by Edward Brody
“She’s Aaron’s now,” Ozzy said loudly, “and we’re getting a stable soon!”
“Oh, wow. Really?!” Keysia veered for the horse and started to rub its mane. “Where are you going to keep her until then?”
Aaron shrugged. “It’s not ideal, but I’ll tie her to a tree while she’s in the village until a stable is built. Or if no one needs to use her ‘til then, I’ll just release her and call her back later.”
“Actually,” I said. “I wouldn’t mind using her today if no one else needs her.”
Aaron cleared his throat. “Excuse me? Don’t you have a fucking panther, Mr. Greedypants?”
“Yeah, but I just summoned and released her a couple times in pretty quick succession. She needs at least a full day off, I think.”
Aaron raised a shoulder and smirked. “Well, sure. Take Betsy, I guess. Where are you headed to?”
“Not sure,” I said. “But I want to stay busy. Actually—” I shifted my back upright, straightened my shoulders, and looked to each of the guild members one by one. “—I want all of you to stay busy. Whether you’re solo or go as a group, I want you all to go out and do quests, grind monsters and gain XP. We need to be strong when another attack comes, and we need to get more gold so that we can build a castle.”
Another thing Dryden had taught me while running his band of mercenaries was to never be complacent, and I didn’t want my guild to fall in the trap of sitting in the village all the time and getting lazy.
“Ohhh,” Aaron cooed. “Look at that. The guild leader’s giving orders.”
I chuckled. “Yeah, I guess that’s an order. I want you all to push yourselves, within reason. Even you, Aaron.” I paused. “Anyone opposed to the idea?”
Everyone gave unanimous smiles and shook their heads.
“Great. I’m going to head out,” I said. “Maybe I can figure out where the items I need for the Bloodthirsty Blade schematic are. Any of you know where to find Bloodmoss and Heaven’s Shroom?”
Everyone looked at each other for a moment until Jax said, “Bloodmoss is known to grow in the Wastelands, but it too dangerous for you to go there. There may be smaller patches outside of the Wastelands that you can find if you consult with an herbalist or a cartographer. You might need to talk to both. I’ve never encountered Heaven’s Shroom, though.”
I sighed. “Okay. I guess I’ll head to Highcastle then. I know there’s a cartographer there, so it’s a start. Anyone up to going with me? Aaron?”
“I need to get to chopping wood,” Aaron said, “if we’re going to get this stable built.”
“I can take care of the wood,” Jax chimed in. “I’m pretty good with an axe”
“Aaron?” I asked again.
“Alright,” Aaron groaned. “Let me go put some armor on and get my spear, I guess.”
“I’ll go too,” Ozzy said.
I look to Keysia and Rina. “I already know you don’t want to go to Highcastle, Keysia, and I don’t think the horse is going to carry more than three, Rina.”
“It’s quite fine,” Rina said.
“Rina and I can group up and do some scouting around Edgewood.” Keysia said. “There’s plenty of things to do in the forest that will help us level.”
“Good,” I said. I looked to Ozzy and then to Aaron. “I guess it’ll be Reborn’s-day-out then, huh?”
“Let’s go!” Ozzy said.
Aaron just smirked.
“Speaking of the mine,” I said. “I should head up there and pay a visit to the runestone.”
“You’re religious?” Rina asked.
“No, not really,” I chuckled. “Reborns respawn at the last runestone that they ‘pray’ at, in the event that they die. I want to respawn as close as possible if something tragic happens.”
“Oh, I see,” Rina said.
“Anyway, you guys go do your thing. Ozzy and Aaron go get ready. I’m going to make a quick run to the mine, and as soon as I get back, we’ll all head out.”
Aaron nodded and handed me the reins to the horse. “She’s all yours, Mr. Bossypants!”
“So I’m greedy and bossy?” I asked.
“Damn right, you are,” Aaron said.
I snarled at him when I remembered that I had a schematic for a Giant’s Potion in my bag that granted 500 health. It also required a Bloodmoss and a couple other reagents to make. “Hey, Jax,” I said. I reached in my bag and tossed him the schematic. “I found this in the Sands.”
He unraveled the schematic and chuckled as he read it. “We’re gonna need to find harpy’s tails and an ogre’s toenail for this, but I wouldn’t worry about it for now. I’m not at the level 20 alchemy that it requires yet.”
“Let’s keep an eye out for that stuff nonetheless,” I said.
I gave Betsy a quick pet and quickly hoisted myself on top of her. I could feel a little bit of resistance from her—a feeling as if she knew that I wasn’t her rightful owner—but she didn’t buck or try to throw me off. I looked down as the guild members started to disperse, and once again I was filled with a sense of pride. They listened to me without question. They all seemed to trust my judgement, and it made me feel like a true guild leader.
I turned Betsy in the direction of the mine and rode her through the trees as quickly as she could manage. I had only been back in the village for a day, but I was anxious for my next adventure.
Chapter Five
1/26/0001
After binding at the rune near the Edgewood mine, I stopped by our shop to go over the financials with Gerard and pick up a simple bow and quiver.
“So we have 3,200 in the shop?” I clarified.
“And some change,” Gerard said. He glanced at two customers who were browsing the items that were scattered about the room then leaned in closer to me. “Probably best not to talk too loudly about gold with customers around—just in case they get any ideas.”
“Got it,” I said lowly. “That includes all the gold that was looted after the attack?”
“Yes, sir,” Gerard whispered.
I reached into my bag and handed Gerard 6,000 of the gold I had accumulated. That put our guild treasury at 9,200 gold, and with the 200 that I kept from the thief’s body, I still had 920 in my bag. That would get me by on anything I needed while I was outside of Edgewood.
It was nice to know that we were already so close to having enough to build the foundation for a castle, but I wanted us to have a bit of padding to cover shop expenses and any overage costs if the foundation ran over budget, per Aaron’s explanation.
Gerard quietly counted out the gold with a smile on his face. “We’re doing well,” he said, “and Aaron told me about the plans for a castle and a stable. A lot’s happening since you’re back.”
“I’m just glad to be back. How’s running the shop from day to day been?”
“This is what I love, Gunnar! Other than the incident we had yesterday, everything’s been just fine. The shop is getting pretty full though, with the speed at which Aaron’s been crafting and the items that have been traded in.”
I scanned the room. Crates were overflowing with lots of low-level looking items, and the walls were covered with various forms of gear, many of them identical or almost identical. “I think we’ll move you over to the newest building once it’s finished. That should give you plenty of space. The wagon outside still works, right?”
“I’d assume so,” Gerard said, “though it hasn’t moved since I got here.”
“Now that Aaron has a horse, we can organize periodic caravans as well. If we get too many duplicates of items or things that don’t sell, load them onto the wagon and take a trip to town to sell them, or get one of the guild mates to do it.”
“I like how you think,” Gerard said. “I’ll make sure it gets done.”
“Speaking of yesterday,” I said. “Things would’ve been a lot uglier if you hadn’t jumped in. I had no idea your magic was so strong. You’d be a useful asset outside of the shop.”
“Well, I couldn’t let them destroy everything after all the work we’ve done. I had to do something. But—” Gerard shook his head. “I’ve had enough adventure in my days. Buying and selling and meeting new customers is what gets me excited now.”
“Alright. Well, up to you,” I said with a shrug. “By the way, your pet—What is that?”
“Wilbro?” Gerard chuckled. “He’s a great bison. I must have been about your age when I found him—out hunting game in the plains with a friend of mine when we came across him fighting with a pack of lions. Let’s just say we did him a favor, and he’s been with me ever since.”
I smiled. “Hell of a pet. What about that spell you used—that crazy stream of hot water?”
“Oh, that’s a spell called Boiling Blast. It’s a bit of a rare fire and water magic spell. It requires you to summon both a stream of water and just the right amount of fire to combine them into a powerful blast of hot, boiling water. Haven’t had to use it for a while, but it is powerful.”
“So you know both fire and water magic?”
“A little bit of arcane and transmutation as well.”
I thought back to the first day I had met Gerard in Linden, and the fact that he had offered to teach me magic while I was in the midst of sabotaging his shop. I wondered if he’d still be willing to put that on the table now that he was in our guild. “You offered to teach me some magic a while back. Can you teach your magic to the rest of the guild? It sure would make us stronger.”
Gerard raised his eyebrows and laughed. “The whole guild?”
“If you’re willing.”
Gerard rattled his head. “I’m only high enough level in fire and water magic to teach those spell branches. I’m still much a novice in arcane and transmutation. But regardless, it’s impossible for me to teach the whole guild.”
“Why? Don’t you just make them kneel and say some magic words?”
“Something like that.” Gerard laughed again. “The thing is, once you reach level 35 in a particular magic branch, you’ll only have the ability to ‘unlock’ that branch of magic in two other people. Every 10 levels you gain in the branch thereafter, grants you the ability unlock it in one other person.”
“Wow, okay.” I creased my brow. “They didn’t give us Reborns instruction manuals, so that’s new information to me.”
“So, it is possible for the whole guild to learn the same branch of magic, but not from the same person.” Gerard chuckled. “Everyone would know everything if everyone could teach everyone every magic tree they knew.”
The newfound knowledge shifted the perspective of a lot of things that had happened to me since I entered Eden’s Gate. I felt a lot more thankful that Kronos, Jax’s friend and the dwarf who helped us in Gramora, had been willing to teach both Aaron and me divine magic. He had mentioned that he had just hit the threshold for teaching someone divine, so maybe he did it for me out of kindness, not expecting Aaron to demand training as well, and thus using up his other level 35 ‘unlock’. It was quite the gift.
And then there was Eanos. He must have really hated Gerard to be willing to part with fire magic and throw in two scrolls in exchange for me sabotaging him. But then again, he was probably making a lot more money in Linden by ridding himself of Gerard than if he had sold the skill for however much. Gerard was an excellent salesman, so Eanos was probably raking in thousands more with him gone.
It was clear why the demon in the Vale taught me arcane magic; he would’ve died otherwise. But Satorin suddenly seemed like slightly less of an asshole by teaching me mentalism, now that I knew how limited magic training was.
“You seemed so willing to teach me magic that day in your shop,” I mention to Gerard. “You were going to sell me a dirt-cheap axe and teach me magic for free if I bought it.”
Gerard grinned. “When you walked into my shop, you seemed about as lost as anyone I’d ever seen before. If I’m not mistaken, you were level 3 and didn’t know your ass from your mouth.” He sighed. “Business was good for me at the time, and I still had an unlock left to teach someone water magic, so I thought, ‘Why not help this struggling young gentlemen out a little bit? Pay it forward, as they say.’”
My stomach turned. It still pained me when I thought of how nice a guy Gerard was and the fact that I ruined his business in Linden. He seemed to have a heart of gold.
“But it doesn’t matter now. After business went sour, I ended up teaching water magic to another adventurer for a little bit of gold, just so I could rent the horses to pull the wagon. If I tried to teach you anything now, I’d simply fail. But, I’ll happily teach you or any guild mates fire or water magic once I reach level 45 in either branch.”
“Well, thanks for the explanation,” I said wearily, still feeling guilty at what I had done to him. At the very least, Gerard seemed to be in a better place and quite happy now that he was with us in Edgewood.
“Hey!” a feminine voice shouted from inside the shop. “That’s mine!”
When I turned, I could see female dark elf holding onto the bowstring of a bow, and on the other end, a stocky, mustached human was pulling the wood on the other side.
“No, I was looking at that, ya’ filthy elf!” the man snapped.
“No! I had it first, you…you—”
“Hey!” Gerard shouted over them. “Cut that out or get out of the shop! The bow is 40 gold. If either of you want it, pay for it now, but no fighting!”
“I want it!” the elf said.
“I’ll give you 45 for it,” the man countered, not letting go of the bow.
“50!” the elf shouted.
“55!” the man insisted.
“60!” the female continued.
The man smirked at the elf and made a grumbling noise before releasing his grip on the bow and turning around to look at some other weapons.
I looked to Gerard as the dark elf girl marched the bow to the counter, and Gerard just smiled and winked at me as the woman started reaching for her gold.
I knew the shop was in good hands.
When I stepped out of the building, Ozzy and Aaron were both standing by the edge of the clearing with the horse, Betsy. Ozzy was wearing his usual mix of plate and chain, though he had obviously switched out many of his older, dented piece pieces with higher-quality, non-dented ones. He had his hammer hitched to his back. Aaron was wearing a set of well-crafted leather armor. It was just a step up from a set of base, newbie armor, but he was still level 7, so his options were limited. A long spear could be seen jutting out from behind his shoulders.
“Ready?” Aaron asked as I approached.
“Yep, let’s go,” I replied.
Aaron stepped back from the side of his horse and waved a hand at the saddle. “After you, guild leader.”
I stepped on to the horse and grabbed the reins, and Aaron hopped on behind me.
Ozzy grabbed the side of the saddle and was about to hop on before I held out my hand to him. “Hey, is it okay for three people to ride a horse like this? Can it handle all of us?”
“I guess so,” Aaron said. “Why not?”
“I mean, that’s a lot of weight for the horse, right?”
Aaron twisted his lips. “I don’t know. Ozzy is kind of big, but I think we’ll be okay”
I sighed. I wasn’t a horse expert, but I had my reservations.
“If we were back on Earth, I don’t think three would be a good idea,” Ozzy said. “But here in in this world, who knows? You want me to walk and meet you there or something?”
I shook my head. “Nah, just hop on. We’ll see what happens.”
Ozzy shrugged and hoisted his bulky body up until he was sitting on the saddle behind Aaron. The horse reared her neck back when he was fully seated and took a couple awkward steps back and then forward before steadying herself.
“Just don’t push her too fast,” Ozzy said.
“No worries,” I replied.
I gave Betsy a gentle, bumping squeeze with my legs, urging her to
wards Highcastle. She trotted forward, handling the weight nicely, but having ridden her to the runestone and back already, I could tell by the way she bobbed her head that she was at her weight limit. If we got caught in any trouble, we weren’t all going be rushing away on horseback, that was for sure.
“Hey guys,” Aaron said as we pushed through the trees.
“Yeah?” Ozzy and I asked in unison.
“Isn’t this a little gay?” Aaron queried. “Three guys riding together on horseback through a forest?”
“Not gonna lie,” Ozzy said, “feels a little gay.”
“Who cares?” I groaned. “We’re just going from point A to point B.”
“Yeah, but you’re not squeezed in between two dudes like an ice-cream sandwich!” Aaron cried. “Would’ve been a lot better if we brought Rina or Keysia along to be the cream filling, ya know? At least then I’d be nudged up against some tits or ass. This just sucks.”
“Suck it up, jackass,” I said with a chuckle.
“And that better be the bottom of your breastplate I feel poking into my back, Ozzy!” Aaron added.
“It’s part of my leggings,” Ozzy explained. “There’s this round part in the center that—“
“Yeah, well, whatever it is just try to keep it off me, okay?” Aaron interrupted. “Homey don’t play that.”
“Are you going to complain the whole way, Aaron?” I asked.
“Hey, you’re the one who wanted me to get out. I could be back in Edgewood cutting down wood right now, but instead, I’m taking wood right between my butt cheeks, and it doesn’t feel good at all.”
“It’s not wood, you idiot,” Ozzy said in in his twangy voice.
“You ever see that old movie, Brokeback… something or another?” Aaron asked. “This kind of reminds me of that, except—“
“Hey, Aaron,” I said, cutting him off.
“Yeah?” Aaron asked grumpily.
“There’s lots of babes in Highcastle, you know?”
“Oh, yeah?” Aaron asked.
“It’s a huge city. I’m guessing there’s thousands. I haven’t even been inside the inns there yet, but I’m betting there’s lots of girls, lots of booze. Probably some gambling too.”
