A new dawn greeted me in more ways than one. I felt stronger than before. Quicker too, with faster and keener perception. It was when I tried to put on my boots that I realized they did not fit. Confused, I looked at my feet, and found them to still be fairly normal. The boots were normal as well, but my feet were just longer and bigger than the night before, if measuring them against the bottom of my boots were any indication. My clothes felt a little too tight. Panic threatened to consume me, but before that would be allowed, I took out a hand mirror to examine myself. I looked older, perhaps by two or three years. My muscles were bigger too, not enough to win a strongman competition, but enough that I was less boyish and more filled out. A stubble reflected back at me as I gazed upon my chin. I estimated I was half a span of my hand taller than I was the day prior.
Curious as to why my skin felt harder, I tested the blade of my knife against it. I pressed and slid with modest pressure, but nothing of note happened. No pain, no blood. The knife was still sharp, so I pressed harder, and only with moderate pressure did I cut through the outer surface of my skin to inflict but a scratch. Within seconds, the wound closed on its own. Clearly, this would need to be explored more later, as mauling myself out in the countryside to see how tough my body had become did not seem to be the safest option. I packed up camp, and now barefoot, continued my way back to the city.
At one point, I tried to hop over a small tree that had fallen across my path. With alarmed observation, I found myself up in the air, at least twice my height. Not having time to consider the implications, my body began its descent back to terra firma. I stuck the landing with ease, although I had expected to perhaps break a leg. In truth, my biggest concern was that I would drop the egg and it would break, but thankfully, no harm came to it.
Clearly, something powerful and odd had occurred last night, and so I took the opportunity to examine all my Skills to see if I had missed something. I saw that my Blessing had changed to [Greater Elder Dragon Emperor]. Upon musing through my [Age] Skills, I observed that I had progressed in an Age Category automatically. My dragon form now lasted six hours with no apparent limit to how often I could switch forms. Also, the size was easily doubled if not tripled in all dimensions, making me on par with a small elephant for size. My breath attacks likewise gained a great deal of potency, at least according to the description that only I can read. I would need to test all these new things at some point, but flying back to town as a dragon seemed like a really bad idea, so I still had to hoof it.
Despite walking barefoot, I felt no real discomfort, but I still preferred to have boots. I made great time, my strides longer and faster, the ups and downs of the terrain seemingly trivial with my body experiencing no fatigue from the exertion. Once out of the forest and back to flat farmland, I decided to really stretch my legs and sprint. I ran with speed unparalleled by most, with only Blessings graced with swiftness being my equal. I ran until I started to feel tired, which was a whole hour later. I did not sweat, nor did I feel exceptionally thirsty from the ordeal. In only five minutes, I felt completely recovered.
And so, by midday, I had returned to the city. Many an eye looked my way. I knew I was fairly handsome before, but now I was eye candy to most people. Carrying a large leathery egg did nothing to aid in making me inconspicuous. People I knew had to perform a double take when seeing me, their expressions wild with disbelief. Some voiced their wonder that perhaps I had an older brother, but I did not stop to chat. I pressed on straight to the guildhall. News travels fast, and when I opened the door, everyone was already turned to meet me. Chooka leapt over the counter and crossed the room with hurried yet graceful strides.
“What the fuck happened to you, what is with the egg, why are you barefoot?” She eyed me up and down with concern and interest both roused. “You were handsome before, but fuck, you are way hotter now!” She stood tall before me, one hand on her hip, expecting answers promptly, an expression of worry and wonder painted upon her face.
“Killed a hydra, this is a fertilized hydra egg, and my boots don’t fit any more. I could really use your help here if you are not busy,” I said flatly, like an old man recounting for the fifth time to the city guards why he backed his wagon into a fence.
Chooka started to speak, then stopped, then repeated that process two more times before she succeeded. “Are you serious? I don’t believe it, not that you would lie, but a fucking hydra, what were you thinking? Were you trying to get yourself killed?” Tears started flowing down her face and her balled fist lightly pummeled my upper chest and shoulders.
I carefully set the egg down and pulled her in for a hug. She still towered over me, but as she embraced me, she felt lighter than ever before. I know she hugged me fiercely, but it was as if she had no more might than a small child. I held her and comforted her, and I gave a withering glare to the gathered onlookers, all of whom suddenly decided that they had much better things to be doing than ogling this scene.
When she was satisfied with our embrace, she pulled away and looked at me as her hands grasped my shoulders. “What do you need me to do?” she asked.
“I am going to need a padded box for this egg so I can incubate it, along with books or experts on hydras so I can figure out how to hatch it and how long that will take,” I explained with calm detail. “I would also appreciate it if you could look into if this or any other guildhall has job listings for hydras, especially ones to harvest it, as I have all manner of parts to sell. Also, I will need new boots at some point, but I can handle that later.”
“Got it, wait here!” she demanded loudly as she took off in a hurry for a supply room, spurred on by a clarity of purpose provided by the tasks I requested of her. Some crashing was heard from within, but after a few moments, she returned with a crate of appropriate size to house the egg, along with some blankets for padding. “Here you go,” she said as she deposited it all at my feet.
“Thanks, love.” She blushed a little at that, and I have witnessed her say the most scandalous of things that would make harlots feel shame, so perhaps I struck something there, something I would need to look into later. Add it to the list, I suppose. “Right then, let’s get this egg secured in my room and then take things from there.”
We hurried to it, but the town quickly became abuzz with gossip. Perhaps someone had recognized the egg for what it was, or someone from the guildhall had loose lips, but in the time it took to drop my egg off in the room, the town was rife with news about a hydra being slain.
“Uh, by the way,” I whispered up to Chooka as she walked me from my room and over to the Harvester guildhouse, “What exactly is the difficulty rating for a job for a hydra?”
“Depends on how many heads it has. Three heads is typically Gold, but more than that is Platinum. So, you will probably get a few gold coins for your troubles, if there is a job for one. Typically, creatures like that are always in demand, and so the jobs for them are just open all the time,” she said in a matter-of-fact manner.
“Oh,” I said back to her as I considered my next words, “What if it had five heads?”
Chooka stopped and turned to me. She grabbed me under the arms and lifted me up to her height. “Five heads!” she shouted. “Five! You could have been killed. You are only a Silver Adventurer, and alone nonetheless. It would take at least two Platinum Adventurers to slay such a monster. How did you even manage such a thing?” She shook me slightly as she drove home the point of her last inquiry.
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“To be fair,” I responded calmly as I held up my pointer finger at her, “it did try to eat my wheel of cheese, and you know how much this town loves cheese. It simply would not do to let such a challenge go unanswered.”
She looked at me, unsure if she should laugh or cry. “Idiot!” she declared as she pulled me in for another hug as my feet dangled off the ground. “You can always get more cheese, but there is only one of you. You are lucky I have taken a liking to you or I would bury you up to your neck in cheese.”
I hugged her back, and after she calmed down, we continued on our way. “Let me do the talking,” she said.
“Yes, ma’am!” I replied smartly.
She scowled a little, and then unable to keep her composure, she laughed freely. “This will be the talk of the town. Stay frosty, for this is about to get interesting.”
I filled her in on the important details of what parts I had harvested as we approached the guildhall. She listened intently and nodded that she understood. I admit that I was impressed with how she got serious so quickly and did not waste time on pointless questions unrelated to the job, but that is the experience of an expert in action for you. She opened the door to the Harvester guildhall and strode right up to the counter. A gnome with a ridiculously large top hat was waiting to be helped. As the shadow of a serious Chooka fell upon him, he slowly turned and looked up into the menacing red glow of determined eyes as she glared down at him with a wicked smile on her face.
“I just remembered I left an anvil in the oven, gotta go, cya!” With eyes widened, he grabbed his paperwork and scurried off, nearly tripping over himself in his haste to depart for his beloved anvil and oven no doubt. The tricky thing is, with gnomes, it would be hard to tell if he simply fumbled over his words for a halfway believable excuse or if he spoke true. They are an odd sort, so I would not rule it out.
Moments later, an orc woman popped out of the backroom behind the counter. Confusion begot surprise, which gave way to cheerfulness, all in the span of a breath, as she locked gazes with the remnimi before her.
“Chooka, what a pleasant surprise. How may I help you today?”
“I know you have standing bounties for various monsters. I have one here with me who needs to turn in a bounty on a hydra, five heads, with most of the parts intact.” Chooka slapped a palm down on the counter for emphasis. “Can you help me with that?”
The orc leaned to the side to glance at me, as I stood behind Chooka. I leaned sideways and waved back, beaming my biggest smile for her. She looked nonplussed, save for a bead of sweat that seemingly sprouted from her brow.
“Uh, right. We certainly do have such bounties. Where exactly are the parts harvested from it?” she inquired, not entirely convinced.
“Well unless you want him to whip it out right here, I think that would be best saved for your storage room. I think you will be impressed with the size,” Chooka counted with a smirk and a wink.
The orc appeared only slightly flustered. Apparently, she was used to Chooka’s innuendos, and it was no secret by now as to the escapades Chooka and I have had together.
She cleared her throat before continuing. “Very well, show him to the storage room for me. I need to fetch the guildmaster and our prospective buyers. I trust you that you are not pulling my leg on this, so go there and bring out the parts as per protocol.”
“Fantastic!” Chooka shouted as she slammed her palm down on the counter again. “Come on, you!” she ordered as she grabbed me by the hand and tugged me along behind her.
We left the guildhall and walked to a warehouse behind it. Naturally, it had many shelves and boxes and all that ilk, but what really caught the eyes were runed circles glowing on the floor in a three by three layout in the center.
Seeing my inquisitive expression, Chooka spoke thus, “Deposit your ingredients in these circles. They will keep the parts preserved for a while and make them easier to handle and examine.”
I did as she instructed, and I was fortunate enough to witness the rare moment when Chooka was truly flabbergasted. I had filled all nine circles with little room to spare. Pocket dimensions were not unheard of as granted by Blessings or as magical items, but to such a scale was well outside the means of even the best that I knew of.
“Are you going to close your mouth or are you waiting for me to put something in it?” I asked her with mock admonishment.
The innuendo did the trick to knock her out of her transfixation. I pulled her in for a kiss, as a little making out while we waited would not hurt anyone. She seemed more than eager to sample the upgrades to my physical form, but before things could get too hot and heavy, I had to pry her off me.
“Not now, my dear. Your eagerness would cause a bit of trouble for everyone else when they show up. You will have to be good and wait until tonight,” I chided her, mild and slightly sarcastic, but still true. She looked disappointed, but I walked her over to a bench and we sat there cuddled up as I told her most of the story.
“There is more I want to show you later, in private.” I paused for a moment to let the idea sink in. “Well, yes, exactly what you are thinking, but also something else. We would need to leave the city to show you that something else. Would you be willing to do that? We could make it a romantic getaway.”
That made her smile perk right up. She hugged me all the more.
“Absolutely! I would love that,” she said as she nuzzled into me.
“Splendid. I would love that too. I think this will be a wonderful opportunity for us to grow closer.”
She probably would have pounced on me right then and there if not for the door opening and the guildmaster walking in. Technically, he is the guildmaster of the Harvester division. The master of this branch of the Adventurer Guild for this city was the grandmaster. Perhaps that is strange nomenclature for their hierarchy, perhaps it would have made more sense the other way around, but that is the truth of it.
We rose to meet the guildmaster. He was a well-dressed elf, male, looking the equivalent of a human man in his forties, so at least five centuries old for an elf. Unusually, he had red hair and a goatee, which is well outside the norms for elves.
“Guildmaster Taro, you honor me with your presence,” said Chooka as she bowed lightly.
“And you honor me, Chooka. Unless my elven eyes deceive me, it looks like most of a hydra is located here, with some assembly required. Is this individual with you the representative of the party that defeated it?”
“Not quite, Guildmaster. He does not have a party. This was a solo operation.”
I had expected an incredulous look from the guildmaster, but he just glanced over at the hydra and then to me before returning his full attention to Chooka. Perhaps centuries in this line of work had given him too many surprises to be shocked by anything.
“Right,” he said, with no indication from his demeanor that he disbelieved it or took it at face value. “I will have someone draw up all the paperwork for the bounty. Buyers will be here soon to bid on parts.” He clapped me on the shoulder before continuing and addressing me. “You are going to be the talk of the town. I don’t know how a Silver like you managed to pull this off, but I will not pry. I imagine that if this was not a fluke, I am going to be seeing a lot more of you around here.”
“I believe so, Guildmaster. You may need a bigger warehouse one of these times.”
Taro let out a hearty laugh at that. It seemed I had walked the line just right between confidence and bravado. Chooka looked at me warmly as the excitement of the opportunity ahead started to sink into each of us. I took her hand in mine, and she squeezed back with affirmation that all was right between us.