Change- Chapter 38 (Patreon)

Chapter 38- Still Alone

Tim walked back to the guild hall with Simon. They didn’t talk too much along the way, which was fine with him, since Mischief kept up a non-stop running commentary about every sight, sound, and smell that the mouse noticed. He talked about how the fat man smelled, or the crumbs in the beard of another man. No matter who it was, he found something odd about all the humans. Although he was quick to assure Tim that he was the least stinky of all the humans.

Without a doubt this ongoing monologue would get old and probably sooner rather than later, but for now, it was a pleasant distraction. Besides, how could he get mad at the little creature who had suddenly become much more self-aware. He had gone from animal level Acuity to low human levels and a Sagacity that was above average human. The world must have become a much larger place to him now. At least he seemed content to ride in Tim’s coat pocket for now. Later they could discuss his Mischief’s responsibilities.

When they were almost to the guild hall, Tim finally asked Simon, “Are you okay with our dungeon run?”

The monk got really quiet, which is saying something considering he hadn’t spoken two words since they left the palace. “It was reckless even if it was effective. I can intellectually understand why you made the decision, it may have even been the right call. But that doesn’t mean I have to like it. I will have to consider again if I want to put my life in harm's way with you, no matter how curious I am about you. Although, with your new class I would assume you will try a different tactic.”

“Yeah, maybe. I don’t know what a Naturalist can do yet. I mean I have some skills but that doesn’t tell me how they work practically. I just am gonna miss having a team.”

“Well, you can count Tressa out. I doubt she would join a party with you even if Charles ordered her to. But at least you have Kayla.”

“At least I have Kayla,” Tim said, allowing his voice to trail off.

“Something wrong? She didn’t seem to mind your tactics. Her exact words were that it was ‘hot’ and she was glad to see a ‘real man’,” Simon replied.

“She freaked out after we took a little nap together when we got back from the dungeon. When I woke up I had changed again, and I think it just shocked her. I’m hoping that she ends up being okay with it.”

“She’s quite the woman. She normally doesn’t want to have anything to do with the guild. You must have really fascinated her. Don’t worry, I’m sure she will come back around,” Simon said.

“I don’t really know what I want out of it, but it is nice to have a friend, who has my back in a dungeon,” Tim replied.

Simon chuckled, “I’m a friend who once I get over my fear will probably have your back in a dungeon, but I’m never gonna be the kind of friend that Kayla can be.” Then he winked. It almost made Tim burst out laughing to see the normally stoic monk act like that.

Tim started to answer but then just kept it to himself till he changed the subject, “Does this mean, that I’m a full fledged member of the guild now?”

“The council has to make that decision, but I would think so. Oh, and I wanted to apologize to you. With all the chaos that has surrounded you, I never got you set up with an apartment in the guild hall. We have plenty of rooms, unless you think you’ll be staying with Kayla.”

“No, I think that even if something comes of that, it would be better for me to have my own place. I’m not looking to get serious with anyone right now,” Tim said.

“I get it. You need to settle in and figure out your place here a bit more. But you should know, now that you have been introduced to Caesar there are going to be lines of noble families wanting to invite you for meals or dances or just to get to know you,” Simon said. Tim thought that whatever the man was thinking was clearly amusing him far too much.

“Why? Don’t I need to be spending my time in the dungeons. I thought they were on overload.”

“They are, but think about it. You’re 1st gen,” Simon said as though his meaning were obvious.

They turned down a hallway as Simon led them into a part of the guildhall, Tim had never been in. “You understand that any child you sire is going to be at the worst a 20th gen right? And that is if you have a child with a flat.”

“I thought that sojourners and flats couldn’t have kids together. Or that if they did, they were just flats,” Tim said, confused.

“That’s normally true, but as is the case with so many other things, 1st gens break the rules. Normally if two sojourners have a child, their child is one generation higher than the highest.”

Tim nodded along. “That makes sense I guess. So if a 10th gen and a 30th gen have a child then the child will be 31st gen, right?”

“Exactly, but if a first gen and a 30th gen have a child then the child will be 15th gen.”

Tim whistled as he said, “Oh…”

“Now you get it. But don’t worry. No one, not the guild council, not Charles, not even Caesar can force you to marry anyone you don’t want to. Or well to do other things. But you can bet that if you signed a contract with the Terran military that it would have some sorta hidden clause in it.”

About that time they stopped and Simon pointed to the door, “This is your room. It's open now, but you will find a key inside on the table. I’m not gonna play tour guide, but there is a bedroom, parlor, kitchen, dining room, and private bath. This is the second floor, so there will also be a balcony looking out over the gardens. Now, I should probably go get some sleep. I didn’t get a nap like you did,” Simon said with another one of those winks.

“Thanks, but I’m afraid to go to sleep. I haven’t even learned what this class can do, so I’d rather not change just yet. Never know when I’m gonna end up stuck as an old dude or worse. Anyway, are there any dungeons in the city besides the Grinder? Not sure if I’m up to that on my own with a new class.”

Simon nodded and said, “There is an E rank dungeon in the sewers. It is mostly used for newbies to learn tactics and to kill rats. There are a couple of decent gathering quests. It’s called the Cesspool. We try to keep it pretty clear since the rats can spread diseases but it has been respawning almost incessantly now. So if you go there becareful that nothing has respawned behind you.”

“Okay, and what about the other one?” Tim asked.

“It’s a C ranked dungeon and is called the menagerie because it has a wide assortment of monsters that change up all the time. But you won’t be able to go there.”

“Oh cause, I’m not a full fledged member yet?”

“No, because the only known entrance is on the palace grounds, so you need royal permission to enter it. The monsters there drop the best alchemical and enchanting items,  some think that is why the original Caesar chose that location for his palace,” Simon explained

“Okay, well every true adventurer has to hunt rats at some point,” Tim said but even as the words left his mouth he wondered how Mischief would feel about that.

The mouse was never bashful so he didn’t have to wait long to find out. “Kill all the blighters you can. One of those rat bastards ate half my litter mates. They are the scum of Iocusinte.”

Tim smiled but didn’t respond since Simon was still there. He turned to the monk, and asked for directions to the Cesspool and then thanked him for his help. Once inside his apartment he looked around. It really was pretty spacious considering the general level of technology and wealth they had here.

He thought about going to see if Kayla wanted to hit the dungeon with him, but realized that he really didn’t need her help for an E ranked dungeon. And maybe some breathing room would be good for her, good for their relationship, whatever it was going to be. The only thing to do now was to assign a skill to the slot left open by his use of the pet skill. First he pulled up the list of his active skills.

1) Barkskin

2) Extreme Plant Growth and Control

3) Ice Blast

4)

5) Grand Master Swordmanship

6) Bow Mastery

7) Nature’s Lesser Heal

Then he started looking at some of the other options. He decided to drop Bow Mastery and rely upon Ice Blast as his ranged attack. He also left Life Tap off because Nature’s Lesser Heal would suffice, especially in a E rank dungeon. That left him a slot for his pet buff. He decided that Mischief needed it. The little guy only had 6 HP and Tim was afraid he could die before a heal could be cast. The buff would increase his defense and give him a shield with as many HP as Tim has.

After adding T’nar’s Speedy Bulwark, Tim decided to add Master Assess. He was tempted to add one of his movement skills, but decided that for now, in the sewer he would rather be able to identify what might be dangerous.

Content now that he was ready, Tim headed out. The directions took him about an hour and a half of walking to reach his destination and it was fully dark by that time. It was in a bad part of town but the smell of food coming out of the pub on the corner wasn’t half bad. He decided to get a quick meal before hitting the dungeon.

He walked into the front door and the place got quiet for a second as everyone looked at him. Apparently he didn’t seem threatening. He had to remind himself that normal people couldn’t detect the aura around a sojourner. So to them he was just a decent size guy coming into the bar. His armored vest must look different with its interchangeable plates but most of the room apparently thought he was more trouble than he was worth. Maybe enough of them knew what a soul pouch meant.

Most of the bar that is. He pulled up a chair and waited for one of the barmaids to come over and what he wanted. After a short discussion he ordered some of the roast pig they had along with a mug of ale. He asked for some fruit or crackers for Mischief, but apparently fresh fruit wasn’t something this place was known for. Tim just hoped that his familiar would like the stale bar peanuts that were offered to him.

Once the barmaid was gone, Tim slipped some of the peanuts in a pouch on his belt that hung opposite his soul pouch. It was the temporary home that he had rigged up for Mischief since his armored vest didn’t have pockets like his dress coat had. The mouse had only complained three times about not being cargo but shut up after the peanuts were provided. Apparently stale didn’t matter to the little mouse.

About that time though the inevitable happened. The big man of the bar decided he needed to prove his place and he walked over to Tim. “Whatcha got in there? Little parrot or something like one of them pirates from a story? Feeding it peanuts is ya? C’mon and get it out for all of us to see. Can you make it do any tricks?”

Tim really wasn’t in the mood. He didn’t feel the hostility surging through him but he just wanted to be left alone. If that was his fate, then the circle of the tree said that was fine. And if he did want company it would have been one of his friends, certainly not this red faced buffoon.  

“Step back. I just want a quick meal before I hit the dungeon,” Tim said. He tried to be menacing but it wasn’t really one of his go to attitudes, probably would have worked better if he was still in his beastial form.

“Oh, so you're one of them,” the man said, clearly not deterred. “Lookie boys, we got another high and mighty adventurer here to save us all from the Cesspool.”

Half the bar looked over at Tim with new curiosity and the other half studiously ignored the entire encounter.

The bar tough continued, “Don’t you need to wait for your party. Where’s the rest of you? Or maybe they already went in and you were too scared to follow.”

Someone from a back corner yelled out, “Sit down Frank and let the man eat.”

Another voice chimed in, “Not like you’ve gone in.”

The annoying man, who’s name was apparently Frank, snapped back at the second speaker, “You shut up Silas. No need to go inside when the guild can’t even keep the beasties from breaking out.” Then he held up his forearm where there were some large bite marks. “Got these protecting all of youz last week when the rats broke out.”

A friend stepped up behind him and said to the crowd. “Frank’s got a point. The guild ate doing their job. And that weren’t no rat. It was the size of a dog.”

Encouraged by his friend Frank asked, “So what’s the matter with you? You too scared to go into the dungeon? Sitting here feeding your parrot.”

Tim had been trying to keep things quiet but it was obvious that wasn’t gonna happen. Mischief though took the choice out of his hands. The small mouse leapt with all of his enhanced strength. With a hardiness as high as his and such a small body to move he practically flew through the air. The impact of his body hit Frank’s face like a punch. The only reason it wasn’t worse was that Mischief didn’t even weigh a full pound.

Frank staggered back and his friend yelled out, “Ooi, he’s got a pet rat.”

Mischief clung to Frank’s face and tore some shallow gashes in the skin before Tim ordered, “Let the man alone. He is harmless. Back in your pocket now.”

Til that moment, Tim hadn’t really been sure how well, the mouse would listen to him, but apparently as a familiar he had to obey, so back he came running. He scampered up Tim’s leg and climbed right back into his pouch.

Tim did a quick assessment on Frank

Frank Gavel   Human

Hauler: Level 7  

HP: 9/10   Defense: 3

Offense: 3

Threat level: Negligible

Status effects: Inebriated 2,  Rat Bite Fever: 1

Great, so the flat was basically helpless. He barely had more HP than Mischief and far less ability to defend himself. Worse, Mischief had debuffed him. Tim was gonna need to figure otu what that effect did, but right now he just needed to get out of here. So much for getting a warm meal.

Tim reached out with his new awareness of plant life. He could feel the weeds and roots the were underneath the wood planks that made up the floor of this building. There was no cellar, at least not in this portion. So he activated his Extreme Plant Growth and Control skill.

It seemed like it would be less likely to be lethal than Ice Blast or the edge of his sword. Besides he needed to test it out and better out here than inside the dungeon. Up from the floor in response to his call, vines appeared ripping their way through the wood and twisting around Frank and his friend. No reason to take chances. They were both lifted off the ground, held kicking and screaming in the air.

“Look, I don’t want any problems here. I’m going to go on my way. The rest of you can cut Mr. Loudmouth down here or not, up to you, but I can promise you that if this turns ugly, I will still walk out of here without a scratch on me.”

People around him looked on angrily. Belt knives and billy clubs had been drawn. The barkeep even had a crossbow leveled at Tim.

“You can think about fighting me all you want. I would prefer to protect all of you, but I won’t let any harm come to me or my pet. So make a decision. Either I leave now and Frank can pay for the damage that he caused, or this gets ugly real fast.”

Several men looked like they wanted to challenge him but apparently none had the stones for it. Tim was glad because he didn’t think any of them would be able to survive an Ice Blast, and he wasn’t in the mood to play. He slowly backed out of the bar after telling Mischief to watch his back. The mouse had its head up out of  the pouch looking around.

When Tim made it out the barkeep hollered, “And don’t you come back.”

Tim could only sigh. He was still alone. Maybe that was his lot in Iocusinte. A pair of deep breaths and he quieted his grumbling stomach, while pulling on a trail ration from his soul pouch. This was okay. The oak could stand alone against the storm.