We returned to the Dragon's Nest after turning in the quest at the adventurer's guild. We walked in and Patsy was there to greet us as always. This time she seemed a little shocked to see us when we entered.
"Patsy, don't you ever take time off?"
"And do what exactly? I've got too many things going on to take time off. I'm glad to see ye back, though I'll admit I wasn't expectin' ye so soon. Harlow here told me to be expecting ye, but I didn't believe him at first. Yer room still be available. Though I see ye have added one more. Guess I'll need to change it up for ye."
"You don't happen to have a room for three do you?"
"I only have a room for four. It'll have to do. I'll keep yer rate the same though don't ye worry," she said winking at us.
Harlow was sitting at the bar having a drink.
"I told her what happened to you, what you all are up against, and that you finished your first quest."
"Well, that takes all the small talk away from us now doesn't it? Guess we'll just have to sit here in awkward silence," I said jokingly to Commander Harlow.
"You can come over and tell us all about the adventure still. Some of us would love to live vicariously through your group."
We went over and sat at the bar with Harlow and ordered a couple of drinks. We told him about the dungeon, fighting bats, fighting the batmen, and finding Vokin, but conveniently left out anything to do with Aeolith. Vokin and Tristan knew better than to say anything either. Al'Doran had made sure he put at least a little fear in each of them, even if they had been almost too awe-inspired to do anything. When it came to the vampire, we had to make up a story about how we killed it through an epic battle. Everyone seemed to enjoy hearing the story and no one seemed suspicious it wasn't true. After all, the most believable lies had at least a grain of truth to them.
After telling the tale to Harlow, I decided to broach the subject of finding a healer. Who better to ask about the local adventuring parties than the commander of the guard?
"Commander Harlow, would you happen to know anyone who you could recommend as a good healer to help round out our party? Since Vokin here has decided to join Tristan and me, we would really like to round out the party with someone other than myself who could help keep us alive."
"Let me think. A healer. Most of the healers I know are part of a party already. There is one person though. He's a little hard for most people to get along with because of his...eccentricities."
"Who is it? Can you vouch they are fully committed to being a healer?"
"Oh yes, that is all they want to do. He goes by the name of Rutherford. He lives outside the city. Comes into town only once in a while to get what he needs. I'll see if I can set up a meeting for you with him."
"We would greatly appreciate any help you can offer."
"I can't promise that Rutherford will be willing to join you. He has turned many people down in the past who wanted to recruit him."
That is OK. We will take the chance to talk with him. We are thankful that you can even do that."
"No problem. I'm happy to help out. You guys seem like good people. And I'm still sorry about what has been happening with Gregory."
"That isn't your fault."
"I know, but he is still a stain our town has to wear."
After talking with Harlow, we excused ourselves to our room. I, for one, was completely exhausted. I needed the sleep but also needed to check on my stats. I leveled twice now since entering the dungeon. This was going well and likely would not be so easy if it hadn't been for the quest. So I needed to decide where to spend ten attribute points and I could get one more skill now with that one remaining skill point.
First I would bring Dexterity up to the threshold at twenty-five to see the difference as I had with everything else. Then I figured, since I've been using a lot more magic, I should put some focus there by putting two points into Intelligence. If I was going to be using mana I should also get more back, so two points into Wisdom as well. Then I decided the best place for the last point would be Constitution so I could have as much HP as possible. Then, looking at my skills, I decided to hold off on buying a skill until Aeolith and I were back together. Looking over my stats I was pleased with how it was coming along.
Name: Callan Ryder
Race: Human
Class: Dragon Rider
Level: 14
HP: 270/270 *(+20 Necklace)
MP: 290/290 *(+20 Ring)
SP: 250/250
Total XP: 126,600
XP to Next Level: 15,400
Attributes:
Unused Attribute Points: 0
Strength: 23 *(+7 Items & Skills)
Constitution: 25 *(+2 Skills)
Dexterity: 25 *(+2 Skills)
Endurance: 25 *(+2 Skills)
Intelligence: 27 *(+7 Items & Skills)
Wisdom: 27 *(+2 Skills)
Charisma: 12 *(+2 Skills)
Luck: 13 *(+2 Skills)
Unused Skill Points: 5
Non-Combat Skills:
Combat Skills:
Inspect: Beginner 1
Unarmed Combat: Beginner 2
Dragon Spirit: 1/5
Spears: Beginner 2
Dragon Scales: 1/4
Short Blades: Beginner 2
Dragon Armor: 1/5
Swords: Beginner 5
Stealth: Beginner 2
Dragon Slash: 1/5
Dragon Breath: Beginner 4
Dragon Shield: Beginner 2
Thrown Weapons: Beginner 1
I really wish I had found a place to use my throwing axes while we were in the dungeon. Hopefully, now that I have Vokin I should be able to use them more often. I really wanted to practice with those. Thinking about my weapons, I also remembered to check on my sword for the first time in a while. I had almost forgotten about its special abilities. When I looked at it my mouth fell open in shock.
Item:
Longsword of Knight's Resolve
Item Type: Magical Weapon
Durability: 700/700
Attack: 32-45 damage
Item Quality: Excellent
Item Rarity: Epic
Slots: 2
Enchantment: Once the Longsword of Knight's Resolve has been attuned to the wielder, it will gain XP for the kills its bearer exacts and will grow with the wielder.
Attuned: Yes
Weapon Level: 13
Weapon XP: 116,600
XP to next level: 3400
Skill: Increased Flame: For 5 seconds the user can double the flames on the blade giving an additional 10-15 fire damage.
Not only had the weapon leveled up way more than I had expected, but it had also gained a skill that I could activate. There were getting to be almost too many options for battle, but the more options I had the more situations I could get out of I guess. But for now, I would just keep attempting to expand my repertoire to be as useful as I could be. Sitting in the room looking through character pages that I really hadn't had much time to look at, I also found my spells page and pulled it up to see where everything was as well.
Spells:
FireBall
Casting Fireball causes a large sphere of fire to be created at the end of your hand and then projected towards your enemies. It detonates on impact spreading the fire to those around it.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
Casting Time: 6 seconds
Mana Cost: 50
Cooldown: 5 minutes
Damage: 55-90 Fire Damage
Spell School: Fire
Spell Range: 120 feet
Spell Level: 2
Spell Rank: Beginner
Bark Armor
Casting Bark Armor on a person will cause their skin to become rough and thickened. It adds +10 armor to their natural armor rating.
Casting Time: 1 second
Mana Cost: 25
Cooldown: 1 hour
Spell School: Earth
Spell Range: 30 feet
Spell Level: 1
Spell Rank: Beginner
Grasping Vines
Casting Grasping Vines causes a set of roots to shoot out of the ground in a twenty-foot diameter circle around enemies binding them in place for 20 seconds.
Casting Time: 3 seconds
Mana Cost: 40
Cooldown: 30 minutes
Spell School: Earth
Spell Range: 60 feet
Spell Level: 1
Spell Rank: Beginner
Grease
Casting Grease will cause a puddle of grease to appear that is 20 feet in diameter at the location of your choice within range. Grease is very slippery causing most to lose their balance while in the circle.
Casting Time: 1 second
Mana Cost: 20
Cooldown: N10 minutes
Spell School: Earth
Spell Range: 60 feet
Spell Level: 1
Spell Rank: Beginner
Wind Blast
Casting Wind Blast sends out a powerful torrent of air that spirals into a miniature tornado catching all around it in its swirl.
Casting Time: 3 seconds
Mana Cost: 50
Cooldown: 10 minutes
Damage: 3-5 Wind Damage per second
Duration: 30 seconds
Spell School: Air
Spell Range: 60 feet
Spell Level: 2
Spell Rank: Beginner
Shocking Bolt
Casting Shocking Bolt emits a small bolt of lightning toward a target dealing 21-29 damage. The amount of damage will increase with the level of this spell.
Casting Time: 1 second
Mana Cost: 20
Cooldown: N/A
Damage: 21-29 Lightning Damage
Spell School: Air
Spell Range: 60 feet
Spell Level: 3
Spell Rank: Beginner
Minor Healing
Casting minor healing on a target allows you to heal them for 25 HP. This amount will increase as you level the spell.
Casting Time: 1 second
Mana Cost: 20
Cooldown: N/A
Spell School: Life
Spell Range: 60 feet
Spell Level: 4
Spell Rank: Beginner
I did enjoy using magic. It was such a cool feeling. The power surging up through you and then getting released in the form of a spell was like nothing I had ever experienced before. I had also noticed that not a lot of people I had fought so far seemed to be magic users. I wondered if that was because of the expense that spell books cost, or if it was more related to the ability to use magic. Tristan could use magic, but the magic was given to him during a particularly traumatic event, and then I bought the other spell books. Clearly, this Rutherford character could use some kind of magic to heal, and so should others who are in parties, but we hadn't fought any parties. In fact, we had almost exclusively fought monsters who didn't seem to have much in the way of magic, so magic was particularly effective against them. I should look at getting a few more spells to round out some of our needs. But for now, I was so tired. It was time to sleep for now and in the morning we needed to look up that healer Harlow told us about. Hopefully, we could find them fairly easily.
----------------------------------------
The next day we woke later than normal. Apparently, the dungeon had taken more out of us than we thought. It was well past sunrise when I finally got out of bed. I got my things together and roused the others. Vokin was still snoring like a freight train, and I kicked him to get moving.
"I not be ready to get up yet," Vokin said trying to roll back over.
"Doesn't matter. You roll with a Dragonrider now, and I'm ready to go. We need to get moving or we won't get breakfast. And you do not want to miss Patsy's breakfasts. Best meal of the day."
Tristan had gotten up without an issue, but Vokin seemed to have already been snoring before I finished my speech. I looked at him frustration rising and let a shocking bolt go into his bed. He shrieked and jumped out of bed grabbing his butt where the bolt appeared to have hit him.
"Ye canna let me sleep and then feel the need to shock me arse as well?!"
"Just trying to get my point across. We have to find that healer today. Every moment I waste is another the shadows could be gathering. We need to be ready."
"Aye, ye have a point there. But please try for a less painful wake-up call next time." He grumbled, rubbing his backside.
Once we were all ready we went down to grab a bite to eat before heading out.
Patsy had a great meal prepared of eggs, some kind of ham steak, beans, and tea. Apparently, this world didn't have coffee. I liked coffee, but fortunately wasn't one of those junkies who needed it to get going in the morning. The tea went really well with the breakfast, especially with some honey, which reminded me of a traditional English breakfast.
"Commander Harlow sent word for ye this morning."
"He did? Did he say what it was about?"
"He did. He said it was about that healer ye be looking for. He said to go meet him down by the front gate as soon as ye were able."
"Thank you, Patsy. You are too good to us."
"Awe ain't nothin' boys. Now finish yer breakfast and get yerselves down to the gate. It's not polite to keep the Commander waiting."
We finished eating and I left another gold for Patsy as thanks for all her help and hospitality. Once again she tried to object, but I still insisted, and she pocketed the coin.
Once out on the street, we made our way to the front gate. Gregory did not make an appearance this time, which I was grateful for, but was certain he or one of his cronies was watching us. I just felt there would come a time when that situation would break out and spill over and it was going to be messy when it did. I waved to Commander Harlow when we got within sight.
"Hello, Commander. How are you today?"
"Ah, finally, you have made it. I was beginning to wonder if you three would sleep the day away."
"Sorry about that. Seems the dungeon may have taken more out of us than I had thought."
"I can't blame you for that. Dungeons are not for the faint of heart. But as I promised I have arranged a meeting with Rutherford. Shall we?"
"Shall we what?"
"Go visit him. He isn't due to come to town for another month or so, which means we go to visit him."
"Oh, alright then. Lead the way."
We left the town via the front gate and turned east, the opposite way of the forest we met Al'Doran in normally. There wasn't a path that took us that way so we marched over the fields eastward. The going wasn't too bad though, with the plains being mostly flat. We walked for a couple of hours talking about various things such as the state of the town, happenings going on in towns around Jewelston, and what we had been doing on our adventures. Which was more about me and Tristan than Vokin who had just joined us, but Vokin filled us in on his time in the dungeon as well.
Apparently, Jewelston wasn't the only town that was starting to see unrest within them. many other cities reported similar issues as the one happening with Gregory. Most of the guards were on edge in all the cities. No one could tell why it was happening either. There were no new taxes being levied, a new monarch hadn't been crowned, there wasn't a large number of monsters encroaching that no one was able to take care of, and there were no new laws that were being enforced that anyone should think were unfair. It just didn't add up. Something to ponder and possibly look into.
After about two-and-a-half hours of walking, we arrived at a small hut at the edge of a forest.
"Now again, before you meet, you have to know that Rutherford is a bit...odd. He isn't like most people. He prefers to be alone. I'll introduce you, but then I need to get back to town. I can't be gone too long right now."
"We appreciate anything you can do for us, Commander."
With that, we walked up to the hut and Commander Harlow knocked on the door to the hut. What greeted us was not at all what I expected. A man came to the door wearing what looked like a grass skirt, and coconut shells as though he was a hula girl going to a luau, and a headdress made from some kind of fronds that stood straight up in a half-moon shape. The icing on the cake though was the man was built like a professional football lineman. He was huge. Easily six-and-a-half feet tall, with broad shoulders, and he had to weigh at least three hundred pounds, all of which was not flab or beer gut, it was pure muscle. If he hadn't been wearing the hula outfit he would be terrifying.
"Yeeeeeees," The man said, drawing out the e sound far longer than he needed to.
"Rutherford, I'd like to introduce you to some people. They are an adventuring party looking for a healer. They really are good honest people, looking to make a difference in the world and I was hoping you might talk with them and hear what they have to say.
"Really? I've told you before Harlow, I'm not into the whole party thing, unless it's a birthday party, then I'd come for cake, but make sure I was in the bathroom for singing because there's always that one person who can't carry a tune in a bucket, then reappear but not really want to watch the presents being open because I get a bit jealous and then sometimes feel the need to go buy myself something, but I never really have the money to pay for the things that I want because I kind of have an expensive taste you know and when I do taste things it's only with part of my mouth because I was attacked by an electric eel when I was a child so only the tastebuds on the right side of my mouth work, and I'm not even right handed so what do you think that is all about?"
I was totally stunned. This man was basically a high school cheerleader in a man's body. If he had been chewing gum and twirling his hair around a finger the look would have been complete. But we needed a healer.
"I'll let you all get acquainted. Remember Rutherford, these are good people, hear them out."
"Very well. Hello adventurers."
Commander Harlow walked away and we waited just a bit longer to be sure he was out of earshot before we continued.
"Hey, Rutherford. Commander Harlow recommended we come to see you in looking for a healer. My name is Callan, this is Tristan and Vokin. We are on a pretty special mission right now and would love to hear about your experience healing."
"Well, let's see, I'm a Cleric so I don't actually just heal, I can also do fighting and stuff, but I usually prefer to treat people because it makes me feel better to see other people getting better, and I've been getting better an making people better since I leveled up my healing spells to the apprentice level and now I can learn new things about healing and..."
"Hold on one second lad, did ye say ye got yer healing up to the apprentice level?"
"Yup, It was hard, but I've healed a lot of people."
"Callan, apprentice level is at least level forty in healing magic. That is a BIG deal," Vokin said, emphasizing the word big.
"That seems like something we would want then," I said.
"Ye'd be a fool not to try to convince him."
"Alright then, Rutherford. What do you know of the Dragonriders?"
"Oh they were around a long time ago and fought off the Shadow Beasts, but they all died a long time ago and there isn't much we can do about it, but they were totally a big deal and if they were to come back we could like bring the world back together and create peace and harmony. But they're dead."
"That is true. They are dead. But I happen to be a Dragonrider who was reincarnated to this world, and since all the others are dead, I need to form a team."
Rutherford stared at me for a moment, appraising me. Looking me up one side and down the other.
"No, you're not," he said, then turned to go back to his hut.
"I can prove it."
He stopped with the door halfway closed. He slowly opened it back up and came back out.
"Oh, really? Let's see it."
I let loose a dragon breath fire attack up in the air and spewed fire at the sky.
"I've seen circus acts that can do that. Got anything else?"
I thought for a minute.
"I don't suppose you'd be willing to travel with us to meet a dragon?"
"And have you kill me on the road to get there or kidnap me for my healing, what do you think I am crazy? RHETORICAL QUESTION!" He yelled the last part before even giving anyone a moment to answer.
Thinking hard I was having a difficult time coming up with anything that could prove I was a rider. Then it hit me. I had been stupid for not thinking of it earlier. It was how Al'Doran assured me he was one of us as well. Lifting my shirt I focused on letting the crest shine through my skin. The symbol of the Dragonrider began to glow. I opened my eyes and Rutherford was staring in awe at my chest and the symbol on it.
"You are one of the chosen," he said completely in awe.
He fell to one knee and couldn't stop staring. I put my shirt down and the light went out. He looked at my face and what looked like tears were starting to form in his eyes.
"Long have we waited for the return of the riders. You are the one who will bring them back to us?"
"I can't promise that. Right now I am the only one. But I do have a teacher. We are learning and will do what we can to help ensure the world doesn't fall. But since I am alone I need to form a team to help keep myself and my dragon safe until we can learn everything we need to. We have to grow stronger and the only way to do that is to fight. Will you help me?"
He stayed kneeling and just stared at me. The first of the tears fell from his eye as he gave his reply.
"Yes. I will join you. I will do what you ask of me. To think, that I would be chosen to join with a Dragonrider."
"You have to do two things for me though."
"Anything! Name it!"
"You have to swear to hold my secret and that of my dragon even up to the pain of death until the time is right to reveal ourselves."
" I swear it. What is the second thing?"
"We have to get you some other clothes."