Sandra glared at him harshly, then sighed and rubbed her face with her hands. “Sorry, Jack. I just don’t like to talk about it. Look, be careful out there, alright?”

  She held out her arms for a hug, but made no move to approach.

  Zack sheathed the dagger, and then they hugged. She gave him a tight squeeze and then headed backstage. Left alone on the stage, Zack looked down at the dagger in his hand.

  [Swordsmanship] and [Knife Wielding].

  [Knife Wielding] had been particularly fast, but he had carried a knife before. A cool ceramic knife that didn’t register with metal detectors, when he’d been working overseas.

  There had to be a better way to deal with thurgenrats, though.

  Sandra’s advice was good, but he still didn’t fancy his chances.

  If he had still been in the [Hero’s Party] there wouldn’t be any question: with healing miracles on tap thanks to [Priestess] Maria, there would have been no problem. Just waltz into the forest and fight and gain levels.

  Zack had given up on [Prayer] at this point. Something was wrong, just flat out.

  The rest of the cast was arriving, and Zack joined them all at the lunch table, now fully a member of the cast and not needing to wait for leftovers.

  Rehearsal went smoothly, and the Director still had criticisms of Zack’s performance, but much fewer. Barely more than anyone else’s. And the performances went smoothly. Zack [Acted] his part and didn’t miss any of his cues and Ronaldo didn’t drop his sword and after the evening show he was informed there was no after-party tonight.

  “They’re not every night,” Roxy explained while removing her stage makeup. “Really only when enough superfans have gathered.”

  “Hmm,” Zack replied absentmindedly.

  Roxy looked at him via the mirror’s reflection. “Lindra for your thoughts?

  Zack explained about the Adventurer’s Guild, the thurgenrats, and the advice he’d gotten on slaying them from Lindon and Sandra.

  “I can’t risk getting injured, though, so I’m not sure what to do. Maybe I’ll just go switch to a spear after all.”

  “Hmm… Wanna know a secret?”

  Zack’s eyes flashed over to Roxy’s face. She was grinning.

  “That got your attention, huh! Men! Nyahahaha…”

  But she beckoned him close, and he sat next to her on a spare stool.

  “I killed a thurgenrat before,” she whispered.

  “...That’s the secret?” Zack replied with the same low voice.

  “No, I mean, as a little kid. I got a level for it, too, probably my first one.”

  “How’d you do it?”

  “I hit it in the head with a rock. It was just the one, but thurgenrats are really weak. It really doesn’t take much to kill them. It wandered into the yard and everyone else ran inside but I threw a rock and bam, dead thurgenrat. Then I ran inside with everyone else.”

  Roxy winked at him. “Don’t tell anyone, okay? Nobody else needs to know this kitty has claws!” She made a clawing motion with her hands.

  Zack made a grave, serious expression. “I’ll take your secret to the grave, Miss Roxy.”

  She smacked him on the shoulder. “Stooop it! Anyway, when do I get to meet Sienna? I heard about her from Vlad!”

  Zack frowned sincerely now. “I don’t think she’s ready to meet a lot of strangers yet.”

  “She never will be if you don’t start introducing her to people! That’s just part of having a [Familiar], teaching them not to attack people.”

  “Maybe when she’s a bit more mature.”

  Roxy sighed dramatically. “If you say so…”

  Zack got up and headed home.

  Sienna was sleeping off her meal from earlier, so he sat on the bed and gave it some serious thought.

  The conclusion he reached was fairly simple.

  He wasn’t equipped to take on thurgenrats.

  If he had the proper armor, like Lindon had been wearing, it would be simple. There’d be no risk of being bitten, and even with a dagger he didn’t know how to use, he could make it work.

  Best would be some kind of ranged option. A bow and arrow. But he didn’t have the money for that.

  Yet.

  There would be other opportunities.

  It didn’t have to be thurgenrats right now.

  And so Zack Adder, like many other people in the city, weighed up the risks and rewards and they all decided taking care of the thurgenrat swarm wasn’t worth their effort.

  The next morning, Zack woke early and went to [Acting] training with Ronaldo. Zack learned the shield-bearer role, and all the other line-less extra roles.

  The day after that, he started learning the minor roles: a herald. A generals’ aide. A soldier on the battlefield.

  And the day after that, Fyodor joined them, and Zack learned the stunts. The flashy yet harmless swordplay, the way to fake being thrown, and to fake throw, and so on. Interestingly, the Rose Theater didn’t use fake blood.

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  “The Director hates it,” Fyodor explained. “The sight of it. But also it makes a mess, and the people in the back can’t see it anyway. Red dye on some costumes here and there is one thing, getting liquids on the stage people are walking on is another.”

  “I hear from other troupes’ actors how much they dislike it, too,” Ronaldo added. “It’s one of the few widely recognized pros of working for the Rose Theater Troupe.”

  “What does that mean?” Zack asked.

  “Well…” Fyodor trailed off.

  “Other troupes pay better, and the criticism is much gentler,” Ronaldo didn’t hesitate at all. “But if you want to get good at acting, and you want to act in original plays rather than the same dozen plays that are always running, The Rose Theater is where it’s at.”

  Fyodor nodded. “You and me, Jack, we wouldn’t make it in the other troupes. Even with your talent, they don’t want to develop talent, they just want people who are already good.”

  Zack frowned. “Why not you, Fyodor?”

  The large man held up three fingers. “There are exactly three roles in the normal plays that suit a man with a well-developed physique, and if neither of those two plays are running, which is typical, then I would be out of work, for months or years at a time. I might as well just go back to the docks."

  Ronaldo clapped Fyodor on the shoulder.

  “It’s for the best anyway. We get the superior audience: the true aesthetes who wish to view the cutting edge of theater and appreciate the craft, rather than the stuck-up old money and nouveau-riche who care more about being seen at the theater than seeing the play.”

  After Fyodor’s role was Vlad’s. Vlad, master of [Voice] that he was, insisted on perfection in enunciation and cadence.

  Which meant it was a pain in the ass getting his stamp of approval.

  And yet, for all that Zack was frustrated, it only took two days of rehearsals.

  After getting the thumbs up from the Director, Tim returned, his cold having passed. Zack stayed on standby his first day back, just in case, but there were no problems. The cast and crew had a small party in the theater itself to celebrate his return after the evening performance, and they all dispersed into the warm late night air.

  Something stank.

  “Do you guys smell that?” Zack asked.

  Millie, walking next to him, sniffed the air. “Hmm, no, what is it?”

  “Something smells foul. Rotten, maybe.”

  Vlad, one of the tallest among them, inhaled. “No, I don’t smell anything.”

  “Jack needs a bath! Jack needs a bath!” Roxy started singing, and several others laughed.

  “You know,” Zack said, “a bath does sound nice. Vlad, do you mind if I…?”

  Vlad smiled villainously, with too much teeth. “No… be my guest, Jack. I have other business tonight.”

  “Another girl?”

  Now Vlad smiled smugly. “Perhaps one day you can be so popular with the girls as I.”

  “Boo! Boo to that,” Roxy exclaimed and grabbed Jack’s arm. “The only girl Jack needs is me!”

  Sandra slid up on his other side and wrapped herself around his other arm. “Oh Roxy, are you sure you’re woman enough for Jack?”

  Zack could only sigh. He was half-certain they were doing a bit to tease him, but they might also just be teasing each other.

  “Oh you harlots, leave the poor boy alone.” Millie smacked them both upside the head.

  “Agh! Fyodor, save me! Millie’s being violent!” Roxy bounced away to hide behind the bigger man.

  Sandra merely stuck her tongue out and winked at Zack, then gave him his space back.

  “All right, see you all tomorrow.”

  “Bye bye Jack!”

  “Good night, Jack.”

  He climbed the stairs and could feel Sienna’s energy even before he opened the door. She had a day or two of high energy before she got hungry, then a few days of sleepiness while digesting.

  Saa! Lid!

  More and more she’d been wanting out of her terrarium. His [Tame] skill must have hit level four, because he had a really good sense of where she was and what she was doing and how she was feeling pretty much everywhere in the apartment, now. That, and she was good at listening to him when he told her it was time to go back to her nest.

  He closed the door which sealed the apartment, and entered his room to find Sienna’s head up near the grill, her tongue flicking in and out almost constantly.

  Saa!

  “I know, I’m coming, just a second.” He closed the bedroom door behind him, then unlatched the lid and lifted it.

  Sienna slowly lifted her head above the clearsteel edge, tongue flicking.

  Smell.

  “You think it’s me? I thought I smelled something earlier, too, but nobody else did…”

  Danger smell.

  Zack froze.

  “Danger?”

  He sat on the edge of the bed, giving her space to come out of her case like she usually did, but instead she simply kept sampling the air. “What kind of danger?”

  Little snake danger. Not big snake danger.

  Zack frowned.

  “Dangerous for you, now? You’ve grown a bit bigger.”

  Sienna couldn’t emote the way a mammal could. Her face was stiff, and lacked the musculature. So it was bit eerie how she simply turned her head directly towards Zack and stared, flicking her tongue in and out.

  Little danger. Sienna has Saa!

  Her faith in him was heartwarming but not informative.

  Check territory.

  “Okay, wait in the bedroom until I finish putting the sign up, alright?”

  Vlad was out, and Zack didn’t know when he’d be back, or with whom. Vlad knew when the sign was up that Sienna was out, so he would knock and then wait for Zack to get Sienna fully back in her case before coming in.

  Zack stepped out, and Sienna went right up to the doorway, but she did wait there, as instructed. Her head turned side to side as she looked around.

  Zack opened the door…

  And hung up the sign, and then closed it again. He turned the lock, and that was that.

  “Okay Sienna, go ahead.”

  She slithered out carefully and then methodically checked every corner and nook and cranny of the apartment. Eventually she paused at the window, but it was sealed shut. He looked at her curiously, and she turned to look back at him.

  Hunt soon.

  “Yeah, you’re right, it’s getting to be about time for you to eat again."

  Hunt!

  She slithered over herself which Zack recognized as excitement.

  “Okay, Sienna, do you want to keep exploring? I’m planning to take a bath.”

  She started slithering back to his bedroom.

  Rest now. Hunt soon!

  Zack had his bath, and then went to sleep thinking about visiting the Adventurer’s Guild the next day after rehearsals ended.

  He awoke several hours later to scratching sounds.

  And then the bells started to ring.

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