Her way of showing her emotions has always been physical. She’s never actually hit me though, just little swats and pinches. I, on the other hand, have never been a physical person, despite my beastkin heritage. Growing up with her inevitably wore down those barriers.
I quickly learned how essential cuddles were when we were very young, though I doubt I’d ever get this comfortable with anyone else. Well, maybe Krissy. But both of them are special cases.
Regardless, I died. At least, my body did. The moment I released the fatigue my Seeker’s Survival was holding back, it killed me. A massive heart attack and severe seizures will do that to a person, apparently.
But I figured as much, thanks to the new Title.
What actually concerns me—much to Cari’s ongoing consternation—is what other people are going to think.
Necromancy isn’t outright illegal, but it’s one of very few schools of magic that requires extensive vetting and a permit. It’s pretty much the only school of magic commonly associated with resurrection. Of a kind, at least.
“You—y’know what? No. I’m not gonna start again,” she says, huffing angrily and shoving me back into the bed.
She’d gotten so worked up earlier that she refused to let me hug her while she chewed my ears off. But now that she’s calmed down, she’s manhandling me back into cuddles once more.
“Guildmaster Folly put out a hush order on everyone in the tent,” she mutters, shoving my tail between us like a plushie. “So your little stunt will stay a secret. For now, anyway.”
She really likes my tail. Which… well, fair enough. It is practically perfect, if I do say so myself.
She presses her forehead to mine with a tired sigh. “The Healers, Mages, and even Folly himself all confirmed that it isn’t necromancy. So you’re not in any actual trouble. But…”
“But they might ask me to share my Status,” I groan.
She gives a slight nod, eyes slipping closed. She looks utterly drained.
I pull her in close and start a soft, rumbling purr. It used to embarrass me, but Cari likes it. And if it helps her, then that’s what matters. Her smile just reaffirms it.
“Hey, Cari,” I whisper.
“Mm?”
She’d already started to fall back asleep.
“Do you want to go to Elderwynd Academy with me?”
She stiffens in my arms, eyes flying wide. “Huh?”
“I said—”
“I heard you, dummy! Are you serious?!” Her eyes gleam with excitement and plans. “You never seemed keen on it. But if you mean it, then—then we’d have to save up a lot to go, but we could do it in a few years…”
I try to look anywhere but into her eyes. If I were to just take my income from Tails and Temptations, I’d have enough to go in just a few months. The admission is only fifty gold, which is admittedly an absurd sum of money, but still within reach.
I don’t tell her that though.
“Well… hypothetically, what would you say if that wasn’t an issue?” I ask as innocently as I can.
“What? I’d say yes, duh! Who in their right mind wouldn’t?!” she says, giving me a disbelieving look.
I tighten my grip on her just in case. Then, as nonchalantly as I can, I speak.
“Okay… then, uh, congrats! We’re going to Elderwynd Academy together. In three months.” I glance away. “Actually, that reminds me—how long has it been since I got back from the fifth layer dungeon?”
She stares at me like I’ve grown a second head. “Are you serious?”
“Yeah, I kind of lost track of time and—”
“No, you—ugh!” she interrupts, trying to squirm free and failing. “The Academy! Are you serious?!”
“Huh? Oh, yeah. One of the adminy people got hold of me and offered,” I say dismissively.
Her eyes go even wider.
“Fully covered, too, so that’s cool. Apparently they’re doing research on Faulted or something,” I shrug. “Now, seriously, how long has it been? I’ve honestly lost track of time since I came back from the first expedition…”
I was actually somewhat serious, too. I really had lost track of time. Still, I focus on her reaction.
As expected, she’s practically vibrating with excitement now. One of her arms slips free, wrapping around me and pulling me into her tightest hug yet. I pretend not to hear the squeal of joy.
“Oh my gods oh my gods oh my gods! Wait, how do I fit in?” she asks.
“Seriously? I’ve just lost who knows how long and—”
“Emi, I swear to the Gods I’ll bite you if you don’t stop messing with me!” she all but screeches, brandishing her teeth near the nape of my neck.
“Okay, okay! Sorry,” I say between laughs. She pulls back and shoots me a baleful glare, like she’s mentally compiling a list of my crimes against her. “Really! I’m sorry, I just couldn’t help it.”
When she starts to visibly pout, I cave. “Oh, alright. Look, I told them I wanted you to come with me, covered and everything. They accepted immediately, even after I made a few more demands.”
By the time I finish, she’s beaming at me, her smile so bright it’s nearly blinding. “Oh, I could kiss you! Actually, I will! Come here! Hey—stop moving!”
“W-wait! Cari, stop it! No, I don’t—agh!” She manages to land a horribly sloppy kiss on my cheek, but I could swear she’d been aiming for my lips just to fuck with me.
I wouldn’t put it past her.
I push the giggling mess away from me, finally releasing her from my hold to wipe her spit off my cheek. Instead of giving up though, she immediately goes on the attack, showering me with little pecks on my cheeks despite my efforts.
“H-how do you even do that?! I’m like, five times stronger and faster than you!” I yelp, batting away most but not all of her flurry of kisses.
She pauses to say, “Because you love me. Now hold still!”
Then she dives in for another assault and I flail.
Suddenly, there’s a knock on the door, and we both freeze.
We glance at each other before looking at ourselves. I hadn’t really put much thought into it, but Cari must have taken care of me and put me to bed because I was in just my undies. Even my chest wrap was gone.
She’s similarly bare, though she’s at least covered by a giant, cozy looking shirt.
I scowl at her and cover my chest.
“Why didn’t I get a shirt like that?” I hiss.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
“Because it’s my only one and all your stuff is in your storage!” she hisses back.
The knock comes again, louder this time.
“Just a minute!” she shouts before quickly scrambling out of bed.
I follow, pulling clothes from my bangle as I go, already hobbling into a pair of shorts by the time I stand at the edge of her bed. I couldn’t help but smile while putting them on.
They were one of the kind that had the low ‘V’ in the back to accommodate beastkin tails. The first pair I’d ever purchased, at that.
Sadly my storage only lets me swap clothes instantly if I store them while wearing them, and I hadn't done that with the vast majority of my new clothes yet.
Also, thanks to Cari's nosiness while we were shopping, I learned that my Bangle's weight capacity isn't reduced by my Bloodwind Resilience passive, which reduces my weight by 25%.
Not that I'll complain about being lighter either way...
Cari didn't even bother to hide her envy, but I knew better than to poke that particular soft spot.
Minor discoveries aside, we dress quickly, me matching my shorts with a simple blouse and sandals, and her in a silky green dress that clung to her hips rather unfairly, tied off with a ribbon sash. On her desk, I find the clothes I’d worn on the delve, already cleaned and neatly folded, so I quickly store them away.
When she looks back at me from the door, I give her a thumbs up.
On the other side is… nobody. Then the Guildmasters voice resonates from just beyond the door-frame, his tone crackling faintly.
“She’s awake! Good, good. Would you two mind joining me in my office? There’s much to discuss and not much time to spare.”
That’s when I see the mana, webs of blue interlaced with one another to form some kind of magic.
“Yes, Guildmaster. We’ll be there soon,” Cari says with a heavy sigh.
“Alright, that was creepy,” I say once she closes the door.
“Eh, it’s alright. There’s runes around each apartment that prevent people with Skills like his from prying. It’s why he knocked,” she says waving me off.
Then she moves back to her wardrobe and starts changing again. She quickly pulls the dress off over her head before reaching into her lower drawer and pulling out some panties and a bra.
Apparently, she wasn’t wearing any under her sleeping shirt, and hadn’t taken the time to put any on under the dress before answering the door.
She catches me ogling and laughs.
“Wow. You’re shameless,” she says.
“Wha—no, that’s not it! I wasn’t—I mean,” I splutter, and she just grins impishly as my face flushes. “I’m just surprised you didn’t have underwear on!”
“Why? It’s my home. I can wear what I want. Also, you still haven’t looked away.”
By then she’s already started pulling the dress back on over her head, so I spin around and cross my arms. “You’re insufferable,” I mutter darkly.
“Yep. It’s pretty great. How do I look?” she asks.
I turn back around to give her my best annoyed glare. She just laughs and gives me a little twirl, her skirts swishing prettily.
I groan. “You look great. Now come on, I need to find new friends.”
She ends up teasing me the entire way to the lobby, but it’s interrupted by an explosion of cheers when we enter through the double doors.
“Look everyone!”
“The last dungeon slayer is finally up!”
“Ayyy! She’s alive!”
“Welcome back, foxy!”
Countless greetings ring out, and we both stand there frozen in shock.
“Uh…” I start.
Cari just grabs my hand and starts dragging me through the room at a quick walk. In no time at all, we’re stepping into the Guildmasters office.
“It’s good to see you well, Emilia,” he says as we enter.
“Oh, thanks,” I say, taking a seat in one of the open chairs on our side of the desk.
“Cari, I’m glad to see you out of your room,” he says with a gentle smile.
She scowls at him, and I give her a questioning look.
“You’ve been out for three days,” she says, folding her arms and looking away.
“Aw, you stayed with me the whole time?” I coo.
“Oh, shush you. What do you need from us Guildmaster?” she asks, waving away my teasing.
“A few things. First and foremost, how did you come back to life?” His voice is cold and dispassionate, his face an unreadable mask.
I wince at the question, but I’d already decided on what to do.
“If I show you the skill responsible for it, it will expose a huge weakness on my end. I can’t just have people knowing about it. Is there any way it’ll stay private?” I ask in return.
He looks at me without saying a word for a while, barely even twitching a muscle. Then, he pulls out some papers and starts writing something down. A few moments later, he finishes, sliding them in front of me.
At a glance, it appears to be some kind of contract, holding the Guild responsible for keeping any secrets I share with them. There’s a surprising amount of mana in the papers as well, though I can’t see too many details.
“This is an enchanted contract of secrecy and backing,” he says, indicating the papers. “This is something you’ll have to sign once you reach B-rank, in order to prevent Guild staff from attempting to pull information from you. However, each guild also has them for unique situations just like this.”
Well I’ll be damned.
He gives me a narrow eyed look. “Once signed, it will mean that any information that the guild has on you will be restricted to Guildmasters and Guild Investigators only. Having this also updates your Delver tag to show that you are directly supported by the Guild, so you can use it to further dissuade others from prying should you find yourself in another situation like this.”
I look to Cari for confirmation, and she nods. “Yeah, it’s real. We don’t use them often here in Bephis, but I’ve heard from others that in the larger cities, contracts like these are used all the time.”
“Can it… I don’t know, hurt me or anything?” I ask.
I have no idea how enchanted things work. I just know they’re damned useful.
Both of them chuckle at the question, glancing at each other. Folly waves at Cari, indicating that she should be the one to answer.
“No. This is a contract for you. I think the only thing in there that you would have to comply with is showing relevant skills to Investigators and Guildmasters,” she says, tilting her head in thought. Then her eyes widen with realization. “But they can’t demand to see your entire status or anything like that!”
“That’s correct,” Folly jumps in. “We would only be allowed to demand you show us specific things. In this specific case, I’ve stipulated that you would be required to display the Skill or Skills responsible for your revival ability in order to clear you of any accusations of illegal practices.”
Cari nods along, and when he finishes, I lean back for a moment to think.
Doesn’t seem like a bad deal.
Plus, I’m only going to show him Mind, Body, Soul anyways. While it is exposing one of my greatest weaknesses, it’s also going to be heavily restricted. Still… after my experience with that Guild Appraiser, though, I knew I couldn’t fully trust everyone in the Guild.
A quick glance at Cari shows me that she’s not on edge about any of this, so even if I’m not the biggest fan of the idea, I figure it’s safe to go along with it.
Besides, I’ll have to sign one at B-rank anyways.
I nod. “Okay, as long as it’s just the one Skill I’m going to show you.”
“That’s right. I’ll be writing in the specifics once I feel I’ve been given adequate proof that you aren’t practicing restricted magics,” he says.
So with that, I share my status with him, showing only Mind, Body, Soul and nothing else. His eyes glaze over somewhat as he reads through it. His brows rise noticeably, clearly impressed.
After a few moments, he grabs the papers again and fills out another couple of blank sections before returning them to me. Added to them is the name of my Skill throughout the pages in various sections that dictate what I would be required to share on request.
“That’s an impressive Skill, but I won’t say more on it. You were right to be wary, and I’m glad you were. Now, if you would?” he says, motioning to the pen he’d set before me as I skimmed through the papers.
When Cari gives me another encouraging nod, I quickly sign the papers before passing them back. There’s a light tingle as the mana from the papers attaches a thread to me and the Guildmaster before shooting off dozens more hair-thin strands that fade to nothing before going far.
Connecting to the Investigators and Guildmasters, I guess? Cool.
“Good. Now that that’s cleared up, here’s your payment for the expedition,” he says, tossing a small bag of coins at me.
When I catch it, it lets out the satisfying clinking of coins. The moment I peek inside, I freeze.
“Before you ask—it may seem like a lot, but please keep in mind just how much we were able to accomplish, and the role you played in that,” he says, leaning forward and folding his in front of him. “Several zones… sorry, dungeons that were used for farming have been reclaimed, and so were many with other essential resources."
“And that’s not even including all of the magic items and rare materials we gained in the process of clearing all of those dungeons,” Cari adds.
“O-oh. Okay. Thank you,” I say.
That was a lot to take in. I knew the expedition would be a big deal but… not this big. I peek over at Cari, and she immediately picks up on my question.
“I only got three gold. The Tier One’s all got five or more, with the elites sent to the dungeon getting the largest shares based on contribution,” she says, clearing my curiosity.
So everyone got a pretty nice payday then, not just me.
With a clearer conscience, and a moments consideration, I decide to store it in my bangle right away. Folly doesn’t bat an eye at the use of my storage item.
“Next, the small council of Bephis would like to meet with everyone who participated in clearing the Temple of the Fallen,” he says, and I groan.
More annoying shit to deal with. Just great.
“Alongside that, Captain Tolsted wishes for you and Cari to meet the small council with him as well, though he won’t give me any detail as to why,” he says, shrugging at the end.
This time, Cari joins me in groaning.
“I think I know why,” I mumble.
I’m happy at the news, honestly. It means he’s probably got something for me in regards to that Rogue that stabbed Cari. On the flip side, needing to meet with the council over it means it’s going to be a huge headache.
Still, I wouldn’t pass up on my revenge just because it would be a hassle.
Folly is giving me a curious look, asking without really asking.
“It’s nothing you need to worry about,” I say, waving him off. “So, when is this meeting?”
“Tomorrow morning, tenth bell. You recovered just in time,” he says, and I can swear I see the slightest hint of a smirk on his lips.
I narrow my eyes at him, but he doesn’t so much as twitch.
“Ugh. Fine. What day is it, anyways?”
“Wait, you were serious?” Cari asks, incredulous.
“Yes, I was serious. When I got out of the Tunnels, all I knew was that nine months had passed, then everything went to shit. And then kept going to shit,” I grouse.
“Tenth of Elowen, 1247 A.S.,” Folly says succinctly.
“Thank you, Guildmaster. I swear, it’s like pulling teeth with her,” I say, exaggerating my frustration.
Folly’s smirk is actually visible this time, but he hides it quickly.
Cari flicks me on the ear, and I match Folly with a grin. Then, I lean back with a sigh.
Tomorrow’s going to be a long gods-damned day.
- Frosden (January) - Winter
- Fylens (February) - Winter
- Nuae (March) - Spring
- Bellis (April) - Spring
- Morens (May) - Spring
- Sarros (June) - Summer
- Elowen (July) - Summer
- Sundrel (August) - Summer
- Auren (September) - Autumn
- Drayan (October) - Autumn
- Nylens (November) - Autumn
- Embyth (December) - Winter