Cless ran to the Beaten Hare and found Balthus waiting for her leaning on the outer wall under the porch's awning.

"About time you show up, girl. People have died for making me wait!" He let out a burst of boisterous laughter.

"Sorry. I got too busy buying armor. The sales person didn't let me go until I bought it."

"That's a good brigandine," He said after nonchalantly touching the armor and testing it. "Not many gaps between the plates, the riveting is firm. How much did you pay for it?"

The way he put the question and how little Cless would admit she knew of prices and the value of things, even with Shane there she could only think of one thing.

"Thirty ducats. Was I ripped off?"

"No. For this quality in a big town, that would be cheap. Here? I'd go for twenty-five."

Cless nodded. "I still have the rest of my guild to outfit, if they care to be of any use so I might get back that money. Shall we go train, master?"

"Yes. Today I'll get only the bow. Let's go to the forest."

He picked the training short bow and two quivers of arrows. Cless noticed some of the arrows were bent. They left for the forest and after walking for a couple minutes, He stopped.

"This is a good place," He mumbled as he scanned the area. "We are starting now. Put on the quiver."

Cless strapped on the quiver and held the bow but she saw no targets. She looked at Balthus, sensing a trap about to spring if she asked about the targets. So she just stared at him with a puzzled face.

"Hey, Silverfang. How would you like some venison?"

Balthus ignored Cless and talked straight to the wolf. Silverfang stood at attention and wagged his tail. Cless thought that the ferocious Lycan had turned to a mutt. That was strange but she had no idea what to do of it except accept it. It was very convenient for her.

"So let me tell you. I have twenty steaks of venison with me. You can have all of them if you play a game with me. Cless is going to fire all these arrows at you. You have to dodge them. You cannot go past these two big trees over there. You lose one steak for each arrow that hits you. The game ends when she uses all the arrows in these two quivers ten times. Do you understand?"

Silverfang nodded. Cless took some arrows out of the quiver and saw they had only a blunt stone as the tip. She wouldn't shoot silver arrows at her wolf but she was relieved that they were not silver.

Balthus saw that and laughed, "Don't worry, I don't have the money for silvered arrowheads lying around. They cost fifteen ducats a quiver. Get ready to shoot."

Cless nocked an arrow and aimed at the wolf. It stood there, looking straight at her. She fired and Silverfang just sidestepped. The arrow veered too much to the side.

"That's impossible," She complained. "All these arrows are warped!"

"That's the idea. You have to hold them in a way that the warp works for you. I got them for free anyway."

Cless glared at Balthus but sighed as she knew she had to do as he told her. So she did. She tried to fire the arrows but Silverfang dodged the first dozen with ease.

"Calm down and feel the arrow. See how they are warped and work your aim around it."

She fired the whole quiver blindly. Cless was quite frustrated. She reached for the second quiver but Balthus held it out of her reach.

"Gather those arrows and fire them again."

So she did. The second time she shot, she recognized some of these arrows. Silverfang still dodged all of them but this time he had to move more. At least the brass-iere was helping protect her chest from the string. She did slap her forearm twice though. Gather arrows, shoot them one by one. Watch in frustration as the wolf dodge them with ease. She was even naming some of the arrows after characters from her books. The fifth time she was shooting the first quiver, she knew the quirks of each arrow. Silverfang was forced to keep dashing left and right in an erratic pattern. She hit her first arrow. It would veer too much to the left, she aimed to the right so Silverfang was fooled.

She finished shooting the first quiver ten times. In the last round, only six arrows of the twenty were left. Others either broke or went too far away in the woods. Cless let the bow hanging from her arm.

"I need bracers. I need everything. Silverfang, catch me."

Cless dropped herself. Silverfang ran and shifted to catch her. The Lycan roared in pain as if to drown the sound of bones popping. Cless felt the fur and the embrace of the werewolf.

"Crazy human. Don't do that again, it hurts," Silverfang growled in his guttural voice.

"Did it hurt?" Cless asked. "Why?"

"Shifting too fast hurts. Only do in combat," He replied. Silverfang sat and cuddled her in his lap. "Worry not. You didn't know."

Cless nudged her head against his shoulder and stood still. "Thank you."

She rested there for about a quarter hour before Balthus clapped his hands.

"Time's up! Rise and shine, princ... Cless. You got another quiver to shoot. Heal yourself and get ready. Silverfang, this time stay in your werewolf form. Go!"

Cless groaned but complied. She prayed for Mending over herself and Silverfang and resumed shooting. Two hours later they finished their archery training session. Silverfang had earned six steaks. Balthus called for a quick meal, smoked meat, bread, and a wineskin with mead.

"I should bring food to our guild sessions," Cless mused.

"You should take your guild sessions more seriously. So far you are just a bunch of kids horsing around in the woods," Balthus remarked as both a warning and a reprimand.

Cless snorted in self-derision, "You are right, master. I almost got two killed already."

Balthus drank mead from the skin and quipped, "It is a miracle that bear didn't murder all of you."

"Silverfang hamstrung it early in the fight. And It was slow. I could see its attacks and dodge somehow."

"There shouldn't be bears this big this near the town," Balthus commented with concern. "First a large wolf pack, next to the bear. Something is strange."

"Regarding the wolves," Cless tapped her fur throne, "You can ask Silverfang directly. Hey, furry boy, why did your pack come this close to the human town?"

Silverfang stopped chewing his jerky and spoke, dropping meat crumbs over Cless. "Orcs. Orcs drove our pack from our territory. Their chieftain has a silver sword and too many warriors. We fled before they could eat us. Other packs fled deeper into the forest but when Cless threatened to go hunt our kind I knew that if we were caught between the orcs and the humans we would be done for."

That was a lot to digest. Not only being covered in meat crumbs was a new experience but the meaning of the power struggle in the forest.

Balthus cleared his mouth with more mead and passed the wineskin to Cless.

"Do you know where the orcs live, Silverfang?"

"Yes. It is about a day's walk for you humans through the forest."

Balthus froze for a moment. Cless stood up to clear the crumbs and get another slice of bread. Sensing her master's turmoil, she asked, "Is this bad, master?"

"Yes. It is. Eat up, we are going to do special training now. If you are going to be a proper adventurer, you need to know your strengths and more importantly, your weaknesses."

They finished eating and drinking the last of the mead. Balthus cleaned up and put everything away in his pack. They kept sitting in the same spot.

"Now, Cless, I want you to check your status. Open it and keep it open at the side of your field of view."

Cless called up her status. Archery went up a lot.

"It is open. The proficiencies listing changed headers. What should I do?"

"Regarding the headers, as you earn more proficiencies they are sorted by category. But disregard that for now. Focus on your Skill. Keep your attention focused on the Skill and try to understand it. It is a bit different for everyone but that is the gist of it. Just meditate on it and try to understand what your Skill can do. When another window pops up, shift your focus to it but don't dismiss the main status window. It will take some concentration to get it right, but you can retry as much as you need."

Cless did as asked. She kept staring at the Skill name on her status window. Nothing happened for a while but when she stirred, Balthus told her to keep focusing. So she did. After a while, the same message that appeared when she received the Skill appeared.

Skill [Absolute Contract] (S-rank)

Allows you to create a binding contract between two willing parties. Both parties must offer something of value to one another and agree to the terms of the contract. An Absolute Contract cannot be broken by any external party. Those bound by an Absolute Contract cannot disobey the terms. The contract can be written or verbal. No party can be forced into a contract with this Skill. Conditions must be stated in a way that all parties understand.

"Something showed up. It is the same explanation as to when I got the Skill."

Balthus saw Cless furrow her brows, immersed in focusing on the windows. He guided her in the next step. "Now focus on the Explanation and transmit a desire to know more."

She did. The windows vanished and she tried three times before something else appeared.

Skill [Absolute Contract] (S-rank)

Allows you to create a binding contract between two willing parties. Both parties must offer something of value to one another and agree to the terms of the contract. An Absolute Contract cannot be broken by any external party. Those bound by an Absolute Contract cannot disobey the terms. The contract can be written or verbal. No party can be forced into a contract with this Skill. Conditions must be stated in a way that all parties understand.

Types of contracts:

Mutual Agreement: Both parties agree to trade something of equal perceived value after negotiations.

Trade Offer: You offer something and express the desired payment. If the offer is accepted, the recipient is automatically bound to the terms.

Bet: Both parties make a bet with whatever they deem worthy and a well-defined outcome. Once the bet is accepted, the outcome of the challenge is measured and the exchange of valuables' possession is enacted.

Lack of common means of communication renders this Skill useless.

In any case, an attempt by a contractee to retrieve something traded away in a contract without an amendment is considered a breach of the contract.

Furthermore, final death is the outcome if the penalties are not explicitly made a part of the contract. If they are, the party that broke it will pay with their own life if they cannot supply at least half of the penalty or be granted a month to pay the missing part if they can supply at least half of it. Failure to comply results in death. The surviving party earns Exp for the death as compensation.

That was a lot to digest. If only she knew that, things could've been different.

"I got in-depth information. Is there something else? My head hurts."

Cless was sweating even in the cold autumn afternoon. Why learning about your own Skill would hurt that much? Something was wrong with that, that was just not fair.

"You can pause and rest for a while." She sighed in relief when she heard Balthus releasing her. "Did you get the details of your Skill?"

"Yes. It is hard to keep focusing but I could read it all." She nodded. Cless noticed that Silverfang was a wolf again.

"Good. Now I want you to do the same to your Class and Professions. Don't bother with the intermediate info, try to go for the detailed one."

"Okay. This is going to hurt." Cless winced preemptively as she closed her eyes to focus on the status window.

Cleric (basic class)

A spellcaster that sacrifices their life energy to their chosen deity in exchange for holy power to enact magic.

Grants +1 Magic each odd level. Grants alternating +1 Health and Intellect at even levels.

Accelerates proficiency gains in the "Magic, Cleric" category by 3x

Weaponmaster (profession)

A combatant that seeks mastery over all kinds of weapons.

Grants its level to all "Weapon" proficiencies.

Accelerates proficiency gains in the "Weapon" category by 2x

Warmaster (profession)

A leader of troops that can coordinate troops in combat as well as supply, morale, and logistics

Grants a third of its level to own "Weapon" and "Social, Martial" and all "Weapon" proficiencies of commanded troops.

Accelerates own proficiency gains in the "Weapon" and "Social, Martial" category by 50%

Cless' ears were ringing from the toll of focusing on the status. "Got it. Can I stop it now? My head really hurts."

"Yes, I'm amazed at your progress. Open your eyes."

She did and they were still in the forest but it was already the dead of the night. Somehow a campfire magically appeared while she was focusing. She was leaning on Silverfang. To Cless, bringing out all those windows was like an out-of-body experience. She wouldn't be surprised if she found herself in her own bed or elsewhere. She had zero outer awareness while she did that.

"I was going to ask why didn't they teach us to do that when we get our Skills and status but my guess is that the kids couldn't endure the pain. Am I right?"

"Yes. It takes a lot of proficiency and Intellect to be able to do what you just did. Unless one has at least twenty levels and more than fourteen points in Intellect, trying to do what you just did is a good way to pass out in pain."

Cless rolled her eyes. She knew there was no way any of her guild members could call in that much information. "Given that I have twenty-one in both, I can't fathom how other people do it."

Balthus guffawed. "They don't. Or at least they don't do in one sitting. Usually, they just pass out during several attempts. But you gained the required proficiency all in one go."

She looked around and found the woods at night were too creepy. Cless yawned. "Shouldn't we go home? I have to sleep."

"Good. Tomorrow, I will go with your guild in your morning activities. Take a torch and go home with Silverfang. I'm going to scout the woods and see if I can find some orcs."

She turned in the general direction of the town and took two steps when she remembered.

"The gates are closed this late at night!"

That was stressful. Not only she was with a big headache and sleepy, but she was also stranded outside town.

"Yes, but they can open for citizens. Just get near the gate and the guards should notice you. Or you can come hunt orcs with me."

Cless shook her head. No way she was going after orcs in the middle of the night.

"I have two jobs to do before noon. I have to go back."

She left the campfire behind. Cless heard Balthus dousing the hissing campfire with water as she walked back with Silverfang. At least the guards didn't take too long to open the gate for her and soon she was home.

Name: Cless (no surname)

Race: Human.

Level: 21 ( 229,136 / 231,000 Exp)

Class: Cleric 4 (6,926 / 10,000 Exp)

Profession: Warmaster 6 (17,566 / 21,000 Exp), Weaponmaster 6 (17,566 / 21,000 Exp)

Base Stats: Strength: 12 — Agility: 14 — Health: 21 — Intellect: 21 — Magic: 31

Available Status Points: 0

Skills: [ Absolute Contract (S) ]

Proficiencies:

Appraisal — Status: 20 (+20)

Crafting — Crude Weapons: 5

Magic, Cleric — Mending: 11 — Detoxify: 6 — Light: 2

General — Prayer: 10 — Scribe: 2 — Houseworking: 3 — Math: 2 — Reading: 6 — Forestry: 7 — Skinning: 7

Social, general — Negotiation: 10

Social, martial — Leadership: 13 — Intimidation: 13 — Tactics: 9

Movement — Tumbling: 3

Weapon — Long Blades: 4 — Short Blades: 2 — Unarmed: 7 — Archery: 12 (+8) — Spears: 3 — Maces: 11 — Staves: 4 — Axes: 5