13

After wandering around Vance for a while the two came upon a large tavern style building. The both of them head inside only to find a crowded lobby filled with people of all sorts and species. All of which grew quiet upon seeing Kaz waltz in holding Tasi’s hand by his side. Whispering could be heard, “Who is that?” one said, “She’s too pretty for that shrimp.” murmured another. Nagas have exceptional hearing, Tasi tried her hardest not to go and tear the people judging Kaz a new one. Tasi followed Kaz to the back of the hall, there sat a petite human female behind a glass wall much like you’d find at a bank. Kaz introduced himself, and explained that they’d like to register to become adventurers. The woman handed them both a sheet to fill out, Kaz thanked her, and borrowed a quill and an inkwell before finding a table to sit at.

Moments after the two of them sat down, a tall skinny man stumbled over to their table. Kaz was attempting to fill out his registration form but was having quite the difficult time as he had never used a quill and ink before. The tall man who was plainly drunk out of his mind and reeked of alcohol tried hitting on Tasi, “No thank you.” she said politely as she waved him away with her free hand. However the man wasn’t so quick to give up, he had no clue what she was saying to him. Before long, Kaz began getting very irritated by the man’s repeated attempts to woo his partner. Kaz sets his quill back in the inkwell and turns to the man, “She said she’s not interested buddy! So take a hint and get lost!” he shouts at the drunk, who then hobbles away to another table.

All eyes are on Kaz now as he resumes filling out his form, he looks at Tasi who appears to already have finished, “You’re done already?” he asks. Tasi giggles and nods as she peeks at his paper, “Why, what is holding you up?” she replies inquisitively. “I’ve never used a quill and ink before. Don’t they have pens here?” he asks. Tasi gives him a confused look, “Oh, never mind.” he tells her to forget it and continues on his form.

After the both of them finish, they return to the desk in the back and hand their completed sheets to the lady. She comes around to meet them carrying a glass slab, “Now, please place your hand on the tablet and it will reveal your skills and status.” she tells them. They both decided that Tasi would go first, she reaches her hand out and places her palm on the tablet, it begins to glow a light blue. A few seconds later she removes her hand and a small card is left on the tablet.

The lady hands the card to Tasi and explains that it is her identification card, it had her information as well as her stats listed out. Kaz looks at the card over her shoulder, “Let’s see, thief class with an artisan subclass, high speed and dexterity, all around high stats as well as poison resistance. Nice Tasi!” he shouts and pats her on the back, and several of the men around the lobby cheer for her as well. Kaz takes his turn and places his palm on the tablet, an eerie blood red light fills the lobby. The woman gasps in surprise as Kaz pulls his hand away. She picks up his card. Kaz hears a chorus of chimes in his head this time, Kaz begins to ask the lady about them, but is cut short, "Yes, when you raise the level of skill you often hear a ringing sound. The skill will automatically update its status on your adventurer's license. She then continues to read Kaz's status out loud.

"Kaz, sage hero class, title of Skaldheir, human. Intelligence is at its highest possible level, several other skills including Merchant, Riding Skill, Holy Affinity, Stamina Cap Release, all overall stats are high with the exception of physical strength being a bit lower than normal. Truly amazing stats Sir Kaz! Lastly, the acquired special skill is "Dragon’s Tongue" she pauses. "The ability to understand intelligent species upon oral contact?” She blushes as she reads it aloud, sounding rather surprised and confused.

All eyes in the hall were on Kaz once again. All was silent for a moment, he became uneasy and was getting ready to bolt out the door with Tasi, but then everyone broke out yelling, raising their mugs and cheering for Kaz. He takes his card with a huge grin on his face, he waves at Tasi and points to the door. On their way back to the inn Kaz sees the receptionist woman from the adventurer’s hall by the guard post. She is speaking with Commander Hargeon in the alley beside the post. Kaz didn’t think it was anything suspicious at the time, but then he sees her subtly point at him from the alley. “ Was something wrong with him? Was she informing the guards of something?” Kaz thought to himself as he and Tasi walked back up to their room.

Later that day, Kaz told Tasi what he had seen, “She's probably just nervous, a rare skill like yours doesn’t come up very often. That said, we’d best keep an eye out.” she warned. She then asks Kaz if she can have some money to go out shopping, since they are heading out tomorrow night Kaz divvies out a handful of gold coins and hands them to Tasi, “Bare essentials only, got it?” he tells her. She cheerfully takes the coins from his palm, “You’re no fun Kaz. I was going to get some materials to make some improvements to my armor. Since Miss Saphana is always moaning about how revealing it is, I figured I should remedy the situation before we see each other again.” she explains. On her way out she stops at the door and looks back, “It doesn’t matter how much I cover up anyway, I’ll take it off for you, you just have to ask.” she hisses in a low seductive tone and winks at him before heading out to the marketplace. Kaz decides to turn in for the night, after about half an hour of running all that had transpired today through his head he finally drifted off to sleep.