“Hey. Hey.” Someone shook Kay’s shoulder. “I’d leave you napping if I could, but it’s time to wake up.”

Kay slowly opened his eyes. It had been mid-day when he had closed them, and the sun was starting to go down as he pushed himself up to his feet.

“There ya are,” The mayor’s wife helped him up. “Sorry about leavin’ ya there, but we had some stuff to do.” She chuckled.

Kay stretched and worked at the knots forming in his back and shoulders. “It’s fine, I understand.” He glanced around and noticed that nothing was burning anymore.

She laughed and smacked him on the back. “Good! Now, c’mon. Gerald wants to talk to ya.”

He followed her to what looked like a general store near the village center. Most of the store was empty, the contents presumably used or distributed to help the village. The mayor was talking with a short man as they entered.

“Gerald,” The short human cut off the mayor, “It’s fine. I know that you won’t stiff me. Stop yammering about it. It takes however long it takes to make the money back. I’m not some bastard of a merchant to demand payment this instant and hit you with all kinds of interest when you don’t. People needed the stuff after that mess,” He waved a hand at the door, “And I’m more than happy to have it used. Calm down.”

The mayor, Gerald, sighed. “Thanks Tam.”

“Don’t worry about it.” The shopkeep noticed Kay come in. “The adventurer’s here.”

The mayor spun around, his posture straightening. There was a hint of worry in his eyes. “Ah! You’re awake good!” He glanced back at the shopkeep. “Tam, can we borrow your back room?”

“Sure, go ahead.”

The mayor nodded at Kay and led him through into the back of the empty store. He closed the door behind them and looked at Kay for a few moments. “Look, I’m just going to be honest with you. We can’t afford to pay you for this. With the rebuilding fees and everything else, we’re broke.” He started talking faster and faster, “We have to rebuild two buildings completely, including my house, and there’s another two that need repairs. We have to pay back Tam and the other’s here that put up goods and services to help us recover, and that’s not including anything else that’s going to-”

“Whoa!” Kay grabbed Gerald’s shoulders. “Stop. It’s alright. I’m not going to demand some payment from you for taking out the Blood Mage. I’m not that mercenary.”

“Truly?” The mayor stared into Kay’s eyes, a hint of desperation lurking in the back of his gaze. “We honestly can’t afford to give you anything. Not even a feast in thanks.”

“Seriously. I understand. You need everything you have to rebuild and recover. I’m not going to take anything from you when you can’t afford it.” Kay grinned, “That, and I still expect to get paid. If there isn’t a bounty on the asshole’s head from the city I’ll eat my socks.”

Gerald almost collapsed in relief. “Oh, thank you! You’re a literal lifesaver… I’m so sorry, but in everything that’s happened I’ve totally forgotten your name.”

Kay grinned. “It’s Kay, Mr. Mayor.”

“Please, after everything you’ve done, it’s Gerald to you.”

Kay spent a little longer talking things over with Gerald and his wife Kathleen. Mostly just sorting out what happened and taking a bit of a breather.

The Blood Mage had come through the same gate Kay did, killing one of the two guards there and injuring the other. Surprisingly, while there were a number of injured people, that guard had been the only causality. They insisted that without Kay it would have been much worse, and after they were entirely sure Kay wouldn’t demand some payment they couldn’t give, they were effusive in their thanks.

When Kathleen noticed that it was getting close to dark she took over the conversation, effectively shooing Kay back to the city with two bodies in tow on his sled and two of the villagers as escorts. With multiple homes being completely destroyed, or damaged to uselessness, they didn’t have a place for Kay to sleep. The two villagers coming with him were part witnesses to events when he reported everything, but mostly they were being sent to stay with relatives in Tumbling Rapids that could put them up for a time while buildings were repaired.

It was quiet while they walked back, one of the two basically demanding to haul the sled with the monster bird and Blood Mage’s bodies on it. The dead sheep had been left behind as a donation of sorts. Kay wasn’t sure if he was going to keep the reward for killing the bird either. Part of him felt like giving the gold back would help, but the rest of him was conflicted. He did do the work and didn’t he deserve to be paid for it? It was confusing and he was going to rely on his more experienced teacher for advice.

As they traveled Kay looked back on the whole experience. Mostly, the semi-miraculous save he’d gotten right before he’d lost in the battle against the Blood Mage’s Blood Puppetry skill. He smiled fondly as he remembered the voice. His little sister had loved the Arthurian Legends, and had often corralled Kay into playing with her. She always had to be Arthur, and Kay could only be Sir Kay, Arthur’s brother and knight. Smart as anything and incredibly stubborn, Amelia had hated the “newer” versions of the legends that made Kay the knight into a bully and fool.

Kay looked up into the sky. I love you. And I miss you guys. He refused to believe they couldn’t hear him, other world or not.

Awash in melancholy memories, Kay barely noticed as they approached the line to enter Tumbling Rapids. As a major trade hub in the area, the city was open late into the night. A few people gave worried or interested glances towards the sled pulling the dead body of a giant bird, and something else wrapped in thick cloth, but they eventually left it alone. Adventurer’s dragging dead monsters into the city wasn’t that rare.

As they slowly approached the front, Kay finally took a look at his notifications. He’d forgotten about it earlier, and then gotten swamped with memories.

[~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~]

- Skill: Blood Manipulation has reached level 19!

- Skill: Blood Manipulation has reached level 20!

- Class Upgrade Available!

- Class: Blood Manipulator, upgrade from Apprentice Blood Manipulator, is available!

- New Skill!

- Skill: Domain of Blood gained!

- Oath of Truth Made!

- Payment Taken: Blood Regeneration has decreased in level by one.

[~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~]

Kay put off upgrading his class tier until he was with Eleniah, as giddy as he was. She’d want to celebrate and he didn’t want her being disappointed. Also, payment for an Oath that he was being truthful was a whole level of a skill!? No wonder people didn’t go around making them lightly! What if he lost a level in another skill? He might have lost his tier up! That would have sucked. He shook off the unhappy possibility and concentrated on the skill description for the new skill. It sounded like something he definitely needed to look at.

[————————————————————]

Skill: Domain of Blood

- Both a representation of life and a representation of death, blood is a vital part of most living beings. It is yours to control. In your presence, no other shall control or effect blood through magical means. This skill can be overwhelmed by skills of high enough level. Leveling this skill increases the size of your domain and the power you can manifest within your domain.

[————————————————————]

“That’s… interesting.” Kay muttered to himself. His gaming experience on Earth made it seem like a powerful skill, but he wasn’t really sure if that kind of assumption was right in Torotia. There was still a lot that he didn’t know or understand about this world’s system. He would just have to do what he normally did, and ask Eleniah.

When they made it to the front of the line, the guards there looked them over and glanced at the sled. “Bringing back some monsters? What’s in the bundle?”

Kay gestured the guard who’d spoke to step closer.

He raised a brow, but did take a few steps in. His partner watched with a mildly suspicious look on her face.

“It’s the Blood Mage that’s been attacking villages in the area. I came back from hunting the bird and caught him attacking their village.” He pointed at the two men from the village behind him. “They’re here as witnesses.”

The guard snapped upright and his partner immediately went for her weapon. The first guard waved her down. “Oi! Rookie!”

A young man ran over from somewhere. “Yeah? What’s up?”

“Go get the Sergeant, fast!”

The way the first guard snapped had the younger man sprinting off immediately.

The guard pointed off to the side of the gate. “Go over there. We’re going to need to bring some higher ups over, and there’s no point in blocking the gate.” He stopped in place. “No, wait. Drag that inside.” He gestured them through the gate, then over to one side inside the wall. “Wait there for the Sergeant.” He whirled towards a small guard house inside the wall. “Bena, Dein!”

Two more guards poked their heads out.

“Watch these three!” He pointed at Kay and the villagers. “They need to wait for the Sergeant!”

They nodded and pulled out a pair of stools, where they sat and started watching them warily.

“Ed!” The other guard speed walked over. “What’s going on?” She hissed.

Ed the guard leaned over and whispered to her.

“Seriously!?” She snapped her head over to stare at them.

Kay and the villagers all nodded.

“Well… Fuck, that’s fantastic isn’t it?”

Ed nodded. “Yeah, but they still need to talk to the Sergeant, and maybe a Captain. It’s a big deal, and we need to follow procedure to the letter.”

She grimaced. “Ah, shit. You’re right, they’re totally going to be asses about it.”

“Um, what?” Kay asked, a bit concerned.

Ed shook his head. “Can’t talk about it. Political bullshit we’re not even supposed to know about. Don’t worry about it though, you did a great job. It shouldn’t effect you at all.”

Kay nodded, but inwardly started to worry. He was already peripherally involved in the political stuff happening in the city, or at least some of it. He wasn’t sure that the guard was right that he didn’t need to worry about it here.