I whipped the dagger out of my bag, pulling it from its sheath as I ran towards the group. I wanted to stand alongside the Adventurers and form a defensive line. My own team wasn’t here, and I didn’t know what these Adventurers could do, but I’d have to make the most of this on my own without getting in their way. Protecting the civilians took priority.

The monster charged at the group, both arms crossed in front of its body, its fists clenched tight. The ground beneath me seemed to shake from the power of the monster’s heavy footfalls. The vibrations caused me to hesitate, and I couldn’t help but stop in my tracks. I focused on my breathing, willing myself to move.

As one, the Adventurers leapt into action. The man with the rapier and the woman with the staff jumped right, and the other two men jumped left. The Satyr stood his ground against the charge, digging his hooves deep enough the pavement to leave marks as he raised his arms. He was an imposing figure, his stance wide with powerful, muscled limbs. His physique stood in stark contrast to his child-like face, covered with freckles and framed by a thick head of curly light brown hair. He wore a dirt brown shirt covered with leaf green overalls, an outfit that reminded me more of a [Farmer] or [Gardener] than an Adventurer.

“[Stand Behind Me!] [Brace!]” the Satyr yelled, power reverberating in every syllable of the Skills. His body became still and rigid, as solid and unyielding as a fortress. The monster raised their meaty arms, both as thick as battering rams, slamming forward into the Satyr. It barreled into him, and I expected the Satyr to be crushed underfoot from the force of the charge like the Watch before him.

I wasn’t even close to the pair, but I could feel the force of the impact through the pavement. The Satyr was pushed back, his hooves leaving shallow gouges in the pavement. Yet he did not fall. Someone in the crowd of people still nearby yelled something forceful. I couldn’t make out the words over the noise. I wasn’t sure if that was the fault of the monster’s roar, the cracking of concrete, or the blood rushing through my ears.

My legs felt heavy. I tried to will myself to move, to help. My trembling leg inched forward, but the movement wasn’t enough. I couldn’t force myself to walk towards the monster. I tried to rationalise my way through the feelings in my heart and mind. I wanted to help, but a part of me cried out, telling me I shouldn’t. Was it fear? Or was it my preservation instincts kicking in? I wanted to fight, but the mere thought made my stomach drop.

It didn’t matter. I took a deep breath, balling up my fears and anxieties. With an exhale, I felt my worries wash away with the help of my [Silent Heart]. The pit in my stomach was forced away, even if my mind recoiled at the idea of fighting.

Still, I had to help. I couldn’t just stand here and do nothing. With trepidation building within me, I forced myself to move. I took a step forward, lifting one foot from the ground. After that first step, the rest came naturally. I ran at the monster, hearing more shouting far behind me. Shouts of alarm and worry. I drowned it out as I ran up next to the pair locked in a grapple, feeling like a mouse standing next to a pair of mountains. I swung my dagger down, jabbing it into the monster’s side.

Unlike the flesh of the living, the monster’s body was cold and clammy. My blade caught on the tough, thick flesh, and the cut was far from clean. I hadn’t expected there to be so much resistance. My dagger had gone much deeper in than I’d expected, but I couldn’t swing it down or pull it out. After a single, futile attempt to pry it free with a tug, I knew it was stuck. The blade was in deep, caught in the unyielding muscles beyond the flesh. I saw no blood spill from the body, as though it were nothing but an empty husk. My clenched hand released the blade as I raised my gauntlet, the Dragon’s head rune on the palm beginning to glow. I felt heat building in my hand as magic flowed through it and into the metal.

The monster turned its head, looking away from the Satyr it was locked in conflict with and down towards me. I could feel the difference in size and strength, just from the way it looked down on me. I saw anger in the monster’s eyes, an anger that tore any sense of confidence I had in my attack away from me. The heat in my hand dissipated as the Satyr shouted something I didn’t hear. I jumped back and away, abandoning the dagger, leaving it trapped in the wound. I anticipated a swing of its arms that never came. The monster was too focused on the Satyr and the man he was working to protect. It didn’t even bother to attack me.

The Satyr’s hairy fingers clenched the monster’s arms, biting down into the flesh. His legs were spread as he widened his stance. The ground beneath the Satyr cracked as he forged ahead. In one forceful movement he twisted to the side, shifting his entire body in one smooth motion. The monster’s eyes widened in pure shock as his feet lost traction on the concrete. His massive frame was lifted completely off the ground. The Satyr shifted his weight once again, turning as he brought his arms down in an arc, swinging the pale blue monster down onto the cobblestone street, sending cracks rippling out along the ground from the impact.

I raised an arm to block bits of dust and shrapnel from striking my face as the ground beneath the beast broke. From that action alone, I missed the next attack of the battle.

The Satyr jumped back, his arms trembling. Two of the Adventurers dashed forward as soon as the opening appeared. When I lowered my arm, I only saw one of them.

The older Human man with the tidy beard and green rapier was on the offensive, his arms a blur. The sound of his blade cutting through air was like a hurricane in my ears. The other Human that had jumped with him had vanished.

The man with the rapier began to engage in combat with the monster, swinging his blade while cleaving flesh. He was a middle aged Human, judging by the hard lines etched on his face, even if his movements argued against that assessment. His fluid, practiced attacks and obvious strength betrayed any preconceived notions I had about his age. His black hair and beard were cut short and tight, smoothed back against his head. His loose metal armor hung over thick leather clothes, covering his shoulders and vitals. Each piece of metal was covered by a dark blue shell, pieces taken from a beast I couldn’t identify.

“[Shadow Varnish!]” he boomed. The man’s shadow curled and distorted, moving against the laws of physics as it seemed to peel off the ground. The shadowy silhouette of his own form rose off the ground, still mimicking the motions of the man as it did so, even if all it struck was air. The rapier it held folded around the real one, creating a black coating that darkened the emerald green of the blade. The shadow around it unfurled as the weapon seemed to expand in size, becoming longer, wider and sharper.

The blade became a smoky trail as every swing created a black, misty afterimage. My eyes could barely track weapon’s motion. It was only after I focused on the blade as a piece of metal that my [Honed Vision] forced my eyes to keep up. Slashes opened up across the monster’s arms and legs, parting the skin despite the lack of blood. They were clean strikes, executed with a surgical precision I’d never seen before. Watching the Adventurer in action, I could see just how much of a difference there was between this and my own clumsy attack. The difference between an artisan and an amateur.

It was only after focusing with my [Honed Vision] that I caught sight of the second Human.

While only the arms of the old rapier user were blurred, the man with the daggers was nearly invisible. I caught flashes of his blades as they entered my vision, popping out from behind his black scarf as it whipped in the wind. In the haze of motion, I saw loose black clothing, light and sleek. Knives hung from his waist, moving fluidly like chimes in the wind without getting caught on his clothes. For just a moment, I spotted mop of spiky dark orange hair.

The monster swung for him, but couldn’t keep up against the Human’s relentless assault. The cuts were shallow, but they were building up quickly. Slash after slash found their mark, opening holes in his arms, face and chest.

I could feel my eyes begin to water from the strain of overwork as I blinked tears from my vision. The monster was beginning to swap targets. Giving up on the man with the daggers, it reached for the older Human. The man stopped swinging, pulling his blade away for a moment to jump backwards out of its reach. The monster lunged, putting its full force into chasing the Human, arms extended. I saw a flash of black, and a blue forearm was sent soaring through the air. My eyes were locked on it, and I was stunned into inaction. Again.

Was there anything I could do here? The scope of the fight in front of me was such that I didn’t know if I could even help without getting in the way. My dagger couldn’t put a scratch in it compared to what the other two were doing. Was there anything I could do to support them instead?

I watched, mouth agape, as the fleshy stump began to bulge and expand. The flesh writhed with an explosive fervor as more and more flesh appeared from within the remains of the limb. The arm regrew, and the monster swung the newly formed limb forward, striking the chest of the man with the rapier. He soared backwards, crashing into a wooden market stall.

The front of the stall broke as the sound of cracking wood and an audible gasp of pain filled the air. My eyes shot around as they instinctively focused on the bits of jewelry and metal spilling out onto the pavement. Bronze. Silver. Gold. Tin. Steel. Iron. Brass- The rapid motion hurt my eyes, and I forced myself not to focus on the trinkets as the Skill was disabled.

I took a deep breath and centered myself.

What could I do here?

I couldn’t fight that monster. I’d already seen what it could do to people far stronger and more experienced than me. I wasn’t strong enough to leave a lasting injury on it, and the cuts the Adventurers had left were already beginning to regenerate.

Was there any way I could support the Adventurers? If I used my grappling hook, I could try pulling one of them out of the way of an incoming attack. No. I had no way of communicating that to the Adventurers, not without the monster catching on. In a bad scenario, I could catch the Adventurers off guard, impeding or injuring them, and the last thing I wanted to do was hold them back. Besides, the man with the dagger was fast enough that my hook wouldn’t keep up, and I didn’t have the arm strength to pull either of them around like rag dolls like the monster might have, either.

That was another option gone, crossed off my mental list. I couldn’t fight, and I couldn’t help them evade.

Even if I couldn’t fight, that didn’t mean I couldn’t do anything to help.

I turned, running to the right as the Satyr rushed in to grapple with the monster. I could still help. From behind me, a metallic bang rang out. I turned my head in alarm, my eyes automatically locking on to a full set of steel plate armor. The youngest Human of the group, the one with the greatsword, was launched by a punch from the monster’s arm. He flew, landing hard on the pavement with a resounding cracking sound and the screeching of metal on stone. He didn’t get back up.

I kept going, running towards the lanky man the monster had first roared at. I couldn’t fight the monster, or even slow it down, but at least I could help the man get to safety. The fight was in the middle of a public area. If we could lure it out to the forest, the Adventurers wouldn’t have to worry about harming civilians or causing property damage. Without fail, I found him.

He was slouched next to a stall, leaning on it for support as his chest heaved with heavy breaths. His expression was still, as stoic and lifeless as a corpse. It wasn’t what I expected a Human expression to be like in a situation like this. His breathing and trembling limbs told me he was frightened despite his unfazed expression.

“Are you injured?” I yelled, raising my voice to be heard over the crashing and shouting behind me.

“No. I’m not,” he responded, with a shake of his head. His voice was just as calm as his face. If not for his body revealing his true feelings, I would have thought the man to be fearless. I extended my hand, still covered by my gauntlet. He took the support, clasping it without hesitation.

I pulled the man away from the stall. He stumbled for a moment, but I held his side to support him. He didn’t seem injured from what I could tell, but he was shell shocked. His eyes were firmly fixed on the monster as it finally swatted the blurring Human with the daggers out of the air. Had it always been able to see through the movements, or was it beginning to adapt?

“[Heartpulse!]” I heard a woman shout.

My eyes scanned the wounded market. I saw several members of the Watch, injured. The female Adventurer was sending pulses of light through the ground. She was younger than the old rapier user, but not a young woman herself. Her hair was waist length, a bright, cheery pink. She wore thick mage’s robes and a wide-brimmed hat one might expect a [Witch] to wear. It was all cast in a pure white colour. She carried a long staff, carved from wood, with a blue-purple glowing crystal nested at the top, surrounded on either side by a pair of white wings that curled up from the wood. I recognised what the crystal was in an instant. Selarium.

She was one of the Adventurers, and although I had to divert some of my focus to keep the man next to me upright, I was transfixed by the sight. The pulses she created travelled in all directions outwards from her, washing over the cobblestone, and the [Guardsmen]. Waves of hot pink light shot up along their bodies. Everywhere the light touched, wounds began to heal. Bumps smoothed out, bruises returned to a normal shade and cuts knit themselves closed.

The woman seemed focused on her task, spreading the light all throughout the market. The pulses pushed outwards from the bottom of her staff. She tapped the ground at a pleasant, rhythmic pace, one that reminded me of a heartbeat. Every measured tap sent a wave of light flowing over the ground. Watching it brought a feeling of calm, like standing in a field of grass swaying in a summer breeze. I watched as a pulse washed over the Adventurer in full plate who’d been knocked across the market. He snapped awake, his eyes wild as he frantically looked side to side. Strangely, the pulses avoided a spot on his upper arm, as though the light was making a conscious decision to not heal that spot. That, or it couldn’t. I thought it was strange, but filed the tidbit away for later.

The pulses travelled further, coating the wounded members of the Watch. It touched every living thing in the area, healing wounds big and small. I noted that some wounds were avoided, the light travelling around some injuries, but those were few and far between. The one exception to these pulses was the monster. At the rate it was regenerating on it’s own, it wasn’t missing out.

“You have to leave,” I said, forcing myself from my stupor. My expression turned hard as I turned to look towards the man, refocusing on my task. If he was the monster’s target, getting him away from the public square was key to minimising damage. This was my job. This was what I could do to help.

He didn’t even look in my direction when he spoke back to me, an act that irritated me as much as it unnerved me. He licked his lips, shaking his head ever so slightly. “I can’t,” he whispered, his tone haunted and hollow in a way his expression didn’t betray.

The lanky Human wasn’t going to leave willingly. I didn’t have the strength to easily force him, either. He looked scrawny, but trying to drag him away by force wasn’t going to be worthwhile, especially if it attracted the attention of the monster. If it charged me, I’d have to abandon the Human, which would only lead to further casualties.

I had to focus on what I could do.

Most of the civilians had ran, although some were watching the fight from a distance. The expressions they wore stopped me in my tracks. Awe was a common emotion to feel at such a display of strength and skill, but some wore looks of outright excitement. Others had curiosity and anticipation written on their faces.

I struggled to make sense of it. This monster was capable of fighting an adventuring team by itself and overpower the Watch, yet they weren’t running. Did they not feel as though they were in danger? Did they have that much faith that the Adventurers could protect them? It would be all too easy for any of them to be struck by a piece of wayward shrapnel. Was it stupidity, ignorance, or an inscrutable difference in mindset? Whatever it was, it only made me more determined to deal with the root of the problem.

I ran from the empty, listless Human, more determined than ever to make an impact.

My arms shot up towards the monster. With my gauntlet, I grabbed the metal handle at the base of my grappling hook, pulling it backwards. The mechanism flared to life as gears clicked and turned within. The three prongs snapped open with a satisfying twang before firing right at the monster, the metal wire trailing behind it. The hook snapped shut around the thing’s wrist, the prongs digging into flesh. The monster tugged its arm, but the metal wire resisted. I held firm onto the handle, determined to hold one of its arms in place. If I could distract it, even just for a bit, then I would have helped take the monster down.

Its head turned, and its eyes met mine. I felt a chill run down my spine as I took a deep breath, burying the feelings of anxiety beneath a [Silent Heart].

It ignored the man with the daggers, reaching down with the arm the hook had grabbed before picking up a chunk of wood from a broken stall. After my [Silent Heart] had passed and my careful breathing disrupted, my mind screamed at me to run.

I released my grip on the handle. The claw’s prongs loosened as the wire retracted, sending the claw flying back towards me. The monster reared back, throwing the chunk as I jumped to the side, rolling hard on the stone path. The chunk broke into splinters behind me as a few shards harmlessly struck my armor. My scales stopped me from being scraped off the path, but they wouldn’t have protected me from a direct hit like that.

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Of course that hadn’t worked either. I pushed myself back to my feet as the monster resumed fighting, defending against the Satyr’s punches and the Adventurer with the black cloaked rapier. I looked for something else I could do. I couldn’t pull it over or unbalance it with the hook either. I could barely even distract it, but there had to be something I could do. I’d gotten its attention once, but I might not get away from its next attack unscathed.

I heard the young Adventurer again, the Human with the large sword.

The last of the Adventuring team was very young in comparison to the rest. He was in his early twenties, with black shoulder length hair. His hair and beard were longer than that of the old rapier user, but seemed to be styled in a similar way, smoothed down and slicked back. Unlike the old warrior, he wore heavy looking full plate armor, a gleaming set of steel minus a helmet. It might have been the only thing that kept him alive in the wake of the monster’s strike. There was a dent in the side of it, a dent I saw the pulses of light avoid.

He was babbling, nearly to the point of being incoherent. He stood next to the pink haired woman as she sent waves of hot pink along the ground. I could barely make out the words, but I caught snippets. There wasn’t any screaming clogging the air now, only the sounds of battle. The civilians had backed off. The bulk of the sound came from the monster now, roaring as it swung at the Adventurers it couldn’t seem to put down for good, surely but steadily approaching the meek, lanky Human.

“Gold!” the man babbled. For a moment, I wondered if a sense of greed had overcome him, or if he was talking to his ally about the reward they would get for putting the monster down. I felt an indignant fire fanning to life within me, but the woman seemed confused.

“Its weakness is gold, Sarah!” he continued. The woman’s expression betrayed her concern, as though she were worried the man was concussed. Despite her worries, I caught the implication. I knew that some creatures had weaknesses to certain substances. Those afflicted by lycanthropy were burned by silver. Cold iron was said to ward away the Fae. I’d never encountered either, but I’d learned both from my books. Everything had some type of weakness, even if it wasn’t so overt in many cases. No man nor monster was ever invincible.

I didn’t know if the Human’s words were true. He could be mistaken or confused, but it gave me a goal I could latch onto. I couldn’t hurt, damage or even reliably distract the monster, but I could help those with more experience kill it. My job was to support them.

Feeling more sure of myself than I had in this whole encounter, I ran up to the pair of Humans, bringing my grappling hook up again. My eyes darted wildly, scanning the area until I found what I was looking for. This was something I could manage. My fingers wrapped around the handle. I pulled it down, letting the prongs snap open as the hook fired outwards. The claws narrowly avoided scraping off the pavement as they wrapped around my prize. I wore a shaky smile, glad I’d gotten it on the first shot. Practice makes perfect, after all, and now that practice was paying off in what I’d hoped would be a meaningful way. I let go of the handle, watching as the wire retracted. I put force into the swing of my arm, bringing it around in an arc.

“Head’s up!” I shouted in the armored Human’s direction. The man looked towards me with confusion, and then towards the heavy metal hook swinging towards him. His eyes widened in what I hoped was understanding as he extended a gloved hand, grabbing the hook out of the air. The claws popped open, allowing him to take the gold necklace from within. It had belonged to one of the jewelers here. It had been laying on the ground after the monster had smashed one of the Adventurers into a stall. I could only hope he would forgive me for taking it once I’d explained the circumstances.

Without delay, the sword-wielding Human wrapped the chain around his blade. Once the necklace was secured, the Human wasted no time in mounting an attack. He dashed at the monster with reckless abandon, yelling as he charged. The monster turned his head to glance back at the Human. For a moment, I thought he wouldn’t take much notice, yet his eyes grew wide with recognition as he saw a flicker. The telltale glint of gold in the afternoon light. I saw a hint of anxiety in the tightness of his expression, and the panicked haste in his step as he moved away. He swung at the Human, attempting to bat his blade aside.

The man used the blade as a shield, holding it in front of him. I watched, astounded, as the monster stopped his attack.

The Human was right. The monster was weak to gold.

Not wanting to touch the gold, he hesitated. In that moment, the Human saw his chance. With a wide smile, he lunged at the monster, running it through with the length of his blade. The sizzling of the monster’s stomach as it touched the gold was loud in the air, drowned out only by its roars of pain and frustration. It worked to build up the strength to push the Human away, but its arms had none of the power they’d displayed earlier.

The Human drew the blade back, and the monster took a step away. I could see the wound now, smouldering as though it had been branded or stabbed with a hot knife. The wound’s edges had been burnt black. The skin was beginning to flake away as the burnt area slowly expanded. The damage inflicted by the gold showed no signs of healing, either. Its regeneration wasn’t working on the new wounds.

Power returned to the monster as it hastily snatched a thick plank of wood from the ground. He brought it above his head, swinging it downwards in an arc to crush the armored Human. While he’d only used an attack to get distance from the Human before, this attack held the intent to kill. He was treating them as a real threat. I felt a sense of satisfaction spread through my chest.

His roar of anguish was so loud that I almost missed the words of the Satyr next to him.

“[Veins of Stone].”

The pavement clung to the Satyr’s hooves as lines of rock travelled up along his fur in thin lines. They flew up his sides, forming a spider web of thin strips down his arms and along his fingers. The skin around those veins turned a dark grey, as though his very skin was turning to stone. He grabbed the monster’s swinging arm, his nails digging into flesh once more. The monster tried in vain to back away, unable to pull free. With both hands grabbing the monster, the Satyr held firm as the Human attacked, slashing the monster over and over, cleaving through cloth, flesh and muscle.

The gold did far more damage than the blade, leaving streaks of blackened flesh in its wake. The blade was cutting deeper now, a fact made obvious when I heard the crunch of steel meeting bone. It tried to turn and run, twisting its body with such force that the arm the Satyr held began to tear away at the elbow. The Satyr’s eyes widened in alarm, but his movements seemed sluggish. Had the use of magic worn him out? With a flash of black, the Human with the rapier swung, effortlessly severing one of its legs.

It stumbled, falling to the ground. The Adventurers circled around the monster, and I knew the fight was over. There was no recovering from this.

The stump began to bubble and regenerate, a new leg crawling forth from the wound. The armored Human struck again, and the healing stopped.

The armored Human was thorough, cutting through sections of flesh and bone with an almost theatrical flourish. The wounds smouldered as segments of its body crumbled to ashes. The limbs went first, each one severed and burned closed in turn. The monster groaned defiantly, but before long, even that was burned away.

I could feel the silence build around me. The atmosphere was stagnant. The crowd was waiting for the announcement, the final declaration that the Adventurers had won and the monster had been slain. The anticipation for that fated moment hung heavy in the air, like the calm before a storm. Despite the state of the monster’s body and all the evidence that suggested otherwise, I mentally prepared myself for it to regenerate or do something that allowed it to fight back. I had to be ready, just in case.

The armored man rose to his full height, turning towards the middle aged Human with the rapier. The monster below him was nothing but a pile of ash and flecks of flesh, now. With two shaking hands, he raised the blade, aiming it towards him. For a moment, my heart sank. Had the monster possessed him? The armored man shivered, trembling as he held the weapon out. The blade was covered both with the necklace and scraps of pale blue flesh, yet not a drop of blood could be seen. The armored man looked up, and I saw his expression.

He wore a beaming smile.

Then, he spoke.

“Look, Bradley! Gold burns Dullahans! We did it!”

The smile was one of pride. The smile of one that had gotten a chance to prove themselves and come out on top. The blade wasn’t held in a combat stance, but was instead outstretched to show off the chipped necklace loosely dangling from the tip of the weapon. He wiggled the blade back and forth, as if to show off the jingling jewelry. The man with the rapier, Bradley, began to laugh.

The dam broke.

That laugh triggered a chain reaction of mirth that resounded through the entire crowd. The gathered civilians began to cheer, whistle and clap, a cacophony of noise so sudden and explosive that I recoiled and spun around in shock. I’d been expecting joy and celebration, but this was beyond what I thought would happen.

The faces of those in the crowd brought a feeling of warmth to my chest, a feeling I hadn’t been expecting. I could feel my cheeks heating up again, and I [Camouflaged] myself. After we’d beaten the monster, I didn’t want to die to embarrassment of all things right after tasting victory.

People began to rush forwards as I scampered to the sidelines, hurrying to avoid being trampled in the stampede. They crowded around the monster’s ashen remains, slowly withering away to nothing as the afternoon breeze whipped it away. Around the body stood the group of people that had stopped the monster. The five Adventurers.

A wave of noise came from the crowd, loud and discordant. Even from a distance, I heard many questions on the lips of everyone present, but one question was more common. It stuck out more to me than the others. Not because of the contents, but because the sentence itself sounded more loud and clear than all the rest.

“Hey, boy! What’s your name?”

I could see the speaker, too. It was the lanky Human, his face contorted into a beaming smile, his posture and pose radiating confidence and elation. Compared to the man I’d seen during the fight, he seemed like a completely different person.

Through the crush of people, I saw the armored man pause. He’d been in the process of sheathing his blade, but now he was frozen, watching the crowd. They were looking towards the younger man, the armored one with the greatsword.

For a moment, I felt sorry for him. While I did want to be an Adventurer, the thought of being in the middle of a riled up crowd like that horrified me. The Human responded with only a brief delay, and wore a smile that told me he would be fine. He was in his element.

“Hm? Oh, uh, it’s Dor- hrmm…”

He trailed off, glancing back towards the man I now knew to be Bradley. The aged warrior raised a quizzical eyebrow, but said nothing. With a smile, he turned back to look at the crowd, his confidence returning.

“Dori…an. Uh… yes! Dorian Derringer, Gentleman Adventurer! At your service!”

Off to the side, I saw the orange haired Human roll his eyes. The Adventurer with the daggers looked as though he were about to make a snide comment, but Bradley jostled him with an elbow. The man winced, rubbing his side where the monster had struck him. He seemed to hold back whatever he’d been about to say. The crowd shushed one another, now eager to listen.

“You all know the Heroes of Sunshower, I’m sure,” the armored man, Dorian, began. “Bradley, the Hero of Veluniel! Leo, the Hero of Trelamel! Gregor, the Hero of Bloomberg! Sarah, the Hero of Vaderwell!”

The man puffed out his chest, raising his blade high into the air, triumphant.

“And now, they have a new member among their ranks! It is my honor to introduce you all to Dorian Derringer, Gentleman Adventurer, the Hero of Addersbrook!”

My [Camouflage] fell as a weight left my shoulders. I felt a snicker leave my lips.

That was… wow. It sounded so terribly, terribly corny. Corny and goofy, sure, but charming, too.

It was a light-hearted introduction, serving to break the tension that the sudden, unexpected attack had created. I felt an overwhelming sense of relief, glad that things had worked out as well as they had. Those injured had been healed, and nobody had been damaged beyond repair. The crowd erupted into thunderous applause. They swarmed the man, hoisting him upwards as they carried him through the market. I couldn’t imagine that was easy either, with that heavy armor he was wearing.

The snicker became a chuckle, quickly turning into full-blown laughter. I couldn’t help myself! It was just so fun, to be a part of something like this! Even if I hadn’t been with the real Adventurers that had taken the monster down, I’d helped. This was what adventuring was all about, and I’d been a part of it! I’d helped to take down a monster in my own town!

After a few moments, the laughter subsided, dimming down into chuckles before fading away entirely. I glanced at the crowd with a smile on my face, no longer ashamed of the heat in my face and the redness of my cheeks. Now, there was nothing to be ashamed of. They were born from feelings of joy and pride.

I thought about the Human I’d helped. The armored Adventurer, Dorian. If he was introducing himself here, he was probably new to the Adventuring career. He’d given himself a title, too. I knew most Adventurers took ‘Epithets’ to help stand out from the crowd, but ‘Gentleman Adventurer’ was awfully wordy. My team and I were still starting out though. None of us had chosen Epithets, or had gotten enough experience to know what names would fit or what our magic would look like when it was more developed.

With the strength and endurance he had, it was evident he was still my senior. He’d taken a hit from that monster and gotten back up afterwards, even if he’d needed some help.

He was on a proper team, too. The others seemed to be far above him in skill from what I saw, but that wasn’t out of the ordinary. He might have been taking part in an apprenticeship program. If he came from down south in Azteria, that was likely. I’d been considering travelling there to seek out a team or master to apprentice myself to when I’d gathered enough coin and experience. It was a pipe dream, but one I could happily look forward to in the nebulous future.

I wanted to speak with him, even if only to learn about what he’d seen and how he’d gotten to where he was now. He was living the life I too wanted to live one day. Adventuring was something magical to me. Not in the literal sense, but an emotional one. It carried a sense of wonder and mystique that deeply fascinated me.

I knew it wasn’t an easy job, nor one constantly filled with glory and riches like in the stories. Sometimes you had to do the jobs nobody wanted to do in order to get by, like picking flowers or herbs for [Alchemists] out in the woods, or clearing out infestations of Giant Rat and Bogworms.

But that too was ‘adventuring’, even if it wasn’t glamorous. Still, there was something about it that called out to me. It wasn’t the fame or the fortune, or even the strength that levelling would give me. I couldn’t pin this mystery thing down, but I knew it was there. I hoped that someday, in that nebulous future, I’d be able to find that answer. When I began my travels, I wanted to learn what exactly it was about adventuring that I found so alluring.

If those ‘Heroes of Sunshower’ planned on staying in town, I’d seek them out. I was sure it wouldn’t be hard to track them down if they were staying at an inn. People would be asking for the story and to meet the heroes involved in putting down a monster in their own town long after the sun went down. All I’d have to do was look for the crowd. When I came back from work today, I’d visit them and chat. I added that to my mental list of priorities, hoping the armored Human would remember me.

My eyes were on them for a long time. Those mysterious, alluring Adventurers. I was snapped from my trance by a clawed hand planted on my shoulder. My head whirled around, looking at the group behind me, a hand instinctively reaching into my pouch for a dagger. When I saw who it was, my hand relaxed, falling to my side. It was a familiar group. My group. I barely registered it, but I felt my chest tighten.

“You know it’s rude to stare, right, Miss Hero? They’ll be getting enough of it with all the civs ogling them through the night. They don’t need other Adventurers eyeing them up too.”

I smiled, nodding in affirmation. There were four people in front of me.

Ragi, a thin Human teen with an easy smile, frizzy brown hair and pale bags under his eyes. He was average, as far as Humans went. No deviant traits or inherited magic. His bow and quiver were mounted snugly on his back, ready for action.

Standing next to him was a Squirrel wearing tiny leather armor, one that stood up straight by his leg. His eyes gleamed with an intelligence equal to man, one that came natural to Adepts like him. He was unarmed, but with his size, agility and magic, weapons didn’t suit him well anyway. I’d told him I could craft something suited to his size when we first met, but he declined. His name was Nat, but we’d taken to calling him Nuts. He’d protested to the nickname at first, but I suspected he secretly liked it.

The third person was new, one I didn’t recognise. Another Human male, grinning ear to ear. He had short hair and pale skin. What caught me off guard was his eyes. While his hair was an empty white, his eyes were a startling bright pink, like the Hero woman’s hair. They were a vibrant, glowing colour, unlike any I’d seen on a Human before. To be courteous, I would assume him to be Human unless he said otherwise. He wore a belt lined with daggers in sheaths. One of them was empty, devoid of a blade.

The last person was the one who’d spoken. The team leader. She was a halfblood, like I was. She wasn’t half Varani though. Far from it. Instead of hard scales, her forearms and what was visible on her legs beneath her hiking boots were covered in orange fur with black streaks. She wore a white shirt, the sleeves and base around her stomach torn. It was something I suspected she’d done deliberately. Her tail was thin and swaying with a causal ease, unlike my bulky, cumbersome one. Poking up from within the lush orange hair atop her head were a pair of animal ears, the ears of a cat. She was a half Nekari, and our team leader, Sigura.

“I couldn’t look away,” I admitted, feeling my cheeks heat up again with embarrassment. I hadn’t meant to say that, but it had slipped out before I caught it. I wasn’t a hero anyway, not like they were. I had only played a small part.

Eager to change the subject and get into gear, I looked towards the Human with the pale hair.

“Who is that? I don’t recognise them,” I asked, staring at the Human while patiently waiting for an answer. Ragi looked towards the man with an expression of sympathy. I wasn’t sure why that was, but I frowned at him.

“It’s alright,” the man responded. “I’m Dairen.”

“Day-ren?” I asked. I’d never heard the name before, and I wanted to know how it was spelled. It was better to ask now than later, and would help when I was writing notes. I could guess why he was here, with the rest of the team.

“D-A-I-R-E-N. Dairen,” he spelled. Ragi looked like he’d been about to say something, but stopped, instead raising an eyebrow. His expression was quizzical for a reason I couldn’t figure out. I nodded.

“He’s going to be joining the team as of today. I’m sure you don’t have a problem with that, right Yur?” Sigura asked, crossing her arms.

I shook my head. “No, I don’t.” I would have liked to have been told in advance, but it didn’t bother me. Having an extra pair of hands would be useful, especially if we wanted to take bigger jobs soon.

“You gonna introduce yourself sometime today? Or maybe you want to wait for sundown instead, ah?” Nuts squeaked.

My cheeks flared up again. Introductions, of course. I thought about how the others had introduced themselves when Nuts had joined us as a point of reference. It would be important to leave a positive first impression, especially if they were going to be working alongside us. Despite the feeling having died down, I still felt the lingering joy and elation of having taken part in a real battle, even if it had only been a small part. The armored Human’s words and voice had stuck with me. They gave me strength, in some small way.

I pulled a dagger from within my pouch, freeing it from the leather sheath. I looked into the blade. It was clear, cleaned and maintained to perfection. Not a single speck or chip marred its surface. In it, I stared down my reflection.

The skin of my face was like that of a Human’s. Pale, but with the slightest tinge of mottled green. My own orange-brown eyes stared back at me, the edges surrounded by red markings. Ragi had asked if it was ‘eye-shadow’ or face paint, but it was a marking I was born with. Not uncommon for Varani halfbloods, or so I’d been told.

Around my ears, deep green scales lined the edges of my face, trailing down the sides of my neck and along my shoulders. A mop of green and yellow hair stuck out from atop my head, hanging down along the top of my back and loosely over my shoulders. I was still smiling, but it was unlike the smile of a Human. ‘Unnerving’, Ragi had called it. Nuts had agreed, but Sigura didn’t seem to think so. I was certain it was because of my teeth. They were sharp and pointed, very much unlike that of the average Human. They were much easier to notice when I smiled, and right now they were on full display.

I raised an armored hand clenched around the handle of my blade, aiming it towards the sky, the evening sun glinting on the unmarred edge. I took a deep breath, washing my worries away.

When I spoke, I spoke with pride.

“I am Yuri Scalesmith! Adventuring [Tinkerer] of Addersbrook!