"We don't cater to your kind here, bloodsucker. Why don't you go to the Assassin's Guild, I'm sure they'd gladly take you in. Or, better yet, just get out of town," The sneering receptionist said.

Wasn't that racist? I felt like he was being racist. Looking at Sybil, I got the impression that she was upset, but holding it together quite well. She didn't allow her professionalism to slip.

"Thank you for your time, sir," she said stiffly, before leading me out of the raucous tavern.

"Are you alright, Sybil?" I questioned. "I'm sure we could speak to his manager, or something. There's no way that he'll be able to get away with that."

"No, no, Abel. Thanks, but it's alright," she seemed resigned, "His views are shared by a large majority of the population. Even though the Guild has a strict policy against discrimination like that, most managers wouldn't cause trouble for him because of that. Maybe because it's the Guild's headquarters, but the guildmaster is a very busy man, and I doubt we'd be able to get a meeting with him, especially having to go through that guy."

"Well that's not fair." Nobody had ever been outright racist to me before, but I did remember that there were a few instances where I'd been denied opportunities because I wasn't a group's 'target demographic,' or this one time there were a limited number of slots for an internship and someone's kid was getting one. Things like that just felt unfair. This, though? I didn't know much about being a vampire, I assumed there was some kind of transformation thing, so I guess it wasn't entirely out of her control, but still. She'd just been rejected from something so simple because a guy didn't like that her teeth were extra pointy.

"It's not, but most people are still terrified of vampires. It's not totally unfounded, as some are absolutely terrible people, but lumping us all in with them... well, as you said. It's not fair." We walked on in silence for a while.

"So, where are we going now?" I asked her, "I don't know how much sleep you need, but I don't really need much, at least for a while. We could stop for the night, but I don't see the point. We could just keep walking, find somewhere else more accepting of vampires?"

She shook her head. "No, walking around outside the walls at night is a good way to get eaten. Maybe in some places, but in a forest like this? One with monsters in it?" She chuckled, "It'll only get worse tonight. During the day, it's alright, relatively safe, but most monsters are nocturnal. It's probably best if we just find an inn and hunker down for the night."

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We had checked every single inn, tavern, and even brothel in town. Not a single one had been willing to let us stay there. Well, a few of the brothels seemed interested, but neither of us had been comfortable with Sybil having to work there for the night just to allow us to stay there for a brief period of time.

We didn't really need the sleep anyways, but spending night inside just felt more natural to me. Much more natural than sitting in a cobbled alleyway, leaning against some flower shop. At least it smelled nice. Sybil seemed more comfortable being outside, but burning time doing practically nothing still felt weird to me. I was used to doing something at all times, but there really wasn't much for me to do inside the city. No monsters to kill. Well, if you didn't count Sybil, but she wasn't trying to kill anyone, and I didn't really have any reason to kill her. She'd been friendly enough, and put up with me.

"So, what are your plans? I know you said you wanted to level and explore, but there are quite a few ways to do that. What do you have in mind?" Sybil pulled me out of my thoughts.

I pondered the question for a bit, before responding, "Well, could set up somewhere for a while and help with a town's monster problems? That seems like a good way to earn a positive reputation and accomplish my other goals at the same time."

She shook her head. "The Adventurer's Guild has a bit of a monopoly on things like that. You'd have to go somewhere too small to have a Guild there, and even then, it'd have to be one that isn't covered by the Adventurers. Well, I guess you could go on your own. They don't have any issues with you, but..."

I understood the issue. If they saw that I was adventuring with a vampire, it might cause some issues. I could probably get into the Guild, even if she couldn't, but then they'd see me working with an unaffiliated vampire, and we might receive some harsh treatment for it.

"Well, could we instead just set up somewhere far out, kill a bunch of monsters, and sell them for parts?" Surely monster parts could sell well, right?

She thought it over, making a weird expression before responding, "Maybe, but you'd have to find monsters that sold well, or had powerful parts, and usually those ones are the strongest of the lot. Generally, a creature's magic will dissipate after its death, and magic parts usually sell the best. For monster parts to retain their magic, the monster they came from would have had to obtained a skill directly related to it, or just been an incredibly magical being. Dragons, for example, are Tier 4 at minimum.

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"And that's just when they hatch. When they're grown, they're considered to be Divine Beasts, on the level of Gods. Kill one of those things? Their magic sticks, and only a small amount sticks around. Kill a slime, though? Those things turn into puddles on the spot. Magic is the only thing holding those little bastards together, but they barely have enough to stay alive. They rarely make it past Tier 1, though I have heard that they can get pretty strong at the higher Tiers. Never seen it myself, and I don't know anyone who has, so I can't actually confirm that."

I tossed it over in my head. "So what I'm hearing is that if I found a decently profitable monster, I could make it work, but otherwise I'd be wasting my time?" I got a nod in response, so I continued, "Do you know a lot of monsters? Or, actually, would you be able to help me identify monsters that would be allow us to break even? I don't need much food or water, and I haven't seen you eat or drink, so we could probably figure something out."

Sybil seemed a bit uncomfortable towards the end of my dialogue, but quickly shook it off. "Yeah, I won't need blood for a while, and my father sent quite a bit of nonperishable food in our supplies. I would most likely be able to help you find monsters that would sell well, though we'll need to set off soon, and hopefully find them in large numbers. Woodwright was a bust, it seems. Would you like to set out for the border towns when the sun's up? I know the way."

"Yeah, that would probably be for the best. The sooner we can start making money, the better." What better way to reach level one billion than by throwing money at all my problems? I might not have much now, but I was confident in my ability to kill some monsters. I knew from some general Inspections of the people in this city that Tier 3 was rare. Most people seemed to be Tier 2, with the younger adults being mostly Tier 1. Hopefully that was enough to establish myself as a person strong enough to help out with a small town's monster problems.

I knew that it would be harder without the Guild backing us, but I hoped that I could prove myself. It was like having a letter of recommendation from your high school teachers or principal when going into college. It would certainly help you get into the college you wanted, but it wasn't a definite thing. I guess that in this metaphor, my abilities would be my transcript, and if I could prove that my Skills were good enough to be worth the coin, then hopefully they'd pay me to help out.

...that metaphor probably makes no sense, huh?

"Hey, Sybil?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm gonna pass out now. I don't mean to be rude, but, to be honest, I'm getting bored. Could you keep watch, and wake me up in the morning?"

A sigh came from beside me. "Yes, Abel. I can do that."

"Thanks, Sybil. You're the best. Good night?"

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Something impacted the side of my face, not hard enough to make me bleed, but hard enough to jolt me out of my rest. My eyes darted around to see what was happening, an Arcanoccultist's Bolt prepared to fly out at a moment's notice, but all I saw was a smirking Sybil standing over me and a hint of light peeking over the buildings, reflecting off their windows and into the street.

Sybil nudged me with her foot. "Wake up, sleepyhead. We've got a lot of walking to do today, and I don't think that staying in this town any longer would be a good idea." She seemed to grow more serious, continuing, "If people were upset by our presence yesterday, it'll only get worse today. I wouldn't be surprised if we got taken in by the guard, or someone decided to pin a murder on me. We should get going before the sun has fully risen."

I nodded, quickly shaking my sleep-induced stupor away. Within moments, I'd gathered my things and was walking beside my vampiric companion. Very few people were out and about, with only a few shops being open this early in the morning. I supposed that the work day hadn't yet started for most. Those that were walking the streets at this hour gave me and Sybil suspicious stares, with one or two seeming openly hostile. They all gave us a wide berth, however. I guessed that nobody wanted to initiate a fight in the middle of the street, not even with a vampire. Fortunately, we managed to get to the gate without a fight breaking out.

The duo of guards manning the gate seemed anxious. One was perhaps a few years older than me if my guess was right, though scars marked his face, making his age hard to place. He still seemed to be relatively young. While he looked ready to draw his sword at any time, he appeared much more at ease than his companion. The other was young, no older than 18, probably younger. His eyes darted between me and Sybil, and his sweaty hand gripped a halberd which stood at his side. He was almost certainly new to the position.

I supposed that the pair had been posted at the gate due to their youth, or maybe as some kind of punishment or training. It seemed like a position that would be rather hard to mess up at, unless they outright fell asleep on the job. Perhaps the elder was mentoring the younger? They stopped us, and the older of the two went to check their records, making sure we weren't convicts, I supposed. After a few minutes of trying to scare the young guard by staring him down, just for the hell of it, the guard who had gone to check their records came back and nodded to his companion, who waved us through.

Before I could pass through the gate, a hand slapped down on my shoulder, and I turned to see the older guard looking at me. His eyes seemed oddly intense, looking deeply into mine. After a moment, he let go of me. A grin slowly spread across his face, before he looked over at Sybil, who had stopped a few paces ahead of us, then back to me. "Big pair on you, son. You have good taste. Don't let anyone judge you for what you like." He pushed me away, laughing openly.

I stared at him in confusion, then over at Sybil, whose pale face seemed to have gained some color.

What?