Morning when we left Rakshasar capitol Alven was cold, and I wrapped myself in my cloak. We were able to leave the town unnoticed, and I ordered to increase our speed for the first hour.

  - Do you think someone will follow us? - asked Luara. We were riding in the front, and no one heard us.

  - No. Adventurer guild master will spread rumors that we are leaving in ten days. Even if someone will want to avenge my opponent, they will take their time. And we will be long gone by then.

  - What happened?

  - He was stronger than I thought and died.

  Luara sighed.

  - Why did you participated in that tournament? I heard that it is dangerous, and some warriors were killed in it.

  - Like I said, small favor to local guild master. Also god Ares granted a reward to the champion. I increased my level. Not many opportunities to do that.

  - I thought about it myself. We will spend more than a year on the road. Of course our spell use is improving, thanks to our evening trainings, but cannot say the same about our levels and skills. And we were suppose to prepare for the battle with Hugo.

  - Yes. We will need to consider buying some artifacts ourselves. If we can afford them. By the way, I wanted to ask you about your skill, that goddess granted you. What can it do?

  - Shapeshifting skill? At novice level not much. During the night of the full moon I can partially change my appearance - grew stronger and heighten my senses of smell and hearing. At basic level, during the night of the full I can completely change my appearance. At advanced level I can partially change anytime. And at master level I can transform by will at any time.

  - I see.

  - It is high honor for my people to have such skill. Your people have sages, but beast people have Shapeshifters. They are respected and important to my people. Only drawback that I heard of, is that when we change, it only affects our body's not cloth.

  - Sounds like a small inconvenience, - I grinned: - But you will need to increase your skill. It will take time.

  - Do you have something on your mind?

  - When we return. Dead man's chest dungeon will have to be our goal. It is deep and many powerful monster are down there. It is our best choice, especially if we can get ourselves some artifacts in Gremlin kingdom.

  - Sounds like a pn.

  Our journey was peaceful. Monsters were rare in Rakshasar. Whenever they appeared soldiers hunted them down, and because of their successful dungeon conquering monster stampedes were almost un-existent and limited monster numbers in the kingdom.

  I decided to avoid towns, and we mostly visited vilges to buy more supplies. Two and a half month ter we entered Northern gremlin kingdom. Our destination was town called Tyco, located west of Rakshasar. According to my maps, journey to it should take us two weeks. Bordernds between Rakshasar and northern gremlin kingdom were guarded by golems. Made of stone or some metal, they were created by gremlins and used as soldiers and guards. Brought to life using alchemy they were capable fighters, that were hard to destroy.

  In my original world, according to legends, gremlins were small creatures who broke modern machines and where causing all kind of mischief, but here gremlins were known creators of artifacts, and masters of alchemy.

  First time I saw their golems I almost mistaken them for monsters. The only clue that prevented me from releasing the arrow, was the fact that they were approaching us walking in a row. Most of them were made of stone and only first two were made from bronze.

  One of the bronze golems was even able to talk and read Milligan's papers. After checking also our adventurer tags, he allowed us to continue.

  - That was different, - commented Luara.

  - I almost released my arrow, - I confessed: - Gd that I did not. Don't know how good could we do against those golems.

  - I heard that they are tough and strong, but slow, - added Nelly, who was still looking back, admiring the golems.

  - Gd that we did not needed to fight them, but we will need to get used to them, as long as we will be here, - said Trevor. I agreed with him, but did not know if I ever could get used to walking and talking human like statues.

  Gremlin kingdom was not very different from Ashgrin or Rakshasar. Same nd with forests and grass pnes, with small vilges. As far as I knew, around half of Northern gremlin inhabitants were humans. But most of them lived in vilges across the kingdom, while most other races lived in towns. Our destination Tyco, was one of the four great towns of Northern gremlin kingdom, who's alliance in the past established current kingdom. Tyco was mostly inhabited by gremlins, and was the center of their economy that dealt with artifact creation. It was also the town where most of the golems that protected the kingdom were created. Other towns were port town Mogy, Gargoyle town, which was located on the edge of Iron mountains that bordered the kingdom and capitol Golden town.

  Tyco was closest town that we could reach, and also our destination. Road took us up on the hill and I stopped admiring the view. Before us was Tyco. Surrounded by six meter high wall with countless towers, it was the best protected town that I saw. Beyond the walls we saw huge, massive buildings. All area around the town was surrounded by grain fields, and I noticed among the people many golems who worked in the fields as well. Rest of the party reached the hill, and we all stopped for a moment taking in the view.

  We needed more than half a year, but finally reached our destination. Town was still far away, but it was so big that we saw it from afar. I was happy and waited for opportunity to spend some time in the town. I smelled like a horse, and my close needed cleaning. We washed our clothe at every opportunity, but they were not that many.

  Closer to Tyco, roads were busy with travelers. I noticed some gremlins among them. Around meter high, they had big ears and their faces looked like a mix of a monkey and a bat. Their clothe differenced from dirty rags to expensive ones, decorated with gold threads. Peasants in Northern gremlin kingdom mostly used ox carts, and horses were rare, and made us stood out. We had to wait in line to get inside the town. Gates were guarded by golems and human soldiers.

  - Your purpose for coming to Tyco? - asked us one of the human guards.

  - My adventurer party is escorting baron Milligan, who wishes to visit Tyco and buy some artifacts.

  I took off my golden adventurer tag and gave it to the guard. He confirmed its validity and gave it back.

  - B rank adventurer. You should consider staying in Tyco. Adventurers of your rank are always needed and treated well, - he informed me.

  - I will keep that in mind.

  He checked rest of our adventurer tags and took a look through Milligan's papers.

  - Adventurers and your animals can pass, but the baron and his servants will have to pay entrance fee. One copper for human and five for a cart.

  This was the first time we had to pay entrance fee, but at least adventurers were exempted from it. Milligan gave the guard silver coin and after he received back two copper coins, we entered Tyco. Roads inside were wide enough for two carts to freely pass each other. I was surprised, seeing gremlin sizes, but then noticed some titans who were walking on the streets. I almost forget that one of the races that inhabited Northern gremlin kingdom were Titans. They were at least three meters high, and I heard that after evolution, many of them could get as high as four meters. They were the strongest race in the kingdom. Titans were born with inhuman strength, and many of them after evolution received high affinity for elemental magic. Probably Tyco was build taking in consideration their size, which expined wide roads and massive buildings.

  Luara asked around, and we found a tavern with rge enough stables that humans preferred. Prices in Tyco were higher than in Rakshasar, but since Milligan had to pay for it, I did not need to worry about it. Like usual he paid for two rooms, one for men and one for woman, and after settling inside we met downstairs to eat dinner and discuss our pns.

  - How long will you need to stay here? - I asked Milligan.

  - I do not know exactly. If I can buy artifacts right away, then few days. But if I will need to order them, it will take time.

  I thought for a moment: - You have two weeks. That is more than enough.

  - If I will need to order artifacts, their creation could require more time.

  - How long? Month, two, a year? We do not get paid daily. Our job was to escort you here, so you can buy artifacts and then bring you back. No ordering artifacts and sitting here for gods know how long was part of the deal. Isn't that so? - I turned to Trevor.

  He looked uncomfortable, but nodded: - That's what I was told. That you will buy artifacts here. Our stay here should have been short.

  - Two weeks is even more generous than I should give you. If you are not satisfied we could leave in a week. This journey alone will take us longer than I expected. If I would have known that, I would not have agreed to it. We have other matters that we need to attend in Ashgrin, and I will not lose more time than I already have.

  Milligan chewed his lips, but had nothing to object. He could have offered us money, for changing the contract, but from what I saw, he had barely enough for the artifacts and our return trip.

  - Fine. Two weeks, counting from tomorrow. I will keep my arrangements according to that.

  - Trevor, you, Luara, Al and Alfred will accompany Milligan. Nelly you can go with them or do something else except tomorrow. Two of us will visit mage guild. Luara you are responsible for our provisions.

  Everyone already expected those orders, and no one argued. Milligan looked unsatisfied, but his ck of foresight when discussing terms of our employment was not my problem. It will be good lesson for him in the future.

  Next day Nelly and me visited local Mage guild. It was surrounded by high wall and its territory could be compared to a small vilge.

  One of the guards accompanied us to the entrance. Area around the guild main building had several gardens and many buildings. Lots of gremlins were running around, busy with their tasks. Guard waited until receptionist confirmed our identities, and only then left. Unlike other Mage guilds, this one had three receptionists, and we were accompanied at least by one person all the time. Registration costed me two orichalcum coins for both of us, and receptionist warned us that in case of using the guilds magic circle, we must immediately announce our arrival to one of the receptionists.

  - What if we use magic circle during the night? - I asked.

  - That will not be a problem. At least one of us is always working, no matter the time of the day.

  That was different. But perhaps there were reasons for it. In the main reception room mages sold artifacts, mostly they were meant for mages. We looked them over. Some of them were quit powerful, and if Nelly would not had her staff, I would have considered buying something for her.

  - Please feel free to visit us again, - smiled receptionist after we told her that we are ready to leave. She accompanied us till the gate and waited until we left the Mage guild grounds.

  - That pce looked really busy, - said Nelly once we were far enough.

  - I got the same feeling. Wonder what they are doing there?

  - I heard that they were involved in golem creation. That is one of the country's greatest secrets.

  - That would expin their behavior.

  We visited local bath house and got a chance to get proper bath, first time in many month. For additional payment, servants also washed our close, and I also paid for massage. I was pnning to spend afternoon to take a better look at the town, but felt too sleepy, after massage and bath. I decided to postpone my Tyco exploration. After all we had time, and I had nothing urgent to do.

  Next morning I accompanied our young baron alongside my party members. We visited local shops that sold artifacts, but Milligan did not find anything worth his attention.

  - What exactly are you looking for? - I asked him.

  - Something powerful, even if it could be used single time. My pn is to get as high level as I can, before I grew up, - Milligan looked at the titan who passed us: - I am two small now, to fight with a sword properly. In five, no, even three years, I will grow taller and will be able to fight using sword style that I learned from childhood. For now my reach is not far enough, and even a short sword is like a greatsword to me.

  I looked at him with surprise. Was he joking?

  - How old do you think Nelly is?

  He looked at me with surprise:

  - I do not know. Sixteen or seventeen.

  - She is almost thirty. When she was thirteen years old, there was a threat of monster stampede. She was send as part of the party to stop it. Back then she killed many monsters and increased her level. Her level back then was lower than yours, but after that, while she was still twelve years old, her aging slowed down considerably. She should look like a grown woman, but because of her high level she still looks like a child.

  - But, I thought that people stop aging once they reach adulthood. Like elves?

  - Even elves grow up slow. People age slows down once they acquire life force by killing others. No matter what age they are. We traveled together for almost a year. At your age human children grow up fast. But you have not grown at all. Have you not noticed?

  - But I... It can't be, - shocked Milligan stopped and touched his head, almost like measuring his height. He looked at Alfred, but young man averted his eyes.

  - No one told me.

  - It is a common knowledge. Probably everyone assumed that you knew. But do not worry. You will still grow up. Just not as fast.

  - Ye, sure.

  We continued our shopping, but Milligan lost his previous excitement. Others felt bad for him, but there was nothing that we could do or say to him that would change his future growth.

  Most of the artifacts that were sold in shops could increase stats by on or three and were nothing rare or powerful. My guess was that Milligan will need to find more expensive shops or visit one of the artifact creators, to find anything more powerful. Also magic items that were sold in the shops had limited time of use or would work for less than a year. He was fine with buying something that could be used only for a while, but artifacts that would stop working in a few month would be useless to him, since just our road back would take between six or seven month.

  Town looked safe, and I decided to visit local Adventurer guild. Quests posted for adventurers were still best source of information, about surrounding nds and areas that we should avoid.

  Adventurer guild was the biggest one that I saw. Four story high, made from marble and with wide guild hall inside. Inside it were many adventurers who wore expensive clothe and were covered with artifacts.

  I looked at the quest board. There were two, filled with quests. Two thirds of them involved quests that required gathering monster materials and quests for magic stone. There where such quests as "Urgent, need two thousand magic stones of any quality", "Pay a fortune for magic gem" and others, involving items that could be mostly acquired in the dungeons.

  - First time here? - asked me one of the adventurers. He was human, dressed in bright silk clothes. He was armed only with dagger and had no artifacts. At least none that I could see.

  - You could say so.

  - Most adventurers who come from Rakshasar are surprised by our quest boards. Unlike rakshasa kingdom we see dungeons as valuable source of resources. Destroying dungeon is considered bsphemy, and only town lord or king can make a decision to destroy the dungeon.

  - Why all the quest for the magic stones. Does not guild buy them and then sell to merchants and artifact creators.

  - Yes, we do. But they do not wish to wait in line. There is always ck of magic stones, and some of artifact makers are forced to wait month or even years before they could buy them from guild. Posting quest puts them ahead of the waiting list.

  - I see.

  - Do you wish to take one of these quests?

  - No. I already have a job.

  - I see. My I ask your name. I do not believe we met.

  - And who are you?

  - Forgive my manners, - he bowed: - I am Kannan, Adventurer guild master.

  - I see. I am Avone.

  - Pleasure to meet you. To be honest I was expecting you. I was suppose to tell you that a friend of the person who gave you coffee seeds wishes to talk you.I sighed. Not that again.

  - I am not interested. And like I told you, I already have a job.

  - I was told that you will say that. But you do not have to agree to anything. Besides if you agree to come with me I will personally owe you a favor. Favor from guild master in a new town could be valuable. And I will owe you a favor, without any conditions, no matter if you take the job or not.

  - And if I still refuse?

  - I will not threaten you, - he ughed: - Definitely not a B rank adventurer. Perhaps just annoy you, until you agree.

  I sighed. I did not want to go, but having good retionship with guild master, would be useful.

  - Fine. But like you promised, you will owe me a favor. And I should warn you, that I will not take the job. I have my hands full with current one.

  - As you wish, - he bowed again: - When should I meet you?

  - I am free now. I would prefer to finish with your annoying request now.

  - Then please follow me.

  - Where are we going?

  - To the temple of Aphrodite. I am suppose to take you there personally.

  - Fine. Let us get it over with.

  Another goddess, just like I thought. This time goddess of love and stuff, if I remembered correctly.

  We walked for half an hour before reaching one of the town temples, which was build on a hill. Hill was covered with grass and flowers, which was unusual sight in the middle of the town. Single road, with rose bushes on its sides, led to the temple. Temple was white with high columns, shaped like naked women, all around it. Made from marble it had high ceilings and gold pted roof.

  When we approached it, women who was supposed to be priestesses greeted us. They all were young, beautiful and were wearing half see through close.

  - Guild master Kannan. Did not expect to see you, - smiled one of the woman.

  - I am here on business, lovely. We are here to see high-priestess Sahana.

  - And who is your friend? - she curiously looked at me. My face was covered with cloak and she could see only may jaw.

  - Sahana asked me personally to bring her.

  - I see. She warned us, that you may come. Please follow me, I will take you to her.

  We went inside, through one of the side doors, hidden among the columns. I smelled perfumes, as soon as we entered the building. That was strange for a temple.Young woman knocked at the door decorated with golden flowers and announced our arrival.

  - Adventurer guild master and guest here to see you.

  - Please come in.

  Room was bright, with magical ntern hanging from the ceiling. In the corners of the room were vases with fresh flowers. They smelled nice.

  High priestess was lying on the sofa and got up when we came inside.

  - Guild master. It is a pleasure to see you, like always.

  - You as well, - he bowed to the priestess.

  - Please sit down, - she gestured at soft sofas: - Tenzin, please bring us some wine and fruits.

  Young priestess bowed and went outside.

  - You must be Avone, - she looked at me and tilted her head. She had smile on her lips, that made her look young and innocent. Her young, beautiful flexible body was barely covered by thin silk clothes and left not much to imagination. I swallowed saliva, but managed to answer her with steady voice.

  - I am. And I do not have a lot of time.

  - Then let us not waist it. I was told to take you to our praying room.

  She turned around and opened the door behind her. Inside was a small room, with white statue of a goddess with thick hair, wearing toga.

  - Step aside and do not close the door, - I warned her.

  - As you wish, - she stepped aside and raised her hands, with a small smile on her lips.

  I put a hand on my dagger and carefully stepped inside. As soon as I stepped through the threshold, I found myself in a different pce.It was bright wide room, with white walls. In front of me was sofa with a woman lying on it. She was wearing beautiful white dress. Her blonde hair reached to her thighs. She smiled at me and I hold my breath. She was the most beautiful woman that I ever saw.

  -Welcome adventurer Avone, - her voice was pleasant and almost musical.

  I coughed to get my voice back and gred at her.

  - Thank you for invitation, but I will tell you right now. I am not interested, and I already have two jobs. Which is more than enough.

  - Han-Han warned me that you will say that. But you do not have to worry. You will not need to risk your life. All I need you to do is bring back a girl, who run away from my temple, and some artifacts that she stole. You won't even need to look for her. I can tell you exactly where she is.

  - And this girl. She is reincarnated person, right?

  - Yes. But her level is in a single number. She will not be a danger to you.

  - If she is so weak, then why not ask someone like Kannan to help you?

  - I would, but he is devoted believer, and then there are other reasons. I need someone... What is the word that I am looking for? - she put her delicate finger to her lip: - Discrete, yes. And preferably not from around here and trustworthy. You do match all my criteria.

  - That girl. Who is she?

  - Like you guessed she is a reincarnated person. In our world, her parents were mages, and she had bright future before her, but her parents died in a storm. Even mages cannot battle the sea. She was left an orphan. But she peaked my interest. I offered her my patronage, so to say. In exchange for her loyalty, I gave her powerful skills. As a four years old child, she was brought to my temple, were she could be safe, until she could grow up. But that ungrateful girl stole artifacts from my temple and run away. She pns to sell artifacts to some merchant. If she wanted to leave, she could have just asked. My temple is not a prison. Any of my girls can leave whenever they want. Many of them do leave, mostly when they fall in love and get married. But steeling artifacts, I cannot forgive that.

  - What did she stole? - I asked, since it peaked my interest.

  - Six artifacts. Even separately they are powerful, but together they form Fortuna blessing - a combination artifact. Among them is tiara, two rings, bracelet, pendant and leg bracelet. Long ago retired adventurer presented them to my temple. They were nothing, but a beautiful trinkets that people could admire, but in time people started to associate them with important relics that belonged to my temple. Their disappearance could damage my temple's reputation. That is why I need them back, and girl too. If you complete this simple job, I will reward you. Han-Han mentioned that he made one of your artifacts more powerful and gave you life force to increase your level. I can offer you the same thing.

  - So you want the artifacts. What about the girl?

  - I want you to bring her back as well.

  - Dead or alive?

  - Alive of course. I do not want to harm her. I do believe that it was a misunderstanding, that we still can resolve. Having one of my champions betraying me, would be bad for my reputation.

  - One of your champions?

  - Don't you know? There were so many reincarnations, that most of gods made deals with more than one of you. Some even have as many as a dozen champions.

  - Why not ask one of your champions to get the girl back?

  - For several reasons. Most of them are still children, two weak, too far away and such. Because you were reincarnated as a grown up woman you were in unique position to help us, with less grown up generation, so to say. That, and also you are at least semi-strong, and unaligned.

  - I see. But you want two sings. A girl and artifacts. Those are two jobs. Especially if she runs away and leaves artifacts, I may have to choose one of them. So which will it be?

  Aphrodite sighed: - You are such a horrible person. Bargaining with a desperate girl. But fine. I see your argument and agree, that is has merit. What if I give you reward that I promised, and if you can bring back both the girl and all artifacts I will help you out and use my charms to help you with your goblin warlord problem.

  - I am suppose to kill him. Forgive me, but how will the goddess of love help me with that? And I am not interested in some charm skill or anything.

  Aphrodite started loudly ughing and covered her mouth.

  - Don't you know? My husband is Hephaestus, god of bcksmiths. Creator of artifact skills. He is shy and does not talk to humans, but if you help the girl out I will talk to him and convince him to help you out. Just bring me back the girl and stolen artifacts, and then visit his temple. So, do you agree?

  - One more thing. How am I suppose to bring the girl back. Do not think that golem guards will let me inside the town with a prisoner.

  - Do not worry about that. My high priestess will hire you to find her. Guild master will make it official job.She got up and approached me. I wanted to step back, but realized that running away will be useless. She touched my headband artifact and smiled.

  - Koshey's crown - what a horrible name for a cute girls accessory. From now on, it will be called Aphrodite's tiara. That is much better. Now it will use more mana to improve your other things and also repair your equipment, if it gets damaged, not just improve it during mana absorption. But repair will be very small, almost unnoticeable.

  And here I started to hope that my clothes will have regeneration ability. No such luck after all. At least I can hope that my cloth will not have holes in them from overuse.

  - And one more thing, - Aphrodite touched my forehead: - This will let you know how to find a girl.

  A road from a town gate fshed through my memory. I could see it through another person's eyes. It led to a cave, around half a day walking to the east.I blinked and found myself back in the praying room. Statue looked like it was smiling at me. I shook my head and kneeled before it. I pretended that I was praying, and used time to calm myself down. Once my heart stopped loudly beating, I exited the room and sat down on the sofa.

  - So why did you want to see me? - I asked high priestess.

  - My goddess send me a dream. She told me that you could help us. You see one of our young apprentices left the temple and disappeared in the town. We fear that she was kidnapped. Goddess send me a prophetic dream and told me that you may be able to help us find her. I can offer you reward, two gold coins, if you agree to bring her back safely?

  I pretended to think.

  - Guild master will have to make it an official job. I might have noticed something on our way here. But I will need some papers, that will expin why I am bringing back this girl. She might be unconscious or under a spell, and I will need to expin her condition to guards at the gate.

  - You should have told me what happened sooner, - said Kannan.

  - I would like to keep this matter private, - answered Sahana.

  Tenzin returned with wine, and fruits. She pced, on a small table, three crystal cups and filled them with wine, and also pced crystal vase with grapes on the table. Tenzin smiled at guild master and lowered her breasts before him, before leaving the room. Kannan pretended that nothing happened, and we continued our conversation.

  - Would you be so kind to take care of paperwork? - asked high-priestess: - Girl is apprentice priestess, and her name is Ni. She is twelve years old, bck hair, priestess robes, has a birthmark on her left ankle.

  - Of course. It is the least that I could do.

  I tried the wine. It was sweet, but I found it delicious. This was also first time that I saw grapes in this world.

  - We should go, so you could find this girl as soon as possible.

  I gnced at grapes. Girl could wait, for all that I cared. But I had to pretend that little thief was in danger.

  - Yes of course. I promise to make everything in my power to bring her back safely.

  Kannan also promised his support, and Sahana pced two gold coins and four silvers on the table.

  - Miss Avone's reward and guilds commission.

  Kannan nodded and took the money. Apparently high-priestesses charms stopped working, when Adventurer guild matters resurfaced.