Opinions are like assholes, everyone’s got one.

  - Former UWO Master Sergeant Gunthy -

  It’s been a few hours since the dragonfly assault. We’ve managed to stack enough sandbags to create a funnel-like structure as Lieutenant Tenny Directed. Just in case they come back. Tenny sent another three squads to join Dorliac for the grid search looking for the Mace of the Ardent Flame. The helicopter pilots said there was no activity in that zone so far. Radios and instruments are apparently down now as well since the purple system message.

  The battlefield went from a low blue grass field with sandbags to… well, a swamp of foul guts and goop. Thousands of dead dragonflies. Each one is about the size of a person’s arm. Tenny is extremely thorough with her checklists. Using the bodies of the dead ones as barricades. That’s the detail Cortez, Tran, Barlow and myself have found ourselves on.

  While collecting oozing bug carcasses, we’ve been trying to avoid the Cleric like she has the plague. Thankfully she seems to be afraid of getting her overly white clothes dirty.

  “She into you or something?” Tran asks, motioning to Verantha.

  “No,” I reply, not daring to glance over. She is persistent.

  “Is she seriously coming over again?” Cortez asks, shaking her head.

  “Do we really have to avoid the Cleric?” Barlow asks, peering off toward her as he drops a carcass onto the pile, “She seems nice.”

  That’s the problem though, keyword, seems. If they knew the situation it would be much easier to navigate.

  “Look bro,” Tran says, leaning in and whispering, “If you need me to run interference with Cortez so you can, you know, handle whatever that is…”

  I pull away from his whispering, shaking my head.

  “Not everyone is like you,” I sigh, tossing a half-exploded thorax.

  I’m not going to be able to avoid her forever. Not at this rate. Instead of focusing on the quest, Tenny has us hunkering down and preparing for something worse. Though, of all the platoon leaders that we could have gotten to be the field commander, Tenny is my first choice in our Battalion. We are in good hands.

  “She’s almost here,” Cortez groans, tossing another carcass on the growing pile.

  Sure enough, the white-clad Cleric is finally less than ten meters out. Gingerly tip-toeing between gore, hopping from one foot to the other while holding up her white cloak. I’ve never asked Clerics why they think wearing all white and gold is a good idea. Maybe it's related to their class somehow. Some classes have weird conditions. I once heard of a specialty class that could only use recurve bows, anything else, and their accuracy was dramatically affected. To the point that they were more likely to shoot themselves than a target five steps away. The same person though, never missed with a recurve. It’s a give and take when you have conditions.

  “Should we get moving?” Tran asks after seeing Verantha is closing in.

  “No, I’m going to deal with her.”

  I step past him, and Cortez strides out to intercept me.

  “You sure?” Cortez asks quietly so the others can’t hear.

  “Yeah, this gate might take a few days, I need to handle this now rather than later.”

  “How are you going to do that?” Cortez asks.

  “Using my special skill.”

  She squints at me.

  “Activate skill, major asshole.”

  Cortez forces back a grin and a laugh, trying to give me a serious face.

  “Just be careful.”

  Nodding, I head toward the Cleric with a clear goal in mind. Piss her off so badly that she fucks off.

  Approaching her, I extend a hand as she tries to move over a large pile of bugs. She looks at it for a moment before reaching to take it. At the last second, I change the offered hand, gripping hers with it. Coating her hand in the goop and gore she’s been painstakingly trying to avoid. I’ve never seen a smile disappear so fast.

  “Oh, sorry, my bad.”

  She forces the smile back, trying to shake it from her hand, “No, no, don’t worry yourself on my behalf.”

  Suddenly a golden text box appears in my vision.

  [ Minor Blessing Status Effect Gained ]

  [ Tier: 3 ]

  [ + 3% Experience Gain ]

  Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!

  My eyes blink at it… seriously? Is this because I was a dick to an attractive woman, or because she’s a Cleric for another Goddess? Or both? The possibilities move around in my head. Still though, it’s not much better than a few choice words in a prayer. Which means it might not have practical applications. Definitely wouldn’t be a good habit to start insulting random women, if that’s actually what caused the blessing. Knowing Ulana, I wouldn’t put it past her. She is decidedly petty.

  The Cleric is still trying to shake off the goop. A look of frustration laces across her eyes, despite the rancidly fake smile on her face.

  “I noticed that you seem to be avoiding me,” she says, tilting her head, “Any particular reason?”

  I pause, there are a series of choices in front of me. Be cordial and hope she doesn’t try shoving a mana stone in my hand again, or go with the plan.

  “You make me uncomfortable.”

  She blinks at me, a look of confusion tries to find roots in her face, but the fake smile persists.

  “Uncomfortable? Well, that’s, um, I’ve never had anyone say that before,” she says, tilting her head more, her tone changing to be a little more defensive, “Can you maybe elaborate on that?”

  “Yeah, you make me feel really uncomfortable,” I say.

  A golden text box pings the side of my vision.

  [ Minor Blessing Status Effect Gained ]

  [ Tier: 5 ]

  [ + 5% Experience Gain ]

  Okay, let’s see how far this goes.

  “That’s extremely enlightening… but, perhaps you could elaborate even further?” she asks, there’s a seething undertone lurking on the edge of her masked persona.

  “Yeah, you…”

  “Like actually elaborate though,” she adds.

  I make a clicking noise with my mouth, giving her an eyebrow raise.

  “Sure.”

  “Thanks,” she says, still forcing the smile.

  “You’ve been on Earth for a while now right?”

  “Yes, a little over a year and a half.”

  “Okay, so you’ve been to grocery stores right?”

  She looks at me with confusion, “Yes?”

  “Alright, let me lay the scene out for you.”

  “Okay…”

  “You’ve just had a really shitty day, you’re moving toward the fruit section of the store…”

  “And?” she interrupts.

  “I’ll get there, patience.”

  A vein throbs on her forehead as she nods.

  “Okay, shitty day, you make it to your favorite fruit… what is your favorite fruit?”

  “Of Earth’s selection, mangoes.”

  “Right, you see there’s only one more mango left, right as you reach for it, you see someone else also reaching for it, looking like they had an equally shitty day.”

  “Then I’d reach faster,” she says, then blinking, “I mean, I would let them have the mango, perhaps it would help them have a better day.”

  Right, sure she would.

  “You end up making eye contact with that person.”

  “Where is this going?” she asks, folding her arms.

  “I’m getting there, don’t be rude, ma’am,” I say, shaking my head at her, “Anyways, where was I?”

  “At the part where I give them the mango, because I’m a kind person.”

  “Right, so you take the mango from the poor old woman, heading straight for the register.”

  “I didn’t take the mango, I gave it to the old woman.”

  “No, you didn’t.”

  “Yes I did,” she seethes.

  “Anyway, you get to the register, and the old lady is checking out at the same time, watching with sorrowful eyes as she sees you sneer at her, all while petting the mango meant for her.”

  “This story is stupid, I would never take the mango in the first place.”

  “After you ring it up and the cashier says you’re an asshole under their breath, you walk past, smiling deviously as you envision the old lady being sad over your gain.”

  “Wrap up the story please.”

  “As you're walking out of the store, you see a woman using a bag filled with coupons she knows are clearly expired but makes the cashier check them anyway. The same woman you see every day… in the mirror.”

  She just blinks at me, the smile having fallen from her face. She’s very clearly annoyed and confused.

  “A person cannot be two people, your story is nonsensical.”

  “Do you get it now?” I ask.

  “Was there something to get from all of that?” she asks me, squinting at me, the vein bulging again.

  “No, I guess not,” I say, giving her a big fake smile.

  “Then why the fuck did you waste my time with such a stupid fucking story?” she demands.

  “To make you understand how I feel when you speak.”

  A gold pop-up.

  [ Minor Blessing Status Effect Gained ]

  [ Tier: 10 ]

  [ + 10% Experience Gain ]

  Nice.

  Verantha puts a finger in my chest firmly, she’s pissed now.

  “See, I thought maybe you were different. But I guess all Earthlings are just assholes. Apologies for mistaking you for someone worth talking to.”

  I blink.

  “Look, ma’am, I don’t know how you think you know me. But I have a serious relationship that I’m…”

  She draws back the finger, looking at me with disdain and disgust I think.

  “Don’t misunderstand me,” she says, nostrils flaring, “I’m not interested in you, not in the slightest. Not even if you were the last fuckable thing in the galaxy. I’d rather stick a cactus in my pussy than fuck a human. Your kind are scum.”

  Too nice indeed, looks like I was right. Though to be fair I have been an asshole on purpose.

  “Well, then I guess I feel bad,” I say.

  She raises an eyebrow, almost surprised.

  “You should feel bad for how you’ve treated me, it was completely unwarranted and…”

  “No… I meant for the cactus.”

  [ Moderate Blessing Status Effect Gained ]

  [ Tier: 2 ]

  [ + 20% Experience Gain ]

  Moderate blessing, that’s new.

  Verantha hard blinks at me, mouth opening like she’s about to enter the fuck you Olympics and go straight for the gold. Right as she’s about to speak again, a tremor goes over her. She blinks fast for a moment before bowing her head.

  “Sorry Goddess, I will be mindful of my words and actions.”

  Did her Goddess just reprimand her? Her demeanor changes again, the smile finding her face. As though she didn’t just have a fucking conniption fit over a mango.

  “Well, this has been such a pleasant conversation and…”

  “Your Goddess, how does the connection work?” I ask.

  Her cheek twitches, the smile trying to stay upright.

  “That’s classified,” she says, barely holding the hostility in, “Perhaps if you’re lucky you’ll roll Cleric class when you get a subclass.”

  “Right.”

  “Right,” she says back. Green eyes dancing with hatred bred in prejudice. As though every insult she’s received in her life came from my mouth. Again, to be fair, some of them did. Her face might lie, but my mom taught me that eyes never do. This woman does not like me one bit. Mission accomplished.

  “Well, I’m going to get back to it.”

  “Good,” she says.

  We just stare at each other now. Both fake smiling. That moderate blessing is pretty good, it makes me want to say some more about her cactus, but I decide it’s not worth it. I don’t want her to sic the Knight or the tree branch guy on me.

  Turning from her and walking back toward the group, I realize something. Since she’s kind of a douche, then I guess statistically every Cleric I’ve met has been the same. Maybe it’s some kind of personality prerequisite?

  I stop in my tracks before I reach them. My last thought replaying in my mind, and for a brief moment. Introspection. I’m kind of a douche too, maybe I would have gotten Cleric if I didn’t get Respec on Death. Shaking the thought and deciding against further self-reflection, I trudge onward.

  “How did it go?” Cortez asks.

  “Let’s just say she probably won’t look at mangoes the same after that.”

  [ Rolling to Continue Daily Chapters... Success ]

  Please Follow, Favorite and Rate??

  Discord Plug:

  The Forsaken Realm Discord Invite

  Patreon Plug:

  https://www.patreon.com/c/Godric_HTG