“So, how wedded are we to the quarterstaff, Joe,” Kaid asked after about ten minutes of sparring.
“Why?” Joe panted. Even with [Efferous Endurance] active, trying to keep up with the blindingly fast little man was exhaustion.
“Cause you really don’t have much of a feel for it,” the gnome stated, flipping and catching his daggers between alternating hands. Joe could see why he used [Juggler] as his fake class. “If you are sticking with it, then you have to spend some points on Strength. Your Dex is ok for your level, so your block is passable, but without any Strength, your attacks are awful.”
“But don’t I need to save my two free skill points for the spell we want to get from the witch?” Joe worried.
“You gotta be close to third-level, right? You’ll get a new free point then.”
Joe was close. Very close. He had earned almost as much experience in that two-minute battle against low-level goblins than he had all day healing.
“If there had been a couple more of those guys, I would have leveled already. I can feel that leveling energy starting to build up.” Joe’s skin was tingling, that hallmark sign a new level was close.
“That is such a great feeling,” the ruffian confessed with a wide smirk. “Then spend just one point into Strength, and you’ll have two left over after you level. That will be enough if her spell is an uncommon. There is no way it would be a rare, so you won’t need three free points.”
“OK,” Joe conceded, moving one of his free points into Strength. The change was unmistakable. Suddenly, Joe was aware of his body in a new way. He could feel his muscles grow a bit. When he moved and flexed his arms, there was an ease that had not been present a second ago.
Unable to resist, Joe lunged with the staff, sending the rounded wooden point lancing towards Kaid. That motion, which would have been awkward a moment ago, felt right now. He had the muscle in his legs and back to balance his forward reach. His fingers and arms held the weight of the extended pole right on target.
Of course, he still missed the nimble little rogue by a mile, but at least this time, it felt like a proper attack.
“So much better,” Kaid beamed. “Ok. Round two. We’re going to go faster this time.”
“Faster?” Joe groaned. “Aww, man.”
----------------------------------------
When Kaid felt Joe was no longer hopeless, they decided to push on toward Brandy Mere. Joe knew the word ‘mere’ meant a very shallow lake, and that is just what they found an hour later.
They had left the road shortly after their training session and had been following what was likely a deer path through a section of light woods. When the pair stepped out of the trees, Joe stopped short. Before him lay a stunningly beautiful lake.
In the water, brightly colored wading birds could be seen standing in the middle of the massive pool. The birds looked like orange and yellow herons with spikey crests of feathers on their heads. Looking at the birds nearest to the far shore, they almost seemed like bobbing flames floating on the water.
Phoemingo Shorestrider: Level 4: Beast: Striker
In the center of the mere, a trio of grass-covered mounds rose up out of the water. Each one had some form of decoration or building on it. One had a gazebo with a large brass telescope pointed at the heavens. Another had a beautiful tree with scarlet leaves adorned with hanging lanterns. White wicker chairs and a table were placed beneath the red boughs.
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
On the largest of the mounds was a house. It looked a bit like a cute little Victorian home, except for the fact it was almost completely covered in brambles and ivy. Whole walls only gave peeks of bright lavender clapboards beneath the sheets of dark-leafed vines.
A covered porch broke out of the thorny jungle, the only large area where the ivy’s rampant growth had been curtailed. A few of the tall windows looked like they had been cleared as well.
It presented the oddest combination of quaint and sinister at the same time. The sinister was greatly enhanced when Joe spotted things moving and scuttling among the dense foliage. Joe knew that, in his old life, his phobia of spiders, even the most common house spiders, was irrational. Here in Illuminaria, he was pretty sure it was no longer an unfounded fear. One of the skittering forms he caught a glimpse of was the size of a large dog.
Vine-Cloak Leapers: Level 9: Beast: Skirmisher
The calm wonder he felt on first viewing the tranquil lake vanished in an instant. As a shudder ran down his spine, Joe began to question this current course of action. He knew there was no way he was going into that house with labrador-sized spiders lurking in the ivy overhead.
“Come on,” Kaid called. The gnome was standing on a raft that had been tied to a log standing in the water a foot from the shore. “I’m sure she has spotted us. Let’s go meet Granny Growlbee.”
“Are we going there?” Joe asked, pointing at the overgrown house.
“Yeah, Why not?” Kaid replied until he noted the trepidatious look Joe was directing at the infested vines. “Oh, don’t be such a baby. I’ve been here plenty of times, and the spiders have never bothered me once.”
“All the same, do you think she would mind if we met her at either of the other two islands?” switching his gaze between the gazebo and the table under the red tree.
Kaid stopped and gave Joe an odd look as if he did not understand the question. “ Uhh, I guess so. I’m not really great with people, but I guess it would be ok,” he finished with a shrug.
“I’ll chance it. I think fainting or shrieking on her doorstep would be much worse than the assumption she needs to come and meet us. Let's head for the tree. It looks like there are more chairs there.”
Kaid had a long pole, but the water was shallow enough Joe could help with his quarterstaff. As they were about halfway there, a woman stepped out of the house and looked at them. The beautiful young lady was wearing a bright yellow sundress. Her long black and green scarf floated in the wind behind her.
Her hair flowed back in the breeze as well, long black tresses with highlights of violet weaving through the locks. Her skin was so pale that Joe wondered if she had albinism or just a serious aversion to sunlight.
She was so much younger than Joe had expected. He had been anticipating an older woman due to the name ‘Granny.’ The winsome young lady stepping from the spider-infested home looked barely old enough to be someone’s mother, let alone grandmother.
“Oh, it looks like she likes you,” Kaid stated mirthfully. “She got all gussied up for ya.”
Seeing where they were headed, the maiden walked out onto the lake to meet the pair. Joe could not tell if she had a path that was right at the very edge of the surface or if she was actually walking on the water.
A dulcet voice flitted from out of the air around them. “Don’t spoil my amusement, Kaid. What is the fun in being a witch if one cannot dress the part.”
The lass stood at the edge of the red tree mound waiting for them, hand on hip, her hair floating in the breeze. It took Joe a second until he realized that the air was calm and still. Yet there she was, her dress and dark black tresses being epically stirred by some unknown gusts of wind.
‘Is it all an illusion?’ Joe wondered to himself. ‘Is she really an old grandmother instead of the lovely young maiden waiting for us on the shore?’
“Not to worry, Madam Growlbee. I take very little of what Kaid says to heart. It is nice to meet you. My name is Joe Morris.”
“Well, I am happy to welcome you to my home, Master Morris,” she stated with a bright smile as the raft slid up to the small hill. “And Illuminaria as well,” she added with a twinkle in her gorgeously captivating eyes.