Two of the stationed guards began to run towards me. One of whom carried the bow which had just sniped Tewy, whose still form lay a few feet behind me. My trembling arms still hung in the air. Even as they drew closer, I couldn't muster the ability to say anything. Don't you remember me? Are Necromancers a taboo? I promise I won't raise dead anymore, please don't hurt me! Everything I wanted to shout out remained bundle inside. They were now both a few feet away. As if in sync, they each raised their hand on the side closest to me. I embarrassingly flinch and close my eyes. Such a pathetic state. I can't even bear to watch my own demise. A muffled clap rings out as I felt the impact of both my hands being slapped.

“YEAAAAHH!!!” “WOOOO!!”

The two shout near me. My eyes open in time to be spun around by one of them towards Tewy. A man wraps his arm around my neck, while the woman holding the bow began to shake me.

“I told you I could land that shot! And you're always telling me I'm not cut out to be a Ranger!” She loudly proclaimed.

“Ahh, the little rodent was goin' in a straight line, not even at full speed. What's more, Liz you coulda taken out this poor boy a few hours after wishin' him luck on his first hunt.”

“Always the serious type, Rock. There wasn't a chance of that happening. Besides, beats ending your first day with bloody ankles, wouldn't you agree?” She slaps me on the back.

“You got to be more careful bud, you almost got bit by that there rodent.” Rock said as he pointed at Tewy. “I'm sure you must be tired after fighting these things, but that ain't no excuse to ignore your surroundings, ya hear?”

“Uhhh..mhm. Yes, I hear.”

“Good!” Rock exclaimed as he hit my back. “Well, you best head on into town if that's where you were headed.”

“Ah, sure.” I replied nervously. “Let me just, uh, grab my belongings.” I slowly walked over to where Tewy lay. The woman had retrieved her arrow and was standing nearby him. Bending down, I pick up his still body within my hands. The guards stare at me confused.

“Uh?”

“Well, this is Tewy. He's my summon. Or, I guess was.”

Rock squinted. “Ya summon RATS?”

“Yes. Well, no but yes. I guess I raise them?”

Now Liz was the one to squint. “Raise them? What are you, some kind of rat farmer? You running some kind of rat farm?”

“What? No! I'm a..” My voice tapers off momentarily. It seemed like they just killed Tewy because they thought he was attacking me. But it is still possible that Necromancer is a kind of do-not-touch class. Should I tell them? Ah, but if they end up asking to see my status card or something then they will just see it anyway. “..A Necromancer. This was one of the rats I had killed, and then used 'Raise Dead' on.”

“Ohhhhh,” Liz exclaimed while nodding her head. “That explains why I only got experience. Hey Rock, looks like those crazies inside of the town were telling the truth”

“No foolin? Hey kid, sorry about killin your pet n' all, but want to do us a favor?” Rock grew closer to me, pulling me tightly. “How about you raise your pal a few times and let us take turns givin' him a whack?”

“You want me to raise him just so you can kill him?”

“It's all the rage right now. We heard earlier today that people are getting experience right after killin' things. Later someone figured out that even summons are capable of giving experience too. Now there's adventurers in the town selling kills on their own summons for coin. Of course, since we're guards we don't have that much coin so..”

“Or get much time to go out and hunt monsters ourselves.” Liz chimed in.

“Right, so we're often stuck with our level situation. Mind helping us out?”

Oh-god-oh-no-people-are-exploting-our-trash-code. “Ah sorry man, I uh... I noticed that too. But...” Oh god, I can't think of any reasonable excuse. Think. Think! “Using Raise Dead is pretty taxing on me. I had to use it a few times already today. Not sure if I have enough juice to squeeze out more than one. And uhh...” I squeeze Tewy tighter. “He's kinda my eyes and ears, ya know?”

Both Liz and Rock were silent for a brief moment. Finally, Rock spoke up. “Mm. Mm. Makes sense. Alright buddy, sorry again about that. We'll walk you to the entrance and let you go.”

I let out a sigh. “Thank you.” While holding Tewy, I cast 'Raise Dead'. The hole fills up and Tewy springs back to.. undead life. He seems to be on edge, but calms down when I give him a little squeeze. Both Lizy and Rock watch me intently. I get the feeling that they may even be considering just killing him against my wishes, but true to their word they start walking me back into town. Soon after parting from me, I begin to hear the commotion which the guards had been speaking of.

“Selling summon kills, one-hundred experience each, fifty copper!” Shouted an adventurer who stood in front of an inn. There seemed to be a few people nearby, considering his offer.

“Buying experience, one-hundred experience for thirteen copper!” Yelled another. This time a man who seemed in appearance to that of a butler. The air was filled with the sound of people shouting their trade requests. If their words could be turned into wavy colored floating text, it would be a near replica of an rpg I had once played.

“Sigh.” I need to get back to Quin fast. If we let this issue spiral out of control, people might level up to much and cheat their levels way higher than they should be able to. All things considered, I'd consider only two bugs on our first release a success. And both of them shouldn't be to hard to fix. In the worst case, although it would seem weird, we could just delete XP entirely from the monster loot tables and work on adding it back as a more accurate version. The trading XP thing...I'm sure there must be some easy way to make it so that you can't trade items. There are always items in video games that can't be given away. Since this system seems so closely tied to that of an rpg, I would imagine that there is a similar capability somewhere. I'll just stop by the guild to receive my reward and then head up.

The inside of the guild was no different from the exterior. Everyone seemed to be buzzing with the news that killing monsters was now far more consistent in gaining them experience. The quest board was absolutely swamped with people fighting over where to go to kill monsters. Seeing that the receptionist who had helped me earlier had no line in front of her, I approached the counter.

“Welcome back!” She peered towards Tewy, who I still carried within my hands. “I see you've made a friend. Were you successful in your hunt?” She greeted me with a polite smite.

“Yes, I killed five River Rats.”

She extended her hands out towards me. “Please give me your status card.” I handed it over to her. After checking it with a machine she handed it back to me. “I confirmed that you killed five River Rats. Your reward will be twenty copper.” She handed me twenty copper which I quickly pocketed, as well as my status card. “If I may ask, the guild is collecting information on monsters now that we have confirmed that they are giving a constant experience amount. How much experience did you receive for each River Rat kill?”

“Ah, fifty experience each.”

“Thank you. That lines up with what we had recorded before. Is there anything else I can do to help you today?”

“No, that's it for me. Thanks.”

“Very well. Have a nice day, Zero!”

“You too, uh,” I just realized that I had never learned her name.

“Luna.”

“T-thanks. You too, Luna.” She waved goodbye to me as I was leaving. As I exited the building, I spotted the butler-like man from before. He seemed to be heading somewhere, but the way he moved resembled a person walking through water. His movements were very slow, the sight of him walking at such a low pace while others stepped around him seemed almost comical. Maybe the person he served required him to move like this to demean him. Oh well, that was none of my concern. Time to head back up.

I returned to the secluded alleyway which I had first arrived here at and searched around. There seemed to be nobody watching. As I reached for the ring on my finger, I began to wonder what would happen to Tewy. I held him up with outstretched hands. “Do you think you'll be coming with me?” I asked. Of course, all he did was tilt his head in confusion at my question. After placing my finger upon the ring's stone, I slowly begin to feel a fleeting sensation. As though my existence were being pulled away. It gradually built up over a minute, before a bright white flash erupted and took hold of my vision. After a brief delay, my senses returned to me and I was greeted with my goddess clad in her business attire before me.

“Welcome back.”