While we waited for Murr, the tables at the inn slowly started to fill. Fortunately, we’d gotten here early and snagged one for ourselves.
“You think he’ll show up?”
I shrugged. “How would I know?” Although we had worked well in a fight, we hadn’t known each other for long. I had the feeling he’d be here if he said he would.
An arm wrapped around my shoulders. “Or maybe I was hiding to see what you guys would say about me.”
Murr laughed, then sat down on the other side of the table.
[https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/949515587766329405/1039672925613203476/SPOILER_Murr_copy.jpg]
“Kidding. I already have you guys figured out.”
He slapped down two pieces of parchment. At the top of the page were the words ‘Adventuring Party Contract.’
“Read over them tonight. Get your lawyers to look at them if you want.” While we placed them in our inventories, he held up a hand and called the barmaid over.
I ordered a juice from a tangy local fruit called the javhey, Kron requested a magic infused golem beverage that really only tasted good to golems, and Murr bought a catfolk staple... one that, when it arrived, looked suspiciously like milk.
“Alright, you promised you’d tell us about how you received your boon.”
He grinned and took a big gulp of his white drink. “So, when I first stepped into the gate, I felt like I’d become one with the shadows. It was pretty crazy. Then I appeared on the roof of a building in a huge night-time city.”
[https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/949515587766329405/1039672925009227887/SPOILER_Murr_building_copy.jpg]
“Did someone come and hand you a card?”
He grimaced. “If only. I heard someone coming. My first instinct was to hide, so that’s what I did. Good thing too, since the thing that came was some kind of monster of darkness.”
He curled his fingers into fake claws and made a hissing face for effect.
I leaned forward. “You can’t be serious. No destiny test is dangerous.”
“Yeah. That’s what people say... But what if that’s only the case most of the time? At least, that’s what I’d always considered.”
Kron scoffed. “That’s ridiculous. Everyone returns from their test. It’s recorded.”
“Are you sure that all the people who returned are the same ones who left in the first place?”
Kron rolled his eyes, but a chill ran down my spine. I knew he was just fucking with us, but for some reason, I just couldn’t get the thought out of my mind about what would have happened if I’d fallen to my death instead of back to my real world.
It’s like ghost stories. Everyone knows ghosts aren’t real, but somewhere deep inside our lizard brains, there lies a belief that could be real. And the fear of the unknown was a stupid, but real fear.
“So, I climbed down to the streets and kept to the shadows. When more shadow monsters appeared, I very quickly realized that this wasn’t going to be easy. It took all the skills I had to sneak past them while looking for my destiny.”
“I ran into alleyways where I had to pick locked doors to get to safety. I had to squeeze myself into the tiniest spaces to hide from a swarm of spiders. Then I had to jump over a series of magical detection devices. I had no idea what they activated, but I wasn’t taking any chances.”
“After that, I snuck back outside and into the bushes just as a dozen darkness monsters congregated around my location. If I hadn’t had nerves of steel, I would have shat myself. I seriously thought I might get killed and have to use up one of my nine lives, which would have been embarrassing. Could you imagine, losing a hundred years of your life because of a dumb mistake in your destiny test?!”
In this world, catfolk could live up to 900 years — or nine lifetimes. However, if they ever died, they could burn 100 years to come back to life. It was rumored that catfolk who reached level 300 earned an extra 90 lives, but I didn’t know for certain since I’d never actually met anyone who’d managed that.
“Are you sure he’s not bullshitting all this?” Kron said.
I shrugged. “I believe him.”
Murr looked at me, touched. Then leaned forwards.
“It’s all true. And it took hours, maybe days... I wasn’t positive how long it took since there was no day-night-cycle. Wait, where was I? Oh! Right. While the group of darkness monsters congregated, I snuck past them and shimmied my way up to a rooftop... and that’s when I saw it.”
“What?”
“The center of the city, taller than the largest buildings there, stood a dark, beautiful giant woman. Her eyes glowed red, like she was searching for me. I knew that she was the one I needed to sneak past.”
[https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/949515587766329405/1039672924241670196/SPOILER_goddess_copy.jpg]
“So, did she see you?” I said.
He showed us the smuggest grin ever.
“Of course not! I traveled over rooftops, making sure to approach her from behind.”
[https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/949515587766329405/1039672924724011008/SPOILER_Murr_Building_2_copy.jpg]
He leaned in.
“As I neared her location, more and more darkness monsters appeared on the roofs, so I used a nearby alley to drop down. Fortunately, I wasn’t far from her at that point. Soon I was creeping past her massive bare feet until I stood directly under her. And do you know what I found at the center of the city as she loomed over my head?”
“A wall?” Kron asked, finally getting into it.
“A gambling machine?”
He scowled at us. “Why would it be either of those?”
I shrugged. “That’s what I found in mine.”
“Same.”
He looked at us like he couldn’t believe us.
“No. I found a massive vault, like the kind you’d find in my family’s basement.”
“Okay, that is more information than we needed to know.”
He shrugged. “There’s nothing in it aside from traps. Thieves are welcome to try.” He chuckled evilly.
“Okay, so you found a vault. But were you able to get inside it?”
“Of course I did. I already said we have one in my basement. What do you think I practiced on to get as good as I am?” He shook his head at me, then grinned. “When I opened it, there was a wall made of gold and platinum bars. They spelled out my class and designation.”
“Did she find you after that?” Kron asked. “Is that how you received your boon?”
“I wasn’t done.” He flicked a bit of string off his leather jacket. “But no. Actually, I entered the vault, but I didn’t head to the bars. I knew those were a trap from how the floor’s marble tiles dipped down. Instead, I knocked on the wall tiles. It only took me an hour, but I found a loose one. When I pressed its corner, it clicked open and inside was a pair of rough black diamonds, the largest I’d ever seen. I grabbed them but, before I could place them in my inventory, they flew out of my hands and rolled across the marble.”
“Oh! Those must have been dice,” Kron said.
He smirked. “They were both. And when I tried to pick them up, I found myself back in the AllChurch. I never actually got caught at all. I didn’t even realize I had a boon at all until I checked my stat sheet later.”
“Can I see it?”
He pinched something in midair, causing a parchment paper to appear, then he handed it to me. Once again, as soon as I touched the page, it turned into a 2D UI.
His eyes widened. “How can I get that?!”
“Piss off Belinda, the goddess of intelligence, during your destiny test.” That and have your soul come from another world, but it might not be the right time to explain that to these guys.
“That sounds like a fun story. I guess I’ll be happy with what I have.”
[https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/949515587766329405/1039672925277671444/SPOILER_Murr_Character_Sheet_copy.png]
Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.
This is for those who find the image hard to read:
Character Name
Murr Vertis Quince
Designation
DPS
Class
Rogue
Subclass
XXX
Job
Artificer
Start
Current
Add
Level
1
3
2
Body
20
22
2
Mind
20
20
Boons
Name
Weak Spot EXP
Skills (Aura)
Rank
Name
X
Cover Body Part (1Foot)
X
Stealth Aura
X
Strengthen (1 muscle)
X
Extend Aura (1mm)
X
Dodge
Abilities (General)
Rank
Name
Weak Point Vision
Spells (Mana)
Rank
Name
X
Condense Fresh Water
X
Create candle flame
Equipment
Num
Name
Equiped
100
Daggers
N
10
Magic Leather Jacket
Y
10
Pants of Protection
Y
10
Shirt of Stealth
Y
10
Slick Slingshot
N
1000
Iron Shot
N
78
Poison Shot
N
32
Stink Shot
N
98
Sleep Shot
N
123
Poof Shot
N
10
Amulet of Protection
Y
The first thing I noticed was all the amazing equipment Murr had. But it made sense. The catfolk could afford it. I just didn’t know how he fit everything into his inventory.
When I tapped on Weak Spot EXP, the explanation appeared.
Weak Spot EXP
When you strike a monster’s weak spot, you earn 2x the experience.
Every time you strike a different weak spot on the same monster, the multiplier increases by 1
I almost stood up. It would be one thing to get this as a normal person, but to get this boon as a rogue, and one with Weak Point Vision, was insane. “Is this thing real?”
Murr grinned. “I got lucky.”
No kidding. “If luck was your middle name, I’d believe it.”
He looked at me seriously and said, “It is. That’s what Vertis means.”
“Really?”
Kron waved a hand. “Don’t listen to him. It means ‘untold wealth’ in the original Felineish.”
Murr peered at Kron with raised brows. “I guess our party’s mage is more than just spells and muscles.”
Kron stared at him with exasperation.
“So, what should our plans be going forward?”
Murr shook the question away. “Oh no! We are not doing that. That is for tomorrow. This is the time we set aside everything and celebrate. We’re here to appreciate the start of something new and the end of something old.” He held his glass up like he was about to start a cheer, then paused. “Wait, what are we going to call our adventuring party?”
My mind suddenly went blank. I could tell from their expressions that the same thing happened to them.
“MKS?” I suggested.
“Our initials? Come on, be more original,” Murr said.
“You also have to consider that we may eventually add more party members.”
Good point.
“Murr and Company?”
We both just looked at the catfolk.
“What? I thought it had a nice ring to it.”
“How about the Laughing Fist?” Kron tapped the table, causing it to shake.
“That’s a good name, but I don’t think it fits us.” I rubbed my eternally beardless chin. “The best names usually describe what a group is after or what they do. It should be like the name of a business.”
“In that case, why don’t we just call ourselves the Speed Levelers?” Murr joked.
Wait, in my past life that was called... “Power Levelers?” I cringed. That’s a terrible name.
Kron snickered. “Why not, Companions of the Elven Tank?”
“Yeah, we’ll just call ourselves COTET,” I said sarcastically.
“Or, We Level When Sam Gets Hit in the Balls,” Murr said, with a smirk.
“That’s not funny.”
Kron put his fingers together. “It’s a little funny.”
“You guys suck.”
“Actually,” Kron said. “I think we need to make more of a name for ourselves before we decide on one.”
“Agreed,” Both Murr and I stated at the same time.
I smirked. “At the rate we’re going, we’ll end up calling ourselves We Three Cocks.”
Murr snickered and held up his not-milk. “To our future!”
I lifted my juice. “To power leveling to 300!”
And finally, Kron held up his glass.
[https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/949515587766329405/1039672924505919598/SPOILER_KronGlass_copy.jpg]
“To Sam’s balls! May they hold up till we get to 300 and beyond!”
“Oh, come on.”
Murr shrugged, “I’ll drink to that.” He moved to clink his glass with the golem’s.
I clinked my glass with theirs and smiled sheepishly. “Well, they are my balls.”