Momo

Side Quest Complete

Build A Wall - You will need to protect the residents under your care. Build a wall around the village.

100 EXP rewarded

Main Quest Updated

Speak to Head Guard Farrel in Spring Village

Reward - 35 EXP

You have opened a third skill. Please choose from the following list.

“Hmmm.”

“What’s wrong?”

Momo spares Allard a glance, then shakes her head and wishes away her windows. “Sorry, didn’t think I said anything. Let’s get me back to the village. I have enough mana to get the afternoon water purified, then I want to check on Vae and see if he was able to find the sprouted potatoes to give to Avalina.”

“You better pick something better this time. I don’t know how you’ve survived as long as you have, but things are going to get harder.”

The voice isn’t Allard’s. Momo’s head whips from side to side so quickly that her neck twinges. Her brows draw down into two angry lines and she narrows her eyes. “I need a moment, Allard. Would you mind waiting here?”

He nods, a look of concern on his face. She knows he won’t follow, but she stops when she gets twenty feet away to look back and make sure. Once she is certain that he is focusing on everything but her to give her a semblance of privacy, she turns away from him and glares at the nothing in front of her. “Well you’ve been suspiciously absent for quite some time now, haven’t you? What’s wrong, your boss sent you a message that you needed to be more hands-on? Did they threaten you with a shorter meal period if you didn’t check in?”

“This esteemed one has better things to do than to follow you around all day.”

The pretentiousness hasn’t faded from the non-corporeal being’s voice over the months it has been absent. Momo rolls her eyes and presses her hands into her lower back to relieve some pressure. “Let me guess, you assumed I would die and went about pretending to be busy while you waited for the notification. But it never came so you popped back in to check why.”

“How did you- that’s not what happened at all. I’ve been monitoring you closely. Let’s not talk about that, the close monitoring. You have gotten enough experience points to open up a third skill and you need to pick a better one. You can pick either Take A Hit or Load Bearer. Just tell me which one you want and I’ll get you set up.”

“Why would you set it up? I think I can do it just fine.” With a thought, she opens up the previous notification window and chooses the option to open the selection screen.

“No, I need to do it because a third skill is a rare thing, most people only raise one of their’s and the third doesn’t always NO STOP-”

Momo pulls up her new skill’s stat screen with a smile.

You have Chosen Full Of It Increased Mana

Level One Perks:

Passive - Mana Pool Increased by 10%

Available at Level Two

Passive - Mana Pool Increased by 15%

“What have you done? That’s almost useless! You need to level it before you can choose a class, and there isn’t time to level it high enough for that! You already wasted your chance to pick a class by choosing useless secondary skills. Why did I waste my time coming back to help you!”

His rant continues for another minute before losing steam, but Momo has long since stopped listening. She opens her stat window, nodding with satisfaction at her larger mana pool that has given her more available mana on top of what she has remaining after completing the wall. After a few minutes, she notices it is quiet and closes her windows.

“Are you still there? Just taking a breather?”

There is no answer, and she waits to make sure it is gone again before making the trek back to Allard.

Stiffness sits between her shoulder blades, a firm reminder that she is not young enough to put in six hours of stressful work each day anymore. Not that she would have ever imagined growing plants could be stressful, but even being on her knees in a garden as she’d planned for her sunset years can’t be as physically taxing as weaving vines around bamboo as they grow out of the ground. Why does using magic feel like I’ve done ten rounds in the ring?

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

“What are you thinking about?” Allard nudges her arm with his before guiding her back toward the well.

“Nothing. Just thinking about how I feel old.”

“Ah.” A mischievous smile turns up the corners of his lips. “Not too old for ‘Vae’, I don’t think.”

It takes a moment to figure out what he is talking about. “You stop that. He doesn’t like his name and that’s what he wants to be called. People should be able to choose. Doesn’t mean anything other than that.”

“I see.”

Momo glares at him and he makes the wise decision not to continue. It’s fine, people want a bit of romance to watch to make them forget about the hard stuff. Don’t know why it has to be me and some old elf.

The elf in question rounds the side of Allard’s house as they approach, broadsword strapped to his back and a frown on his regal features. Allard whispers “I’ll meet you at the well after you two are done not flirting” and darts off before she can belt him.

She doesn’t mind being around Vae, rumors aside. The numbers in the village have swelled, most houses occupied, and some days the difference is too much and she has to hide out with the bamboo. After Allard, Tal, and Vae are the only two that she can spare a word for those days. She smiles as she thinks of the smart young goblin. If Tal were back in Momo’s world, she would be looking forward to college, likely with a full scholarship. Here she is stuck in a small village, choosing from a very small list of possible occupations. At least before the zombies, she could have gone off into the world to find more options, as long as she was able to part ways with her older sister.

“You went out with a weapon again. I gave you a short sword, I expect you to have it on you when you leave your house if you insist on being guard to all.”

Vae’s raspy voice drones on, and Momo crosses her arms to wait for him to finish. The weeks have done a good job of covering up the bones and hollows of his tall frame the same as the regular food has helped the others, but it would still be some time before his shoulders fill out to what she assumes they used to be. He hardly ever talks, and when he does it is rarely about himself. It is only because of Allard that she knows he used to be a mercenary before he moved to Spring Village for his own version of retirement. He continues, pointing his finger emphatically toward the wall, and Momo wonders if he has ever spoken this many words to anyone else in his life. The first sentence he spoke was more words than she had heard him say to any of the other villagers since they arrived.

When he stops, Momo waits a beat before stating. “I think we can both be glad that I don’t have a short sword on me right now. Because the desire to stab you is overshadowed only by my desire for a slice of chocolate cake. Not being able to have that makes the other choice even more desirable” He pulls back, visibly startled, and despite his rough leather attire and the long scar running along the side of his neck he looks very similar to an affronted college professor. “I enjoy your company for the most part, Vae, but I ask that you please try to understand that lecturing me about weapons is going to make me either ignore your words and avoid you, or make me stab you. I’ve been a soldier for most of my life, and I’ve taken more lives than I care to remember. If I choose to spend my final days without a gun or sword in hand that is my business. Now, I’m older and wiser and you need to shut up with the lectures.”

Vae snorts and crosses his arms over his chest. “You are not older than I am.”

“Why does that sound like a petulant child who has lost an argument? How old are you, anyway?” Momo looks him over from head to toe, but his hair is too light to see silvers or greys and there isn’t a wrinkle in sight.

“I’m approaching my two hundredth year.”

“No way.” She looks him over again, then shrugs and pushes past him. “You look good for nearly 200. You may be older, but I’m still wiser. So shush.”

He sighs and follows, and she can see his head subtly shifting side to side to watch everything the same as she does. “Miss Momo,” he begins, his voice dropping an octave as he catches up and leans toward her. “I’m sorry for … lecturing did you say? You have done a good job keeping Allard safe, and now the rest of us. I am only concerned that you don’t show enough regard for yourself. Let me help.”

Momo copies his sigh and stops halfway to the well. “I know you don’t mean to be abrasive. I appreciate your concern for my well-being. But, and yes the word was lecturing, lecturing me about carrying a sword when I don’t want one is not a good way for us to become friends or even neighbors. Why don’t you come over and have tea with Allard and me after I finish purifying our water? It might be nice to talk about something other than safety for a half hour.”

“Safety is important,” he grumbles but snaps his mouth closed at her glare. When he doesn’t speak again and sheepishly looks away, Momo turns back toward Allard and the well.

Allard grins as he looks between them, opening his mouth and closing it again with a larger smile when she shares her glare with him as well. The first buckets are waiting to be filled on the ground around the well. Small blades of grass poke up from the ground around them. Thanks to her passive cleaning abilities, the areas she frequents have become purified without her intentionally casting a skill. The areas aren’t many, around the well-being the most obvious since she is there purifying water for 15 minutes three times a day. The ground outside her bedroom and her front window follow closely behind.

The glare falls away, a smile taking its place. She isn’t actually angry at either of the elves nearby, but if she shows it, neither will be quiet for longer than a minute. The thought of a lush green carpet surrounding their water source deserves a smile, though.

With the additional set of hands to help, the newly purified buckets make their way to their owners quicker than ever. When the only bucket left is her own, she lifts it to the rim of the well. Water sloshes gently against the sides, a calming sound. Momo raises her brows when she looks inside. Sparkles, similar to the ones by the vines, dance over the surface. “Allard, did you see this?”

He looks in the bucket, his brows furrowing slightly. “I didn’t. I don’t think they were there a minute ago. Should I dump it back and get some more?”

The sparkling motes circle the inside of the bucket, rising to the lip and then back down again. Momo cocks her head and raises her right hand over the surface. The sparkles swirl faster, then slow to a stop. “If it explodes, then I’ll claim I did it on purpose,” she mutters, then casts her spell.

There is no physical explosion, but a flash of light blinds all three of them, and Momo feels Vae reach around her and knock the bucket to the ground. It isn’t his voice that is chanting “Thank you” again and again. His voice could never be that high even if he forced it.

When her vision fades again, Momo looks directly into the eyes of a tiny person hovering inches from her face. They dart side to side once they notice her eyes focusing, their excitement palpable. “Thank you so much! I knew that would work! The water down there is cleaner than the water in the streams and rivers nearby, but the water is still dirty and so was I, and I knew if you used your spell on me too I could focus and be me!”

Momo blinks, her brain trying to keep up with the speedy words her ears are taking in. She looks over at Vae and then Allard, but both are paying her no attention. Their eyes are riveted to the little winged body trying valiantly to stay still for more than a second.

“I haven’t seen a sprite since this all began,” Allard breathes, a look of wonder on his face.

“Alright,” Momo announces after a deep, calming breath. All three of the beings around her wait expectantly, one set of eyes on her, the other two glued to the sprite. “I need a nice cup of tea. All of you can follow me inside if you like, but whether you do or don’t I am still going to go in and sit down.

The little creature flits about around her, Vae and Allard close behind them. Momo lets all three inside, her lips pursed at the taller of the two elves. His wondrous gaze has been replaced by targeted awareness. I love Allard like a son, but he accepts everything so easily. Maybe it’s alright to have someone else here who is going to do the obvious. She steps in and closes the door behind her. Wait, if Vae is that old and looks that young, how old is Allard? Should I call him Grandpa if he’s older? I want to call him Grandpa.