A Healer's Gift: Adventures of Brad: Book 1 (Adventures on Brad)

by Tao Wong

  Standing up, Liev walks away and Daniel sighs. Liev was right, the past few days, the uncomfortable silence between the two Adventurers after their first real fight had affected their teamwork and the unspoken topic between them hangs in the air, suffocating them in the crawl spaces of the sixth floor. It was so heavy, it drove the two up, early.

  Asin comes over, handing a pouch over to Daniel. He hefts the pouch, a part of him wondering if she’s giving him more than his share before he shakes his head, clearing it. Liev is right, this was beginning to be a distraction.

  While Daniel battles with his doubts, Asin has turned away and started off.

  “Asin,” Daniel calls out.

  Shoulders hunching slightly, the Catkin turns to look at Daniel, golden eyes glinting with expectation.

  “We need to talk,” Daniel says as he approaches her.

  She chuffs, then nods finally, waving him ahead. Daniel rolls his eyes, wondering why he’s always leading. For a time, Daniel debates where to go before defaulting to where he feels most comfortable – the Spinning Top.

  The Top is surprisingly quiet and Daniel blinks, surprised at the lack of patrons. Elise smiles as they come in, waving them over to a table and coming over to serve them herself. “Daniel, and this must be Asin?”

  Asin nods and Elise smiles, “I know what he wants but we have Burdock root if you wish. And the roast is just about ready.”

  Asin lets out a little happy yowl of delight, nodding to Elise’s suggestions who smiles, moving off to get their order sorted. Daniel shifts uncomfortably in his chair as Asin turns to regard him, silent. They just sit there, waiting for the food to come, the silence growing increasingly uncomfortable before Daniel finally gives in.

  “We’re having problems,” Daniel begins and waits for a reaction from Asin. Getting none, he forges on anyway, “We aren’t working as well together, we’re getting in each others way and well, it’s just not going well.”

  Asin finally relents and offers him a short nod before Daniel continues, “It started with the fight with the Boss. And the healing. I guess, I guess you want to know why I didn’t tell you about it before.”

  Asin tilts her head for a moment before letting out a little chuff and shakes it, “Stone.”

  “You are upset with me about the stone?” Daniel blinks, not exactly what he was thinking.

  “Yes. I give. You refuse,” Asin continues, shaking her head. “Throw away.”

  “Of course I refused it,” Daniel states. “I can’t take everything for myself. That would be wrong. You don’t take from your team.”

  “Throw away!?!” Asin snarls and points. “No respect Asin.”

  “I do respect you. That’s why I refused the stone!” Daniel protests and Asin huffs, nostrils flaring out as her tail swishes out behind her, straight as a sword.

  “No respect throw away!” Asin snarls again and thumps her paw down, claws coming out slightly.

  Daniel leans back away from the Catkin, the snarl sending involuntary shivers deep down his monkey back, “Asin, I do respect you. You’re my team.”

  Asin snarls again but before she can speak, Elise appears carrying their drinks. “You two, calm down. Or do it outside of my inn.”

  Daniel blinks and notes how everyone is watching the two of them. He hangs his head slightly while Asin looks around, realises she’s actually jumped up on to her chair as she speaks with Daniel and hops back down, looking slightly abashed as well. Elise, seeing the two have begun to behave themselves points her fingers at the two of them. “You two should actually try talking.”

  “We are!” Daniel exclaim and Elise reaches over, smacking him on the top of his head.

  “I said talk, not shout the same things over and over again. Explain your side of things!” shaking her head Elise walks out, muttering ‘Youngsters’ under her breath.

  As Elise leaves the two of them, it is Asin who breaks the silence first, “Asin give gift. Gift! Daniel throw away. Throw away gift. Throw away respect.” Finishing, Asin chuffs and reaches for her drink, guzzling it down.

  Daniel frowns, shaking his head. “But I couldn’t take it from you. You earned it!” At Asin’s glare he holds up a hand, trying to figure out how to explain. “You know I grew up in the mines right?” Asin nods and Daniel continues, “The mines, you work in a team. Always. The stupid ones, the prospectors, the fools, they work alone and die alone. Real miners, we work together because the mine is always looking to end you. Cave-ins, monsters, bad pockets of air. Without your team, you are nothing. Without Asin, I would be nothing in the Dungeon. And you never take all the ore, all the mana from another. If you do, they might not be able to come back the next day.”

  Asin snorts at the last bit, but chuffs a little, shaking her head. She’s slightly mollified by what Daniel has said, but is still upset. As the two Adventurers ponder the matter, Elise arrives with their dinner, shooting them one last quelling look as business is finally picking up. Hurrying away, Elise leaves the two to sit in silence, enjoying the roast.

  When dinner is finished, Asin fishes in her pocket and lays out a pair of silver. She looks Daniel straight in the eye and says, “Dinner. Gift.”

  Daniel nods at her words, murmuring a soft “Thank you!”. This was one battle he would not fight. Satisfied, Asin slinks off, the crowd of Adventurers and guards eyeing the Catkin and smiling when she leaves.

  Chapter 24

  “This is the Adventurer you mentioned?” The speaker is broad-shouldered with an erect bearing and a small, faded scar on his left cheek wearing the green and gold uniform of the Army. The man speaks to Liev as he points a finger at Daniel who is enjoying his breakfast in the early morning.

  Liev nods, hands folded behind his back and surprisingly his unruly red hair combed flat, “Yes Champion, he is. This is Daniel Chai, Healer and Adventurer.”

  Striding over, the Champion barks to Daniel in an authoritative voice that brooks no argument, “I have need of another Healer. Pay’s a gold and a half a day for a Healer, we’ll be gone for a week at most. We leave tomorrow.”

  His mouth full, Daniel chews and swallows quickly, casting a pitiful glance at Liev for a further explanation as he does so.

  “This is Champion Eronin from the Duke’s Guard. It seems that an Orc raiding party has been spotted 2 days ride from here and the Champion has volunteered to fight it. You’ll be joined by a dozen other Adventurers and a platoon of the Duke’s Guard.”

  Quest Offered

  Accompany Champion Eronin in battling the Orc Raiding Party.

  Reward: 1 and a half gold a day as a Healer.

  “Ummm…” Daniel scratches at his chin as he finishes swallowing, “I’d be happy to do so but I do work with another Adventurer, Asin. She uses knives but she’s a much better tracker than me.”

  “A gold a day,” Eronin states and begins to turn around. He stops as Liev clears his throat, waiting for the Champion to turn to him. “Champion, I am afraid I must inform you as per your request that she is a Catkin.”

  “What?” Eronin turns and looks at his potential healer and then the Guild attendant. “Forget it. We don’t need those thieving creatures in the group. Just you healer.”

  “Then no,” Daniel states calmly, though the words make the entire room fall silent. Elise, having come out from the kitchen winces, matronly brown eyes narrowing in concern.

  “Do you know who I am?” Eronin growls, leaning forwards to meet Daniel in the eyes. “You will come with me.”

  “No,” Daniel meets the gaze for a brief moment and then is forced to look away, unable to meet the pressure exerted by the man’s presence. Yet, stubborn nature refuses to give in to the man’s demands. He would not abandon his team.

  A hand slams into the table again, Eronin snarling, “I could destroy you for this insolence.”

  “Champion…” Liev intervenes, coughing into his hand. “As per Guild charter, an Adventurer may turn down any request for any reason so long as he has not pr
eviously accepted it. Daniel is within his rights, if not his mind.”

  Eronin snarls, a hand trembling on the table before he regains control of his temper and stalks out of the room, shoving the door open with a crash, Liev following silently behind. As they leave, Daniel feels a hard smack on the top of his head, Elise holding the offending spoon.

  “You idiot! That was the Duke’s Champion!” Elise complains, pointing towards the recently departed figure. “If you had played nice you could have gotten personal quests and more!”

  Daniel rubs his head, trying to figure out how to explain this to Elise. She needed an explanation, probably one that was complicated but it was simple really. Asin was his friend and his partner and you always worked with your team because that’s what you did in the mines. Once you had a partner you worked together no matter what. Eventually, he tries with, “I work with Asin.” ‘

  Elise’s groan is what he expected, though having overheard their previous conversation, she understands his thinking to a point. Still, the damnable stubborn child! While she is standing there, frustrated, Daniel switches topics to something that puzzle him. “I didn’t think Liev disliked her too.”

  Elise rubs her temples as she stares at Daniel, a headache forming while she explains to him, “Liev is just doing his job. The Champion doesn’t work with Beastkin and probably made it clear in his quest.”

  “Oh,” Daniel frowns and looks at his hands, trying to understand the reasoning behind such a decision. In the end, he shrugs and dismisses it. It was not his concern why others chose to do what they did, just what he chose to do himself. Gulping down the last of his meal, Daniel stands and gives Elise a peck on the cheek. Asin and he were going to try fighting a single Ogre today on the seventh floor. Working the seventh floor was tough, and they had avoided the Titanic Crawler for the last few days as their close defeat was still fresh in their minds. Perhaps trying the new floor would provide much needed variety, even if Daniel still didn’t have the money for proper chain mail.

  “This was not what I was expecting,” Daniel mutters, staring around the seventh floor. The ceiling stretches for a good forty feet, glow stones interspersed throughout the ceiling that it looked like daylight itself in the cavern. The ground was covered in lush grass and occasional small trees and more often bushes range across their view.

  Asin nods firmly, gliding soundlessly across the grass in her light leather armour and boots before tentatively poking at a bush. When nothing happens, she squats down and eyes it closer, before shrugging and moving to the next type to repeat her actions.

  Daniel keeps watch of the cavern while she does her thing, a part of him glad that he’s no longer forced to crouch. If not for good massages and a constant barrage of heal spells, he felt he would be stuck in a permanent half-crouch after the last several months.

  A low rhythmic thudding brings both Adventurers attention back to point, Asin pulling her cloak tighter before working her way into the shadows. Daniel steps forward to face the new threat and then gulps as he spots an Ogre for the first time, hands grown clammy. Nine feet tall, wearing a ragged loincloth and wielding a club, the creature sports a potbelly and a pig-snout that is just the tip of a truly ugly but humanoid visage. It roars at seeing an intruder in its domain, rushing forwards to punish the Daniel.

  Daniel tenses, watching for the club to begin its strike as he forces himself to breathe slowly. The first battle was always the most dangerous as no knowledge of the monster’s proclivities were available to draw upon. Rather than rushing in, Daniel intends to focus on defence instead. The club begins its downward swing but Daniel does not move, instinct telling him to hold still till the Ogre is forced to commit to the attack. The Ogre does not feint though, continuing the motion with ever increasing speed such that Daniel has to throw himself aside, forced to give up an opportunity to counter to just dodge the blow. This is not like fighting the Crawlers or Kobolds, the fight reminds him more of training against Litzburn, a situation where his opponent had cunning and guile.

  As the Ogre winds up to swing again, it is shocked by Asin’s thrown knife from her hiding place. The knife pierces the Ogre’s back, digging into its spine and stunning it for a moment. More knives land in quick succession as Daniel takes advantage of the momentary opening to slam his mace into the Ogre’s knee twice before he springs back from the retaliatory attack. As the Ogre swings again, Daniel sheds the swing with his shield but is over-powered by the Ogre’s strength and is driven to his knees. The Ogre continues to swing, each blow smashing aside Daniel’s attempts at parrying, staggering the Adventurer beneath his shield. Each parried blow sends shudders of pain through his body, his shoulder and arms taking the abuse as his shield begins to crack.

  As the Ogre steps forward again, Asin throws another Piercing Shot, this time aimed at its already injured knee. The knee gives way and Daniel throws himself into a roll to avoid the falling body. Asin continues to pelt the Ogre with her throwing knives, each knife sinking into its body with little resistance and shocking the creature with lightning even as Daniel returns to beat on the Ogre with his mace. Crippled, the Ogre does not last much longer before the attacks of the two merciless Adventurers.

  As the body fades, they find only a few coins left behind and a mana stone. The now experienced Adventurers eye the stone, satisfied at the increase in quality once again before Asin tucks the stone away.

  “You know, I felt kind of bad there…” Daniel says as he rubs his shoulder. The repeated attacks have numbed his arm and injured his left shoulder, the shield slightly cracked under the onslaught. His knee throbs as well from where Daniel was forced to the ground. Nothing that a simple Minor Heal would not fix which is what he does immediately, sighing in pleasure at the lack of pain.

  Asin shrugs, not understanding Daniel’s feelings on this. It was a monster. The Ogre needed to die, no matter how much it looked like a human or how helpless it was at the end. A dungeon created monster wasn’t even real, not in the sense that sentient races were real. Just constructs.

  Daniel looks out over the landscape before them before turning to Asin, “Up or stay?”

  Asin ponders the question, thinking about the hallways above. The mana stone she had just received was definitely a level higher which meant more copper. She hated being in debt, especially with her other obligations. More money faster was good, but it was dangerous too. Daniel had struggled fighting a single Ogre – what if two came? On the other hand, her daggers were much more effective against the Ogres with their current lack of armour.

  Daniel is doing the maths in his own head as well, weighing the risk and reward of staying on the seventh floor. A single Ogre they could handle it seemed without injury. Two might be problematic, especially as Asin’s knives were damaging but not deadly. He would have to focus almost exclusively on defence if he had to fight two. Still, he probably could do it…

  “Stay,” the two speak at almost the same time and then Asin chuffs in amusement. Decision made, she lopes ahead to check out potential problems, though a part of her resolves to avoid having to fight more than one at a time. Best to be careful.

  “Elsa,” Daniel smiles slightly, spotting the attendant in the Guild hall as the pair limp in, looking the worse for wear. The seventh floor had been tough and thrice they had decided to stay hidden or bypass corridors rather than fight a pair of Ogres. However, the floor had been highly profitable in both experience and mana stones. He passes her the collected stones, watching her tally the stones. “Where’s Liev?”

  “Mmm…? Oh, he took the day off,” Elsa smiles at him, dirty blonde hair momentarily covering her eyes. She sweeps her hair aside, smiling up at the young Adventurer. He and his Catkin associate were the talk of the Guild, their progress the best the Guild had seen in the last few years. Why, they were down on the seventh floor already! Most Adventurers who chose to complete the Dungeon found themselves stuck on the sixth floor for at least a year, grinding levels till they could gain enough streng
th or a Skill Proficiency to destroy the Titanic Crawler.

  “Really?” Daniel frowns, concern flashing across his face. Was the old bureaucrat sick?

  “Mmmm… most people don’t work everyday,” Elsa says.

  “Yeah, but…”Daniel doesn’t know what to say to that, after all, Liev has been here every time he’s been here.

  Asin is chuffing beside him, obviously amused. Elsa just points a finger at her and says, “You’re his partner. You’re in here just as much as he is.”

  “Makes. Me.”

  Elsa just looks at the money crazy Catgirl, after all, Elsa was Asin’s unofficial attendant. She was the one who Asin came to when she needed to find a partner who would work as hard as she did and who wouldn’t hold her race against her. Asin pretends to miss the look, scratching at her own ear.

  A gentle cough reminds Elsa that they still haven’t been paid out yet, at which point she returns to her work, point having been made. Sometimes, these youngsters really didn’t know when to stop.

  Chapter 25

  Days after the not so subtle hinting by Elsa, Daniel finds himself standing outside the Top, dressed comfortably in his only other pair of clean, non-adventuring clothing, waiting for Asin. He sighs, wishing for once she’d turn up on time for something other than a dungeon delve.

  Just as he thinks that, he spots her and Khy’ra walking together, chatting amiably. As he gets over his surprise at Asin’s apparent talkativeness, he gets another one as they close enough for him to hear the meows and growls that the two speak in. He didn’t know Khy’ra spoke Catkin!

  “Khy’ra!” he gives a quick peck to the offered cheek, sliding a hand around her waist and quickly coping a quick feel. She rolls her eyes, but gives him a hug nonetheless, melding her body comfortably to his. “You didn’t tell me you were coming.”

  “Asin came by the Clinic a few days ago to invite me,” Khy’ra smiles and Asin nods in confirmation. Pointing down the street, the Catkin heads down, the mixed race trio garnering more than a few quick stares. Daniel ignores it, focusing on his companions.