The Lich had absolutely no money to his name, and frankly, he didn’t think he needed it. For many years, he lived how he pleased without having any, even if it meant stealing. The only reason he decided to obtain some was because he had to stay somewhere this time around. Last time he traveled to The Forest of Mythos, he had decided to stay inside an alleyway. Since the village had so much more bustle, there were quite a few more thieves, which meant he had to use his strength to kill them and exert himself more than he wanted to. After the first night didn’t work out, he slept outside of the town, which seemed an even worse idea due to the vicious animals constantly trying to consume him. These incidents meant that he had to spend even more time recovering.

The Lich sighed heavily, contemplating just what he was to do to obtain money. After wandering throughout the town, he figured that he should just do what he does best. Stealing. As he passed the civilians on the streets, he was able to effortlessly swipe coins without their acknowledgment. His technique was incredibly sloppy, however, he used so much speed that it made little difference. After thieving from a handful of people, he glanced down at what he was able to get—a measly five copper coins and a single silver. The amount of money he now had was likely not enough to make it through three nights, in fact, it probably wasn’t even enough to make it past one.

“This isn’t going to work,” he grumbled, throwing the perfectly good coins into the street.

As the coins hit the cobblestone, many raggedy low-lifes scrounged to gather them with haste. To The Lich, it was an absolutely revolting sight, yet that little smidge of pity resurfaced, at which he turned away and remarked about how pitiful humans were.

He absolutely dreaded the idea, however he began to mumble about how he may actually have to earn the money. To him, helping people was not something he favored and he would actively avoid it. He had the mindset that if someone wanted something done, then they should do it themselves. Unfortunately, taking odd jobs was about to be his only option.

As he was muttering to himself, a voice called out to him.

“Hey.”

The Lich turned his head to look at the man who was leaning against the wall of a medium sized building. He was clad in armor that prioritized mobility by leaving the joints exposed, his face was long and square with a little bit of stubble poking out from his chin, and his eyes were a dark brown almost black that clearly showed that he was an experienced fighter. The man seemed to instinctively clasp the grip of his sheathed sword as he spoke.

“I hear that you’re looking for money.”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“I’m looking for a place to stay for a few days,” The Lich told him as he continued to study the man out of habit.

“Ah, well I think I can help you out, but you’ll have to work for it.”

A few days prior, not too long after The Lich had left, The Skinless sauntered her way towards where that giant indicated the creature inhabited. Once she arrived at the cabin, she circled it and remarked about how shabby it looked.

“It is the den of a beast after all.” She shrugged before returning to the front of the cabin.

In an expressionless motion, she took her fingernails and dug them into her arm before scratching with enough force to cause crimson blood to well up. A sigil made up of curved and straight lines along with dots engraved into her skin began to glow a soft purple. CRACK SNAP. Her arm began to grow larger and more bulbous until its width was close to the size of the cabin. She lifted the monstrous and mutated arm into the air before slamming it into the cabin, obliterating it. With the cabin turned into mere splinters, she let out a heavy sigh as her arm returned to normal.

Not here, she thought, observing her surroundings to try and pick up a small trace left by The Lich. Whilst looking, something on the leaf covered ground caught her attention. Walking up to it, she picked up what she quickly figured out to be a pale flake of skin.

With a wicked smile on her face, she consumed the flake of skin, announcing the start of her hunt.

“Work for it? How so?” The Lich asked, a little annoyed at the tone the man used.

“Well…” The man’s eyes shifted to the side before continuing, “There’s a bit of an overpopulation of a certain type of animal that we would like to be eradicated. It’s not a very large population, but the varmints are a nuisance nonetheless.”

It was an enticing offer, but The Lich still had to think about it, which meant he had to try and mumble to himself as quietly as possible. While it may have seemed a bit counter intuitive to use his strength to earn a place to stay while he was supposed to be resting, he could avoid over exerting himself too much, which could happen if he were to stay anywhere else, not to mention that it would resolve his “safe place to rest at” problem. Even though the offer was alluring, it still upsetted him that he was going to help someone who seemed perfectly capable of doing it themselves.

The Lich shrugged off the insult to his morals, after all if he was too annoyed by the end of his resting period, he could just kill him.

“So… If I kill off this populace of creatures, you’ll let me rest for however long I want at a safe place, correct?”

“Yep, as long as you kill all of them, then my group and I will give you a place to rest for as long as you desire,” the man reassured him.

“Hmm… Alright, deal.”