The rest of the trip south towards Dan’s house was uneventful. No one spoke much, as we were still processing what had happened in the copse of trees just after breakfast. We arrived at Dan’s house just before midday. We got worried because Trisha, Dan’s wife, didn’t appear to be home. Or at least her vehicle wasn’t in the driveway as we walked down the dirt road that led to the property. Just as we reached the driveway, Trisha came out of the house followed by Dan’s daughter and grandson. The three rushed over and embraced Dan in a big hug.
“We were so worried about you, Trisha said. We weren’t sure where you were or if you could make it home.”
“I was worried about you too. Where's your car?" Dan asked.
“I was down the street at our neighbors' house, Trisha explained. And after the lightning storm, none of our vehicles worked so we walked back here. We didn’t want to try and go anywhere else for fear you wouldn’t be able to find us if you got home.”
“Well I made it back, with the help of these two,” Dan said. We had a bit of trouble along the way with a couple of bandits but we managed. And I’ll tell you what, Derrick here can cook a mean squirrel.” At this, both women scrunched up their noses in disgust while the three of us laughed.
“Thank you guys for getting my husband home,” Trisha said.
“No worries I stated, we wouldn’t have left him up there all alone.”
“I’m sure you guys are in a hurry to get back to your families, but would you like to come in and grab something to eat?" Trisha asked.
“No, that’s OK,” Frank said. We have a long walk ahead of us, and we have plenty of food in our packs to make the trip twice over.”
Frank and I said our goodbyes to Dan and his family and headed south again through Dan's property. Dan held about 10 acres on the outskirts of a small town that was barely more than a speed bump along the highway between cities. He had several cows and a large chicken coop with laying hens and one rooster. At least he’d be loaded with meat for the foreseeable future, as long as he could hold onto it. As we headed out, Dan yelled over. “Hold on guys, let me walk with you for a minute.” When Dan was out of earshot from his family, he started speaking. “I wanted to talk to you guys about what happened with the bandits.” I had been expecting this. We worked for Dan for several years and knew him pretty well. Dan was a very religious man. He didn’t believe in violence for the most part. However, knowing his time in corrections and the fact that he put his family over everything, I knew he would be violent if it came down to it. Dan didn't condone violence for violence's sake, and he was a firm believer in “only God can judge.”
I held up my hand stopping Dan before he could say anything else. “I already know what you want to ask," I said. You want to know if I killed that guy because I passed judgment on him for his crimes or out of self-defense? I’ve had some time to think about it, and to be honest, I didn’t really know myself. When I was in law enforcement, one of my training officers beat it into my head that a cop should not have a vested interest in the case once he’s made an arrest. Your job is not to pass judgment, but to collect evidence and make an arrest based on what you can prove. After that, it’s up to the court system to pass judgment and deliver sentencing, if any.”
“So what about the archer?" Dan asked.
“At that moment, I continued, I wasn’t sure what I would do. On the one hand he confessed to killing innocent people and if we let him free, he’d probably do it again. On the other hand, I don’t want to be that guy that is a judge, jury and executioner. I was at a loss about what to do. But in the end, he made the decision for me by reaching for the knife.”
“Well, I guess that part is true, Dan said. I just want you to be careful going forward. We’re in for some rough times, and I’d hate it if you turned into someone perfectly fine with killing.”
“I hope I never get fine with killing," I said. The only thing I am sure of is, if someone comes after my family then it’s game on.”
“I can agree with that,” Dan replied.
“What are you guys planning to do now?" I asked.
“Well for now, we're hoping to stay here," Dan explained. We have cattle and chickens, so we'll have meat and eggs. We have an irrigation canal on the east side of the property, and as long as that doesn’t run dry we’ll have water.”
“What about that old truck you have parked on the back side of the house? Does that run?" I asked.
“Not at the moment, Dan answered. But I should be able to get it working if I can find a battery that works for it.”
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
“If things get too rough out here in the country, I said, pack that old truck up and come find us. If you can scrounge up a cattle trailer you can pack a few up and bring them too. By that time we should have something setup that’s more permanent.”
“You got yourself a deal," Dan said.
Looking at the corner of my vision, I noticed a blinking light. Having gotten used to it so much, I ignored it without thinking about it. “Have you guys checked your notifications after the fight with the bandits?" I asked.
“Of course we did, Frank said. Didn’t you?”
“I guess I’m the only idiot that didn’t,” I replied while shaking my head.
"I gained some good EXP from the battle, even leveled up,” Frank added.
“That's another reason I wanted to talk about it,” Dan replied. That was some quick EXP for killing three guys.”
“Well crap, I said. Give me a minute and let me check my stats.”
- You have defeated a human level 5 Bandit. moderate EXP gained.
- You have defeated a human level 5 Bandit. moderate EXP gained.
-You have defeated human level 4. moderate EXP gained.
- you have gained levels 2 and 3. You have 6 attribute points and 4 skill points in reserve.
-Skill increase: Blunt weapons Beg 9
-Skill increase: Daggers Beg 8
I was shocked at the amount of EXP I gained, especially since I only killed two bandits. I guess the “system” considered them in a group or party during the fight. I wanted to check the battle logs to see what kind of damage I dealt during the fight.
- You have caused, human level 5 bandit, 12 pts of blunt damage to head, critical hit, Bandit is stunned for 5 seconds, bandit receives 10 pts of fall damage to head,
- You have caused 6 pts of crushing damage to ribs, you have caused 15 pts of slashing damage to carotid, critically wounded, bandit receives 10 pts of bleeding damage per second for 2 min or until healed.
- You have caused human level 4, 15 points of piercing damage to head, mortally wounded, catastrophic injury to brain.”
I found that last part very interesting. Even with hit points, if you received catastrophic injury to your brain, you were dead no matter what. I wondered if that was true for the heart too. I didn’t think it was like that in any game I’ve played or story I’ve read. However, that was all fantasy. This was real life.
I put three points into strength and three points into constitution as they were my lowest stats. This was probably what I needed to get home now. I held off assigning skill points as I didn’t know what kind of build I was planning to opt for. I also didn't know what kind of class I’d be able to obtain at level 5. If what the archer said was true about Jack, I’d get my class at level 5. Before I hit confirm, I checked my stats one last time to make sure I was doing the right thing.
STATUS:
Name: Derrick Miller Race:
Human Level: 3
Attributes:
Strength: 15
Dexterity: 15
Constitution: 15
Intelligence: 17
Wisdom: 12
Charisma: 18
Health: 150/150
Stamina: 150
Mana: 170
Carry Capacity: 225 lbs.
Armor Class: 3
Skills:
Hand to Hand: Beginner 6
Blunt Weapons: Beginner 9
Axe Mastery: Apprentice 3
Sword Mastery: Beginner 5
Bow Mastery: Apprentice 3
Daggers: Beginner 8,
First Aid: Apprentice 9,
Building: Journeyman 5,
Crafting: Journeyman 5,
Wilderness Survival: Journeyman 2,
Sneak: Beginner 5,
Herbalism: Beginner 5,
Alchemy: Beginner 5,
Inspect: Beginner 1
Arcane:
Minor Heal: Beginner 5
Tame Animal: Beginner 9
You have 0 unassigned attribute points.
You have 4 unassigned skill points.
Seeing everything looked okay, I hit confirm and felt the wave of strength and vitality run through my body. Seeing I was finished with my stats screen, Dan told us to wait for a moment before heading out again. He walked to his garage and returned a couple minutes later with a recurve bow and a quiver with a half dozen arrows in it. “Here, Dan said. It isn’t much, and the tips are only target points. However, it’ll give you some options for hunting small game, and for ranged defense if you come across anyone else along the way.”
I activated Inspect.
- You’ve found a good quality wood bow, rarity: common, damage 8-12.
This bow was much better than the bandit’s. I estimated its draw weight at about thirty-five pounds and estimated the draw length to be about twenty-seven to twenty-eight inches. It was a little shorter draw length than what I liked, but I could definitely make it work. I strapped the quiver to the right side of my pack for an easy arrow draw and placed the ruck back on my back. “Thanks a lot Dan, I really appreciate it,” I said. Frank and I said our last goodbyes to Dan and then turned south again and started walking. One more leg of the trip, and one more step closer to my wife and kids.