Chương 129: Chapter 134: Gossip

"Soo, where have you been after the party yesterday? At one point you disappeared… can it be that—" I stopped one of the women who had been dancing with us yesterday before she could finish. For once, I wasn't good with gossip, even less when I was the topic. And second, these people would have to see me as a leader, not a friend, so I had to set boundaries.

"Where is Chloe?" I asked in Rhea's direction. She was looking at me with puppy eyes. What did they manage to make her spill about us? Surprisingly, Sara was the one who answered. She looked much chirpier than the other day.

"She's still sleeping the hangover off. Most are doing the same."

"Well then, when she gets up, tell her to find me. We'll have to organize things with the Guild. Actually, when everyone gets up, we'll have another meeting. In the meantime, I'll be off."

"Wait! Is it true what happened between you two?" asked the same woman who had spoken at the beginning.

"I'll stop you there," I said flatly, raising a hand.

"First, I don't particularly like to talk about personal matters with people I'm friends with, and I don't even know your name. Second, I don't owe explanations to anyone. And third, yesterday's party was an exception. Instead of spending time here loitering, we should all start working toward completing this tutorial. I'm going to do just that, and I have no time to waste on pointless chatter. Do you?" The room fell into silence. Some heads went down in shame, while others just looked around awkwardly.

It was so fucking tiring to have to push people all the time. Why the threat of death wasn't enough to get them moving, I had no idea. But I wasn't about to keep doing it, not when I'd put Chloe in charge of logistics and Tom in charge of military training this bunch. They'd be too tired to even think about gossiping.

"Given the current situation, I'll go out to prepare the items from the list we wrote," I told Rhea.

"I got everything, and as soon as I remove the curses, we'll see if the money glitch theory was right." Rhea was about to answer me when someone else beat her to it.

"How do we help?" asked an older man from a nearby table. I turned fully to face him. He had darker skin, probably Mexican from his features. Big and strong. If I wasn't mistaken, he was one of the guys who had chosen a giant bloodline like Cole.

"Are you coming with us, or do you plan on remaining here?"

"No way in hell I'm staying with the pendejos." He would have spit on the ground if we weren't indoors.

"Well then, for all those who want to stay, I require nothing of them. For the others, we are going to move to another safe zone soon. It would take three days of marching, and while we have a rough idea of the way, I'm sure it will be swarming with monsters." I paused, letting my words sink in.

"Tom, the big army guy if you don't know who I'm talking about, designed a small set of skills to make you all fit for traveling and fighting in a group. So start with that. Whoever wants to contribute should go to Tom, get the points to buy the skills from him, then start training and leveling. Those of you who want to remain full crafters should instead start making some points. You need to enhance yourselves as soon as possible and repay your debt."

"I don't want to fight," said a pretty girl nearby.

"What's your class then?"

"I'm a ballerina," she said with a serious face. I wanted to punch something at that point. If she wanted to fight, I could argue it could become a fighting class pretty easily with one evolution. Probably ballerina granted some kind of trait about balance or coordination, motor control maybe… something that could be repurposed. But she didn't want to fight, and she wasn't a crafter in the true sense. She was a performer. What was I supposed to do, pay her to perform a ballet?

"Then start dancing. Maybe someone will throw you some points. I think we can get a pole up pretty quick," said Mark, laughing. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!

"I am the Prima Ballerina of La Scala in Milan, not some cheap whore who is going to dance on a pole for spare change!" she snapped furiously. Mark got to his feet, towering over the smaller girl.

"Oh yeah? And what are you going to do about that? Are you even past level ten? You have no power, no fighting skills, no crafting skills. You can just dance, and nobody gives a damn about your Black Swan or whatever. So learn to take a joke and shut up." While I personally disliked Mark, he made a valid point. If he weren't such a moron, he would be a great asset. Still, I couldn't let the group splinter before even putting it together.

"Mark," I said, infusing my eyes with just a sliver of aura.

"This is counterproductive, don't you think?" He froze when he looked at me, going slightly pale. Then I dropped the aura, and he recomposed himself.

"I was just… come on, what should we do with her? With her class she can't contribute, and she doesn't want to fight!"

"We'll find a job for her too," I said. Then I turned to her.

"At least until we return and you can resume your career." She was still red in the face after the altercation, but she nodded. Good. But I was done with this bullshit.

"Mark, since you're already standing, go get Tom, wherever he is, and tell him to get everyone willing into fighting shape. He knows what to do. Sara, please wake up Chloe. She needs to deal with the crafters, if she still wants the position. Tell her that." Mark grumbled but acquiesced, while Sara just smiled and said, "Ok." Rhea took the chance to escape the vultures and came to my side.

"Let's grab a bite and get out of here…"

"Good idea. I'm famished," I said to her, then louder for everyone else.

"This evening at dusk, we all meet here to discuss the future of this Guild. Be sure to attend." With that, we were off before anyone could answer. We exited the common room and walked side by side toward the shop. Halfway there, a clearly angry Melissa was stomping toward us while Quinn was frantically trying to make her stop without touching her. She wanted nothing to do with it and kept moving as if he didn't exist. I reached out and grabbed Quinn by the arm.

"Walk with me," I said, dragging him along.

"Let me go! Elias, for fuck's sake, leave me now! It's important, damn it!" He started yelling and pulling, but he was specced for speed, not strength. He couldn't free himself.

"Rhea, can you please go grab something while me and Quinn have a man to man chat?" She nearly chuckled, then went ahead.

"Ah, and don't mind the merchant. He does that from time to time!"

"What?" she turned to ask, but I waved her away. She'd see for herself. Now, Quinn. What did you do this time?

"What did you do?" I asked flatly.

"I didn't do anything! She's crazy, man! I don't even know what I'm apologizing for! You know, it should be a point in my favor not wanting to jump on her at the first chance, not a reason to call me names!" Oh. I think I get it.

"Rephrase that. This time with details." I let him go. He rubbed the spot where I had grabbed him, then started pacing.

"You know yesterday, the party… when you told me to go dance with her? I did it. I got a couple of drinks and pulled her to dance. I hate dancing, by the way! I did it for her. She was happy, and she was so pretty… and we drank a little more, and then we weren't in the common room anymore. I brought her to the roof of a building far from the crowd." He took a breath and turned his face away.

"Go on."

"Yeah, so I got her up there, like a ninja, you know? Even if I was half drunk, she was half drunk too. We talked for a bit, then… ah, screw it. Then I kissed her." I looked at him straight in the eyes.

"And? I'm sure she's not mad because you kissed her."

"Yeah, no. She was pretty happy when I started kissing her. Apparently I'm quite good. But then she started touching and wanted to go further. You get it?" He looked at me like he was explaining something obvious. I suppressed a sigh.

"Yeah, Quinn, I get it. But I assume this is where you ruined it."

"What? No! Hey, I'm a gentleman at heart. She was totally drunk! And it was my first time… our first time. I wanted it to be special, I don't know… I didn't even have protection! What if she got pregnant?" Yeah. Now you can be sure she won't.

"Quinn, my friend," I said, placing my hands on his shoulders. He looked at me, gray eyes meeting gray eyes.

"You fucked up enormously."

"I know!"

"But," I shook him slightly to pull him out of his spiral, "we are men. It won't be the last time you mess up. And you know what we do in these situations?"

"No?"

"You open your heart and ask for forgiveness. With flowers, chocolate, or whatever she likes. Then you make the most romantic gesture you can and hope for the best." Before he could protest, I shook him again.

"Quinn, we are in a deadly tutorial full of monsters and aliens. You were at a party last night, and she was willing to go all the way with you. You should have gone with the flow, but I understand you. Wanting to make it better is natural. But with these circumstances, it's hard. So listen…" I explained what he should do. He looked at me, puzzled at first, then thoughtful, then nodded.

"Will it work?"

"You can only hope it does. But remember, be honest. Explain your feelings to her. People think women are difficult to understand, but they're not. They just operate on different principles than us. And the same goes the other way around. They don't always understand us either. You need to show your feelings and explain why you acted that way without hurting her. Think about it today while you prepare everything. And don't mess it up again." With a resigned sigh, Quinn nodded.

"I'll get to work."

"Good. I'll get breakfast instead," I said, looking at Rhea coming back with what was probably a bag of food. At his questioning look, I simply added,"I didn't mess it up."