by Logan Jacobs
All the cheering was going straight to my head, but I was a god after all, so I’d have to get used to this kind of welcome wherever I went. I was up for the challenge, and I was ready to soak in all the adoration bestowed upon me.
“Thank you, my people,” I called out as we reached the edge of the village. “I shall return soon!”
“He spoke to us!” a woman shrieked as she jumped up and down.
The way they fawned over me reminded me of Bieber Fever back in my old world, and I had to laugh to myself at the thought.
We rode out of sight of the town as their cheers still echoed behind us. Then we traveled the rest of the way to the duke’s castle at a brisk pace, and by the time the sun slid toward the western horizon, the steep white walls came into view.
“Woah!” I inhaled sharply as I took in the grand magnificence of the castle itself.
It was like the biggest luxury hotel I’d ever seen, but medieval. It had multiple towers, and turrets along the walls, and everything was lit up like a Christmas tree. The road widened and led up to the drawbridge, and the huge wooden plank was close to fifty feet long and twenty feet wide and was big enough for us to all ride abreast as we crossed over into the castle city.
People were everywhere in colorful dresses and velvet jackets. Some wore curly white wigs, like the founding presidents in my old world, and others wore tri-cornered hats. It was loud and bustling with activity as vendors shouted their wares and children darted about underfoot, and I didn’t know where to look first.
We made our way up the street gawking at everything there was to see, and all three sets of our eyes were open wide with awe.
I started to look for the sign for a stable, and I spotted one for sleeping rooms in the process. Once the horses were boarded, we took all of our belongings to the inn I’d seen, and I paid for a room for one night.
I’d confront the duke the next morning, but I wanted to explore the city first.
I made a new save point before the three of us dipped out of the inn and once again navigated the busy streets of Bullard.
I saw a butcher, a baker, and a candlestick maker, and I snorted with delight as the old nursery rhyme came to life in front of me. Then I decided I’d master all the trades I could in a single night, and I’d amaze Mahini and Elissa with my prowess. Castle Bullard was too densely populated for me to do my normal trick where I knew everyone’s names and solved all their problems, so I would just have to impress people with my endless talents.
I also wanted to find a blacksmith, or someone else to buy the rest of the highwaymen’s armor and weapons off me. Then I remembered magic, and excitement shot through my blood.
I had a wand and a staff that I wanted to get appraised by an expert, and I wanted to learn how to enchant armor with the griffon feathers.
So much to do. Luckily, I had all the time in the world.
We headed to the butcher shop first, and I greeted the man in the thick leather apron with a friendly smile.
“Hello, my name is Sebastian, and I’d like to learn a thing or two about your trade.” I indicated the large slab of meat that rested on the work table. “What are you working on?”
“I’m just finishing up a pig for an order,” the man replied. He wiped his hands clean on his apron and then stuck one out for me to shake. “I’m Kris, pleasure to meet you.”
Kris showed me the pig he was butchering and taught me a few of the basics. Then we went on to his next order, a big hunk of venison that needed to be made into jerky, and finally, we butchered some rabbits.
I spent the rest of the evening learning everything I could from Kris, and he seemed eager to pass on his knowledge and techniques. I guess there weren’t very many young men who wanted to apprentice at a butcher shop around.
Then I reset to the inn and trotted back toward the butcher shop for a second time.
“Good day, Kris,” I greeted the owner of the shop with the familiarity of someone who’d spent an entire evening with the man, which I had, but he didn’t remember me at all.
“Do I know you?” Kris scrutinized me with narrowed eyes.
“I know most things, Kris, it’s not your fault.” I grinned and clapped the butcher on the shoulder. “I wanted to help you with your orders. Mrs. Marin’s pig is first, right?”
“Y-Yes, it is, why, you must be a wizard or something, right?” Kris’ gaze landed on the two beautiful women by my sides, and he shook his head in awe. “What kind of man are you?”
“Not a man at all,” I explained. Then I crossed my arms over my chest and lifted my chin. “I am Sebastian, the God of Time, but you can call me Bash.”
“Oh, o-of course, B-Bash,” Kris stammered as he bowed low before me like I was a king.
“Have no fear, my friend,” I said in a reassuring tone. “I merely wanted to show my ladies my butchering skills before we went shopping. Care to oblige me?”
“My store and my meat are at your disposal, Bash.” Kris wrung his hands together in an anxious manner. “Whatever you wish of me.”
I shook my head in wonder at his complete change of behavior in my second attempt, since now he seemed prone to fear and submission.
A sheep posing as a butcher.
We proceeded to work on all the animals Kris had to butcher that day, and I made record time as I slung my blade through the meat. Mahini watched attentively, but Elissa seemed less than enthralled by the shop. I guess cutting up raw meat wasn’t her favorite pastime, which was understandable, but she gazed longingly toward a pottery shop down the street, so I tucked away the knowledge for later.
Mahini, on the other hand, seemed interested in the conversation between the butcher and I, and she listened silently. The desert goddess nodded every once in a while to show her agreement, but she let me take the lead on most things. Her stoic demeanor would easily crack when we were alone, though, so I wasn’t concerned by her more reserved nature around strangers.
I chimed one more time to really finesse my techniques, and Kris was amazed at my skills as a butcher. We cut through his list of orders in under an hour, and Mahini and Elissa were both wide-eyed at my speed.
“You move so fast,” Elissa observed as she watched my flicking blade dart between chunks of meat. “How did you learn to do this?”
“I’ve never done it before.” I shrugged and gave her a wry smile over my shoulder.
“Incredible.” Mahini’s mouth fell open, and she crossed her arms as her piercing blue eyes appraised me. “Really?”
“It’s true,” I laughed. “Have either one of you ever seen me cut up a dead animal before? I’ve spent most of my time in this world with you two.”
“No, I have not.” Mahini frowned as she tried to remember me showing any indication of the skill before. “I’ve always cleaned my own kills, but I hunt small game like rabbits.”
“There’s a few rabbits back there,” I informed her.
“How did you know that?” Kris demanded in a shocked voice, and he’d paused his work to stare at me with an incredulous expression. “I hadn’t said a word about them out loud, but I had just thought we were almost ready to start them.”
“Maybe I read your mind,” I suggested in a vague tone. “Or maybe I simply know all things.”
“I still cannot believe you have chosen me to bond with,” Mahini murmured as her piercing blue eyes latched onto mine and filled with desire. “I… you have honored me so much, Great One.”
“You still amaze me every single day, my love,” I assured her.
“We have beaten my personal best record,” Kris laughed with pure ecstasy on his face when we were finished. “It is still light out, and I can go home to my family. Thank you, Great One!”
“Please, call me Bash,” I insisted with a grin as my hand was vigorously shaken.
We all washed our hands in the big buckets of water used for this very purpose, and then we continued on into the town. I’d spent a little over an hour at the butcher shop, and I didn’t want to lose out o
n precious learning time while there were so many more skills I could have learned in the same amount of time.
So, I reset back to the inn, but this time we headed to a different business to learn the trade. I visited the baker, where I learned how to make apple pies, blueberry tarts, and lemon squares. Then I went to the candlestick maker, but my first attempt at making candles was a major fail because I kept laughing over the nursery rhyme while I dipped the string into the vats of wax.
By the third attempt, I was over the joke and ready to move on, so I mastered the art of making candles after twenty or so lessons, and then I reset back to the inn again.
As we were walking up the crowded street, I tried to decide what I wanted to do next. There was a sword maker, an enchanter, and the pottery shop Elissa kept eyeballing.
I chuckled to myself at how obvious my choice would be, and I aimed our little trio toward the ceramics master.
“Yay!” Elissa squealed when she realized where we were headed. “I was hoping we could learn how to make pottery!”
“I saw you looking, remember, I see everything.” I took her hand into mine and squeezed it. Then I turned and caught Mahini’s eyes. “Don’t worry, that sword master you saw is our next stop.”
“You noticed that, huh?” Mahini’s blue eyes fluttered, and she tucked her jet-black hair behind her ear in a self-conscious gesture I’d come to love. Her cheeks were rosy with a blush, and it brought out the warmth of her tanned skin.
She was beautiful, and I watched her every movement with rapt fascination half the time, so of course I’d noticed her gaze flicking toward the master swordsman’s advertisement.
“I don’t miss details.” I smirked. “Not when it comes to the women I love.”
“Aww,” Elissa swooned and gave me heart eyes.
The woman who owned the pottery shop had dirty blonde hair pulled to the side in a frayed knot, and she introduced herself in a gruff voice.
“I’m Trace,” she explained as she shook my hand. “I teach the workshops here, and I make the pieces for sale in the shop.”
“My wife wants to make us some cups for our new house,” I explained as I gestured to the tiny red-haired beauty at my side.
“Wonderful, please follow me,” Trace said, and she turned without any further ado and marched into a back room of her workshop where bins full of wet clay sat in dark corners.
A large wheel sat in the center of the room, and a little stool was situated beside the floor pedal. The wheel looked ancient, like it was made out of some prehistoric rock, and I imagined it must have taken ten strong men to place it there.
We spent the next hour learning how to make pottery, and Elissa enjoyed every second of it. We were covered in an ashy white powder at the end, though, so we ran back to the inn to change before going to the swordsman. Our finished cups would be ready to be picked up in a few days, but they had to be baked in the kiln for a while first.
Then the three of us headed to the swordsman’s shop, I made a new save point, and we cruised through his shelves of blades for a moment before I headed to the counter.
“Hello, I’m Sebastian,” I greeted the man who sat cross legged on the floor in the middle of the room.
“Greetings. I am Shanu.” The man wore white robes wrapped with a multicolored rope, and he had long black hair braided from the nape of his neck. His eyebrows were bushy and dark, but his beard had speckles of gray in it, which showed his age.
We spent the next hour learning sword fighting techniques from Shanu, and I only had to reset three times before I was able to impress him. Mahini even learned some things, but Elissa probably benefited the most. Shanu corrected her attacks with the mace in ways Mahini and I couldn’t, but I memorized his instructions and then reset and gave them to Elissa myself.
“I didn’t realize you knew so much about the mace,” Shanu mused as he stroked his salt and pepper beard. “It is one of the weapons I am least practiced in.”
“You’ll pick it up fast, young one,” I said in a teasing tone.
“Perhaps someday you would spar with me to show me some more of your techniques,” the sword master requested in an earnest voice.
I nodded vaguely, but inside I was grinning from ear to ear.
It was good to be a god.
I made a new save point as we exited the sword master’s shop, and then we headed for the long-awaited destination.
The enchanter’s business.
I wanted to learn how to use my griffon feathers without the enchanter remembering that I had them, though. The last thing I needed was for the thieves of the Castle Bullard to hear I held a powerful magical item on me at all times.
“Why don’t you two head back to the inn while I visit the enchanter?” I suggested to Mahini and Elissa.
Elissa yawned in response, and a blush darkened the freckles on her face.
“I think that’s a good idea, Great One,” Mahini replied with a curt nod. “We have had a long day of learning new skills.”
“It’s been a great day,” Elissa sighed. “We are so lucky to be your women.”
“I’m lucky to have you both in my life. I’ll meet you back at the inn soon.” I kissed the two of them goodbye, and we parted ways.
I would reset to before I said anything, anyway, but I loved kissing them. Then I headed toward the enchanter’s sign.
I knocked on the side of the open door before I entered, and a gruff voice responded.
“Come on in, enchanted gear and jewelry awaits you,” the voice said.
I blinked in the dim light until my eyes refocused, and then I saw the old man in the cloak who sat on an armchair in the corner. A fire crackled in the fireplace beside him, and the flames cast his face into shadows.
“I’m Sebastian, and I need your assistance,” I began. “I acquired some griffon feathers, and I’d like to use them to enchant some of my gear.”
“Oh, my goodness, well, let me take a look at them,” the enchanter said as he leapt from his chair and hurried closer.
“First, you have to agree to teach me,” I insisted as I took a step backward. I wondered how hard it would be to kill the old man, but I didn’t know what magic he knew yet.
“Yes, of course, anything you wish,” the old man hurriedly agreed. “I’ve never held a real griffon feather before.”
I reached into my pack and pulled out one of the griffon feathers. Then I touched the tip of it to bring up the stat box to remind myself of its abilities.
Magical Item : Griffon Feather
Weight : .01lbs
Durability : 100%
Magical Aspect : Fleetness, Agility, Strength
Weakness : Can only choose one aspect
“What does it do?” the enchanter asked as he eyed the feather clutched in my hand with awe filled eyes.
“You don’t know?” I countered with an arched eyebrow. How rare were these feathers?
“I’ve never had the chance to experiment with one,” the enchanter said in a rueful voice. “Enchanting is such an experimental process, sometimes you must use a lot of material to find the right enhancements.”
“Well, given the characteristics of the feathers, I figured I had a few options anyway,” I explained to the enchanter as I handed him my hard-earned prize with mounting trepidation. Then I subtly placed my hand near my sword as I watched what he would do next.
“It’s beautiful!” The enchanter’s silvery eyes lit up as he inspected the crimson tipped feather. “A powerful artifact. This will do nicely, yes…”
He turned and moved over to the workbench taking up most of the space in the small shop. He placed the feather into a bowl, and then he grabbed a pestle and began to grind it up.
My heart pounded inside my chest as I watched the feather breaking down into a red and white powder, but I reminded myself I could reset if this ended badly.
Then the enchanter poured in a sparkling liquid and mixed it together with a wooden spoon.
“What do you
wish to enchant?” he asked as he turned to me with the mixture in his hands.
“I was thinking about my boots,” I answered with furrowed eyebrows as I inspected the contents of the bowl. It shimmered a light pink color now, and I wondered if the essence would stay on my boots or if it would fade away.
“Boots are a good choice,” the enchanter said.
So, I removed my leather boots and placed them on the workbench, and then I watched as the enchanter poured the mixture over every single stitch on my footwear.
It seemed easy enough, and it didn’t take him very long, but when he handed the boots back to me, they felt light as a feather. I touched them with my pointer finger experimentally, but I wasn’t sure what to expect.
A stat box popped up.
Magical Item: Griffon Feather Boots
Weight : .01lbs
Durability : 100%
Magical Aspect : Fleetness
Weakness : -1% Durability with each use of fleetness
It seemed choosing the boots automatically selected the Fleetness ability, so I wondered what other items would draw out the Strength and Agility characteristics. I wasn’t quite sure what the weakness stat meant, but I had a feeling it had something to do with an extra speed boost now included in the boots.
Now that I knew how to enchant, though, it was time to reset and figure out a way to do it without the enchanter knowing about the griffon feathers’ existence, so I went back to my save point and said goodbye to the girls again.
Then I knocked on the side of the open door, and I cleared my throat.
“I’ll give you a gold piece if you let me use your shop for a bit,” I said to the old man who sat in the armchair next to the fireplace.
“What evil things are you trying to create in my shop?” His voice wavered with fear, and I realized I’d have to explain a little better than that.
Chime.
“I’m working on a secret project for the duke,” I lied this time around. “I’ll give you a gold piece to let me use your shop in private for half an hour.”
“Very well,” the old man said as he staggered to his feet. “I do not want to displease the duke.”
He took the gold piece and left, so I got straight to work. I repeated the motions the enchanter had made with the griffon feather, but the mixture I got was darker than the one he’d made.