When I was still a loser after being killed countless of times by players, I decided to quit that guild, forcing me to go solo. That is when I saw a few Battle Maids in the guild of Harmless Sparrows. With a few insiders, I found out that they are NPCs with fighting capabilities which can grow alongside with you and will go fight with you on boss raids and a few battles that are too hard for most players. Though it is still considered as a solo play, it has a big advantage since you have a companion who doesn't betray you in between or after the fight just for the loot.
I manage to recruit Battle Maid Lina in the past as she is the last Battle Maid deployed in the capital. According to players, she is in level 1 so no one is so generous to help a level 1 Battle Maid to grow stronger. Most of the Battle Maids that are deployed are level 20 above and has some decent skills while Battle Maid Lina has no decent skills and has yet to distribute her own stat points. Her very good ability is the Telekinesis which is a tier 5 Magician skill which is in preparation for class up of Magicians to turn into Wizards.
Well, during that time, I have the need to have a Battle Maid as a helper in dungeons, so I decided to take her in. Only then I knew that she is considered a Rare tier Combat Maid, advance form of Battle Maid and has a wider skills than Battle Maids and according to what I have heard, when a Combat Maid reached level 500, she can class up to become a Chief Maid which has the ability to control and boss around other Battle Maids and Combat Maids and considered to be on Legendary Tier.
Seeing Battle Maid Lina in front of my doorstep, I can't help but scan her stats.
"Battle Maid Lina"
Level 0
HP: 1,000
MP: 300
Base Attack: 10
Base Defense: 13
Base Agility: 9
Base Magic Attribute: 15
(Attributes)
[ATK]: 3
[DEF]: 4
[DEX]: 3
[INT]: 9
[AGI]: 2
AP: 5
Class: Battle Maid
Equipment:
Weapon: Basic Whip
Armor: Apprentice Apron
Helm: Apprentice Headband
Gloves: Apprentice Gloves
Pants: Apprentice Skirt
Shoes: Apprentice Doll Shoes
(Accessory Slot)
Necklace: Glass Locket
Ring: None
Earrings: Blue Earrings
SP:0
Skills:
1. Telekinesis(Tier 5) - Ability to manipulate and control certain things without touching them. The higher the level, the heavier one can control.
2. None
3. None
....
Wow, this stats are trash, much worse than the stats I previously have seen, maybe due to her level advancement when I first met her on level 1 might be the cause but looking at her, she is still a newbie in Battle Maids, she can. be considered as an Apprentice!
Now that I think about it, why is she here?
"Uh...who are you?" I asked.
"May I ask if I am talking to Mr. Bladeheart?" she asked politely.
"Yes, what is going on?" I frowned though she cannot see my reaction since I am still wearing a mask.
When I said the confirmation, her eyes seemed to glow and she seemed excited?
"Wow! Its true! You don't look like an expert but you look so tough! I am one of your NPC fan and after knowing from mother that you are staying in this inn, I have to make sure to properly greet you!" she clasped my hands and shook them vigorously.
"Y-yeah... I appreciate your enthusiasm..." I was stupefied, no NPC have done this kind of things before. Also, from what I remembered, Lina is not this enthusiastic. In fact, she seemed to be void of emotions. Also, I already knew that she is Lily's daughter since she still visits her whenever I stay in their inn. In my speculations, she was so humiliated in my timeline as one of the weakest Battle Maid available which caused her to be void of emotions. I kind of like her behavior now than the past timeline behavior.
Seems like she noticed her own actions and behaviors, she backs away while blushing before going back to a stern one.
"Please accept me as your disciple! I want to be strong like you!" She said with force on her voice.
Looks like it is another Allegiance contract. This is another help for me. With the Gate Guardian contract still in my inventory, another contract will be established. My plan of getting a few Battle Maid for my plans are now almost here and with Lina here to do the headstart, I guess accepting her is the best.
"Sure! Glad to have a disciple with me," I said.
After saying that, an Allegiance contract appeared. I used my weapon to wound my thumb and drip a blood on the contract. Unlike monsters that goes on Allegiance contract with a player, NPCs retain their beings and will be on use immediately unlike the monsters that needed to have the contract to be torn to half before they can perform their own duties.
As for why I accepted her despite wanted to go on solo? As I said before, this one is still considered solo and they are my servants that will do my bidding. Also, they are not similar to players that once you slay monsters, EXP are divided. NPCs do not covet EXP on players and they have their own EXP like Leona who have grown strong from the battles. Also, she will be a helpful asset for boss battles. In other words, a helper who didn't need rewards as they have already sworn loyalty to you.
I prefer to trust NPCs than players and sooner or later, guilds will try to ask and try to recruit me, even Harmless Sparrow is also giving intent of making me a member of their guild. As I said before, guilds sucks, I prefer to go alone, if they wanted my services, I need compensation. This is the Mercenary style, as long as there is money, I will be glad to take the task.
After the contract got to finish its purpose, it disappeared out of thin air and Lina's stats are now also visible for me.
"Thank you for accepting me as a disciple master!" Lina was jittery excited.
"Stop, don't call me master. It felt so forced and I don't like the tune of it. It feels like looking down on you, just call me Bladeheart," I said flatly.
"Then, Sensei! I will be glad to partake your knowledge to me!" Lina bowed.
Ugh, fine, sensei it is. It feels formal but not stiffer than Master.
"Okay, we need to level you up. You have horrible stats and your equipment barely raises your stats due to your very low attributes. Also, why did you invest too much on Telekinesis?" I asked. The Lina in the past timeline has two skills which is Telekinesis and Fireball. But since she had yet to raise level, she only have Telekinesis on her arsenal.
"Well, I usually break plates and mugs in the inn and to avoid that, I had decided to master Telekinesis to alleviate the problem of breaking the utensils and it proved to be really helpful," she explained which makes sense especially if you are a klutz in the kitchen. Having the ability to control the fall of the utensils immediately before they arrived on the ground is one of the dream of people who keeps on staying tin the Kitchen and keeps on smashing the plates and glasswares down.
"I see, makes sense," I nodded.
"We will be training tomorrow and raise your level and skills. I have just finished raiding the dungeon so I have to sell some of my equipment. Tomorrow, we will also deal with your battle maid uniform to raise your defensive stats too. They have too small of defensive capabilities," I said.
Lina nodded vigorously before thanking me and excitedly left me after a few more instructions. Looks like I have to busy myself again and learn from Almira on Blacksmithing and I hope she takes me as an Apprentice. This way, growth on Blacksmith Ex Job is much more faster than usual. Time to take action and do it. I have limited time before the school reopens again.