As the group entered the woods, Kier called a halt just inside the tree line and out of sight of the camp. Iona and Rory gave him questioning looks but he waved them off as he turned to Joe. “Before you start asking questions, Joe has something to share.” Kier nodded at Joe to speak.
Joe took a deep breath and looked at Rory and Iona. “I guess part of it is just showing you guys.” He focused and his dragon armor appeared on his body. Both dwarves gave exclamations of surprise and began to ask questions to which Joe held out a hand to forestall them. “I got the armor as loot from the dragon and until this morning I had no idea that I could instantly equip it.” He gestured to Kier, “Kier helped me understand quite a bit today.” He looked back at Rory and Iona, “And I trust you all, so I’m going to tell you what I told him this morning.” He eyed Rory, “When we met you asked if I had fifty thousand in gold.” Rory nodded, “I don’t.”
“Ach I figured you to be full of shite about it.” Rory shrugged.
“I have just over half a million in gold.” Joe said deadpan.
Iona’s eyebrows shot up in reaction, but Rory just about exploded in shock, “Oy away and donnae talk pish! You’re out of your head! How in Mithra did you get such a…?” He paced back and forth looking at Joe the entire time with equal parts awe and skepticism.
Joe smiled at Rory’s antics, “Dragon hoard.” Joe smiled like the Cheshire Cat.
“Eh what now?!” Rory stopped pacing and stood breathing hard with his hands on his knees. “Half a million? Truly?”
Kier laughed, “Why Ror, you’re looking a bit peely wally there. You’re nae gonna pass out are you?”
Rory shot Kier a look and stood up while he ran his fingers through his beard and straightened his tunic. “That’s some heavy shite to drop on a dwarf what’s not a might blootered.” He looked up at Joe, “Mayhaps a bit of warning for the next rockfall you wants to drop?”
Joe chuckled, “Heh. Yeah. Sorry, but the look on your face was well worth it.” He clapped Rory on the shoulder and then turned to Iona. He paused for a moment and then said, “Look, I want to apologize for yesterday. For butting into your feud with Hamish and for freaking you out during the fight. I should have warned you that I’m fireproof.” He searched her eyes for either forgiveness or anger and he was relieved to see forgiveness as her serious demeanor softened somewhat.
“Tis a’right. Was a noble gesture with Hamish and I should have reacted better with the fire thing. We’re jake you and I.” She said obviously meaning her words.
Joe continued with Iona, “Thank you. And I, uh, got this off of the salamander and I thought you would find a good use for it.” He pulled Winter’s Bite from his inventory and held it out to her. The haft of the axe was carved from some kind of bone and wrapped in white fur; however, it was the blade that made Joe take a sharp breath. The axe blade was reminiscent of a Viking bearded axe, but it was formed entirely out of chipped ice. It looked slightly jagged, and it steamed in the morning air giving off an aura of cold.
Iona’s eyes went wide as she Identified it, “Joe, I cannae take such a gift. I’ve nae earned such a thing.”
Joe kept the axe held out to her and smiled, “Please? As a gift from a friend?”
Apparently the please was all it took, and she placed a hand on the haft of the axe, her fingers curled around it possessively. Her eyes alight with what Joe could only describe as unabashed greed. She looked it over and ran a thumb along its edge, smiling the entire time.
“Oy, do you and that axe need to get a room?” Rory guffawed.
Iona gave Rory a dirty look and put the axe away in her inventory. She turned a smile back to Joe, “Thank you. Tis a mighty gift I hope to be worthy of.”
They stood there for a moment until Rory hawked, spat and began walking away and also by Bixby who gave out an exasperated huff and followed Rory. As they entered the forest proper, they all called their armor and brought their weapons to hand.
Thirty minutes into their journey, Joe let out a “Damn!” Everyone stopped and turned, heads swiveling about for danger. Joe recognized that he had cursed out loud, added, “Sorry. I just realized I never got a bath.” Rory snorted, Kier chuckled, and Iona smiled. Bixby ignored him and kept walking.
By noon they stopped for lunch. The first few hours of traversing the forest were quiet since most of the larger animals had been killed the previous night. Joe took the time to enjoy not having to jump at every noise. Kier pulled a feast from his inventory and explained that Sophie had provided the team with a vat of stew, a dozen fresh loaves of bread and an entire wheel of cheese. Rory to no one’s surprise but Joes pulled out an entire barrel of beer and handed mugs all around. It was as far from worm steaks as one could get. After lunch they proceeded through the forest and began climbing what Joe hoped would be the last mountainous obstacle between him and the ocean.
Late in the day they came across a dwarven scouting party. They all sat, and Rory regaled the dwarves of Joe’s escapades at the camp that they had missed while out patrolling and mapping. They thanked Joe and were rightly impressed, especially seeing him adorned in his dragon armor. Kier cast some minor healing spells on a few that had been hurt and they gave him a rough map of the areas they had seen thus far and an idea of the kinds of monsters in the area. After thirty minutes the two groups parted ways and Joe’s team headed to a small, rough pass through the mountain. They had to detour North by about an hour to find it, but the map was accurate. Along the way they managed to fight and kill a few level twenty wolves. Joe looted them for three hundred gold each, while the dwarves only gained ten gold and three silver. Rory fumed and cursed for a solid ten minutes until Joe offered to share his loot equally among the group, which Iona and Kier protested.
“Look, it’s only fair that I share my good fortune.” He said divvying up the coins.
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Finally, Iona relented, “Och, and here’s the truth of it. Twill be easier to split the coin if we add Joe to our Party.”
Kier nodded as Joe asked, “Party?”
Iona explained, “You can group people together into what’s called a Party. Anybody what’s in the Party shares experience and gold. Individual loot is pooled, like magical items and whatnot. And no need for every Party member to loot for everybody to get it.”
“Sounds efficient. What’s the drawback?” Joe asked as a notice popped up.
You have been invited to join the Stoneshear Party started by [Kier]. Do you accept? Y/N
Joe chose Yes as Kier answered, “The only downside is all Experience is shared equally among the Party members. You get a tad more for being the one to kill a beast, but mostly it’s shared. You’ll advance faster outside of a Party, but in one you can share inventory and see everybody’s stats. Helps keep your group alive if you know how bad they’re hurt.”
After accepting the prompt, Joe could see new information in the upper left hand of his vision. He saw each dwarf’s name with three numbers underneath. He even saw Bixby’s name and statistic info. Each number was colored differently. The first was red, the second was green and the third was blue. “What are the numbers?”
“Tis your Health, Stamina and Mana. Now in a fight we can all see who needs healing or potions or rest. If you’re bleeding or paralyzed, we’ll see your Status effects as well.” Kier continued walking through the ravine, eyes wary of the steep cliffs looming on either side.
Bixby, who had ranged ahead began barking. The dwarves looked to Joe, Joe shrugged and said, “He says we need to see something.”
Joe and the dwarves exited the ravine to find themselves on the west side of a small mountain range. They stepped out onto a paved road that was bisected by the mountain, but what caught Joe’s eye was that a hundred feet away was a crossroads with a stop sign. Across the street at the crossroads was a small house and when they reached the intersection, the road sign said Bear Creek Road. “Hey guys! I know where we are now!” Joe exclaimed happily.
To the right, the road went another fifty or so feet and abruptly ended in more forest, but to the left and far more importantly going West, the road continued on. There were houses and telephone poles and cars parked on the side of the road. The dwarves all marveled at the vehicles and buildings. Joe was surprised at how overgrown the area was. In just one short month, the forest had reclaimed much more than Joe thought possible. Probably the System screwing around with everything. Joe took the group down the two-lane road of Highway Nine staying on the black top. Bixby ranged ahead, scouting for any sign of trouble as the rest followed along at a sedate pace. The day was getting on and the sun was soon to set. Joe had instructed Bixby to look for a suitable place to camp for the night, preferably a sturdy house with a fireplace.
A short way down the road they came to where the San Lorenzo River cut across their path. The paved road made a bridge over the flowing water which Joe had never seen so high and swift. Just before the crossing, Rory ambled over to a large carved wooden bear holding a fish next to a sign that said, “Welcome to San Lorenzo Valley”. “Your people worship a bear god, eh Joe?”
Joe chuckled, “No, we just had some very creative people who liked to carve wood. Bears were the most popular subject though.”
As the group crossed the bridge, they came into the small town of Boulder Creek and the sky opened up before them as they exited the more wooded area that made up the outskirts of town. They passed a bank and a small strip mall and came across the local firehouse, the doors shuttered. On the right was Johnnie’s Super, a small grocery store, it’s parking lot empty and a row of shopping carts chained up neatly outside. The desolate looking Christmas decorations everywhere were a stark reminder that the System had come at a time of the year that was normally festive and cheerful. The town was deserted and it unnerved Joe, reminding him of a zombie movie he had once seen. The overcast sky blocked out what little sun was left to illuminate the town which only added to the sense of gloom and desolation.
They passed through the heart of downtown that slightly reminded Joe of an old west town. There were businesses, antique and liquor stores, a barber shop, and a few bars but nothing that Joe felt would work for an overnight stay. Finally, they began to pass the local hardware store when Joe spotted a suitable house down a side street about a block. It was a blueish grey peak-roofed house with a white picket fence and an overgrown arbor out front.
Entering the house was easy enough but was odd to Joe as he felt like a trespasser. Inside was a quaint, well-kept home. Family photos and nick-nacks here and there. The family had put up a Christmas tree that was adorned with a combination of store-bought ornaments and handmade children’s decorations. The tree had long since dried out and its pine needles littered the floor. A large flat screen television was placed next to the fireplace. There was enough firewood for a single night and so the party shed their armor for more comfortable clothing and settled in.
The conversation that night was mostly Joe explaining to the dwarves what things were and how they used to operate. The dwarves sensing Joe’s trepidation at invading someone’s home were courteous but curious and explored the house with Rory coming back many times with various items for Joe to explain. He tried with only a slight degree of success to explain the Christmas holiday and the meaning of the various decorations around the house. Later the conversation turned to Joes plans.
“If we continue to follow the main road, eventually it will take us to Santa Cruz, where I hope to find my sister. If you’re right, she should be dropped back into her house when the tutorial is over. The road loosely follows the river so we should always have that on our left assuming that the entire road is still intact. If there has been more land stitched in between here and Santa Cruz, then we may have to get creative to find our way. Heading West is still the best bet and if everything is intact, its only about fifteen miles to the city.” Joe scraped the last of his stew from his bowl, ate it and followed it with a large gulp of Rory’s beer. “I know a lot of what you’ve seen here is new to you, but this is a small village compared to the larger towns as you’ll see when we get there. It will be a bit of a culture shock I’m sure, especially when you meet more humans.”
Kier set down his mug, “Your buildings and such are different from ours to be sure, but you’ve nae seen our cities. When the immigration option is open to you, it’d be a right hoot ta show you our home.”
“I’d love to.” Joe answered while looking at Iona. She smiled and he looked away with his own smile making him self-aware.
Deep in the night Rory was crashed out on the LazyBoy recliner, snoring loudly, Iona had taken the couch, and Kier had pulled a few pillows from one of the bedrooms and was laid out next to Rory. Joe sat with his back leaning on the couch, facing the fire with Bixby curled up next to him. He had laid his cloak over Bixby and had part of it draped over his one shoulder as he stared at the flames. He was lost deep in thought about all that he had endured and all that he had yet to face before him when he felt Bixby shift and one of his eyes opened.
Joe whispered, “I know I shouldn’t dwell on what I can’t control. I’m just worried about Holly and Matty.” Bixby licked Joe’s hand and gave a soft woof. Joe smiled, “Thanks buddy. I’m glad I have you too.” Eventually, Joe drifted off feeling as content as he felt he could, given the circumstances.
Joe woke to find Iona tending the fire and setting up breakfast. Rory and Kier were just stirring, and Bixby was sitting looking at Iona expectantly. Joe smiled thinking, Maybe today will be a good day.