Several weeks had passed as we traveled the wilds. Shuzshu had been following closely, bumping into me many times as we walked. Anytime some sort of monster showed up, I didn’t even have a chance to do anything before she brutalized it. After I made a point of gathering and eating the magic stones, explaining that I needed them, she was more than happy to gather them for me. I had five and a half vials of magic essence.

  I had found that Shuzshu was a very good hunter, but not a very good cook. Her idea of making food was roughly butchering something, cooking it till it was burnt, and using lots of spices to make it palatable. It took several days to break her of this habit. But it explained several things.

  At the moment we were standing at the edge of the woods, looking at the town in the distance. “Right, so…easiest option.” I reached into my coat, pulling out a collar. It had been something that I made for a Tamer in the Red Feather Guild. I had held onto it because it was worth a lot in materials and was planning to recycle it eventually. “We just claim that you’re my companion, something like a slave or a uh…pet I guess and-”

  The collar was snatched from my hand before I even had a chance to finish. I blinked and looked over at her as she eagerly put on the collar. “Pet,” she said firmly, apparently liking the sound of that.

  I stared at her for a moment and then sighed, shaking my head. “Alright, we’ll go with pet. Frankly that makes me feel better about the situation anyways, and I don’t know the legality of slaves in the Haven Empire anyways.”

  She nodded in enthusiasm. “Yes. I’ll gladly be your pet.” Her tail was wagging.

  Truly she was a silly Gnoll. It had surprised me that she had not attempted to get intimate with me since the first encounter, but she had been showing a lot of varied types of physical affection and stayed extremely close whenever not actually touching me. “Alright. Just…stay calm. There’s going to be a lot of people who give us nasty looks and probably say some things. Just pay them no mind.”

  Again she nodded. “Yes.”

  With that we headed towards the town. The town didn’t look particularly large, with what looked like farmland to the south, and some sort of mine or quarry a bit to the north.

  The guard at the gate seemed quite at ease as we approached, not paying attention until we were almost there and we finally caught his attention. He jolted and gripped his polearm, but relaxed a bit when he spotted me. I probably looked quite striking in comparison to the Gnoll, with my long white coat. But even if he was a bit more relaxed, he still looked like he was ready for a fight.

  “Is there an Adventurers Guild in this town?” I asked as I got closer, reaching into my coat to pull out some copper coins.

  “Uhh…yes. Just near the town square. Do you have a guild card?” he asked.

  I shook my head. “No, I was planning on joining today.”

  “I see. Then its…its ten copper for entry. The…Gnoll will also need to pay,” the guard said, having to look up at the Gnoll despite his height. Without a guild card you had to pay for entry into most towns, at least any that had a wall.

  “Twenty copper,” I said as I held them out for him. He accepted them, relaxing a bit more and leaning against the side of the open gate as he glanced at them.

  Putting the coins into a pouch he eyed the Gnoll. “That’s uh…not going to cause problems, right?”

  I was about to walk past him but paused. “Hm?” I looked up at Shuzshu and smiled a bit, making a bit of a scratchy hand gesture, she happily placed her head on my shoulder and I gave her chin some scratches. “This is Shuzshu, and I can assure you she’ll be quite alright as long as someone doesn’t threaten her. Or me.”

  The guard gave me an odd look before he shrugged. “Alright…”

  With that we walked into the town. As I expected, the two of us got a lot of weird looks. However I was glad that none of them seemed to be hostile, more of confusion and interest. Being so used to hostility, it was a nice change. I heard some child calling out, “Mommy! Look! Big dog!”

  I smiled a bit, but I saw Shuzshu’s confusion. “Big silly dog,” I said as I smiled at her.

  She huffed in response. “I am not silly.”

  I hummed a bit. “I think you’re a little silly. But it’s not a bad thing.” She huffed again and I couldn’t help but laugh. It was rather amazing how much better my mood was lately. Hopefully that was a trend that continued.

  At the town square, the guild was easy to spot. They always have swords and shields emblazoned on them, and red flags to denote they’re an Adventurers guild. Going inside it was a completely different scene compared to the last guild I’d been in. This one was lively, with people talking and laughing. Despite it being a rather small town I could see at least twenty people around, and judging by what time it was, there were probably even more out on quests.

  My entrance was hardly noticed, but when Shuzshu entered the room almost immediately fell silent. Many gripped weapons, or eyed us with suspicion. I paid no mind to it and headed towards the reception counter. Behind it was a rabbit girl, one of the beastfolk species. Now that I thought about it, most of the people I had seen were beastfolk. Was the Haven Empire mostly inhabited by beastfolk?

  “H-how can I help you?” the girl stammered.

  “Yes, hello. I would like to register as a Haven Empire Adventurer.”

  “A-all right. I’ll- I’ll just- get that for you.”

  I reached back, grabbing hold of Shuzshu’s collar and pulling her more towards me. “Stop glaring at everyone,” I said in a harsh whisper. “You’re making them nervous.”

  She grumbled a bit but eventually put her head on my shoulder with a huff. The room seemed to relax a bit when it was shown that I had some sort of control over the Gnoll, but it didn’t return to its previously boisterous level.

  “It’s ten silver to join the guild, if you don’t have the funds you can take a loan from the guild to get your card now and work to pay it off.” The rabbit girl had come back, placing an odd looking device on the table. I had seen such a thing a few times, a box with a slot on the front and several little orbs and stones on top of it. “If your card is lost, or stolen, it’ll be another ten silver to replace it.”

  I smiled a bit as I pulled out the ten silver, placing it on the counter next to the device. “No need for a loan, I have enough. I also need a card for my pet.” I could feel Shuzshu’s tail thumping against my leg, apparently pleased at being called as such.

  It also seemed that watching Shuzshu being affectionate had not only calmed the room but reassured this poor counter girl. “It’ll be another ten silver for your…pet. If you could just… place your hand in here, I will be able to give you a card. It will sting a bit.”

  “A bit is an understatement,” I said with a sigh as I pulled off my gauntlet, putting my hand into the slot.

  “You’ve done this before?” the girl questioned.

  “Yes, though it was a while ago. I quit being a Hallow Adventurers Guild member due to endless harassment and reward short changing.”

  Someone behind me let out a loud laugh. “Those bastards of the Hallow Kingdom are always like that. Rude, self centered, conceited bastards!”

  “Easy there, Argyl, don't get yourself too worked up over those pricks on the other side of the forest.” One of his companions was patting the loud one on the shoulder.

  The bunny girl looked back at me from the other adventurers. “I see. We don’t get many seeking to reregister around here… but I’ve heard that it is a thing that happens in the city to the south.”

  “Probably because they take the road.” I watched her hesitate with the blank card, and the room went a bit quiet.

  “You…went through the forest?”

  My brow furrowed a bit. “Yes? It’s not that difficult. A couple weeks of walking.”

  “Did you not run into any problems?” she asked, “There are some pretty strong monsters…”

  “It wasn’t that difficult,” I repeated, the toughest thing I ran into were some Tier Two Hobgoblins. Not including Shuzshu. I wasn’t about to say that I had also found a Gnoll there.

  However she blinked at me. “What uhm…what was your tier in Hallow?”

  “I was a Tier Six, but-”

  “Bullshit!” someone nearby snapped, and I had to grab hold of Shuzshu’s collar again to keep her from charging the man. “Ain’t no way you’re Tier Six.”

  I ignored the man, continuing, “But that was when I was fully equipped. Unfortunately I’ve fallen on rather hard times, and am at most equivalent to a Tier Four, if I had to estimate.”

  “That makes sense,” a man said as he came in from a backroom behind the counter girl. He was large, almost as large as Shuzshu, and had some features that reminded me of a bear, which gave away his species. “You’d need to be at least a Tier Five to make it through those woods.”

  “Ah- Guild Master, then…should I elevate his beginning tier?”

  The man eyed me for a moment, and then looked at the Gnoll, and then back to me. “You said Tier Four?”

  “If I had to guess.”

  “Fully equipped…you got a Maker type profession?” He looked down at my gauntlets.

  “Yes. I’m an Archanist.”

  His brow furrowed a bit in a similar fashion to Shuzshu’s thinking face. “Never heard of it.”

  That caught me a bit off guard. “You’ve never heard of Archanist?”

  He moved over to the machine, taking the card from the bunny girl and putting it in, turning a few dials. “Nope.” There was a sudden sharp pain. As if thousands of needles were piercing my skin. I knew it was an in depth magical probing, the highest sort that the magical technology of this world had managed.

  “Owch…” I breathed as the pain finally subsided.

  The bear man pulled out the card and scrutinized it. His brow furrowed even more. “Your name is blank.”

  “Yes.” I pulled my hand back, rubbing it a bit to try and get rid of the lingering pain. “My father stripped it from me when I was cast out.” That seemed to cause silence to fall around the room again. Even Shuzshu was a bit surprised and I realized I never explained why I had no name. “He deemed Archanist as an unfavorable profession,” I explained, “As it’s a difficult combination class, and very expensive. Everyone calls me Archanist.”

  His head tilted to the side. “And you were kicked out just for that? And managed to get all the way to Tier Six?”

  That wasn’t really the reaction I was expecting. Maybe they weren’t as prejudiced against Archanists because they had no history with them. “Yes,” I said with a nod.

  For a moment he seemed to consider something and then nodded, handing over the guild card. “Glad to have you as a Haven Adventurer, Archanist.”

  Glancing at the card I immediately noticed that he had made me a Tier Five. “Are you sure about this ranking, Guild Master?”

  He laughed as he walked away, retreating the way he came. “Don’t question me, boy.”

  There were several moments of silence before I looked at the bunny girl. “The Guild Master is a Tier Eight,” she said, answering one of the questions I had. “If he says you’re Tier Five, then you’re Tier Five.”

  I was a bit conflicted, but at the same time I wasn’t going to complain. “Alright. And now my pet.” As I looked up at Shuzshu I saw that she was glaring at the door the Guild Master had gone through. “Hey.” She looked at me, her expression softening. “You’re gonna get me in trouble.”

  “Sorry…” she said softly.

  “It’s alright.” The bunny girl had gotten a different device out, this one I knew as something for judging the strength of monsters. Monsters' magical makeup was different from regular people, like humans, elves, dwarves, or beastfolk, which is how it’s possible to properly get estimates on a monster's strength, but not as accurate for people. Something to do with their blood and mana composition.

  Shuzshu eyed the thing suspiciously. “Just put your hand in here. It’s less painful than the one for people.”

  “It’s going to hurt,” I said matter-of-factly, not planning to sugarcoat it. She still put her hand in it, knowing that it was necessary.

  When the receptionist put in the card, Shuzshu winced but otherwise showed no reaction. After pulling out the card she was immediately stunned, staring at it, her mouth falling open slightly.

  I raised an eyebrow. “Something…wrong?”

  She didn’t respond.

  I had to reach out and take the card from her, which didn’t get a reaction from her. After looking at it I was equally stunned.

  Name: Shuzshuzura. Species: High Gnoll. Profession: Battlejunky. Tier Nine.

  I don’t know what shocked me more, the tier or the profession. Battlejunky was a combination profession, similar to Archanist, but on a completely different level of intensity. It combined Berserker and Battlemaster, which were already powerful professions on their own. Battlemaster was also considered a combination profession of Battle Tactician and Weapons Master. This profession also explained her aggressiveness.

  “Tier Nine?” the bunny girl whispered, her ears drooping back as she looked at the Gnoll.

  Her words brought me back out of my thoughts. After taking a deep breath, I gave the receptionist a bit of a smile. “It’s fine. She’s not going to hurt anyone that doesn’t start anything.” I quickly slipped both cards into my coat, putting the twenty silver onto the table.

  However the poor bunny continued to stare like a deer in headlights. I wonder if that would work on deer beastfolk?

  “Alright, well, we’ll be on our way now,” I said quickly before hurrying out the door with Shuzshu. I wasn’t very far away before I had to sit down on a rather convenient bench. Putting aside the fact that she had a powerful profession, she was a Tier Nine. I had beaten a Tier Nine. Solo. I had beaten a Tier Nine by myself.

  Shuzshu sat down next to me, leaning against me and putting her head on top of mine. My head was reeling from it. Sure, she had been tired. Probably injured. But the gap was huge. It was a larger gap than if a rabid goblin had somehow outfought me. How did I win that? How exhausted and beaten was she that I had been able to do that? What did she fight before me?

  Her stomach growling brought me out of my thoughts and caused me to chuckle a bit. “Right…we haven’t eaten today.” She looked a bit embarrassed, but I’m sure with all the food stalls around the smell was getting her attention. “Which stall smells the best?”

  She looked around, sniffing the air a moment before pointing. “That one.”

  It looked like a pretty popular stand, with a bit of a line, but I couldn’t see what they were serving. “Alright, I’ll go get us some. Stay here.” She was about to protest before I continued, “I don’t want you scaring the stall owner. I’ll be right over there and you can call if you need me.”

  I could tell that she was hesitant, but she eventually nodded. “Okay.”

  Before leaving I gave her a pat on the head, then made my way over to the stall. That was something that was interesting about this world. I had thought it was an exaggeration in stories when there were just stalls all over the place, but it was apparently a good way to make money. Owning a store was expensive, but putting up a stall was cheap, if not free in some places.

  Once I was in the line I could see that it was some sort of sauced meat, almost stew like but even thicker. And now the delicious smell could get to me. I had tried numerous dishes in this world, and there were some really good ones. Some of my favorite meals had been in small town taverns, but now those memories were bitter.

  When I was at the front, the man behind the stall gave me a smile. “Well now, you’re a new face.”

  Returning the smile I responded, “Yes, just arrived in town.”

  “Well, you must have real good luck if I’m the first place you stopped to eat!” he said with a hearty laugh. “This is Murstluff. Old family recipe.” He sounded quite proud. “Seven copper a bowl.”

  Looking at the thick stew I pondered what was in it, but I knew it was impolite to ask. Knowing Shuzshu’s apatite I knew I’d have to order a lot. “Can I get seven servings?” He arched a brow at me. “I have quite a voracious companion,” I said with a gesture back towards the Gnoll.

  It was at this moment that I noticed the people around her and the annoyed look on her face. There was a man in front of her, blond hair, shining white armor, a red cape; he had serious protagonist energy. I immediately left the stand and headed back towards the bench when I overheard, “It’s alright now. I have broken the servant spell on the collar. You’re free.” The blond haired man had a wide grin on his face and reached for the collar.

  In the next instant he was embedded into the wall a distance away. “Don’t touch me,” Shuzshu snarled. The group of people quickly moved back, some rushing to assist their ally who had just become a wall decoration.

  My path was blocked by some of the group, three women of varying species. “What’s going on here?”

  “I didn’t start it. They came over and started spouting nonsense,” Shuzshu tried to explain, wearing a worried expression.

  “We have freed your slave,” one of the smaller girls said, she looked to be a half-mouse beastfolk.

  I was a bit confused but before I could say anything the Gnoll beat me to it, “As I said, I am not a slave. I am his pet.” She had taken to that label a bit too much, I think.

  They were quite stunned and I took the opportunity to move around them to Shuzshu. I looked her up and down for a moment. “Alright, lemme see your collar.”

  She hesitated, leaning a bit away from me.

  I frowned a bit. “Give,” I said as I held out my hand. Reluctantly she removed the collar, giving it to me.

  The entire group was somehow more stunned. Even the blond man who had just been pulled from the wall and healed. It looked like they had a powerful healer, but I could see the entire front of his armor was caved in. One of them mumbled “What?” but I couldn’t be bothered with which one.

  “Identify,” I said, focusing on the collar. My frown deepened. They had broken every single enchantment, and destroyed the magic stone. How did they do that? They completely obliterated the magic circuitry. Did they overload it somehow? I’d never even heard of a magic stone being overloaded. I sighed and held it back out to Shuzshu. She gave me a bit of a smirk and refused to take it. Instead she lowered herself and exposed her neck. I snerked before putting it back on her.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” Mr. Protagonist said angrily, but I couldn’t tell who he was mad at. “I freed you, and you’re still listening to him?”

  “You owe me compensation,” I said as I turned around. “You’ve broken all the enchantments on that collar, and destroyed a Tier Four magic stone in the process. The materials for the circuitry alone is eighty silver. The magic stone is three gold. My work and time has also been wasted.” As I spoke I approached the man, the others of his group actually backed away. “And my time is very valuable, so add in another five gold.”

  “What?” the man managed to say.

  “Not to mention the stress, and suffering that you have put my precious Shuzshu through, I’m rounding your total up to ten gold.” I was standing a short distance from him, inwardly cursing that he was taller than me.

  “You expect us to pay you for breaking your slave collar?” one of the group said. It was at this point that I realized that all seven of this man's companions were attractive females. Some sort of cliche dense harem protagonist? Why were most of them half-beastfolk? Usually beastfolk were far more animalistic in appearance, and because of that some places considered them monsters, but these were all half-breeds, making them all just girls with animal ears and some vague features. And tails.

  “First, that was not a slave collar, Shuzshu is a silly Gnoll that is my companion and decided she likes to be my pet.”

  “I am not silly,” Shuzshu said with a loud huff.

  I had to try very hard to not smile at her reaction. “Secondly, yes, I do expect you to pay for breaking an expensive piece of enchanted equipment and harassing my pet.”

  “We don’t have to do any of that, we’re Adventurers!” It was a half-wolf beastfolk that spoke this time, pulling out her guild card. The card showed her as a Tier Four Brawler.

  “You want to compare guild cards?” I said with a smirk, pulling out my own. Her face immediately fell, and I saw her pale. “If you aren’t willing to pay the compensation, I will just go to the guild and report that you are harassing and attacking guild members.”

  Mr. Protagonist was about to say something, but two of the girls moved to stop him, while a third approached me. I would assume she was a healer, judging by her outfit, but she hadn’t been the one to heal blondie. She was a white half-cat beastfolk. She bowed before she spoke, “We apologize for misinterpreting the situation, but given her attire and collar we made a poor judgment. I’m sorry but we cannot afford that.”

  I looked around the group, glancing at Shuzshu as well and realized it was probably a good idea to get her some proper clothing. “So not only do you harass random people on the street, you lie to them when called out?”

  “You-!” The blond man tried to get at me, but was still blocked by his two companions.

  “Either you pay reparations immediately, or I go to the guild and have them compensate me for having such a blatantly incompetent party under their jurisdiction.”

  “This is extortion,” a half-elven girl said, glaring at me. She was the only non-half-beastfolk girl of the group.

  “Extortion? I’m being generous.” I gestured back towards Shuzshu. “If you wanted to buy something of that quality it would cost you at least thirty gold. The only reason I’m saying it’s worth so little is because I made it.”

  “He’s not lying,” another half-wolf beastfolk whispered to the elf. Of course I wasn’t lying. It was expensive, and making items was time consuming.

  Shuzshu touched the collar, touched that someone would give her such a valuable thing. “I’m sorry, we don’t have that kind of money,” the half-cat girl said.

  “Gods, save me from these children…” I mumbled. “Your lying skill isn’t going to work on me,” I saw her stiffen at my words, and could practically see the hairs on the back of her neck raise. “The equipment of your entire group is worth nearly seven hundred gold, and you have more than seventy gold among the eight of you.”

  This was a skill that came in handy, the coveted Analyze. Not many professions got it, but both Alchemist and Artificer were one of them. The downside is it took a ton of mana to use, and I had burned two vials of magic essence to get a Full Analysis of one of them, and then estimated the average for the rest of them. But it’s fine, thanks to Shuzshu’s hunting I had over five vials.

  With some reluctance, a few of them pooled together coins and gave me the ten gold I demanded. For a moment I felt like some thug bullying children for their lunch money. I put it into my coat and gestured for Shuzshu to come over. Together we made our way back to the food stall without exchanging another word with the group.

  The stall owner gave me a sympathetic look. “That’s the Gold Cross Guild. They mean well, but they are a bit…uh…presumptuous.”

  “Can you fix my collar?” Shuzshu asked as I fished out the copper for seven servings.

  “Not without a laboratory.” That was another thing that made Archanist so difficult. It needed a dedicated space that had to be meticulously prepared in order to do anything that wasn’t the most basic of enchantments. “They’re young,” I said to the stall owner, passing over the coins. “They look about sixteen, and reaching Tier Four that quickly after getting their professions gave them an ego.” Though their gear would be something coveted by Tier Tens, so I had a feeling they had a backer.

  The man laughed as he prepared the servings. “Yeah, they’re still young. But so are you. I saw the way that girly reacted to seeing your card, must mean you’re higher than them.”

  “Just one tier, but that was enough to scare them. I’m guessing they’re the highest adventurers in this town?” I started passing servings to Shuzshu, who was drooling from the sight of the food.

  “Indeed they are. We usually just have Tier Two’s, and a handful of Tier Three’s. Guild Master’s an exception.”

  “Well he probably has his reasons to be here,” I mumbled as I picked up the last bowl. Shuzshu looked expectedly, and I frowned. “This one’s mine. You already have six, you glutton.” Her ears folded back and her eyes narrowed as she glared at me.

  Again the man laughed. “There ain’t a single person who’d think she was dangerous after watching the two of you interact. But watching the way she sent Draken flying like that, she’s a strong one.”

  “That blondie’s name is Draken?”

  “Yup, he’s the son of Duke Lanshire. Eighth son anyways. Draken’s a bit of a public figure around here.” The man leaned in and whispered, “Personally, I think that’s why the Guild Master is here, to keep an eye on one of the Duke’s wayward sons.”

  I nodded a bit before glancing at Shuzshu, who was licking her chops after having already devoured all six bowls. I laughed, which caused her to tilt her head and wonder what I was laughing about. “I think she needs another two bowls,” I said as I fished out more coins.

  She nodded enthusiastically. “Yes yes. It’s delicious. I’ve never had something this tasty.”

  “Well, we’ll eat more tasty food.” I handed over the coins as he handed over two more bowls. There was no doubt that it was very good, probably made from the meat of monsters.

  “Glad to hear that it’s to your taste,” the stall man said with a laugh.

  “Is there an Alchemist in town?” I asked, wanting to see if I could get some supplies now that I had some money. I had twelve gold and a few dozen silver, which would be good enough to get some magic silver.

  “Afraid not. You’d have to head to the east towards Brigalt, it’s the big city in Duke Lanshire’s territory.”

  I nodded. “Thanks.” That was annoying. The Haven Empire was much larger than Hallow, so it had many Duke’s that managed the territories that were far from the capital.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  Traveling was bothersome, and I had no idea how far Brigalt was. If they didn’t know the Archanist profession, did that mean that Alchemist was rare in this empire? “There’s a cheap carriage service that makes pretty regular travel out of town. The Duke believes that ease of travel makes all the towns thrive.”

  “Ah, thanks. That’s probably what we’ll do.” After thanking him again, we started to head in the direction the stall man had indicated the carriages were. Ease of travel was an interesting concept. While I knew that it was true, a small town that anyone can easily get to will naturally see more visitors, but it was something I had not seen in this world. Not in the Hallow Kingdom, or that Gryphon Kingdom.

  Was it something throughout Haven? Or was it simply something the Duke was doing in his territory? If it was the brainchild of the Duke then he was clearly a noble who was capable of seeing far into the future, unlike the majority who were simply in it for immediate returns. That’s always the case, whether this world or my previous; those at the top rarely do things to help those below them.

  “I do not like them,” Shuzshu said, breaking me from my thoughts. She was glaring at the Gold Cross group, which were talking outside a building that had their guild name on it, clearly their guild house.

  “They’re just a bunch of kids,” I said, looking forward to the carriages. “But I agree.” Their building was in quite a prime spot, right next to the carriage depot. It must have cost quite a lot. It was probably their father that helped them. Considering the fortune that must have been spent on their gear, a massive guild house in a prime spot in town was nothing.

  As we passed I could feel their glares on us, but I didn’t notice blondie with them. Probably getting his armor fixed, or bedridden after taking a Gnoll fist. Either way, they were not my responsibility. “I want to kill them.”

  “Well, you can’t. You’re gonna have to learn to ignore stupid people if you want to stay with me.” She didn’t respond, but pressed herself against me a bit, almost causing me to fall over. I chuckled a bit. “Silly Gnoll.”

  There was a sudden tug at the back of my jacket as she pulled at the collar. I was wondering what she was doing until I felt her shove her muzzle down the back of my coat. She made several noises, of what I assume were of annoyance.

  Eventually I reached a counter of sorts with a rabbit girl, who appeared to be in charge of chartering carriages judging by the sign. Shuzshu had not removed her face from my coat. “Hi there, can I help you?” the puzzled bunny girl asked.

  “Yes, I’m looking for passage to Brigalt, for myself and-” I hesitated, but gestured to the Gnoll.

  She looked at the Gnoll, and then back at me. “Do you have a guild card? Travel for guild members is free.”

  “Ah, yes.” I reached into my coat, pulling my card and Shuzshu’s out and showing them to the woman.

  I could see the stunned look on her face, but she quickly shook her head. “A-alright. Travel to Brigalt. There’s a carriage leaving in three hours, or there’s one in two days.”

  “The one in three hours will be fine.” I needed to get Shuzshu a more appropriate outfit for traveling through the city.

  “Alright. It’ll be the-” she looked through a few papers, “the one with the blue circle insignia. What names shall I put you down as?”

  “Archanist, and Shuzshu,” I responded, and she nodded.

  “Alright. Please don’t be late.” She made several notes down on papers.

  With that I moved over to the side. There was a large sitting area for people waiting for carriages and it was actually a fairly nice area similar to a park. I chose a spot by a tree and sat down, much to the annoyance of Shuzshu, who was apparently not ready to remove her head. “I’m going to make you a bit of clothing. What colors do you like?”

  “Red,” came the muffled response. She had responded instantly.

  “Alright. Let’s go with red trim then,” I said as I pulled out a large bundle of cloth. It was interesting how Artificer got some tailoring skills, though they were very basic. After almost two hours I was done. I couldn’t do much more than a sort of toga. It was gray, as that was the color of cloth I had, with the edges dyed red. I thought it looked pretty good, considering its simplicity. “Okay, let's put this on you.”

  It took a moment before I realized that Shuzshu had apparently fallen asleep, judging by her soft breathing and lack of response. Deciding to let her sleep, I looked around the small waiting park. There were quite a few young adventurers. I wondered if this was some sort of starter town like in video games. I’ve come across a few of those throughout my life now. Towns whose goal is to help the new adventurers get a stable footing before they leave for the wider world.

  Suddenly I caught a figure approaching out of the corner of my eye. A well dressed man coming from the direction of the Gold Cross Guild. “Good afternoon, are you the fellow who had a bit of a problem with the Gold Cross this morning?”

  There were quite a number of ways this could go. “If you’re talking about blondie and his harem, then yes.”

  The man’s eye twitched, but he did not lose his seeming indifference. “Yes. I would like to apologize again on behalf of the Gold Cross.”

  “I don’t need any more apologies. Leave me be,” I said dismissively, trying to get him to leave. I could guess at his reasons for approaching and I liked none of them.

  “Again, my apologies. I was hoping you would allow me to ask you for assistance.”

  “Not interested,” I responded immediately.

  “You see,” he continued, ignoring my dismissal, “While the Gold Cross Guild is a fairly strong contender in the area, and rising quickly, there is a problem.”

  I sighed. “That’s your own damn fault.” His expression finally changed to a puzzled one. “What do you expect when you give an infant a sword that can slay giants?”

  “I’m afraid I don’t quite understand. You see, they are struggling in battles that they shouldn’t, and are lacking in experience. So I was hoping that someone such as yourself would be willing to help.”

  I stood up, much to Shuzshu’s annoyance as her comfortable spot moved away. “Do you have any idea why most people become adventurer’s, mister steward?”

  “Well, there are many reasons-”

  I cut him off, “Desperation.” I raised my hand to face level. “Because they have no choice. Your profession dictates what you can do. If a man who can’t stand the sight of blood becomes a swordsman, what do you think happens?”

  He didn’t respond.

  “Either gain the strength he needs to put down his feelings to use his profession, or deny it and continue to live his life as it was, never being able to use his potential.” I pointed over at the Gold Cross, whose members flinched. “It’s no wonder they’re struggling.”

  “I really don’t follow.”

  “You have denied them the ability to grow on their own strength. To learn. To experience hardships. You have carried them up the mountain and then gotten confused that they can’t climb higher.” It was as if a light turned on in his head. “They have no desperation. They have no drive. No strength. Misguided righteous ideals that lead them to attack and confront strangers on the street. For fucks sake, they’re intimidated by a single Tier Five, when they have eight members of Tier Three and Four.”

  “That…that is exactly why we need someone who has reached such a high tier to help guide them,” he tried to argue.

  “I don’t think you could pay me enough to make me try and correct…” I gestured vaguely at the group, “That.”

  “We would be willing to compensate you two gold a month.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh. “I just said you couldn’t pay me enough, and you offer me so little?” It may have been months since I was in such a situation, but gold had become the currency I had been used to working in. “Maybe ten.” I saw his expression perk up. “Per person.” His expression fell. “A week.”

  “That is an absurd rate. Something that you would pay the professional tutors of nobility.”

  “Is that not what you want me to be?” I retorted. “As I said, you can’t afford me. That’s my price.”

  He looked pretty upset about the interaction, but he didn’t say anything as he turned and walked away. “He looks pissed,” Shuzshu said as she stood up.

  “Yeah, but he’s not going to do anything. Now,” I turned to her, holding the cloth. “Let’s see how this looks on you.”

  After a few minutes of putting it on her and making adjustments, I was rather proud. She was fiddling with the cloth, thinking about something. “I was expecting more red.”

  I rolled my eyes as I made a few last adjustments. “I don’t have the dye. And I’m not a tailor and just used what I had.” Taking a step back I admired the work. I thought that it looked quite well. It didn’t hug her body, but hung loose in a rather fetching way. The ropes and cords she used as a belt added a good bit to the outfit. She had refused to remove anything, so the clothes just went over her leather chest piece and skirt, but I had managed to convince her to at least put the belt on the outside.

  She touched the cloth, moving a bit before nodding. “Yes, I like it.”

  “Good. When we have a chance, we can get a proper tailor to make something and I can enchant it.” I looked over at the carriages, taking note of a large clock displayed in the square. “Let’s go.”

  “Can’t we walk?” she asked as we made our way over.

  “It would take too long, and I’m tired of walking. I want to just sit and be taken somewhere.”

  Shuzshu eyed the carriages suspiciously. “I do not like those things. They always bring trouble. You think there’s only one group of people, and then suddenly a dozen more come out of the thing.”

  I glanced over at her, wondering what type of life she had lived, that a carriage is a mysterious thing. She seemed so knowledgeable on some subjects, but completely ignorant on others. “Well, now we’re going to be some of the people inside it.”

  It didn’t take long to find the correct carriage, as it was parked under a sign showing a blue circle, with a matching symbol on the side. The floppy eared dog beastman beside it jolted slightly upon seeing a Gnoll, but quickly regained his composure. “You must be…Archanist, and Shuzshu?” he asked tentatively, but he guessed there was no other Gnoll in the area.

  “Correct. You’re heading to Brigalt, right?”

  The dog man nodded. “Yup. We’ll be stopping in three towns on the way. It’ll be two days to the first town, one day to the second, then another two to the third, and finally one day to Brigalt. Total of six days.” That was a lot farther than I had thought it would be. The Duke’s territory was large.

  “We’ll be in your care,” I said with a nod.

  He laughed. “Well, I’ll be counting on you two if we get in trouble. I have my own guard, Jacob, but he’s only Tier Two. I honestly feel a lot better having two adventurers on board with such a long trip.”

  “If anything happens, Shuzshu will be more than happy to take care of it.” I gave the large Gnoll a few pats on her back.

  “Good good. Well, hop on board, once Jacob gets here we’ll head off.”

  As I got on the carriage, I only noticed a few crates stacked near the front but no one else. “Is it just us?”

  “You’re the only passengers until Lorn, the first town,” he called out from somewhere near the front of the carriage.

  To call it a carriage may not entirely be correct, as it was more of a covered wagon, but they called them carriages. Some of the carriages lived up to the name, but most were like this one. There were benches on either side, but it was apparent that Shuzshu was too large to sit in them. However she didn’t seem bothered, especially when after I sat down, she sat on the floor in front of me and put her head on my lap.

  A smile tugged at my mouth as I removed my gauntlets and began to pet her around her ears, rubbing and scratching. She let out a content sounding huff as she settled in. Eventually Jacob showed up, a knight of some sort judging by his sword, armor, and shield. He didn’t say anything, helping the cart driver hitch up the beasts. Horses were reserved for nobles, and so beasts were used by the common folk. These particular ones were Drakes. While technically Tier Seven, these were domesticated and probably not trained to fight.

  After a little bit we made our way out of the city. I watched as we slowly went through the gate, and then the Drakes began to pick up speed. They were one of the fastest beasts that had been widely domesticated and while not inexpensive, they were abundant. The only thing that was faster were horses, and a bird type creature that reminded me of a certain yellow bird from the most final of fantasies. Although, the birds were called Corks here.

  The first day passed uneventfully, much to Shuzshu’s annoyance. When we stopped to set up camp, the Gnoll skulked off into the woods to hunt. “She gonna be alright?” the dog man asked.

  “Unless there’s a wild Drake out there, I doubt anything would give her trouble,” I said nonchalantly, helping to set up the camp.

  He whistled in response. “She that formidable?”

  “Would be better if she had a weapon, but I broke that.” He gave me a look, but I didn’t elaborate.

  Eventually she returned, dragging two Tier Three Dire Boars. The sight clearly startled our traveling companions. “W-well, at least we don’t have to worry about food?” the dog said with a nervous laugh.

  The next day was also uneventful and we arrived in Lorn. It looked annoyingly exactly like the previous town. Like some sort of cookie-cutter city planning. The only difference was it was completely surrounded by farmland.

  Shuzshu was sitting at the back of the wagon, looking out at the farms. I sat beside her, sketching in my work book. It had been a while since I had spent time actually designing, but I had had an epiphany this morning on how to increase magic efficiency. Layered circuitry was the last major thing I had figured out how to do, but this was more of sandwiched circuitry. Maybe I could combine the two, layer and sandwich.

  Making major breakthroughs was difficult, because all magic professions were so secretive and received different knowledge from their profession. They all wanted to stand at the top, and so they pulled the ladder up behind them. No Artificer would teach me, nor would any Alchemist. And the one time I found an Archanist that had some skill, I found out quickly that I had surpassed them and ended up teaching them a lot more than they taught me.

  A sudden shout drew me from my musings and I saw a startled guard on the ground, apparently having just come around to inspect the wagon only to be met with Shuzshu. I leaned over a bit to pet her. “It’s fine. She’s my pet.” It amused me how her tail wagged whenever I called her that.

  The guard was pounding his fist into his chest, as if trying to restart his heart. “I don’t think I’ve ever had a fright like that,” he said.

  Another guard came around, a bit concerned at the shout and moved to help up his comrade. “What happwuaah!” He had also spotted the Gnoll, but he didn’t topple over.

  “It’s fine, she’s fine, everything’s fine,” I reassured.

  The two guards looked at eachother, and then one of them smirked. He leaned around the wagon a moment and called out. “Hey Levy, you should come look at this.”

  I had a feeling I knew what was about to happen. A third guard came over. “What’s all the screaming abouaaaiigh!” He hit the ground with a thud, having fainted. The other two guards laughed as they moved to help him.

  “Levy’s afraid of dogs,” one of the guards explained with a laugh, trying to rouse his friend.

  Shuzshu smiled a bit, amused at the reaction. “As he should be,” she said, which caused the other two guards to jolt.

  I pushed down on her head a bit and scolded, “Don’t try to scare them.” She whined in response. The other guards chuckled a bit, seeing that there was no immediate danger and waved us in.

  It was nice to sleep in an inn. A good inn. A proper inn. It had been almost a year since I had laid in a comfortable bed. I had removed all but my undergarments to be more comfortable when sleeping. Sleeping garments were something that only the truly wealthy had. Sometimes I missed having pajamas, and having loungewear. But they were a luxury I couldn’t have, so I put up with having comfortable underwear.

  Shuzshu, on the other hand, removed everything. It was the first time I had seen her completely in the nude, and I made some startling discoveries. The biggest shock of all, she had six breasts. Secondly, she had many scars. Dozens across her arms and legs, and a very prominent scar across her midsection. Someone had ripped open her stomach.

  As my eyes wandered, I looked at her other scars, a small one across her snout, a series of small scars under her muzzle, a nick in her left ear. Then she turned around, gently setting down the folded cloth that was her toga, and I saw her back. There were dozens of scars, mostly under her fur, but still visible. She had been lashed. I wondered how many of her scars were hidden.

  I had a number of scars myself, but none of them were as severe or visible as hers. Taking a deep breath, I laid down on the bed. I almost fell asleep immediately, until Shuzshu laid down on top of me. The frame of the bed cracked from her weight. However she paid it no mind, rubbing her face against my bare chest. This was also the first time she had seen my full body, though she seemed uninterested.

  Before she completely settled in, I lifted her head. She tilted her head to the side slightly, puzzled at my actions. I wanted to…kiss her. There was the want to know what she tasted like. The urge to explore her mouth. But I just…couldn’t. Instead, I smiled at her and ran my fingers through her mane.

  As she laid her head back down on my chest, I gently pet her until she fell asleep. I had really become fond of this Gnoll. I wasn’t particularly ashamed to say that in my previous life I had had certain tastes, but could never indulge due to fantastical things not existing. And in this world, while those attractions remained, indulging was a death sentence. “Once a monster fucker, always a monster fucker?” I mused quietly to myself, chuckling as I remembered that silly label.

  In the morning, I could only apologize to the innkeeper, and give him some copper for the bed that Shuzshu’s weight had broken. Explaining seemed pointless, as the more I tried, the more weird looks I got. After giving up on that we headed to the carriage zone, and found our driver loading a few crates. When he spotted me he gave a bit of a grin. “Ah, you’re right on time. We’ll be leaving just as soon as we get this on board.”

  “Alright,” I said with a nod as I boarded the wagon after they slid the last box on. As I got on I noticed a figure, wrapped in a heavy cloak and clearly hiding their appearance. I got some weird vibes from them, but paid it no more attention as I sat down, gripping the bench as the whole cart shook slightly from Shuzshu boarding.

  I could tell that the figure was tensely watching us, but they relaxed when the Gnoll sat down and put her head on my lap, demanding pets. Of course I obliged, giving her head and neck a lot of attention with my fingers. I had not even bothered to put my gauntlets on this morning, which had been a first in a very long time. Within a few minutes, we were underway.

  It wasn’t until a few hours in that our other traveling companion moved. Shuzshu was sleeping on my lap, and I was writing down notes, thoughts, ideas, and plans for future projects. While the movement had not gone unnoticed by me, I did not react to it. I could see them growing more and more tense as we traveled. They pulled a large waterskin from somewhere on their person and as they drank from it I could smell the tinge of alcohol. With that, they seemed to relax.

  I pondered why they were so nervous. Was it the traveling? Was it Shuzshu? Perhaps it was me? Were they running from something? They flinched. “It’s not polite to skim other peoples surface thoughts,” I said calmly, not stopping my notations.

  “Your thoughts are loud,” came a low response. It had a rough but slightly feminine tone to it.

  “Poor control,” I retorted. There were several different professions and certain races that could gain the ability to skim surface thoughts. She probably had one of those, and due to how coveted of an ability it was, that was probably why she was running.

  They seemed to want to argue, but thought better of it and simply slumped in their seat. I went back to ignoring her, continuing my work. Since it was the only work that I could do without a proper laboratory. “Why are you so indifferent?”

  “Despite knowing?” I sighed a bit as I closed the book, looking over at the figure for the first time since boarding the wagon. “Because it has nothing to do with me.”

  “But…”

  “There is no but. I simply don’t care. I am not in, nor do I plan on being in, a position that would be able to take advantage of such a thing. At most I would-” I paused, actually having to think. “I don’t know, cheat at low stake poker games?” I shook my head. “Not worth the trouble.” With that I returned to my scribbling.

  The day passed without any other issues. Eventually we made it to the second town, Trove. Like Lorn it was surrounded by farmland. The next morning, another person boarded the wagon, some of the boxes were moved off, new ones replacing them. It would be two days to the next town, but before noon I got a bad feeling.

  Suddenly something felt off. I looked at Shuzshu, who was sleeping. I glanced at the other two, and then passed them at the driver and his guard. I looked back at my book and then voiced in my head, ‘If you can hear the thoughts of the guy across from you, look at me. But if you can’t, look at the driver.’

  A few moments passed before the cloaked woman looked towards the driver. Thinking about the information I gathered in the glance. The man was also dressed to obscure his appearance, but not to such a degree as the woman. I realized that look he had given me a minute ago had triggered some sort of self defense instinct. He was sizing me up. Not quite in a hostile way, but in a way that felt purposeful.

  ‘When the wagon stops,’ I thought towards the woman, ‘Come to the back of the wagon as quickly as you can. Something is about to happen.’ Seven years of adventuring, and previous life experience, had thankfully honed my instincts, and I was pretty good at recognizing threats.

  Nearly twenty minutes passed, until suddenly the wagon jolted to a stop. The woman dove to the floor beside Shuzshu, just as the man lunged at where she had been. “Shuzshu, get him.”

  The words had not even fully left my mouth before she was on top of him, trying to tear out his throat. I pulled on my gauntlets, looking past the rapidly growing gruesome scene to the driver and knight. I could see Jacob leaping from the wagon, sword drawn, and beyond him I could see several other figures.

  I turned to the back and jumped out, planting my foot solidly in the face of someone who had been attempting to climb on. I landed, buckling the last bit of my gauntlet and looked at the four men. Five of them counting the one on the ground. While their appearance said bandits, their weapons quality said mercenaries.

  Three of them wielded swords, one of which was a two-hander, while one of the others had a warhammer and the last had a spear. There was silence as I rolled up my sleeves and we eyed each other. Or, well, there would be silence if not for the screams of the man in the wagon, desperately fighting off the attacks from a groggy Gnoll. I flexed my fingers as I raised my hands, clenching them into fists and activating the magic.

  Suddenly three of them rushed me, the man with the spear behind two swordsmen. I backhanded both blades out of the way, and caught the spear with the other hand. “Wrong choice.” I pulled the spear, yanking the wielder towards me only to smash his face in. They seemed at most to be Tier Threes or Fours.

  The two men held up the swords, trying to regain their stances and attack. Blocking one blade with a forearm, and punching the second one upwards. Immediately there was a follow up, a downward strike that was blocked by my forearm, and a thrust that I sidestepped. They had good coordination. With one blade locked against the sparking forearm, I struck the hand of the one who had thrust and overextended.

  A cry of pain escaped the man as his hand was smashed and the blade clattered to the ground. Raising my arm, I forced the other blade upwards, and then slugged the swordsman in the gut. “Shuzshu! Stop playing,” I said as I stepped to the side as the Gnoll lunged out and plowed into the two men. She snatched up the blades that the men had dropped, and cut them both down in a simple swing of both blades. That’s a Tier Nine for you.

  I made my way around the side. While he may only be Tier Two, I was surprised to see Jacob still standing, though it was clear he was badly beaten by the group. There were two dead at his feet, though he was breathing heavily. He was facing a single man wielding a massive warhammer. He appeared to have some giant blood in him, judging by the fact he was nearly twice my height. And his hammer was much bigger than me. This looked to be the leader of the little group.

  The massive man moved forward, going for another strike against Jacob, who raised the already battered shield. But before it made contact the knight was pulled backwards. The hammer slammed into the ground in front of him, and both of them looked at me. “Damn it, what are those fools doing? They can’t even handle a single Maker and a Gnoll?” the large man spat.

  Jacob stumbled back a bit, falling to a knee. “Fuck…he’s way out of my league…” he muttered in frustration. I knew that feeling. That overwhelming feeling of being unable to do anything.

  There was an urge to give the knight a reassuring pat, but that wasn’t really my style. No one was ever there to comfort me all the times I hit rock bottom. Yet I’d done it without even realizing it. “You at least stood.”

  The large man sneered at me. “And what are you going to do, Maker?”

  I raised my fists, gauntlets still crackling. “Well, I’m gonna start by knocking that smug look off your face.”

  He laughed, hoisting up his giant hammer. “You? You think you can do anything but die at-” his words were suddenly cut short as a spear sprung from his head. He seemed to slowly fall back and land with a heavy crash.

  I looked back to see Shuzshu coming around the wagon. I had actually forgotten for a moment that she was also in this fight. “Right, or you can just peg him in the head.” I shook my head.

  She came over to me, glancing at Jacob before moving to the fallen leader. “Mine,” she said as she hefted the hammer. Judging from its size, I don’t think anyone else here could have even lifted it. I know I would have had to use magic to pull it off.

  “Of course,” I responded as I crouched down, going through the man's pockets. He had a few potions, and thirty silver, but nothing else. “They must have a camp nearby…” I muttered, looking around to see if I could spot it.

  Shuzshu held out her hand, and I looked over. She was holding six magic stones. I hesitated before taking them and storing them in my coat. Magic stones from people were different from monsters and beasts. While I could consume them…that was a line that I wasn’t willing to cross.

  After making the rounds on the mercenaries' bodies, I found a few more potions. The best find was a pendant of mind shielding that the initial man had. While it was a faulty basic enchanted item, it was still worth a lot of silver. I found the woman in the cloak curled up under one of the benches in the wagon. “They’re all dead,” I told her, crouching down to see if she had any injuries.

  But she seemed fine. “They…they were here for me…” she muttered.

  “Yes,” I tried to have a gentle tone, but I was never very good at comforting others, which always bothered me. “But they’re gone now. You’re alright.” She looked to relax a bit, but I could hear her softly sobbing.

  “Archanist.” I turned to see Jacob standing at the back of the wagon. “The wagon is stuck.” These were the most words he had ever spoken to me.

  I sighed a bit as I stood up, hopping down. “Yes, I figured that.”

  Rounding the corner I could see the dog eared driver low to the ground, peering under the wagon. “They had a trap that snagged the undercarriage.”

  Going down to one knee, I took a look as well. There was a mixture of vines, roots, and rock that all seemed to reach up and grab hold of everything they could. “Earthen Grasp? They didn’t have a mage, or wand, so they must have had a scroll. And a trigger of some kind since the Drakes didn't activate it,” I mumbled, eyeing the ground under the wagon.

  “Pretty big expense to just use on a wagon,” Jacob said, standing near the back of the wagon.

  “Well, depends on if they bought it, or know a mage that can do it,” I said as I reached under and pulled at a few of the vines. “Should lose strength in an hour.” As I stood up, I added, “Or you can spend the time hacking at it till it’s loose enough that the Drakes can pull it.”

  “Can’t you break it?”

  I looked at Jacob, who obviously knew very little about magic. “It’s not a spell you ‘break’. You could cast an earth control spell and a plant control spell to undo its effects, but neither earth or plants are my area.”

  I could tell that he was frowning behind his helmet. “Aren’t you high tier?”

  “Hardly. You’re not high tier till you break ten.” I moved past him, giving him a pat on the shoulder. “Just think of this as an unscheduled break.” Shuzshu walked past him as well, following me as I got into the wagon. I stopped her before she boarded, and pulled out a waterskin. “Clean up yourself first.”

  She huffed at me before snatching the waterskin and began washing blood off of herself. I sat down, glancing at the girl still under the bench and then sighed. After about twenty minutes of fiddling, I had modified the pendant. Shuzshu had also gotten back, complaining about the water being cold.

  I tossed the pendant at the girl, it landed on a bit of her cloak. “There.”

  There was silence for a moment before she slowly reached for the pendant, barely touching it. “You…really want to help me?”

  “Just take it.” I had slightly altered the runic circuits so that it would, in theory, allow her a bit more control of her power. “It’s more trouble for me if I try to sell it. And I’m not sure if it would even work.”

  The wagon suddenly jolted. Apparently Jacob had been carving away at the roots and dirt under the carriage. Impatient. But it seemed as if he hadn't quite gotten it yet, as we didn’t actually go anywhere. This had been going on for a while, after the driver had cleaned up the mess in the back of the wagon, he and Jacob had been trying to get it free. It was not going well.

  Shuzshu sat on the floor, her head in my lap. The hammer sat at the back of the wagon and I wondered if it would break the floor. I started to pet Shuzshu, relaxing in the seat. Wagon benches weren’t the most comfortable, but after so long of using them it didn’t bother me anymore.

  It was nearly another twenty minutes before the wagon finally started to move again. The two of them cheered, but in the end they had only saved a bit of time. But I wasn’t about to ruin their celebration. They had requested I do something about the giant hammer, so I had put it in my coat, thankful that it fit. The girl eventually came out from under the bench once she was sure we were nice and far from the location, and once again took up her seat as far away from us as possible.

  The rest of the trip was uneventful, and eventually we arrived in Brigalt. It was a massive city, spanning for miles. At the center I could see the keep, hard to miss a structure that probably had walls a hundred feet tall. However, what drew my attention was a specific area. It was far off from the town, a wide open area that had nothing but a large squat tower in the middle.

  “A dungeon?” I mused. Magical trials set up by the Gods to test and strengthen the beings of the world. Or so the church says. I’ve come to a different conclusion from my studies, but if I ever tried to tell anyone I’d be labeled as a heretic and…burned at the stake, I think? Hanged? I’m not sure how the church punishes heretics.

  Coming to a halt, the dog man called back, “Alright! Trips over, welcome to Brigalt.”

  I nodded a bit as I stood up. “Thanks for the ride.”

  “Thanks for saving us from those bandits! If it hadn’t been for you and your Gnoll, we would have been in deep trouble. I’ll be sure to report this to the guild.”

  I glanced at the woman in the cloak before hopping off the wagon. “Yeah, well, just doing my job.” Shuzshu followed behind, and I saw a lot of people nearby tense up from her appearance.

  She snorted. “Bunch of jumpy cowards,” she muttered, glaring around at the crowd. Most of which were adventurers.

  “I told you to stop glaring at people.” I gave her a light tap on the stomach. “This is civilization. You can’t go around picking fights, or we’ll get kicked out.”

  As she looked down at me I watched as her expression softened and then she nodded. “Alright. Where are we going now?” Suddenly she perked up, her tail wagging a bit. “Can we get food?”

  “Yes, we can. We’re going to find an inn, and in the morning we’ll go to the Guild Hall to check in.” I was a bit worried at how much this Gnoll could eat, about ten times as much as I could. But she only ate once or twice every few days, so it was not as bad as it could be. I could only shudder at the cost if she had to eat more often.

  After asking around for a moment, we were pointed to a nearby inn. It was an extremely large establishment, catering to those using the transport service. It was actually quite a nice place, and had quite a number of people. No one even paid us any mind as I headed over to the counter. “A room, and ten servings of whatever your largest meal is,” I said to the receptionist.

  He looked at me, looked at the Gnoll, and then back at me. “That will be ten silver.”

  I frowned a bit, that seemed rather on the expensive side, but I was honestly so used to getting ripped off that I just sighed, and pulled out the coins and placed them on the table. “Alright.”

  In turn, he opened a large book on the table beside him, gesturing for me to sign. It had been a long time since I’d been in a place I actually needed to sign. But sign I did. I then offered the pen to Shuzshu, who looked at me confused.

  “You have to sign, so that they have a log of who has stayed,” I prompted.

  “I can’t write,” was her response.

  I paused for a moment, and then scribbled her name down next to mine. It had honestly not occurred to me that the Gnoll couldn’t do it. She was so well spoken that it hadn’t even crossed my mind. “Alright.”

  The receptionist then handed me a key. “Room two ten. We will have your food delivered.”

  That was convenient. “Thank you,” I said as I took the key. As I walked away, I realized that he had been giving me a strange look. Of course, I knew why, and he wasn’t exactly wrong, so I had nothing to really say about it.

  The room itself wasn’t all that large, but it still felt spacious. Enough for Shuzshu to easily move about, and almost be able to stand up straight. Although the Gnoll hardly ever stood straight, her legs were always bent and she hunched a bit, but that was just how she was shaped.

  The bed was large, and sturdy, and I immediately noticed that there was only one. Again, not incorrect assumptions had been made. While there were no intimate acts, I had slept with the Gnoll every night for weeks. Or to put it more correctly, she had slept on me every night for weeks.

  As I was admiring the room, Shuzshu had already disrobed and was making herself comfortable on the bed. She had discovered the majesty and comfort of beds while we were traveling, and it had immediately spoiled her. Not that I could blame her, I would much prefer a bed over laying on the ground.

  “Comfy?” I said as I sat on the bed, stroking her head and neck. She had a thick mane that ran down her head and ended at her mid back. It wasn’t particularly long, but it looked like she had cut it. Or more correctly, burned it to its current length.

  “Mmmng…” She made a bit of noise before huffing softly. She had been quite reluctant to let me pet her in the first few days after we met, but the more I did it, the more she gave in and enjoyed. Now she even demanded I pet her.

  We remained like this for quite a while before there was a knock at the door. Cautiously I moved over, not about to take any chances no matter where I was. “Who's there?”

  “Delivering your food?” came a questioning voice from the other side.

  Hesitantly I opened the door, to find a man with a large cart, piled with food. “Ah, good.” He seemed puzzled, probably wondering why so much food was being delivered to a small room, till he caught sight of the massive Gnoll lounging on the bed.

  With a bit of a cough, he gestured to the food. “Just leave your plates out beside the door when you’re done.”

  “Thank you,” I said as I began to pull the food from the cart, and set it inside on the floor. It was a lot. There were meats, breads, some vegetables, and several jugs of water.

  He nodded a bit before turning and heading off down the hall, and I closed the door. “Food?”

  I looked back to see Shuzshu already digging into the large quantity of food. It was quite a sight to see a massive creature like her devouring food enough to feed several people, all while in the buff. I had to make sure that I grabbed a plate for myself, otherwise she wouldn’t leave me with anything. I had learned that lesson.

  I sat on the bed and watched her back as she ate. I wanted to ask her about the scars littering her back, but it didn’t seem appropriate. It was easier to not bring them up, and simply let the past stay in the past. That was something I wanted to do, too. But it was clear from how she acted, and the scars, that she was once a slave. She liked to wear the collar, even when wearing nothing else; something that was familiar. The whip scars on her back were the most obvious clue.

  Even with a slave collar’s control, the one wearing it could still interpret commands. Some slave owners also took out their anger on those that they owned. Though those scars seemed very old. If I had to guess, she was rebellious when she was younger, was eventually sold to someone who actually treated her well, and was set free for some reason. Judging from the way she reacted when her collar was destroyed by those Gold Cross members, I didn’t think that she was consensually freed. She must have liked her previous owner.

  I still questioned why she was following me. The reason she said didn’t make much sense to me, but that could just be my mentality. Again that was something that I would have to wait for her to bring up, if she ever wanted to talk about it. If she never brought it up, then I would have to assume it didn’t matter. And it wouldn’t matter, until it did. For now, she was my companion.

  Until she left.

  Like everyone else.

  ~

  In the morning we set off for the guild. The walk was not as stressful as I thought it would be. I expected to be harassed or stopped at some point, but as I saw more I realized that slavery was alive and well within this city. From beastfolk to beasts, to people. There were those with collars scattered about. I was not a fan of the practice, but ethics from my previous world didn’t match here. Though they had the same practice of making criminals into slaves.

  The guild building itself was large, and not very far from the carriage station. It reminded me of the one back in the Hallow Kingdom that I so often frequented. That was a lot of tainted memories. This one seemed to be painted in a brighter fashion, and looked newer.

  As I opened the door, I gave Shuzshu a pleading look, begging her not to start anything. She only huffed in response, folding her arms in front of her. The inside was fairly loud, a lot of excited adventurers talking about recent events and quests, a few loud arguments, and some celebrations. It didn’t go silent as we entered, but it quieted down a bit.

  I knew this would be the case, however I was quick to find out that it was not Shuzshu that had drawn everyone’s attention. “Well, well, well. If it isn't the Impact Archanist himself.”

  “Gods I fucking hate that name,” I said as I realized the room was looking more at me than at the Gnoll.

  There was laughter from several places in the room, some boisterous, some mere chuckles. “Unfortunately we don’t all get to choose our nicknames,” someone responded.

  I rolled my eyes before heading over towards the counter. There were several receptionists, none of which seemed very surprised to see me or Shuzshu. “Checking in,” I said to the fairly well dressed man.

  “Who's the Impact Archanist?” I heard someone nearby whisper.

  “Yes, of course,” the receptionist responded. “Do you plan on staying in Brigalt long term?”

  “Yes, I do.” I handed him my guild card, as well as Shuzshu’s.

  “He’s a real well known combat maker in the east,” someone whispered in response. “I heard that his old party robbed him and then kicked him out of their guild,” another person whispered. “Apparently he nearly killed half of them as he left.” There were a lot of whispers. “Whole guild collapsed without him.”

  It was nice hearing positive things being said behind my back, though it was still annoying to be talked about. The receptionist balked a bit when he saw my guild card. “Your rank dropped?”

  Apparently he knew who I was. “I quit the Hallow branch due to harassment and reward short changing.” That seemed to get everyone’s attention.

  He frowned, looking at my guild card. Then he looked at Shuzshu’s and I watched as his eyes went wide. He looked at me, then behind me at her, and then back at the card. “Uh…and she is your…”

  “Pet,” I responded. I could practically see him looking at her collar. “To clarify, not a slave. She is following me by choice. She just has uh…preferences.” I tried to convey my meaning with a look, and thankfully it seemed he understood.

  “Right…” He cleared his throat. “Well, the two of you are checked in now, so feel free to take quests whenever you’d like.”

  “Not so fast.” A man appeared behind the receptionist. And when I say appeared, he literally appeared. As in not there one moment, and then there the next.

  I immediately recognized him. He was a tall man made of muscle, a head of short gray hair, and the face of an old man. Landerson. In his prime he reached Tier Fourteen, but he was pushing a hundred and fifty. Rumor was that he still had the strength around Tier Twelve. I had seen him once when he was in Hallow, responding to a high tier request for assistance. One of the highest tiered people I’d ever seen.

  “There’s no way I’m going to let the Impact Archanist walk around with a guild card like this.” He took my guild card from the receptionist, and put it into a device behind the counter. For a second I was worried he was going to drop my rank, but that wasn’t Landerson’s style.

  After a moment he returned the card to me, and immediately I saw that he had raised me to Tier Six. “Huh?”

  “I’ve seen your skills first hand. You were clearly of that tier two years ago, and hearing what happened after your guild kicked you out, even without ninety nine percent of your gear… Well, clearly you’re well above six even now,” Landerson explained, looking at Shuzshu’s card as he spoke. “Especially if you have a…pet that’s this strong. But I don’t have the authority to do anything but restore your tier.”

  “I’m not complaining,” I said as I put away my card and held out my hand for the other. “Just surprised.”

  He seemed to hesitate a moment. “Are you planning to send your pet on quests?”

  I furrowed my brow. Sure it was common practice to send slaves and servants out on quests, but I hadn’t actually thought about doing that. I rubbed my chin a bit in thought. “I could double on quests,” I mumbled.

  Landerson laughed. “Hadn’t even crossed your mind, eh? Well, I suppose that’s a good thing. But…with her tier, there’s a lot of quests she could do. Lots of monsters to kill.”

  “Kill?” Shuzshu responded excitedly.

  Sighing, I looked at him. He had seen her profession and knew how to push her buttons. “Right, well, I wouldn’t mind her taking quests.” I turned towards her a bit, opening my cloak and slightly pulling out the hammer. I couldn’t lift the thing and she needed to put it in and remove it from my cloak.

  She excitedly grabbed the handle and pulled out the massive maul. She held it in one hand. That thing was bigger than me and she could heft it in one hand? Even the floor seemed to have some complaints when she put it down, judging from the creaks it made from the weight.

  Even Landerson seemed a bit surprised, but he laughed. “Good, good. Let me get a few quests.”

  I looked at the receptionist who shrugged. “Landerson is the highest tier in the city.”

  “Gods I would hope so,” I muttered.

  He nodded. “Yes, well, we don’t have many high tiers, and most of them don’t take many quests. So they’ve been building up to the point Landerson has to take some.”

  “I see…” I frowned a bit. That certainly was troublesome. High tiers weren’t extremely rare, one in ten thousand, but they tended to congregate to places that could satisfy their strength. “What tier is the dungeon?”

  “Its lowest floor is Tier Ten,” Landerson answered as he came back with a stack of papers. “But the highest two floors are Tier Zero. Fifty seven floors.”

  I nodded a bit. “A good dungeon.”

  “Now, here’s the list.” He slapped the pile down on the table. I picked up the pile, and immediately started sorting it into two piles. Landerson frowned as he watched me.

  After I was done, I picked up one of the stacks. “She’ll take these.”

  His brow furrowed as he stared at me and then thumbed through the stack I left on the table. Immediately he realized what I had done and then laughed. “Oh, I see how it is.” I had taken all the quests that paid well.

  Shuzshu was shifting back and forth behind me, looking over my shoulders at the pile. There were seven quests. “Are these things strong?”

  “Some of them. These two are mostly just annoying.” I showed a kill request for a Ghost Boar, and a Salad Salamander. A Ghost Boar wasn’t actually an undead, but it was large and had phasing and stealth abilities, and was smart. It could avoid attacks and feinted charges a lot. A Salad Salamander was a plant type monster in the shape of a large lizard. They liked to occupy farms and kill passing travelers and farmers, using their bodies as fertilizer.

  “I want to kill them,” she said rather excitedly. Then she looked at me. “You stay.”

  I blinked and looked up at her. “What?”

  “You’re too strong,” she said bluntly. “You’ll steal all the fun. I hunt, and when I come back, we eat.”

  There was silence for a moment before everyone laughed. “Sounds good to me. I guess the lady thinks you’ll make the quests too easy,” Landerson said, and Shuzshu nodded vigorously.

  Sighing and shaking my head, I looked through the stack again. “Alright, fine.” I dropped the papers on the table. “Give her a guild tabard, and tell her where to find them, she can’t read.” A guild tabard meant that the person wearing it was on official guild business and no one would harass them.

  Landerson hesitated before nodding. “A good idea. That way no one will mistake her for a monster.”

  “And if anyone bothers her, she’s going to kill them,” I said bluntly, looking at Landerson. I was trying to emphasize she was not to be trifled with.

  He frowned a bit, glancing at the Gnoll before nodding. “Right. Well, as long as it’s self-defense.” He smiled a bit. “Besides, I don’t think anyone in this city is dumb enough to pick a fight with a Gnoll.”

  I nodded a bit. “If you’re fine with the consequences.” I paused. “There’s an Alchemist in this city, right?”

  He nodded and pat the receptionist on the shoulder. “Gerald will help you with everything else.” He took the stack of papers that I had snubbed before taking his leave.

  “There are…technically four Alchemists in the city,” Gerald explained. “Two of them are associated with the Laslow Corporation, one is with Tunslow, and the other is unaffiliated.”

  My eye twitched. Laslow and Tunslow, while separate in name, were technically the same company. And they were both scum. Large corporations that used people as cattle. Testing potions on the poor, torturing slaves, capturing people just to see if they could be used as good components… I had done a lot of work for both of them before I found out how bad it was. Then they blacklisted me when I refused to do any more work.

  “Where’s the unaffiliated one?”

  The man frowned a bit. “Well I uh…can’t really recommend them, but they're on the west side of town, on Crissing street. It’s called Red Bottle. Are you sure you don’t want one of the others?”

  I nodded a bit, and then turned to Shuzshu. “Alright. I’m going to go do this, and then come back.” She was nodding as I spoke. “You listen to their explanation on where to find what you’re hunting. Try and be back before dark. I’ll come back here when I’m done, and we can eat.”

  She licked at her mouth, grinning and nodding. “Yes yes. I will hunt these things.”

  “You’ll need to bring back proof of the kill,” the receptionist explained. “It’ll be a different part for each one, and their magic stone, but we’ll go over details of that.”

  As they began talking I left the guild, watching at how excited the Gnoll looked. She liked to fight, and probably spent a lot of time hunting for strong things. To simply be told where they were was probably a very exciting concept.