‘So, let’s review.’ Cam said, as they walked back to Eastlake, Ted knackered and filthy, covered in blood and mud, Cam annoyingly fresh.
‘First of all, you did very well.’ he started.
‘Did I? You keep saying that, but mostly I just got hit a lot.’ Ted said, unimpressed with both Cam’s lie and his own performance. ‘You took them out with no problem!’
‘I am stronger, faster, and more Skilled than you, my friend. I’ve been here for twenty years; you’ve barely been here for twenty days. If you’d been able to do the same as me, we’d be putting pictures of you up on the wall and letting you lead the army.’ Cam grinned.
‘What Level are you?’ Ted asked, curious. He’d asked before, and Cam had always shrugged it off. He didn’t know why; maybe it was some Second World etiquette?
‘High enough.’ Cam said, once again dodging. ‘So let’s talk about the start of the fight. What happened?’
They talked through every aspect of the fight, with Ted summarising that the creatures were too fast, and he didn’t have the Skills or Techniques to fight them.
‘I feel like the spear is good for blocking strikes or warding off attackers coming in at certain heights. But for the lizaloths coming in at such a low position, it was like I had to stab down, and if I missed, I was dead because I’d committed to the movement. I couldn’t keep track of three of them at once either. I could barely do two.’ he said.
‘So, you’re right on pretty much all counts.’ Cam agreed. ‘Your skill with the spear isn’t very good for fast creatures attacking from below, and the creatures were just faster than you in general; you had to use your higher level Techniques to try and outpace them, draining your mana quickly. But you did well. You tried your best.’
‘I get the speed aspect being something I need to improve on.’ Ted replied, as they climbed another of the low, undulating hills. Eastlake was now well within view, and he was looking forward to a shower, and potentially just going back to bed. ‘But is the fighting-low part something I need to work on? Am I going to be fighting a lot of crocodiles or short animals at the Front?’
‘The Enemy uses a lot of animals in its assaults.’ Cam said. ‘So, in all honesty, probably.’
‘Oh.’ Ted said. ‘Well. Shit.’
If anything, the encounter gave Ted some more motivation to learn and improve his Skills, alongside pushing towards actually improving his Class, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to increase his attributes without doing so. He asked Cam about the Skills and Techniques he’d seen him use in the battle; he hadn’t been able to identify many, but he figured that the backflips and the magical returning dagger had to be ones.
‘I was using some stealth Techniques for most of the fight, just to ensure I didn’t get in your way or distract you or the lizaloths. That’s how I was able to nip in and out; I’m assuming you didn’t notice me until I handed you your spear back?’ he asked. Ted shook his head. ‘The dagger retrieval is actually a Throwing Weapons Technique but it requires you to have a higher level Basic Magic Skill before you can learn it. You’ll be able to eventually, though. Acrobatics comes from advanced Agile Manoeuvres. Everything else was just Stealth Techniques, blade skills, and laying low.’
He patted Ted on the back. ‘You’ll get there, my friend. We’ll practise.’
Ted said nothing, as they continued their walk.
-
They re-entered the town about an hour later, with Cam suggesting that Ted go and freshen up while he went to speak to the guards about the lizaloths. There wasn’t exactly a bounty, as it was the guards’ job to protect people from the stray creatures that harassed the locals, but it was important that they knew that the job had been completed, and the small band of lizaloths had been dealt with. Five wouldn’t be an issue for someone like Cam, but apparently it would be, and had been a significant issue for any travellers that weren’t weren’t high level and maintaining their martial skills. Some would have been, but Cam was trying to make it clear to Ted that many weren’t.
Cam had also said that he’d deal with selling off the goods that they’d gotten from the dead lizaloths; a collection of pelts, meat, and alchemical materials in the form of some of the glands. Cam’s high level Animal Harvesting Skill had meant he could rapidly strip these from the beasts, and in fact had done it with four of the beasts in the time it had taken for Ted to do a single one. Badly.
Ted went back, showered and changed his clothes from the muddy brown slacks and t-shirt, to a dark grey t-shirt and black trousers, before sitting on his bed and trying to mentally review the day. That was really just a morning, as they’d gotten back well before lunchtime. Most of it had been spent walking, with the fight itself taking minutes. He’d not yet reviewed the Mission Reward, or any Skill increases, feeling mentally and physically drained from the fight; he’d taken both mana and health potions to resolve this, but there was a greater weariness that the potions couldn’t take away. Perhaps it was from the very real risk of death, or the feeling of being outclassed and overwhelmed. Or maybe it was just another wave of dealing with the realities of this new world.
This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
He took a deep breath, and let it out. It didn’t help.
He decided to meditate. It was something that he’d tried to do back in Basic, following Jerah’s example, who had had a lot of practice at his monastery. He wasn’t very good at it, but if half the films he’d seen had anything to say about it, it might help. Five minutes later, he jerked awake.
Maybe something else to work on.
He checked his notifications.
____________________________________________________________________________
Mission Complete: The Lizaloths
You have taken down the lizaloths that were harassing the locals, helping the people of Eastlake stay safe, and saving the guards from having to leave the safety of their homes.
Reward: 300 Centrals and you have received the Reward Mission: Caverns of Forthan!
New Mission: Caverns of Forthan
The Caverns of Forthan rest in the disputed central continent. Journey there, defeat the guardians, and claim your prize.
End of Messages
____________________________________________________________________________
Well, that was certainly something different. A reward mission! Cam had mentioned them briefly, but suggested that it was something that would come later, and that it was quite a valuable one. Considering that Cam had killed over half of the lizaloths, this seemed very much like he was getting an unearned prize. He decided to ask Cam about it when the man came back.
He’d learnt no new Skills or Techniques, but a couple of them had ticked up a level - Spear Mastery, Charge, Fire Spike, and Jump. He’d not used any of them much, but he knew that using them in battle, where it really mattered, had much more of an impact than in training. He wondered whether Cam would chuck him into an even tougher situation next. If he was honest, that one had been tough enough; he hadn’t just felt challenged, he’d felt absolutely incompetent. He needed to train more.
Cam came back an hour later, cheerful and still full of energy. Ted had been considering just getting back into bed, but Cam’s enthusiasm had been infectious. He’d escorted Ted to a small café in town where they could get a proper brunch. They sat down at a small table in the combination inside and outside diner; one of only seven in the entire place, half of which were full of customers. Ted could smell the food being cooked in the kitchen, and his belly rumbled.
‘The guards gave us a small stipend for killing the lizaloths, which was very generous of them; apparently there’s a new local incentive for non-guards to deal with problem animals, in an effort to keep their combat skills up. I don’t know how effective it will be, and I suspect it’s because the guards haven’t been doing their jobs properly, but who are we to complain?’ he told Ted as they waited for their orders to be taken. There was a lot of stuff on the menu that Ted didn’t recognise, but the words ‘Big Breakfast’ had jumped out at him and he was intent on ordering it, no matter what arrived. It better be something similar to a full English. Or at least have some bacon.
‘I was also able to sell pretty much everything. The prices aren’t the best here, but we’re a little way away from any larger town, and I think that it’s time we take you armour shopping.’ he added, once the waitress, a short red Sassar had taken their order. ‘We’re going to be taking on plenty more fights before you hit the Front, and we want to make sure you get there. How does that sound, my friend?’
‘Excellent.’ Ted said, grinning. ‘And also more clothes. And maybe a new spear?’
Cam held up his hands, laughing. ‘Let’s not get carried away; you’re not rich, and this is not the place to get an entirely new outfit. There’ll be some items, but the bigger cities are better.’
‘Will it be cheaper nearer the Front?’ Ted asked. ‘I’d have thought it would be more expensive, more demand.’
‘It’s a mix. There is more demand, but there are a lot more goods for sale out there, so the market is both flooded and dry simultaneously. You’ll find the good items get snatched up, and there’s a lot of mediocre or badly made tat; at a certain point it’s better to rely on your standard issue weapons and armour. But a lot of things get made in these outer regions, so you can occasionally pick things up for a better price in the more rural towns.’ Cam explained. ‘That’s not exactly the case here, but we should get you something that stops you being knocked over with a single hit.’ He looked around thoughtfully at the buildings around them. ‘I doubt there are many good enchanters here, but frankly we can’t afford many high level enchantments anyway.’
Ted shrugged, letting most of it wash over him. ‘It would be nice to have some magical gear, now that I’m a magical spearman living in a magical world full of magic.’ he said.
‘You’ve got the bag.’ Cam pointed out.
‘A magical handbag does not count.’ Ted said.
Moments later their breakfast arrived.
‘Big breakfasssst?’ the waitress said, holding out the plate. Ted held up his hand, and she placed it in front of him. Ted was happy to see that the plate was very, very big, though only about half of it was familiar.
‘And the sssspickle sssandwich.’ the waitress continued, placing the smaller plate down in front of Cam. It was an assuming bun with some green stuff coming out of all sides, like a spinach burger.
‘Want to know what most of that is?’ Cam said, laughing at Ted’s expression. He really was in a very good mood.
‘Nope.’ Ted said, looking down again at the plate. There were things that look liked sausages, though they curled around into a spiralised cone. There was definitely some toast. Red yolked eggs. Something that looked like rice pudding, a weird, pale jelly and something that may well have been a potato hash. And a large, black, ball that Ted might have assumed was a bouncy ball that had fallen onto his plate if he didn’t know better.
‘I’m just going to eat it.’