conscious, though still hurt enough he didn''t try and move. He whined briefly at me and nudged my hand with his nose. I activated the skill again imaging some of the pain going away. I didn''t want it all gone, because I didn''t want the dog to get up and re-injure himself on accident. Tick let out a sigh and closed his eye again. Good boy, you''re safe. ¡°The girl will be fine, she''ll wake up soon. The boy will be OK as well, with a little time to rest. How is the dog?¡± ¡°This is the first time I''ve done this. I tried, but I just don''t know enough to fix this completely.¡± I nodded to Tick. Crue understood what I meant and he gave it a shot with his blue magic. ¡°You did a good job considering this is the first time you''ve used the skill. The girl was well taken care of. I only had to fix some torn ligaments and some busted blood vessels. ¡°To be honest though, even I''m out of my element with animals. The fundamentals are the same, so he should live. I think he needs to be taken to Zyanthis'' Temple to have our work double-checked.¡± ¡°Hear that Henry, you are all gonna live,¡± I call to him. ¡°Nice, to know,¡± he muttered throwing his arm over his eyes. I stood up and went over to him. Then I knelt and glanced about, looking for his sheep. ¡°Henry, where are your sheep?¡± They weren''t around as far as I could tell. Did the Red Wolf scare them off? ¡°Cousin''s watching them. Polly and I were just goin'' around visiting the neighbors with the announcements. We''re getting married next spring.¡± ¡°Congratulations! I''m happy for you,¡± I told him sincerely. ¡°I was walking her back to town when the wolf attacked. Tick bought some time for us to get out our knives,¡± he pointed to the short bloody blade laying beside him in the grass. ¡°He''s a good dog, you''ll have to take him to the temple just to be safe.¡± ¡°I know,¡± he pushed himself up into a sitting position and scooted over to where his fianc¨¦ lay. Illia had been proving Polly''s head with support using her lap, but Henry moved to take her place. He began petting the girl''s straight black hair. It was short and framed her narrow face rather well. As he brushed it back it started to accumulate static and it stuck to Henry''s shirt. Polly woke up after a few more minutes, and in time she was able to move around. They both agreed to inform the guards at the gate about the problem. They also would stop by the Guild and give them the message from Crue. Then they would go to the temple. Tick seemed fine but he couldn''t seem to walk just then, so Henry decided to carry him all the way. ¡°Are there any more in the area?¡± Crue got right to the point as the couple left down the road. I checked the immediate area and the path the pair were taking. Then selected Red Wolves from my toggle options and saw the map light up like Christmas. ¡°They should be fine, but there are a lot of wolves further west. Some to the north, but only a few to the east and south near the farms.¡± ¡°The guard will canvas the farms. Their first duty is to keep the populace safe. The Guild will send out an emergency summons. Adventurers will be combing the woods near the town. They won''t turn down the chance for the extra money a Red Wolf will bring in.¡± ¡°Extra Money?¡± I interrupted him. ¡°When the population of a monster becomes too dangerous, the Guild puts out an emergency summons. Any Guild member who brings in the targeted monster gets an even higher bonus than if it were a normal quest.¡± ¡°I see,¡± I did see, but I felt like the adventurers had been a bit lazy if the population had gotten this bad. Well, I guess it was Crue''s job to warn them it was getting worse. It was my job now too, but I had a thought. ¡°Where are they coming from? We were out yesterday and there wasn''t near as many. They had to have come from somewhere.¡± ¡°My guess is that they are being driven south-west from the mountains. Why, I can''t tell you, but we need to find out.¡± He went over to a patch of dirt road and drew a circle with his knife. ¡°This is the town,¡± he pointed to the circle. ¡°Above it, we have forests and caves,¡± he drew little stick trees and little upside-down Cs. ¡°Further north are the Yellow Mountains,¡± he drew large triangles. ¡°You said the east looked ok?¡± he asked me glancing up to confirm. ¡°There is a handful, but not as many as to the west.¡± Crue nodded and drew more stick trees to the west of the circle, then to the north-west of that he drew a more blobby looking circle. ¡°The lake and the woods in between,¡± he pointed at each figure. ¡°How many wolves are in this area?¡± He pointed to the woods in between the town and the lake. I began counting dots. ¡°32, but most of them are around here.¡± I pointed to the spot that was sort of the mid-point between where the caves began in the north and where the woods were between the town and the lake.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡°How many there?¡± Crue asked. ¡°It''s a bit out of my range for precise counting, but I would estimate at least twice as many.¡± ¡°There has to be something herding them south. Do you see anything on the map?¡± I opened the screen for generalized monsters, not just Red Wolves. Then I had to exclude Green Apes from the list because they were everywhere. ¡°There are a few Cave Bears, Nurrgals, Silky Spiders, and it looks like there is a colony of Death Bees...¡± I trailed off. What was this brown spot? Most monsters were either green or red. I hadn''t seen brown before. ¡°Did you find something?¡± Illia asked. ¡°I don''t know...¡± I tried tapping on the dot hoping some information would be forthcoming. *Unknown Monster- Monster is not recognized proceed with caution.~ ¡°The map doesn''t know what it is,¡± I told Crue. He already understood that any information I came across in my books automatically updated my database. So he could guess what was in the north wasn''t common enough to be mentioned in my reading. ¡°Is your map only able to see things outside, or can it see things in the caves?¡± Illia asked. ¡°Good question,¡± commented Crue and looked to me for an answer. I hadn''t thought of things being able to ''hide'' from the map. Though that brown marker and all those wolves hadn''t been there yesterday. I probably would have spotted that many. I checked the map closer. How did I explain this to someone who wasn''t familiar with the concept of computers? ¡°Honestly, I don''t know. The map centers around me,¡± I used Crue''s method and drew a dot in the dirt. ¡°The range of my map only encompasses the Crystal Kingdom,¡± I made a large blobby outline of the kingdom. I had to shuffle around a bit on my hunches to make the scale big enough for my satisfaction. ¡°We are here, near the eastern border, so I can''t see anything over here,¡± I tapped the border and the area next to the Crystal Kingdom. ¡°I''d understand if all these monsters were coming from that direction, but they''re not.¡± I poked a bunch of holes in the dirt to the northwest. ¡°So the mountains aren''t part of your map?¡± Illia asked. ¡°Yes and no, the border along the mountains isn''t as well defined as the one to the east. So I can see some of them not all. That''s not my point, though... ¡°The closer the area is to me, the center, the more details I am able to get from the surrounding area. Let''s say I can see details about this far in my radius,¡± I drew a circle around my dot in the dirt. It covered most of the surrounding area but didn''t touch the little dots I''d made to show the incoming wolves. ¡°It''s about ten miles out and I get precise details about what is in this area. The further out I have to look...¡± I drew another circle this time it covered the wolves and part of the lake and the side edge of the cave system. ¡°I lose some of that detail. Weaker monsters like the Green Apes show up in consolidated clusters if there are more than ten in the area. Individual, non-hostile monsters won''t show at all. I''m still able to set individual counts for hostile monsters within this range.¡± I drew another third circle and it covered a large portion of the cave system plus the base of the closest mountain. I made a big dot where the unknown monster was. ¡°This is the unknown monster,¡± I said pointing at the big dot. ¡°The Red Wolves start consolidating in this area.¡± I pointed to the third outer ring then moved and pointed to the second ring. ¡°Just like the apes do in this second area.¡± ¡°Now monsters like Cave Bears I can still see individually since they are stronger. Death Bees I can see where their nest is. ¡°Nurggals, and I think this gets to the point of your question Illia, I see them both as individual and as consolidated. The individual ones are obviously outside the caves. The consolidated ones are clustered around the entrances of the caves.¡± ¡°What does that mean?¡± She asked. ¡°I think I might be able to ''see'',¡± I did air quotes around the word, ¡°a little bit into the opening of the cave, but I don''t think I''m getting any information of the monsters inside the caves.¡± ¡°So this unknown monster was probably hiding in the cave system until recently?¡± She asked. ¡°That is likely,¡± I agreed. ¡°So the further out you have to look, at the weaker monsters drop off your map, but the stronger monsters stay, is that correct?¡± Crue asked moving his hand over the rings I had drawn. ¡°That''s a good summary,¡± I agreed. ¡°So we can estimate that strength of this unknown monster by how far out on your map you can see it. We know it''s at least as strong as a cave bear.¡± ¡°Yes, but it could be stronger.¡± ¡°Yes, if it came from the caves. If it wandered into your third ring from the mountains or from somewhere out in this area.¡± I pointed to an area where I would have a fourth or fifth ring if I had kept drawing them. ¡°It''s possible that the unknown monster is too weak to pick up this far out, but since it has gotten closer to you, you are now able to see it on the map. So if it came in from here,¡± he pointed to that area again, ¡°and moved in, that might be why it''s only now showing up on your map.¡± ¡°That is a possibility,¡± I agreed. He was right. If it had been further out and had wandered into my range later I might not have picked it up yesterday. ¡°We can also guess that whatever it is, it''s strong enough and scary enough to be driving the Red Wolves south,¡± he said. ¡°How strong would something have to be to drive the Red Wolves south?¡± Illia asked. ¡°It''s just the Red Wolves, it''s not any of the other monsters. So something that hunts Red Wolves?¡± I guessed. ¡°Which doesn''t make much sense. It should be driving the Green Apes south too at the very least. Most everything else in that area can live in the cave system,¡± he sighed. ¡°So what do we do?¡± Illia asked. ¡°I think we should go back to town. Eri and I will have to camp overnight to get to this area and I don''t have the gear for that with me,¡± he told her. ¡°Just us?¡± I asked. ¡°Illia isn''t strong enough, no offense,¡± he offered her. ¡°None taken, but I don''t think you two should be taking on this thing by yourselves,¡± she told him. ¡°I wasn''t planning on taking it on. I think we need to assess the situation first. If we can determine what it is then we can come back and get a group at the Guild that is tailored to take it out.¡± ¡°Right, so let''s split up our responsibilities for when we get back to town. Eri will go to the Guild to tell Dunbar what is happening. I will go to the guard offices and tell them the same, they need to have a heads up as well. You will go to the temple and gather up the stuff you need before you head out. Sound good?¡± Illia had come up with a good plan, so we both agreed. ¡°Then let''s go. Any wolves we have to worry about on the way back?¡± Crue asked. ¡°There''s one to the south about a quarter mile, we should probably get that one before it harasses some poor farmer.¡± ¡°Alright,¡± Crue agreed. We all took off a light jog. We weren''t sprinting like we had to reach Henry, but the running still seemed like a good idea considering the urgency. ¡°You know, we were very stupid yesterday,¡± Illia huffed as she jogged. How was is she was able to talk and run at the same time? ¡°How so?¡± Crue asked. Here was another abnormal runner. I swear I was the only one that had to maintain my breathing as I ran. ¡°It just occurred to me that I could ''top up'' my MP,¡± she said. ¡°Whaaa,¡± I sort of gasped out. Damn. I looked like an idiot. ¡°The Party Piercing holds MP,¡± she tapped her stomach where her piercing would be. We had told her that was what it was called since I couldn''t tell her that I was a Succuba. ¡°If any of us would have thought of it you could have used the MP you have stored in your piercing and you probably wouldn''t have gotten so sick.¡± I stumbled in my run. My arms went akimbo and Crue had to steady me so I didn''t fall on my face. It was just a side consideration for him, he didn''t even look at me as he did it. He was giving Illia a look like ''Oh, well shit.'' ¡°I hadn''t thought of it,¡± he said. Neither had I. I''d sort of forgotten that I could do it. We had told Illia it was possible, but since I hadn''t actually been feeding MP into the Succuba Star it never occurred to me to try to take MP out. Leave it to her to utilize something so useful so quickly. ¡°Noo,¡± huff huff, ¡°mmmP,¡± huff huff. This talking and running thing was damned hard. ¡°You don''t have any MP in it?¡± She asked. She looked at me as if she were a disappointed mother. ¡°To be fair, other than the first time I got it, I haven''t been filling mine up either,¡± said Crue. ¡°Well, you should both do it tonight before you go to bed. You might need the extra MP in the morning when you find whatever it is out there.¡± ¡°I agree, we''ve both been lacking about it,¡± he nodded. ¡°Omfff,¡± I agreed. ¡°You really need to work on your stamina Eri,¡± Illia commented. Ouch. That hit me right in the pride. No one wanted to be criticized for being wimpy by a pretty girl. Especially since on paper my stamina and agility were both higher than hers. My body just needed time to play catch up to my stats. That''s it I was sticking to that diet this time. No more putting it off, no more high-calorie stews, no more fried food, no sweets I was going to really do it. Damn it, so much for taking things easy. Name- Eri Veritas HP 2789/2800 MP 43/85 Level- 12 Age- 18 Race/Species- (Human) Unknown Gender- (Male) Unknown Occupation- Surveyor of Adventurers Guild Exp- 2384 Physical Power- 229 Stamina- 288 Defense- 364 Agility- 501 Intelligence- 103 Magic Power- 8 Metal Rain Lv 1 Lightning Magic Lv 1 Healing Hands Lv 2 Paralysis Resistance Lv 3 Mind Magic Resistance Lv 1 Skills Staff Fighting Lv 2 Basic Sword Lv 4 Skull Bashing Lv 3 Martial Arts Lv 3 Stance Lv 2 Smooth Movement Lv 2 Archery Lv 1 Spear Lv 1 Stalking Lv 1 Scouting Lv 1 Jumping Lv 1 Running Lv 2 Pain Tolerance Lv 3 Deception Lv 2 Intimidation Lv 1 Poker Face Lv 1 Etiquette Lv 3 Dismantling Lv 1 Appraisal Lv 1 Cooking Lv 1 Leather Work Lv 1 Metal Work Lv 1 Replication Lv 1 (Lv 10 for Succuba Star only) Rock Throwing Slicing Piercing Dancing Singing Harvesting Empathy Telekinesis Small Talk Discretion Party Tricks Restraint Alcohol Tolerance Monster Biology Entomology Zoology Botany Special Skills Abyss Walker Racial Ability- Hidden Among the Masses- 20 Stealth- 95 Party- 10 Items Equip Inventory Bracelet Succuba Star Gold- 1g 4s 09c (1409c) Blessing 1- All Map Exploration Blessing 2- Exp Points Required by Level Up / Current Level Blessing 3-Exp Increase X Current Level Blessing 4- Item- Gamer Glasses Titles- Emissary of Amoris Devotee of Amoris Devotee of Edomael Oracle of Amoris Oracle of Edomael Prince of Dreams Grateful Petitioner Lover of Leaves Enemy of Apes Name- Crue HP 4734/4734 MP 993/1845 Level- 29 Age-20 Human Male Occupation- Priest of Amoris, Surveyor of Adventurers Guild Exp- 2250 Physical Power- 343 Stamina- 332 Defense- 217 Agility- 396 Intelligence- 232 Magic Power- 196 Water Magic Lv 4 Healing Waters Lv 3 Bubble Bomb Lv 1 Liquid Bullet Lv 1 Healing Hands Lv 1 Poison Resistance Lv 1 Skills Basic Sword Lv 4 Skull Bashing Lv 2 Slicing Lv 3 Slash Lv 2 Martial Arts Lv 4 Stance Lv 2 Grappling Lv 1 Smooth Movement Lv 2 Blocking Lv 2 Archery Lv 4 Shooting Lv 1 Aim Lv 2 Sniping Lv 2 Stalking Lv 2 Jumping Lv 1 Running Lv 2 Scouting Lv 4 Eyes of the Hawk Lv 2 Distant View Lv 1 Telescopy Lv 1 Trap Detection Lv 2 Empathy Lv 2 Therapy Lv 1 Etiquette Lv 2 Discretion Lv 1 Mediation Lv 1 Organization Lv 1 Dismantling Lv 3 Alchemy Lv 2 Pharmacology Lv 2 Scribe Lv 1 Special Skills Sexual Healing- 223 Items Equip Succuba Star Titles- Priest of Amoris Devotee of Amoris Oracle of Amoris Dedicated Runner Name- Illia Cloverheart HP 1609/1645 MP 78/132 Level- 10 Age- 19 Race/Species- Zyanthrope- Rabbit Gender- Female Occupation- Yellow Springs Assistant Librarian Exp- 1135 Physical Power- 135 Stamina- 174 Defense- 108 Agility- 226 Intelligence- 254 Magic Power- 216 Lightning Magic Lv 3 Static Shock Lv 2 Earth Magic Lv 1 Unsteady Ground Lv 1 Skills Staff Fighting Lv 1 Skull Bashing Lv 1 Basic Knife Lv 1 Blade Work Lv 1 Archery Lv 1 Jumping Lv 3 Running Lv 2 Enhanced Hearing Lv 2 Trap Detection Lv 1 Etiquette Lv 2 Appraisal Lv 2 Scribe Lv 3 Teaching Lv 1 Cooking Lv 2 Leatherwork Lv 1 Woodwork Lv 1 Sewing Lv 1 Knitting Lv 2 Special Skills Fertility Beloved in the Forest Item Equip Party Piercing (Succuba Star) Lightning Staff (low quality) Titles- Devotee of Zyanthis Cloverheart''s Hope Sheltered Child Lover of Books Prolific Knitter Teacher of Children Chapter 25 I Become an Orator Chapter 25 I Become an Orator Illia had leveled up again after we killed the Red Wolf that had been to the south. She was happy about it but was also a bit disappointed we wouldn''t be able to celebrate. We''d have to put off our party for another day or two. Henry and Polly had already made it to town. So when we got to the gate the guards had already sent out the word. There were more guards at the gate than normal and they were warning people leaving the town. They were starting damage control. If people wouldn''t leave the town they wouldn''t get attacked. Adventurers, who may not have heard the news, were told about the wolves and that they were to make them a priority if they chose to go hunt. Word hadn''t reached the guards about the increased monetary amount the Guild was willing to pay, but most adventurers knew that if they were being told something was a priority they could expect a bonus. After getting some information from the guards, we each separated to do our assigned tasks. I was to go to the Guild and inform Dunbar about the unknown monster and that Crue and I were going to go check it out. He probably already knew about the wolves at this point, but we had to keep him in the loop so that he could send adventurers to the right places. I opened the door to the Guild to find a sight greeting me. Mildred was standing on a table in the middle of the room surrounded by a crowd of people. Her goat legs at everyone''s eye level. She was in the middle of giving an announcement, but she paused when I walked in. ¡°ERI!¡± She bleated. Then she pointed to the corner of the room where Dunbar had been holding a staff conference. He looked up when she said my name. He spotted me at the door and yelled, ¡°News?¡± ¡°Yes, um,¡± I wasn''t used to shouting across large rooms. *Skill Gain- Public Speaking~ ¡°Well, boy, what is it?¡± Dunbar asked as he pushed past the crowd and headed in my direction. ¡°Here?¡± I asked as he drew closer. ¡°Yes,¡± he nodded, ¡°unless you think it will incite any more panic,¡± he said in an undertone. ¡°Well, probably not,¡± I told him. ¡°Good then,¡± he grabbed my forearm and pulled me into the crowd. ¡°Up you go,¡± he said pointing to Mildred who was standing on the table in front of me. Wait, he wanted me to stand on the table in front of all these people? I started to get really nervous as he pushed me up on the table. Soon, I was standing beside Mildred. I had thought this would be a simple one on one talk then I could leave. Now he wanted me making announcements. ¡°What do I say?¡± I hissed at him. ¡°CAN''T HEAR YOU!¡± someone yelled from the back. A few sniggers echoed through the room. ¡°Tell them how many, where they are, and what other news you have,¡± he said. Alright then, if he said so. I made sure to activate my new Public Speaking skill. Hopefully, I wasn''t going to make an ass out of myself. Plus, if this announcement thing was normal for Surveyors then I had to practice at some point. ¡°As you''ve probably heard, there are a large number of Red Wolves near town,¡± I began but was interrupted again by someone in the Crowd. ¡°WHO ARE YOU?¡± They shouted from the back. ¡°I''m Eri, I''m training under Crue to be the new Surveyor,¡± I answered. The crowd murmured a bit at that. It seemed to be a good murmur as there wasn''t any more heckling. ¡°There is an alarming number of Red Wolves around the town,¡± I said again. ¡°There are even more heading in this direction. They are coming from the north-west, but at this point, they are roaming all around the area.¡± I glanced at Dunbar. He nodded for me to continue. ¡°There are estimated forty-plus wolves heading this way. They will all be here by later tonight, tomorrow at the latest. We think they are being driven south.¡± ¡°BY WHAT?¡± another person yelled. ¡°We need to figure that part out. As of now, we don''t know. Whatever is pushing them south it''s up in the area between where the cave systems start and the lake. So avoid that area at all costs until we know. Crue and I will be heading out soon to check the situation. This means we probably won''t be able to help much with the incoming wolves. Our priority is finding out what the cause is.¡± Dunbar was nodding in affirmation while I gave that part of my little speech. Did I have anything to add? Nope. I moved to step down from the table. ¡°What scares Red Wolves?¡± Someone closer in the crowd asked. I paused from hopping down off the table and answered the tall woman who had asked the question. ¡°We really don''t know. So far it seems like only Red Wolves are being driven south. We aren''t seeing any other monster activity heading this way. At this point, we can''t even speculate.¡± We did have a rough idea of the weakest the creature could be. It had to be at least as strong as a Cave Bear, but the possibility of it being stronger existed. I didn''t bring that up though. It''s not something they needed to know. ¡°WILL YOU COME BACK AND FORM A PARTY?¡± another voice from the crowd shouted. ¡°What do you mean?¡± I asked. ¡°He meaans, do you plaaan on taaaking the monster out yourselves or aaare you returning to form aaa paaarty to kill it?¡± Mildred offered. ¡°The plan is to check it out, assess the situation, determine a course of action, then execute the action. If there is a possibility that we can take out this new threat while we are already up there, we will. However, if we determine that we can''t do it without an established party we will return and gather volunteers.¡± I figured that sounded good. Go me. ¡°If it should come to that, you can be assured the Guild will compensate you for your efforts,¡± Dunbar added. He didn''t have to stand on the table. It wasn''t right. ¡°Until then we are issuing an emergency quest. Any Red Wolf brought in within the next three days will be worth seven silvers instead of three.¡± While he was talking, I took the opportunity to jump down from the table. ¡°Starting now?¡± I asked him as I stood up from my jump. ¡°Starting now,¡± he confirmed. I didn''t know at what point we''d make it back. It might take that long to track down the monster and make it back. I didn''t want to miss out on the bonus because we''d taken too long out in the woods. ¡°Ok, good,¡± I pushed my way through the crowd as Mildred began her talk about logistics and the safety of being in a team of three. I detoured to the dismantler. He was standing in the back listening to the news. I got his attention by waving. ¡°I''ve got nine Red Wolves to turn in, will you be able to give me the slip for them now. I''m in a hurry and I don''t want to miss out on the bonus because I''m out scouting.¡± ¡°Sure mate, let''s take a look at them real quick out the back,¡± he took me outside and confirmed the 9 kills. He then wrote up my slip before he even started the dismantling. ¡°Thanks,¡± I said waving the green piece of paper at him. ¡°No problem,¡± he smiled and waved me off so he could get started on his work. The price for the 9 wolves was 6 gold, 5 silver, and 70 copper with the dismantling fee subtracted. I''d split it three ways with Illia and Crue when I met up with them. That would be just over 2 gold each. It wasn''t bad for a few hours work. It''d been scary as hell, but at least we got paid for it. Dunbar met me on the way out. ¡°Do you need horses?¡± he asked. ¡°Crue said no, that with the wolves in the area the horses would just attract them to us. We don''t want to get bogged down protecting the animals.¡±Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°That is logical, but you would have been able to make better time on horseback.¡± ¡°Not if we have to keep fighting off the wolves, there are too many heading in our direction to risk getting mobbed by them because of the horses.¡± ¡°Alright, but remember that you can borrow one of the beasts free of charge whenever you have need of them.¡± ¡°Thank you, I''ll keep it in mind,¡± I waved as I left the building. I was to meet Crue at the temple, that way I could store all the equipment he''d gathered in my inventory. It really was handy for lugging things around. Normally, we''d have to pack up bulky backpacks with our supplies. These were heavy and slowed you down. I had most of my own personal camping supplies already in the inventory, but we still needed Crue''s stuff and the tent we would share. I jogged to the temple hoping I hadn''t taken too long at the Guild. I hadn''t been expecting the announcement and since I was the one responsible for the wolves I felt like I needed to get the most money from them while I could. As I expected, Crue was standing in the foyer of the temple, but he was with 3 other people. I wasn''t surprised to see Illia there, she knew the plan after all. I was surprised to find Sturgis and Lotte there as well. Even more surprising was that they all had bags at their feet. ¡°What is going on?¡± I asked walking up to the group. ¡°We''re coming with you,¡± Lotte said. ¡°Sturgis and Lotte both have the Scouting skill, they sometimes help the Guild out with the Surveyor work when they have time,¡± Crue explained. Ok, but that didn''t explain Illia and why they were here. ¡°I went to the guard offices and I explained things to Captain Sturgis...¡± Illia began. ¡°Just Sturgis is fine,¡± he interrupted. ¡°Sturgis,¡± she continued. ¡°He thinks that just the two of you heading north through a forest filled with Red Wolves is too dangerous, but you need people skilled in tracking in order to help on your mission.¡± ¡°So, that means me and Lotte are volunteering to go with you as representatives of the town guard. Commander Tagert has already approved this plan so we are free to go.¡± ¡°It''s nice having more people with us to watch our backs,¡± I commented. Then I glanced at Crue and Illia. Surely, they saw the problem? ¡°They won''t ask questions. They already know you have a Blessing, but not the extent of it. They are fine with you keeping that to yourself. However, they probably will be able to guess so I figure you should just tell them,¡± Crue commented. ¡°That''s right, I promise we won''t tell anyone about it,¡± Lotte added. Sturgis nodded agreement, ¡°as long as it''s not something that will be harmful to the citizenry I don''t see why we have to tell anyone about it.¡± ¡°We, Crue and I, already explained why we want to keep it quiet,¡± Illia said. ¡°Our family has a not so good relationship with the kingdom. We have a healthy paranoia about attracting too much attention from the people in charge,¡± Sturgis grumbled. He was obviously remembering some past history. Their family history had been brought up before. Just how bad was it? ¡°I have my own reasons for not disclosing everything,¡± Lotte announced. That probably had something to do with her having a noble last name while working as a peon for the guard in an out-of-the-way border town. ¡°One of the Blessings I got from Amoris is a mental map,¡± I began hesitatingly. ¡°From this map, I''m able to track monsters. I can see where they are. That''s the basics of the Blessing.¡± I rushed to get out the rest. On my first day in town, I probably would have gladly told them everything about my Blessing. Now, Illia and Crue had systematically cautioned me against that, so it felt odd telling them just that bit. I had a sick feeling in my gut. ¡°So that''s why you are so certain there is something up north driving the wolves south. Logically, you could guess there was a cause to the migration, but for Illia and Crue to be so certain...¡± he trailed off his thought. ¡°Handy skill, no wonder Dunbar snatched you up as soon as you walked into town,¡± Lotte mused her arms crossing. ¡°Let''s get going then,¡± Illia said picking up a bag at her feet and handing it to me. Wait, what? ¡°You''re going too?¡± I asked. ¡°Yup, I just leveled up and while I was at the guard offices they let me use the services of the Aequitas'' priest to activate my tracking skill. While they were talking with the Commander, I ran home and grabbed my bag. I don''t have much for camping, but Lotte said I can share her tent.¡± ¡°Well, if three experienced people think you are ok to come then that''s fine with me, but what about the library?¡± ¡°I sent a message to Mary, she''ll open in the morning and start looking for part-time help.¡± I didn''t have any further arguments. I took Illia''s bag and added it to my inventory. I also gathered everyone else''s'' bags, including a very large bag of food that Tuck packed. I''d never get to use the camping food I''d bought with Crue as long as Tuck was around to pack us meals. Illia kept her staff. Everyone else decided to hang on to their weapons as well. Crue, Lotte, and Sturgis all had their bows out. Crue and Sturgis both handed me two extra quivers of arrows. ¡°Just in case,¡± they both explained. Well, since I didn''t yet have my own arrows, besides the godly ones, they''d be useful. Everyone carried a utility knife at their belt. Crue, Lotte, Sturgis, and I also had our swords. Though Sturgis'' was double the size of our normal average sized swords. It was the same soldier type that Lotte carried but on a bigger scale. I guess big guys could swing around big swords. Lotte and Sturgis wore what was basically the same armor. They had both put a spider silk bodysuit under their uniforms, and both of them wore heavy metal chest pieces that covered their entire chest and back. Matching bracers and greaves were on their arms and legs. Sturgis'' greaves went all the way up his thighs. I couldn''t tell if Lotte''s did the same because of her skirt. Their bracers did cover both their forearms and upper arms, so if all their armor matched in that way, I would guess that she did have on thigh armor. They were far more covered than Crue, Illia, or I. We just had simple hard leather chest pieces and some coverage on our forearms and calves. Perhaps, getting some coverage for my thighs and upper arms could be added to my gear without compromising movement? It was something to consider. I had followed Crue''s advice on it because it''s what he used, but there could be other options I didn''t know was available. ¡°I know we don''t have it,¡± Sturgis waved at Lotte, Crue, and himself, ¡°but do either of you have the skill Nightseer?¡± ¡°No,¡± we both answered. ¡°Then we have to take extra caution going into the forest near dusk. I know a place to camp, but we won''t get there until after nightfall. With the wolves this can be extra dangerous. I''ll be counting on you to let us know if anything is incoming, understood?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± I answered Sturgis. Wait, when did he take charge of the situation? I thought Crue was heading up this little shindig. ¡°I''ll take point, followed by Eri, Illia, Lotte, then Crue. Crue and Lotte will watch our backs. Illia and Eri to the sides.¡± He directed. Ok, so why wasn''t Crue in the lead? ¡°Everyone understand their role?¡± We all nodded. ¡°Good, let''s go,¡± he lead us out the door. Name- Eri Veritas HP 2776/2800 MP 43/85 Level- 12 Age- 18 Race/Species- (Human) Unknown Gender- (Male) Unknown Occupation- Surveyor of Adventurers Guild Exp- 3133 Physical Power- 229 Stamina- 288 Defense- 364 Agility- 501 Intelligence- 103 Magic Power- 8 Metal Rain Lv 1 Lightning Magic Lv 1 Healing Hands Lv 2 Paralysis Resistance Lv 3 Mind Magic Resistance Lv 1 Skills Staff Fighting Lv 2 Basic Sword Lv 4 Skull Bashing Lv 3 Martial Arts Lv 3 Stance Lv 2 Smooth Movement Lv 2 Archery Lv 1 Spear Lv 1 Stalking Lv 1 Scouting Lv 1 Jumping Lv 1 Running Lv 2 Pain Tolerance Lv 3 Deception Lv 2 Intimidation Lv 1 Poker Face Lv 1 Etiquette Lv 3 Public Speaking Lv 1 Dismantling Lv 1 Appraisal Lv 1 Cooking Lv 1 Leather Work Lv 1 Metal Work Lv 1 Replication Lv 1 (Lv 10 for Succuba Star only) Rock Throwing Slicing Piercing Dancing Singing Harvesting Empathy Telekinesis Small Talk Discretion Party Tricks Restraint Alcohol Tolerance Monster Biology Entomology Zoology Botany Special Skills Abyss Walker Racial Ability- Hidden Among the Masses- 20 Stealth- 95 Party- 10 Items Equip Inventory Bracelet Succuba Star Gold- 1g 4s 09c (1409c) (6570c yet to be divided.) Blessing 1- All Map Exploration Blessing 2- Exp Points Required by Level Up / Current Level Blessing 3-Exp Increase X Current Level Blessing 4- Item- Gamer Glasses Titles- Emissary of Amoris Devotee of Amoris Devotee of Edomael Oracle of Amoris Oracle of Edomael Prince of Dreams Grateful Petitioner Lover of Leaves Enemy of Apes Chapter 26 A Hikin We Will Go Go GO! Chapter 26 A Hikin'' We Will Go Go GO! I thought the pace Crue had set was brutal, it was nothing compared to Sturgis. Everyone could keep up but me. It was obvious that I was slowing them down. He had us going at a fast loping jog. It was easier for him, he had legs as long as trees. He could go at a ground eating pace, Illia who was literally half his size had to run double the steps he was taking. Even still, it was me who couldn''t keep up. If not for my pausing to recharge I wouldn''t have lasted. I used the excuse of checking the map in order to make him stop, but the truth was I was able to run and check the map at the same time. As long as I didn''t have any trees in my path. Running into a tree was a legitimate safety hazard. It was at one of these stops that I noticed something bizarre. ¡°Something weird is happening,¡± I gasped. Shit, I sounded like a porn star gasping for breath like this. Doubled over I grasped at the cramping of my side. No, don''t focus on the pain in your side, focus on the map. ¡°What?¡± It was like they all asked the same question at once. They were used to my breathy antics by this point. ¡°The Death Bee nest, I think it''s moving? It''s not where it was when I looked this afternoon and it hasn''t moved a lot just about a mile west and sort of south.¡± ¡°What would cause that?¡± Illia asked. ¡°The Queen is moving the nest,¡± Sturgis said. ¡°It''s not a new Queen?¡± Crue asked. ¡°It''s not splitting up into two groups right?¡± Sturgis asked me. ¡°No, it''s just one group. Looks like there are some stragglers, but they are all heading in the same direction. Just really slowly.¡± ¡°The Queen is moving her nest. Whatever is up there has upset the hive enough that the Queen has decided to swarm. She''ll keep moving the nest until she feels like she''s out of danger,¡± Sturgis explained. ¡°I''ve only heard of them doing that when they are in the path of a forest fire,¡± Crue commented. ¡°They do it when the Queen feels they are in danger. If that''s a fire or a mysterious monster, it doesn''t matter. Good news is that since they vacated what have they left behind?¡± Sturgis grinned a devilish grin. ¡°Oh, sweet Amoris,¡± Crue cackled with glee, Lotte joined him in an almost reluctant way. ¡°Clue me in?¡± I requested. ¡°The honey. The honey hive will still be there. The bees are leaving and they are leaving the honey behind and with your inventory we can collect it all!!¡± Crue was practically dancing around like a kid. ¡°An entire hive''s worth of honey...¡± Illia looked like she was in shock. Crue grabbed Illia''s hands and spun her around in a circle. I knew the honey was valuable but was it worth this reaction? Apparently. Since I didn''t really know how much the honey sold for I was sort of in the dark about their enthusiasm. ¡°I hate to burst your happy moment but have you thought about why they are moving. The mystery monster is enough of a threat to Death Bees they are running, and not much can threaten them. They have super death stings.¡± I moved my finger in the air mimicking the erratic motion of a bee. ¡°Yes, but we don''t have to engage the creature if it''s one of the really strong ones. Our job is to find it, identify it, kill it if we can, if not go back and get more people. Since you can track the mysterious monster, we can take a very small detour and gather the honey safely. ¡°I know it might sound careless of a Captain saying this, but I have more practical reasons for gathering the honey other than profit. If we leave it, and someone else finds it, there will be a rush to the area to gather it. All those people who can''t track the monster could encounter it, attack it, and make it aggressive. Right now, we don''t know if it''s hostile or not, but having a human attack it will obviously make it aggressive. If the human escapes, it can lure the monster closer to the town which, depending on what it is, could be a disaster. Getting rid of the temptation of the honey would keep idiots from running all over the area.¡± He did have a solid point, we didn''t want a bunch of random people crawling all over the area where the monster was. If we leave it there, find the monster, and return to the Guild, in that span of time one of the wolf hunters could find the abandoned hive and word would spread. Everyone would be wanting a piece of the free pie. It would be very easy risk-free money, or so it would seem. That was until the mystery monster crashed their party. The creature wouldn''t be able to sneak up on me and we''d be able to avoid it while we got rid of the honey. It really was a safer solution to have me take in all the honey rather than to let it draw in potential victims for the monster. ¡°Should we get the honey before or after we figure out what it is?¡± I asked. ¡°I think we should wait and see how things look in the morning. We still have some distance to go before we make camp and the situation could change a lot in a few hours,¡± Sturgis answered pushing himself up from the tree he was leaning against. That was the sign that we were going to be running again. Shit, I hated running. The way to the campsite wasn''t without attack. We had been hoping to avoid most of the wolves, but we would be nearing the frontend of the wave by the time we made it to camp. That was just the main wave, there were still some wolves that had started ahead of the rest and they were the ones that attacked us. We were hit by a group of 3, then again right before we reached camp by a group of 4. Single wolves passed by us as our group was too large for them to risk an attack by themselves. We let them go knowing that the adventurers and the guards near the town would catch the stragglers. It was just amazing how I managed to only get my sword lodged into a tree once. I was really trying my best to keep up with everyone in terms of skills, but I still made a fool of myself when Illia had to zap the wolf I''d been aiming at when my sword got stuck. She managed to kill it before it ripped my face off. *Illia level up~ Sturgis'' campsite was on a flat expanse of rocky hill. We had a location advantage since we could see anything trying to make it''s way up the hill to attack. We had to hurry and set up before the main wave of wolves passed by. We needed to have everything in place before that happened. While we weren''t going to go out and hunt any wolves that ignored us, we were certainly going to defend against the ones that tried to attack. No fire was set because we didn''t want to attract any attention if we didn''t have to. The tents were put up, and the bedrolls were placed out. Crue and I would be sharing a tent, Illia and Lotte sharing, and huge Sturgis was by himself. He offered to share with his brother, but it was obvious that we''d all have more room if Sturgis was by himself. Crue gave me a comedic suggestive eyebrow wiggle when the rooming arrangements were made. We sat around on the ground waiting for the wolves. We shared Tuck''s sack lunch while we waited. It was more ham sandwiches, apples, carrots, and cheese. Then Crue reminded me of the cake, and Illia wanted some of the fried veggies she''d gotten at Hat Yai Fried Chicken. The group of us ended up devouring the fried chicken and veggies. Plus, a few of the cakes. It was sort of a morbid quiet party. We didn''t drink Marge''s ale because we had to stay alert, but it was still a little fun to be eating with so many people. Even if they were all tense about being attacked at any moment. I was keeping an eye on the wave of wolves. Most of them were ignoring us and running by. The ones who smelled us came close and were shot down by either Sturgis, Lotte, or Crue. My job seemed to be to run down the hill collect the body and run back up. Once the bulk of the wave had passed, that''s when Sturgis set up a watch. I''d be on the first watch since there were still a significant amount of wolves directly south of us. They had passed us, but it was possible they could circle back around. Once they were further out I''d wake Sturgis and Lotte. I''d sleep, they would keep an eye on camp. Then they would wake up Crue and Illia who would take the last watch until morning. A not insignificant part of me was glad I wasn''t on the morning team. Those two seemed to sparkle in the mornings, all high and giddy on sugar most likely in Crue''s case. I was not a morning person. I was cranky, absent-minded, and a real ass when I didn''t get my sleep. I sat outside and monitored the map. At the same time, I kept myself awake by reading some more of the books I''d added to my inventory. The great thing about it was that I could read in the dark. I had to get up twice to kill a wolf. After the second kill, I got a notification. *You have leveled up please check your status~ We''d all gained some serious Exp teaming up to kill the wolves today. Crue was nearing 10,000 Exp. It was far more than either of them would have gained just killing the wolves without the Party skill. We were going into an unknown situation. Should I allocate their Exp without asking? It''s not like I could ask them in front of Lotte and Sturgis, but if they could get stronger it might be the key to keeping us all safe. Did I do it without their permission though? Earlier had been an emergency situation. In the heat of battle they could trust me to do what was right. Did that trust work in this situation too? Should I wake them and ask? No, Lotte was sharing with Illia. I could wake Crue, but we''d placed our tent right beside Sturgis. If we talked it might wake him. I was in a dilemma. I decided to start with my own status. I glanced over my passive skill list. There were four that I could activate and it would strengthen my combat abilities. Restraint, telekinesis, piercing, and slicing were all activated. I tested out restraint and telekinesis, not being able to do much at level 1, I brought them both to level 2. I tested it out again. I was able to float rocks in the air and launch them a short way, but that wasn''t going to be helpful enough. I leveled up telekinesis to 3. That was better, I could pick up bigger things and had some control over how far they flew. The key was to picture the object in the air, then picture the object moving in the air. You could picture the object being thrown, but you lost control of the object once it left your ''hand''.Stolen story; please report. Restraint was harder to test. I finally found that if I rolled rocks down the hill I could stop them with restraint. It took a while, but I learned that you imagined a bunch of ropes wrapping themselves around the rock. Once the rock was ''bound'' it would stop. Still, I wasn''t sure how big an object I could stop. At level 2 rocks were fine, but if I had to halt a wolf or something bigger would level 2 be enough? I brought it up to level 3 just to be safe. If it wasn''t enough, I could push more Exp into it if I needed to use it. I leveled up my archery. As long-range attacks went I didn''t have many. I had this kick-ass bow but I tended to use my sword more. There was just this boy''s childhood fantasy to run around being the best swordsman. There wasn''t much call for that in archery, unless we were playing Robin Hood. I had to be practical though. Ranged attacks were safer. Close combat had its place, but so did ranged. I shouldn''t neglect one over the other. Out of pure vanity, I leveled up my running. Hopefully, this would help make up for my lack of being able to keep up with the group. I knew my body wasn''t fit, and pushing my status wouldn''t fix much, but I was hoping it''d be enough not to have Illia poke fun at me. I still had a decent chunk of Exp left that I could play with in case of emergencies. Keeping that in mind, I looked at both Illia and Crue''s status. Illia''s main attack power came from her magic. I gave a level up to her lightning magic, static shock, earth magic, and unsteady ground. She hadn''t used her earth magic around me yet, so I wasn''t sure what that actually did, but I figured that leveling it wouldn''t hurt. I also pumped some Exp into her overall magic level. With it higher she could cast stronger spells. She didn''t have much in terms of close combat stuff yet. She was very good at whacking things with her staff if they got too close. Should I make that her go-to main close range attack? I went ahead and did it. I brought her staff fighting up to level 3 and her skull bashing up to level 2. Hopefully, with this, she''d be able to beat off anything that got close enough to attack her. Drunken men, beware. Illia did have the archery skill, but she hadn''t brought her bow with her. Her primary ranged attack was her magic after all. She''d said that she only really used her archery to hunt for food on her journey to Yellow Springs. For all I knew she was out of practice, so I didn''t bother with it. No, her magic was the main thing and I''d leveled that up with Exp to spare. Crue was a bit tricky. Unlike Illia, Crue''s main ranged attack was archery. He had some magic based attacks, but he''d left them at a low level. He had a water-based healing skill and healing hands. Lotte and I both had healing hands, but it was obvious that Crue would be essential if any of us were hurt. I leveled up his healing skills and his water magic because it was a part of his water healing. His sword, martial arts, and archery were all set to level 5. From what I understood level 5 could be considered black-belt level or the lower rungs of master class. I''d just pushed Crue into master status on most of his primary skills. This Blessing cheat was really starting to show how problematic it could be if not careful. If Crue were to show up and suddenly be at master level on all those things. People would begin to ask some serious questions. Illia''s and my status still looked rather normal, sort of on the great side for adventurers, but not outstanding. Crue had started out better than both of us and was now at a level where people would take notice. He''d have to be cautious when he got back to town. Even with all the Exp spent Crue still had a decent emergency chunk left. Done with my shift for the night, I got up from my spot on the hill and woke up Sturgis. Then I crawled into the tent with Crue and fell asleep, hoping that things would work out for the better when they found out I''d allocated their Exp without asking. Before I nodded off I remembered to push some Mp into the Succuba Star. So there was a least a small reservoir for me to tap into just in case. Name- Eri Veritas HP 3234/3234 MP 95/95 Level- 14 Age- 18 Race/Species- (Human) Unknown Gender- (Male) Unknown Occupation- Surveyor of Adventurers Guild Exp- 5837 Physical Power- 289 Stamina- 312 Defense- 393 Agility- 574 Intelligence- 105 Magic Power- 8 Metal Rain Lv 1 Lightning Magic Lv 1 Healing Hands Lv 2 Telekinesis Lv 3 Restraint Lv 3 Paralysis Resistance Lv 3 Mind Magic Resistance Lv 1 Skills Staff Fighting Lv 2 Basic Sword Lv 4 Skull Bashing Lv 3 Slicing Lv 1 Piercing Lv 1 Martial Arts Lv 3 Stance Lv 2 Smooth Movement Lv 2 Archery Lv 3 Spear Lv 1 Stalking Lv 1 Scouting Lv 1 Jumping Lv 1 Running Lv 3 Pain Tolerance Lv 3 Deception Lv 2 Intimidation Lv 1 Poker Face Lv 1 Etiquette Lv 3 Public Speaking Lv 1 Dismantling Lv 1 Appraisal Lv 1 Cooking Lv 1 Leather Work Lv 1 Metal Work Lv 1 Replication Lv 1 (Lv 10 for Succuba Star only) Rock Throwing Dancing Singing Harvesting Empathy Small Talk Discretion Party Tricks Alcohol Tolerance Monster Biology Entomology Zoology Botany Special Skills Abyss Walker Racial Ability- Hidden Among the Masses- 20 Stealth- 95 Party- 10 Items Equip Inventory Bracelet Succuba Star Gold- 1g 4s 09c (1409c) (6570c yet to be divided.) Blessing 1- All Map Exploration Blessing 2- Exp Points Required by Level Up / Current Level Blessing 3-Exp Increase X Current Level Blessing 4- Item- Gamer Glasses Titles- Emissary of Amoris Devotee of Amoris Devotee of Edomael Oracle of Amoris Oracle of Edomael Prince of Dreams Grateful Petitioner Lover of Leaves Enemy of Apes Name- Crue HP 4734/4734 MP 1845/1845 Level- 29 Age-20 Human Male Occupation- Priest of Amoris, Surveyor of Adventurers Guild Exp- 4978 Physical Power- 345 Stamina- 337 Defense- 223 Agility- 398 Intelligence- 233 Magic Power- 198 Water Magic Lv 5 Healing Waters Lv 5 Bubble Bomb Lv 1 Liquid Bullet Lv 1 Healing Hands Lv 3 Poison Resistance Lv 1 Skills Basic Sword Lv 5 Skull Bashing Lv 2 Slicing Lv 3 Slash Lv 2 Martial Arts Lv 5 Stance Lv 2 Grappling Lv 1 Smooth Movement Lv 2 Blocking Lv 2 Archery Lv 5 Shooting Lv 1 Aim Lv 2 Sniping Lv 2 Stalking Lv 2 Jumping Lv 1 Running Lv 2 Scouting Lv 4 Eyes of the Hawk Lv 2 Distant View Lv 1 Telescopy Lv 1 Trap Detection Lv 2 Empathy Lv 2 Therapy Lv 1 Etiquette Lv 2 Discretion Lv 1 Mediation Lv 1 Organization Lv 1 Dismantling Lv 3 Alchemy Lv 2 Pharmacology Lv 2 Scribe Lv 1 Special Skills Sexual Healing- 223 Items Equip Succuba Star Titles- Priest of Amoris Devotee of Amoris Oracle of Amoris Dedicated Runner Name-Illia Cloverheart HP 2235/2235 MP 278/278 Level- 12 Age- 19 Race/Species- Zyanthrope- Rabbit Gender- Female Occupation- Yellow Springs Assistant Librarian Exp- 3785 Physical Power- 179 Stamina- 213 Defense- 167 Agility- 243 Intelligence- 262 Magic Power- 402 Lightning Magic Lv 4 Static Shock Lv 3 Earth Magic Lv 2 Unsteady Ground Lv 2 Skills Staff Fighting Lv 3 Skull Bashing Lv 2 Basic Knife Lv 1 Blade Work Lv 1 Archery Lv 1 Jumping Lv 3 Running Lv 2 Tracking Lv 1 Enhanced Hearing Lv 2 Trap Detection Lv 1 Etiquette Lv 2 Appraisal Lv 2 Scribe Lv 3 Teaching Lv 1 Cooking Lv 2 Leatherwork Lv 1 Woodwork Lv 1 Sewing Lv 1 Knitting Lv 2 Special Skills Fertility Beloved in the Forest Item Equip Party Piercing (Succuba Star) Lightning Staff (low quality) Titles- Devotee of Zyanthis Cloverheart''s Hope Sheltered Child Lover of Books Prolific Knitter Teacher of Children Chapter 27 A Sticky Situation Chapter 27 A Sticky Situation The morning came with three more dead wolves to add to my inventory. Illia was giving her staff and odd look when I got up, and one of the wolves was pretty much crispy fried. ¡°Wow, it''s almost as if you got stronger overnight,¡± I commented to both Illia and Crue pointing out the wolf then gave then a ''look''. Please, get my hint guys. ¡°I''d say,¡± Sturgis boomed. Lord, he was a morning person too. ¡°It''s amazing was a night sleep can do for someone''s strength.¡± I gave a side eye to Illia and she nodded that she got the message. Well, let''s hope she understood and wasn''t just nodding in agreement to Sturgis. I think Crue got my hint as well because he smiled and fingered the end of his bow. ¡°One of the wolves used paralysis. Even though we''ve been taking them out from a distance, I sort of panicked and used more power than I meant too,¡± Illia explained. That was probably the crispy-fried wolf. We probably wouldn''t be getting any money from its hide. Since she cooked it, the gallbladder was probably done for too. Well, we''d still get the money for killing it. ¡°I guess we''ve been rather lucky that more of them haven''t used it. Remember my first day in town Lotte?¡± I asked her as she approached. ¡°Arggeltal,¡± Lotte muttered pushing her bedroll and collapsed tent at me. She grunted when I took them. Well, she wasn''t a morning person at all. It could be argued she was worse than me. Her hair had fallen out of her braided bun in the middle of the night and it looked like a rat had made a nest in it. In contrast, Illia''s hair was neatly braided and pulled out of the way. ¡°Raraggal falrf,¡± Lotte muttered and she unbraided and brushed out her hair. ¡°Leave the grumpy bear alone. She''ll wake up soon,¡± Sturgis commented on Lotte. We sat in a circle, mugs of water and Crue''s pastries for breakfast. Lotte took some of the water from her mug and splashed it on her face. ¡°Is the situation the same as yesterday?¡± Sturgis asked me. I guess by this point we all sort of agreed he was the leader. Even though his little brother was technically in charge. ¡°The Death Bees are even further west. If they keep going, they might reach the lake shore by mid-day. There isn''t anything around the honey hive. The monster has wondered a few miles east and north of that hive. It''s the only thing I can see in that area. Looks like everything else is hiding or ran off. ¡°I doubt we''ll see any more wolves. They are all mostly south of us at this point. There are some groups of people engaging them, so the adventurers are already out.¡± ¡°We can''t worry about the wolves right now. We now have two goals,¡± Sturgis held up two fingers. ¡°One, we clear out that hive. Two, we find out what the mystery monster is.¡± ¡°Three, we don''t get killed,¡± Lotte muttered. ¡°That''s not helpful,¡± Sturgis chastised her. ¡°Perhaps a brisk run in the morning air will wake you up? Alright, we all set?¡± He looked around to make certain everything was packed up. ¡°Then let''s go,¡± he levered himself up and began to stretch. Lotte and I both groaned at this, but we followed. The hive was situated around a bunch of natural rock pillars. There was a small cave formed by two overlapping collapsed pillars. That was where the Death Bees had set up their hive. The surrounding area was littered with fresh and old corpses. It was a boneyard, similar to what a bird of prey might have around their nests. I could see how sneaking up on the nest would be a fool''s errand. It was impossible not to step on bones and make noise. If there had been any bees in the area we would have alerted them immediately. Then we''d be killed. Why anyone would take on that risk was beyond me. Lucky for us there were no bees. We could just walk in and take what we wanted. Clearing out the hive was harder than I expected though. Each honeycomb hole was the size of a person''s fist and the wax covering it was thick. You had to take your knife and cut open each hole individually and scrape out the honey with your knife. I had some empty jars and buckets. While I could just add the honey into my inventory without it being in anything, that didn''t help the others who were collecting it with me. They needed something to put it in before they brought me their full jars or buckets. The plan was to purchase some jars and pots when we got back to town. I would then fill them with the ''loose'' honey in my inventory. It was sticky work. It didn''t matter how careful we were, we had to reach into the holes and scrape out the honey. It got all over our hands. That meant whatever we touched got sticky too. We were all a mess. Lotte even had a bird crest hairdo going on. She must have touched her hair with her sticky hands. It was very 80s punk rock of her. I was working my way up and down my area of the hive. In some areas, the honey had greenish-amber color. In other areas, it was more like a blood orange. On Earth, I knew that different types of honey could be produced. There wasn''t only the mostly sugar version in the little bear bottles. There was wildflower honey and sage honey that were both great in their own ways. Not many people realized that whatever the bees made their honey out of, it changed the flavor of the honey. Heck, I''d once read an article about bees making blue honey because they were near a candy factory and were harvesting the candy waste. So I couldn''t help but wonder what the different shades of the Death Bee''s honey was made from. Considering they hunted and ate meat, I didn''t want to be trying the blood-orange honey. I did taste a little of the greenish honey. It was sweet but had a grassy flavor that was both slightly bitter and refreshing at the same time. It was good honey, don''t get me wrong, but I couldn''t tell the difference between this honey and normal honey. Perhaps I was too much of a plebeian, or perhaps the appeal for it wasn''t in its taste but in its rarity. I was getting to a dryer patch of hive. Some of the honeycomb wasn''t waxy at all but rather felt like thick construction paper. These dry bits didn''t have any honey in them at all. I skipped these, but there was one area in the middle of the dried bits that still had some waxy coating. I figured if I''d just peel off the thin outer layer of wax and see if there was any honey salvageable in this dry area. It turned out that this patch was actually just one large honeycomb hole. About the size of a dinner plate rather than someone''s fist. I peeled off the outer layer and looked inside. I immediately jumped back with a gasp. Holy Hell, Screw and DAMN! I tried not to breathe not to move, become a tree. Trees don''t get killed, BE A TREE. What was I thinking? Trees got chopped down. That didn''t help me with the baby Death Bee that was currently trying to crawl its way out of the hole I''d made. Run? Should I run? No, don''t move. Don''t scare it. Oh, I needed to breathe. Slowly, a little bit of air. Don''t gasp it in dammit. The little bee scooted out of its hole butt first then fell to the ground. It lay there in the middle of a bunch of castoff papery wax bits. It didn''t move. Neither did I. BE A BUSH! No bushes died too. Shit. Was it dead? Did the fall kill it? I checked my map. No, it was still alive and thankfully not hostile. Why wasn''t it moving? It should be moving right? Was it napping? ¡°Now is not a good time for you to nap, little dude,¡± I whispered standing on tiptoe, hoping to get a different angle to see it from. Nothing happened when I spoke or moved. I moved a little closer to it. It didn''t move, closer, nothing, a little closer. I was finally standing over top the baby bee and looking at it. It was certainly alive, but there was something wrong. Its wings weren''t right. I didn''t know anything much about bugs but I knew that something was wonky in the wing area of this baby. I think panic and perhaps pure dumbassery were to blame for what I did next. Certainly, there was nothing logical to explain it. It''s that urge you get to help small things in trouble. See a puppy limping along the side of the road, you pull over and help it. Only what I was doing was similar to helping out a baby rattlesnake. dumbassery. With the very tip of my index finger, I touched the bee. It was soft and fuzzy, not what I was expecting a bee to feel like. Then I activated Healing Hands and tried fixing the wings. You could bet I kept an eye on my map, the dot remained green, not hostile. I took this as a good sign and focused on the healing. After all, it was just a baby, and maybe my cutting open its hive slot is what caused this. If I had left it alone this baby probably would have been able to fully grow into a terrifying minion of hell. The wings twitched. Mayday! I backed away as fast as I could. I watch the little guy. Its butt began to wiggle and its wings twitched some more. Then it was up and hovering. It did a few small circles then landed again. Was it ok? Now that it was moving I wasn''t going to go near it again. It wiggled around some more and was facing my direction. I checked the map, still green. To be cautious I began to slowly shuffle further away. I put my hand out in front of me in a hopefully calming motion. Good bee, nice bee, just fly off to find your friends and we''ll all be happy. The bee buzzed its wings and began to hover again. I froze, no sudden movements. That''s when the bee flew towards me. I had hoped that it would go past. No such luck. It landed right on my outstretched arm. Shit, SHIT! Damn, Screw, DOUBLE FUCK. DO. NOT. MOVE! ROCK! BE A ROCK! Eh? There was this fuzzy tickling feeling on the top of my wrist. Wait, what on earth was that thing. From between its mandibles came a Cthulhu looking tongue. It was eating me! No, it was licking the honey off my hand. It was being very thorough about it too, getting between each finger. It crawled around my wrist forcing me to turn my hand palm up so it could get to the honey stuck there. After it was done with that hand, it sat there looking at me. Was it looking at me? It was hard to tell, but I offered up my other sticky hand and the process repeated. When my right hand was clean, I began to slowly fill my palm with the honey I''d stored in my inventory. The little guy was hungry. Hungry people were cranky, it stood to reason the hungry bees were cranky too. So feeding the bee would make it less cranky. ¡°Good bee, eat up little dude,¡± I whispered more to keep myself calm than to the bee. There was a sudden gasp from my left. I turned and Lotte was standing there. She''d froze when she saw the bee. She looked sick like she was going to faint. ¡°It''s ok,¡± I whispered so she could hear. ¡°It''s just hungry and I''m sure when he''s done he''ll leave. Don''t do anything stupid to scare it.¡± Well, I was the stupid one, but I didn''t feel like right now was the time to get into that. She nodded and backed away, Soon she was around the corner, presumably to tell the others about my possible impending death. In a short while, I spotted Crue, Sturgis, and Illia taking peeks at me from behind the rock outcropping. ¡°It''s ok,¡± I repeated. Hopefully, they''d believe me and not scare the baby. After a few more minutes of my feeding it honey, it buzzed its wings again. Oh, good it was done. It took flight and circled me a few times. I absorbed the honey left in my palm back into my inventory. I followed the flight of the Death Bee and I froze again when it decided that it wanted to land on my head. What the hell? I couldn''t see it on top of my head! Not being able to see it left me feeling even more uneasy. According to the map, though, the bee was still a nice, not hostile, green. Then the bee began to buzz. Like a little massage on my scalp. Wait, was it...purring? *Skill Gain- Monster Taming- Death Bee~ *Skill has automatically leveled up to 7 due to successful taming of Queen Death Bee~ *You Have Gained a Companion Creature. This creature''s name is currently Little Dude. Would you like to change this now? Yes/No ~ Hold on now, what? Monster taming? Queen Death Bee? What in the hell is a companion creature? *Companion Creature- A creature that is a companion. Useful pet.~ Useful pet? Could someone even make a bee a pet? My thoughts were spiraling. People didn''t just walk around with baby Queen Death Bees on their heads. Shit, was it really a Queen with a big q? How did that work? Wasn''t she supposed to fly off and form her own colony or something? What did I do? ¡°What have you done,¡± a scarily familiar voice said from directly behind me. I turned and there she was in all her goddessy glory, or not. It looked like she''d been hit by a truck and then jumped into a fire. She looked like a heroine of a post-apocalyptic movie. Dusty, bloody, dirty, clothes torn up, and hair a complete mess, still managed to make blown-up chic work. ¡°Thank you for the compliment, but I am dealing with a crisis situation and you just can''t stick to any of your future paths can you? Not one. NOOOOO You have to adopt a baby DEATH BEE! Do you have a suicide wish, because this is clearly a suicidal thing to do!¡± ¡°Um, my lady, maybe yelling isn''t the best thing to do right now?¡± Crue staged hissed from around the rock pillar. ¡°You can come out from there. This idiot just made this creature his companion. Nothing save a direct attack on him, or it, will trigger its animosity. Think of it as a fuzzy hat,¡± she turned back to me. ¡°You see, unlike you, your friends have some damned sense. Every time we turn around you''re doing something contrary to your fated lines. Just when I think I can deal with something else, you go and pull this!¡± She waved her hand at my head. ¡°I didn''t plan this,¡± I defended myself. What was she going on about fated line? Did she mean like in palm reading? The old man Durmond had already taken a look at my palms. ¡°Not palm reading you dolt. Your fate! Every being has a number of possible futures ahead of them. At any given point everyone has literally dozens of futures they can choose from. Those are paths of fate. Every action you have can, to some extent, be predicted. You, however, just don''t want to pick the fated paths that are already predicted for you. Noooo. You have to go out and do something completely outside our predictions! Care to explain yourself?¡± She crossed her arms and gave me a glare. How was I supposed to know anything about the future, fate lines, and paths? While I agree that this bee thing stemmed from some serious lapse in judgment, from my perspective I was just doing things as I''ve always done. She hadn''t complained about it before? Was she just grumpy because she had to be taken away from her Mad Max movie? She looked like she was going to zap me into ashes, but then her face relaxed. She gave a sigh and touched her forehead.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. ¡°You couldn''t know about it. Up until this point, I''ve actually found it amusing how you are throwing off all of Esaias'' predictions. You got him in quite an agitated state. I like watching my stoic brother show some emotion for once, but this time even I think you''ve gone too far.¡± She crossed her arms and tapped her chin examining me. Who was Esaias? *Esaias- God of fortunes and prophecy and gambling. One of the twelve main deities.~ Oh, It was good to know someone had been looking out for me. ¡°I''ve been looking out for you! Why do you think I''m here!¡± Amoris puffed out her cheeks in an angry pout. ¡°Besides you and Edomael of course,¡± I added to my thoughts. It was inconvenient at times for gods to be able to read thoughts. *Incoming Message. Please check your inventory.~ I''d do it later, she''d know if I wasn''t paying attention. ¡°Anyway, for the most part, your unpredictability has been largely beneficial so far. Most especially for the people around you, but every time I get a notification that you''ve gone off the predicted path I worry. Papa would kill me if I didn''t at least scold you for acting like a moron,¡± She paused. ¡°Do you feel sufficiently scolded? I''m usually on the receiving end of this sort of thing.¡± ¡°I know what I did was dumb, but I can''t explain why I did it. Something just overrode my logic and I acted without really thinking. I am sorry you were worried,¡± I apologized. I was sorry. It did seem like she had been in the middle of something and my idiocy took her away from that. ¡°Don''t be sorry for inconveniencing me, be sorry you almost got yourself killed.¡± She reached out and flicked my forehead. It caused the bee to buzz, or was it purring, louder than it had been. Amoris smiled at the bee. ¡°That''s right little one. He''s yours. I''m glad you''re willing to take such good care of him.¡± Amoris reached out and pet the bee. At least that''s what I thought she was doing. I still couldn''t see the top of my head, but I felt the slight shifting of the bee and assumed it was getting petted. So it really was friendly? ¡°Of course she is,¡± Amoris chuckled. ¡°From her perspective, you are her hive. Her family. She will protect you fiercely.¡± ¡°Shouldn''t she fly off and get her own hive with a bunch of other bees though?¡± ¡°She''s a true Queen, even if she is only a baby. She secrets pheromones that will attract other Death Bees to her. You''ll soon be the Pied Piper of Death Bee''s because of her.¡± I shiver of alarm tingled up my spine. Oh, Shit. ¡°Don''t worry, give me a second to explain the workings of the human world to her.¡± Amoris held out her hand and the baby bee crawled onto it. Amoris stood there for a long time just staring at the bee. It was such a long time, that Crue, Lotte, Illia, and Sturgis went back to honey collecting. Feeling unproductive just standing there waiting, I went back to work too. I gave me some time to come to terms with my new pet. They all had something to say about it when they came to me with their full jars and buckets. ¡°I was so worried it would sting you. I''m sorry I didn''t know what to do,¡± Lotte apologized. ¡°Every time I turn around you surprise me with something else. Don''t scare me like that ok?¡± Crue was half amused and half scolding. ¡°When I saw that bee in your hand...¡± Illia trailed off and looked like she was holding back tears. I must have really scared her. Guilt washed over me all over again. ¡°Good thing I was here to witness this,¡± Sturgis nodded to the goddess and the bee. ¡°Otherwise you''d never bee allowed back into the town.¡± He slapped my back, ¡°Get it? BEE? HA!¡± He chuckled at his really terrible pun. ¡°No, but seriously I didn''t know you had the tamer skill, when we get back you will have a stack of paperwork to fill out and I have more dispensations to give you. We''ve had tamers in the town before, but I''ve never heard of anyone taming a Death Bee. Can it even wear the Tamer Collar?¡± ¡°Tamer Collar?¡± What new thing was this that I had to worry about? He gave me that look that I had come to know quite well recently. The ''is this guy an idiot'' look. ¡°Tamed monsters are identified by wearing a purple collar with an identification tag.¡± Oh, so it was like a dog with dog tags. Good to know. He did have a point though, how did you get a bee to wear a collar? After Sturgis left I finally got around to checking that message. *Dear Eri, HA! You really showed Esaias. I think betting on you is both nerve-wracking and exciting for him. For once, he can actually lose a bet! I don''t think it''s surprising that the Death Bee found you attractive. After all, you are basically showered in my power. Death God, Death Bee... I''ve never really thought of them as part of my pantheon, but it stands to reason that something that is a symbol of death would like you. We are a bit busy at the moment so if you could refrain from getting yourself killed or distracting us for the next few days it would be appreciated. Not that your mundane antics in this world haven''t been entertaining, we have found ourselves a bit more stretched than we like. We only have limited omnipotence. We can''t be everywhere and when shit hits the fan we have to have our focus on that issue rather than have ourselves spread out. Believe me shit has hit the fan. Good news is it has nothing to do with you! Just don''t do anything really dumb in the next few days...like tame a dragon or take over the kingdom. We just can''t deal with the headache right now. So be good. Edomael~ What sort of person did he think I was? First he thinks I''m going to raise a giant army, now he thinks I''m going to take over a kingdom. Even I knew that being the leader just wasn''t my thing. Besides I didn''t want to deal with all the bureaucratic nonsense that came with either of those options. While I didn''t really know what I wanted to do yet, being on top wasn''t one of them. I would live in Yellow Springs, learn the Surveyor job, work for the Guild, and after I''d earned enough money I wanted to travel. Leaving behind my friends and heading out on my own wouldn''t be easy, but I really wanted my life to be different from when I was on Earth. I''d been reluctant to travel because of my grandmother and school. Now I didn''t have either of those things holding me back. How I was going to travel with a Death Bee would take some logistical hula hooping though. I looked at a notification that had popped up, but that I had ignored at the time. *This creature''s name is currently Little Dude. Would you like to change this now? Yes/No ~ I had to name it, her. It was a female. Beetrice, Beeyonc¨¦, Debbee? What did you name a bee? I was still thinking about it a few hours later. We had finished collecting the honey and were just finishing up lunch. We''d left a portion out for Amoris just in case she finished and wanted to join us. When it became obvious that she wasn''t eating, I put the food away. I wasn''t complaining since Amoris was explaining human society to the bee. I was honestly grateful that I wouldn''t have to worry about the bee reacting poorly to certain situations. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a flash of silver. ¡°What did you do?¡± I asked standing up in alarm. I knew that light. That light was trouble. ¡°I just made it easier for you to communicate with Amisi,¡± Amoris said. ¡°She''ll be able to understand human speech and she''ll be able to send you basic communications now. She''s still a baby so don''t expect anything too intricate. She''ll tell you when she''s hungry, tired, or wants to play. As she matures she''ll get better at expressing her wants and needs to you.¡± ¡°Her name is Amisi?¡± Out of all that, the strange thing to me was that the bee already had a name. Giving the bee a communication Blessing seemed just about normal for Amoris. ¡°Yes, that''s what she says. Her name is Amisi. It means flower,¡± Amoris smiled at the bee and scratched its back between its wings. I entered the bee''s name as Amisi in my Gamer Glass. If that''s what she said her name was I was fine with it. It was certainly better than Debbee. ¡°Debbee? Really?¡± Amoris gave me a ''you have got to be kidding'' look. Considering Amoris'' personal tastes, I thought she was being rather judgmental. Orange argyle socks, I thought hard at her. She huffed and turned her head. ¡°No accounting for taste,¡± she muttered to the bee. ¡°So how do I care for a baby Death Bee?¡± I asked Amoris changing the subject. There probably wasn''t a manual for that sort of thing. ¡°She''ll need that honey you have stored so don''t sell it all off. Save about a third of it. That should be enough to get you through these next months and winter. She''ll start trying to hunt her own food soon. Small things like mice and birds. She might not be successful at first so that''s why you need to keep some of the honey. By next spring, she will be old enough to start her own mini hive and begin making her own honey.¡± ¡°Wait,¡± I interrupted. ¡°I know I don''t know a lot about bees, but aren''t the minion bees the ones that make the honey?¡± ¡°In normal hives, yes, but in monster hives, the Queen can perform all roles necessary for the function of a hive. She can solo nearly everything. However, if she ever wants to start her own hive for real, you will need to find a Death Bee hive with a high population of males. They have a tendency to die off after mating...¡± ¡°Anything else? Do I need to walk her, or keep her inside during the winter? Does she hibernate?¡± ¡°Nope, don''t take her out in a blizzard with high winds or anything, but as for cold, she''ll start to grow a super fluffy coat for winter. I think you would be wise to think of Amisi as a sort of odd cat. They hunt the same prey, react with the same indifference to humans, are more intelligent than they appear, a... they purr....¡± Amoris trailed off. ¡°They hunt the same prey.¡± She thumped her fist into her palm like she''d remembered something. She completely forgot that was the first thing she mentioned. ¡°Oh, I already said it? Well, it''s important so I repeated it.¡± Somehow she wasn''t very convincing. She gave me a dirty look. Hey, it''s not my fault! ¡°Anyway, you will be needing this,¡± She held out her hand. A purple leather harness, with a few purple jeweled studs, was dangling from her fingers. There was a purple plate attached to it. ¡°It will grow as she grows. Death Bees have natural magic resistance, so I''ve made it so that this harness amplifies that. Most magic under a certain level won''t affect her at all.¡± She paused, ¡°I don''t think I''m forgetting anything. It''s a very simple magical item, but still remember to be cautious.¡± I took the harness from her and read the plate. Amisi- Queen Death Bee Companion- Eri Veritas Blessed by Amoris Did all companion nameplates have this information? Why was it necessary for her to add Blessed by Amoris? ¡°Queen Death Bees are coveted kills. Remember just one will earn a person 125 gold. That is a lot of money and a lot of temptation for some people. If they thought it was just a normal tamed monster they might take the risk of killing her and turning her into the Guild. However, since she''s been Blessed by me she isn''t a normal tamed monster and anyone who tries and harms her for profit will face my divine wrath!¡± She looked ready to jump into the ring and pick a fight. She even held up her fist like she was about to punch someone. ¡°I''ve given her permission to protect herself and you with lethal force if need be. If it should come to that, don''t worry about the legal consequences. I promise to step in and take care of it. This pass is only for defense of life. If you get into a drunken brawl where there isn''t really any danger of you dying then she''s not allowed to protect you.¡± Amoris waved her hand at me. Drunken brawl...really now. ¡°So I''ve got a fuzzy bodyguard with the personality of a cat?¡± ¡°Pretty much,¡± she passed Amisi back to me. ¡°I really need to be going now. I''ve stayed far too long. We really are in the middle of a crisis situation and I need to get back to it. You should be fine if you just pay attention to her when she needs something. Don''t get yourself killed hunting monsters. I have a bet with Esaias and I''d like to win.¡± Then she did her godly poofing thing and was gone. She had a bet with Esaias that I wouldn''t die from monsters. Does that mean Esaias has predicted I would die from monsters? That was certainly more than unsettling. The prophesy god was betting on me to die. Great, just friggin'' great. Here I was about to go hunt and stalk a mystery monster. I was suddenly not looking forward to figuring out what the monster was. Shit, this day just kept getting better. Talk about an emotional roller-coaster, but on the bright side, I''d made a new deadly friend. Name- Eri Veritas HP 3234/3234 MP 95/95 Level- 14 Age- 18 Race/Species- (Human) Unknown Gender- (Male) Unknown Occupation- Surveyor of Adventurers Guild Companion- Amisi (Baby Queen Death Bee) Exp- 5837 Physical Power- 289 Stamina- 312 Defense- 393 Agility- 574 Intelligence- 105 Magic Power- 8 Metal Rain Lv 1 Lightning Magic Lv 1 Healing Hands Lv 2 Telekinesis Lv 3 Restraint Lv 3 Paralysis Resistance Lv 3 Mind Magic Resistance Lv 1 Skills Staff Fighting Lv 2 Basic Sword Lv 4 Skull Bashing Lv 3 Slicing Lv 1 Piercing Lv 1 Martial Arts Lv 3 Stance Lv 2 Smooth Movement Lv 2 Archery Lv 3 Spear Lv 1 Stalking Lv 1 Scouting Lv 1 Jumping Lv 1 Running Lv 3 Monster Taming Lv 7 - Death Bee Pain Tolerance Lv 3 Deception Lv 2 Intimidation Lv 1 Poker Face Lv 1 Etiquette Lv 3 Public Speaking Lv 1 Dismantling Lv 1 Appraisal Lv 1 Cooking Lv 1 Leather Work Lv 1 Metal Work Lv 1 Replication Lv 1 (Lv 10 for Succuba Star only) Rock Throwing Dancing Singing Harvesting Empathy Small Talk Discretion Party Tricks Alcohol Tolerance Monster Biology Entomology Zoology Botany Special Skills Abyss Walker Racial Ability- Hidden Among the Masses- 20 Stealth- 95 Party- 10 Items Equip Inventory Bracelet Succuba Star Gold- 1g 4s 09c (1409c) (6570c yet to be divided.) Blessing 1- All Map Exploration Blessing 2- Exp Points Required by Level Up / Current Level Blessing 3-Exp Increase X Current Level Blessing 4- Item- Gamer Glasses Titles- Emissary of Amoris Devotee of Amoris Devotee of Edomael Oracle of Amoris Oracle of Edomael Prince of Dreams Grateful Petitioner Lover of Leaves Enemy of Apes Story of Revenge Part 1 (This takes place while our main party is out in the forest fighting their first Red-Wolves together in Chapter 21) Fuck them, FUCK THEM ALL! He threw the desk chair against the wall of his room. It didn''t break. He wanted it to break, he had to break something. He picked the chair up again and smashed it repeatedly until it was nothing but splinters. More, he needed to destroy more. The prayer book. Fucking book, fucking priests, fucking god-damned religion. He began to rip the pages one by one methodically. Rip He''d been happy. Rip His father had money. Rip His mother doted on him. Rip He could have had any girl he''d wanted. Rip But no, those fucking priests had taken everything from him. Rip RipThe author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Rip Everything gone. Gone. Now they were treating him like he was the fucking problem. Rip He''d done nothing wrong. Rip They were the fucking problem. Rip. ¡°FUCK!¡± he screamed throwing the rest of the book towards the window. He''d wanted the glass to shatter into a thousand pieces, but the book just bounced off with a thump. He fell to his knees and gave a wordless scream. He doubled over and just screamed. Over and over he screamed. There was knocking on the door. Pounding. Someone had gotten a key and opened the door. Someone was by his side. Patting his back trying to give him words of comfort. A fucking priest. The red vestments were enough to let him know that. Gods, he wanted to take that sash, wrap it around the man''s neck, and squeeze the life out of him. It wasn''t fair. He''d done nothing wrong. Eventually, he''d stopped screaming. The priests got him to bed. They murmured things about cleaning up in the morning. Then they left. They left him alone. ¡°Big mistake,¡± he whispered into the dark. He was formulating a plan. In his rage, he''d seen one verse in the prayer book. That one verse was the beginning of his plan. He''d get revenge. He''d destroy them all. His pain wouldn''t be for nothing. In the dark of night, he set fire to his room. Broke the window, jumped out to freedom. To the beginning of his new life. He''d call on her daughter, he''d use her own daughter against her. She thought she had brought him down. No, it was he who would bring them all down. Using her own daughter. He laughed into the cold morning air. It''d probably rain today. He wanted a fucking big storm. One to fit his mood. ¡°Bring it on, fuckers.¡± He flipped the bird to the heavens. Chapter 28 Mysterious Monster and Warm Fuzzies Chapter 28 Mysterious Monster and Warm Fuzzies Amisi loved her new harness. She wiggled her butt around a lot and pretty much buzzed around showing it off. Illia and Crue seemed pretty relaxed around her. Crue even let her land on his hand so she could wiggle her butt at him. Lotte and Sturgis weren''t as open and welcoming. They weren''t hostile, but they weren''t comfortable with her either. ¡°Sorry, lady,¡± Sturgis spoke to Amisi as she did a buzz passed him. ¡°I''m...I... I just.. You are a creature that we''ve been told to fear. I think I need time to get to know you.¡± Well, at least he was trying to be polite about it. I''d told them she understood human speech so they were going out of their way to talk to her. Lotte on the other hand just sort of froze whenever Amisi got too close. I had to tell my new pet to give her some space. That''s when I found out how Amisi communicated. I got a sudden mental image of a sunny field in autumn. Golden grains waving in the grass and plenty of mice to eat. It was an image of confirmation and happiness, I think. How she knew about autumn fields and mice when she was a newborn was something too complex for her to communicate. I decided to think of it as some sort of weird hive knowledge all Death Bees were born with. Who knew if I was right or not. That stuff was straight out of a sci-fi novel. Amisi took a liking to Illia. I think she was curious about her ears. She buzzed to Illia''s head then to mine, then back to her. She was sending me all sorts of mixed up images. Maybe she was confused? ¡°Illia is a rabbit person. Some people have different appearances,¡± I tried explaining. I got images of bees with different striped patterns. I think she understood. I thought Illia would panic when Amisi landed on her head to get a closer look at her ears, but she just stood there and actually moved her ears a bit to show Amisi that she could control them. Amisi seemed delighted at this new thing and did a happy butt dance on Illia''s head. ¡°Amisi, we are hunting a monster, we need to find it. So we are going to have to be very quiet. We don''t want it noticing us. So I want you to stick by me, ok?¡± Amisi buzzed from on top of Illia. ¡°You ok with her up there?¡± I asked Illia. ¡°Yes, she doesn''t bother me, it actually tickles a little.¡± It was remarkable how my friends were adapting to this new addition to our party. I couldn''t honestly say that I''d be so accepting if the circumstances were reversed. They really were great people and I was immensely lucky to have found them. ¡°We should get going. We''ve been here longer than I anticipated. I''d like to find out what the mystery monster is, then get some distance from it before it gets dark,¡± Sturgis said. I checked the location of the monster. It had wandered a bit further west but was still in the general area it had been in. We left at a brisk walk, that turned into a light jog once Amisi wasn''t disturbed by the running. Illia ran smoother than me, so Amisi''s choice of a ride was probably a good one. The area we were approaching was wooded with an outcropping of rock formations and caves. There was a really steep hill we had to climb in order to get the vantage point Sturgis wanted of the monster. We mostly climbed it on our hands and knees grabbing on to tree branches and other things to help pull us up. The top of the hill did provide us with the view Sturgis had been hoping for, but what we found wasn''t what we were expecting. There was a small pond. It wasn''t supposed to be there. Was it caused by flooding with the rain we had a few days ago? The answer to that became clear when a jet stream of water came spraying out of the trees towards the pond. A big splash was made as the jet of water hit the pond''s surface. Someone was using this place as target practice for water magic. No, not someone. I checked the dot on the map. ¡°Guys,¡± I whispered, ¡°I think that came from our monster.¡± ¡°A monster that can use level 3 water magic? How on Elrich have we missed it?¡± Crue muttered. ¡°It''s coming,¡± hissed Illia. She had the best hearing of us all and could probably hear the movements of the creature even from this distance. It was hard to miss as it worked its way out of the woods toward the pond. The bright purple fur was very noticeable. It was a large bear, a large purple bear. I could only assume it was a Cave Bear, but why was it coming up unknown on my map? ¡°I don''t understand,¡± I muttered. ¡°I was thinking it would be some new rare monster. It''s just a Cave Bear. Why would that come up unknown?¡± ¡°It''s not just a Cave Bear, that is at least a King Cave Bear to be using water magic at level 3,¡± Sturgis hissed. ¡°We should go.¡± He started to work his way back down the hill. We all gave a glance at each other and followed. I felt like I was the only one left out in the dark about the significance of this monster. At the base of the hill, Sturgis nodded and pointed in the direction of the honey hive. ¡°Let''s go back there before we talk.¡± Well, the hive location was easily defensible. So that had some logic to it, but if we were going for help we''d need to get further away before we made camp for the night. ¡°So we''ve got ourselves a King Cave Bear, shit,¡± Sturgis swore as we rounded the corner of the rock outcropping protecting the hive. He ran his hand through his hair and paced. ¡°I still don''t understand why he wouldn''t show up on my map,¡± I said to the group. ¡°My guess is because it''s developed magic to the point that it''s not really in a class with normal Cave Bears. It''s a King Cave Bear, you saw how different it was,¡± Crue said. ¡°I''ve never seen a Cave Bear so I don''t know the difference,¡± I told him. ¡°It was twice as big for starters,¡± Lotte muttered. She rubbed at her temples as if she was developing a headache. ¡°There is that, but there is a theory about how magic alters monsters. There''s a book on it in the library,¡± Illia added. ¡°What do you mean?¡± Crue asked. ¡°Well, it sort of goes along with what you were saying. It''s not in the same class. The theory is that the magic actually changes the monster to the point where they can no longer be considered the same species. It gets technical, but the muscle and bone structure change as a monster develops magic,¡± Illia tried to explain. ¡°So it''s not a ''Cave Bear'',¡± I made finger quotes, ¡°but some sort of evolutionary cousin of the Cave Bear?¡± ¡°Evolutionary?¡± she asked. ¡°The way a creature adapts to better survive within its environment. If you took a Green Ape adapted to live in the woods and put it somewhere with purple trees. Eventually, over time the Green Apes would begin to have purple fur. They are considered cousins of the original Green Apes, but are no longer Green Apes.¡± ¡°A cousin of the...¡± Illia muttered. Then she nodded. ¡°I think I get it.¡± ¡°Well, I''m glad someone did,¡± Lotte grumbled. ¡°It''s sort of like humans and Zyanthorpes. We both have human forms, but one of us is slightly altered,¡± Illia tried explaining. ¡°That''s not quite evolution since you were created directly from a god. You''re not an adapted form of human,¡± I told her. ¡°No, but I think the idea is similar. We are the same yet different. The same goes for the Cave Bear. It''s the same yet different.¡± ¡°That makes more sense than Purple Apes,¡± Lotte commented. I tried alright. ¡°I think what we are going to do about it is a more pressing question,¡± said Sturgis. ¡°We can''t take that thing on. The base level for a normal Cave Bear would be about 22. For a King Cave Bear, we are probably looking at something around level 70.¡± ¡°Level 70? But we don''t get anything higher than 50 around here,¡± Lotte protested. ¡°Normally, we don''t. We have a decent Guild presence that keeps the high-level monsters from appearing, but somehow we all missed this guy out here leveling up.¡± ¡°Perhaps it''s been in the cave systems and that''s how we missed it?¡± Illia commented. ¡°That''s probably likely. I really can''t see any of us missing a Cave Bear with magic for so long, unless it''s been in the cave system leveling up down there,¡± Sturgis agreed. ¡°It also explains why the Red Wolves ran,¡± Crue added. ¡°Red Wolves and Cave Bears fight over territory. With a Cave Bear this strong they would flee to a new territory rather than fight for it.¡± He continued for my benefit. ¡°It means that if the bear had been here before the wolves would have fought with it before it got this strong. That they ran means it showed up here already this strong.¡± ¡°We need to go to the Guild for help,¡± Lotte said. ¡°Yes, but they are going to be a little overwhelmed with the Red Wolves. Getting a party together that is strong enough to take down something level 70 will take a bit of time. We will have to have everyone in the town working on this. Guards, adventurers, and citizens that are above level 30 and have fighting skills.¡± ¡°Level 30?¡± Illia asked. ¡°A party of at least D and above adventurers,¡± Sturgis explained. ¡°Well that counts me out, I''m only at E,¡± I said. ¡°No, you will have to come because of your scouting,¡± Sturgis said. ¡°Hey, we can''t let others know about it,¡± Crue whispered to him nudging him in the ribs. ¡°This is...¡± Sturgis began. ¡°Not so important that what happened to our family should happen to Eri,¡± Crue interrupted. ¡°Well, there is a way around that,¡± Lotte said. ¡°I don''t think either of you has realized that he just became a tamer of a Death Bee. His stats probably have risen a lot since he first was checked.¡± ¡°He was only just checked the beginning of the week how much could they rise in that time?¡± Sturgis scoffed. ¡°No, she might be right,¡± Illia thought out loud. Where was she going with this? I knew Lotte was right, but we were trying to keep my Blessing a secret. I thought I should also stay quiet about my initial D rank grade at the Guild. ¡°A Queen Death Bee as a companion, one Blessed by Amoris, it should be enough to push him into D class. The skills of a tamed monster are usually accounted for in the testing,¡± Illia nodded confirming her own thoughts. Well, by now who knew how high my ranking might be. If I had to take the exam again I should add some Exp into Hidden Among the Masses the skill that allowed me to hide my skills. I should probably do it anyway for Crue''s benefit. I allocated Exp to it before I forgot, or a meteor fell from the sky. At the rate this week was going, it wouldn''t surprise me. I took it up to level 40. I wasn''t sure if that was enough to do any good. I didn''t get a notification, but when I tried to move one of Crue''s skill levels it let me. Only one though and by only one level lower. I would have to up the level of Hidden Among the Masses in order to change all of his skills to be lower. ¡°I''d forgotten about that. We don''t have many tamers in town so it never really comes up,¡± Sturgis nodded breaking into my glum thoughts and distracting me from my Exp allocation. ¡°You will not under any circumstance put Eri in a position that will bring unwanted attention. Do you understand, brother?¡± Crue''s voice got a bit lower and was just a tad threatening. ¡°I don''t think it will become an issue if he can test high enough for level D. We should be able to work around it,¡± Sturgis smiled. ¡°Should isn''t good enough. You pushed your way onto this mission. Since you are more experienced I let you take the lead.¡± Oh, so that was why, good to know. ¡°You promised to keep his skill a secret. You will NOT break that promise under any circumstance. Do you understand?¡± Crue was...angry. He jabbed a finger into his brother''s chest. What had Sturgis done that made Crue mad at his brother? It''s not like he was planning on telling the entire Guard about it. He just wanted to use me for my scouting, I was a Guild Surveyor. They were sort of known for their tracking abilities. Once again I felt like I was missing a key piece of information. Illia looked just as confused, so I wasn''t alone. ¡°Both of you can it. Now is not the time,¡± Lotte rubbed the sides of her temples again. Was she always like this? When I first met her she seemed a lot friendlier, but on this trip, she wasn''t so friendly. It seemed like she was forcing herself to even tolerate us at times. Maybe she was just stressed and this is how she dealt with it. ¡°It''s not like...¡±Sturgis began arguing with Crue. ¡°I. SAID. STOP!¡± Lotte suddenly stood up and glared at both of them. ¡°Stop dragging us into your issues. Just stop it already.¡± Lotte slammed her hand flat against the side of the rock. Then she turned and stormed off around the corner. Well, that had escalated quickly. I gave a silent look to Illia. I felt like we had an entire conversation in that one look. Do you know what that was about? No, Clue. Weird right? Yes. Should one of us go after her? I don''t know. As far as silent conversations went we managed to cover a lot. Go with me over there? Leave them alone? I nodded in the opposite direction Lotte had stormed off. Alright. Illia and I both stood and left the brothers to their brooding and in Sturgis'' case, pouting. Seeing a man as big as a tree pout was something you didn''t see every day. It was the only term I could think of to adequately describe his overly sulky and pissed off expression. We made our way around the rocks and found a nice spot with a flat boulder we could sit on. ¡°Well, that escalated quickly,¡± Illia said. ¡°Ya, I was thinking the same thing.¡± ¡°I don''t really know Lotte or Sturgis, but I get the feeling the three of them have history,¡± Illia sighed. ¡°Do you know what the issues they have are? They keep bringing up their family?¡± ¡°Only hearsay and I don''t really think it''s my place to tell you. Just that some crazy stuff happened to their grandfather and later their father. They have every reason to be paranoid about the government and the kingdom. ¡°So when he says don''t stand out, he means it. Do everything you can not to come to the attention of the political forces. Though for Crue, I think he finds it difficult to think of the temple as a political force. Just be careful.¡± ¡°I see. To be honest, I''m glad the both of you are here to caution me. I never would have thought about all this on my own. It never would have occurred to me that people would try and use me. I was just focused on starting my new life.¡± ¡°Well, if worse comes to worst, you can always run. You can leave the Kingdom. They can''t technically follow you into another territory.¡± ¡°What do you mean by technically?¡± ¡°Most territories have some sort of spy network. If they think that someone is a threat they will do everything they can to take out that threat. Even if that threat is working with someone other than themselves. ¡°The good thing about Yellow Springs is that there is a lot of tourism, people come in and out all the time. There is a sense of anonymity. At the same time, because you don''t know the people around you, you can''t pinpoint the people most likely to be a threat.¡± ¡°So it both works for me and against me,¡± I nodded. ¡°Perhaps my plan for traveling should be moved up? If I move around a lot then I won''t be scrutinized as much, right?¡± I was just thinking out loud I didn''t really think moving up my plans for travel was necessary, yet. Illia stayed silent for a while, ¡°right.¡± Then her shoulders slumped a bit and she sighed. ¡°You really might be right about moving around. If you stay in one place for too long people are bound to find you.¡± ¡°Well, no one is looking for me, yet,¡± I said. I patted her on the back. Something in my gut told me that we weren''t just talking about me anymore. ¡°When you go, I''ll go with you,¡± she whispered. I barely heard her. What? ¡°Um, Illia, I don''t want to pry, and don''t get me wrong I''d love to have company, but why would you want to go with me? Not that I''m leaving anytime soon or anything.¡± I waved my hand in the air a bit to show I had no real plans. ¡°Crue isn''t the only one with family drama. Sooner or later mine is going to come searching for me. I''ve been in Yellow Springs far longer than I thought I''d be. I don''t want to go back home no matter what. Yellow Springs has been a safe haven for me and I''ve come to love it, but it''s probably not the best idea to stay.¡± ¡°Is your family that bad?¡± I couldn''t imagine having a family so bad you''d run away to escape them. ¡°Yes and no. Individually they are fine, but as a group, they''ve come to place expectations on me that I am not willing to live up too. I refuse to go back. I won''t go back.¡± She placed her head in her hands displacing Amisi a bit. ¡°I''m guessing that you can''t talk them out of these expectations?¡± I rubbed her back for comfort. I hoped she didn''t think I was being creepy. Not that I had creepy intentions. ¡°No, I''m the only girl in a family with fifteen brothers. For some reason, not many girls are born into our clan. So when one is born they are expected to marry and begin producing children as soon as possible. I don''t want that. I don''t want to live a life like my mother. Her first child at sixteen and pregnant every year since. That''s not a life I want.¡± ¡°Every year? You mean she''s hardly ever not pregnant? That doesn''t seem safe.¡± I didn''t know a lot about pregnant ladies, but I knew enough that the doctors suggested waiting a while after one birth before getting pregnant again. If only to give the mother time to recover. Damn, though, 16 kids, I couldn''t even imagine. Her mother could star in her own reality show on Earth.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. ¡°It''s killing her. Slowly, but it is killing her. When I left she was about to give birth again and she was completely bedridden.¡± She shook her shoulders up and down, her palms out, in a defeated shrug. ¡°I''m sorry,¡± I didn''t know what to say. I felt bad for even thinking of it in a glib way earlier. For Illia to be this upset, it must have been very harsh. ¡°They think it''s fine to treat her like she''s not her own person. She''s a wife, a mother, but never her own person. She doesn''t have time to be. Growing up, we could all see she wasn''t happy, but she never did anything about it. Having children was her duty.¡± ¡°They want to take you back so that you can continue having babies like your mother,¡± I stated. ¡°Yes, but it''s worse than that for me,¡± she sighed. ¡°Because of my special skill, they wanted me to have multiple partners. They had plans to diversify the clan using me as a broodmare. They wouldn''t even let me choose my own partners. ¡°I was sixteen and I was told I had to breed with my own cousin. When I refused, they locked me up in my room, even barred the window. They were arguing about it downstairs. My own father said that once I got over my maidenly shyness I''d be fine with the plan. My mother wanted them to wait until I became used to the idea. The clan was impatient, they needed more females to be born. I was their best bet in getting more girls in the clan. They weren''t going to wait for me to come to terms with my born duty. ¡°They sent my cousin in,¡± she paused and for a long time, I didn''t think she was going to finish. ¡°I had been able to hear their discussion. I knew that I''d never have a chance at living my own life if I stayed with the clan, with my family. The family that I loved was downstairs discussing whether or not it was a good idea to rape me into submission, because that''s what it would have been, rape.¡± ¡°God, Illia, I don''t know what to say,¡± I whispered. I felt like I should say something, but how horrifying would that have been to a young girl? I couldn''t even imagine, and I felt like there was nothing I could say to help with that level of pain. ¡°I grabbed a pillowcase and packed some clothes, my jewelry, all the money I had. I broke the leg off my desk chair and I waited. I guess I was lucky they sent him up alone. I bashed him over the head with the chair leg, stole his utility knife, then grabbed my bow and quiver. With the door unlocked I snuck down the hall and entered one of the rooms my youngest brothers shared. They were supposed to be asleep. ¡°They started to make noise when I entered the room. I opened the window and began to crawl out. My father arrived just in time to see me jump out. ¡°Knowing I didn''t have much time. I was up and running before I could even register that I''d landed stupid and hurt my hip in the fall. I kept running for over a week. ¡°No food, hardly any sleep, and the constant fear of being found, it was a nightmare. I knew they were tracking me. There were times I could hear them in the forest. When they made camp I could smell their fires.¡± ¡°But they didn''t find you,¡± I commented. Thank the gods. ¡°Oh, they found me. One of my other cousins did. He was always the best tracker, but he also had the meanest temperament. He was not happy when he found out his younger brother would have me first. He found me, cornered me, tried to ''teach me my duty'',¡± she made finger quotes. ¡°I used his own brother''s knife to stab him. I robbed him of his gear and left him for dead. ¡°I don''t know if I actually killed him. He was still alive when I left him. I think the search party found him and took him back home for medical attention. I think that''s the only reason they stopped searching. By the time they would have gotten back on the trail rainy season had begun. In a way, I was lucky and unlucky about that.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± Shit, she had, maybe, killed a person. Her own cousin. Was I ok with that? I thought about it briefly. Hell yes, I was fine with it. Bastard deserved it. ¡°I was alone in the forest, no food but some early spring berries and what I could manage to catch and electrocute enough to eat, and it was raining. I got sick, very sick. Something in my lungs.¡± ¡°What did you do?¡± I was feeling a sense of relief and pride that my friend was able to survive so much. I was also angry. I felt an anger brewing in the back of my mind if I ever came across any of her family...I didn''t know what I''d do. Was I capable of killing someone? If I''d have been there at that moment, yes. A sense of resolve crested over me. I''d keep her safe. I wouldn''t let anyone hurt her, but it looked like she was able to keep herself safe just fine. ¡°I was found, half dead, by a Priestess of Amoris. She was traveling with a group of other new priests from other temples. They were just fresh from the capital and were on their way to their temple posts. They took me into their group and healed me, let me travel with them, and eventually got me well enough that I could set out on my own again.¡± ¡°Then you made it to Yellow Springs?¡± ¡°Not in the beginning. I did a little bit of work with the Guild to make some money. I was told that Yellow Springs is good for beginners because of the Green Apes. So I made my way up here planning on becoming a full-time adventurer. Turns out that at my level even Green Apes were too dangerous for me to solo and no one really wanted me in their party. ¡°I was running out of money and didn''t have enough for a place to stay. Mary found me sleeping in the corner of the library one afternoon and offered me the job. I''ve been there ever since.¡± ¡°Mary seems like a great person,¡± I know they were just general comments, but I honestly didn''t know what to say to her after a story like that. ¡°Mary is amazing. She''s very flexible. That''s why I''m not worried about taking time off, or even leaving if it should come to that. Mary will be fine.¡± ¡°Well, even though I think I will eventually have to leave, perhaps sooner than I anticipated, I can''t leave just yet,¡± I sighed. She''d shared so much with me. That meant she trusted me to some extent. Was it fair that I was keeping important information from her? No, I''d be an asshat if I continued to keep it from her at this point. ¡°I think before you decide to follow me that you should probably know that I have a few more secrets. Important ones that will likely affect your decision.¡± Hell, was I really going to do this? Yes, I was. It wasn''t right that she would decide to just travel with me in the future without her knowing. ¡°What is it?¡± she asked. She had a look of apprehension on her face. Well, that was to be expected. ¡°I''m not from Elrich. I did a good deed for the gods where I''m from and got killed for it. They decided to reincarnate me here. That''s why I have all these Blessings. They were incentives for me to reincarnate.¡± I glanced at her face for a reaction. Nothing, her face had gone pretty expressionless. ¡°Um, there is more,¡± I hesitated. ¡°When Amoris reincarnated me she sort of messed it up. Edomael had to finish the job. This means that I was reincarnated with both their powers. It also means that I''m not... human...¡± I trailed off on the last words, almost choking on them because I was so reluctant to say them. Only, part of it was that I didn''t want anyone to know, the rest was most likely my sense of denial about the entire situation. At least I could acknowledge to myself that I was in a state of denial. ¡°You''re not joking,¡± she shook her head then held up a finger. ¡°Give me a second.¡± Was that good or bad? We were sort of having a sharing moment, I could only hope it was good. ¡°You''re not from Elrich and you''re not human. Does Crue know about this?¡± ¡°Yes, Amoris thought it best that I have someone to guide me along. She sort of picked Crue. He''s been trying to teach me how to manage in this world.¡± ¡°I see,¡± she paused. ¡°Crue is ok with it?¡± ¡°I think so, but you''d actually have to ask him. I mean we haven''t even gotten to the part where I have to transition. I''m hoping he''ll stick around even after that.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Um, well, when I was reincarnated I sort of became a baby Succuba. I haven''t transformed yet. I''ve been told the transition is...not easy. Crue has skills that are supposed to help me.¡± I felt like I was pulling out my own teeth. An uneasy acidic feeling began to grow in my gut. ¡°Wait,¡± she lifted her hand, ¡°So you''re an Incubus? Aren''t they incredibly rare? The books hardly ever have any mention of them except for the stories of Samil and Esau and theories based on witness accounts.¡± Leave it to Illia to take the researcher''s perspective rather than freaking out. ¡°I guess so, I mean I still feel human and for the most part, I am human. Since I haven''t changed yet I don''t know how to be anything other than human. I wouldn''t know about rarity or anything like that. I just know what Amoris and Edomael told me. That''s it. There is a part of me that still thinks it can''t be real, to be perfectly honest.¡± Boy, was I swimming in a river in Egypt. ¡°Why are you telling me now? Why not when you added me to your party and told me about your Blessings? Don''t you trust me?¡± The acid feeling in my gut began to feel like fire. ¡°It''s not that. I think it''s mostly I''m afraid of how you''d react. On top of that, the fewer people know about it the safer everyone is. Crue''s paranoia isn''t so far fetched when you think about my particular circumstances. What government group wouldn''t want to kidnap me and find out everything I know about my old world? ¡°I just don''t know how safe it is to be letting people know about it. Amoris told Crue, you are technically the first person I''ve told.¡± I looked up at her. I placed a hand over my stomach. My guts would remain in place. They weren''t going anywhere. Amisi, who was still on Illia''s head, started to do a dance. It distracted both of us for a bit. Amisi sent me images of her with honey. ¡°I think she''s hungry,¡± I commented to Illia. She was trying to look up at the bee, but that was pretty much impossible considering where Amisi was perched. ¡°You should see if she''ll eat strawberries. That honey is worth a small fortune and if she can supplement her food with strawberries she''ll eat less honey. I even wonder if she could sustain herself on regular bee honey?¡± ¡°I don''t know, but I don''t want to risk her development by denying her honey just because it''s worth something.¡± ¡°That''s not what I mean. I wouldn''t want that either, but maybe for ''treats'' in between real meals?¡± ¡°We can try it,¡± I nodded and brought out a handful of strawberries. ¡°Here Amisi, when you eat your honey you can have these for dessert.¡± I waved the strawberries at her. She flew down from Illia and buzzed around the strawberries I''d placed on the ground. She crawled around them and nibbled a bit with her mandibles and her Cthulhu tongue. She did a happy bee dance and started to really dig in. ¡°Hey, wait, you have to eat your honey first. You''re a growing bee.¡± I held out my hand with a palm full of honey. She seemed reluctant to abandon her new treat, but in the end, came up to me like a sulky bee and ate her honey. ¡°Good girl. When you''re done you can have the berries.¡± ¡°I''m glad Sturgis had us keep track of how much we each collected,¡± she muttered rubbing Amisi''s butt as she ate. ¡°What? I wasn''t told that.¡± ¡°Well, you were collecting it faster than the rest of us. It was just logical for the rest of us to keep track rather than you. I''m not saying that you would cheat us or anything,¡± she waved her hands in a panic.¡± We just didn''t know how else to figure out how to split the money from the sales. If we did it equally, then that wouldn''t be fair since without you we never would have been able to gather it in the first place. On top of that, you were collecting it faster than the rest of us since you didn''t have to take time to scrape it into a bucket or jar. You could just swish your hand around and voila!¡± She moved her hands around like a magic trick. It hadn''t been like that, but I understood her point. ¡°We just wanted to be fair, and that''s why we kept track. This was before Amisi though. I''m not certain just how much honey everyone else gathered and how much you''ve got. Will you have enough to keep her fed over the winter? That''s partly why I was wondering if you could supplement her. If not, I''d be willing to donate some of the honey I collected. Just a small jar of it would be enough to pay six months rent. Besides, Amisi will begin to produce her own honey in the spring and Queen Bee honey is worth at least ten times that of normal Death Bee honey. If I let you have some now, and you pay me back in the spring, I''d be making a profit!¡± Leave it to Illia to be compassionate yet five steps ahead of everyone else when it came to thinking about possibilities. ¡°I think we will have to wait until we get back to town. I can subtract the amount you guys collected and determine how much I have left. Amoris said I would need about a third of the honey in my inventory.¡± ¡°Well, I''m not certain how much we collected total, but I know you were working your way through the hive four times as fast as the rest of us. My guess is that about half the honey you have will be what you collected.¡± ¡°You don''t think it will cause hard feelings, do you? The way we split it? I was thinking of just doing everything five ways.¡± ¡°We could do that, but you won''t have enough to feed Amisi if you do. You could promise them some of Amisi''s honey. Or you could offer to buy the honey from them outright. I''m not sure if you have that sort of money right now. You could owe them the money, and pay them back when you sell Amisi''s honey. I don''t think they would be opposed to either option.¡± ¡°I don''t think I have that sort of money.¡± ¡°Not yet you don''t, but come spring you will. Still, we are putting the cart before the horse. They agreed to keep track and that''s probably what we will stick with. Crue will stick with that plan and so will I, but I don''t know about Lotte or Sturgis.¡± ¡°Well, we can split it five ways and if you and Crue agree to it we can take what Amisi needs out of our three shares. I''d only need five percent of each of your honey. I could pay you both back later.¡± ¡°It still doesn''t seem right that you would be the only one not making any money from this.¡± ¡°Well, I''m the only one who was dumb enough to make a Death Bee my pet. That''s on me. You shouldn''t have to have consequences for my rash decisions.¡± ¡°Well, the point is moot since we don''t know how the other''s will vote on the issue.¡± She pet Amisi''s butt again as the bee finished up her honey and preceded to decimate the pile of strawberries. ¡°This little distraction right here,¡± she scratched Amisi''s butt again, ¡°let me process some of the stuff you just told me. I have some questions. Is that alright?¡± Oh well, I guess I hadn''t expected her to forget the entire previous conversation. My stomach had just begun to calm itself too. ¡°I might not have answers to everything, but I can try.¡± ¡°Just how dangerous will this transition of yours be?¡± ¡°Well, I don''t really know. Crue is supposed to help with that. I think that for about a week I will be pretty much a sex maniac. I don''t know how much control of the situation I will have, but it''s pretty much given that I will need to have a few partners to...Um...help out...¡± I trailed off embarrassed. ¡°Prostitutes?¡± Geeze, right to the point. ¡°Not, ideally, but most likely.¡± Poker Face was failing me, I could feel my face flushing bright red. Even my ears felt like they were on fire. Dig a hole and bury me. ¡°Does he want to teach you the Sexual Healing special skill?¡± ¡°Um, he thinks it might help. I''m not sure how though.¡± ¡°Does the act have to be completed? Do you actually have to have intercourse?¡± Why was she so damn calm talking about this? I felt like I was going to melt from how hot my face was. ¡°Um, well Amoris said that I''ll go into a state of heat and...¡± ¡°Heat?¡± Illia interrupted. ¡°Um, yes, I''ll be focused on trying to absorb enough spiritual and emotional energy that I won''t be able to think.¡± ¡°Spirit and emotions?¡± ¡°She said there are three things Succuba feed off of sex, love, and lust. Any combination of the three work, but I''ll be mostly focused on, well, actual sex.¡± ¡°So you might be able to get away with not having sex?¡± ¡°That is the theory Crue is working with. Amoris said that kissing and touch can generate energy, but the amounts are small. She did say that I technically didn''t have to be physical with someone as long as one of us reaches a climax.¡± Forget burying me, shoot me now and put me out of my misery. I couldn''t even look at her. Please have mercy on me and stop with these questions. ¡°Crue should be able to teach you a way around it without actually finishing the deed, so to speak.¡± ¡°It''s still embarrassing.¡± There, I said it. ¡°Well, yes, it would be. In a way, prostitutes might be less embarrassing than having to find multiple people to be intimate with. I just can''t imagine you having a dozen girlfriends.¡± ¡°Neither can I,¡± I sighed. Casanova I was not. ¡°It might all be worth it though,¡± she commented. I peeked up at her from the corner of my eye. ¡°How so?¡± ¡°You''ll have wings. To be able to fly...¡± she tilted her head down at me so she could make eye contact and smile. ¡°That would be amazing.¡± ¡°Not if you''re afraid of heights.¡± Well, now I was just being contrary. ¡°Are you afraid of heights?¡± She asked. ¡°Don''t know, I''ve never flown before. I''ve been on really high bridges and a few roller-coasters, but being strapped in or having your feet firmly planted on the ground is vastly different than flying.¡± ¡°Roller-coaster?¡± ¡°Um, I don''t know how to explain it. It''s like a mine-cart that is on a track. The track goes really high up in the air, then free-falls into a drop going really fast.¡± I mimicked the movement of an imaginary mine-cart moving around a track. ¡°Your world seems...alarming. You transport yourselves this way? Wouldn''t a horse be far safer?¡± ¡°They aren''t for transport. We have other types of transportation for that. People ride these because it''s fun.¡± ¡°Fun? This?¡± She imitated my movements with her own hand. ¡°It causes an adrenaline rush. So people really like it.¡± ¡°Seems dangerous,¡± she said. ¡°Well, it''s probably a lot safer than flying with wings.¡± Amisi finished with her berries, buzzed loudly at me. I got a bunch of images of happiness and flying in warm breezes. ¡°Oh!¡± Illia exclaimed looking at Amisi. ¡°She really can communicate!¡± ¡°Huh? I thought I was the only one she could send images too. Did you get the warm summer breezes too?¡± ¡°Yes! What a remarkable little bee you are!¡± Illia picked up Amisi and careful of her wings and stinger snuggled her soft fluffy head. Amisi buzzed a bit, and it was obvious that she was proud of herself. She was quite expressive for something that didn''t have any facial features. I didn''t think a bee could look smug, but she managed it. ¡°For a baby, she''s rather smart,¡± I commented. Amoris said she wouldn''t be able to communicate anything very complex, but here she was telling us she liked flying. ¡°I wonder if all Death Bees are this intelligent, if it''s just Queen Bees, or if Amisi is special.¡± Illia agreed. I got an image of a bunch of bees, all different patterns, all different, but then I got an image of fluffy Amisi standing out above the rest. Then an image of Amoris. ¡°So, Amoris made you extra special?¡± I asked. Well, she had given Amisi her Blessing. ¡°Perhaps when Amoris was talking to her, some of her intelligence rubbed off on Amisi?¡± Illia guessed. ¡°I hope not, I don''t need a scatterbrained Death Bee!¡± I laughed. Illia chuckled along. Even Amisi gave little bursts of buzzes. I think she was laughing. Amisi sent a picture of Amoris, then an image of a bee buzzing around in circles in confusion. ¡°She really is smart!¡± Illia fell into a fit of giggles. I think we all needed a bit of a giggle fit after all the sharing we''d done. Illia was a wonderful person, smart, savvy, resourceful, not to mention cute. I already had a tiny crush on her, but this...what happened today. I had a feeling that my Gran would call her a ''keeper.'' There were still some hurdles to cross, but I felt like at this moment I could cross them. At this moment with Illia, I felt a sense of calm and peace fill me. Warm fuzzies. She was my friend, but maybe in the future, we''d become more. I could only hope. Name- Eri Veritas HP 3234/3234 MP 95/95 Level- 14 Age- 18 Race/Species- (Human) Unknown Gender- (Male) Unknown Occupation- Surveyor of Adventurers'' Guild Companion- Amisi (Baby Queen Death Bee) Exp- 4756 Physical Power- 289 Stamina- 312 Defense- 393 Agility- 574 Intelligence- 105 Magic Power- 8 Metal Rain Lv 1 Lightning Magic Lv 1 Healing Hands Lv 2 Telekinesis Lv 3 Restraint Lv 3 Paralysis Resistance Lv 3 Mind Magic Resistance Lv 1 Skills Staff Fighting Lv 2 Basic Sword Lv 4 Skull Bashing Lv 3 Slicing Lv 1 Piercing Lv 1 Martial Arts Lv 3 Stance Lv 2 Smooth Movement Lv 2 Archery Lv 3 Spear Lv 1 Stalking Lv 1 Scouting Lv 1 Jumping Lv 1 Running Lv 3 Monster Taming Lv 7 - Death Bee Pain Tolerance Lv 3 Deception Lv 2 Intimidation Lv 1 Poker Face Lv 1 Etiquette Lv 3 Public Speaking Lv 1 Dismantling Lv 1 Appraisal Lv 1 Cooking Lv 1 Leather Work Lv 1 Metal Work Lv 1 Replication Lv 1 (Lv 10 for Succuba Star only) Rock Throwing Dancing Singing Harvesting Empathy Small Talk Discretion Party Tricks Alcohol Tolerance Monster Biology Entomology Zoology Botany Special Skills Abyss Walker Racial Ability- Hidden Among the Masses- 40 Stealth- 95 Party- 10 Items Equip Inventory Bracelet Succuba Star Gold- 1g 4s 09c (1409c) (6570c yet to be divided.) Blessing 1- All Map Exploration Blessing 2- Exp Points Required by Level Up / Current Level Blessing 3-Exp Increase X Current Level Blessing 4- Item- Gamer Glasses Titles- Emissary of Amoris Devotee of Amoris Devotee of Edomael Oracle of Amoris Oracle of Edomael Prince of Dreams Grateful Petitioner Lover of Leaves Enemy of Apes Chapter 28 Mysterious Monster and Warm Fuzzies Chapter 28 Mysterious Monster and Warm Fuzzies Amisi loved her new harness. She wiggled her butt around a lot and pretty much buzzed around showing it off. Illia and Crue seemed pretty relaxed around her. Crue even let her land on his hand so she could wiggle her butt at him. Lotte and Sturgis weren''t as open and welcoming. They weren''t hostile, but they weren''t comfortable with her either. ¡°Sorry, lady,¡± Sturgis spoke to Amisi as she did a buzz passed him. ¡°I''m...I... I just.. You are a creature that we''ve been told to fear. I think I need time to get to know you.¡± Well, at least he was trying to be polite about it. I''d told them she understood human speech so they were going out of their way to talk to her. Lotte on the other hand just sort of froze whenever Amisi got too close. I had to tell my new pet to give her some space. That''s when I found out how Amisi communicated. I got a sudden mental image of a sunny field in autumn. Golden grains waving in the grass and plenty of mice to eat. It was an image of confirmation and happiness, I think. How she knew about autumn fields and mice when she was a newborn was something too complex for her to communicate. I decided to think of it as some sort of weird hive knowledge all Death Bees were born with. Who knew if I was right or not. That stuff was straight out of a sci-fi novel. Amisi took a liking to Illia. I think she was curious about her ears. She buzzed to Illia''s head then to mine, then back to her. She was sending me all sorts of mixed up images. Maybe she was confused? ¡°Illia is a rabbit person. Some people have different appearances,¡± I tried explaining. I got images of bees with different striped patterns. I think she understood. I thought Illia would panic when Amisi landed on her head to get a closer look at her ears, but she just stood there and actually moved her ears a bit to show Amisi that she could control them. Amisi seemed delighted at this new thing and did a happy butt dance on Illia''s head. ¡°Amisi, we are hunting a monster, we need to find it. So we are going to have to be very quiet. We don''t want it noticing us. So I want you to stick by me, ok?¡± Amisi buzzed from on top of Illia. ¡°You ok with her up there?¡± I asked Illia. ¡°Yes, she doesn''t bother me, it actually tickles a little.¡± It was remarkable how my friends were adapting to this new addition to our party. I couldn''t honestly say that I''d be so accepting if the circumstances were reversed. They really were great people and I was immensely lucky to have found them. ¡°We should get going. We''ve been here longer than I anticipated. I''d like to find out what the mystery monster is, then get some distance from it before it gets dark,¡± Sturgis said. I checked the location of the monster. It had wandered a bit further west but was still in the general area it had been in. We left at a brisk walk, that turned into a light jog once Amisi wasn''t disturbed by the running. Illia ran smoother than me, so Amisi''s choice of a ride was probably a good one. The area we were approaching was wooded with an outcropping of rock formations and caves. There was a really steep hill we had to climb in order to get the vantage point Sturgis wanted of the monster. We mostly climbed it on our hands and knees grabbing on to tree branches and other things to help pull us up. The top of the hill did provide us with the view Sturgis had been hoping for, but what we found wasn''t what we were expecting. There was a small pond. It wasn''t supposed to be there. Was it caused by flooding with the rain we had a few days ago? The answer to that became clear when a jet stream of water came spraying out of the trees towards the pond. A big splash was made as the jet of water hit the pond''s surface. Someone was using this place as target practice for water magic. No, not someone. I checked the dot on the map. ¡°Guys,¡± I whispered, ¡°I think that came from our monster.¡± ¡°A monster that can use level 3 water magic? How on Elrich have we missed it?¡± Crue muttered. ¡°It''s coming,¡± hissed Illia. She had the best hearing of us all and could probably hear the movements of the creature even from this distance. It was hard to miss as it worked its way out of the woods toward the pond. The bright purple fur was very noticeable. It was a large bear, a large purple bear. I could only assume it was a Cave Bear, but why was it coming up unknown on my map? ¡°I don''t understand,¡± I muttered. ¡°I was thinking it would be some new rare monster. It''s just a Cave Bear. Why would that come up unknown?¡± ¡°It''s not just a Cave Bear, that is at least a King Cave Bear to be using water magic at level 3,¡± Sturgis hissed. ¡°We should go.¡± He started to work his way back down the hill. We all gave a glance at each other and followed. I felt like I was the only one left out in the dark about the significance of this monster. At the base of the hill, Sturgis nodded and pointed in the direction of the honey hive. ¡°Let''s go back there before we talk.¡± Well, the hive location was easily defensible. So that had some logic to it, but if we were going for help we''d need to get further away before we made camp for the night. ¡°So we''ve got ourselves a King Cave Bear, shit,¡± Sturgis swore as we rounded the corner of the rock outcropping protecting the hive. He ran his hand through his hair and paced. ¡°I still don''t understand why he wouldn''t show up on my map,¡± I said to the group. ¡°My guess is because it''s developed magic to the point that it''s not really in a class with normal Cave Bears. It''s a King Cave Bear, you saw how different it was,¡± Crue said. ¡°I''ve never seen a Cave Bear so I don''t know the difference,¡± I told him. ¡°It was twice as big for starters,¡± Lotte muttered. She rubbed at her temples as if she was developing a headache. ¡°There is that, but there is a theory about how magic alters monsters. There''s a book on it in the library,¡± Illia added. ¡°What do you mean?¡± Crue asked. ¡°Well, it sort of goes along with what you were saying. It''s not in the same class. The theory is that the magic actually changes the monster to the point where they can no longer be considered the same species. It gets technical, but the muscle and bone structure change as a monster develops magic,¡± Illia tried to explain. ¡°So it''s not a ''Cave Bear'',¡± I made finger quotes, ¡°but some sort of evolutionary cousin of the Cave Bear?¡± ¡°Evolutionary?¡± she asked. ¡°The way a creature adapts to better survive within its environment. If you took a Green Ape adapted to live in the woods and put it somewhere with purple trees. Eventually, over time the Green Apes would begin to have purple fur. They are considered cousins of the original Green Apes, but are no longer Green Apes.¡± ¡°A cousin of the...¡± Illia muttered. Then she nodded. ¡°I think I get it.¡± ¡°Well, I''m glad someone did,¡± Lotte grumbled. ¡°It''s sort of like humans and Zyanthorpes. We both have human forms, but one of us is slightly altered,¡± Illia tried explaining. ¡°That''s not quite evolution since you were created directly from a god. You''re not an adapted form of human,¡± I told her. ¡°No, but I think the idea is similar. We are the same yet different. The same goes for the Cave Bear. It''s the same yet different.¡± ¡°That makes more sense than Purple Apes,¡± Lotte commented. I tried alright. ¡°I think what we are going to do about it is a more pressing question,¡± said Sturgis. ¡°We can''t take that thing on. The base level for a normal Cave Bear would be about 22. For a King Cave Bear, we are probably looking at something around level 70.¡± ¡°Level 70? But we don''t get anything higher than 50 around here,¡± Lotte protested. ¡°Normally, we don''t. We have a decent Guild presence that keeps the high-level monsters from appearing, but somehow we all missed this guy out here leveling up.¡± ¡°Perhaps it''s been in the cave systems and that''s how we missed it?¡± Illia commented. ¡°That''s probably likely. I really can''t see any of us missing a Cave Bear with magic for so long, unless it''s been in the cave system leveling up down there,¡± Sturgis agreed. ¡°It also explains why the Red Wolves ran,¡± Crue added. ¡°Red Wolves and Cave Bears fight over territory. With a Cave Bear this strong they would flee to a new territory rather than fight for it.¡± He continued for my benefit. ¡°It means that if the bear had been here before the wolves would have fought with it before it got this strong. That they ran means it showed up here already this strong.¡± ¡°We need to go to the Guild for help,¡± Lotte said. ¡°Yes, but they are going to be a little overwhelmed with the Red Wolves. Getting a party together that is strong enough to take down something level 70 will take a bit of time. We will have to have everyone in the town working on this. Guards, adventurers, and citizens that are above level 30 and have fighting skills.¡± ¡°Level 30?¡± Illia asked. ¡°A party of at least D and above adventurers,¡± Sturgis explained. ¡°Well that counts me out, I''m only at E,¡± I said. ¡°No, you will have to come because of your scouting,¡± Sturgis said. ¡°Hey, we can''t let others know about it,¡± Crue whispered to him nudging him in the ribs. ¡°This is...¡± Sturgis began. ¡°Not so important that what happened to our family should happen to Eri,¡± Crue interrupted. ¡°Well, there is a way around that,¡± Lotte said. ¡°I don''t think either of you has realized that he just became a tamer of a Death Bee. His stats probably have risen a lot since he first was checked.¡± ¡°He was only just checked the beginning of the week how much could they rise in that time?¡± Sturgis scoffed. ¡°No, she might be right,¡± Illia thought out loud. Where was she going with this? I knew Lotte was right, but we were trying to keep my Blessing a secret. I thought I should also stay quiet about my initial D rank grade at the Guild. ¡°A Queen Death Bee as a companion, one Blessed by Amoris, it should be enough to push him into D class. The skills of a tamed monster are usually accounted for in the testing,¡± Illia nodded confirming her own thoughts. Well, by now who knew how high my ranking might be. If I had to take the exam again I should add some Exp into Hidden Among the Masses the skill that allowed me to hide my skills. I should probably do it anyway for Crue''s benefit. I allocated Exp to it before I forgot, or a meteor fell from the sky. At the rate this week was going, it wouldn''t surprise me. I took it up to level 40. I wasn''t sure if that was enough to do any good. I didn''t get a notification, but when I tried to move one of Crue''s skill levels it let me. Only one though and by only one level lower. I would have to up the level of Hidden Among the Masses in order to change all of his skills to be lower. ¡°I''d forgotten about that. We don''t have many tamers in town so it never really comes up,¡± Sturgis nodded breaking into my glum thoughts and distracting me from my Exp allocation. ¡°You will not under any circumstance put Eri in a position that will bring unwanted attention. Do you understand, brother?¡± Crue''s voice got a bit lower and was just a tad threatening. ¡°I don''t think it will become an issue if he can test high enough for level D. We should be able to work around it,¡± Sturgis smiled. ¡°Should isn''t good enough. You pushed your way onto this mission. Since you are more experienced I let you take the lead.¡± Oh, so that was why, good to know. ¡°You promised to keep his skill a secret. You will NOT break that promise under any circumstance. Do you understand?¡± Crue was...angry. He jabbed a finger into his brother''s chest. What had Sturgis done that made Crue mad at his brother? It''s not like he was planning on telling the entire Guard about it. He just wanted to use me for my scouting, I was a Guild Surveyor. They were sort of known for their tracking abilities. Once again I felt like I was missing a key piece of information. Illia looked just as confused, so I wasn''t alone. ¡°Both of you can it. Now is not the time,¡± Lotte rubbed the sides of her temples again. Was she always like this? When I first met her she seemed a lot friendlier, but on this trip, she wasn''t so friendly. It seemed like she was forcing herself to even tolerate us at times. Maybe she was just stressed and this is how she dealt with it. ¡°It''s not like...¡±Sturgis began arguing with Crue. ¡°I. SAID. STOP!¡± Lotte suddenly stood up and glared at both of them. ¡°Stop dragging us into your issues. Just stop it already.¡± Lotte slammed her hand flat against the side of the rock. Then she turned and stormed off around the corner. Well, that had escalated quickly. I gave a silent look to Illia. I felt like we had an entire conversation in that one look. Do you know what that was about? No, Clue. Weird right? Yes. Should one of us go after her? I don''t know. As far as silent conversations went we managed to cover a lot. Go with me over there? Leave them alone? I nodded in the opposite direction Lotte had stormed off. Alright. Illia and I both stood and left the brothers to their brooding and in Sturgis'' case, pouting. Seeing a man as big as a tree pout was something you didn''t see every day. It was the only term I could think of to adequately describe his overly sulky and pissed off expression. We made our way around the rocks and found a nice spot with a flat boulder we could sit on. ¡°Well, that escalated quickly,¡± Illia said. ¡°Ya, I was thinking the same thing.¡± ¡°I don''t really know Lotte or Sturgis, but I get the feeling the three of them have history,¡± Illia sighed. ¡°Do you know what the issues they have are? They keep bringing up their family?¡± ¡°Only hearsay and I don''t really think it''s my place to tell you. Just that some crazy stuff happened to their grandfather and later their father. They have every reason to be paranoid about the government and the kingdom. ¡°So when he says don''t stand out, he means it. Do everything you can not to come to the attention of the political forces. Though for Crue, I think he finds it difficult to think of the temple as a political force. Just be careful.¡± ¡°I see. To be honest, I''m glad the both of you are here to caution me. I never would have thought about all this on my own. It never would have occurred to me that people would try and use me. I was just focused on starting my new life.¡± ¡°Well, if worse comes to worst, you can always run. You can leave the Kingdom. They can''t technically follow you into another territory.¡± ¡°What do you mean by technically?¡± ¡°Most territories have some sort of spy network. If they think that someone is a threat they will do everything they can to take out that threat. Even if that threat is working with someone other than themselves. ¡°The good thing about Yellow Springs is that there is a lot of tourism, people come in and out all the time. There is a sense of anonymity. At the same time, because you don''t know the people around you, you can''t pinpoint the people most likely to be a threat.¡± ¡°So it both works for me and against me,¡± I nodded. ¡°Perhaps my plan for traveling should be moved up? If I move around a lot then I won''t be scrutinized as much, right?¡± I was just thinking out loud I didn''t really think moving up my plans for travel was necessary, yet. Illia stayed silent for a while, ¡°right.¡± Then her shoulders slumped a bit and she sighed. ¡°You really might be right about moving around. If you stay in one place for too long people are bound to find you.¡± ¡°Well, no one is looking for me, yet,¡± I said. I patted her on the back. Something in my gut told me that we weren''t just talking about me anymore. ¡°When you go, I''ll go with you,¡± she whispered. I barely heard her. What? ¡°Um, Illia, I don''t want to pry, and don''t get me wrong I''d love to have company, but why would you want to go with me? Not that I''m leaving anytime soon or anything.¡± I waved my hand in the air a bit to show I had no real plans. ¡°Crue isn''t the only one with family drama. Sooner or later mine is going to come searching for me. I''ve been in Yellow Springs far longer than I thought I''d be. I don''t want to go back home no matter what. Yellow Springs has been a safe haven for me and I''ve come to love it, but it''s probably not the best idea to stay.¡± ¡°Is your family that bad?¡± I couldn''t imagine having a family so bad you''d run away to escape them. ¡°Yes and no. Individually they are fine, but as a group, they''ve come to place expectations on me that I am not willing to live up too. I refuse to go back. I won''t go back.¡± She placed her head in her hands displacing Amisi a bit. ¡°I''m guessing that you can''t talk them out of these expectations?¡± I rubbed her back for comfort. I hoped she didn''t think I was being creepy. Not that I had creepy intentions. ¡°No, I''m the only girl in a family with fifteen brothers. For some reason, not many girls are born into our clan. So when one is born they are expected to marry and begin producing children as soon as possible. I don''t want that. I don''t want to live a life like my mother. Her first child at sixteen and pregnant every year since. That''s not a life I want.¡± ¡°Every year? You mean she''s hardly ever not pregnant? That doesn''t seem safe.¡± I didn''t know a lot about pregnant ladies, but I knew enough that the doctors suggested waiting a while after one birth before getting pregnant again. If only to give the mother time to recover. Damn, though, 16 kids, I couldn''t even imagine. Her mother could star in her own reality show on Earth.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°It''s killing her. Slowly, but it is killing her. When I left she was about to give birth again and she was completely bedridden.¡± She shook her shoulders up and down, her palms out, in a defeated shrug. ¡°I''m sorry,¡± I didn''t know what to say. I felt bad for even thinking of it in a glib way earlier. For Illia to be this upset, it must have been very harsh. ¡°They think it''s fine to treat her like she''s not her own person. She''s a wife, a mother, but never her own person. She doesn''t have time to be. Growing up, we could all see she wasn''t happy, but she never did anything about it. Having children was her duty.¡± ¡°They want to take you back so that you can continue having babies like your mother,¡± I stated. ¡°Yes, but it''s worse than that for me,¡± she sighed. ¡°Because of my special skill, they wanted me to have multiple partners. They had plans to diversify the clan using me as a broodmare. They wouldn''t even let me choose my own partners. ¡°I was sixteen and I was told I had to breed with my own cousin. When I refused, they locked me up in my room, even barred the window. They were arguing about it downstairs. My own father said that once I got over my maidenly shyness I''d be fine with the plan. My mother wanted them to wait until I became used to the idea. The clan was impatient, they needed more females to be born. I was their best bet in getting more girls in the clan. They weren''t going to wait for me to come to terms with my born duty. ¡°They sent my cousin in,¡± she paused and for a long time, I didn''t think she was going to finish. ¡°I had been able to hear their discussion. I knew that I''d never have a chance at living my own life if I stayed with the clan, with my family. The family that I loved was downstairs discussing whether or not it was a good idea to rape me into submission, because that''s what it would have been, rape.¡± ¡°God, Illia, I don''t know what to say,¡± I whispered. I felt like I should say something, but how horrifying would that have been to a young girl? I couldn''t even imagine, and I felt like there was nothing I could say to help with that level of pain. ¡°I grabbed a pillowcase and packed some clothes, my jewelry, all the money I had. I broke the leg off my desk chair and I waited. I guess I was lucky they sent him up alone. I bashed him over the head with the chair leg, stole his utility knife, then grabbed my bow and quiver. With the door unlocked I snuck down the hall and entered one of the rooms my youngest brothers shared. They were supposed to be asleep. ¡°They started to make noise when I entered the room. I opened the window and began to crawl out. My father arrived just in time to see me jump out. ¡°Knowing I didn''t have much time. I was up and running before I could even register that I''d landed stupid and hurt my hip in the fall. I kept running for over a week. ¡°No food, hardly any sleep, and the constant fear of being found, it was a nightmare. I knew they were tracking me. There were times I could hear them in the forest. When they made camp I could smell their fires.¡± ¡°But they didn''t find you,¡± I commented. Thank the gods. ¡°Oh, they found me. One of my other cousins did. He was always the best tracker, but he also had the meanest temperament. He was not happy when he found out his younger brother would have me first. He found me, cornered me, tried to ''teach me my duty'',¡± she made finger quotes. ¡°I used his own brother''s knife to stab him. I robbed him of his gear and left him for dead. ¡°I don''t know if I actually killed him. He was still alive when I left him. I think the search party found him and took him back home for medical attention. I think that''s the only reason they stopped searching. By the time they would have gotten back on the trail rainy season had begun. In a way, I was lucky and unlucky about that.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± Shit, she had, maybe, killed a person. Her own cousin. Was I ok with that? I thought about it briefly. Hell yes, I was fine with it. Bastard deserved it. ¡°I was alone in the forest, no food but some early spring berries and what I could manage to catch and electrocute enough to eat, and it was raining. I got sick, very sick. Something in my lungs.¡± ¡°What did you do?¡± I was feeling a sense of relief and pride that my friend was able to survive so much. I was also angry. I felt an anger brewing in the back of my mind if I ever came across any of her family...I didn''t know what I''d do. Was I capable of killing someone? If I''d have been there at that moment, yes. A sense of resolve crested over me. I''d keep her safe. I wouldn''t let anyone hurt her, but it looked like she was able to keep herself safe just fine. ¡°I was found, half dead, by a Priestess of Amoris. She was traveling with a group of other new priests from other temples. They were just fresh from the capital and were on their way to their temple posts. They took me into their group and healed me, let me travel with them, and eventually got me well enough that I could set out on my own again.¡± ¡°Then you made it to Yellow Springs?¡± ¡°Not in the beginning. I did a little bit of work with the Guild to make some money. I was told that Yellow Springs is good for beginners because of the Green Apes. So I made my way up here planning on becoming a full-time adventurer. Turns out that at my level even Green Apes were too dangerous for me to solo and no one really wanted me in their party. ¡°I was running out of money and didn''t have enough for a place to stay. Mary found me sleeping in the corner of the library one afternoon and offered me the job. I''ve been there ever since.¡± ¡°Mary seems like a great person,¡± I know they were just general comments, but I honestly didn''t know what to say to her after a story like that. ¡°Mary is amazing. She''s very flexible. That''s why I''m not worried about taking time off, or even leaving if it should come to that. Mary will be fine.¡± ¡°Well, even though I think I will eventually have to leave, perhaps sooner than I anticipated, I can''t leave just yet,¡± I sighed. She''d shared so much with me. That meant she trusted me to some extent. Was it fair that I was keeping important information from her? No, I''d be an asshat if I continued to keep it from her at this point. ¡°I think before you decide to follow me that you should probably know that I have a few more secrets. Important ones that will likely affect your decision.¡± Hell, was I really going to do this? Yes, I was. It wasn''t right that she would decide to just travel with me in the future without her knowing. ¡°What is it?¡± she asked. She had a look of apprehension on her face. Well, that was to be expected. ¡°I''m not from Elrich. I did a good deed for the gods where I''m from and got killed for it. They decided to reincarnate me here. That''s why I have all these Blessings. They were incentives for me to reincarnate.¡± I glanced at her face for a reaction. Nothing, her face had gone pretty expressionless. ¡°Um, there is more,¡± I hesitated. ¡°When Amoris reincarnated me she sort of messed it up. Edomael had to finish the job. This means that I was reincarnated with both their powers. It also means that I''m not... human...¡± I trailed off on the last words, almost choking on them because I was so reluctant to say them. Only, part of it was that I didn''t want anyone to know, the rest was most likely my sense of denial about the entire situation. At least I could acknowledge to myself that I was in a state of denial. ¡°You''re not joking,¡± she shook her head then held up a finger. ¡°Give me a second.¡± Was that good or bad? We were sort of having a sharing moment, I could only hope it was good. ¡°You''re not from Elrich and you''re not human. Does Crue know about this?¡± ¡°Yes, Amoris thought it best that I have someone to guide me along. She sort of picked Crue. He''s been trying to teach me how to manage in this world.¡± ¡°I see,¡± she paused. ¡°Crue is ok with it?¡± ¡°I think so, but you''d actually have to ask him. I mean we haven''t even gotten to the part where I have to transition. I''m hoping he''ll stick around even after that.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Um, well, when I was reincarnated I sort of became a baby Succuba. I haven''t transformed yet. I''ve been told the transition is...not easy. Crue has skills that are supposed to help me.¡± I felt like I was pulling out my own teeth. An uneasy acidic feeling began to grow in my gut. ¡°Wait,¡± she lifted her hand, ¡°So you''re an Incubus? Aren''t they incredibly rare? The books hardly ever have any mention of them except for the stories of Samil and Esau and theories based on witness accounts.¡± Leave it to Illia to take the researcher''s perspective rather than freaking out. ¡°I guess so, I mean I still feel human and for the most part, I am human. Since I haven''t changed yet I don''t know how to be anything other than human. I wouldn''t know about rarity or anything like that. I just know what Amoris and Edomael told me. That''s it. There is a part of me that still thinks it can''t be real, to be perfectly honest.¡± Boy, was I swimming in a river in Egypt. ¡°Why are you telling me now? Why not when you added me to your party and told me about your Blessings? Don''t you trust me?¡± The acid feeling in my gut began to feel like fire. ¡°It''s not that. I think it''s mostly I''m afraid of how you''d react. On top of that, the fewer people know about it the safer everyone is. Crue''s paranoia isn''t so far fetched when you think about my particular circumstances. What government group wouldn''t want to kidnap me and find out everything I know about my old world? ¡°I just don''t know how safe it is to be letting people know about it. Amoris told Crue, you are technically the first person I''ve told.¡± I looked up at her. I placed a hand over my stomach. My guts would remain in place. They weren''t going anywhere. Amisi, who was still on Illia''s head, started to do a dance. It distracted both of us for a bit. Amisi sent me images of her with honey. ¡°I think she''s hungry,¡± I commented to Illia. She was trying to look up at the bee, but that was pretty much impossible considering where Amisi was perched. ¡°You should see if she''ll eat strawberries. That honey is worth a small fortune and if she can supplement her food with strawberries she''ll eat less honey. I even wonder if she could sustain herself on regular bee honey?¡± ¡°I don''t know, but I don''t want to risk her development by denying her honey just because it''s worth something.¡± ¡°That''s not what I mean. I wouldn''t want that either, but maybe for ''treats'' in between real meals?¡± ¡°We can try it,¡± I nodded and brought out a handful of strawberries. ¡°Here Amisi, when you eat your honey you can have these for dessert.¡± I waved the strawberries at her. She flew down from Illia and buzzed around the strawberries I''d placed on the ground. She crawled around them and nibbled a bit with her mandibles and her Cthulhu tongue. She did a happy bee dance and started to really dig in. ¡°Hey, wait, you have to eat your honey first. You''re a growing bee.¡± I held out my hand with a palm full of honey. She seemed reluctant to abandon her new treat, but in the end, came up to me like a sulky bee and ate her honey. ¡°Good girl. When you''re done you can have the berries.¡± ¡°I''m glad Sturgis had us keep track of how much we each collected,¡± she muttered rubbing Amisi''s butt as she ate. ¡°What? I wasn''t told that.¡± ¡°Well, you were collecting it faster than the rest of us. It was just logical for the rest of us to keep track rather than you. I''m not saying that you would cheat us or anything,¡± she waved her hands in a panic.¡± We just didn''t know how else to figure out how to split the money from the sales. If we did it equally, then that wouldn''t be fair since without you we never would have been able to gather it in the first place. On top of that, you were collecting it faster than the rest of us since you didn''t have to take time to scrape it into a bucket or jar. You could just swish your hand around and voila!¡± She moved her hands around like a magic trick. It hadn''t been like that, but I understood her point. ¡°We just wanted to be fair, and that''s why we kept track. This was before Amisi though. I''m not certain just how much honey everyone else gathered and how much you''ve got. Will you have enough to keep her fed over the winter? That''s partly why I was wondering if you could supplement her. If not, I''d be willing to donate some of the honey I collected. Just a small jar of it would be enough to pay six months rent. Besides, Amisi will begin to produce her own honey in the spring and Queen Bee honey is worth at least ten times that of normal Death Bee honey. If I let you have some now, and you pay me back in the spring, I''d be making a profit!¡± Leave it to Illia to be compassionate yet five steps ahead of everyone else when it came to thinking about possibilities. ¡°I think we will have to wait until we get back to town. I can subtract the amount you guys collected and determine how much I have left. Amoris said I would need about a third of the honey in my inventory.¡± ¡°Well, I''m not certain how much we collected total, but I know you were working your way through the hive four times as fast as the rest of us. My guess is that about half the honey you have will be what you collected.¡± ¡°You don''t think it will cause hard feelings, do you? The way we split it? I was thinking of just doing everything five ways.¡± ¡°We could do that, but you won''t have enough to feed Amisi if you do. You could promise them some of Amisi''s honey. Or you could offer to buy the honey from them outright. I''m not sure if you have that sort of money right now. You could owe them the money, and pay them back when you sell Amisi''s honey. I don''t think they would be opposed to either option.¡± ¡°I don''t think I have that sort of money.¡± ¡°Not yet you don''t, but come spring you will. Still, we are putting the cart before the horse. They agreed to keep track and that''s probably what we will stick with. Crue will stick with that plan and so will I, but I don''t know about Lotte or Sturgis.¡± ¡°Well, we can split it five ways and if you and Crue agree to it we can take what Amisi needs out of our three shares. I''d only need five percent of each of your honey. I could pay you both back later.¡± ¡°It still doesn''t seem right that you would be the only one not making any money from this.¡± ¡°Well, I''m the only one who was dumb enough to make a Death Bee my pet. That''s on me. You shouldn''t have to have consequences for my rash decisions.¡± ¡°Well, the point is moot since we don''t know how the other''s will vote on the issue.¡± She pet Amisi''s butt again as the bee finished up her honey and preceded to decimate the pile of strawberries. ¡°This little distraction right here,¡± she scratched Amisi''s butt again, ¡°let me process some of the stuff you just told me. I have some questions. Is that alright?¡± Oh well, I guess I hadn''t expected her to forget the entire previous conversation. My stomach had just begun to calm itself too. ¡°I might not have answers to everything, but I can try.¡± ¡°Just how dangerous will this transition of yours be?¡± ¡°Well, I don''t really know. Crue is supposed to help with that. I think that for about a week I will be pretty much a sex maniac. I don''t know how much control of the situation I will have, but it''s pretty much given that I will need to have a few partners to...Um...help out...¡± I trailed off embarrassed. ¡°Prostitutes?¡± Geeze, right to the point. ¡°Not, ideally, but most likely.¡± Poker Face was failing me, I could feel my face flushing bright red. Even my ears felt like they were on fire. Dig a hole and bury me. ¡°Does he want to teach you the Sexual Healing special skill?¡± ¡°Um, he thinks it might help. I''m not sure how though.¡± ¡°Does the act have to be completed? Do you actually have to have intercourse?¡± Why was she so damn calm talking about this? I felt like I was going to melt from how hot my face was. ¡°Um, well Amoris said that I''ll go into a state of heat and...¡± ¡°Heat?¡± Illia interrupted. ¡°Um, yes, I''ll be focused on trying to absorb enough spiritual and emotional energy that I won''t be able to think.¡± ¡°Spirit and emotions?¡± ¡°She said there are three things Succuba feed off of sex, love, and lust. Any combination of the three work, but I''ll be mostly focused on, well, actual sex.¡± ¡°So you might be able to get away with not having sex?¡± ¡°That is the theory Crue is working with. Amoris said that kissing and touch can generate energy, but the amounts are small. She did say that I technically didn''t have to be physical with someone as long as one of us reaches a climax.¡± Forget burying me, shoot me now and put me out of my misery. I couldn''t even look at her. Please have mercy on me and stop with these questions. ¡°Crue should be able to teach you a way around it without actually finishing the deed, so to speak.¡± ¡°It''s still embarrassing.¡± There, I said it. ¡°Well, yes, it would be. In a way, prostitutes might be less embarrassing than having to find multiple people to be intimate with. I just can''t imagine you having a dozen girlfriends.¡± ¡°Neither can I,¡± I sighed. Casanova I was not. ¡°It might all be worth it though,¡± she commented. I peeked up at her from the corner of my eye. ¡°How so?¡± ¡°You''ll have wings. To be able to fly...¡± she tilted her head down at me so she could make eye contact and smile. ¡°That would be amazing.¡± ¡°Not if you''re afraid of heights.¡± Well, now I was just being contrary. ¡°Are you afraid of heights?¡± She asked. ¡°Don''t know, I''ve never flown before. I''ve been on really high bridges and a few roller-coasters, but being strapped in or having your feet firmly planted on the ground is vastly different than flying.¡± ¡°Roller-coaster?¡± ¡°Um, I don''t know how to explain it. It''s like a mine-cart that is on a track. The track goes really high up in the air, then free-falls into a drop going really fast.¡± I mimicked the movement of an imaginary mine-cart moving around a track. ¡°Your world seems...alarming. You transport yourselves this way? Wouldn''t a horse be far safer?¡± ¡°They aren''t for transport. We have other types of transportation for that. People ride these because it''s fun.¡± ¡°Fun? This?¡± She imitated my movements with her own hand. ¡°It causes an adrenaline rush. So people really like it.¡± ¡°Seems dangerous,¡± she said. ¡°Well, it''s probably a lot safer than flying with wings.¡± Amisi finished with her berries, buzzed loudly at me. I got a bunch of images of happiness and flying in warm breezes. ¡°Oh!¡± Illia exclaimed looking at Amisi. ¡°She really can communicate!¡± ¡°Huh? I thought I was the only one she could send images too. Did you get the warm summer breezes too?¡± ¡°Yes! What a remarkable little bee you are!¡± Illia picked up Amisi and careful of her wings and stinger snuggled her soft fluffy head. Amisi buzzed a bit, and it was obvious that she was proud of herself. She was quite expressive for something that didn''t have any facial features. I didn''t think a bee could look smug, but she managed it. ¡°For a baby, she''s rather smart,¡± I commented. Amoris said she wouldn''t be able to communicate anything very complex, but here she was telling us she liked flying. ¡°I wonder if all Death Bees are this intelligent, if it''s just Queen Bees, or if Amisi is special.¡± Illia agreed. I got an image of a bunch of bees, all different patterns, all different, but then I got an image of fluffy Amisi standing out above the rest. Then an image of Amoris. ¡°So, Amoris made you extra special?¡± I asked. Well, she had given Amisi her Blessing. ¡°Perhaps when Amoris was talking to her, some of her intelligence rubbed off on Amisi?¡± Illia guessed. ¡°I hope not, I don''t need a scatterbrained Death Bee!¡± I laughed. Illia chuckled along. Even Amisi gave little bursts of buzzes. I think she was laughing. Amisi sent a picture of Amoris, then an image of a bee buzzing around in circles in confusion. ¡°She really is smart!¡± Illia fell into a fit of giggles. I think we all needed a bit of a giggle fit after all the sharing we''d done. Illia was a wonderful person, smart, savvy, resourceful, not to mention cute. I already had a tiny crush on her, but this...what happened today. I had a feeling that my Gran would call her a ''keeper.'' There were still some hurdles to cross, but I felt like at this moment I could cross them. At this moment with Illia, I felt a sense of calm and peace fill me. Warm fuzzies. She was my friend, but maybe in the future, we''d become more. I could only hope. Name- Eri Veritas HP 3234/3234 MP 95/95 Level- 14 Age- 18 Race/Species- (Human) Unknown Gender- (Male) Unknown Occupation- Surveyor of Adventurers'' Guild Companion- Amisi (Baby Queen Death Bee) Exp- 4756 Physical Power- 289 Stamina- 312 Defense- 393 Agility- 574 Intelligence- 105 Magic Power- 8 Metal Rain Lv 1 Lightning Magic Lv 1 Healing Hands Lv 2 Telekinesis Lv 3 Restraint Lv 3 Paralysis Resistance Lv 3 Mind Magic Resistance Lv 1 Skills Staff Fighting Lv 2 Basic Sword Lv 4 Skull Bashing Lv 3 Slicing Lv 1 Piercing Lv 1 Martial Arts Lv 3 Stance Lv 2 Smooth Movement Lv 2 Archery Lv 3 Spear Lv 1 Stalking Lv 1 Scouting Lv 1 Jumping Lv 1 Running Lv 3 Monster Taming Lv 7 - Death Bee Pain Tolerance Lv 3 Deception Lv 2 Intimidation Lv 1 Poker Face Lv 1 Etiquette Lv 3 Public Speaking Lv 1 Dismantling Lv 1 Appraisal Lv 1 Cooking Lv 1 Leather Work Lv 1 Metal Work Lv 1 Replication Lv 1 (Lv 10 for Succuba Star only) Rock Throwing Dancing Singing Harvesting Empathy Small Talk Discretion Party Tricks Alcohol Tolerance Monster Biology Entomology Zoology Botany Special Skills Abyss Walker Racial Ability- Hidden Among the Masses- 40 Stealth- 95 Party- 10 Items Equip Inventory Bracelet Succuba Star Gold- 1g 4s 09c (1409c) (6570c yet to be divided.) Blessing 1- All Map Exploration Blessing 2- Exp Points Required by Level Up / Current Level Blessing 3-Exp Increase X Current Level Blessing 4- Item- Gamer Glasses Titles- Emissary of Amoris Devotee of Amoris Devotee of Edomael Oracle of Amoris Oracle of Edomael Prince of Dreams Grateful Petitioner Lover of Leaves Enemy of Apes Elrich Yellow Springs Book Two I''m beginning to post book two of Elrich Yellow Springs. Please give this new chapter in Eri''s life a follow. Thank you!

Book 2 of Eri''s journey in Yellow Springs Being reincarnated into a new world sounds like a thing of fantasy. Having magic that mimics the processes of a game makes this new world seem even more unreal. This world is real, and it''s not all harems and Guild shinanigans. There is a darker side to every society and Eri finds himself smack in the middle of a mystery. Eri goes off to deal with a new mysterious monster that is causing a dangerous migration of Red Wolves. While he''s gone a darkness descends on Yellow Springs. The newly killed are being changed into Undead. They walk the forests and appear in the middle of town. Yellow Springs is under attack and the mental strain of having to kill the monster that used to be your best friend is leaving the town in chaos. Bookcover By: Werewolves9090