Vee felt like a new man when he opened his eyes. The walls were blessedly still, and he was no longer aware of his floating thoughts or uneven stomach. His eyes weren’t heavy, and there was a strange itch in his palms that urged him to go forth and work. To create.
Was this an aftereffect of becoming a [Ghost Smith]? Or was it simply a remnant of his determination from the night before? Such things were difficult to discern sometimes, but Vee decided that the source didn’t truly matter. He wanted to move and make things, and that was what was important.
Sitting up, Vee saw that Reginald and Alforde were off in the corner of the room, quietly playing cards. They both moved furiously, slapping cards down to the floor and swapping them back and forth with thinly veiled competitive brutality. Based on the piles of cards next to them both, Vee couldn’t tell what game they were playing, but they both glared at him when he coughed to get their attention.
“Well good morning to you too,” Vee harrumphed, getting out of bed and stretching.
“Morning? Hah! Try again,” Reginald said, gesturing to the window while scowling down at the cards on the floor. “It’s nearly evening!”
Vee looked out and saw that the sun was indeed fat on the horizon, casting the world in shades of orange and red. Darn. He’d slept longer than he would have otherwise liked, but that was okay. Clearly he’d needed the rest.
Still, Vee didn’t much like the idea of losing an entire day with nothing but feeling refreshed to show for it. He technically had a bit of wiggle room on reopening the dungeon but it was limited: Sacre’s debt would keep getting bigger by the week, and Crestheart’s proverbial war chest wouldn’t be able to keep up for too long. A few days wouldn’t make much of a difference – probably – but he knew that he needed to start earning fleurs again sooner rather than later.
Vee mulled over his options for how to spend the rest of the day. It was too late to go to the dungeon to set up his forge, and after a brief consideration he decided that he still didn’t have the stomach for reading through the union’s minion offerings either. Part of that was practical: he wanted to do some proper thinking about what Crestheart needed before diving in, lest he wind up enthralled by the prospect of new things and buying a bunch of minions he didn’t actually want all that much. However, the bigger reason was that the circuit was still fresh in his mind and he really just wanted some time away from it entirely.
Vee’s stomach grumbled; no matter what he ended up choosing to do, the first order of business was to go and get himself something to eat.
“Come on, let’s go. You guys can finish your game later,” he said, grabbing his coat and throwing it on. His arms moved easily, oddly light, and though his Might was unchanged – confirmed with a quick check of his Soul’s Mirror – he felt stronger.
Reginald glared over at him, but before the hat could protest Vee had an idea for what he could accomplish on his trip in addition to filling his belly. He held up a finger. “Actually, give me a second first. There’s something I want to do before we go.”
“Make up your mind,” Reginald muttered, passing a trio of cards over to Alforde.
The armorosoul growled as he took them, staring at his hand for a long time before carefully selecting two cards to return to the hat.
Vee turned his attention elsewhere. He sat down at the table and grabbed some paper and a pen and started to write. Unlike the letter to his father, this was going to be much easier to do.
Tired of trash?
Overnight street cleaning services available!
If interested, contact Vee Vales at Crestheart Dungeon for pricing and availability.
Satisfaction Guaranteed!
Vee studied his handiwork, rubbing his chin. It was fine, albeit slightly generic.
Then, with a little smile he crossed out ‘Guaranteed’ and replaced it with ‘Likely’.
Now it had some pizazz! It certainly wasn’t the strongest marketing pitch of all time, but it was clear and concise and that had to count for something. His handwriting wasn’t particularly neat, and the paper itself was plain – he inwardly winced at what Torres might say, if the [Stationer] could see his handiwork – but this would do what he wanted it to, and that was all that was important.
Future versions could be nicer.
He hurried to copy down his copy several more times, until he had a stack of flyers as thick as his hand. Reginald and Alforde were done with their game by the time he was done, and given the way the hat was grinning, Vee surmised that Reginald had won.
“He cheated,” Alforde huffed when Vee brought the matter up. Vee didn’t bother asking how, and the trio headed out into the evening air.
The streets were somewhat busy – a happy medium between the emptiness of normal daily life and the crammed mess that the circuits had brought — and Vee waved to a smiling Sculla as they left the boarding house, promising to have Alforde carry some boxes for the ogre when they returned.
“Forget her! I heard that every room in the place was booked during the circuit,” Reginald said, tightening his brim around Vee’s head as the [Dungeon Master] walked. “She doesn’t need us to carry boxes!”
“It’s fine,” Alforde said. “I don’t mind helping out.
The three of them fell into an easy conversation, laughing and joking as they talked about small things. It was restful in a way Vee couldn’t explain, and he felt better and better with every step.
Hungrier too. The smells coming from every restaurant he passed bordered on the divine, and Vee’s mouth was watering before he got anywhere near the Grinning Pig – where he’d originally planned to eat – and he hurried into a small noodle shop to get an order of dumplings.
Blowing on the scalding hot pork and onion between bites, Vee decided to head toward the blocks just outside the radius he’d set for his slimes and fiends to clean before the circuit. He wanted to explore a bit, and sampling food from a bunch of restaurants would also give him an easy excuse and opportunity to distribute his flyers.
After the dumplings, Vee got a small sausage sandwich from a salamander’s grillshop, a pastry stuffed with various nuts and spices from a kitrekin’s stall, and sipped on a cup of strange gray soup an elkin street vendor had offered to him. It was a tad too bitter for the [Dungeon Master]’s tastes, but wasn’t bad by any means.
He continued on like this for several streets, nipping into businesses here and there to grab something to try and passing out his flyers as he did so. No matter how much he ate, though, his stomach felt barely any fuller than it’d been when he’d started. Under other circumstances, Vee might have worried about his seemingly endless appetite, but it was another relatively common side effect of the class upgrade process and so he didn’t let it bother him. Instead, he focused on enjoying his food and talking to the merchants he was patronizing.
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Interestingly, most of them recognized him right away and as thanks for the influx of business they’d gotten from the circuit, more than a few gave him his requests free of charge. Vee greatly appreciated that bit of generosity; his pockets were definitely much lighter than they’d been when he’d left the boarding house and would have likely been empty if he’d had to pay for everything he tried.
The flyers were more of a mixed bag, with most shop owners accepting them with veiled disdain and promising “to take a look at them later”. A handful seemed interested in having the streets around their businesses cleaned but weren’t particularly willing to pay for it. When Reginald suggested to these individuals that they could band together with their neighbors to reduce their costs, a few rolled their eyes and said they’d give it some thought.
Vee doubted they were telling the truth. [Detect Falsehood] didn’t proc at all, but there was definitely a “half-hearted” loophole that meant the skill wasn’t foolproof. Still, he smiled politely and thanked them for their time before leaving, undaunted and undeterred that his idea wasn’t yet finding more fertile ground.
“We’ll get the next one,” Reginald said encouragingly after yet another rejection.
“I know,” Vee said with a shrug. “It might take a while, but eventually someone will bite and we’ll get some new business. We just have to stay optimistic.”
Reginald tightened his brim. “Are you…are you sure you’re feeling okay, boss? You’re definitely…more upbeat than normal. Right, big guy?”
“Yeah. I think you’d be a lot more frustrated under normal circumstances, but it’s not a bad thing by any means. Maybe it’s another side effect of the class change?”
Vee shrugged and picked his next destination: a small tea shop that had plenty of sugar-coated pastries in the window. He wasn’t going to sweat a good mood, especially after all the stress of the past few weeks. If it stuck around for like a week or something, he’d go talk to a [Healer] and make sure he wasn’t being influenced by any sort of weird Status Effect, but for now he was down to just relax and enjoy the vibes of the evening.
…Wait. Enjoy the vibes of the evening? What the heck kind of thought was that for him to have? Vee knew himself well enough to know those weren’t natural words for him to use in his deepest thoughts!
Was he suffering from a new Status Effect?
Snapping his eyes shut, Vee accessed his Soul’s Mirror and started poking around.
Sure enough, underneath his long-standing <3 <3 Infatuation <3 <3 status was a new one that most certainly hadn’t been there the day before: Overcooled.
Overcooled was a status effect that kept the affected person relaxed no matter what happened to them. By itself that wasn’t much of a problem…unless you were in a dangerous environment or situation where such a mindset could get you hurt or killed, which really wasn’t all that common for people on the continent. In fact, many people deliberately sought Overcooled out, paying far too much money for a variety of supplements that were commonly mixed with baked goods to induce it so that they could escape the stressors of their lives for a few hours or a few days.
However, like any Status Effect, Overcooled definitely wasn’t without its harms or problems. It was extremely sticky, and could propagate itself for days or even weeks if not actively nullified.
Vee swore loudly, drawing a surprisingly sharp rebuke from an older couple passing by. He definitely didn’t have time to waste being nothing but chill. For real.
“Change of plans,” Vee said, shaking his head and pushing back against the wave of calm that tried to keep him from doing so. “I’m Overcooled. We’re going to go find the nearest [Apothecary] and see about getting me a righteous cup of sober-root coffee, anxie-tea, or low-range tea so I can shake this off.”
“It’s a shame it’s so late,” Reginald said. “Otherwise we could just go talk to Juniper. I’m sure she’d fix you right up.”
“Yeah, the gate’s probably closed already for the night,” Vee said, glaring at the sky and forcing himself to shake his fist at it. He didn’t care that doing so was silly: it let him feel like he was properly himself.
Tucking his hands into his pocket, Vee started walking again, keeping an eye out for an [Apothecary] shop. He went down alleys and across streets, past groups of people who reeked of booze and other things.
By the time he found one, he was in a part of town that was properly gross and dingy. He rubbed his hands together and grinned.
With any luck, this was where he could kill two birds with one stone.
Main Character Sheets:
Vee Vales
Primary Class: Ghost Smith (Self), Level 8
Secondary Class: Dungeon Master (Oar’s Crest), Level 24
Tertiary Class: Guy-Who-Takes-Things-WAY-Too-Far (Self), Level 7
Might: 15
Wit: 41
Faith: 25
Adventurousness: 7
Ambition: 16
Plotting: 19
Charisma: 18
Devious Mind: 29
Leadership: 22
Guts: 16
Intimidating Presence: 11
Citizenship: 24
Public Relations: 8
Determination: 7
Persuasiveness: 6
Bargaining: 4
Patience: 3
Competitive Spirit: 1
Pragmatism: 1
<3<3 Infatuation <3<3
Overcooled
Alforde Armorsoul (Unchanged):
Primary Class: Hammer Specialist (Self), Level 6
Secondary Class: Right-hand man (Vee Vales), Level 19
Tertiary Class: Dungeon Champion (Oar’s Crest), Level 18
Additional Class: Glaciernaut (Sacha Silverblade), Level 11
Might: 59
Wit: 15
Faith: 28
Adventurousness (Bound – Vee Vales): 9
Endurance: 33
Intimidating Presence: 15
Heart of a Champion: 14
Citizenship (Bound – Vee Vales): 9
Vigilance: 11
Vanity: 2
Single-Mindedness: 1
Reginald (Unchanged):
Primary Class: Core Spirit (Unknown), Level ???
#$&Q#$)(@#$#@#$%!@#$##%#%()@#$**@@##
Secondary Class: Loudmouth (Self), Level 43
Tertiary Class: Majordomo (Vee Vales), Level 21
Additional Class: Announcer (Vee Vales), Level 14
Additional Class: Hyperthymesiac (Self), Level 5
Might: 2
Wit: 37
Faith: 17
Ambition: 28
Greed: 24
Deceptiveness: 27
Manipulativeness: 42
$#&*!@!!: !!!
Loyalty: 47 (+1)
Patience: 11
Irritability: 25
Remorsefulness: 17
Expository Prowess: 23
#%$Pragmatism*#$: @#61$5
Hop@#!! @#$@!@#
@#$@%%^
#4^5#*&_!+++#(@$#
Citizenship (Bound – Vee Vales): 9