Rough Draft - RotGM 1.3

The second floor of the Guild was in no better shape than the first. It consisted of a long hallway that led to rooms on both sides of the building. The first one on the left-hand side was the master bedroom where the guild master slept. The others were for important guests and Back in the day there were many live in employees who were housed here. It had been a long time since any of these were used aside from the main room,and yet today the guild master had the unfortunate task of actually making one of the spare bedrooms somewhat presentable.

He opened the one across the hall from his own And took a look inside. He couldn’t remember the last time he had seen it, but now he was dreading that he had waited so long.

Memories of maids cleaning this very room flashed before his eyes, and He shrugged. When he could no longer afford to pay them, he cleaned this room and every other all by himself for several years until he just stopped caring.

Still, he promised that girl he would do it. If she really was going to be bringing him money, then he had to at least make good on his word.

The guild master went to the end of the hallway and Pulled out a bunch of different cleaning supplies, filling a bucket of water from his bathroom and put it along the rest. The room was simple. It had a bed, a night stand, A dresser, and a small desk with a lamp and chair. He told himself over again that this wouldn’t be so bad. It would just take an hour or two, that’s all.

With these thoughts in mind, he went to work.

It was worse than he thought it would be. No matter how much he swept, there was always more dust to be found. It didn’t matter how hard he wiped, none of the furniture would shine. He couldn’t mop if there was still dust and dirt everywhere, and it felt like the most he could do was change out the blanket and the sheets and the pillowcases.

An hour had passed and he worked himself up into a sweat. He couldn’t keep going. The guild master sat down on the bed and cradled his head. What he wanted was a drink. Something to dull the pain and make him less ashamed of being so pathetic, but he know how well that would go over with his new roommate.

When did doing things become so difficult?

He pondered that thought for a moment before standing up and deciding he would continue the effort no matter how hard it was. He damned himself and his weakness to pretty girls. The result was far from what you call good job, but it was a lot better than he ever intended on doing. At the very least it could be considered livable now, comparable to the cheapest inns in town perhaps.

The guild master looked down at what he’d done and a smug smile crept across his face. “That wasn’t so bad now, was it?” He asked himself rhetorically. If it wasn’t, he would have done this a long time ago. Or rather, continue doing so.

Before he had a chance to wallow in his sadness any longer, the guild master heard the sound of the Front door being opened and slammed shut downstairs. What impeccable timing. He supposed he’d better go and make sure she didn’t tear off that door of his with her monstrous strength, so he wiped up a sweat and left the room to find Sam.

What he found was straight out of one of his many erotic novels. A bikini clad adventurer Covered almost head to toe in slime. She was sitting at his usual spot, dripping goo all over it.

“Already giving me more things to clean, I see.”

“Shut your face, you… rgh…” Sam clenched her fist and held back slamming it against the table. A little composure returned to her once she noticed how bad she was acting. “Sorry, sorry… Just got a little hot headed there for a minute I’m fine…”

“Indeed…” he raised an eyebrow and studied her. Red faced. Tapping her finger against the table. That deep set scowl. “I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess that things didn’t quite go according to plan?”

“You could say that,” she looked at him and was unamused at the observation.

The guild master crossed his arms and adjusted his glasses, thinking to himself. If she can’t even defeat a few slimes on her own, then what use was she to him? He caught himself thinking how bad that sounded, and to make up for it, he decided to tease a little bit.

“I thought you were going to earn your keep, weren’t you? I’m beginning to think that big sword of yours is only for show.”

“Do you wanna see if it’s for sure or not, you bastard? Because I’ll show you how sharp it is firsthand!” Sam stood up and raised her fist at him, more of the slime falling off of her and onto the growing puddle below her. “It’s not my fault those slippery fuckers kept dodging me…”

The guild master rubbed his chin and thought to himself. She had the strength to use it, but he was beginning to believe she might not have much experience using the sword. No doubt she picked a giant sword just because it looked cool.

Still, the more he observed the more genuinely upset Sam appeared. She just tasted her first failure, and even though it was relatively small, she was affected by it. He could relate to that.

“Sorry…” Sam apologized as she found her seat again and slumped down.

“Are you going to give up?” He asked as he approached.

Sam raised her head to look at him. “What?”

“I asked if you were going to let one little setback ruin your day.”

Sam thought about it and shook her head. “Like hell I’m giving up. It was just a rough start, that’s all! I’ll be right back out there before you know it.”

“Good. We have more than enough quitters around these parts as it is. I can scarcely afford to house one more.”

Sam gave a slightly amused smile at that, perking up her mood just a bit.

The guild master close to the distance between them and her smile receded when she noticed the almost creepy way he was checking her out. Those glasses of his were strange enough as they were, she didn’t need him getting all up in her business on top of it.

“Are you going to just stand there or do I need to get a towel for myself?” Sam asked.

“I was only thinking to myself for a moment, hold on,”he ducked out of the room and retrieved a towel for her from the kitchen and handed it off to Sam on his return. While she started to wipe herself off, the guild master asked, “you’ve never had any formal training. Have you?”

“Not for a lack of trying,” Sams spat. “I kept trying and trying to convince my family to let me learn how to fight, but all I ever got was it’s not fitting of a girl in my station to do such barbaric things or some such shit. I snuck away from home a lot and got in a bunch of fights growing up, but never with any swords…”

“You should’ve told me that before I agreed to take you in. You had me fooled with that strength of yours, I’ll admit.”

“I’ll learn! Give me some time and I’ll start bringing in money, I swear! Maybe if I fought something else then I wouldn’t have this problem…”

Again, the guild master was leering at her. He continued to do so deep in thought until it became too uncomfortable for Sam and she asked point blank, “OK seriously why do you keep staring?”

“I’m thinking, not staring. Specifically I’m thinking of what we’re going to do here. Are you too tired to go back out again?”

“Well… No not really, I came back because I got really frustrated. I could still keep going for a while if I had to. Are you not done with the cleaning yet or-“

He shook his head. “No I finish that up just a bit before you arrived. Here’s what I’m thinking, Sam. You’re going to go back out and I’m going to come with you just this once. I am no fighter, but I’ve read many instruction manuals on the art of combat and I should be able to impart at least very basic feedback. We will work through this problem together until you have a better understanding of what you need to do.”

“Wow,“ Sam looked at him with suspicion. “That sure sounds awfully nice of you. I kind of thought you were just some sort of weird drunken shut in or something.”

“And who said I’m not? Need I remind you that your inexperience is the only thing in the way of me getting my drinking money.”

Sam laughed at him, unsure of what to think. “Right, my bad. Well… I guess we can try it out and see if you’re not just talking shit. I’m ready when you are.”

From there on, the guild master went and quickly prepared a number of things. He filled a flask with water for himself and a spare canteen for Sam, Something he really should’ve done before if it weren’t for how surreal the scenario was. He came back, handed it off, and went out with her.

It wasn’t often that the guild master left the safety and comfort of his guild, let alone the degenerate town itself. That being said, he was filled with a strange motivation to see this through. It wasn’t entirely because he wanted drinking money, either. Are used to be a man who enjoyed solving problems. Maybe he still was, deep down.

This was ironically what he always wanted. He wanted to be a guild master who could oversee and improve the talent of his adventurers and help them past their struggles. Why he was only getting the chance after so many years of failure, he thought it was some sort of cruel twist of the goddesses above and below.

Sorting this out now was a priority for him. The looming problem on the horizon was that if profit didn’t start coming in, she simply wouldn’t be able to stay at the guild for however long she ended up needing to. It was only a few more months until the guild master would no longer be able to put food on the table for himself, let alone two people.

Perhaps if he explained himself and a bit about his gas he could go to a family friend of sorts and see if she would help him but… The thought scared him. He just met this girl. He wasn’t going to go and beg Miss Hart for help now. Especially after how they had fallen out.

Even then, any income that Sam brought in would be spare change it best. Better than nothing. Spare change is still money, and money has this little thing it likes to do called adding up. Every little bit that would be adventure earns could be put to use on… On what exactly? The guild master paused in his thoughts. He was getting ahead of himself, maybe even a little over excited about the possibilities. He thought he would’ve learned by now…

If Sam couldn’t hack it as a monster slayer, there were other options. He could send her out on quests to fetch whatever items the association is willing to pay for. That wouldn’t really solve the issue, though. It would just be delaying it for another day. It was in Sam’s best interest to just face her inexperience head on.

For a variety of reasons, the guild master was used to having a few evil eyes trained on him whenever he ventured out and about. It turns out that walking around with a scantily clad crown princess only drew even more attention. Who would’ve known? It didn’t help that many Of the suspicious man were brandishing weapons and leering at the girl. He had to give Sam props for having the courage to walk around in something so daring. Furthermore it looked like she was ready to pick a fight with half of the glaring perverts. This attitude served her well, and no one tried anything stupid. Many Of them were downright intimidated by her, even.

The guild master thought he could get used to having such an escort.

As things were, it was hard to believe this was the same city he grew up in. The Dewhurst he remembered was a fantastical place. A place where adventures from all over the realm and beyond could come and make a name for themselves. There was life, festivity and optimism. The streets were lined with thriving businesses, warm smiles, and pockets flush with gold. Nowadays the only thriving businesses were back alley apothecaries, cheap brothels, and seedy taverns.

As fun as a trip down memory lane was, the guild master pushed his nostalgia to the side as they approached the eastern gate. Sam looked appropriately cagey As they passed by the town guards. He had half a mind to reassure her, but he figured she would learn sooner or later that they really didn’t give a shit as to what went on in this town.

Once again, Sam was now out on the road she had arrived from earlier that morning. They obviously wouldn’t be going as far as Cransmere, as slimes could be found real close to the city limits.

Together, Sam and the guild master journeyed out into the grassy planes off the main road. The further they went, the more of the cloudy, gray overcast mysteriously hanging over Dewhurst starts to fade. His vision is accustomed to the dreariness and darkness of the city. What it wasn’t accustomed to as the bright, warm and overall lovely spring afternoon that greeted them out in the wilderness. He hoped that with some luck he would acclimate to the light, otherwise there would be a migraine waiting for him in the not too distant future. Yet another reason for him to hate those eyes of his.

Not even a few minutes of walking later, and the two came across a perfectly good slime, the bane of any young adventurer. It was idling about, as slimes often do.

Spherical in shape but as formless as water, save for a pair of innocent looking eyes and a mouth with a droopy tongue, these goo-damned pests infest every last province of Karnalle from Lillance all the way to Drerland. If left alone, slimes will multiply endlessly. Especially in areas where there’s not much competition for resources. While simple slimes like the one before them right now were anything but a threat, the real problem with slimes was how adaptable the species was. They can survive in any environment so long as there is at least a bit of moisture, leading to an untold number of variants. Bubble slimes, sea slimes, lava slimes, death slimes, box slimes… Name an adjective, and there’s most likely a slime subspecies to match it. Many of these subspecies were immensely powerful, too. To keep slimes from growing into different sub species, culling their population is a laborious but altogether necessary process. Typically it was the duty of the local guild, but it was being done by the local baron’s knights Until now.

Sam‘s face became apprehensive as soon as she noticed the gelatinous monster. She became angry, but also nervous. A bead of sweat appeared on her brow. A recent failure bubbled up to the surface of her mind, but she took the doubts out of the way and fired herself up with determination and vigor. But guild master was pleased to see she was primed to learn and improve on what she did wrong. At least someone here was interested in self improvement.

In turn, the gooey creatures eyes twinkled when it caught sight of the runaway princess. Even though such a basic creature wasn’t capable of rational thought, at least not in such a small larval stage, the determined glare almost made the guild master think it was trying to convey that it too meant business.

Sam was on the verge of walking up to it and making the first move, but the guild master stopped her.

“Hold on a moment. It won’t attack unless you get any closer. I need to verify a few things before you begin.” He said.

Sam’s attention was focused elsewhere. She unsheathed her sword and brandished it sloppily, staring down the monster.“Look at that smug piece of shit. He’s asking for more, that arrogant bastard! Didn’t get enough of me the first time around huh? Huh? Come here you little jiggling punk!”

The battle hadn’t even begun, and the guild master already noticed a dozen problems and then some. That’s not even counting the fact that slimes don’t speak to common tongue and that threatening them was beyond useless, even childish. The main Thing he noticed first of all was that nearly every aspect of Sam’s posture and form was wrong. He didn’t need to be told she never use a sword before in her life. Sam just about wore that fact like a badge of honor on her skimpy breast plate, showing it off for all the realm to see.

“Stop, stop before you get ahead of yourself. What an all of the realms do you call this?” Asked, extending his palm and motioning ar the girls blade with his entire hand.

She looked back at him with a puzzled expression. “It’s a sword, boss.”

“I know what a sword is, you git. I’m talking about your stance.” As he looked over her, Sam noticed his eyes once again starting to swirl with what looked like a pink color that lit up the frames of his dark glasses. He was taking in every last detail until all was laid bare before His analytical prowess.

“Dude, this is not the time to be checking out my body!“ Sam insisted, once again taking the wrong idea.

He began to circle around the young adventurer, not even giving her a response as he studied every nook and cranny of Sam’s body, taking in the data. She started to blush heavily due to his sudden invasiveness, but she found slightly surprising given how shameless she had appeared until now. She was just about to say something out of embarrassment, but the guild master then moved in and began his critique in earnest.

“Your hands. One up here, one down here,“ he told the girl in a commanding tone, starting off small.

“Uh, what?” She blinked.

“I told you I’m going to teach you the basics, didn’t I? Follow along with what I’m saying if you want to win.”

“Right, OK. Sorry. Like this?” For the sake of learning, Sam put up with having the man in her personal space. She shifted the position of her hands as instructed, but it was all wrong.

“Not quite. Like this,“ he reached out and moved her gloved hands for her, sliding them across her sword hilt to the correct places.

“Oh! The weight feels way more consistent now!“ Sam observed, a smile spreading across her face as she moved around her sword and got a feel for it.

“That’s the idea. It’ll be a lot more balanced now whenever you swing. Speaking of, shoulders straight. You’re slouching down and the weight of the sword.” Guild master than instructive, demonstrating a pose for her upper body to copy.

“Like this?“ Sam eagerly asked after attempting to fix her posture. She mimicked him as best as she could, but it wasn’t quite there. He figured a direct approach might serve to teach her better.

“No, hold on…” He moved forward, now practically face-to-face with Sam up close and personal. He was so focused on guiding her that he had even put aside his own perversions and had not a single lewd thought in his mind has he reached forward and touch the small of her back, just above the back of her bikini armors thong.

Sam yelped and jumped a bit forward, looking back at him with a red face. “Hey! What the heck do you think you’re doing back there, you perverted old drunk! I didn’t say you can go and grope me-“

The guild master blushed back when he realized he acted without thinking. Or rather he thought too hard about a certain thing and not enough about common sense before laying hands on the girl. It didn’t even occur to him how this was the first time he had touched a woman in such a way. If he weren’t so focused, he might’ve thought it was a shame his first time was for business and not for pleasure. He tried to cover it up as he Looked away and ground.

“You’re the one making this weird, I’m only trying to help fix this posture of yours.” He insisted, then pushed forward on the girls sensitive spine to straighten her back to better.

“Hyaa-!” She Let out a girlish moan that took him by surprise. He looked at her and waited, saying nothing only for her to take a deep breath and look back over her shoulder. She was greatly embarrassed, her face as red as her armor. “I just said that-“

“Are you going to take this seriously or not? I could be drinking and sad right now but instead I’m here helping you-“

“I am taking this seriously! It’s not my fault your hands felt good, you bastard!” Sam gritted her teeth and looked away. in a few moments she managed to calm herself enough to bark back at him, saying “ “As long as you don’t get crazy with it, then go ahead and do what you need to do! But just remember I don’t need to be a master of the blade in order to cut you in half!”

“Duly noted.”

The slime continued staring off into space, hopping off in a new direction every few moments as the counseling continued.

Next, the guild master grabbed her shoulders and angled them a bit better. He poked and prodded at a few more places but otherwise she didn’t need much more advice when it came to her upper body in the default position.

He moved away, much to Sam’s confused relief. He then made a pose and said, “look at my feet and then take the same position.”

Sam followed suit and was pleased at the result. “Hey, this feels a lot better… Now I won’t trip all over myself like a dumbass!“

“As long as you remember to keep doing that, you wont. One more thing-“

One more thing turned into two, and then three, and so on until five minutes have passed there in the open field. The guild master roasted and corrected the Princesses abysmal form without mercy. Far from one to be deterred, Sam every word in stride, doing as he instructed and not complaining in the slightest. It helps that he no longer had to touch her from this stage.

Something stood out to him as they worked together. She was taking this dead serious. Sam wanted to improve with all of her heart. Whatever the reason was she ran home, becoming an adventurer wasn’t a joke to Sam. She really wanted this.

Guild master observed a hunger in her emerald eyes, a fire. The fire of burning desire swollen inside her. Driving Sam to do her best. It burned so hard that he shied away from the flame and felt cold and distanced from its warmth.

He wondered if he ever looked as passionate about being a guild master as Sam did about learning how to fight with a sword. He Idled for a moment but didn’t let it consume him, knowing it would only end with hurt.

He shouldn’t be thinking like this. What he should be doing is helping this wayward youth chase her ambitions, at least to the point where she could start bringing in the all important drinking money.

By the time he was done instructing Sam, the girl stood proudly with the correct posture. For a beginner, her form was nothing short of immaculate. It was enough to make him smile, only to beat that smile off of his face with his pessimistic nature.

“Wonderful. There’s hope for you yet, it seems.” He tried to act nonchalant about it, but he did end up smiling again as much as he didn’t want to. Goddesses know how he looked right about now, unshaved and unwashed for the last several days.

Sam was openly gawking at the way her body now felt. She could feel her strength more focused and centered, her body tight and the weight equally distributed. “Wow… I can’t believe how much of a difference this makes… It’s not even funny!”

“You should notice the difference even more once you get started fighting,“ he pointed out. “Don’t get too proud of yourself yet, though.”

“I’m not too worried about that. Even if he can get a little too hands-on, it looks like I found myself a pretty good teacher!” Sam laughed and gave him a playful wink followed by a devious smirk.

Even though it was such a simple gesture, for a moment to Guild masters heart seemed to stop And the breath escaped his lungs. Sam was rough around the edges, but radiant in her beauty. It was enough to stop most men in their tracks, let alone depressive shut ins who had never known the touch of a woman thanks to many years of focusing only on work.

Rather than letting her see him in such a strange, emotional state, he turned away and said, “why don’t you go and attack that nearby slime and I’ll let you know if I see anything wrong?”

“I thought you’d never ask!” She said, her hands tightening around the hilt of her sword.

During their conversation the slime had wandered a bit off in the opposite direction, so she marched off towards the slippery foe. It felt her coming towards it, and it turned around to face her. The slime drew near with a single hop, officially registering the oncoming girl as a threat. The first actual battle of Sam’s career was about to begin in earnest.