I woke up to familiar pain in my ribs and back. A fortnight after Herp and his goons last beat me, I still felt remnants of that afternoon. Meyn alerted a teacher, but the boys ran off before they could return. The teacher also became very uninterested in the beating once we mentioned Herp’s name. Damn nobles getting away with anything.
At least Meyn stood up for me, although I don’t know why he talks to me so much. He’s not an outcast like me. As one of the few children to inherit the air-touched attribute from his father, he has great potential. Normally adventurers needed to struggle for rotations before gaining an attribute. Additionally, all the girls at school constantly snuck glances at him and shot death glares towards me. With his looks, gifts, and family he could definitely choose better friends than me. But I selfishly like his poor judgment.
Groaning some more, I decided to stand up and get ready for the day. After dressing in my usual trousers and a plain dark shirt, I stumbled into the kitchen and found my mom finishing up breakfast.
“Good morning dear, we’re having bread and eggs. Sit down, now where is that lazy father of yours?” Mom asked, pointedly raising her voice when asking about Dad.
After some sleepy groaning and rustling around, Dad finally stumbled into the kitchen. He had bags under his eyes, but upon seeing us his usual dopey grin appeared. While not the tallest man, his bulky stature and booming voice made up for it.
"Ah, nothing better than waking up to a fresh breakfast with my favorite two ladies!" Dad exclaimed, walking over and giving both of us a peck on the cheek. After we all sat at the dinner table, he continued speaking, "So any plans for your day off school, Lindy?"
"I want to finish up that invention I started on. Thanks for making those parts at the shop earlier Dad," I respond.
"Ah, that was Tom, a new apprentice of mine. Guiding him through making your parts was a good lesson on finer work for him. Plus, I don't normally get to make delicate stuff anymore since I lost old feller," he said while raising the stump of his left arm.
I felt a twinge of sadness, but he lost it before I could remember so he's still the same Dad I've always known. Still, one day I hope I can make some sort of replacement. Mom told me Dad used to be one of the best blacksmiths in the city and would have started working for the King personally in a rotation or two. Now he mainly teaches or does basic work.
For the rest of the meal, I ate silently, creating my mental list of tasks. When I finished, I swiftly ran out the door calling back, "I'm going to the market, see you soon."
And of course, Mom responded with a, "Be safe honey and don't stay out too long!"
Jogging through the streets of Kopth, I still couldn't help but take in the scenery. Mountains surrounding the city on three sides, I looked up to see the familiar cliffs protecting us. I couldn’t see it from here, but I knew to my east lay the massive wall, forty clicks tall, that defended us from the monsters outside. Rounding a corner, I saw a family moving into an abandoned house I sometimes build in. Looks like I’ll need to find a new spot. Although, there’s never a lack of room in Kopth. The closely packed buildings proved the city once bustled with activity and tight living quarters. But the dungeons changed that. With death from monster attacks, destroyed crops, little trade with other cities, and a steady stream of adventurers needed to keep us safe, most buildings lay unused. However, Verdint told me that with changes to the adventuring guild in the last decade, more adventurers come back alive than ever before and bring resources with them. Perhaps my new neighbors help prove his claim.
As I approach the market, I slowed down to not bump into the forming crowds. The people in this area were friendly enough. Still, I kept my eyes out for pickpockets. The guards normally deter any violent crime. I never tired of admiring armor and weapons. As I passed one guard, I noticed he wore the standard uniform of leather with bits of maile. On his left hip hung a short sword and on his right, one of my repeater crossbows! I smiled, letting my pride and the lively atmosphere lift me up.
Birds sung from the rooftops, those wearing grieves clanked on the cobblestones with each step, horses trotted along, and the general murmur of a crowd filled my ears. Most prominently though, stall traders hawked their wares to the early morning rush.
“New jewelry from the Qert dungeon!”, “Get your herbs fresh from the Ovetle dungeon!”, “Only Weryn’s finest armor here!”
Each dungeon tended to have different resources commonly found in it. Then, as they built connections to adventurers, merchants became known for selling items from specific dungeons. The more deadly the dungeon, the higher quality the rewards and better reputation of the merchant.
Weaving my way through the crowd as only a small child can, I approached the Ovetle stall.
“Hey Sernith, how’s the shop going, any trouble with fire beetles?” I inquired.
“Lindra! Those flakking bugs will never leave me alone but your traps saved many of my herbs. I suppose you’ll be wanting your payment then?” he responded with a smile. The bald, jolly merchant is one of the fattest men I’ve seen, proof of his successful business.
“I am, I would like the fire beetle bodies and a few herbs. I need something that stains well and another herb that causes a lot of pain but not permanent harm,” I explained.
“Interesting request, young one. Staining is easy, benna will instantly dye anything it touches purple. For your other herb, hmm,” Sernith walked to his storage containers in the back and rummaged through them for a few spins. “Here we are, ilk weed. Do not touch it with your skin and anything it touches will need to carefully cleaned,” he warned, handing me the carefully wrapped package.
“Thank you, I’ll be careful,” I said as I waved goodbye.
Once I left the market, I returned to a jog on my way home. Making a quick stop in my room for supplies, I set out for my second workspace down the street. I strolled to the back cellar and made my way down into the basement. Here, large workbenches and a few tools I collected created a perfect place to build.
First, I laid out all my supplies; the parts for the canister, the fire beetles, benna, ilk weed, nut oil, strainer, mortar, and pestle. The canister took no time at all to put together, the blueprint I gave to my father accurate as always. Of simple design, the device consisted of a reservoir shaped to the underside of my arm, a pump to pressurize the chamber, and a nozzle at the front.
Now for the precarious part. I’m not familiar with plants or chemicals yet. Carefully, I added benna and ilk weed into the mortar and started grinding with the pestle. My eyes, nose, and throat burned just from an arm’s length away. When I finally finished, I strained out the larger pieces back into the bag and returned the rest to the mortar. Then I drained the fire beetles’ sacks of irritant spray and nut oil into the mortar. I mixed one last time and finished my concoction. A bowl of purple liquid reflected my grin as I stared into it.
----------------------------------------
The next few rotations I kept myself on high alert, ready at a moment’s notice. Now that I’ve had enough time to heal, they wouldn’t want my injuries noticed, I should get a visit soon. Normally I try to rush out the door and avoid secluded areas, but today I strolled down deserted areas of school.
Of course, as I rounded a corner I felt a strong arm come down on my shoulder. Immediately I tried to turn and run away, but Herp’s grip held firm.
“Hello, runt. Up for some after school studying?” Herp snidely asked before socking my gut.
I let myself curl up on the floor, protecting my head and left arm. What followed was the usual. Except when Herp turned to walk away, I forced myself to mutter “You’re a son of a Dygon whore and a flakker.”
Herp and his goons stomped back to me, “What did you just call me peasant?” he asked. But he did not bother to wait for an answer to his obviously rhetorical question. Instead, they beat me far worse than ever before, no longer caring where they hit. My back and legs suffered the worst, but one blow managed to get my eye and nose. Already the blood streamed out of my nose to form a small puddle.
Finally exhausted, they swore at me a while longer, except for Bori. He leaned down and whispered into my ear, “Maybe they’ll let me play with you, little one.” Then he licked my cheek and began to run his hand down my shoulder, towards my chest.
True panic swelling up, I decided my injuries were more than sufficient. Rolling onto my back, I kicked against Bori’s legs to slide across the floor and away from them. Pain lanced down my body but I ignored it. My slide only gave me a click of distance, fortunately, I didn’t need anymore. I rolled back my left sleeve to expose my canister. Then I let it spray.
My concoction shot out from the pressurized container, arcing to hit Bori in the face. Quickly I targeted Herp and finally his other minion Geroff. Right away, they started screaming, rubbing at their eyes, and flailing about. Their voices turned hoarse and cried freely. The mist in the air irritated my sinuses a bit as well, but I didn’t mind. I sprayed them until my invention ran out.
Kneeling, stiff and tender, I dipped my hand in the blood I spilled on the floor and rubbed it on my face and neck. Then I stood and ran as fast as I could, which was extremely slow in my current state. Luckily the boys could not see and still rolled on the ground. When I reached the door to the dean’s office I turned my limping shuffle jog into just a limp. Additionally, I braced myself with one hand on the wall and let the tears flow strongly down my face, sobs racking my body. I stumbled through the door and the Dean jumped to her feet.
“Lindra! What happened to you?” she questioned as she ran to my assistance.
Slowly sliding down to the floor, I gasped out my reply between sobs, “I was- I was walking and, and they at-attacked me.”
“Who did this? Who would do this to a sweet young girl like you?” the Dean comforted me, pulling my head towards her shoulder.
“Same as always, H-Herp, Bori, and Geoff,” I responded.
“As always, has this happened before?” she asked in shock.
“Not this bad, but yes. You didn’t know? All my teachers do, I thought you didn’t care,” I croaked into her shoulder.
“If its Herp I can see why the teachers hesitated to come to me, but that is no excuse. Even the nephew of the King cannot beat citizens freely. Did anyone else see this happen? I believe you, but I need more proof to do more than lecture them,” she softly asked.
“No one witnessed today, but a few times Meyn saw them attack me and got help to scare them off. Also, I made this,” I showed her my spray canister, “which sprayed dye and irritant on them. They look quite purple now,” I half-heartedly joked.
She raised my chin to look up at her and said, “You’re very intelligent, aren’t you Lindra? With this I should be able to justify punishing them. Don’t worry, you’re safe now.”