I Built This City Chapter 51: Chapter 51

Read chapter 51 of I Built This City by ThePudding on NovelPedia.

Village Ellen The storm had left the town very quiet, and that included the inn. Usually, there was something to do… even if it was minor maintenance or preparation for the next guests incoming. Ellen had always found ways to keep busy, no matter what. That didn’t mean she had no down time. Today, she had the day mostly to herself, and she was enjoying the warmth of the crackling fire. Tobias and Lauren had braved the snow-covered road to handle an errand—unusual, since most people came to them, but not unheard of—and left Ellen in charge of the inn. “What am I doing here?” The question hit the empty room loudly, as if she’d disturbed the sacred silence. Even as she asked herself the question, she already knew the answer. While she had publicly sworn off anything to do with the more adventurous Ellens up the mountain, that didn’t mean she could go back to her parents. Especially not with how she’d ended up. ATTRIBUTES Strength: 8 Agility: 8 Endurance: 9 Willpower: 9 Affinity: 8 Perception: 9 SKILL ENHANCERS Cooking 1 STAMINA: 90/90 MANA: 87/87 CLASS: Townsaver 11 EXPERIENCE: 317,415/320,000 PERKS Presentable Appraise Character Steady Mind ABILITIES Level 11. It was so strange to see herself at that high Level. She’d come here at Level 6, and with normal growth rates she should have only been Level 7 or 8 by now… with 8 kind of pushing it. Experience awards from the System varied somewhat, with higher Level actions getting more experience so long as the action was reasonably difficult for the user. Killing a goblin would still be difficult for her. A Fighter might get a few hundred for one—including first time bonuses—but if she managed it she’d probably get several thousand. A higher level Fighter Class might not get more than a few points, making them a nuisance rather than a real source of advancement. Yet she continued to get decent awards for every action. First time bonuses continued to accumulate, though they were much harder to come by now than in the early days. She hadn’t talked to the other Ellens about it, but she knew they knew it as well. Their advancement had been staggering. It wasn’t in the realm of prodigies yet, that was true. Her grandfather had achieved Level 11 by the time he was fifteen, and his first Tier 3 Class before he’d turned twenty. Even with her accelerated learning, Ellen didn’t see how that would be possible for her. Most people didn’t get to Level 21 until their early thirties… and sometimes past forty. Level gains slowed to a crawl after 13 or 14 even if someone was pushing hard. She hadn’t even been pushing hard. She was just… doing her job as best she could. A loud thumping at the door jolted Ellen out of her inner thoughts. She rushed over without thinking, though even as she arrived she wondered who would be knocking in this weather, instead of just coming inside. She flung the door open, expecting some kind of rude guest. Instead, it was Camilla, one of the local girls. A tad younger than Ellen herself, the blonde did many odd jobs around the village, but was largely working on learning how to replace the local tailor. She was not someone that Ellen saw often, but she was one of the small number that had been told the secret. That was not why the girl was here. The petite blonde struggled underneath a half-conscious, shivering man. He had sunken cheeks and his beard and mustache were covered in frost, and his cloak was soaked through. To Ellen’s inexpert eyes, he looked half-dead… and something about him made her flinch. Her Appraise Character Perk. It had taken her a moment to realize where the strange feeling had come from. It wasn’t telling her he was hostile or unfriendly… just dangerous. She got that feeling from a few adventurers that passed through, but had never felt it quite this badly. He was probably high Level, maybe even a dangerous Class… but she didn’t get the feeling that the shivering, half-conscious man had any violent designs. Of course, Appraise Ch