Red Haired Waitress

Smarus Dragonborne

Title: Hero Slayer

Age: 16

Strength: 4.5

Intelligence: 5

Agility: 3.5

Charisma:3

Magic: 3

Class: Hermit Wiseman

Mana: 400/400

Skills: Odin's eye, character log, Spatial Inventory, Guardian's Gift, Lesser Hero, Armament, Lesser Heal

It had been six months since I started my training… and four for Lily's training I guess. I spent most of my time in the dungeons, so I packed everything I needed in my inventory. That included camping equipment, books, scrolls, and other necessities. My stats made no significant improvement, but I did learn two new skills.

Lesser heal allowed me to heal myself, obviously, so I was able to spend longer periods of time in dungeons. It took me two months to learn, but it was worth it. Armament allowed me coat either my fists or weapons with an element of my choice. It was real handy in combat.

For some reason, magic didn't show up in my status, but I learned two spells. Water ball and fire ball. Both were necessary for my survival since one provided water and the other heat. I actually rarely used it for combat since I used my mana for my Guardian's Gift skill. Even with the EXP boost, I barely leveled up. What a pain.

I was coming home from a two week adventure in the dungeon. It was a good call to start at the highest level dungeons that were available to me. Otherwise I doubted I would have gained any points at all. I opened the door to Lily rushingly writing down notes and reading. I opened my apartment to her for her to grab any studying materials she needed.

"Oh hey Smarus! I didn't expect you to come back so soon!" She put down her notes.

"Hey Lily. I had to come back since the exams are almost here. Are you ready for them?" I smiled. I was proud of her since she actually took initiative to prepare for the exams these last few months.

"As much as I'll ever be. I feel like I barely learned anything," She sighed.

I took a peak at her stats.

Name: Lily Limiscense

Race: Half- Elf

Age: 18

Strength: 1.5

Intelligence: 4

Agility: 2

Charisma: 5

Magic: 4

Class: Nature Mage

Mana: 400/400

Most of her stats went up some. Since her agility also went up a point, she must have been doing her own training. She was still lacking in a lot of areas, but I felt like she was ready.

"Smarus!" Lily's voice broke my concentration. "Why are you staring at me? Eek! Are you looking at my body?"

"What!? No! I was just lost in thought," I shook my head. "I believe that you are ready, so I was just planning our route to the academy."

"Oh," She blushed heavily. "Okay. How will we get there?"

"We'll have to take a train. If we take a carriage, it'll take a week. With a train, it'll only take a day," I explained.

"A train! But train tickets are expensive!" She jumped up.

Trains did exist in this world, but only the rich used them. They were expensive to make. Most of the railroads were invested by nobles, so the ticket prices are abnormally high. Thankfully, I already had lines of assets that made money for me while I was training.

"Don't worry about it. I'll take care of it."

She was surprised, but she didn't anything else. She began to clean up her mess of notes and books.

"My lease on this place ends tomorrow, so take whatever you want to keep."

"Really!?" Lily excitedly grabbed a bunch of books in her arms.

I chuckled. I couldn't help but think how cute she looked trying to grab as many books as she could. I grabbed a bag to help her grab the books she wanted. She thanked me as I helped her. Afterwards, I walked her home.

"Lily, I'll come to get you tomorrow morning to leave. Make sure you're ready by then," I gave her the game plan.

"Right! See you then!" She waved as she ran inside her house.

She looked excited. It was like a kid on Christmas… Wait, did this world have a Christmas? There were some similar holidays, but none that had the tradition of gift exchanging. Maybe I should share the holiday spirit with people I knew. Unfortunately, it was in the middle of Summer. The academy will start in the beginning of the Fall season. I pulled a skateboard from my inventory and skated back to my apartment.

One thing I learned during the last few months was that I had a finite space in my inventory. However, it grew in proportion to my magic stat. I didn't have a huge amount of space, but it wasn't considered to be small either. At the very least, I had enough to pack most of my things in my apartment. Whatever I couldn't take, I planned to just give it to Austria and Edward or just sell them for some extra cash.

I opened the door to my apartment and bagan to pack my things. Thanks to Aurora, I didn't have to pay a single coin for this place. In turn, I felt bad. I knew she was doing it out of her own free will, but still, it didn't sit well with me. I had to be sure to pay them back… but how would I? Anyways, after I finished packing, I went to my favorite restaurant for the last time.

Crash!

"You piece of shit! How dare you touch a fine maiden like me!" I could hear a feminine yet arrogant voice from outside the restaurant.

"You? A maiden? I wouldn't even touch you with a 39 and a half foot pole!" A male's voice yelled.

Thwack!

I walked inside and saw a few broken tables, a few men laying on the ground, and a waitress with her sleeves rolled up. She was bright red hair, and she had a tall, slightly built figure. She was taller than me. I hated that. I walked past the scene to seat myself at an empty table. It wasn't my problem, but the girl did look familiar.

"You bastard," She grumbled. "You groped my ass!" She slowly walked towards the man on the floor.

"So what? With an ugly mug and shitty attitude, I doubt anyone else would give you the time of day," The man blurted out.

Wow, they were both annoying. However, based on what I saw, the man was clearly in the wrong. Regardless, I ordered my meal a drink. I continued to watch as I wait for my meal.

The woman grabbed the man by the collar. I smiled since I wanted her to beat him into a pulp.

"You can beat me all you want lady. Once the Boss man comes, you're dead meat!"

What a cringy line. It made me physically shudder.

"Are those your last words you good for nothing…" The woman was interrupted by a large hand placing itself on her shoulder.

A large man, well over six feet, looked down on the waitress. He had a grim look on his face. He was covered in scars and had a built and muscular figure.

"What are you doing to my subordinates?" His deep voice rung in the air.

The entire restaurant went silent. The only reason why no one stopped the fight was because mostly adventurers went here, so fighting was to be expected. As long as you can pay for damages, you could fight to your heart's content.

"Are ya hard of hearing, girl?" The man spoke again. "What are you doing to My subordinates!?" 

My food just came to my table. I gave grace as I began to eat my meal.

"YOUR subordinates are perverted scu…"

Thwack!

The man punched the girl, sending her flying into my table. I watched as my meal, that I waited so patiently for, crashed into the floor. I stood up.

"You piece of oversized shit! That was my meal!" I stared at the man.

He walked up to me, and our size difference suddenly settled in. This was a stupid mistake.

"What of it?" He looked down on me.

I couldn't back down now. If I failed to stand my ground, I would be no more than a push over. Worse yet, it would be harder for me to take over the clan later.

"Pay up or else," I held my hand out.

"Whatever kid," He dropped a few coins in my hand.

"Thank yo…" I looked down and saw only five copper coins.

My meal was 2 silver coins! That was equivalent to 20 copper coins. This cheap scumbag. He was walking towards the woman, who was struggling to get back up. I scanned his stats.

Name: Kai

Gang: Riptide

Age: 37

Strength: 5.7

Intelligence: 2

Agility: 3.5

Charisma: 1

Magic: 2

Class: Brawler

Mana: 200/200

This guy was the very definition of a meathead. Most of his stats were in strength, and even then, it wasn't that impressive.

"Kai!" I yelled at the top of my lungs.

He was lifting the woman by the collar when he heard me. He dropped her and looked in my direction.

"How do you know my name kid?"

Based on the info and what the other dude said, he was the boss of his gang. I had enough information to pull the wool over his eyes.

"I am not a person you want to cross, Kai, Leader of the Riptide gang," I slowly walked over to him. "All I asked for was some compensation. It wasn't much, yet you… shit!"

Bam!!

The moment I was withing range, he punched me with all his might. I barely put my hands up to block in time while using armament to reinforce my arms. I was sent flying to the other side of the restaurant. He must have had a skill that increased his strength.

"If you know who I am, then I can't let you walk out alive, kid," He started to walk towards me. He arms begun to glow a faint red color.

This was not what I had in mind. I stepped in some deep crap and my plan immediately back fired. Was it too late to give up? Barley managing to stand up, I tried to catch my breath.

"Hold up man… I just wanted my money's worth," I took a deep breath.

Yes, yes, why was I panicking fighting this guy when I fought Ace the hero? It was simple. This dude was huge! Well, I never said I was a man of honor, so I had to resort to cheap tactics. I used a nearby table as support, so I quickly grabbed a fork. I also began to chant under my breath.

"Listen here, kid," Kai lifted me by the collar. "You should've kept to yourself. Now you will die with that girl," He pointed back to the waitress.

I smiled as I finished my chant. I didn't know who this guy really was other than his name, but I did know one thing. I wasn't gonna cower because this guy was bigger and stronger than me.

"You should've just paid me back," I smirked at him.

I used my armament skill to coat the fork with fire, rapidly heating it up. I then smacked it on this face. He dropped me and scream in pain as his face was burning. The fork was melting on his face.

"Need to cool down?" I pointed in the air.

I casted a waterball in the air. I dropped it down onto Kai's head.

Splash! Sssiizzz…

The water caused his face to rapidly cool down and steam clouded his face. He screamed in agony while clawing at his face. The entire restaurant watched in horror. I stood up and dusted myself off.

"You… Bastard," He growled after his face finally began to cool.

He covered most of his face with his hands, but I could see enough to know my plan worked. His face was brittle and cracked. There were metallic pieces stuck on his face. He was also breathing heavily.

"Like I said, Mr. Kai. I am one man you don't want to cross," I slowly walk towards him, on guard this time. "All you had to do was pay for my meal."

He tried to swing at me again, but I was ready this time. I dodged under his fist and threw a left hook at his face. He was clumsy from the pain, so it was easy for me to dodge his attack. I felt a solid impact that was followed with him collapsing on the floor.

"Next time, I won't be so nice," I smiled in victory.

I reached in his pocket to reach for his purse of coins. I got my fair shair and threw the rest on a table.

"That should be enough to pay for this mess," I told a nearby waitress.

I walked to the red haired waitress. I scanned her stats.

Name: Bodil ???

Age: 16

Strength: 3

Intelligence: 2

Agility: 4

Charisma: 4

Magic: 3

Class: Valkyrie

Mana: 500/500

She was actually pretty strong. How was she bodied by that brute? Then again, I did have a theory about stats and each person. The actual size and shape of the person was an important factor when it came to things like strength. Even if two had the same amount of points in strength, the person that worked to build muscles will still be stronger. This was just a theory though.

Also why was there question marks next to her name? Most commoners didn't have last names, but I never saw anything like this. My mind raced, but I realized that i was staring for too long.

"Need a hand?" I offered my hand to her.

"Piss off," She smacked my hand away.

She tried to get up, but she was still struggling. It looked like a broken piece of the table grazed her leg. I sighed.

"Lesser heal," I chanted on her.

She glowed green for a moment as he leg healed. 

"I didn't ask for your help," She mumbled as she stood up.

"I didn't ask if you cared," I gave a remarked. "I'm Smarus Dragonborne," I offered my hand for a handshake.

"Bodil… just Bodil," She shook my hand.

"It's a pleasure," I smiled at her. "Now that's settled, I would like to order more food."

"Really? That's what you're worried about?" She sighed as she sat me at a table. "What do you want?"

Ding! Bodil's character log updated!

I quickly ordered my meal, again, and pulled up the info once Bodil left.

"She saw that you did nothing while she was fighting and even got hit. However, she has made note of how strong you actually are. You single handedly took out that brute! She respects your strength, but your personality hasn't won you any points."

I was so happy that it almost brought me to tears! Bodil seemed like a normal person! It truly was a rare sight… but for some reason, she looked really familiar. I guessed I will have to wait to see why.