The black flames dispersed before they touched Klaus’s face as a barrier formed over him shimmering with translucent white light... Serra’s protective magic activated just in time.

"Thanks, Serra," Klaus said with his heart still racing from how close that had been "But right now, you have to stand back ."

Among all the different kinds of goblin shamans he could have run into, he had run into a Cursed Shaman.

These were variant monsters that performed human or monster sacrifices to get power from the God of Death, channeling dark energy through ritualistic killings and despite how they looked... small and pathetic, they were quite tanky and able to absorb surprising amounts of damage.

’If Serra had any holy attacks, this would be pretty easy...’ Klaus thought while summoning metal scraps into his hand. ’Death Shamans are very vulnerable to holy magic.’

There were also humans that practiced this art, called the Cult of Diavolos, but Klaus didn’t want to get entwined with them at all.

Dealing with death cultists was a good way to end up sacrificed on an altar somewhere especially when he was a mob character.

Klaus shot the pieces of shrapnel outward at the Goblin Shaman.

The creature reacted immediately, shaking its staff to the right and spreading out a wisp of black fire that burned the shrapnel completely with the metal fragments disintegrating in mid-air before they could connect but that was the distraction.

The first sword zipped forward at the Goblin while its attention was focused on the burning shrapnel.

The Shaman said something that sounded like "Gob!" and hopped to the right with surprising agility.

The sword crashed into the ground where it had been standing with sparks flying as metal hit stone.

As the Goblin gathered its bearings, two more swords were already coming for it from different angles.

The monster held out its staff defensively and chanted again.

"Ska’rath... Ska’rath... Vek’shara duum!"

A burst of black flames exploded outward from the skull-topped staff spreading in a wide arc to intercept the incoming blades but before the swords could be hit, Klaus made them go sideways with a thought, redirecting them with Magnetic Field.

The flames passed harmlessly through empty air and revealed what the real target was.

The fat body of the Hobgoblin Klaus had killed not long ago came soaring toward the Shaman... and the black flames hit the corpse, but the Hobgoblin was already dead.

The flames merely bounced off its body, unable to find purchase in flesh that no longer held life.

At that speed, the massive body slammed into the small Goblin Shaman, crushing it against the ground with tremendous force.

The creature let out a wheeze as all the air was driven from its lungs and its staff went flying from its grip clattering across the stone floor.

The Goblin let out a cry as it tried desperately to push the heavy body of the Hobgoblin off itself with its thin arms straining uselessly against hundreds of pounds of dead weight.

Several swords converged around it from all directions then they stabbed down simultaneously.

The blades punched through the Goblin’s skull, chest, and abdomen, rupturing its head as well as all its other vital organs.

Green blood pooled rapidly beneath the Hobgoblin corpse as the Shaman twitched once, twice, then went still.

"Phew..." Klaus muttered under his breath.

He retracted Iron Skin from his arm, feeling the metal texture fade back to normal flesh.

The strategy had worked perfectly... send the shrapnel and swords as a distraction, use Iron Skin with Magnetic Field to throw the Hobgoblin’s body at the small fuck, rendering it easier to kill.

He could have asked Serra for support buffs, but he’d wanted to get it over and done with instantly with no risks or chances for the Shaman to pull out another trick.

Klaus returned his swords to his storage ring, keeping only one out.

He cast Cleanse on the blade, watching as the spell stripped away goblin blood and gore, leaving the metal gleaming and pristine then he cast it on himself, removing the smell and blood that had accumulated during the fight, making himself squeaky clean in seconds.

’Best spell I ever learned,’ Klaus thought. ’Never underestimate quality-of-life magic.’

"Is it over?" Serra asked from where she’d been standing back.

Klaus nodded at her.

"It’s over..." Klaus confirmed. "We need to report to the Guild now."

Serra nodded in understanding.

She glanced at the Shaman’s body one last time, then at the covered corpses of the merchants and guards nearby.

Her expression grew solemn as she put both of her hands together in a prayer gesture.

"I pray that the souls of every single one of the victims rest in peace," Serra said quietly. "And that they have gotten their revenge through us."

Then she looked at Klaus with a practical question.

"How are we going to get out of here?" Serra asked.

Klaus gestured to his floating sword.

"Same way we came in..." Klaus said.

He stood on the sword, turning one of his legs into metal with Iron Skin for stability then he brought out a hand toward Serra.

"Come on," Klaus said.

Serra sighed then she took his hand.

Klaus immediately scooped her up into his arms in the princess carry position and they soared out of the cave and into the forest outside, heading in the direction of Galen Town.

Serra kept her eyes open looking at the beautiful sights in the forest as they moved.

...

About an hour later, the bodies of the people who had died were finally being brought into the Adventurer’s Guild.

Several adventurers carried them carefully, treating the corpses with respect as they headed upstairs to the storage area where the Guild would prepare them for return to their families.

"Adventurer Klaus and Adventurer Serra, please report to Front Desk Number One..." the woman behind the counter announced, her voice sounding across the busy guild hall.

Klaus, who had been lounging in one of the waiting area chairs with Serra sitting nearby, stood up and walked over to the designated desk.

Instead of Astrid, a half-elf woman sat behind the counter.

She had dark hair pulled back in a severe bun and a lit cigar in her mouth with smoke curling upward toward the ceiling.

Her pointed ears were pierced with multiple silver rings.

"Bring out your adventurer cards..." the half-elf said curtly.

Klaus and Serra both summoned their cards from the pie slice tattoos on their arms with the magical symbol glowing briefly as the physical cards materialized in their hands.

As soon as the receptionist received their cards, her demeanor shifted slightly.

She bowed her head in a gesture of respect and apology.

"I apologize for the wait," the half-elf said. "The Guild had to confirm the details, but it seems the goblin shaman you actually killed was a Cursed Shaman that could use Death Magic. You were lucky to have killed it that early in its development... Who knows what kind of vile things it could have done if it had gained more power."

Klaus had reported immediately upon returning that the information given to them had been wrong.

The Guild had said it was just a shaman... they hadn’t specified it was a Cursed Shaman, which was a significantly bigger deal and a much more dangerous threat.

He’d also filed for extra compensation, which was the whole reason he’d needed to bother with the formal reporting process in the first place rather than just collecting his original reward.

The receptionist continued with her tone becoming more businesslike.

"Though the original reward was thirty-three silvers and forty-five Guild Points, the adjusted reward will be fifty silvers and fifty Guild Points, shared equally between you two..." the half-elf explained.

Serra immediately spoke up.

"Please give my entire share to Klaus," Serra said.

Klaus turned to look at her with a raised eyebrow, but Serra’s expression was firm.

He had already given her enough money back when he’d employed her, and besides, he was the one who had done most of the actual combat work.

She didn’t say that last part out loud, but they both knew it was true.

The receptionist looked between them then shrugged.

"If Serra has no issue with it, then it’s alright with the Guild as well." the half-elf said.

She brought out a leather pouch from beneath the counter... Klaus could hear the distinctive clink of coins inside.

The weight looked about right for fifty silver pieces.

Klaus took the money and tucked it into his own storage ring.

The receptionist tapped Klaus’s card with a small crystal tool, making it glow with soft light as the Guild Points were registered to his card.

Serra returned hers immediately to her tattoo with the card dissolving back into the magical storage.

Klaus looked at his own card and sneered slightly.

’I should have been quite a bit closer to reaching C-Rank by now...’ Klaus thought bitterly.

But the dungeon raid he’d done with the Phantom Crew wouldn’t be added to his record until after Kahn’s trial in court.

Some bureaucratic nonsense about not counting achievements from that place before Kahn got to court.

’This is why I hate these stupid laws.’ Klaus thought.

He returned his card to his tattoo and told the receptionist goodbye then Klaus turned to Serra with a question.

"Want to pick another mission from the board?" Klaus asked. "Hopefully this one requires less effort than hunting goblins down."

Serra walked over to the mission board.

She scrolled along it for a minute with her fingers trailing over different postings as she read the requirements and rewards.

Finally, she brought down one mission posting that she thought looked good.

Klaus looked at the mission details, then at Serra’s face, then back at the mission and the young man sighed.

"Why not?" Klaus said with resignation. "What’s the worst that could happen?"

Later, Klaus would deeply regret picking this mission in the first place.

...

’...Nine.’ Klaus thought while looking at the dark vibrant green flower on the ground.

He leaned down carefully, ensuring he was in the proper stance with his weight balanced, he was ready to spring forward with his hands positioned to grab.

’Ten!’ Klaus shouted in his head as he lunged toward the flower.

The flower not only managed to dodge him with a quick hop to the side, but it also unrooted itself completely from the soil.

Then, in what Klaus could only describe as adding insult to injury, the little plant danced mockingly on Klaus’s head before running off on its tiny root-legs.

Klaus ran his hand down his face in pure exasperation.

He turned to look at Serra, who was calmly picking several of the walking flowers without any difficulty whatsoever, placing them gently in her wicker basket.

She already had at least twenty of them while Klaus had managed to catch exactly zero.

"You picked this mission because it’s easy for you..." Klaus said accusingly.

Serra smiled.

"I admit it..." Serra said cheerfully. "I’m inherently better at this than you are. It’s just harvesting a bunch of walking flowers and bringing them to the Guild, The mission said it pertained to gathering fifty of them. How hard could it be?"

Klaus glared at another flower that was literally taunting him by doing a little shimmy dance just out of reach.

’Very hard, apparently....’ Klaus thought darkly.

Serra walked over to him, her basket nearly full now.

"Boss," Serra said, seriously. "I have something to tell you. I might... no, I have to go to Rivera City tomorrow."

Klaus looked up at her, brushing dirt off his clothes.

"I need to be there to buy back Vex’s cousin tomorrow," Serra continued with a troubled expression. "The ransom deadline is coming up, and if we don’t pay..."

She didn’t finish the sentence.

"Oh, you’re going to Rivera?" Klaus said, his mind immediately jumping to his own plans. "Great, I’ll hitch a ride off you. I need to go there anyway."

Serra blinked, clearly not expecting that response.

"H... huh?"