You have leveled up!
You have leveled up!
Ezra’s eyes slowly opened up.
“Oh sweet, level 19,” he said.
“Ezra!”
Yuki sat in a chair and leaned forward. Her eyes were wide, and she seemed to be on the verge of tears.
They were in what appeared to be someone’s house. It was a humble abode. Not much more than the bed itself, along with a drawer next to it. Other than that, it was completely bare. He thought back to the odd dream. Strange. Unusual. Probably unimportant. He mentally filed it away. His head shot over to his needle. Had it glowed? He shook his head, just his imagination. He looked back toward Yuki.
“What happened?” Ezra said. “Get me up to speed.”
Yuki’s breath came out in a shudder.
“Ezra, you almost died,” she said
“Really? From drowning?”
Yuki nodded, and her lips quivered.
“The elasticity of the monster broke your fall,” she said. “But you were completely disoriented, I think. When we found you, you were down to 30 health points.”
Ezra looked up at the ceiling, contemplating what he’d just learned.
“I need to grind my swimming skill,” he said.
Yuki slammed her hands onto the bedside. “That isn’t funny, Ezra!”
Ezra waved her off. “It wasn’t supposed to be funny. It was dead serious.”
He pushed off the bed and got onto his feet.
“Right then, let’s go collect our reward.” He walked off. “I’m starving.”
After a moment, Yuki shook her head and followed behind him.
“He’s insane,” she said. “He’s absolutely insane. Why am I here?”
When Ezra came out, he saw that he was in the town elder’s house. The elder was speaking with Suppota and Pete about something. As soon as Suppota caught sight of Ezra, her jaw dropped.
“Sir Ezra!” she said. “You’re already out and about?”
The elder started, then turned around.
“Ah, sir Ezra!” he said. “It’s a pleasant surprise to see you awake.”
“What can I say?” Ezra leaned against the wall. “I just felt a little cooped up there, you know what I mean?”
Suppota shook her head. “You’re an odd man, Ezra.”
The elder waved Ezra over.
“Right then,” the elder said. “It’s about time that we discuss payment, anyway.”
Ezra nodded and took a seat off to the side.
The old man sighed.
“Now then, I’m sure you’ve… changed your mind about your price. I understand.” His tone was subdued and quiet and his head was turned down. “So then, what do you request? Whatever the village can afford, we will pay.”
Ezra leaned in, searching the elder’s eyes.
“What the hell are you talking about?” he said. “We made a deal. I don’t know if this is some kind of misplaced nobility or some cheap attempt at scamming me, but I don’t really care. I’m getting my food. Got it?”
The man blinked. “Pardon me?”
Ezra slammed the table with his palms, abruptly standing up. “What are you, deaf? I’m not falling for whatever this is. I bet you’re gonna try and sell me some cheap product or something. It ain’t gonna work. I want my food.”
The old man stammered, leaning back. “But Sir Ezra—“
“And that!” Ezra pointed a finger. “Stop calling me ‘Sir’! It sounds like you’re just trying to butter me up or something. I don’t like it.”
The elder looked at Suppota, a mystified expression on his face. Suppota shrugged at him. Again. The elder turned back toward Ezra and shook his head.
“Well, I suppose there’s nothing I can do?” He looked at the table. “I’ll get you your food.”
Ezra turned and marched away. “Good,” he said.
Yuki glanced at the old man, before backpedaling off toward Ezra.
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“Right, um,” she said. “I should go check on him, you know?”
She exited and left the building.
Pete waved after her and followed. “Wait for me!”
Suppota looked at her grandfather and shook her head.
“Those three… and that young man in particular,” she said. “You don’t meet people like them very often.”
“Indeed, that kind of generosity,” the elder said. “Asking for mere food as a reward. It’s incredibly rare. Most adventurers would’ve demanded all our savings, yet he asks for a pittance.”
Suppota gave a dry laugh. “I believe that any longer and we probably would’ve given into their demands. Luckily, Ezra came upon us like he did.”
The old man leaned back in his chair.
“They were sent by the divines themselves, that is the only conclusion I can come to.”
Suppota furrowed her eyebrows together. “Do you think it’s possible he simply doesn’t know what he did for us? That he’s a foreigner of some sort?”
“Value is value, no matter the land you go to. He would’ve simply asked for something else of value.”
Suppota smiled.
“I will make sure that they know Riverwood is their ally from now on.”
The village elder nodded.
“Say, Suppota, it would be of great advantage if one of them was tied to us, permanently. Why don’t you ask if any of them are available?”
Suppota turned bright red. “Grandfather!”
The old man burst out laughing.
“Oh, it was just a joke, dear.” He stopped laughing, a glint appearing in his mind. “Although I certainly wouldn’t mind if you followed through anyway. Isn’t it about time that you got married?”
The woman shrieked, looking up at the sky. “Grandfather, no!”
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Ezra looked back.
That girl—Suppota, was it?—had suddenly shrieked.
“What was that?” he said.
“Is she in trouble or something?” Yuki said.
“I think it sounded more embarrassed than anything else.”
Ezra turned back around and looked out over the land. The river had returned, firstly. Cool, crisp spring water bubbled and gurgled as it made its way through the town. One child was dancing in it, splashing up a storm while another young man was grabbing water in a bucket to return home. Was this the part where Ezra was supposed to feel satisfied with a job well done? Ezra didn’t feel like that, he was just more concerned about his food.
His eyes shot over to Pete.
Something else needed to be taken care of as well.
“Pete,” Ezra said. “A little while ago, I was relying on you. We needed you to shoot an arrow and kill that thing. What happened?”
Pete turned pale white. He looked down at the ground, unable or unwilling to look them in the eye.
“I—“ He paused. “Does it matter that much?”
Yuki frowned and stepped forward, the edge of her white cloak trailing behind her.
“Pete,” she said “This is serious. You need your abilities to fight back unless there’s something special to your class that I don’t know about.”
Pete stared at the ground for a bit before he nodded, a timid expression on his face.
“You’re right, I need to explain,” he said.
“So explain. What the hell is going on with you?” Ezra said.
Pete flinched. “Well. I… I just…”
Ezra groaned and raised his eyes skyward. He dropped them back down into a glare. “Oh come on man, just spit it out!”
Pete clenched his fists and shut his eyes.
“I can’t activate my abilities!” he said.
Interesting.
Ezra tapped his fingers against his arm.
“Why?” Ezra said.
Pete shook, sweat dripped across his skin.
“I don’t know why!” he said. “I’ve been trying for ages but nothing seems to work and my skills don’t work either and I tried talking to other people to get their ways of working their skills but nothing seemed to work—“
“Pete!” Yuki said, her tone firm. “Breath.”
Pete sucked in a few breaths. After a few cycles, he turned his eyes back up toward the group.
“Um, so yeah,” he said. “I can’t make it work.”
Ezra crossed his arms and drummed his fingers against his clothes. “That’s… well, I suppose I can’t blame you. It’s entirely instinctive, you either have it or you don’t, it seems like you don’t.”
Pete dropped to his knees and put his head in his palms.
“I don’t!?” he said. “Oh god, what am I gonna do!?”
Yuki glared at Ezra before she turned her gaze at Pete. “Pete. Breath. We can figure this out.”
“How!?” he said.
“Simple.” Yuki pointed at Ezra, then at herself. “Both of us can use our abilities. We’ll teach you and work with you until you’ve got it. It’ll be that easy.”
Pete frowned, his lips quivering. “I already tried other people’s techniques!”
Ezra turned his head and rolled his eyes. He was honestly tempted to just leave him behind right now. Yuki might’ve been on some sort of weird pacifist arc, but at least she wasn’t a blubbering disaster anymore.
“Well,” Yuki said. “Maybe we’ll be able to help better because we know you a bit better, right?”
Pete was quiet before he nodded his head. “I-I guess you’re right. Let’s hope that it does the trick.”
Ezra watched on, it would be handy if Pete was able to use his abilities now. Yuki held out her staff, creating a green glow around herself.
“Right, so when I activate my abilities, I, well…” she stopped, freezing in place. “How on earth are you supposed to explain this?”
“It’s hopeless!” Pete said.
“Wait!” Yuki said. “Um, think of it like a bicycle? Uh, what? No, that makes no sense. Just try to…”
She stamped her foot into the ground.
“Just try!” she said.
Pete shut his eyes and pulled out his bow. He gripped it tightly. We watched him for a few moments, but eventually, he sighed and shook his head.
“Nothing’s happening,” he said.
Ezra shook his head and marched forward. Pete looked with wide eyes, while Yuki looked at him with raised eyebrows.
“Remember that time you almost died?” Ezra said.
Pete blinked. “I’m sorry, what?”
Yuki’s eyes widened and she stared at Ezra. “Ezra, don’t remind him of that!”
Ezra ignored Yuki, focusing on Pete.
“Remember that feeling of weightlessness?” Ezra said. “That certainty that you would perish, that it was all over?”
Pete’s eyes grew distant and unfocused.
“Yeah, I remember,” he said
“Now, draw on that feeling. Look over at that tree over there, and imagine it’s the source of your pain. If that thing lives, it’ll continue to try to kill you. It’s you or that tree.”
Yuki’s eyebrows folded together and her eyes squinted. “Ezra, what?”
Pete’s eyes shot open and his head snapped toward the tree. His bow came up and he pulled back on it…
An ethereal arrow shot forward, hitting it with pinpoint accuracy.
Yuki’s eyes widened.
“A perfect shot!” she said.
Ezra glanced over at Pete. Pete was ramrod still, he loosened up and dropped his bow to the ground.
“But I didn’t activate my ability!” he said.
Yuki’s jaw dropped.
“I’m sorry, you did that… with what, a passive skill then?” she said.
Pete glanced back at her.
“No? I just shot the bow?”
Now that he thought of it, Pete had been surprisingly accurate with that bot from the very start. It seemed as if Pete was just… a savant, of sorts? Incredibly gifted with a bow for no apparent reason?
Of course, that was balanced out by the fact that he couldn’t activate his abilities.
Ezra sighed, this didn’t bode well. Footsteps approached him from behind.
“Suppota.” He turned to face her. “I expect my full payment—“
A young man was there, dressed in leather armor. Despite the clothing, Ezra would recognize that blond hair anywhere.
“Charles.”
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Charles - Otherworlder - Lv. 25