The sun sank low into the horizon and the stars began to emerge over Barton. In a highly unfortunate turn of events, the Divine Blessing adventuring team had not found an inn. The city was packed with visitors, merchants, adventurers, and more. All of those people needed places to stay. The best inns were full. The best-if-you-ask-us inns were full. Everything seemed to be full. It was so bad that members of the convoys and caravans passing through Barton opted to camp among their wagons.
Most towns completely shut down after sunset but as Barton was a bit larger than most towns in the region it did not… completely anyway. Some parts of the city went dark as the residents ended their days but others were bright and only now coming to life to entertain those who yet desired food or entertainment. The busier streets were lit by windows of open businesses and a constant flow of travelers carrying mana lamps in the face of the coming night. The quieter streets that saw less travel had only the twinkling stars overhead and whatever light sources those still awake bothered to bring with them. As a result, a small orb of light gently pulsed above Brivaria’s head. It illuminated the street around them as they continued their search.
“Let’s try a few more,” Kseniya suggested. “I would deeply like to have a real bed tonight, you know? All of the inns on the west side of the city seem taken so let’s just go to the east side and find an inn over there that is not completely full.”
“I’m good to keep looking if you two are,” Nyx said with a yawn. Kseniya yawned too and Brivaria felt a powerful urge to do the same despite not even needing to sleep. The angel was physically exhausted. Her stamina was low and her stomach was growling for dinner. None of them had eaten, having decided to find accommodations first. It had been a smart decision considering their predicament but their stomachs were finally lodging protests over the lack of food.
“If I don’t make it, you two need to look after Trixie,” the angel declared dramatically. Kseniya snorted in amusement. Trixie, who was happily trotting alongside Brivaria, looked up and gave a happy wuff of encouragement. Well, that was how the winged girl interpreted the dog.
Brivaria was just about to pet the golden when Trixie started barking. These were not the cute barks or the adorable wuffs the dog normally made but loud, distressed sounds. Nyx’s ears immediately went straight and then she roughly shoved Brivaria backward. A ball of fire the size of watermelon went right through the area Brivaria had just been standing in and impacted a nearby building leaving a large scorch mark.
“Attack!” Kseniya cried in alarm and outrage. The sorceress had her signature scepter out in a flash while her free hand began working through a spell. A cloud of deadly miasma appeared at the entrance to an alley across the street. “On guard everyone!”
Nyx had her claws extended in a flash and was ready for battle. Trixie was still barking and Brivaria was… tired. It was too late at night for this. The angel’s eyes shifted from her normal round, blue orbs to the slit pupils akin to Kseniya’s orange eyes to let her better see in the dark. She immediately put mana into Current Control to enhance the entire group’s speed and then withdrew her sword from her inventory.
“I don’t see anyone down the alley,” Nyx confirmed as she peered through Kseniya’s miasma into the darkness. They hadn’t moved, choosing to hold their position with Kseniya taking up a defensive stance in front of Brivaria and Trixie where she could use her scepter to shield them if another attack came.
Trixie’s barking grew louder and all three girls saw the hooded figure step into view within the next alley up the street. Just as before it threw a large firebolt at them. This time Kseniya replied to the firebolt with three green bolts of her own. The lamia’s scepter produced an emerald shield reminiscent of a magical umbrella and the firebolt splashed harmlessly against it.
“Tch,” the lamia hissed, “missed him. They are wasting their time attacking us. Those little balls of fire couldn’t even singe my tail. It will be very irritating if they keep doing this. We will have to chase them.” The lamia sighed and Brivaria agreed.
“If they appear again then we go after them,” the angel spoke while throwing a couple pebbles at each alley entrance on the opposite side of the street with Bleak Radiance infused into them. They shone with light, brightening up the dark street in a hurry. Nyx watched one side of the street and Kseniya took the other. On a hunch, Brivaria turned her gaze upward. If she was their mysterious assailant then she would look to surprise them by attacking from above.
A second later, Brivaria saw the hooded figure on the roof of the building across the street. She had guessed correctly and had an invisible wall of wind already in the air between them.
“There!” Brivaria called and they traded spells again. The angel’s spell of choice was a Withering Ray colored entirely black. On of the perks of light magic was that it could be any color the user wanted. This wasn’t just true for normal light spells but all their derivatives as well. The wall of wind produced by Wind Formation easily deflected the third large firebolt but the hooded figure didn’t notice the black lance of energy and the angel scored a direct hit. The figure disappeared behind the roof.
“After them!” Brivaria said and the chase was on. She launched herself into the air, relying on Current Control to make up for her lack of stamina. Nyx and Trixie zoomed toward the alley where the figure had originally emerged.
Their assailant was fast. By the time Brivaria was in the air and on the trail, they were already running. One, potentially two, movement skills were being used which was more than Brivaria could overcome on mana alone. She fired more Withering Rays, two of which splashed harmlessly against the ground and would surely give someone a headache when the stone block struck inevitably turned to dust. One of the three hit the person square in the back. The angel was going for quality over quantity and overcharged all three with as much mana as the casting time allowed so when that beam hit she knew their attacker would feel it.
Trixie proved to be the most nimble of all of them leaving even Nyx in the dust. The golden sunchaser was born to catch things. She’d kept up with Brivaria’s highly aggressive traveling pace when they first met despite being on foot while the angel was flying, boosted with a movement skill no less. The dog was a blur of speed. She didn’t just catch up to the hooded figure but slammed into them from behind with two paws. Brivaria actually winced as their attacked took a hard fall onto the stone street and rolled.
The golden barked triumphantly and leaped onto the figure. Well, that’s what the hound intended to do but joy turned to confusion when her paws touched the street and the person simply phased into the ground. The rest of the team caught up to Trixie a moment later. The golden was sniffing at the ground where the figure had disappeared.
“Oh come on!” Nyx punched the ground, sending a spray of rock up. “I didn’t even get to punch them.”
“A phasing skill?” Brivaria asked while looking at the ground with a frown. Those were quasi-rare on interventions. Sometimes she would see a warrior with the ability to phase through attacks, taking their opponent by surprise, or an archer who could phase their arrows through defensive shields and spells.
“What an obnoxious skill. A favored tool for spies and assassins,” Kseniya commented.
“Not a very high level one or they’d have used that to attack instead of retreat,” the angel commented. They were all still wary but it didn’t seem like anything was coming out of the walls or ground.
“Those firebolts were large. Upgraded once, perhaps twice. Ugh, they waste so much mana. At least one pyromancy class and perhaps some sort spy class,” Kseniay replied and Brivaria nodded.
“Probably not an assassin or not yet anyway. Two movement skills. Maybe level 30, level 40?” the angel guessed.
“Thirties, probably,” the snake woman agreed. “Pyro at level 20, spy-thing at level 30. I saw you hit one of those rays. Those look very painful.”
“I hit with two,” the angel corrected. Nyx groaned.
“I need something like that,” she protested. “What do we do now?” The cat girl looked between the other two women.
“Same thing we were doing before,” Kseniya said with a shrug. “We should watch the alleys. I will keep my scepter out in case we are visited by our friend again. What an annoying welcome to the city, you know?”
“Is this kind of thing normal in cities?” the winged girl asked while putting away her sword.
“No. Well, for some people maybe. Let’s be moving quickly now. The watch will surely be coming to investigate any moment and I would rather not be here when they arrive,” the lamia said, gesturing for the group to get moving. They all did so, taking a few side streets and alleys to discretely avoid by spotted by anyone coming to check on the disturbance from their original location.
Brivaria checked her System messages as they fled the scene of the battle. She had one and it was a pleasant thing to see despite the circumstances.
You have reached level 33.
Gained +1 Physique, +1 Endurance, +2 Arcane, +2 Spirit, +1 Awareness, +1 Presence.
No one was injured and she got a level. Most importantly, it gave her an extra bit of stamina. That wouldn’t last long but it felt positively wonderful. All of her aching, tired limbs felt so much better. Maybe she’d look for a skill that would help her overcome her low endurance and stamina. The list of things she needed or wanted grew by the day. Also their lives had just become more complicated.
Meanwhile, in another part of Barton, an innkeeper was serving dinner to her guests. Her name was Candice and her inn was the Siren’s Alcove. It was a good inn and Candice considered herself to be a successful innkeeper. The tables were clear and intact. The rooms were kept clean and tidy. The food was hot and delicious. It was especially impressive as Candice did much of this on her own.
Candice had the Self-Reliant Innkeeper class. It was a rare variant of the standard Innkeeper class. More specifically, it was a jack-of-all-trades variation. Most classes focused solely on one thing. Even higher level classes tended to have a network of closely-related skills that followed a theme or a wider set of themes. A few bucked the trend. These classes incorporated skills from many different vocations and trades. One could be a functional novice in many fields as opposed to an expert in a single field.
Candice’s class made her into a one woman army. She had fishing, gardening, and cooking skills which let her provide meals for her guests. She had cleaning and carpentry skills which let her maintain the building. Finally she possessed entertainment and social skills which let her attract talented musicians and guests alike.
This wasn’t to say she did everything perfectly. A skilled fisherman could catch better fish and more of them. An experienced cook with additional cooking abilities would make dishes far more complex in half the time it took her to do similar. In every single area that could be fairly measured, her inn was just a bit worse. In some places the difference between the Siren’s Alcove and its competition was small. In some places it was large. What it meant in the grand scheme of things was that while her inn would always be a good one, it would never be a great one.
The innkeeper had been running the Siren’s Alcove for nearly 16 years, having inherited the building before she’d even turned 20 after her parents both passed away in a boating accident. It had been a home on the outskirts of Barton at the time she’d converted it into an inn for travelers. She’d lacked a lot of amenities for guests back in those days but made up for it with the power of the inn’s location.
Travelers coming into Barton from the east would pass by her inn before entering the city proper. As the first inn on the road, the Siren’s Alcove lured in every visitor who decided they wanted a hot meal and a warm bed rather than walk any further. Candice’s inn was not necessarily the best a traveler could get in Barton but it was often the first for those moving east to west. In those early years, that was all that was needed to entice potential guests to stay.
In the years to come, that would cease to be the case. The city of Barton only grew. It expanded in every direction. More and more homes were built as families grew and travelers chose to settle in the riverside city. Candice’s inn went from the first stop to the second to the third. A decade later the Siren’s Alcove was neither first inn would-be guests encountered nor the best in the city. It was a good inn but not a great one and Candice was okay with that.
That is, she was okay with it on some nights more so than others. This was not a good night for the Siren’s Alcove. The city was flooded with people looking for accommodations in preparation for the upcoming hunt. The problem was that everyone wanted to stay on the west side of Barton. Mercenaries hired to secure the forest against would-be poachers wanted to live near said forest for obvious reasons. Merchants looking to get their wares in front of those mercenaries, as well as any noble peerage that happened to be in town for the event, likewise wanted to be where the excitement was. No one wanted to stay at an inn so far from all the commotion.
Candice sighed. She shook out her long auburn hair and then retied the ponytail she kept it in. The night was tragically quiet. The harpist she hired for the day was putting on his last performance for the evening. He’d informed her that he was going to be working in another inn for the next few nights and that stung. She could pay him a little more but he’d make more in gratuity at one of the packed, west-side inns than she could offer. It didn’t help that by this point he was only playing for her benefit and a single man who’d fall asleep at his table in the corner.
The innkeeper was just rising to go wake up that man and help him up to his room when the door to the inn opened and one of the strangest groups of travelers Candice had ever seen stepped into the Siren’s Alcove. There was a zephyri with white wings, a catfolk girl, what looked like a Heliathan lamia, and a dog. That was, it was a regular dog and not a beast-kin of the dog variety.
“Welcome to the Siren’s Alcove,” Candice said politely, rising to greet her guests. The innkeeper’s features were plain but attractive. She was muscular but not in the way a warrior often was. Rather, Candice was strong in the way a person whose day to day life involved lots of lifting and physical labor was strong. She wore a cream-colored blouse and a long, blue skirt that had fish tail cut at the bottom. She was human but leaned into the siren aesthetic which even included a decorative hair pin shaped and painted to look like a clam.
“Is this an inn? Please say it’s an inn,” the catfolk girl pleaded.
“It is. Are you alright?” the innkeeper asked with some alarm at the girls before her. All of them look exhausted. Well, the dog looked fine. The golden sunchaser padded up to Candice, sat down, and panted while looking up at her.
“Just tired,” the zephyri woman said. “We’ve been searching for a place to stay for hours. Do you have any rooms available? Three would be perfect but we’ll make due with fewer if necessary.”
“We have plenty of rooms available and you’re welcome to three of them,” Candice replied while extending a fist for the dog to sniff. “If we have a lot of guests then I may ask if you’d be comfortable sharing to make room for others to have a roof over their head but they can all be yours in the meantime.”
“How about food? May tail is empty, you know?” the lamia asked. No one made a move to call the amiable golden hound back so Candice scritched the friendly dog’s cheek. Animals with as much fur as this one had were a royal pain to clean up after. Candice was already wincing inwardly at all the shedding she’d need to clean up later. At least the dog had a friendly demeanor and was behaved enough to allow for pets.
“Of course, I’ve got a spiced stew, some fish platters, a few vegetable sides…” she was starting to list some of the readily available menu items when the lamia interrupted.
“That all sounds good. Bring some of each. We’ve had a busy day and could use a good meal,” the lamia said with delight.
“Yes, please,” the zephyri girl echoed. “My name is Brivaria. The hungry one is Kseniya and the girl considering collapsing on your floor is Nyx. The golden sunchaser is Trixie. She has a mystical ability to sense people who will pet her and will shamelessly beg for attention.” Trixie tilted her head back to look at the winged girl and Candice gave the dog one last pet.
“Have a seat at a table. I’ll wash my hands and have your food out to you in a jiffy,” the innkeeper said with a smile. Her night had just improved drastically for everyone involved.
Brivaria and the rest of the group made themselves comfortable at one of the tables. The angel sat down on a chair and instantly felt better. Her wings began shrinking into the tiny ones she preferred when indoors. She’d heard the faint notes of the harp being played when they entered but frowned slightly upon seeing that the musician was now packing up for the night. At least the group had found an inn and food. That was good enough. Frankly, it was a small miracle given how many establishments they’d approached and been turned away from.
20 minutes later, they were all eating. Even Trixie was brought a small plate of what the angel was assured was dog-friendly food. She’d still give Trixie a check with Healing Touch after the meal just in case. The innkeeper was a woman named Candice and the group struck up a conversation with her to learn more about what was going on in the city and why it was so busy.
“That would be the Hunt for the Golden Hind. Have any of you heard of it?” Candice asked the group, joining their table with a cup of her own as they ate. The first Brivaria had heard of the hunt was the guard who’d talk to them that morning but what the guard had said was all she knew. Kseniya thought it sounded familiar. Surprisingly, Nyx was the one who nodded.
“It happened a long time ago when I was little,” the catfolk girl said. “I remember hearing things got really bad and everyone was scared for a little while.” Candice winced.
“Things…” the innkeeper paused to choose her words before speaking then continued, “…did get pretty bad. Every 10 years or so, the mana in the western forest condenses into a creature. That’s the golden hind. Barton turns into a madhouse as soon as people realize it’s arrived. The nobility immediately locks down the forest trying to keep anyone from going into it while poachers come from all over Velk, and even regions beyond, attempting to sneak into the forest to kill it. Meanwhile every major figure in Flynnette suddenly looks to Velk and sometimes sends emissaries to the city on behalf of their patrons.”
“What’s so special about this golden hind,” Brivaria asked. Kseniya had a contemplative expression and Nyx looked as curious as Brivaria.
“Oh I think I know what this is,” Kseniya said quietly. Candice smiled and went into the full explanation while the group ate.
“Eating the meat of the golden kind grants 10 levels immediately. No matter what your current level is or what your class is, you are instantly 10 levels higher. Everyone from nobles to rich merchants to high rank adventurers want that level boost. Of course the peerage immediately secure portions for themselves and the rest of the meat is auctioned off to the higher bidders. The city has expanded many times in the last decade and almost all of it came from the fortune secured after last hunt.” Candice finished her explanation leaving Brivaria and Nyx shocked. Kseniya just pursed her lips.
“Yes, I’ve heard of this. Such things do exist in other places though they are extremely rare. They are coveted by the powerful and jealously guarded. There are probably more but I am sure they are kept very secret wherever possible,” the lamia said while moving onto her second bowl of stew.
“I want to be 10 levels higher. Is there any way to get a piece of the hind?” Nyx asked. She remembered the fighting from 10 years back but not the reason behind it nor would she have cared back then as young as she would have been. Now, her eyes were wide, her tail had risen, and her ears were standing up in excitement. The catfolk girl was so easy to read, Brivaria thought with amusement.
“For us? No. I’m sure most every part of the hind is already bought and paid for or set to be auctioned for thousands of coin. Still, could you imagine all the things you could do with another 5 skills or even a new class?” Candice was happily feeding Nyx’s excitement with every word despite the rejection.
“We could upgrade our adventuring team rank from copper to bronze at least,” Nyx agreed.
The catfolk girl was very cognizant of the fact that she was the weakest link in the team. Kseniya had to be high level and Brivaria was always doing weird angel magic. Nyx’s two adventuring partners scared her sometimes with their abilities. She wanted to be strong like them but wasn’t sure she was even catching up. The idea of a food that could instantly put her on par with her new friends was wondrous. It was two of her favorite things put together. What was not to like?
“I don’t think it’s a good idea to eat that,” Brivaria said after a long moment where everyone at the table save for her became lost in thought.
“What do you mean?” Nyx asked as she imagined eating a whole steak from the hind, gaining 50 levels, and becoming the most powerful catfolk in the region. Even if it only gave 10, a cat could dream!
“My people level faster than most,” Brivaria began. She didn’t want to outright say Zlithians leveled slowly but they kind of did. “We’ve learned that it’s not just about using your skills and abilities. You have to be physically and spiritually ready to gain levels. The time between levels is what allows you to grow. The System doesn’t stop you from gaining levels quickly so if you gain levels too quickly then there be disastrous results.”
“Like what?” Kseniya asked curiously. “I’ve never heard of such a thing.” Candice and Nyx were paying attention as well. It was clear no one had ever been told this.
“It depends. If your body isn’t capable of handling the levels then it can degrade or become unstable. This is part of why my kind can only be summoned to Zlithia for so long. We spend most all of our lives in our true, energy forms. Manifesting a body is difficult and they’re often not fully compatible with our true nature. As a result, they begin unraveling as soon as we’re summoned giving us a time limit on how long we remain summoned.” Brivaria noticed Candice looking at her with confusion.
“Your people? I’ve never heard of zephyri with those problems,” the innkeeper said curiously.
“Angels. I look very much like the birdfolk but I’m not one of them. My people don’t normally live on Zlithia,” the angel clarified.
“Oh, wow. Wait, were you summoned? Was there some kind of summoning accident?” Candice looked aghast. “Are you unraveling or something right now?”
“That… no. It’s complicated but my body is stable.” Brivaria said that and felt confident in it. She wondered how much of her long-term stability was due to whatever Anriel and the others did versus what she was doing with Lesser Shapeshifting. Her body had changed since her arrival on Zlithia and was changing more with each passing day as she worked with Lesser Shapeshifting and now Flesh Sculpting.
“I’ve never heard of anyone having problems like those,” Candice said after some thought.
“I’m not surprised. It could also go the other way. If you gain 10 levels with a method like this then it could cause you to have difficulty gaining levels otherwise. That’s workable as long as you can keep gaining levels from the source but if you can’t…” the angel trailed off and shrugged her shoulders.
This was something else she was vaguely aware of her people attempting. The idea of feeding someone levels quickly was very attractive but when that method stopped working and the person found they could no longer gain levels normally then it became problematic. The bottom line ended up being that anything which went against the System’s normal flow caused significant problems for the people involved. Brivaria wondered if any of those who’d eaten the meat 10 years ago had problems later on or if they would even admit it if they had.
“Well it’s fun to think about. Even if there were disadvantages then I’d probably still try it,” the innkeeper shrugged as she spoke.
“I concur,” Kseniya added, “sometimes you must seize an opportunity even if there is risk. Some opportunities only come once in a lifetime, you know?” The lamia’s orange eyes looked from Nyx to Brivaria. Everyone agreed though Brivaria couldn’t help but feel the lamia was speaking about something other than the golden hind meat. The winged girl briefly wondered if there wasn’t another reason the lamia joined the group. Regardless, the angel was perpetually glad the serpent woman was with them.
The group finished their meal and Candice showed them around the inn and to their rooms. Brivaria used the washroom to clean herself off. Apparently some of the fancier inns had water generation magic for such things but there was a cask of water and some towels which were good enough to get the sweat off. Trixie insisted on getting cleaned as well. The angel suspected the dog enjoyed the drying process with Brivaria’s wind skills more so than the washing process. Eventually the two went to their room.
The dog jumped on the room’s solitary bed and Brivaria sat down next to her. The angel pulled out one of the many books she’d taken from the home of Kseniya’s missing friend, Amon Ruthers, then began to read. While she did so, she wondered if she would have another visit from the demon and debated how to use her yet unspent skill point.
Name: Brivaria
Race: Angel
Class: Apprentice Shaper of Flesh
Level: 33
Stats: Health 70/70, Mana 132/132, Stamina 91/91
Attributes: Physique 56, Endurance 35, Arcane 63, Spirit 66, Awareness 35, Presence 69
Active Skills: Current Control, Defensive Bulwark, Healing Touch, Wind Formation
Passive Skills: Flesh Sculpting, Infernal Seed, Inventory, Lesser Flight, Lesser Shapeshifting, Lingering Decay, Rest, Traits (Angel)
Magic: Light of Decay
Affinity: Corruption, Decay
Unspent Skill Points: 1