of strong alcohol smothers my nose, burning my nostrils as we make our way down the staircase.
The staircase has a new edition from the last time I saw it, now on the wall above it rests a bear
pelt with jet black fur with speckles of silver unevenly spread throughout. My mother stops next to it
and bends down to look me in the eye.
“Kusk, I want you to stay very close to me once we reach the dining area.
There are a lot of dangerous people in this tavern late into the night.”
“Okay mother, I wont leave your side” I say as a big smile erupts on my face. My heart pounds in
anticipation just to see someone besides my mother.
I hope this becomes a regular thing.
Rounding the bottom of the steps I am greeted with the sight of what was causing the boisterous
laughter. A short stout looking man with a gray beard and bald head is standing on the bar
recreating some sort of scene. He’s clothed in a thick chain mail shirt over a dirty woolen semi
white shirt and brown leather pants. A mug of alcohol barely staying in his hand as he waves it
around sporadically.
“YES I TELL YOU, SHE WAS LIKE; DON’T BE SCARED I GOT THIS” He pounds out as he does
an awkward slow running pose almost like a naruto run as he moves he beer lazily spilling droplets
across the countertop. The crowd of rowdy clientele erupts into more laughter.
“AND THAT'S NOT EVEN THE BEST PART! AS SHE WAS RUNNING SHE SLIPPED AND FELL
LIKE THIS!” The man excited screams out and slides across the counter towards us spilling his
booze all over himself. The crowd booms out more heartily cries of laughter.
The man slowly picks his head up with a smile plastered on his face. As his head raises further his
face goes deathly pale looking in my direction. No correction in my mothers direction. As I turn to
look towards my mother I see her fist trembling. Her face was bright red and contorted in anger
looking towards the man. My mother quickly pulls me along as she walks towards the man as he’s
frantically trying to hop off the counter; his knees slipping in the spilled alcohol.
Oh boy this doesn’t look good
“Droe a word if you will.” My mother spits out grabbing the back of the man's chainmail and
dragging him of the counter with one hand
“Gahhhhuuuuhhh” Droe lets out an unnatural gargle as he’s heaved from the counter onto a stool
and then being slammed onto the floor.
My mother slowly drags Droe across the nasty dirt covered flooring, causing a wet trail to be
dragged behind the man. The rest of the bar immediately goes deathly quiet as the bartender
quickly starts wiping down the bar and picking the stool back up. Meanwhile I am also being
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dragged along by the fiery will of my mother; too shocked to say a word. People are quickly moving
out of the way of the three of us as my mother hastily makes for the door. The aura she was putting
off so thick and intimidating it could cause a man to drop dead if they got caught in it.
“Is that her kid?” A man whispers
“I didn’t know she had a kid” A women whispers back.
We make it outside the tavern with Droe in tow, his desperate attempts to pull away from my
mothers grip like an ant taking on a praying mantis alone. She easily throws the man to the side of
the tavern with one hand as we make it outside causing the outside wall to protest against the
weight of Droe. She hastily approaches his slumped figure, kneeling down to get eye level with him
and point her finger towards his face.
“If you dare to insult me behind my back, you won’t have a tongue left to insult anyone ever again.”
She spits out inches in front of Droes face.
With a look of fear, regret, and despair Droe opens his eyes and starts to say something.
“I —-” My mother quickly places her hand on Droe’s mouth causing him to instantly fall quiet.
“Not another word, or I swear to you I will cut out your tongue and feed it to the rats.”
With a look of fear still upon his face. He quickly presses his back as close to the tavern wall as he
can, squeezing his eyes closed and taking a deep gulp. His hands trembled at his side. My mother
quickly stands with me right beside her as we make our way off into the night. I take one last glance
back as I see the man had passed out against the wall. I take a quick gulp.
Damn, my mother is a badass.
“Tusk… There is one lesson I have yet to teach you… you might not have a title, or be of nobility
but everyone has a reputation and you can’t let others tarnish that.” She tells me after a slight
pause between sentences.
“Okay”
My mother and I meander through the dark cobbled streets of Felkstead. The dimly lit streets are
not bustling with people this late at night. Only a couple of people stroll by without any second
glaces our way as we walk. A couple of guards are breaking up a fight outside a pub, while we walk
by paying only a slight glance in their direction.
The road has a couple of carts on the sides with the emblems of certain merchanting guilds. A few
lantern posts are scattered around, not holding lanterns but small balls of white light that cast faint
light around the streets. My mother taught me they are magic light orbs, a spell that when
combined with a magic crystal can last for weeks without recharging. Focusing on the ball of light I
try seeing how it worked.
- Skill Analyze lvl 1 learned -
Magic light (spell) - A lvl 0 spell that when cast produces light for (*) x lvl seconds
Pondering over my newly found skill, I look over to my mother and cast Analyze.
Chilo - lvl (???)
Interesting… So I guess it needs to be a higher level to be able to see her level. We continue
walking together while I Analyze on everything I see, but only get simple responses; like (a house)
or (a cart). Unfortunately it looks like this skill is hard to level. My mother looks down at me and
smiles as she picks me up and places me on the side of a well that is in the center of an
intersection. Looking around there is no one in sight, The only company we have are the flickering
shadows of the light from the magic light orbs.
“This is the center of the village, Kusk. That way is where the Lord and the knights live.” as she
points behind me straight across from where we are. “And that way is where the trading of monster
parts and the adventurer’s guild are.” as she points towards her right. “Over there is where the
commoners who have lived and grew up here live” as she points towards the left. It was less lit than
any of the other streets. “The direction we came from is where the regular traders, and taverns are
located.” she says as her face beams.
“Mom, is there a place where demi humans aren't ostracized for what they are?” I reply after thinking about my future.
“Not that I’m familiar with.” A sad expression replaces her cheerful look.
“Oh” I reply with a sullen look on my face.
“But Kusk, there are a few demi humans who have become powerful adventurers” She replies quickly after seeing my face.
“Really like who?” I reply with skepticism in my voice. She’s obviously lying.
“Like your real father.”