penjay

So, it has been a while. Been thinking about where I want this story to go. For now, I will pick up the pace a bit to get to more of the drama faster. Gorzulothe will be getting more important people in his life (i.e. much fewer NPC's). I may post more about this in my profile page; maybe not if no one is interested.

Anyways, slight changes starting this chapter--describing new skills, and changing the way other's call Gorzulothe (not stupid characters will recognize the difference between "Lothe" and "Loth"). (The first is pronounced with a strong 'th', almost a 'z' sound.)

I woke the next morning a little bit cold. I was alone in my room, and I quickly got dressed and gathered everything into the bag, which I slung over my shoulder. Ifanna was at her spot behind the counter when I reached the bottom of the stairs and she had my breakfast all packed and ready to go.

She gave me her innkeeper smile and thanked me for staying in her inn. I handed over the key and strapped the breakfast atop my backpack.

“I look forward to seeing you again,” she said in a voice that sunk deep into my gut. It wasn’t quiet enough to be a whisper, but I was sure it was meant for my ears only.

I blushed and turned my head, “Yes.”

That sorted, I made my way over to the town head’s house illuminated by the early morning sun. My knocking must have woken the guy up since he was a mess and clearly hung-over.

“Who is—Ah, sir Loth. What can I do for you?” He asked.

“I am about to leave for the capital now. I’ll be stopping once over in Alesdale. Thought I would let you know you can send people up to the battle sight with the orcs. Whatever you all find up there can be claimed by the town.”

“That is,” he said a gleam appearing in his sleep-muddled eyes, “very generous of you sir Loth.”

“Right. I have a simple map I annotated here,” I handed over the cheap piece of parchment, “Don’t know if it is legible, but it details my path from the battle to your town.”

“Oh that is helpful, thanks.”

I backed up a step, ready to leave. “Oh and watch out for monsters and orcs in the forest. I cannot be sure I routed them all.”

I waved as the town head gave thanks again and quickly left the town. I wanted to get the trek back to Alesdale over with; it would take most of the day again.

The walk was long and uneventful, so I passed the time examining the new skills I had gained during my time in White Creek.

First off, my magic improved. A new spell under Fire Beginning was added, Firesword. Seems to be part of the powerful spell I used to fell the orc knight. The other part of that attack was likely from two new magics: Imbue Arms and the passive Combination, which respectively allow elemental affinities to be attached to weapons or armor and the merging of two skills into one.

Earth elemental magic also became available. Cool.

Skill Transfer must have also activated last night with Ifanna, and I acquired her Omenspect. It was a rare skill that, “Reveals instinctive desirable or undesirable traits in a person.” Not sure how that will work. And, “Active use shows basic information of the target,” must be similar to an analytical skill.

“Omen, huh.”

Maybe something like Omen and Inspect in one skill?

Thinking there was no harm in trying the skill out, since the details did not mention the skill must be used on a person, I stared at one particular stalk of wheat and focused.

Some information floated up in front of the stalk, similar to looking at my own status. [White Creek, Golden Wheat] it said. I also felt like the wheat wasn’t ready to eat yet, but would be tasty when it was.

Huh, weird.

I had remained in my hero shape since yesterday, and I was still in it when I entered the adventurer’s guild in Alesdale. Adventurers were the curious, nosy bunch and I, as a new face in the guild, was stared at by nearly all of them. Unusually, the adventurers soon ignored my presence, and I heard a lot of murmured conversations happening all around. Had juicy gossip sprung up while I was away?

Three adventurers were louder than the others. They sat hunched over their table, and because it was near where I stood in line, I was able to hear tidbits of their conversation.

One of them with orange brown hair and a leather chest plate spoke first, “No way. It has to be the cleric. I heard, you could see them even through her thick vestments.”

He made a crude, curving example with his hands.

Scar-face conjectured, “But you can’t beat a noblewoman’s grace. Plus she has powerful magic. Man, I can understand how the prince was involved, but that swordsman sure is lucky.”

“Damn, why couldn’t it have been me!” said the third guy. There was nothing interesting about him to note.

The other two laughed at him bluntly. “Like hell you could be anything like that hero. He was strong enough to scare away that monster leading the horde.”

Back to the line, the black-haired girl waved my way. She was the receptionist to finish with her adventurer first, so I reluctantly had no choice in receptionist other than her.

“How can I help you today?” she asked.

Did I see a little blush to her cheeks, really? This hero shapeshift was going to be annoying in its own way. I could not wait to shed this face and resume my regular adventurer self.

“I would like to make a report to the guild,” I said.

“Uhuh,” she mumbled and pulled out a pre-labeled form from under the counter. “Do you have a guild ID?”

“No I don’t, but I have a stamped letter from the mayor of White Creek, the town involved in the report.”

“White Creek?”

“Yes.”

“Orcs?”

“Yes.”

“We need to make an urgent request immediately! Their wheat makes the best beer!”

Right, her own desires leaked through right there.

“Wait, slow down,” I stopped her in the midst of rummaging through her papers.

“I will clarify: There were a lot of orcs near the town of White Creek, but luckily I was passing by.”

“How many orcs?”

Please don’t interrupt.

“There were a lot of orcs,” I repeated. “Now there are not.”

“Huh?”

“I was able to defeat them all. Or most; the remaining ones are most definitely severely injured and can be taken care of by the hunters in the town.”

Finally, she didn’t interject with a comment or a noise. Though, it seemed she was stunned silent by the information. Either way, I was glad to finish what I needed to say.

“By my count there was a group of about fifty orcs, led by a single orc knight and four soldiers. I have proof that the orc knight was subjugated.”

“O-o-okay. Give me a minute. I need to talk to the guild master,” she said.

Then, she shakily walked up the stairs to the second floor of the building, and out of sight. If the adventurers had stopped staring at me before, now they all were looking my way because the girl was so loud. Great. I tried not to move or look uncomfortable with all those eyes on me.

When the receptionist came back down, her business smile was re-pasted on her face. Too late, lady.

“Sir, uhm…”

“Call me Lothe.”

“Sir Loth, the master would like to speak to you. He has read the letter you brought in.”

Finally! I was expecting this to happen. Time to get it over with.

“Lead the way.”

The guild master was not the hulk of a dude I was expecting. Rather, he was an older man with a white beard and bald head, but I could see the muscles packed tightly within his small frame. His eyes were strong and kind.

He gestured toward a chair placed in front of his desk, and I sat. Meanwhile the receptionist stayed by the door that she closed behind her.

“This letter true?” He got right to the point.

“Yessir. I left White Creek early this morning so I could get to a guild and give a report.”

“I see.” He stroked his chin. “Apologies, where are my manners. Bon could you get us some tea? Without, I can’t very well have a thoughtful conversation with…Forgive me good sir, I haven’t asked your name.”

“Please call me Lothe.”

“Lothe is it? An intriguing name indeed. Bon if you would?”

The black-haired receptionist nodded, “Yessir,” and left behind the closed door.

“Now that the extra ears are gone,” the guild master’s eyes narrowed a bit in seriousness, “we can talk.”

“My name is Seoras, and I am truly glad to meet you Lothe. You have done White Creek and this guild a great service.”

I could feel the honesty and humility in Seoras’ voice. Somehow I felt I could trust this man.

“It was within my power,” I said. “Anyway, I got something nice out of it. Selling all the tusks I got should earn a nice penny.”

“Gaha, so it would. Hopefully, you will sell some of it to the guild. Our alchemists are always eager for good ingredients.”

A small pause in our conversation—there was something else he wanted to talk to me about.

“I didn’t ask Bon to bring you up here for all that however.”

I nodded.

“Since you’ve just entered Alesdale, you may not have heard. Though I’m also not sure how the masses got wind of it either… There was an attack on Fort Highclaire. Do you know about it?”

“Fort Highclaire is the fort guarding the northern border, right,” I said. “It’s not too far from here, maybe a few days by fast horse northeast.”

Wait. Northeast?

“I see you understand. The orcs you fought in the forest were likely part of the force that attacked Fort Highclaire. Though the information was supposed to be confidential, most already know it. Four youths, which many are hailing as heros, repelled a monster horde led by an Orc King almost a weak ago.”

“Repelled?”

“The horde was halted before the Fort’s walls by the heros’ power. Injured and army diminished, the Orc King retreated with its central force. After that the rest of the monsters scattered.”

“That’s…unbelievable.”

“Truly,” he gave me a considering look. “I don’t know if I should tell you this. But, Mr. Lothe you seem like a good man. I doubt those youths are real heros. Strength like the kind they yield does not come naturally in humans so young, even if they are talented or nobles with plenty of support. Furthermore, there has been no information about those youths before this event, and real strength does not simply appear out of nowhere.”

“I agree.”

Then, the door opened, and our talk was interrupted. Bon, the black haired receptionist held a platter of tea and treats.

While we sipped at the tea and I nibbled at the cookies, Seoras asked about the details of how I defeated the orcs. I was sure it was not what he wanted to speak about, but Bon was listening in. He might need the information anyway for his job.

“…And you’re sure it was an orc knight?”

“Quite sure. If you have an analyst, I have the mana stone with me.”

“You do!” Seoras dug into his desk drawer and pulled out an odd contraption. I recognized it as some sort of spyglass, but it also seemed to have parts attached that would usually weigh for counterfeit gold. “I had this tool made, by a super smart young lady, to analyze powerful stones in more detail. It’s called the…the…dang what did she call it again?”

“The What-is-This-Stone-inator, Sir,” Bon proffered.

“Right, the WITSinator.”

I handed over the stone. The red gem still gleamed with a sickly red luster.

Seoras carefully moved the stone on top of one of the attachments, which sunk a bit under the weight, and turned the dial of stained glass so that the greenish one was raised above the stone. He then placed a short spyglass in its spot on the arced hook and looked through it with squinted eyes.

I felt his mana activate; he was using his skills.

After about three minutes, Seoras finally looked away from the spyglass, eyes reddened from strain.

“It’s an orc knight’s crystal all right. And better, it’s superior quality. This orc must have been quite the monster.”

“I did think it was rather fat.” I said.

“Gaha, my boy. What humor!” Seoras laughed. “An orc. Fat. Gaha.”

…..

I was surprised by how much I actually enjoyed speaking with Seoras. He a little bit younger, and I in a different position, we could even have been friends.

“Well, Mr. Lothe, the day grows dark. I will have an identification made for you through our guild, make you an E-rank. I can’t make it too high you see, guild regulations and all that junk, but with the ability to defeat an orc knight, I’m sure you’ll rank up quickly.”

“Thank you Seoras,” I said and stood.

“Do come back tomorrow, it should be ready by then,” He shook my hand, and I could feel his rough palms thickened through solid years of work. “I also have a quest I’d like you to take if you’re willing. I’ll let you know the details when you come by.”

A recommended request huh? It is most likely a request to guard someone important. They usually are.

“It was nice to meet you Seoras. I’ll see you tomorrow,” said Bon.

Bon, the receptionist, gave me a suggestive look as I left through the door. I ignored her though, since I did not want to think about what she was suggesting. I had no interest in having a relationship with her either—if that was what it was.

[~2270 wds]