Astrid had no luck finding any new quests at the job hall. The manager had apologized, and Astrid had reassured him that it was alright. She would just come back and check again tomorrow.

Once outside again, she contemplated what to do next. She didn’t fancy walking the streets, as she had done so a lot lately. Maybe she should read. After all, the god of deception had given her a quest to read his book, and she had barely made a dent in it, even though it had been several weeks.

However, her room was too hot this time of day to spend much time in there, and she couldn’t exactly read the book in the common room downstairs. If other people saw what she was reading, they wouldn’t like it. Where could she find a comfortable spot to read where no one would see her?

The answer came almost immediately. The forest. No one ever went out there, and the shades under the trees would provide protection from the hot afternoon sun. She might even be able to stock up on more plants for future quests.

With her mind made up, she set off towards the city gate. After her many trips in and out of Largon, she could recognize the faces of a lot of the guards watching the gate. Today, it was the sword fighters from the group that had approached Astrid a few weeks ago. They seemed to recognize her too.

“Hey Astrid, still alive, I see.” The red-haired man said. Astrid didn’t know his name.

“I am,” she said. “And I didn’t have to spend all my money on bodyguards. How are you guys doing?”

“Aside from guard duty being boring, we’re doing fine,” the short-haired woman that Astrid didn’t know the name of either said. “The mayor agreed to fund our monster-slayer training since her request for aid was denied by the king again.”

“Why does the king refuse to send help? Doesn’t he get how dire our situation is?”

“The king is adamant that we must handle a low-level treat like this by ourselves and that he has bigger problems to deal with,” the man said.

“How is this a low-level threat? More refugees from farms and villages enter the city every day, so soon no one will produce any food. And many industries were on the verge of collapse before I began clearing quests.”

“The monsters around here are level one, so they aren’t considered a big deal by the king,” The woman said.

“But there’s a lot of them, and they just keep coming. I’ve even encountered a few monsters in level two.”

“For real?” the man said. “What did you do?”

“I killed them.” Astrid said, shuddering at the memory of the wounded wolf she had stabbed over and over again. The two swordfighters stared at her in disbelief. “They had already been weakened by another monster, so it wasn’t a big deal. She hurriedly added.

“Turns out you are more capable than we gave you credit for,” the woman said. “If you ever feel like joining the city guard, let us know. We could use more people on our team.”

“Thanks for the offer, but I’m not sure I’m cut out for teamwork.” There was no way that joining a group to fight monsters would work out. Her fighting style relied mostly on sneak attacks and running away. She doubted those were appropriate techniques, and the last thing she needed was people finding out she followed the god of deception. Also, she wanted to avoid boring guard duties as well.

Astrid continued into the forest and made herself invisible before looking for a good spot to sit. She found one by a large tree where she could lean against the trunk. She pulled the dreaded book out of her inventory and read it while eating a bread roll for lunch. She had already read the chapters on traps, poisons, lying, and lockpicking, unlocking the corresponding skills.

The chapter she was about to read was about stealing, which was another skill she'd rather not unlock. Just thinking about it sent shudders down her spine.

“Why are you doing this to me?” she said out loud. She hadn’t expected Sham to answer or wanted him to, so it both surprised and annoyed her when he did.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“Because I can,” the god said as he appeared right in front of her. “And I find it fun. How’s the reading coming along?” He leaned forward to peek at the book.

“Fine,” she said, pulling the book to her chest so he couldn’t see it. “I still don’t see why you want me to read this.

“I promise it will be worth the reward.”

“Your promises are unreliable at best,” Astrid said, remembering how he promised to help her when they first met. He had given her a few items and sent her out to fight monsters. Back then, she had no fighting skills and had never slayed a monster before, so it was pure luck that she had survived. “Also, I don’t think of one large copper as a lot anymore. Not compared to how long it takes to read a book like this, at least.”

“So you're starting to get greedy?” He smirked. “I like that.”

“No, I just have a lot of expenses.” She defended her check, flushing.

“Oh yeah, your new school you enrolled in.”

“Yes, Astrid said. It’s not cheap.”

“The book's true reward isn’t the coppers you get for completing the quest, but the information it provides. All the skills you unlock and the boosts you get are things you can’t get for money.

“That’s a lie. I could go buy a skill book if I wanted. It might not be a divine one, but it would still offer much the same benefits, and it would be about skills I actually want to learn.”

“The boost won’t be as powerful. And even though you don’t want to learn these skills now, you’ll need them one day.”

“Why, I don’t plan on ever stealing anything.”

“Neither did you plan on living a double identity.”

“I didn’t have a choice.”

“You always have a choice.”

“I would have had to live on the streets.”

“Most people in your situation would have gotten a job in domestic service. There, you get food and a place to sleep. It’s also a lot safer than doing these quests in the forest.”

“And a lot more boring. I’d be stuck for ever, making next to nothing.”

“I’m not criticizing your choices, but letting you know that they were always there and that they are yours to make. As long as they don’t contradict what I want you to do, that is. I honestly like the ones you have made so far. I see a lot of potential in you.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“You have made the entire city of Largon reliant on you to function.”

“No, I haven't,” Astrid said, confused.

“Haven’t you? Earlier today, you said industries would collapse if you didn’t do the quests.”

“You’re spying on me?” she said.

"No, of course not,” he said. “I have people to do that for me.”

“Who’s spying on me?”

“If you don’t already know, I’m not gonna tell you. Now tell me, what’s the next step in your devious plan? Raise your reward demand for doing quests? Pressure the citizens to put you in a position of power?

“I’m not planning any such things. Why would I even do that?”

“I’m sure you’ll see the benefits of my suggestions in time. The world is a lot more complicated than a fourteen-year-old can comprehend. Just remember that without the knife and cloak I gifted you, your current way of life wouldn’t have been an option for you. Don’t take my gifts lightly.” With those words, he disappeared, and Astrid let out a sigh of relief and put the book away. She was no longer in the mood to read. Sham’s comments about her actions filled her with unease. He had suggested that she would use her powers to take advantage of the people in Largon. Even assumed or expected her to do so.

The moment of respite was short-lived, as a couple of badger monsters had spotted her. The conversation with Sham had broken her invisibility spell, and she hadn’t thought about replacing it. Now it was too late.

She had fought plenty of monsters before but preferred to do so when she could take full advantage of her dagger’s backstab ability. Against one monster, she could fight without using the special attack if she absolutely had to, but she refused to take the risk if there were more than that. In those situations, she found running away to be the safer option, so that’s what she did.

She sprinted through the forest, relying on her running skills for the speed to get away from the monsters and her stealth for moving silently through the forest. Snapping a branch or tripping over a root would alert more monsters to her whereabouts.

The distance between herself and the badgers behind her slowly grew, but not as fast as she would like. Monsters would keep up a pursuit until they lost track of their pray or environmental factors, like rivers or cliffs, forced them to stop. To her knowledge, neither could be found around her. Walls would do the trick too, but she was far from the city, and even if she wasn't, bringing monsters to the gate would be a bad idea.

That left her with only one option. To keep running. She reached a part of the forest she hadn’t been to before. She spotted the mouth of a big cave, almost completely covered by tree roots and foliage.

Maybe I’ll be safe in there, she thought. It would allow her to get out of the monsters’ sight long enough for her to go invisible again. Her stamina was getting low, so waiting for a better option was out of the question. She just had to hope worse monsters didn’t lurk in the darkness inside. She covered the last few feet to the cave, went inside, and immediately received a message.

You have entered a dungeon

Get to the other side to escape