by Tao Wong
The peasant grabs Daniel’s hand in his, murmuring thanks before standing with the help of his friends. Daniel sighs, flashing a smile at Yvette who he spots standing with her father before turning to the Adventurer who is still watching him.
“So, you’re a Healer, eh?” the swordsman says, his hand resting casually on the pommel of his hand-and-a-half sword.
“In a way.” Daniel glances at the group who are moving and begins to walk as well, hurrying to get back to the wagons with the swordsman alongside him.
“Interesting. I’m Niko,” the swordsman introduces himself as he joins Daniel.
“Daniel.”
“Most Adventurers don’t take the time to learn enough healing to pick up the Minor Healing spell,” Niko adds, looking at Daniel from the corner of his eyes as he walks. “You’re pretty unusual actually.”
“I don’t really understand why though,” admits Daniel after a moment. “It’s so useful.”
“Ah, it’s a matter of time and opportunity. Few Healers are willing to spend time teaching those who aren’t going to be Healers since it’s so time-intensive and for those who can find a teacher, it still takes a long time to reach the required skill level. The way I understand it, to even get started you need about five levels in healing,” Niko explains. “Most Adventurers just find it easier to train in their primary skillsets and become better at that, though of course, we all pick up a level or two in healing, eventually.”
Daniel nods rubbing his chin. His Gift had allowed him to bypass much of the initial learning stages, teaching him aspects of the body and how it worked on an almost intuitive level. He recalled how surprised the visiting Healer at the mine was at the young boy’s knowledge. During his short visits, the Healer had always done his best to teach and convince Daniel to become a Healer himself, becoming ultimately unsuccessful. Now, for a moment, Daniel feels guilty for the time the old man spent with him, guilty about his life choice. He could have been, should have been a Healer. Yet…
“You two!” Chip shouts at them, breaking Daniel from his thoughts. “Who told you to leave the caravan? You aren’t being paid to guard them!”
Daniel winces, pulling himself to attention as Chip continues to harangue them for slacking off on their duties. Niko just nods his head, occasionally offering a verbal acknowledgment. When the grumpy, wrinkled old man is not looking he rolls his eyes at Daniel to express his own frustration. Daniel has to cough to cover a chuckle, working hard to keep a straight face as Chip continues to scold them.
Released at last, the two Adventurers bid goodbye to each other and take up their spaces in the wagon train, though Daniel finds himself seated in the front. Asin gives him a wink as he passes her by, chewing on the slice of dried sausage.
As promised, Stolin is a small village with a single-room tavern, a blacksmith and a sundry goods shop dominating the town center. Next to the tavern stands a large bare field where the wagons are directed to park, the caravan master and a select few being allowed to sleep in the tavern. The rest are assigned to the ground around the caravan itself while a few wagons turn off, heading in the direction of the lone mill and the grain barns.
Asin waves Daniel aside as she grabs the cookpot and their empty water skins; Tevfik prowls up to join her at the river with his team’s supplies. Daniel smiles slightly, noting how close the two are to each other already, heading towards the woodpile.
“Hi…” the hesitant, sweet voice behind him makes Daniel turn away from the fire he is slowly coaching to light. He smiles as he spots Yvette who holds his washed and darned clothing in her arms. She blushes slightly at the smile, thrusting the pile towards him. The moment he takes it, she blushes again and scurries off, leaving Daniel to watch her swaying behind. He quickly turns away though when he catches her father’s glare and has to remind himself that there is nothing wrong with looking.
Smiling slightly, Daniel returns to watching the fire as he waits for Asin to return. And waits. And waits. Growling in impatience after a long hour, he stands and looks around, wondering where his friend is. It should not take this long to get water! Just as he is about to head to the river himself, he spots her hurrying back, fur and clothing disheveled with the full cookpot.
“Where are the water skins?” Daniel asks as he places the pot on the fire. Asin lets out a yowl of surprise and then ducks her head, spinning back and hurrying to the river. As Daniel watches her hurry off, he notes Tevfik is sauntering back like a cat that has eaten all the cream. Just like a cat…
Daniel chuckles to himself, wondering how Kh’yra would react to this news. At the thought of the beautiful blonde elf, he recalls another, much closer young female and ducks his head in embarrassment. Right, he had a girlfriend of sorts.
“We don’t serve their kind,” the older matron snaps at Daniel. Situated behind the kegs of beer that her husband had rolled out for the thirsty waggoneers, she points to Asin and Tevfik. “No better than animals they are. Why, young Ingrid says she saw the two of them rolling around near the river, yowling and doing what animals do. Disgusting!”
Daniel glares at her, tapping the table with his coin, “Well, is my money bad then?”
“No,” the tavern keeper’s wife says as she shakes her head to move some of her graying blonde hair from her eyes.
“Then I’ll take three,” says Daniel.
Eyes narrowing, she waves him away. “I changed my mind. You’re not welcome either.”
“You just said my money is good,” Daniel says, tapping the coin on the table again.
“Well, it’s not now, Beast lover.” She sniffs and looks past him to the person behind. “You want a drink?”
Daniel shifts, placing himself in front of her gaze again. “Three mugs.”
“Go away, or else I’ll call my husband,” the woman snaps at him.
“Go on then,” Daniel challenges and then feels a hand drop on his shoulder. He turns and finds Tevfik shaking his head, pulling him along. Daniel resists for a moment but finds the other Adventurer stronger than him and is forced to move. The tavern keeper’s wife snickers even as she pours the next drink.
“Why did you do that?”
“Not worth it, young one. They will not serve you or us and insisting they do will only cause trouble. We wouldn’t want to be left behind by the caravan master,” Tevfik says, finally letting go of Daniel now that they are away from the tavern. “Come, we’ve got drink.”
“The wagon master wouldn’t…” Daniel begins then closes his mouth as Asin just shoots him a disbelieving look. His lips twist, and he growls, knowing that they are right. They were just Adventurers - the village, on the other hand, was the caravan master’s livelihood. It would not really be a choice.
“I am glad you care for us, but we are used to such things,” Tevfik says as they join the fire where the other Adventurers sit. He disappears into the wagon, pulling a wineskin from his bag and handing it over.
“It’s still not right,” Daniel grumbles and the others laugh at the naiveté of the young man. Daniel just glares at them back before drinking from the wineskin, coughing at the harsh burn of the unexpectedly sweet but potent drink inside. This was no wine. It was Sabu, the Beastkin’s alcoholic beverage of choice.
“Right or not, it is what it is. It will be many years before they accept us.” Tevfik shrugs and takes back the wineskin from Daniel, handing it over to Asin whose nose is twitching already at the pungent smell. “Now, come! Tell us about yourself. Asin says you were part of the army’s recent Orc Raid subjugation. We were too late to join that.”
Somewhat mollified by the better alcohol, Daniel hesitantly tells the tale to his audience who in turn offer some tales of their own adventures. Eventually, a small crowd joins them, listening to the tales of derring-do that are passed back and forth between the Adventurers, the wineskin slowly being emptied.
CHAPTER 6
WINCING IN THE HARSH MORNING light, Daniel lets out a little groan and attempts to roll out from
underneath the wagon he crawled under for sleep. He blinks, staring at the young lady who is trapping his arm, Daniel slowly recalls the evening before and groans. He had a little too much to drink, and Yvette was there, talking to him and then… Daniel groans again.
At the second groan, Yvette wakes and sees Daniel. She lets out a little squeak of embarrassment, covering her face with her hands and then, noting she is still mostly dressed, scrambles away. Daniel laughs slightly, pulling his arm back as he remembers how the shy young lady had become much less shy last night after a few drinks. The laugh makes him wince again as the headache he has acquired makes itself known once more. Rather than suffer through the hangover, Daniel focuses for a moment, casting a Minor Healing on himself.
Crawling out from underneath the wagon, the caravan is slowly waking up. He moves over to the fire, stabbing it to find some coals and adding some of the prepared kindling as he coaches the fire back to life. Asin comes crawling up to him, poking him with one clawed finger till Daniel relents, casting a short Minor Heal on her too.
After breakfast, the wagon rolls out from the town. Asin pokes him again with a claw and jerks her head to the side of the road, and Daniel sighs, joining her as they walk alongside the caravan.
“Yvette.” She points to him and Daniel grimaces and nods. She then points to herself and says, “Tevfik.”
“Yes, I gathered.” Daniel’s eyes sparkle slightly, and Asin pokes him again.
“No tell.” Asin glares at Daniel and Daniel nods.
“Of course. I won’t. Though…” Daniel shifts uncomfortably, looking at the swaying grass and the bright, clear morning. “Well, I might tell Kh’yra myself.” He hears Asin sniff at that, shaking her head and Daniel shrugs. “We’re not promised to each other, but, well, I’d feel bad. I think.”
“Always bad,” Asin pronounces before she shrugs, loping back to catch up fully with the wagon. Surprisingly, she takes the front seat with Gabriel without prompting.
The remainder of the day falls into a familiar, mind-numbing routine as the pair sit and watch the ground roll by, occasionally chatting with each other, Gabriel and the passing guards. That evening, Daniel is pulled aside by Iyas to continue his training with the crossbow, making marginal improvements in accuracy and load time.
In the morning, as Daniel wakes up, he is greeted by a notification.
Skill Gained!
Archery: Level 1 (03/100) +3
He cannot help but smile, the troubled sleep from the evening before worth it to finally, finally gain the skill notification. It had taken hours of practice, but at least he finally had the skill. As the noise from around the camp grows, he dismisses the notification. Time to get to work.
“What’s that?” Daniel frowns, pointing to a growing cloud of dust in the distance hours after they started on the road.
Gabriel frowns, standing up for a brief moment before sitting down unconcernedly. “Plains Nomads. They range in the unsettled areas between the villages in Brad and the border. They are normally peaceful.”
Daniel nods, watching as other guards take note of the growing dust cloud and after a moments consideration he picks up and cocks his crossbow, sliding a bolt in. At Gabriel’s raised eyebrow Daniel shrugs as he sets the loaded crossbow down next to him in easy reach. Better to be careful and ready than careless and dead.
Daniel’s jaw drops slightly as nomads arrive. Clad in a mix of wool and linen with the occasional pieces of unboiled leather thrown in, the nomads sit on small, tough steppe horses with a train of at least two additional horses behind each of them. The nomads each carry a short, recurved bow and a pair of filled quivers. However, it is the fact that the nomads are halflings that truly surprises Daniel, the three-foot tall humanoids chattering excitedly with the wagon masters as their horses easily keep pace with the caravan. The halfling nomad’s leader is a woman who animatedly talks with the caravan master before coins are exchanged. The caravan master shouts back to his wagons, calling out the purchased goods while the other nomads spread out to the other wagons, their leader having completed her interactions. They stop by each wagon, speaking briefly with the owner before moving on, only pausing when they find something they’d like to buy.
As one of the halflings rides by him, Daniel’s nose wrinkles at the pungent smell that hits him. Gabriel chuckles at Daniel’s reaction while Asin gags above them. “Horse fat. They rub it over their body to clean themselves and keep them warm. I hear the nomads think it’s bad luck to bathe in rivers and lakes. Something about washing away the good luck.”
Daniel coughs, rubbing his nose and is glad as the halflings ride right past their wagon to others further behind. Still, he can’t help but watch and admire the experienced horsemen guide their animals with just their feet. Soon enough, the encounter is over, and the nomads break off, riding back into the plains, and the caravan is able to breathe easily.
“Gabriel, is it always this quiet?” Daniel asks as he uncocks his crossbow, returning the bolt to its quiver.
“Of course.” The waggoneer laughs.
“Then...” Daniel looks around at the many guards and Adventurers who make up the caravan, and Gabriel laughs again.
“The guards and you Adventurers are a show of force. Bandits and monsters stay away from such a large, well-armed group. If we didn’t have you, we’d be attacked more, but with so many guards, it’d take a big or particularly desperate bandit group to attack us,” Gabriel explains. “It’s why Ios dislikes you Adventurers. He has to pay you to keep the bandits away, but because he pays you, he never gets his money’s worth or so he sees it.”
Nodding in thanks for the explanation, Daniel sighs and leans back, shading his eyes. It was decent money, but it sure was boring.
Days pass, villages blending into one another. It takes them another week to arrive at Silverstone, and there were only three exciting events from Daniel’s perspective during that week. The first came a few days after they had left Stolin.
“You, Adventurer! Stay away from my daughter!” shouted the enraged father who waved a finger in front of Daniel’s face, drawing the attention of the entire caravan. Behind, an embarrassed Yvettte clutched at her skirts and blushed while Daniel opened his mouth and then shuts it. “You damn Adventurers, sleeping with every young thing. My daughter is too good for your kind!”
“My kind?” Daniel answered stupidly and received another withering stare.
“Adventurers,” the father spat to the side, growling. “You think just because you go traveling around, fighting monsters in Dungeons and Leveling up, you’re better than the rest of us. Well, you ain’t. You keep your hands off my daughter or else I’ll deal with you!”
“I’m… I will,” Daniel said, changing his mind about apologizing. That evening had been extremely pleasant, and they were both willing adults, even if the young lady was a bit young.
Giving Daniel one last glare, the father stomped away and grabbed his daughter’s arm, dragging her off and muttering, “Damn Adventurers! And you, you stupid girl. What will you do if you are pregnant? It’s not as if he’s going to marry you.”
Daniel opened his mouth and closed it, deciding not to explain that he had ensured that no such pregnancy was possible through his Gift. It had required just the barest of touches with his Gift on himself after all. Eyes twinkling, Niko walked up to Daniel, clapped him on the shoulder and guided the youngster away, murmuring, “Right then, let’s talk about discretion shall we.”
The second incident came two days before they were due to arrive at Silverstone. They had left the plains behind and returned to the forested, rolling hills and cooler temperatures that Brad mostly consisted of. However, it was in one of the forest paths that their first aggressive encounter occurred. A stone bear cub had wandered onto the trail by itself and had been startled by the wagons. Crying out for his mother, the cub had backed off to a corner while the waggoneer had jerked his wagon to a halt. The cub’s mother, lingering nearby had rushed out in ang
er to protect her cub, striking out at the wagon and its guard. Dead after a single swipe, neck snapped and chest torn open, the guard collapsed to the ground as the stone bear mother roared defiance at the unfortunate group.
Standing on his wagon seat, Daniel had swiftly worked to load his crossbow though he was unsure how effective that weapon would be. Iyas jumped down from his perch on top of his wagon, moving quickly to the mother bear without fear. The Ranger spoke to the mother bear, his voice low and calming as he attempted to calm her down. Pulling a bag of berries from his pouch, he offered some to the mother bear before guiding the stone bear and its cub away from the road, a hand on the rough, coarse gray fur. Gabriel breathed a sigh of relief when the animal left and so did Daniel. Knowing one could win did not equal the need to fight, especially against such a powerful monster.
The last event happened the night before they arrived at Silverstone. The three senior Adventurers found the two novices at their cooking fire late in the evening with Niko leading the conversation. “We’ll be arriving at Silverstone soon.”
“Yes,” Daniel said.
“We were thinking, what with you being Adventurers and all. Would you like to see what an Advanced Dungeon is like?” Niko said.
Daniel blinked and looked to Asin, part excited, part scared. As he hesitated, Niko added, “We won’t go past the first level. And we’d share out the earnings in four parts, with both of you taking the fourth. It would be good experience for you two, and it’d be good to have a Healer in the party again, even if it is brief.”
Tevfik added his own growling points directly to Asin, working to convince her. She yowled a little, pushing against the other Catkin playfully with her arm before she looked to Daniel and offered a slight nod.
“Well, okay. Only the first level right!” Daniel added and the trio nodded, and Iyas clapped Daniel on the shoulder. Once they had received the two novice adventurer’s agreement, the talk turned to what they could expect in the Dungeon they intended to enter, speaking of monsters and dangers as well as the required gear. Most of the gear was common, things that they already owned but some were much more extensive.