It turned out there actually was therapy. Like most modern equivalents he’d found, it was provided by the Adventurers guild. It wasn't exactly a therapist, but a Wise Man or Woman, who would listen and help guide you through whatever was wrong. Jason had been… incredibly relieved when he found out. The amount of trauma he’d gone through since he’d come to this world was unbelievable. Although, the Wise Woman he’d spoken to had been a little wide-eyed by the end of their talk. Either way, he’d come out of everything well enough…so far.

He sighed, sipping his drink, and leaned back in his chair. He luxuriated in the lack of pain in his shoulders. The dungeon dive had left him with enough funds to fix them, leaving his days painless and much happier, if quite a bit poorer. He would every so often tune into Brand loudly boasting about their adventure. Falan and Falisty were discussing things in the corner, and Ilis was nowhere to be seen, unfortunately. He had actually been looking forward to spending time with her. But she, understandably, had said she needed some alone time, and then left the town. So, he was now sitting by himself in the back of the Craven Arms. He…was feeling a little at a loss. They had beaten the dungeon, killed it effectively, and now they just…drank beer? He frowned and stared at the bitter ale. In stories he’d read, there was very little of this. What about those people they’d seen in the dungeon? Don’t know who they were. What about the history of the dungeon? Surprisingly unimportant. What about… there were actually no other questions. He huffed, and decided to do something.

He stood up and headed over to where Falisty and Falan were, plopping himself down into the seat. They both glanced at him, but quickly resumed their discussion.

“I’m telling you, Falan, they must have been the Grasping Hand. What other factions could it be?”

The elf scoffed. “Thousands Falisty, literally thousands. We should not assume they are the most dangerous, but consider all of our options.”

She scowled. “And I’m telling you, that any faction similar to the Grasping Hand, get’s absorbed by them!”

They glowered at each other, until Jason interrupted with a harrumph. They both glared at him. “Falan, you said you were going to show me the woman who sacrificed herself for a Class to protect Danist?”

The man blinked and nodded. “Ah… yes that’s right, I did, didn’t I? Well, I suppose a break would be welcome.” He stood up and Jason followed.

Falisty exhaled noisily. “I’ll be doing some research in my room. Do not interrupt me.”

They both blinked as she got up and marched over to the stairs, before slamming the door. The elf shook his head. “Ever since that dungeon, she has been becoming increasingly driven; I find it concerning.” He frowned, but it quickly disappeared when he saw Jason’s questioning look.

“Ah, you wanted to see the woman, correct? Let’s go.”

They exited the inn, leaving the blanket of noise behind them, and out onto the streets. The elf shivered, and crossed his arms. Jason glanced and looked down at his simple shirt and trousers, his mouth twisting a bit. They started walking down the street, making an effort to avoid people’s foggy breaths.

They eventually arrived at what felt like the center of town. Not the town center, but the literal center of town. It was a garden, filled with flowers of all different kinds of colors, and it all circled a statue in the middle. Kneeling on a plinth was a young teenage girl: her hair was ragged and crisp in places, along with having a scarred face. Even so, she had an expression of ease. Her shoulders were loose, and her palms were upraised to the sky, like a child feeling for raindrops.

“This is her?” Jason asked quietly.

“Indeed, read the plinth.”

He walked closer, the distant murmur of the town not enough to block the sound of his soft footsteps. He got close to the words on the stone, and peered down to read them.

I offer everything, take my heart, my body, my mind, my love, my life.

I am done with it all.

But others still hope… so take me, you bastard.

He tilted his head at the addition at the end. It was different from the rest of the neatly carved words, rougher. He looked up and on a hunch, examined her again.

‘Ding’ [Dani, Town Heart Lv ???]

He nodded, and walked back to Falan.

“Did that answer your questions?”

“Yep.”

Feeling a bit somber after that, he headed towards the Adventurers guild, splitting up with Falan, who said he was going to examine the high-leveled body. He stopped when he saw something, or rather someone. A dog sat panting outside the building, every so often a person would pass and give it a pat. He had no idea what breed it was, most likely a hunting kind, but frankly, he didn't care. He briskly walked over, and knelt down to give them all the love he could. He fussed over it, whispering things about how good it was. The dog loved it, and moved closer to give him licks; he weakly protested and continued to give them cuddles.

He felt a prickle on his neck, and the dog’s ears perked up. He looked behind him, and saw a semicircle of Cani knights standing there, watching him. The moment was tense, and he rose, keeping his eyes on each of their sheathed weapons. Slowly the knights started walking forward, one by one. They all nodded to him while passing, until a female knight leaned in close. “You’d make a good mate with those hands…” She grinned and winked, before continuing, leaving him standing there, jaw dropped. He looked down at his hands and then to the dog, who was now on its back, wriggling their belly at him.

After that revealing experience, he finally walked inside while keeping his head ducked. He looked around, for…something to do?

“Jason! You survived the dungeon then?”

He turned at the sound of a woman’s chipper voice. It was the Rabbit receptionist again, he’d discovered her race were called Hanes. “Ah yeah, I did. It was a pretty intense experience. I…yeah, it was intense.” He felt a bit lame, but the woman nodded understandingly.

“I hear that a lot. Weren’t you and your team the last to come out? I’d be interested in hearing about that, if you’ve got time now?”

He blinked, and then shrugged. “I’ve got nothing but time now.”

She smiled at him, and walked with a hop in her steps over to a free table. They sat down and she reached into her bag, before pulling out some cheese and crackers. He looked down at the plate and back up to her. She grinned. “I always keep some on me. It’s useful for moments like this.”

He chuckled confusedly, and started helping himself. “I was wondering more on how you did it?”

She raised an eyebrow. “What, keeping food in my bag? It’s dimensional storage. It comes with the job.”

“Huh…and, um, this is a bit awkward, but what’s-”

“My name is Helen.” She answered kindly.

“Right… so you wanted to know what happened in the dungeon? Sure…”

He proceeded to recount the events, skipping over the more emotional parts, while giving her a basic idea of what happened. He got to the point where he was about to mention the body they’d found, when she blurred and put a furry hand over his mouth. After making sure that he wasn’t going to continue, she removed it, regarding him seriously. “Don’t mention that out loud. It is very valuable.”

He sputtered out some hairs. “Right…noted. Anyway… we managed to defeat the thing that was creating all the monsters. I almost died again by throwing myself at it. I would have failed if it weren’t for my second Class; it allowed me to basically make the thing explode. After that, I couldn’t really move, so Brand picked me up and took me out of there. So, here we are.”

She snorted. “Yeah, that sounds like a good first adventure. I bet you're feeling restless now, right?”

He leaned back a bit. “Yeah, how’d you know? Is it common?”

She nodded. “When an adventurer has a heroic moment like you did? Oh yeah, everytime. They’re always raring to go again.”

He flushed. Heroic? I suppose. Helen’s eyes twinkled with amusement. "I don’t suppose you have any suggestions? I don’t know what to do next. Everyone in my team seems to be happy for the moment.”

“Well, you should talk to them first. But, we always have some jobs to do here. Whether or not they’ll be in the area, I’ll have to see.”

He nodded. “Thanks Helen, that’d be helpful.”

He walked back to the pub. He didn’t spot Falan, only Brand with his ever growing crowd of listeners. He wasn’t going to interrupt, but the man had other ideas. “AH, Jason! This is the Archivist’s Response’s newest teammate! Say hello Jason!” The bear-like man’s face was flushed, and he was swaying a bit.

Jason awkwardly raised a hand in greeting, ignoring the eyes on him. “Hey Brand. Is Falan back yet?”

The man blinked a few times, before saying, “Nope! Hey Jason, you should tell these people about-”

“Anyway I’ll talk to Falisty, see you later!” He hurried across the room, and up the stairs, trying very hard to not glance back. He walked down the hallway, until he came to the right door. He was about to knock, when he hesitated, before inhaling and doing it. There was a curse from inside, and then stomping. The door ripped open, revealing an incredibly angry face.

“Hey Falisty, I’m sor-”

“I said no interruptions.”

“I know but I need-” The door slammed in his face. Okay, that’s going too far. He activated [Phantom State] and walked through the door. A shard of wood immediately thunked between his eyes, causing him to yelp. He glared at her. “I just need to tell you one thing and then I’ll go, alright?”

She scowled, but lowered her hand. He took a deep breath. “I’m leaving for a bit. Going to do some solo missions, but I’ll be back in maybe a week or two, at a guess.”

She sniffed. “Great. Now, get out.”

He rolled his eyes and was about to walk out when his eyes caught something on her table. It was an odd stone carving of a ropey heart, with crystal lined through it like veins. “Is tha-”

“GET OUT!”

He jumped, and glanced at the writhing wood around her, before walking through the door again. Those are some of the worst anger issues I've ever seen…

It seemed like he was as ready as he could be. He had his bag, along with supplies. He paused, as he spotted a note he’d written on his bag.

Don’t forget to apply your Stat points, idiot.

He grimaced, and then proceeded to do exactly that. He had a lot, one hundred and fifty two in total. He had so many, that he thought it would be worth investing them in each aspect: First, he put fifty into Vitality, as he just felt it would be dumb not to, and the warmth that blasted from his heart made him certain he’d made the right choice. For just a moment, the ever present cold inside him was gone, and he felt normal again. It returned a second later, but didn’t get rid of his smile. He decided to put forty into dexterity, as it was the lowest one of his priority Stats. He bore with the horrible twitchiness that broke out all over his body. Must be because it’s a big change. He added ten into strength after, and put the last fifty two into Intelligence, Endurance and Wisdom.

‘Ding’ Name: Jason Darting

First Class: [Phantom Swordsman Lv 80]

Second Class: [Bone Manipulator Lv 42]

Unspent stat points: None

Vitality: 255

Endurance: 178

Strength: 50

Dexterity: 130

Wisdom: 185

Intelligence: 173

General Skills: [Identify Lv 1] ; [Bretae Standard Language Lv 5] ; [Death Magic Resistance Lv 1] ; [Space Magic Resistance Lv 5] ; [Bone Resistance Lv 1] ; [Pain Resistance Lv 6] ; [Fear Resistance Lv 13]

Class Skills: [Spacial Strike 2nd Tier Lv 20] ; [Phantom State 2nd Tier Lv 17] ; [Ghostly Swordsmanship Lv 14] ; [Bone Manipulation Lv 17] ; [Dense Bones Lv 14]

He nodded, feeling satisfied with his progress, and slung his bag over his shoulder.

He approached Helen at the guild, who looked up and gave him a bright smile. “Ah Jason, there you are. I’ve found a few different things, but the one I think you’d like the most are the reports of a lot of beasts flooding into the area. There are so many that they’ve been ruining crops, so businesses want us to deal with it.”

“Sounds good. Is it common for monsters to do that?”

She gestured uncertainly. “Yes? There are so many things out there that could cause this. However, monster gatherings have grown into disasters in the past. If you find out why, then I’ll be able to offer a bonus.”

He gave her the thumbs up, which she enthusiastically returned. Then he strolled to the gates, and walked out into the Wilds.