As I slowly pulled my cart across the courtyard, I marveled at how easy this feat was accomplished compared to before I received the potion. My Strength attribute had 18 points originally, and the potion of enhanced strength boosted it to 27 points now. In certain role playing games, 27 points were easily the strength of a giant. I wasn't sure if giants were part of the bestiary in this particular gaming world, and I hoped that I won't find out.

While pulling my cart, I turned my head from side to side. The other pupils were still practicing their swordplay in the courtyard. But with the presence of the heir of the dojo besides me, none dared to slack off now lest they catch the ire of Kalistra and receive severe punishment from her. Interestingly, I saw a small group of students running lapses, and I couldn't help but chuckle at seeing someone else being punished for a change. My luck must be turning!

"What's so funny?" my instructor growled.

"Nothing, master!" I replied and kept my mouth shut. Thankfully, the fickle cat girl did not press me any further on this matter.

The two of us continued our trek across the courtyard in silence until we finally reached the heavy doors leading to the streets. There were several students posted for guard duty and they immediately opened the doors upon our approach. As we passed through the doorway, the students bowed deeply to Kalistra, who nodded slightly in acknowledgment.

Once we stepped out into the street, the heavy doors slammed shut behind us; it was just the two of us again. I looked around but saw no commoners in the vicinity. Unlike the hustle-bustle of the northern portion of Tregome, the southern part of town was rather quiet. The contrast between the two areas was unnerving, to be quite honest.

Kalistra seemed to pick up on my nervousness; she poked a sharp claw into my shoulder to draw my attention. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"Oh, I couldn't help but compare the quiet atmosphere between this southern part of Tregome and the livelier environment up north," I shared my observation openly with her.

The cat girl's whiskers twitched. "Look around, Lawrence, and tell me what you see," she requested in a neutral tone of voice.

I did as she asked. All I saw were empty streets; the buildings, though, were old and many of them were in need of repairs. I had no idea if the habitats were occupied or not, and I wasn't in a position to investigate further given my heavy load. "All I see are empty streets," I replied after a moment of thought. I didn't want to make any judgment concerning the neighborhood in general and therefore, I wisely withheld further comment regarding this area.

"Correct," my instructor nodded. "This area is informally known as the 'slums' because only the lowborn live in this area. And the reason the streets are empty is because the residents who are fortunate enough to be employed are already at work. And those who aren't, on the other hand, have left town to go fishing or foraging out in the wild," she explained.

"But wouldn't the commoners be concerned that their homes will be broken into while they're out?" I asked. "Shouldn't the Watch be patrolling these streets?"

Suddenly, another person answered my question. "We do."

I was so startled by the voice coming from behind me that I nearly let go of my pull cart! I wanted to turn around to see who was behind me, but I couldn't release the bar handle and take the risk of the dirt pile slipping out of the box and make a pile of mess on the street. Furthermore, I realized that the voice was female and it was very familiar . . .

A moment later, a beaming Maisen stood in front of me. Standing right behind her were Giudot and Sankryn.

Shooting me an annoyed look, Kalistra tossed a gold coin at the Watch Captain's face.

Maisen caught the coin easily before it hit her. The winner of the bet winked at me and then pocketed her winning.

"What was the bet?" I asked casually.

"That you'll drop the cart and have to re-shovel the stuff back into the box," the captain replied with a grin.

In other words, Kalistra already knew that my former bodyguard was going to accompany me during the trek through Tregome. And she distracted me in order to allow Maisen to sneak up behind me and scare me into releasing the cart. Dang! The evil minx had returned! I glared at the conspirator, but the cat girl deftly turned away and pretended to be innocent.

Maisen patted me on the shoulder to draw my attention. "How was your overnight accommodation at the dojo? You're lucky to have your own guest room. The apprentices and older students sleep in the training hall. And boy, some of those guys snore loudly," she shook her head at the memories of many sleepless nights.

"Really?" I looked at her in disbelief. "You slept in the same room with all those boys . . . " I winced at the thought.

Her hand on my shoulder turned into a very tight grip as the woman's face hardened. "All of them have trained under me at one time or another. I've had them attack me all at once on several occasions, and they still couldn't beat me. They may be little boys thinking dirty little thoughts, but they are too afraid of me to try anything at night." Maisen smirked at the thought of being in danger from horny boys. Finally, she released my shoulder.

Miraculously, I did not receive a pop-up indicating a loss of health. Totally ignoring the presence of Kalistra now, I decided to start pulling the cart again.

My former bodyguard walked to my left, while my master took a position to my right. I couldn't turn around to see where the two Watchmen were, but if I were to take a guess I believed that the duo was walking behind the cart. Putting two-and-two together, I made an important realization. "Am I in danger?" I asked the question aloud. I looked to my left and right; Kalistra was doing her best to ignore me, leaving Maisen to answer my question.

The woman who resembled the late Chyna offered me a half-smile. "I'll be honest with you," she began to talk. "Do you remember our encounter with the drows yesterday?" the Watch captain asked.

"Sure," I nodded. Acting on a hunch, I used my spirit sense on the leader of the three merchants that we came across while on Watch patrol. I discovered that they were beings of Chaos and warned Maisen, who immediately attacked. Unmasked, the drows fought briefly before escaping across the bridge to the east.

"We saved three children from being sacrificed to their goddess. The drows will treat this rescue as their property being stolen. And since the four of us were involved, it is possible that we will be targeted by these same drows in the near future," Maisen explained.

"Ah," I remarked. "That's why you brought Giudot and Sankryn along with you," I noted, "so that the four of us will stay together." I paused for a moment to consider what this meant. "You're hoping to lure the drows into attacking us during this trip," I verbalized my conclusion.

"It's better to have the drows attack us in Tregome than for them to pick us off one-by-one, such as during your travel to Bristol for the Melee Tournament," the human warrior added.

"And I'm here to lend a hand," Kalistra finally spoke up for the first time during this discussion.

I looked at the cat girl with a doubting look.

My master saw my disbelief. She tiptoed to reach the top of my head and petted me gently with her paw. This was the second time that Kalistra had done this today; did this mean that I was turning into her pet like Moff, the catfish? "You sure know how to pick a fight, Lawrence," the cat girl grinned. "I have accepted you as my liege on behalf of my dojo; this means that I now have a responsibility to protect you from harm to the best of my ability."

"We are also bound by our Honor and our Duty to protect you," Giudot interrupted and then stood in front of me. "As a holder of a sacred Truth Stone, you are a VIP member of the Church; as such the Watch is responsible for your personal safety while you are in Tregome," he explained and bowed deeply to me.

I saw Sankryn stand next to his comrade and he bowed to me as well. I nodded slightly in acknowledgment of their pledges to protect me. I decided to break the tension by resuming the trek northward.

We managed to travel two blocks north before a group of people came out of a nearby house and blocked my path. The newcomers quickly surrounded us. Each person wore a black cloak, with a hood that covered his face. There were a dozen strangers in all.

I saw Maisen yawn. After all, luring them out was the plan and it had worked to perfection.

One of the ambushers stepped forward and pulled back her hood, revealing the beautiful face of Khaz 'Orhea, the drow leader we had fought. The dark elf pulled her twin scimitars out of their scabbards, and her followers did the same.

Kalistra calmly stepped in front of me and pulled out her own sword. "Let's dance," she taunted them.