" Hey! See? You got all worried over nothing, it's just a little spider. That's all the noise was."

  - Unknown Adventurer's st words

  The walk back home was a blur of noise and trepidation. Aurelia couldn't have told anyone a thing about it if she was asked. All she could think about were the words and options she'd seen in her head when the priest had called them forth.

  Aurelia knew that everyone went through the experience at some point, and most checked in for updates a couple times a year. But Aurelia just couldn't get it out of her head. What even was a Seraphim? She knew that the various denominations of beastfolk had individual names, like the Tauren, which shared traits with cows and bulls, or the Felis, who had cat ears and tails. There hadn't really been any beastfolk like her around Rome, but she'd always assumed that that was because the homends of whatever her people were was far away.

  She'd heard stories of nasty creatures called "Harpies". People said that they were a race of monsters with wings instead of arms, and that they attacked lone travelers and caravans without warning and stole the people away to their nests.

  Aurelia shivered at the thought. But that didn't quite fit with her. She had wings, sure enough. Nice rge white ones. But she also had arms like regur humans, so she didn't think she was reted to harpies in any way.

  Another thing was bothering her too, She'd gotten three choices of boons when she'd received her first level. Much like everyone else. But what was weird were the options presented to her by the gods. The foraging option had made sense, she'd been going out in the service of her temple since she was little. The fertility boon made some amount of sense as well, growing up in the temple of Ceres, with it's constantly hyper-pregnant priestesses was bound to have some effect on her development. But the third option struck her as strange.

  A combat focused skill, offered as a boon to someone who'd never been in combat?

  She thought back to her awkward encounter with the goblin a couple says earlier and cringed internally.

  Surely that didn't count.

  The way she'd incapacitated the terrifying little greenskin which had caught her unawares made her blush. Usually the prodigious volume of fluids she expelled were a nuisance, it had meant that she'd had to take care of her needs far away from other people, where they wouldn't notice the rge messes she left each time. But she supposed in this one instance, her titanic loads had been a blessing.

  Never the less, she'd been offered a combat skill, and a good one at that.

  Once, the priestesses had brought in an old priestess of Minerva, who'd described the basics of the blessings of the gods to them. She'd described how the way one lived determined the type and quality of the boons offered. Farming boons for the farmers, combat boons for soldiers.

  It was the main reason the temple brought tutors in the first pce. To give the children experience in various fields to that when they came of age after being apprenticed, and received their first level, they were more likely to receive a specialized skill.

  But none of the children had ever been taught combat, that was something boys were taught. And the temple of Ceres only fostered girls.

  Maybe it was something to do with her race? Were Seraphim a war like race? She'd learned that non-humans sometimes could receive racial specific boons, and were more likely to receive certain types of boons depending on the typical activities those of their kind could be found engaging in.

  But maybe it was something else entirely. Aurelia thought back years ago to a moment where she'd overheard two adventurers talking as she walked back to Rome returning from a day of foraging for herbs. She'd never heard their accents before, and they sometimes used strange words she couldn't understand. But she had caught enough to understand most of what they had been saying.

  They'd talked about other gods. Gods outside the holy pantheon Aurelia had been taught to worship all her life. They talked about how their boons had become different after converting and worshipping them instead of the righteous faith of the Roman pantheon.

  But Aurelia had been diligently following the Roman gods all her life, so that didn't make sense either.

  Seeing the temple of Ceres come into view woke her from her inner contemptions.

  She'd made her decision about her future along the walks to and from the temple of Jupiter. She was no breeding sow to bour under the watchful gaze of the priestesses. She'd made her decision to stand tall and see where her fortune y by her own merit.

  Walking back past the grand entrance at the front of the temple, she made her way to the side entrance she'd been using all these years. Where she could see young children pying in the gardens amidst the flowers. Peaking her head in through the side door, she searched for her friend Livia, she had to let her know all about her experience at the temple of Jupiter before she continued on to her final destination of the day.

  Livia excitedly got up from her pce at a brewing stand, eagerly hurrying over to where Aurelia stood.

  "How was it? What did it feel like? WAIT, don't tell me, I want to feel it for myself! But you have to tell me about your boon! Oh! What about your race? Did you learn anything?"

  Aurelia chuckled softly, and embraced her smaller friend.

  It looked a little ridiculous, while hugging Livia, her head was pressed between Aurelia's breasts, completely disappearing into her robes.

  The sounds of Livia's insistent questions became muffled, though no less enthusiastic.

  After a moment of retive silence, Aurelia released her friend, and attempted to answer some of her questions.

  "It was... odd, being awakened to the blessings of the gods" Aurelia started, her words quieting Livia's exited movements. Bouncing from foot to foot in anticipation.

  Aurelia then regaled her with her experience of seeing her status sheet for the first time, and about the boon options presented to her.

  Livia listened with bated breath, her day of majority was only a few weeks away.

  When Aurelia finished, Livia continued with a few more less pertinent questions about exactly her status sheet looked like, after having her questions answered, she stopped and looked up to meet Aurelia's eyes.

  "What will you do now? Are you really going to try and go it alone?"

  Behind Livia, Priestess Domitia emerged from the doorway evidently having heard the question her gravid bulk nearly pressing against the sides of the doorframe. She looked at Aurelia with interest, clearly also waiting on her response.

  "Yes" Aurelia replied simply. "I'm going to try and find work at the Sword and Scroll, they have room and board, and plenty of opportunity for those willing to try their hand at adventuring"

  "ADVENTURING!!!" Livia excimed. "You're really set on going out and getting hurt?"

  Aurelia just nodded, her decision was made.

  "... Oh all right, but you better make sure to tell me all your stories after you get back!" Livia decided.

  In the background Domitia sighed, and entered the temple once more without a second gnce.

  Aurelia looked down to the small brunette standing in front of her. Her smile softened.

  "I will, you have my word."

  Then, after another hug and a wet-eyed goodbye, Aurelia left the temple once more. And began to walk down the cobble streets to the blue-roofed building where booze and legend flowed.

  [Interlude]

  Brann wiped down the surface of the long wooden bar which filled one side of the rge adventuring hall's main room. Most of the usual crowd was out working during the afternoon, so he didn't have all that much to do other than clean the bar, and keep and eye on the zy louts who were sprawled hungover on various tables and chairs.

  He put down his cleaning cloth, and surveyed the room. The roof was high, two stories tall and hanging with candle-lit chandeliers which illuminated the vast room. Red carpets and drapes combined with the rich wood gave the pce a homey feel. Or it would if there weren't drunkards passed out all over it.

  The job board was a huge, wax filled section of the wall. Half covered in small notes carved into it's face detailing jobs and their pay. Everything from quick pest-control to multi-month quests which would take adventurers to all corners of Latium and further. Work was good. With brewing troubles to the south, and raising tensions keeping the soldiers occupied elsewhere, adventurers had filled the gap and were raking in the rewards.

  Most came back from a long job, and wanted food in their belly, a drink in their hand, a hot bath in their room, and a woman in their bed. Brann was happy to accommodate them, for a price, of course.

  The door creaked open and a tall figure entered the hall. Brann had never seen this variant of non-human before. She had rge white wings arranged about herself like a long cloak. The loose tan robes she wore didn't help conceal her voluptuous for much. As she walked over to the bar, he could see her rge chest bounce as she walked, and her colossal hips made her gait sway deliciously from side to side as she approached.

  As she reached the other side of the bar, he could see a beautiful face partially hidden under a tan veil like the rest of her robes. Her piercing blue eyes looking uncertain as she cleared her throat and began to speak.

  "I'd like to register as an adventurer, and I'd like a room in you have any open. I'm willing to work to pay my way, and won't shirk from dirty work either!"

  Brann looked her up and down once more, and began to smile.