Piper stretched languidly in her bed, luxuriating in the feel of the soft sheets against her skin. After spending weeks sleeping on the hard ground, the inn’s mattress felt heavenly. If she hadn’t had plans today, she would have happily spent the rest of the morning in bed.

  I suppose I can sleep for a few more minutes.

  Rolling over, she adjusted the pillow under her head slightly. With a sigh, she closed her eyes. Then her [Ambush Detection] blared a warning.

  “If you poke me with that stick,” she said, her voice muffled from the pillow. “I’m going to throw you in the horse trough outside.”

  “How do you always know?” Ophelia exclaimed. “Is that some sort of demon skill?”

  “Keep your voice down,” Piper said, rolling onto her back. “These walls aren’t soundproof, you know.”

  Her friend shrugged. “If anyone overhears me, they’d just think I’m kidding.”

  “We don’t know anything about this place,” Piper said. “Maybe it’s against the law to call someone a demon here. You remember how the tailor reacted when she saw the moonstone around my neck? She practically had a fit and kicked us out.”

  Ophelia giggled. “I thought her eyes were going to bulge out of her head. Anyway, I still think she didn’t like your Infernus medallion. I bet she got bored going to church as a kid.”

  After the woman’s reaction at the tailor’s shop, she stopped wearing both of her necklaces. Until she knew more about the Arissian Empire, she wasn’t going to do anything that could offend anyone. For now, her Infernus medallion and moonstone were safely hidden under her mattress. Her warm, comfy mattress.

  She briefly considered trying to go back to sleep. But she also knew that her friend would never let that happen. Once Ophelia was up, she expected everyone else to be up, too.

  “Come on,” Ophelia said, poking the thick covers with her stick. “Let’s go get some breakfast before it’s all gone.”

  Piper pushed herself up and blinked at the bright light. Once she was a wealthy wayfarer, the first thing she’d do is find a room with proper shutters. The ones in her room barely fit the frame, and bright beams of sunlight pierced the gloomy room like lances.

  Stretching, she patted down her wild hair before standing up. She walked over to the small table holding a basin of water.

  Rinsing her hands off, she splashed some on her face before running her fingers through her hair.

  After arriving in the city, she’d changed her hair back to its natural color—at least its natural color from Earth. Now she supposed her real hair color was a lustrous silver. But unless something went catastrophically wrong, no one in the city would ever see that.

  As she attempted to tame her wild mane, she added a comb and a mirror to the list of things she’d like to buy. More often than not, her hair resembled a rat's nest on top of her head. And she didn’t like that one bit.

  After visiting the Wayfarer Aspirant’s guild, she was going to hunt down a comb to buy. And she would also see how expensive mirrors were, though she suspected they cost far more than she could afford.

  Ophelia came to stand next to her and grinned from ear to ear. “Do you know what today is?”

  “The day you learn to become a farm wife?”

  Piper’s [Ambush Detection] didn’t save her this time as a stick jabbed into her side. “Hey, that actually hurt!”

  “You deserved it,” Ophelia replied. “Now, what day is it again?”

  “The day you start your sword training.”

  Her friend practically squealed with delight. “Thank you so much for finding someone to train me.”

  “If you’re going to be an adventurer, you need to learn how to fight.” Piper had also been searching for someone who could teach her martial arts, but so far, she hadn’t found anyone. In any battle, her claws and tail were going to be her greatest assets. However, until she knew how to fight, she was always going to be at a disadvantage against a skilled opponent.

  At the thought of fighting, she moved over to the wall where Gorebark and her quiver were hidden by her [Veil of Lies] spell with [Enduring Casting] on it. She’d been trying to learn a new spell to hide her weapon’s true nature, but so far hadn’t had any luck. Unfortunately, her illusion spell only worked on something stationary. So, it wouldn’t work when she was carrying the bow around.

  In the meantime, she’d purchased some rawhide and string to hide the more demonic parts of her weapon. Her free time over the last few days had been spent cutting and shaping the material to hide Gorebark and the creepy human face on her quiver. It wasn’t perfect, but at least she could bring them out in public if needed.

  Piper cancelled the illusion and then retrieved her bow. There was a linen gag stretched across the demonic face’s mouth. She couldn’t exactly have it talking while she was out during the day. However, she wasn’t cruel enough to leave it gagged all the time.

  Pulling off the gag, she regarded her bow. “I’m going to try to find a quest today. If it’s outside of the city, I’ll bring you along with me.”

  Gorebark sputtered, sticking out its wooden tongue. “I can’t breathe with that thing on!”

  She rolled her eyes. “Both of us know that you don’t need to breathe.”

  “Well, that may be true. But what you’re doing to me is inhumane. It's torture being locked up in this room while so many fat pink apes are walking around outside. If you just let me kill a few, I’ll reach level 3.”

  She raised her eyebrow slightly. “Are you that close?”

  The bow wiggled up and down in her hand in its best attempt at a nod.

  “I’ll be back soon,” she said. “Then maybe we can get you to level 3.”

  Gorebark gave a dramatic sigh. “Back to the gag?”

  Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

  “Back to the gag,” she repeated. “But only for a bit longer.”

  Piper returned her bow to its hiding place and then wrapped her cloak around her shoulders. A slight smile played across her face as she inspected her new clothing. The fabric of the dress was of the deepest sapphire blue, and the long skirt pooled around her new boots. The bodice was a little tight for her taste, and it laced up with a silver cord.

  To finish off her outfit, she wore a long black cloak and supple leather boots that reached up to her knees. She’d splurged a bit on the footwear, but it was so much more comfortable than what she’d worn back on the farm.

  Plus, after spending the last few years wearing hospital gowns, snuggies, and baggy peasant dresses, it was nice to look good for once. Not that her outfit compared to what even moderately wealthy women wore in town.

  In her travels, she’d seen women showing off black silk dresses, with all the stars of the night sky shimmering within the material. Another woman she’d seen had been wreathed in flames that didn’t consume her garments. It seemed like half the women in town had illusionists working for them to make their clothes stand out.

  I might be able to make a bit of extra money if I learn an illusion spell to enhance clothing.

  Meanwhile, her friend had picked the plainest clothing possible at the second tailor shop they’d visited. Ophelia had steadfastly refused to wear a dress and had instead chosen simple tunics along with breeches for her outfits. Her friend had also found a barber to cut her hair shorter, leaving it hanging in a cute bob slightly above her shoulders.

  “Come on,” Ophelia said, bouncing from foot to foot. “I don’t want to miss him.”

  “I’m coming, I’m coming.”

  Piper checked that her quiver was attached to her belt and then strung her bow. Finally, she recast [Truth Shroud]. If anyone used [Identify] on her, it would show:

  Human, Level 35

  Hunter (Poor), Level 27

  She silently thanked Raz Kalma—the knight that she’d encountered in the Black Pyramid—for pointing out the error in her illusion. It had been a miracle no one had noticed before then. However, she hadn’t been in many situations where anyone could see her class. Only someone with an evolved [Identify] skill could see anything beyond race.

  For what must be the hundredth time, she considered changing her class. The last few days had been spent trying to choose one that would get her into a wayfarer aspirant group, but also not draw undue attention to herself.

  Finally, she’d settled on the hunter class. It would allow her to use her [Archery] skill, while also being somewhat attractive as a semi-combat class. Hopefully, she’d made the right choice.

  Piper had wanted to find Lukas and ask him about classes in the empire. But it was like he’d disappeared off the face of the planet after they arrived in Kalmyros. No matter how much she looked, she couldn’t find any sign of him.

  She walked over to the door and turned the handle. The second she swung it open, Ophelia was out of the room like a shot and racing down the hallway. Her friend descended the stairs two at a time and disappeared from view.

  Piper followed her friend more slowly. As she descended the stairs, the delicious aroma of frying bacon and baking bread filled her nostrils. Her stomach rumbled at the thought of the delicious food awaiting them.

  When Piper reached the main floor, she spotted Ophelia already seated at a table in the corner, looking eagerly at the kitchen. Most of the chairs around the tables were filled with a motley assortment of travellers, aspirant hopefuls, and less prosperous merchants.

  Piper threaded her way through the dining room before arriving at Ophelia's side. Flopping down on the hard chair, she waited for the innkeeper, Iris, to arrive with her breakfast. A minute later, the tall redhead appeared.

  Without a word to either of them, the innkeeper dropped two wooden plates on the table. They were heavily laden with bacon, cheese, buttered chunks of bread, and fried potatoes.

  The potatoes were a nice addition, and something that Piper hadn’t encountered during her time living in the Bloodveil Empire. She didn’t know if they didn’t exist across the mountains, or they just weren’t eaten in Alderwick. Either way, she needed to find someone to make French fries for her—they’d been one of her favorite foods back on Earth.

  “This is so good,” Ophelia said with a mouthful of potatoes. She was shovelling in the food like she hadn’t eaten in a month.

  Piper took a bite of the bread and frowned slightly. While there was no question the food was good at the inn, it paled in comparison to what she’d eaten back on the farm. Maybe it was just nostalgia, but she didn’t think anyone could bake as well as Ethel.

  The thought of Ophelia’s parents made her renew her vow to level up as quickly as possible. As soon as she was powerful enough to brave the Black Pyramid again, she was going to return to check on the farm. Though she trusted Justina to look after Alfred and Ethel.

  “Done!” Ophelia cried out, making some of the others at the table stare at her.

  “Did you even taste your food?” Piper took another delicate bite of the bacon.

  “Where’s my sword tutor?” Ophelia said, pushing herself up.

  Piper scanned the room, finally landing on the thin form of Andreas in the far corner. According to him, he was a down on his luck wayfarer aspirant. But he possessed a sword and had shown her a few moves before she hired him. And most importantly, she could afford his asking price.

  Their money supply had been dropping steadily since they’d arrived. While the inn was relatively cheap, their new clothing and equipment had been shockingly expensive. Already, she’d gone through half of her silver.

  She pointed at the poor man, who was eating in peace—something he wasn’t going to be doing much longer. “He’s over there.”

  Her friend bounded across the room and began to pester the man, showing him her various moves with a stick. One overly enthusiastic lunge struck the man’s plate and sent potatoes flying across the tabletop. The others sitting with him bellowed with laughter, while Andreas shot Piper a dirty look.

  Shrugging in return, she returned to eating her meal. For what she was paying him, she deserved a chance to let her many stick bruises heal.

  After eating, she took her and Ophelia’s plates to the kitchen. She left them on the counter, as the innkeeper was busy trying to salvage some bread that she’d burned the bottom of. Then she walked over to Andreas, who was shielding his food with one arm.

  “I’ll be back later today,” she said. “Do you mind training her until then?”

  Andreas dodged a stick thrust from Ophelia and frowned. “Is today the day?”

  Piper nodded. “I’m going to sign up as a wayfarer aspirant.”

  “Why not reconsider?” Andreas asked. “There’s plenty of work for archers in the Iron Host. I can’t watch over your sister if anything happens to you.”

  “Nothing is going to happen to me.”

  “Wayfarer aspirants are called the gravebait for a reason.”

  “What?”

  “Gravebait,” Andreas repeated. “Haven’t you ever heard that term before?”

  Piper shook her head.

  “Most never survive past their first day.”

  Ophelia jabbed Andreas in the ribs, making him grunt. “Piper is the best. She’ll be an adventurer in no time.”

  “I’ll be fine.” Piper twirled a strand of her dark hair around her finger as she chewed over the man’s words. While she knew being a wayfarer aspirant was dangerous, she didn’t know that most never made it past their first day. What would happen to Ophelia if she died?

  “Many others have said the same thing,” Andreas remarked darkly. “If you change your mind, we can try to form a lance and hire out our services to the army. There’s plenty of work to go around with the redcap spring raiding parties coming down from the mountains. They might need some soldiers for the upcoming campaigns against the undead as well.”

  “What about the dark elves?” she asked, remembering Lukas having mentioned them.

  “Sure, if you want to die,” Andreas laughed. “Unless you think you can take down a level 10,000 immortal.”

  Her brow rose at the man’s words. Every day, she learned the world was even more dangerous than she could have imagined. If she ever encountered a dark elf, she decided that she was going to run in the opposite direction.

  As another stick attack descended toward Andreas, her hand shot out and caught it. “Be nice,” she said firmly. “I don’t want to have to find you another tutor.”

  Ophelia rolled her eyes before nodding.

  Piper stepped forward and drew Ophelia in for a big hug. She squeezed her friend tightly, feeling a bit jittery about becoming an aspirant. As someone who had faced down vampires, demons, and dread owls in the mountains, she was surprisingly nervous.

  Releasing her friend, she gave a slight smile and then turned to leave the room. As her dad always said, you had to stay positive. Before nightfall, she should have completed her first quest and be well on her way to becoming a full wayfarer. After all, what could possibly go wrong with an easy starter quest?