Chapter 38:

Carla knocked on the mage’s door and of course, it was Feli who opened it. Gods, Carla hated miss perfect. She knew what kind of person Feli actually was. Carla believed Feli to be someone who looked down on the other commoners, thinking she was better than the rest. Now Feli had even slept with an actual mage. Damn her.

“Here are the mage’s clothes. Clean and dried,” Carla made a fake smile.

“Thanks,” Feli slammed the door closed.

Feli turned around and looked at Stryg who was doing some sort of funny dance. “May I ask what you are doing?”

“My morning training. I’m following a sequence of combat moves, passed down from my ancestors of the Blood Fang tribe.” Stryg swiped the air with his claws.

Feli had never seen a goblin with claws, they normally shaved them low.

“I thought you were doing some ritual magic dance, arcane mage stuff,” Feli shrugged her shoulders.

“I don’t know any chromatic spell that requires a ritual dance. Or any form of magic at that.”

“What’s a chromatic spell? Is it different from a normal spell?” Feli asked.

“The spells you’ve seen magi cast in the city are all chromatic spells. Though there are other kinds of spells.”

“I’ve only ever seen one spell. The one you cast last night,” Feli admitted.

“Really? I’d imagine you’d have seen a lot through the city.”

“I don’t really get out much, most commoners don’t. Normally, I spend my time in the commoner district. Sometimes, I visit the trade district, but most stores there are closed off to commoners.”

“What about outside the city?”

“I’ve never left the city. Besides, where would I go? Raiders prowl the Valley for any vulnerable travelers. It’s dangerous and risky to travel without a caravan. I don’t have any required skills or connections to join a caravan, either, so, I’m just sort of here.”

“I understand,” Stryg shifted his feet in slow steps.

“How could you understand a commoner’s life, mister mage?” Feli raised an eyebrow.

Stryg sighed, “I grew up in a village surrounded by one of the Realm’s most hostile regions. There was nowhere I could go without risking my life. Even going out to the river to get water or take a bath was dangerous.”

“That... That sounds horrible.” At least here Feli was fairly safe within the walls, so long as she didn’t go out at night without her nameplate.

“I didn’t think so. I had my tribe to protect me and show me the way of battle.”

“You really love your Blood Fang tribe, huh?” He had mentioned them at least a dozen times already.

“Yeah… The feeling wasn’t mutual.” Stryg raised his leg high in the air.

“What? Why wouldn’t they like a mage?”

Stryg threw several kicks at an invisible opponent. “I only found out I was a mageborn when I arrived in Hollow Shade. Back in my village… I was weak, it didn’t help that I looked different from everyone else.”

“I find it difficult to believe you were weak,” Feli said as she eyed his lean muscles.

Stryg didn’t know why he was telling her so much. He hadn’t told anyone before. “My hybrid natural gifts only began to appear when I came here. So, yeah. Even though I trained my hardest, I was still weaker than the rest. I hated it. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad to have been born to the Blood Fang tribe. It’s just, I had always hoped to have been greater than what I was. More than just the runt.”

Stryg jabbed the air. “Then I found out that I was and that the whole world was greater than what I could have ever imagined. So, I’m still basically the runt.”

“You don’t look like a runt to me,” Feli stared.

Stryg’s eyes widened for a brief moment. He looked away, “You know, we should leave this city sometime. See, what else is out there. I’m supposed to have time off in the summer.”

“That sounds nice, but I’m a city girl. I don’t think I’d do well in the wilderness.”

“Not like you have much of a choice. Your body is mine, right? That was the deal.”

“Right. I almost forgot.” Feli rolled her eyes and handed him his clothes, “As much as I like staring at your tight ass dance around, we should get some breakfast.”

“Alright. Let’s switch it up then. How about you shake your ass around while I put on my clothes,” Stryg grinned.

“Are you serious?” Feli frowned.

“Oh, most definitely,” Stryg sat down on the bed.

Feli blew out an exasperated breath, “I’m not much of a dancer.”

“You’ll make do.”

Feli shook her head. She walked backwards and positioned her butt 2 feet from Stryg’s face. She spread her legs and began shaking her hips.

“I can’t really see anything with the skirt,” Stryg muttered.

“Hey!” Feli yelled as Stryg lifted her skirt up. She wore a simple pair of white underwear.

“Better, now I can change in peace.”

Feli shook her head with a smirk. If this was what her future husband would always be like, then she was going to have a very busy home life.

Once Stryg finished changing they both headed down stairs. The tavern was fairly empty in the morning. Only the staff sat around the room, having their breakfast.

Everyone paused when they came down. Their cautious eyes were all focused on Stryg. He didn’t like the attention. He found himself baring his fangs at them. They quickly looked away, with a newfound interest in their food. Feli couldn’t help but giggle as she led Stryg to an empty table. This was how those people would see Feli from now on, not a cute wench, but someone not to be trifled with.

The tavern master’s wife herself came out from the kitchen and brought them their food, “Good morning sir, I hope you slept well. I brought you both some sauteed potatoes, quail eggs, and lamb stew. The chef made them just for you. Oh, and some pomegranate juice to drink.”

Feli looked at all the food with pleasant surprise. As a staff member, she’d normally only be given a bowl of porridge. Now there was an entire feast for them. Being with a mage definitely had its perks.

Stryg breathed in the scent of the food, it was wonderful. He hadn’t eaten since noon yesterday. He was starving. He grabbed the plates of food and began wolfing it down.

The older woman held her hands with anticipation, “Is it okay? Not too salty?”

“Good, very good.” Stryg gulped down some juice.

“Wonderful, I’ll tell the chef right away,” she sighed in relief.

“How much do I owe you,” Stryg asked through bites of food.

“Why it’s on the house, of course. Just having a mage visit our establishment is more than enough compensation.”

“Really?”

“Most definitely. The amount of publicity we got just from your magic last night, oof, our nights will be packed for months.” She turned to Feli, “But, you won’t have to worry. I’ll make sure to clear your schedule, so that you can attend to our venerable mage.”

“Thanks,” Feli made an awkward smile.

She was happy to get out of work, but she wondered how busy she’d be with Stryg.

“I won’t waste anymore of your time. I’ll leave you two to your breakfast. Please, don’t hesitate to call me for anything you may require, sir.” The woman bowed and left.

Stryg focused on eating for the next few minutes. While Feli ate her food she threw glances at Stryg, studying his features. He was handsome in an almost fae-like way. She hadn’t seen anyone quite like him before.

“We could always visit the other great cities,” Stryg said after finishing his soup.

“Hm?” Feli hummed.

“You said you don’t like the wilderness. We could visit other great cities instead. Maybe Undergrowth or Frost Rim. I’ve been curious about them for a while.”

“Oh, being considerate now? I thought this was a loveless engagement?” Feli teased.

Stryg didn’t know why her words annoyed him. He ignored it, “Honestly, I’d go by myself, but I'd rather have a beautiful woman warm my bed.”

Feli laughed, “Hopefully, it’ll be a better bed than the one upstairs. It almost broke after just one night.”

“I have a far better one at my place. It's larger and softer.”

“Is that an invitation?” Feli raised an eyebrow.

“Hm, yeah, I guess it is. It’ll probably be a few days before I can take you there. I have several exams coming up that I need to devote my full attention to. And I’m smart enough to know that you’re too distracting,” Stryg said, eyeing her chest.

“I guess I can wait.” Feli leaned over the table to grab another plate of food. She made sure her breasts were hanging in perfect view for Stryg. “But can you?”

Stryg licked his lips, “Obviously.”

“Mm.” Feli grinned.

After they finished eating, Stryg got up to leave. Feli made sure to kiss him on the lips in front of the entire staff first. He walked out of the Merry Crescent with a skip to his step. He felt refreshed and ready to face the new day.

In some ways he had gotten everything he wanted since coming to this city. The power of magic gave him the ability to defeat his enemies, like the one last night. He had also been able to eat tasty food, for free at that. And now he had a beautiful woman to spend his nights with. This had to be the best morning of his life, it was perfect. Until he saw her.

Karen, the goblin traitor, stood across the street, moving between a crowd. The woman who had led him to an ambush was only a few dozen feet away. Stryg’s mood shattered in an instant and was replaced with the cold fire of bitterness. He slipped into the crowd behind Karen. She wouldn’t escape this time, nor would her friends.

Stryg kept his distance from Karen and stalked her like a wolf searching for his next meal. He needed to follow her until she led him to the rest of her gang. Then he’d make a plan on how to kill them all.

The problem was Karen never seemed to meet up with the other gangsters. Instead she spent most of her morning pickpocketing one unaware commoner or another. Stryg was getting annoyed, he was running out of time. Classes would begin soon.

After a few hours, Karen split off from the crowds and headed to a more residential area. There weren’t as many people, so Stryg had to keep a further distance. Luckily his eyesight, like his other senses, had become very sharp. It wasn’t difficult to keep an eye on her. Eventually, she made her way to a small house. She knocked on the door a few times and waited.

A few moments later an older goblin opened the door.

The older woman smiled, “There you are Karen, I was wondering where you went off to so early in the morning.”

Karen hugged the older goblin, “Hey mom. I’m home.”

Stryg cracked a malicious smile as he caught the damning words. He had found her home. This was huge. It didn’t matter if he didn’t know where the other gangsters were. Karen had nowhere to run and now he knew. Stryg could pressure her for the information on the location of the other gangsters. He left before she had a chance to notice him. Classes were about to start, he needed to hurry.