An apprenticeship with Jerzy. An apprenticeship with the town''s thieves guild, even if it doesn''t call itself that, is essentially what the scroll proposes. I get some training in essential skills and in return I perform various jobs for this motley outfit of thieves, burglars and scoundrels. It is hardly a surprise. No, it is essentially what I expected to begin with.


    To be honest, I''m very tempted to accept. I don''t see myself as a member of Riverrun''s criminal underworld in the long run, but the deal might benefit me anyway, even if I aim for a bigger city in the long run.


    The training won''t be free of course, but nothing ever really is. What really matters is that the training will be available to me.


    There is no time frame mentioned in the proposed contract, but that is alright. You don''t train a thief by the clock. You aren''t done learning after a set number of years. You are done when you are done.


    And of course I very much expect Jerzy, or someone else, maybe his brother, to try and trick me into prolonging my stay. Possibly by piling up debt, either a real debt or a debt of honor of some kind under my name in one way or another. Yes, that is something I''ll most likely have to deal with.


    In the end I roll the scroll back up and put it into my pack. Then I start to make my way back out of the walled part of the city.


    I take the same way back. I''m already familiar with it after all. I know the rooftops, I know the timing and I know the jumps. Of course that doesn''t mean that I can stop paying attention. I make the trip and especially the jumps in the other direction after all. I keep my attention focused on my path though instead of letting it wander.


    Eventually I''ll have to scout the inner city a little more thoroughly, especially to find targets that will be worth my time, but right now Jerzy and his compatriots might not appreciate me working on my own time before I officially join up with them.


    As I land on the battlements of the wall once more a divine whisper informs me that I have earned another skill increase.


    [*Ding!* Your skill Jumping has leveled up to level 5!]


    I''m pretty sure that my [Balance] and [Running] skills have to be close too, but apparently not quite close enough yet to earn me more notifications. Ah, I''ll get there eventually. It probably won''t be long either, despite my progress slowing down a little already.


    The battlements are empty right now, except for me of course, and I don''t wait around for that to change. Instead I go over and down the outside. It is when my boots touch the ground that the good night I have been having so far turns bad. It does so in the most annoying way possible.


    Five figures emerge from the shadows. A vaguely familiar numbskull leads them. The way he carries himself speaks of confidence. Confidence he really has no right to feel. Is it because he brought two more goons this time around? He sounds entirely too full of himself.


    My [Danger Sense] triggers just a little too late. Maybe because they were actually decently hidden this time around, waiting in ambush? I seriously need to level up this skill some more. Right now I have other things to worry about though. Five thugs moving to surround me for one.


    “Would you look at that! A stupid bitch who thinks her little disguise will fool anyone. Stupid enough to come back exactly the same way she left. Like I told you.”


    My fingers twitch. Not because of the insult. That one is uninspired and weak. No, what irks me is that he isn''t exactly wrong about the other thing. I made a beginner mistake. I can''t let them know that.


    And anyway, what does he mean that my disguise won''t fool anyone. It takes me a moment to realize what he means. The hooded cloak I''m wearing inside out. Of course. That is what he is going on about. They can''t even see my new face in the deeper darkness of the hood. And none of them have picked up on my otherwise altered appearance yet. It seems the details are lost on them.


    Somehow that annoys me even more. I roll my eyes although they can''t possibly see that. I add an annoyed sigh for good measure. Then I take a moment to trigger my racial power again, to return to my usual self with [Change Shape]. The mental fatigue that comes with the Mana drain doesn''t improve my mood either.


    “You have to be kidding me. You really think that today is your lucky day, don''t you, punk?”


    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    They have used the time I wasted to resume my usual shape and voice well, to surround me best they can. Their best doesn''t amount to much in this case though, as I still have a sturdy city wall at my back.


    My insult seems to confuse them too. They exchange confused glances. Finally a young woman to my right speaks up.


    “What the hell are you going on about? Are you soft in the head? Are your brains oozing out your ears even before we begin to beat some sense into you?”


    Oh, I''ll have to watch out for that one! She might just be a tad more dangerous than the wannabe leader of the gang. But of course, I should have expected that they would have no clue what a punk is. I need to be more careful, or I might give myself away by accident.


    Even if that is a little more dangerous than the others, there is yet another point in my favor. So far none of them have bothered to draw a weapon. Let''s hope it stays that way a little longer.


    I flash them a cocky grin, not caring in the slightest if they can see it or not. I crack my knuckles too and my voice is like ice now.


    “Never mind that. Anyway, let me educate you about the errors of your ways. The only difference from earlier today is, that I''ll have to smash in two more faces now. It''s all the same as far as I''m concerned.”


    Sadly there is no level up notice for [Intimidate] this time. Well, I''ll just have to try again.


    All the while, we are maneuvering. They keep trying to surround me. I on the other hand move closer to the one who lead the others here. I''m not quite where I want to be though. Time to try something else.


    “So, how long until the guard shows up when we start making a bloody ruckus right below their wall? I just want to have a general idea how long I''ll have to mess you up, before I have to get out of here, so they won''t round me up together with you sorry lot.”


    [*Ding!* Your skill Intimidate has leveled up to level 4!]


    That gives the more gullible of the five pause. Neither the leader apparent nor the tough gal seem to care though. Another skill I need to keep leveling then. The wanna be gang leader begins to reply.


    “There won''t be no guard coming. Not until sun …”


    That is as far as he gets. Then I strike. I quick step forward bridges the rest of the distance in between us. I don''t stop though, almost as if I''m trying to run him over, except I''m not. Instead the knee of my right leg comes up in between his with all of my momentum behind it. It is enough to lift him off his feet while making him choke on his own words at the same time. Whatever he wanted to say, it turns into a wordless whimper.


    “…”


    [*Ding!* Critical hit! Barandon''s Health reduced by 39!]


    A good hit. A critical if there ever was one.


    Curiously enough there is no notification that I defeated him. Too bad. Well, he doesn''t look like he''ll get back up any time soon anyway. No, he looks like he want''s to puke up his jewels instead, which of course is not what he ends up puking up. Ugh! Almost on my boots too!


    I''ll be able to focus on the others for a while at least.


    Most of the others wince in sympathy. They try to get a little more distance in between themselves and me too, now that they know what could be coming their way if I get too close.


    Only the tough gal doesn''t falter. I turn to face her and let out a menacing chuckle. I point at their downed leader who is still twitching on the ground.


    “Want some of what he got? There is plenty more of that to go around, you know?”


    She growls.


    “Why should I care. It''s not like you can break my jewels or anything. You''ll have to do better than that!”


    I blink in surprise. Could it be that I gave her too much credit? In the end I just chuckle again.


    “Oh, you sweet child of innocence. There is so much more in a human''s lower body that can rupture and bleed after a hit like that.”


    I gesture at the downed thug briefly.


    “His jewels are the last thing he or anyone else should be worried about. I give him even chances that he''ll bleed out internally before you can get him to someone who could cast a healing spell on him. If we keep wasting time his chances will just get worse.”


    Those words have an effect on the remaining thugs. And I can feel [Intimidate] improve just a little too.


    The tough gal motions for two of the others to grab their downed compatriot. It is the two who already were with him earlier today. Neither the tough one nor her last compatriot show any signs that they will leave anytime soon though. It looks like this time around I won''t get out of it as easy as earlier today.


    That is a little annoying. At the same time though it is an opportunity. The others seem to take her way more serious than the bossy moron I reduced to wheezing and groaning. If I manage to at least hold myself against her it could earn me some serious no nonsense reputation.


    I shift my stance slightly and so does she. Damn it. I get the impression that she actually knows what she is doing. This won''t be easy. No, this won''t be easy at all.


    “Damn, woman, you really want to do this. I hope you don''t mind if I bruise you up a little.”


    I don''t phrase it as a question, as I''m pretty sure I know the answer already and she in turn flashes me a toothy grin showing plenty of surprisingly good teeth. That gives me pause, even if just briefly. Her nose isn''t crooked either, as far as I can tell. And she doesn''t sport the cauliflower ears common on people who have to soak up too many punches either.


    Oh yes, I might just be in for a beating myself this time around. Flowery words won''t get me out of this one. And she has already shown that I don''t intimidate her in the slightest. There really is no easy way out.


    At least the other goon still with her makes no move to join the fight. Quite the opposite is true. As he watches us shift and maneuver he distances himself a little. He doesn''t want to be caught in the crossfire. A smart man. It makes me wonder though, why he is here at all. If he is with the tough gal he most certainly isn''t just here as a spectator.