It was afternoon before Darren finally finished cleaning himself up and changing after they had arrived at the cottage. Floretta had been kind enough to make some lunch before she left to head to the Inn. There had been no further sign of the wyvern since it had left the town, and SJ sat in the lounge as Darren walked down the hall from the backroom, where he had changed.
He was wearing a dark leather suit of armour with metal shoulder plates. He had cut away the scorched parts of his hair with a knife, and his unkempt looks were cleared to show a young, clean-shaven appearance. SJ could see the slight point to his ears poking from between his hair. Across his body was a bandolier-style leather strap, and on his back, he wore a large quiver of arrows and carried his short bow in his hand at his side. He was much younger-looking than SJ had thought and had a slightly Asian look. His skin tone was similar to Nexis’s, with an olive appearance, and now that he was cleaned up, he looked quite attractive.
“Floretta made some lunch,” SJ said, smiling at him as he entered the lounge and sat at the small dining room table.
Darren had been taken aback when he had first arrived at the cottage to find a skeleton residing inside. He stated that he had previously had some poor experiences with the undead. It had taken a while for him to begin to relax, watching every movement that Floretta had made. The table was laid with Floretta’s usual amazing spread; she always presented the most amazing-looking food, and SJ saw Darren swallow seeing the food.
Placing his bow on the table, he sat down before taking a plate and beginning to fill it with food.
“Thanks. I haven’t eaten since yesterday morning,” he said, popping a small ripe tomato into his mouth. As he bit into it, his eyes widened in surprise. “Damn, these taste so good.”
“Floretta makes everything taste amazing. She is a master cook.”
“What is a master cook doing in a starter town area?”
“She has been here a long time. She is an integral part of the Inn and one of the reasons it has such a good reputation.”
“I need to ask you. What level are you?”
“I am level 11,” SJ replied.
“I must admit, seeing how you are dressed, I didn’t think you were a Legionnaire at first,” he replied, looking at her dress.
“This dress was a gift and is quite special,” she replied, not going to go into any detail. Dave warned her to be careful about what information she gave Darren.
“You know I am a ranger. What class are you?” he asked, biting into a chunk of bread smothered in butter.
SJ could feel her face heat up slightly at the question, knowing it would come at some point.
“I am an assassin.”
The mouthful of food he was eating at that moment nearly came back out as he forced himself to chew and swallow it, coughing before he could respond. “You are an assassin?” he stared in amazement. “I thought you were a druid or a mage.”
“I think many others think I am one also,” she replied, smiling again.
“What made you choose to be an assassin?” he asked, surprise etched on his face.
“It may sound strange, but I wanted to help people fight for good against evil. I had always liked the class from games back on earth, and the skills seemed to align loosely with my previous life.”
“What were you a hitman or something?!” he exclaimed.
SJ blushed as she replied. “A forensic accountant.”
Darren guffawed at her comment, laughing hysterically. “How did you think an assassin would align with a forensic accountant?”
“Ok. Maybe it wasn’t the most direct relationship, but it has done me well so far,” SJ huffed. “And what were you?”
“I was trying to make it in the music industry.”
“That sounds interesting.”
“It may have been until I died while attending an audition.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah. They had been advertising for the next boy band, and I had made it through the preliminaries for this new group they were putting together to fill the void between the K-pop and UK music scene. I was more of a dancer than a singer. That was until one of the stage lights fell on me.”
“At least you weren’t squished by a tree.” His previous career intrigued SJ. “You could have been the next big act then.”
“I will never know, unfortunately,” Darren replied, shrugging.
“How long have you been on Amathera?”
“Sixteen months now.”
“Wow. I have not been here three yet or anywhere outside of the town.”
“You are lucky, then. You seem to have people here who you trust and speak to. I had to leave my starter village to continue levelling, and it was not a great journey. Things only recently started to get better when I arrived in Asterfal.”
“Why?”
“Legionnaires are seen as a nuisance by many normal Amathereans outside the starter areas. Many are not held in high regard.”
“Dave has told me that before. It still seems strange that some shun us.”
“I think it relates to jealousy. Amathereans can’t level as easily as we can or have the same chance to experience what we do.”
“In what way? They can still level.”
“Yes, but they can’t go into a dungeon and die multiple times as we can.”
SJ was excited about the chance to enter a dungeon. “Have you been in one?”
“No, not yet. I wanted to reach a higher level before I did, but I needed to level my Alchemy skill first.”
“For what reason?”
“Healing potions are very expensive, normally, and my constitution isn’t as high as I would like it to be, which I am sure your AI has told you.”
“No. He hasn’t told me your stats. He can only tell me your level. He can’t give me details of your attributes.”
“Oh. I assume that you do have the identification skill?”
“I do. It is part of my class.”
“Yeah. There are a few classes that have the option to choose it. Unfortunately, it is not available to rangers. Mainly the magic-user classes. It would have been nice to have.”
SJ had never considered which other classes would have the option to learn identification. “I couldn’t see your stats if I did identify you anyway. It doesn’t give me those details.”
“I assumed it would do. I suppose it must have some barriers.”
“I am not that high a level in it yet. I am unsure what it may advance to in the long term.”
“Anyway, you wanted to talk to me about staying in town?”
SJ had been enjoying their topic but didn’t want to push too far in asking questions. “Yes, I do. I would like you to remain and help protect the town.”
“Why would I remain in an area where I cannot level or advance?”
“Because in time, you will be able to.”
“In time? You just said you are level eleven, and it is going to take you at least twelve months if not longer, to reach level twenty. I know I have done the slog. Repetitive, boring quests, just to grind the experience needed.”
SJ had not had to repeat any quest to continue levelling and hadn’t considered the need to with so many different options available within the town, never mind the new quests she was offered. She had not actively sought quests apart from the very first one when she had gone crypt diving for Lythonian, everything else being offered as she had naturally progressed in the town through interactions. “I have enough quests to keep me busy without worrying about repeating things currently.”
“You haven’t had to do grind quests yet?” Darren asked, surprised.
“No. Not once. Every quest I have completed so far has been different.”
“There must be a lot of quest issuers in the town then.”
“I am not sure, although I assume I could have gotten more if I had sought them.”
“What? You didn’t even go looking for them?”
“No. Only my first. Since then, everything has been offered to me.”
“How?”
“I don’t know. It just has.”
“I am guessing you have at least a liked or popular reputation with the town then if that is the case.”
“I have revered status.”
Darren gasped. “Revered? How on earth did you achieve revered status?”
“That’s a longer story,” SJ replied, smiling.
“Do tell,” Darren said.
SJ reached for a piece of bread, bit into it, and chewed slowly before swallowing. Then, she began to tell Darren about her time in Killic since her arrival.
It was mid-afternoon when SJ finished relaying her history in Killic.
“You are a member of the town council?” Darren said in amazement. If his eyebrows could have risen any further, they probably would have fallen off his face.
“Yes. Newly appointed as the ambassador for Killic.”
“I can understand why you may want to stay here then. I have never been so lucky.”
Never considering it luck but more a chance of circumstances, SJ shrugged. “I am not sure I would say I was lucky. I have made some good friends since I have been here and trust many in the town. To you before, it is my home.”
Shaking his head in disbelief at SJ’s story, Darren could not comprehend what had occurred. “I can’t believe that you have had so much involvement across the town already. In my starting village, all I had available to me were my training quests and profession.”
“What profession are you?”
“My main profession is a tanner. What about you?”
“I am a tailor.”
“Explains the dress I suppose,” Darren replied. SJ wasn’t going to go into any details about her dress.
“Yes. It was a gift from my trainer. I may have some items that are of use to you.”
“What do you have?”
“I have some leather and a couple of other items that I am not sure you may use. I have no need for them but have never sold them.”
“If you let me see them, I can let you know.”
SJ stood and walked through the bedroom, collecting the items she had gathered since arriving in Amathera. Bringing them back through, she placed them on the table in the lounge.
“Umm. I can use the leather and the wolf pelt. The chitinous plates are more of an armourer’s thing. What are these other plates you have? I don’t recognise them.”
“Rock Gobbler plates.”
“Let me check my recipes.” Darren’s eyes seemed to blank out as he was obviously looking at his display. She had never witnessed anyone before doing it, and it was as though he had an almost vacant expression. After several moments, he turned back to her. “They can be used to create bracers and greaves. They are listed as a material that I can use, but I don’t have a recipe for them.”
SJ was pleased with the information. “Where can you get a recipe?”
“The only place is probably an auction house. It’s a rare recipe, so the closest place would be Asterfal.”
“Actually…” SJ said, pausing.
“What?”
“We are building an auction house here in Killic.”
“But you can’t use one?”
“There are locals above level 20 who can, and it seemed like a good opportunity to get one set up early.”
“I have no idea about auction houses apart from the ones in Asterfal, where I checked the prices of items.”
“I have a friend who may find out, but with this recent wyvern attack on the town, I am not sure if the build will be delayed or how long it will even take.”
“You are thinking of expansion, aren’t you.”
“Yes. This town has no choice but to grow with the changes, and I have no plans to leave here for now.” With all the details SJ had given Darren, she left out some key points she was unwilling to share, specifically about the Mithril mine. She was already aware of the secrecy issues surrounding outsiders finding out.
“Even with what you have said. I still can see no benefits for myself staying here.”
“I think you need to give it a chance to grow on you.”
“Without being able to quest and level, there is nothing I can do to gain a good reputation.”
“That’s not true,” Dave said. “Reputation gains do not require a quest completion. Take your raise because of saving Christy as an example of a boost that was not related.”
“Dave states that isn’t the case. You can gain a reputation without completing quests by acting on the town’s behalf.”
“It still doesn’t boost me, though.”
“Imagine if you reach revered status though and the benefits it will bring long term as the town grows.”
Darren sat contemplating the information from SJ, it would be amazing to get 100% experience bonuses for quests but until SJ reached level 20 from what she had explained he still couldn’t see a benefit.
“I also need to see if something else will work. I don’t want to say anything until I try, as I don’t want to give you a false sense of hope.”
Frowning, Darren looked at her quizzically. “I can’t go back to Asterfal straight away, and the quest I had from Master Fretun is showing as failed, so the experience I should have been able to get has been lost.”
“I am guessing that your Master will send someone to Killic to investigate what has happened and whether his plan worked.”
“I still have no idea what he was hoping to achieve. Or I was stupid enough to fall for his tricks, though. I knew he was manipulative but naively accepted his word.”
“We all make mistakes,” SJ said, not wishing to discuss Kerys’s concerns about Maliki Fretun. She had so many questions that she wanted to ask Darren but also needed to be careful about what she divulged. “Hopefully, you will at least stay here a few days while I see if I can sort out what I am hoping to.”
The cryptic comments did not give Darren much peace of mind. “I will probably just start travelling north and head towards the capital. Most of the trade routes are well-protected across territory boundaries, and once there, I can get lost in the crowd and leave Asterfal and the south behind me.”
“Look. Give me a few days at least to see if I can sort things out for you here,” SJ said and then continued. “You can stay here. There is the spare room in the back, which you have already used. I just need to go to the market and get the basics. I only got the cottage last night after the explosion.”
Darren closed his eyes, shaking his head again at the reminder. Opening his eyes, he looked at SJ, “Doesn’t your skeleton companion stay in the room?”
“No. Floretta never sleeps. I need to go into town and get what is needed for the cottage. Would you like to join me?” SJ asked, hoping that he would accompany her. If Darren got to meet and know some others in the town, he might feel more inclined to stay, and the town’s safety may depend on it.
