Somerset

by Aaron Oster

  Set Bonus: +15 Strength, Agility & Endurance Requirements: Level 18 Martial-Warrior

  Whyyy? Sam mentally screamed when he saw the requirements to wear the gear.

  It was completely useless to him. The first Legendary gear he’d found, and he’d never get to wear it.

  He gritted his teeth as he imagined the Overlord watching this and laughing at him.

  Damn you, you smug bastard! I’ll tear you a new one if I ever find you!

  Sam even went so far as to shake his fist at the ceiling, which he imagined looked ridiculous. He stuffed the Bun Ni gear into his bag, noting that it at least only took up one slot. Then he walked to the gleaming chest sitting at the back of the room.

  If this was full of gear he couldn’t use as well, he’d be very angry. Well, angrier than he was already.

  He quickly pulled open the chest and found one item sitting inside. Leaning down, Sam lifted the slim glass vial, glowing a dark red.

  Was this it? A fucking potion?!

  Sam felt about ready to explode, but forced himself to remain calm, reminding himself that if it was the only item here, then it would probably be a good one.

  ITEM FOUND!

  Name: Overlord’s Boon Durability: 25/25

  Rarity: Soul-Forged Quality: Reinforced

  Sam didn’t know what to think. The damn Inspect skill didn’t tell him a thing.

  He tried to pull the cork from the top, but no matter what he did, it refused to budge.

  Fucking scam, that’s what it is!

  Closing the tab, Sam decided that, for now, he’d leave it be. The item was very obviously rare judging by the Soul-Forged rarity, so if all else failed, he’d at least be able to sell it.

  Turning back to Gordon, Sam motioned him over to the center of the room, where the core still sat in the hollow of the tree, pulsing lightly. He motioned to the core again, shrugging his shoulders in an unasked question.

  Damn you, Overlord! I will not be silenced forever and when I can talk again, you’d better watch your back!

  “I believe that it would be prudent to take the core. Dungeon cores are exceedingly rare and valuable.”

  Sam motioned around the dungeon, but Gordon shook his head.

  “Not to worry. The dungeon will become inactive for some time, but it will recover. Our illustrious Overlord would not create such a massive flaw in his dungeons, then leave it out for all to take.”

  Sam grinned when he heard that particular bit of news and reached for the core. An electric tingling ran up his arm as his fingers closed around the gleaming object and when he pulled it from the tree, the light around them dimmed.

  “Quite the sight, is it not?” Gordon asked as Sam stared at the glittering core.

  Sam nodded, the light of the core reflecting in his eyes.

  He felt a sharp stab of pain and looked down to see that Gordon had nipped him.

  Damn dog!

  “It is best not to gaze into a core for too long. It plays tricks on the mind, as the dungeon does not want to take the time and energy to create a new one.”

  Sam just rolled his eyes and stuffed the core into his bag, immediately feeling the odd compulsion to stare at it vanish.

  Guess the dog had been right.

  He then motioned toward the exit tunnel, which had opened as soon as they’d defeated the boss.

  He was so ready to get out of here.

  14

  Sam and Gordon entered the inn in the early evening. It was crowded now, unlike that morning.

  Probably the farmers coming in for a drink after a long day, Sam thought as he wove his way through the crowd to the bar.

  He saw Milly standing behind the counter and waved at her.

  “Oh, it’s good to see you back Sam,” she said with a wide grin.

  If Sam wasn’t so tired, he might have had a hard time interacting with the beautiful elf woman, but seeing as he couldn’t talk, and felt about ready to drop, all he wanted was a bed.

  He nodded, doing his best to return the smile, and mimed opening a door.

  “Of course, you’ll want your room key I take it” she said, not even commenting on his seeming rudeness when he didn’t answer.

  She leaned down under the counter to fetch his room key, giving him a great view down her top.

  He wasn’t too tired to notice that, it seemed.

  Taking the key with a tired smile, Sam headed to the staircase near the back of the inn and tromped up the stairs. He could hear the light clicking of Gordon’s claws on the staircase behind him and wondered if the innkeeper didn’t care about animals in his establishment. Then again, Gordon was probably smarter than everyone here combined, and since he wasn’t going to get drunk, was probably a lot less of a risk than most of the people here.

  Sam reached the top of the staircase and looked down the long, narrow hallway. There looked to be about ten rooms altogether, which he found odd for a small town like this.

  Then again, if this inn offered “extras,” he could see why this number of rooms would be necessary.

  Looking down at his key, Sam saw the number 10 etched into the metal, and had to walk all the way to the other end of the hallway before he reached his room. Unlocking the door, Sam was pleasantly surprised at what he saw. He’d been expecting a wooden box with a bed, but this room had a lot more.

  The hardwood floor was clean and polished, and there was a wool rug spread around the sizeable bed, which was set in the center of the room. A plush armchair sat against one side, and a small table sat on the other. He could also see a steaming basin of water and a clean towel set next to it, for which he was very grateful. Gordon pushed passed him then and went over to curl up near the bed. He still had his new stick and began gnawing on it almost immediately.

  How had they known he’d be coming? Sam wondered as he took off his pack and stripped down to his underclothes. Letting out a long sigh, or trying to, Sam arched his back and heard a series of satisfying cracks.

  Standing straight again, he walked over to the basin of water and washed as best he could. He then attempted to do the same to his clothes, which had accumulated quite a bit of filth throughout the day. The clear water turned muddy and disgusting as soon as the shirt and pants landed inside, and Sam did his best to scrub out all the dirt and blood. He then wrung them out and draped them over the back of the chair to dry.

  Scrubbing himself dry with the towel, Sam collapsed into the soft bed with a Muted groan.

  This day had been hell! He’d been forced to watch his language, been hit with a bunch of divine curses and, finally, been made mute for the rest of the day. He couldn’t wait to be able to talk again, and better yet, curse his brains out!

  ***

  Sam woke the next morning to a light rapping on his door. Groaning to himself, he tried to roll out of bed, only to discover that Gordon had made himself at home next to him at some point during the night.

  Grumbling to himself, he made a tremendous effort of rolling the other way to reach the floor. Shuffling slowly to the door, he opened it a crack, and almost jumped out of his boxers when he saw Milly standing there. She was holding a tray, with a bowl of stew, a loaf of bread, and a mug of something.

  Fucking stew.

  “Good morning, Sam,” Milly said with a bright smile. “I hope I didn’t wake you.”

  “Not at all,” he mumbled, doing his best not to stare.

  “Great! Would you mind if I came in to set this down?”

  Sam was about to open the door, when he realized his state of undress.

  “I’m kinda not dressed, so if you could just leave it by the door, that would be fine.”

  Milly’s smile didn’t waver.

  “Oh don’t worry. I’m sure you don’t have anything I haven’t seen before.”

  Then, before he could stop her, she pushed straight into the room. Sam stumbled back from the door, surprised at the girl’s strength, and tried to look as inconspicuous as he could, while Milly set the food down on
the small table. Gordon had lifted his head as soon as she’d walked in, and was watching her with some interest.

  Once she’d set the tray down, Milly turned to appraise him, not being at all subtle in running her eyes over his body. Sam was dressed in a pair of boxers, which for some reason, were the same as he’d had back home, and a sleeveless undershirt. Even though he was practically dressed, he still felt a flush of embarrassment creeping up his face as the gorgeous elf examined him. After a few moments, her eyes met his, and she gave him a playful wink.

  Holy shit!

  “I’ll leave you to eat and get dressed, but don’t take too long. The city is about eight hours away, and I’d like to get there before nightfall,” and with that, she swept out of the room, closing the door behind her.

  “Well, fuck me!” Sam exclaimed, sinking to the floor.

  A second later, he winced, expecting a new divine curse to hit him.

  “It would appear that my day will once again be filled with profanity,” Gordon observed, opening his toothy maw in a wide yawn. “A real shame as well; I was quite enjoying the peace and quiet.”

  “Fuck you, Gordon!”

  Sam quickly pulled up his status to check the day’s rule. He didn’t want to be caught off guard again.

  RULE OF THE DAY

  Do not kill any female dwarves

  Well, that was easy enough, Sam thought, closing his status with a sigh of relief. He had yet to see a single dwarf, so keeping this rule should be just fine.

  He then walked around to the other side of his bed, dressed in his still slightly damp clothes. Immediately, he felt the difference of that extra point in Strength .

  Strange that. He didn’t feel this much of a difference when increasing Intelligence or Wisdom , though he did feel quite a bit healthier whenever he increased Endurance and had a feeling of wellbeing when increasing Constitution . Maybe he would only feel changes from physical attributes.

  “Hey Gordon,” he said, taking a seat at the table and digging into the stew.

  He hadn’t realized until now how hungry he was.

  “Yes?” Gordon asked, his head still on the bed, tail swishing back and forth.

  “Why do I only feel a difference when increasing a physical attribute?” he asked through a mouthful of bread and stew.

  “I can assure you that there is a difference when increasing any attribute. The only reason that you feel the physical over the mental, is because you are not yet accustomed to the sensation. You will, over time, begin to feel it, however.”

  Sam only nodded, then went back to stuffing his face.

  There was a hot elf girl waiting for him to escort her, and he didn’t want to keep her waiting even a moment longer than he had to!

  ***

  Milly was already waiting for him, pack slung over one shoulder, when Sam came down the stairs. She was dressed, thankfully, in a sturdy set of travel clothes that were a lot less revealing than the maid outfit she’d been wearing the last time he’d seen her.

  “Looks like you’re ready to go,” Sam said, finding that it was much easier to speak with her now that she’d covered up.

  “Yes, I’m very excited. I barely slept a wink last night!” Milly exclaimed, bouncing lightly in place.

  Sam turned back, as Gordon padded up behind him, ever present stick clutched between his jaws.

  “You ready to go?” he asked, raising an eyebrow at the dog.

  Gordon had helped himself to the rest of Sam’s stew when he’d gone to use the bathroom, and he was still a bit annoyed at him for that. As a result, he’d only gotten to eat about half his meal, and his stomach still felt distinctly empty.

  “Yes, I do believe I am,” Gordon replied.

  “Why are you asking your dog if he’s ready to go?” Milly asked, peering around him to stare at Gordon, with a puzzled expression on her face.

  Right. Apparently, the people of this world couldn’t understand a thing Gordon said, and Milly would probably think he was crazy if he tried to explain himself.

  “Oh, no reason,” Sam replied with a shrug. “I just find that when traveling alone for so long, one must find ways of entertaining themselves. You’ll have to excuse me if I talk to him from time to time.”

  “Okay,” Milly replied cheerily, returning her attention to him, while Gordon let out an annoyed huff.

  “Right… Let’s get going then,” Sam said, as an awkward silence suddenly seemed to hang over the group.

  He quickly walked past Milly and out of the inn. Emerging onto the street, he took a moment to breathe in the fresh morning air and checked the time. It was just past nine, so if all went to plan, they should arrive at the city of Shtut between five and six that evening. The door swung open behind him, and Gordon came out, followed closely by Milly.

  She seemed to be in a very good mood, beaming at him with a brilliant smile, her large, and expressive green eyes glittering in the morning sun. Sam nervously cleared his throat, then checked his map. He had to zoom out quite a bit until the city came into view, and he grimaced a bit at the path they’d be forced to take to get there. Most of the trip seemed to be through a sprawling countryside, dotted with farms, but the last leg of the trip would take them through a wooded area, named Bandit’s Haunt.

  What the hell!

  Sam looked around for an alternate route, and resisted the urge to go on a tirade that would probably scare the beautiful elf off.

  This had to be some type of sick joke! If he wanted to avoid Bandit’s Haunt , he would need to take a week-long detour through a treacherous bog, literally named: Treacherous Bog!

  Letting out a long sigh, Sam closed his map and turned to Milly, whose face fell when she saw his expression.

  “Let me guess. You can’t take me?” She asked, her bottom lip beginning to tremble slightly as she said this.

  Damn you, Overlord!

  “Of course I’m going to take you,” Sam was quick to reassure her. “I was only annoyed that there’s no safer path to the city, that’s all.”

  “Really?” Milly’s eyes were as wide as saucers, and he could visibly see them watering.

  Why are you doing this to me, Overlord!? Haven’t I been a good boy this year?

  “Yes, really,” Sam replied, feeling his heart twinge in sympathy. He couldn’t help it; the elf girl looked so cute and helpless, that he wanted to do or say whatever it took to calm her down.

  Milly’s expression changed so quickly that Sam had to wonder if he’d imagined the entire thing. Her half-formed tears vanished, and a rosy-cheeked smile took its place.

  “Great! Let’s get going then,” she said, skipping past him and down the road.

  “Gordon, what the fuck just happened?” Sam asked as he watched her retreating back.

  “I believe the term you humans use is, you just got played,” Gordon replied.

  Sam snorted out a laugh.

  The dog was right though, he’d just gotten played, big time!

  Following behind the skipping elf, Sam soon discovered that he really didn’t mind being played, especially by someone as outright cheery as this girl was.

  So what if she’d used her stunningly good looks to get him to do what she’d wanted? She wasn’t physically strong, so she used other means of persuasion to get her way. Wasn’t that the way of the world?

  Sam stopped his deep, philosophical musings when Milly suddenly turned to look back at him. Belatedly, he realized that his gaze had wandered just a little lower than was appropriate, and his eyes snapped back up to meet her’s.

  He may have been blushing.

  Milly slowed her pace just enough for him to catch up with her, and she switched from skipping to walk at a normal pace.

  “So tell me about yourself, Sam, where are you from originally and how did you find our small town?”

  Sam quickly looked to Gordon, wondering how much he was allowed to say. Thankfully, the dog seemed to understand and replied before he even got his question out.

&n
bsp; “You may tell her what you wish, but please keep details of your old world to a minimum.”

  Milly turned her attention to Gordon when he spoke, but just as with everyone else, all she heard was a dog barking.

  “I am a… traveler, of sorts,” Sam began, trying to find the best way to word it. “My home is very far away, and I have traveled a great distance to come here.”

  Damn, that was good! I should write this down so I won’t forget. Definitely nailed the whole mysterious traveler thing.

  “I’ve never met a traveler before, but I know Somerset is a very big place. In fact, I once heard that it would take a full-grown man over 90 years to completely circle the globe, and that would only be if he walked non-stop.”

  Ninety years?!

  It was estimated that it would take roughly 11 years to cross the entire Earth if the person went non-stop, which would mean that Somerset was roughly 8 times the size of his home world! Sam wasn’t even sure when he’d picked up that weird bit of information; must have been a question at some trivia night or something like that.

  “Wow, that sounds like an awfully long time, especially seeing as people only have so long to live,” Sam commented offhandedly.

  “What do you mean?” Milly asked, drawing his attention.

  “What do I mean by what?”

  “When you said people only have so long to live. Unless you’re killed by a monster or meet with some unfortunate accident, most can live for centuries if they reach a high enough level.”

  Centuries?!

  Sam’s eyes snapped to Gordon, who only nodded his head in agreement.

  “Wait, if people can live for centuries, then how old are you?” He asked, not even thinking before speaking.

  Milly let out a light laugh, swatting him gently on the arm.

  “It’s rude to ask a girl her age you know, but since you’re being so nice and escorting me to the city, I guess I can tell you.” She tapped a finger against her lip for a moment, as Sam leaned in a bit closer.