Twenty-one days until the Duel with Edbert

Early Afternoon

When the challenge was formalized, I had the rest of the day left if I wanted to make full use of my time. In other situations, Charles would have had the technical ability to demand I go with him and his family back to their home, but the terms of the duel as prescribed by Marlie stopped him from it. It could be construed as attempting to monopolize my time and prevent me from preparing for the duel.

So now, I stood in the market square of the town and made my way to the home of the only people necessary to whom I had not explained my plan yet. As the crab-ox monsters known as Tauraceans lumbered by with heavy loads on townsfolk on their back, and numerous other monsters and people milled about I moved with purpose. I walked out of the main section of the town, down even more flights of stairs, and into the sloping hills that lead to the neighborhood of Strongbridge known as Portside.

Soon, I was outside of the glorified fisherman’s cabin that was the home of Jose Porter. There was not a single person in all of Portside other than him who had a surfboard outside of their home. As I strode up, I heard the screeching call of Gerald and waved to the pelikvern as it flew above me.

It began to dive bomb, and having dealt with the feathered dinosaur monster quite a bit since our first encounter I knew that meant it was about to try to give me something. Right out of its gullet, and as much as Jose and Eris thought it charming, the pelican-like tendencies of the pelican-pterodactyl monster were definitely the parts I disliked the most. So I ran to Jose’s door and let out a frantic knock.

As soon as Jose let out a call of “Come in.” I opened the door and hurried inside.

“Gerald trying to give you a gift again, Wade?” The tan-skinned fisherman, captain of the guard, and captain of a fishing boat all in one question.

“Yes. Yes, he was. And while I don’t mind it normally, I have some serious business to discuss.”

The fishermen looked at me then, and from his body language for a second, it was clear he almost made a comment. Instead, he shook his head vaguely mournfully. The circumstances of our still possibly failed expedition to the Tidewarren Dungeon weighed too heavily on him, but I was a bit surprised at him being that sad.

“I was going to make some comment asking if you were Tommy Pickles now, but if you are coming all this way to me and claiming you have serious business, then fine. Sit down, kid. I’ll get you something to eat while we talk.”

I had initially meant to quickly update him on the plan but it was abundantly clear that he had something to say. So I took a seat and waited until he was also sitting and we were eating a meal of pan-fried potatoes, sausages, a cob of corn, and fried fish filets before I was able to begin. Firstly, I explained to him what had happened from my point of view, and what I had explained to the other members of the party but had not been able to explain to Eris or her father.

“So you challenged Edbert, and ultimately Charlie, risking a total of eight years of indentured service? Why, kid? You sweet on my daughter or something?” spoke Jose as he stopped eating his own food to brush a strand of his long black hair that had come loose from the ponytail that he wore.

I shook my head. I took a moment to take a bite of the corn cob. After I was done chewing it, I answered more clearly. “It just seems dastardly to do what he was doing to you. I dunno how long you’ve known him, but I would never do that to someone I considered a friend. You owe him for paying to get Eris here with you, I guess?”

The captain put his face in his hands for a moment and did not speak. “I owe him for more than that. He’s brought both of my daughters here and just as importantly, my wife here to Hekatondrona by paying for them to be summoned in the lottery.”

“Where are they then? I think I’ve only met Eris.”

Jose sighed, for a moment I could see the bone-weary fishing captain I had seen on my first meeting with Jose back when Gerald was being a bread basket bandit.

“After we came to the agreement, signed a contract, and he paid for it, he then let me know the secrets he wasn’t planning to tell me before. Firstly, the only way he could for my wife was through a complex process - the ritual didn’t bring her now, just ensured that in the same moon crawl that we were summoned to Hekatondrona in, she would have also been one of the people in that outworlder lottery. She could have been anywhere Hekatondrona, but I have never been able to take the time to go hunt for her. My youngest is your age, and she should be summoned now or about it; the highest age a person can be incarnated into this world is ten; and he claimed to not have the choice of who he picked when you were chosen.”

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I didn’t respond for a moment, taking in what had been said. So it wasn’t entirely random, and other people could be brought into the world by the outworlder lottery? That part I had not known. But as I thought I spoke up, “I think that means he’s trying to just rope you into sticking by his side for as long as he can. Now it makes more sense than simple malice.”

Was Charles afraid of another lordship attacking him without having Jose’s backing?

“Either way, we can win your freedom and Eris’ if my plan is done. But I need your help to do it. I’ve gotta get ahold of a suitable fourth monster partner by then and I’ve also got twenty days for you to help me train my swordsmanship skill up to the point that I can grab the Guard class and then upgrade it to the point of unlocking the swordsman class.”

He was silent at that and didn’t say a thing for easily a minute or two as I tucked into my food once more. When he did, it was a frown. “That, because as much as I’d like to I’ve known Charlie for a lot longer than you, Wade. Longer than he’s been in this world, to be entirely honest. We used to work together back on Earth before we ended up incarnated into this world. So I can tell you for a fact the second he heard I was training you in swordsmanship, he would bring down an argument that as his employee, I could not provide you assistance without his clearance. So I won’t be able to help you with that; even if it made sense to go through all that effort when Marlie said it was no contact between human partners.”

That was assuredly not what she had said, but I did not speak up about that to Jose. Instead, I asked the real question. “So what can you help me with?”

“Well, he’s not given me the order yet so I can let you potentially complete both of your goals in the same action. Have you heard about the Dragon’s Fang Bog?”

“I haven’t, where is it at? Only place like that description I know of is the Million Potato Marsh.”

“Just a sec, kid. I’ve got a map.” He pulled out a paper journal from his pocket, flipped through it, and then pulled out a worn piece of parchment that had been folded up in it. Placing it down on the table in front of me, he pointed through one quadrant while leading over the other portions. “So this area here within the Million Potato Marsh is the Dragon’s Fang Bog. It’s a dungeon, like the Tidewarren Dungeon, but not exactly like it. There’s a monarch-level monster in there, and its mere presence in the dungeon helps provide the dungeon with a more stable position in the world. More than just monsters can come out of it, and it is why the maritime trade in Tidewarren all goes to Strongbridge. The Bog creates eddies and rapids as well as sharp rocks that provide a danger to even the most skilled sailors trying to go up the Dragon’s Fang River that flows through the Marsh from the dungeon itself. It is about two hours from the eastern gate of town if you follow the road through Million Potato Marsh until you can smell it. ”

I was rapt at the words and he seemed to fight between frowning and letting out a wild grin at the sight of the expression on my face. I didn’t even think to answer about the smell.

“It’s dangerous, kid. I don’t mean a bunch of randomized Cobluchins, Jackanacks, and Sabigiris. There are powerful monsters in there, and if you see that monarch you need to run. Monarch monsters are… Have you ever watched those giant monster movies out of Japan? They’re that. Whether they are forces of destruction or creation depends on their types, but great forces regardless of what elemental type they are. They’re huge, too.”

I could hear the Blue Oyster Cult song ‘Go! Go! Godzilla’ in my head at that almost in stereo from my memories of the old world and thought on what he said. After finishing the sausage on the plate in front of me I gave a firm nod.

“Dangerous, but dangerous means if I can get a monster that can survive in there it’ll be useful in the battle too. But how does that solve the swordsmanship skill?”

“You’ll see, just don’t be afraid to use your sword on normal monsters in there.”

“Okay. Beyond that, what is your potential on my plan?”

“I think it’s got a good chance of working.”

After finishing my food and thanking him, he confirmed he’d give what information he felt he could to Eris and wished me the best of luck and godspeed.

As I left, I got ready for the next portion of my plan. I had supplies to purchase, especially if I was going to have to head out into the wilderness to make sure my plan worked. I also had to make sure that Alec, Calvin, and Moriah were actually able to come with me.

I didn’t even think it might be reckless, because while my inner voice and self-doubts from my own childhood would demand it – I had the faith of my family in me to remember so I could follow the credo Melody had told me back when we first started socializing with others after becoming a couple. If she thought I should be confident no matter the case, I should certainly try to be.

When I started to feel self-doubt I touched the carved fang saber’s hilt. I was new to this world, but that didn’t mean I would fail without guidance from experts and adults.

The first stop was to put in some commissions for equipment from the carpentry shop and the smithy of Moriah’s family.