As soon as Angorod and the 2 girls broke the clearing they headed straight west under Angorods guidance. At least thats where Angorod thought they were going as he followed the moon that illuminated the dark path.

Without uttering a single word Angorod know even after an hour the girls were still behind him , due to the curses they uttered when they tripped over the underbrush. Surprising for Angorod was though that they had not encountered a single wolf , yet , but he kept his ears open.

After a few 100 meteres extra Angorod soon heard the splashing of a nearby water source so he headed straight for it. He broke through a especial tight compound of trees and discovered a small clearing with a small pond that brightly reflected the pearly shine of the moon.

Again without a word he dropped his pack and took one battle axe of , after untiying the leather straps , and headed into the forest a few meters beyond the clearing. Some twigs , dried leaves and a hacked into shape dead limb later he entered the clearing again.

He stacked the small twigs in a make-shit pyre and put the driest leaves he could find ontop. Now with a rhytmic * pang* , * pang* he smashed the tinder stones together. Sparks flew and the dried leaves caught fire for a second but died out directly.

Nonetheless the leaves were still glimming slightly so he blew on them. With a * poof* they ignited once a new and he had accomplished what he wanted. Even though he had used all the oil he still managed somehow.

Now he stacked the thicker cut up branches and more twigs on it and headed into the forest once again. He returned seconds later , as he had hacked up another tree limb that lay around , and stacked it besides the already burning flame.

He went over to his destroyed back-pack next and rummaged through it until he found what he searched for.

" Here take these , they will keep you warm. " Angorod said as he handed the 2 females some blankets.

Now he returned to his backpack as they nestled themselfs in deeply , but they were still obnoxious about him. Once again he retrieved something from his backpack and hurried over to the human female first. He crouched down before her and stared into her eyes.

" Take this and eat. You need your strength. " He said while pressing some dried bread into her hands.

Angorod was hungry beyond belief , but he knew he would be unable to eat. Especially any sort of meat at the moment that was the reason he gave her the dried bread. Now he went over to the halfling that had a confused look about her.

" You also. Take this , if either of you need anymore just take it from the backpack. There is enough for a few weeks in there take it , don't make me repeat myself. " He said in a serious tone not allowing her to question him.

Now as he stood back up the halfing grabbed his wrist. She felt a burning sensation at her palms as she touched him but she didn't let go.

" Let go. Don't hurt yourself i will stay. " Angorod assured her as he crouched back down.

As soon as she released him her hand stopped burning and she looked confused at her palm , where she found burn marks. With quick movements Angorod untied a waterskin from his belt , that he coincidentally looted from a player , and poured it over her sizzled flesh.

" What was that? " The halfling girl asked.

She saw a worried look run over his facial features , that simply put were quite average besides his violet eyes that shon bright. But soon after he lifted the long sleeves of his tunic and exposed a set of brightly glowing dark green chains that at first glance looked like a tatoo.

But as she soon saw the tatoos themselves were moving from time to time , ensnaring more of his arm or shifting the links around.

" You are cursed! " She shouted out in surprise.

" Quiet! This is something i brought upon myself when i left the tribe. It takes away my strength and influences the speed i can muster. " Angorod told her.

She eyed him with suspicion in her eyes once again , but after everyone staring at him that way he just got used to it.

" So why did you stop me from leaving anyway? " Angorod asked.

" I wanted to ask why. "

" What do you mean by why? I already said i got the curse from leaving the tribe. " Angorod simply stated.

" Not that , why you saved us." She said with a dry tone.

Angorod scratched the back of his head before he continued to speak in a whispered tone.

" Does it matter? I saved you because i thought it was the right thing. "

Now the hafling was taken aback at the prosepect of a Wraithling helping her. A person of a notorious race that was well known for their slavery and even plundering for females.

" You are a strange one. " She said after a brief pause.

" Might be , but after all i am a > Other Worlder

He went over to the fireplace and stacked some more wood ontop as the twigs had finally burned down and the thicker branches had caught fire. But he continued to stir up the fire for quite a bit making it larger and larger.

Occasionally he went back into the woods and gathered more firewood. This fire was the life-line that would scare every wild animal of , at least he hoped this real life fact was a mechanic in this game as well.

Even 3 hours after they had made camp only the halfling was asleep. The human girl had a glint of lifelessness in her eyes and she was shivering. With measured steps he first approached the halfling and picked her up as she was.

Angorod was careful not to touch her actual skin and used the blanket that was drapped around her to lift her in his arms. Now he carried her closer to the fire so she would stop shivering through out the night.

" Girl what is your name? " Angorod asked after crouching in front of the human.

Now as he was close enough and looked into her eyes he saw that every glint inside of her eyes was gone. It was not because she was absent minded or thinking about other thing , simply put her emotions were gone.

If this would fix itself Angorod had no idea but he even had less of an idea how to help her. He never was good with ' relationships ' or ' comforting ' other people in times of need. He could listen to problems but if he could give her any reassurance about this kind of situation he had not clue.

But his desire to help her burned brightly. Angorod knew that this consoling could turn out worse but somehow he just couldn't accept such a young girl that still had her life ahead of her became so gravely afflicted by this cruel world.

" Hey , at least please eat. " Angorod said in the warmest tone he could muster.

Naturally she had not eaten either yet and his tone was by standards not ' warm ' at all but there was sincerity flowing with his tone. A little glint of life or ' fire ' returned to her eyes as both of their gazes locked onto one another.

Seconds , minutes and even an hour passed and neither dared to break the feeble bond either one had created with this connection. Angorod lifted her hand that held the dried bread until she finally broke the stare and saw the food.

" Here see , its alright. " He said while ripping of a piece and chewing on it himself.

But she just simply returned to looking into his bright but deep violet eyes. Uncomfortably he scratched the back of his head and took the bread away from her. He ripped of a small piece and brought it closer to her mouth.

She knew what was happening but it took her over a minute to open her mouth. Carefully closing the distance even further Angorod was intent to not touch her lips at all to keep the ' comfortable ' feeling she just had to have , at least he tried to believe in it.

He placed it inside with great care without touching her lips or anything else and as she started to chew he already held another piece between his finger tips and placed it infront of her mouth.

Slowly but steadily it disappeared and as it was all gone she held out her hands requesting more.

" Do you want dried meat or more bread? " Angorod tried to entice her to speak.

But she simply nodded at his first request. Without any complaint or a sigh he headed to his backpack , but instead of rummaging through it he brought it over to her and kneeled down again.

Angorod took her hands and placed several strips of dried meat inside along with a canteen of water at her feet. Slowly but steadily she began to eat by herself and even drank from the canteen without problems.

But everytime Angorod wanted to leave she would make a small noise that clearly told him to stay. But at all times she stared into his eyes and even though he was uncomfortable with it he returned the gaze.

" Lets move closer to the fire , you have to be cold. " Angorod said after she had finished the food.

She nodded and stretched out her arms. Angorod was confused at this gesture but then remembered something from his cousins years when she was still very small.

He slid his arm underneath both outstretched arms and used the other to slid underneath her knees without touching any of her skin due to the blanket which he drapped around her first. Carrying her like a princess he placed her down about 1 meter away from the hissing fire and adorned her bare shoulders with the blanket once again.

Now as he was standing again and about to turn around she tried to grab his hand to prevent him from leaving but as he noticed this he pulled away quickly. Angorod clearly saw the glimmer dying in her eyes once again so he had to do something.

" Don't worry i just don't want to hurt you. See here on my arms is a curse if you touch my skin you might burn yours in return. " He quickly half-lied to cover up his screw up.

After all he already touched her hands quite a few times but there was always the risk of his arm slipping and touching her skin by mistake while they held hands. The glimmer returned and he was relieved.

" I am just getting the bag and some more water. "

He returned a few minutes later with a piece of cloth he had ripped from his pants that was moistend and wringed out.

" Your face is dirty , want me to clean it? " He said with another weak attempt of a warm voice.

Instead of saying anything she nodded slightly but Angorod saw this clearly ,after all he was sitting directly besides her. She etched closer to him and with cautios movements he approached her face.

There was quite a bit of dirt to get of off her face but even though this could easily take an hour Angorod only touched her with the greatest of care handling her like a most treasured artifact.

At this treatment the glimmer in her eyes started to burn brighter and ever brighter but soon Angorod had to stop wiping her face. She hugged him with incredible strength that belittled her lithe frame and started to sob and cry at the same time.

Only one of Angorods arms was free so he patted her black and curly locks ontop of her head. Careful not to use to much force and consoled her in the only way he could think of. Just being there for someone could works wonders after all.

She continued to cry and sob until the sun rose over the lands once again and strangly enough the halfling didn't wake up at all during all of this.

.............

A few hours after dawn she had exhausted herself from sobbing and crying and was in a almost comatose state. But as she inhaled and exhaled in a relaxed manner Angorod left her be for the time being.

Yesterday he had already seen a few stains on his pants and tunic so he decided it was best to wash them now while the halfling was still asleep. After all there was a little stream and a pond behind them.

After confirming once again that the halfing and the human girl were still asleep he undressed quickly and wadded in the little pool. The water was frigid and it shudderd Angorod to his bones but he endured it. Even though it was deeper then he suspected with his close to 2m height his upper body still was placed above the water level.

He dipped his clothes in the water and rubbed them off with his hands. Especially the area around his armpits as they had stains in them. Luckily it was a cheap fabric and not very thick so it came of with a little scrubbing.

Washing of his body he could not expect what would happen next. He felt small fingers entwine in-front of his chest and with a glance over his shoulders he found the Human girl had woken up due to his absence.

" ... " But she still did not talk.

Just standing there in the water , that was almost freezingly cold made Angorods body tense up incredibly. But he knew he had to be nice , for the moment at least , so he shifted his weight slightly until his back rested against her face.

" Hey , im getting cold and your clothes are completly wet as well now. Lets go back to the fire , i'll stay with you. " Angorod said in a soothing tone and the girl nodded.

She released him from her grasp and as she turned around Angorod slipped in his pants underwater. He felt like he dragged the whole pond along with him as he stepped out of it and he freezing cold.

The fire was still burning high though so he stepped very closely to it. With only 50 cm separating himself from the hot flames his pants started to dry but the girl just slipped inside of his guard and placed herself between his legs.

He placed a arm across her stomache and slid back another 50 cms to give her the chance of warming up and not burning herself like what Angorod had wanted to do. He even pulled up the blanket once again and drapped it around her shoulders as she drifted of due to exhaustion.

With her back warmed by Angorod and her front from the fire and the blanket this time Angorod was sure she had fallen completly into a coma from exhaustion. He was also dead tired but he could not sleep like this so he just stared into the flames and chewed on some dried meat as he waited.

...................

The girl woke up to unfamiliar surrounding and instantly frightening visions popped up in her mind but the she saw what was going on. A bulky thing for a humanoid was carrying her and the forest that should have covered everything above her had made way for a bright sky.

While she slept Angorod carried her all the way to the outskirts of Mitra. He was still obviously worried about any skin contact so she had a blanket over her while he carried her princess style.

A wet and sticky feeling enveloped his back after he had carried her for so long and his arms felt even worse now then they had during his first practice swings in the caves with his father.

' Damn Curse! ' He thought for himself.

As they approached the town that was surrounded by a make-shift palisade the 2 guards at the gate eyed the new commers suspiciously. Now the halfling showed herself behind Angorods hulking figure and the guards relaxed.

" Mam , we expected you yesterday what happend? " One of them asked.

The halfling pulled him a down so she could whisper to him and the situation was directly resolved. Both of them waved them past and they entered the city.

It was nothing special even though it had this medevil flare to it , there were just buildings like in any other town. The hafling used her short legs and doubled her endavours to reach a certain location so Angorod just silently followed while carrying the girl.

The strayed of at the first intersection of the town to the right and soon stood in-front of a incredibly huge building with a winged boot attached as a show sign of the purpose of this building.

Judging how the halfling just smashed the doors open and at her furious attitude Angorod suspected this was the merchants guild or something related.

" Master , where the hell are you! " The halfling roared which surprised even Angorod considering her small stature.

There was a table with chairs nearby so he decided to place the girl in his arms in one carefully. All went well until he decided to walk back to the halfing as his steps were halted by a hand grabbing his sleeves.

With a sigh he decided to stay and observe from here.

" Who dares to shout in here! " A male voice roared from a top a flight of steps.

With his brows obviously furrowed the merchant in expensive brokat robes with gold hems tried to gracefully stomp down the stairs at the fury that welled inside him but it was obvious that fury and graceful were not 2 words this man could combine.

" Me , Elain. I thought the Bandits hideout has been rooted out! I was attacked yesterday , all my wares are lost! How are you going to compensate me. " The halfling shouted furious.

As he reached the lowest step Angorod saw in his eyes the instict to flee , after all someone wanted money from him and he was a merchant. As he tried to turn around the halfling coughed vehemently and he sighed.

" Elain , i am sorry to hear this but there is nothing i can do for your losses ... regretably... " He tried to worm his way out.

Angorod watched in silence as Elains , the name of the halfling he saved , face became distoreted in rage. But Angorod thought , even if it was cruel , that it wasn't the merchant guilds fault that she got attacked.

They kept arguing back and forth and as Angorod got incredibly bored he even let out a yawn that attracted the attention of both. This surprised him greatly as his yawn was muffled by his hand and both were quite loud while arguing.

" Oho , who might this ... is he a Wraithling , Elain? " The masters eyes first spewd delight and turned vile as he saw the mans facial features and skin.

" Damn right he is , he killed at least 20 Bandits by himself without so much as breaking a sweat. " Elain said.

This was a common tactic and Angorod knew this. He killed around 8 but she increased the number to get the Master to give him more money for the quest. Naturally she would take part of that Money herself but as he would receive a greater share then he would normally have he didn't complain.

" That doesn't change the fact that he is a Wraithling , dear. " The master replied slyly.

Now another battle between merchants unfolded ... Angorod just called it bartering to the death ... at least his death of boredome. As he yawned again the attention returned to him. Both of them stared accusingly at his interruption of their haggling.

" What i haven't slept for over 2 days but i still disposed of the Bandits and carried the girl here all the way. " Angorod defended himself.

As he said that he pointed at the girl that seemed to be sound asleep , more like unconscious. The merchant and Elain stepped closer and took a look at her. With a upraised eyebrow the master viewed Elain and she understood.

" Her sister ... died . She was a travelling companion of mine and the girl also travelled with us. The dead sister said something about returning to their Family in a far village further to the west. " She simply stated.

A grim silence engulfed the room as they both the Master and Elain looked at the girl in pity , but Angorod instantly knew those 2 wouldn't lift a finger to get the girl back to the ones she loved.

" Anyways , i want my reward. NOW . " Angorod said after a few seconds.

Elain and the Master both looked at him in a confused manner as he made clear demands and now the master wanted to haggle with him. But Angorod cut him of while grabbing for the knife inside of his boots.

" I will not haggle. 20 Bandits and the Bandit leader. I also brought back your associated merchant as it seems. 1 gold plus some armguards and shinguards from your supplys. Best a sword for the girl to. "

" I also lost 5 throwing hatchets in the fight as well as some casual supplys of burning oil and food." Angorod said in a intimidating voice.

The master made a step backwards as Angorod even flashed his shark like teeth during his speech. Only natural at the bad reputation Wraithling held with the other races but it worked.

Quest has been greatly overachieved

Due to intimidation you have acquired additional rewards that originally were not part of this quest.

The master showed him the way but the girl woke up once again as he tried to walk away. He simply picked her up and brought her back into the storage following the merchant. He acquired everything he asked for and even grabbed a dress that seemed to fit the girl while the Merchant had turned his back.

* tring*

Stat has been created -> Subtely

Subtely is used for various means such as stealing , manipulation , intimidation , stealth , hiding , cheating in bets and card games among other things.

The higher it is the higher your chance to acquire skills in the respective field.

At the sudden sound and the chance of getting caught Angorod jerked up but to his surprise the Master merchant didn't notice it. He picked up the girl in his arms once again and carried her out.

Immediatly he left the Merchant guild and walked along to find a Inn but a halfling shouted after him as he turned at the first corner back to the main-street.

" Wait Angorod! " She shouted clearly out of breath from the short sprint.

Angorod on the other hand just raised a eyebrow and stared at her in a bored manner waiting for her to regulate her breathing pattern.

" I got you some extra reward , i want 50% of the money. " She said with a cruel smile.

" Not happening , bye. " He said and turned around.

But once again she ran towards him and grabbed his sleeves , as she was awfully aware what would happen if she touched his arms exposed skin.

" Listen now , it is a fair deal. I could always go back and tell the master you ticked him to give you more money. " She said in a all-mighty tone.

Angorod surpressed his sigh and from real life he knew how to deal with characters like her. He meet enough of those that wanted to abuse him to gain profit for themselfs without realizing they dug their own graves.

" Go back tell him. You would be surprised at how your master would react when you told him i killed less Bandits after you told him i killed 20. Along those lines this money is the girls not mine. You should hired me in the other town like i offered and all this wouldn't have happend. "

" If you dare to say one word , i hope you will never meet me one the roads again , Elain. You know a bandit attack seems reasonable around these parts. " He said suggestivly.

The halflings face became ashen colored and she couldn't reply anything at all. After ascertaining Angorod had scared her enough he turned around as set out for the first Inn he could find.

He order a 2 bed room some food that should be brought to the chambers and a tub for taking a bath. Since this was built after the midevil times bathing with a transportable room inside of a Inn wasn't anything new.

It cost him 25 silvers for one night , which Angorod thought was ridicioulus in its own but he didn't complain. He took the key and hastily went upstairs. As soon as he entered he placed the girl on the bed and soon the tub with a dojan arrived.

He placed the view blocking screen in-front of the tub and waited for the inn keepers wife to fill it up all the way. For some reason there was a waterpipe inside of the room he currently was residing in and it was hot.

Even though he found it odd , thinking of the times , the romans even before the 0th century had lead pipes and plumbing but this was kind of advanced. Especially the hot water. But who was he to complain when a hot water filled tub was right in-front of him.