Sharp

It turns out I crashed for a long time. I only remember waking up with dreams once in the night. I suspect there is some subtle magic at work here.

I woke in the morning and wandered downstairs. The two priests who were having breakfast were helpful and sorted me out for food.

“If you want anything in particular to eat, add it to the shopping list there,” one said. “The shopping gets done a couple of times a week.”

I sat with them, and it turned out they were coming off the night shift and were having a bite before going home to their partners. Most priests lived off-site and carried out normal lives, coming to do their temple shifts as scheduled.

“We are a bit short-staffed at the moment,” one said, “due to the number of people heading out to fight the undead priests. I would go myself, but I have a newborn, and the High-priestess forbid it.”

“You always have a newborn,” the other complained. “You married a priestess of Fertility!”

The other just grinned widely.

After breakfast, I wandered out to the garden. It was pleasant and peaceful. I found a bench and meditated for a bit. My Fur Skill had gone up.

A man in Priest robes sat next to me but didn’t disturb my meditation. Maybe he was meditating as well, praying, or doing whatever priests do.

When I looked up, he said, “Be welcome in this place. I am Priest Anada, but just call me Anada. You are Theo and our newest Guest. Would you like me to show you around?”

I nodded, and he gave me a tour of the temple. It was bigger than I expected. I declined to go in the door labelled Morgue.

“Some people are curious,” Anada said. “People grieve in many ways.” Out the back was a large open area with seating around it. In the centre was what looked like an altar the right size for a body, and there were ritual diagrams drawn all over it. I stopped.

“Don’t worry,” Anada said. “I know it looks like a sacrificial altar, but our Goddess has no need of those things. All people come to her eventually. Well, almost all. This is actually where we hold the cremations. The rituals intensify the flames to do a thorough job.”

We came to another door, which he opened. Inside was a large sparring room with a set of weights, sparring weapons and training dummies. “This is for letting off some steam, and of course, we priests train here.” When I looked at him curiously, he said, “People grieve in many ways, and sometimes you just want to hit something. If you ever want to spar, just look me up. I am always willing.”

I nodded. I wasn’t ready for that.

We came to the end of the tour, and he said, “If you ever want to talk to someone, come and find me. It is part of why we are here.”

“Theo!” I heard a not-quite yell from the accommodation areas. Nia was heading over.

“I will leave you in Nia’s care,” Anada said. “Remember to find me if you ever want to talk, even if it is just about the weather.” He winked at me and greeted Nia as he passed her.

“Morning, Theo. I hope you slept well. I know I did!”

I just nodded to her.

“I got you this,” she said, handing me a token with the symbol of death on it. “It identifies you as a Guest of the goddess. Any of Death’s temples are now open to you, worldwide, at any time.”

I was stunned. “Like anywhere, and is this forever?”

“Well, the Goddess is worldwide, and she is eternal, so it is valid until she revokes it.”

“Ok,” I said, not knowing what to say.

“If you ever need help, go to one of our temples and show them this. We will always back you up while you have it. Now, I am heading into town to run some errands and wondered if you wanted to come. I can show you around, and you may need some basic supplies.”

“I don’t have much coin,” I said.

“No problem. That is normal for refugees. If you were in the refugee area, you would be getting a basic allowance for your needs. I am sure we can do better than that,” She grinned at me. I got the impression she might like shopping.

I tucked the token into one of my belt pouches and nodded, “That sounds good, then.”

“I am planning on walking. Are you fine with that?” I nodded.

The city centre was about a fifteen-minute walk from the temple. Nia pointed out key landmarks and places as we walked. The walk was along the lake shore and was very pleasant.

There were a lot of shops. Stillwater was maybe three times the size of Ironwood. I replaced my worn belts, and Nia insisted I get a spare set. I got some new shorts, and Nia showed me some loose trousers made of a soft, silky material that I liked, so she bought me two of those.

“There are shirts made of the same material that a lot of Leonids like to wear,” she said. She wanted me to get a bright pink one in a floral pattern, but I chose more subdued colours. I did get a floral pattern on one of them. It was a dark green with dark red flowers.

“Are you sure you don’t want shoes?” Nia said. She leaned closer, “Some people looked down on people with bare feet, even Leonids.”

I let her buy me a pair of shoes, although I was not planning to wear them much. I sat for a while in a tea shop, sipping tea and watching the world go by as Nia went off and did some of her errands. Stillwater had its own style and scent. I could probably settle here quite pleasantly, except it was too close to Ironwood with its memories and too far from some wilderness.

We got back mid-afternoon, and I went to my room, changed out of my good clothes and into some shorts and belts and went to the sparing room. I worked my way through the forms. Axes, then Knives and finally, the spear. I grabbed a proper training spear from the racks and was halfway through when Anada came in.

“Ah, a fellow spear user!” he said. He watched me for a bit and said, “You are quite stiff, and your footwork is not quite right there. Would you like some help?”

I nodded gratefully, and he grabbed his own training spear and showed me how it was supposed to be done. I copied his moves, and he showed me an extra movement. We finished with a light spar. He was obviously well above my level; he may even be silver rank, but I couldn’t tell. When I got an aura skill, I would have a better idea.

I went to bed that night in a much better state of mind.

The next few days were pleasant. In the morning, I would go for walks along the lake's edge and sometimes explore the suburbs around the temple. In the afternoon, Anada and I would train together, and I could feel the Skillbook knowledge settling into place. Anada and I also spoke sometimes, and I told him some of my experiences and childhood stories.

In return, I learned some things about what it was like as an acolyte and priest in the temple. It surprised me that most of the acolytes and priests came to work in the temple later in life. Anada used to be an adventurer and lost his entire team on one disastrous contract. That was when he decided to retire from adventuring and became a gardener in his local temple.

I was meditating in the garden when a voice boomed across from the entrance: “There he is! Theo! Good to see you!” I turned, and Gary’s large form was marching toward me. He had a huge grin on his face, and he grabbed me into an enormous hug.

“Ah, hi,” I said.

Farrah and Rufus were following him. Everyone had looked up and were now watching us. I saw Nia heading our way as well.

“Hi, Theo,” greeted Farrah, and Rufus shook my hand.

“How about we go and find a tea shop and let these people get back to their peaceful business,” Rufus said pointedly.

“I saw a tavern nearby,” Gary said pointedly.

I nodded, and we headed for the door as Nia came up, “Do you mind if I join you?” She asked.

Everybody looked at me to make the decision. I shrugged, “That’s fine.” I found I was shrugging a lot. I should probably try to stop that. I mentally shrugged, I didn’t really care much.

We ended up at the Tavern. Nia seemed to know the owner, so she took us to a quiet corner, signalling for a round of drinks.

There was some general catchup.

“The big news,” said Gary, “Is that Farrah and I have decided to let the weird guy with no hair join our team permanently.”

“Congratulations,” I said.

“Yep,” Gary said, “We are here to celebrate, which means the next round is on you, weird guy.” He slapped Rufus on the back, causing him to spill the mouthful he had just taken.

“The other good news,” Farrah said, “is I sorted your essence out with the Adventure Society and sold the awakening stones for a great price. You can choose any common essence they have available, and we can go through awakening stone options.”

“We are happy to give you some advice if you are unsure,” Rufus said.

“Rufus has good advice as well,” Farrah said, “as he grew up at the school for adventurers, he mentioned, and he has seen a lot of essence combinations.”

Rufus looked at me, “I understand you have the hunt essence, but I never did get your other one. Are you going for a Hunter combination?”

“I have known a lot of hunters,” Gary said, “There are all sorts of good combinations. Usually, they combine hunt with weapon essence, like the bow or spear, and sometimes, they combine the trap essence. Then, whether an elemental essence or an animal essence. I met a Hunter once with the Bear Essence.”

“Gary,” Farrah interrupted, “I said Rufus has good advice.”

“All those combinations lead to the Predatory confluence,” Rufus said, “which is good for hunters, but why don’t we let Theo tell us what he wants.”

Everybody was looking at me. “I, ah, I did want to be a hunter, but I might be stuffed now because I don’t think that is what I want to do any more.”

Everybody was still looking at me.