Chapter 4: on the road.
The first half hour of the journey went pretty well, but after an hour and a half of walking down a dirt road, Jennifer grew bored. There were trees. The trees were green. Oh look, another tree. It had white bark, and so did the next one. The one after that was brown, much like the next ten. Or the next thousand. Either way, there were far too many trees and nothing to do but walk. She was getting thirsty and decided that the next time she was going on a quest, she would make sure to pack water and a snack. Maybe she would get a bag. Woozle had made her hood his spot, sometimes pointing out on her shoulder to look around. Rover either sat on her shoulder, or was nowhere to be seen. When the spider left her shoulder, it would be by way of a trap door that would appear next to him. She had no idea how the spider summoned the door, or where the door went.
A low-pitch, rumbling arrow shot past her. “Since when did arrows make noise?” she said aloud to no one in particular.
A man holding a bow with an arrow set to fire stood thirty to forty paces ahead of her on the trail. Time slowed for her as she took in the whole scene. The arrow looked odd, with an oversized arrowhead, a shaft thicker than her thumb, and no fetching or feather on the end. Automatically bringing up her mop in a defensive stance, she estimated that once the loud arrow was fired, she would have time to cast one of her abilities. “You’re shooting at me,” the shock of the situation made her shout far louder than she intended. Woozle moved around in her hood. She did not know what her spider could do, but Rover had come out of the trap door and was standing on her right shoulder.
“Stand and deliver,” the man said.
Jennifer had been focused on the bow and arrow, but now she looked at the man dressed in a green and brown tunic with matching pants rather than just the weapon. The man had on a black mask that only covered part of his face.
A long moment passed.
After about ten heart beats, the man repeated in a loud clear voice, “I said stand and deliver!”
“Yeah, you said that before. But I don’t know what you want me to deliver. And how can I deliver something if I am supposed to stand here?” she yelled.
Woozle leaped from Jennifer’s hood and took an attack position beside her.
“Historically, when someone is being robbed, they drop their valuables and run,” the masked man shouted back.
She eyed the man, looking for an opening or a way out. The man looked like some kind of game hunter, but something seemed off. He stood aiming the arrow at her. If he was a game hunter, he was not a good one. She did not see any kills near the man, and he had no way to transport an animal back to wherever he was coming from. Maybe the reason why the man was trying to rob her was because he was a terrible hunter and needed food. If that was the case, what else was the man missing? Then she noticed it.
Jennifer stood straighter and relaxed her defensive stance a bit. “You’re robbing me?”
“Yes. Now drop your valuables, like gold or money. You’re making this harder than it needs to be.”
“Woozle, I think he is robbing me,”
“Kid, I think he is robbing you. Want me to bite him?”
Unable to keep the smile from her face, “I’m carrying a mop. I’m in starter gear. And I have yet to find a quest or a job that pays money.” With space between them, she felt the need to raise her voice.
“How much is the mop worth?” asked the man.
She thought about this for a moment and mumbled, “Okay, this man is trying to rob me,” she let the mop hang in her hand and turned to Woozle. “So he must be a bad guy.”
“I have heard of one guy stealing from the rich, giving to the poor, and only taking a finders fee.” He was standing in his attack pose.
With a shout, she asked, “How much is your bow and arrow worth?”
“What?”
“Well, you asked how much my mop was worth. If you tell me how much your bow is worth, I think I can come up with an estimate if I have something to compare it to.”
“You’re being robbed, girl. Normally robberies don’t have this much talking.”
“It’s my first time.” She threw up a hand in exasperation. “That one arrow is probably worth more than a mop. And you’re the first human I’ve seen so far, and it does feel nice to be talking with another person.” She liked the fact the man called her a girl rather than a fragment. She was already tired of being called that. Jennifer was still not going to make this easy for him though. Woozle was motionless, but she knew the moment the fighting started he would be fighting along with her.
“Each rocket arrow is equal to 2 blues, and the bow is worth 1 red and counts as an exotic ranged weapon. Only a few in this nation can even wield one. Now how much is the mop worth?” The part of the man’s face that was not covered in his mask turned red, which was a good sign.
She just had to keep this going. “How much is the minimum wage? Like this is just a normal mop, I wouldn’t pay more than like two hours of work to get something like this, but it is sturdy. I hit a goblin with it once.” She spoke with a raised voice instead of shouting, just the need to keep talking.
The masked man’s arms were trembling under the strain of holding the bow and the rocket arrow at the ready. “Just drop the mop and r—”
Jennifer targeted the man with a blast of Dark Pulse and darted to her right, and Woozle darted to the left. As the dark attack flew towards him, he let the arrow fire. Once the arrow leaped from the bow, it was propelled with the same roar she heard before. The arrow flew high and wide, the pulse of dark energy hit the masked man right in the face. He stepped back a pace and looked a bit dazed.
Jennifer turned uncaring to watch the arrow rocket up into the sky, leaving a small exhaust trail as it flew. “Was that a rocket arrow?” She tried to hide the amusement in her tone. She was no archer, at least she never remembered being one, but a rocket arrow was sounding like a fun weapon to get. Woozle matched her pace on the other side of the road as she strolled towards the man.
“Yes, and the next one will hit you, so give up.”
Trying to keep a straight face, she looked at the man, glanced around, and focused back on the man.
“The next what?” Jennifer asked, trying not to sound smug.
“The next rocket arrow!” Masked man yelled.
Jennifer gave up on hiding the smile, and walked towards the man as he reached for his quiver. Then the man paused. She watched as he grabbed for something that was not there. Her smile broadened as she continued her approach.
His eyes grew wide, and he froze. Woozle was beside her as she walked up to be within arm’s reach of the man. Stopped with Woolze by her side.
“If I asked you to. Would you bite this man’s arm off? My little lynx shark” She over pronounced the last word.
“Clean off, with one chomp.” he answered coldly.
“One arrow is all I will need,” the bandit’s voice was as shaky as he was.
“Oh, well. You seem to be missing one,” she replied.
The masked man’s skin went from an angry red to a fearful pale.
She made a show of licking her lips. “I’m a necromancer in need of a new skeleton.”
When he fainted, Jennifer tried and failed to hold back a laugh. The man was a terrible highwayman, an atrocious shot, and probably a terrible hunter.
Jennifer smiled down at her defeated foe. This time, she did not have to hit anyone with a mop and had beaten him by using mostly words. When her amusement faded, questions clouded her mind. “So, Woozle, what should I do now?”
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“Loot the body, tie him to a tree, and look for wanted or missing persons posters offering rewards in the next few days?”
She eyed her companion. Not only did that sound mean, but it also seemed like a lot of work. Besides, she did not have any rope on her.
In the end, Jennifer took the man’s weapons off him and found a large hunting knife, and a bottle of water. She took the weapon and the bow, moving to a nearby rock to sit, she hesitated then went back for the man’s water. She finished the drink while she waited for the man to wake up.
To pass the time, she tried to combine her powers in various ways. At first, she tried to put the dark pulse inside a force field, but the pulse would either be too fast or the force field too slow. By the time one would finish casting, the other had already moved on. Woozle climbed back into Jennifer’s hoody as she tried different timings while getting the same failed result.
The spider had gone off somewhere, in her menus his status was set to gathering. She guessed that the gathering was new to the spider, and she was excited to see what the little creature brought back with him.
Jennifer was considering putting a force field on a potion when the man woke up.
Woozle poked his head over the edge of the hoodie and glared at the man.
Her anger at the man boiled over. Narrowing her eyes, she spoke even louder than before. “You were the first human person I’ve seen since getting here. I’ve found nice spiders, goblins that apologize, and a holographic dean. But the first two legged, non-green skinned person I see fires a rocket arrow at me in the middle of the road.”
The man stayed silent while he slowly stood up. As Jennifer’s voice rose, his eyes got wider.
“So, this is what we are going to do! You are going to walk in front of me, and we are going to go to town. Once we get there, I am going to find someone who will arrest you and let them punish you like a robber you are.” Pausing to collect her thoughts, “And you are going to thank me for not turning you into a skeleton when I had the chance.”
The man stammered, “Th-thank you for not turning me into a skeleton when you had the chance, ma’am.”
“You got some pipes on you kid. I think that the leaves in the trees even trembled when you raised your voice.” Speaking only for Jennifer to hear.
“Now, start walking.”
Obeying, he turned and started walking at her command.
She did not want to admit it, but her mini map had shifted, so she did not know which direction the town was in. If not for the man leading her, she would probably have gotten lost again. She hoped he was going in the right direction. Woozle kept watching the man from his position in Jennifer’s hood over her shoulder.
Jennifer’s spider appeared on her shoulder from a small trap door that disappeared in a puff of smoke after a heartbeat. He carried some mixed berries in a small piece of white tree bark. He held his gatherings out in front of him as he moved backward and forward. Taking this as an offering, she smiled at Rover, giving him lots of attention and pets as a thank you.
Opening up her menus, she found her inventory. Blueberries, raspberries, and even a strawberry as well as a piece of birch bark were now listed in her log. “Thank you, Rover.” Smiling, she picked up the spider and gave him more pets. Rover leaned into the petting happily. She returned Rover to her shoulder and made sure she was keeping pace with the highwayman.
The man walked ten paces in front of her, staying silent the whole time. She had lost track of time, her spider was riding on her shoulder as Woozle relaxed in the hood of the hoodie. As they walked, the city and its trail began to appear. The town’s wall was not impressive. Barely taller than her, parts of it had fallen down, revealing that it was made of thin wood planks. The town wall was just a badly maintained fence that could not keep a dog out, let alone a person. A guard station stood out like a scarecrow over an empty field. More of a shack with a rope across the path to block the way. The rope, about as thick as Jennifer’s thumb, spread from the guard station to the fence. The space the rope occupied was about what Jennifer thought a wagon would be wide. Jennifer let the thoughts in her mind out of her mouth, “This would not even slow down a bored goat, let alone a person.”
Once they got closer to the gate, Jennifer realized there was no one in the shack. By her prisoner’s actions, he had realized it, too. The masked man sprinted full tilt towards the town.
With a scowl, she powered up her dark pulse aiming for the man’s back. She missed the spot and hit the man’s left shoulder, causing him to fall off balance while running. He ended up stumbling at full speed face first into the shack. It turned out the man was tougher than the shack because it fell down around him. The scene ended with the man face down underneath a pile of scrap wood.
“That was the first person you have seen, and you used her dark attack on him twice.” Woozle had leaped from his spot in her hood, ready to pounce, but the fight was over before he could join in the battle.
Jennifer held her lips tightly together, while her face was warm. “You are right, I need to find a way to do better.”
She did not change her pace, and once she reached the man, his face as it bled onto the wood. Once she was beside the man, she cleared her throat. When there was no reaction, she decided a polite nudge to his side with her boot would be in order. The soft contact with her boot made him groan.
The noise of the shack collapsing must have alerted the town because two men approached Jennifer. She took in the sight of one man in a sports jacket and top hat, the other wearing black finished armor with a spear in one hand.
Woozle sat on his back legs between Jennifer’s and the town. He started to clean his paw, but his eyes never left those coming to greet her.
Jennifer waved at the people approaching her while leaning on her mop. The two men exchanged looks with one another as they approached.
The man in the top hat spoke, addressing Jennifer. “Welcome to Hogback, parallel. My name is Jim Gigawatts, I am the mayor of this town.” His words came slow and hesitant as the man with the spear stood right beside him.
Something about the way the spear man was moving gave the impression he was a warrior and not just playing dress up. Although the spear may have helped with that assessment.
“This man tried to rob me on the way here. I want him arrested and charged,” she announced in a loud, clear voice.
A groan escaped the spearman as the top hat man face-palmed. “I gave you an exotic weapon for hunting, and you tried to rob someone?” The man in the top hat said from behind his hand.
“But, Grandpa, I was low on arrows and th—” the highwayman was cut off by a glare from the man in the top hat.
“Your mom gave me your login key. If you don’t want to play fair, you may as well not play.”
Jennifer could easily see the familiar bond in their speech and decided it was best not to get involved. The man with the top hat had some power over the masked man, more than just being his grandfather. The words login key tickled her mind, these words appeared to be important, she did not understand their meaning.
“You’ll go and do some chores while you’re in lockup. After the raid we will see.”
The almost-thief hung his head as he walked in the direction his grandparent pointed.
The spearman turned to Jennifer, his face was expressionless. With the boredom of a well-rehearsed line he said, “Welcome to the town of Hogback. We are a good-aligned town. You must be neutral or above to enter. If you are traveling with a caravan, your alignment is waved, but you must remain with your caravan at all times. The entry fee to the town is two blues. Please enjoy your stay.”
Jennifer thought quickly, not knowing what blues were. “Excuse me, but I only got here yesterday. What are these blues you're talking about?”
The man in the top hat perked up. His eyes brightened like a sales agent on the verge of a massive sale. She also noticed that she was a head taller than both the men in front of her.
“Careful, Kid. I don’t like the look in the mayor’s eyes,” Woozle whispered into her ear as he climbed back into her hoodie.
“As Mayor of this little border town. I take it you are a new parallel, and since you are new, don’t worry about the entrance fee.”
The spearman’s eyes rolled as the mayor spoke.
“Since you are new to this part of the shell and you do not have housing yet, how about I give you a quest. Let’s say you bring back fifty animal pelts, seventy wood, twenty metal, or eighty-five healing moss, and I give you a spot right next to the town square to build a house or business on? Just tell me what resource you want to start with. I will even mark the areas on your map where to gather the resources.” The mayor spoke fast with a level of confidence she wished she had.
Her head moved backwards, taking in a sharp breath, her eyes darted over the words that appeared in her menus, “The healing herbs, I guess.”
A prompt appeared in her vision. You have accepted a quest from the mayor. Gather 85 healing herbs from the forest nearby. Reward: a place in the town to build a house or business and 150 experience points.
“Oh, I have the quest now,” escaped her mouth as she blinked. This was a lot for her to take in, she was feeling rushed into something.
The spear man cleared his throat, with some level of harshness in his tone. “My name is Squad. I am captain of the town guard and bodyguard to the mayor. As a parallel, what do you seek to do here?”
The answer came immediately. “I’m a fragment. I’m here because I wish to enroll at Bishop’s University and was looking for a place to stay in town while I start my quests.” The answer came out more robotic than was natural. Looking at the log, she could see a skill called, Answer Honestly, had been used successfully on her.
She glared at Squad for using the skill on her, but all he did was laugh. In fact, he bent over laughing. She turned to look at the mayor in confusion. The mayor was face-palming again, and what little she could see of his face had turned red.
“I would have answered honestly without you using the skill on me,” she said, knowing she sounded hurt. “Why are you laughing?”
“The mayor offered you a quest thinking you were a parallel not a fragment, and did that assuming the sale thing, only gave you the options to accept the offer, while hiding the rejection or negotiation” Squad said between laughs. “If he had known you were a fragment, the quest would have had you gather ten times that for a lesser reward.”
With raised eyebrows, she turned to a glare at the mayor. If she could shoot daggers out of her eyes, the mayor would be knife rack.
The mayor took a couple of steps back. “I promise to only give you better fragment quests from now, girl,” the mayor said, raising his hand in front of himself defensively.
Her face warmed at this, equal parts anger and embarrassment. She did not like being called a fragment or girl.
Woozle’s jets hummed with power as took up his attack pose next to Jennifer while letting out a warning hiss.
The mayor's head darted down to look at the lynx, having lost a bit of color in his face. “I absolutely swear. Only parallel quests for you, my dear.”
She looked at Squad, whose knuckles were white holding the spear.