ALRIGHTY well that guide was incredibly useless, slightly hurtful, and a bit disturbing. I chuck it in my sack anyway and look in the direction the creepy dude from earlier rushed off in. “Oh shit, isn’t that a town right fukkin’ there?” And yes, it was indeed a town right fukkin’ there. Seeing the town I hoisted my sack and got moving.

>--------------

“Grey! I’m back!” Grey looked up from his camp nestled in between a few close boulders, guarded against the strong wind blowing through the crags of the mountain. Climbing the cliff towards him was a small elf girl the readers might recognize (it’s Kel). Grey waited until Kel moved close enough to the camp to not necessitate yelling before giving his response.

“Hey Kel. Did you deliver the message?”

“Yeah. Orders are as expected. Recover the body and return to my previous mission after delivery to the closest branch headquarters.”

“Haaaa alright as expected. At least Corons have such low endurance so we only have to go as far as Xechond.”

“Ah actually there was something else.” Kel scratched her cheek.

“Something else? What was it?” Grey cast a suspicious eye at the seemingly-uncomfortable Kel.

“The higher ups want an in-person report from you once we recover the body.”

Grey stiffened slightly.1 “What? Why?”

Kel paused for a second before facing Grey apologetically.“They want to know why you failed to get the information on what injured the heratosk and are accusing you of gross negligence for letting the noob die.”

“WHAT??” Grey thundered, “THAT’S RIDICULOUS. You and I both agreed to stop pushing for that information until at least nighttime so that he wouldn’t get suspicious! And NEGLIGENCE??? Fighting Coron-level mons has been the basic aptitude test for the lower ranks since my grandfather was a baby! And we haven’t had a foreigner fail that test since…NEVER. Goddammit!” Kel sighed and sat down by the fire, her massive bag sinking into the soil at her side.

“I know Grey, and I agree. But the fact is we failed to get that info before he died and the heratosk has just vanished. The higher ups are restless that it’ll pop up somewhere and we won’t be ready for it and…well we got comfortable.”

“But...”

“No. We did. We’ve had too much success recently and weren’t careful with the noob before getting the info. And you’re in charge of this one. I’m still an ‘employee’ so they’ll dock my pay at most but they want you to face the music.” Grey ground his teeth and crouched next to the fire.

“Dammit…just…dammit.”

“Don’t worry too much. They’re not stupid, they know you’ve done a lot for them and you come from a distinguished family. Let’s just get the body.” Grey glared into the fire for a moment longer before forcing out a sigh, scattering sparks into the air.

“You’re right. Alright Kel get comfortable, we’re leaving first thing tomorrow. I plan to be there the day after the next at the latest.”

“Aye, aye boss!” Kel responded with a small smile.

>---------

I made it to the town. It was a pretty average looking town from what I could see with the full moon and light pouring from a few nearby buildings. The lack of cobblestone in the roads suggested the town had a low populace and the quiet noise drifting from the tavern, despite the hour, suggested that the residents either had little else to do, or needed plenty of relaxing at the end of their day. I was about to just stroll in there when I stopped myself; I need a plan.

Maybe someone else might laugh when I say that but going with the flow just hasn’t worked out for me. ‘Oh, but Jin’, you might intercede, ‘you’ve been doing so well so far.’ And I would punch you right in your whiny little face because I DIED. I clenched my hands to hide the fact that I was shaking. Perhaps I had been since I woke up. It has been an exceptionally weird couple days for me. Hell, I was studying for a test just earlier this week and now I’ve been killed. By a fucking bird with teeth no less.

“Ha ha ha… what the hell…” I pressed the palm of my hand into my forehead. Honestly I thought I would take it worse, dying. I wasn’t really one to panic but I mean c’mon, dying. Maybe I’m just in shock from this video game bullshit coming with respawns but I really need to get this together.

“Alright Jin, crunch time. What’s our next move?”

“How would I know? I’m a knife.” I was not in a stable enough place right now to address that so I’m just gonna ignore it and move on. Coping mechanisms.

“Ok. Ok so I have a free life now but it only recovers once month. Also I’m naked. Alright. I need help and I need to be stronger.” I started pacing a bit in front of the tavern. Hopefully no one walks out ‘cause that might be hard to explain.

“If T-Aang is what monsters are like around here then I need someone to train me while giving me a place to live. But not the army. I don’t like that they tried to force me in. But I could die. For real die. Ok army is a backup plan. Who else? How would I find someone else?” Ah. Of course. The scary receptionist from the last town told me that a famous assassin guild from the past used enigma to be really strong. Why not just become a kick-ass assassin?2 All we have to do is find the guild! But we gotta be lowkey about it cause it is an assassin guild. Low-key. Got it.

BANG. With a thunderous noise the tavern door slammed open.

“Oh shit.” That door was way lighter than I thought it was going to be. I looked up at a tavern full of hard-looking drunks glaring at me, my mummy outfit doing nothing to deflect their gazes. Wilting for a moment, I stiffened3, stood my ground, puffed my chest and, with my best Gaston impression shouted, “Fuck me! Fuck! I meant you!” Ah well probably not the best thing to open with with… *ding*

“Fuck YOU, loon!” Awww we’re connecting.

Flashing a brilliant smile at my unnamed heckler I approached the bar. Behind me I heard faint snippets of conversation drift by “Shit man did you see that smile? I think he wants to bed you.” “Gods damn not again.” Not my business.

“Hello barkeep!” I say flashing another brilliant smile.

“I’m not into men. Also the name’s Luan, not Barkeep.” The bartender backed slightly away from the counter.

“No no no! I’m not here looking for…uh…fun?”

“Okay.” Luan Looked at me like you might look at a filthy homeless man covered in bandages and screaming that he wants to marry Bell then hitting on you. So I guess he was being pretty fair. “So what’ll it be?”

“Well I’m dirt poor and slightly homeless so could you just point me to the Assassin’s Guild?”

“…” Luan looked at me with an expression of…pity? on his face. Hey wait stop that. Oi stop I’m not pitiful, I’m just unlucky. Look at my status plate I have negative luck I swear this isn’t my fault.

“Look kid. I feel for you, I really do. But I can’t help you. First of all there’s only one assassin’s guild in Taron so what makes you think it’d be HERE?” Luan gestured widely to the dirty room filled with farmers and other assorted small villagers. “Xechond is a small town kid. Why don’t you go talk to the mayor instead of chasing a fantasy? I can’t really put in a good word since you look…touched…but you can tell him Luan sent you.” Frankly that was more concern than I expected and in retrospect, asking about a shady-ass guild like the one for assassins at the local tavern was kinda dumb. It wasn’t like I had other plans anyway since I couldn’t really leave without equipment so I waved to the barkeep and headed out of the bar.

“I’m not great at towns but the mayor probably lives in the biggest building right?” I said while glancing around. Luckily for me the biggest building around was right nearby! In fact, it was so close I could almost touch it! IN FACT, it was the damn tavern. “Fuck.” Ok maybe I’ll just walk around a bit. What’s the worst that could happen?

1No, not like that.

2That’s a lotta ass in a little sentence

3No, not like that