“Hey!” he yelled.

The woman was to incensed to hear and Lola was too busy crying.

“Hey, stop that! What do you think you’re doing?”

This time, the woman heard him.

“And what business is it to you? Mind your business, boy.” He said, turning back to Lola, who was now trying to mop the oil back into the bucket.

“You can’t hit her, just like that!” Jack shouted, walking towards the gate.

“Boy, I’m warning you. One more word out of you and your parents will be hearing from me.” She yelled back and hesitated for a second. “Who are you? Come here!”

As much as Jack wanted nothing more than make the woman eat her demands, he also wanted to help Lola.

“What is that you’re wearing? Are you a vagrant? I don’t have any work for you. She’s barely capable of handling tasks as she is.” She said, nodding her head at Lola.

“Hey lady, there was a kid that kicked the bucket, not Lola. And pulling her hair before that.”

Without even paying attention to the mention of a kid, Mrs. Winnow rounded up on Lola again, eyes like fire.

“Oho, and what’s this? Is this why this beggar is standing in my yard, girl? You bewitched another one, didn’t you? Did you spread-“

“No!” Lola suddenly screamed.

For one second the woman was speechless, before finding her voice.

“What did you say?”

“I… I said no, Mrs. Winnow. I didn’t do anything. This is just a friend. I’m very sorry for the oil, I am! I’ll finish scrubbing it into the porch, I promise.”

“You’d better. I want this done by sunset. And there’s no lunch for you either. I wasted enough on you, with all the oil you’ve spilled.”

With that, the woman walked back into the house. As angry as Jack was, the scene was too surreal for him to get a word it. Quietly, Lola stood up, wiped her hands and stepped towards Jack.”

“Come on, let’s step outside for a minute.” She whispered. “She’s probably looking at us from the windows.”

Once they passed the gate, she spoke again.

“Jack. I’m so glad to see you!” she said, hugging him. “But… what are you doing here? And what’s that you’re wearing?”

“Ah, it’s… a long story. I got it from a friend. Who I met after you left. It’s… you’re going to have to see it for yourself.”

“Alright.” She said, like his words made any kind of sense. “In that case, it seems your friend’s as down on his luck as you are.”

“What?” he said, looking at his robe. “Oh. Yeah. Well, that forest’s a refuge for a reason, I guess. Speaking of, I brought something from it. To trade.”

So said, he pointed at the two baskets, he had laid next to the fence.

“Oh! Good. Probably good that you didn’t bring them in. If Mrs. Winnow had seen it, she’d have probably wanted to take it, as compensation for the oil.”

“That hag… why do you work for her? Isn’t there anyone else you could work for?”

“There is. There are others I help as well. But not that many and… well, it’s a long story as well.”

“I got time”. Jack replied simply.

She laughed at that.

“I don’t! About your ‘wares’, Helmrest’s doesn’t exactly have a market, but you could sell the berries to the tavern owner. He could probably use them for wine or food. And there’s a Herbalist that will buy your Ember-Caps!”

“Ok, good. But how do I find them?”

“It’s almost lunch, so the tavern’s probably full. Just look for a house with tables and chairs in front of it. It has a short fence around it, so you’ll be able to see people milling about. And the Herbalist has a shop, with a sign, up front.”

“Got it. Uh, can I help with… that?” he said, looking back at the house.

“No.” she sighed. “If you did, Mrs. Winnow would probably dock my pay, for letting you into the yard again. I’ll probably not be done until sunset… Still, if you’ve finished your business until then, come see me. You can keep me company. Over the fence.” She smiled.

“Will do.” Jack replied, with a smile of his own.

“Oh, before you go. When you reach the Herbalist’s shop, mention I sent you. Might help. Her name’s Elia. And the tavern owner is Mr. Norn.”

“Will remember. Should I mention you sent me to Mr. Norn, too?”

At that, her face froze for a second.

“Uh, no. Not if you could help it. It’s… part of the long story.”

“No worries.” Jack smiled, with a cheerfulness he didn’t feel.

“I’ll get going. See you later!” he said.

Saying her goodbye, Lola went back to her task. Jack eyed her for another second and when on his way too. He wondered how much the woman was paying her, to be worth putting up with such a horrible hag. That annoying kid didn’t improve matters either.

Walking along, Jack fell back into the former state of wonderment. The village, for all it was quite large, wasn’t exactly impressive. It was a village. But Jack only felt awe. Houses, made of wood, mud, even bricks, layered the road. He could see horses and carriages inside some yards and could tell some houses were actually shops, if the stands in front of them were for what he thought they were. But there were few signs. He guesses most people already knew what each shop was for. Perhaps the center of the village might be even more impressive, but though he wished to see it, he had no time to go exploring. He came here for a reason.

He stopped a few of people on the street, asking for directions. They all gave him weird looks, but he pointed at his heaping baskets and they nodded and pointed him in the right way. It still took him a while before he found the tavern.

His first thought was that it didn’t look all that impressive. Now that he had his share of the sights around him, Jack stopped being impressed by everything. He still thought that he would have liked such a building back in his clearing.

His second thought was that people could be loud.

“Oi, you, bring me an ale!”

“I told you not to eat that much!”

“Aw, I stepped in something…”

“I want cheese with that.”

“Got any more of that wine?”

“Pipe down, you lot!” a man thundered over the others. “Now, you wanted ale or wine?”

Going by how the guests seemed to bite back their enthusiasm a notch and how the other two servers ducked their heads, Jack guessed that was the tavern owner.

“Excuse me, are you Mr. Norn?” Jack asked the man, after he was done taking the order.

Eyeing him up and down, the man answered.

“I am. What’s it to you, boy? You don’t look like you’ve got coin to pay and I’ve got no food to waste around.”

Jack mentally promised to himself that after he gets some ‘coin’, he was going to buy some better clothes. Thinking that, he gave the man a look. Tall, but that was not his most striking feature. That was the mans’ thick moustache and fuzzy eyebrows. They looked like they were ready to jump out at Jack.

“I said, what do you want, boy?”

“Oh, I’m not looking to buy, sir. I’m looking to sell. You wouldn’t be needing any berries now, would you?” he said, pointing at his basket.

What followed was an attempt by the man to shortchange Jack, threatening him that no one else would buy his wares and Jack doing his best to stay polite in the face of overwhelming haggling. In the end, the man ended up taking his whole basket of berries and a few fire mushrooms as well. Jack got 5 copper pieces for that. He didn’t know if it was fair, but he figured it was a nice number of coins.

“Are all people this nasty in this town?” he muttered to himself, after leaving the tavern.

“That’s two people looking down on me and it hasn’t even been a day. I know how I look, but still.”

…

“Maybe that’s how people are in villages.”

A man he was walking by, turned and gave him a sour look.

I really have to kick the habit of speaking out loud. At least where others can hear me.

He managed to find the Herbalist’s shop moderately fast, after that. The big sign in front of it, depicting green-lettered words and painted leaves, may have had a contribution to his speed.

A bell tinkled as he entered the shop.

“Hello, I’ll be there in one moment.” A voice sounded, from further inside the shop.

“Uh… alright!” Jack shouted back.

Looking around, almost all he could see were plants. Strung from the ceiling, bundled up on shelves and laying on the counter. The only other notable thing was sitting behind the counter, on neat rows of shelves.

Jars. Jugs. Bottles. Boxes. All manner of glass and earthenware was sitting on those shelves. And from a door next to them, exited a woman.

She must have been in her early thirties, judging by her face. Averagely tall, wearing a smudged apron. She could have been said to be almost average looking, if not for one thing. Her eyes were pure orange. No pupil anywhere in the irises. Just orange.

“Hello there, sorry for the wait. What can I do for you?”

…

“Hello? Erm… is there something on my face?”

“Hi.”

“Hi.” She smiled.

…

“Oh, right, you don’t look like you’re from around here. Don’t mind the eyes, that just something from a failed experiment.” She laughed. “Now, how can I help you?”

That snapped Jack out of his reverie.

Honestly, I met a ratling. Why does this shock me?

“Oh, well, I was told you where the person to see, if I wanted to sell fire mushrooms.”

“Fire mushrooms? What’s that?”

“Uhm, Ember-Caps. I think that’s how they’re called around here.”

“Ember-Caps?!” the woman exclaimed. “Of course, where are they?”

“Right here.” Jack said, showing her his basket.

He was glad that, for once, this woman didn’t look askance at his clothing. It seemed her full attention was on the dried-up red mushrooms.

“And you have a basket full of them. Where did you get them? Did you go into the forest?”

The woman was babbling too much, for Jack to get a word in edgewise.

“I’ve been wanting some of these for some time, but they’ve been in short supply for a while now. I would have gone myself, if that place wasn’t so scary. I’ll buy the lot of them!” she finally stopped talking, turning back to him.

“Oh, good. That’s good.”

“Where are my manners? My name is Elia, |Herbalist|, Level 16.” She smiled.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Jack.”

“Jack?”

“Yes. My… parents’ idea of a joke.”

“Oh, you poor dear.” She said, finally looking at him. “Is that why you’re down on your luck? People afraid of your name being a bad omen?”

“No, just… life. Sometimes you just find yourself somewhere, with no idea how you even got there.”

He was getting good at this making stuff up thing.

“Isn’t that the truth?” Elia said, nodding. “So, tell me, Jack, how much do you want for that basket?”

“To be completely honest Mrs., I don’t know. I’ve never sold Ember-Caps before.”

“It’s Miss. And just Elia after we’ve had our first deal.” She grinned. “Well, for the entire basket, I can give you… two silver coins. Is that fair?”

Silver?

“I think so. But can I ask, how many copper coins make a silver one?”

The woman eyed Jack oddly.

“You really aren’t from around here, are you? One silver is twenty copper coins. One gold is ten silver coins. You’re afraid you’re not getting a good deal?” She laughed.

“What? No, no. It’s just that, earlier this day I sold a basket of berries to a tavern owner and I got five copper coins for it. I was just wondering if I got shortchanged.”

“Tavern owner? Norn? Yes, he’d do that to you, if he didn’t know you. A basket full of berries? That would be worth… at least ten coppers. Maybe fifteen, if they were in a good state.” She said, shaking her head.

“Well, I’ll remember that for next time. And yes, two silver coins sounds nice. Thank you miss!”

“It’s Elia.” she said, reaching her hand out to shake his. “Who told you about me?”

“Oh, a girl named Lola.”

“Lola?” she asked, grinning. “She’s your friend? I’m glad she made a friend. That girl could use one. She picked herbs for me too, but rarely Ember-Caps and never more than one or two. Too deep into the forest.” the woman shrugged. “You were lucky to have stumbled on to so many around here.”

Jack thought about this for a second. It’s true that people in this village were superstitious, he saw that for himself. But Elia seemed more open minded, at least when it came to doing business. He pondered on whether to tell her or not and decided to take a leap of faith.

“I actually live in the forest. About an hour’s walk into it. I’m not sure how deep that is, but I have a small garden where I grow fire- Ember-Caps. If you need more, I could get more for you.”

Elia just stared slack-jawed at Jack, for a long moment. Long enough to make him feel uncomfortable.

Just when he was about to say something, she started talking. A lot.

“You do?! An hour away? Yes, that does sound deep enough for the Ember-Caps to appear. And not only them! And you say you grow them? In a garden? How many do you have right now? Can I buy them?”

“Uh… Sure. I don’t know how many I got right now… about fifty, I’d say. But they keep growing back, so there’s not much worry I’ll be left without.

At that, Elia’s eyes went as wide as saucers. It was almost comical.

“Oh, Jack, I am SO glad to have met you. Did you see anything else worthwhile, in the forest? Glowing sap? Frost berries?”

“I’m not sure. I was only looking for things to eat. That’s how I found them in the first place?”

“You ate these? Well… I suppose they are edible. Though, I’ve never heard of folks just eating them like that.”

“Yeah, but they’re less spicy in a stew.”

Still too hot, though.

“Well, I’ll make you a list of what to look out for. Get me more and I’ll give you a good discount for whatever you buy here.”

Elia spent the next ten minutes describing to Jack what she wanted him to collect from the forest. Her Class may have been |Herbalist| but, as she explained, she also dabbled in potions, though she hadn’t received that Class. This is important to note, because even as she asked Jack to bring her more fire mushrooms and different types of herbs, she also had him look out for a few types of sap and even some insects. Not that Jack planned on catching insects. Who knew what the nymph had to say about that?

“Here, on the house.” Elia said, as she handed Jack a small wooden box, along with his payment.

“What’s this?”

“Healing ointment. Not as good as a potion, but it will fade bruises, close small cuts and even help with greater injuries. Just don’t leave it open for long.”

“Oh! Thanks, Elia!”

“Thank you, Jack! If this works out, you may be the best thing that happened to my business in years. I may even level from this!” she laughed.

He bade her farewell, promising to return soon and she did as well, telling him to say hello to Lola from her. As he walked down the street, lighter by two baskets and richer by a few coins, he thought that it had been a good day.

|New Class Available: Trader|

|Class Level and Skills accessible after acceptance. |

|Accept new class? |

Damn. Scared of saying yes accidently, Jack shut his mouth and stopped. Trader. That sounded better than some Classes he had. He knew he wasn’t that interested in being a |Forest Cook|. He hadn’t even found out what his second Skill did.

Still.

It wasn’t possible to swap Classes, that he knew of. He’d have to accept it, if he wanted it. And he did want it. But he was already on the verge of becoming a Jack. Didn’t Lola say some people got to have more than five Classes, before falling into the |Jack| Class?

No… It wasn’t worth it.

“I refuse.”

|Class Refused|

“I wonder if I’ll get it again.”

A man, down the street, shook his head as he looked at him. It was the same man from before.

And now he thinks I’m crazy. …At least I dress the part.

He got to Mrs. Winnow’s house faster than he did before. When he arrived, he found Lola waiting for him.

“Hey there. All done trading your goods?”

“Yeah. I think I got less than I should have, from that Norn guy. But Elia was nice. She even sent me out to get more stuff for her, from the forest.”

“I imagine she did. You’re the only one she knows, who would enter that deep into the forest. Come on, walk with me.” She told him.

They started walking down one street.

“Where are we going?”

“My house. I don’t think you’ll want to walk back to your place during nighttime, right? Not unless you can see at night.” She said, amusedly.

“I can’t. Damn, I didn’t even think about this. I told Mrk to come after me, if I’m not back by nightfall. I mean, I was joking… but I really was going to go back by now.”

“Hmm. I could ask around for a torch?”

He thought about it for a second.

“Nah. Let’s go. I’ll go back in the morning.”

They talked for a few minutes more, until they reached Lola’s house. If it could even be called a house. It must have been one, once upon a time. Not a big one, but Jack could see a couple of rooms, besides the kitchen and faded paint on mud walls. But it was clear that the house was in a serious state of disrepair. The roof had caved in at a point and it looked like a serious storm could tear a part of it cleanly off. The windows were boarded shut and the door looked like it had scorch marks on it. The yard itself looked just as bad, but it had its own well. Silver linings.

“Welcome to my humble abode.” She said, after they’ve entered, clearly nervous.

“First house I’ve been welcomed to.” Jack grinned.

They dined on a small supper, consisting solely of boiled potatoes, while making small talk.

“Hey Lola, I know we haven’t known each other for long, so I’m not sure if it’s alright to ask you this, but… why was that woman mean to you? Is it because you’re… poor?”

To his surprise, she actually laughed at that.

“No. It’s actually kind of the other way around.” She smiled sadly.

She looked down, but didn’t hesitate long before talking again.

“I will tell you, Jack. In… in time.” She played a little with her hands. “It’s not a happy story. But I will.”

“Hey, no rush. I’m not going anywhere. Other than the forest.” He smiled. “You know, you could always come live with me and Mrk, if you want.”

She looked surprised and then hesitant, but finally she shook her head.

“That may be nice, but I’ll stay here. This was my parents’ house. I’d like to try and make a life of my own here… But. You could come here. To Helmrest.”

“Yeah… maybe. I kind of like the forest. And me and Mrk have a mission to annoy the nymph, as much as possible.” He laughed.

That seemed to horrify Lola and his laughter didn’t help, but she refrained from commenting.

“And who knows, if I can make enough from trading, maybe I can build a house of my own in the forest.”

“Maybe. Or maybe you’ll annoy the nymph enough, to kick you and your friend out.” She smiled.

“Or that.”

She went to sleep shortly after that and Jack did too, laying on a thick blanket. He drifted off to sleep, confident in the knowledge that things were going to go better, from here on out.

A long distance away, two eyes opened and frantically searched their surroundings, scared awake by the sounds coming from the bushes. She was becoming quite confident she was in a world of trouble.