The path turned from dirt to gravel as the duo walked into the direction of the village. The sun was just starting to set, it’s rays a nice break from all of the green of the forest.
Aaron’s knee’s buckled, the pain and weariness from before setting in again. Shit, out of overhealth I guess, Goal 1, get a steady diet to recover from malnourishment. Scrap that, that’s gonna be goal 2, first I need a steady supply of potions to prevent me from keeling over and dying.
“Ya good there boyo?” The old hunter asked with a concerned look.
“I’ve run out of overhe-” Aaron started.
“No offence but your Condition Modifiers must be fucking with your body in ways I couldn’t even understand.” Stanislaw interrupted with a grave expression. “This is common knowledge so I don’t mind sharing this with you. Overhealth makes people able to fight nearer their peak if they have negative condition modifiers.”
They kept walking, but a question kept itching at the back of Aaron’s mind.
“Old man, why are you doing this?”
A period of silence followed.
“I had a son once…” Stanislaw said in a sombre tone.
Aaron winced. Shit, stupid mouth.
Yet the sadness didn’t last as the hunter smiled in his direction. “Guess I have some kind of will to fulfil, he would be about your age right about now.”
The remainder of their journey passed in silence. Aaron only occasionally wandering to the side of the path when he saw any Bloomflowers, slowly filling his makeshift pack.
--
Fields of grain gave away the fact that they were nearing the village. People were working, tending to their plots of land. As they walked they were mostly ignored, only a few curious glances were sent their way.
Aaron’s pack was filled to the brim, his Bloomflower total racked up to 57. Wow these flowers really are common. I hope this will be enough to buy me some food and potions so I don’t die.
It was already getting dark as they made their way over to the village’s square. All of the village’s shops and better houses were here. The Soltys’s house was here too alongside some sort of government building. The Soltys was the leader of the village, something like a minor lord.
“That big building” Stanislaw said while pointing at the government-style building. “is the Adventurers Guild. There is a sign up fee, but once you do sign up you’ll have access to their shop, tavern and quest board. Me, I’ve been a member for over 30 Suncrest’s, and it’s been one of the, if not the best investment in my entire life.”
He winked at Aaron. “The Ale is to die for, and every girl loves an adventurer.”
Oh, that kind of investment. No shame, no shame, this man is willing to help you, don’t judge. On second thought he is… a man of culture.
Stanislaw led him towards the Guildhall and stopped at the entrance, after seeing Aaron’s hesitant gaze. “As a member I’m allowed to vouch for you, giving you access to the facilities, tomorrow morning you will have to sign yourself up though, I’ll lend you some money but I won’t fund you further, having a crutch in the form of my monetary help won’t be good for your progress.”
The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.
Well there goes my plan of having a sugar daddy… ew, nope, I have dignity.
As they made their way in they walked past what looked like the front of a bank. The main room was large with a huge notice board on the right hand side, on it there were all sizes of paper slips. These must be the quests. The room was basically cut in half by a low wooden wall with glass reaching up to the ceiling. It was split into six booths, each with a chair and desk on the other side, there was also a semicircular hole in the glass right in front of the desks. This must be the way that the Guild people can interact with Adventurers and other people.
Stanislaw noticed the way Aaron was looking at the booths. “This is were you’ll apply to be an Adventurer tomorrow morning, but enough dallying, it’s time we get to the best part of this place.” He opened a set of double doors and the smell of alcohol and pork roast washed over Aaron. “The Guild Tavern.”
--
“I… am… stuffed… BURP” Aaron belched loudly, he had just had his fill of pork roast, roasted potatoes and roasted vegetables. Truly he had believed that even the Guild Ale would be roasted, yet he had been gladly proven wrong.
Wow this stuff really is good. He mused as he took another sip, it’s fruity flavour and sweet taste a wonder to his taste buds, it was cold and extremely refreshing, perfect for washing down salty, roasted food. Stanislaw wasn’t kidding when he said it was to die for, all of the patrons here must have at least a lower alcohol addiction with how good this stuff is. The flagon he had just finished had fully satiated his alcoholism, it had been like the nectar of the gods in comparison to the cheapest, shit beer that he had usually drunk.
He could also feel that the alcohol content was on the lower end. This’ll really help in reducing my reliance on alcoholic beverages but I do see why anyone could get addicted to this.
Of course, as promised, Stanislaw had paid for both his meal, ale and a bunk to sleep in the Guild’s barrack area, it seemed to be something akin to a hostel. All of this came to the price one medium sized copper coin, not counting in Stanislaw’s own expenses. It was two copper bits for the bunk, five for the meal and three for the Guild Ale. This all added up to one copper gros. Ten bits made a gros and a hundred gros making a copper crown.
Stanislaw told Aaron what came later, a hundred copper crowns made a silver crown, the same went with silver to gold and then gold to platyn. Platyn, as explained by Stanislaw, was a mythic metal of legends, known to greatly enhance magic or defend against it completely. Wow that seems… way overpowered.
Aaron bade his farewells to Stanislaw, he said that he was going out to hunt again after cashing in his game before dawn the next day. He wouldn’t be seeing him for a while.
--
Steph, his youner sister was lying in the hospital bed, earlier that day the doctors had pronounced her dead to the world. It was now up to Aaron to pull the plug and end it all for her. They had told him that she wasn’t in any pain any more.
She had gone to sleep.
Never to wake up again.
He was holding he small hand, her skin smooth yet ice-cold to the touch.
It was just him and her in the small room. After bouts of screams and yelling about life’s unfairness he had pulled up a chair just to be beside her.
Aaron was weeping into her hand when something completely impossible happened.
He stopped, dumbfounded.
He felt a grip, very light, yet it was there.
He was sure of it.
Yet he only cried harder, he knew that there was no way to save her.
Life in it’s unfairness had taken everything from him.
First his parents.
Then right after.
Her.
Steph.
She had been the only light in his life after they died in that car crash.
Aaron had earned a hefty sum after they had caught their killer, yet it wasn’t enough.
Like patching patching a crack in a dam that had been split in half after being ravaged by an earthquake.
But it would have been enough to send the last spark in his life to college.
Life struck.
Holding nothing back.
Due to a tumour near her brain she had been put into a coma.
Aaron had used over half of his acclaimed funds to get her any help possible.
Yet any diagnosis came back as pointless.
And so he sat there.
Cursing the heavens.
The dam had shattered.
A solitary tear crept down Steph’s face as he left the room, he told the doctors to pull the plug.
He couldn’t do it himself.
He didn’t have the courage
--