by Edward Brody
Adeelee smiled. “I want to help.”
I turned to Ozzy and then back to Adeelee. “If it’s okay, let Ozzy sleep in my usual room in the meantime. I’m sure you can see that he’s a good guy. He’ll cause no trouble in the Vale.”
Adeelee turned to Ozzy. “I’m sure that can be done. I suppose we’ll see you back in the Vale by Midday.”
“Before I leave, here’s your gold.” I reached in my bag and handed Adeelee and Ozzy 230 gold pieces each. “See you again soon.”
I was exhausted as I headed off towards Linden, but I didn’t have time to sleep. I had slept pretty much every day since I had joined the game, so it would be a good chance for me to see what kind of effects pulling an all-nighter would have. Thus far, they were pretty much the same as Earth: tired eyes, a little bit of a feeling of lethargy, and generally just being damn sleepy.
Sora walked beside me as we traversed through the forest, and she had grown tall enough that I was able to pet the top of her head as she walked with me without having to bend down.
On the trek, I saw quite a bit of wildlife and even a couple of odd-looking creatures that looked like tiny fairies floating around in the forest. I ran into nothing aggressive though, and with me as tired as I was, I wasn’t in the mood to start any fights.
A few hours later, I made it to Linden and the morning sun was out in force by that time. I had only one real goal for going there—one that would hopefully benefit the guild and hopefully fix a big problem that I had created the first time that I had been in the town—Gerard.
I told Sora to wait for me at the edge of the woods and walked my tired legs through the center of the town until I came upon Eanos’ and Gerard’s shops. Both were open for business, but surprisingly Gerard popped outside of his shop and sat a large sack by the entrance. A wagon was parked outside.
“Gerard!” I shouted as he turned around and opened his door to go back inside. “How are you!?”
“Oh! Hey!” Gerard said with a friendly voice. As he looked up and smiled at me, I could see that he had started to grow a short, uneven beard. It seemed like he still hadn’t shaved since the first day that I saw him. “Nice to see you! I remember you because you paid more than my asking price for my mandrake root. Boy, I sure wish I had more customers like you.”
I smiled wide. “Yeah, that’s me.” I looked down at the bag that he had set outside. “What are you up to today?”
Gerard gave a half-frown, half-smile—if that’s even possible—and shook his head. “I’m afraid I’m headed out of Linden. Business hasn’t picked up much since I last saw you and the rent is just too high for me to survive.” He flicked his hand as if he were dismissing the idea. “But the shop is still open if you want to have a look around.”
“Yeah… ugh…” I shrugged. “I’ll have a look inside.”
I followed Gerard back inside of his shop, and half of the items he had were stuff in old rucksacks. The other half were still on the walls, shelves and in their usual place, but the place was starting to look pretty bare.
“What are you looking for exactly?” he asked. “More mandrake root?”
“Just browsing,” I said as I stepped to the side and started admiring a small vase that seemed to be nothing more than a home decoration rather than servicing any purpose.
I was trying to look like I hadn’t come to his store for the sole purpose of trying to recruit Gerard. I had expected that he’d be there and maybe disappointed that his shop wasn’t doing well, but I never expected that he’d be doing so bad that he’d have to leave Linden. As sad as that sounded, however, it seemed like something that would only increase my chances of getting him on my side.
“There’s nothing that you can do to save your shop?” I asked as I picked up a small wooden buckler he had sitting on a stand.
“I’m afraid not,” he replied. “After the rumors started spreading that I was selling fake magic items—which I’m not—business dried up and never returned.” He nodded his head as he had finally accepted his fate. “But I’ll be okay. I sold most of my scrolls for ten percent their worth in order to buy a wagon. I’m going to take up the part of a traveling merchant. Once I’m out of Linden, I should be okay.”
“Traveling merchant?”
Gerard shrugged. “I won’t make as much as if I had a stationary shop, and I’ll have to constantly be on the lookout for bandits, but it’s better than making nothing, which is basically what I’m making here. Once I get enough gold together, I’ll set up shop somewhere else.”
“Hmm…” I hummed. I sat the buckler down and picked up a small copper dagger that he had sitting nearby. I rubbed my finger over the blade as I spoke. “What do you think of dark elves?”
“Dark elves?” Gerard asked. “Why do you ask?”
“Curious.” I shrugged.
“Dirty lot, so I heard. But I’ve never really dealt with them myself.”
I took a deep breath and sat the dagger back in its display position. “What if I offered you a new place to set up shop? Rent free?”
“Rent free?” Gerard laughed. “Is that some kind of joke?”
I shook my head. “In fact, I think you might do more business there than you were doing here before whatever problems you ran into.” I reflexively swallowed as I remembered that the problems he faced were because of me.
“I don’t understand what you’re getting at. Why would you—?”
“A guild,” I interrupted. “I’m forming a guild and we’ve already established a small shop. The only problem is we have no one to work it.”
“Where?” Gerard asked.
“Edgewood.”
“Edgewood?” Gerard chuckled. “Humans can’t live in—“
“Queen Faranni has granted me building rights there, and there a good lot of dark elves who are starved for goods and fair trade—capable elves who might be able to stimulate an economy fit for a small town.”
Gerard reared his head back. “I’m not sure how much I believe you, but even if I did, what would you get out of it?”
“Like I said, I’m forming a guild, and in time we’ll have a small city built in Edgewood. We need trade in order to generate wealth, and we need a merchant in order to stimulate that trade.”
“And you get your goods from where? You just expect me to sell my goods for you and give you all the profits?”
“We’ve got a crafter. Only one at the moment, but in time we’ll have more. He’ll feed you just about everything he creates so that you can sell it. As this is a guild endeavor, the guild keeps the profits, but also as a member, you’re free to anything that you need, and we’ll split some of the earnings once expenses are covered. Any items you find or bring on your own, you’re free to keep the profits for yourself… But you’re welcome to donate as much as you’d like to the guild, of course.”
“Hmph,” Gerard huffed, but he still had a hint of a smile on his face.
“You’ll be our master merchant. You can do what you love without fear of being kicked out for rent.” I tilted my eyes down and shook my head. “We’re just starting out, but I assure you that we’ll be big.”
“Dark elves?” Gerard questioned.
“Yeah, and any other races are welcome too. We already have a road planned to be built to the shop.”
“Oh, for crying out loud,” Gerard whined. “You don’t even have a road yet?”
“Even without a road or an experienced merchant, we’re selling out of stuff almost as quick as we can make it.”
Gerard straightened his shoulders and took a deep breath. “I dunno…”
“Anything I can do to make it worth your while?”
Gerard snapped his lips and lowered his eyes then raised them back up. He nodded his head slightly and smirked. “You know, you saved me from sleeping on an empty stomach the other day. For that, I’ll give your guild a chance.” He shrugged and shook his head as he looked around at his goods. “It can’t possibly be worse than traveling around on my own
with a wagon.”
“So… you’re in?” I asked. I almost couldn’t believe that he was agreeing.
Gerard nodded and smiled as he walked closer to me. “You’re a good guy, um…. What’s your name?”
“Gunnar.”
“You’re a good guy, Gunnar. I’m in.”
Chapter Twenty-One
01/13/0001
I’d love to think that doing good always rewards you and doing bad always punishes you, but life is a strange beast. Sometimes doing bad deeds rewards you infinitely more than doing good. I had sabotaged Gerard’s shop, and in return I was taught magic, given a couple spells, and the act even led to me recruiting the guy that I sabotaged without him having any knowledge of what I had done.
Would he ever find out? As Gerard trotted back to his shop to fetch the last rucksack to place on his wagon, I wasn’t sure. For now, I was happy that he was clueless.
“I’m going to stop in the magic shop over here really quick!” I yelled out to him right as he opened his door.
“Sure, no problem. I’ll be ready to leave in a few minutes. I’ll wait for you at the wagon!”
I nodded and slipped inside Eanos’ shop.
“Welcome traveler to Eanos’…!” Eanos paused, slumped his shoulders and rolled his eyes once he had a good look at me. He was standing behind his counter with his pet bird perched on his wrist. “It’s you again, huh? Sorry, I can’t cast any more portals for you. How’d you manage to survive in Gramora anyway?”
“I had some friends help me out…”
“Yeah?” Eanos waved his hand at his bird, and the bird flew off his wrist and across the room to the perch on the other side of the room. “Well, whatever. What do you want this time?”
“Don’t worry. I don’t want any favors. I just want to buy an arcane magic spell.”
“Hmm…” Eanos looked me up and down. “I can feel arcane coursing through your veins… and something else. Is that divine magic? How did you…?”
“You’re about as nosey as you are crabby,” I spat.
Eanos’ jaw dropped wide. “How dare you!?”
“I saw your neighbor leaving.” I tried to interrupt his train of thought and change the subject before he went on a tangent or kicked me out.
Eanos smiled, suddenly forgetting my backhanded name-calling. “It’s a shame isn’t it? Sell your goods for too low a price and it never works out.”
I shook my head. It was almost as if he wasn’t even willing to acknowledge that the only reason Gerard was leaving was due to our wrongdoings. “Yeah… “ I mumbled. “Anyway, I need a cheap arcane magic spell that’s good for training the skill.”
“I believe you saw this one last time,” Eanos said, pointing down towards one of the scrolls underneath the glass casing.
Scroll: Arcane Missile. Unleash a targeted, arcane blast. Requires 10 Intelligence. Arcane Magic Level 1. Durability: 10/10. Quality: Average. Rarity: Uncommon. Weight: 0.1 kg. Price: 1000 gold
“How does that differ from Fireblast?”
“Are you slow?” Eanos asked. “Obviously, its arcane magic versus fire magic. Some beings are weak to arcane and strong against fire or vice versa. Other than that, Fireblast drains your mana relatively quickly and burns a fairly large radius. This spell is light on mana and impacts a small, targeted area.”
Could be useful, I thought. “Any other level 1 arcane spells?”
Eanos huffed and pulled another scroll out from his drawer. “This is the only other level 1 arcane spell I have.”
Scroll: Magic Trap. Set a magic trap which causes minor damage and slows your target upon triggering. Requires 10 Intelligence. Arcane Magic Level 1. Durability: 10/10. Quality: Average. Rarity: Uncommon. Weight: 0.1 kg. Price: 1000 gold
“You’re asking 1000 gold for this?” I looked back to the other scroll and realized that it had a 1000 gold price tag as well.
“That’s the price,” Eanos clucked.
“I’m pretty sure the missile spell was only 500 gold before I helped you,” I barked.
“You helped me?” Eanos’ eyes went wide and he looked dumbfounded.
I shook my head in disgust. “It was 500 gold the first time I was in here.”
“And I believe I told you something about supply versus demand the last time you were here.”
“Come on, fucking Eanos,” I cursed. “You and I both know you’re overcharging for these. Give me a good price on one of the spells and you won’t see me for a long time.”
Eanos raised his eyebrows. “I won’t see you for a long time? That might be worth a discount.”
“I’ve got 398 gold in my purse. That should cover one of the spells.”
“398 gold? That’s not even enough to meet the old prices.”
“I’ll give you two food rations and three bandages as well.”
“Oh for goodness sake,” Eanos cried. “Trading cheap bandages and food rations? Do I look like a general goods store? I don’t want that crap!”
I sighed. “I guess I’ll just come back when I have the gold then…”
Eanos clenched his teeth. “Here. 398 gold and I’ll sell you one, but I don’t want to see your face for a long, long time.”
I was just turning my head to leave when he said that. “Yeah?”
“Yeah. Which one do you want? Hurry before I change my mind.”
The magic trap spell seemed like it would be the most useful, and I really wished that I had enough for both spells. But the magic trap spell also seemed like it would be much harder to train arcane magic with. The arcane blast sounded like something I’d be able to fire off just about anywhere like Fireblast, so it would be a better first level spell.
“Give me the missile spell,” I said.
“Done.” Eanos pulled out the Arcane Missile spell, and I handed him all of my gold.
You’ve received: Scroll: Arcane Missile. Unleash a targeted, arcane blast. Requires 10 Intelligence. Arcane Magic Level 1. Durability: 10/10. Quality: Average. Rarity: Uncommon. Weight: 0.1 kg.
“Thanks,” I said as I shoved the spell in my bag.
“Thanks for nothing,” Eanos answered. He squinted his eyes then motioned his chin towards the door. “Now run along before you scare away any would-be customers.”
I couldn’t help but grin as I turned and pulled open the door. Eanos was the biggest dick that I had met since I had been in Eden’s Gate, but there was still something about him that I found charming. I had a feeling that there was a side to him that I didn’t know about and I hoped that maybe one day I’d learn about his story.
Gerard was waiting for me outside on top of his wagon. The wagon consisted of a small wooden seating area with just enough room for two people and a storage area covered with canvas right behind it. Two large wooden wheels rose up on each side of the wagon and it was strapped to a single horse. It looked cheap, and I imagined that the load was too much stress for a single horse to travel any considerable distance, but I was in a new world, so what did I know?
“Ready to head out?” Gerard asked.
I nodded and hoisted myself onto the wagon.
“You said you wanted to head to Mist Vale first?” Gerard asked.
“Yeah, we won’t be there long.”
“They don’t usually let humans in the Vale.”
“It’s okay. I have rights of passage.”
Gerard shrugged. “Okay, well let’s give it a go. The trails leading to the Vale aren’t the most forgiving, but I think the wagon will hold up.” Gerard lifted the reins and ordered the horse away from Linden.
As we started down the path exiting Linden, I saw Sora waiting by the edge of the forest. I waved my hands at her, and she came running. “Don’t be alarmed by the great panther heading our way. She’s mine.”
Gerard turned his head towards where I was looking and his eyes went wide. “A panther? An unusual pet for a human.”
“So I hear…”
Sora moseyed up to a spot beside the wagon and trotted alo
ng with us and we pushed through the tight trail in the forest.
“I have a feeling that our little arrangement is going to be quite interesting, Gunnar.”
I chuckled. “Me too.”
I tilted my head back against the hard wood of the wagon in an effort to relax, and the lack of sleep after the long night and morning finally got to me. Despite feeling every bump and rock that the wagon wheels passed over, my eyes grew heavy and I fell into a heavy sleep.
“Halt!” a loud voice said, waking me up from my nap.
I opened my groggy eyes and could see the blurry image of a High Elf approaching the wagon with his bow raised and an arrow nocked.
“My friend here is… coming to meet some friends or something?” Gerard shook his head.
I stretched my arms out, shaking away my grogginess. “It’s me,” I groaned..
“Gunnar Long of Edgewood,” the elf said. “It seems like every time you come to the Vale, you’re bringing someone new along. This isn’t an open city, Ambassador.”
“Ambassador?” Gerard asked.
“Just meeting up with the princess and another friend who’s in the city and we’ll be going.”
“I’m afraid I can’t let you near the palace without a thorough inspection of all the goods on this wagon—for safety reasons.”
I placed a hand on Gerard’s shoulder. “As expected. You should just wait here. I won’t be long.”
Gerard nodded.
“You too,” I said to Sora as I hopped off the wagon.
Gerard pulled the wagon aside to an area that wasn’t obstructing the rest of the trail and I started down the path that led to the center of the Vale. There was no elven escort this time. Either they had grown trusting enough to allow me to walk on my own or they were more concerned with Gerard and wanted to put all their attention on him.
When I arrived to the center of the High Elves city, it was bustling with elves, all smiling and going about their day. I glanced over to the falls where there were a good twenty elves all bathing, and I really got the feeling that I missed the place. Edgewood was nice and all, but my time in Mist Vale had been spectacular.