As I followed Thorn, I considered shifting to my demihuman form since it made interacting with people a lot easier. As comfortable as my true form was, I was beginning to feel the itch to shift, so I did. I didn't even have to slow my walk, I managed the shift so smoothly.

Thorn looked back seconds after I shifted and let out a sigh that spoke volumes about his thoughts on my decision.

“At least we're still on guild grounds,” he grumbled under his breath, before producing my brush. “You are always a bit of a mess after you shift, you are aware of this, are you not?” Thorn held the brush like it was a knife that he was pondering stabbing me with.

I ran my claws through my mane, I was aware that it was a little disheveled, but it wasn't that bad. I was impressed though, Thorn was openly showing irritation with me. I couldn't help but grin, I had worried a little that his class choice would hamper the sense of self that I had always wanted him to have.

“Stop smiling, I believe that nearly everyone has told you that it doesn't look friendly. And hold still, I'll have you fixed in a few moments.”

I almost told him to hand me the brush, I could take care of myself just fine when I had hands, but something told me that would be a bad idea. So I closed my lips, and crouched down when he walked towards me. I was so much taller than him that he would need to fly to brush my mane if I didn't.

After my mane and tail got a thorough and none-to-gentle brushing, we started back on our way.

“It's getting late, so I believe we should start with the lumber yard. I doubt the foreman will take up much of our time, he just wanted to officially verify your approval of the sale. Personal Attendants are generally trusted for such things, but for such a high value item, the man wanted to see you personally.”

I huffed, with the way the Voice had talked me up, I figured there was a different reason. “I bet he just wants a chance to meet the beast everyone's talking about.”

“That is probably also true.” Thorn said with a nod.

My tail lashed as I walked, it was probably good for my contract, but I didn't like being forced to present myself to the man. I had better things to do than sate the curiosity of a jumped up lumberjack. My claws began to click on the ground as I walked.

Thorn cleared his throat. “You are an impressive creature in your true form. Of course the man wants to take the opportunity to gaze upon you for a few moments, before he returns to his mundane life.”

I could almost feel Thorn reaching out to redirect my Concept. Proud practically hummed with affirmation from his words. The anger I had been feeling faded to nothing, my claws retracted. I considered shifting back to my true form, but decided that the man would have to earn the pleasure. My demihuman form was impressive in its own way.

I knew it was a feeling thrust upon me by my Concept, but I accepted it. Following my attendant with my head high, and my chest puffed out, my tail waving sinuously behind me. I knew I was going to be met with stares on the walk to the lumberyard, so I thought I should look my best. The people of Brightwood wouldn't have many more chances to look upon me after all.

The first set of staring eyes appeared sooner than I expected. Janus was manning the gate, his eyes were primarily locked onto Thorn instead of me. He looked back and forth between us a few times, I could tell he had questions. I watched as he opened his mouth and looked like he was about to shout something, then looked at the gate, and closed it. After a few seconds of thought, he ran to meet us.

“Hey Angel! And uh… Angel's Attendant. Shit man you're moving up in the world. Did they grant you a title or something?”

“Or something,” I rumbled.

My fellow adventurer looked between me and the gate.

“So uh, you may not want to go out there. There's a crowd, I'd swear half the town is out there. They've been pretty quiet… mostly. But I bet you can guess why they're here.”

I chuckled, of course they wanted to see me.

“Is there a lack of local entertainment?” I couldn't quite see over the gates yet from where I was, which was probably the reason that the man had run to meet us.

“Ha! Now that you mention it, there sure as hell is.” Janus said with a smile, before his face turned serious. “Look, if you don't gotta go anywhere, you might want to stay in, or maybe fly out? I heard you can do that. They seem pretty calm, but they really want to see you.”

I smiled. “That's fine, I'm not worried about the crowd. I bet they won't recognize me as the beast everyone's talking about when I'm in this form anyway.”

“What's the bet? Cause I'd take you up on that. I'm pretty sure at least one person out there has an inspection ability that's good enough to get names. And they definitely know your name.”

I reached up to run my claws through my mane, but pulled my hand away when Thorn cleared his throat. I thought about flying out and meeting Thorn somewhere. I thought about turning into a squirrel and having Thorn carry me out in my bag. But in the end I shrugged.

“Either way I'm not afraid of the crowd. Thanks for the warning though.” I clapped Janus on the shoulder, being very careful not to hurt him.

My fellow adventurer rubbed his shoulder while grumbling “Some thanks” under his breath. “Alright, if you say so, I'll get the gate for you. We're in high security mode tonight.”

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I nodded, and we made our way to the gates. With my senses alert for them, I was able to count at least a hundred people filling the streets outside the adventurers guild. My heart rate spiked for a moment, despite my conviction that I wasn't afraid of the crowd.

My instincts warred with both my Concept backed pride, and the rational mind that knew that such crowds would be good for my contract. It helped that I knew I could almost certainly turn into a wind and fly away if someone tried something. It was still a fight to calm myself, much like fire, crowds had been an issue for this entire life. My instincts screamed danger even when there likely wasn't any, I was too high level to be worried about most of the residents of Brightwood.

I closed my eyes and took a few breaths. I almost wished I had the Voice's overwhelming aura to shut my instincts up.

“You'll be fine. If anyone was stupid enough to try to do something openly, the Great Mother's faithful would tear them apart.”

I smiled at Thorn's message. It was quite amazing how much having someone outside my head tell me it was going to be okay, helped.

The gates opened, and the crowd outside went silent, all eyes were on me. I held my head high, and walked out to a chorus of people whisper-shouting “It's him!” to each other.

“Make way!” Thorn shouted, his voice was deeper and louder than I thought possible, yet it somehow didn't hurt my ears. To my great surprise, the crowd responded immediately. They cleared a path down the center of the street so fast that I would have sworn they had practiced it.

Thorn turned to me, bowed, and held his arm out in a clear gesture for me to go ahead. There was only one problem.

“I don't know where the lumberyard is.”

“Don't worry, I'll direct you.”

I sighed, raised my head, and walked into the space the crowd had made for me. I was uncomfortable with so many eyes on me, even with proud telling me that such things were my due. With my senses on high alert, I projected a mostly false sense of confidence as I walked.

I had gotten a few hundred feet down the road when I heard light little steps running towards me. Thankfully for all involved, I was able to recognize them as coming from a little girl. She latched onto my tail, and I stopped, holding my tail as still as I could. I was terrified of hurting her.

The little girl's mother caught up to her, and pulled her away, scolding her loudly. I turned to look at them, the little one stared at me fearlessly, she seemed heedless of her mother's scolding.

“I'm so sorry, she got away from me!” the woman said, looking at me with fear in her eyes. It seemed even with my aura, and the Voice having said such nice things about me, I could still invoke fear.

“It's okay, I like kids.” I said, my voice filled with what was meant to be a reassuring pur. I was a little astonished to find that I wasn't just saying that either. Angela hadn't liked children at all, I thought the little girl was adorable! Looking at her woke instincts that had nothing to do with the ones donated by the young mana beast.

I looked at the little girl, I tried to look stern. I was pretty sure my body language gave me away, even to the little girl. When I spoke, my voice was as soft as I could make it.

“You shouldn't touch strangers without their permission, little one.” I said.

“Okay!” She yelled, followed quickly by, “Can I touch you? You're so soft!”

I let out a laugh, being very careful not to lift my lips when I smiled. The girl seemed to have no fear, and I somehow doubted showing my teeth to her would change that, but her mother still looked tense.

“Well, that's better, I don't mind.” I held up a finger as she began to reach for me, and continued. “But we should mind your mother as well.”

The little girl showed her mastery of the age old technique of puppy dog eyes as she turned to her mother.

“Momma, please?” She said, her eyes tearing up as she elongated the magic word.

The woman melted, apparently she hadn't developed an immunity to her daughter's trick. “Alright, since he says you can.”

I lowered myself to let her touch my mane, I didn't really like the idea of her grabbing my tail again. Proud, and my instincts were strangely quiet as I stood on all fours in front of the little girl, offering her my neck.

Of course, the little rascal didn't take the hint. Instead of touching my mane, she grabbed my ear, and she was far from gentle. It didn't hurt, she didn't have the capacity to hurt me, but it didn't feel great, it kind of tickled. Thankfully her mother must have seen me tense because she told her not to grab my ear like that.

After she had her chance to pet my mane, I told her that I had to go, she was sad, but she relented after another soft word from her mom.

I was stopped many more times after that by children, so many times that I lost count. I couldn't find it in my heart to decline, despite Thorn's growing frustration. Word must have spread, because it seemed that nearly every child was asking to touch me. I didn't decide enough was enough until a young lady came forward with the same question.

“I am sorry.” I said, projecting my voice. “I have places to be, I wish you all the best, but I can't stop anymore, or I'll be late.”

After that declaration, I sped my walk, and did my best to ignore the people in the crowd.

Thankfully word reached the lumberyard before I did, and the foreman was at the entrance to greet me.

He led me to his office, where he informed me of the fact that much of the tree was nearly useless, cracked and shattered as it was from the method I used to dispatch it. I nodded, it made sense. The man seemed relieved by my acceptance.

“There is however, still enough there that is salvageable that I can offer you what I feel is a fair price.” My lips quirked upwards, as I felt his words resonate with honest, he really was trying to be fair.

He continued, “Your attendant fought the good fight on your behalf too, sir. I'm sure he informed you of my offer. I just need your word before I can hand over that quantity of gold.”

I nodded, even though I had never actually gotten the number from Thorn. “I'm sure it's fine.”

The man held out his hand, and I looked at it. I was still more than a little afraid of my own strength after the incident with Zeke's wrist. The man must have misinterpreted my hesitation, because he felt the need to instruct me. “We humans seal deals with a handshake, it is an ancient tradition.”

I closed my eyes, and sighed. The man had been honest with me, so I decided to tell him the somewhat embarrassing truth.

“I actually know that, but I gained a lot of strength recently. The fight with the tree was not without its rewards, and I am not accustomed to them yet.” My ears were held low at the admission, and I didn't meet his eyes.

He pulled his hand back like he noticed a particularly venomous snake on his desk. “Ah well, I suppose we can skip that formality. I have the gold right here.” He said, holding out a ring.

I gestured for him to give it to Thorn, and once the exchange was made, we headed towards the Temple.