Ves and I remained in the vicinity of the Starting Cave for a while, partially so we could discuss our plans, and partially because Ves was tired, but mostly so that we wouldn’t have to walk back to Perrenbrook with Kael and Ullun. I decided it was time to start walking when Ves couldn’t finish a sentence without yawning.

  “Are you okay? It’s…” I looked up at the sun to estimate the time, once again feeling the loss of having a phone on hand at all times. “...Only about noon.”

  “I’m wiped out from casting all that magic. All the healing was one thing, then I had to sustain that light at max strength, and then we fought that damn… zombie.” Ves stretched her body all at once.

  “Oh man, that’s right - how did you hurt it so bad? Did you use healing spells on it?”

  Ves looked at me quizzically. “No, that wouldn’t do anything, except maybe repair some of its flesh and bone, and that’d just make it tougher.”

  Damn you, years of playing video games! “Okay, then what did you do?”

  She yawned yet again. “Okay, you know how I said that some classes overlap a bit? Well, I don’t know a lot about being a Vitality Mage, but it’s pretty common knowledge that it overlaps at least a little with the Necromancer class.”

  “Because both deal with life and death. Makes sense.”

  “Right. So while we’re usually just called Healers because we do that a hell of a lot more than attacking, we’re supposed to be useful against undead. It’s like taking them apart instead of putting them together.”

  That made sense from what I’d seen her do against the rat queen, and honestly sounded a lot like the “healing hurts undead” concept I was so familiar with. It wasn’t worth arguing semantics.

  We made our way back to town, and Ves was having trouble staying on her feet by the end of the walk. I led her back to her small home while she was leaning against me with an arm around my shoulder, reminding me of times when a friend would have one too many at a bar.

  I helped Ves onto her bed and she curled up. “Are you gonna… rest, too?”

  “Nah, if I nap now, I’ll be up all night. I think I’ll just walk around town for a bit.” There was no response from the already-sleeping Ves.

  It’s true that I wanted to get to know the layout of the town better, but there was more that I wanted to do; namely, speak with Thia. Part of me had been debating whether I should tell Ves about that beforehand, so I was glad she fell asleep before I had the chance.

  A couple of friendly-enough, but somewhat standoffish, townspeople confirmed my suspicions that the inn where I’d had my last two meals was the only one in town. Unless the Sterling Seekers kept a guild house in Perrenbrook, which felt extremely unlikely, I’d find Thia at the inn sooner or later.

  Thinking about meals made my stomach gurgle. I might not have been tired from using mana, but sneaking around a cave all morning and fighting rat monsters had worked up an appetite. Checking my remaining coins, it looked like I wouldn’t have any problems paying for a meal by myself. Oh, I should also make sure to get something that Ves can eat later.

  Ullun was standing outside the inn, with her eyes closed and her hands together, as if praying or meditating. Maybe she’s tired from spellcasting, like Ves. As I approached the door, I could hear loud voices, making me wonder if the inn got especially rowdy at this time of day. The elf’s eyes opened, and she subtly shook her head. I almost didn’t notice it at all, but I was so hungry that I would have considered entering the building if it was actively on fire.

  The situation within was almost as uncomfortable as that. Not far from the front desk, which was currently being staffed by the friendly human woman from the previous day, were Thia and Kael having a heated argument.

  Over in the nearby dining area, there were only a few patrons, all of whom kept stealing glances at the aevrana siblings and seemed to be gossipping about them. There was also a beleaguered bard, who looked like a halfling or maybe a gnome, trying his best to play a lively tune on his fiddle loud enough to drown out the raised voices.

  “For my sake? I was abandoned without warning for my sake?” Despite being almost a foot and a half shorter than Kael, Thia looked like more than a match for him at that moment.

  “Hardly ‘abandoned’, Aralithia. We simply made a quick jaunt over there for the briefest of inspections.” Kael’s naturally-booming voice was barely louder than normal, but the much softer-sounding Thia had to yell in order to match his volume.

  “A brief inspection that resulted in your gauntlets being pierced?”

  “I am uninjured now, as you can see, and the cave is in good hands–”

  “Pray tell me why I accompanied you to Perrenbrook, brother. Was I to receive training, or was I simply to draw more eyes towards the Seekers?”

  “I felt it best to leave you behind for your protection, after what happened yesterday!”

  “My protection? Do you doubt your talents as a Defender as much as I do? Mayhaps I am not the only one in need of training–”

  “YOU CANNOT TRAIN IF YOU ARE DEAD!”

  The fiddle music came to an abrupt stop, along with any hushed conversations. Kael looked as shocked as the rest of us at his thunderous outburst. He cleared his throat, nodded first to Thia, and then the innkeeper, and marched towards the door. I moved out of the way as he gave me a surprisingly cordial “Jeremy!” and exited the building.

  I watched him leave, and when my head turned back, Thia was already right in front of me. “I am sorry that you had to witness our altercation, but it pleases me to see you again.”

  “Seriously, don’t worry about it. I actually wanted to talk to you, if you have time?”

  Thia’s face lit up. “Oh, of course!”

  “Have you eaten? I’ll buy you lunch.”

  “I have not, but I insist on paying. The guild covers our meals, and there should be no issue with considering this a business expense.”

  I thanked her, and we sat down at an available table. “Do you want to talk about what just happened?”

  The beautiful horned woman took a deep breath. “Yesterday, after our… encounter…” She briefly averted her eyes and suppressed a smile. “I attempted to converse with my brother about my wishes to leave the Seekers. I felt it best to use subtlety, at least at first; describing how it felt to combat the cave rat queen. Unfortunately, Kaelition only took that to mean there was something wrong with the cave, and not with me.”

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  Not looking forward to telling her that Kael ended up being right. I nodded for her to continue.

  “He decided to perform an ‘inspection’ of the Starting Cave, under the belief that it should be restricted or sealed, and chose not to bring me, nor so much as tell me of his plans.”

  “Leaving you wondering if he thinks you’re not strong enough to be in the guild, and if so, why he won’t understand that you want to quit.”

  “Essentially, yes. You understand how frustrating this has been for me. The time for subtlety is over, and I’ll need to be more direct with Kaelition when I see him again, although I am not excited about that conversation.”

  “Well, I’ve actually got an idea…”

  I told Thia all about how Ves and I ran into Kael and Ullun near the Starting Cave, participated in his inspection, and ended up having to fight the rat queen again as a zombie. Thia placed her hand over mine while I was talking, and gripped it tight as I described the battle. I felt that it was best to leave out the stuff about how the Goddess said something different to me than she said to everyone else, and how Ves had somehow been able to suddenly dodge an attack like a Rogue. There would be time to get into all of that later, if she ended up joining our party.

  “This explains why my brother was so confident in his decision to not include me. I never would have guessed that the cave held such secrets.” Thia sighed, her shoulders slumping.

  “Which brings me to my idea. After the fight, I convinced Kael to let me and Ves research the cave, and the rune inside, in case there’s anything to worry about that wouldn’t be stopped by just sealing the cave.”

  Thia’s eyes widened. “He agreed to that?”

  “He’s even going to be paying us a guild stipend. So, I was wondering if you might want to join us?”

  “Truly?” She squeezed my hand again.

  “Maybe you could do it as a representative of the Seekers, and it could be a stepping stone from the guild to joining our party permanently.” Thia’s face was glowing, and she grinned at me with half-lidded eyes… almost hungry eyes. “But! Ves was being a little cagey about the idea, and I’m not sure why. She didn’t seem upset at all when you left us in the cave.”

  “Is it not obvious to you, Jeremy? Vestele is jealous, because we…” She trailed off, as the innkeeper approached.

  Since I was caught up in the whole sales pitch from Kael yesterday, I wasn’t able to properly meet the innkeeper. She had a plump, friendly face, and exuded sweetness.

  “Oh, Brinn, I would like to apologize on behalf of myself and my brother.”

  The older woman waved Thia off, still smiling. “Think nothing of it, Lady Xyrosia. Oh, and it’s nice to see you again, young man.”

  Thia giggled. “Please, I told you to call me ‘Thia’!”

  “Oh, I’ll try, but it’s a force of habit, you know. I still remember when your mother would visit on Seekers business. An amazing woman, but she definitely preferred the more formal titles!”

  “Mm, yes, that certainly sounds like Mother…”

  I stood up. “I’m sorry I didn’t get the chance to introduce myself yesterday. I’m Jeremy.”

  “Sit, sit, Jeremy. I hope you’ve been enjoying your time in our village. Now, what can I get you two?”

  As there didn’t seem to be a menu, and I didn’t want to look ridiculous asking for something they didn’t have (or had never heard of), I ordered the same stew as Thia.

  Once Brinn had walked away, I quietly jumped back into the discussion. “How would Ves even know about… us?”

  “Women have ways of knowing these things… netharri women, especially so. But she needn’t be jealous.”

  My heart sank a bit - I thought there had been something more between me and Thia. “No?”

  Thia leaned closer. “You are not married, nor in a committed relationship with anyone… yet. Is there any reason why a man should not spend time with women in order to know them better? Mayhaps Vestele is hoping for you to take the first step.”

  I once had a friend who drew women to him effortlessly, and he had said something similar to me about dating multiple women until a relationship became serious. He never seemed to actually reach that stage, and I never had more than one woman interested in me at a time, so I had no idea how much truth there was to that concept.

  The way that Thia was touching my hand and smiling told me that she, at least, had no issues with me getting closer to Ves.

  “Well, I guess there’s only one way to find out.”

  “It is likely to come up sooner or later, with the two of you in a party together, but taking initiative is likely to benefit you.”

  “What do you–” I had wanted to ask her what she meant about me and Ves being in a party, but cut myself off as our food arrived. It ended up being much spicier than I had expected, but it didn’t seem to bother or even affect Thia at all. As we ate, our chat turned much more casual, and I really enjoyed talking to her about topics other than classes, parties, and destinies.

  When we finished our meal, I ordered a couple of different sandwiches for Ves - not knowing exactly what she preferred. Despite my insistence on paying, Thia was resolute about charging it to the guild’s tab. “You may tell Vestele that the sandwiches were my treat, should it aid her decision regarding me joining your party. However, I believe the only subject the two of you should be discussing today is each other.”

  With that, the petite blonde rose up on her tiptoes, put her hands on my shoulders, and moved in for a kiss. I was more than happy to lean down and meet her halfway, and wrapped my arms around her. Thia did the same, and we embraced for several seconds, even after the kiss had ended.

  Okay, I guess I’ll just… go flirt with another beautiful woman now.

  Since I actually did want to familiarize myself with Perrenbrook, it felt like a good idea to do that now while also walking off the meal. The village was only slightly bigger than I assumed, as there were some homes that were further away from the centralized area. Overall, though, it was pretty easy to get the lay of the land, and it felt comfortable knowing at least one tiny part of this wholly unfamiliar world.

  At least, I felt that way until I heard a voice say “You look lost.”

  There hadn't been anyone around - or at least, that's what I thought - so the voice startled me. I turned and saw an old man leaning up against a house. He was wearing simple clothing, like most of the other villagers, but with a cloak around his shoulders. Before arriving in Fielende, I wouldn’t have thought twice about the cloak, but somehow - presumably because of the Rogue class - I just knew that it was more valuable than it might have looked to the average person. Valuable or not, the cloak clearly looked old. Not quite as old as the man himself, but probably close.

  This guy had clearly gone through some rough times. His pale, wrinkled, skin had a number of scars along his neck and face… at least, the part of his face that I could see. There were bandages wrapped diagonally across much of his head. Spots of still-fresh blood stained the bandages at a few points.

  He spoke in an exhausted, wheezy voice. “You look like you're in another world.”

  “...What?”

  There was a series of wet coughs. “You were just starin’ at me like you were deep in thought.”

  “Oh. Sorry. It’s just–” I wanted to ask about his wounds, but he interrupted me.

  “I saw you walkin’ up and down the streets, lookin’ everywhere. Thought maybe you got into a fight with the missus. Got kicked out of the house. Then I realized I’ve never seen you before. Figured you were lost.”

  “Yeah, I’m new here, and was just getting to know the town - hey, do you need help? You’re bleeding.”

  More wet coughs, which turned into gurgling chuckles. “Farming accident. M’fine. Survived worse.”

  “I know a Healer - she could fix you up in a second.”

  A laugh burst from the man, followed by even harsher coughs than before. “No, no, nothin’ a Healer can do for me.” As he spoke, he slowly pushed himself off the wall, and took a few steps towards the house’s front door. “You’d best get back to the missus.” He opened the door, entering the house on steadier feet.

  “At least let her try…”

  The door slowly closed as the man chuckled again. “Trust me. I am a Healer.” Click.

  My eyes darted all around the area, suspiciously. “...What the fuck?”

  Ves hadn’t mentioned any other Healers in Perrenbrook. Considering her struggles with the class, it would have made sense for her to at least talk to one for advice. But then, the guy seemed pretty damn weird and possibly out of his mind. Even if he actually was a Healer, there could be a good reason why Ves wouldn’t want to talk to him.

  I entered her home as quietly as possible, and saw her still asleep on her bed - uncovered, like she had mentioned that morning. After looking around for somewhere to store the sandwiches, I found a cupboard that felt oddly cold. Within was only a small stone, similar to the ones used to heat the bathwater. This one was ice cold, however - presumably, another simple enchantment used to good effect. Seemed like the best place to keep food.

  I walked over to Ves, using my stealth ability to prevent accidentally waking her up. She looked so cute curled up on her mattress, still wearing her arousingly form-fitting outfit from earlier. I noticed that she appeared a little cold, and tried to find her quilt, but it wasn’t anywhere obvious and I didn’t want to risk waking her up.

  Remembering what Ves had done for me in this situation, I made a decision. I removed my leather armor and boots, and was back to just wearing the t-shirt and jogging shorts I brought with me from Earth. Calming myself - and hoping I was making the right move - I slowly climbed into Ves’s bed and wrapped an arm around her.