The Wagon arrived at the first town on the long trek. It was a nameless place somewhere in the northern territories. Twin peaks cast a long shadow over the town, and the people had a grimy look to them. As they were in town, Jackson’s role changed. He’d simply be a body guard for Gypsy. Barbara seemed slightly upset by this, and tried to follow him, but he wanted someone protecting the others. Currently Jackson was being used to carry several heavy bags for the young beauty.
“Why are you using only one arm? Wouldn’t it be easy to divide it between them?”
“Um… I prefer this.”
“Whatever.”
Jackson didn’t like people knowing he was missing an arm, and a leg, as they might think him weak, and Gypsy might request for another to be her guard making it more difficult for him and Barbara to reach the border town. He took extra effort to hide his left side with his cape whenever he helped her.
“So, how you and the girl meet?”
“You mean Barbara?”
“Yes sweetie, what other girl do you travel with?”
“Right. We met on a battlefield.”
“War buddies huh…”
“No, we weren’t on the same side. I still have the scars from our fight…”
“Wait, you fought each other? Then what?”
“I don’t remember much of what happened next… One minute we’re hacking each other apart, next I’m in some blacksmith’s house with her sleeping next to me. I can’t even ask her why.”
“Mute? That’s must be hard on you?”
“Not really. I just miss talking with someone…”
Gypsy laughed and gave him a smile. Jackson couldn’t help but think how pretty she was. There was something so mature about her that he found attractive. Jackson was never popular with the girls in his old world, and never really tried. Part of him wondered if he had a shot in this world, but he also remembered what her job was. She probably got offers from nobles all the time. Jackson pushed all those thoughts from his mind and kept carrying all her shopping.
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Time passed, and the pair returned to the wagon. Barbara seemed frustrated and refused to look at Jackson as they returned to their watch post. Gypsy laughed at them. She couldn’t help but think they were an odd pair. She been trying to get information about them and learned a lot from Jackson, but she couldn’t shake the feeling he was hiding deeper secrets. She then started to help her girls prepare for the show that night. In order to replenish their money, a show would need to be held in each town. Of course, Gypsy wouldn’t be in the show as she needed to stand guard and make sure no one got to close. She thought about inviting the adventures to help her, but seeing how Jackson was taken back by her, Gypsy couldn’t rely on him to stay focus on the crowd. The girl might be useful, but what if someone thought she was part of the show and things got messy. She had fought on the battlefield after all, there was no telling what she’d seen or done. And as a mute, she would have to rely on actions over words. It was too dangerous, so she would do it on her own.
The tent was erected, and the girls started to get in to costume. Jackson and Barbara came over to Gypsy, looking confused. She explained what was going on, and they nodded their heads. Jackson seemed to understand, but the girl seemed clueless. Jackson offered his services, as security, but Gypsy made excuses of why that was not necessary. He didn’t seem happy, nor fooled, by them but none the less returned to the bird’s nest.
“Who does he think he is? One of the heroes? We don’t need help for every little thing.”
As Gypsy pouted, Jackson took out the second book for old magic and began to read. It was the book without any binding save a metal ring. Several pages were scribbled on, and corrections seemed to have been made with poor penmanship. It seemed like a rough draft for whatever the book was supposed to be. Even without the corrections and notes, the book was much harder to read. From what he could read, it talked about the power of items.
The book said that every item had a connection to an element and could have many traits inside it. Everything from a rock to a blade had a different power within, and with this magic one could call upon it. But, like the other form of old magic, it wasn’t that simple. He’d have to know how to tell what item was connected to which element and how to cast a spell with what was available to them. It gave several examples of elements and items such as a sword being earth, fire and wind while a tree was earth, wood and water. Blood seemed to be a little of all elements and had a warning sign placed next to it. After reading that, Jackson found himself looking over at Barbara and remembering her condition. He wondered if the Berserker side of her was connected to the old magic. There was no exercise, so Jackson kept studying into the night.