Just a tiny rant, not important

Spoiler : Another day another .5 star review with someone wishing he could give me no stars. Kinda hurts, but what can you do? Beginning need to be fixed yes, but the idea is solid. Get knocked down to learn to get back up. I wish the .5 star reviews were more useful, more constructive criticism, but can't have everything oh well.

School stared today, so chapters are going to have to slow down, sorry guys.

No hiatus though I promise you that! Hopefully longer chapters as a result too.

Enjoy!

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As it turned out, the inn was full with no rooms available for the night. The innkeeper told them that they were free to camp out in the town, and that their safety was guaranteed as long as they were within the camp. Steel guessed that, like Rostwood, the camp did not allow PvP and guards were roaming around to prevent NPC theft in the area. Actually, the merchant guild seemed to have invested heavily in mercenary guards, likely to protect their investment with the dungeon raiders.

They found a quiet spot a little away from the majority of the people, but still within the confines of the camp. Steel set up the two tents and started a fireplace, using Earth Wall to form a fire pit in the ground. Mary sat down after setting her own tent up; after learning how to do it from Steel. She pulled Shadefur on top of her lap and began petting her. "Hey Steel, am I doing okay? As an adventurer I mean." She asked softly, staring deep into the fire starting in front of her.

Sensing a moment, Steel paused and sat down across from her, throwing the last bit of wood onto the fledgling fire. "Well, the only one I can compare you to honestly is myself." Steel admitted, "Compared to what I went through though, I'd say you started out as well as I did."

"Really?" She searched his face for any signs of dishonesty.

He laughed, "Of course. After all, I also fought a much stronger opponent and almost died. It was the pack of Hungry Bunnies that saved me you know; I only bashed the blasted wolf's head in until it fell over."

Mary's eyes focused on his armor, "That's the armor your wearing now right? It's from the wolf?"

Steel fingered the fur collar around his neck. "That's right. Like the rat fur, this thing also gave me a special thing when it was turned into armor. Darkness resistance if I remember correctly, which came in handy when liberating the lair with the other expedition members. I wonder what the rat pelt will give me."

Echo wandered out of the tent and sat in Steel's lap, leaning back and closing his eyes. Steel smiled and patted his head, letting him fall asleep in his arms. Mary watched them from her seat.

"You know, you have a very interesting slave there Steel. In fact, you don't even treat him like a slave; more like your own child than anything else. Why give him so much freedom?"

Steel scratched his nose, "Well, I got him because out of all the slaves I saw he was the only one with a spirit still within him. At the time, I was feeling lonely and depressed and just wanted someone to accompany me in my work. If anything, it was more of an impulse buy than anything else, especially since I couldn't get the gloves I wanted from the auction." He gave a pointed look to Mary, who found the fire very interesting all of a sudden, "Teasing aside, yeah I guess he is more like a ward then a slave. In a way, he's helped stitch the wound in my heart, but isn't really for anything beyond that. I don't know; future planning was never really my thing."

Mary giggled, "I agree with that sentiment. Teasing a mage on your first day and endangering your life was also done by impulse then?"

"No comments for incrimination." Steel dropped, "Back to what you were saying earlier, Echo is a strange child. It times he seems a lot older than he should be, especially when it comes to me. The rest of the time it seems like he's living the world for the first time. I wonder how that come to be, is it a common thing for a slave with freedom?"

Mary stared at the fire, a scornful look arising, "I couldn't say Steel. The only slaves I've seen were when I traveled to the capital with my father for the annual mage meeting. I know the sentiments of slavery, but their treatment was horrendous."

"So slavery is common in the capital?" Steel asked, interested.

Mary shook her head, "Not really, but it is common with the nobility. Some humans are forced into slavery due to debts, but they at least are treated well and can buy their freedom. Everyone is stuck until they die or are sold. Mages were the worst, using slaves as guinea pigs sometimes. I told myself I'd never have a slave because of what I saw, but seeing you with Echo has given me some solace. Maybe some hope for the future." She bent over Shadefur to put her in head into her fur.

"I thought slavery was common with all the races except the orcs?" Steel asked confused, "Aren't they treated the same everywhere?"

Mary snorted, "Only the slave traders would tell you that, or people who have never left the kingdom. Slavery may be common, but their treatment differs greatly. Humans are the only race who treats slaves like dirt; the other races treat them more as servants."

"So, only the treatment of slaves is abhorrent to you? Not the fact that people can be slaves?"

"Of course. Slaves are people that owe money or are being punished. Err; also they could have been war slaves." Mary said hesitantly.

Steel sighed and shook his head, "You really are a sheltered princess aren't you? You do realize a good many slaves are kidnapped from their homes right?"

Mary's mouth dropped, "No way! That's immoral and underhanded; there's no way anyone would let that happen!"

Steel shook his head, "Rostwood is a frontier town, developed by those who are more open-minded and managed by practical people like your father. Even then, slave hunters do roam the streets at night. I ran into three a while back, though I haven't seen any more since then. I'm sure the capital you are familiar with is the more common mindset of the kingdom."

Mary shuddered, "The world is really scary isn't it? Do you think kidnappers would sell me if given the chance?"

Steel chuckled, "With your beauty and power, I have no doubt you'd be a fair prize many would want to possess. Keep that in mind next time you use your magic wastefully; never put yourself in a situation where you can be overpowered." He cautioned her, "That being said, your position as the Archmage's Daughter and Vice-mage should dissuade most from trying to mess with you. Traveler hunters are the ones you should look out for, well, if any exist anyway. Grow strong and establish a safe place to return to, that's the best advice I can give."

Mary nodded, "Like Rostwood right? It's safe for me."

"Yes, but you shouldn't stay here if you want to be like your father. Go out and see the world, make new friends, and find adventures in distant lands. There are always risks with leaving home, but everyone leaves eventually to make a life for themselves." Steel laid Echo on the ground and got up to walk over to Mary, giving her a brief hug before the pain set in, "I'm sure you can do it."

Mary looked up with wide, appreciative eyes, "Okay Steel, I'll think about everything you've told me. Thank you for the advice." She pushed a snoring Shadefur off of her lap, and got up. With Steel's help, she carried Echo over to the tent and put the sleeping slave inside before crawling in herself.

She turned and smiled at Steel, "Good night my student."

Steel winked back, "Good night princess." He bit back a laugh at her pouting look as he shut the flap and returned to the fire.

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Steel woke the group up early so they could get a head start on dungeon raiding. He tried to feed them meat, but Mary complained that only eating met for 3 days was starting to get old. Even Echo frowned when presented with more meat and shook his head. Shadefur happily gobbled up their portions with a happy bark. Personally, Steel enjoyed eating meat as often as possible, but he did end up agreeing that changing up the diet was important, especially for a growing childlike Echo. Having nothing else, they went to the tavern for a well-rounded meal.

Thankfully, not many players were up and about that morning. Steel surmised that it was night time or school hours at the moment, not that he really had anyway to check in game. They sat down at a table and ordered a meal of salad; something Steel had yet to see as he was always eating Mema's creations in town.

The salad turned out to be one of the largest bowls he had ever seen, filled to the brim with leafy things and fruits on top. Mary and Echo happily dug into their acquired feast, and after bit Steel joined them, actually finding the leafy things quite juicy and satisfying.

As they were happily enjoying their break from meat, loud and annoying laughter drifted over from another table.

"Cheers mates, to another day of raiding and loot!" A masculine voice rang out, accompanied by hearty cheers and laughter. Steel cocked his ear toward them when he recognized the voice of the prick Lancelot.

Looking as arrogant as ever, the blond beauty tipped his head back as he chugged his drink down, slamming the goblet into the table with a burp, "I checked yesterday guys; our group was recorded as getting the deepest into the dungeon at level 3. No one else is as close as we are to the boss's room! Once we conquer the dungeon, our name will be known throughout the land!"

The barbarian girl and pyro guy cheered, while the ranger and ice mage nodded. Steel shook his head, returning his attention to his meal.

"CracBoom and Firesoul, this goes out to you two for guiding past the first floor so quickly. Getting in on the expedition was a genius decision on your parts."

CracBoom the pyro guy spoke up, his voice surprisingly calm given his demeanor, "Heh, don't give us too much credit Lancelot. After all, we only got the mission after helping you with the mugger subjugation in the city."

'So that's the connection.' Steel noted, 'I was wondering how they managed to get into the expedition. Guess that explains it."

Mistarrow chuckled, "At least they accomplished something. IceSeer couldn't, how did she put it, hurt such cute creatures." They all laughed while the mage blushed slightly, her face never changing as she downed her drink.

"At least I didn't make a fool of myself missing them." She said simply, taking another swig.

"I couldn't help it you know? Those things were much too fast and little to hit properly." He complained, "Even the second floor had those annoying buggers too."

Steel's ears twitched, taking an interest in their conversation. 'Let's see if they reveal anything useful." He casually moved his ear toward the group while eating his meal.

IceSeer snorted, "I hear that elf player Stalk is capable of hitting fast targets while moving. Even that dwarf archer Viscount can hit a rat in motion, yet you are stuck shooting blanks against rats and. . . "

Something must have happened, because she stopped talking. Steel just continued eating, not falling for the temptation of turning his head to look at the table. It didn't matter, because he heard the sounds of chairs sliding across the floor and footsteps coming toward him.

"Well, if it isn't the guard and his women." Steel could hear the sneer dripping off the voice behind him, "Enjoying a morning meal before raiding? Here I thought you guys had enough arrogance yesterday to clear it on your first try."

Steel munched on his salad, ignoring the man behind him.

"Guess yesterday didn't go so well if you have to eat this kind of meal. I mean really, who eats just vegetables for a meal am I right guys?" Mistarrow laughed with Lancelot, while a girlish voice giggled with them.

"Nope, sorry guys. The lady wanted salad, so we went and got some salad." Steel corrected, savoring the fruit he had just bitten. It was a pleasant sweet tangy flavor that lingered after swallowing.

CracBoom pulled the fourth seat at the table back and sat down backwards on it, staring at Steel's face. Scratching his chin, he smiled and dropped his hand into his fist, "I knew I recognized you from somewhere. You were in the expedition with me, remember? I was wondering what happened after the lord singled you out from us during the rewards ceremony."

"This guy is the interesting you talked about before?" Iceseer's low voice asked.

CracBoom nodded, "Yeah. Apparently this guy was super important to the expedition, even scouting by himself to find the lair before we even knew about it. Funny thing is that no one seems to have any information on him. Hey man, what's you faction? Come on, tell us. I'm S.S. in case you are wondering."

Steel hissed at him, "Be careful man! NPC's don't react well to R.L. talk."

CracBoom blinked, "Oh right, sorry about that. Sometimes I get really excited and all that."

"Enough ." Lancelot snapped, "CracBoom, stop being so friendly to him. Did you forget how rude he was to us yesterday?"

CracBoom snorted, "I seem to recall you getting in his business first. Besides, it was the lady over there that shot you across the field with a single spell. Speaking of which, are you taking students my fair lady? I'd love to learn how to cast fire like that." He gave Mary puppy dog eyes, before being whacked on the head by IceSeer.

"Too shameless." She reproached staring coldly at the hurt man.

"That hurt sis." He complained, rubbing his head, "You’re too reserved sometimes. Be more spontaneous like me sometimes."

'These two are a natural comedy pair aren't they?' Steel chuckled to himself. The barbarian girl, Firesoul, got between them.

"Okay you too, enough with the family comedy." She said in a surprisingly girly and sultry voice, "I think you’re missing the point our leader made. These guys did humiliate us yesterday, regardless of who started it."

"I'd like to be made aware that it wasn't our intention to do so." Steel spoke up between bites.

"Noted." Firesoul said, "That doesn't change what happened though."

"Touché." Steel complimented, putting his fork down, "How do you propose we fix this?"

Lancelot pushed his way in front of Steel, "You can let us take care of your friends here for starters."

Steel gave him a confused look, "Friends?"

Lancelot gestured across the table, where IceSeer was hugging Echo close without moving. She looked up at Steel. "This is yours?"

"Yes."

"Give me."

"I refuse." Steel shot down at once, "He's my helper."

IceSeer shook her head, "Too cute. Mine now."

CracBoom sighed, "Sorry mate, when she gets like that no one in the world can stop her."

Lancelot spoke up again, "You're a real lucky guy aren't you: a pretty woman to keep you company, a slave to cater to your every whim, and a battle pet to do your fighting for you. Why, I bet you don't even fight your own battles." He challenged, looking Steel in the eyes.

Irked and annoyed, Steel got up. "Is this my honor you are throwing into question? Careful, you are treading on dangerous ground here." To question someone's honor was a thing that always resulted in conflict and wasn't done lightly.

Lancelot grinned in triumph, picking up the salad bowl and dropping it on the floor, "I see the mutt at least has a bark. Let’s see if he was a bite too. I chall. . ."

Lancelot exploded and flew across the room, hit straight on by a fireball. He hit the wall and dropped to the floor with a thud. Everyone's eyes turned to Mary, who had a smoking hand and a very pissed off expression.

"You fool! That was the best salad I have ever tasted, and you just ruined it!" Indeed, the remaining salad was scattered on the ground, tragically wasted.

The guards in the room looked at the unconscious man, then at Mary, than at the spilt salad. Shrugging, 3 got up to pick up Lancelot and carry him away. The fourth came up and bowed. "On behalf of the guard, I apologize for your ruined dinner Vice-mage. Rest assured, the perpetrator will be dealt with immediately." He bowed and exited the building with his men.

Steel scratched his head, "We still have a problem guys?" The other members of Hero's Party shook their heads. Mary walked up to IceSeer, who was still hugging the struggling Echo. She grabbed him away and said, "Mine." Then she hugged Echo as she left the building, IceSeer's jealous stare following her out.

"Well, we'll be off then. Sorry about the commotion." Steel followed his group out the door, Shadefur trotting beside him. The wolf hadn't had the best time, missing the sweet savory taste of meat in her mouth. She whined as the door closed behind them.

"Don't worry girl, I doubt we'll be getting salad for a while after this."