Cless woke up hugging SIlverfang. Hot fluffy wolf in the morning felt like staying in bed. But alas, the life of a person with two jobs going three allows for little leisure. She kissed the murderous wolf's cold snout and leaped out to change into her uniform to clean up the inn. As she crossed the corridor she remembered that Lyle was recovering in the inn. She entered his room and used all her healing magic on him. It wasn't enough yet. Somehow the aggravated wounds inflicted by the Lycan resisted healing magic.

With the taproom and all the mugs cleaned, she spoiled Josefine by stealing her job again. Cless hugged the girl and tried to leave the inn after remembering to eat breakfast for a change.

She met Karen at the door. Her aunt seemed to be completely drunk. Cless could smell the spirits from three paces away.

"Cless you moron!" Karen berated her. "If you are going to butcher a deer, make sure to drain all the bleeding blood out before you carry it away, you moron! Teehee. Bleeding blood. You ruined the venison!"

She had no idea of how long it would take to bleed out, but Karen was right. "I'm sorry, boss Karen. I'll make sure to bleed the next one."

"You better! I'm feeding you simmered bloody bleeding venison the whole week! You better eat it all! I'm going to spice it up so much you won't even taste the blood... Until you are done and then in the next day... Gross!"

"I'll take whatever punishment you see fit, boss," Cless answered, demure.

Karen wobbled and Cless helped her sit on a chair.

"No! Cless, listen to me! I'm a mean bitch. That is what I am. That is why I don't have a husband. Because no man likes a bitch. Cless, you are a nice girl. You go and get yourself a good man. not that rabble you wrapped around your finger, what a bunch of losers! Seriously, the werewolf is better than them all put together! You see? That is what makes me a bitch, Cless. I diss everyone!"

Cless looked at the sorry heap her aunt became. She thought about what to do and remembered her aunt used a spell to remove the drunkness of the merchant at the bathing room. Would her Cleric magic work as well?

"Detoxify!"

"What are you doing, Cless? Are you a stage magician now? Magic, seriously?"

"Detoxify!"

"Funny. Very funny. I can't feel my lips. Booze killed my lips."

"Detoxify!" — "Josefine, bring me some water, please!"

"Water? I don't drink water, I drink wyrm piss."

"Detoxify!"

"Cless, how are you doing that? These lights are so pretty!"

"Detoxify!"

"I'm dizzy. Boy, I hadn't had such a night in a decade!"

"Detoxify!"

"Good Morning, Cless. Did you just cure my drunkennenenness? Because I now feel like my head is going to blow up."

1,761 Class Experience Points awarded. Cless reached Cleric level 3. +1 Magic. 176 Profession Experience Points awarded.

"Yes, aunt. I changed classes to Priest yesterday. And I just used all my magic trying to cure your alcohol intoxication. And there are not that many ne's in drunkenness."

Josefine arrived with the pitcher of water. "Here, boss Karen. Drink this."

"Thanks, Josie. And Cless, you don't have to eat the venison. I'll just smoke it and make wolf food. I bet Silverfang wouldn't mind eating some deer. Would you, Silvefang?"

The wolf drooled.

"Aunt Karen, you are in your own inn. Couldn't you just heal your own hangover?"

Karen shook her head. "It is against my principles. People have to suffer the consequences of their inconsequential carousing."

"Then go to bed," Cless ordered. To her surprise, Karen nodded.

She helped Josefine carry Karen to an empty room and unceremoniously dumped their boss on the bed. They returned to the common room giggling. After a somehow doctored retelling of the events of the previous day, Cless left Josefine to run the inn on her own, picked up her tool bag, and went with Silverfang to the north gate to see if anyone was there. They were.

"Hey, Cless," Arnold waved at her.

"Good morning, The Blind Eye guild," Cless did a quick headcount, there were thirteen out of twenty-three. Counting the two still recovering, that was something.

Some of the boys approached to thank her for the healing.

"Don't mind it. It is my job as the guild master to keep guild members in working order to be productive."

"Always the slave driver, aren't you, Cless?" Alan joked.

She just ignored his remark and proceeded with the announcements, "We are going out to work on getting the guild some coin again today. Lyle and Lawrence are still recovering. Whoever doesn't want to come can go on their own business again. Arnold, Collin, Martin, and Shane have to come or I'll knock three thousand Experience from their tallies. And three thousand for every time they skip some guild activity."

Some grumbles and most of them turned around and left.

"Just knock the three thousand from my tab. I'm outta here," Collin shook his head and also left.

She saw that only Arnold, Martin and Shane stayed with her.

"That sucks," Cless sighed. She steeled herself and clapped her hands. "Okay, it is just the five of us then. We are going to gather the trees we knocked down yesterday. Silverfang will help us but I want to try and catch some game. He will once again scare the game in our direction and we will hunt them. With clubs."

"I got a pair of daggers on me," Shane showed the weapons. "Can I use them?"

"Yes, you can. Let's get going!" Cless tried to keep the mood up, but she was failing miserably. She refused Arnold's help and shouldered the tool bag herself. They crossed the gate and got out of town. She stopped to ask one of the guards, "Where is senior guardsman Toby?"

"Manning the west gate, miss Cless. You got him transferred." The guard replied with a deadpan face that screamed move along and stop bothering me, civilian.

"I didn't complain about him. Maybe it was Vera. But I didn't ask for it."

"Sure thing, miss guild master," The guard's neutral face turned into a moderate scowl. "I'd hate to mess with your schedule. Please go do whatever guild stuff you guild people do."

Cless noticed he avoided looking straight at her. he would gaze past her head from above either to the left or to the right.

She tried to perk up her step and move away from there. Maybe Balthus and Karen were right. She should get more Lycans and ditch those deadbeat guild members. They crossed the road with the farms and Cless remembered what Karen told her. She went for Olson's farm and the farmer came to talk to her.

"What's up, miss Cless? Your pelts will still take a few days to be dry enough to be used."

"Not that, farmer Olson. It came to my attention that we screwed up with the doe we skinned. We didn't drain the blood properly. My apologies."

"I knew that when you brought the carcass to me, miss. That was why I took so much of it. I got one of the boys with a Skill to try and clear the meat, we got some degree of success. But even bad venison is venison. We just cranked up on the spices. I've made a hell of a stew, if I may say so."

Cless was relieved. She made a mental note to try and study the value of things. She might leave too much money on the table during future negotiations if she can't appraise things properly.

"Thank you for your comprehension, farmer Olson."

"Don' mention it, miss. Say, we heard a lot of trees coming down yesterday, was it you?"

"Yes. I expect to bring some wood to town today. Get some coin." The boys snickered behind her. Cless looked behind her, puzzled. Did she make a joke? "By the way, could we leave some of these tools here? There's only four of us, we don't really need this many hatchets."

"Sure can, miss. Pick 'em up when you are going back this way."

"We might hunt more game today if we are lucky. Is it fine to bring you the pelts?"

"Aye. Bring as many as you can. I might need to charge coin for my services though. I'll be needing a lot o' salt if you bring 'em pelts by the handful."

"Sure! Thanks, Olson."

"Always a pleasure to help such a hard workin' lass such as you. And as for you, boys, it is better if you realize how fortunate you are by working under her."

Cless was so happy with the praise that she wanted to kiss that scraggly beard. She held herself back though. They said their goodbyes and after a ten-minute hike, they were back where Silverfang felled the trees.

She asked the wolf to shift into Lycan form and find another ironwood tree so they could craft more clubs. The werewolf went away and they started to remove the limbs of the trees to transport the trunks. They repeated the routine of the last day. De-limb the trunk, cut off any forks or oddly-shaped trunk twists so they had mostly straight logs and make clubs with the ironwood tree Silverfang brought. Now all that was left was to hunt some game.

"Silverfang, can you scare some game in our way like yesterday? Shane, use a club, we don't want to damage the pelt too much."

"Right, guild master."

"As you command, Cless." The werewolf ran out. Cless noticed he didn't shift into wolf form, but she paid no mind to it.

They readied an ambush and waited. The sounds of something heavy crashing through the underbrush came and Cless wondered what kind of game he brought. She dared steal a peek and gasped.

Silverfang was in werewolf form chasing off a bear. A carriage-sized bear. The animal had some nicks and bruises, probably from fighting Silverfang. After the bear noticed he could not defeat the Lycan, it bolted for dear life. Which means the bear will be fighting with all its spirit.

"Everyone, focus on defense!" Cless commanded. "Don't get hit, it is an order!"

"Right. Easy peasy!" Martin snickered.

The bear came into reach and Cless leaped to bash it on the head. She did the same thing with the doe, but being a prey animal, the doe flinched. The bear just went on. Cless' club connected with the bear's neck at the base of the shoulders. A loud crack and a sense of numbness from the recoil assaulted Cless' arms. The bear felt the hit and crashed with its jaw to the ground. He was shaking its head, probably stunned by the blow.

"Now!" Hit it on the ribs or the knees!"

The bear was assaulted by the boys on each side. They had less proficiency and levels than Cless and this bear was a strong opponent. They bashed it but the Bear didn't even register the hits under the pain it was feeling at the neck. It rose to stand on two legs, freeing the front paws to maul the impertinent humans. It roared and focused its hate on Cless. The girl was afraid of the bear but she was even more afraid of getting one of his guild members critically wounded again.

She swung the club again, aiming at a paw. The bear tried to pat away the blow but misjudged the target and it connected with another sound of bones creaking.

"Silverfang, hamstring its rear paws! Tear the tendons!" All of you, back off and only hit if its attention is elsewhere. Let me keep its attention!" She issued her orders.

Her combat instincts were telling her that the only thing worse than a group fight against a stronger enemy was a group fight against a stronger enemy without any kind of coordination.

The wolf focused on Cless and got clubbed on both sides. It turned its attention to maul Arnold and Shane but they backed off, leaving Martin free to keep hitting. Cless aimed her club at a knee and once again it connected with the bone. The bear lost footing and wobbled. It mauled at Cless and she tried to parry with the crude club. She avoided the claws but the sheer force behind the angered beast made her own weapon hit her. She staggered and moved back to get out of the bear's reach. She tripped on a root and fell on her butt. The bear saw the opportunity and lunged at Cless.

She saw the maw of the beast come to bite her head off, so big it seemed. Cless closed her eyes and the bite never came. The bear roared in pain instead. She tried to get up and saw the werewolf latched to its rear limbs, gnashing and clawing furiously. She felt ashamed of her for flinching and dropping her defenses in panic.

Cless screamed like a barbarian and unleashed all her pent up rage and frustrations on the bear. Her shout was soon echoed by the boys and the four humans drove their clubs with renewed morale on the huge animal. Cless went for the already wounded paw, Arnold and Shane for the ribs and Martin mimicked from the other side. They hit the bear's ribcage about the same time, combining their pressure. The ribs creaked but the bear's bones felt like they were made of steel.

"Back off!"

Cless cried as she saw Silverfang's snout tear the bear's calf tendons with a sizeable chunk of meat, scraping the bone. The bear lost footing entirely and fell forward. Cless dove out of the way, sliding on her belly against the forest dirt and tumbling away with all the grace of a drunk ragdoll. She felt a hundred pricks and stings all over her body but was glad that she could feel her body. She heard Arnold scream and fumbled to get back on her feet. She felt a jolt of pain and knew that her boobs would hurt for days because she used them as a cushion. No time for that. Cless picked up her club and dashed back to the fight.

Silverfang was ripping off the other rear leg, effectively making the bear unable to stand or even walk.

"Hit near its tailbone!" She wanted her guildmates to stay safe even more than she wanted to defeat the bear.

The critter was trashing around, waving its front limbs menacingly to scare off the attackers. It felt the boys' clubs bash its spine and roared in pain.

"For the Blind Eye!"

She screamed what would become the official warcry of the guild and drove a savage overhead strike on the bear's shoulder. It cracked the bone or at least dislocated the joint. The bear roared and snapped at Cless' feet and she had one crazy idea. She climbed on the bear, using the fur as handholds. The boys brought their clubs to bear over its rear spine once again but the bear was able to kick Arnold away. The big boy crashed on his back and for a moment Cless' despair reached the maximum.

"Just die! Die! You won't hurt anyone else!"

She straddled the bear's back and brought the club on its scalp repeatedly. The bear's growls lost potency until a moment it was no longer even moving. Cless' bashes started to sound wet and she cried as her repeated blows splashed blood and brains everywhere. She kept rambling about how she would avenge Arnold and keep everyone safe.

"Cless! Guild master!" — "We are fine! Arnold is just with a sprained ankle!" — "Cless, I am okay!"

Strong hands held her arms. She froze and looked to her side to see Silverfang in beastkin form hugging her.

"It is fine, Cless. You killed it," Silverfang told her in a soothing tone."

Cless calmed down and assessed her situation. She had bear brains in her mouth and was currently being hugged by a naked hunk of a Lycan. Wearing only a collar for clothing.

"Ahhhh!" Let go Silverfang, please," She asked while closing her eyes. "Shift into wolf form if there's no danger."

"Of course, Cless." Silverfang kissed her cheek and released her. She waited for a while, lingering in that warm sensation of a kiss. When Cless looked, Silverfang was sitting and panting with a lazy tongue hanging out.

"We won! Arnold!"

She rushed the boy and healed him. Shane and Martin didn't get wounds. She spent her last magical energy healing herself. Only then she played her sound notifications.

For defeating 1 brown bear matriarch with your group, you earned 714 Class Experience Points.

The boys, locked in their level 4, should've earned 3,750 Experience Points each. Next up were the ones for healing them. She did some math and reached the conclusion that the bear was level 30.

You earned 2,500 class experience points. You reached Cleric level 4. +1 Health

Still sitting on the dead bear she started to cry again, but this time they were tears of happiness.

Name: Cless (no surname)

Race: Human.

Level: 21 ( 229,136 / 231,000 Exp)

Class: Cleric 4 (+2) (6,926 / 6,000 Exp)

Profession: Warmaster 6 (17,566 / 21,000 Exp), Weaponmaster 6 (17,566 / 21,000 Exp)

Base Stats: Strength: 12 — Agility: 14 — Health: 21 (+1) — Intellect: 21 — Magic: 31 (+1)

Available Status Points: 0

Skills: [ Absolute Contract (S) ]

Crafting Proficiencies — Crude Weapons: 5 (+3)

Magic Proficiencies, Cleric — Prayer of Mending: 11 (+2) — Detoxify: 6 (+3) — Light: 2

General Proficiencies — Prayer: 10 (+1) — Scribe: 2 — Houseworking: 3 — Math: 2 — Reading: 6 — Forestry: 5 — Skinning: 3 (+3)

Social Proficiencies — Leadership: 12 (+3) — Intimidation: 11 (+1) — Negotiation: 6 — Tactics: 9 (+4)

Combat Proficiencies — Sword: 4 — Dagger 2 — Unarmed: 7 — Bow: 4 — Spear: 3 — Maces: 11 (+5) — Staff: 4 — Ax: 2 — Tumbling: 3 (+3)