Chapter 15 I Shop 'Til I Drop Part A

The next morning was a bit of a blur. Crue had gotten up first and his waking up had woken me up. The hangover wasn't the worst I've ever had, but it still wasn't pleasant. All I wanted to do was kill the sun for being so damned bright. I threw my arm over my eyes with a groan.

“Toilet.” Crue staggered about. Why on Earth, or rather Elrich, was he yelling this early in the morning. I decided I would kill him too when I got the pounding to go away.

“Eri, damnit, where's the toilet?”

Right, I was feeling more than a bit of pressure down there as well. I should do something about that. I untangled myself from the blanket and sat up. No, I did not want to sit up. Sitting up was a bad idea. I had almost decided to lay back down, but I had to go.

By some miracle, I managed to make my way down the hall silently counting doors as I went. The fourth door on the right was the shared toilets for the guests. There were three stalls and a magic stone hand washing sink. A window was slightly open to let in the slightly chilled morning air. Stupid air being all cold and making my face hurt.

Crue had followed me and made a beeline to the back stall. I finished my business and was quite proud that I was able to aim in the state that I was in. Go me!

I splashed water on my face. That not being enough, ran my head under the tap. I could smell myself and it wasn't pleasant. That woke me up a little, sticking my head out the window to let my hair drip outside helped a lot. I used my hand and squeezed out what water I could. The pounding in my head lessened a bit.

I sweat a lot in the night and my clothes smelled like beer. There wasn't a lot I could do about my outer clothing. I had fallen asleep in them without changing. The best I could do was change my under clothes and wash up. I plugged the sink and used a dirty undershirt to wash my naked body. I dried off with another undershirt and wiped up the water mess I had made on the floor. Putting on clean underclothes and socks made me feel better, but I wasn't looking forward to putting on my green over-shirt and the pants Crue had let me use. I was running out of clean clothes. I would have to figure out how people did laundry here.

Crue has made it back to the room before me and was drinking water from a cup that Daisy had left.

“Take this,” he handed me the half-full cup and a paper packet. “You'll want to drink that first,” he pointed at the cup and picked up the other packet. I drank the water.

He refilled the cup and opened his packet. Tossing back his head he dumped brown powder into his mouth quickly following it with drinking the entire glass of water. His face made me not want to try the stuff.

“It's bitter as hell, but it will help with the headache. It's refined willow bark. Good for fevers, headaches, minor pains.” He handed me the glass and I filled it.

I tried to do as he did. I tipped my head back and let the powder in the packet fall in. Sweet Giblets! I began to choke. It was bitter was an understatement. I tasted like chewing aspirin. I drank my water and refilled the glass and drank that too. The nasty taste lingered. I wasn't certain if it was going to stay down. My gag reflex was working in overdrive.

“Do you have willow bark?” Crue asked.

“We have aspirin that's pressed into tablets so you don't have to taste them.”

“Wouldn't you choke?” He shook his head in a sardonic way then began to wash his face in the sink. He smelled just as bad as I had. I handed him a fresh undershirt. He shook his head.

“No, I think I will head home and take a bath. You?”

“I don't have any clothes to change into and I'm running out of clean underwear. So I really do need to go shopping today. I was going to head over to that shop your brother pointed out. I'm sure I can figure out how to buy a pair of pants and some shirts. You go ahead and get your bath.”

“No, I'll go with you. I did promise to take you shopping. I do have extra clothes if you want to bathe first. You can change into them, go shopping, then maybe by then we will feel up to food.”

“That sounds good,” I sat on the bed and tugged on my boots. Crue picked up his priestly vestment from the desk where Daisy had left it nicely folded for him. Daisy really was an angel.

We made our way downstairs, it wasn't yet time for lunch set up so the tavern was closed. So we exited via the stable entrance. The square looked normal. There weren't any signs of the platform having been there yesterday. The vendors were set up in their usual places and the kids played in the fountain.

It was so normal it seemed surreal. I could almost believe that yesterday hadn't happened. Almost. The aftermath of the drinking was still with me and I wouldn't have been drinking if the events hadn't happened. Somehow it seemed like there should be a mark left behind that something momentous happened here.

Perhaps, it was only a big deal for me? I'd never seen someone killed before. For the other people in town, they had grown up with executions happening every so often. For them maybe this really wasn't any big thing. The only difference was that some gods showed up. For me, this would leave a mark.

Crue took me to a back door to the temple. He had me wait in front of the woman at the bath counter while he got changes of clothes for us. I spent my time opening and smelling the different soaps in the multi-colored pots.

The lady, whose name was Patty, explained that some of the soaps were universal, like the pine soap, and could be used for both your hair and body. Then there were other soaps just for your hair. It wasn't lost on me that those were mostly stacked on the female side of her counter. Guys didn't really bother with hair care since they typically kept it short.

I remembered my grandmother telling me how she loved to run her fingers through my grandfather's hair and how soft it was. He used egg in his hair once a month apparently. As a result, as I was growing up I learned to pay a bit more attention to the stuff I was putting in my hair. I was one of those guys who actually used conditioner. Mostly because of my grandmother.

I migrated to the woman's side of the counter and with Patty's help picked up three jars that smelled like oranges. I paid 3 copper coins for the set. One was a soap shampoo combo, the other was a coconut, avocado, and egg-based conditioner. I was warned not to rinse the stuff out with hot water if I didn't want scrambled egg in my hair. The last pot was a leave-in detangler. You would add water to the pot and it would make a watery cream you would work into your wet hair. No need to rinse it out, but try not to get it into the hot spring water.

Crue arrived and handed me a pile of clothes. He looked at my three pots and grinned.

“Just so you know when we go monster hunting you can't be running around the forest smelling pretty. The monsters will smell you and run off. This,” he grabbed a wooden pot with no color painted on it, “is what you will need to wash with when you are working. Unscented,” he explained when I tried to smell what was in the pot. He replaced that pot and grabbed the same pine-scented pot her had last time and we made our way back to the bath.

I will admit that my hair felt amazing after the bath. The ends of my hair even curled up a bit. I was very impressed. Who would have thought that with all our science and technology and the billions of different types of shampoo on Earth that I would find even better hair care products in a place that lacked technology? I felt ready to be in an Herbal Essence Commercial.

The clothes that Crue gave me were in shades of brown and matched his. They were his so I guess that made sense. He took me up to his room and had me put all his dirty clothes as well as mine into my storage. He would be showing me where I could get them cleaned later. Apparently, many people in the town paid other people to wash their clothes, including the temple priests. People that had space could set up their own drying lines and wash bins, but most people didn't have that sort of space. Poorer people would hand wash their clothes near the public wells at night and hang them to dry inside their homes.

My stomach was growling at me while I was placing his dirty clothes in my storage. I made certain our underwear wouldn't be mixed up and all the clothes lumped in a category called dirty. I could add a category and I put Crue's clothes into Dirty Crue. He wouldn't know what I'd called it.

“Do you think we can grab breakfast now instead of later?” I asked him.

“I don't think I can handle anything greasy, so I'd like to avoid the vendor food. Do you want to see if the temple kitchens are still serving breakfast? It will be simple, but good.”

“Sure,” I nodded and followed Crue.

A black bald man that looked like he could dead-lift a car stood in the kitchen sipping at a mug of tea while stirring a pot of broth that was big enough for a child to stand in. He smiled at Crue with perfectly lined white teeth. He wore brown clothes and a pink apron. The smells in the room were wonderful.

The kitchen was as large as the man with several stoves lining the wall and a huge brick oven. There was an island counter opposite the stoves with pans hanging above it. There were stools on one side of the counter for sitting like at a bar. Along one wall were several shelves of jars and boxes. There was a massive sink with a pile of dishes in it that a little girl, with a pink flowered apron, was working away at while standing on a step stool. Near her was another door that I guessed lead to a pantry of some sort. On the other side of the door were floor to ceiling cupboards. A door opposite the pantry, that had been propped open with a brick, led to a dining area.

“Tea?” the black man asked as we sat down at the counter.

“Yes, please,” Crue said nodding at the man.

“Yes,” I nodded in reply to the man's question. He placed a tea kettle on the stove and got down a box of tea.

“Tuck, this is Eri. Eri this is Tuck, he's the cook for the temple,” Crue provided introductions.

“You the guy with the chocolate?” Tuck asked leaning on the counter with a massive hip.

“Yes, that's me,” I nodded and pulled a few bars out of my inventory.

“I'd like to talk to you about cooking with it. It will go well with desserts,” he picked up one of the bars and examined it.

“Well, I'm not a cook, but one of the more basic things is to melt it down and drizzle it over things. Strawberries are also really good dipped in it.”

“Really? Can you show me?” Tuck got a little excited and stood up while tugging on his apron.

Just then my stomach gave a very loud growl. The little girl in the corner giggled. I blushed a little in embarrassment.

“Food first then,” he laughed. “We have some porridge leftover, I was just about to send Ginny to the wall with the lot of it.”

“He means that the temples give our leftover food to the poor working on the wall. There is a food stand near the wall that all the temples pitch in to run,” Crue interjected.

“Right, I also have eggs. You can either have the boiled ones I was going to send off to the wall or I can fry you up some fresh one. I already gave the leftover toast to the chickens. You missed the ham and potatoes.”

“Do you have berries and sugar?” I asked thinking that sweetening up the porridge.

“It's getting to be a little late in the season for them, but we do have some preserved. Honey too,” he added knowing why I was asking.

“I've got strawberries like I do chocolate if you need some for cooking or anything let me know.”

“You can produce strawberries too?” Tuck asked.

To answer him I pulled out a large basket of berries. It was handy when I pulled out a large quantity of an item it came neatly packaged in some way. Then I pulled out another basket and lined them both up on the table.

“Sweet Lady,” Tuck whispered. He picked up a berry inspected it a bit then bit into it. “These are Amoris Berries alright, they are large and sweet. Wild berries can either be small and sweet or larger and sour. Amoris Berries are the best berries.” He eyed me contemplating, then asked. “Can I have eight more baskets this size? I'd like to add to our stock of preserves for winter.”

I stood up and went to a clean section of counter and placed eight more baskets.

“Ginny go fetch Cadi, Andy, and Hoop. Grab anyone else you can find that is free, we will be doing some canning this afternoon. No, it can wait until you are done.” He changed his mind as the little girl stepped down from the stool.

“I will give you two time to eat before I set the kids to cutting up berries. You wouldn't happen to have sugar too?” Tuck asked with a laugh.

“No, only chocolate and strawberries,” I smiled with him. He nodded and ducked out of the room and caught a passing teenage girl by the arm and told her to go to the market and buy at least twenty jars of sugar. More if she could get it. Have them deliver it to the temple by this afternoon.

With those instructions sent, Tuck pulled two bowls out of the cupboard. He placed them on a tray right as the kettle began to whistle. He got down two mugs and two inverted little ceramic flower looking things with holes. He placed these over the mugs and spooned one scoop of leaves into each flower. Oh, the flower acted as a loose leaf tea strainer that fit over the cups. He poured the hot water slowly over the tea. Then let them sit there and brew while he ladled out two hearty portions of porridge. On the tray, he placed a pot of honey, brown sugar, white sugar, and a jar of berry jam.

“Eggs?” he asked over his shoulder while he worked.

“I'm good with two boiled eggs,” I said. Crue agreed.

Tuck put a plate on the tray with four boiled eggs still in their shells. Then he went over to the tea and tapped the flower against the mug a couple of times before discarding the leaves in a bowl of vegetable scraps. Ginny ran over and took the flowers from him to put in her wash.

The mugs were placed on the tray with spoons then put in front of us. As I added sweet stuff to my porridge and cracked and peeled my eggs, Tuck asked me questions.

I explained about a double boiler and that those were the best for melting chocolate. He knew what I was talking about and even brought one out he used for making caramel. As I ate I explained the basics of warming up chocolate for dipping. He got the process started while I ate and by the time I finished my second egg he had a nice melting chocolate.

“You are wanting it to look shiny,” I commented looking into his bowl. I deemed his first melting good enough and had him get out a sheet tray. I dipped a strawberry into the chocolate turning them as they dripped to get full coverage then placed them one by one on the tray.

*Skill Gain Cooking~

Would you look at that? A new skill. I vaguely recalled a few alerts last night. I allocated some points to cooking I could see feeding myself as a necessary skill. Then I looked through my skill sheet. Alcohol tolerance, singing, and party tricks were my three new skills. What exactly had I been doing last night? I had some recall, but most of it was a bit blurry. I was sort of glad I couldn't recall most of it, I'd probably die of acute embarrassment.

Tuck had melted enough chocolate for two sheet trays of berries. By the time I was at the end of the chocolate bowl Crue, Tuck, and Ginny were already eating the first few berries I had dipped. The chocolate on those had solidified already. From the way the little girl squealed and danced around, I took it that the chocolate covered berries were a success. I think Tuck wanted to join her little jig but was trying to keep himself contained. He did bob about in place a bit.

Watching them enjoy themselves so much I placed a clean bowl over the boiler and melted some white chocolate as well. I dipped some more berries, but mostly I took the white chocolate and with a spoon a drizzled white lines across the milk chocolate berries. I was actually enjoying myself. It had been a long time since Gran and I made chocolate covered strawberries. My high school graduation was the last time we made them together.

While Tuck was distracted in the pantry trying to find other things to dip in chocolate, Crue grabbed my arm and told Ginny we had to do some shopping. I left a couple of boxes of chocolate on the counter as thanks for the meal.

“We had to escape while we could. Tuck would have kept you in the kitchen all morning asking you all sorts of questions and we never would have been able to leave.” I did notice that Crue had pilfered two covered berries for the trip out. Strange how something so simple brought so many people joy.

Our first trip was to the local laundress. Which was out of the way on the outskirts of town near the wall. There was a house and two outbuildings. There was also a large expanse of yard that had multiple moving clotheslines. It operated similarly to a ski lift in that the line went from one end of the yard and back moving the clothes hung on them. The movement of the line probably created a breeze that allowed the clothes to dry faster.

Crue led me to the first outbuilding. When he opened the door, it was as if I was walking into a rain-forest exhibit. It was humid and hot, sweat broke out on my top lip. It was almost as if I could feel the thickness of the air as it entered my lungs.

A fat dumpy woman with cracked hands and broken nails greeted us. She took down our names and noted where we were living. Crue had all his laundry paid for by the temple. I decided that I would pay for the monthly service instead of paying for a single time cleaning. The monthly service for a one-person household was one silver coin. I could get all the regular clothes washed that I needed, but it didn't include other items like bedding, rugs, and heavy items like jackets. Those would cost extra. Small mending, like missing buttons or stitching a small seam, would also cost extra.

I paid the woman and handed over both my clothes and Crue's. Included in the service was a free weekly pick up and delivery of the laundry. Marge and her ladies had their laundry serviced through this same woman and their clothes were picked up on Wednesday and delivered on Friday. I had my clothes scheduled to be sent with theirs. Though I could only hand the woman a few soiled underthings and my one outfit she didn't comment. She placed my items in a basket with a purple tag and Crue's things went into a basket with a green tag.

She had me show my ID and sign some paperwork saying they weren't responsible for lost items. When asked how they kept track of the clothes, she gave me an odd look telling me I had asked a very dumb question indeed and pointed to the colored tag on my basket. Today my color was purple and all my clothes would be washed and then hung with purple clothespins. Once dry the clothes would go in a regular basket with my name and address on it to be delivered. Right, I knew not to ask any further dumb questions.

Her son would come around with a cart that would be filled with laundry baskets. He would deliver the laundry and be able to take payments for further services if a client didn't want to make the trek to the laundress business themselves. She told me I was not to tip the boy since Marge took care of any gratuity through the business. Good to know.

Business with clean clothes finished, we left. Stepping out of the sauna-like building was a bit of a shock to the system. It was simultaneously easier to breathe, but I started to shiver a bit. I knew it wasn't cold outside, but coming out of the damp hot air into the dry mild air, it felt chilly. I rubbed my arms to get rid of the goosebumps.

Crue led me on a route to Durmond's. The bright yellow sign on the front of the two-story building was eye-catching. The outside of the store looked smaller than the inside. The first floor was dedicated to women's dress. There were wooden mannequins all over the place displaying the dresses they had for sale. The female attendant on the first-floor desk nodded to us both as we climbed the stairs to the second floor.

The second floor was a bit less chaotic than the first. There were fewer mannequins as most of the pants and shirts were folded neatly on shelves. There wasn't a lot of color as most of the clothes were made in various shades of brown. Oddly, enough black wasn't as common as the dark brown. I looked quickly at some shirts that were displayed. The black shirt of the same cut cost nearly 5 coppers more than the brown. So that explained why there were fewer black items. Why would someone spend the extra 5 coppers on a black shirt when a dark brown one would work just as well?

I promised myself right then and there to not worry about a minor price increase for the color I wanted. Then I checked myself. If a color I wanted was double the price of a brown shirt I wouldn't get it. With a vague goal in mind, I followed Crue to the counter.

The man that stood there was old, very old, I would have guessed his age to have been in his nineties. He was hunched over and had more liver spots than he had clear skin. His white hair was patchy and there was a very dark spot right above his hairline that would have worried the blindest dermatologist. His eyes that had once been brown had gone sort of milky. I was impressed that he still looked like he had most of his teeth. His smile was wry and crooked but willed with genuine happiness.

“Good morning Durmond,” Crue said shaking the old man's hand.

“You're young Marl's boy aren't you. It seems like only yesterday your pa was coming home winning the Torentig. I was an old man even then.” He laughed good-naturedly. “Which one are you the healer or the guard? I tend to get a bit confused nowadays.”

“I'm the healer, Crue. I'm his youngest. Sturgis is my older brother, he's in the guard.”

“I see, I see,” Durmond nodded at me, “Mind your manners child, introduce us.” He gripped Crue's upper arm as he came around the counter.

“This is Eri, he's here on business for the Amoris Temple, as well as being our new Surveyor at the Guild.”

“Nice to meet you, sir,” I extended my hand. Durmond surprised me by having a very strong grip belying his apparent frailness.

He turned over my hand and looked at my palm studiously. Then he poked me hard near my thumb with his other hand.

“You have quite the complex path before you. I've never seen such branching and connecting. There will be many loves in your life. Here,” he poked me again and circled my hand, “all sorts of lines meeting willy-nilly all over the place. It's odd because it looks like they didn't start out this complicated. Godly intervention, lots of it. Some tragedy, always sad, but most of it is behind you. There will be children, but not for a while yet. It is uncertain how many since it is unclear which of these love lines you will eventually end up with.” He brought my hand nearly level with his nose and began to blow on it like he was trying to get rid of dust. Ok, weird old guy.

“Enough of that Durmond, we are here to get Eri some clothes, not to have his fortune read,” Crue told the old man gently leading him back behind the counter. “Do you mind if we look around a bit to get an idea of what he's looking for?”

“No, no my boy, go right ahead. I'll just be sitting right here working on this hemline.” Durmond took a seat behind the counter and picked up a pair of pants that had been laying there. With swift deftness, he began to hem the pants. I was impressed at his speed and precision considering his age and his milky eyes.

Crue led me to a corner of the store with higher-priced items, but they looked more form-fitting than I was wanting and mostly made of an odd stretchy material similar, but not quite like, the stuff my ruined leggings had been made of. Even I could tell that this material, whatever it was, was sturdier.

“You will need a few sets of these for when we go out,” he picked up a dark brown long-sleeved shirt.

“They look like they will be tight and it's a bit pricey.” The shirt that Crue was holding would cost me a little over one silver. Considering the black shirt I had looked at coming in had been a fourth that price I was balking.

“This is made from the silk of monster spiders. It's really durable and tough. It will protect your skin running around in the forest. Trust me, your arms and legs will appreciate it. You will wear this under the light armor we will eventually be commissioning for you.”

“Light Armor?” I imagined myself running around in heavy plate mail for a second then decided that wasn't for me and perhaps Crue was right about light armor. Running around in the summer in what was essentially a metal hot box didn't appeal. Even if I would be playing out my knight errant fantasy.

“Yes, there is a place, Merguerty's, where we can go to have some commissioned. He does have some stuff laying around, but his best work is usually tailored to the customer. He'll expect you to have a few of these shirts and pants too. Some of your body will be exposed in light armor. This,” he held up the shirt again, “and your dexterity will help to protect those vulnerable areas.”

I resigned myself to purchasing the shirts, I found four that I liked. One in black, one in cobalt blue, one in a burgundy red, and at Crue's instance one in hunter green. They all fit me like a long sleeved t-shirt made of spandex. I moved my arms back and forth and there wasn't any resistance at all. It didn't even really feel like I was encumbered in any way. While clingy, the fabric was impressively stretchy. It didn't do much to hide my paunch though.

He had me get pants of the same material. There were fewer color variations for pants. I would assume that a pair of daffodil yellow pants made from monster spider silk wasn't high in demand. Browns and shades of black were the most common. There were a few pairs of dark blue, but that was it. Black was my color of choice, and I selected a few to try on.

Unlike with the shirts, I had some issues with the pants. They were tailored in a way so that they didn't look like leggings, which I was grateful for. However, they were still really clingy. They reminded me of yoga pants. I wasn't a fan, I felt like they highlighted all my worst attributes. My paunch was on full display. You can't really hide something like that in clingy clothes. Then there was my butt, I had always considered it to be a normal butt. However, in these pants, I began to have some serious insecurities about how big it was. I hadn't really noticed before but I carried a lot of my excess weight in my butt.

Maybe Crue would let me wear my coat over the hunting clothes. I doubted it since he wanted to get me fitted for armor. It seemed like I was stuck walking around looking like I was bulging out everywhere.

Crue finally satisfied that I was going to buy the outrageously priced clothes, let me browse around in the normal area. They had the sort of leggings that Amoris had sent me here in. I avoided that area. I'd had enough with leggings.

Interestingly, there weren't many patterns. There were some shirts with embroidery, but unlike with the ladies section downstairs, the men's area lacked patterns. I was more than a bit grateful for this as I picked up some extra underclothes in white. I didn't need a repeat of the heart patterned shorts, thank you.

Since the regular clothes were more reasonably priced and I did need enough to last a week I picked out ten shirts in a few different styles. They were all long-sleeved since fall and winter were right around the corner. A couple had collars or cuffs, most of them were long-sleeved with the poofy arms and the tie in the front. They were similar to the shirts everyone else seemed to favor and were cheaper too. I did get some black, but I also got a couple of shades of green and blue.

The pants were a lot simpler. I just got ten pairs of black pants all in a style that seemed to look normal on me. After the spider silk pants, most of the other pants looked normal. Crue sighed at my lack of color choices, but coming from someone who wore mostly browns I ignored him. Besides, my boots were black and I hated walking around in brown pants and black boots.

“Oh, Marl! Your boy was just here a while ago,” the old man said to Crue as we went up to the counter. “He brought in a boy with the oddest fate lines I've ever seen. All over the place, they were. You should have seen it. The boy is a real ladies man let me tell you,” the man laughed and nudged Crue in the ribs.

“Really? You should tell me about it next time I'm in. Right now I'd like to buy these please,” Crue pretended to be his father and got the old man to begin to tally up my purchases.

The old man rang up my purchases and said he would have a boy take them around to the inn, later tonight. I nearly got sick when he told me my total. I hadn't realized just how much the smaller items had added up. The old man just waited patiently while I counted out 1 gold coin, 2 silver coins, and 10 copper coins. While I handed him the money I told myself I would have more income coming in soon and that I wasn't exactly broke.

When we left Durmond's I insisted that we go by the town gate and pay off my debt. It had to be paid by the end of the week and Crue was planning on taking me to do some more shopping. I had to pay it off while I still had money. I had to make sure I had money for next week's rent as well. Crue told me I was being silly but gladly followed along as I led the way to the gate.

To my slight disappointment, Lotte wasn't there. I told her I'd be by at the end of the week, so I was early. The guard at the gate asked for my ID. I handed over my ID and my special dispensation document. I gave the guard my tax of 43 coppers and left. At least I didn't have to worry about forgetting the tax debt and the town putting me to work on the wall.

Crue had a mental list of some things I would be needing. On the top of the list were armor and a weapon. In the marketplace, he took me into a shop with a clumsily hand-painted sign on the window that said Merguerty's Armor and Leather Craft. The writing looked like it came from a slasher movie with dripping red paint and smeared letters. For a place that sold swords, I wasn't sure if it was worrying or reassuring.

Crue stepped in and walked up to a really large person, it took me a second to realize she was a woman. She had a curly red mohawk and the arms to rival a tree. He told the woman what he was basically looking for. The woman took us to several different types of armor.

“Until I get a feel for your fighting style I think simple leather armor would be best. It will be lightweight and you'll be able to learn in it,” Crue commented as the woman held out several pieces.

“You'll probably lose that weight too, so it would be best to hold off on getting custom metal work done,” the woman said helpfully eyeballing my waistline. Seriously, kick a guy when he's already feeling insecure lady.

This blunt woman was not going to be my favorite person in this town. Her name was Grette and she was the apprentice blacksmith. While most of the women in town wore dresses and skirts, Grette chose to wear men's clothes. To be fair, with her huge build the dainty dresses I had seen in the shop would have looked ridiculous, but Daisy had managed to find a dress for someone her size so it should be possible. Not that women needed to wear dresses to be feminine, it just seemed to be the custom here. I'd rarely seen a woman, outside the Guild, in a pair of pants.

She held a leather breast piece up to me, as I was questioning myself on if I was being chauvinist. Then she shook her head rejecting the piece. I wondered what she noticed about me that made her put it back down. She had me try a few on and she ran around me testing the fit. After several options and rejects, Crue had me pick between three similar items. They were simple chest guards with thicker bands on the leather straps to act as the back guard. They covered the vitals leaving the rest exposed.

I wasn't sure about leaving so much of my sides and back out in the open. When I put on the armor I understood why Crue had picked the less restrictive sets. In the sets that covered more of me, I felt like I was enclosed in a turtle shell. With this, I could move around without really noticing the leather straps crisscrossing around me.

“Range of movement is best in this sort of armor, but you are giving up some protection. I hope you have some speed,” Grette commented before she was interrupted by Crue.

“Range of movement, plus the lack of armor will train him to dodge and not rely on the armor to protect him.”

“I wish more people would learn to dodge, it would lessen my workload. Do you know how many breastplates I've had to hammer out this week?” She shook her head in mock despair.

The brown piece rubbed in awkward places so I put it aside. The dark brown piece and the black piece both fit me about the same. The dark brown piece looked bad-ass. It had decorative straps and buckles. It looked more like bondage gear with the spikes than a work of armor. Still, I knew my own personal aesthetic tended towards the simpler darker piece.

It was made from the hide of a Nurrgal, a cave-dwelling wombat. It was naturally black leather, it hadn't been dyed. The buckles were a dull silver, not that they were tarnished, instead of being a shiny silver they were more matte.

Grette pulled out matching arm bracers and greaves. For a bit, I wondered what would be protecting my manhood, but then I figured that if something was going to try and bite off my junk I would be learning to dodge faster. The silver codpieces that were paired with a few sets of armor didn't make me want to question it further.

She had me put on the entire set as she worked around me adjusting the straps. Once she got them where they were comfortable she took chalk and marked the straps. She took the pieces to the back room while Crue and I tested out the weapons.

There was not a huge variety of swords. I was expecting a large assortment of every type and size imaginable. This shop did not have that. What they carried were the basics. Crue did most of the picking since I didn't know what I was looking for.

He went through a ritual of holding the sword, letting it drop, then swinging it a few times, before he would either reject it or hand it to me to test. To me, they all seemed the same. Some had better grips than others and some were slightly heavier. I really didn't know what I was looking for in a weapon.

Until Crue handed me a sword that based on appearance looked like all the rest, but when I gripped the handle I immediately knew what he was talking about when he was muttering about balance. This sword had a leather grip and a small cross brace, but when I picked it up I couldn't feel the drag I had been feeling with the other swords. I barely had to use any strength in keeping the tip from dropping. I placed it to the side and dutifully tested the other swords Crue handed me, but only a few came close to that one sword.

By the time I had selected it Grette came back with the armor. She had cut the straps so that I didn't have excess dangly bits. She had done something so that the cut ends didn't look unnatural, it all blended well.

Noticing that I had picked a sword and sensing the possibility of another sale she showed me a few of the knives. Some of them were as flashy as Vegas hooker, but you didn't want to take them home with you. I picked a simple hunting knife used in dismantling. Crue nodded at my choice and tested it himself. Finding nothing wrong with it he added it to the pile of items.

I knew the armor and weapons were going to cost me, so I mentally prepared myself for the damage. However, we weren't done. Sheaths weren't included, so I had to have those. Then I needed a way to carry them. Just holding them in my inventory wasn't good enough. More leather, measuring, and strap cutting commenced.

In the end, had a sword I carried at my hip and a knife sheath that could be strapped to my leg, arm, or attached to the back of my belt. I felt sort of like a medieval Rambo. I tested out the draw of each weapon making sure things were working correctly and that I was able to pull the sword without cutting off a toe.

In a gesture of goodwill, she added a complimentary bottle of leather oil and a sharpening stone. She showed me how to maintain the leather and how to clean it. Then she showed me how to use the oil and the stone to sharpen both the knife and sword.

She didn't want me coming in her shop every week asking her to clean my gear and sharpen my blades. So part of this tutorial was so that she would see less of me in the long run. Though she was very careful about letting me know that if I did need some help the shop would work on my gear for a fee. If any of the leather started to fray or was damaged I was to have them look at it.

*Skill Gain- Leather Work~

*Skill Gain- Metal Work~

What was metal work? Did I just acquire blacksmithing? I opened my screen while Grette tried selling Crue some metal arrow tips he'd been looking at. They sold arrow tips but not arrows or even bows which I found odd.

*Metal Work- a skill used in metal maintenance. Used in maintaining metal armor and weapons. Also used in designing and decorating arms and armor. Level of the skill is equaled by the varied possibilities for adding to the aesthetic qualities of functional items. Gilding, inlay, enameling, embossing, engraving, and pattern welding are all possibilities of this skill.~

So it wasn't blacksmithing, but the ability to maintain your armor and weapons and, if you were feeling skippy, to decorate them as well.

I checked on the leather work to see if that was just decorative as well. To my surprise, it wasn't.

*Leather Work- beginning level for leather crafting. This skill allows for leather maintenance and basic leatherworking. Once this skill has reached level 3 leather crafting will become automatically available.~

I activated both skills but didn't allocate any extra Exp to them as of yet. They both seemed useful just for the skill in maintaining my gear. The decorative aspect was intriguing, but I wasn't feeling very crafty at that moment.

Crue had decided to pass on the new arrow tips, so Grette turned her attention back to me. Another adventurer was eyeballing the axes along the wall so she was trying to move on to a new sale. She added up my total for my purchases.

I once again had kittens when I was quoted the price for the lot, 1 gold and 56 coppers. Grette started to give me a dirty look when I hesitated. She probably thought I didn't have the money. I did, but I was still feeling a bit panicky at spending so much at once. Her face relaxed slightly when I handed her the coins.

“Getting started right is worth it,” Crue commented as we left, my new gear stored in my inventory. “In a way, you are rather lucky to be able to afford decent armor that is durable and will protect you. I hate to say it since we are both employed there, but the armor and weapons the Guild sells to newbies isn't good. It's made cheaply, isn't durable, and you will be lucky if it protects you against a flea bite.

“Keep in mind that you will have more money coming in from the temple periodically and that even though you are cringing at the cost, it's all necessary for our job. Survive first, even if it costs you literally everything. Your armor and weapons are literally your life when you are fighting against monsters. Don't ever choose the cheaper path when it means your life.”

“I know you are right, but at the same time, I'm having some issues with the concept of money here. I just spent a lot of money, didn't I? If one copper here is similar to a dollar back home, I just spent more money than I ever have just shopping. My first car didn't even cost that much.”

“I don't know about equivalents from your world, but it was indeed a lot of money. Most people wouldn't be able to make that much in a month of normal labor. I would estimate that the average pay for unskilled labor would be about 4 silvers a month. Your own pay with the Guild will raise as you learn more skills pertaining to your job as Surveyor. Right now your base pay should be about 6 silvers since you are still in training, but already possess the skills needed to get the job done.” He glanced at me for confirmation.

“Dunbar said that at the end of the month I would be paid 7 silvers, more depending on how my training goes.”

“That sounds about right. You have a skill and people with skills get paid more than people without skills. Your concept of skills might be a bit skewed due to the unorthodox method you have for obtaining them, but a skill actually takes a lot of study and practice. People can literally work for years at a task and not gain the skill. Some skills are harder to obtain than others, but it still takes a lot of work. I think I mentioned it took me about a year to get the empathy skill?”

I nodded that I remembered him mentioning it.

“That was actually fairly fast. My having the healing skill helped speed along my training as an empath. That was just to get the skill, I've worked even more in order to level it. Some of that was allocating the Exp, but even more of it was using the skill repeatedly.”

“So if you use a skill a lot it will level up on its own eventually?”

“Eventually, but the quicker solution is to allocate your Exp.”

“So if you have a dormant skill it can activate without Exp allocation?”

“Yes, but it takes a lot of work for that to happen. People who have studied skill allocation and leveling up have all agreed that it's all fairly random per person. For one person it might take a year of cooking to gain the cooking skill, for others, it could take five years. Some people believe that your skills actually work together.

“My healing ability most likely helped along my understanding in becoming an empath. If you are a cook having a hunting or dismantling skill will help your understanding of cutting up the meat for cooking. Then some skills, once leveled, allow for more complicated skills sets. The basic sword is a good example of that.

“My point is the more useful skills you have the higher your pay will be. Since people who are skilled are harder to find than people without skills.”

“What do you get paid?” I was curious about it since we were on the topic and he had mentioned he had skills that would be considered useful. He smirked at me.

“With the Guild, even just working part-time, I make about 4 gold a month,”

“4 gold!” I interrupted. Part of me was feeling a little cheated.

“4 gold,” he confirmed, “if I worked full-time it would be more than that.” He shook his head. “There are only three other people in town with the skills to be the Surveyor.

“My brother, his apprentice, and you. My brother is swamped with guard duties, the same goes for his apprentice. Sometimes when they have time off they do some work for the Guild, but it's not something they can commit to. I have a bit more free time and I'm able to go out more regularly.

“No one else in town can do the job, so the pay is higher because it takes skills most people just don't have. Eventually, your pay will be just as high. As your skills increase and Dunbar feels more comfortable with the accuracy of your monster assessments.

“My pay for being a priest is based the same way. A normal priest without any skills would only earn about 2 silvers a month, but you have to keep in mind that priests live rent-free at their temples. Their basic necessities are seen to in most ways. That money is usually used on clothing and for trips out with fellow priests.

“Healing priests make more, as do priests skilled in Exp allocation or spiritual counseling. I have eight skills that can be used in my position as a priest. Most of those skills are used in my healing arts. I'm not the best healer in the temple, but I do have a skill set to become head healer one day.”

“So how much does a healing priest make?”

“It depends on the temple. Amoris temple has some of the more skilled healing priests so we do a lot of business. Because of our reputation as one of the best, we have more clients and get paid more than a healing priest from a temple that doesn't have a lot of clients. Our pay is based on how many clients we can see, the difficulty of the healing task, and how much time that healing task requires.

“An Amoris Temple healing priest with the basics of healing knowledge can earn about 1 gold a month. I personally can earn up to a maximum of 10 gold, but I usually only make about 5. My special skill sets aren't used often and recently I've been declining taking more clients for personal reasons.” Dude, was Crue actually loaded? He didn't dress like it, but that was a lot of money from both jobs. He couldn't possibly spend it all.

He frowned deeply as if remembering why he had limited his patients. I could take a guess and thought it probably had something to do the little girl, Juniper.

“Want to talk about what happened yesterday?” I asked after a lengthy pause in front of an old lady selling apples. Feeling a bit bad that we were just standing there while Crue was busy stuck in his own thoughts, I bought a couple dozen and put them into my inventory.

“I was wondering if you would bring it up,” Crue said slowly. “Have you thought about it?”

“I was right there, it's hard not to think about.”

“I'm glad you're giving it some thought. Though I'm currently not really practicing, Amoris was correct in that I do have a special set of skills that might help.”

Wait, what was he talking about? I had thought he wanted to talk about the execution yesterday.

Then it hit me. Shit, how could I have forgotten? Well, I knew how I had forgotten. I was so hyper-focused on the execution and then drinking afterward that the entire reason Amoris and Edomael had shown up had pushed itself into the back of my consciousness.

“Hey, are you ok? You suddenly went three different shades of pale on me.” Crue was gripping my arm and was slowly leading me to a public bench.

“I forgot,” I muttered.

“What did you forget? Whoa, head between your knees, don't pass out. Deep slow breaths. Don't go wandering off to the Abyss on me.” Crue was forcing my head between my knees and slowly rubbing my back. There was a warmth radiating from his hand. “In and out, that's right, deep breaths.”

“I was asking if you were ok after the execution. With everything that had happened, all the crap about me sort of got pushed on to the back burner of my brain.” I sounded breathy even to myself. I focused on a row of ants working their way past the bench.

“I take it that you haven't taken the time to process being,” he paused and glanced around the sparsely crowded street, “what you are.” He decided to play it safe just in case busybodies were trying to listen in on the guy having an episode on a public bench.

“Shit,” I said succinctly.

“No then,” Crue continued to rub my back while gathering his thoughts. “I don't think it's going to be as bad as you are imagining in your head. They gave you a lot of mights and maybes yesterday. This could happen, or that might happen. Keep in mind that nothing is certain. I think they were just trying to prepare you for a worst case scenario. It might not even happen at all.”

“I'm going to grow wings and a tail,” I muttered into my knees.

“There are a lot of people who have them, they manage just fine.” He paused again, “What you are don't run around in that form all the time if they did they couldn't integrate into society as smoothly. So for the most part, you can choose to be human. So it won't be that much different.”

“Crazed sex maniac,” I grumbled.

“Manageable sexual needs with the correct preparation. I can help with that, it's probably why Amoris nudged us together. I can't mention names or specifics, but one of my remaining special clients actually has a similar issue once a month.” I glanced up at him while still hunched over, “I'm serious, with preparation there isn't any reason to think this will be a major problem.”

“I doubt your other client is a thing like me.”

“No, she's not...”

“And she's a female,” I emphasized

“That doesn't matter. The only problematic issue I can see at this point is that you will need more than one partner.”

“It matters to me, a lot.”

“I think if you saw the process you would understand better. It is different between men and women, but the idea is the same. I could talk to Darcy, she might be able to help or I could talk to my client and see if she's comfortable sharing her medical issue with you.”

“I don't know,” and I really didn't know.

“Truth is I'd rather not go to Darcy. She's a wonderful teacher, woman, and priest. However, her greatest weakness is gossip. I would trust her with anything, but a secret.”

I grunted at him, at this point he knew her better than I did. If he thought that she wasn't worth trusting then I'd follow that assessment.

“My issue isn't something that you can fix by warming up your hands and healing,” I waved my hands in the air indicating his hand on my back. I knew I was being a bit of an ungrateful ass, but hopefully, this new friendship we had going would be enough for him to forgive me.

“Um, like I said I have other skills,” he paused then asked, “Can you still see my skill list?”

“Yes,” while I hadn't looked at it since my initial viewing, I figured that it was something I could still do.

“Look at my special skills,” he shifted from foot to foot.

I opened the screen and took a close look at his stats.

*Name- Crue

HP 4590/4590

MP 1246/1500

Level- 28

Age-20

Human

Male

Occupation- Priest of Amoris, Surveyor of Adventurers Guild

Exp- 78

Physical Power- 330

Stamina- 310

Defense- 196

Agility- 370

Intelligence- 232

Magic Power- 196

Water Magic Lv 4

Healing Waters Lv 3

Bubble Bomb Lv 1

Liquid Bullet Lv 1

Healing Hands Lv 1

Poison Resistance Lv 1

Skills

Basic Sword Lv 4

Skull Bashing Lv 1

Slicing Lv 2

Slash Lv 1

Martial Arts Lv 3

Stance Lv 2

Grappling Lv 1

Smooth Movement Lv 2

Blocking Lv 2

Archery Lv 4

Shooting Lv 1

Aim Lv 2

Sniping Lv 2

Stalking Lv 2

Jumping Lv 1

Running Lv 2

Scouting Lv 4

Eyes of the Hawk Lv 2

Distant View Lv 1

Telescopy Lv 1

Trap Detection Lv 2

Empathy Lv 2

Therapy Lv 1

Etiquette Lv 2

Discretion Lv 1

Mediation Lv 1

Organization Lv 1

Dismantle Lv 3

Alchemy Lv 2

Pharmacology Lv 2

Scribe Lv 1

Special Skills

Sexual Healing- 223

Items Equip

Succuba Star

Titles- Priest of Amoris

Devotee of Amoris

Oracle of Amoris

Dedicated Runner~

Sexual Healing, what on earth was that? When I selected the skill my Gamer Glass gave me a surprising answer.

*Sexual Healing- Insufficient Data relating to this special skill.~

Rather, I got no answer at all. That was certainly a first. Was it because it was a special skill and not a regular skill? Or was it because it was a skill that wasn't listed in any of the skill books I had put in my inventory? No, Amoris said that every skill was listed in the big book. So it either had something to do with it being a special skill or something I hadn't thought of yet.

“When I select the skill nothing comes up for an explanation,” I stated as I took a better look at his other skills.

“Hum, well it is a hard skill to describe. Maybe, it didn't want to bother?” Huh? Did he think my Gamer Glass was sentient in some way?

“No, the Gamer Glass isn't a 'thinking' being. It's more like a book. A book doesn't think it just relays data.”

“I see, I guess you really wouldn't expect a book to say this is too complex and just give up.”

I nodded in agreement, “So what is,” I paused thinking about the people walking by, “your skill?”

He also looked around and made hard eye contact with a little old woman who was shuffling along slowly with a cane. She had been moving a bit faster but had noticeably slowed to watch us. She blushed a little at being caught eavesdropping and picked her pace back up again.

“Simplified down to the basics it's a healing skill that focuses on the sexual nature of a person's health. Broadly, I help people deal with sexual problems they may be having.”

“Like helping old men get erections?”

Crue chuckled ruefully, “No, that can be dealt with by a regular healer. What I do is more complex. Sex, sexual education, and sexual therapy are all covered in the skill.

“There is a very real bias against people with the skill. There is a stigma around it, even though I am a Priest of Amoris. A portion of the population considers it to be no better than prostitution.”

“Wait,” I paused trying to think back on what he had said, “you actually have sex with your patients?” I was understandably a bit incredulous.

“In very rare cases, if during the course of treatment sexual interactions are needed, then yes. However, it's only after we've established that other treatment options were unsuccessful and only after some very intensive counseling.” He seemed a bit defensive. Which made sense if the skill was looked down upon.

“So you have sex with people in order to heal them? What sort of things would require sex with your healer?” I thought it was a valid question. I couldn't think of anything off the top of my head that would require sex as a treatment option.

“There are more than a few reasons, but the majority of our clients are coming to us after having suffered some sort of abuse. Many people just want to talk through their abuse and that's fine, that's what we are there for. Some people can move on and never let the trauma change their daily lives.

“Other people have problems moving on and developing relationships. These sessions are often done with couples. We help the partners develop an intimate trust. Sometimes that takes being in the room with them while they attempt intimacy.

“We also have patients who are questioning their sexual identity. Some of them just don't know where to turn or talk to when they start feeling like they might not fit into the heterosexual patterns. Going to us they know they won't be judged.

“Then we have patients who have a biological sexual need. Not all the people we treat are human, there are other races, besides your own, that requires a great deal of sexual contact. Living outside of their communities can be difficult for these people.”

“Is the client you mentioned earlier like that?”

“Yes, she is, but I can't tell you more than that. I will talk to her, but she is one of those people who would prefer to keep her visits quiet.”

“So you have sex with her?”

“Actually, no. I don't have intercourse with her, but her treatment is sexual. It's one of the reasons I think maybe watching one of our sessions will help you better understand how it is you can mature as a Succuba in a controlled manner.”

“What is it that you do with her?

“I would ask that you wait until I talk with her before I answer that. If it turns out that she doesn't want any of this to come out then I can work up a course of treatment specific to you.”

“But you think you can help without me becoming a sex maniac?”

“I think if we prepare for it, have a plan in place, have you trained to some degree in Sexual Healing yourself, and if we can find someone else who is willing to be your partner, then yes I don't see why you wouldn't be able to do this with minimal fuss.” He patted my back in a 'buck up there pal' kind of way.

“You want me to get the Sexual Healing skill? How will that help?”

“Well, it can't hurt. Knowing what goes where and how to get the maximum satisfaction out of an encounter would be useful to anyone. You don't have to actually use the skill in healing others once you've obtained it you know.”

“I see,” oddly enough I was beginning to lose some of my panic. If Crue could come up with a plan then the transition wouldn't be so bad. Still, he couldn't do anything about my reluctance to become a winged, tailed, and possibly sparkly lust monster. He did have a point though, I didn't have to run around with wings and a tail. I could pass as human. I could live my life as a human for the most part. Thinking about it, worrying, and panicking about what-ifs wasn't going to do me any good. We would get a plan in place for the bad part, then we would work from there.

With a sigh, I stood up.

“You ok now?” Crue asked with some concern. He had kept his hand pressing against my back just in case.

“I'm not going to pass out, panicking about this isn't going to help. So we get a plan in place then figure out everything else later.”

“Right,” he nodded. “Do you want to head back to the inn or maybe the temple?”

“No, we really should continue shopping. Where were we headed before I had my meltdown?”

“I was going to take you to the apothecary then to the general goods shop. I promise you won't spend near as much as you did in the first two stores.

“Though with the general goods shop you will pay slightly more than if you hunted the items I have in mind down individually. I guess you are paying for the convenience of everything being in one location instead of having to run around to a bunch of specialty shops. Is that ok with you?”

“That sounds fine,” it was at that moment that my stomach gave a huge growl. I hadn't even noticed I was hungry. We had had a late breakfast so I thought I would be good for a while. Then I noticed it was nearing 3 o'clock. I guess it had been a few hours since we had eaten. It didn't seem like we had spent that much time in either shop.

“We can grab something from one of the stands, or we can go to this noodle place I like. It's only about three blocks that way.” Crue pointed to his left. He didn't bother to ask if I was hungry or not, my stomach was making that obvious.

“I can eat the apples I just bought if you aren't hungry,” I offered.

“I can eat. While I'm not exactly hungry yet, I will be in about an hour.

“So noodles or some mystery cart items?” He asked waving in the direction of a food cart that had some great looking meat skewers.

“Noodles sound good,” I offered.

“Good, I think you'll like these.” Crue led the way down the road about three blocks then turned into a dark side alley.