Chương 131: Chapter 125 – Say No to Ambrosia

She flipped it over and started working through the questions. For the first few moments, Chelsea felt the familiar thrill of a new exam. Then she actually began answering them. Her excitement faded with each page. The assessment was harder than the previous ones, at least in the sense that there were more moving pieces and a few questions tried to hide simple answers inside long wording. But it still opened too easily.

Chelsea moved from one problem to the next with the quill gliding across the page, occasionally reaching for the extra paper when she wanted to check a number or sketch out a quick arrangement before committing to the answer. By the time she reached the final section, full on disappointment had settled over her. She finished the last answer, replaced the quill, and flipped the test over completely.

"Done," she sighed and slid it over. The proctor did not touch the paper at first. She continued to stare at the timer as the last grains slipped through the hourglass.

"Nine minutes forty eight seconds." Chelsea dropped her head.

"Damn," she sighed again.

"I will have your score tallied. Mister Jibjib, do you mind taking these two to my office?"

"Sure Galynda. I would be more than happy to. Right this way please," he said. Chelsea stood and followed, still annoyed enough with herself that she had to resist the urge to look back at the exam. Freya walked beside her, one hand loosely holding Chelsea's, while Jibjib led them through the guild. The building was larger than the branches Chelsea had seen before. Several people glanced at Chelsea as they passed before noticing she was holding hands with a giant of a woman.

Jibjib brought them upstairs to a lush office with overly soft couches and a desk polished enough to reflect the windows behind it. He closed the door behind them and turned with visible restraint, as though every word he had held back in the assessment room had been waiting for this exact moment.

"Miss Havoc. That was the most incredible thing I have seen in recent memory. When you hear your previous times, gut reaction tells me to doubt its legitimacy. But that. I assume they were all correct?"

"Unfortunately yes," Chelsea sighed.

"Hey, Mister Jibjib, is there a harder test out there? Like one where I can actually prove myself?"

"Ah, I don't believe so. The bankers guild may have different style questions but I doubt they are harder. By the way, who is your friend?"

"This is… Freeta. She's my consort and bestfriend." Chelsea held up their clasped hands.

"Freeta, this is Mister Jibjib. An S-rank merchant." Freya nodded at him. Jibjib had a strange look on his face, though his manners held firm.

"Not a Valkyr? I assumed the Valkyr were not allowed to date outside of the hall."

"Nope not a Valkyr and I believe the rule is no pregnancy. Not a problem for me, being a demon." She looked to Freya, who smirked and placed her massive hand over Chelsea's face.

"Young love is a precious thing," Jibjib said.

"What is your plan Miss Havoc? Surely you plan building a few businesses here in Vundundu."

"Actually? That's part of my anniversary present." Chelsea looked back at Freya and gave her a loving smile.

"She is going to let me spoil the orphans of this kingdom and take me dress and jewelry shopping and not complain once."

"I…see. Miss Havoc might I inquire, how old are you? If I may be so bold."

"Eighteen. I will be nineteen in a few months." His face took on a look of horror.

"Eight…teen?" The door clicked, and the guildmaster entered. She did not say a word to anyone. She walked to a drawer near the back window and opened it..

"Miss Wixx," she said, pulling out a bottle of dark brown liquid and four glasses. She poured three of the glasses, then capped off the bottle. After that, she grabbed another bottle, pulled the stopper off the top, and poured its contents into the fourth glass.

"It is my mistake in doubting your ability. When I heard," she replaced the bottle back into its drawer, "that there was a demon girl making her way through our assessments with impossible times, I immediately thought bullshit." She carried the glasses over to the other three. The dark liquor went to Jibjib and Freya, and Chelsea received the glass with the red liquid. Chelsea swirled it around. It was viscous. She sniffed it, and her vision tightened at once. Celeste began pounding on Instinctive Control.

Chelsea froze with the glass still in her hand. Celeste understood this merchant thing meant a lot to her, and the urgency coming from her was too much to ignore. Chelsea allowed her out.

"No thanks," Celeste said, putting it onto the coffee table.

"But it's ambrosia, I was told it is a spiced liquor for demons," the guildmaster said.

"It is," Celeste said, sounding frustrated.

"But for demons with certain bloodlines, a single sip of this variety… with these herbs will likely trigger all of my abilities at once and I will stay in that state until I pass the ambrosia. Which takes about a week and a half. All of my abilities, including Attract and Bloodlust." She gave Chelsea control back. Chelsea stared at the glass on the table. She had almost taken a sip. The thought made her hands go cold, and she sat back a little closer to Freya without meaning to.

"If you purchased it for me, I will be happy to compensate you for the purchase price," Chelsea said.

"What does it feel like? Bloodlust, I mean," the guildmaster asked.

"For me, it's euphoric. For uh…" Chelsea looked around the office. She was starting to lose herself to it just thinking about the feeling, the rush, the awful pleasure of letting it take hold. She shook her head, trying to clear it.

"I'd rather not say. I only allow myself to trigger it at the very end of battle now. It's…" Her breathing grew heavier. A massive hand began rubbing her back, slow and steady through her armor. Chelsea looked up with a deep breath.

"Thanks." Freya smiled back down at her. The guildmaster watched the exchange closely, her interest no longer hidden behind skepticism.

"Intriguing. Very well. Don't worry about it. It was to toast your incredible achievement. Perfect score with a time of nine minutes forty eight seconds." Chelsea was still disappointed in her time, but to this woman it seemed to be a good one. Maybe it was. Maybe she was being unreasonable. That didn't change the fact that nine minutes forty one seconds was still sitting out there as the time to beat.

"Thank you so much," she said.

"Question, are we allowed to take assessments after hitting S-rank?"

"You can," the woman said.

"Why would you though?"

"I need something to strive for and beating my nine minutes forty one is my goal." Ivy Ivy was surprised it took only a month to reach the Holy City. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings. After leaving the girls with a full royal guard and another caravan, they had gone their separate ways. Ivy had watched them depart with more relief than she expected. Eleanor, Fleur, and… Milana had been grateful.

By the time the caravan finally turned away, Ivy was tired of catching herself looking at Milana and even more tired of wondering why she kept doing it. The Holy City gave her something else to worry about. When she tried to enter, the guards required her to pay a toll that felt outrageous for simply walking through a gate. Two gold. That left her with only fifty silver to live off of until she found a way to earn more. Hopefully, there was a bank in the city.

Surely, the Wixx family had been paying her while she was technically employed with them. Who was she kidding? Of course they had. Chelsea was the one in charge of finances. Ivy crossed the white cobblestone bridge and took in the city as she walked. She wasn't sure what to expect from the Holy City. It wasn't a normal capital. There wasn't an official monarch currently, at least not one she understood.

She didn't know how contracts with the guild worked here, or whether they used the same banking system as Junstruce. There were a lot of what ifs. She decided to ask someone. Most of the people around her wore some variation of the same white and gold outfit. The clothes were clean, well-kept, and far too uniform to be coincidence. Ivy spotted an older man walking with the confidence of someone who knew exactly where he was going, so she stepped carefully into his path without blocking him completely.

"Pardon me Sir," she said as politely as she could. He stopped, clearly annoyed, and looked her over.

"Yes?" His tone was more harsh than Ivy felt the situation warranted, but she kept her expression pleasant.

"Does this city happen to have an adventurer's guild or bank?" The man scoffed as though she had asked whether the city had streets.

"Of course it does. Follow this road until you get to the main plaza. You will find both there." Then he was off without another word. Ivy watched him disappear into the crowd. Maybe the Holy City really was just like any other city. She hadn't expected everyone to be kind, but she had hoped the first person she spoke to might at least manage basic manners. She did as the man suggested and continued down the road. Before long, she came across something she had never seen before.

A man sat alone on a stone bench near the side of the street. He wasn't wearing white and gold, and a faint glow clung to him. It wasn't bright enough to light a cave or chase away shadow, but it was there, steady and unmistakable. He noticed Ivy staring as she passed and gave her a smile. Ivy quickly whipped her head forward and kept walking. The city was gorgeous, though in a way that felt planned down to the last brick. Every building seemed designed as part of a larger pattern.

None stood out as poorer, newer, or older than the others. The walls were made from sandstone brick, each roof the same shade of brown, and every street seemed to guide the eye toward something grander ahead. To her right, rising above the other buildings, was the Crystal Cathedral. Ivy had heard of it, but hearing about the cathedral and seeing it were different things. It gleamed over the city, formed from a single solid gemstone that caught the sunlight in soft flashes.

Several smaller gemstone buildings floated around it, held in place by great chains that stretched down toward the cathedral grounds.

"Watch where you're going." A person in a white and gold robe dodged Ivy before they collided.

"Sorry," Ivy said quickly. She forced herself to look where she was walking after that. A few streets later, she passed a building that made her chest ache. The door was open, and beyond it she saw children. Three of them were outside cleaning the front entryway, their clothes old and dirty, with holes at the hems and stains Ivy didn't want to identify. Before Chelsea, she probably would have shrugged it off as another orphanage doing what orphanages did. Now she wanted to help them.

That thought stayed with her longer than she expected. Maybe that was what she could do now. Her father wanted nothing to do with her because he believed family should have come first. He had scolded her for joining with the Wixx family instead of remaining by Adair's side. Ivy had left out the abuse. Not to mention there was a plot to kill at least Chelsea because of it. It wasn't because she wanted to protect Adair's name. Adair could rot in hell for all she cared.

She simply didn't want her father to know how horrible his pride and joy had become. Ivy had been close with her father before she originally left, but not as close as Adair had been. She shook the thoughts off as she kept walking. Orphanage caretaker? Probably not. She didn't know the first thing about taking care of children. Elves seldom had them, and Ivy had been the youngest in her village before leaving for Junstruce.

She had spent almost no time interacting with children outside of seeing what Chelsea did for them. She could start being an adventurer again. That was familiar at least, though she was too high level for D-rank missions now. She had left Junstruce before the next assessment, so she had no idea what rank she would fall into here. She had some money saved somewhere, assuming the bank existed and assuming the Wixx family had deposited what she was owed. It wouldn't last forever either way. She needed to make more.

Ivy broke through to the plaza. It was incredible. A giant open square spread before her, busy enough that the motion of the crowd nearly pulled her in before she decided where to go. In the center, an open-air market filled the plaza with the scent of fruit, cooked meat, warm bread, and spices. People sold vegetables from shaded stalls, turned meat over little cooking fires, and called out prices to anyone who slowed too long near their tables. Something strange stood out after a moment.

Ivy didn't see anyone selling anything but food. Nearly every person also wore some version of the white and gold clothing. Her own robe, vibrant purple and orange, suddenly felt louder than it ever had. She stood out more than she liked.

"Good afternoon, traveler." Ivy turned. Another of the glowing people stood nearby, this one an older woman with kind eyes and a patient smile.

"You seem to be lost. Anything I can help you find?" Ivy's first instinct was to ignore the woman and walk off, the way most people here seemed to do. Then her current motto took over. What would Chelsea do? She had adopted it while traveling to Leaf Village, and as annoying as it was to admit, Chelsea had definitely been onto something. People reacted favorably when Ivy did her best Chelsea impression. Not the eating hearts part, of course. The manners and the warmth.

Ivy turned her full attention to the woman and bowed.

"Good afternoon Miss. It's not so much lost as I feel out of place. Why is everyone wearing nearly the same outfit?"

"Ah! Such a polite young elf. It warms my heart to see niceties aren't lost on this generation. It's the holy garb. The city only wears it on fifth day each week. You will see clothes more fitting yours tomorrow and the next five days. Then, again, it will be back to," she gestured to the plaza. Ivy internally sighed. This was the part she always hated about asking herself what Chelsea would do. Chelsea would not have simply nodded and walked away.

Chelsea would have made the old woman feel appreciated, then probably left her day better than it had been before. Ivy raised her eyebrows in understanding.

"Thank you so much," she said, trying to sound as genuine as possible.

"Your kind words have made me feel not so out of place." She let out a Chelsea giggle and added, "at least starting tomorrow." Then came the part she hated most. Ivy stepped forward and hugged the little old glowing woman.

"I hope you have a wonderful day." The woman nodded to her in confusion, apparently unsure what to do with a polite elf stranger who had hugged her in the middle of the plaza. Ivy released her before the moment became too strange, then walked toward the right side of the plaza, aiming for the bank. As soon as she turned away, the effort of acting cheerful slipped from her face. It was not that she hated being kind. She didn't.

It was that Chelsea made kindness look effortless, as though it naturally poured out of her without thought. Ivy had to think about every step. Smile. Thank people. Make them feel seen. Hug if appropriate, though Chelsea's definition of appropriate was far wider than Ivy's. Still, it worked. The old woman had smiled by the end. That made the awkwardness harder to complain about. Ivy walked up the steps of the bank. The last time she had checked, she'd had about sixty five gold left.

At the time, she had wanted to pull it all out and close the account just to say fuck you to Chelsea. Instead, she had left it there because walking around with all the money she owned seemed reckless. Removing Chelsea's privileges from the account had been the part meant to hurt. She had never meant for it to be permanent. Ivy's throat tightened. She was such an idiot. The door pulled open as smoothly as the one in Junstruce.

Inside, the bank was cool and quiet, with polished floors, high counters, and the same sort of carefully arranged seating that made the place feel… too much. A young woman in holy garb worked as the concierge near the entrance.

"Blessings to you Miss. How may I help you today?" She spoke in that serene way only people of the church seemed to manage. Ivy had never understood how they did it. The voice was polite, gentle, and somehow distant, as if nothing in the world could rush them.

"Hi. I need to find out my balance and pull out ten gold please."

"Certainly, do you have identification. If not, I am able to use The Eyes as identification."

"Sure, The Eyes would be fine. And would you mind telling me what level I'm at? I haven't had anyone to check in a long time."

"That is no problem." She reached out her hand, and Ivy stepped into it. The contact was brief and professional, but Ivy still found herself bracing.

"Ivy Leaf. Your level is 27. Goodness. A Greater Dragon Slayer. That is impressive M… did you know you have a blessing that is unassigned?"

"Let me guess, Freya?" she said with a sigh. Chelsea helping her once again, no doubt.

"The goddess of battle? No Miss, it's from Nickeln," the woman said simply.

"If you'd like, I can apply the blessing."

"Who is Nickeln?" Ivy asked quietly.

"The goddess of sorcery?" she replied.

"I figured with you being a mage, and having her blessing you would know of her." Ivy shrugged.

"Never heard of her. Hey, if I paid you, could you assist me in basic maintenance of my stat sheet? It's been months since I had someone do anything with it." The woman pulled her hand away.

"Umm… you should go to the temple. They can do it for cheap. Their members have skill lvls above 15. Mine is pretty much stuck at 13."

"Oh, I don't need anything too intense. Just switching a title around and reading a few things for me. I will pay two gold."

"Uh," she said, looking around.

"Sure. But it will have to be after I get off work. We aren't supposed to do that stuff while working."

"Sounds good," Ivy said.

"Can you make it twelve gold that I need to withdraw then?"

"Of course. I will be right back." Ivy stood awkwardly in the bank while the woman went to handle the withdrawal. She looked around, mostly to avoid looking as uncomfortable as she felt. The couch near the wall looked almost identical to the one in the Junstruce bank, which made her chest hurt in an unexpected way. Chelsea had probably sat on one just like it while doing something absurd with money and smiling at clerks until they wanted to help her. Ivy walked toward the couch slowly.

Before she could sit, her new nameless friend returned, wide-eyed and pale-faced.

"Here is your balance Miss and your twelve gold." She handed the card over along with twelve glimmering coins. Ivy looked at the card. The number on it stretched longer than she expected. She took a deep breath, then sighed. Chelsea.

"Miss, I'm not very good with large numbers being written out. How much is this?"

"After your withdrawal. That leaves you with one hundred twenty seven thousand and fifty three gold," she replied quietly. Ivy sighed again. Even now, Chels was taking care of her. The money should have made her feel good. Instead, it sat in her mind beside the dirty-clothed children outside the orphanage and the woman she had lost because she had decided hurt was enough proof to condemn her. What would Chelsea do? Ivy looked back at the young woman.

"Can you do me a huge favor?"

"What do you need?"

"Can you tell me how many orphanage accounts there are in the city?"