The Unbidden: A New World (1) (Short Parts)

Part 10

When we arrived at Tult with the sun having already begun its descent, casting a dull hue across the sky.

The guards at the gate rushed over to help us. I told them of the situation, to which I received incredulous looks, but I wasn't really worried. I told the guards to bring them to Mercer's guild hall and to fetch them something to wear.

Thea and I made our way back to the guild ahead of them. It seemed as though the same people were still drinking and making merry. They didn't quiet down this time, but still appeared to watch us with curious glances.

"Good evening! We've completed the quest from before," I smiled courteously.

The receptionist furrowed her brows in momentary confusion. And as if on cue, the doors opened and guards helping the injured, now covered women moved in.

"The goblins had them in their ... breeding area."

"A – ah. How did you manage to rescue them and defeat the goblins so quickly?" she asked, stealing glances at the women as they were escorted to another place to the back.

"We snuck in close as quietly as possible, took out a couple guards, and then distracted them by burning their houses. I was able to kill them amidst the turmoil," I was careful to avoid mention of my use of magic.

She nodded throughout the detailing, and when I finished, she departed and came back with a large pouch full of coin. She set the pouch on the counter and grabbed our quest off the board and placed a new stamp on it, then she pinned it on another board with other completed quests.

"Thank you for your services to the guild. Because you completed a quest four ranks higher than yourself, the payment has been adjusted per our standards. The original reward was fifty Peri silver coins. Payment is adjusted in one-fourth increments per rank, so your reward has been matched coin for coin by the guild. Would you like your payment as a pouch of one-hundred coins, or a single Peri gold coin?" she spoke professionally.

"I'll take the pouch of one-hundred, please."

She pushed the heavy looking pouch toward me, which I placed into my robe pocket. The weight vanished and my pocket looked none the larger. Weird, I thought.

"If your group completed another silver-ranked quest, we will be able to promote you to copper-four, the highest copper rank."

I brought a hand to my chin.

"How much is it to buy the ranks? I recall you mentioning that before."

"The cost starts at 10 Peri silver to buy from copper-one to copper-two, and doubles with each rank."

That meant it was twenty for copper-three, forty for copper-four and so on. In order for us to get to silver via buying it, we needed to accrue one-hundred-fifty Peri silver coins. Alternatively, we could keep doing what I planned – completing quests higher than our own rank to get a free promotion.

"Thank you for the information," I smiled with a curt nod.

We left the guild hall to the usual whooping and hollering. On the way out, one guy tried to grab Thea's rear. He wasn't very successful, however, as the female next to him slammed him to the ground.

Afterward, we headed to the inn. I figured today was a solid success, despite having had an argument with my creator, and having to witness the grotesque pile of dead goblin babies, and the tortured naked women. I hope I don't have to deal with this regularly, I thought, plopping down on my bed.

It occurred to me I still needed to pay Matteas back, so I got back up and walked to the next room over and knocked. Lawd was the one to open.

"Hey, Lawd. Is Matteas or Leeris back?" I asked

"Not yet. They went to the market today to get some goods."

"Oh, okay ... Well, can you give this to them when they return?" I asked, handing him twenty silver coins.

His eyes opened a bit at the amount I had already acquired, but he didn't ask any questions. I bid him farewell and went back into the room to see Thea laying down on my bed staring at the ceiling.

"What, is my bed soft and yours too hard?" I mocked.

"No, they are both equally uncomfortable. I merely wanted to feel your warmth."

I wasn't sure how to respond to that. My awkward-self instinct told me that was some romantic intention, or that She was getting trying to get close to me, but the 'hey-you're-in-a-new-universe-self' was telling me it was due to some nonrelated reason. I opted to follow the latter, and smartly so.

"Be that as it may, I would like my bed back. It's getting late, and I would like to practice somethings tomorrow," I said, moving next to my bed and motioning for Her to get up.

"Making God get out of a bed She created. You really are an ungrateful person," She mocked with a mischievous smile, moving back to Her bed and getting under the sheets.

I doffed my robe, folded it, and set it on the only end table in the room before getting under my own covers.

Thankfully, I had undergarments on when we came here, so I wasn't buck naked in a room with God.

Not that it really matters. If She really created everything, then my nakedness is nothing to her, I thought.

There were a lot of things I needed to figure out and do. Like what big bad enemy I needed to stop, and what the extent of my powers were. For now, I tried to find the best spot I could for comfortability without success. As such, I slept very badly throughout the night and the nights that followed.