Chapter 12) Happy Trails. Or, "Warn me you can do that."

York's head snapped up with a started "Epp" sound as she turned around and tried to simultaneously bring the tip of her spear between her and the four foot tall madly cackling goblin running after her and to back up to get enough room for her to pull that move off.

I slapped the tip of her spear up above the goblin’s head with one hand and ducked down to get in close to her, thrusting out with the blunt tip of the wooden tree branch that was the goblin's starting weapon point first into her stomach.

Between taking a hard hit in the stomach, and stepping backwards into the slippery remains of the slime, she went over backwards with a grunt. More shocked and out of breath than hurt.

[ Club added to equipment list ]

Huh? I paused in my skipping, dancing, and taunting gestures as I circled around the trainee Fighter who had now done a face plant while trying to get to her feet as her hand shot out from underneath her in the slime. She glared up at the goblin who I had turned around to wiggle its rear at her while making raspberry sounds with its lips.

I can unlock equipment? Well, I guess I can if I’m in a body.

Then I was running across the room before turning to face an angry young woman who threw a spear… off about ten feet to my right in a slow tumble.

I tried to explain that wasn’t something I could help her with, I had never gotten the hang of throwing a javelin myself, my hand always knocked it off the course, but I was surprised at how shrill my voice was.

“Good luck with throwing the spear darling, but you ain’t got the elbow for it, and you’re supposed to be trying the sword right now.”

She froze as she patted at her belt trying to find the handle, wihtout looking, to pull her sword out.

“Tex?”

I nodded at her and began to toss the wooden club back and forth between my hands, “In the flesh. I figured you needed to fight something smart enough to fight back if you really want to be prepared.”

York stared at me for a moment, then finally got a hold of the hilt and drew her sword. “Is… did you… Are you really that or the glowing ball?”

I began to stretch. “The ball is me. I can go in and control the critters that I can make. But they got to die for me to get out.” I pointed at her with the club. “So let’s get to it.”

She held her sword way out to the side as she began to slowly approach me. So I threw the club at her and ran over to grab her spear as she shouted. "Hey! Wait…"

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Turning around I swiped at her with the tip of the spear, then held it up sideways to try to stop her blade.

Then she shouted out, “Power Strike!” and every muscle in her body swelled up as she swung her sword at the shaft of the spear hard enough into the goblin hard enough to knock it back off of its feet, while also catching it in the head with the tip of the blade.

Right into the bone.

Almost immediately thick dark blood began to run down the goblin's face and blinded me in one eye.

I didn’t feel anything. Other than the sense of pressure and the feel of something solid in the head being pulled out as I kicked her in the stomach and sent her stumbling backwards off balance with a horrified look on her face.

Did she even need to do that shout thing? She had added three points of muscle already, and she had a good foot of height on the goblin.

As I stood there trying to figure out how badly the goblin was hurt, York was giving me a concerned look as she rubbed at her already sore stomach. “Oof. Are you okay?”

I shook my head as I fought off the boneless feeling of weakness I was getting as I tried to poke at her with the spear. “You can’t hold back, in a life or death fight, the other guy won’t. Fight.”

She gritted her teeth, swept the tip of the spear aside, and thrust her sword into the body.

As she pulled her blade free and the goblin's body tumbled forward I remained behind floating in the air. “Hey good – Whoa!”

I floated back out of her reach she began swigging at me and started cussing me out. I got the impression she was a mite upset with me.

What the heck? She won.

After she cooked up and ate the rabbit, with some salt from the equipment room sprinkled on top, she said she had unlocked the Basic Cooking skill. That’s when she finally forgave me. “I get it. I needed a real fight, but warn me next time.”

After that, she wanted to try the mace, and the club, for which she asked for the skeleton.

And for me to get inside it.

Dead men’s bones are cold, and they see in black and white. Also, they are pretty light, even if York didn’t get a solid hit on me, she could push the skeletons around just by pressing the end of the mace into them and pushing.

She made me let her wreck three of them before the look of satisfaction on her face faded away. She also unlocked the mace, club, and staff as well by not using the head of the spear, just the shaft.

Afterwards, she joked that "The best part is you not saying anything for all of it. I guess they can’t speak?”

I sighed and began cleaning up some of the mess by making the bones disappear. "No, but… They don't seem to have to breathe either. I guess I got a way of checking out those other dungeons."

Which I then had to explain to York. Which made her look a little disappointed. “I guess I can’t get over there and try to learn other skills then.”

I bobbed up and down. “Not without air.”

Before she left, we brainstormed and she unlocked Dancing, with what she called some moves from the club. Woodcarving, by putting a point on one of the goblin's clubs with a knife. Calligraphy, by writing in the notebook with the quill pen. And finally, something called Perception as she realized why she had begun to struggle to breathe.

“Something is wrong with the air.”

Shoot. “Panel. My trainee is having trouble breathing, what’s going on.”

A panel popped up in response for once “To discourage Trainees from lingering in the Tutorial Dungeons, air quality is diminished one step once every five hours.”

"Looks like they want to rush you out of here. It's this hard to breathe now, and it's going to get worse in another five hours. I guess it's time for you to hit the trail."

She slowly nodded. “Yeah, but if I got some time to work with, I’m going to exploit the loads of free stuff advantage you gave me for all I can.”

When she was ready to go through to the Planes of Slaughter. It was with a light load in her pack, a large basket with her spear through the handles to hold it up by, and a cloak gathered up into a makeshift bag in her other hand.

She turned to give me a last look before she hit the gate. “Thank you for all your help Tex, and I’m going to keep using the name York if by chance you ever get to go through this gate yourself one day. Elaine York.”

"I'll look forward to it. Goodbye Elaine. And I wish you the best of luck.”

With a final nod, she turned and stepped into the gate, seeming to freeze in place and shrink rather than move off into the distance.

Then I was alone again.