SJ was on the corner of the street against a storefront near the Emperor’s Arms Inn. The inn looked like many others; the only significant difference was the signs that stood on the street side showing the names and faces of artists who were due to perform there. SJ had walked up and down the street initially before she had taken her spot at a street corner. She was sitting leaning against the wall of a building, having put on her cloak. It was wrapped tightly around her, hiding her appearance from those moving down the street, having switched her dress style to one of a more dishevelled appearance. The transmogrification ability was a fantastic perk.
Where she now sat with her knees pulled up and her cloak wrapped around, her made her look like any other beggar she had seen on the streets of Asterfal. Her head was down, and she wasn’t worried about being able to look in the direction of the inn with her amended vision that Dave had given her. SJ was still unsure how the coding adjustment had allowed for her neural pathways to be adjusted and, in particular, allowed her the ability to see 360 degrees. She still only had her eyes that faced forward.
“It’s just coding,” Dave said in response to her thoughts. “I can’t explain it any other way.”
‘If you can amend the coding that has allowed my vision to be altered, does that mean further amendments could change other fundamental aspects?’
“Such as?”
‘If the coding adjustments altered my vision, could they also alter me in other biological ways?’
“I doubt it would ever allow for your race to change.”
‘I wasn’t thinking about that; I was thinking more about increases in my attributes.’
“Umm. I hadn’t thought about it, but with your already significant boost, you get per level. I doubt I would ever be able to alter the fundamental levelling building blocks. Then again, I never expected to get this far on breaking the code locks.”
‘Our synchronisation continues to increase, and if you have access to so much more system information, could I not have access to it in time?’
“I really don’t know. It is an unknown. I never would have thought I could have adjusted your vision the way I did.”
There were still so many unknowns in Amathera, and at the same time, she had so much to do. Her life was anything but boring. The friendships and relationships she had built, the increases in her levels, although presently on hold, and the uncertainty brought by the fae and what was beginning to look more like a battle of wills between gods. Then, her role as an ambassador, as well as being granted quests, could ultimately lead to assassination jobs from the chancellor of the largest city in the southern region of the continent. Never mind the complexity of everyday life.
She had so much more to learn and understand. Her time in Amathera had been so short. Considering that she could also live for thousands of years, she basically had time to do anything she wished.
“Move it, scum,” an unfriendly voice snarled.
SJ had been so busy with her musings that she hadn’t noticed the building owner where she was propped leave his store. The building she leaned against looked like a tanner or similar, and the broad-shouldered dwarf didn’t look pleased that she had perched outside his store.
SJ didn’t look up, not wishing to show her face, and didn’t respond.
“I said move it,” the dwarf said as he kicked out towards her.
SJ saw his boot coming before it struck her, and she braced her arm with the subtlest movement, absorbing the weak strike. The dwarf’s foot hit SJ’s tensed arm, and it stopped dead. She saw the fleeting frown of surprise appear on the dwarf’s face as his kick had no effect. It hadn’t been violent or particularly powerful, but he had expected a reaction. Lifting his foot again, he went to kick her a second time, this time with more force.
“Sorry. I didn’t realise you were talking to me,” SJ said, not looking up, as he lifted his foot.
“Move it. I don’t need your type hanging around outside my store.”
SJ’s cloak was hiding her completely, and before she thought anything more about it, she changed her dress.
“I am not sure what you mean by my kind?” SJ said as she climbed to her feet, allowing her cloak to open. Her dress was now a deep blue and perfectly cut in the style of Asterfal fashion.
The dwarf’s jaw dropped as he looked at her. She still had the hood around her face, hiding her hair, but her beautiful features were now visible as she stared at the dwarf.
“I’m so...sorry,” the dwarf stammered, completely taken aback by her appearance. “I thought you were a beggar.”
“Even if I was, do you think it appropriate to kick them?” SJ asked, smiling but knowing her smile didn’t reach her eyes.
“Erm...” the dwarf, now uncertain of what to say.
Since her spot had been revealed, SJ decided there was no point in just observing the inn anymore and instead walked towards it. The stunned and confused dwarf stared at her. She watched him shake his head from side to side behind her, baffled by the interaction, before he turned and walked back into his store.
SJ kept her hood up as she entered the inn, walking directly to the bar.
“Can I get a honey wine, please?” SJ asked, not looking at the barmaid.
The barmaid didn’t respond; she just turned and poured a glass of honey wine before placing it in front of her. “Three coppers,” the goblin said.
SJ dropped three coppers onto the bar before moving and taking a seat by the window. At the far end of the bar was the stage area, which was currently empty. It didn’t take SJ long to realise that it wasn’t just an inn that housed music. Next to the main bar was a set of stairs, and as SJ sat there, she observed several patrons entering and going straight upstairs. She was just finishing her glass of wine when two large bullish, looking orcs appeared at the top of the stairs a tall slim elf between them. One orc headed down, followed by the elf, and the second orc followed with his hand resting on the elf’s shoulder.
“The boss says you have until next week to pay your debt,” one of the orcs said as they escorted the elf to the bar entrance. The elf looked dejected and downtrodden.
SJ finished her drink and stood, leaving the inn and following the elf as he walked down the street further into District 10. Once they were a decent distance from the inn, she sped up and approached him.
“Excuse me?”
The elf turned his head, glancing at her. His eyes flared as he looked at SJ, who, this time, was smiling broadly, and it reached her eyes. Her Charisma on full display.
“Hello. How may I help you, miss?” the elf said.
“I was hoping you could help me. I am looking for some information, and I noticed you leaving the Emperor’s Arms.”
The elf frowned deeply. “And what of it?” his tone had immediately changed to one of anger.
“I just wondered why the orcs threatened you when you left?”
“I owe a debt. It’s that simple.”
“What is your debt for?”
“What do you think?” the elf confused by her statement.
“I have no idea.”
“I borrowed coin, and the damn witch Olivia who ran the table cheated.”
The name Olivia immediately piqued SJ’s interest. “Oh. There is gambling there?”
The elf frowned again. “You aren’t from this district, are you?”
“No. I am visiting a friend. I only went to the bar because I heard they have music.”
“They do in the evenings, not during the daytime. It also has a gambling den upstairs.”
“I had no idea. Do you mind if I ask how much your debt is?”
“Why would you want to know that?”
“Maybe I can help you if you can help me.”
“With what?”
“Introduce me, get me in on the game. I like a good game of cards.”
“Are you seriously trying to torture me?” Dave suddenly chided.
‘If it’s a way in, it’s a way in,’ SJ thought in response.
The elf scoffed before he responded. “Unless you have twelve silver to spare, then no, you can’t help.”
“That’s doable. If I clear your debt, will you introduce me?”
The elf stood for several moments, looking at her before he shook his head. “If you clear my debt, then I will introduce you.”
“What’s your name?” SJ asked.
“Ulyian.”
“Sarai,” SJ replied, offering her hand. She didn’t want to use her name. Since she was an ambassador with an unusual name, it was probably not the best introduction to make to people when she was looking at completing assassination jobs. “Let us go back, and I will cover your debt.”
The elf didn’t look like he was usually short of money. His clothes were clean and smart. After considering her offer for several moments, he replied. “Show me you have the money, and I will do it.”
The street they were on was not a main street, and there were only a few beings out along it. SJ called some silver from her inventory and held her hand out. The elf’s eyes narrowed greedily, and she could see why this elf may indeed have a problem.
“I will give you the coin once we are upstairs at the inn and not before,” SJ said as her senses started to tingle. She couldn’t see anything in her vision, but something suddenly felt off.
As the elf stepped forward, the slightest glint showed from his sleeve, and she instantly stepped backwards as the silver blade of a stiletto appeared in the elf’s hand as he thrust it towards her.
“Watch it,” Dave said.
‘Already seen,’ SJ thought.
“Why worry about when we get there? If you have silver, I can take it here,” he snarled.
SJ’s dexterity and heightened senses had saved her on more than one occasion, and as she stepped back, her claws appeared on her hands. There had been no conscious thought. It had become so natural for her. The pitch black of the claws caught the blade of the elf’s dagger between them as she thrust her fist upwards. The blade slid into the v at the weapons base. As it did, SJ twisted her wrist.
The blade snapped, falling to the street as the elf’s eyes now widened in shock. SJ triggered her identification spell as she moved her free-clawed fist, punching towards the elf’s left side.
Ulyian Weatherist
Level: 23
Class: Rogue
Hit points: 71 of 71
Mana points: 55 of 55
Armour Class: 15
Attacks: Dagger
Special: Stab, Slash
Weaknesses: Nil
SJ knew that if she hit the elf, she could kill him easily; her minimum damage was 81-83 with her claws. He wasn’t wearing any armour and didn’t appear to be wearing any jewellery or amulets that may offer him any extra protection her basic spell didn’t detect. His armour class and the physics of combat may adjust the initial damage enough that he didn’t die from a single blow, but he had not been expecting her response, believing he had taken her by surprise.
The blades of her claws easily pierced through the elf’s upper left arm. A grunt of pain left the elf as he dropped the now useless blade and stepped back from her blades, reaching his free hand up to the freshly punctured holes leaking blood onto his jacket. SJ hadn’t struck to kill. If she had, she would have aimed for his chest instead of aiming to wound rather than kill outright.
“How did you?” the elf’s face grimaced in anger and pain.
“I could have killed you where you stood if I had wished. I didn’t wish to kill you, so you are still alive. Why did you try and steal what I had offered?” she shook her head. Her stance was not threatening but casual, her claws held at her sides now. Ulyian glanced at the black blades and down at his broken dagger blade on the street.
“Why would a stranger offer me silver? You think I was going to fall for a trick from a charlatan? You are not the first to follow someone from the inn and try and steal their winnings.”
A look of confusion spread over SJ’s face. “Hang on. I told you I had seen you in the inn and asked you about your debt, yet you still believed that I may just be trying to rob you? Are you for real? I heard the orc say you had a week to pay your debt back. Isn’t it pretty obvious that you don’t have a coin on you now, or else the orcs would have taken it? You really aren’t the smartest being, are you?”
Blood had continued to seep through the elf’s fingers where he had clamped his hand. The wound to the elf’s upper arm wasn’t life-threatening, but it had done a serious amount of damage, rendering his arm useless. He would require healing to get functionality back in it again.
Ulyian responded eventually, his expression now one of surprise.
“So, you weren’t going to try and rob me?”
SJ rolled her eyes in dismay.
“You haven’t picked the sharpest knife in the drawer there. Have you?” Dave said.
“If I was going to rob you. Do you think I would have struck up a conversation about paying your debt off? Which I had just heard about, knowing that you had a debt and unlikely to have a coin on you?”
After several longer moments, Ulyian said. “I suppose not.”
Closing her eyes, SJ let out a deep sigh and returned her claws to her inventory. If she needed to finish this elf off, she could easily do it barehanded. He was in no fit state to try and fight again.
“Where are the closest healers?” SJ asked.
“There is one a street over. Why?”
“So, we can get you healed, and then you can take me back to the inn and introduce me, and I can pay your debt off.”
SJ followed the elf as he continued down the street. Their interaction had drawn no attention. The fact that a fight had started, and blades drawn, yet no one had reacted, told SJ that beings in this district were either used to seeing it or stayed away from any problems for their safety.
It didn’t take long to reach the small chapel. Its wooden frame was crammed between two buildings. Its narrow frontage only allowed for a single-door entry, with a narrow window on each side. Ulyian entered the building, SJ following. The inside of the chapel was dark, with interspersed hooded candles lighting the single row of pews that filled its small interior. A being wearing off colour white robes stood by the altar at the end of the narrow space. This was the first chapel SJ had entered outside of Killic, and it was a poor and shabby affair. There were no statues of gods or really anything that gave the grandeur and feel of the church in Killic.
“Cleric?” Ulyian called as he approached the altar.
The being that stood took SJ by surprise. It was old. Very old. It looked human, but its skin was so wrinkled and shrunken that its appearance was more like that of a shrivelled prune. He had long white hair thinning on top, and his robes, although with the emblem of the order SJ had seen, were filthy and tattered.
“What do you need?” a dry, ancient voice replied.
“Healing father. I have been wounded.”
The human SJ eventually worked out and looked at them both. Only one of his eyes was bright; the other was dull and lifeless. After looking at the elf for a moment, the cleric replied.
“Lesser healing will be 50 copper, normal will cost a silver, and anything else will be extra.”
SJ immediately removed a silver from her inventory and handed it to the cleric. Ulyian didn’t even have time to react. SJ knew the damage she had caused and knew that a basic healing spell wouldn’t repair what her blades had done.
“Thank you, dear,” the cleric said as he lifted his hand. He placed it on the elf’s arm and began to chant an incantation. A white light began to envelop the elf’s arm, and after several moments, the cleric removed his hand.
“It is part healed. If you wish for it to be fully healed, it would require a further spell.”
SJ identified Ulyian. His health was still down by twelve hit points. The spell, having healed nearly thirty hit points. SJ knew that her original strike had hit for thirty-nine damage, even in its reduced and controlled strike.
“Here. Do it again,” SJ said, handing over another silver.
“As you wish,” the cleric replied before he repeated the same exercise.
“It’s done,” the cleric said as he removed his hand again.
“Thank you, Father,” Ulyian said.
The cleric shrugged and turned away again, retaking his place kneeling at the altar.
As they walked back from the chapel, SJ spoke to Dave.
‘Are all chapels like this?’ she thought.
“Most clerics work in order to make money. Few are as dedicated to the order as you have met so far. The order is like a guild for the clerics. Although they are members, how they operate is up to them in many instances. Petunia, Wystria and Lythonian, for example, could be classed as high-level guild leaders in the simplest terms.”
‘I suppose I had never thought of it before. I assumed it was as churches back on Earth.’
“They are in most parts, but these healing chapels are dotted around many of the larger cities. They aren’t what would be classed as official order properties. The state of that cleric, I am surprised he could still stand.”
‘He did look a little ancient,’ SJ agreed.
“Ulyian. Now you are healed, I think you need to go and change your top, and then we can go back to the inn. Do you agree?”
“I do, and thank you for paying for my healing.”
“I caused the damage; therefore, it is only fair I pay for it.”
“I live just down here,” Ulyian said as he turned down another street.
