The Hero's Flagon
A brown colored copper card came into view after Grant fished it out of his pocket. He was curious about what details Athal had inscribed on it for him to not react.
He held it up high above his face while lying down on his back against the bed's soft mattress. Tilting it here and there and even sometimes flicking it with his fingers.
[Grant Simmons] Human
Lv 1 (No Class)
Copper Rank Adventurer
Eligible for any E rank quest and even F- rank quests.
"Neat..." Grant tucked it away and he wanted to go downstairs and do a few quests to see how truly difficult they were. And earn funds to invest in some gear for himself.
As a man, he has his pride and the thought of being too reliant on Stella for money left a bad taste for his mouth. He was not a submissive kept man.
Grant might be Stella's servant but to him, he is not her dog. Their relationship is kinda close to a worker and a manager.
And even if that woman orders him around he will not blindly follow unless the situation is dire, his interests coincide with hers or the request isn't too troublesome.
Still, something had bothered him ever since he had just registered at the adventurer's guild. It was a notification from the system itself.
[ [Enhanced Strength] had recovered and became [Enhanced Strength Lv 9] ]
The word recovered left a deep impression on him.
"By recovered, that means it was higher than that initially huh..." The system mentioning such a thing left many doubts and even more questions forming inside his head.
And his attention was drawn to the (Sealed) condition stated beside his race in his Status Window.
What exactly did (Sealed) on his status window mean? Is he some sort of demon spawn just like Stella had jokingly mentioned or should he worry about some demon fox being trapped inside him?
Grant couldn't help but overthink things before he shook his head and stopped asking himself even more questions that couldn't be currently answered.
He decided that it was best to wait and see how his attributes and Skills would develop over time. And maybe that interesting system would send him a notification just like this one.
Grant opened his status window and began skimming through his skills and observing them once more.
-----
[Enhanced Strength Lv 9]
- User possesses superhuman strength
- Gives growth correction of 0.25 for Strength
- +900 strength (Not in effect)
[Skill is currently (Dormant)]
-----
Grant couldn't almost believe his eyes while he was reading the text presented within the nearly transparent crystal blue screen presented before him.
Hastily checking the other Skills, Grant found them to be all dormant and not giving any extra benefit to him. They were akin to a few slices of pie.
It was still pie but it wasn't whole, a mere piece of a bigger picture.
Luckily for him, three skills were non-dormant.
-----
[Unarmed Combat Lv 3]
-User is more proficient and effective when it comes to fighting with his bare hands
-----
-----
[Serene Mind (Max)]
- Keep the user in a constant state of tranquility
- Able to stay calm regardless of the situation
- Weak Illusions cannot affect you
- Gives increased resistance to mind disturbances
- Grants resistance to soul attacks
- Suppresses negative and harmful emotions
-----
-----
[Mental Trauma Lv 6]
- Extreme external conditions had left a shadow inside the user's heart
- Constantly applies [Anxious] and [Highly Irritable]
- Could cause the user to commit irrational actions now and then
- Any sufficiently effective additional external condition could worsen the user's mental state
- Has the possibility to drive the user into insanity or a period of mania
-----
The last skill displeased Grant greatly. It was his weakness and an annoyance.
When he wasn't able o keep himself constantly calm, it was that mental instability that caused him to make blunders and rash decisions. It affected his judgment which led to unsavory mistakes.
Thankfully for him, he was able to adapt and suppress his weakness.
'I have to make sure she doesn't find out about this...' Grant became determined to hide his mental trauma from Stella who might use it to put him at a disadvantage.
He never really trusted Stella, he trusted the System's power in keeping the contract's terms strictly enforced. Why? Because he had long deduced that the System is the ethereal entity governing the laws of this world.
The System sounds like a child when speaking or sending notifications but Grant knew to not judge a book by its cover.
If it took a few years for Daniel, his best friend to crack the protective shell around Grant and be his friend then it would take longer for Stella.
A stranger that had become his master by a series of absurd events.
Grant closed his eyes and noted that he will leave Stella and break off their relations after completely fulfilling the terms stated in the contract.
After that, he wouldn't even bat an eye towards her. Unless something happens in their journey that would change Grant's opinion of his companion.
Though he was still grateful for her and held her in high regard. He respected her and would believe any logical thing Stella would mention.
Stella... Although Grant wasn't sure whether he could trust her, he was sure that he could respect her.
And it was also because he felt indebted and thankful for her summoning him and managing to even save his life by a complete accident.
That was his reason as to why he wished to form a contract with her. To help her and pay back the debt.
While learning more about the world with her help and having an easier time getting used to Terrunn with his master as a guide.
If it was anyone wanting to be his master and take him as a servant?
Grant chuckled lightly.
'No.' He answered his thought decisively without any hesitation.
If it was anyone else then he would have done everything in his capability to kill them. Or even trick them into revealing a weakness he could exploit and kill them.
-----
And meanwhile, downstairs.
While Grant was nearly having an existential crisis and had conflicted views about her, Stella had just finished taking her bath and left the Inn's bathing room fully dressed in a purple nightgown.
She was completely oblivious to Grant's thoughts as she hummed a happy tune.
A yawn couldn't help but escape her light-colored red lips. She rubbed her eyes before heading towards the Inn's main lobby which was the first floor.
The hero's flagon was an Inn that also served as a tavern. The first floor was the tavern and reception area for anyone wanting to book a room for a day or even more complete with food if they wanted.
For a reasonable price of course.
She drew closer to the counter where the Inn's manager, polished a glass mug while grumbling unhappily about something.
He wore simple brown pants and boots and a long-sleeved shirt clung tightly unto his torso and arms. A brown wooly vest overlapped the shirt, making the man look presentable and clean.
He was a halfling.
Halflings were known for their nimbleness and small stature. Making them the perfect thief or assassin.
"That damned wench still not going home despite it being so late." The innkeeper mumbled.
His brows were furrowed to the point that it looked like a unibrow from afar. He was already old and the way his face scrunched up made him look older.
Stella didn't dare underestimate this old man. The old man was named Hado, Hado was a retired assassin. Stella only managed to find out about this when he saw his daughter Beatry carelessly handle a box full of poison under the counter.
And it was also due to her using [Appraise] on him at a certain given point.
-----
[Hado Shadowsong] Halfling
Lv 36 (Assasin) [II]
HP: 256/336
MP: 505/505
Stamina: 1008/1008
Current State: {Worried} {Permanently Injured}
Attributes:
Str: 432
Dex: 1380
Cons: 168
Int: 370
Wis: 370
Agi: 1035
Skills:
[Nimble (I) Lv 8] [Faster Perception (II) Lv 3] [Stealth (I) LV 7] [Dagger Proficiency (I) Lv 8] [Light Steps (I) Lv 9] [Acrobatics (I) Lv 6] [Crossbow Proficiency (I) LV 6] [Intimidation Lv 4]
Skill Points: 0
-----
At the time that Stella had used Appraise at Hado in the past, the old man stopped what he was doing and stared at her with dead eyes.
She could still remember how she actually grew afraid of the halfling who could've killed her easily.
Hado noticed Stella and chuckled seeing her reminisce of their first encounter.
It wasn't a big deal to him. Nothing a little intimidation and a knife over a throat couldn't fix. He was fine with her knowledge of his Status Window as long as she didn't go around spreading about how he was a retired assassin.
The owner of The Hero's Flagon, a respected and good Inn established on the Upper Mastiff's Borough area in the large town of Zirakib being an assassin?
His customers would be scared as shit if they knew.