The room door was knocked at some ungodly hour. Roland and Jakson jumped out of their beds. Jakson advanced to the side of the door with his dagger while Roland lit the oil lamp. The door knocked louder.
"Goddamit let me in". It was Demit. Jakson opened the door. Demit entered in a hurry. She looked haggard and pale. Sniffing, her face soured a little.
"Fucking hell, soldier. Change your sheets ever since you were born?". The 2 men took slight offence to this.
"Is Kvass, blyat", said Jakson, pointing to the small barrel sitting on the side table that came with the room. He tapped a mug and handed it to Demit, who sat on Roland's bed and tasted.
"Huh. You holding out booze on your squad?", she asked.
"Well now that you know how it smells, you'd understand why we just kept it to this room", answered Roland. Brewary probably wouldn't want anything to do with it. It turns out that Demit, ever the soldier, would consume anything.
"Working man's drink. Beer's better, though". She finished the mug, coughed a little wet and wanted another.
"Given how much this guy drinks, Kvass keeps the cost down", said Roland. Jakson smiled and nodded. They all had a mug, though Jakson had to wait for Demit to finish hers.
"They let you out at this hour?". In the centre between the beds was a long and narrow tall bench used as a table to work on gear. Roland placed his mug on that bench.
"Nah. I busted out. As soon as I woke, I was given water and food and a lecture on 'Combat sense and sensibility' by the Head Priest and my Master. When they turned to leave I said 'fuck it' and took off on a bathroom break. Don't plan to go back." She was not doing well at all. The walk from the temple to their lodgings tired her out. There was no bleeding but she really did need bed rest. And that's exactly what she asked for.
"Bunk here for awhile? Fuckers know where I live. Don't want to get dragged back to the Temple."
"Temple is hospital. Is better for sleep", said Jakson.
"Not gonna take more crap from Drill Sergeant or some Priests being too fucking nice to me. You know how nice these Priests can get? Fucking angels. Going to see none of them in hell later, fuck no".
"Not trying to kick you out, but Brewary has better quarters than we do."
"I tried. But he moved to faggot den across the street, did you know? He's a high roller now." She lay down in Roland's bed, sighed and stretched slowly, as if afraid of breaking something inside herself.
"You guys seriously never moved out of this dump?"
"Bitch, you come into my house, sleep in my bed…", said Roland. She chuckled.
"Just sayin', Marksman. Don't mean nothing. Just… fucking with you." She fell asleep immediately. The 2 men shook their heads in disbelief, had a little more Kvass and watched her for a few more minutes. Roland extinguished the lamp. Jakson's bed could be shared but there was no turning. Still, it was better than the straw beds they slept in before.
The next day, they woke up, cleaned and left Demit sleeping. They went to get Brewary. He laughed when Roland told him what had happened.
"Went looking for her man, did she?", he joked.
"Let's get breakfast first, then some for her". They later found her exercising. She was wearing that sports bra she once flashed and shorts. Roland realised that's what she wore under her robes; she took some trousers and cut it above the knee to make shorts.
"Paprika dear, trying to kill yourself this time?".
"Relax. It's only a quarter of what I usually do". She was sweating from the exertion. Her neck was scarred. There was a table and stools nearby so they sat. She opened the meal cloth Roland handed to her and dug in. Jakson went inside.
"I am so happy I'm wearing this. My clothes wore out. But this, this material lasts forever", she said, talking about her bra. 'Microfibre', was it?, thought Roland. That word seemed familiar and was associated to that kind of fabric. Jakson returned with the barrel and mugs. He handed out Kvass.
"Can't say I'm fond of this, so sorry, Sugar". Jakson shrugged at Brewary.
"Stinks up the room, but I learned to like it", said Roland.
Later, Demit borrowed a spare clean towel from the men, bathed, then slept some more. The men brought food for her again at lunch. She spent the rest of the day sleeping. Brewary went back to his lodgings and Roland and Jakson just lounged, slept or drank. More Kvass needed brewing so they did that. That evening, her colour returned, she selected the time used by the head priest for his daily meditation to walk back in and fetch her gear. The priests stopped her and she was only permitted to leave under oath and sign of Lumiaris that the next day was spent resting.
They finally sold loot the following day. Those crystal buttons were beautiful. More beautiful was the haul they had from just 2 orcs. Gear was maintained, patched or replaced. Roland swapped out the arrows in his quiver to 13 trainee artisan quality bodkins, 5 craftsman bodkins, 5 broadheads and the elemental coating bodkin. Medicated bandages were replenished. Demit kept to her word, sleeping and eating.
They headed out again the following day, returning bloodied and out of bandages. This was leagues ahead of a Goblin fight. They had to spend a day just to maintain gear condition, so they hunted every alternate day and sometimes came back empty-handed. Brewary had sword problems again. His worn Zweihander did not fare well against the scale, mail, plate, heavy weapons and hidebound shields of the orcs. One section had even lost its cutting edge as the steel was worn out and the softer iron spine was sharpened. One day his sword bent out of shape and had to be discarded. He picked up an orc sword to defend himself (which sold for quite a sum). Still, they made progress and had raised a sizeable amount of coin. They finally saw gold for the first time despite the loot being divided into 5. It was time for new gear and skill.
Roland had a Long War Bow, which exceeded the draw weight of what most Hunters used. He wore a suit of Lamellar Armour and a Banded Kettle Helm. His hatchet was never changed, because he hardly used it thanks to the efficiency of his team. At the guild, he learned Kinetic. Once he found out the price of elemental coating, it spurred him to earn more.
Brewary was brightly coloured. Favouring his lighter, weapon-focused fighting style, he did not cover himself in Full Plate. He had a brand new Artisan grade Cuirass (with painted on Scarlet Pimpernel), metal Greaves, and metal Laminar protecting his arms, thighs, knees and shins. Underneath that he wore a multi-coloured suit of yellow, red and white that had puffy arm sleeves, covered by metal Spaulders. His sword was a thing of beauty. A combination of the defence budget, personal finances and loans from the 'finest men' and his own team mates (who couldn't resist getting caught up in his excitement), the brand new Artisan grade Zweihander was bought from one of the more upscale indoor weapons stores in Alterna, complete with Blacksmith, Steelsmith, Tanner, Leathersmith and Vendor stamps. A certificate carried more stamps for the suppliers of the sand, iron and coal used in its making plus Statement of Quality and Assurances, smithing and selling dates, wax sealed. His helmet was grandiose but functional. A custom order, it was the same colourful fabric covering a metal helmet like a large, wide-brimmed hat. Red plume feathers stuck out from one side. At the guild, he learned Reverse Thrust, a skill that allowed him to attack while backing away, useful in a more mobile fight that needed footwork. He thanked his 'darlings' so much, they were still caught up in the excitement and did not ask for interest payment for their loans.
"That buzzsaw better kill several orcs in one hit, soldier", answered Demit. She too wore Lamellar (with painted on chevrons) and the same Banded Kettle Helm as Roland, but with chainmail skirting for protecting the neck. For her thighs, legs, and arms, she wore metal Greaves, padded metal and leather. Her staff had a hammer at its end. Adapting to orc fighting, her weapon was no longer balanced in the centre. When swinging, she held it at different parts to adjust the length of the reach for Smash. She found out about this through experimentation. Priests disapproved of her choice in armour and weapon, but she proudly proclaimed to be the second "War Priest" in Grimgar (the first being Honen, shut the fuck up no priest can be such a hardass without command in combat). At the insistence of the Temple, she learned the Light Magic skill Light of Protection. It provided a team of up to 6 with extra physical strength, resistance and reduced bleeding for 30 minutes. She fumed about not being allowed to learn the staff skill Revenge until her Light Magic was up to snuff. Her next skill was to be Heal, a skill that healed from a distance and affected the whole body. There would be no negotiations, according to the temple. She could only learn a Staff Skill after that.
Jakson wore a body fitting padded sleeveless jacket that covered chest to waist. Inside, it was lined with hardened leather bands and a panel for the chest. He painted the logo from his clothing at the left breast and the same three lines on his bracers, but this time with dull gray; white would blow his cover if seen. For his arms and legs, the same padded metal and leather panel that he had always worn, repaired and replaced. This was the compromise a Thief had to make. Any more armour or fabric would produce too much noise, cancelling out Sneaking. Fireteam Alpha once came across Team Renji hunting Orcs and their Thief wore so little, she was almost naked. She had next to no protection. He bought an armour piercing Stiletto. Using the newly learned Dual Wield, he carried his Stiletto in the main hand and Baselard in the other. As usual, his armour was cheaper to maintain so his weapon was the first Elemental Coated weapon in the team, a coating that gave extra piercing to his Stiletto. He tapped Roland's shoulder and gestured in a direction with his chin.
"Would you look at that", said Demit. Mary was walking with Team Haruhiro, chatting with the girls. She had Ranta wrapped around her little finger. At her displeasure, Ranta would kowtow and apologise before turning to say something even more offensive to Haruhiro and their Warrior.
"Oh, they're adorable", said Brewary.
"Fuck yea. Goblin Slayers have tamed PTSD Mary."
"Can we not call them that? They can't be that bad if Mary fits in and the Dreadknight doesn't get any more of them killed."
"But is goblin bags", observed Jakson. Some kind of loud 'Ehhhhhhhhh' came out from Ranta and they winced. It was the signal to leave. Roland noticed a crowd heading in one direction and mentioned it.
"Only one way to find out. Fireteam Alpha, move out". That evening, in the jam-packed Sherry's, Roland saw a Necromancer, Golem and an Elf for the first time. Since Fireteam Alpha spent more time in Ruai than Sherry's, they only heard rumours and gossip from passers-by in markets. But even then the fame of Soma was known. This Soma stood and the tavern went silent. He addressed his friends in turn and they nodded in response.
"Oh fuck off and get on with it", hissed Demit.
"We have decided to form a clan". The tavern erupted. This Soma had a voice that carried. He stated the goal of wanting to invade Undead DC in the neighouring Kingdom of Ishmal. This No-Life King had resurfaced according to a source and he was planning to put it down again. Extending a hand, he asked for strength and help. The tavern erupted once again. Roland looked at his party. Demit was shaking her head. Jakson had the same cynical look as Brewary who was clapping politely. The cheering took longer to die down. Demit leaned in and half yelled,
"This motherfucker's hiding something. I can smell the bullshit from here". Roland nodded. To just show up, use your fame and start recruitment? Someone asked for the name of the clan. It was to be 'The Daybreakers', to even more cheering. Gesturing with his head, Jakson indicated that he wanted to leave. They pushed their way through the bodies and left.