13 Talon

By the time the morning light began to seep into the windows, I had finally hit |Appraisal| level 4.

("Seriously…? Only level 4?") [Solace]

Seeing as how I had spent all night activating my |Appraisal|, I was disappointed at the progress.

("Well… I guess it's not too bad for only one nights worth…") [Solace]

I didn't want to ponder too long on it, so I just made up an excuse to put it at the back of my mind.

("|Appraisal|.") [Solace]

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Name: Solace

Race: Lesser Spirit

Gender: ???

Age: ???

Level: 4

Health: 200/200

Mana: 100/100

Strength: 28

Agility: 20

Intelligence: 12

Willpower: 20

Status: Stable

Unique Skill: N/A

Titles: |Contracted Spirit Of The Unfortunate Summoner|

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

I felt the need to double check on my status just before Fina got out of bed. Since the sun had already risen, I took it upon myself to wake Fina up.

("Hey, wake up.") [Solace]

I nudged her face thinking it would wake her, but it didn't seem to work. All I got was a reply in the form of turning, and pulling the sheets over her head.

("Not that I know her schedule, but… doesn't she have school today?") [Solace]

Thinking that an urgent situation had appeared, I nudged harder.

"Stop it…" [Fina]

A hand lunged out from underneath the covers, grabbing me as if I were some kind of chew toy.

("Ugh! M-my insides…!") [Solace]

I struggled to escape, but that hand had some ungodly grip strength. It was not until Fina got up by herself that she realized I was being strangled by her.

"...Huh? Solace?!" [Fina]

She had a shocked expression on her face when she saw me. It was such a hysterical expression that I would have laughed if not for my mouth and lungs not existing.

("Please let go...") [Solace]

In order to let her know that I wasn't fond of getting crushed in someone's palm, I flailed like my life depended on it.

"W-wah!" [Fina]

Surprised by my sudden outburst, she finally let go.

"I-I'm so sorry, Solace! I didn't mean to do that!" [Fina]

She waved her hands frantically, but there really wasn't a need to do that. I had already forgiven her since I knew it wasn't on purpose, so I wasn't really angry..

("...How do I convey to her that it doesn't matter?") [Solace]

I thought about it while Fina was panicking, which was probably not the best idea since she basically started crying.

("Hm… Oh, I know!") [Solace]

The first motion I did was a circle to catch her attention, which also stopped her from crying. Then, I flew over to one of her textbooks; so I could ask her to open it for me. After that, I pointed at a few words to spell out what I wanted.

("N. O. P. R. O. B. L. E. M.") [Solace]

I couldn't really add a space between "No" and "Problem", so I had to rely on her smarts to figure it out herself.

"No… problem…?" [Fina]

("Hey, you got it!") [Solace]

I bounced up and down, indicating that she was correct.

"Solace…!" [Fina]

She hugged me with all her might, making me feel like I was going to be crushed once more.

("They're going to come out…! My insides…!") [Solace]

After dealing with her antics in the morning, Fina finally began to move. Taking the same cloak from yesterday, she left the dorms without her school bag.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

("...Does she not have school today?") [Solace]

We traveled back to the Adventurers guild, but took a sharp turn.

("Huh? Where are we going?") [Solace]

Fina moved through a few alleyways that could only be described as "suspicious", and then entered another opening. We had arrived at another plaza, filled to the brim with people of all kinds of races.

("Wow, this world has a large variety. Cat tails, dog heads, oh! I haven't seen that one before!") [Solace]

It was a bit exciting to see more of this world. So much so, that I didn't even notice where we were even headed.

"Oh, she's here!" [???]

A loud voice spoke near me, causing me to look in their direction.

"Miss Talon!" [Fina]

("Miss Talon?") [Solace]

I saw a figure twice the height of FIna, which is probably about seven to eight feet, with the addition of four arms. I couldn't get that many details from afar, so I waited until Fina got a bit closer to observe.

"Fina, you're right on time. Come on in!" [Talon]

Before I even got a good look at Talon, we got dragged through the bustle of the plaza and pulled into a building. The inside was full of people, sitting or standing by rows of tables. It looked like one of those old fashioned diners or bars I would see in one of those western cowboy movies.

"Alright, time to start cookin'! Go on ahead Fina, I'll be waiting!" [Talon]

Right when I was going to take another look at Talon, Fina went through one of the many doors labeled "Staff Only". It was then that I pretty much figured out what was going on.

("This is going to be another really long day isn't it…") [Solace]

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