“You know what’s wrong with the guild?”
“Lemme guess. Rich kids running around from the north acting like they’re real hunters because they have some fancy Trait or Variant?”
“Yeah, exactly that. How’d you know?”
“It’s simple. You won’t shut up about it since that kid got mauled by nilias.”
“I have a point though.”
“Sure, but you’re preaching to the blue robes here. Everyone knows it, but most of us don’t care enough to do anything about it.”
“You-”
“Don’t pretend I’m not right. The only reason you’re grumbling about it is that you got blown off by some rich bitch and she made your nilia hunting task harder.”
“I’m not denying that! I’m just saying that, no matter what kind of Species, Variant, or Trait you have, you should have to pass a proficiency test. I mean, even if some, I don’t know, thousand year old elf walked through that door, I would still want some sort of proficiency test.”
-Conversation in the Mount Averus hunter’s guild hall
*=====*
Aerolat watched as his mistress strode out of the back rooms with confidence. He had scarcely remembered a time when she did not exude an aura of confidence and control, even if he had only been ‘alive’ for a couple of days. The mistress was confident, composed, and utterly immature. She had her moments, seemingly increasing in intensity and fluctuating in occurrence. No matter how immature she was, she was still his mistress; her general lack of seriousness did not hurt anyone, and she took whatever responsibilities she had chosen seriously, so he found no reason to speak up. Yet.
As the two entered the hall, the quiet conversation fell silent once more. Mori, though, paid the new silence no mind as she marched off to the long iron board at the end of the hall, Aerolat following her. He took notice of the gazes the ‘hunters,’ as they were called, and how they were sizing them up. There were three types of gazes that were shot at them, all laid bare by Aerolat’s unusual undead ‘biology,’ if it could be called that.
The first, in the vast minority, was that of a scared prey animal, something that he noticed he knew despite never hunting a moment in his life. ‘Perhaps it’s an undead instinct,’ he mused. The second type of gaze was in a similarly vast minority, but one that he knew well. Hate. Many others had directed such gazes at both him and the Kharon, and it made him want to learn why. The third gaze was simple curiosity that dominated the vast majority of hunters there. They were strong, he knew; a lone lich would likely not scare all of them off that easily.
As they stood in front of the task board, he took in all of the requests.
Task Notice: Wyrm Elimination
Reward: 2000 Chips
Details: A large nest of wyrms has been spotted due north of Red Shale. They have become more aggressive due to their large numbers, devouring multiple of the town’s residents whole. There are an estimated 10 large wyrms and 2 giant wyrms. Any bodies are the property of the hunters who completed the task.
Task Notice: Alchemist Escort
Reward: 50,000 Chips per person
Details: Famous alchemist Vousich Wiklak is offering a generous sum to those who are willing to escort him into the Aerus Range in search of the leaves of a Picoto Tree. Only those who are experienced will be accepted. Those who wish to join Alchemist Wiklak’s expedition should report to the guild branch in Mount Averus.
Task Notice: Hilja Bug Shell Collection
Reward: 500 Chips per shell
Details: An anonymous craftsman wants a great amount of Hilja Bug shells to use for a project. The reward will be paid upon giving the shells to the guild.
Of them all, only a few caught his eye, such as one offering a million Chips to whoever could bring them the eyes of a dragon or the alchemist escort task, but none of them seemed to stand out to his mistress, “Have you seen something that has caught your eye, Mistress?” he asked her from behind. He also took notice that there was no mention of the Clockwork ‘Hive,’ as it was called.
As she looked across the board, she stroked her chin with a metallic hand and furrowed her brow, “Not really… I was hoping for some sort of pirate mission or some Clockwork problem…” she said to him.
With his unique hearing he heard someone snort behind them and, resting his gaze on the woman in question, he studied her. She was a variant of a human, likely a harpy or some other naturally flying variant judging by the wings that replaced her arms and the clawed feet. Her face was just like that of a human’s, the only exception being the horns that curled around her head like a crown. At that moment, she turned her head to Aerolat and glared at him, “I can feel you looking at me, you bastard. What?” she demanded in a rude tone.
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Sighing, Aerolat turned around to meet the woman’s gaze as she crossed her wings, “I was wondering who had been so derisive of my mistress,” he said, calm in his voice.
The woman rolled her eyes, “Yeah? So what?” she pressed, “I was just laughing at some ignorant fool who thinks she can waltz in here and win fame and glory just because she can kill a few bugs.”
Aerolat was straining himself from yelling at the idiotic woman. He had no clue what had made the woman assume that his mistress was defenseless; the fact that she was a lich had to have been obvious and he was unliving proof that she had killed before, so he was lost as to why she was being so rude. Apparently he was not alone, as a man sitting next to her glared at her, “Euchia. Don’t. You don’t need to get so worked up,” he whispered to her, “Leave it.”
She stood and slammed her wings on the table, “No! I won’t leave it! She thinks that she can walk in here just because she’s a lich and act like she owns the place! I refuse to let someone so utterly full of themselves just walk around without proving herself! You! Lich! Duel me!” she raged, her hate-filled glare boring into the back of Mori’s head.
Despite her outburst and the stunned silence that befell the hall, Mori did not turn. She stood, still examining the tasks. Aerolat turned back to the hateful woman with a glare on his face, “You-”
“Stay out of this, stupid thing. This is between me and her!” she yelled, stomping over to Mori, “I challenged you, you stupid skeleton! Stop shaking in your boots and fight me!” She had almost gotten to Mori at that point, Aerolat unsure what to do about her. Just as he thought she would begin attacking his mistress, Mori reached out to the board and pulled a piece of paper from it.
It was the wyrm elimination task he had noticed before, “Looks doable,” she mumbled. Turning around, she was met with an angry harpy and a hall full of observers, “Oh, did I do something?” she asked.
Aerolat wanted to slap himself in the face, ‘Of course she didn’t listen to her… That’ll go over perfectly…’ he thought.
The harpy sputtered indignantly until her face flushed red in anger, “You didn’t even listen to me!?” she shouted at her, “Are you that fucking arrogant that you won’t even listen to other people when they’re talking to you or are you so stupid that you don’t even understand the words coming out of my mouth right now?” Aerolat could hear the faint hissing of sucked in breaths come from the crowd, as if someone had broken an incredibly valuable vase.
Mori, however, showed a stunned look, “Umm… I got distracted looking for a task. What’s so wrong with that?” she asked innocently. Aerolat began wondering if this was the first time someone was rude to her, but then remembered the incident with the guard aboard the Kharon and thought better of it; she must have simply been trying to understand why the harpy was angry with her.
The harpy began growling, “And what gives you the privilege of taking a task?” she said in a low tone, “Why shouldn’t I just shatter your soul right here and now?”
‘She’s done it now…’ Aerolat thought. It was one thing to yell at Mori, but it was an entirely different thing to threaten her. He knew just how seriously she took both her life and the lives of those she cared about; threatening either was a recipe for disaster.
Mori did not respond, her eye-flames going eerily still. Her inaction did not deter the harpy woman, however, as she continued her verbal assault, “What? Can’t say anything when someone with actual experience and skill wants to start something with you? Path- Ack!” she groaned as Mori slammed her metal fist into the harpy’s face. Staggering back, the harpy screamed, “What was that for, you bitch!?”
Mori’s face was unchanged, the blank visage of a skeleton staring into the harpy’s eyes, “That? That was for threatening me. This,” she said as she threw a punch. The harpy, however, saw the punch coming and leaped backwards, landing a few feet from Mori. Before the harpy could recover, Mori held out her metal arm and a bright light erupted from her palm. Most hunters shielded their eyes, the harpy being amongst them, while others simply watched Mori, “is for being so rude. Leave me alone, I do tasks with my death knights, and we don’t have to kill each other. I am better at not dying, after all,” she laughed humorlessly.
The harpy glared at the lich in front of her and began to charge, only to be stopped by the man from before, “Euchia! Stop! Don’t do this! You’ll just be killed if you keep doing this!” he begged. Aerolat’s assessment of the man improved a bit; he was smart enough and level-headed enough to stop her from getting herself killed.
The harpy growled at the man, but Aerolat cleared his throat. However unnecessary it was, it did catch the attention of the harpy woman, “If you wish to fight with the mistress,” he began, “Then it may be important to note what I am…” he said as his body began to engorge. His body morphed and grew until a ten foot tall silhouette stood in front of them. Along his chest and arms, the faces of every lizardman whose blood went into making him grew. Growing to such size was simple, especially if he simply turned the inner parts of his body to mist, “I am the cursed blood of forty men and women, turned to mist by my mistress to serve her as she saw fit. If you dare think yourself as worthy of her attention, then prove it… What gives you the privilege of dueling my mistress?” every one of his faces sneered. He quietly took in the hall around him and noted that most were somewhere between slightly and somewhat concerned, with a few not caring at all, ‘Those guys. I will have to watch out for them,’ he thought to himself.
The harpy, though, was not in the latter category. She looked at his split form with a fair bit of concern written on her face. With a final huff, she stormed off and left the hall. With a sigh, Aerolat melted back into his normal orc form. The man who had been trying to talk down the harpy sighed, “Sorry about her… She’s just… got a past. I’ll make sure she calms down,” he said, running off after her.
Aerolat honestly wished him luck; he had his work cut out for him if those wings she had weren’t just for show. After another breath, he felt a bony hand on his shoulder, “Thanks, Aero. I didn’t want to fight her…” Mori said.
He nodded, “It is my duty, mistress.”
She smiled, “I’m happy you are so devoted. Let’s get this checked out and we can go back,” she said as she walked to the desks. It did not take long to sign the task out and they were out of the hall within minutes. Luckily, the hunters began to liven up as time went on, so Aerolat felt that there would not be a repeat of the harpy incident. As they walked into the streets, music flowing from the hall once more, Mori sighed, “Do you think there’ll be more people like her?” she asked.
“I could not tell you, mistress,” he replied, “But I am sure that you will not be so defenseless next time, will you?” he asked.
Mori laughed, “I never was! I was just surprised, that’s all! Next time I’ll-” she paused, “Wait… are you trying to teach me something?” she asked.
The only response he gave her was a shameless smile.