“I will be back in a bit.” I said wearily as I got up and made my way to the merchant guild. I entered and Ternor looked up.
“Oh, perfect timing. I could use some more of those light runes. Six more, with supplies, sixty copper.” Ternor said.
“Done, just give me a desk and I can have them done by midday.” He opened up his cabinet and I took the ink stones and parchment. I then pulled out my carefully wrapped brush set and got to work. I finished up easily enough without any mistakes and then charged them.
“Excellent. Sixty copper.” He handed over the money. I gave my goodbyes and headed back to the guild hall. The rest of the day was spent cleaning out my pack and writing in my journal. I had been making some progress, but most of this goblin hunting seemed to have become pointless or mind numbing at the very least.
I wasn’t learning anything new and while I was leveling up I wanted to expand my skills more. Learning Meditation and improving my Chant of Time were both good but they weren’t new or answered any questions I had. Where did the panels come from? Why was mana called a chant when I could use a single word after learning or figuring out a chant? Increasing my wisdom didn’t make me wiser as far as I could tell, so what did it do besides increase mana?
There were even more questions but it was all incredibly frustrating. Then there was our current situation. While not bad right at this moment it was looking more and more so. Our gear was wearing out. I had two nicks on my blade and my pack straps were becoming frayed. To get everyone geared back up we would need to return to Azalon and have at least six silver.
While I had been named the official keeper of money, it also meant I was the leader responsible for all this stuff. Even with the thirty pieces of metal we sold to the black smith for forty copper, it was a struggle just to cover our food costs. I had no idea how anyone managed if they didn’t have a support skill like Scribe or Rune Crafting to bring in extra money.
I looked at my blanket and how the repel rune stitched into it had failed. That had been a miserable night, and a wet morning. Jopel wasn’t large enough to have enough demand for a full time scribe. It was a miracle there had been any demand at all.
The only good news on the trip had been testing out my ability haste which made the person see the world in slow motion for five seconds. It was like a slow on the entire world. The problem was it just sped up reaction time not physical reactions while slow lowered physical reactions and left reaction times the same. Slow was definitely better.
I thought back to my experiments on animals and how they had appeared to speed up when I used haste. They had always been that fast but never acted on it. When haste was used on them they naturally moved to their maximum capacity. I wanted to smack my head against a wall for missing something so simple and not testing the ability on myself to find out more.
We all gathered downstairs for dinner. “So almost level ten.” George said.
“Yeah, we are getting stronger.” Bran added.
“I looked for the mission board. There are guard, mapping, and some bounties for rank two.” I said.
“Is the pay any good?” George asked.
“The guard requests normally pay five copper a day and food and lodging provided on the trip.” I said.
“That sounds like a last resort. Never make any money that way.” George said.
“Mapping pays a lot more, but the request is for a detailed map of the forest. The request is offering ten silver.” I said.
“That is more like it. You can do a map easily.” Bran said.
“I copy maps from already made maps. Actually mapping and charting an area is different. Normally a mage is used to chart the distance and elevations. Towns are easy, but in the wilderness it is hard to judge distance or know exactly where you are.” I said.
“Bounties?” George asked.
“Some bandits to the north of here, the leader is worth a silver. They just steal food and basic supplies and not all of it either. Probably poor peasants rather than bandits.” I said.
“So what you are saying is that all the missions are terrible.” Bran said.
“Pretty much. Winter is coming up in a couple of months and we need new gear. At least six silver for the gear and I don’t know what to do for winter.” I said.
“I guess guard work then.” George said with a grumble.
“Well we have about three months before winter, so say two months then or six ten-days. That is two or three expeditions. We just need to kill a lot of goblins. I am sure we could work something out with Boron to hunker down during the winter, but paying for food would be the big expense.” I said.
“Well there is a group over at the other table.” Bran made a subtle gesture. “They might be interested in teaming up.” I gave them a look over. They didn’t look as worn down as us. I also noted the rank one medallions.
“Fresh from somewhere. With all the same type of outfit I would guess somewhere near the capital?” I said. Clothing styles were not my specialty but there was a tailor next to us and I had picked up some things during my childhood.
“Would they actually help or cut into how much we are making?” George asked.
“If they are at our skill level or better, then we make more, if they are weaker, then less. Also depends on how well we work togeather.” I said. George let out a sigh. Apparently our observations didn’t go unnoticed as the group stood up and approached us. I kept taking small sips from my mug.
“Hello. My name is Falkerk and I am the leader of my group. May we join you?” He asked.
“Sure pull up a seat. I am Ed, this is George and Bran.” I replied. The other group pulled up a table next to ours and sat down. It worked out where both Falkerk and I were at opposite ends of the adjacent tables with our groups sitting on either side of us.
“This is Devon, Max, and Sam. We signed up to the guild recently from our home village Yakscoss. We would appreciate any support you could give us.” Falkerk inclined his head slightly.
“Jopel seems a bit out of the way. Why come all the way out here?” I asked.
Falkerk rubbed the back of his head. “While we could have started closer to home we wanted to travel a bit…unfortunately the bigger cities are more expensive.”
“Everything is expensive.” George muttered.
“Well, all we have goblins and wargs in the forest. There is a bounty for every pair of ears you bring back to Boron here at the guild hall. The ruins are crawling with them, some higher ranked adventurers recommend staying away.” I said.
“Would you be interested in teaming up?” Falkerk asked.
“Levels?” I asked.
“Why would you ask us-“ Devon began.
“I am level two.” Falkerk cut off his teammate.
“If we partied up we would have found out anyway. We are all level nine.” I said. They looked at us and I could see their eyes going wide. “You don’t seem like assholes like the last group of rank ones we met. I am open to the idea but how would this work?” I asked. They had looks of confusion. “If we party up we will share experience for any monster any of us kills. Then there is the issue of loot.”
I kept going seeing as no one spoke. “I don’t mind sharing the kills, loot will be divided equally. If you guys are terrible or cause issues then we go our separate ways. Problems?” I asked.
“No, that sounds reasonable.” Falkerk said. “So how long have you been doing this?”
“It feels like forever.” George said. “Three expeditions into the forest and it is tough. I am an archer what about you guys?”
“I am also an archer, we will have to see who is a better shot.” Devon said and George gave him a grin back.
“I perform the Chant of Healing on behalf of the Gods.” Max said quietly.
“A healer? That is awesome. Any fighting skills?” Bran asked.
“No, but I can shield a person for a short while.” Max said.
“I will have to think on that. Probably best to stay in r
eserve for healing.” I said.
“I am a fighter.” Sam said. After a moment he continued. “I prefer my axe.” I had noticed the large two handed axe. That was definitely overkill.
“Also a fighter, sword and shield for me.” Falkerk said.
“Alright then, I need your full names and I will invite you.” I said.
“Invite us?” Falkerk said.
“Secret of the guild. After you give me your full names just say yes and then party panel.”
“Falkerk Rosen.”
“Maxen Horn.”
“Devon. It is just Devon.”
“Smert Saln.” I then invited everyone to the party.
“Huh, you weren’t joking.” Devon said.
“Welcome to Jopel the town of dreams!” I called out. Everyone let out a shout in the dining hall and I saw Boron give me a grin from behind his counter.
“What was that?” Sam asked.
“Local custom around here for the new people.” Bran said.
“Is your name really-“ Sam began to say.
“Yes it is. I come from the town of Fish Guts. It got old and swam away a while ago.” Bran said with an obvious sigh.
“Trust me I know. I swear my parents cursed me by naming me Smert.” Sam sighed. Everyone began to break into their own groups to talk and I went over to Falkerk and pulled up a chair. Max stayed nearby to listen in as well.
“I am guessing childhood friends?” I asked.
“Yeah, we all grew up together and swore to kill monsters.” Falkerk said. I was sure there was more to the story but I left it at that. I pulled out the best map I had for the area.
“So this is Jopel and over here is the capital and there is Azalon.” I said.
“Hmmm, so this entire region is the forest?” Falkerk asked.
“Yeah, the ruins are near this mountain and we have seen goblin patrols up to here and a settlement around this area.” I pointed out things with my finger.
“So about four days in then?”
“Good guess, more like five since the terrain is so rough. The biggest problem is that there isn’t much game in the forest. My guess is the goblins scared a lot away. That makes foraging difficult.” I explained.
“Devon is a fairly good hunter and tracker.” Falkerk said.
“Even so I recommend your group stock up on food tomorrow morning. Us three are normally able to take on around ten to fourteen goblins and wargs. With your group I am hoping to double that at the minimum.” I said.
“That many?” Falkerk asked.
“Patrols run anywhere from eight to eighty. We are going to have to kill quite a bit if we are going to make any coin with this many people.” I said.
“Probably us fighters in the front with our archers on the flanks then.” He said. I was glad someone had an idea of tactics. It gave me a lot of hope for working with this group.
“Well you and Bran both use shields. I was thinking you two take the center while Sam and I take the flanks. The size of that axe makes me not want to be anywhere near it and my fighting style works better with movement.” I said.
“That could work. How tough are the goblins and wargs would you say?”
“You could win one on one easily, the problem is their numbers. The goblins are short and have shit metal blades and almost no defense. Sometimes one will have a plank of wood or bark as a shield. The wargs are slightly larger wolves with lots of teeth. They should always be our first target since they are so fast. We have our archers take out theirs and then support where they can.” I said.
“What is your limit on shielding and healing?” I asked Max.
“Four chants every three days.” Max said. I frowned at that. I was tempted to tell him about Meditation but I didn’t want to draw more attention to my mana than necessary.
“You need something more than just the Chant of Healing. If anything makes it by the rest of us you need to be able to defend yourself. That is why George has a sword.” I said.
“Don’t worry about it Max, just give it some thought.” Falkerk said. Max got up and went upstairs to the rooms. “He had a bad experience when he was younger and has a hard time with blood and killing.”
“He is going to die. I say this as clear as possible so there is no misunderstanding. He needs to get himself mentally prepared.” I said.
“Hopefully he comes together after a fight.” Falkerk said. I put my map away and sipped from my mug again thinking the situation over.
***
Fifteen goblins and five wargs stared at us from across the small clearing. “Wargs first, attack!” I yelled out. I went to the right and I was glad to see Sam heading to the left. Arrows flew by and into the patrol. “Slow, slow, slow.” I said and killed two wargs and a goblin that were rushing at me. I came up on the archers and cut both of them down as they were focused elsewhere.
I saw Sam in trouble. A warg had managed to bite both his an arm and a leg and his was swinging wildly to keep the three goblins and warg off him. He had managed to kill a goblin but that was it. Thankfully both archers were preventing him from being overwhelmed. Falkerk and Bran were holding off the remaining wargs and goblins and seemed to be doing alright.
I closed up behind Sam’s attackers and savaged the warg’s rear. It let out a yelp and the goblins spun around. One of George’s arrows took a goblin in the head. Sam finished off another one with an overhead blow splitting its skull but his axe became stuck it its body. Overhead blows were risky and I could tell he had no experience with his axe from that single attack.
“Slow.” I then finished off the last goblin. I kept slicing at the warg killing it. I then I looked around. The archers had helped Falkerk and Bran overcome their opponents. The battle was quickly over. I let out a long sigh to catch my breath.
The only one wounded was Sam. “Max.” I gestured at Sam and he hurried over and began chanting.
“By the light and the power of order. Heal this one to his previous state whole and well.” I made sure to remember the chant to practice on my own later. It made no sense why he used a chant when he could just say heal and be done with it. Probably misdirection from the Church which made me want to scream in annoyance.
“Anyone else hurt?” I looked around and no one answered. “Good, everyone on looting duty.” The experienced adventurers showed the new guys how to cut off the ears, gather their weapons, and check for anything else of value. There wasn’t anything worthwhile which was unfortunate but not surprising.
We left the sight of the battle and traveled a ways before setting up camp. “Keep the fire small tonight.” I said. Everyone looked at me. “It is too obvious from a distance and I would rather avoid a night ambush.” Sam looked unhappy but no one said anything. Bran set up snares while Devon went hunting in the area. He hadn’t had any luck but I was hopeful.
Max gathered up wood. He was also responsible for the bag of ears and the metal. Falkerk tried to protest, but since he wasn’t fighting he got to carry more. Bran and Devon returned without any luck and we gathered around the fire. I kept going over in my mind what I wanted to say.
“Well first off, good job everyone. You survived your first battle.” I said. “Congrats to Devon and Sam for earning a level. So our formation kind of worked. I think Sam should stay close to Bran and Falkerk next time. If I hadn’t got there in time you would have died.” I looked at him. He seemed about to object but then snapped his mouth shut. There was a long moment of silence.
“Thanks, I didn’t expect to be overwhelmed like that.” Sam mumbled.
“Well thankfully Max did a great job of patching you up and you stayed on your feet and kept fighting. So George, how did Devon do?” I asked.
“Not bad, he hit his target all six times during the fight but five were wounding and only one was crippling.” George said.
“I know it is harder, but from experience, shooting to kill is better. If you make four shots out of six and they all are head shots that is much better than wounding
a bunch of them. Goblins and wargs don’t feel pain easily and will keep fighting unless put down. Probably not the case for all monsters, but aim to kill with these ones.” I said.
“Got it. I was aiming for their hearts I thought.” Devon said.
“I looked a corpse and their insides don’t match a person’s. The wargs are also different from dogs or wolves. I haven’t found a book that deals with monster biology. After the next fight we can cut one up and take a look.” I had been wanting to do some exploratory cutting to check their insides and this seemed like a great time to bring it up.
“What about having Max shield Sam before the fight?” Falkerk asked.
“Good idea. We will do that next time. So we made about forty copper from that fight.” I said.
“That little, huh. No wonder you guys keep complaining about money.” Devon said.
“Well that is why we made Ed here our official money handler.” George said.
“Money handler?” Devon asked.
“Well he is also a scribe so he helped earn some extra money to keep us afloat in Jopel.” George said.
“Really a scribe. I wouldn’t think of that the way you cut through them out there.” Falkerk said.
“I wanted to see the world and learn about it rather than read about things in books and maps. The world is full of surprises.” I replied.
“That is why you have all those maps.” Falkerk said.
“I drew them myself.” I replied.
“How much does a map sell for? I am curious because I would like to have one.” Falkerk said.
“About two silver. The supplies would probably cost around fifty copper.” I said.
“That much, we are in the wrong line of work.” Devon said.
“Tell me about it. At least he helped me and Bran here learn how to read a bit so we aren’t completely helpless.” I smiled at that. Teaching George and Bran had been an on and off again process but they knew their letters, numbers, and could sound out words. They weren’t good, but at least they weren’t completely useless.
Adventures of a Scribe Page 10