Chapter 17: The Touch That Shatters

I'm sure he felt it as we locked eyes. Fate stopped berating the shop owner, and the crowd parted. I got a clear view of him, short black hair and a white suit of some sort. The guy looked ridiculous.

"Do I know you from somewhere? I don't normally speak to trash, so I don't remember and ugly little face like yours."

"Maybe, but I don't know you, but I do see what you're doing. If you were looking for high-quality noble class items, you have come to the wrong place and do not need this shopkeeper. Go try up on the 15th floor if you're allowed," I walk forward, getting closer to him with a gentle smile.

"Who do you think you are? Do you know who I am?" Fate practically screamed at me, his superior expression folded into rage.

"Nope and don't care, so if you are not buying anything from here, then I would like to look around," I said this within a meter of him, still smiling, but this seemed to tip his scales and he dove at me, swinging his fist.

As my reaction kicks in, the fist slows to a crawl. The expression of rage twisting Fate's face was priceless, but I grabbed his arm below the wrist. I put a tremendous amount of pressure on his arm, and I could see his knees about to buckle. I leaned close to the pale-faced man and whispered to him.

"The name is Dave. It's an easy name to remember, and I'm even sure you knew a couple of other Dave's," my voice and smile dropped. "I'm coming for you, Fate."

I let go of his arm and stepped back. Fate had a scowl on his face as he rubbed his arm. Glaring at me, he began to walk away. Once outside of the crowd of people, he turned to me.

"Biford Style, remember that name. It will be your downfall and all that you care about."

With that, Biford turned, and the servants at the car opened the door. None of them look skilled at anything other than being servants. The vehicle sped off, and I let out a sigh, my shoulders relaxing.

"Dave! Are you ok?" Came Lavender's voice from behind me.

I pull my smile back on and turned to the girls.

"I'm ok!" I say, giving them a thumbs up.

Then the crowd began to cheer. All at once, all the gathered people let up a cheer, and I received several claps on the back and shoulders. I also heard some words of worry, talking about the Style family being on the Highmages council. He could cause trouble, but that just means we have to get stronger.

As the crowd broke up, a humanoid ant approached us. It gave us a small bow and began to speak. I had seen so many strange things, the Ant-Kin or whatever didn't even phase me.

"You look like a strong party. I have a quest request," a decidedly female voice spoke.

"A quest??" Tilly asked excitedly.

I knew she had been quiet for too long. Hopefully, this will lead us into the dungeon so Tilly can burn off the pent up energy. Regardless, this was my first actual quest request, so I had to take it.

"What is the quest?"

"My husband went down into the dungeon of this level, and he hasn't come back since yesterday. Would you be able to find him and bring him back? I will reward," but I put my hand up.

"Don't worry about the reward. As a Hero, I can't accept rewards," I say confidently, but two red windows appear, blocking my view.

WARNING

PERSONAL RESTRICTION IMPOSED

You can no longer accept rewards from quests.

Wait, I was trying to be nice. What the shit did I just do? Did I ensure that I would say broke for the rest of the game? What was the second window behind it?

WARNING

PERSONAL RESTRICTION HIDDEN SKILL UNLOCK

SELFLESS HERO: Magic item find increased by 250%

As I close the last screen, the ant lady is staring at me.

"Yes, I accept the quest. Sorry about that. I had a pop-up. What are yours and your husband's name?" I asked.

"My name is Gri'Xikickic, and my husband is Bireechxickic," Gri'Xikickic spoke before turning and leaving.

"Wow, she wasn't that personal," Lavender said as we left the market.

"I think it might just be a species thing, I think, like they display their emotions differently than we do," Tilly says.

Lavender led us to the dungeon entrance. It was just a staircase in a back ally leading into the ground, nothing special about it. We stopped at the stairs, and Tilly pulled an item out of her inventory, handing it to me.

It was the sword she was working on at her Master's shop. The blade was black with green reflecting off the edge. The hilt was a white porcelain-like material that gave me a surprisingly firm grip.

"Wow, Tilly, I don't know what to say. This sword is a masterpiece, a true work of art."

Tilly leaned forwards and whispered something almost r-rated about petting her tail again. I color changed all the shades of red and turned. I walked straight down the stairs, refusing to meet Lavender's eyes. I tripped on the last step.

Catching my balance, I look up to see a short hallway with two turns, right or left. The sounds of the girls coming down the stairs echos, and I step forward. The hallways are lit with some kind of magical lights, and we all start making our way in.

"This place smells weird," Lavender said.

"Don't talk right now. Something might hear you. From here on out, we will use hand motions to talk," I explained quietly, giving them some examples before we started forwards.

We made our way for a bit until we finally ran into a small green thing wearing clothe shorts. I was pretty confident that this was a goblin from the short stature and pointy ears, and it was chewing on something.

The creature turned its yellow eye to us and revealed bloody razor-sharp teeth. The monster was holding something, and as it turned the rest of its body, we could see what it had. A human arm, with most of the muscle eaten off it, strips of flesh hanging.

The monster squealed loudly and charged. I released my sword from my quick slot with three fingers, and I dashed at the creature. My back blade sliced the creature in half, and it disappeared in a black mist, but the arm remained. This lesson was a reminder that you didn't get another chance here, no matter how much it was like a game.

"Do you hear that?" Tilly's ears twitched as she asked.

"Hear what? I can't get that screech out of my head," Lavender said, but then I heard it, the scream of a woman.

We all ran toward the sound of the scream. When we turned a couple of corners, we found the source of the cry. A woman in blue armor was trying to fend off eight goblins with a sword, but she was surrounded.

"Tilly run up and taunt. Lavender, start picking them off when they surround her." I said as we rushed forwards.

Tilly's taunt was so useful, and the goblins immediately surrounded her as I cut one down.

Seven to go

Three fireballs shot out and fried two of them, while Tilly kicked one into a wall with a thudding bone-crunching sound.

Five to go

The girl came up from behind and cut two down in one strike.

Three to go

Even outnumbered, the goblins didn't back down, and I used my black blade to cut through another.

Two to go

Tilly pulled out a hammer and swept the last two into the wall, and put the weapon back in a smooth action. All of us to a short pause before anyone spoke. When we all got out breath back from the thirty-second fight, the girl began to talk.

"Thank you," she said breathlessly.

"No, problem, but why are you alone down here?" Lavender asked the girl.

She had coppery orange hair and wore blue armor. It was a weird contrast, but she made it look good. She looked at me for a moment, and I felt like I had met her somewhere, but then she looked away to the girls.

"I've been running quest's alone, and I thought being a level six would be enough, the ant lady's quest seemed easy, but I'm lucky that I found you guys. My name is Gretchen," and she stuck out her hand to Tilly.

Gretchen shook each of the girl's hands and then mine. When our hands touched, I got the same feeling of remembering this person. Maybe not the body but the person inside. I felt like I was confusing myself, and it must have shown on my face.

"Are you ok, Dave?" Gretchen asked me as my head started to throb.

My heartbeat got louder, and soon every beat pounded my skull. I started to see double, then triple, then my vision was a kaleidoscope. Then I was in that coffee shop.

The same shop I visited from my past life that I used to go on payday to treat myself. The was a waitress that was always somehow working when I came in. What was her name? I feel like we met so many times, but I can't remember her name.

I'm sitting down at the table that is always open, in the far corner. It was by the window, and I enjoyed watching the world go by as I would sip a Chai Tea Latte that I enjoyed the smell of rather than its flavor. The girl was walking towards me with my drink, and she was wearing a tag. I tried to look at it, but as she came closer, everything when blurry.

I gasped for air, feeling drops of water hit my face. Dank dungeon never tasted so sweet as I sucked in more air. After a couple more breaths, I open my eyes to see six teary eyes over the top of me. Lavender dove on top of me, knocking the precious air out of my lungs.

"Don't do that!" Lavender cried as she swung her fist, ineffectually at me.

"Are you ok? You stopped breathing for five minutes. We thought you had died," Tilly said to me as I hugged Lavender.

When Lavender finally got off me red-faced, I sat up and looked at Gretchen. She looked a bit messy, more than from the goblin fight. I turned back to Lavender and squinted my eyes at her.

"As far as I was concerned, her touch killed you. I might have shaken her up and threatened her with fire," Lavender looked down at this last part the turned to Gretchen, and mumbled, "sorry."

Gretchen just waved her off.

"I understand. I get what it's like to care about someone," Gretchen's eye caught me at that last part, but it was invisible to everyone else, thankfully.

I wasn't sure what to make of Gretchen and the memory I had witnessed. I turn and walk to the path to the next room. There would be time to figure this all out after.

"Let's go!"