Andy rose from a fitful sleep. The night before, the group had slipped back onto the Noble Court's premises, each of them claiming one of the bedrooms that were attached to the lounge. Andy had taken the one with a tiny porthole for a window, so the daylight only barely woke him.

Today was the big council, where they would finalize their next steps, joining a guild and negotiating employment with the duke. After a few decisions were made, Andy would get to invest his level in a skill, too.

They were also going to negotiate the release of PL, the boar they had encountered in the arena, Kermit's new friend, and, if necessary, cover for Sven, PL's handler who had conspired with them to hide the pig until they arrived at the council.

The group gathered in the lounge, where several attendants were arranging the table for a light breakfast of toast, cheese, fruits, yogurt, sausage, eggs, and potatoes. The group sat and began eating in awkward silence until the attendants finally finished and left the room. Kermit was, for some reason, loudly slurping yogurt up from directly above it, his face hunched over his plate.

"So, we've got competing offers from the guilds on top of the duke's job offer," Arlene said, breaking the silence.

"We're going with fighters," Andy said, restating their plan from the night before. "We'll have a good case if we argue that a level in fighter would let us accomplish the duke's mission with greater efficiency."

"Right," Arlene said. "The only unknown here is how the duke may react. If he's as narcissistic as the nobility in general, then he might be offended at a negotiation. But if he's more reasonable, or perhaps even amicable to the idea of negotiation, then it should go over well. If anything, it will be evidence of our ability to strategize and work efficiently, making us all the more desirable as allies."

"Let's hope the latter," Andy said.

Kermit finished slurping his breakfast and came up for air.

"What are you going to spend your level on?" Arlene asked. "I'm assuming you leveled up too, right?"

"Yeah, I did," Andy said. "And I'm not sure. I want to see how things go at council and what kind of mission we run first. But unless there's a major surprise, I think I need to take a level in the Combat skill. If I can have improved fighting stamina, then I'll be able to synergize my feats better. Right now, combining Fluid Strike, Wallop, and my greatsword attack leaves me practically exhausted."

"To be fair, it is a pretty awesome combo," Arlene said. "Your enemy goes from zero to completely dismembered in the blink of an eye."

"Yeah," Andy said, thinking back to the day before, the pieces of their elepholk competitor falling to the ground… Even though it was out of self-defense, the image haunted him a bit.

Oh, this is going to be one of those compulsive memories now, huh? Right along with last night's execution.

"You ok?" Arlene asked.

He obviously wasn't containing his thoughts very well. He noticed his brow had unconsciously furrowed.

"Yeah," Andy said. "Yeah, I'm good. I'm just…"

"He was going to kill you," Arlene said. "You did the right thing, ok? I didn't mean to make light of it, but if we can't have a sense of humor about this stuff, it's going to eat us alive."

"Yeah," Andy said, shrugging, "yeah, it's ok. I just wish… ugh, I wish she hadn't jumped like that."

"Me too," Arlene said.

An attendant entered the lounge. "The council will see you in ten minutes," she said, nodding briefly to ensure everyone had heard her. "One of us will be here to escort you to the room, ok?"

"Thanks," Andy said, giving a thumbs up.

The attendant smiled and stepped back into the hall, closing the door behind her.

Everyone stood and stretched a bit. Arlene and Andy both checked their outfits in the mirror to ensure they looked good. But Kermit, who had no consciousness for such things, spent some time on the carpet, lying on his back and looking out the window upside-down.

"They're hanging into the sky," he said.

Finally, an attendant knocked and entered, ushering them down the hall and into a lobby none of them had yet explored. It contained a grand staircase that led to an impressive set of heavy oak doors.

The attendant opened a large oak door and stepped to the side, gesturing for the group to enter.

Through the doorway, there was what appeared to be a large ceremonial building, like a court or a church, with pews that faced an elevated platform that contained a few chairs, which faced a wall of tiered booths, pulpits where the duke, the guild masters, and a few others stood, the duke occupying a larger central booth, intricately gold-plated.

"Up onto the stage," the attendant said.

Andy walked through. The room seemed to be empty except for the council members, occupying the ornate pulpits on the far wall.

They climbed the marble steps and arrived at the leather chairs, simple and elegant, but also comfortable and ergonomic, facing at an upward angle toward the council's pulpits.

"Welcome," said the duke in a charming tone. "Congratulations on achieving first level. It is a true honor to welcome you into the community of Cresthaven."

There was unanimous, polite applause from the council, but it died down fairly quickly.

"Now, I trust you've received your letters and have considered them," the duke said. "Please inform the council of your decisions."

Andy cleared his throat. "We've decided to take one mission with the eye toward enhancing our ability to complete another one."

"Yes?" the duke said. "Tell us more."

"We want to accept your job offer, but first, we'd like to join the fighter's guild and gain at least a level with them. We believe that will equip us to accomplish your task, as well as many more in the future."

There were a few mumblings amongst council members.

The duke leaned over to another council member beside him, a younger man with dark hair, bearing a striking resemblance to the duke. Probably a relative. His booth was intricately adorned in silver.

"Very well," the duke said, bringing the room back to silence. "I see nothing wrong with this plan."

Really, that's it? Perhaps the duke is more reasonable than we thought…

"We do have… one more request," Andy said.

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"Ah," said the duke, as if this were the part he had been anticipating all along. "And what might that be?"

"We want the surviving boar from the arena to be entrusted to us."

The duke made a puzzled look, leaning back over to the young man in the silver booth. Muttering began echoing off the walls of the mostly empty room.

"And, what might be the reason for that?" said the duke.

"We've quickly grown attached to it," said Andy. "Kermit used the druid feat and it quickly became friendly to us."

More muttering.

The man in the silver booth stood up. "We will not have centuries of tradition forgotten so that a new arrival can have a pet," he said.

"Now, hold on, Sethor," the duke said, standing alongside him. The duke lowered his voice and the man, Sethor, sighed and took a seat.

"What my son means to say," the duke said, "is that it is our custom to feast on the beasts slayed in the arena. We always have them supplied by trusted sources so that they'll be both challenging and delicious, if a bit gamey sometimes. It is simply the Cresthaven way."

"So how can we convince you?" Arlene asked, getting right to the point.

"Well I suppose it's likely too late, I'm sure the butchers have already gotten ahold of the pig," the duke said.

"We took care of that," Kermit said.

Goddammit.

The duke laughed heartily. "You did what now?"

"We hid the pig," Kermit said matter-of-factly. "We hid it so the butchers wouldn't find it, so we could ask you for it."

"Well, you demonstrate initiative," the duke said.

"Let 'em have the damned pig," Bertha called from the back of the top row, banging on her booth's pulpit.

Mutters and whispers stirred around the council as the duke raised his hands.

"You will have the pig," the duke said.

"Yes!" Kermit said, pumping his fist.

"But, it comes with conditions," the duke continued. "I do not want to be held responsible for giving a wild boar to an untrained party. You will take the pig's handler with you, and he will decide when you've become well-equipped enough to handle the pig on your own."

Wow, that was… unexpected.

Andy's mind had been shifting toward how to negotiate Sven's release if he had gotten in any trouble. The duke had just handed it to him.

"We accept your terms," Andy said.

"Good," said the duke. "I am glad you are humble enough to see reason."

"I do not agree with this proposal," Sethor said, rising. "It is an important tradition for our culture, it reminds our people that we, the nobility of Cresthaven, provide them with dominance over the beasts of the wild. We build a glorious culture, and we subject nature to our will. We take the–"

"That is quite enough," the duke said loudly.

The duke's son shut up quickly, snarling as he took his seat.

"You will have your pig, and you will take the handler with you. I will not be indirectly liable for your impalement. Now, please remain in the lobby after you exit and Bertha will meet you and give you instructions for your initiation quest. Thank you."

The council's ambient muttering quickly elevated into full conversation as an attendant approached Andy, gesturing for him to rise. The council was over, and they'd received everything they'd wanted.

In fact, it had been easy. The duke had been almost eager to give them the pig, and he wanted to send Sven with them, they didn't even need to advocate for him at all. And what's more, Kermit had completely blown their cover about hiding the pig, and the duke didn't bat an eye. Clearly the duke was trying to win their allegiance, or perhaps flatter them. But whatever the case, they had gotten their big asks: the fighter mission, the pig, and Sven.

The duke's son, Sethor, was another story. He was confrontational. But he was also clearly at odds with the duke, at least in his disposition. Whereas the duke had seemed relaxed and self-assured, the duke's son had seemed intense, uptight, and insecure. Of course, that made sense. He probably felt like he had something to prove to his father.

Andy knew the feeling.

***

They made their way to the lobby, where Bertha was waiting.

"A pig, eh?" She said.

"He's my friend," Kermit said.

Bertha laughed. "You lad, yer comin' along too? Ye decided ta accept our offer did ye?"

"Yes," Kermit said. "I want to find my brother, and I'll need to fight, even if I don't like it."

"That's what it takes, lad," said Bertha. "And that's why we gave ye the offer, too. Technique can be taught, fighting moves and weapons expertise can be taught. But a fighting spirit… ye either have it or ya don't. And you, lad… you have it."

"Thank you," Kermit said, making karate chop motions.

"So," she said, addressing the whole group, "welcome to the fighter guild. We exist for the purpose of teachin' and usin'… ye guessed it, fightin'. Now, like most guilds, we require an initiation quest before ye get yer first fighter level. Yer quest will be with Morwen. She will be employin' ye for help with security for a nobleman on his huntin' trip. Any questions?"

No one spoke.

"Do ye accept this quest?"

"I accept this quest."

Quest Added! Fighter Initiation Quest: Hunting Party Security

"Just one more thing," Andy said. "I was thinking about putting my first level in–"

"Combat," said Bertha.

"That's what I thought," Andy said, nodding.

"Ye should all add yer level in combat," she said, looking toward the group.

Andy opened his display, entered the [Skills] tab, and added his level in combat.

Andy Parsons

Level: 1

[Skills]

Athletics [0]

Armor [0]

Combat [1]

Acrobatics [0]

Sleight of Hand [0]

Stealth [0]

Fauna [0]

Flora [0]

Occulture [0]

History [0]

Empathy [0]

Investigation [0]

Medicine [0]

Observation [0]

Deities [0]

Survival [0]

Deception [0]

Performance [0]

Persuasion [0]

As he came back to reality, a door slammed and several heavy footsteps approached them. Andy turned to see a group of guards approaching, the same group they had seen from the night before. It was the guard who had executed that civilian prisoner. He was the only one who carried a spikeshield in the approaching group.

The guards pushed past them and up the stairs, into the court chamber.

"Well I suppose that means we're reconvening," Bertha said. "We've got to hear a report on what happened last night with the rioters."

Andy wanted to say something, but decided against it for now.

"Who was that guard, the one with the spikeshield?" he asked. "I've seen him around."

"That's the lead enforcer of order in Cresthaven, Rinold. He holds the power of the guard. I recommend avoiding him when at all possible," said Bertha.

Andy nodded. Rinold. Something bad was coming for Rinold. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but eventually…

"Enjoy the festival," said Bertha, "and I'll see you and Morwen tomorrow in the noble's courtyard, first thing."

The group waved as Bertha departed.

They swung by the beginnings of the festival, but without much sleep the night before, Andy didn't last long. He was back in bed by the afternoon.