6 Chapter 6 - Skills, Spells, and Tabaxi

Once they finished cleaning up the mess, Jade closed her eyes and bowed to him. "I am very grateful for your aid Master Stray. If there is anything I can do to repay your kindness towards us, please do not hesitate to ask." Stray felt a little awkward having a girl the same age as him calling him master and bowing to him like a servant.

"No it's fine Miss Jade, you can just call me Stray." He explained, pushing her shoulders up so she stood up from her bow. She smiled and nodded, before extending her hand out towards him. "You may simply call me Jade then, Stray."  Stray returned the smile, and accepted the offered handshake. After giving the handshake however, she gave him a strange stare, and one of her cat ears twitched. The act instantly caused Stay's to be brought to her cat ears, and he stared for a moment before realizing how rude it was. They continued to stare at each in silence, before one of her ears twitched again, however this time Stray only glanced at them.

"Am I the first Tabaxi you've seen Stray?" Jade asked, giving him a curious look. He was confused at her question, and she seemed to be honest type, so Stray chose to voice his confusion rather then hide it. "What is a Tabaxi?" She gave a light giggle before responding. "That's what my race is called, silly. Tabaxi are a Beast Race that share traits with various kinds of cats. My mother is a Lynx Tabaxi, while my father is a Human."

Stray was surprised at this new information, and made a mental note to buy a guide on all the races of this world. He was also a bit confused, as he couldn't tell if she was being flirty with him, or it was just a part of her personality. "Thanks for telling me, I'll make sure to leave a good tip after my meal." Stray said, before turning around and sitting down at an empty table.

At the prospect of a tip, both of Jade's furry ears twitched, and her long black tail flicked from side to side. She had a determined glimmer in her eyes as she quickly made her rounds to the other customers. As he waited for the waitress, Stray tried to think about what he should do next. He now had money, a place to stay, a way to improve himself, and his future house/church was going to take at least a week to be prepared before he could use it.

Stray decided to look at all of his skills to see everything he could do. 'System, open Status and show me all my skills.'

[Acrobatics: +12]

[Animal Handling: +10]

[Arcana: +15]

[Athletics: +15]

[Deception: +9]

[History: +11]

[Insight: +14]

[Intimidation: +9]

[Investigation: +11]

[Medicine: +10]

[Nature: +11]

[Perception: +14]

[Performance: +9]

[Persuasion: +9]

[Religion: +15]

[Sleight Of Hand: +12]

[Stealth: +12]

[Survival: +10]

Stray had hold himself back from whistling out loud at the sight of all the skills he had. Although he'd seen his complete makeup with the Status function, to see just all of them together was a bit crazy. He noticed the Arcana skill, and was curious if it had anything to with magic, since it reminded him of the word arcane. 'Hey System, what does Arcana do?'

{Host's [Arcana] skill allows you to learn, alter, enchant, and destroy magic}

Thinking back to how Jade healed his hand with a blue glow on his last visit, Stray tried using the Arcana skill and focused on his hands. Suddenly his hands were engulfed in a massive bright blue light. Hearing a ding in his mind, Stray quickly stopped, and the blue light disappeared.

{Host has successfully learned the *Mending* Cantrip.}

He couldn't stop himself from a giant smile, as Stray felt amazing. He'd just learnt his first spell, on just his first try! Noticing Jade was walking towards him, he wanted someone to share in his accomplishment. "Jade, guess what! I just learned that spell you used, it's called Mending right?" Jade gave a kind smile and nodded, trying not to giggle at the god who was acting like a little kid. "It's a cantrip spell that can heal minor wounds like cuts or bruises. Is this your first time using magic Stray?" She explained, asking as she wasn't sure on what exactly the boy's background was.

Stray nodded, and tried using the spell again, however only a pale blue light eminated from his hands. He looked at his hands with a mixture of confusion and disappointment, before hearing Jade giggling. "Unless you use the Arcana skill with the spell or make your own version of the spell, that's what it's supposed to look like silly." She explained, covering her mouth with one hand.

Stray's face blushed a bit in embarrassment, and he decided to change the subject to hide it. "Ahem, what should I eat this time? What do you recommend?" As he spoke, he tried to act like professional, which made it even harder for Jade to not tease him for being so cute. "The steak you had last time was made from a Giant Goat. I'd suggest either barbecued wings from a Blood Hawk, or a stew made from a Giant Fire Beetle." Both sounded tasty to him, and Stray wondered how they were able to cook giant animals and giant insects.

"I think I'll go with the barbecued wings. What kind of drinks do you have?" Stray asked, almost inclined to say sodas instead of drinks, but quickly remembered that sodas didn't exist in this world. "We have ale, green tea, herbal tea, coffee, and Merryweather which is a favorite among spellcasters." Jade answered, listing each of the options secretly wondering what this innocent boy would do, or being willing to do while drunk.

Stray was surprised to hear that coffee existed in this world, but his curiosity about Merryweather won over his curiosity of the coffee. "I'd like Merryweather then, please." He responded, and though she was slightly disappointed, Jade nodded with a polite smile before heading to the kitchen.