Amelia had snuck into the Nexus, and met up with us inside the barracks while we were taking a break. Though Darya didn’t complain that I had to help her kill the octopus boss, she looked grumpy sitting across from me at a dining table, eating leftovers. Most of the cooking and preparation had shifted from the chapel’s kitchen to the barracks because it had more space, newer furnishings and better wood-fired stoves. Some of the kids had even started sleeping in the barracks instead.
Amelia approached with a troubled look on her face. “They stole some chickens and killed a cow.”
“Are you serious? I don’t assume they’ll pay for the animals, will they?” I asked.
She shook her head. “Not likely.”
“Alright. Once they leave, I’ll pay for the damage.”
“While that’s generous of you, the bigger problem is that they’re demanding to see the village chief.”
“Tell them I’m sick, contagious even. If I get involved it would only escalate things -- someone would get injured, or more likely die. The better plan is to wait them out, and hope that they leave.”
“Watch, it’ll only get worse,” Darya said.
“I have a plan in case it does,” I said.
“Which is what?”
“It’s- .. let’s hope it doesn’t get to that, alright?” I turned to Amelia. “Do you know when they are lea-”
“We have a visitor,” Darya interrupted me, pointing out the window toward the gate house.
I looked out and cursed, then gave Amelia a meaningful look. He must have seen her sneak through the portal inside the storage shed. Now I didn’t know what to do with this fella. He’d warn the Raiders if I let him go back out.
Amelia winced, looked down at the floor. “I-I thought-”
“This is why-” I placed the helmet back on my face. “Stay here, and out of sight.”
The man was halfway between the gatehouse and the barracks walking in our direction. I took out my wands and [Leaped] out the window landing a couple of yards from the man in a wide-brimmed hat. Despite my sudden approach he didn’t appear frightened, and didn’t even reach for his weapons, of which I didn’t see any. Were they hidden? Did he carry something on his back behind his cloak, or maybe he was a magic user?
I pointed my wands at him. “You’re the bounty hunter?”
He hesitated before answering, taking a moment to look me over as if I was some creature he hadn’t seen before. “That I am,” he finally said. “Name’s Finn, Finn Sabran, but they call me Old Dog.”
For simple commands, I realized that I could mentally select objects in the Nexus that I had placed, and control them with a thought. This was done much like casting spells, and without me having to go through the layers of the Edit sub-menu. I selected the gate behind him and made it close. The portcullis slammed down to the ground with a loud thud. Finn jumped at the sound, but didn’t bother to turn to look.
“Well … Finn. You went looking where you weren’t invited.”
He glanced from side to side, scratching at the back of his neck. “And where would that be? What is this place?”
“That’s not important right now.”
If he looked impressed, he didn’t show it. “I’d never seen anything like it. Is this a void dungeon? How is it that I was able to enter without being in your party?”
I decided to ignore his questions, the less he knew the better. “What am I supposed to do with you now, hmm?”
“You could invite me for tea.” He gestured ahead to the barracks behind me. “Is this where you live?”
“Tea, eh?” I asked.
“It’s what a welcoming host would do.”
Upon closer look at the man, he seemed older, chubbier too. [Keen Eye] had him at ‘Gray,’ the lowest threat category, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t stab me in the neck.
“Yeah, alright,” I pointed at the ground. “Drop your weapons, and your cloak too.”
He frowned, but did as I asked. He fished three wands of various sizes and carefully placed them down on the ground next to the folded cloak.
I turned and waved for Finn to follow me. “I don’t have much for tea, just some chamomile and mint.”
“That would be just what I needed.”
He followed after me as I went straight to the kitchen and filled the kettle with water. Out here, brewing tea wasn’t as simple as switching on an electric kettle. Firewood needed to be hauled in and lit, slowly built up. Then I had to wait for it to warm up the iron plates before it would start heating the water. He took a seat at a dining table closest to the kitchen, while Darya stood within listening distance with her bow close at hand.
“What news do you bring?” Amelia asked him.
He leaned over the table, sighing. “Well … there’s word of a plague in Merton,” Finn replied. “All trade had to be stopped, no going in or out.”
“How bad is it?”
“I ain’t sure, but I won’t be going west any time soon. Neither should you.”
“Anything else?”
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
“Oh sure, there’s plenty to mention. War broke out with the Renish.”
Amelia frowned. “What, again?”
“Aye, and at a bad time too. The Horde is on the move, raiding from the red plains as always. Someone ought to go and root them out, once and for all.”
Darya brought a cup of tea before Finn, and he accepted it graciously. “What about some good news, got any?” She asked him.
Finn took a whiff of the tea, blew away the steam. “Well, the damn crusaders are gathering for another go. Probably see them out here in the next few weeks, maybe earlier.”
Darya scoffed. “That’s supposed to be good news?”
“Better them assaulting the cube than pillaging the land.”
“What? Who are they?” I asked.
“Bunch of crazy zealots who think salvation is on top of the cube,” Darya said. “This is what, the fifth? Sixth attempt? And how many thousands died last time?”
Finn waved it off with his hand. “Let ‘em do it. No skin off my nose.”
“Maybe not for you, but we live in its bloody shadow.”
“Mmm, you’re right about that,” Finn said. “I’d noticed all the damage in the village. I take it things didn’t go quite well?”
Amelia nodded. “Brutalorg showed up, walked right through the place.”
“Sorry to hear that. That is some nasty luck.”
“Mother willing, we’ll be alright as long as it doesn’t happen again.”
He sighed. “Every year it feels like things have gone from bad to worse. I can’t find no peace no matter where I go.”
“When are your friends leaving?” I asked.
He narrowed his eyes, took a careful sip of the hot tea. “Without me? They ain’t going nowhere. Probably burn the place down. And they ain’t my friends, I just want to be clear on that.”
“Then what are you doing with them here?”
He sighed. “What I’m told to do.”
“You mean what you’re paid to do.”
“That’s one and the same.”
“I’m sure you understand that I can’t let you leave now,” I said.
“I get it, but they gonna be lookin for me.”
“And what would you have me do, hmm?”
He shrugged, taking another sip of tea. “Got any honey?”
I didn’t know if we did, so I looked at Darya. She sighed, but got up and went to the pantry to retrieve a clay jar, loudly placing it within Finn’s reach. He didn’t seem to be bothered by her cold approach. Spooning a generous amount, he stirred it slowly in his cup before taking a long sip.
He closed his eyes, sighing with a smile on his face. “Now this is more like it.”
“Glad you like it,” I said.
He placed the cup on the table slowly, looked me in the eye. “So, why’d ya kill ‘em?”
“They took things too far. Strung up the village chief.”
He nodded. “Is that right? What for?”
“Ya think these assholes need a good reason?” Darya spoke harshly. “No, they just do what they please, don’t they? Brush up against the tax collector and it’s a death sentence?”
“They were going to hang both of us,” I added.
He smirked. “Quite the pickle ain’t it? … and speaking of which, got anything to eat?”
I turned to Amelia, she got up and went to the kitchen.
“Bogworm stew, or boar cutlets?” she called out.
“Both? … and a bit of bread?” he replied.
She returned a minute later, and put down a generous plate of food before him, still steaming from the pot. He dug in like he was starving. Chomping, slurping, gulping it down.
"I feah dis wull only end wun way," he said with his mouth full.
“And what’s that?”
He took his time to chew and swallow, wiped his mouth with the back of his sleeve. “With all of you dead.”
He isn’t some regular raider sent to patrol the trade routes. His father is General Greshem, and he raised him with a weapon in his hand from a very young age. North Academy trained, fought for three years at the Red Plains. And you … you went and killed his younger brother, Abban.”
“Is that right?”
I stopped asking him questions and let him eat his meal in peace. I needed to figure out what I was going to do with him. One choice was to build a jail. However, how long could I keep him locked up? He didn’t do anything against me or the villagers. If I set him free he’d tell them all about me and Darya, and this place too. It took him no time at all to finish the meal, wipe the plate clean with a bit of bread.
He rubbed his belly. “My, that really hit the spot.” He moved the plate in my direction. “Got some more for this old, tired man?”
I got up and handed the plate to Amelia then sat back down across from him. He admired the plate loaded with food, then dug right in. While he ate, I took out my wand components and got to work trying to see which combination would work with the petrified wood. Yet, no matter what I tried, nothing seemed to reward me with the new wand.
“You’ll never make it with what you have there,” he finally told me after watching me struggle.
“Is that right? And what am I missing?”
He looked over to the kitchen. “Do you have any more of that tea there?”
I stood up and fetched him another cup of hot water, threw in dried chamomile flowers and mint leaves in it.
He smiled. “And uhm … anything more to go with tea?”
“What am I missing?”
“A booster.”
“And what’s a booster?”
He shrugged, but it was obvious that he knew the answer. I stood up again and fetched him some honey for the tea, also a chunk of fresh bread.
He smiled, spooning the honey into his cup. “I can show you, but it’s attached to my wands.”
I stood up for the third time and retrieved his wands, laid them out on the table near me, but out of his reach. They were tier two, somewhat better than what I had, but none would grant me the Wandcrafter bonuses in damage and power-up time, unlike the wands I crafted myself.
“Well?” I asked.
He squinted, pointed at the wands. “It’s the ember there in the middle, do you see it?”
All three of his steel wands had a thin sliver of ember, meticulously wrapped to the core of the wand with silver wiring. None of my schematics had mentioned boosters so far, but it made sense that better wands would require more parts.
I uncoiled the wiring and removed the component from one of his wands, then just as carefully attached it to the petrified wood core. It took a bit more bribing with tea and honey before I had the right combination of components and was rewarded with a new type of a wand.
* [t1+][Greater] [Ardent Petrified Wand] [Charge: 100/100]
* Damage: 511 [Size: 175%, Quality: +10%, Wandcrafter: +15%]
* Power-up time: 4.5 sec [Size: 175%, Wandcrafter: -15%]
* Cooldown time: 2 sec
* Speed: 80 yd/s
* Duration: 1 sec
* Range: 80 yards
* Uses two hand slots
I read the stats on the new wand with an eager grin on my face, especially at the sight of its massive damage. The only problem was that I couldn’t dual-wield two wands, which effectively halved the damage. Still at over 500, this wand more than made up for that. On top of it, it had a sizable range of eighty yards and an incredible projectile speed too, which paired well with the Siege Mode of my passive. Unfortunately, to unlock the next wand schematic, I still needed to craft two more of petrified wood wands, and I didn’t have the materials for that.
“Are there any other wand schematics that you know?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know all that much about wands to be honest, but-” he looked up with a sly smile. “How ‘bout I tell you what they’re capable of?”
“The Raiders that came with you?” I said, leaning in. “Why would you tell me their secrets?”
“Like I said, they’re not my friends, and you seem like good people. I could see myself settling down here, slow life, wonderful food.”
“You also said we’re all going to die,” I told him.
He simply shrugged in response, and continued to talk, and the longer he did, the more worried I became. Bob confirmed that he wasn’t lying about their abilities and powers. These four weren’t a bunch of rookie Raiders that I had dealt with before.
“What are we going to do?” Darya whispered in my ear.
I turned to her. “I’m not sure any more.”