The First Dragon of Marble

Chapter 15

Through the window the rays of the sun hits my eyes waking me up from the brightness. I lift my neck and roll it around to relieve the stiffness from sleeping in the chair. I look to my side and see the mink woman still asleep. “I should write down what I need to get done today so I don’t waste time.” I bring out parchment and a granite stick and make a to do list.

To do

1. Buy medicine for mink. Sterilization and antibiotics
2. Buy clothes and essentials for mink.
3. Go to guild for possible promotion test.
4. Look for potential jobs.
5. Gather information on Stray Dogs

I look at the list and try to remember anything that needs to be done today. “I’d like to go to the church soon, but I’ll wait until I can bring her with me. Once she is able to recover more then I’ll start her physical therapy, so she gains muscle back.” I look over at her again and see that she is awake and looking at me. “Good morning.” I say as I stand up. She just nods her head and tries to sit up. She still lacks strength but manages to prop herself up. “I am about to head out to look for medicine for you. Do you need to use the toilet?” She looks away and nods timidly. I pick her up in a priciness carry and take her to the bathroom. I set her down so she can grab onto the counter for support. “I’ll wait outside just knock on the wall when you are down.” I walk out and wait. I decide to play with my magic and produce a water ball while combining it with other elements to see the effect. After about ten minutes I hear a knock from the bathroom. I go inside to help her back to the bed. I lay her back down and say, “I’ll go get the medicine and change your bandages when I get back.” I brush the hair that is in her face away and leave the room.

I wave to Cliff and tell him I’ll back in a few minutes. I walk to the apothecary that I purchased potions from and go inside. The shop was filled with shelves of bottles and wooden containers containing ointments. I go to the counter where the only elf I have seen in Melcox so far is writing in a ledger. He looks like any average looking human man only with long ears that go past his shoulder’s length wise. He wears glasses that makes his eyes seem bigger than they really are. I walk up to the counter and say, “Good morning, sir.” He finally looks up from his ledger and returns the greeting. “Good morning, how can I help you today?” “I am looking for antibiotics, new bandages, and sterilizing agents.” He looks at me weirdly and asks, “An-ta-bi-tics? I have never heard of such an herb nor what you mean by sterilizing agents.” I hang my head cursing the breakdown of simple commodities at times. “How is it that they know how to get modern plumbing, yet they do not know of sterilizing agents?”

I think on how to explain what I want because maybe the terms have simply changed. “I need some medicine to fight off fever and infection. That is what I meant by antibiotics. The sterilizing agents are like 100% proof alcohol or anything that cleans wounds.” The shop owner makes a face that comprehends what I am talking about and says, “Ohhhh, I understand what you are talking about now. I have a mixture of honey and garlic extract to be applied to the skin to fight off infections.” “Riiight, I forgot that honey and garlic are natural antibiotics, and they can be ingested to fight off internal infections.” After his mention of honey and garlic I remember that they had medical properties aside from seasoning food. “I’ll take some, but do you also have raw honey and garlic extract for consumption?” “Why would you consume them other than adding flavor to food?” He asked confused why I asked wanted them for consumption. “When you mentioned your ointment of honey and garlic, I remembered that when consumed they can also fight off infection from inside the body.” He chuckles and says, “How would you know that? You are just a…what are you?” I furrow my brows and think, “God I hate dealing with this elf. On the two occasions before this to buy potions he has acted arrogant towards me for no reason.”

With a calm voice I say, “It doesn’t matter what I am other than a potential customer. Now do you have what I asked for or not?” I see his eye twitch and just turns around to the shelves behind him and retrieves the ointment, honey, garlic, bandages, and a bottle of pure alcohol. “This’ll be twenty-five bronze.” I look at him with narrow eyes releasing my aura a little, “Do not play with me elf. This is at most worth ten maybe nine bronze.” The elf is taken aback from the push of my aura and starts sweating. “Ah yes you are right. I must have mixed up the prices.” I make the meds and bandages disappear with a pop and leave the shop before I end up strangling the racist elf.

I go back to the inn and grab my food along soup and bread for the rabbit mink. I enter the room to see her sitting up in the bed looking out the window. I am awe struck by her beauty as the sun’s rays reflect off her now clean fur and her and just stare. She turns her head and waves timidly to catch my attention. I shake my head and bring the tray with our food to the desk. “I have the medicine and fresh bandages. We’ll eat after I clean your wounds and apply the ointment.” She nods and turns away from me and drops the cloak from her shoulders. I unwrap the bloody stained bandages signaling that the wounds opening up during the night. She winces when I remove them as they are stuck to her wounds and fur. “If I ever find who did this. There will be nothing left of them when I am done.” I go to the bathroom and fill a bucket I grabbed from Cliff before coming up to the room and fill it with hot water. Along with the bucket I grab some clean towels and begin to clean her wounds. Once they were wiped clean, I say, “This is going to sting and hurt but I need to sterilize your wounds before putting the ointment on your wounds. Okay?” She nods and I remove a spare belt from my earring and hand it to her. “Bite down on this so you don’t bite on your tongue.” With shaking hands, she takes the belt and folds it to make a buffer for her teeth and fangs. Then I start cleaning the inside of the wounds while she whimpers, jerks, and cries. My heart aches from causing her pain, but I knew this had to done or they would get worse. Once done I tell her that I was done, and the belt falls from her mouth, and I hear ragged breath and panting. I give her time to recover from the pain and then apply the ointment gingerly. I hear a soothing moan come from her as the ointment feels cold to the burning sensation of the wounds.

With the wounds covered in the medicine now I wrap her up in new bandages again and cover her with the cloak again. I prop her up against the bed frame in a sitting position and I decide to sit beside her in bed as I brush through her hair until her breathing is back under control. Once she body had recovered enough, I say to her, “I have medicine for any internal infections you may have.” I pull out the raw honey and garlic extract. “I’m sure this will help more than the ointment to help you feel better.” She nods and I take the spoon on the tray and pour the honey first giving it to her and then I poured some garlic extract and do the same. “I know it may be hard, but you need to eat. I got soup like last time to help you better eat.” She looks at the soup wearily because of her lack of appetite right now but nods all the same. I help her with her food while I eat my breakfast as well. We finished and her eyes seemed to grow heavy. I help her adjust herself so that she was comfortable to get some rest. I then said in a low voice and say to her, “I have things to do so I’ll have Helen come check on you every now and then. I don’t know when I will be back, but I’ll try to be back by sundown. Get some rest.” She nods as her eyes close, and I soon hear her soft breathing signaling her asleep.

I leave the room quietly and head downstairs where I ask Cliff to have Helen check on her throughout the day. I leave and head to the guild to take the promotion test. I reach the guild and go inside where I am met with stares of awe and fear. “Why are they looking at me like that?” I walk to where Sherry is behind her counter and greet her, “Good morning, Miss Vice Guild Head.” I smile and tease her. She sighs and says, “Haa…stop that Ladon. I am not much for formalities like titles.” I chuckle. “If you say so Sherry then I will oblige.” She snorts. “You have a weird way of speaking. Are you here for the test to ‘C’ rank?” I nod my head and say, “Yes if there is anyone willing to test me of course. I have other matters to attend to, so I want to take the test this morning if possible.” Sherry gets up and looks around the guild hall and walks over to a group sitting at a table talking to themselves about what job they should take next. “Team Planters, would you like to earn a silver coin to test a potential ‘C’ rank?” The group all looked at Sherry. I noticed two humans one male the other female, one female dwarf, one male elf, the second elf I have seen in Melcox, and a male cat mink. The dwarf woman spoke up and said, “Who is the one wanting to be promoted?” I come up from behind Sherry and say, “Hello my name is Ladon. I am the one wanting to be tested.” The dwarf looks me up and down and nods. “Name is Lauren.” She points to each of the group in turn naming them. “This here is Matt, Samantha, Lex, and Garrik. We make up the Planters Team.”

I nod at each member in acknowledgment, and they did the same except for the elf who just ignored me. “God are all elves pompous?” Lauren turns back to Sherry and asks, “What areas will we need to test him in? Magic or melee?” Sherry looks at me and I say, “Both will be fine.” Sherry nods and turns back to Lauren who had a confused look on her face. “Both? Are saying you fight with both magic and weapons?” I nod. “Well okay, I guess. Hmm…How about I fight him with just weapons and then have Garrik fight him with just magic. How does that sound Sherry.” “That sounds good.” Sherry says then turns to me and says, “After the combat test we will retest you on your knowledge.” I accept and ask, “When are we doing this? Like I said I want to do the test this morning.” Suddenly the elf laughs and says, “You really think you have what it takes to be a ‘C’ rank. Please. ‘C’ rank is a big jump from ‘D’ rank.” Sherry smiles and says, “Actually Ladon is an-“ I stop her before she said my rank. “I don’t know if it is my race as a dragon or lingering emotions from the fight from last night or the sight of the wounds on the rabbit minks back, but I am getting tired of being underestimated and I want to teach the pompous idiot as a lesson.” Sherry looks at me and I shake my head as I say, “That is what this test for is it not? To test if I have the mettle to earn the rank of ‘C’ rank adventurer.” The elf’s eye twitches at my comment and was about to say something when Lauren steps in and says, “If you want to get the test out of the way then let’s begin now. We’ll meet you in the training grounds. Gather your weapons and armor.” I nod and walk towards the training grounds with Sherry at my side.

“You can’t kill anyone Ladon.” She says and I balk at her statement. “Do you truly think so lowly of me Sherry?” She chuckles and says, “I trust you Ladon. Why do you think my husband and I want you to take the test as soon as possible. But your eyes looked the same as last nights’ confrontation with those thugs.” I stop and look at her as she continues, “We know more happened in that dungeon than you said. Exhibit A.” She points at my horns. “My guess is after thinking about it, is that it has something to do with the gods.” My eyes betray me and widen at her insight. She giggles and says, “I used to be an adventurer too Ladon and have seen many things from exploring the world. Your tattoos and horns are filled with mana and not just any mana. It feels like the mana from the dungeons made from the gods to help control the chaos of mana.” With her knowing that much I need to make myself clear. I unleash my aura and force my power onto Sherry who backs away to the wall and brings out her staff. I say very calmly and clearly, “Sherry, you have treated me well and I deeply respect you. But if you decide to divulge this theory of yours to anyone before I am ready for it to be known without care,” I use my Dragon eyes to see if anyone is close by and then transform into my half dragon form. I walk closer to her and stare into her eyes. “There will be consequences and no one not even your husband will stop me.” I release my form and aura and say one last thing. “Remeber this Sherry, if anything, I stand by my friends when they truly are my friends. I will never be used again by anyone not even the guild.” I look down at her legs to see them shaking and I start to feel the guilt of scaring her, but I know I had to make myself clear in this situation. I look back at her eyes with my own sadden ones and say, “I’m sorry.” I turn around and leave her to go the training grounds.

Once I reach the training grounds, I take out my shield, spear, and two axes. I go lean against the wall as I wait for the two who were going to test me. I think to myself, reflecting on what I just did. “Dammit. I could have just burnt down some bridges I needed in the long run. Sherry has always been good to me, but I lost control of emotions and decided to go with threats instead of discussion. Is this because I am a dragon now? I don’t want to scare people who have helped me. I know it was necessary for self-preservation until I know that I am powerful enough to protect myself and the ones I care about.” An image of Cliff, Helen, and the mink woman pop into my head. “Haa…I hope I didn’t make her resent me.” I hear footsteps coming near me and then a voice, “I understand why you said what you did Ladon.” I look up to see Sherry and am impressed that she recovered her bearings so quickly. I look away in shame as she continues, “You don’t trust people very easily, do you?” I shake my head still looking forward to not look at her. “Mm…I understand that feeling. Then I will say this Ladon. As long as you stay true to the morals set by the gods and stay true to yourself then I will support you while here in Melcox.” I finally look at her. “Of course, my husband is of the same thinking.” She smiles and that makes grin and say, “You truly are what I imagined what an aunt would be like.” She raises an eyebrow and was about to say something a shout from across the grounds brought us back to the task at hand.

“Are you ready Ladon?” Lauren shouts as she makes her way to the middle of the grounds. I look at Sherry and smile and walk forward. When in speaking distance I nod and ask, “Which first, melee or magic?” She smirks and says, “Melee first since Garrik is still putting on his equipment. I nod and get into a stance and notice her other companions, the Guild Head, and other persons arrive and stand at the side to watch. I sigh and think, “Do they have nothing better to do?” I look back at Lauren and she pops a large war hammer from existence as it crashes heavily on its head on the ground. I look closely at her and study her armor and frame. She has red ginger hair with freckles and a scar on her cheek. She is around the same height as Helen at around four feet. Her armor hides her womanly curves as she is wearing metal plate armor. Her hammer makes a comedic scene with her short stature beside it, but I know to be weary of her and not be fooled by appearances.

“So, you use a shield and spear? And axes for back up I presume. Where is you armor?” Lauren says as she grabs the hammer and lifts it as if it is an inflated toy hammer. “I do not need any ma’am.” I say with confidence materializing my scales on my chest and stomach. “Hmm you’ll have the speed but not much power to your attacks. Let’s test how well you can use both. Start first with the spear and shield then axe and shield.” “Very well.” I say. “Then let’s begin.”

She suddenly vanishes from my view, but I do not panic and focus on my Dragon eyes. “She is fast even with that heavy hammer and armor.” Suddenly I sense a mana signature to my left where my shield arm is. I smile as I materialize the scales on my arm under the shield for better protection from her hammer strikes and brace myself. As her hammer comes down, I raise my shield and push. At the same time, I thrust with my spear at high speeds towards her neck. The hammer hits my shield as my spear speeds towards her neck. She seems to have noticed at the last moment and jumps back in a hurry wide eyed. “Did you see me coming from the start?” She asks dumbfounded. I nod and say nothing keeping guard. “I know this is a test but who talks during a fight. This isn’t an anime!” She then smiles and says, “Well I guess I underestimated you.” I decide to reply with a mutter and say, “Everyone always seem to.” She must have heard me as I could see the corner of the mouth twitch.

She vanishes again and this time she comes from the front with a wide swing to my legs. I jump back and thrust at her shoulder making impact this time and denting her armor. I was amazed at just making dent with a thrust with half my strength and looked at my spear tip to evaluate any damage. It was sill pointy and sharp so no worries of it breaking anytime soon. “Wow this really is a good spear. I would still like something heavier, but this will do for now.” Lauren grabs her shoulder with pain and feels the dent. Astonished and a little annoyed looks at me and seems to concentrate more and studies my movement. She doesn’t move so I decide to go on offense. I move closer as I keep an eye on our distance with the tip of my spear. I am finally in striking distance and surprise her not with a thrust but a swipe of my spear at her legs to get her off balance. She jumps back and I charge to bash her with my shield making her lose more of her balance as I thrust at her neck stopping just before piercing her. “Holy shit.” She mutters as sweat drips down her forehead.

I pull back and help her stand up straight. “Well?” I ask and she is still speechless. She soon shakes her head and says, “That was fantastic! Let’s move on to your axe and shield.” I nod and step back as I pop my spear back into my earring. I draw my axe from its metal loop on my belt and get into position. She also gets into position with her hammer held in both hands. I decide to go on offense and speed towards her and run around her back I swing downward with my axe, and I am blocked by her hammer’s handle. I look at her face to see a shocked and strained expression. “Hmm…so she is able to block this.” I jump back a little then continue my attack. Hacking with the blade part of my axe then switching to the hammer part for blunt strikes mixing with it with thrusts from the spike of my axe. I kept my breathing under control as I kept up the pressure. I could see her expression of frustration of not being able to counterattack. She then hit the ground making a crater while sending rocks everywhere. I had to raise my shield from being hit with rocks coming at my face. I could feel the sting of rocks hitting my arms and legs.

The rocks stopped coming so I brought my shield down to see Lauren with her hammer coming down onto me. I block with my shield feeling the weight of the hammer. I push to get her away from me making her fall back only for her to quickly swing at my side. The hammer connects and sends me flying on the ground a few feet away. I catch my breath that was knocked out of me and quickly stand up only to have the view of the hammer coming to my head again. “What the hell I thought this was a test.” I block the hammer again with my shield and then have the end of the hammer’s handle hit me in the chest. I fall back on to my back to see Lauren with the hammer coming down on me again. I briefly catch a glimpse of her face and see that some kind of bloodthirsty trance had taken over her. “Enough! She has lost control of herself.” I shout in my mind from frustration of being on the end of an ass beating. I rolled to the right a few times as her hammer followed me. I dropped my shield to confuse her which worked to give me enough time to get up and draw my other axe from my belt. Now I am dual welding axes, and I increase my speed from the last time. I catch her off guard as I round her and buckle her knees. I bring my axes to her neck and say, “I do not know what you were thinking when you decided to try and actually kill me from those attacks, but you have three seconds to explain yourself.” Her eyes widen and seem to come back from whatever trance she was in.

She yells in panic and says, “Wait! I’m sorry! Trust me when I say that I did not mean that to happen!” I narrow my eyes ignoring the people running towards us. “I have a condition, and I lost control of it when we were fighting. I don’t remember anything after you pushed me away with your shield.” I look into her eyes and think to myself. “Is she lying? Should I kill her? I did see that she seemed to be in some kind of trance but that could have just been a farce to cover for her trying to kill me.” I soon hear Sherry voice beside me, “She’s telling the truth Ladon.” I don’t look at her and only stare at Lauren watching every breathe she makes and every movement in her eyes. “Ladon.” Sherry places her hand on my shoulder and says, “Ladon if you can’t trust her then trust me. If I am lying you can come after me.” I snap out of my thoughts and look at Sherry and she nods. I look back at Lauren and say, “You are lucky that the Vice Guild Head vouches for your life. I would have killed you otherwise for trying to kill me.” I remove my axes from her neck and place them back in their metal loops and retrieve my shield storing it away. I look around and see several people stare at me in disbelief and shock. Lauren’s teammates were watching me closely as if I would attack Lauren again.

I turn away and stand by the wall again to wait for my next test. The Guild Head, Jon and Sherry’s husband, walks over to me and stands beside me. “You showed great promise out there Ladon. Thank you for not killing Lauren. She is a good person, but her condition seems to come out when she becomes greatly frustrated. You could even say that it is a curse and a blessing.” I look at Jon and say, “I only let her live because your wife vouched for her. Otherwise, I would have killed her for trying to kill me. I was under the impression this was a test for ‘C’ rank promotion not a death match.” Jon looks at me and makes a complicated face and says, “It is a test, but I can only assume Lauren became frustrated at how strong you are that her condition took over.” “What is her condition exactly?” I ask after hearing about it three times already. “She calls it her berserk state. It comes to the surface when she feels high stress or life-threatening conditions.” “I see.” Jon nods and says, “I heard you want to be tested with magic too.” I nod to confirm. “You know most adventurers use only melee with weapons or their own fists. Some use magic to strengthen themselves but rarely are there any who use magic to begin with let alone both at their disposal.” I raise an eyebrow and ask, “What are you getting at Guild Head?” He waves his hand at me, “Just call me Jon and what I mean is that your abilities may be above ‘C’ rank. But before I promote you again, I want you to get more experience with different types of jobs for adventurers.” I look towards the door to the guild to see Garrik come out finally. “Sounds reasonable Jon. Besides I was thinking the same thing plus I have someone who will soon be coming with me, and I need to train her up to par.” He looks at me with surprise and says, “Oh I was under the expression that you don’t really trust anyone.” I start walking to meet Garrik as I say over my shoulder to Jon. “I don’t.”

“So, I heard that you almost killed Lauren. Severs her right for losing control again.” I was surprised by his remark towards his own teammate. “Why would you insult her like that when she is on your team?” I ask out of curiosity. “Hmph. She is just a dwarf, and I am only temporarily in their team as I save enough money to move on from this backwater city. Ugh full of humans, dwarves, and minks I cannot even stand the smell.” I sigh and think, “And I thought the elf at the apothecary was bad. This guy is on a whole other level.” I look at his teammates specifically Lauren and see her with her head down, but I could see that her face is redder than her hair. Then I turn back to Garrik and say, “Are all elves like you? I have only met two so far and both of you are pompous asses.” His face contorts with anger as I continue, “You should show more respect towards your teammates even if they are temporary, especially Lauren. She is much stronger than you. You may regret your insults someday. Plus, she seems more honorable than some long eared human with a higher than thou attitude.” His veins showed more and more with each word as I spoke. “You will regret speaking ill of me boy.” I roll my eyes and get ready to fight. Garrik stands still and casts a fire shaped like a spear towards me. I simply sidestep and watch his face as he grows a smile. I knew his spell was a seeking missile as it flew in a circle coming toward me from behind me. I bent my knees with my fists forward as if I was going to fist fight. I stepped forward with a deep breath and a wall of stone rose up from behind me as his fire spell exploded against it.

His smile faded from his face and started another spell. “It seems he is slower than I when casting spells. Is it true for everyone or just him?” I think to myself as I do not let him finish as I punch the air to send large chunks of rocks at the elf. He finished his spell just as the rocks were about to hit him and were smashed against a barrier that I could not see. “Hmm…What elements make that type of barrier?” I mutter to myself as I think back to my training with Odin. “Remember son the light element can create illusions as a magi can bend light to their will.” “Right must be light and the earth elements.” I step forward again and produce a flame from my fist and spray it onto the barrier. The temperature of the flames is hot enough to melt metal and demonstrated with his barrier melting. With the barrier gone I no longer see Garrik only a hole in the ground. “Underneath huh.” I stomp the ground causing it to shake as I scan for his mana signature with my Dragon eyes. I see his mana and stomp again this time not causing a quake but to push out of the ground. He makes a hole to not be crushed and jumps out from the ground. “YOU INSOLENT HALF BREED!!” He yells as he lands on his feet. “Half breed?” I ask confused. “YES, with those horns and a human face you must be some sort of half breed!” “Not that I am a half breed what does that have to do with anything?” I ask. “You ignorant fool. Half breeds are all the same. Abominations to the gods not knowing their place beneath my feet.”

He fires another fire spear at me, and I whipped it out of the air with a water whip. He grinds his teeth together and begins casting another spell. I sprint towards him and jump rounding my leg around causing a low temp flame streak through the air hitting him in the stomach. “AGHH!” He yells in pain and as I don’t want to be looked as unmerciful, I douse him in water to put out the flames. I tossed a healing potion at him and walk away. I look for Sherry and find her by Jon. “Well?” I ask them. Jon speaks up first and says, “A little brutal but I won’t say he didn’t deserve it. You pass the combat portion, head inside to the library for the knowledge part.” I nod and walk to go inside. I was about to walk past Lauren and the rest of team and decided to stop and say, “I would advise not having Garrik on your team Lauren. If Sherry and Jon are a good judge of character, then you do not need to endure his insults to perform the jobs you chose.” She looks at me and then at Garrik and just slightly nods. I walk inside to take the knowledge test.

The test consisted of testing my knowledge of monsters, dungeons, and certain scenarios that I may come upon during escort missions and other types of missions. The monsters and dungeon’s part were rather easy, but I had to think a bit about the scenarios part since I am solo right now. I think back to my army days and how we protected supply convoys and decided that the escort scenarios could be conducted in the same way but altered to include magic. Once done I went back to the guild to wait for the results.

I sat down on a bench and closed my eyes to recover from the physical and mental stress from the morning. I hear several footsteps coming towards me and just wait for them to come closer. “Um Ladon?” I open one of my eyes to see Lauren and the others. I close my eye again and say, “If you have come to complain about the way things went then take it up with the guild. It was only a test and both you and Garrik took it too far. I only defended myself.” “Um no that wasn’t what I wanted to speak to you about.” “God can’t a guy just rest his eyes for a moment.” I thought as I opened my eyes and motioned with my hand for her to continue. “I just wanted to say that I am truly sorry for what I did. My emotions got the better of me and I have no excuse.” I raise my eyebrow and say, “So you are saying that it was because of your emotions and not your ‘condition’?” She shakes her head and says, “No it was because I let my emotions take over that my condition came out. As an experienced adventurer I should have more control of myself.” I let the silence between us go on until I just sighed. “Haa…I accept your apology Lauren but work on your control. I have a…similar condition or you could say that for me, an instinct. I know the burdens of it but also the potential. Train yourself and gain control over. It will become your greatest asset.” Lauren smiles and says, “You seem much older than you look Ladon.” I smirk and say nothing. “Well, we are going to take the day off. If you ever need people for a quest, the Planters would be more than willing to help.” I nod and watch them walk away.

Sherry motions me from her counter so I get up and walk over to her. “Give me your old tags Ladon.” I take them from my neck and hand it to her and hands me new ones that had my name and new ‘C’ rank imbedded into it. “Thank you, Sherry…and I am sorry for any inconvenience I may have caused.” She grins and says, “Are you really sorry Ladon?” I look away and nod my head. She chuckles and says, “You have a kind heart on your sleeve Ladon, though you try to cover it to protect yourself.” I look at her with a blank expression. “Hopefully you will let someone uncover it again one day.” I turn around not wanting her to see my troubled face and walk out of the guild.

I look at my to do list outside the guild and check what else I need to do. I look at the sun and see that it was almost noon. “I’ll get her some clothes before going back for lunch.” I walk around to find a clothing store for minks. I find one and find some simple looking clothes for now deciding to let her pick out better ones when she feels better. I go to a general store as well to by her a brush for her fur and other essentials that she will need coming out to be two bronze coins being spent. By the time I was done the sun was shining high above at its zenith. I make my way back to the inn and see both Helen and Cliff. I chat for a while and tell them about my promotion. After congratulating me I pay for another soup and bread then head up to my room.

I enter the room to see the rabbit mink sitting up looking out the window. I place the tray on the desk and ask, “How are you feeling? Is the medicine helping any?” She smiles and nods with more energy than yesterday. I smile and say “That is fantastic! I guess mana imbued medicines work fast huh.” For the first time I see her make a chuckle sound only to cough a little from the motion. “Do you think you can feed yourself or do you need my help?” She motions for the tray, and I set it in her lap. Slowly she eats though has trouble with the bread so, I tear it for her. Once done I tell her about what happened and bring out the clothes I bought. “I bought these for you. I’ll have Helen come help you put them on when I leave to take care of some other business. Also, I bought you a brush for your hair and a different one for your fur.” Then I think about how boring it would be to be stuck in this room with nothing to do. “Do you like to read?” When I ask this, she nods very fast leaving her to grab her head as she becomes dizzy. I chuckle and say, “I’ll buy some books for you then. I’ll write that down on my list.” I place the clothes and brushes on the desk.

“Now before I leave let’s see how your wounds are doing.” She gives me a look like she didn’t really want to go through the pain again. I look at her with sympathetic eyes and say, “I know it may hurt but we need to make sure the medicine is working, and your wounds are healing.” She sighs and turns for me to take the bandages off. After taking the bandages off I see that the wounds have healed at an astonishing rate. “At least that elf knows how to make medicine.” I wipe down her wounds and reapply the ointment and wrap her back up with fresh bandages. Once done I give her more raw honey and garlic extract. Then I set her back in a sitting position on the bed.

“I want to ask just in case, but do you know anything about the Stray Dogs?” She shakes her head. “Hmm then where do I even start to find information.” I mutter and then I hear a knock on the door. Confused because I did not ask for Helen or Cliff to bring anything I pull my knife from its sheathe and open the door slightly. There Helen was with a smile. I raise an eyebrow and open the door wider and look up and down the hallway. Seeing no one else I let Helen in before I say anything. “What’s up, Helen?” She tilts her head and looks up. “The ceiling it seems.” I blink at her and facepalm myself. “Sorry it’s an expression from where I come from. I meant, is something wrong.” She chuckles and says, “Ooooh…I see…Hehe…Sometimes you say strange things Ladon. Anyway, a letter was dropped off for you.” She hands me an envelope and I pull the letter from it and read.

[Ladon,

If you want to know more about the people who spoke with you last night, then come by the guild after hours.

J.]

            “J. Hmm is this from the Guild Head?” I look up from the letter and smile at Helen. “Thank you, Helen. Would you mind checking on her every now and then, while I go buy some books for her to read so that she is not as bored?” Helen looks back at the rabbit mink who has been watching our interaction who waves at a Helen. “You certainly don’t treat her like a slave Ladon.” “Of course not. She is a person not some object.” Helen chuckles and teases, “Uh huh. I’ll keep her company until you return.” I hand her a bronze coin and wave to the mink. I turn around and leave the room and inn.

            I walk around and ask some people in the streets where I could find a bookstore. They directed me towards the merchant’s district. Soon I come upon a store called the Book Closet. I go inside and look at the different books. The topics were everything from fairy tales to history of the Kingdom of Akan. I also found some spell books that instructed how to perform certain spells. I decided to skim through a couple and concluded that the way I use magic and the way that Odin taught me is more efficient and simpler than what is described in the books. I put them away and just focus on the books that are about monsters and dungeons along with some fictional books for pleasure reading. I go to the counter with around seven books and pay three silver and fifteen bronze coins. A little expensive but I bought books that will keep the rabbit mink occupied along with gaining more knowledge on different monsters.

            I go back to the inn and my room to see Helen and the mink with the clothes on that I bought her, playing with some string. I tilt my head and say, “Thank you Helen.” She nods and waves goodbye to the woman on the bed as I sit down on the desk. “Here.” I bring out the books I bought and her eyes light up at the sight of the books. I chuckle, “So she is a bookworm. That is cute.” She grabs a book and goes off into her own little world. I smile as I grab a book as well and read.  

            Before I went out to Jon, I decided to look at my personal scroll to see if I had leveled from killing the thugs from last night.

[Defeated Human. Human soul essence absorbed.]

[Defeated Human. Human soul essence absorbed.]

[Defeated Human. Human soul essence absorbed.]

[Defeated Human. Human soul essence absorbed.]

{Level up}

            “I guess that this confirms that the system does not show gains in attributes from training until after a level. As for leveling up…it seems killing people counts as gaining soul essence. I…don’t know how to feel about that.” I dismiss the scroll and wait for nightfall feeling uneasy that I essentially absorbed a part of a person’s soul.