Belarian's eyes went wide for a moment before the king burst out in a deep belly laugh. His petitioner lost her compositor, her brow sinking into a fierce glare. "Sorry, little Ke. I just didn't expect THAT to be your excuse for bothering me." He sat back wiping invisible tears away from eyes that held no mirth in them. He stared down at the defiant Fairy and thought to himself 'Oh how the mighty have fallen. Grovel before me all you want. I'm not helping your pompous ass.'
He ignored her angry and indulgent response to his rudeness. Thinking again it was what the arrogant other races get for treating humans as they had for so long. Of the nine Kings and Queens humanity had been given but one crown. Even that had been only begrudgingly while the fairies were given two. In the millennium since the four great races combined to appoint their Royals to counter the Demon Lords humanity had grown while the others at best stayed stagnant. Now even though they still had but a single crown they could rival the dwarves or elves. While the fairy race that had received two crowns had fallen so far they were on the verge of extinction. They'd even been forced to give the Winter crown to an unknown fairy said to be less than two hundred years old. Barely an adult by their standards and now it seems they had even lost their fabled treasure.
Having ignored her rant he responded only when the tiny woman shut up "Come now, what is the big deal. I've seen your "treasure". You remember… when you were forced to allow all the other crowned races to try and attune with it. Since your dying race lacked anyone able. No one could wield that piece of trash. I doubt it even truly has any powers to bestow. Though why you would go so out of your way to look pathetic is beyond me. Were you simply seeking our pity?" Kera bristled but he continued before she could interrupt. "If you wish, hand over your crown to humanity. We will make much better use of it than your kind can. If you do, I'll find your missing princess for you."
Kera hated Belarian, not because he was human. No, she hated him because he was right and that even she had considered such a drastic thing as giving up the winter crown before. The fairies were too weak to fulfill their role, one of the castles had even fallen. But even if he was right, his goal was far from benign. He cared for nothing but his own power. She doubted he even truly understood the weight of responsibility attached to the crowns. "You are right, we fairies are far from our glory days while your race of children has grown. But you have just proven my greatest fear of power without wisdom. You are too foolish to be trusted. May we hope the Demon Lords continue to languish in their sloth for if the world must rely on the race of men led by a foolish boy like you, we are all doomed." Belarian leapt to his feet in rage at her insult, the veins in his forehead bulging out but the fairy queen was already gone.
*********
Dego turned back still grinning and just shrugged as his attempts to flirt with the barmaid were shut down. "Her loss! You'd think girls out here in the boonies would be more excited to meet an awesome adventurer like me!" staring at his new friend he inwardly sighed. 'He's taller, with broader shoulders, and his skin isn't a mess like mine.' He considered his own appearance and felt that in comparison he still looked a bit too gawky, not quite yet shedding the last remnants of childhood even at nineteen. He didn't resent Sael though, his own feelings of inferiority weren't his fault. 'Besides I can always show off a bit to a low level noob like him.'
Sael just watched the show. He wasn't great with strangers and preferred to get a solid feel for people before opening up. Dego had been so over the top from the moment they had met he was having a hard time getting a read on him. "So you've been here for a while. Do you know where I can find a type of monster called an Antger? Big ugly lizard with six legs and scythes for arms?" Dego questioned before digging into his stew.
"Yeah, they are around the Blackened Woods area." Pulled out of his own thoughts he replied. 'Hmm, do I tell him they were the required kill for my class quest?'
"Sweet! That is actually part of the reason I took the job escorting those merchants. Antger hides are great for armor. Figured it was time to upgrade and didn't want some basic off the shelf thing." He gulped down his drink before continuing. "For you, they are pretty high level. Around five or so. So it's not something you could handle but if you want to play my guide I bet I could help power level you some! Come on what do you say?"
Several thoughts went through his mind based on what Dego had just told him. But they were all cut off and replaced by:
[Quest Received: Escort DemonGodSlayer420 hunting.]
It wasn't so much that he had received a quest. Sure that was amazing and he was more than a little excited. But the quest used the full ridiculous name he'd introduced himself by. 'Really?' was all he could think.
Dego for his part grew impatient at the slight hesitation and reached out taking Sael's hand shaking it. "Come on. Don't worry, I'll protect you! Plus you can see just how awesome I am! It will be awesome!!"
'Man this guy is nuts. But it isn't like I was going to say no now that I've gotten an actual quest.' Keeping his thoughts to himself he just nodded his agreement not even realizing he was grinning.
*********
Sael yawned for the umpteenth time since they left Little Well something Dego didn't miss. Grinning Dego asked. "What? Didn't sleep well? Couldn't handle the booze eh? Don't worry not many can keep up with me!"
Sael groaned a bit "No… I'm yawning because someone snores like an asthmatic bull elephant! If I'd known that I would have let you get a room at the tavern with the merchants instead of staying at the barracks with me. No wonder they seemed so happy when you told them."
Before Dego could retort Sael held up his hand and crouched. Dego for his part dropped into a crouch without questioning his guide. Sael was a bit surprised he hadn't continued one blabbing or even questioned him. Creeping forward they came upon a group of three Antger's all watching in their direction intently.
Dego eyed the three huge monstrosities 'Jesus! They're bigger than I expected. Damn my big mouth. I'll just have him stay back. I should be able to handle them alone. Ugh, why was I so cheap? I should have paid for an intermediate skill after all. No, I just had to be cheap…. You will get it through leveling… Why waste the coin. Blegh. Alright, I'm the veteran here. Gotta reassure my noob.' Nodding to himself he turned toward his guide "Sae…"
The three beasts let out a hissing cry before rushing toward the two hidden men. "Shit shit shit! Run!" The two warriors leapt up into a sprint. Dego skidded to a halt his eyes going wide with fright. "Wrong way noob!" Spinning around he tried to follow after his new friend as he charged the monsters but again skidded to a stop. Sael was little more than a blur as he closed the gap between himself and his prey. Pulling up short he avoided the initial flurry of blows before making three rapid activations of his thrust skill. With little more than a gurgle, all three monsters swayed before collapsing. A single hole in each of their chests gushing out massive amounts of pus colored blood.
"What the hell?" Dego rushed over looking down at the three dying monsters then up at the "noob" "Why… Why would you lie about your level? Holy hell, how high is your agility??" Dego was actually hurt that this guy had lied to him.
Sael mentally kicked himself, he'd wanted to see Dego in action to compare their abilities. But had been too excited by the thought of getting more experience. Mentally checking the three notifications of received experience washed away any concerns he might have had. "Lying? I wasn't lying about my level, I'm only level two? And my agility is just twenty."
Dego gave him a disbelieving stare "There is no way. That had to be an intermediate skill? Or maybe an advanced? Wait what do you mean JUST twenty?!"
Sael activated his thrust ability a few times. "It is just the Thrust skill. It was the basic one I started with, well it did hit level eight finally. It's really slowed down a lot since then though."
Dego couldn't figure out why this guy had lied to him. "No way. My thrust skill is level eight as well. There is no way you've gotten a skill so high in six weeks. And there is no way you are still level two." He looked Sael in the eyes expecting them to be filled with a familiar look. One he was used to from the bullies in his old life. Instead, he found only confusion. "No way you're serious?" Dego couldn't believe it, but it didn't look like he was lying. But it made no sense. "Wait, what's your intelligence?"
Sael got the feeling the difference in ability score made far more difference than he'd expected. He actually felt bad for the kid in front of him and decided to lower his response. "Er, fourteen? I've put all my points into it so far."
"Damn, mine is only nine and I thought that was pretty good. Hmm, they said it would affect skill gains but I didn't think it would make that big a difference. Are you really just level two?" When Sael nodded a grin spread across Dego's face "Damn. You have a trait too don't you? That's it right? One that boosts agility?"
"Yeah. You caught me… I wasn't sure it would make that big a difference though." He decided not to expand on the fact that his trait… or traits in this case affected more than his agility. He wasn't lying exactly and he started to feel self conscious.
"Damn… Hey, you weren't trying to make a fool of me were you?" Sael held up his hands and shook his head.
"No, I just wasn't sure what was normal. There aren't any other warriors and no guilds here."
"Well hell. I guess show me what you can do! I've never met an agility specialist before!"
*********
"Damn it! I wish my trait was for agility. It is crazy how good it is compared to strength!" Dego was still in shock at the day's events. He'd held back trying to get a feel of what twenty agility was like and when compared to his higher strength he felt cheated. His noob friend had slaughtered Antger as if they had personally offended him.
For his part, Sael had just gotten carried away with grinding. Enjoying actually getting experience and worried it would run out before he got a chance to level. They'd managed to kill eleven Antger of which he got the killing blows on ten of them. Since he didn't get any experience for the one Dego killed he'd gone out of his way to make sure he got the killing blows. Which meant he mostly slaughtered them as soon as they found any enemies. A few times he felt bad for taking all the experience but Dego didn't seem to care. Becoming more excited with each kill Sael made. So he just told himself it was fine since he was the lower level and needed the experience more. Plus Dego didn't seem to mind so why should he.
"You know. If you really are just level two you should definitely take part in the Adventurer's Ball in a few months. You'd dominate the five and under bracket. Maybe even the ten and under. Of course," He gave Sael another suspicious glance.'' They have a way of checking your level be you Arrived or not for the brackets."
Sael just sighed and replied again "I keep telling you I really am level two. Why would I lie about it?" While thinking to himself 'Now I know why main characters always hide their abilities.'
As Little Well came into view Dego pulled up and materialized a stack of hides and claws. "Alright here we go an even split… I was originally going to keep most of it for myself. But that was when I expected to be carrying you."
"Well in that case since I did most of the killing I should get the larger cut then right?" Sael grinned as Dego lost a bit of his bluster. "Just kidding man, I'm fine with half. I already have a full set of Antger armor. Beth is upgrading it right now."
"Wait, you have a full set already? Then you'd not mind if I keep these, right?" Sael for his part quickly deposited the items into his inventory. Dego started to pout then his eyes lit up "Wait! That cutie you were with, the Arrived girl? She is an Arrived Armorer???????"
"Er, Yeah?" Somehow he felt like he'd made another mistake.
"Holy… why are so many rare Arrived in such a backwater place. Do you even know how rare an Arrived Armorer is? How amazing they are?" he took one look at Sael's face and shook his head at the blank look on his noob friend's face. "No, no you don't. Geez man, they have access to a crafting skill like we do our fighting skills. Instead of getting fancy abilities and attributes, they can craft almost anything. And everything they make is always the best quality of its kind." Sael just kinda shrugged, Beth was just Beth to him.
"Man do you think she will craft me some armor? I've been saving up to pay the fee the crafters back in Amalor charge but I'd definitely rather pay an Arrived." Straightening up a bit he grinned before the other could even respond. "You're right. Of course she would make me some armor. Look at me. Think I should flirt with her? Maybe I can get a discount?"
Sael looked at the confident, boisterous, and more than a little annoying new friend before giving him a genuine grin. "Definitely. I'll even give you a tip. She loves when you mention how petite she is. In fact, if you pat her on the head I'm sure she will give you a great bargain." Dego for his part seemed to miss that the glint in Sael's eye and just raise his hand for a high five.