Assimilate All Talents

Sol had his eyes closed as he tried to get a nap, but the presence in the room made it really hard to fall asleep. He opened his eyes and turned towards Red Sands, now going by Amber, who was silently watching him as Sol tried to get some rest.

He couldn’t bring himself to chastise her, so he decided to get up and get some food instead.

“Do you wanna get some food?”

Amber simply nodded and followed Sol downstairs, where they saw Miriam. The kind owner noticed the young woman following Sol and found it odd as she knew for certain she was not a guest staying here, nor did she come in from the entrance. She didn’t pry though, as she had seen stranger things in her life anyway, and this didn’t even make it on the list.

“Good evening Sol, do you want dinner now?”

“Yeah, and can my friend get a portion as well?”

“Of course, let me set the table.”

Sol and Amber were seated at one of the tables near the theater stage, which also doubled as the dining hall. It did not take long for Miriam to bring out the food, which was a plate of grilled chicken with a wide assortment of vegetables.

Sol thanked Miriam before diving into the savory food, which he had sorely missed these past few days. Every bite felt like it was healing a tiny bit of his soul that was damaged by every piece of jerky he had to endure. It was after his 5th bite that Sol noticed Amber hadn’t touched her plate.

“Is everything alright?”

“Not soup.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

Amber managed to muster a few more words than normal, “Can only eat soup.”

“Do you have a weak stomach or something?” It then dawned on Sol that this might also be another order she was forced to follow. He decided to break that now.

“If it’s something Cane ordered you to do, forget about it. Honestly, forget everything he told you, I doubt he ever told you anything with good intentions. Just give the food a try, I promise you won’t regret it.”

With a small nod, Amber picked up a fork and cut a small piece of the grilled chicken. Her hand was unsteady as she fought her ingrained habits and took a bite of the meat.

“So? Do you like it?”

Amber didn’t respond as she took another bite, and another, and another. She quickly started eating the meal as if she was eating food for the first time in her life.

Sol smiled as he saw her enjoy the food, ‘I’ll take that as a yes.’

It didn’t take long for the pair to eat their meal, as one missed the taste of a good meal and the other was discovering the joys of food beyond plain soup.

Done with their meals, Miriam went up to retrieve their plates, and Sol found it a good opportunity to ask for another room.

“Thanks for the food Miriam, it was amazing. I was wondering if you had another available room for my friend here.”

“Why of course. Would you like hers to be next to yours?”

“Yes, thank you.”

Amber had no money, Sol guessed it was because she had all her expenses paid for by Cane. Sol didn’t mind and paid for her room as well as he thought it would be better if they slept in different rooms. While he didn’t mind sharing a room as he did plenty of times when he was in the orphanage, it felt weird with Amber as she had a habit of staring at him.

“Okay Amber, tomorrow we will plan our journey to the capital and buy the things we will need. We can also check the Adventurers Guild for escort quests that head that way as well.”

Amber nodded and left for her room. Sol also went to his room and eyed the bed once more.

“Finally, the soft mattress, it calls for me.”

Sol couldn’t wait to sleep in the bed, and the moment his butt touched the mattress, he heard a knocking sound from the door.

‘Whyyyyyyyyy!’

Being denied once more the rest he rightfully deserved, Sol opened the door to find Harvey, the other owner of the inn, with a worried expression.

“Harvey? What's the matter?”

“It’s that umm… There is someone from the Church of Caela looking for you.”

‘Ah, I knew accepting those boots will come back to bite me.’

“Alright, I’ll head downstairs in a minute.”

Harvey sighed in relief, “Thank you.”

While all churches were seen as a force of good in the world, some people find their presence to be a bad omen. Not because they hated the churches or the gods, but whenever paladins or priests appeared on a mission or task, usually trouble followed them. It’s a fair assumption as their job was to unroot evil and spread the name of their god to all corners of the world.

Sol took this chance to equip all his items he received from Guildmaster Loraline, especially the Immunizing Belt, although he doubted she would pull the same stunt twice.

Fully equipped minus the leather armor, Sol headed downstairs to see what Diana wanted from him now. Heading down the stairs, Sol’s assumption was correct, and Diana was waiting for him.

“We meet again Sol.”

“Hello again Diana, what brings you here at this hour?” Sol asked respectfully. While he could respond rudely with every right as he already made his stance clear with her. She did apologize for her actions and even allowed him to receive the blessed boots. Though the second point isn’t proven, he was sure she had a hand in that.

“I came here to warn you.”