Any further conversation would have to wait till another day, the pain L felt had taken its toll, exhausting her. Besides, it was rather late and V figured sleep deprivation was not going to help L heal at all. In short order, the two of them went to sleep, although by the sounds of it, some of the patrons went well into the morning with their festivities.

Upon waking, V realized this was the first day since coming here that he just felt... good. No broken arm. No horrible fights the day before, or set for the night after. This morning was the most normal morning he had since arriving here. It was a pleasant thought, that even a sense of normally could be found in a fantasy world, during what was ostensibly, a death game. He rose, ready to begin the routine he had kept over the last few days. However, as he stretched, he noticed L was already gone. Considering her wounds, and her exhaustion from the day before, he had expected her to spend quite a lot of the day resting. After stretching and testing his arm, he headed downstairs to get a meal. Ever since he had "killed" O, the innkeeper had not charged him for his meals, save for when he had asked for extra and he charged him a silver. Although, he supposed all his meals would be free for sure now, according to the Governor, the Inn was being compensated.

When he reached the bottom of the steps, he was not entirely surprised to see that the place was disheveled, chairs flipped over, a decorative sword had fallen off the wall, dishes still littered the tables and floors. L was setting at one of the upright tables, watching the innkeeper’s small daughter struggle with turning a chair the right way up. "You would have an easier time cleaning up the dishes than putting the chairs right." V spoke as he passed her, heading to set across from L. The little girl responded as she struggled "But the chairs are where people sit!" Not wanting to argue with whatever logic the small child was running off of, he nodded "Ah, good point. Maybe if you pushed them upright from one side, instead of trying to pick them up." The girl studied the chair for a few moments. As V sat, L spoke "It’s a simple breakfast today. The innkeeper is resting, the cook is basically running the place alone right now. V got up and looked into the back room, where the cook and kitchen resided. He informed the man that, when he got the chance, he would appreciate breakfast.

Setting back down he looked at L's pained posture.  V spoke in a hushed voice, the room was empty except for the little girl and the cook, so he hoped simply keeping his voice down would be good enough. "Any idea how long until you can fight again? Not to sound… uh... insensitive or whatever, but we have to assume the others are always getting stronger. You might have blacked out by this point, but the man that showed up after our fight informed me that some of us have been here for a while, perhaps months. Every day we spend wounded, is another day behind." L nodded slightly "Inaction certainly is not getting us anywhere. However, at the moment I think, at best, I might be able to fight one of the town guard. And that is only because I could kill one of them before they even knew what was going on. In a head-to-head fight, I might not be able to win against even a single one. Not that I would kill them of course, there is just little else to compare fighting skill with at the moment. I could almost certainly kill you with one arm and two broken legs." Alright, that was a bit much. V liked to think he had a basic level of competency. He could at-least swing a sword.

"Well... regardless, assuming it will at-least be a week, maybe more, until you can fight in a capable way, I will have to figure out something on my own. Leveling up my class by killing things in the forest seems impossible, I need hundreds of thousands of experience." L furrowed her brow, "That is strange, I am not sure why your class is like that. I am aware that we will gain a level in our class when we defeat another one of the... participants, the God of Honor told me that much, but the first level of my class only required five hundred. An obscene amount compared to normal classes it seems, but achievable. If you can’t level your divine class by conventional means..." She paused as the cook brought V's food. Continuing after he went back to the kitchen. "Your best choice is to level other, normal, classes. Ideally a combat oriented one." V nodded "I suppose starting simple and seeing where I can go from there would be a good idea. I believe I heard that the swordsman class is simply unlocked by slaying something with a sword?" L tried to stretch, but stopped midway as the pain in her abdomen started to rise. "Well, I think you have to kill an aggressive animal, or monster. If you kill someone randomly in Town, I think you will receive the Murder class. Or maybe some other criminal class. I don’t understand the process well myself. As I understand it, gaining new Classes is something that is a subject of both great debate, and study by the residents of this world."

The little girl had sidled up to the table by this point, and had overheard the last part of their conversation. "Daddy worked for weeks before he became an Innkeeper Class! I have two classes you know! I was the first one of my friends to get a new class." The little girl looked down "Although, because I help daddy often, my Citizen class is not as high as my friends." Her happy attitude returned shortly however, "However! I’m the first to get a job class! I gained the cook class! It happened one day while I was helping cook eggs for the people in the inn!" The girl puffed out her chest, clearly proud of the... accomplishment. "Great job! I’m sure your dad is proud of you! Little miss cook, could you refill my water please?" V handed the girl his mug. She nodded, eyes sparkling as she bounded off to the kitchen. 

"Anyway. I suppose the best course of action is to go to the forest, and try to find something within my abilities to slay." L smiled to herself "Even you should be able to slay the mantises in the forest. Although, you might wish to hire someone who knows the forest. It’s probably why you found that little slave girl there. It’s foolish to travel that forest without a guide of some sort. There are supposedly a few clans of gorillas that have claimed territory in the forest. Most monsters there, primarily mantises, are level one or two, but supposedly the gorillas are anywhere from four to eight. I doubt you could handle one." V considered for few moments. "To be honest, it might be best to see if I can get the same girl to help me. She is already aware of my status, any mistakes I might make or basic questions I might ask might tip someone off, or seem strange. Being that she already knows, rids me of having to worry about the issue." L nodded. "Try not to expire, I don't find the idea of me lying in bed, recovering, to be an honorable way to die.

After finishing his meal, V left the inn and headed toward the Shivering Shackle, he was not sure what the going rate on renting a slave for a few days was, but he hoped the ten gold he had received as a reward could cover it. Although, the slave master had not seemed too pleased with her when she returned, perhaps he could get a discount on the normal price. He smiled to himself as he walked the streets of the town, in only a few days he had gotten the layout of the small town memorized. Once he knew where to go and how to get there, the town seemed smaller then when he first wandered its streets. Arriving quickly, V headed inside. Once again, the front desk was empty. "Hello?" he tentatively called out. The door was unlocked, but maybe it was too early for regular business. As he wondered if he should return later in the day, he saw a pair of eyes looking out from the dark hallway behind the desk. When he waved, the eyes disappeared into the shadowy hallway. Not entirely sure what that was about, V decided to wait a minute or two.

Seconds before V resolved to leave and return later in the day, a short woman, perhaps even shorter than Eika, rounded the corner. She had glasses and held a slate tablet shaped somewhat like a clipboard. V wondered what race she was, but her status was hidden. "Sorry about the delay, I was caught up in something. We have been having trouble with one of the monster slaves recently acquired from the forest, it seems especially feral. She pushed her glasses up on her nose. and looked V over. "Gergor is with the beast right now, but I can stand in for him for most guild business." Her voice, posture, and the tone of her voice led V to believe that her height was not due to youth, she had the air of an older strict grandmother type. He nodded, "I was wondering how much it was to rent a guide for the forest around here, I wanted to hunt some low level beasts, but have heard that its dangerous to wander around aimlessly." The woman nodded, "Yes well, we have a few who could serve the purpose, much of our business is due to the forest. Only one of them has a direct combat class, hunter. The rest a either woodsman or tracker. The hunter of course will cost more, but I assure you, the money is well worth-" V held up his hand, trying to find a time to interject politely seemed futile. "Actually, I was wondering if Eika was available?" The short woman looked at him as if she was looking at an idiot, "Are you certain? I cannot recommend that one. She recently had a job go bad, and she is also young. And although rabbitkin are good in forests, she is still, you know, a rabbitkin."

V figured this was a good way to kill two birds with one stone, to display a reason to want Eika specifically, and to try and save money. "Ah yes well, to be honest I had heard about her and her...issues, but I was hoping it would allow me to rent her out on the cheap. Being a wanderer, I don’t really have a stable income. Cheaper is better." The woman sighed "Well, if you’re looking at it from that perspective, I can't say your wrong. There is only one thing here that is cheaper to rent than Eika, and that is only because it will almost certainly try to kill you the moment it’s out of the door...." The woman walked behind the desk and pulled a scroll out from behind it, unrolling it. "Frankly, at this point we are happy she is getting any jobs; we will charge you fifty silver for the day, but if you rent her for a week, we will only charge a gold, but you have to take care of her lodgings and food. If she is maimed or permanently injured, physically or mentally, you will be required to compensate the guild proportional to the damage. If she dies, you will be required to pay her purchase price. Which is..." The woman wrote on her slate for a few moments before responding. "Currently only fifty gold. Though, I’m not sure she is even worth that much really..." V nodded "That works for me, although I was wondering what the rules and regulations of renting or owning a slave are. Any other special circumstances or knowledge I should have would be appreciated. This is the first time I’ve dealt with renting or owning a slave.

"Well, aside from you being responsible for the slave while under your care, there are a few things to know. First, there are different types of the slave occupation. There are different laws and regulations to each. Both by actual law, as well as the more magical laws. For example, Eika's occupation is simply "Slave," commonly they are called house slaves or servants. They are compelled to follow most commands given by their master. However, it is both illegal and impossible to compel a simple "Slave" occupation to die. For example, you could not order them to fall on their own sword, or to cut their own head off. There are two slave types that allow that, "Battle Thrall" and "Dredge." Dredges have essentially no rights at all, and are considered objects more than living beings. Most dredges are doomed criminals, or slaves who have previously tried to escape or kill their master. Battle Thralls are mostly found in bigger cities, commonly used in war games, gladiator fights, and those whose only job is to guard a person or object.  There are other types of slaves as well, from "Pleasure Slaves" to "Debt Slave," although we have none of those here. Also, if given an order that they cannot complete, say "Pick up a mountain" or "Drink the ocean" most commonly they will be compelled to attempt the feat, but once they have failed, the compulsion will end. Not that you should run into this with Eika, but if given a command that drastically goes against their own desires, they may be able to fight the magic that compels them. If you tell someone who is terrified of water to swim, or an animal lover to kill a dog, they may be able to fight off the compulsion to follow the order, although in most places, slaves are legally obligated to follow orders, and may be punished for disobeying, often times being downgraded to "Dredge." She cleaned her glasses as she spoke "Changing the type of slave requires the abilities of a slave master or similar class. As well as legal paperwork. Those are your basics."

Taking a moment to absorb all of the information, V nodded "Well that was helpful. I appreciate the quick rundown." She nodded "Oh and, until a slave has a permanent master, they are not allowed, legally, to hide their statuses." He nodded, Eika had said something to that effect when he first met her. The woman took a small knife out "You will have to prick your thumb, and place your thumbprint on this scroll. It makes you her temporary owner, and acts as your signature for liability. Did you want her for a day or a week?" V looked at the scroll the woman had rolled out on the desk. It was thick parchment, at the top was simply the girls name in large purple letters "EIKA." Underneath her name where eight previous thumbprints, although they seemed to have been crossed out, probably once the duration of ownership was over. "A week please, its more economical" He drew the gold out of his pocket and handed it to the woman. She quickly placed it behind the counter "Well, if you are ready." She gestured to the parchment He pricked his thumb, using the blood as he pressed his thumb onto the scroll. The woman examined it and nodded, "Great! I’ll go get her." She disappeared into the hallway. After roughly three minutes, she returned leading Eika. She was wearing her adventuring gear. Simple clothes with some leather armor. A small dagger, as well as a small sling, hung at her side. When she saw V, her eyes lit up and her ears straightened. "Oh! I did not think Eika would see you again!"