Cless stood on the porch and looked through the open door to the inn. She saw Josefine relaxing at a table with a cup of tea. When you serve mead and ale every night the entire night, it is hard to consume the thing.
"Hey, Josie. Are you slacking on the job?" Cless asked with a soft voice. It amazed her how the Skill she inherited made her voice sound like someone that could earn a living just by talking. It was pleasant even inside her own head.
Josefine jumped. "CLESS!" And screamed. "Cless! You are back!"
The commotion drew Balthus and Karen from the Kitchen. They stopped and stared at Cless, then exchanged a surprised glance with each other.
"Master, boss. I'm back and our mission was accomplished. We lost four, though." Cless announced with a sad tone.
"I can see that," Balthus mused. "But given your condition, I assume you did way more than what I told you to. Karen, can you even read her?"
"She's fifty, Balthus. And she has two over a hundred besides..." Karen answered with a startled face.
"Yes. She unlocked Charisma. That's... that's..." Balthus didn't finish his sentence. Karen nodded to signal she understood.
Cless didn't miss the exchange and leveled her eyes at Karen with a smile. "If one of you say 'our little girl has grown so much' I'm going to berserk." They shrugged. "Oh, suit yourselves. I have to take my companions inside before someone attacks them."
With that, Cless went outside and ushered SIlverfang, Vic, Kurt, Venaris, and Bear-Lyle inside.
"That's quite the diverse crew," Karen quipped. "Hey, Balthus, check that out. The bear has a class."
Cless wondered how they could see that amount of info from them. Probably some high-level proficiency or even a Skill. They were inside the inn, and Karen was sovereign in her domain.
"Karen, you should lock the inn for the day. Do you have any patrons you need to kick out?" Balthus asked. "I think that thing wrapped in blankets on the bear's back is a dragon's head. My senses are tingling."
"Better if I do that, right?" Karen waved a hand and the door closed. "I got no patrons. Nobody wants to commit to coming here this late autumn. They would be stuck with the snow."
They sat down spread out through the common room of the inn. Cless was nervous and started to do the introductions.
"So, these two are Vic the lamiak and Kurt the mawarpy. They are from the great jungle to the south. This here is Venaris, a gnome we rescued from the orcs and there's the bear."
Balthus cleared his throat, "Does the bear has a name or are you keeping Lyle's?"
Cless did a double-take and mentally cursed. She had to train how to control her reactions and dissimulate. "How?"
"Karen here can see the bear's class," Balthus pointed out. "There are not many Infiltrator bears lying around. I'd bet there is exactly one."
"Lyle sacrificed himself to save me. And now he's a bear. Can I?" Cless looked at the bear and the bear nodded. He also pointed at a mug and at his mouth. "He's thirsty. Well, Lyle has a Skill that allows him to take over the body of whoever killed him. He defended me from an orc knight and I convinced him to change into a bear. We are thinking of getting some bandit for him later."
"I guess it is fine and dandy, but Lyle can check his status and see that his name didn't change. I'll train you two in appraisal resistance. If an appraiser in a big town or, fates forbid, an inquisitor finds that he can switch bodies he'll be put to death. In a way he can't swap. From what he said I bet a trap or a mechanical contraption can kill him for good. Something to think about, Lyle. As for Cless, you can't let anyone know of your abilities. I doubt any appraiser could see them without entering a coma for a year though. Even so, caution."
"Enough foreboding. C'mon, Cless. Tell us your story."
Cless told them. Of how they entered the woods and engaged in guerrilla, of the ambush and the deaths, of the warlocks and the patrols pinning them, their decision to go deeper into orc territory, of the gnome village. She paused before speaking of the breeding pens. She trusted everyone present except Lyle. Lyle was too sly to be trusted.
"Venaris here was rescued from the orc breeding pens. Since the subject is still fresh and we are mourning the gnome village, I'll talk about it later. Suffice to say I got the strength of the gnome women so I could kill the Orc King."
She jumped to the part where they fought the orcs in the streets and the guild departed for the canyon. Kurt took over and told them in a very laidback way how they met some scattered patrols here and there and killed them to guard the canyon entrance. Cless then told the tale of how she entered the cavern, fought the orcs and met the chimera. She didn't mention the handjob and just said that she kept the chimera distracted while Silverfang sawed necks with his claws. Not a lie. No, sir. Getting three levels at once was nice and dandy and maybe she should've gone all the way and sucked him dry... One God's mercy, what was she thinking?
She didn't even check the body because she would hate to see the Orc King dead with a smile. The image would haunt her forever.
"You killed a chimera and left all the materials behind? Cless! That's a fortune we are talking about!" Balthus chided her.
"We took the dragon head. Let me show it to you." She took the head. It weighed a hundred and fifty kilograms with the neck and its jaw was wider than Cless' hips. "It was hard for us to carry more than that anyway. I was so disturbed by everything and so tired I just wanted to come back home. We left two weapon stashes hidden in the woods and a third in the gnome village. We also killed over a thousand orcs and probably all of their leadership. Money is easy to make. Lives aren't."
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"That's fair enough. But now that you are level fifty, we are going to train you in some things to finish and polish your rookie training. You are entering the mid-levels, Cless. Congratulations. We can speak again later after you tried to gear up for your level and see what you think of leaving money behind. Heck, everything in a chimera is useable," Balthus cursed and mumbled, "A thousand crowns easy in the capital..."
"It is fine, Balthus. I bet Cless could make a thousand coins before spring if she wanted. Let the girls go and rest. I am going to get our... guests settled. And maybe clothed. As for you, Mr. Bear, to the stables with you. Different from the lycan, you do shed fur."
Bear-Lyle groaned but went straight for a horse pen. The inn didn't host horses for oh so long. People don't come here on horseback, the traffic they see is mostly merchants with carts and those go to the merchant association. People seldom visited the town at all.
And that was exactly why Karen chose to be there.
Cless and Venaris went up to the third floor, guided by Josefine. The barmaid stopped before the first door the one leading to a nice corner room and Cless went past her.
"Cless!" Josefine called out. The guild master stopped and turned around. "We changed your room. This is your room now. The other room went back to a storage cabinet for spare bedding. And no, don't make that face, miss level fifty guild master. You earned the right to be in a better room and you know that."
Josefine threw the door open and showed the room. It wasn't a princess room but it was nicer than what Cless ever dreamed to have for herself. A double bed with a fluffy knitted blanket, soft pillows, a vanity with a mirror. The mirror had a cloth cover, a touch of kindness that didn't escape Cless' eyes. The room also had a chaise lounge next to the window to read some books, a bookshelf sheltered from sunlight, a dresser with a folding screen, and a wardrobe with four doors. She felt inadequate. After the gruesome week in the woods bathing in orc blood, that was too much. And it had large windows with a view to the front street and the side alley. She could see the roofs of the town, most of the buildings were single-story ones.
"Venaris, you can get yourself comfortable. Boys, bunch up the luggage over there. Josie, thank you." A month ago Cless would be bashful and even try to reject the better room. But now she knew that she should take what was offered in the faith it was offered. And she was sure Karen and Josie were doing that for her out of love.
Josefine was turning away to leave and Cless held her arm. "Please, Josie. Stay. The inn is closed and I need to talk to you, to see you. And I must introduce you to Venaris. She is... the last of her village."
She relented. Chess hugged her and brought the three women to the bed while the monster boys just bunched in a corner and rested after carrying everything including the dragon head up.
"What is troubling you, Cless. I know you well enough to tell." Josefine held Cless' hands.
"Can I tell her, Venaris?" Cless asked. The gnome girl nodded. "The orcs killed all the men in Venaris' village. They rounded up all the women in the town hall and were using them for breeding." Cless told with heavy breathing. "They all asked me to release them from that life as they had nothing to hang onto. Venaris was the only one that asked to live. I... I had to cut her belly and take out the orc parasites. There were seventeen inside her."
Cless started to cry and she hugged the other two girls. Josefine was driven to tears as well as she patted Venaris' hair and mumbled: "you'll be safe with us". That broke the stoic gnome's barrier. All three wept.
When they stopped and came back to their senses, Karen was at the door, watching the scene unfold. "Cless, did you bring a dead body to my inn?"
"It is Lyle's. It is not dead, just inert. We need to talk to their parents, could you help me, Karen?"
"Good. We need to take Vic and Kurt to the association to register them. The bear too even though it will be temporary."
"My class is stuck at twenty-five. What should I do?"
"At the association, you need to pick a tier two class or another tier one. Honestly, it is stupid to not go up the tier. Versatility comes at the cost of power. We should get your loot sorted and cataloged. Then we need to go to the association and pay the taxes that you never did and maybe we can turn in the dragon head. Unless you want to keep it as a trophy, to remember how you killed a chimera one month after your rite of passage..." Karen bit her fingernail and completed in a lower voice, "That's too fast."
Cless disregarded the comment she heard. Yes, level fifty in a month was too fast but she had an S-rank Skill. She could even break past the level threshold for Experience. Cless could kill a million level twenty orcs and wouldn't earn a single Exp. Her Skill gave her a venue to surpass even that. But her future plans could wait. It was time for Cless to talk about the past.
"Karen, I need to talk to you." Cless sighed and readied to deliver the line she rehearsed so much. She was fishing and probably dealing Karen a low blow she didn't deserve. But she knew Karen wouldn't open her heart otherwise.
"What is it, Cless?"
"You see, I remembered when my home burned down." The cat was out of the bag. Cless bit her lip and her heart raced. "I remembered the fire when I was a baby."
"I'm sorry, Cless. What fire?" Karen asked with a completely neutral face. It was impossible to read her.
Cless raised a finger and pointed to her deformed face. "The one where I got these all over my body."
> Name: Cless (no surname)
>
> Race: Human.
>
> Level: 50 ( 1,261,681 / 1,275,000 Exp )
>
> Class: Cleric 25 (300,000 Exp / ** )
>
> Profession — Warmaster 18 (155,289 / 171,000 Exp) — Weaponmaster 18 (155,289 / 171,000 Exp)
>
> Base Stats — Strength: 63 — Agility: 75 [120] — Health: 85 — Intellect: 96 — Magic: 126 — Charisma: 42
>
> Available Status Points: 66
>
> Skills:
>
> S-rank: [ Absolute Contract ],
>
> B-rank: [ Succubus’ Kiss ],
>
> C-rank: [ Crafter ], [ Dangersense ], [ Illusionist ], [ Elven Longevity ], [ Eat Anything ], [ Earth Magic ],
>
> D-Rank: [ Trick Shot ], [ Nimble Step ], [ Tinker ], [ Grounding ], [ Dancer’s Grace ], [ Great Leap ],
> — [ Tremorsense ], [ Gemsense ], [ Ore sense ], [ Brownie Magic ], [ Courtier’s Charm ], [ Sling Mastery ],
> — [ Singers’ Talent ], [ Spellslinger ], [ Night Vision ], [ Poison Resistance ], [ Merchant sense ], [ Master Miner ],
> — [ Trapsense ], [ Heavy Handed ], [ Icewalk ], [ Farmer ], [ Druidwalk ], [ Twin Strike ], [ Curmudgeon crafter ]
>
> E-Rank: [ Giant's Stamina ], [ Tree refuge ], [ Gravebreath ], [ Burrower Bond ], [ Goblin Slayer ],
> — [ Architectural Ingenuity ], [ Coin Sense ], [ Weavertouch ], [ Silk Hair ], [ Hearth’s warmth ],
> — [ Perfect pitch ], [ Seamstress Talent ], [ Wanderlust ], [ Wide Vision ], [ Lady’s Countenance ],
>
> F-rank: [ Gardener’s touch ], [ Florist’s Wonder ],
>
> Proficiencies:
>
> Appraisal — Status: 22
>
> Crafting — Crude Weapons: 5 — Arrows: 1
>
> Magic, Cleric
> — Mending: 50 — Detoxify: 36 — Light: 44 — Turn Undead: 34 — Blessing: 46 — Holy Bolt: 50 — Purify: 40 — Protection: 50
> — Hallow: 45 — Flametongue: 30 — Cure: 30 — Uncurse: 30 — Banish: 30 — Heal: 45 — Warding: 30 — Revivify: 30
>
> General — Prayer: 47 — Scribe: 2 — Houseworking: 6 — Math: 3 — Reading: 12 — Forestry: 9 — Skinning: 7 — Herbalism: 3 — Sabotage: 2
>
> Social, general — Negotiation: 15 — Persuasion: 3 — Bluff: 6
>
> Social, martial — Leadership: 28 — Intimidation: 31— Tactics: 26
>
> Movement — Tumbling: 3 — Stealth: 3 — Sneak: 3
>
> Weapon — Long Blades: 27 — Short Blades: 2 — Unarmed: 27 — Archery: 28 — Spears: 3 — Maces: 32 — Staves: 4 — Axes: 9