Skeletal Dragon Avatar

The city of Tevil

Matt looked at the guards that readied their weapons and sighed before he spoke

“Obviously I didn’t kill him, come you guys, never heard of the saying ‘don’t kill the messenger’?”

The female guard captain narrowed her eyes as if trying to see through Matt, a few seconds later her eyes flashed with a blue light before she spoke

“How are you only level 1 while you give off such a power rating!? Men, it’s a humanoid monster!”

“I am not! For fuck's sake! Bring someone from the Right’s temple here, they can see through lies, right?”

The female guard’s captain gritted her teeth before she sent one of her subordinates off

“Go get a priest!”

“Yes, Ma’am!”

Meanwhile, the rest of the guards encircled Matt while the tension rose, that is for anyone other than Matt, he stood there totally relaxed and waited for the priest to arrive, he even let out a yawn which almost drove the guards to attack him if not for the guard captain’s timely reminder

“He’s clearly only level 1, but the rating he gives off is almost that of a level 3! Steel yourselves men!”

Matt sighed before he took his backpack off and removed the water skin before he threw it to the guard captain

“Here, this obviously means more to you than it does to me”

The guards' captain narrowed her eyes slightly as she caught the water skin, at that moment the priest arrived along with the guard that had gone to fetch him, he was a thin man with wide eyes, he had a pale expression but quickly snapped at the guard captain

“What is it, Konila? Don’t you know that I don’t have all day?”

The guard’ captain ignored the priest’s sour words and spoke

“I only need you to verify one thing”

“...Fine, let’s get this over with”

Then the guard’s captain turned to Matt and asked

“Did you kill Ike?”

Matt sighed before he spoke clearly

“No”

Then the guard’s captain turned to the priest that nodded and spoke

“He’s speaking the truth”

The guard’s captain sighed deeply before she turned to Matt and bowed as she spoke

“I apologize for suspecting you, please pass”

Matt nodded and walked past the guards into the city, he walked down the main street for a bit until he found a building where a lot of people caring arms and wearing armor entered and exited, he figured that this was the adventures guild that he had heard about and entered, Matt drew some attention being shirtless and all, but that quickly disappeared as people accepted it as somewhat normal.

The inside of the guild was simple, there were a line of receptions opposite to the entrance, on his right was a request board and on his left was a tavern like eating area where a couple of groups of adventures were celebrating the day’s work while drinking away their earnings, Matt lined up in the queue to the reception desk and waited for his turn at the desk while he listened to the surrounding conversation, people were talking about the expedition into the forest as well as their daily life, one even appeared to have been kicked out by the wife and was drinking his sorrow away with a few pals

“Welcome to the guild, how can I help you?”

Matt showed a smile and took off his makeshift backpack and spoke

“I am here to sell some stuff, as well as that…”

Matt leaned in and asked the pretty receptionist

“I need to report on some sensitive matters”

The receptionist nodded and showed a business smile as she spoke

“Let’s tally up your loot first, shall we?”

“Sure, here you are”

Matt placed the backpack on the counter and undid the rope before he placed the various hides, teeth, fangs and scales as well as the sheet metal Ike had peeled off the metal panther on the desk, the receptionist quickly tallied up the loot and gave an estimate

“A total of 16 gold coins”

Matt didn’t know the value of gold coins, though he could figure out it was a lot from the surrounding gazes and the sudden lack of conversation around him, Matt showed a smile and received the small gold coin leaving 2 on the desk as he spoke loudly

“A round on me!”

Cheers spread in the guild at once as the stiff atmosphere seemed to disappear and instantly turned into a lively one, the receptionist showed a smile and asked him

“What’s the other coin for?”

Matt showed a smile and gave her a wink

“A tip for a hardworking receptionist”

“Oh my~”

She showed a smile and took the gold coin before she stuffed it in between her ample cleavage, then she spoke

“I’ll go get the guild master for the other matter, why don’t you mingle a bit, stranger?”

“Name’s Matt, and sure, I’ll do that”

By the time the receptionist returned with a bald strongman, Matt had paid for another round, brining his total wealth down to 13 gold coins, that said he was also 2 beers down, and these were no having-sex-in-a-canoe, or fucking close to water beer, it was pretty strong, though Matt managed to separate from the crowd as he noticed the strongman and the receptionist waiting for him, he walked over and reached his hand out in greeting to the strongman as he spoke

“My name is Matt and I bring news of the expedition”

The strongman nodded and shook hands with Matt before he gestured for him to follow him, soon Matt arrived in an office where the strongman sat down and poured a glass of something strong smelling, then he spoke in a deep voice

“Name’s Alex, I am the guild master of the Tevil’s adventure guild”

Matt nodded and sat down in a chair in front of the desk, before he managed to say anything Alex spoke again

“So they were wiped out?”

Matt nodded, this caused Alex to take a swig of the strong alcohol in his glass before he asked the critical question

“And how come you’re still alive when they aren’t?”

Matt could feel the power of the guild master weighing down on him, still he answered clearly

“Because I stayed still and made no sound when it appeared, that and I was on nightwatch so I was a little away from the camp”

The guild master nodded before he asked

“So… What was it that wiped them out?”

“A specter”

The guild master’s eyes widened before he spoke

“Have you told anyone of this?”

“Not other than you”

“This conversation never leaves this room, is that understood?”

“Understood”

Alex rubbed a scar on his bald head a bit, seemingly lost in thought, before Matt asked

“Was that caused by a specter too?”

Alex showed a wry smile before he shook his head and spoke

“No, this one’s from a zombie… You are a lost, right, Matt?”

“Yes”

Alex nodded before he spoke

“We were a party of 12 level 6’s, only I walked away from that fight having killed the zombie for good at the cost of the lives of my friends, I want you to throw out all you think you know of the undead and believe me when I say this… The undead are the biggest threat to life in this world, you reporting this will cause massive ripples, and it will not go unrewarded”

Matt nodded, then Alex poured another glass for Matt and handed it to him before he spoke

“In honor of the fallen”

Matt nodded and spoke

“In honor”

In the end, Matt partied the night away, spending half his secret reward from the guild master which was 10 gold coins, leaving him with 23 gold coins and some change, Matt woke up to a loud clap and the guild master’s loud voice

“Alright people, get up!”

Matt woke with a set, he was sleeping sitting leaning against a wall with the pretty receptionist next to him, she also woke with a set and blushed before she quickly distended herself a bit from Matt before she straightened out her clothes, though then she leaned in and whispered to Matt

“Come find me tonight, Matt… When I am off work”

Matt showed an ambiguous smile which caused her to blush slightly before she got to work, Matt stretched and got up from the floor before he cracked his neck that was stiff from leaning against the wall for a few hours, then he joined the adventures at the request board as new request were getting posted, he scanned the board before he found a guard request from a merchant convoy heading further into civilized lands and nodded to himself, he was going to get the fuck away from that forest, and it could not be fast enough, as for the reason? He already felt the same presence that he did before the specter attacked the camp, only this time it was twice as big as before