Chương 20: Chapter 19

One moment Yssa had been lying down, unhappily resigned to being digested alongside a total stranger. The next, she was airborne, which at least was, if nothing else, an improvement. Her brief confusion was interrupted by gravity finally dragging her back to earth, consequently landing directly on top of the writhing Grubmother. She landed true, almost slipping off it, and felt a repeated vibration coming from inside of it: something battering against its flesh from within, frantic and desperate.

She plunged her dagger into the Grubmother as it turned, torn between bucking her off and swallowing her whole and apparently deciding to do both at the same time. Her grip loosened and she slipped, the dagger lodged deep inside the Grubmother the only thing keeping her on it, the force of her falling tearing a deep gash through its flesh along her descent. She gripped the dagger and forced herself upward as the thing continued to thrash, dragging the blade deeper and further across its exposed flesh.

A hand suddenly punched through its hide from the inside, a Tether shooting out of it and snapping taut against the burrow wall. Corin tore free a half-second later, drenched in gore, and snapped his hand shut. Yssa barely registered his grip on her hand before the pull yanked them both clear, the Grubmother twisting to crush the space they'd just vacated, her dagger tearing free of its flank as they went.

Corin and Yssa swung awkwardly, Corin ending his Tether mid-air and sending them both into a half-roll across the packed dirt. The Grubmother turned abruptly, blood and worse pouring from its wounds as it came at them once more. Yssa immediately rolled out of the way. Corin tried to do the same and nearly got crushed for it, saved only by another quick cast of Tether, his arm fortuitously juuust not dislocated this time, the poor thing apparently getting used to the punishment at this point.

Yssa drew a second dagger from her boot - Corin briefly wondered exactly how many of those she had on her - and leapt back at the creature, stabbing at it as it bucked. With its attention briefly averted, Corin used the Tether to swing toward its exposed flesh, landing and scrambling for purchase before slamming the sharp end of his hammer into it, dragging himself toward the open wound.

The thing shrieked - not through any throat, but through the shuddering vibration of its whole body, a sound harshly felt rather than heard - and twisted to face him. Corin gripped the dagger still embedded in its flesh, and, using the hammer beside it for leverage, tore the wound open further, deepening it inch by inch. Something thick and dark welled up from the gash as the Grubmother turned to crush him, forcing him to leap clear.

Yssa attacked it again from the front as it turned, her dagger slicing deeper as the Grubmother slowly bled out. It bucked violently, lashing out at them, its movement hampered now by its own refusal to roll onto the exposed wound. Corin leaped back, then spotted his opening. He Tethered back onto it, gripped his embedded hammer for leverage, and drove his free hand straight into the gaping wound. [Spark cast!] [Bolt cast!] The Spark slammed directly into its exposed stomach, and the ensuing Bolt ignited both the Charge and the volatile methane already brewing in its gut, punching a gout of fire straight through it and sending a reverberation across the burrow. It thrashed once, twice, fire chewing through it from the inside, until finally it moved no more. This left Corin and Yssa staring at the thing, breathless, unbelieving, the silence slowly growing as the flames died out and its insides stopped gushing out. [Grubmother (Lv. 23) slain!] [{Common} Feat completed: participated in defeating an {Uncommon} creature! Guild standing increased!] [New {unique Elite} creature slain! +2. 5% XP Quick Study buff!] [Total Quick Study XP bonus: +12. 5%] [Loot dropped: Grubmother Marrow-Stone] The silence briefly held, then Yssa turned to him.

"Thank you," she said, the words coming out strained, as if she weren't used to gratitude.

"Told you you'd thank me later," Corin replied, trying for brevity.

"Oh, no, fuck you for firing spells at me - seriously, fuck you for that - but thank you for coming for me regardless. You didn't have to."

"Don't mention it," Corin replied, walking up to the Grubmother and inspecting its Marrow-Stone: a calcified nodule prized by alchemists for its growth-accelerant properties.

"You want this?"

"Of course," she said with a light smirk, "but I think it's yours for the taking. The loot wouldn't have been much use to me, being dead and all." Corin stared at it for a moment, then tossed it to her.

"Sell it and give me half," Corin said, to her abrupt surprise.

"And how, exactly, am I supposed to find you again?" Yssa said.

"We're not even in the same Guild."

"Gives you a reason to see me again, then," Corin said, holding out his hand. She looked at it in confusion, realizing that he probably wanted to shake on it.

"Deal," she said, taking his hand - then yelped as his other hand snapped shut around a Tether already anchored to the hole above, hauling them both off the ground before she'd finished the word. They shot upward together, Yssa's surprised curses echoing off the burrow walls, until they reached the opening and scrambled out into the tunnel proper.

Corin let her go first through the last stretch, telling himself it was chivalry and not really believing it, a suspicion that only grew stronger once he was crawling directly behind her. He caught himself staring, looked away, and then glanced once more before finally tearing his eyes away. They emerged from the hole just as the sun fled over the horizon, and Corin gave her an awkward nod.

"See you around, I guess," he said, and she held up the marrow-stone.

"Of course. We have a deal to settle, after all." With that, Yssa gave him a brief smile, then turned and walked briskly through the fields. That was undoubtedly the most time he'd ever spent with a girl (who wasn't his sister, at least) - and the first time he'd been in a stomach, too. Overall, the day was a lot more eventful than he'd assumed it would be. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it. The Guild Registrar, Fenn, raised his eyebrows.

"You killed a Grubmother?" Fenn asked, and Corin gave a sheepish shrug in reply.

"I had help," he said, and something in Fenn's expression shifted. He placed his hand over a flat, rune-etched stone set into the counter, directly connecting with the Substrate.

"Ah, I see it's already been registered. Yssa Kestrel, Guild of Wyrmhale?"

"That's the one."

"Reward will be split, then," he said.

"And, together with all your other kills and loot, you've earned 56 silver."

"Much appreciated," Corin said, trying to not seem completely floored.

"I still have a debt with the Guild: 50 silver for my class, and whatever the consignment price is for the weapons and armor."

"The gear's valued at around 60 silver," Fenn said, tapping the same rune-etched stone, a faint shimmer of numbers rearranging themselves somewhere beneath its surface.

"Five percent of every bounty or quest reward gets credited against that automatically, until it's covered, so you're not paying anything out of pocket; the Guild's just tracking it until the value's met." After two years of the Guild finding new ways to take his money, this was almost suspiciously reasonable, leading to him feeling especially generous. Besides, he'd learned, quite immensely, that he was not fond of having debt at all.

"Makes sense. You can take the 50 silver I owe the Guild for class ascension out of my payment, then."

"Noted. Now, the Vice Guildmaster will speak with you," Fenn continued.

"This one will escort you." There it was. Aldwin had promised as much, the night of the assembly - we'll discuss that too, tomorrow - and Corin had spent every hour since almost managing to forget it. The waiting guard walked toward him, already impatient, and gestured toward a long corridor.

"Right this way." The room was smaller than Corin expected, and colder - no fire lit despite the evening chill, every surface bare except for neat stacks of parchment and a single, unlit lamp.

"Please, sit," the Vice Guildmaster said, gesturing towards a seat across from his desk.

"This shouldn't take long." Corin did as he was instructed, feeling himself sink into his seat with a large amount of trepidation.

"What did you want to speak to me about, sir?" Corin asked, as the Vice Guildmaster sat down in his own seat - one that seemed far more comfortable than his, perhaps intentionally.

"Please, call me Ostrend," he said.

"Your actions during the goblin invasion," Ostrend continued, his gaze drawing deeper into Corin's eyes.

"They were truly... remarkable."

"Uh, thank you, sir," Corin said, anxiety growing. He was keenly aware that 'remarkable' had dual connotation.

"Your records show that you have been F-rank for just over two years," Ostrend continued, not reacting to Corin's reply.

"Until very recently, you had just hit level 10, and you subsequently chose the 'Journeyman' class. What was your reason for doing so?"

"Well, to be honest, mostly because it was cheap, sir," Corin replied.

"My two years of adventuring weren't particularly prosperous."

"Clearly," Ostrend said, a little cuttingly.

"But why specifically 'Journeyman'? As you know, as of this most recent Turn, the class has been reclassified from {Common} to {Rare}." He briefly stopped talking, studying Corin's face for any sign of guilt or unease, before continuing.

"With the Turn's change to its passive, the class is now regarded as a potent, although somewhat niche, class for early adventurers to gain levels quickly," Ostrend said.

"While its granted abilities are weak, the stacking passive allows adventurers to exponentially grow their progression, so it will apparently become a very highly-valued class for wealthy individuals who can use better gear and other bought skills to extract an immense amount of experience from it, before moving on to stronger classes thereafter."

"Apparently, you were the only one to acquire the class in over three months, mere days before it dramatically rose in value," Ostrend continued.

"That's awfully... lucky."

"And I thank the Gods for it, sir," Corin replied.

"Makes up for a lifetime of bad luck, sir." Ostrend briefly raised an eyebrow in apparent reply, then looked further down the parchment in front of him.

"You were also the reason we found out about the goblin invasion, after you got attacked by their scouts, then you subsequently managed to delay the gate opening long enough for the city to repel the siege," he continued, looking down carefully.

"Apparently, you used Journeyman's 'Tether' extensively - but there were reports of unnatural usage thereof." Corin nodded, somewhat sagely.

"Affinity, sir.

'Spatial' Affinity. Empowered Tether, makes it a lot more... versatile." This should have been reassuring - one mystery, not tangled up with the other - except that having two unrelated strokes of impossible luck was, if anything, more suspicious than having one. Ostrend stared at him for a moment, then sighed. He took off his glasses, taking his time cleaning them, before placing them back onto his face.

"I see. Affinities are vanishingly rare... especially for Abstract Schools like 'Spatial,'" Ostrend said, voice flat.

"Why did you not report this to the Guild?"

"Seemed like there were bigger things to worry about, what with the goblin invasion."

"Fair. But why not afterwards?" Corin thought for a moment, finding that he could find no reply truly appropriate.

"Just didn't think much of it, sir. I don't know much about 'Affinities' at all, save that they exist. I normally just focus on putting one foot in front of the other, and I still end up tripping half the time."

"Well, you've had two significant steps forward, recently," Ostrend replied.

"Two ranks in a single night. That is cause for investigation, I'm sure you understand."

"Absolutely understood, sir," Corin replied.

"Will that be all?"

"For now," Ostrend said.

"We may be speaking again, in the near future - but until then, I want you to report to an Affinity Diviner."

"A Diviner? What is that? Where is that?"

"Not here," Ostrend said.

"Wyrmhale. A supply caravan is already scheduled to leave for there tomorrow morning. You'll go with it, officially as an escort." He paused.

"They may not want you along - it's their coin paying for it, whether they like it or not, not the Guild's - but policy requires at least one adventurer escort on any caravan above a certain value, and theirs clears it by a wide margin."

"Understood," Corin replied solemnly, not looking forward to haggling with the caravan guards.

"Speaking of payment: your reward will be credited directly to your Guild ledger. The city and Guild thank you for your service." Corin gave himself a brief flicker of happiness, then stood up.

"Much appreciated, sir," Corin said, moving towards the door as Ostrend rose to see him out. Ostrend placed his hand on the handle, but didn't move it yet.

"One more thing," he said, his expression changing.

"Reports of Bran Harrow acquiring an {Epic} sword - what have you heard of that?" Corin suppressed a gulp, not altogether successfully.

"You'll have to ask him, sir," Corin replied.

"I believe Lionel either sold or loaned it to him." Ostrend stared at him for a moment, then sighed.

"Ah, Lionel," he said, the words coming out like they tasted bad.

"Half the goddamn Guild is indebted to him. It's no surprise he could get a sword like that."

"And I am indebted to you, sir," Corin said, looking at the door and willing it to move.

"Will that be all?" Ostrend considered him a moment longer, then nodded.

"Indeed. For now." The door swung open. Corin gave a stiff nod on his way out, trying to walk as briskly as possible without it looking like he was fleeing. He could feel Ostrend's eyes on his back the entire way down the hall. Corin returned to his quarters, his actual not-hay bed no longer carrying the same appeal after his recent interrogation and subsequent cross-Guild assignment.

He lay there a long while, staring at the ceiling, replaying every word of the conversation, hunting for the exact moment he might have given something away. He couldn't find one... which simply made him feel too stupid to see it.