“Oh good you’re awake, that's a good sign that my magic worked,” Ailsa said as she spun into sight above me in the air. I tried to speak to say hello but only managed a dry painful grunt. “Oh no, don’t try to talk. You’re really dehydrated right now. I’ll get one of the kids to bring you some water” she zipped away, and after a few more seconds reappeared. She saw me trying to get a clearer view of my attacker, and floated in my vision so as to keep herself in my sight.
“His name is Tol’geth, he’s a barbarian warrior of Varidian, he was really sorry about…” The sound of a particularly agitated pony neighing was abruptly silenced as I watched Tol’geth take the reins from Riggil, and begin leading the beast and cart through the opening he had just finished. The pony was obviously more concerned about the massive creature now leading it then it was about the thorns poking into its legs.
“He’s not such a bad guy once you get to know him.” I looked up at her and raised my eyebrows. “Okay, maybe he has a tendency to be a bit more, violent, than necessary, but I like him. He's a Varidian after all, they can’t lie. Reminds me of home.”
I tried to say something like “he's not human?” in response but it came out more like “Eech hugggn?” followed by a short coughing fit before the female elf showed up and helped me drink. After my throat was wet and I stopped coughing I repeated the question.
“Oh yes, they’re human alright,” she said floating above me in circles while fiddling with something in her hands. “They just can’t lie, it's a cultural thing, I guess, it's just not possible for them really. And even if they could lie, they wouldn't. Honesty is kind of a big deal to them. Can’t really remember why though…” She trailed off as the thing in her hands she was fiddling with took more of her concentration.
“That punch of his didn’t feel very human. That felt like getting hit by Superman. I mean, what kind of human being is immune to being gutted by a sword?”
Ailsa thought for a second before responding. “I can see how you might think that. Humans in your world are rather physically weak, even the most powerful human beings from your world would have a hard time keeping up with the likes of Tol’geth physically. He's a level 35 warrior barbarian, with maxed skills in hand to hand fighting, the use of that huge sword of his, and the bow, but not much else.”
“Humans in this world are typically not nearly as powerful as he is, but they’re probably stronger, faster, and can endure more than the humans from your world on average primarily because of their higher levels. However humans, and this includes Tol’geth, usually spend time leveling skills in two or three similar areas by learning a craft and making a living to support their families. In Tol’geths case his chosen profession is unmitigated violence, which lends itself to more opportunities to level than the average human, even on Ethria.”
“By contrast on your world most people get mediocre at virtually everything before finally choosing a profession, in terms of breadth of skills, and depth of knowledge on one or two areas due to your education, you probably have an overall skill advantage compared to the humans from this world, even Tol’geth. Though, many of your skills aren't going to be very useful here…” she trailed off again as whatever task she was doing while flying and talking to me required her full concentration again.
“Two things,” I said as I pushed myself up into a seated position. My head swam for a moment, but after a few seconds the dizziness passed and I continued. “First, you’re starting to sound like an expert on the topic of my homeworld. Where did all of this knowledge about where I came from, come from? Second, what are you doing that is so distracting? What is that thing you’re fiddling with?”
“What? This?” She asked as she stopped circling and hovered, holding out whatever it was. I looked closely and unconsciously used analyze. A prompt appeared.
“You have found, Pebble of Pain Relief. Durability 3/3. Charges: 5/5. Description: This pebble has been enchanted with the spell Minor Pain Relief 1, and can be activated 5 times before depletion. Upon depletion, you will have the opportunity to recharge the spell, but be warned after days of remaining empty equal to the stones current durability the spell will be lost forever, and this item will revert to being a normal pebble once again. Minor Pain Relief 1 is a spell of air and water magic.
“I take it that's for me?” I asked and she bobbed up and down slightly in assent. “Thank you, that’s very kind of you.” Ailsa continued her lazy circles around me.
“Its nothing, just a basic little charged enchantment. Doesn’t take much, other than knowing the spell you want to enchant, and finding suitable material, like this pebble here, it has a heart of quartz crystal. Common true, but useful for simple things like this. Anyway, you find something suitable to hold the spell charges, and then, you just pour mana into the spell and then imbue the spell onto the object. It doesn’t cost much but your time.”
“Now, a passive enchantment like your sword there? That's an entirely different story. Not only do you need the proper materials which are typically much harder to find, but you also need a spell caster that has reached master skill rank in that type of magic, and who has reached the highest level of that spell.” She finished her lesson by buzzing her wings in annoyance. “Dang it, now see what you’ve done. You distracted me, and the spell lost two charges because I didn’t fully pay their mana cost. Great job meathead. Why don’t you go back to sleep? You need all the rest you can get to fully heal anyway, and it would stop you from distracting me as I work.” I rolled my eyes and laid down again, closing my eyes and listening to my surroundings trying to do as ordered.
The sound of the cart rolling into the clearing reached my ears, along with several large and heavy feat I was sure did not belong to the pony. “Hail brave, and terrible warrior. May I join you?” When Tol’geth said terrible, I was certain he didn’t mean in the biblical sense of the word.
I opened my eyes and found the large man waiting patiently for permission to sit down next to me. Well can’t fault him for his honesty, it's just like Ailsa said. I nodded, and the large man sat.
Tol’geth spoke with a deep voice and if I could describe his accent I would say hostility. You wouldn’t think that hostility would be an accent, we all generally think of hostility as an emotion that can imbue the words a person speaks, but when it comes to Torish you, and I, would both be wrong. “I must offer an apology, my gratitude, and a warning little weak brave one.”
Ouch, uncalled for man. I thought but kept silent letting him continue.
He looked very uncomfortable sitting there, trying desperately not to seem hostile despite the way he spoke. “The little fae explained to me what happened. I apologize for attacking you. The children.” He motioned towards the two elves. “... I was sent to retrieve them, and one other I have not yet found, by their mothers. You have my gratitude for saving the stupid child’s life after he attacked you, his life by rights is yours to take, but duty would require that I intervene if you had tried to, exercise, that right.” He spoke as if each word had a very specific meaning, and what I was hearing behind each word, what was being translated for me by my gift of tongues ability, was a clear American accent, that was imbued with menace, meaning, and anger. These seemed more like background noise to the man’s physical imposition then as any specific threat other than the promise of general violence that radiated off him, held back by nothing more than personal honor.
I just kept looking at him, knowing exactly how it would have gone down had I tried to lay a finger on either of the two elves rather than simply got in his way. “I am, happy, that did not come to pass.” I nodded my agreement and smiled slightly trying not to laugh. “Now for my warning.” He took a deep breath as if bracing himself for something unpleasant. “You are only level 1, far too weak to be an adventurer. You are brave, true. One must be to stand against someone like me at your skill and level. But you are without any real strength, without real strength you will die. Horribly. Probably by a bear, but more likely by
tripping over your own feet and skewering yourself on that shiny magic sword of yours.” I fought to keep the smile from my face, I really did, but I just couldn’t help it.
“What?” Tol’geth asked me, confused and off-put by my strange reaction. “Do you not care for your own life? Why do you smile?”
I broke down and laughed, I couldn’t control it, the morbidity, the solemnity of the man's statements, and the awkwardness that he seemed to feel about telling me what I had already figured out for myself cracked me a little. After a few seconds of staring at me bemusedly, Tol’geth joined the elves, Ailsa, and even Riggil eventually joined not knowing the reason for the mirth, but happy to indulge after such a stress-filled day.
I wiped my eyes clear of tears, looked over and patted the large man on the shoulder. “Yeah, I know. But a guys gotta start somewhere, right?”
The smile vanished from his face, as Ailsa landed on his shoulder. “That is true, all warriors must start by picking up their first weapon. But even the children of these soft living men of Tor are higher level then you by the age of five. Explain to me how this thing is?”
“Don’t bother asking,” Ailsa said sitting on Tol’geths shoulder cleaning her nails with a tiny knife, the pebble she had been enchanting earlier nowhere to be seen. “He won’t even tell me, and I’m basically his guardian angel.” Tol’geth looked at her questioningly, then back at me, and then back at her before nodding knowingly.
“He is a mysterious one then,” Tol’geth said continuing to nod slowly.
“Perhaps he’s ashamed?” The female elf said from a few feet behind me. “He could have been an invalid in a poor town before a healer came along and finally removed the ailment.”
“Or he could have been cursed by an evil sorcerer and reverted to level 1” Ailsa chimed in, I raised my eyebrows at her, she winked at me.
“Oh! Oh I want to play!” said Markel “What if, what if he was a dirt farmer who did nothing but break dirt clods for years until he found a discarded magical sword some wizard's apprentice was working on and decided to set out on an adventure. You know, like what happens in all of the stories.” Markel looked sheepish as he said the last, his enthusiasm ebbing a bit as he realized all of our gazes had landed on him.
“That one, that one was interesting,” Ailsa said as she flew over to the two elves a few feet away from me hiding under a tall tree for shade from the fading light of the sun. “You have a head for imaginative thinking, almost as good as a fairy I might say.” The boy perked up at Ailsa’s praise.
“You think so?”
“I know so. I’m a fairy myself after all, who better to know a fairy imagination than a fairy?” Both young elves nodded solemnly as if she had just handed down some great wisdom.
I fought back a yawn as I let the three continue to converse and turned back to Tol’geth. “What I meant to say, is that I will not be deterred from my course, I can not be, even if it kills me.” Though, I thought, if I did die I wonder if I’ll respawn. I guess that's a good way of testing if this is, in fact, some kind of simulation. I discarded the idea if it wasn’t, and it was looking more and more like this world was real, I would be essentially committing suicide.
Even if I respawned, which didn’t seem likely with how the mechanics of this world worked so far, I didn’t want to go down that existential crisis rabbit hole. Like the great Buddha once said, do not dwell on questions that do not lead to edification, committing suicide was definitely NOT edifying. Even if I came back, and that was a big if.
“And what is that goal?” Tol’geth asked, shifting slightly to sit Indian style on the ground next to me. “Do you have a grand quest you are undertaking?” As he asked me, I unconsciously used analyze, and my awareness of him become heightened. I learned very little about his character sheet, he was far too high level for me to gain any useful information. However, I did pick up on a vague feeling that he was hoping I would answer yes.
I thought about it for a moment before answering honestly. “Well, yes and no. Yes, in that I have a grand quest I need to accomplish, but I have no idea what I’m doing or how to even start going about getting it done. No, in that the quest I am currently on is escorting the old man over there…” I pointed out Riggil who was brushing down his emaciated pony on the opposite end of the clearing from the twins, the old man was surprisingly deft and swift with the brush, yet somehow gentle enough not to bother the bony creature. “... into town. Though, in my current state, I honestly don’t think I’ll be any use any time soon. I’m all bruised up, even sitting up like this is draining me.” I tried to stifle the yawn again, but it fought through.
Tol’geth nodded. “And what is this grand quest you seek the path towards accomplishing?”
I finished my yawn by stretching, getting a satisfying, and extremely painful pop along my spine. Pain shot through my head as blood rushed out of it, and It took me a few moments to compose myself. After about a minute, I said “There are a lot of people headed this way from Tor. I don’t know exactly when, but they’ll be getting here in the next little while. I need to find a place for them to stay up here that is safe, I need to stockpile resources so they can live through the winter. Winter is coming, you know.”
“I see. You seek to help the… “ he hesitated a moment as if thinking how best to word it. “...You seek to prepare the way for the exiles from Tor?”
“Yes.” Tol’geth seemed pleased by my answer. “The Go…”Before I could finish speaking Ailsa landed on my shoulder.
“Hayya! What’cha talken bout?” She gave me a meaningful look though her tone was perfectly friendly, even if it was obvious, at least to me, that she was trying to be casual.
“He was just explaining that he has a noble quest, to prepare the way for those who have been exiled from Tor by the sun gods puppets heinous decree. Tis truly a noble and honorable goal, but one that will prove difficult, at best to accomplish on one's own.” Tol’geth gave me a meaningful look and began to rise to his feet. “For now, our paths align. I must go into the human town and find the last elvish child.” He said human as if the term didn’t quite apply to himself. “I have heard that at times the elvish children have been caught by the villages law enforcer. That is my next step. I will travel with you until then. Do not worry young warrior Rayid, I will watch over your charge as you recover. It is the least I can do to repay your kindness in not killing the children.” He stood, and a notification appeared.
“Attention: Tol’geth the Varidian has chosen to undertake and assist in your quest, “Lonely Road 1.” If he completes this quest, it will count as if you have done so. Tol’geth will also receive benefits unique to him.”
“Well, thank you,” I said a little taken aback. Tol’geth nodded at me slightly, and then stepped over me and walked over to the two elvish children.
Ailsa landed on my lap. “I hope you realize how big that was meathead. Taking on another persons quest, even a simple mundane quest like that one is a big deal for a warrior from his tribe.”
“How so?” I asked as I began to feel the throbbing in my head increase as the pain relief spell wore off.
“Normally if a person fails a quest, there are consequences. In this case relatively minor ones like losing reputation with Riggil. But some cultures and some professions even require that if a person takes on a quest that they see it through. If they don’t, they can lose a lot. Some times it's their status in their clan, the favor of their God, and in some cases, they can even lose levels and abilities. The Varidian barbarian tribes are one such honor-based society.”
“Oh, that is kind of a big deal.” I began to wince with each throb of pain that pulsed through my skull.
“Yup. I take it the headaches are back? Looks painful, here take the stone stupid.” She held out her hand and the pebble she had been enchanting appeared as if out of thin air. I grabbed it, and the pain immediately began to recede, though it only took the edge off enough for me to remain coherent. A headache rather than
the skull-splitting migraine that it had been building up to.
“I used a lot of magic on you. That’s going to exhaust your body, you're going to be basically useless for days, at least. Keep that pebble on you, every couple of hours I’ll come and recharge it. It should be enough to allow you to sleep.” Wincing still, I nodded my head slowly in assent. The pain was still building to a crescendo, but not nearly at the same pace that it had been before.
“If it gets too bad, let me know and I’ll use a stronger spell on you. But I need to use as little magic as I can, we need to let your body recover. Biomancy spells are not only exhausting to the magic-user in terms of mana usage, but also to the person being healed. Your body went through a lot of trauma. And by that I mean, it was basically you getting a mountain smashed into your face, so you're going to need to take some time.”
“Thank you,” I spoke only slightly higher than a whisper, as the pain kept increasing. I slowly lowered myself back down onto the makeshift bed that the others had laid me on earlier. Ailsa flew above me and entered my vision. She slowly disappeared as my eyes closed, my vision blurred, and I was out cold.
---
I woke up to the creaking of the cart underneath me, and my head hurting only slightly worse than when I had fallen asleep. The sun was barely up, and we were moving at a slow, methodic pace. The air was cold, but not bitterly so. I unconsciously pulled up my character sheet, and it looked like the protection offered by the crocodile angel had finally worn off. I groaned slightly, and Ailsa spoke up. “Go back to sleep meathead, close your eyes and stop moaning.”
I did just that, but oddly I found I couldn't get back to sleep no matter how long I quietly lay there unmoving. “I’m not going to be able to get to sleep like this, the pulsing is just going to keep me awake.” Ailsa flew up and into my vision, and I cut Ailsa off as I saw she was about to scold me for being stupid. “No, I'm being serious,” I whisper spoke to her, trying to keep the pain from overwhelming me. “I know myself, I won't be able too. But, maybe I could spend this time doing something useful?”
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