Two hours later Brivaria had her map and was negotiating for her meals. She returned to the Grand Flagon intending to bulk order meals for her trip. It was an unusual enough request that the waitstaff took it to the tavern owner and senior cook. The man who emerged from the kitchen and began searching for the bizarre, winged customer was a human who looked to be at least fifty years old and had almost no hair. As soon as the man saw her, he was moving toward her. If the wings gave him pause, he didn’t show it. While the man didn’t appear angry, exactly, he did have a certain “I’m going to sort out this nonsense” look. He was also very direct as Brivaria found out right away.

“Are you the one making strange demands of my people?” he asked and Brivaria nodded.

“Yes. I have an inventory skill with preservation. I can put a meal into my inventory and pull it out a while later in exactly the same condition as it was when it went in. I’m leaving town tomorrow to venture up to the northwest and wanted to add a dozen or so meals to my inventory so I’d have something other than rations to eat.” The man’s eyes widened as she described her skill but it wasn’t until she mentioned where she was heading that he began to smile.

“Lass, you’re an adventurer right?” he asked.

“I am.” Brivaria wasn’t going to mention that she’d been an adventurer for less than a day. She was trying to look like she knew what she was doing and this was normal.

“If your course takes you into the Cervidian Woods to the north and you intend to return to Keaton then I have a proposition for you.” Brivaria thought back to the map. The Cassmer Forest occupied the area around the town but mostly lay to the south. Just north of Keaton was the Playton Savanna which ran between the Cassmer Forest to the south and the Cervidian Woods to the north.

Brivaria’s travel plan was to go north, west, and north again. She would be sticking to the roads the whole way and would venture into the Cervidian Woods on the last leg of her trip. She found a string of requests along that route that she could handle one after another that ultimately ended up at the town of Pemburne nestled in the woods.

“I’ll be headed north to Pemburne and then I’ll be coming back here to turn in the guild requests I was able to complete,” she replied after thinking it over.

“That’s perfect. The woods are full of wild game but they’re fairly dangerous. A year or two back the hunters up north would take down anything that wandered too close to settlements or roads. Some of the meat would make its way down to Keaton. Pricey stuff but worth the coin. Unfortunately, it’s been months since we got anything like that from the north,” the man explained.

“So you want me to do that?” the angel asked, not sure if she was keen to go hunting wild animals for the man.

“The beasts in the woodlands are large and territorial. If the hunters aren’t keeping them them at bay then you’ll probably run across some without even trying. If you do and if you kill some then I’d be happy to pay you for as much of the meat as you can bring back. I’ll pay a premium if you can get Ravstag meat in particular. It’s a delicacy. If you agree then I’ll discount the cost on the meals you’re buying.” His offer of a discount got the angel’s attention. She had been mentally adding up the cost of what she was buying and it was going to use up most of her funds.

“A discount for something I haven’t done yet? What if I’m not able to bring back anything?” the winged girl asked with confusion. Every other human or Lephori had been very… transactional. All money had to be paid upfront. Her words got a laugh out of the nearly bald man.

“Then I’ll have gambled a few coins worth of food and lost. I’ve done worse. That said, you look like the honest, earnest sort. If you do your best to fulfill our agreement and come back empty-handed then it is what it is. However if you come back with an inventory of meat from the northern woods then we’ll both walk away happy. I’m willing to take that risk. Also, the name’s Harim Gunderson. Nice to meet you,” he put out his hand and Brivaria reached forward to shake it. He had a very firm grip and a vigorous handshake.

“Brivaria. It’s nice to meet you Harim. I don’t know if I’ll go out of my way to look for this Ravstag and I don’t know anything about getting meat from an animal but if the opportunity arises then I’ll bring back as much as I can,” the blonde girl’s words earned another smile from Mr. Gunderson.

“Well, how about I tell you about it while you wait? Some of the meals you’re requesting need to be cooked to order. My staff can do most of it. Gods know they need the practice to level up. I’ll talk you through what to look for as well as the basics of butchering a beast while you wait. Does me no good to send you out without knowing at least a little about what you’re supposed to be doing.” The angel agreed and the two sat down to talk while they waited.

Brivaria’s stomach eventually got the better of her and she dined with Mr. Gunderson. She listened to what he told her and committed it to memory. The Second Sword showed up after the two had finished eating. They joined Brivaria at the table and Gunderson excused himself. The lunchtime rush was about to start and his skills would be needed in the kitchen.

“Already filling up your inventory with delicious food?” Rake asked, obviously still jealous of the skill.

“Yes. The owner offered to help me stockpile some food. Some platters were readily available due to preservation runes and others needed to be cooked to order. The owner and I were talking about my skills and maybe doing some hunting up north,” the angel answered. Trixie barked and Brivaria added one more thing. “Oh and getting some food for Trixie. I want to have an excess for her since she hasn’t tried one of the rations and I’m not certain I want her to.”

“Sounds like you’re preparing to go on a trip,” Meia observed. A waiter came by to take the orders of the three and Brivaria considered how to answer that. Eventually she decided to say it straight away.

“I am. I was at the guild early this morning looking at requests. I took a handful of them and my plan is to journey north up to Pemburne. I’ve got a map, food, and my plan is to leave tomorrow assuming the guild approves my requests. Tamarin should know which ones were approved tonight or, at worst, tomorrow morning.” The winged girl’s words were met with different reactions around the table. Notably, no one was surprised. After asking to purchase Trixie the night before, they’d all expected something like this to come up soon. Though, perhaps the angel was moving sooner than anyone expected.

“Delving the dungeon would have been so much easier with your help. We’re going to have to buy those potions after all.” Rake sighed dramatically but he wore a grin.

“I’ve seen a few requests for adventurer help around Pemburne. The pay is… not good,” Meia commented as drinks were being placed in front of the trio.

“It really isn’t compared to the other requests I looked at. Most people up there don’t trade much outside the area so they don’t have much coin to spare. Not a single request was worth more than 5 coin on its own. I’m spending almost as much on food and supplies just to travel up there than I’ll likely make back even if I complete all the requests,” the angel admitted.

“So why do it? It’ll take weeks to travel to Pemburne and back. We made more in a single delve than you’ll make for the entire trip. Probably leveled faster too,” Meia continued. The angel didn’t care about the currency. She could subsist on her people’s rations and supplies if absolutely pressed. Anything else was a luxury. She fully expected to spend almost all the coin she made on Trixie for all that went. She was fine with that.

The leveling speed did pain her a little. She wanted to reclaim her lost levels and the dungeon would do that. It was undeniably faster to delve even a weak dungeon than trek for days just practicing with skills. Knowing the people around her were likely twenty or more levels higher didn’t help either. She had experience fighting monsters across a great many interventions but she was weak. Ultimately she would have to accept that she’d stay that way for a while. Even so, she wasn’t going to Pemburne for herself. She was going to help others.

“Tamarin told me about how requests to far off locations or with low payouts can be neglected by adventurers. I know this isn’t the best choice for wealth or for growing in strength but this feels like the best choice for me. The dungeon will be fine without me. There were enough people in the guild ready to head out the moment Rake mentioned it that I’m not worried about Keaton. What I want to do as an adventurer is help people.” Brivaria’s words were hopeful but they evoked shame from the three adventurers around the table.

The three members of the Second Sword adventured for profit and self-improvement. Rake was an adventurer purely for the coin it offered to those who were successful. Meia was with the Second Sword to improve her skills to go after more lucrative dungeons. Penry was there strictly to improve his skills to the point where he felt confident about traveling to distant locations. The angel’s selflessness was painful but there was no judgment in her eyes. She wasn’t condemning their motivations, only stating that she didn’t share them. Rake was the first to speak up.

“That’s a very noble aspiration. I’m sure the people who put out the requests you took will be happy to know someone is answering their prayers,” Rake raised his mug and Brivaria’s small wings fluttered with delight at the man’s sentiment. All four toasted to the sentiment. Afterward it was Penry’s turn to speak.

“We went shopping yesterday and you didn’t have a whole lot of anything that I could tell. Why don’t you tell us what’s in your inventory so we can help you find out what else you need?” The angel’s joy turned to chagrin. She’d already spent most of her coin.

“You already spent most of your share, didn’t you?” he asked. She was busted. The angel’s wings drooped as she nodded at Penry’s follow up question. “Tell us anyway. We owe you our lives so we’re not sending you out unprepared. Right?” Penry gave Rake and Meia a smile. Both quickly nodded. Brivaria was starting to wonder if the lizardman’s smiles didn’t mean what she thought they meant.

The group left the Grand Flagon and went back to the market street with the shops. The three adventurers helped Brivaria supply herself for the trip. She was given a couple pieces of cookware, some knives, a decent if cheap spear, and several other things. There was a lot to wilderness survival that the angel didn’t know and couldn’t have known. Her new friends were there to help and ended up gifting her a couple dozen coin in supplies. Brivaria’s inventory was now well and truly filled with provisions for the journey.

Toward the end of the afternoon, the group also made a trip to the bathhouse. Brivaria was treated to a hot bath. It was the best thing she’d felt since coming to Zlithia. Trixie also got a bath. That was a difficult task for an unexpected reason—Trixie liked water. The dog loved splashing around and she wanted to leave the bathhouse even less than Brivaria did. At least the angel had a way to dry Trixie off at speed. Tailwind at full power was a miniature hurricane. The angel blow-dried her own hair along with the pooch with sustained use of the Tailwind. She kept Tailwind active far longer than was necessary to dry the hairy dog because it amused her as much it had amused Trixie to splash Brivaria nonstop in the communal bath. It was also, technically, skill training.

Before returning to the inn, the group headed over to the adventurers guild. All of Brivaria’s requests were unchallenged. Apparently no one in Velk was interested in them but her. Once more she indicated her desire to undertake them and it was made official. She was now an adventurer with requests to handle. Each request came with some notes on the area and any additional details the guild could provide. She would have to study those further. Brivaria said goodbye to Tamarin and returned to the inn with the Second Sword.

During the night, the angel once more rested on the soft bed. She read the requests, the notes, and then reread them. Finally she pulled out the adventurers guild manual and started rereading it. The happy golden at her side received many pets before falling asleep. Tomorrow, the angel and dog would begin their adventure.