“Maybe I’m a little worked up from all of the danger we avoided today,” she said. “Sweet dreams, Master Arden.”
“None of that!” I said. She rolled over on the bed, which looked ten times more comfortable and inviting. Was I a complete idiot for not crawling into that bed and making sweet, slimy love to a woman whose entire body was tight, and warm, and curvy?
Maybe I was being too much of a gentleman. I wasn’t used to having the option to take things further than “hello” with most women. I was definitely afraid that I would do something wrong.
I still hoped Cindra would decide to stay long term. She was fun to be around, a good honest companion, and becoming sharper every day about business matters.
Plus, those curves.
Okay, I thought, go to sleep, and next time you have an opportunity with her, man up and take it!
+13
The next morning, Cindra and I got ourselves together and checked out, even though all I wanted to do was sleep. We had an exhausting day and a long night behind us, with a long journey back ahead of us.
The innkeeper from last night was gone, but a new one took her place. This one also gave Cindra a strange look. They must have had their share of messes in the guest rooms, because they seemed very wary.
Outside, I saw that other people gave Cindra that same look. In fact, if they weren’t lusting after her lush, green body like Blade had been, they were either disgusted or afraid of her.
I realized then that everyone in Valleyvale was the same. Pale white skin, dark hair and eyes. No elves, no beastkin, no one at all remotely like Cindra. Even I stood out, if only because my eyes were blue. It was time to buy our supplies and get the heck out.
Cindra worked her magic on the clothing shop owner first, getting us a small discount on the clothing we had set aside the day before. Cindra was overjoyed at her new dress, especially when I told her that it would improve every one of her attributes. I glanced at my own menu to see how I was shaping up, happy that my bonuses took effect after I put on my new leathers.
Δ
Skillmeister View of:
Arden Hochbright
Base Attribute / XP to Next / Intended Change / Total XP Cost
-
5 Constitution / 125 XP to Next / none / Total XP Cost: 0
-
5 Vivacity / 125 XP to Next / none / Total XP Cost: 0
-
6 Strength + 6 Bonus / 150 XP to Next / 6 –> 7 / Total XP Cost: 150
-
6 Hardiness + 4 Bonus / 150 XP to Next / none / Total XP Cost: 0
-
5 Focus / 125 XP to Next / none / Total XP Cost: 0
-
5 Resolve + 3 Bonus / 125 XP to Next / none / Total XP Cost: 0
-
TOTAL BASE ATTRIBUTE XP COST: 150
Stats Affected by Change
-
[Constitution] Health Points (HP): 500/500
-
[Vivacity] Action Points (AP): 100/100
-
[Strength] Phys. Damage Inflict Range: 120-146 –> 130-159
-
[Hardiness] Phys. Damage Block Range: 54-76
-
[Focus] Mag. Damage Inflict Range: 50-61
-
[Resolve] Mag. Damage Block Range: 43-61
-
Skills For Weapon Class: Polearm
-
Piercing Blow 1.
Damage multiplier of 2.0.
[20 AP to cast] [Requires: Strength 5].
-
Improve to Piercing Blow 2 for damage multiplier of 2.2. [20 AP to cast] [Requires: Strength 7] [250 XP to improve].
…
Intended Change: None
Cost Subtotaclass="underline" 0
TOTAL POLEARM SKILL XP COST: 0
Skills for Special Class: Skillmeister
-
Precision Training 1.
Reduce the XP cost of skills and attributes by 1%.
[Passive] [Requires: Focus 5, Resolve 5].
-
Improve to Precision Training 2 for XP cost reduction of 2%. [Passive] [Requires: Focus 6, Resolve 7] [750 XP to improve].
…
Intended Change: None
Cost Subtotaclass="underline" 0
TOTAL SKILLMEISTER SKILL XP COST: 0
Summary
-
Available XP: 421
Cost of Intended Changes: 150
Precision Training Discount (1%): 2
Total Adjusted Cost: 148
Total Projected Remaining: 273
Confirm?: Yes / No
∇
I was surprised to see how much XP had accumulated after a little combat and some skillmeistering. I increased my Strength once, enjoying the added muscle mass that brought, but I saved the rest of my XP in case I’d need to improve something costly next.
When I surprised Cindra with the bow she had her eye on at the weapon shop, she gave me a kiss on the cheek with soft lips.
The one thing I hadn’t expected was how heavy everything was so far. “We’re going to need a way to get everything back to the temple.”
“Leave that to me,” she said. “Yoo-hoo! You there, yes you, the handsome one with the vegetable cart.” She walked away with four of my gold coins and came back with a donkey and a wooden cart that would seat two people and stow a lot of gear.
“Do you feel at all guilty about that?” I asked.
“It was a fair trade,” Cindra said. “And yes, maybe I do feel a little guilty for chewing him down to four gold coins, but what’s done is done.”
“I want to make one more stop before we leave,” I said. “We can’t spend every evening hunting down birds for dinner.”
“Nor can we spend every dinner pretending Vix is a good cook,” she said.
“Bingo,” I said. “We need supplies.”
We walked into a provisioner’s shop and I threw my last 200 gold coins on the counter. “We’ll take a few hatchets, torches, all of your fresh bread, two jugs – no, barrels – of your finest wine, and whatever cured meats and cheeses we can afford.”
“This is going to wipe out my store,” the man said.
“Oh,” I said. “I’m sorry. Should we buy less?”
“No,” he said, “that means I can close early!”
The man dragged crate after crate of food to our cart and loaded it in the back. Then someone outside screamed.
Cindra and I ran outside to find a woman covered in blood standing outside the inn. It was the clerk who had checked us out that morning. She stared at her dripping, bloody hands like they weren’t her own. Guards rushed toward her.
“How much longer will these supplies take to load?” I asked.
The shop owner grunted as he heaved a cheese wheel onto the cart. “Just another twenty minutes or so.”
Guards waved other guards over until the whole security force of Valleyvale centered on that one woman. Then she pointed at me.
Uh-oh, I said to myself. Be cool, Arden. The fuzz won’t stick if you didn’t do anything wrong.
“You’re not from here,” a guard said as he walked toward me.
Strike one.
“No, I’m the head priest of a temple in the forest,” I said. Turns out, I’m the type of person who uses a title like that to try to get out of trouble. I said it with more confidence today than I had yesterday though, now that I was dressed in fresh clothes and had tossed my old, torn ones into the trash.
“Where were you last night?” the guard asked.
“There, at the inn,” I said. “I slept through the night.”
“And before that?” he asked.
“The Grippersnout,” I said.
Strike two.
He looked up from his scroll and I knew I had mis-stepped. I could have said anything, but instead I told the truth. What a dumb thing to do.