“Opportunity?” I asked.
“Yes, dearest friend. I would have most definitely had sex with the woman. Many times, in fact, especially if she had offered me as she offered you. It was quite romantic.”
“I thought you said you were terrified of drow?” I asked with a whispered laugh.
“I did, and I am, but my dear friend, I fear that there might be something wrong with your eyes, since you are not mating with Allurie, and chose not to have relations with Lady Feeyaz. I didn’t think you were actually attracted to men, but if you are, and you get any more deliciously beautiful women throwing themselves at you, just pass them in my direction.”
“I like women,” I chuckled at him. “I just didn’t want to keep you waiting.”
“Dearest friend Leo, having sex with a crazy drow woman is the only reason to keep a friend waiting. Really, I am fine. Please go back in there and tell her you’ve changed your mind. I will wait. Oh, but could you take this pearl with you again? Then I can amuse myself by listening.” The muscular man pulled out the pearl and pressed it toward me.
“No.” I laughed again. “It’s over, and I’m not going back in there. Maybe she and I will meet again someday, but I have to focus on my quest. Speaking of that, do you have the glove?”
“Aye, friend Leo. Might you return my bracelet and earring first?” the half-orc asked, and our eyes met in the shadows.
“Yeah,” I said cautiously. The man had swindled me before, and I was trusting him again. Maybe I was making another mistake, and he’d try to kill me, or run with the relic as soon as I gave him his pieces of Never back. This was probably the final test in our relationship, and I didn’t really like that he had asked for his pieces before he had shown me the gauntlet.
I took the earring out of the hole where we had pierced it, and then I handed the piece of jewelry to him. He didn’t even bother to wipe my blood off of the thing. He just slid it into his earlobe hole with a practiced ease.
“And the bracelet, dearest friend?” he asked as he held out his palm.
“You have the item? Can you show it to me?” I asked.
“Yes, dear Leo, as soon as I get my bracelet back, I will give you the relic that you want. Sorry to be a bit rude, but I’ve been searching for the ring for many years, and I am quite eager to feel what it is like to have all three pieces on.”
“I understand. Thank you for letting me borrow them,” I said as I unclasped the bracelet and put it in his palm.
The half-orc’s big hands shook a bit as he put back on Never, the Bracelet, and his yellow eyes seemed to glow in the darkness for half a second as soon as it attached. I didn’t see much of a change otherwise, but we stood in the darkest shadows of the tree, and it was night.
“Dearest friend Leo, I’m afraid that I have some bad news for you,” the muscular man said with a sigh.
“Ahh fuck. I should have guessed.” I said as I put my hands on my broadsword hilt.
“I didn’t want to tell you this before we started our adventure. I was worried that you might protest,” he continued.
“Give me the glove, Cornalic,” I growled.
“Oh, the glove? I am terribly sorry. Here it is,” he said as he pulled the relic from his bag. “The claws of the thing are quite sharp, please be careful with it.”
I carefully took the glittering piece of armor from his hands, and relished the sensation of it through my fingertips.
Quest Completed. You have found 1 of 15 relics. You have been awarded 25 attribute points.
The UI alert appeared in a much larger font than it normally did, and the lettering seemed to sparkle a bit. I kind of wished there was some grand trumpet music playing, or some sort of world announcement to let everyone know how much of a badass I was. I’d talk to Zarra about changing that. I at least needed awesome trumpet music.
Even though it was night, and we were under the shadows of the tree, I could still see the faint purple flower designs on the armor piece. The detail of the thing put the skull etching on the Crown of Queen Dorni to shame, and I felt like I could just lose the passing of the days if I stared too intently at the beautiful gauntlet. It was much too small for my hand, but I guessed that it would fit a woman well enough.
“So that’s the issue really. I’m sorry I wasn’t quite up front with you, dearest friend Leo. I hope you can forgive me.” Cornalic had been speaking, but I hadn’t been paying any attention.
“What? Sorry, can you repeat that?” I asked.
“Aye. Well… I wasn’t able to book us separate rooms on the ship, and as I mentioned before, I am not a lover of the sea. I’m afraid that I will be sick the whole time, probably vomiting every hour. It has also been said that I have the snore of a full orc, even though I am but a modest half-orc.”
“Is that the bad news you had for me?” I asked as I laughed.
“Aye, but you are laughing, and that makes me realize that you might not quite understand how much I will be vomiting and snoring. I can assure you, this will be the last time you will ever bunk with me on a ship. So I apologize again, with all the sympathy that my half-orc heart can muster.”
“It’s fine, don’t worry about it,” I said with another round of laughter.
I had the first relic now, and I knew that Zarra was going to be euphoric. This was only within my first two weeks of game time. I’d probably be able to get all fifteen before the year was up. That was way ahead of the deadline.
“Dearest Leo, again, I really feel as if you don’t quite understand how bad this voyage is going to be.”
“Whatever, you crazy over muscled hunk of green man meat. I’ve got the relic! Nothing can get me down now. Just fourteen more to go. How many hours do we have until dawn?” I asked him.
“A few. We can probably visit our friends before we leave,” the half-orc said.
“Naw, they are going to meet us at the docks with my chest, I’m nervous someone might follow us, so let’s make our way to the harbor, and get out of Arnicoal as soon as we can.” I wrapped the sparkling gauntlet in the bandages that I had used for my head, and then I put the relic into the large belt pouch I had bought for the occasion. I realized that I’d forgotten to identify the ring and amulet I had taken off of Baron Yinnia, but I figured I could do that as soon as we had reached the docks, or even set sail on the ship. I didn’t want to spend any more time here. There would be city guards all over the place in less than half an hour.
“Leave us go then,” Cornalic said, and I followed the half-orc to the dark hidden pathway that would take us down the hill and into the heart of the city I would soon be leaving.
Chapter 25
We met Artus, Urllia, and Gratia at the north side of the wharf when the sun had crested the edge of the ocean. The purple planet with the strange orange ring was also laying low in the sky, and the rings took on the same hue of the dawn light. It looked like they cut through the sea waters like lasers, and the fog rolling up from the cold water gave the illusion that the sea might have been boiling.
“Leo, my heart does ache this morning. I figured that you would eventually leave, but I did not think that the day would come so soon,” Artus said with a slow sad nod of his cat head.
“I know, my friend. It is best that I leave now though, I have the relic that I wanted, and I must look for the next one.”
“You are a true friend, and I’ll think about you often. Grrr. Will you send me Mind messages every once in a while? It would warm my heart to hear of your adventures.”
“Of course I will, and I’ll be coming back someday. The overseer under the Laven Mountains has one of the relics that I seek, so I’ll be back to take it from him,” I said as I turned to Gratia.
“And I’ll bet the whiskers on my grandfather’s chin that you’ll take it from that slimy bastard!” The short woman held out her fist and I bumped mine into it. Then she pushed my hand aside and wrapped her arms around my waist. “Thank you, Leo. I shall not forget what ya done for me. And I hope
you’ll not forget to come see my gallery when you are back in town.”
“I won’t,” I said as I choked back my tears. Then I felt Artus’ furry arms around my shoulders, and I stood from Gratia so that I could return the fenia’s embrace. Then I gave Urllia a hug and I stepped away from them.
“Allurie?” I asked, and the other three shook their heads.
“I’m sure she’ll show up later today, and then be sad that she let you leave without saying her goodbyes. Don’t worry about her; she’ll have a lot of work to do at my gallery. I’ll keep her busy,” Gratia said with a solemn nod.
“I put all your gold and some extra clothes in this chest,” Artus said as he handed me a metal key and gestured to the rickshaw he had pulled to the harbor.
“I also put some jerky and dried fruit inside. Those long voyages can have little variety to eat,” Urllia said.
“I may have snuck in a few bottles of beer in there.” Gratia laughed, and then pointed at Cornalic. “You better take care of Leo. I don’t care how many big muscles you have, if he gets hurt I’m gonna bend ya around like a pretzel.”
“I will be his faithful guardian until the end of his quest,” the half-orc said as he placed his hand over his heart. “You can count on me.”
“Thanks guys,” I said as I looked at my three friends. I fought against a sniffle, and reminded myself that I’d see them all one day in the future when I returned to combat the overseer. “Can you tell Allurie that I was sorry that I didn’t get to say goodbye? And that I’ll miss her.”
“Grrr. We will,” Artus said with a nod of his cat head. The man gestured again to the chest and I moved past him to the rickshaw. The container was about the size of a foot locker. I almost thought I’d need Cornalic to help me carry it onto the boat, but I’d forgotten about my strength. I lifted the lidded hunk of wood off of the cart as if it weighed less than an empty cardboard box of the same size.
I nodded at them once more, and then I turned to follow Cornalic through the docks of Arnicoal.
“You are a true friend,” the man remarked after we had walked for half a minute through the early morning crowd.
“How do you know?” I asked as I turned my head around, the crowds parted a bit, and I saw my three friends were still watching me walk away. It made my heart feel heavy to leave them, but it also felt terrible to leave without saying goodbye to Allurie. The elf girl was annoying in her best of times, but I had come to love her in a non-sexual way. The silver-haired beauty always wore a smile on her face, and went out of her way to make sure that everyone around her was happy. She was a great NPC. Hell, they all were, and this farewell was a lot harder to make than I thought it would be.
But I needed to finish my quest.
“From the way they treated your departure, dear friend Leo,” the man said. I was about to reply, but he gestured at a ship in the next dock from us.
I didn’t know that much about old style sailing ships, but this one was rather large, and had three masts climbing high into the early dawn light. The vessel looked to have a new coat of white paint on its hull, and painted orange circles where the dock bridges connected. Dozens of crew members carried crates of supplies up the ramps, and another few dozen worked on the various ropes, sails, and other sailing tools on the topside of the ship. I saw the words First Sunset written on the side of the hull, and I guessed that was what the orange circle was supposed to represent.
“Greetings friend! We are booked for passage to Tylue,” Cornalic said to a man standing at the first ramp. He was dressed in a blue colored sailing uniform, and held a sheet of parchment in his hand.
“Ahh, you are just in time, we leave in a half of an hour. I have a Cornalic of the Mind, and a Leo Lennox. Is that correct? The man said as he read from his piece of paper.
“That is correct, good sir,” the half-orc replied with a nod.
“Splendid. Tarry here will take you to your room. It is number 187. He’ll give you a key once you are there, and we ask that you stay inside until we have left the port and hit deep waters. There will be a triple blare from a whistle, and then you can come topside for some air. Breakfasts will be at two hours after sunrise in the mess hall, and dinner will be half an hour after sunset. The trip should take no more than sixteen days, and we don’t expect any more hardship than cabin fever and boredom.”
“Sounds good to me,” I said as the man looked at both of us. He nodded once more, and a young man gestured for us to follow him.
“Is that all your luggage?” Tarry asked us as he pointed to the chest I carried.
“Yes, uhhh.” I looked to Cornalic. “Do you have anything?” I noticed that the man wasn’t carrying anything but the cloak on his back, the clothes oh his body, and the various short blades strapped to him. He actually had five that I could count, but I guessed there were more hidden on him.
“I travel light, friend Leo,” he said to me with a grin, and then he gestured me to follow the young man onto the ship.
Tarry led us on a brief tour that started with the rowboats we would need to use if we had to evacuate in case of an emergency. Then he showed us the places where the extra swords were kept, in case of an emergency. Then he showed us where the storage room for the buckets with ropes on their handles were kept, in case of an emergency.
He took us through the galley and showed us where the eating area was, and then he showed us the areas on the ship where there were ten bathroom stalls. Tarry told us that pipes were leading from the toilets to sealed oaken crates that had just been cleaned out yesterday. He scrunched up his nose when he spoke, and I guessed that he might have been one of the crew members to do the deed.
Finally the boy led us to our room. It was ten feet wide by about twelve feet deep, and while it was larger than I actually thought, the ceiling was low, and both Cornalic and I had to hunch over a bunch so that our heads didn’t slam into any of the wood beams. There were two twin sized cots that looked to have clean sheets, a single end table, and a space at the bottom of each bed for a chest about the size that I carried. I set my light load down at the foot of the bed on the right side of the small room, and then turned to Tarry.
“Here is the key to the room, we aren’t responsible for any lost or stolen items, so make sure that you keep your room locked when you aren’t inside,” the boy said as he handed the key to Cornalic.
“Thanks for the tour,” I said, and then a piercing whistle filled the walls of the room.
“We are setting off! I need to get to my duties! Don’t leave this room until you hear the three whistles.”
“Got it,” I said, and the boy closed the stout door behind him,
“Ahh,” Cornalic sighed as he lay on top of the bed. He was about as tall as me, and his boots actually overshot the small cot by a good half foot. “Arnicoal is a charming city, but a bit backwater. I’m looking forward to getting to a larger city, with better food.”
“Just too bad we have to be on a ship for… sixteen days? That seems like forever.” I did some math in my head and realized that my earlier estimate of completing the quests in a year was a bit aggressive if I had to travel by ship everywhere.
“Aye, but that is just because we are in Arnicoal, and you said you hadn’t been much traveled. It won’t be a problem in the future, dearest friend Leo.” The boat started to drift backward a bit, and Cornalic shifted in his bed.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Once you have been to a city you can use a Mind teleport to return.”
“Huh? How does that work?” I asked with interest.
“There are Mind sages in most cities that identify items. Some are also Mind mages, and they can send magic messages and teleport people. Teleporting is somewhat expensive, perhaps a thousand gold, so adventurers often don’t spend the money.”
“And I have to already have visited the city?” I asked.
“Perhaps. If the Mind Mage has been to the city, and you have been to the city, it is much easier for th
em. If they haven’t been to the city, and you have, then it is more difficult. If neither of you have been to the city, it is near impossible. Some Mind mages will try, but they will often charge many thousands of gold, and if they make a mistake, you could end up in completely the wrong place. It is very risky.”
“I see. This makes the travel around Ohlavar a bit less time consuming. I’m glad I don’t have to take a voyage back here.” The ship swayed a bit more under my feet and I sat on the cot to keep myself steady.
“As long as you have the money, it is somewhat easy. I didn’t spend too much time in Tylue when I was here last, so I’m not familiar with the best Mind mages.”
“Not a big deal really, I won’t need to go back to Arnicoal for a while.”
“Dearest friend Leo, I recalled you speaking to Gratia about an overseer. Is that correct?” the half-orc asked.
“Yeah. One lives under the Laven Mountains in a forgotten dwarven city. It controls a bunch of beholders, and has one of the relics. I need to fight it someday, but it was rather scary looking. Cornalic, there is something else I need to talk to you about, since we are going to be traveling together for the rest of my quest.”
“Yes, dearest friend Leo?” the muscular man asked as he sat up in his bed.
“I will leave the ship, and return home a bunch. Well, as we travel I will often leave to return home.”
“This has something to do with what Allurie said? You are an Old One?”
“Yeah. I think. Or something like that. I’m somewhat magical, and when I lay down, instead of sleeping, I go home. I know it doesn’t make much sense, but I might not be in the cabin for a good chunk of the time we are on the sea.” I stared into the man’s yellow eyes as I spoke.
“Ahhh. I knew there was something strange and powerful about you when we first met—”
“When you stole the two gold from me for the guild membership?” I asked him with a smirk.
“Oh no, dear friend, the time after that,” he returned my smile and waved his hands.
Lion's Quest: Dual Wield: A LitRPG Saga Page 40
