Chapter 3
I found out talking to Lillia on our way into the town that she was only out in the fields to do the summoning, as it was safely far enough away from the town and few monsters were there and mostly only weak ones. You were only likely to bump into the occasional weak Ogre, but even that was a rare sight and we had just been unlucky earlier. A twenty-minute walk later and were walking through the town’s main gates. The town was on the edge of the realm, but it was apparently the largest in the local area and was every bit what you would expect to see from a medieval fantasy realm. It was even complete with every type of demi human you could imagine from Elves to Beastkin. It was when Lillia noticed my surprise at seeing them, that she announced herself as an Elf. It was only noticeable by her ears, which were covered by her hair. Learning this her natural physique now made sense.
The town was bustling as we headed through the market area first. I wanted to check things out a little bit, but Lillia was insistent that we headed straight for the adventures’ guild.
“I need to inform them of the successful summoning and get you registered as quickly as possible.” She told me.
“Okay lead the way.” I answered a little disappointed.
She pulled me through the crowds of people and within a few minutes we were walking up the large flight of stairs that led to the adventurers’ guild. It was a large stone building and from the looks of it one of the oldest in town. It was busy inside, with many people seeming to be either waiting at the desks to hand in reports, checking the notice board for jobs or just sat at the tables enjoying some food and drink.
I had already noticed this in the town, but it was even more apparent in the confined space of the adventurers’ guild. There were hardly any men around. Actually, in here there were none at all. I understood that most of the men here had been wiped out by the demon lord, but there weren’t even any other heroes around. I glanced around the place taking in the faces as we headed for the registration desk, catching the occasional glance from an onlooker here and there. The other thing that I noticed here was that most of the women were seriously attractive. Not all as a good looking as Lillia, but then most people weren’t. But seriously, the entire female population seemed to all be sixes and above. I must have been staring too much because my arm suddenly got a yank.
“Is everything okay?” Lillia asked, with just the slightest hint of annoyance in her voice.
“Oh yes… I was just, um, wondering there don’t seem to be any men in here, not even other heroes.”
“It’s like I told you before, most of the men were either killed or destroyed. The heroes, well we can only summon fifty to the world at any one time. Most will either be out training or tracking down the demon king, or one of their minions.”
“I see so there are only fifty…”
“That’s the maximum. I’m not quite sure how many there are currently summoned and nearly half of them are women by the way.”
Well that did make sense.
“That explains that then… So, where do we go now?”
“Over here, come on.”
Lillia took my hand again and pulled me towards the front desk. Where there was a free attendant waiting on the other side. The attendant looked to be in her early twenties. She had black hair that was neatly tied back and was wearing glasses. Judging by appearances she looked to be the quiet and bookish type. She wore a white, blouse and a black pencil skirt. It seemed to be the uniform for the staff in this place and well, it definitely suited her.
As we approached the desk, she tapped down the paperwork she was holding to straighten it out, her chest wobbling a little as she did so, before placing them to the side on the desk. I tried my hardest not to stare, considering what happened when I first met Lillia, it seemed rude to ogle every girl that I met, at least in front of her.
“Good evening Lillia. How can I help you today?” The attendant asked.
“Evening Jules, I’ve come to record a summoning and get this one registered.”
“Ah another successful summoning. Well done!”
“Thanks.”
“I hope this one has a better end than the last.” Jules added giving me a slightly awkward smile.
“Oh, I have a really good feeling about this one!” Lillia answered patting me on the back in a friendly way.
I made a mental note to find out exactly what happened to the last hero that Lillia summoned.
“Okay. If you just sign the paperwork here at the bottom like usual.” Jules said sliding a piece of paper to Lillia across the desk.
Lillia signed the document with a pen attached to the desk like you see in banks before passing it back.
“Here you go.”
“Thanks. Now then, let’s get this one sorted.”
Jules leant under the desk and rummaged around for a moment before reappearing with a shallow box looking device and a small rectangle looking piece of steel on a necklace. It looked like a large dog tag. Jules placed the device down on the table and put the tag on top.
“If you could just place your hand on here.” Jules instructed pointing to the device.
I put my hand down and the was a flash of light from underneath, a little like a photocopier. I lifted my hand off the device and Jules picked up the tag, inspecting it to check it had been correctly processed.
“Hmm, all looks to be in order.” She said before looking a little serious. “Oh my, I’ve heard of this, but I’ve never actually seen one before. It’s exceptionally rare!”
“What is it?” I asked quite interested in what was happening.
“Well, it’s added your class of hero and the ten starter points for joining the guild, but… You have a custom character skill tree available and it seems you have already added one of the skills.”
“Oh that…” I answered slightly embarrassed and not wanting to make eye contact with either women for a moment.
“You should be pleased. It’s a great sign, something that rarely happens and a special set of skills that only you can possess!” She told me excitedly.
“Oh cool, yeah, it is pretty special….”
“It looks like you can level up your ‘special heal’ skill with one point. I can do that for you now if you like?”
“Yeah sure why not.”
She placed the tag back on the device and the screen popped up in front of my eyes again. It appeared with the message ‘special heal’ upgraded. Magic cost reduced one point per second and range increased by one meter. Well that seemed pretty useful. There was a quiet tada noise in my ears and another message popped up which said, new skill ‘appraisal’ now available.
“Oh, and it looks like you have a new skill too. It’s five points if you would like me to add it?”
“Maybe you shou…”
“Yes please.” I answered not hearing Lillia.”
“Okay.” Jules answered adding the skill.
A message popped up that said ‘appraisal’ now available. Without thinking about it I immediately activated the skill and nearly choked by the sight in front of me, letting out a little cough. I should have guessed it would work like this considering how ‘special heal’ ended up working. I shouldn’t have really looked, but my eyes were glued to the spot for now. Jules was stood there looking like she was only in her underwear, much more racy stuff than I had her pegged for I might add. A very nice black lacey top and bottom set. I just stood there in silence for a moment until finally.
“Sir are you okay?” Jules asked blushing a little under my gaze.
“Theo? Called out Lillia.
“What? Yes! Fine, very fine, I’m fine. Does it tell you what it does?” I asked trying to hide my concern.
“No, only the name of the skill.” Jules assured me.
“Few, I mean that’s a shame, it would be handy for a little background info.”
“O-okay… Can you see my status? That’s normally what it means.” Jules asked still blushing.
“D-Definitely, yes. I mean yes, I can. Um, guild attendant.” I fumbled a bit and answered the best I could under the circumstances.
“Oh right. Seems to be working properly.” Jules looked a little relieved.
“Are you sure you’re okay? You look a little dazed.” Lillia asked.
“Yeah fine, just a little tired from earlier perhaps.”
“Then we should go and get you some food come on.”
We said goodbye to Jules then headed into the dining and drinking area of the guild hall.