“What a pleasant surprise! What brings you here to this part of the Kingdom?” Councilman Coran vigorously shook his hand, warmly greeting the Witchdoctor.
“Just passing through on our way to Holmsburn, We’ll be spending the night at Virigo then set off first thing in the morning.” Exill replied, hoping the Councilman would invite him inside. It would save the cost of lodgings and he really needed to pinch those pennies.
“Fantastic! Why don’t you spend the night here? I’m sure my daughter Dyna would be more than pleased to see you.”
“Oh… I couldn’t impose, you’re far too kind Councilman.” He replied, inwardly grinning ear-to-ear.
“Please, call me Coran, and look, here comes Dyna now.” He gestured to the pretty girl who hurried down the stairs, her midnight hair settling as she abruptly stopped before them.
“You came back!” she embraced Exill with a warm hug, planting a sneaky kiss on his cheek while warily eyeing Envy.
“He’s only staying for the night dear, give him plenty of time to rest mind you.” Coran placed both his palms firmly on his daughters shoulder, knowing all too well how troublesome she could be.
They were led to their rooms, the same one from their previous stay and they unpacked the essentials, taking a quick dip in the hot springs to wipe away the grime from their travels.
“Tsarra would have enjoyed this.” Envy whispered while patting her damp hair.
Exill didn’t respond to her provocation, knowing full well that the Vampire hadn’t approved of his choice. He remained convinced it was the right decision.
Subsequently, he channelled mana into the rune throwing bones, checking to see if their way to Port Savig was clear. He breathed a sigh of relief as the flashing runes indicated no dangers lay ahead. After that, they were invited to dinner with the Councilman and his wife.
“The new healer arrived a week after you left. She is a grouchy old one, always complaining about something or another. Everyone in town agrees you were the best.” Coran grumbled and took another sip of wine.
“Oh dear, you are being too harsh on her, nobody could possibly measure up to the Witchdoctor…” the Councilman’s wife patted her husband’s knee.
Exill knew they were buttering him up but played along, happy to catch up on news about the town. Returning to Virigo reminded him that his rose-tinted glasses weren’t lying – this had been a nice place.
“Papa, tell him about the Aberration!” Dyna exclaimed.
Coran tapped his heart twice with a closed fist, and said a quick prayer to the World Spirit. It was considered bad luck to talk about Eldritch beings even with the Church’s protection.
“Ah… I know this does not concern you, but shortly after you left there was another sighting. This one had uncanny skin as black as midnight... some say it is a skinwalker, but everyone who witnessed the being saw it standing over a dead body.” The Councilman said in hushed tones.
“Oh dear, let’s not talk of such things. I always have trouble sleeping when I hear such reports.” Dyna’s mother squeezed her arms and shivered slightly.
The discussion over the table switched over to more pleasant topics and the Councilman was eager to tell Exill everything he knew about their next destination, Holmsburn. Eventually, Exill excused himself and dragged a reluctant Envy away, who had acquired a taste for the red wine.
When they were safely in their room, Exill hesitated and withdrew the small sharp knife used to cut open monsters in the Labyrinth.
Knowing Envy, she would refuse what he was about to do, but the future success of their migration could hinge on the acquisition of this job he had learnt. Regardless, it was a powerful tool to have in their arsenal.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“I need you to focus Envy, you might feel a sharp pain, but I’ll quickly patch you up.” He promised as he wiped down the blade with Dwarven spirit.
“Wha-?” she stumbled as Exill gripped her tightly, lifting her shirt to stab her in the back.
[Ping!]
Exill felt a deep resonance in his core as he pulled out the blade that had sunk a centimetre into her back. Their contract forbade them from harming each other, but a bit of mental gymnastics convinced him that this was the only way to protect her. Channelling mana, he quickly fused the cut until it disappeared while the enraged Murderess struggled beneath him.
“Shh… calm down, it’s alright. I just needed to stab you a little to unlock a new job. It’s all healed now. Remember I told you about the ‘Spirit Guide’? Well, I found a way to progress Murderer into Assassin, and it only required a little stab in the back. We don’t know when this new skill will come in handy.”
Job Assassin Level 1 Description Outcast- Tier II Active Skill [Disguise] while active, conceals Card information with a random Tier 1 job. Can also be applied to self or a party member to change minor facial features.
Once Envy had calmed down to the point she was only glaring at him, Assassin was assigned as his second job and [Disguise] activated. He imagined himself having dark brown pupils and when he opened his eyes, there was a look of surprise in her face.
“Your eyes are brown now…”
“Can you tell me what you see on my Card?” he carefully angled his Card for her to read, taking care that his knife was out of her reach. This was an experiment in two parts, and he was eager to finally know the results.
“I see Exill of Lindtree, age 18, and you are a Warrior and Artist.” She replied, confused by where this was going.
“You really don’t see anything else? No third or fourth job?” he asked quickly, feeling elated.
“No, now give me that knife, it’s my turn.” She tackled Exill, but failed to get him in an arm lock because he reacted too fast.
“W-wait… I just remembered we have the scalpel!” he panicked, trying to keep the knife from her grasp. Eventually she gave up and released him, walking over to the mithril shortsword that she now unsheathed. The scabbard was thrown to a corner of the room.
“Give me the knife and lie down like a good boy. We can do this my way or the painful way.” A small smile crept up the side of her mouth.
Exill grumbled while wiping the skinning knife down with Dwarven spirit then shakily handed it to her. Rolling up his tunic, he slowly knelt down, his heart racing quickly.
“D-don’t stab too- Aah!” he cried as Envy struck.
She withdrew the blade and licked it clean, and he felt a warm sensation on his back as she began feeding. Once she was satisfied, he felt a soft kiss when she tried to close the small cut.
“It’s stopped bleeding.” She wiped her lips.
Exill tried to examine his back but couldn’t turn far enough around to examine the point of impact. It still stung and he was convinced she had stabbed him harder than necessary.
“Next time, ask. You have a bad habit of deciding things on your own.” She warned him, in more ways than one, simultaneously reminding him of his decision to leave Tsarra behind.
Exill ignored her rebuke and stood up while rubbing his back, “Have you progressed your job yet? Let me take a look.” He held Envy’s palm to examine her Card. Her first job was Warrior and the second was Poet.
“I see Envy of Mistburgh, age 25, and you are a Warrior-Poet.” He struggled not to laugh at the incongruent imagery and only later realised her age had incremented up, “When was it your birthday by the way?”
“Last month, can’t you change what my job appears as?” Envy’s lips were downturned in a worried frown, she wasn’t sure that being mistaken as a Warrior-Poet was a good thing.
“Hold on, party with me.” Exill tried to unassign [Poet] and saw it immediately switch back to [Assassin] in the ‘Unassigned Jobs’ tab. He reassigned it again, only to see it revert to [Poet].
‘I guess I’m also forever an [Artist] while [Assassin] is assigned.’ He pursed his lips in thought. It appeared the random assignment of the cover job was permanent. While hilarious in some respects, it would impact their cover if Envy couldn’t pull her poetic weight.
“Are you sure you don’t want to swap [Assassin] to another job?” There were many other combat focused jobs in her ‘Unassigned Jobs’ tab, chief among them was [Monk] which sported high defensive capability.
“No, leave it. I’ll figure something out.” She adjusted her shirt and slipped in to her room.