The inside of the tavern looked like the aftermath of a battle.

  Bleary-eyed, Wei trudged down the wooden staircase that led from his second-floor bedroom into the main taproom, the bannister disappearing under his hand where it had been torn from its supports. A faint breeze coming through a hole in the wall did little to dispel the stench of stale beer and spilled wine, and through the charred and broken slats he could see that the partial destruction of the place hadn’t been limited to the main room.

  That was unsurprising, given the raucous wake that the Vanguard of Valour and their adventuring friends had given the fallen [Alchemist].

  Not just adventurer friends either. The balding bear of a man in his fifties still snoring at a table covered in empty pint glasses was the [Watch Sergeant] he’d met at the city gates the day before.

  So much for the curfew…

  He suppressed a yawn, and rubbed at his face, trying to get the blood flowing. He’d levelled up again, gaining another in his [Trader] Class, though no Skills had followed the chiming announcement. He hadn’t thought he’d be able to even get that - it had taken splitting an entire bottle of calming tonic to get Xiaoling and himself to sleep, even with the sound-dampening enchantments the [Innkeeper] had told him were worked into the wood of the rooms.

  Perhaps the celebration downstairs had damaged them. Three of the dozen pillars that held up the ceiling were cracked. He wondered which of the patrons had been responsible. Heck, perhaps it had been the fireworks; he wasn’t sure they’d all been let off outdoors given the faint tang of iron and smoke that drifted past his nostrils.

  Of course, that could have been Lio. The [Elemental Mage] had been showing off how long he could juggle balls of fire when Wei had excused himself to sleep in the early hours of the morning. With his [Hot Hands] Skill and his new [Improved Mana Regeneration], he’d claimed he could keep going till dawn, and given the scorch marks around the corner of the room he’d been sitting in, maybe he had.

  As if summoned by the thought, a dishevelled head of brown hair appeared from the direction of the kitchens. Red-rimmed eyes regarded Wei as he reached the bottom of the stairs, and it took a second for the man to raise a hand in recognition.

  “Morning kiddo. Just lit the ovens for breakfast. Want me to put in an order for you?”

  Wei nodded his head, as a sound from up the stairs drew his attention, and he saw his currently-mute sister follow him down with the same vacant expression he was coming to despair of seeing. Every time he saw what she’d become his heart broke a little more. A week before, back on Earth she’d been so vibrant. So full of life. Now…

  Righting one of the undamaged tables, Wei pushed aside the things he could do nothing about, and began to pull some chairs up as the Vanguard’s now-familiar trio of women also made their way down to join the late start. He checked to see if Naila was coming, but the bandaged firbolg lady was nowhere to be seen, despite not having drunk anywhere near as much as the others the previous night. She would probably be resting most of the day to aid her recovery.

  Nyssara, the pale-skinned, dark-haired half-elf massaged her forehead as Mira and Kira dragged Borgrim out from under another table and dumped his semi-conscious figure into a chair, and as Lio returned to complete the group, the [Shadow Dancer] shot a glance his way.

  “Surely you can do something for the smell?”

  The [Elemental Mage] grunted as he sat down at one of the seats Wei had collected - the cleaner ones, if not actually clean.

  “Give me a minute. Bit of mana burn over here.”

  Mira snorted, not looking too good herself.

  “And you’re surprised? How many spells did you cast last night?”

  “How many explosive arrows did you loose?” Leo shot right back.

  They settled into a silent malaise until Leo managed to pull himself together and muttered {Gust}, through lips that turned a little green.

  The women all breathed a sigh of relief as the stale, almost sticky air was replaced by a fresh breeze that blew through the hole in the wall, although a faint scent of charred wood accompanied it for the first few seconds.

  Conversation stalled for another few minutes until a thick-set woman with impressive biceps slammed out of the kitchen area and deposited plates of eggs and bacon and sausage in front of each of them. At the smell, a couple of other dozing forms around the room began to stir. Leo gazed at the plate with tears in his eyes.

  “Paulie I could kiss you.”

  “Try it and you’ll lose teeth,” the [Innkeeper] glowered, pulling a handful of knives and forks from a pocket on her apron and tossing them into the middle of the table before pointing to pitchers of water that sat on the bar that ran along the back of the room, “and I’ll be serving only water until this is all cleared up; you’re all still cut-off from last night.”

  Kira raised a hand to her heart.

  “We will sort everything out. Have no doubt.”

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  The glower softened, but the [Innkeeper]’s gruff voice continued.

  “I said you could throw a party, but this one went too far.”

  Borgrim belched as he sat up and began shovelling food into his mouth.

  “Ancestors, Paulie. Just keep the food coming for now and let us know the damage once the repairs are done.” He barely winced as Mira elbowed him in the side. “You know we’re good for it.” His gaze shifted to the table behind them and he raised his voice at the gently-groaning figure there. “I have some winnings to collect that SHOULD PAY FOR THE WORST.”

  At that, a dozen people woke, wincing and covering their ears. [Watch Captain] Derthus shot upright, and one man dashed towards the toilets, covering his mouth.

  Paulie leaned in and rested her hands on the tabletop, which creaked under the pressure.

  “You’ll wait your turn on being served, dwarf. I gave my staff the morning off given that you kept them up ‘till sunrise.”

  Borgrim had the good sense to shut up and eat, and the good grace to look guilty.

  As Paulie disappeared back into the kitchens, the dishevelled [Watch Captain] looked at the sunlight streaming through the holes in the walls and swore.

  “What time is it?”

  When someone answered he swore again, and reached a hand into the breast pocket of his jacket. He pulled out a large handful of coins that he slammed down in front of Borgrim, before snatching a slice of thick-buttered toast off the dwarf’s plate and wolfing it down with a fleeting expression of bliss on his face.

  “I’ll have to run to make my shift. Stop by later and pick up the rest, Bor. [Dust Off], [Parade-Ground Presentation], [Held to Higher Standards].”

  Wei blinked as the Troston [Watch Sergeant] straightened up and cleaned up in front of his eyes. His uniform lost a couple of dark stains and pulled itself neat, and his thinning hair settled into a military cut before he put his dark City Watch hat on. The older man breathed in and stood as if to attention for a moment, then winced and leaned heavily on a nearby chair.

  “This is going to be an unpleasant shift.”

  Before he could head out, Kira cleared her throat and stood up and laid a hand on his arm.

  “Thank you for your forbearance and understanding [Sergeant]. Even with Dorric gone, I hope the Watch and the Adventurers Guild find reason to work together…[Purge Poison]. [Rejuvenating Touch].”

  Derthus’ eyes went wide and years seemed to drop from his face as the remnants of the hangover he had surely been suffering through visibly vanished, and he inhaled a much sharper breath.

  “My pleasure, [Paladin] Kira, and my thanks to you. I am sure we’ll maintain a professional relationship, even if we don’t all meet for a pint after work for a few days or so.” He winced down at a bottle of wine that was still dripping onto his table, face flushing.

  Kira simply nodded her understanding, and as the man left with a renewed spring in his step, the rest of the Vanguard, and the room, turned to look at the silver-haired [Paladin]. She cut them off before they had a chance to ask.

  “No. He’s got a job to do. And this is part of the process. If it’s still bad when The Dented Helm is fixed back up I’ll consider it.”

  She sat down to finish her breakfast at a leisurely pace as the rest of the common room, barring Wei and Xiaoling, glanced at the state of the place with glum resignation.

  “Come on lass.” Borgrim urged the woman, who looked no less solid out of her armour. “I’ll get by, but spare some pity on the worst cases.” He nodded at the man who’d just come back from the toilets who was struggling to sit straight on a chair. “I know you don’t feel it, but to some of these poor sods, it’ll be like death herself is tapping on their shoulder.”

  Wei watched as she turned to the [Ironshield Anvilguard] with a level gaze, and a hint of green to her cheeks.

  “Don’t speak on what you don’t know about, Borgrim Stonejaw. I have been suppressing my own Skills since we started the wake. I know exactly how they feel.”

  —

  As Paulie the [Innkeeper] brought out piles of food, and the jugs of water on the bar top were downed and refilled, and then downed and refilled again, the room began to fill with adventurers dragging themselves down from the rooms they’d rented for the night, or from where they’d passed out in the courtyard outside, or from the nooks and crannies that made up the common room, or, in one case, from the toilet stall they’d fallen asleep in.

  Being the first served, the Vanguard were also the first finished, and surprisingly it was Borgrim that immediately set about organising the repair of the inn.

  Maybe not that surprising I suppose - he is a craftsman. Or perhaps he wishes his hangover gone more than he admits…

  The dwarf directed Mira and Kira to pull the tables and chairs back into place, and Leo to begin repairing the holes in the walls and windows. He himself began to bend some metalwork back into shape - including a chandelier that had been wrenched from the ceiling when a drunken boar-headed beastkin had tried to swing off of it. Wei found himself roped into sweeping up with a female gnoll adventurer in her early twenties, who applied her [Broad Arc] Skill to her broom with the same skill she’d demonstrated with her blade last night.

  Drunken adventurers, it seemed, liked to duel.

  It seemed only Nyssara needed no instruction as she headed out on an errand, and half an hour later, thirty or more adventurers were lending what Skills or talents they could to return The Dented Helm to the state it had been in a day before.

  Wei stared at some of the magic and Skills being put to use as Leo closed up worst damage with {Call Stone} and {Stone Shape}, which seemed to exhaust him for a good few minutes afterwards, and other adventures muttered their [Minor Repair] and [Quick Fix] or [Anchor Point] and [Instant Crafting] to contribute in their own way. Even Naila came down for a while and, without prompting, began to smooth over the damage to the wood-panelled walls - that she’d had no part in causing - with her [Timberknit] Skill.

  As he finished up with the sweeping and went to find a mop, he slowed his walk. Borgrim was picking up some empty glasses and, as Wei watched, the dwarf held them out towards his sister. Wei almost walked straight into a pillar as she automatically took them.

  He stood, open mouthed, as the dwarf made an off-hand remark, not even addressing Xiaoling directly.

  “They should probably be washed up. Lots of washing to do.”

  Xiaoling began moving, as if in a dream, towards the kitchen, and Wei made to go after her, but as he rushed forward a solid hand on his shoulder stopped him. He looked down to see Borgrim holding him back.

  “Best to let her go, lad. It’s a little trick I thought might work. Don’t know how much it’ll help, but it can’t hurt, and if you interrupt her it’ll probably break the moment.”

  They watched as she made her way towards the kitchen, and when she didn’t immediately return, Borgrim let Wei creep up to the door and peek through.

  On the far side of the room, Xiaoling had found a sink and was, slowly but surely, washing mugs and plates clean.

  “I got the idea when you were talking the other night about your home, and how you’d both helped in your father’s resty-ront. It’s a start at least. Maybe a [Healer] can do more.”

  Whether or not it would lead to anything, Wei wasn’t sure, but for now he was just happy to know she could do something.”

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