The journey back to Meron was much more difficult. Men, women, and even some children ran from one part of the city to the next. All of them held word about the fire. It was a bit strange. honestly, everyone had different theories about what happened and why it happened. Here I was in the middle of the chaos, knowing exactly what happened and I was doing nothing.

“They scurry like rats.” Tenebris’ cold voice interrupted my thoughts.

“I suppose you could say that. They are busy. Once more people realize what happened in that house, the information will become more valuable.”

“Why do you not tell?” Sanaa added.

“Because it isn’t my place. I already drew enough attention, and I guess that my involvement will be known soon. I doubt we managed to escape without several pairs of eyes seeing us. Besides, who or what would I say? If I joined the chaos, the real news would just be lost to the chaos.”

“Lying is more useful?” Hearing Tenebris say it like that made the whole situation seem much more “slimy”

“No, no, it’s more than right now the information should be discreet. We don’t want more chaos. I imagine the city guard will have enough work without us making it more difficult.”

“When can we hunt?” I could feel the boredom in her voice.

“Soon, we will be heading home again soon. You both shouldn’t be hungry, though. Do you want some more of the meatballs?”

“It is not food. The hunt is important.”

I nodded. I thought I understood what they were getting at. They were animals, or at least predators, so it made sense they would want to hunt for their food. I considered letting them fly out of the city to do it, but I couldn’t. There were too many risks. I wouldn’t be able to get them if they were in trouble. I also wouldn’t be able to explain to every guard not to shoot them out of the sky. “Yeah, you two will get to hunt all you want when we get back, but for now we get to enjoy paid-for food.”

The annoyance that came through our bonds made it clear what they thought of that idea. “It was a good fight,” Tenebris added.

“I suppose it was. He got away so we will face him again. I intend to make sure of it.” The rest of our journey was uneventful. When we arrived, I was in total shock. If the rest of the city was busy, then Meron’s office was beehive. Guards streamed in and out of the building so fast that I couldn’t be sure that it wasn’t the same guards repeatedly. I entered the flow of traffic and quickly found myself brought to Meron. When she saw me, she nodded and gestured me forward.

“It appears you got the job done. Though burning down the house might have been an extreme solution.”

“That was unintended. We encountered some difficulties upon entering the home and, well, we were forced to take extreme actions.”

“In that case, would you mind explaining what happened? I only know that the quest was completed.”

I nodded and recounted most of what had happened. I decided to leave out any identifying details about the person who gave me the tip. I wasn’t sure who it was, and I wasn’t interested in getting caught up in whatever political web was going through the city. I included information about the corpses and that I was worried they might still be awake. When I was done, a blinking notification light appeared in the upper right of my vision. I ignored it for now.

“I see, and I assume you won’t tell me more about this other person?” When I made no move to respond to the question, she continued. “I will leave it at that.” She stepped away from me and went over to her desk and removed a scroll. The seal on the scroll was broken and it was partially unraveled. “I have been told to extend a formal invitation for you and your accomplice to speak with the city lord.” I opened my mouth to reply, but Meron continued.

“The invitation is set for the night after the auction. I would suggest you attend. The Golden Lion is not a patient man and has a habit of going after the things he wants, regardless of the consequences. I don’t think he means you any harm, but you have a bit of reputation and from what we have pulled from the ashes, he will have many questions for you.”

I considered it, but I didn’t have much of a choice. I wasn’t ready to leave the city, which meant I couldn’t afford to offend the man. Not to mention meeting him could be useful. “Do you know if this city is built on a place of power? Or rather, do you know if the city lord is a Suzerain?”

Meron stared at me blankly for a moment before shaking her head. “I do not know what a ‘Suzerain’ is. As far as I know, the city is built on solid ground. I don’t know anything about a ‘place of power’. You may want to speak to one of the scribes or a historian to know more about the location.”

Reason number three on why I should go. If he was another Suzerain, then he might be able to help me with things. Hell, even if he isn’t, he could help me learn how to lead an actual city of my own. Or at least tell me how to not fuck it up at the beginning. “Please inform him that I will be in attendance. I will reach out to my friend and if she is willing, she will be there as well. Do you know if he will be at the auction?”

Meron shook her head. “I can’t say for sure. Only the Herald and his closer advisors know his schedule. I will deliver the message.” She reached into a pouch on her hip. She removed a small brown sack from the inside. The sack was simple and cinched at the top. She tossed it to me. “I am sure it’s not what you would expect to receive for your work, but I and some of the other guards got it together.”

I caught the sack and rolled it around in my hands. It was pretty heavy, but I assumed it was filled with more silvers and copper than gold. I considered keeping it for only a second before tossing it back. “Keep it. Next time a guard gets hurt, or someone is suffering, give it to them. I have more than enough coin at the moment and I imagine that I won’t have a hard time getting more.”

Meron grabbed the sack out of the air and an expression crossed her face. It was hard to read and was gone in an instant. I was going to ask her about it when the notification light blinked again.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

“If you need us, let us know. I will know my men and women know to help you out when and if they can.” With that, she took a seat at her desk and began to pour through another scroll, making it clear I had been dismissed. I gave her a nod before making my way out of her office and back into the flow of traffic.

“Why give back?” Sanaa asked as she sat upright on my shoulder.

“They need it more than us. Also, money is not all that important. At least not right now. Giving it back probably brought us more goodwill than keeping it would have purchased value.”

“I don’t understand.” I could feel her frustration wash through our bond.

“Sometimes there are more valuable things than money.”

“Like the hunt,” Tenebris added

I let out a low sigh before nodding my head. “I suppose that is true. At least the truth for you. For now, though, let’s head back. We need to let Zakia know what’s going on and then we need to get ready for the auction. I wonder what kind of magic items we will be able to purchase.”

With that done, we made our way back to the lodge. We met Zakia as she was leaving and, after a brief conversation; we convinced her to attend the dinner. She wasn’t thrilled about the idea, but the chance to speak to this “Golden Lion” sealed the deal. Once that was settled, we went our separate ways.

Tenebris took the air as soon as we were inside. He flew lazily around the room. After a few minutes, I stopped watching him and turned my attention to my prompts.

Congratulations! You have gained 1,100 Relationship Points with Meron! Your relationship has improved from Neutral (-100) to Friendly (+1,100)

Congratulations! You have gained 500 Relationship Points with the Guards of Afrium! Your relationship has improved from Neutral (+100) to Friendly (+1,200)

Congratulations! You have gained 500 Relationship Points with the People of Afrium! Your relationship has improved from Neutral(0) to Happy(+500)

Seeing a numerical representation of my relationships was funny. I still wasn’t sure how much I could trust that, but for now, numbers went up and it made me happy. The next notification was something I hadn’t seen in a while.

You have shown yourself to be: Trustworthy. Time and time again, you have chosen to be honest and forthright. When faced with situations when others would have lied or abandoned their agreements, you chose to keep your word. Continue down your path in order to discover your power. +3 to Charisma, Alignment increases by one stage.

Notice! You have revealed an inner truth. You are a being of good. What this means exactly can only be known by discovering yourself. For now, though, this is true. Your Alignment has increased by one stage, from Neutral(0,0) to Neutral Good(0,1). Others may react differently to you based on your Alignment. You will only find the full consequences of stepping along this path with time.

I pulled up my status screen and sure enough, my alignment had changed. I wasn’t sure what it meant exactly. Who determined that I was “Good” and what did that mean exactly? I didn’t feel differently. From what I could tell, I was the same person I had been before. I wiped away my status screen and did nothing. There wasn’t anything else for me to do. The quest was completed or as close to complete as I could right now. The auction was tomorrow night and Zakia was gone. “Do you two want to help me train?” I spoke out loud to my familiars for the first time in a while.

“Help you how?” Tenebris was the first to respond.

“Well, we could go outside and you two could let me cast magic at you. That way, you both get a chance to avoid being hit. I get to practice targeting fast-moving things.”

“Do I have to?” Tenebris’ question caught me off guard. He somehow managed to communicate a solemnity through the bond that made me freeze. I didn’t want to command my familiars. Not if I didn’t have to. The idea felt wrong. I shook my head.

“No, let’s just forget it. I can practice without aiming at either of you.” I stood up and made my way outside. “You both can come and watch though.”Tenebris flew down and joined Sanaa on my shoulders. Together, we went outside and started grinding out my skills. We spent the better part of the day working through my magic. I aimed at a path of solid stone behind the house. It couldn’t tell if the area was important, but it didn’t look like it. Either way, I decided not to use my Lumos magic on it. Lumos was arguably the most dangerous magic I had and the highest level. I cast spells in a rotation: first Spira magic, then Pyro, then repeating the sequence after a brief pause.

A few hours later, I was settling into a warm bath and reflecting on how things went. The training was effective but dull. I pulled up my notifications to review just how well it went.

Congratulations! Your skill Pyro Magic has leveled up. Pyro Magic has reached level 8 and 9. You are able to learn additional spells.

Congratulations! Your skill Spira Magic, has leveled up. Spira Magic has reached levels 2,3,4,5,6 and 7. You are able to learn additional spells.

I let out a sigh before sinking into the warm waters of the bath. I would reach level 10 in Pyro soon but I was asked nicely to stop casting spells before I could get finish that last little bit. Grinding out skill levels like that was a bit of a double-edged blade. On one hand, it was rather effective, on the other hand, it was painfully boring. I wasn’t aware that casting magic could be boring, but it could. It had been so long since I came to this world and I still wasn’t sure what the date was. I couldn’t tell time either, at least not in the local way. I could guess based on the position of the sun in the sky, but even that was morning, afternoon, late day, and night. Thankfully, I hadn’t done anything that needed me to be precise.

I need to get some method of communication as well. Not being able to call someone was irritating. The fact that people could live without it was insane. They were relying on actual letters and runners. I reviewed Tenebris and Sanaa’s stats as well. Part of me wanted to pay for one of their other abilities, but I didn’t. At the moment, I had plenty of stopping power. My spells were strong enough to let me swing with anyone at my level and even a level or two higher, which meant that I needed intelligent companions. I wasn’t sure what increasing the “Soul Bond” did exactly. I couldn’t tell if it was allowing them to communicate better or if it was giving them the ability to communicate. Since my ability didn’t make it any easier to talk to them, my guess was it was the former. There was also an increase in resistance. Becoming immune to radiant damage was a pretty cool idea. Either way, I needed more experience points, which meant I needed to get some more battles and some more quests. I wiped away the screen and finished my bath.

Once I was dressed, I went and found my familiars. They were in the middle of chasing each other through the air. Sanaa’s serpentine body allowed her to snake through the air and narrowly avoid her counterpart. Her gold and white scales clashed with the black and purple scales of her pursuer. Where Tenebris lost in agility, he made up for in power. His wings allowed him to tear through the air after her. The gusts from his wings were just enough to throw off her timing. After a moment, he managed to sink his claws into her. I was about to step in to stop them when Sanaa coiled herself around him. Much like a serpent, she wrapped his body, placing both of her mouths against his neck. I knew that they weren’t in any danger.

“What are you two doing?” I spoke out loud as the pair separated and took their positions on my shoulders.

“Hunting” Tenebris was the first to respond. Sanaa didn’t answer in words, opting to lay her head against my neck.

“I see. Well, we should get some rest. Tomorrow we will go to the auction, which means we should buy some interesting things. After that we have dinner and then we should head home. If there is anything else you two want in the city, you should let me know soon. When neither said anything, we made our way up to bed. I was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.