The town was fairly quiet throughout the day, which is expected since the town was largely a farming community. He did see a few other adventurers come into the town, their massive wagons covered in spider parts were the fuel of nightmares. He had seen the plow that had been made from a bug shell and that unsettled him, but seeing the piles of spider legs

and other chitin unnerved him to his core. Remembering things that he'd read in books about how spiders and other arthropods could contain meat like crabs and lobsters, his blood ran cold as he didn’t ask what kind of meat was in the stew… horror of this revelation aside, it was delicious, which made him wish that butter was more available, and maybe some lemon. His mind lingering on whether or not spider parts would make for a good jambalaya brought the fact that it had been several hours since he'd last eaten, the immediate grumble that squeaked from his stomach helped cement the point.

Remembering some of the food stalls that he'd come across, all lined up along the outer edge of town, making it easier for the workers in the fields to come get food if they wanted. Most of the local fare was simple baked foods, roasted meats, and beers of all kinds. His first sip was refreshing, not as strong as he'd had from the wedding, but he was sure that it was watered down, but that also explains why it was included in the price of a baked potato. The early spring that this part of the wilds was supposed to be in was a little warmer than what he'd been expecting, being from an area that is known for the amount of rain that it gets, feeling more like early summer than early spring, which made for a relaxing time as he stared out to the fields that swayed under the slight breeze.

The gentle tapping that woke him from the nap that he'd accidentally taken made him forget where he was for a moment.

"Are you doing okay?" The mildly feminine voice asked.

"Huh, yeah, just tired." Davin's head lulled as he looked up to the person that woke him. "Oh, Cadence, what's up?"

The bard smiled sardonically as they looked Davin over. "Likely not the best place to take a nap, while most towns are safe from larger threats, the protections don't extend to petty theft."

Davin held up his hand to protest and his words fell flat. "That is a good point, I didn't intend to nap, I had just finished a snack and the warm sun just worked its magic on me."

Cadence nodded. "The spring sun is a powerful demotivator, I can't say that I haven't had the same problem."

"On a fun side note, I think that in my previous life, I was just in a constant state of exhaustion, I would fall asleep like this all the time." He started to stretch, his joints not making the same popping and creaking sounds that he'd been so used to.

"Mhmm." Cadence nodded along. "There are many things from my previous life that I am glad that they stayed where they were."

"So, what brings you out here?" Davin asked as he waved his arm in a gesture to imply where they were.

"This time? Or in general?" Letting out a small giggle. " I was looking for you, I wanted to see how you were feeling."

"Eh, not bad, more tired than anything, I'm down to exhaustion one, so that’s exciting news." Davin chuckled.

"That is good news, I was concerned that the disease wasn't fully out of your system yet."

"Should be, I don’t have the debuff listed on my status page," Davin said as he mentally thumbed through his character sheet.

"Dee buuph?" The unfamiliar words came out of their mouth as they struggled to say them.

"Oh, sorry, I forgot that a lot of the terms that I know for some of this stuff aren't real words. So there are two broad categories of status effect, positive and negative." Davin waited as his new friend took in the words.

"Yes? I can create a number of both if I wished." They stated proudly.

"Okay, the good ones are called buffs, based on the idea of to polish or shine."

"Oh, buffs make the individual better and brighter, and these debuffs? Make them dull and tarnished?" Nodding along as the thoughts worked their way.

"Exactly!" A wide smile spread over his face.

They shrugged. "It will take me some time to get used to working with you two, I have been on my own for a while. I do appreciate your warm welcome."

"You know that you don’t need to talk so stiffly, right?" Davin stated.

"I am just out of practice just talking with people, most just expect me to entertain them… I am not a bard… I am a voice to speak for those that cannot. As an Orator of Faith, I make the most impact by spreading stories of hope, these raise belief away from suffering, there are many here that follow those that are not of the patrons, and those are the ones that I seek, they stir up trouble in this realm, it is one of the few things that my patron suggested but they had specifically stated that I should save it for when I am stronger." Cadence sighed deeply.

"Wait, you were tasked with spreading positive energy and hunting those that drag down the beliefs… wow that’s heavy…" Letting out a small whistle.

"Heavy?" Cadence asked in confusion.

"You know, weighted, that is a lot of responsibility to put on one person." Shrugging as he thought about the tasks his own Patron was setting him on.

"Hmm, yes, I guess that many would consider it heavy, but I am not alone, and even less alone now." They smiled at Davin and patted him on the shoulder.

"HA" Davin let out a bark of laughter. "I drag you into my adventures and you drag me into yours. I can see that being fair."

Nodding excitedly. "Exactly, what is a little torture between friends?"

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

"Been talking to Hugh? I've said that to him more than once." Craning his neck he looked for the mage.

"Yes, just before I woke you, he said that I would likely get away with it far more easily than he would." Cadence smiled widely. "Friends are nice to have again."

"That still confuses me, why would talking about your mission cause people to not want to be your friend."

"I forget that you and Hugh are still so new. Many of the followers of Celeste are seen as an authority, and that doesn’t sit well with some people. I personally don't see myself as any kind of authority, but I can see how that may be what the perception is."

"I get you, who wants to be friends with a cop?" Davin asked rhetorically.

"A cop? Is that some kind of authority from your world?"

"Yeah, meant to keep people safe, but sadly it's viewed as a corrupt system full of even more bad guys than who they supposedly aim to stop." Nodding along. "I can see how that could be a thing."

"Your world seems to have been a very terrible place." The sadness in Cadence's eyes as they looked at Davin.

"I get that a lot actually." Davin dusted himself off, pulling himself to his feet. "I come from a weird place, but to me this is the weird place, no monsters, no magic, and technologies the likes of this world would never know." A somber mood settled on Davin as he stared off into the distance.

"That is quite heavy." Cadence reached out, grabbing Davin by the hand, the actions meaning clear.

"But with friends, things get easier to carry." A light smile spread over Davin's face. "Okay, Let's find Hugh, we have some gear that needs to be identified, and if he can do it, one less thing that we'll have to spend money on."

The two wandered back into the center of the town, looking for Hugh, Davin half expecting to have to wait till dinner to see the wizard again. Bumping into the wizard just after they'd stepped into the central area of town, Hugh had his equipment out, making updates to the same book that he had the entirety of the trip so far. Absorbed in his readings, looking for any anomalies, so when he bumped into Davin and Cadence who had been as close to him as they could stand, watching over his shoulder, the two of them shrugging back and forth at one another while they watched him in intense focus.

"Gah!" Hugh yelled grasping at his chest and his breath coming in exaggerated gasps. "What is wrong with you two?!" Yelling his question as he hunched over seeming as not to vomit.

"You seemed so focused, we didn't wish to interrupt." Cadence holding as innocent of a face that their angelic features could hold.

With that Davin burst into a raucous laughter. "Okay stop, stop." Wiping at a fake tear from his face. "That’s too much, okay Cadence, we need to not abuse that."

Hugh let out a huff. "You both nearly scared me from my skin."

"Is that like being scared to death?" Davin asked, a cocky smile spreading across his face.

At that, Hugh held up a middle finger in a gesture that he'd gotten used to seeing from Davin. "You are likely lucky that I didn't. Neither of us has reset here, you'd have to carry everything back to the bastion without me."

To which Davin's head shot back, eyes wide. "Got it, won't do it again."

"What do you fools want?" Standing back to his full height, arms crossed over his chest.

"Oh, I figured we could do some shopping." Davin's smile went wide again.

"With what tokens?" Hugh asked, the judging tone rich in his voice.

"We have at least twenty pounds of popcorn, If I can get my hands on some butter, I can turn that into at least a few onyx." Rocking his head from side to side as he did the mental math.

"Butter? You could likely get it from one of the shops in the market, but with how warm it is, I bet that they put it away before the day gets too warm.

"If you use your one freezy spell on water, will it make ice?" Davin asked as he looked at Hugh uncomfortably serious for the wizard's liking.

"Yes…" The tone in Hugh's voice carried with it a mild hint of fear.

"We could make an Icebox, some wax paper would be more than enough to keep the butter in.

"Wax paper? What in the name of the patrons is that?"

"Don't use the name of the patrons in vain, they protect us, I do not feel that this is an appropriate time to be attempting to invoke their power."

Hugh and Davin stared at Cadence, both blinking in an attempt to process what was just said.

"Compass still visits me in my sleep to get updates on our mission, I doubt that he would have any real qualms with me calling him out on any of it."

With that, it was Cadence's turn to have their jaw drop. "Still? I have not heard from Celeste since I set out from the bastion…. And that was before I finished my training as an orator."

"Davin is a weird one, I think he's the new favorite." Hugh chuckled at his joke.

"Hey, my weirdness has nothing to do with what Compass wants out of me."

"I won’t believe it till I see it."

Davin held up his index finger, mouth gaping as if he were a fish out of water.

"Hmm, that is good to know, I would hate to find out that I was traveling with weirdos." A wide smile spread over their face.

The three of them laughed, the two opting to help Hugh clean up all of his tools. Hunting down a kettle that fit what Davin was looking for was the hardest part, sadly sugar was out of their price range, but finding butter wasn't as hard as they had expected, some of the local animal keepers tended to stay closer to the town than the farmers had. The creamy unsalted butter was delicious, salt was the easiest one to get, being able to buy a few pounds without breaking the bank.

"Why is it that our shopping didn't involve getting any of the adventuring gear?" The question was asked through a mouthful of popcorn.

"Because we needed to sell off this stuff, to make some more tokens to buy more things," Davin stated as he stirred the kettle, the popping starting to fill the air. "Plus this stuff is heavy, and Cadence needs some space in the trunk."

"I can carry my own things…" Their argument was weak as they enjoyed the few snacks that Davin had handed them.

"He makes a good point, and if he can even get half as much that he claims that he can from this, that puts us a lot better off than when we came in."

"How much should we charge?" Hugh asked as he scooped the popped corn into some of the small containers that they had gotten as well.

"If they bring their own container, I think we should go with one jade per scoop, and if they use ours, we need to charge a Rhodes, but I think that we can give them at least one refill."

Hugh blinked. "A whole Rodes? That seems insane…"

"It is, but at the same time, we are charging for the convenience." They waved a wooden paddle that they had gotten as part of the bulk of wooden cups that they had bought.

As people started making their way back to town, gathering a crowd as a group of people were mesmerized by the crunchy treat, another group watched and listened as Cadence told stories, Hugh had set up the strange cup that they had and was pouring drinks at an absolutely outlandish price. The few candies that they had pulled from the theater were being sold at a whopping single onyx, Davin having set up some sample cups that people could test the treats.

When the last cup of popcorn was sold, they had pushed it well past sunset. Making their way into the Inn that they had been staying in, they sat and enjoyed the simple stew that was available. There being little energy left between them they called it a night.