After completing the quest, Colthorn placed his two free Stats into Acuity and then rushed home as fast as he could, careful not to slip on the snow and ice covered streets. The red light of Memnon was dim and was only seen around the shrinking moon. Memnon was leaving once again and the last wave of the monsters were dying off. His mother had told him that there would still be masses of blood monsters hiding in the wilds outside the city though, and that it would be a while before they all died off. The Adventurer’s Guild would have a general quest posted for slaying blood monsters to help return things to normal.
He used his new skill as he ran. The effect of the skill was barely even noticeable, but it was only level one so he didn’t expect much. Eventually, he’d be running twice as fast. And that was just at Tier 0, if he did the Tier-up Quest and got it to Tier 1, then he’d be able to go even faster. Of course, with the running Skill as well he’d be... Colthorn wasn’t good at math, but he knew that that had to be fast.
The Skill cost ten Stamina per second of use, so he had to cancel the Skill pretty quick.
Quick Blooded gained 1 level. +1 EXP.
Colthorn burst through the doors of Perfect Potions. Thankfully there weren't any customers or else he’d have to stop to help, but seeing that there weren’t any, he charged down the hall to the lab.
“Dad!” He shouted, “I finished the Quest!”
Jornan was at his potion workstation brewing some potion that had a red glow to it. Surprisingly, his mom was also there, sitting on a stool while leaning her back against the island counter. They both turned to face him as he barged in.
“Oh! Congratulations!” His dad said, pouring his potion into the bottler machine.
“Nice!” His mom said, “What does the Skill do?”
Colthorn quickly went into the Settings tab and shared his screen with Friends. He opened the Skill definition and handed his screen to his mom.
Alagossa read the Skill carefully... then read it again.
“By the moons...” she said, her mouth dropping open, “Jornan, look at this.”
She handed the screen over to Jornan, who had just finished corking the last potion. He took the screen and read the Skill description.
“Well... That’s amazing!” His dad said, “Once you level that Skill up you’ll be zipping around, but I think the most impressive part is the Stamina regeneration. Most adventurers would kill for a Skill like that. Without potions or Skills, it usually takes weeks to recover stamina. Of course there are meditation techniques that can cut that time, but most of those are active only Skills. That’s a great Skill you have there Little Coal, be sure to level it up ok?”
“I will,” he said, taking his screen back from his dad. “So, are you done with your Quest too, Mom?”
“Yep,” she said, “And with the Guild duties as well... honestly, I don’t know why I’m still registered there, I don’t even do any of their quests anymore and most things I gather and hunt I sell to other businesses.”
“... Is it not good to be an adventurer?” Colthorn asked, tilting his head to the side. “Then should I not join?”
Alagossa’s eyes went wide and she sat up straight as she said, “No, no! It is good to be an adventurer! Especially in the lower Tiers, there are always quests for you to take and it pays good.” She sighed and leaned back against the counter. “I just like spending time here or in the forest.”
“Oh, ok... Dad said you were over three hundred years old, is that true? How old are you, Mom?”
Alagossa smiled sweetly as a tick mark appeared on her forehead. The lab suddenly grew colder as she said, “Oh? Did he now?”
Jornan gulped and sweat dripped from his brow despite the chilly lab.
“There’s no need to worry about my age, Little Coal. I’m still very young for an elf.”
“But are you over three hun-”
The lab grew even colder and Alagossa’s smile grew even wider. “I’m. Still. Young. Ok?”
Colthorn gulped, “Ok...”
“Now, how about you run along and see if you can play with Wa Yong and Alissa while I have a little chat with your father.”
Colthorn didn’t even say anything and just turned to leave. When he got to the lab door, his mom called out again.
“Little Coal, not going to say your goodbyes to your father?” She asked, her voice dripping with sweetness.
Colthorn turned back to look at his dad, who was as pale as a ghost. He clasped his hands in front of him and bowed, “It was nice knowing you... Sorry.” Then he dashed out of the lab.
He dropped off his bag and bow in his room, then left again. He walked out of Perfect Potions and went right next door to Wa Lin’s Bakery. The bakery was empty besides Wa Lin and Wa Yong. The two orcs were sitting on stools behind the counter, chatting about something but stopped when they heard the door open. Both Wa Lin and Wa Yong were wearing their white aprons and hairnets.
“Good morning,” Colthorn said, walking up to them.
“Oh what a surprise! It is good to see you, Colthorn,” Wa Lin said. Wa Lin, Wa Yong’s mother, was a homely woman with thick arms from pounding dough everyday. And although she had an accent when she spoke Glanic, her voice was silky smooth and full of warmth. He had once asked a long time ago why she spoke with an accent and she said that it was because her native language was Keraq’Si.
“Colthorn!” Wa Yong shouted, “I finished my Quest, did you finish yours?”
“It’s good to see you too Mrs. Wa,” he said to Wa Lin, “It’s been a long time since we’ve last met.” And it was true. Colthorn was usually too busy with training to visit. The last time he had spoken with her was six months ago. “And yes!” He excitedly turned to Wa Yong with a grin. “I just got back from completing mine. I got a Skill that lets me move faster!”
"That's awesome!" Wa Yong said.
“Moving fast is important when you’re an adventurer,” Wa Lin said as she moved to one of the trays of pastries by the wall. She grabbed a pastry and handed it to Colthorn. “Here, eat this.”
“Huh? Oh, ok,” he said, grabbing the pastry. “Thank you.”
“It’s a celebration pastry. When you get a new Skill in this house you get a pastry,” she said with a large smile. Then she wagged a finger at him. “Besides, you got to eat more young man. Put some meat on those bones!”
“Anyways,” Colthorn said around a bite, “I’m done with training until Spring. I was wondering if Wa Yong can come play with me.”
“You’re done with training? Oh, that’s wonderful! You’re always training so hard,” Wa Lin said, a hand pressed to her cheek and a worried look on her face. “Only eight years old and already level 98, I was afraid you’d never stop and take a break. Of course Wa Yong can play with you.”
“Great!” Colthorn looked over at Wa Yong with a large smile. “Do you know if Alissa is done with her Quest yet?”
“No, she isn’t. I sent her a Direct Letter earlier this morning and she said that she still has to help her dad, but she should be done by lunch.
“Oh, ok. So, what should we do until then?”
“If you want we can play at Kaygan Park.”
“Kaygan Park?”
“Yeah, it’s just a couple streets away. But I got to grab my coat first!” Wa Yong took off through a door and up some stairs to their living quarters.
While Wa Yong was grabbing his coat, Wa Lin spoke up, “So, you’re finally done with your Quest? Didn’t you need to reach Tier 1?”
“No, I just finished training all the Skills required for the Class I want, so now I just need to reach level 100 and complete the Tier-up Quest, then I’ll be done. But right now, I can take it easy. My dad wanted me to take a couple of classes at the Adventurer’s Academy before I Tier-up though, that’s why I haven’t already.”
“I remember when you first got that Quest,” Wa Lin sighed, “Your mom was so worried that she wouldn’t be able to teach you properly. She used to come and ask me for advice. Now look at you.” She reached over to pinch Colthorn’s cheek. “You grew up so fast.”
Colthorn was about to say something else, but Wa Yong came back. He wasn’t wearing his apron and hairnet anymore, he was wearing a large coat and a wool hat.
“Let’s go,” Wa Yong said, heading out the door.
“See you later, Mrs. Wa. Thanks for the pastry,” he said, following after Wa Yong.
They both hit the streets, they ran up the street and went north. They made a right and then a left and suddenly, Colthorn was in a park he only vaguely remembered. He used to play here, before he got the Quest. And now after four, almost five, years later he was back.
Kaygan Park was basically a tiny field with trees dotted here and there, a pond on one end, and a winding path with some benches going around the field. The pond was frozen over and the field was covered in snow, but the path was cleared and there were some other kids running around playing in the snow.
Colthorn didn’t know what game they were going to play but Wa Yong seemed to be heading towards a group of kids, so he just followed along. It’s been so long since he’s really played, he was excited to see what Wa Yong had planned.
The group that Wa Yong was approaching were all huddled around a bench, where one of the moms was passing out cookies. There were six kids in the group, and Wa Yong went right up to the biggest kid there, probably around twelve years old, and reached up and tapped the kid on the shoulder. Colthorn Analyzed him.
Child of Marcus/Sylvie Lawson 0th 85
“Hey Romeo,” Wa Yong said, confidently, his hands on his hips. “I challenge you to a snowball fight rematch!”
What the... Colthorn thought, I didn’t expect Wa Yong to just challenge someone to fight. I thought we were just here to play... Rematch? Did he lose a fight to this guy before?
This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
Romeo turned around to face Wa Yong and squared his shoulders. “Wa Yong...” He said, looking down on them. Romeo was a good six inches taller than Wa Yong, which meant that he was a good foot and a half taller than Colthorn. The other kids in the group all turned to face them as well, shouldering up beside Romeo. “I thought the beating I gave you and your little girlfriend last week would’ve been enough of a lesson, and yet you challenge me again. Who’s the pipsqueak? You don’t seriously think that he could actually help you win, do you?” He laughed, and the other kids around Romeo also laughed while munching on their cookies.
Colthorn scowled back at them. Beating?! He beat Wa Yong and Alissa!? And they didn’t tell me? Last week... it must have been just before the Week of Memnon. He cursed at himself. If only I finished training sooner, then I would have been here to help them... He clenched his fists by his side and gritted his teeth. I’m sorry Wa Yong... Alissa...
“I might be smaller than you, but I’m more than enough to take on all of you,” he growled.
Romeo and his squad laughed, even the mom chuckled... but then she looked at him again, eyes moving slightly right to left, and then raised an eyebrow. She didn’t say anything to her son, but she laughed saying, “This is going to be good.” Romeo seemed to take that as encouragement.
“Your pipsqueak is talking big, Wa Yong, but can he back it up? I already have my team.” Romeo gestured at his friends. “Go ahead and assemble yours.”
“I’m sure he can,” Wa Yong laughed, then turned to yell towards some kids building snow castles. “Hey! Want to join our snowball fight?”
The three kids looked at each other, shrugged, then came over.
... is it normal for random people to join fights? Whatever, I’ll just have to end this fight quickly.
“Six against five. That doesn’t seem fair. You sure you don’t want to grab another person? Is Alissa coming?” Romeo asked.
“Alissa still has to finish the Quest she got for the Week of Memnon, so she’ll join later,” Wa Yong said, “But this is fine, we have Colthorn.”
“Alright...” Romeo said, unbelievingly.
The mom spoke up this time, “Ok! Romeo, your team starts on that side.” She pointed to the side of the park with the pond. “Wa Yong, you and your team start on the other side. Remember, Three hits and you are out, and no rocks in the snowballs. When you get out, come back here for cookies!”
The two teams separated to their sides of the park to prepare for the fight. There were already some mounds of snow scattered around that some other kids had made. So, with the trees and those small snow mounds, there was a good bit of cover.
Wa Yong, and the three others that joined, immediately started making as many snowballs as they could.
Snowballs. Mom threw these at me to help me train my Awareness Skill... I didn’t think people actually fought with them though. Is the three hit limit to make sure we don’t go too far? Colthorn sighed and started making snowballs as well, packing them together as hard as he could. It’s a shame we can’t put a rock in it. How are these supposed to hurt?... Well, I guess I could just aim for the face...
“Alright,” Wa Yong said, “Romeo likes to attack, so let’s build up these defenses a bit more and stock up on snowballs. Colthorn, what do you think?”
He nodded. “That sounds good. You four stay here, try to keep their attention. I’ll sneak around and ambush them from behind.”
After a couple minutes of building up one of the snow piles into a proper bunker, Colthorn heard the crunch of snow. They were coming.
“They’re here,” he said, alerting the others. “I’m going now. Remember, keep them occupied for as long as you can.” Then he rolled through the snow to white-out his brown cloak, and stealthed away. He stuck close to the ground and went from tree to tree or hid behind snow piles. Whatever he could use as cover, he used to his advantage.
He circled to the right, placing the enemy team to his left. None of them seemed to notice him. They were all focused on the bunker his teammates were hiding in. No snowballs had been thrown yet, they were still too far away. Colthorn had noticed them early.
Three hits. That’s what he needed to get someone out of the fight. So, Colthorn crouched down and made three snowballs. He’d focus on one person and get them out as fast as possible. He packed the snowballs as hard as he could for maximum damage. No one beats his friends and gets away with it.
With his three snowballs, held against his chest with his left arm, he stalked closer and hid behind a tree. They were ten feet away, shouting at the bunker as they started throwing snowballs. Wa Yong and their teammates shouted back and returned a volley of snowballs.
A couple of Romeo’s teammates were kneeling behind trees making snowballs for the others to throw... At least, they thought that they were hiding. Colthorn was there, unseen by his enemies. It was time for revenge.
One after the other, Colthorn threw his three snowballs. His target was one of the snowball makers, because the others had their backs to him and the snowball maker’s face was a clear target. The first snowball shattered against the unsuspecting boy’s face. He reeled backwards in surprise, smacking the back of his head against the tree. Another snowball struck his face mid-gasp, breaking against his upper lip. Half the snowball went straight into his mouth, turning the gasp into choking. The third snowball broke harmlessly against the boy’s forehead.
Colthorn retreated, leaving the boy on his hands and knees, hacking and gagging. He hid behind a different tree and made another three snowballs. One down, five to go.
“Luke! Are you all right? What happened?” One of the other snowball makers asked.
“I’m out,” Luke choked out, “Three snowballs right to the face.”
Romeo ducked away from a snowball and darted over to Luke. “What, you’re out? How?”
“I don’t know, they just came out of nowhere,” Luke said, walking off. “I’m going to get more cookies... I deserve it after inhaling a stinkin snowball.”
Romeo scowled at the surrounding trees. It was quiet, too Quiet. “It’s that kid... That pipsqueak is out here,” he said, then turned to his team. “Casey, come with me. You three keep them pinned down in that bunker.”
Colthorn frowned at the two slowly coming towards him. They were crouched low, scanning their surroundings with snowballs in each hand. They weren’t coming straight towards him though, so they didn’t know exactly where he was, but they would pass close to his position. So, with another batch of three snowballs in his left arm, he climbed the tree he was hiding behind. It was difficult to do with one arm, but the branches were low and he went as slow and quietly as he could.
Romeo and Casey didn’t notice, they were busy looking around at the snow piles and the trees close to them. Colthorn smirked, crouching on a branch about twelve feet up. He didn’t know why they didn’t look up... didn’t they know that a lot of predators hide up in the trees and drop down on unsuspecting prey? Well, they obviously didn’t. But that was fine with Colthorn, because they were his prey now and the more unsuspecting they were, the better.
What would be better? Colthorn thought as he waited for the two to get closer. Taking out Romeo right now to make him watch as I take out his team one by one... or take out each of his friends before him to show that his best efforts are useless against me? Hmm, what would be the best revenge?... I’ll take him out last. His mom brought cookies. If I take him out now, he’ll just eat cookies, but if I take out all of his friends first, then his friends will eat all the cookies. He chuckled darkly. It’s a perfect revenge.
They were under him now.
Pow! Pow! Pow! The snowballs struck Casey in quick succession, right on top of his head. Casey shrieked and started tugging at the bottom of his coat. Some of the snow must have fallen into his collar.
When the first snowball hit, Romeo whipped around thinking the snowball came from behind, but saw nobody. He did see the second snowball though, and knew Colthorn was in the tree. Romeo saw him and quickly threw a snowball at Colthorn, but it was too late. Casey was out and Colthorn was already leaping from the tree, completely dodging the snowball.
Colthorn Tumbled when he hit the ground, rolling straight to his feet and dashing away, dodging the second snowball Romeo threw. Using Quick Blooded and Running, he weaved between trees, breaking line of sight with Romeo to Stealth again. He hid behind a random snow pile and quietly rolled in the snow again. That run had shaken some of the snow loose from his cloak, so he had to reapply it.
He heard the crunching of snow and looked up to see Romeo running around looking for him. Colthorn left and went back to where his teammates were fighting. Two down, four to go.
When he got back he saw one of his own teammates, whose name he still didn’t know, and one of Romeo’s teammates both walking away towards Romeo’s mom.
I guess it’s three down and three to go...
Colthorn quickly made three snowballs and Stealthed to a tree close to them. He knew Romeo was somewhere behind him, so he went a bit to the side so only one of the enemies had a clear shot to him and placed a tree between him and where he thought Romeo was. The three enemies were still throwing snowballs at the bunker while daring Wa Yong to come out.
He aimed at the one closest to him and threw. Right as he threw, he shouted, “Hey!”
The boy startled and turned to face him, only to receive the snowball right to the face. He fell backwards with a yelp. The second snowball hit him in the face as well, but the third hit the boy behind him in the side of the head. Colthorn slipped away quietly to watch and make more snowballs. The boy that was hit in the side of the head sighed and walked off to join the ones already out.
Wa Yong saw his chance and pelted the boy that fell with snowballs.
Colthorn blinked. We can hit them more than three times? Tsk... Oh well.
He stealthed back towards the remaining boy and threw a snowball. A faint whistle sound. Colthorn rolled to the side. A snowball struck the tree where his head had been. Constant awareness. Just like mom’s training.
“Pipsqueak! Quit running and fight me like a man!” Romeo yelled, charging at him with another snowball raised to be thrown.
No use hiding now. Colthorn stepped away from the tree and stood between Romeo and the other boy.
“Come on Romeo!” Colthorn yelled back, “I thought you were going to teach us a lesson, but it looks like I’m the one teaching you!”
Romeo’s face went red and he threw his snowball. That was the only snowball he had, so Colthorn sidestepped and let it soar past him, then twisted around to dodge the one thrown by the other kid. Colthorn threw a snowball right at that kid. It smacked him right in the face. He threw his last snowball at the kid and it also smacked him in the face.
The kid wiped the snow off his face. “Good luck, Romeo,” he said, glaring at Colthorn. “There’s two left in that bunker.” Then he walked off.
Two? The other one must have gotten out while I was sneaking around. Colthorn thought as he spun to face Romeo. He was making a couple snowballs, so Colthorn quickly scooped up some snow and packed it into a ball and threw it. Romeo dodged to the side and threw one of his. Colthorn just twisted a bit to let the snowball fly past while maintaining eye contact with Romeo.
I’ll catch his next snowball. I don’t know if that counts as a hit but it doesn’t matter, I’ll still have two hits to go and then...
Suddenly, Wa Yong and the other boy came charging out of the bunker yelling and throwing snowballs. Both had an arm full of snowballs and were using the other arm to throw as they ran. Romeo, who was focused on Colthorn, was pelted with snowballs.
“Take that Romeo!” Wa Yong laughed and high-fived the other boy, then high-fived Colthorn. “I told you Colthorn was good!”
Colthorn nodded. It’s good that Wa Yong took out Romeo, he got his own revenge.
“Come on,” Romeo laughed, “How was I supposed to know? He’s tiny! What is he, five?”
“He’s eight.”
Colthorn was confused. Why is Wa Yong being friendly with Romeo... aren’t they enemies? As he was being confused, there was a chime sound and a blue box appeared in front of him.
Quick Blooded gained 1 level. +1 EXP.
Running gained 1 level. +1 EXP.
Climbing gained 1 level. +1 EXP.
Jumping gained 1 level. +1 EXP.
Tumbling gained 1 level. +1 EXP.
“Eight?” Romeo said, eyebrows raised. Then he saw Colthorn’s ears. “Oh, he’s an elf. That makes sense.”
“I’m half-elf, half-human,” he said, still unsure if Romeo was actually an enemy.
“Cool... Anyways, let’s go eat some cookies. My mom’s cookies are the best!”
Wa Yong snorted, “Yeah right. My mom’s cookies are the best, she’s literally a Baker.”
Colthorn followed them back to Romeo’s mom where everyone was watching them. What Colthorn wasn’t expecting was for everyone to rush over to him, clap him on the back, and tell him how awesome he was.
“Bro, that was awesome!”
“How did you just disappear like that?”
“The way you just dodged those snowballs was so cool”
“You jumped out of that tree like a boss!”
Wa Yong shoved his way between Colthorn and everyone else and laughed, “Easy there, give him some space. Here, Colthorn, have some cookies.” Wa Yong snagged a couple cookies off the bench and gave them to Colthorn.
After chatting for a bit, Colthorn realized that Romeo and his group of friends weren’t enemies and were in fact friendly.
But then why did Wa Yong challenge Romeo to a fight?... Is that why the three hit rule was in play, because this was just a friendly spar?
Then Colthorn remembered seeing a snowball fight before when he was even littler. When he used to come to the park, he had seen a snowball fight before and had wanted to join but was too young. Everyone was laughing and giggling... and having fun. Snowball fights were just a game. It wasn’t an actual fight. They did come to the park to play.
Oh... whoops.