It turned out that [Skill Dominance] didn’t work on monster [Skills], which was a bit disappointing, but in the end, I understood. If I could absorb [Skills] from monsters, I’d eventually be overwhelmed by choice even more than I already would be.

Maybe there’s something I can do at higher mastery levels to pick monster [Skills] I want to copy. It would make sense, but I bet it won’t be relevant to me for quite a while, so I should let it go for now.

I spent the rest of the day on the [Cloud Carpet] getting to know Raiju a little more. She surprised me by shrinking down to the size of a large dog and curling up with me on the carpet.

“This pelt is the perfect temperature, not too hot, not too cold.” She snuggled against my legs. “I like flying on it, even if it’s slow.”

“You know, most people would say this carpet is quite fast, especially compared to traveling along the mountain paths.”

“Then most people have no idea what real speed is.” She snorted. “Mountain winds whip around at five times this speed at any given point and [Storm Crows] fly ten times our current pace.”

I rubbed her belly. “I’ll take your word for it. You’re the expert on speed here.”

“Goooooood.” She growled happily as we sailed toward Cliffhaven.

***

Raiju and I floated a few hundred feet above the final foothill before Cliffhaven and took in the view. From what I’d been told, Cliffhaven was a small city within Verdant, known mostly for its easy access to a pair of beginner Dungeons. Because of those beginner Dungeons, adventurers below level ten flocked to Cliffhaven in droves.

The City was surrounded by a twenty foot wall stone covered in sloppy wards my tutors would have made me redo, but they seemed serviceable enough. The only buildings that really stood out in town were the Adventurers Guild, the lord’s tower, and a particularly ostentatious mansion and compound. The Adventurers Guild was going to be my first stop. Without registering with them, Mom said I wouldn’t be able to take jobs from them or use their exclusive shops. It stood as the second tallest building in town, despite its lack of ornamentation. It gave off a defensible feeling, like it could withstand anything and everything arrayed against it.

The lord’s tower was a five storey affair in the dead center of the City. Mom let me know that whenever a town grew large enough in Verdant, the king would send out a team of engineers to tear down whatever sort of town hall they had before and erect the same tower I saw before me. They used a magical blueprint to create a [Verdant Tower] that granted the lord and his staff a host of bonuses to efficiency as well as general stats. The gaudy mansion stood out as an obvious eyesore only a few hundred feet from the tower in the middle of town. There wasn’t a single other mansion in town and, beyond that, no other houses even had a wall compared to its enclosed compound.

What kind of asshole builds a compound like that in a place like this?

I shook my head as I lowered the [Cloud Carpet] down to the ground just behind the crest of the hill. With a gesture, I banished it to my storage ring before pulling out a small knapsack and slinging it over my shoulder. I made sure my daggers were all in their proper places and the rest of my gear was easily accessible before clapping my hands to my face.

“It’s game time.”

Raiju cocked her head at me. “Why do you have that small bag? Is your ring not sufficient for what you intend to purchase in town?” Her eyes lit up. “Also, what game do you speak of?”

I ruffled the fur between her ears. “Not that kind of game, sorry. It’s an old dwarven saying their warriors would say before entering the Smashball field. Dad used to say it before training and I picked it up from him.”

She snorted and almost knocked me over despite her reduced size when she knocked her head into me. “Dwarves sound like good people, if they honor such games.”

“You’re not wrong. I’ve heard the best players of those games are legends among dwarvenkind.” I hefted my bag. “Also, the bag is to hide my ring. Not everyone has one and quite a few people would kill to get ahold of one. A [Bag of Holding] is much more common, even if it’s still expensive, so I’ll just fake like this bag is one of those to avoid trouble.”

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

“Like hiding a kill in a snowbank to stop the damned [Storm Crows] from picking it clean before you’re ready to eat it. I understand.” She nodded sagely.

I don’t think she does, but it’s not a big deal. She’ll get it eventually.

For a moment, I considered asking to race her to the front gate but decided against it. Raiju was fast, far faster than a regular [Gale Wolf] and having her fun full tilt toward the town would likely raise a stir.

Instead, we walked together at a measured pace over the hill and down toward the road at its foot. As we paced along the path, Raiju’s nose was working harder than I’d ever seen it.

“So many new smells!” She barked happily. “What are these colorful plants by the road?”

“They’re just daisies, common plants so basic even the System didn’t bother to give them more of a description.”

As if to prove me wrong, I caught sight of a single flower with a description window.

[Windbloom - Uncommon

Description: Windblooms are the only known evolution for daisies. They only evolve if a daisy survives five windstorms in one season. The seeds are prized by gardeners and alchemists alike for crossbreeding with less hardy flowers with more beneficial effects.]

“No shit.” I moved over to the [Windbloom] and pulled out a small pot from my ring. With a scoop, I pulled up enough soil to fill the pot without jostling the flower.

“That one smelled a bit different. Is it for eating?”

“Not really,” I chuckled, “it’ll pay for dinner when I sell it though.”

She grinned her terrifying smile. “Good. Plants are nice, but meat is delicious.” She licked her lips and I nearly peed, despite our bond.

I’m going to have to talk to her about that eventually, but there’s no time now. I just hope she doesn’t jump the guard if he goes to brandish his weapon.

Said guard was looking at us with jaw agape. He leaned back and yelled something up at the pair of guards up on the wall above him with bows. A few moments later, they nocked arrows, but didn’t draw their bows as they watched us approach.

“Don’t attack unless I do, OK?” I murmured quietly.

“Understood… Artie. I don’t like it, but I’ll do as you ask.” Raiju hung her head a bit lower and her tail wag slowed down from the frantic pace it had before to a more reasonable speed.

The gate guard stepped up to stop us from entering the town. The young human man wore mail over a green gambeson and wielded his halberd like he needed more training with it. He swung it lazily across his body to try and arrest our progress.

“Halt and speak your business!” He hollered despite us only being ten paces away.

Undeterred, I kept on walking until I was a few paces away. “No need to yell, we’re right here.”

The gate guard swaggered forward and tried to bump my chest with his halberd shaft until I swayed back to avoid it. He grunted. “I said, state your business!” His backwater accent slipped through as I nearly caught the spittle he sprayed my way.

Not a great start, but I can deal with this guy.

My eyes gleamed. “New adventurer going to register!” I barked in his face, putting the weight of my 13 [Might] behind the yell.

He stumbled back like I’d slapped him with wide eyes. Above, I heard the telltale sound of bows being drawn back to fire.

The gate guard took a moment to recover. “In that case,” his voice shook, “with a dog? The toll is three silver for entry.”

[I guess I should put a few more points into [Might] this is fucking embarrassing.

“Three silver? That’s highway robbery!” I placed my hand over my heart as I played it up. “It’s almost like you don’t want us to enter your fine city. What was your name again, mister?”

“Guard Jacobson, Steve Jacobson.” His swagger returned. “If you can’t afford the fee, get comfortable out there.” He laid his halberd across his shoulders in the worst display of weapon safety I’d ever seen.

Seriously, who’s training these guards? This dude’s a joke.

“Excellent, I’ll make sure to let your captain know you’re extorting incoming travelers.” I winked at him before triggering [Haste] and shooting past him and down the road and around the corner with Raiju in tow before he could even blink. The guards above released their prepared arrows, but they didn’t come close to hitting us.

Raiju’s growl intensified. “I want to go back and electrocute them.”

“Me too, but there’s not much to be done for it.” I shrugged. “After registering, I really am going to go and talk to his captain, that’s some bullshit we just dealt with.”

“Dishonorable men, who’d have guessed?” She deadpanned.

“Yeah, not my favorite thing about my kind either, to be honest. Elves and Dwarves are better for it, but even they’ll mislead you if they can get something over on you.”

She made a gagging noise, but left it alone after that admission.

We took the backstreets all the way to the Adventurers Guild, just in case, and I was immediately glad we had when I heard men in chainmail running down the main street. I quickly opened the massive steel banded wooden doors and ushered Raiju in. I waved happily as I closed the door in the face of Guard Richardson and his assembled cronies.