Choices. James had always hated them, and he was now realising how little choices he had actually had to make as he grew up.What sport to play growing up? I live in New Zealand, play rugby. Where should I go to University? The one all my friends were going to. What should I study? I was good at maths, study finance. It'll keep my parents happy too.
But as he now stood there, in an empty building, in an empty city,it was finally dawning on him that he could do absolutely anything he wanted. Do nothing? Easy. Drink until he couldn't remember that he wasn't on Earth? Well he had no money, and the Golden Griffin did not have alcohol, but he was sure there was a way. Hell, he could even find out where he was and how to get home. But that choice was still out of reach for now. So what did he decide to do? The only decision that never really seemed to be a choice. He went hunting.
Vinela pointed him in the direction of the main gate. The design of the empty city actually made it quite simple, the streets got wider until you reached the central pathway, wide enough for ten wagons to run side by side straight from the main entrance all the way to the mine. There wasn't a choice on what to take hunting either, he took everything he had. The leather armour was easy to put on, and all the straps made it all adjustable. Still he could feel the edges cutting into him his armpits and inner thighs would be complaining for days. But if fantasy leather worked like regular it would mold and bend until it fit him perfectly.
The pack was slung over his shoulder. It was a good size, easily big enough to fit a butchered sheep, or dozens of smaller rabbits and birds. He carried the bow as he walked, practising pulling one of his ten arrows from the quiver attached to his belt and drawing it as he walked. He felt stupid, but his promise of last night lingered in his head. Before he made any decisions he needed to get stronger, and in this world that meant levels. He didn't know if he would only get levels from killing things, as he was a [Hunter] it felt obvious. But on earth the best hunters didn't just kill. In fact he knew of people he would call a good hunter who didn't take a rifle out, just a camera, tracking deer for hours just to get one photo.
There were a few things he thought made a good hunter:
* Marksmanship - He knew he could hit a deer with a rifle fine. But a bow? He’d only ever shot at targets but he hoped whatever [Hunters Accuracy] was it would help out. It wasn't just accuracy though, he'd need to test the range on the bow and how effective it was at a greater range.
* Physical Fitness - It wasn't easy walking for hours in tough conditions. And if you did manage to hunt something it meant that you had to carry most, or all of it back with you.
* Navigation - James had been lost enough in his own backyard to know the dangers of getting not knowing his way home, luckily the mountains were a fairly unmistakable landmark.
* Tracking & Observation - If he didnt know where to find the animal, how was he going to kill it? Likewise, you had to be observant of anything stalking you. Wild pigs were no joke.
* Patience - Sometimes a successful hunt was just making it home. Sometimes it was worth waiting for the right animal. Unfortunately he needed meat today. More than that he needed extra to take pressure off or to sell.
Fifteen minutes of walking from the Golden Griffin and James approached the main gate. Like everything else in the camp it screamed blandness. A rectangle hole in the wall, James could see wooden doors as half a meter thick swung inwards. There were only two guards standing around, both facing outwards, barely noticing him until he was walking between them.
“Hey, Halt” one spoke, fumbling for a spear that was leaning against the door.
James obliged, stopping and turning around to face the two.
“What is your business with leaving the camp” The same guard asked.
It was obvious to James that it was a routine question. Delivered with all the enthusiasm of someone who would rather be somewhere else. Reminding him of bouncers who'd rather be in the club than waiting outside.
“I’m going hunting.” James said, holding up his bow as if it was a gate pass.
“Sure. sorry we just don't have many people heading out once they arrive.” The guard said.
“No problem. My names James, I’m new to the camp. I thought there would be hunters going out every day.” He asked.
“I’m Robert, and that there is Dar El.” The guard said motioning to the other guard.
Robert seemed to be a human as far as he could tell, white hair showed beneath the metal helmet covering his head, matching the chainmail armour over his body.
Dar El however was definitely not human, from the exposed parts of his body James saw a green tinged skin. His hands folded in front of him were likewise green, pointed fingers clasped together.
“And we don't get many individual hunters heading out. Mainly they go with an adventuring team and could be gone for a month plus before they return. You just going to be doing day trips?” Robert leaned against his spear now.
“That was the plan as I got used to the area. I was going to head to the plains to look for rabbits and birds mostly. I can bring one back for you if you want. Fresh meat must be in short supply if there aren't many hunters heading out.” James knew from every book he read or game he played to always be nice to the guards.
“Na, it's ok. Most of the warehouses here have preservation runes built in so the meat will stay good for months. Can't even taste the difference.” Robert said.
“If you are offering free meat I will take some Human.” Dar El spoke for the first time. His voice was so deep James was sure he would know what he said from the vibrations in his chest.
“Not a problem Dar. I should be back just after dark. Come find me at the Golden Griffin. Guardswoman Rivers can tell you the direction.” He said.
Dar Els head moved for the first time at his statement.
“Cila Rivers?” Dar asked James. Robert chuckling at his question.
“Yea, the Golden Griffin is run by her brother so she should be there later too.” A smile appearing as he noticed the green showing under Dar Els helmet deepen.
He wasn't exactly sure what Dar El was. He looked human apart from the green skin, Goblin, Orc? He tried to think of any other fantasy races he could remember. If there were elves in this world nothing was really out of the question. Were there hobbits? An excitement gripped James as he thought of the possibilities.
“I will be there then. Sundown. I look forward to the meat.” Dar turned back to staring straight ahead.
“I might need to come too to see this.” Robert laughed. “Good hunting James”
Raising a hand he turned, once more looking out to the rolling grasslands. He had decided overnight to head south to look for rabbits, birds and hopefully something a bit larger. The mountain goats Vanela mentioned were tempting, but he knew if anything remotely dangerous came down from the mountain he could kiss his life goodbye.
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He practised with the bow as he walked. He continued with his pattern of simply withdrawing an arrow, drawing it on the bow and holding for a few seconds. Trying to increase his drawing speed each time. All across his back ached after awhile and he decided to rest after two hours of walking from the camp gate to let his muscles rest.
Sitting atop a small hill he ate the last of the dried meat from the pouch he'd taken from the Takona.
“Ill need to make some more of this” he mumbled around a full mouth as he felt the pangs in his stomach soften as he ate.
Looking out from the hill he kept an eye out for any movement around him. There were the odd copse of trees cropping up around the grassland which James knew would contain something to hunt. He saw one now about half a kilometer away, they weren't densely packed trees, or even that large. But they stood tall and the spread of their branches would provide plenty of cover for either himself or another predator.
After a short rest he continued towards the trees an arrow was nocked in the bow but he didn't draw. He crept, half crouched and moving slowly as he went. As he got closer he began to notice signs of creatures heading towards the trees. Mainly this came in the form of shit. While he had seen small piles of poo as he walked out here they seemed to all be dry and old, whereas here the piles still had a slight gleam to them. Leading him to think they were fresh. Pausing to look around there was no movement at ground level, the low hanging branches obscuring looking too deep into the copse, the odd bush at the tree line making it even harder.
Thinking on how he wanted to tackle it he decided for now he was better to wait outside rather than charging in. As much as he thought there were no predators in there, he remembered the fucking sheep. He thought of finding a rock to try to throw into the trees. Instead he crouched in a small divot, around forty meters from the tree line. Several times he thought he saw movement rufling the bushes, his bow rising in anticipation. He could feel his heart slowing as he held his breath to steady his aim. But each time nothing emerged.
After waiting for thirty minutes he decided to move closer. As he stood, movement caught his eye. Not from the trees but heading towards it at a right angle to james. A black shape flew through the sky and he felt a shiver go through him as he thought back to the gargoyle attack he had seen just over a day ago. He calmed himself as he noticed this wasn't a gargoyle, it looked like a larger chicken, not a cage born wing clipped chicken but a wild one, easily twice the size of a Earthborn chicken. This one was pure black too,making it seem almost crow like. Watching as it approached he noticed that it wasn't flying directly towards the trees, instead it seemed as though it would fly past and behind him. Making sure the arrow was correctly nocked he raised his bow pointing it towards the bird. Still it was too far away, at least a hundred meters and James knew that there was no way he could make that shot, so he waited, and waited as it got closer, and closer. When the bird was about forty meters away something odd happened, it was as if his brain finally decided to join the hunt.
He could tell the path and the speed that the bird was taking, his muscles straining. As if begging James to move them, he shifted aiming about five meters in front of the bird moving the bow slowly so that it stayed there. He knew that the closest it would get to him would be about thirty meters away from him and ten meters above, fixing his aim he took a deep breath in drew … and released. The arrow shot out of his bow, the draw feeling a bit clunky and he noticed the arrow wobble as it flew. The twang of the bow sounded and in that moment he felt the bird finally shift its gaze to him instantly the bird angled to turn. He had aimed for the bird's chest, knowing the girth was an easier target than the relatively small head. The arrow embedded itself in its wing. James could tell even that result was more down to luck as the poor release had sent the arrow off course. Still he could feel the smile spreading across his face as he walked towards the downed bird. The arrow unfortunately wasn't enough to instantly kill the bird, so to spare it any extra pain he removed the shortsword from his hip. The *shing* of the blade being removed from the scabbard brought forward his childhood memories of kings and knights. He spared a few seconds thought to wonder if he would now meet [King]s and [Knight]s. The blade was sharp and quickly removed the head. As he bent to inspect the bird he was impressed with the amount of meat it carried. The wingspan was easily wider than James was tall, making it at least 180 centimeters. He set about butchering the bird quickly realising that while a shortsword looked badass, for the work of butchering he would need to look around for a purpose built hunting knife, especially one he hunted bigger game that needed skinning rather than just chopping bits off and removing feathers.
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After a few minutes he had successfully removed the wings of the bird as well as the innards so that the meat didn't spoil as the day went on. While he wasn't a big fan of offal he wasn't sure if people here had different tastes, especially now that people included half elves and some kind of green man. Putting the much reduced carcass into his pack he thought he'd be able to fit about a dozen of them in before the pack would be full. James picked up the discarded bits of bird, deciding to move it closer to the tree's edge, hoping to entice any predators out so that he knew what was in there. Once that was done he walked back to the divot to wait.
It took ten minutes before movement caught his eye again. He'd been watching the treeline, sure that there was something in there, that something was looking at him. But it wasn't anything from the trees that caught his eye. It was another bird, same as the one he'd already shot. This one however wasn't trying to fly past him, instead it flew straight for the offal pile not even sparing a look to its side where he sat. The bird landed, looking ungainly as it did, the large wings not quite compacting fully against its body. Before the bird could even peck at the guts lying before it James had nocked, drawn and released. The arrow still wobbled as it flew, he could feel it going off course. Luckily the bird was close enough that that didn't matter as it pierced through the birds throat. He had been aiming for the body again, the largest target by far but the arrow was of course from the moment it left his bow.
Once again the shot did not immediately kill the bird and it managed to take to the air, flapping as it tried to gain altitude. Quickly drawing another arrow he again knew the path the fluttering bird would take. This time he waited, tracking the bird just below the point of the arrow. Taking a deep breath in he drew the bow. Slowly he slightly moved the bow so that it tracked in front of the bird. Finally, after five second of waiting he released both breath and arrow. This time he knew he was on target. The arrow sped across the distance embedding itself in the body of the bird before James had fully exhaled.
After another five minutes he was back waiting, watching over the copse of trees and the growing pile of offal. After another five the pile had grown again. This time he waited until the bird was actually eating completely distracted as it thought of nothing but the free meal in front of it. His arrow pierced straight through its side piercing something important as the bird dropped instantly. James aloud himself a fist pump, finally he felt like that shot was damn near perfect.
He started training after that, confident that he would be able to get enough birds to meet Vinelas quota for the day. He started with shooting at them before they hit the ground. It took four birds before he managed to get a clean hit. Twice he missed completely the birds smarter than their brothers and sisters, they seemed to notice James crouching bow in hand and quickly changed direction as he released. Once he managed to cleanly hit a bird three times in a row he moved back another twenty meters. The shot to the ofall pile now around forty to fifty meters probably half of the range that he could fire, definitely a challenging shot. It was two hours before he finally got a kill at this range, this far back he struggled to get the understanding of the flight path the bird was on. In truth the one bird he did hit seemed to be more luck than accuracy. The arrow wobbling as it left the bow he resigned himself to yet another miss, instead the bird seemed to notice the arrow flying towards it. The bird then obviously decided to take pity on his horrid aim and turned directly into the path of the arrow. After he was done butchering the bird he looked to see where the sun was. Between that and the rumbling he felt in his stomach he knew it was late into the afternoon. Deciding he had had enough to begin the trek back to the camp, instead of the direct route he'd taken on his way out he walked in a semicircle downing two more of the black birds before making it back in sight of the camp.
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“Nine bird carcasses.” James declared to the two new guards manning the gate. They seemed to be more attentive than Robert and Dar had been this morning. First noticing him when he was a couple hundred meters from the wall. Whether they'd noticed him themselves or someone on the wall had passed the info down he wasn't sure but as he was the only person around they'd approached him with leveled spears demanding to know who he was and what business he had within the camp.
“Mmm not worth the paperwork to be fair.” One guard mumbled to the other. Sensing an opportunity he pounced.
“Tell you what, I'm taking these back to the Golden Griffin to be cooked up. If you make it there tonight I'll make sure that you get a good price for a meal.” James smiled at the guards. Hoping to get through with no tax, especially because he still had no money.
“The Golden Griffin? Haven't heard of it.” One guard said. Both were human but the one that spoke was older, not quite grey but there was definitely silver speckled amongst his black beard.
“It's newly opened, near the guard training ground too.” He replied.
“Very well, go through then. You should head to the adventurers guild and sign up. They don't get taxed on beasts or animals.” The old guard mentioned.
“Will do. See you later maybe, offers open for tomorrow too.” he said as he began his walk back to the Griffin.
The walk was peaceful, he passed only one other person as he walked. They ducked down a sidealley as he walked by, hiding in the shadows but James paid no mind to it. What did he actually have worth stealing? A sword and bow maybe, but he doubted a lone thief would take on someone armed as he was.
As the sun set he could see which of the buildings were occupied, and it seemed to be one or two in every fifty he walked past. Flickering light coming through shuttered windows. The golden griffin was different, the windows and door still wide open as the light spilled out. As he approached he heard muffled voices echoing out, even that an improvement on the night before.
As he entered he felt for the first time all eyes in the room turn to him. As he did he saw Robert, the guard, stand and cheer.
“Finally the [Hunter] Returns.” He shouted, the rest of his table joining in the cheer as the rest 9of his table held up mugs in his direction. From the look of the group they had been drinking for some time.
“Robert, good to see you made it.” He said as he walked towards them, looking about for Vanela he couldn't see him or Cila anywhere.
“Ae, bought some of my friends too.” he said.
“Are all of you guards?” James asked.
“No, no. Only me. Three of them work in the mine, it was a bit of a trek for them to get here but I talked them into it. The others have jobs in some of the stalls in the market.” Robert replied.
Looking around the table James noticed they were all human. Two of them, obviously the mine workers, wore stained shirts rolled up to their biceps as they seemed close to bursting out on their own. The other four were a lot more bookish looking. Clean clothes and clean shaven faces.
“Is Vanela about?” James said, not wanting to put the sack of carcasses on the bar.
“He shot out to grab more ale. I don't think he expected many guests today to be honest, or he doesn't realise how much we humans can drink” the whole table laughed at that. As they laughed James heard someone else arrive, turning around he saw Vanela walking in, a massive Keg over each shoulder and a bigger smile plastered across his face.
“James! Good, good. Follow me.” The two kegs did not seem to slow him down in the slightest.
James obliged and followed him behind the bar where Van dropped both of them behind the bar, and he heard the sloshing inside.
“They were full? How heavy are they?” James asked.
“Heavy, but I have [Lesser Strength] so it's nothing. Now come down here.” Van said as he opened a door leading behind the bar. James followed and stepped into a kitchen. Not a modern on, there were no gas stove tops or refrigerators around. But there was a roaring fire beneath a steel hotplate, currently two massive pots sat on top simmering away.
“Put the meat down there. Did you get a goat?” Vanela asked.
“No, I went south. Nine birds, unsure what type, big black things.” He said as he dropped the bag on a free bench.
“Hmm, that will do, I guess. I have had to put some pots on, I wasn't expecting so many people. That Robert mentioned I have you to thank?” Vanela pulled one of the carcasses out, turning it in his hands before setting it on a bench, a large knife appearing in his hand from nowhere as it slammed down into the bird, splitting it clean down the middle. He quickly followed by ripping the legs off of each side then threw the meat into one of the pots.
“I met him on the gate this morning. Mentioned he might get a cheap meal if they dropped by later tonight. I didn't expect them to already be here.” He answered, as he did Vanela butchered another bird, throwing it into the same pot.
“Cheap meal?” Vanela said, turning to look at James, still he had a large smile on his face. “I guess i can do that for a night. They've already made a few silver on the ale they've drunk alone”
James watched as two birds went into each pot before Vanela beckoned him to follow again, leading him back out into the Inn. James noticed two more humans had joined Roberts tabel as they'd been in the kitchen.
“I need to hire some help if this keeps up,” Vanela whispered.
“I could help out for the night,” James offered. “I need to sign up for the adventurers guild tomorrow and I'm guessing that won't be cheap.”
“The guild, itl cost more than you can earn here in a night.” VAnela said lookin him over.
“Have you served drinks before?” he asked.
“Nope, but with only a few people here I should be fine.” James replied.
“Ok, Tell you what. I'll spot you the gold for guild registration tomorrow. If its the same as back in the empire it should be five gold.” Van closed his eyes, a look of concentration on his face. “If you work nights here when we are busy it would take you months to earn that in wages.” he finished.
“Months? If i get a guild registration i should be able to make money through jobs right?” He said.
“That's true, if you pay me back seven gold five silvers within the month and you work the rest of the week? I’ll hire someone to help if we stay this busy.” Vanela offered. As he started filling mugs up from one of the new Ale barrels. Having effortlessly lifted it into a rack behind the bar.
“I don’t have much of a choice. Deal... Boss.” He replied.
“Call me Van. Do you have any clean clothes? You smell like a dead bird.” Van said.
“I don’t have anything else to wear.” James felt a bit ashamed of that. He’s always been self conscious about how he smelt. Living on a farm it’s hard to get rid of the smell of animals from your clothes, he always found it took a certain kind of woman to appreciate it.
“Hmm I’ll give you an extra silver tomorrow. That should get you a set to use at nights.” Van said
“Sounds good to me” He said
“Good, now hand these out to everyone who wants one. 4 copper for a mug. Ask if they want a meal, if they do it would normally be four silver but as you promised a cheap one make it three. Let them know they're getting a discount though. I don't want them expecting that every time they come in!” Van said, a serious tone in his voice but when James looked he could see he was still smiling.
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The next hour flew by as James served drinks and took meal orders. Barely having a moment to stop and talk with Robert and his friends. As he was backing up holding eight more mugs of ale for the table he felt someone standing close to him. Turning around he saw Cila standing a meter behind.
“Good senses. I see you've gone from [Hunter] to [Barmaid]?” She laughed.
James laughed too as he took the drinks to Robert's table, they had quietened down some, whispering to each other. Although he couldn't make out what they were saying, they were drunk enough that their stares at Cila weren't that hard to pick up.
Looking back she saw that Cila had helped herself to a mug of her own. He took one for himself then joined her.
“I'm in need of funds, I have to pay Hin back for the gear in three weeks. That's 52 gold pieces. I also need to be able to pay off your loan shark of a brother.” James said.
“I thought you were hunting for the room? The stew smells good, you must have got something?” she asked
“Yea i got some birds, but i need to register with the adventurers guild so i can start making more coin.” he said “Got to spend money to make money apparently”
“That is true. Well I'm glad you're settling in.” She said. The smile dropping from her face.
“The [Scout]s we sent after the Takona yesterday havnt returned as they should have. And the captain doesn't think they will. They're growing bolder.” She said
“Do you know why they attacked?” He asked.
“For the mine. Same as everyone. Your friends are probably being questioned about what they know of the camp. I guess we're fortunate that you got taken on your way here, none of them actually know anything.” She said before looking up at him. “Sorry”
He just nodded, not wanting to dig himself into a hole. He felt bad, effectively using the attack and kidnaping to hide who he was. He felt bad, sure. But it seemed like there was little to be done about their situation.
“Are you going to try to get them back?” he asked after a moment of silence.
“There's a job being put out. But i don't think anyone will take it. The Takona have some tunnels through the mountains that we know about. But they will be heavily defended. A team would need to go over, or out to see where they'd be seen easily.” She said before finishing her ale.
“Another?” She asked.
“I’ll get them.” He said, taking her mug and moving towards the bar.
As the night dragged on James felt his eyes getting heavier and heavier. Thankfully after another hour of drinking Roberts table decided to leave. Vanela settled down and counted out a decent pile of silver and copper. James still wasn't sure on the value of the coins here but the glee he could see by Vans face it must have been decent.
“Good night?” James asked him
“Very” he replied, waving his hand over the pile it seemed to float towards his hand and disappear.
“Is that a storage ring?” James asked
Van looked up at him, a gleam of something in his eye.
“You know of them? Most just assume that I use magic.” Van said.
“I've heard of them before” He said, and it was true, but only in video games and books.
“It's a family artifact.” Cila said. “He shouldn't have used it in front of you.” a disappointed tone in her voice.
“How am I to know the [Hunter] Knows of Elven artifacts?” Van said. Waving his hand again as gold and silver appeared on the table.
“Here this should get you some clothes and a guild registration. I do expect to be paid back though.” Van said.
James just nodded, picking up the coins and putting them into the meat pouch still tied to his belt. He then said his goodnight to both of them, heading up to his room. He could hear some argument from below as Cila and Van but he ignored it. He didn't have any siblings himself but he knew the arguments you could get into with people you loved. Entering his room he instantly started strippin the armor and clothes off of him. Letting it drop onto the floor as he made his way to the bed. Falling asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.
A voice whispering too him in his dreams.
Levels gained:
[Hunter] Level 2
[Hunter] Level 3