The woman entered the guild hall of Rydelsphere, the nation of knights. This was one of many guild halls throughout Rydelsphere, and to her they all looked the same by this point. The same tacky decor of taxidermied monsters and arms displayed on the walls, and the same seats and booths you could find from any apprentice carpenter. But she wasn’t here for the ambience- she was here for somebody. And reclining in a booth all to himself, she found him.
“Um.. excuse me?” the woman asked. “Sir? With the bloody coat?”
She was a short, halfling woman. She was tall for a halfling, but that still barely put her above four feet tall. She was clad in the robes of a high-ranking scholar, and seemed to carry no belongings with her. Her face was surprisingly masculine, but in a way that was overall flattering to her beauty. Her hair was a wavy blonde, and hung down to her shoulders.
The woman’s name was Remus Grandwaller. Remus was the daughter of the noble Grandwaller family, which made its fortune in the slave trade. In spite of her generational wealth, Remus elected to pursue a higher education, much to the disdain of her conservative household. Hence, she was exiled from the family, removed from the lineage entirely. Unfettered by this- at least, as far as she was willing to admit- Remus finished her education at the Academy of Rydelsphere, the third most prestigious college in the whole world of Hoenheim.
Remus is a level 3 Gatekeeper. The Gatekeeper class allows Remus to create a pocket dimension with herself as the interface, storing and withdrawing items she has on her person by means of magic. She can also forcefully eject items from her pocket dimension to inflict damage. She has no limitations on how often she can do this, but repeatedly stowing or removing large objects can damage her body. She has three Talents; the first is the Gone Without a Trace Talent, which allows her to subtly slip small objects into her pocket dimension without onlookers knowing, granting her a significant bonus to Dexterity for the purpose of stealing. Her second Talent is Non-Euclidean Camping, which allows her to store willing creatures in her pocket space to no ill effect for up to twenty-four hours. Lastly, she has the Spacial Distortion Talent, which allows her to redirect incoming attacks into her pocket dimension. Her stats are:
STR
8
DEX
8
VIT
16
INT
25
WIT
14
PER
20
CHA
10
LCK
14
The man in the bloody coat continued to pretend to ignore her. He was reading- truthfully, pretending to read- his favorite book: A Taste of Blood, by Morin Sarkov, a vampire noble from the lands of Northern Wilhelmina in northern Rydelsphere. Though he was not educated enough to understand the nuance of the words he read, he was nonetheless gripped by the thrilling descriptions of bloodletting and violence found therein.
The man was a human of above-average build, a toned musculature that was not exceptionally robust. He wore no shirt, only his signature blood-splattered coat, a coat whose original color was lost to time as the numerous splatters of shed blood dyed it a myriad of colors. Despite his coat, his pants were remarkably well-kept. Resting on his waist was a pair of straight swords, which he’d named Grief and Sorrow- Grief being a sword of black metal wielded in his right hand, and Sorrow being a sword of pristine silver wielded in his left. He assures others that his names for these swords is purely ironic. His face was littered with scars and blemishes, as was his exposed chest, betraying his violent past.
The man’s name was Novos. He bears no family name, for he has no family connections- since he could first form thoughts, Novos was alone in this world. With nothing given to him, Novos survived by taking anything he could get his hands on, and in his adult years he keeps the same mindset. Now, armed with a powerful class, he makes his living as a sword-for-hire that will complete any job for as long as it entertains him.
Novos is a level 3 Battlemage. He has three Talents, the first of which is the Corpse Piler Talent, which allows him to act again after killing a creature. The second is Mana Body, which increases all of his physical capabilities by suffusing his body with magic. His final Talent is Dethrone, which greatly increases his power against creatures who are stronger than he is. His stats are:
STR
11
DEX
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
30
VIT
24
INT
10
WIT
14
PER
4
CHA
14
LCK
13
“I know you can hear me.” Remus said. She paused, waiting to see if he’d cave. Of course, he did not. “Your ears, sir. They flex when someone calls out to you. Your ears are reflexively indicating to me that you are, in fact, hearing me, and choosing to ignore me.”
Novos sighed heavily, putting as much dramatic emphasis as he could into it. “Fine, what the bloody hell do you want?”
“You’re Novos, right? Novos, the Bloodwalker? The Slaughter King? The Soulless One?”
“People really call me that?” Novos smiled.
“No. But I figured it would get your attention.”
Novos frowned. “You little- what the fuck do you want?”
“My name is Remus Grandwaller. If my last name causes you any concern, know that I have cut all ties with my former family.”
“Can’t say it rings any bells.”
“Excellent. I have recently debuted as an adventurer, and was wondering if you would be willing to form a party?”
Novos gave the woman an “are you shitting me?” look. “Hell no. Find someone else.”
“I have heard, above all else, that you are a man who would prefer to adventure solo. However, I believe I can possibly persuade you to broaden your horizons.”
“No thanks. My horizons are plenty broad.”
The woman gestured to the seat across from Novos, which was occupied by a rather hefty pack, bulging with just about anything and everything Novos owned.
“What?” Novos barked. “If you’re asking to sit there, the answer’s a big, bleeding no.”
“I refer to your bag itself, sir.”
“What about it?”
“It appears rather… over capacity.”
“Yeah. And?”
“If you’d allow me, I could carry it for you.”
“That’s it? That’s all you’ve got? You’re offering to be a damn pack mule?”
Remus sighed. “Observe.”
Remus placed her hand on the pack, and it disappeared.
“...You’ve got three bloody seconds to bring it back,” Novos fumed.
“Your wish is my command,” Remus said, producing the pack in an open hand.
“...Neat trick. Big deal. That all you’ve got for me?”
“I notice you are no longer entirely abstaining from entertaining the thought of a companion,” Remus mused.
“You’re running my damn patience thin, you know that?”
“Of course, sir. Perhaps I can accompany you on your next quest to demonstrate my prowess?”
“No.”
“Then perhaps you will allow me to carry your things to your lodgings for the night?”
“...Fine.”
Novos casts Counter Fang
An advanced spell that opens up the user to an attack, only to counter with additional force equal to the strength of the attack received.
The man’s spear ran Novos, who had thrown his arms open, through. Novos brought his twin swords together, and cleaved the man’s head clear off. He withdrew the spear from his chest, and pointed his blade at the hostages being held, and at the man pointing his gun at them.
“Try me, bitch.”
The man shot one of the hostages. As he stopped to reload, Novos leapt forward, and cut off the arm he held the gun in, then stabbed him through the stomach with his other sword.
“All right now, let’s get you all home.”
“Benson’s dead!” a woman from the hostages screamed.
“You’ll thank me later,” Novos laughed.
“Novos?” Remus asked as she poked her head up from behind him.
“What is it?”
“I’ve collected the equipment of all of the guards you have slain. Would you like me to tend to your wounds now?”
“No need.”
Novos casts Sanguine Bond
A supreme spell that causes damage dealt to heal the user for a brief period.
Novos through Grief into the air, stabbing into the chest of a would-be assassin lurking in the rooftops. The assassin fell down nearly ten feet to the floor, and splattered against the ground. The wound in Novos’ chest healed.
“Get that guy’s stuff too,” Novos barked as he picked up Grief.
“Gladly,” Remus smiled.
“How much you think all the stuff’s gonna be worth?” Novos asked as he untied the hostages, who continued to weep over their dead compatriot.
“More than enough to account for the deduction to our pay as a result of allowing one of the hostages to die,” Remus replied.
“And that’s what you’re good for.” Novos hollered.
“I live to serve,” Remus smiled.
“Welcome back you pricks,” the sultry bartender spat from behind the counter of the guild hall’s tavern as Novos and Remus strode up to greet him. “Good to see the lass is doing ya well,” he said, gesturing to Remus.
“Yeah, though I could do without all the yap that comes with her.” Novos laughed.
“So you say, and yet every night you have me read that book of yours to you to ease your mind to sleep,” Remus cooed.
“That’s another one of her lies, you know her,” Novos chuckled.
“Oh? Then I take it you won’t need me to read to you tonight?”
“‘Course not- I mean, you never do anyways.”
“Enough wit the flirting,” the bartender barked. “I got something ‘ere for ya.”
“Sure. And while you’re at it, how much is all this?” Novos gestured for Remus to dump all of the items onto the counter, and that she did- a pile of swords, spears, daggers, guns, armor- just about anything a person can loot off a body, all dumped out onto the counter of the guild hall.
“Lovely. I’ll price it all for ya later- you’re gonna want to see this.”
The bartender withdrew an elegant golden letter, the paper itself seeming to radiate class, and sealed with a wax seal. This was the kind of thing Novos used to steal back when he was young- but oddly enough, it was not only addressed to him, but to him and Remus together.
“Why’s it one letter for the both of us?” Novos asked.
“Beats me. Probably because they think you two are married. Ain’t ya?”
“Hell no,” Novos shook his head, and opened the letter. He passed it to Remus to read.