Chapter 14

The desk clerk had looked at me oddly when I requested baths, both before I went to bed and when I woke. With fresh clean water even. Sitting in the tub shortly after dawn, washing my hair, I remembered Yvonne’s face when I asked for the same treatment. She cursed me before, during and after, yet made sure that my bath was there when I woke.

The only morning that it wasn’t fresh when I woke for me was when that fucking assassin attacked me. Not that I minded, I wasn’t in my right mind either.

Breakfast in the Guild tavern was a choice between bread and cheese, or oatmeal, both served with watered ale. Honeyed ale was extra. All for the ‘low price’ of five coppers. Two coppers more than Belfast’s Guild dining hall.

I had noticed in my explorations that the prices here were higher. From as little as twenty percent higher to double in some instances. Like that chilled ale from yesterday, it was double of what I expected to find in Belfast.

From the overwhelming amount of people that I saw yesterday, demand probably overwhelmed the supply. Something dangerous in a city this large and dynamic.

“Priestess Cynthia? I’m Man-Bear, can I sit?”

I looked up from my musings to see a tall, broad shouldered man, wearing brown mail with overlapping silver dollar sized scales and the ugliest pair of green pants to have ever existed.

“You may, Adventurer Man-Bear.” What the hell is with these names? Theresa said that the more famous Adventurers adopted nicknames to stand out from the others but ‘Man-Bear’?

“I’m the head of the Animal Guild,” he began, I could only blink at the name and repress a smile, “and was wondering if you would be interested in joining us, my team specifically. We are on the thirteenth floor of Elemental Paradise and,”

“Are laggers,” interrupted a dark-skinned, clean-shaven woman with a few very faint scars on her face and neck. She too was wearing the same brown scale mail as Man-Bear. In my wanderings from yesterday, no one else wore anything similar.

“I’m Rico, vice-commander of the Crimson Mavens. I think you would be better off joining us. Besides we have dedicated women only teams, you can join one of those and, if you are good enough, you can move up to one of our top teams.”

At first, I thought it was odd that Man-Bear didn’t protest his rival sitting unasked, but changed my mind. He knew I would receive more offers and he didn’t mind them. A plus on his side.

“Why would you want a junior Priestess, who only has cast a few Spells and never entered any of the dungeons here to join you?” I asked, taking a bite of my near-empty, tasteless, very tasteless, oatmeal.

“Sune’s Priestesses can heal.” The majority of the Priests couldn’t. I had discovered that it was more of a personal affinity than Gods granted abilities. A few of Aune’s Priestesses could heal, yet none strongly. But they were all very well rounded in every area of support magic. On the other hand, neither Bane’s Priests nor Sur’s Priests could heal at all. “And you have proven your strength.” Man-Bear replied.

“I’m not saying no. But I just arrived in Danbury yesterday and I need to spend some time at the Temple of Sune. Plus, I have a friend that wants to show me what the insides of the three are like.”

“We can protect you and teach you the ropes,” Rico offered.

“I will need teaching, but you didn’t let me finish, Adventurer Rico. I only know one person in this city. And trust only one person. Would either of you let your cute younger sister enter Paradise with a team she just met?” From their faces, no they would not. More pluses for the two.

“Over the next few 10-days, I will be learning the city. I’m not in a rush to do more than explore right now. When those 10-days are up, I’ll make inquiries. Just remember one thing, I do not equate evil with beauty. Thank you for the invitations.” I stood, took my tray, and carried it to the counter where a waitress received it for cleaning-ish.

That was fast.

“Fuck, she’s a noble.”

“And not a low one,” Man-Bear replied to his friend and competitor. “I take it you heard what happened to Matt?”

“He’s dead,” Rico replied.

“Oh? He died from having his shoulder pulverized?”

“No, he was stabbed in the eyes a few dozen times last night,” Rico replied with disgust. Not at the killers, but at the man himself.

“No loss there. I wonder who her friend is?” Man-Bear asked aloud.

“A silver I find out faster,” Rico wagered.

“Deal,” Man-Bear stood and left the fourth strongest person in the city by herself. Fifth, now that Bloodbane returned. He wondered about her altered appearance and wondered how she was doing. It had been years since Theresa left Danbury and he was curious what had brought her back.

Located at the center of Danbury, the temple quarter was the smallest district. Unlike Belfast, in addition to the east-west street running through the quarter, there was also a north-south avenue.

Tone’s giant silver-leafed tree identical to the one in Belfast dominated the occupied the space at the center of the temple district crossroads. The four temples with the innermost position were Aune, Sur, Sune, and Bane.

Yur’s Temple of Merchants was the largest in the city. She held the favorable position to the south of the others, leaving Dar’s Temple of War to the north. When Theresa told me that Dar had the second largest temple in Danbury, I was shocked. But she explained that anyone who entered the dungeons nearby fought for their lives on a regular occurrence found some affinity with her teachings.

Worshiping the Goddess of War for those who fought for a living did make sense when she put it that way. There were even a few of Her priests who could heal, and those were among the strongest of all of the clergy in the country with that ability.

Theresa also warned me, that just because they were ranked C, didn’t mean that they couldn’t have tested for higher rankings, it was just that it would serve no purpose. Only Adventurers who wanted to be Guildmasters or planned on retiring took the test for higher ranks, Theresa reminded me.

I thought that the system wasn’t the best, Okay, it was dumb, the disparity in the C’s was too large for that classification to be reliable. It was close to being a pass or fail system. Again, I reminded myself to talk to Theresa about it, yet whenever I brought the topic up, she found other things to do.

The newly opened Danbury Temple of Sune was undergoing massive reconstruction. If I thought that Belfast’s was bad, I was being small minded. Here, most of the roof was missing and none of the columns were standing, other than the corner ones, and one of those had to have been new. The walls looked new, or freshly scrubbed and/or patched, sections of the main walk were definitely new and I hadn’t even seen the inside yet.

I looked around in wonder, a mile straight ahead was a lily rainbow. Lilies of all sorts and sizes blossomed in every direction almost as far as the eye could see. I knew that there was a wall exactly one mile on every side, from the inside only. The Gods’ magic at work.

There were three temporary sheds surrounding the temple. In front of one of the sheds, which actually wasn’t a shed, but a small apartment complex, probably for the temple staff, was a large fire going with numerous people around it, young and old.

On the grounds itself, I clearly felt three Priestesses and a powerful Elder Priestess of Sune, most likely from the new High Priestess who moved from a different country to this one to get things rolling. There were also two of Ola’s Priests inside one of the Sheds, they probably were unloading or helping unload a delivery of food, plus there was even a strong Forgemaster standing next to the Elder Priestess, discussing something on the interior of the temple.

It was still too early for hired workers to arrive. From what I understood those wouldn’t show until 07:00, twenty minutes from now, for their standard ten-hour day, not including a half-hour lunch.

No union rules here.

I headed inside the temple to greet the Elder, who had to have known of my arrival.

“Greetings Elder Sister, Greetings Forgemaster. I am Cynthia.”

Even if she did know I was there, Danbury’s High Priestess of Sune’s head swiveled at me, slightly frowning at the interruption. They had been discussing on how to best repair a large fresco.

“Greetings, Junior Sister, I am Gretchen. This is Forgemaster Ren.”

“Little Sister, welcome to our city. If you need help with anything, please come visit me,” Forgemaster Ren offered.

“Thank you, Forgemaster Ren.” The older man reminded me of Richard, which twanged my heart for a second.

“Elder Sister, I will keep the acolytes busy while you are occupied.” I nodded and left. I had time.

“That’s an interesting little Sister you have, Gretchen.”

“It’s a failing in the teachings, some of them think they are beauty and the rest of the world is there to appreciate them.” She shook her head while wanting to bash in the heads of too many of her other Sisters. Correctly, yet just not in this case, blaming her fellow Sisters for having a too large of an ego and passing that hubris along to their disciples.

That wasn’t what Forgemaster Ren meant. He recognized that her necklace was one of Sur’s artifacts and not like any he had ever seen before. Taking a quick look at Gretchen’s Lily, he compared them and found hers to be a normal symbol of Sune, with just a hair of Sune’s Power residing inside.

Cynthia’s was not. Hers had some of his Lord’s Force inside of that tiny flower. And that was not all. There were other Gods who blessed that young Priestess’ Symbol of Sune. Seven in total including Tone.

She was quite interesting indeed...

I met the three Sisters right away, I never asked but wondered how disproportionate the numbers were in Sune’s Priestesses over their Priests.

Juno, Segovia, and Yasbel seemed nice on our first meeting, each of the three were in their early twenties and offered to show me around, but I declined.

“I promised Elder Sister that I would take care of the acolytes until she was ready for me. I’ll keep them out of mischief so that I won’t slow anyone down.”

I felt resistance that me, their junior, ordered them around, but I wasn’t asking for anything unreasonable so they complied.

I made the twelve acolytes-in-training wash their hands before and after eating. Something almost unheard of in this day and age.

“Come with me.” I sat them in a semi-circle and began teaching them to write words and letters.

“This is the alphabet. This is how you draw an ‘A’.” using my fingers on a pile of dirt that I moved from near the outermost shed and began teaching the willing children a skill that only the wealthy learned. And even then, most girls were left illiterate.

It wasn’t until lunch that we were interrupted; Sister Juno called us back to the fire for what I laughingly called a pita. They had a different name for the stuffed sandwich, but it would always be a pita to me.

“Cynthia, would you come with me?” Gretchen asked. I brushed off my dress and followed, wondering how this would play out.

She led me to the front of the temple, turned and asked, “What do you think?”

“It’s a mess. That column alone is not enough to support the weight of the granite roof. That’s why the original architects had four on each side. The four in front are mostly for show, the corner ones are fine since the original roof didn’t overlap the front of the building, the sides are what need the structural support.

“That section of the roof will have to be torn down, but you know that. Hopefully the granite can be cut instead of broken so that we can reuse it and save on some material costs.

“Since there is a large hole in the front of the building, why don’t you round out the hole and put in a stained-glass window, something like a giant lily. On top of adding some needed light on the inside, if done right, it will stand out nicely.”

She looked at me and then the opening and back at me. “Where are you from, Cynthia?”

“I’m sorry, I am not allowed to tell anyone, Elder Sister.” That wasn’t a reply that she expected.

“Are you familiar with architecture?”

“Some, I am good at math but I never studied loads.”

“Loads?”

“Loads are forces acting on something. In this case, look at that roof. It is a stationary load. It constantly presses down on the roof. Then you have the columns, it has to bear both stationary loads from the extra roof support, plus the elements, plus people leaning against them, and then you have to consider the longevity of the material needed. White granite is an excellent choice of material. But I am unfamiliar with the geography of the area and do not know of the supply and how much is needed.

“I also do not know the market forces of the area and how much it will cost, nor do I know the quality of the local artisans nor their pricing.” I ended saying way too much. I felt my doom fast approaching.

“Since you obviously know more than I do, I want you to meet with the architects and look over their plans.” She threw everything in my lap.

Damn... Me and my big mouth.

“Elder Sister, please show me around. I’ll need to take notes on what you want done before I see the architects.”

“Don’t worry about the statuary, I’ll handle that. Over here...” ‘Elder’ Sister Gretchen began my personal tour of the rebuild.

The following four hours I spent listening in on what my new glorious leader had to say about the temple, what she envisioned, how to interact with the community, and about Sune’s teachings. Mostly I agreed with her, and nothing she said or asked of me did I have a problem with.

I had learned my lesson with Brother Benito, there was no way I was telling her that I was The Avatar.

“Elder Sister Gretchen, I have a gift for this temple. May we go somewhere private?”

We ended up in the in the basement storage area. Unlike Belfast’s basement where there were cells allotted for the permanent clergy, here the Priests and Priestesses of Sune lived in outbuildings which were relegated to the end of the restoration list.

“What is it, Cynthia?”

“This is one of fans of the Basilisk that The Avatar killed outside of Belfast.” I handed over one of the nine fans. Her reaction was much more guarded than Brother Benito’s, yet still reverent.

“Where did you get this?”

“I’m sorry, Elder Sister. All I am allowed to say is that this is a task given to me by Sune.” And that ‘*’ denoting a quest, wouldn’t go away until all nine pieces were delivered...

“Thank you. You can go, just remember to prioritize your safety and not go too deep tomorrow. Even the Relic can be dangerous, the people inside even more so.”

I had informed her of my plans of exploring the dungeons during our four hour get-to know-each-other and temple plan session. She wasn’t thrilled but knew that I was young, and talking me out of it would be impossible in a city dedicated to and built around those three dungeons.

“Thank you, Elder Sister. But please don’t worry about me. I will be in the care of my friend Theresa. She is well known here and an expert on the dungeons.” And no one in their right mind was daring enough to cross her, I added to myself.

“Keep your eyes open regardless,” she nagged.

“Yes, Elder Sister.” I nodded and walked past Tone, asking that he be nicer to me next time. I knew that he could easily have destroy my mind in one of His trips.

On my way to the temple quarter, I appreciated the view and that it was built on the highest point of the city. Standing near Tone’s garden, I looked over the city, which still bustled even at dusk.

This place wouldn’t be as easy as Belfast was. Not in the slightest, I thought to myself, noting the sheer amount of people still active.

I stopped to have dinner, something with actual taste, just outside of the temple district, and mentally reviewed my day with Gretchen and all that she wanted from me and her Junior Sisters. On the surface, it wasn’t much; in reality, she wanted everything.

Something I couldn’t give at this time and I felt that she understood that. Me giving the section of the fan to her and stating clearly that I personally had to deliver the other segments to the rest of the kingdom’s temples, indicated with no choice of refusal that I would be moving on. Just not when.

I liked Gretchen, she was probably a great temple head and exactly what Sune needed in this overcrowded lawless city. She would even make a great CEO, I thought. But for those reasons, I wasn’t sure if I could trust her.

I was deep in thought on my way to my temporary lodging when I felt danger. Someone was about to attack me from behind, so I lashed out, accidentally activating Strike, my middle-strength punch.

All those freaking bandits and sparring sessions with Theresa had gotten to me.

Too late, I realized my mistake. Kneeling down beside the masked dead man with the collapsed chest, I looked him over. Black leather armor, a dagger fallen by his left hand, the one in his right hand skidded past me, my assailant’s neck was even painted black between his high neck tunic and the mask which covered it, yet could get shaken loose, with uncontrolled exertion.

Unfortunately, that depression where his sternum should be, quite clearly said he would never breathe again, nor would he say why he was trying to attack me.

A crowd gathered, followed by the city guards.

“What happened here?” A guard leader in chainmail asked sitting astride his horse. Not even bothering to dismount or check the body. The five men with him were on foot, that was their job.

“He tried to stab me from behind. You can see the dagger under his hand to the left and the right was taken by someone over there. I wasn’t looking, so don’t know who.”

“Who are you?”

“Priestess Cynthia of Sune.”

“Where are you going to?”

“Home, I am staying at the inn next to the adventurer’s Guild.”

“Bert, search the body,” the officer ordered.

The man the officer ordered to search removed my attacker’s leather mask, revealing a face I had never seen before. Searching revealed little other than coins, some potions and hidden weapons.

“Lieutenant, there’s poison on the blade.”

“Bag it. Priestess, sorry for disturbing your night. Do you want one of my men to escort you home?”

“I’d appreciate it, Lieutenant.” It couldn’t hurt and maybe this way Theresa wouldn’t be too hard on me. “Lieutenant, will you please inform Sister Gretchen that I am unharmed and have returned to my abode with your assistance?”

“Yes, Priestess.” He understood my wording. I had credited my safety entirely to him. “Brody, see to the Priestess.”

The fifteen-minute walk was uneventful and quiet. My accompanying guard said little. I thanked him for his efforts and headed in the hostel. As dusty and smelly from the multitudes of unwashed masses as this city was, two baths per day was not unreasonable. For my modern sensibilities, it was mandatory.

Theresa was still out, probably meeting old friends or her parents, so I pulled up the small chair to the two-by-two desk and began working on force equations. Load bearing walls needed material strength tables, which I didn’t have. Nor did I have a way of getting around that shortcoming without doing actual experiments.

I had to hope that the architect firm Sister Gretchen dealt with had decent numbers.

Theresa knocked on my door late, said goodnight, and turned in. She was unusually subdued compared to her normal behavior. Yet I knew that it was too early for her to open up or press for answers, so I had little choice but to give her time.

My new leathers from Master Matty in Belfast were looser and easier to put on, just not as comfortable. They were stiffer too. But I didn’t have room to complain.

“Lieutenant, this guy’s chest is completely caved in. It’s like he is a bag of gel,” Bert, the senior patroller, whispered to his young leader.

“That’s for the Captain to sort. I don’t do politics,” the newly minted guard officer replied. He too heard the rumor about the new Priestess of Sune’s strength and had no desire to get on her bad side.

Anyone who could kill a newly promoted C-Ranked Adventurer in one hit was too scary to mess with.

I dressed in low-heeled boots, long pants, bustier running from my navel to the top of my sternum, a three-quarter sleeved jacket, and a thick collar, which was magically reinforced to guard against blades and fingerless gloves. All my clothes, aside from the collar, were enchanted for auto-repair and durability. Even with a discount, I couldn’t afford the extra stacked enchantment.

They weren’t as good as my old ones from Hero World, but they should work just fine in the lower tier dungeons. The clothes from the game world were near indestructible. Not even the basilisk’s petrifying breath or poison could damage them enough that they did not recover by the next day, but it was too early to bring them out.

“Morning.” Theresa greeted, sitting down beside me with what they called ‘breakfast’ in her hand.

“Morning. Are you feeling better?” I asked between spoonfuls.

“A good night sleep helps. Are you ready for the Relic?” she teased. We both knew that the Relic was way below either of our abilities. From the way she described it, that dungeon was completely for the beginner levels. In Hero World, it would probably be rated as a level ten or fifteen solo dungeon. At least until lower levels where the difficulty increased.

As a level 50, if I entered one like that, all I would see would be grayed out names, and the monsters wouldn’t be aggroed even if I stepped on their toes. Only if I attacked would they attack back, if they lived, which they wouldn’t. The level and strength difference were too vast.

“You never told me how we are going to enter. Both of us are ranked too high.”

“I have Guildmaster’s exemption,” she tore off a piece of fresh bread and chewed on the hard crust.

“That makes sense.” I hesitated, I really didn’t want to bring up what happened last night, but she had a right to know and would find out eventually.

“I was attacked last night, someone with a pair of poison daggers was about to stab me in the back on the way home from the temple. I killed him.”

“Did you find out who it was?” She wasn’t the least bit surprised.

“The city patrol came and dealt with the guy.” I went on to describe the man and what happened, including my reflex Strike.

“You should go to the guard headquarters tomorrow and ask about the case.” She gave me one of her twisted smiles. She knew that I would get nothing.

We were just about to get up to turn in our trays when someone announced, “Attend! Princess Marigold arrives.”

The patrons became silent and stood, chairs scraped and armor rattled but no one spoke. I stood too, mostly because I didn’t want to be the only one sitting. Surprising me, everyone, Theresa included, turned and bowed with their fist to their chest, facing the man who called out the Princess’s presence in the room.

“We Serve,” was repeated by everyone in attendance.

All but one person. In my defense, I could honestly say that I didn’t know the custom.

An early-twenties blonde woman in full riding leathers, or the best light armor, I wasn’t sure which, and a jacket cut similar to mine yet longer and actually covered her full torso and tush, entered and gazed at her subjects. Her eyes caught mine and showed signs of startlement.

Unfortunately, one of her knights, massive mustache, sideburns and all, took two steps towards me, unsheathed his sword and struck at me. “You Dare?!”

Thankfully, Theresa was paying better attention than I was and blocked his attack. Both the Princess and I were taking measure of the other. Blonde hair in tight braids wrapped around her head, crystal clear blue eyes, elegant chiseled features, perfectly erect frame, and a bearing that one could only get from years of practice.

“What’s this? You dare block me, Bloodbane?”

Replying calmly, Theresa said, “Priestess Cynthia is not a citizen of the Kingdom, Byron.” Their swords had clashed quite a few times and neither the Princess nor I cared. And I didn’t know why. She was beautiful, granted, and she had a presence that was remarkable, but...

“Enough, Sir Byron. What would you have done if I were attacked while you were off, playing around?” Princess Marigold scolded her lead knight. Even if it was plain as day that she had seven other guardians surrounding her and wasn’t in any danger.

Theresa received a glare, and I a look of disgust from Sir Mustache, but the knight followed his superior’s command, reluctantly sheathing his weapon and returned to the Princess’s side.

“Rise and thank you,” she commanded her subjects. Rise and thank you? That was different. Even if it was superfluous, almost everyone in attendance had already looked up to watch the fight.

Princess Marigold glided to our table, “May I join you?” she was asking me, even if it was addressed to the both of us.

“Please do. I am Cynthia.” As always, I never gave a house name or a surname. Even better or worse, depending on the recipient, I never said where I was from. If they already knew I was affiliated with Sune, then that too was not mentioned.

“I am Marigold.” This was royalty, her Presence was absolute. She had to have been a direct descendant of the last king and most likely a favored one. That she wasn’t killed in the Gods’ retribution against the king and his ministers meant that she wasn’t a first born.

Hmm...

She sat, “Byron, please get me a bowl of what they are serving.”

“Yes, your Highness,” he replied tersely.

“Theresa, it’s good to see you return to civilization. How have you been?”

“I’m well, your Highness,” she replied formally.

That was something new – including her parents, I had not heard Theresa be respectful to anyone before, other than when she spoke of the Supreme. On top of that, it was genuine respect. She wasn’t mouthing the words.

“I hear that you are planning on showing your friend the Relic today. Would you,” she turned to look at me, “mind if I accompany the both of you?”

“I don’t mind, Marigold.” She had given permission to use her name and it would be out of character if I backed down here. Her guards hissed at my reply, but remained unmoved. I believed it was because she didn’t react and Sir Byron was out of hearing range.

Theresa passed a signal to our table mate that I didn’t understand, before replying, “We would be most glad to have you join us, your Highness.”

“Thank you, Byron.” The Princess accepted the bowl of tasteless oatmeal and took a spoonful without hesitation. “Belle shall accompany me inside the Relic, the rest of you shall wait outside.”

“Princess, I protest. This Priestess is a foreigner.”

“Theresa and Belle shall safeguard me. Unless you believe that anyone is foolish enough to risk their life with the legendary Bloodbane in my company.

“Princess, Bloodbane already acted against you when she blocked my strike on the foreigner.”

“That is some convoluted reasoning your guard has, Marigold,” I chuckled.

Her eyes smiled at me, but that was all. “Enough, Byron. I have made my decision.” He quieted at that rebuke.

“Cynthia, how do you like our lands?”

“I am enjoying my time here. The people have been pleasant and the sights have been enticing. I was never cut out to be a farmer, so I explore. I might risk my life, but it’s my life. Right guys?” I called out. I knew that everyone surrounding us was listening intently. It wasn’t often that a member of the royal family sat in the same tavern as the lower class.

The knocking on the table from the various adventurers in hearing range confirmed my thoughts.

The Princess across from me let loose a full smile, she knew what I was doing and why.

Princess Marigold finished most of her oatmeal without qualms, to show that she wasn’t just a Pretty-Pampered-Princess. Once outside of the Guild, she removed her left glove and withdrew a sheathed twenty-two-inch sword from her ring of holding and strapped it to her hip. She probably had an even larger magical storage space than Theresa.

Byron was stonefaced and fuming a step behind his Princess, who was questioning Theresa about her time ‘at the far edge of civilization’.

It was readily apparent that this wasn’t their first meeting and I suspected that they were more than casual acquaintances by the less than absolutely formal interaction between the pair. I wasn’t left out of their conversation, yet I was an outsider.

Sir Belle, like the rest of the Princess’s guards, was equipped in mithril armor. Hers, unlike the rest of the Royal Knights, was mithril Chain. I recognized it from when Richard tried to stuff me into a size fifty shirt. My thirty-four-inch chest and 5′ 2″ frame swam in the heavy metal shirt and was dwarfed by the linked rings in the chain mail.