"Oh good! All right, let's go have breakfast."

Breakfast is once more tasty.

Some amount of the ambient conversation seems to be about Laurent and Coventina, though. Overheard speculations include various versions of: they lost a fight and Coventina got raped. Competing garnishes include: Coventina is a slut who lost on purpose. Coventina nobly sacrificed herself to save Laurent. Laurent nobly sacrificed (his ass) to save Coventina. Laurent is paying Coventina to distract monsters for him. Coventina is paying Laurent to fight her battles for her. Coventina is secretly a succubus. Coventina and Laurent are secretly siblings. Coventina and Laurent are secretly married. Coventina is an exiled princess who sold herself to Laurent in exchange for escaping her responsibilities. It goes in circles like that the whole time they're eating.

Also while they're eating, one girl in particular seems oddly restless.

She'll get up from her spot, carry her food to a new seat. Sit there. Shoot furtive glances at Laurent and Coventina. Eat for a minute. Then get up again.

She walks past their table six times, picking a spot slightly closer to them each time, until she's only one table away.

Whenever he happens to catch that particular girl's eye as she's gradually creeping closer, he offers her another friendly smile and then goes back to his meal.

She finches at being caught looking, regardless of how friendly his expression is.

Eventually, though, she works up the courage to timidly approach their table.

"Um, hi. Is it true you two are having trouble with a quest? It's just, I, um," she takes a breath, "if you'd like a third party member, I'm available? I'm, um, Sky."

"It's very true that we've been having trouble with a quest. I think we're probably going to have a little less trouble today than yesterday but I still wouldn't mind the help. I'm Laurent; it's lovely to meet you."

Oh no he's nice.

Blush.

"W-Well, if you bring me along, I can definitely handle whatever you need me to! I'm a Shaman with a, um, defensive technique, that can handle any encounter. Probably."

"That sounds very useful!" he says, intrigued. "How does it work?"

Sky opens her mouth several times to start explaining, and fails each time.

Finally, she just ducks her head and hands over her adventurer card.

ELLEN GUST "SKY"
Level 2

CLASS: "Shaman"
Class Bonus: Fitness - Your fitness stat increases your resistance to mana paralysis.
Class Bonus: Allure - Your allure stat increases the range of your spells.

Stat Points: 0

Fitness - 10
Ardor - 19
Grace - 7
Moxie - 6
Sanity - 10
Allure - 17

Skill Points: 0

"Beacon Hallow" (Channeled, Local Area)
Draw and hold the attention of all hostile entities in range.

"Sacred Greater Locus of Lust" (Instant, Local Area)
All hostile attention currently on the caster is converted completely to sexual attention, bypassing all resistances.

"Mirror of Planes" (Channeled/Instant, Touch)
Absorb and contain the product of any one offensive spell, then release it at a new target.

ELEMENTS: Spirit - 86% Affinity

"Oh, I see! Yes, that could be very useful indeed. I'd be happy to have you on the team." He glances at Coventina. "Thoughts?"

Wide-eyed hope.

"Well, I certainly think she'd fit right in."

She gestures at the seat next to her. "Come join us."

"This'll fit into a holy trinity strategy. Tank, healer, and damage. Should make it go much easier."

"Yes, that makes sense." Wry smile. "If only I were a little better at damaging things. Well, hopefully I'll achieve my first level sometime soon."

"Today, if we have anything to say about it."

"That would sure be nice!"

After everyone is finished eating, and they all take a look at each other's adventurer cards. (Coventina's bringing a blush to Sky's face all over again.) Sky follows her new party members back to their inn where Coventina changes back into her awe-inspiring lewd dress. Sky has seen it before, of course, but seeing it, seeing this extremely gorgeous girl in it, up close, is a whole new experience.

Sky has a small hand-axe and a little buckler shield that she straps on, but if things go well they'll just be for show. She's practiced with the axe and shield a little but so far she's never actually had to use them in combat and she hopes it stays that way.

As the three of them set out, Sky sticks close, and once they're outside the city wall she brings herself to ask, "Um, Coventina? Your name... can I ask if you, um, is it because of...?"

This is going to be a running gag, isn't it.

"I'm not a member of the Axiom Church, if that's what you mean." Technically true.

"Oh..."

Relief, but also a smidge of disappointment.

That is a smidge of disappointment.

Now isn't the time, but Coventina is going to have to poke that later. With a natural Ardor stat as high as her own, that much shyness, and a reaction like that about the church of rape-you-for-your-own-good. Yeah, this girl is in dire need of some kinkpraising.

And shortly, the newly triadic party arrives back at the field where lurk the bog worms.

There's one now.

"Well, we found out where they keep their mana cores—it's in the tip of the tail," he says for Sky's benefit, "but we still don't have a solution to the problem of getting them to pay attention to someone with my rather pathetic Ardor score when the two of you are around. Thoughts, anyone?"

"Um," Sky offers shyly, "complete this quest by killing them, level up, then pick a different quest with a different kind of monster?"

She looks at her feet. "I tried to warn my last party, but they insisted and then still said I stole all their experience points on purpose and kicked me out..."

"That's very unfair of them!" he says, indignant on her behalf. "You have a useful ability and you warned them about its tradeoffs! I half want to purposefully leave one of the bog worms for you to banish just because I'm annoyed about how unfairly they treated you. —if that's all right with you, that is."

Oh no he's asking her to make a decision what does he want her to pick, um...

"It's alright with me."

There, that should count as agreement with whichever thing he wanted her to agree with, right?

"We'll see what tactics dictate, then, it could be that I don't get the chance. But for now, killing most of the worms and leaving you one if possible seems like a reasonable thing to try."