We leave the guildhall behind and discuss the plan while we walk towards the gate. "So, the only monsters I know around here are bashers, and since they tend to go solo, a group attack would be overkill. Any pack monsters we can fight against?"
Millie just shrugs her shoulders, which makes sense if she hasn't been here long. And since she just applied to the Adventurer's Guild, it's clear that she hasn't.
"There's usually goblins wandering around out of the city, so if we look long enough we should find a patrol."
I tilt my head at Elva's words. "A patrol? But goblins aren't sapient, are they?"
Kodian is the one to answer. "They can think and such, but due to their tendency towards murder, robbery, and kidnapping has them firmly placed as monsters. Not to mention that the Karma classifies them as such when you use Analyze on them. They also aren't able to speak with the enlightened races."
The enlightened races are essentially the ones that aren't considered monsters. They consist of humans, elves, dwarves, beastkin, and demons. Though apparently most people associate demons with evil, so you generally won't find one of them casually wandering outside of their country. 'Thank you knowledge packet. Oh, now that I think of it…'
"Speaking of Karma, do any of you know what it refers to itself as 'status' when it's open?"
All I get are shrugs. "That's just how it works, youngling. Nobody knows where it came from, but it's older than the gods of this world."
"What about the goddesses?" Asks Millie.
He scowls. "Don't be a smart ass. I obviously meant them too. Karma just is, and nothing is going to change that."
I knock on a wooden door we're passing, ignoring the person who answers it with a confused look on their face after we've passed.
"Why do you keep knocking on stuff?" The elf of the group can't hold back her curiosity at the odd action.
I shrug. "It's something I picked up growing up. If you say something along the lines of 'this definitely won't happen', then you just increased the chances of that thing happening to near guaranteed levels. Knocking on wood is supposed to prevent that increase."
"Huh." She shrugs. "I doubt that's true, but you followers of chaos have always been hard for me to understand." A head shake. "I still don't get how you people came to the conclusion that the moon is actually the kidney stone of a deity."
"Wait, really!? That's nasty!" The resident singer can't hold back her disgust at the thought while I sigh.
"It's not like our religion is all that united. Chaos and all, you knyaw? But can you say with one-hundred percent certainty that the moon is not the passed kidney stone of a deity? Has it ever been checked? Because if you haven't then there's a non-zero chance that it is."
I pause. "Though I personally think that it's a dumb theory. It's much more likely that it's actually a toy that a deity left in space that attracted debris until it became as large as it is."
She rolls her eyes and Kodian lets out a bark of laughter. "See? That right there is what I'm talking about. Crazy talk like that is why people avoid followers of chaos."
I frown at her. "You're saying it wrong. We're followers of Chaos, not chaos. Capital 'C'."
"Wait, you can hear the difference?" Of course the person who relies on their voice can't let this little tidbit go. "How can you? There's not really a difference in how they're pronounced, it's just a matter of perspective."
That makes me pause. "Huh. I don't really know. I can just sort of tell the difference." My tail swishes in thought for a moment as I go to rub my chin. But my hand bumps into my necklace and a thought strikes me.
"Oh, maybe it's because of my necklace?" I hold it up for her to get a clearer look at. Currently, it's in the form of a brown basher.
She lets out a squeal of excitement at the sight and speaks quickly. "Oh, that's so cute! Where'd you get it? Is that a real animal here? *Gasp* Can I get one at a pet store!?"
'Aaaannd she's forgotten about her question already. She really does seem airheaded.'
Being the curmudgeonly senior that he is, Kodian is nice enough to respond to her monster related questions. "Bashers are a weak monster that people tend to use to get to their tenth level. Whether it's raising skill levels or killing them for experience points. As for getting one as a pet, you need either skills that can tame them, or a monster tamer class. Though there are a few fools who'll rent out their monsters to others for a short amount of time."
She gasps, holding a hand to her mouth. "People kill these adorable creatures!?" She gestures to my necklace to make her point. Too bad everybody looked away from it for a moment so now it's shaped like a pile of shit.
The rest of us share a chuckle at her look of disgust and confusion. "This is the symbol of Lord Soahc, deity of Chaos. As is the nature of Chaos, it is ever changing, constantly changing forms. As for where I got it?"
I shrug. "Apparently they like to toss them in random places. I found this one at a jewelry stall, and the owner practically begged me to take it."
She alternates her gaze from me to the necklace, observing that it does in fact have a new look every time she does.
She opens her mouth to say something, but Elva's words prevent her. "Sorry to interrupt everyone's bonding over a religion of crazy people, but we're at the gates. Everyone has their guild cards, right? If you don't, then I think our partnership will be much shorter than I thought."
We all pull them out, with Millie scrambling for a second before she grabs it from her shoe. Now outside the city, we start walking in a random direction as we keep an eye out for monsters. After a few minutes, I decide to speak up.
"So I know I mentioned wanting to see our teamwork against a group of enemies, but thinking about it we should each take on a single enemy. You know, showcase our skills to each other."
Millie claps excitedly. "Oh, yeah. That sounds like a good idea!"
Elva shrugs. "I don't have a problem with it. Though if we don't go far there won't be anything that can put up a decent fight against me."
"You don't have to worry about me. I'm just here to make sure you younglings don't die an early death. Gotta stop you lot from doing anything overly stupid."
I side-eye Kodian. It's obvious that he has ulterior motives for being here. The question is whether or not he's really here to simply help us along. I saw him applying with everyone else at the guild, so I doubt that he's actually a member.
But you don't get to be a level thirty-four warrior living a peaceful life in the city. Abd his lack of registration with the guild tells me two things.
He was a soldier who got tired of killing humans, or…
He was on someone's payroll. Someone who doesn't care if they need to kill someone to get what they want.
Or maybe he's still on their payroll.
I'll just need to keep an eye on him.