Trailblazer

by Zen DiPietro

  Essley arrived. “Hey, guys. What’s that?”

  She approached the counter curiously.

  Sally didn’t follow her friend’s gaze, but looked intently at Essley. Something was different.

  When she assessed Essley, she no longer saw Essley as a mercenary.

  Essley

  Adventurer

  Neutral Good

  Level Twelve/Level Two

  Profession 1 (frozen): Entrepreneur

  Profession 2 (active): Maker

  Specialty: Botanist

  Essley is carrying four copper coins.

  Essley has two platinum, twenty-eight gold, zero silver, and seven copper in electronic funds.

  Essley poses no threat to you.

  Essley’s karma is very good.

  Essley looks like the kind of person who helps old ladies cross the street.

  Sally laughed at the last bit. She needed to do more deep assessments to see more of those odd little lines.

  “You retrained!” she exclaimed.

  Previously absorbed in studying the puzzle, Darthrok turned his attention to Essley. “Whoa. Big change.”

  Essley nodded, looking shy but excited. “I thought about it a lot and decided that Sally was right.”

  Darthrok looked from her to Sally and back, raising an eyebrow in question.

  Essley added, “She said that I could take the easier route and never be happy, or commit to the retrain, do the hard work, and be happy.”

  “I did?” Sally recalled the conversation, but didn’t remember saying that.

  “Well,” Essley said, “maybe not in those words exactly, but that was the gist. It’s no fun finding mechanical beasts to beat on, over and over. I want to make things instead. I have a lot of work to get my crafting skills up equal to my mercenary skills, so I can learn crafting at a normal rate. The half-rate learning penalty’s going to be a real killer.”

  “We’ll help,” Sally said. “You’ll get there.”

  Darthrok nodded in agreement. “So, what can you make?”

  Essley grimaced, then laughed. “So far, just a really bad vitamin drink. It tastes awful, smells worse, and does almost nothing to increase energy. Basically, it’s one grade above bog slime. But it’s a way to practice.”

  “Sounds good,” Darthrok said. When Essley gave him a weird look, he added quickly, “I mean, not the potion. That sounds awful, and I’m not going to volunteer to drink it until you’re better at it. But the practicing is good. It’ll be cool to have a botanist to adventure with.”

  “You aren’t mad that we won’t be able to hunt together like we did?” Essley asked hesitantly.

  “Nah, what am I, some kind of jerk?” He mock-scowled at her. “Once we get your skills up, it’ll be great. One merc, one botanist, one technie. That’s a heckin’ good adventuring party right there.”

  Essley smiled. “Yeah, it is. I should have started out that way.”

  “Live and learn,” Darthrok said. “And you’ll keep your combat ranks, so you’ll be much better at fighting than most makers. Pretty cool.”

  Essley looked relieved. “Yeah, that’ll be fun.”

  She gestured to the puzzle. “So what’s this?”

  “Sally sold me a quest puzzle. I don’t even know where to start with it.” Rather than show frustration, he smiled good-naturedly.

  “You could pay her to help solve it,” Essley suggested.

  Darthrok peered closer at the puzzle and pushed it experimentally with his forefinger. “I might. But I want to try working at it first. It’s rare, and would be pretty cool if I could figure it out myself. Is that okay, Sally? I bet you’re eager to figure it out, and could do it way faster than me.”

  Sally shook her head. “Mystery is good. You keep trying.”

  Now that her friends were both there, she was more interested in sharing her news with them than fussing over the puzzle, however intriguing it was. She leaned forward and said, “Guess what?”

  “What?” Darthrok and Essley asked, almost in unison.

  “Sujan said yes,” she announced triumphantly.

  Darthrok said, “Yes to…wait, yes to being your mentor?”

  Sally nodded excitedly. “A try out, to show him I can do it.”

  “Wow!” Essley hopped up and down. “He rarely accepts anyone. Mostly, people just find a mentor from another town. What did you do to impress him?”

  Sally scrunched her nose, wondering what had finally done it. Her persistence, her ability to improvise, or maybe how fast she was learning? Those might be factors, but she was pretty sure they weren’t the deciding one. “I made him laugh.”

  Essley and Darthrok stared at her.

  “You what?” Darthrok asked. “He laughed?”

  Sally nodded.

  “Wow,” he said slowly, amazed. “I didn’t think it was possible. You know what, Sally? If you can pull off a feat like making Sujan Souk laugh, you might just be able to accomplish anything in this world.”

  Sally laughed, knowing he was only joking. On the other hand…she was eager to see just how far she could push her boundaries.

  And she had two amazing friends to help her do it.

  9

  Sally frowned at the metal disk in front of her, and the sandpaper she’d rubbed nearly smooth. When she’d imagined an apprenticeship with Sujan, it hadn’t been like this. While she didn’t mind menial labor, no matter how repetitive, he hadn’t offered to actually teach her anything.

  And it had been four whole days! Four days of running over to his shop and doing whatever he told her, and racing back to her own store whenever a customer arrived.

  She’d spent that fourth day in his workshop, sanding metal to clean off impurities prior to welding. By hand. Because…well, she had no idea why when there were plenty of belt sanders in the shop.

  It felt pretty heckin’ pointless.

  Maybe on the fifth day he’d show her some welding. That would be exciting. All fiery and melty and weldy.

  On the fifth day, she replaced the belts on the sanders. All day.

  On the sixth day, she inventoried the drill bits, noting which ones would need to be replaced soon.

  On the tenth day, she dusted. All day long.

  “Dust is the worst enemy of technology,” Sujan lectured. “Along with water.”

  So, she dusted.

  On the fifteenth day, he pointed at a workbench near the window. “You can use that one when you have something to work on.”

  But he gave her nothing to work on.

  When the twentieth day rolled around, Sally arrived at Sujan’s workshop planning to make a stand. To demand some actual teaching. What was the point of a trial apprenticeship if he wasn’t even going to teach her anything? What was he the mentor of? Tidying up?

  “Hello, Sally.” He looked up as she let herself in.

  “You have to teach me something,” she stated without even greeting him first. “Today.”

  Feeling like she needed to somehow emphasize her words, she crossed her arms over her chest.

  Hmph.

  He smiled faintly and tilted his chin up, in the direction of the window.

  Sally looked and saw an array of parts arranged on her workbench alongside a variety of tools neatly laid out at right angles.

  “Today, you’ll build a basic motor,” he said. “Since you’ve proven your dedication.”

  Was that what she’d done with all those boring tasks? “Well…okay!”

  She sat down and they began their first lesson.

  “Ugh.” Essley leaned against the wall of Sally’s store and slid down it until she was in a sitting position. She put her face in her hands. “Grinding out levels stinks.”

  Darthrok sat next to her and nudged her with an elbow. “At least you’re on your way. Level five already.”

  The three of them had taken to meeting up at Sally’s after their daily activities, since those were taking them all in different directions for the moment.

&n
bsp; “I guess. But each level gets progressively harder, so it just gets slower and slower.” She looked over to Sally. “How’s the apprenticeship going? It’s probably a lot like what I’m going through.”

  Sally stood behind her counter, feeling a little awkward with her friends sitting on the floor and over to the side. She crossed the room and sat down opposite them. She needed to get some chairs or something. This was not fancy. Or even comfortable.

  “It’s slow but not boring,” Sally said. “I like learning. Don’t you?”

  “Well, yeah.” Essley shifted. “But right now I’m just hunting plants, then grinding them to turn them into drinks, ointments, and poultices. Over and over and over. And over. It’s repetitive.”

  “What exactly is a poultice?” Darthrok asked. “I always thought it was a fun word. Poultice. Poultice. Like poultry, but only sort of because there aren’t any chickens.”

  Essley sent him a withering look. “It’s a mashed-up goop of plants that you smear on skin and lay a cloth over. Usually while it’s warm. That’s all.”

  “Oh.” He looked disappointed. “I thought it was something more…I don’t know. Specific.”

  “The specifics depend on the purpose of the poultice. They can be very beneficial. Or at least mine will be once I’ve gained enough skill. Right now, you’d mostly just be wearing some warm oatmeal on your leg.”

  He grimaced. “Pass.”

  Essley shifted her gaze to Sally. “I’m glad your work is more rewarding.”

  “No rewards yet,” Sally answered. “But I’m learning. It’s tough to run back here all the time, though.”

  Darthrok made a sympathetic hum. “I bet that stinks. Just when you get going on a project, bam, someone wants to buy some boots or something.”

  “Yeah.” Sally wished she could post hours for her store or work only by appointment like Sujan did, but the store’s mechanics made that impossible. It had to be open all the time, whether she was there or not.

  “Too bad you can’t hire someone.” Darthrok smiled and joked, “Or take an apprentice of your own.”

  Sally smiled. An apprentice with an apprentice. That would be funny.

  “Hang on.” Darthrok looked down at the floor, in deep thought. “Yeah, why not?”

  He pointed at Sally. “You’re an entrepreneur/Maker CM who has a store.” He pointed at Essley. “She’s an adventurer maker who can partner with a storemonger. Why not?”

  Sally stared at him. “I can’t take an apprentice.”

  “Why not?” He pressed. “You have the skill, position, and the means.”

  She had partnered with some crafters, on occasion, selling their goods in her store for a commission of the price. But an apprentice was something else. No one had ever asked to learn how to clean counters and work the cash register.

  Sally gazed at Essley, who looked as surprised by the idea as Sally felt.

  “Could that work?” Essley asked. “I mean, if it could…that would be interesting. Wouldn’t it?”

  “Would you want to?” Sally asked tentatively.

  “I think so. You’d be able to teach me at an accelerated rate, right? Even though you aren’t a botanist, you could teach me some crafting skills, and the learning bonus would really help mitigate some of the drag caused by my dual-classing.” Essley bit her lip as she thought. “And it would help you out, which is good. I mean, I could just as easily be here minding the store while I’m grinding away at making healing elixirs. If it could work, I mean. If I’d be able to sell your merchandise to people.”

  “It’s a crazy idea,” Sally said slowly, thinking about the systems Essley would have to be able to access and whether those permissions could be assigned to her.

  “Crazy enough to work?” Darthrok asked hopefully.

  “Maybe.” Sally fixed all her attention on Essley. “Are you sure? Do you want to try?”

  Essley nodded. “Yeah! Let’s give it a try, at least. If it works, and I turn out to be a terrible employee, you can always just fire me.”

  Darthrok laughed, but Sally was too focused to spare any thought on humor. She thought hard about apprenticeship and becoming a mentor, which triggered a decision tree, opening up selectable options. She wasn’t sure what all of them meant. Some didn’t even appear to be written in any Everternian language. Some were just a jumble of numbers and dots.

  Then she found an option that said: Accept apprentice.

  She reached out and took Essley’s hands. “Ask me to be your mentor.”

  “Um, okay. Sally, will you be my mentor, and, uh, let me be your apprentice?”

  Darthrok let out a theatrical sigh and shook his head in disgust. “Fail. Man, you had a moment to say a really grand line, too. Maybe even do a big speech. You totally lamed out.”

  Essley glared at him, but ruined the effect with a slight smile.

  An option lit up bright green in Sally’s mind, and she selected it.

  Accept Essley as my apprentice.

  The decision tree bloomed with branches that had yet more branches leading out. Most of them, she couldn’t decipher. Maybe that was because, like apprenticeship, it wasn’t relevant at the time. Had she always had all of this inside her, just lying dormant and waiting for her to access it? How strange.

  She wanted to study it all, to read and log all the branches, and puzzle out what the ones she couldn’t understand were for. She wanted to understand it all.

  A repetitive noise teased at the edge of her focus, and she tried to keep tuning it out, but the harder she tried, the louder and more insistent it became. Again, again, again, the same sound.

  Reluctantly, she turned her attention toward it.

  “Sally. Sally. Sally. What’s going on?”

  Essley looked scared. No, terrified.

  Darthrok did, too.

  “What?” Sally asked. “What happened?”

  They both showed relief, but their worry didn’t fade away.

  “You went kind of…passive,” Essley said. “You know, not quite here.”

  Sally looked from one to the other, trying to figure it out. Then it hit her. “Did I seem like I did before I was awake? Like I wasn’t all the way…here?”

  “Yeah, something like that,” Darthrok said. “You kind of froze up. What happened?”

  Sally straightened. “I accepted Essley as apprentice. I started looking at options. Too many options. I think I got a little lost.”

  Darthrok licked his lips. “Okay, I’m not going to lie, that worries me. A lot.”

  “Did we break you?” Essley asked.

  “Not broken.” Sally gave herself a once-over, and she seemed fine. “I’ll have to be careful.”

  “Should we not do the mentor thing?” Essley asked, anxious. “We probably shouldn’t have tried that.”

  “No, it’s fine,” Sally insisted. “I just have to be careful not to look too far. I didn’t know. Now I know. It’s okay.”

  Their expressions eased somewhat.

  “Okay,” Darthrok said, “but if anything else like that happens, just try to get out of it fast and make sure you tell us about it. You’ll do that, right?”

  Sally nodded. “I’ll do that. I’ll be careful. I’m still learning.”

  She smiled to reassure them, then stood and dusted herself off. “Good. So, let’s get started, apprentice!”

  Essley smiled and her tension disappeared. “Right! Teach me, oh great mentor, for I am your student and together, there’s nothing we can’t accomplish.” She sneaked a look at Darthrok. “How was that?”

  “Stinky.” He wore a pained expression. “So poor, so uninspired that I can almost actually smell it, like a physical stench.” He dabbed at his eyes. “Ow. They burn.”

  Essley rolled her eyes, then hurried over to the cash register. “Think I can touch it now?”

  She held up a finger, poised.

  “I think you’d be a useless, bad employee if you couldn’t,” Darthrok answered.

  Essley lowe
red the finger and put it on a cash register button. “Look at that!”

  Sally smiled. She was glad Essley was pleased. She doubted her new apprentice would be so happy when Sally began teaching her the ins and outs of valuating scrap metal and other parts, and how to stay on top of supply and demand trends.

  “You’re good, though?” Sally asked.

  “I’m good. Everything’s good. The store is in good hands. If anything comes up, I can just ping you since you have your shiny new communicator. Right?” Essley stood behind the counter of Sally’s store, looking ready.

  But was she? Retail could get crazy sometimes. Did Essley know that?

  Sally hesitated.

  “Go.” Essley made a shooing gesture toward the door. “Sujan will be waiting for you. He’s unpleasant when you’re late, right?”

  Sally grimaced. Essley’s words were too true. The man had not warmed up one bit since she’d become his apprentice. If anything, he took his duties as her mentor even more seriously. She hadn’t even been able to lure him into jokes and wordplay again. A shame, since he’d really lit up that one time.

  He was really boring sometimes. But he had so much to teach her that she didn’t truly mind. Learning wasn’t supposed to be about constant excitement.

  “I’ll call you if anything unexpected comes up,” Essley added in a soothing voice.

  Still, Sally hesitated. She’d absorbed a whole lot of change lately, and delighted in it even. But somehow, handing her store operations off to someone else felt like a dereliction of duty. She knew Essley could handle the basic transactions that she had the authority to perform. As of yet, she couldn’t valuate scrap to purchase, but she could sell any basic items that weren’t puzzles. Puzzles remained entirely Sally’s domain.

  Sally fought a sense of guilt rather than any doubt in her friend’s abilities. She felt a duty to her customers and feared that, in taking an apprentice to handle basic sales, she was failing as a storemonger.

  This was “Sally’s Store.” Shouldn’t she, Sally, be the one ensuring her customers’ satisfaction? She’d always prided herself on that. Equipping adventurers, especially new adventurers, was the purpose of her existence.

  Was she wrong to change things? To want more?