Blissfully unaware of what was going on with his friend John and Zilta relaxed in John’s room. Zilta was sitting at the table across from John having just finished her pancakes and drink. They were just sitting there, relaxing as they let their food settle. That, and wondering who would speak up first.
“Fuck. I hate just sitting here.” Zilta growled out with a long sigh. “I just want to at least get up and move around, but even with your fancy healing stuff I know I can’t.” She grumbled out as she looked over the mess of bandages all over her body.
“Want me to get Nelva?” John asked her. “She is the frog woman that was healing most of your crew.”
“Nah, won’t do me any good. Us gnolls are VERY resistant to magic. Unfortunately for me that also includes healing magic so I am stuck like this for awhile.”
“Damn, blessing and a curse then.” John shook his head as he picked up his tab and started to flip through the books he had downloaded. Normally he would be taking this time to read the news, but it wasn’t exactly like the local news would be sent to his tablet. “So, what is the city like we are going to?” He asked not sure what else to talk about right now.
“Ah, it is one of the bigger ones. Not as big as the capital, but still quite large in its own right.” She explained. “Has a good craftsman quarter, a river lined with waterwheels, and decent enough cooking supplied by the farms on the outskirts. Not the kinda place you write home about but good enough to relax for awhile in. Set up a small life if that is your thing.”
He gave her a small nod before sipping his coffee just a little. “Any dungeons nearby?” He asked already wanting to get back to normal work a bit. Well, not really just yet. It was more to try and figure out what was next after this whole mini adventure ended.
“Just a few. A couple of low level ones, one medium, and two higher end ones. The spread is what really got the town to be popular. Lots of people came for one level, hung around to try to work their way up in one place, and just kinda settled down. Add in the fact the craftsmen can pretty much get whatever supplies they need as well and its just done well for itself.”
John nodded a bit as he sipped his coffee some more. “So, what are you going to do when we get there Zilta?”
She gave him a shrug. “Get paid, get bonus pay for injury and killing enemies, then just kinda look for a good cheap spot to lay low for awhile while I heal up.” She explained. “Not much I can do this banged up. Add on that I am not part of any guilds and there isn’t exactly a lot I can do.”
“Why are you not part of any guild?” He put down his tab and empty mug to look at her. He didn’t know how guilds in this world worked, but the training he got told him that guilds were usually pretty important in most fantasy-class worlds.
“Just wasn’t ready to march under a banner again. Wanted the flexibility, freedom, and if I signed up with a merc guild chances were I would be right back in the thick of an army.” She explained as she picked up his mug and gave it a curious sniff. By the look on her face she did NOT like what she smelled and quickly put the mug back down.
“Another reason is I just finished my service. It is always good to get out and adventure awhile before you sign up for a merc or specialist guild. If you build a name for yourself you can negotiate better conditions, deals, and possibly even start at a higher rank within the guild. Being at the bottom of the pile always sucks no matter what guild you join.”
He nodded along. Seems like job hunting was still pretty similar in this world too. Had to have a good resume to get a good job, work your way up the ladder, and more.
“Will be honest though John. Still hoping to get on board this ship for longer. Seems like a good deal to me. A nice ride from dungeon to dungeon, no kingdom allegiances to work out, food that is fresh and tasty even out in the field, and a nice warm bed at the end of very day. Hard to ask for more when you are an ex-soldier like me.” She admitted with a small chuckle. “At least in this world.”
John thought back to most of the job offers he had once he got out of the military and nodded. Sounded about right no matter what world you were on. “Nah, same in our world too. I pretty much had no options at all when I got out of the military.” He admitted with a nod. He then tapped on his tab sending TK a message.
>She has been pre-approved.
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
The response came before he even finished typing out if she was allowed to stay on board or even join. He chuckled and nodded his head. Jack always seemed to be on top of things and this was no different. He wondered what Jack saw to already clear it.
“Hey TK, where is Jack and Nelva?” He asked as he relaxed a bit more in his seat. He was going to offer her a position on the ship for sure now, but he wanted to wait till the time is right.
>”They are still waking up. They are currently both in Jack’s room.”
“What are they doing in there?” John asked a bit surprised they had moved so fast.
>”Information refused due to privacy concerns.”
“Well damn.” Both John and Zilta chuckled a bit instantly thinking that the couple had gone far further than they actually had. “Leave it to the nerds to move fast.”
“What is a nerd?” Zilta asked as she adjusted some of her bandages.
“It is a word sometimes used to mock those who pursue learning and certain activities beyond all other things.” He explained as he rubbed the back of his head.
“Ah, we just call them scholars.”
He shrugged. “Fair enough.” He then got up and gently patted her soft head without thinking about it. The deeply ingrained “pet the puppy” instincts taking hold before he even thought about it. She paused about to say something, but found it very pleasant so decided to let him continue on.
“Need anything?” He asked her as he stood by the door.
“Nah, just check on the people for me.” She waved him off before getting up and laying down in bed for a quick nap. She didn’t want to admit it, but she had been a bit too focused on him to get a good night sleep.
John shrugged and simply started to walk down the hall to the cargo bay. He could see the bedroom doors still closed with various people relaxing along the hallway walls. He quickly could tell that the guests had divided themselves into three groups:
Group one wanted to keep sleeping so stayed in the nice, dark, quiet bedrooms.
Group two just wanted to relax so they stayed in the hallway out of the main area.
Group three wanted to talk and have fun. They were currently all over the cargo bay doing various things from dice to enjoying their own personal stashes of various drinks and snacks. Many stories picking up from where they left off the night before with some already heading back to the showers to enjoy the fine warm waters once more.
A few were even paired off in couples. Snuggled up together and laughing as they watched the various antics of the others. None were too rowdy however with them much too thankful for what they had been given to risk angering or upsetting those that owned the ship. Not only did they not want to abuse the kindness being shown to them, but also fearing what their boss would do if they were found to have done such a thing. Particularly since those who owned said ship had saved their asses the day before.
John chuckled watching them do their own things. He could easily spot the different groups that had already formed long before Jack came in for the rescue. Rogues betting on dice, warriors trying to lift things, and some others frantically taking notes of things they saw in the ship. He then went to the cockpit and sat down for a bit. Relaxing in the solitude since none of the guests would be allowed inside. He looked out of the window and watched the rest of the caravan slowly bouncing along the road before. He could see jealous eyes glancing up at the ship with everyone below wondering what wonders could be onboard such a flying marvel.
He decided once they stopped for the night he would give those below a chance to take a shower and a nice warm meal. He didn’t want them getting mad at those who were injured just because they got to enjoy luxuries those below did not.
Soon Jack slipped into the cockpit and sat next to John. The looked over at each other and gave a nod in unison.
“How was she?” John asked.
“Very cool to the touch, loved to snuggle, amazing to watch videos with. Will be snuggling up and watching videos with her again tonight.” Jack answered with a grin. “And no, we didn’t.”
John looked at him a bit surprised but shrugged.
“Hey now, just because I got in bed with a beautiful, smart woman doesn’t mean I would make THAT kind of move on her.” He laughed a bit before leaning back in his seat. “Fuck man, what a first day eh?”
John chuckled and nodded. “Yeah. A quick dungeon run, plenty of gems to get ourselves started out, got in a few good fights, got to play heroes in multiple ways at multiple different times, and ending the day in the arms of women. Good ones too.”
They both nodded and let out a sigh.
“Man. I didn’t have any regrets going into this, but now?” Jack let out a long laugh as he looked up at the ceiling. “Fuck man. If the rest of the time here is going to be like this… I am glad we can’t go back.” He admitted with a deep breath. “Now, I do want things to slow down, but this is amazing.” His smile grew wider. “And we haven’t even made it to the first town!”
John laughed as he watched his partner soak in the afterglow of the day before. “Yeah. Feels good to fight to help people.”
They nodded before looking to the horizon. “So, how was she?” Jack asked finally returning the question.
“Like snuggling a warm, fluffy, slightly soft rock.” John admitted with a chuckle. “Do we have to give her her own room? I want to keep her in mine.”
They both laughed a bit before Jack closed his eyes and relaxed. “I hope this boss is a good person man. If this works out we will be going on all sorts of adventures.”
John simply nodded and closed his own eyes, taking a moment to relax again with all the troubles of the new world on the other side of the cockpit door. While itw as nice to take a second, he soon found himself already wanting to return to the gnoll in his room.
“Well, in the military they had a saying: “Do not add to or subtract from the local population while you are stationed.” John slowly mumbled out. “Guess we are going to be fucking THAT saying up.”
Jack could only respond with a nice, hard laugh.