Breor was sitting in front of Raven who was looking as if she saw a ghost. The smug kid had gonna in and out of the clinic picking agonizing people that had been struck by the water and she was still in that stupid state.
"So?" He said.
"It wasn't me!" She hurriedly.
"Who said it was you? You are very funny big sis!" The kiddo laughed.
This felt so unreal for Raven, she almost died, then she signed a pact with a demon or something worse and she got yeeted back to the city... maybe she got spared, but then many buildings and people weren't, they just happened to be in the way for the spirit. Raven was sitting on a chair contemplating how small her existence was.
"Hey, be right back!" Said the kid standing up and running towards one of the patients, he grabbed him with strength meanwhile another helper of the clinic applied something to a his wounds. It seemed that her reckless actions brought prosperity to this business "So sis, do you still have the card?"
"Card?" Raven was too stunned to react at first.
"Yes! The card from the other day! I found a buyer!" He said smugly, the kid knew his craft.
Raven shook his head and then took out the card that he was requesting. The Mud Remorse monster card, it shone in her hands, everything was still so surreal, but she just handled it to the kiddo.
"You sure know your stuff!" He said taking out a big pouch of coins, 50 silver coins, it was a small treasure "There were more, but I already took my share, that's okay isn't it?"
"Yeah" She answered as he shook her hand.
"If you need to sell anything don't doubt to contact me!" The little scoundrel was rotten to the core, just like her "Since you are not injured by some kind of miracle you can leave whenever you want, got lots of work, we will catch up some other time!"
Raven just stood there for some moments, before she hit her face with the palm of her hands to shake up the shock, she was still alive, that was all that mattered right now. Her battle against the monsters in the cave, the struggle against the hydra, and the encounter with the spirit seemed like a dream, but the ring in her hand was telling otherwise. Also, there was the new weapon she had. She watched how his accomplice in selling stuff was trying to calm a guy who was missing a leg. She just hurried outside the clinic to find a hellish landscape.
It wasn't as she believed in the start, it was as if a tsunami had crushed this part of the city. It was flooded, there were still people who were getting rescued, and some people in shock just roamed around without understanding what had happened. There were people from very important factions trying to investigate what was going on, people from the mage tower were swarming the place, goons from the merchant union were assessing the damage, some shadowy figures at the corners were investigating too...
"Raven!" Someone called out to her, it was Eruru who came running towards her "You won't believe what happened! Wait you are all soaking wet! Are you alright!?"
Raven placed a hand on her shoulder and smiled. Eruru looked worried but shut up. She didn't try to stop her as she moved across the scene towards a more quiet place. Soon the elf got called by her superiors and didn't have time to query about Raven, but her image was stuck in her mind. For the elf, Raven seemed like a person who went to hell and came back.
She found solace at a small alley. She was a mess, so she got on her knees and puked. She hadn't ate anything, but her stomach was full of water. She needed to make sure she hadn't imagined it before.
"『Status Open』"
Name: Raven
Race: Beastman (Cat Clan)
Level: 2
Class: Clown
Strength: 4
Endurance: 11
Agility: 7
Dexterity: 7
Intellect: 12
Luck: 16
Skills
*Masquerade lvl 1
*Emergency Illusion (Passive)
*Fire Butterfly Swarm lvl 2
*Footwork lvl 3
*Daggers lvl 3
Achievements
Act of Mercy
Survive the Impossible
Others
Ring of the pact: Undine bond lvl 1
*Aqua Heal lvl1
*Aqua Shield lvl1
"I have leveled up?" She said dumbfounded, this wasn't real... and also... what the hell!? She was already a joke because of her class, but now she also become a healer!? "What was that stupid spirit thinking!?"
Healers were part of the support kind of adventurers, they were rare, and people often fought over them... this was like walking with a giant ass target on her back!
[Hydra's Fang Dagger aquired]
A blade with the cursed spirit of a poisonous monster embedded on it. It has a minimal chance to poison the enemy. Be careful, if the blade breaks it will grow uncontrollably.
And she also got a cowards weapon. Using poison was something very low, even for her, but she lost her old weapon, it was just a normal steel dagger but it was a fine craft and served her well for many battles. She sighed and tried to recompose herself. She felt better than ever, her bones felt lighter, her skin felt more firm, and overall she felt stronger.
'This is leveling up then...' It was a sensation one could become addicted.
As she left the alley, she saw Gerald once again leading a platoon of mercenaries under the command of the mage tower, she was lucky he was too busy to notice her, so she just moved toward a busy street where people were talking euphorically about what had happened in the dungeon.
"I tell ya, those elves are up to no good!" Said a white-haired dwarf to a very familiar Thorsen who was smoking on a pipe with a mug of beer in one of his hands.
Once she noticed the cat he waved at her.
"Hey, lass!" He said cheerfully "This is the one I been tellin' yall" The dwarf said proudly "This lass is a beast on her own league!"
She raised her hands, this was a good chance, a good cover. So she just sat with them without any hint of shame. The other dwarves seemed a little bit uncomfortable with her presence but Thorsen just laughed.
"Fancy meeting you here" She said, somewhat she felt more safe with the dwarf near her, he was strong after all, exactly what she needed to keep jerks like Gregor away.
"Ya drinking with us missy?" Said one of the dwarves, pushing a mug full of ale towards her, some kind of test.
Raven gracefully picked the ale and looked at them, they were judging her. If she made the wrong decisions they would surely kick her out.
"Cheers!" She said.
All the dwarfs celebrated and raised their own mugs, soon he place was full of laughter again, this was the best cover she could find, so getting ready to get wasted she saw on a corner the figure of Ito, being followed by an elf girl and a very happy Wormtongue who rubbed his own hands as if he had made a big bussiness.
"Ah!?" She said pointing at them.
All the dwarves followed her finger and saw the trio and back to her looking for some excuse, she understood she messed up, so she feigned being sad.
"That poor guy... he lost his manhood" She said faking her sadness and a spreading feeling of understanding across the members of the table, Raven leaned closer to Thorsen and whispered in a voice high enough for all the dwarves to hear "A zombie bitted him... there..."
Thorsen stood up and raised his mug to the skies.
"For the enuch!" He said, Raven could almost see a tear in his eyes.
"For the enuch!!!" Said the other dwarves.
Raven drank to hide her wicked smile, be it near-death experience or not, if she could throw some dirt towards Ito she will always chose to do so. Some minutes latter Gregor passed through the street followed by his goons, and saw the hateful cat, but she was just drinking peacefully among some dwarfs, he didn't have time to lose on the loser cat.