Delphi let out a groan as she walked back into the scrying chamber, one hand rubbing at her bleary eyes. While she had meant to return sooner, she had found herself being dragged from place to place. First, she had to get her face cleaned, then she had to get new robes, since they were stained. And of course, the art goddesses found her while she was changing. So, then she had to chase all of them down to get her new outfit back! By the time she got it back, it was time for her to get her weekly beauty sleep, lest she do her next scrying without her beauty sleep.

Stifling a groan, Delphi flopped down on the stone bench and rubbed her head in frustration. “The things I do to keep things steady,” she muttered, and reached for her hanging burner. The herbs lit with a flick of the wrist, and she began to swing it over the pool. But as the array was formed, she realized that there was something lacking about it. Almost like it was falling apart on her…

As worry began to form in her mind, Delphi reached to a shelf with one arm. Though her attention was divided, she pulled out a crystal bottle, popped the cork out, and tipped it over the scrying pool. She watched as a multi-colored potion drizzled from the mouth into the pool, mixing in seamlessly. As the burner passed over the pool, the potion kicked into effect and turned the entire body of liquid clear as glass.

Despite the potion making the entire pool usable, Delphi’s heart sank when the array failed to find Alcydes’s location. “Mu’s fangs!” she cursed, her mind immediately jumping to panic. It was highly irregular for a scrying array to fail. Was he dead? Defected? In an anti-scrying zone?

As she threw her burner on the ground though, she began to think over the impossibilities. If he had been dead, it at least would’ve shown his corpse. Likewise, actively negating the scrying would have been more telling. So, it either meant he had entered an ethereal state, was stored in a spell, or was traveling in a no-scry zone.

Fearing the worst, she darted to a shadowed corner and ripped the cover off. “Come on, where is it, where is it?!” she hissed, tossing the cloak again. Delphi rummaged through the collection, before she finally pulled out a completely translucent golden geode. Delphi fed her power into the crystal, and as it began to show two lights inside, she let out a slow sigh of relief. “At least he’s still alive,” she mused, tension seeping out of her body.

As she looked down at the gem though, she began to frown as she wondered how he managed to find an anti-scrying zone. The outskirts he likely went to were too underpopulated to have an Academy nearby. Could it be a Dark Dungeon?

Her uncertainty eventually got the better of her, and she clutched the gem tighter. “Return to civilization… Return to civilization,” she chanted, feeding more of her divine energy into it. She knew that she risked being noticed, but she couldn’t let him vanish like this! It was too important to let her prepwork fail this early!

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Troy frowned down at the sheet, and began to run a pencil over the paper. “Okay, so you have a good amount of speed, and claim that you’re strong enough in melee range,” he reviewed, drawing lines between the box with an ‘A’ and the generic enemy icon, “However, I’m not feeling well about you not having any ranged weapons.”

“Why does that matter?” Alcydes asked, toying with a knife as he looked over the faux battlefield.

Rather than answer directly, Troy moved his pencil to a different section and began to draw more enemies. “It works well for ya if you can see them directly. But what if they’re attacking from a distance, like an archer? Or needing to hit someone out of reach for you as they’re across a river? Even a flying monster, like a giant bird of prey?” he listed off, drawing increasingly more examples on the sheet. After some thought, he added, “Hell, a ranged weapon with enough power could’ve killed the boar by punching through the eye socket.”

While Alcydes pouted at the growing list of examples, he did look at the board more attentively. “It’s not the same idea you shared yesterday, but I guess I see what you’re getting at,” he relented, but tapped his hand on the knife’s side in thought. After looking across the board, he asked aloud, “In that case, what should I start using?”

Troy hummed in thought, and counted options off on his fingers. “Well, the easiest option I can think of is throwing knives, but they normally don’t have the range or power for bigger species. A bow and arrow is a more classic option, and easy to learn. But any of the real bows are a bit too big for you right now,” he rattled off. As he paused in thought, he commented aloud, “However, a slingshot or wrist rocket could work…”

“What about an artillery weapon like yours?” Alcydes asked, looking at him intently.

While he raised an eyebrow at the question, Troy hummed in thought at the suggestion. After some pondering, he eventually shook his head in refusal. “Unfortunately, the laws regarding firearms, not artillery weapons, are pretty strict,” he told Alcydes, and held a finger up like his teachers had, “Not only do firearm sellers require a background check for safety reasons, but people can’t even buy guns until they’re eighteen.”

Alcydes let out a huff at that, but didn’t refute the question. After a few seconds and glancing outside, he frowned in thought and asked, “How did you get yours, then?”

“Oh, my cousin left it for me,” Troy said without thinking. However, he soon frowned at his answer, then scowled at the memory. “Speaking of, I need to talk to him,” he said, abruptly stood up, and walked into the other room. Troy walked over to the far wall, tugged the phone free before he dialed up the last number he had called.

The dial tone insistently echoed in Troy’s ear as he waited for a response, but by the seventh tone, a sharp click finally greeted him.

“Aye, yo! Carter’s pizza delivery, what can I do for ya?” Carter greeted him, the Brooklyn-Italian accent played up to vaudeville grades of hamminess.

Troy let out a snort at the greeting but hid his momentary amusement with a cough. “Yeah, I’ll take a large ‘You’re a joik-wad’ with a double-serving of ‘what da hell were you thinking’?!” he shot back, a rush of anger coming back at the memory, “I damn nearly had a heart attack from your bullshit!”

Carter’s laughter rang through the speaker at that response, and all Troy could do was glare at his phone until the chortling died down to a mere chuckle. “Hey man, did you really think that I wouldn’t pull one on ya?” Carter asked, his voice still quivering from his laughter, “Admit it, you kinda deserved it after the gag gift you sent me on Christmas.”

Despite the severity of the situation, Troy couldn’t help but snicker at the memory. “Hey, it wasn’t nearly as bad as this!” he tried to refute, earning a bark of laughter from his speaker.

“Troy, I was cleaning glitter out of the carpet and curtains for months afterwards!” Carter shot back, and snickered for a bit longer before he said, “Besides, at least the rifle’s safety was on.” A few seconds passed in silence, then Carter tentatively asked, “I did put the safety on, right?”

“Yeah, it definitely was. It’s the only reason why I didn’t go to the police over reckless endangerment,” Troy commented, earning a bashful chuckle from his cousin. As he looked out the window though, he hummed for a few seconds before he asked, “Still, why did you leave me that rifle? I haven’t really gone hunting with you for a few years now.”

“Oh, I know,” Carter responded, the sharp crunch of chips audible through the phone, “But I got a new rifle with a good scope on Christmas with your ‘gift’. Since my old rifle’s been collecting dust, I figured you’d still be familiar enough with it that it’d be good in your hands.” After several more seconds of noisy chewing, he eventually added, “Just make sure to take care of it. It may just be a standard Henry Classic, but I got plenty of use out of it.”

“Sure, I can do that,” Troy slowly answered, looking out the window to avoid thinking about how it had nearly been trampled by a giant boar. While he was pretty rusty with it, it wasn’t like he could go charging up at monsters anytime soon. So if he had to choose between fighting the boar again up close or at a distance, he’d gladly stick with a rifle. “Thanks, I guess,” he eventually said, only to frown as a burning question struck him, “Wait, what about the paperwork? Won’t that be a problem with the bureaus?”

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

A pixelated snort echoed from the phone at that last question. “That’s not going to be a problem, Troy,” Carter told him, and after a rather noisy mouthful of chips, he clarified, “I included the paperwork with the rifle. Didn’t you read the letter on the ammo box?” Troy froze and tried to remember the details. He had been in a rush to explore the gate, but he did vaguely recall some stray paper in the pantry…

“Hold on, give me a minute to check,” he told Carter, and set the phone down on mute. As Troy re-entered the kitchen, he got a look of interest from Alcydes, but ignored it to rush straight towards the pantry. While it took him lying on his belly, Troy let out a cry of triumph when he pulled the letter from under the lowest shelf by his fingertips.

As he walked back towards the phone, Troy peeled the letter open and began to read the contents. While there was no personal note from Carter in it, he was happy to find the paperwork all folded and notarized. He nodded in satisfaction when he found everything was there and flicked the phone off of mute.

“-WHAT SHALL WE DO WITH A DRUNKEN SAILOR? EARLY IN THE MORNING!” Carter’s voice bellowed through the speaker, nearly deafening Troy in the process. Troy spat out a curse at the sheer volume, and dropped his phone while Carter continued to cackle.

As Troy picked the phone back up, he heard the cackling die down into a series of snickers. “You’re a real ass, you know that?” Troy asked with vehemence, causing Carter’s laughter to renew. Even as Carter continued to laugh, Troy let out a sigh and faintly smiled. “Still, thanks a bunch for the rifle, Carter. I’ll be sure to keep it in good condition.” Especially when he’ll be getting a lot more use out of it soon…

“No problem, cuz,” Carter commented, “Feel free to call me if there’s any more questions!” Troy absent-mindedly nodded back as Carter hung up, only to freeze when he realized what he had done.

“Damn it, I’m really losing my mind here,” he muttered to himself, and pocketed his phone. While it was a pain to talk to him at times, Troy knew Carter meant the best. Though now he had to figure out what would be a good form of payback with this latest turn of their prank war.

Deep in thought, Troy walked back into the kitchen and sat down at the table. As he bounced between sneaking pepper into Carter’s shampoo and a whoopie cushion in the driver’s seat, a small tapping slowly drew him out of his thoughts.

Troy blinked rapidly and glanced up to find Alcydes fidgeting in his seat. Realizing the attention was on him, the boy looked away momentarily, then asked, “C-can we go back to my world?” he requested, looking anxious at even asking that. When Troy raised an eyebrow, he hastily added, “I just want to get the boar delivered. So the guild can mark it off. And the body doesn’t waste.”

Troy frowned at the prospect, but eventually shrugged dismissively. “Sure, we can do that,” he responded, and began to glance around at his supplies, “It honestly would be good to get some fresh air. Maybe even sign up to work with you more officially.” As he hopped up over to grab his jacket, Troy casually asked, “So, how long will it take for us to get there? A few hours?”

Alcydes hummed in thought at the question and looked up at the ceiling. “I think… about six hours on foot,” he eventually answered with a nod of his head.

Troy stumbled at that and looked back in shock. “Six hours? That’s literally a day’s worth of hiking on a round trip!” he exclaimed, unable to believe the distance. Sure, it’d make sense for pioneers and explorers to do it, but a kid by himself shouldn’t be hiking that far! After a faint cough, he cautiously wondered, “Are you sure there isn’t a quick way, such as a mountain pass or a seaside boardwalk?”

Alcydes shook his head and grabbed one of the blank sheets. “Unfortunately, monster territories make that difficult,” he stated, and began to draw a rough landscape on the ground. With the coastline being a defined line, he soon drew notable triangles of varying height, followed by circles of many colors. After several shapes were sketched out, he capped the pen and began to point at each area.

“Most of the unclaimed peninsula is swamped with wandering bladderfish-” he explained out loud. When he saw Troy’s confusion, Alcydes clarified, “-blobs of slimy muscle that can dissolve armor with their acid spit.” Once Troy let out a noise of realization, he continued, “And the adult swamp turtles and buried razorclams will tear us to shreds. So we’ll need to take the long route.”

Troy winced at the explanation, and slid a roll of bandages into a spare pocket before he looked at the map. While the areas were well defined, most of the coast between the peninsula and the simple house was covered in circles. With the forest on the other side of the shack, he could see why the kid wanted to go around. As he examined the makeshift sketch, Troy paused when a notable point stood out.

“What about this small gap here?” Troy asked, pointing to a small gap between two circles, “It looks like we have a decent space we can dart through.”

Alcydes glanced at the mentioned point, only to wince at the location. “My bad. Meant to draw circles bigger,” he commented. But as he got the markers out, he paused and reluctantly added, “There is usually a sandbar there. The turtles are too slow to bite a good runner on it, but someone like you…” Troy pursed his lips at the accusation, but couldn’t bring himself to refute it. After all, you didn’t get A’s in high school gym when you always take over twenty minutes to do a mile run.

After a few seconds of thought, he perked up as an idea hit him. “I know you think it’s too risky for me on foot, but what if I changed that?” Troy asked Alcydes. When the boy looked curious, he shoved the extra items in his pocket and sped up his packing. “Let me just get packed, and I’ll show you what I have planned!” he excitedly claimed, and all Alcydes could do was wait with wonder.

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Troy huffed and puffed as he backed up towards the temporary gateway, both arms burdened with his package. “Alright, steady now,” he advised Alcydes as he shifted his grip, “We can’t afford to let it drop here - We might break our legs if it falls the wrong way.” When he heard a grunt of acknowledgement, Troy hefted it up before he rapidly backed up through the door. The door frame cracked at the pressure of solid tires scraping against it. Troy winced at the sound, but gave a sharp tug to finally stumble back with the metal frame. If Carter found out he got tire marks in the house on his cousin’s favorite ride, he’d never hear the end of it.

“Alright, we should be through now. Drop it down slowly,” he stressed, and slowly knelt down with it. When he heard the creak of springs as it touched down, he shouted, “Back up now!” Troy shoved the metal frame to its proper side, and the package righted with a notable bounce. When the shaking stopped, Troy backed up and looked the ATV over appreciatively. “You know, if I was asked to lift this by hand a few months ago, I never would’ve believed it,” he mused as he placed a hand on the deep-blue hood. If this was with 10 STR, imagine what an STR of 25, or even 50 could do…

A small cough broke his fantasizing, and he blushed slightly at the reminder. “Alright, with lots of help from you,” he corrected, earning a nod of satisfaction from Alcydes.

Now that the ATV was ready, Troy walked around the ATV, and grabbed his supplies by the door. Once he threw them in the ATV’s trunk, Troy hopped behind the handlebars and pulled out the keys. After some slight fumbling, he finally turned the ATV on with a faint roar. As the engine hummed steadily, he looked at Alcydes expectantly. “Hop on! We should have more than enough gas to handle the trip!” Troy told the boy, patting the seat behind him.

After a moment of hesitation, Alcydes hopped up and sat on the seat sideways. Troy raised an eyebrow at the posture, but shrugged and gave a grin. “Alright, be sure to shout out if you see any trouble,” he told Alcydes. With a rev of the engine, Troy accelerated into the marshy hillsides.

While the ATV wasn’t going at full speed, Troy felt the distance fly under them as they rode up and down the hillside. As he drove over the wetlands, he found himself cruising through sitting puddles and flat brush. However, the occasional sinkhole forced him to sharply swerve, nearly throwing Alcydes off.

Troy focused on driving as the minutes blurred together, the drive thankfully being without any complications. It was only when he crested over what felt like the hundredth hill, he slowed down at the sight of the target river. While the river was several yards wide, the flow barely passed over a flat bank of mud that stretched from one side to the other, the only marking feature being several large rocks.

“This is the bank, right?” Troy asked Alcydes as he pointed at the partially submerged flat. The elven boy leaned forward to check. Once he got a small nod as an answer, Troy revved the engine up and shot down the hill with a roar. Mud sprayed under the tires when he hit the beach, slowing him down somewhat. Troy swerved at the deceleration and pulled the accelerator to its limit.

His breath flew to the back of his lungs as he raced over the bank. However, as he neared one of the submerged rocks, he cursed when the closest ones began to move. “Shit!” he cursed and began to swerve between them. A pumpkin-sized head rose up in front of him, Troy swerved out of the way and rocketed to the other side.

When the tires finally hit solid ground, Troy let out a whoop and skidded to a stop. “That certainly was a real rush!” he commented, looking back at the river for safety’s sake. When he saw all the turtles were still meandering about in confusion, he grinned and looked at Alcydes. “How’s that for fast enough?” Troy asked.

While the elven boy was a tad pale, he gave a jerky nod. “Just don’t be so rough on the way back,” he stressed, his hands still clenched around Troy’s shirt.

“I’ll try to, but no promises,” Troy shot back, and drove more sedately towards the mountains, in hope of finding the proper path.