A defeated Hobgoblin

Some time after midnight, Jay stood in the small kitchen separation of his tent and prepared a simple sandwich. He hadn't eaten much the last day and the night had been quite eventful as well. Sira had declined to join him and fallen asleep before he had left.

Over the last hour, the two of them had made out once more. As his cute hobgoblin really couldn't go on afterwards, she had continued servicing differently.

Jay had for a second thought about integrating her racial traits as well but then decided it would be asking too much from her, at least for now.

Instead, Sira had knelt next to him after they had switched positions in between. With slightly uncoordinated movements she had first started to jerk him off and then continued with her small mouth. It had really seemed and felt like tough work for her, but her expression had showed she really enjoyed it.

At least until she had managed to reach her goal nearly ten minutes later.

When Jay had build up too much pressure and finally got tipped over from her eagerly sucking on his glans, he finally released a huge amount into her mouth. While she had barely managed to gulp down the first tide, some of the second and more than half of the last had spilled from it.

Once she at least had licked his slowly softening tool and her lips clean, Sira let herself fall flat on her back. With tired but somehow sparkling eyes she looked over to Jay without really turning her head. Then she spooned some of his cream from her chin, licked that finger clean and smiled.

"I don't know much about things like these, but that amount just now was a full course meal… Are you even human?" S.

Those words were the last comment Jay had heard from the small Hobgoblin not a minute before she closed her eyes and fell asleep. Pulling one of the blankets over her as he rose from the bed, Jay then had left the room and went to the kitchen.

He had been going to sleep in his own bed from the beginning, so this result sat very well with him.

While munching on the cheese and ham sandwich he made from there stored ingredients, Jay sat to the side and opened his log. There were not only the skills from Sira he had to check, but the ones he had integrated in his night with Gloria Femmel as well.

Starting from the end of his Log, it was [Hiding lvl.1] first. The skill obviously didn't raise his own version, just like with [Trickery lvl.1] that he found next.

Both were skills he had used quite frequently, so it would have been possible hers could have been enough, but Jay knew since a while that the higher a skill was, the harder it got to level up.

Something completely different was [Thrown lvl.2] that managed to raise Jay's skill from Level 3 to 4. But the really interesting skills were the two Sira had the highest in level:

[Off-road lvl.2] was the reason Jay didn't have a chance to catch up with her back in Eldrin Forest. It raised ones travel speed in general and on rough ground by a lot, so even with his high general speed and [Parcours] she had been faster.

For [Bribing lvl.2] it was special again as the skill not only allowed to haggle or persuade cross-language, it also enhanced the both respective skills.

Jay directly thought that this rare skill was most certainly the reason she could even distribute those totems at all.

All the skills she had at her disposal were neither high leveled nor too special. It looked like she was hand picked for the task she had done and Jay decided to question her about it the next day.

As for Sira's racial traits, Jay had no plan of ignoring them but decided to postpone it until she either wanted it herself or the situation allowed it. There was no need for him to rush things as, though he didn't know their effect, he was sure they wouldn't affect his power much.

With this settled, Jay continued to read through his Log. There still were the skills from Gloria he had integrated before, even if that hadn't been his intention of visiting her. And already the first skill he found in the list brought him a small surprise.

While her [Hunting LVL 2] had no chance to raise his own skill's level, it came with (Dismantling LVL2) that enabled him to properly make the right cuts to disassemble game.

The next one, [Haggling LVL 2] had been more or less expected from Jay as it was essential for most business.

For [Cooking LVL 2] he always had some use, as it mostly brought him new recipes or at least raised his own skill a bit. In this case it was the former, but he didn't mind at all. But Jay still wondered that Gloria had the skill on such a relatively low level, even more so when he saw that [Service] was a level higher.

With this, his own corresponding skill reached a level up, even though it was a skill he had only seldom use for when he was aiding in Mia's inn.

It was the last skill he found in the list of recently integrated ones that finally explained what Jay had been wondering about:

[Monster Cooking LVL 3] not only enabled to make monster meat and other parts edible, it enhanced the taste of them and even other meat as well. The moment Jay read the explanation, another screen popped up in his vision.

***

Quest:

'Next level cooking' cleared!

acquire the [Monster Cooking] skill.

5500 XP

***

'Yes, right, there was this quest' were the first thought that came to his mind. Jay really had no intention of gaining the skill when he went to 'Femmel's Specialties' the night before, but he really welcomed the result.

Leaning back on his very comfy bed after closing his menu, Jay did the same with his eyes. In not a minute he drifted off into a deep sleep.

This of course was only possible thanks to him summoning Max as guard before going to his own bedroom separation.

.

.

.

Some hours later, Jay was back in the kitchen and preparing breakfast for two. The night went by without issues or his summon having to take action.

As he had been up early like most of the times, Jay was nearly finished when he heard Sira going out of bed as well.

It wasn't exactly her climbing off the bed he heard but her cussing and cursing. Starting with a hissed "Ouch" while some fabric moved, certainly her blanket, he soon heard her grousing that some stuff was everywhere there.

Following another "Ouch oh-oooh…." and a hiss, Sira unsteadily walked into the main area of the tent. She hadn't noticed Jay in the kitchen-like separation as she continued her cursing: "Really, this new master…"

Completely stiff and with her facial color shifting from green to red, the small beauty looked at Jay in complete shock the next second.

He hadn't hidden but leaned on one of the wooden poles between each outer section while holding a cup of coffee. It was just that Sira had been too occupied with trying to walk properly and cursing about the mess her new master had made.

"Good morning… Want some coffee if you're done cussing?" J.

"G-good morning… and sorry M-master." S.

From seeing Jay grin wide to her meek answer, Sira reverted back to her normal self soon after. The two of them sat down at the table and started eating the prepared breakfast.

While she munched the baked eggs and bread like she hadn't eaten in days, Jay used the moment to analyze her again. Sira had gone up a level since he saw the screen last time, but that wasn't what really interested him. Jay compared the result with the character sheet that he got from his followers section and saw it was mostly the same, just that his system offered him some more options.

As he saw her age of 16 Years, Jay got curious about her past and so inquired from her.

There was not much to her background and past she could tell him though. All she knew was that she should have recently turned 16 and had been serving her last master for at least over a year.

Anything before was blurry, though her feelings told her it was better this way. Not that the time doing errands, haggling with stinking monsters and being ordered to run around the lands had been anything she liked in any way.

Seeing her mood sour on getting reminded of her past treatments, Jay decided to drop that matter for the time being. The two of them finished their simple but tasty breakfast and then left the tent.

Jay got out first to cancel Max's summon, but he had easy enough time as Sira's movements were a bit slow and unsteady. She still jumped when Jay had the whole tent simply vanish into his inventory.

While she kept shaking her head about her new master until they reached the entrance to the cave, Jay checked the cave again for survivors. A few minutes later they got greeted by the bright sunlight and bathed in it's warmth for a moment. Though the cave had been surprisingly well tempered, that was something completely different.

On their way along the small road leading to the mine, Sira carefully asked where they were headed and what Jay was going to do with her. He chuckled a bit to her meek and a bit fearful sounding question, but still gave her an answer.

On hearing that he was going to have her guide him and travel with him she relaxed a bit again. But on hearing him mention their next destination she directly resumed stammering around, even stopping in her tracks then.

"I don't think it's a good idea for me to go there. Definitely not in my original form and probably at all!" S.

While nodding, Jay tossed her the ring he had taken off her finger before. She was a bit befuddled, but first of all thanked him. As she was about to put it back on, he stopped Sira and asked her to only put it back on once she got close to the main road in the east.

"Master? I thought we'd go to Stillwater?" S.

"I will. You were right that it is probably best if I go back alone. I'll try to hurry and pick you up at the main-road north from Stillwater. One thing though: About your ring…" J.

In the spur of the moment, Jay inquired about the special item Sira held on to. He saw her shield it for a second, seemingly in fear to loose it again, but when Jay asked her if she could acquire some more of those, she eased up again.

She nodded and explained that while not easy to find, there were always some of those on the black market.

Having his interest gotten picked, Jay further inquired if there were different qualities and other races as well.

There were, but as even her version was a rare one, better disguise rings were really had to find and immensely costly. Moreover did the additional effects in most cases limit to other enchantments and nearly never offered a better disguise.

Lower quality rings though were a total no go for the small Hobgoblin. They had no individual adaptions and only a uniform face, not to talk about body changes. Some even only did overlap the vision and make it hard to interact with something or someone. Physical disguises were only possible for good rare ones like hers, though they required some adaption.

That was also true for those from other races, but just when Jay's eyes lit up she continued.

Typically the corresponding rings were only found in the regions they were made in and where they would be used. Of course she promised him to keep her eyes open for any good ones if he wished so.

After thanking her for the short digression, they both waved each other goodbye as they had reached the place where he had to turn towards the south. Jay had no trouble leaving her alone as she had already appeared on his list and a single thought on her informed him of her condition and general location.

Moments after Sira got out of sight, Jay summoned his horse and galloped towards Stillwater. The trip didn't take long and so he crossed the towns border when there still weren't that many people on the roads.

Jay passed the inn as the place he would visit first was the town hall to report about his findings.

Corporal Keeshan and Solomon were both up and planning the repairs and reconstructions necessary after the raid. Both of them couldn't believe what Jay told them, but as the youth had proven not only his capabilities but also his loyalty up until then, they couldn't argue. The magistrate still had to send some guards to check on the mine later before he could send a report to the guild.

With this Jay's last quest he had received back in Arathor got finished as well, even though the guild would only learn of it some few days later.

Using the chance as both men knowing the most about the region and its history were present, Jay asked them about Stonewatch he had heard from Sira. After looking at each other a bit troubled, it was the Corporal that first began to talk.

"About that former stronghold... Well, the thing is: we need to know the current state of it ourselves. Some report state that a-" K.

"Maybe you could take a look there for us? The town is still short on hands so if you plan to travel there either way, we would welcome it.

As for the fort: It was built in the last war, or pretty much directly before. While it's location is quite far off, the army had the perfect view on the eastern coast and the whole valley. That's the source of it's name by the way: the responsible Commander back then stated he could see every stone in the region from there, hence Stonewatch…" MS.

"Moreover, the location could be reached easy via the Eldrin River and crossing Lake Everstill. That on the other hand made it such an important checkpoint. You know, even some smaller ships can traverse upstream into the lake and back then used to dock at the large pier close to Stonewatch.

Even now quite some ferries go from the river over the inner sea to Aldebaran, though from there to the north or the empires capital they have to use bigger ships." K.

The magistrate continued that if Jay would decide to check the hold for them, he should take the northern route. The old bridge leading there from the southern road had crumbled down in the recent past and was no longer passable.

Jay tried to inquire how they knew that and what they expected him to find, but he only got that there should be nothing to find.

If he could send them a report that there was no threat and the old fort could once again be occupied, Solomon would not only give a report including a huge wage to the Adventurers Guild for him, he would even request for the bridge to get rebuilt.

The moment Jay nodded in acceptance of the request, a new screen appeared in front of face. It wasn't really surprising for him, even expected, but it still made his brows twitch.

***

Quest:

Gath'Ilzogg

Object:

Kill every opponent at Stonewatch, including their leader.

***

The reason his mood had instantly soured was not the fact that he got another unwanted quest, nor that it was a different one than he had expected. It was the fact that this damn cunning Magistrate had tricked him.

He had been so elusive with his wording, even the plan Sira had taken part in paled to that…