"That should be everything I need in terms of paperwork Alyx, why don't you go check out the job board while I get a badge ready for you? I'd recommend gathering requests rather than monster subjugation if you intend to go solo."

Alyx cocked his head to the side slightly, considering the idea, but quickly shook his head in the negative.

Sorry Coileta, I'm afraid I'm only interested in tracking down monsters at the moment. I have it on good authority that rare and interesting creatures are the path to power for shape-shifters like me."

"As long as you understand the dangers then, you did make it to level twenty, after all, so you should have at least some combat experience."

Alyx laughed and held up two fingers close together. " Just a pinch Coileta." Giving her a wave goodbye, Alyx crossed the room, stepping around several groups of people to eventually get to the board. Alyx got a few looks as he crossed the dining area, primarily he thought because he was the only person not wearing some kind of armor. He almost felt naked in his simple breeches and tunic, for all the odd looks it got him.

For his part, Alyx gave as good as he got, as there were several races he had never seen before. A group of dwarves, in full plate armor to the last, sat near the bar. A pair of what had to be minotaurs took up a table all to themselves in the back, and they were huge with fluffy red fur. Alyx had no idea he would one day look at a minotaur and think to himself, 'oh damn, that is adorable.' They looked like shampooed cows, which made sense. Assuming they used shampoo here.

There were a couple of what looked like very short humans. Again, Alyx was at a loss as to what they were exactly, hobbit, or gnomes, maybe?

He was starting to understand how identify could have come in handy in polite society.

Once he was at the request board, he took a moment to take it in. The entire wall was covered in papers, and each one bore a colored marking of some kind, which only took Alyx a few minutes to figure out they were level requirements.

It looked like the quests in town ranged from level ten to level fifty-five. Though in reality, the level fifty-five quest was for a dungeon several weeks walk to the north. So most quests for the town itself capped out at level thirty-five.

Alyx began to browse for monster subjugation quests, of which there seemed to be plenty, though most were level ten to fifteen and didn't exactly offer much in variety. Most of them involved killing off the local wolf and boar population. Apparently, it was rutting season for the latter, and they were aggressive because of it.

A few of the level twenty and above quests looked interesting, though, ten gold to drive off a pack of thunder crows. Alyx did need a flying form, and the description of the beast seemed interesting. They can make thunderclaps on-demand, typically used to scare off predators. It seemed these crows were keeping a local merchant from getting any sleep. How delightfully mundane, there was a certain level of normalcy that came from the idea of pest control.

Alyx took a copy of the thunder crows request and kept browsing. The next interesting request was for giant wasp extermination. Alyx considered it, but he hated dealing with normal-sized wasps, let alone giant ones. Someone who can call down lightning or shoot fire from their hands can deal with that—hard pass.

The rest of the requests had less to do with monster subjugation and more to do with guarding caravans or protecting fields from bandits, which told Alyx a bit about the world but wasn't something he was interested in at the moment.

He had been about to turn from the board when he spotted one last subjugation request, though this one read like some kind of challenge rather than a plea for help.

//Looking for adventurers to test themselves against my latest creation! If you can last ten minutes in combat or defeat my master-piece, I shall reward you with fifty gold coins!\

The request marked its location as an old wizards tower just south of the town.

"This is either the laziest trap I've ever seen, or this is a jackpot for me. Either way, I'm in." With Alyx's speed and regeneration, he could probably last ten minutes against just about anything in a fight, not to mention if he could kill whatever it was, he'd probably get a rare essence. Or at least fifty gold, which was a fair amount higher than the other request he'd picked up.

Not that Alyx had any idea of this world's economy yet, but seeing as he didn't need to eat or sleep, gold was only a means to luxury items anyway.

Walking back to the front desk, Alyx found himself waiting in line behind a younger man of another new species. Alyx could tell because of the rabbit ears coming out of the young man's shaggy blonde hair.

Beyond apparently having rabbits somewhere in his heritage, the man before Alyx also never seemed to stop moving, twitching and fidgeting at speeds that were deceptively hard to follow.

The rabbit man was delivering a package to the guild, and as soon as Coileta had signed a form, he turned over a package to her. With a bow of his head, the rabbit man turned, nearly running right into Alyx.

'Oops, sorry, sir! don't mind me."

"Oh, hey, no big deal," Alyx replied, stepping to the side as the rabbit kin passed him.

When he turned back to Coileta, he found her covering her ears, as was every person in the guild who had noticed the rabbit kins arrival and then departure.

"Um, Why are you guys?"

Thwump, KROOOOOOOM!

An explosive wall of air nearly knocked Alyx off his feet as the sound of an actual explosive sent his ears ringing. As he stumbled forward, Coileta gave him a pitying look though there was laughter in her eyes.

Alyx turned around to figure out what the hell just happened, only to see a massive scorch mark on the ground outside the guild and no one else around.

" The hell? Did someone blow up that rabbit guy?"

That drew a round of laughter from those who heard him, and Alyx flushed slightly with embarrassment, not sure how exactly that was supposed to be funny.

Coileta placed a hand on Alyx's arm, stifling her laughter.

"My apologies Alyx, I forgot you were new. That was Zack Snowfoot, our local courier. He...ah...found a unique way to increase his speed involving explosions." Chuckling, Coileta pulled her hand back.

"You'll find people like him now and again in the world, those who like to think outside the box.

"Fuck me. I hope Zack has a curfew on that. Otherwise, I doubt anybody gets any sleep."

That got another laugh from Coileta. "It's been so long since we had a new face, I had forgotten how much fun it can be! Ah, but I'm holding you up. Did you find any requests that suited your fancy?"

Handing over the two papers, Alyx chuckled." Ah, I get it, tease the new guy, why don't you? "Handing over the two requests, Alyx shook his head.

'Honestly, I'm not sure what I was expecting. I can turn into a giant Owlbear, so why shouldn't the mailman travel via explosions?'

"Well, these should be fine for your first two requests. Thunder crows aren't particularly dangerous, and no one has been seriously hurt doing this challenge either, so I deem them safe enough. Just don't go out there expecting to win a purse full of gold. That notice has been on the board for months. We would have taken it down if someone had succeeded."

Coileta warned him, to which Alyx could only nod. "No worries then, Coileta, I'll just be happy with the experience and whatever I can make from selling my lance."

Giving Alyx a warm smile and a kind word, Coileta sent him on his way to the blacksmith, which, luckily for Alyx, wasn't very far away.

The blacksmith was, to Alyx, at least very impressive. A sturdy stone and wood building, you could hear the clanging of metals from half a street over. There had to be no less than five forges, all blazing red hot, with experts of their craft hard at work over them.

While Alyx had never had any talent for metalworking, he'd always found the calling of blacksmithing to be oddly romantic. There was something magical about taking a lump of iron and turning it into something that served a purpose.

As Alyx gawked at the smiths hard at work, a middle-aged woman with black hair tied back in a ponytail and biceps that could crush a watermelon walked up to him.

"Oi, it's a copper piece an hour to watch my boys work." She grinned, letting Alyx know her words were said in jest.

"Hah! I'm afraid I'll have to pass on that. My name is Alyx, Miss?

"Smith! Jasmine Smith at your service. So if your not here to watch them sweat, what can I do for yea?"

"Mrs. Smith, I was hoping to sell this." Alyx replied, holding up the [Lance of the Moon] " I'm an Essence Shifter, so I turn into animals for combat, and I don't have much use for this weapon. The Coileta of the adventurers guild said that you would give me a fair price for it."

Jasmine wasted no time in plucking the weapon from my grasp, looking it over with a keen eye before she began to flow through several different martial forms with the weapon. Alyx took a step back to let her have all the room she needed. He hadn't expected a blacksmith, for what else could she be to be so handy with the lance, but she certainly looked like she knew what she was doing.

With a grin on her face, Jasmine handed the lance back to Alyx. " That is an excellent weapon, made of materials only found in the forest of mists no less. That lance gives quite the substantial bonus to striking, parrying, and dodging skills. All of which are doubled when under the moonlight, not to mention the anti regeneration enchantment on it, your sure you want to give it up?"

Alyx shrugged and gave her a sad smile" Unfortunately, I'm just no good with a lance. None of my skills synergize. But if you have anything that buffs physical stats or knows how to make armor that changes shape with me when I transform, I'd be willing to trade the lance instead of selling it. Though I have to ask, how did you figure all of that out about the lance? Was it a skill?

"Oi! You're a blunt one, aren't ya? Haha, yes, I've got an appraisal skill. Now about that lance, I'm afraid we don't have either shifting armor or stat enhancements if your meaning strength and the like. What I can do is a trade of two-hundred-fifty gold for the lance, which should be enough for you to afford an enchantment, maybe two. No idea where you will get shape-shifting armor though, I've never even heard of something like that. "

Two-hundred-fifty gold sounded like an excellent deal to Alyx, and honestly, he was going to be happy to have no longer to carry the damn thing around.

" Tell you what, you throw in a sheath for this dagger, and we will call it a deal. How's that?"

"Hah, done!" Jasmine extended a hand and gave Alyx a firm handshake before taking the lance inside her shop and returned a few minutes later with his coin and a belt with a sheath that more or less fit S.A.A.T.

"Thank you very much, Jasmine, it was a pleasure doing business with you."

Jasmine grinned and shook her head. "The pleasure was mine, and you find any more interesting gear like that, you be sure to bring it here, okay?"

Alyx nodded. " Of course, Jasmine, thank you again." Just as he was turning away, S.A.A.T. Pipped up for what felt like the first time in an eternity.

Finally, some clothes! I can't believe you paraded a naked blade around town like that. Have you no shame?

Alyx blinked down at the dagger now firmly in place at his waist and wasn't sure if he was being admonished for brandishing a weapon or if S.A.A.T. was worried about public nudity. Alyx decided it was in his best interest not to ask.