Heroes burned brightly. Evil seemed to live forever. I couldn’t remember the last time I had seen or spoken to Frank Jurgett, the mad alchemist, but I was only marginally surprised to see that he persisted. If there was one golden nugget of information I passed on to those who learned under or beside me - it was how to stay living against those who wanted you dead.

Intelligent, but any growth or potential was wasted when he caught the glimpse of something great, yet out of his reach. They say that insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Frank had gone crazed in trying to repeat the same experiments over and over, but getting no closer to whatever he sought.

“We’ll see you bright and early then? Location is about half a day away, and I don’t particularly like fighting at night.” Florence shrugged with a raised eyebrow.

“Certainly,” I nodded. “That sounds like a good idea.” Personally, I would rather go now, darkness or not - it’s not like it affected me that much. The daytime did make me marginally weaker, but the [Human Mask] at least lessened the pain, so I didn’t burn up in daylight.

However, that could be why Basil had chosen this area - the constant drab cloud and rainfall were the perfect way to ease my weakened form by pretending to be a normal human.

“Great, we are staying here, but there’s an inn just down the road,” she pointed to the East, but the Ranger behind her gestured to a slightly more accurate direction.

“Thank you, Florence. I hope you and Jakob rest well. There will be a lot of… conflict tomorrow.”

She frowned but just nodded at my jilted response. Of course, I couldn’t let them know I was familiar with the target. I knew some of his quirks and abilities. Knew his favorite month and alchemical ingredient too. Would he still know me?

“Shall we then, Victor?” Basil gently nudged me as I caught myself staring off at the noticeboard. “No rest for the wicked.”

Whether he was playing the part of the hopeful Cleric or was just having a little fun in his new freedom, it didn’t matter too much. He could use a little break from waiting on me hand and foot. If anything, this was a little bit of the life I wish he would have taken when I tried to send him away. Woodsworth wasn’t even a bad person, despite serving me.

I nodded my goodbyes to the two new Party members and headed for the door. Grey skies and a brisk breeze immediately met me, and ruffled at the edges of my shirt. I had the foresight… no, Basil had the foresight to bring a little gold along with us. Armour and lodging would be required, and as much as this was a fresh start, it was a little beneath me to be grinding up goblins or boars for meagre money. Sure, I was skipping the queue, but I thought of it as a boon for having lived for centuries already.

We walked through the town as light rain began to fall, sending the ambling townspeople scrabbling a little quicker for shelter. I quite liked the rain, on occasion. It had a certain dramatic taste to it, perfect for a rooftop duel to the death or crying over your loved one's slain body. All things checked off on my prior to-do list.

“This looks like the place, Victor.” Basil gestured with a nod towards the sign flapping gently in the breeze. Above the windows aglow with lantern light and shifting shadows of the patrons within, the square of darkened wood was emblazoned with the name of the establishment; Copper Pot. The image of a teakettle in tarnished copper sat beneath the text. In the corner of one of the windows, a small sign announced ‘room to let’.

I pushed open the doorway and immediately the warmth hit me. A log fire burned away in one end of the inn, with sixteen tables and fifty-seven chairs, a third of which were occupied, taking up most of the floor space. A doorway leading to stairs ran next to the long wooden bar, where a dwarven barkeep chatted with one of the men sitting nearby; his eye gave me a quick glance before he said his short farewells.

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“What can I do you two lads fer?” He wrinkled up his face as if he could sense something about me was odd. Perhaps I was projecting that onto him as I had drank dwarf blood this morning.

“Looking for a room to rent for the night, and any information you have going spare.” I gave him a polite smile and tried not to look as though I was intentionally towering over him.

“That’ll cost yer some gold.” He grinned.

“How much will ten get me?” I worked my jaw in slight concern; I hadn’t kept up with the local economy in quite some time. It was hard to know if you were over or underpaying when you could just take everything you wanted by force.

“Enough for what I have,” his dark amber eyes twinkled as I shuffled the money from a pouch across the wooden bar.

“Yer look like prospective adventurers, and probably ain’t thick as pigshit - so I’ll say watch out for the Helgen Woods. Been some rumors of some big ass Rank C beast tearing the cocks off anything passing through.”

I furrowed my brow. “Figuratively?”

“Nay, well… tore the rest of them apart too, yer can be sure of that. Just left the bodies around, didnae even eat them or rob them.” The dwarf spat behind the bar. I hoped into some kind of spittoon.

“Well, your warning is appreciated.” I gave Basil a nod to keep a tab on that. Rank C was way above our current pay grade, but it was a lead to something to tag in the future.

The barkeep slid a key across the wooden counter. “Room three. Sign out is at eleven in the morn.”

“My thanks - do you serve food or just alcohol?” My eyes glazed over as I looked around the room idly. I already knew the answer.

“Just alcohol; our cook Ellie is off sick.” He gave a shrug and took a cloth to start cleaning a dirty mug. “Apologies.”

“No problem at all, thanks again.” Being polite was starting to wear down my emotional chalk. It had been a long time since I had been in the presence of so many blood sacks without going feral or having some nefarious scheme up my sleeves. This was so pedestrian and tiring.

Basil followed me up the short staircase into a dimly lit corridor. Now this was more like it. From the scant lighting, it looked as though the beige walls were decorated with the occasional painting. I considered myself an expert when it came to the arts, and these were reasonable. Certainly, the artist knew what they were doing, even if they were somewhat amatuer. Each one captured a different vista from the surrounding area - trees, a small lake, and a couple of different views of the town. They were enthralling in a way, and I hoped to meet the artist one day to thank them for their efforts.

Unless they were already dead.

Room three was easy enough to find after my short venture through the impromptu gallery. Upon unlocking the door we were greeted by a small room with two seperate single beds, a chest of drawers, a wardrobe, and a small writing table and chair. All in the same muted wood that the town was largely comprised of. The bedding looked clean enough, although I wasn’t sure if the slightly off-white color was due to age or just an ill-thought-out idea.

“If you would like to rest for the day, Sire, I will go out and complete our errands.” Basil stood awkwardly by the door as I sat on the edge of one of the beds.

“Victor,” I reminded him, “even in private. If you are certain you would not like me to accompany you?”

“It will just be to pick up food and some supplies for the adventure. Do you have any requests, Victor?”

I furrowed my brow in thought. “Some meat, and some armour would be nice. Something basic, though, okay?”

“Of course,” he gave a slight bow before correcting himself. “I will return shortly.”

He left and closed the door behind him, and I was alone. Well, I could hear the sound of the tavern patrons vibrating through the floor. This was a little time to decompress, though. I laid back on the bed, and while it wasn’t as comfortable as my own back home, it was certainly not the worst I had slept on in my time.

Tomorrow I would join up with two humans and go kill an old aquaintance. It almost seemed unreal, like the true weight of my decisions hadn’t landed yet. How long could I avoid them for? If death came for me in my weakened state, then perhaps I had finally earned the final rest. Imagine having everything you wanted, all the power and wealth and social control - and just giving it all up.

Well, not all things, I remembered as I shifted the sword from my back. Now the bed was much more comfortable. I knew what I was doing. In the search of living again, I was staring death in the face and daring it to intervene.

If my true identity became revealed, there would be Hunters and Villains alike out for my blood - and being without a Rank it should be a short trip into a coffin for me. One that I didn’t usually sleep in. Where was the fun in being unknown though? What if I could become an S Rank hero - then reveal myself, that would be the greatest trick of all, surely. To get to that point, the people I would have to befriend, and the monsters I would have to kill…

I started to become slightly nervous about what information Basil had put on those forms.