The morning chills gnawed at Edric's skin as he stirred in his sleep, stiff muscles protesting at every movement. Ash and flame glowed weakly at the remnants of the campfire. Aeris leaned against the wall, carefully sharpening her sabre with a stone.

  Edric woke up. “Good morning, He stretched his limbs.

  “You're up early,” Aeris said in a sarcastic tone.

  Aeris wounds visibly healed since last night, though she still looks a bit pale.

  “How are you already fine, my muscles ache like hell,” Edric said. Clenching his sore biceps.

  “Quit whining, go skin that wolf,” she points at the dead wolf carcass. “ I’ll deal with the mother.

  Just like that, she left to skin the mother wolf. Edric wanted to lie down for 5 more minutes, but he realized he could sleep at Lesters. He got up, stretched his muscles and went to the wolf.

  Nothing like a morning exercise, Edric thought as he grabbed his dagger. “This is a child, no wonder the mother was a nightmare. He has never skinned an animal before. The only reference points were movies, documentaries, and novels he read on Earth.

  Remembering them, he stabbed the dagger into the flesh and slowly tore the skin. The thick pelts resisted, but eventually he peeled the skin. Occasionally, he glanced at Aeris, who was halfway done skinning the mother. How the hell do I learn that? He thought.

  He dragged the rolled pelts outside the cave. He found Aeris standing next to a stack of fur, albeit on her uninjured leg. Seeing this, Edric grabbed the big pile in his other hand.

  “I can handle it,” she grumbled

  “ Sure you can, let's go,” Edric began walking to the farm before she could argue further.

  They made the trek to the farm. On the way, they saw the corpse of a dead wolf. Edric knelt to skin the wolf, this time faster but still messy. His moves were more fluid; perhaps this was taught to the real Edric. Aeris skinned the other wolves. Edric shouldered most of the wait; Aeris held the pelts of two wolves. By the end, his hands felt sticky and smelled like a butcher

  “Next time,” he said, “ we're hunting rabbits. He joked

  “ Rabbits don't pay well,” She replied

  Figures.

  By the time they reached the farm, the sun was overhead. The merchant who had hired them greeted them with wide eyes.

  “ By the gods, you actually did it!” he stared at the pelts and then at Edric's bloodied hands. “ Didn't think you could pull it off.”

  Edric cocked his head.“Nice to see you, hand faith.”

  “ Haha, nevertheless, now my cargo can go, and the farmers can come back,” he said as he threw a bag full of coins. “ 50 silver coins plus another 150 silver for the pelts, though I can't pay for the big one.

  Aeris picked up the coins. “That's a shame.

  “ Don't worry, just go to the merchant district. Anyone would buy that after seeing it” the merchant said “Anyway I thank you for dealing with them.”

  “ No problem,” Edric said as he tossed the pelts to the ground except the mother wolf's pelt.

  With the bounty secured, they made their way towards Lester's inn. Aeris still limped a bit, and his shoulders were aching from carrying the fur. Thankfully, the inn was 15 minutes from where they took a carriage.

  Lesters was bustling as usual- laughter, clicking mugs. Edric opened the door in a dramatic fashion. He stood there dramatically with a gigantic pelt on his back.

  Internally thinking it’s the coolest shit he's done. Meanwhile, Aeris looked at him with a dumbfounded expression.

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  He looked for an empty table and went through. The inn was silent for a good minute, and the mercenaries observed their state, while the merchants looked at the pelts.

  “Look who's back” Xantha greeted them with a warm smile. “What the hell did you guys do, fight a bear?”

  “Close enough,” Edric said. “This is my partner, she did most of the work”

  “Ya , all he did was hide in a bush,” Aeris said sarcastically. Not exactly a lie in hindsight.

  “Hey, I helped kill the mother. You would be a wolf slop if it weren't for me.”

  Xantha chuckled at their banter. “Well I will go get something for you to eat.”. She left to the counter, mouthed Lester something discreetly and went to the back.

  A moment later a pair of mugs were placed at the table, he looked up to see Lester grinning.

  “Here, on the house” Lester said “ You look like you need it”

  “We really don’t have to” Edric said, looking at Aeris who had already started drinking.

  “So what happened out there?” Lester asked.

  “Wolves, big ones. One was literally the size of this inn,” Edric said “She did the finishing blow”.

  Lester looked at the pelt. “What’s your plan for that?”

  “This, well. Not sure, I was planning on going to the merchant district” Edric caressed the soft pelt. “Can you do me a favor?”

  “Favor?”

  “Ya, can you sell this pelt. Use the money to pay for the meals and book a room for her as well”

  “A room?, I don’t need -” Aeris said, interpreted by Lester.

  “In your state? Relax, I’ll give you a discount. As for the pelt, I can find someone to buy for some good money. I’ll add a good room that has a bath for the both of you” After saying it he grabbed the pelt with one hand and gestures bye to attend to his other guest.

  “Aren't you too trusting of him” she said “What if he scams you”

  “He could, but I kind of have a good eye for people. I knew you were a good fighter the instant I saw you”

  Aeris seemed satisfied with the compliment. “Well , don’t come crying at me later”

  “I won't,” he chuckled.

  “Food’s coming.” Xantha said with a wink.

  The warm aroma of food seemed to have a calming effect. Edric’s muscles relaxed, he glanced at Aeris, her usual stubborn glance had softened though only slightly. She’s tough, so I will give her that . The only thing on his mind is eating and sleeping. He thought of the things to do tomorrow. Get another job? Do training ? Asking Aeris for tips. By the time he could go through his mind, Xantha had placed a bowl of stew on their table.

  No time to think about that now

  Edric savored each bite of the stew- the soup, the meat, all parts were savory. Aeris enjoyed her fill, slowly but surely she emptied her bowl. Edric emptied his and wanted extra but he was too tired to eat.

  Xantha came to collect the bowls . “Here’s your key and Ed this is a new room with a bath”. She places two keys with numbers on it - 301 and 302.

  “Looks like we're neighbors”

  She rolled her eyes, got up and made her way to the stairs. Edric followed her of course. They made their way to the third floor, both their rooms were next to each other.

  “Well , good night. See you tomorrow” Edric bid goodbye.

  “You too. Good night” She muttered in a low voice but Edric heard her. She then closed her door.

  Edric entered his room, it’s similar to his previous room. Just bigger, the beds and cupboard were more or less the same except with an additional room. The bathroom, he opened it. There is a single person sized bathtub and faucet pipes. He went closer and opened a tap- boom hot water flowed. He closed the bathtub sink and let the water run.

  How the hell does that work? Motors? Well when there’s magic to teleport then why not this… He convinced himself.

  He dropped his bag, robe and clothes on the bed. There was a towel and a bathrobe in the cupboard, grabbed it and dunked himself in the bath. The heat took away the ache in his body, it felt good . He let out a deep sigh, closed his eyes.

  Now this is life. I just realized it's the first time I took a proper bath since coming here. What is my plan now? The city isn’t opening any time soon. Should I just sneak out , I mean I could phase through the walls. No No, You know what happened yesterday, I almost died again. If the outside is any worse I will die. First things first I need to get stronger and fast. Wait hold on-

  Edric opened his status window

  [Ice bullets:Launch Bullets with ice property at will]

  [Magic bullets upgrade: Bullets can change attributes]

  Well, if I can do ice bullets, then what about fire or earth or any other attribute? I digested one potion pretty fast. What if I drink a bunch? No, that would just lead to addiction. Hm… Ok got it. I will ask Aeris for training tips and then go to a bigger library to learn about the potions . Should I ask her to be partners while I am here, we do make a pretty good team. I will think about it over sleep. He thought and left it for tomorrow. Any more thinking and his mind would melt.

  After a while he got up from his bath, put on his robe and fell on the bed. Not even a second in, he is asleep.

  The morning rays came from the window, it met Edric's eyes and woke him up. He opened his eyes, stretched his muscles and looked around. Still naked in his bathrobe, he decides to dress up. He slug his bag, took his gun, put on his rob, and went down.

  Down in the hall he saw Aeris sat at the counter with a mug in her hand. She seemed well rested , her wounds had almost patched up .

  “Good morning,” He said with a smile.

  “You too,” Aeris replied.

  Edric turned to greet Lester, “Good-”. Lester seemed flustered for some reason. His eyes weren't focused, his face had a hint of stress like something was on his mind. He was rubbing the same clean mug for a lot longer than needed.

  “Hey Lester, is something wrong?”

  “Oh, Ed, it's nothing. Its just Xantha hasn’t shown up.”

  “Maybe she got something to do”

  “Maybe, but it’s been more than an hour. She usually shows 5 minutes early, always and her friend hasnt should up”

  “That’s worrying-”

  The door slams open, another girl in a waitress uniform runs towards Lester, ignoring Edric.

  “Boss, Xantha isn’t home. I checked this morning, and her door was unlocked. I went inside and the house was empty.” her voice trembled in panic.

  “WHAT!” Lester grew anxious, sweat started pouring from his forehead. “I Better -”

  “Lester, I will go check it out,” Edric said, without thinking .

  “Me too” Aeris added. Edric was surprised at her decision but was to preoccpued to question any furthur

  Edric nodded at her, “Alright then, but come back if you find anything” Lester said

  “Ok”

  “Here” Lester tossed a bag. “This is money from the pelt, along with some mana gems “

  They nodded and went off to search for Xantha.

  I hope nothing has happened to her.