Slamming his hoe with far more force than was strictly necessary Jarrod wrenched the weeds out of the families vegetable plot, flinging them to the side with such force they scattered dust, dirt and other broken weeds across the entire area.

“Jarrod! Be careful, we didn’t spend nearly two years establishing that garden for you to ruin it with your sulk. I don’t care if you have cleared a dungeon, you forget that your father and I have cleared over thirty between us. We know the dangers; can’t you see we just want to keep you safe?”

“Safe!? Safe?! Safety would be giving people more guidance. Safety would be allowing us to operate with some fail safes!? Why, why would I stay here? There’s nothing going on, nothing to do! I have never been right here. People want to just stay, safe, quiet, dull. Either retirees have moved here after giving up on growing or they were born here and have no ambition. No desire. Well, that’s not for me, I don’t care that the other kids bullied me growing up. I don’t care that even the other adults would whisper as I went by, I never cared about that. I had you and dad, but now, now neither of you have asked me how it’s been. You have done nothing but berate me since I got back, all because you are focused on yourselves. You don’t really care about me. You care about the other nobody’s perception of you, and how they view you two in this shithole of a town. Well guess what? I’m done, I’m done with all of that and if you can’t be happy for me, if you can’t even be civil with me – then I’m done.”

With that final stumbling exhalation Jarrod threw down his gardening tools, pushed past his mother which was no easy feat, really it only happened when she let it. His eyes stinging, his hands clammy, his pulse in his throat and ears he stumbled away from his home. Not towards the woods, but following the path westwards, following the meandering river towards the capital and away from this. Away from the indifference, the bullying, the nasty words, the thrown stones, the whispered utterances and unkind eyes. His shuffling stumble slowly became quicker, until eventually breaking out to a jog. Half an hour had passed, sweat was now streaming down his back, across his forehead and mingling with the tears that had been streaming down his face, mixing together with the dried tears, snot and salt forming a rough crust below his nose. Finally slowing to a stop, he took a look around and saw nothing that he recognised. He had never been this far West away from Woodend, and whilst he knew the forested lands intricately around the village, once you stepped the other way, it was more rolling hills, not even a farmstead was in sight from where he was along the riverside.

Suddenly he felt very alone, very worried. He had left in a rush; he had no equipment on him and was wearing just his standard work-wear. Looking around he couldn’t see anyone or anything and started retracing his steps. Suddenly he heard a snap, looking to his left where it came from, he saw nothing. He didn’t stop walking, but kept a steady pace, ready to run if needed. He saw nothing yet had an itch in between his shoulders. It was the feeling of someone watching him yet every time he turned around there was definitely nothing there.

Slowly retracing his steps, he realised just how far he had come. His body hadn’t undergone any drastic changes, but he clearly had far more stamina and lasting power than it had even a week ago. Finally, as he rounded another small hill, the outer edge of Woodend came into sight. He was debating whether to swallow his pride and say he was sorry for his outburst to his mom, or whether he should wait for dark, sneak in to grab his equipment and run. Realistically the chances of sneaking in were slim to none with the levels his parents had on him. How would he get in and out and grab his equipment?

He decided to sit down before entering the village and ruminated some more on his options. No matter what he did, if he was going to strike out, he would need his equipment. But he would need some supplies, he had some cash but wasn’t so naive as to believe he could eat gold. The moment he was outside the forests he would have no idea what was safe to forage and what would kill him in a hundred different ways.

Whilst he sat there pondering his options his mind started to wander. He truly had no idea why none of the other people in the village wanted to get out. He could understand some of the old folks not wanting to – they have had their share of adventuring now but why did they push that reticence onto anyone near his own age. Take Stephen for example, he was nearly twenty cycles now, yet he was only just level two. The entire village applauded him for it, taking it slow and steady, they said “learning to grow into his power”. Level two was pathetic! If he was out there and four goblins attacked in the village, with a basic tier class what the hell was he going to do other than end up a red greasy smear on the ground?

By the time his darker thoughts had gone full circle twilight had started to creep in around the edges of his vision. As he made his way back through the unmade packed dirt streets, he noticed there were no lights on at all at home, there was no candlelight flickering in the windows. Wondering where his parents were, Jarrod nevertheless took the opportunity and strode with purpose through to collect all of his equipment. Ensuring everything was there, and before he could change his mind, he strode away from the house and away from the village. If both of his parents were just going to berate him, offer him nothing but further unkind words piling one on top of the other, then he reasoned they needed some space. Not just space, but time away from each other. To that end, there was no better option in his mind than taking on the rest of the quest from The Other. All he had to do was make his way to Stonemaul and find out what he could about that wood tier dungeon and figure out how to beat it. He had twelve months on the quest, along with a purse full of coinage. There was time, time he could spend talking to the locals in Stonemaul, find out what he could about this next dungeon, possibly even find out something about another wood tier dungeon if he could find someone willing to talk to him.

Right, equipment collected – but with the time of day it is, leaving now will just result in them following me. I need time to get some food together as well as making sure I have enough water for the journey, potentially even a rough map in my head to figure out where Stonemaul actually is.

Finding an excellent tree with a hole three quarters of the way up its bole, Jarrod stashed his equipment, wrapping it all in his cloak turned inside out, the dark cloth lining hiding it completely in the dark. Before heading back home, this time seeing a small crowd of people stood outside of his home. Oh good, this looks like it will be easy and in no ways battering or demeaning…...

Spotting him walking up the main thoroughfare first was his mother

“Jarrod! Oh, thank the Mother Jarrod you’re safe! Where have you been, what happened, why did you run away?”

“I’m not a child anymore Mom, I’m fine – I just needed some time to clear my head”

Before his mother had a chance to reply his father spoke up,

“Oh, oh he needed some air. Well, that’s OK then isn’t it, no need to find anyone, no need to let someone know you were alive. Just needed some air, well then that’s fine, dragging out half of the guard with me, scouring the woods to make sure you weren’t dead from another of your stupid bonehead ideas. Managing to survive a dungeon on your own, does not mean you are ready for the horrors that this world has ready for you boy.”

“Yes Dad, I know. I’m not as inept as you all seem to believe. I’m an adult by all laws of the Empire and if I want to strike out on my own now, there’s not one of you that can stop me”

Well, wasn’t that just the wrong thing to say it turned out. His father thanked all of the other guardsmen for their help in coming out, for several hours to look for Jarrod. After they had left, he still hadn’t said a word, simply walked inside the house completely ignoring Jarrod and keeping his back turned to him. His mother walked over, softly and sadly shaking her head at Jarrod, before placing a hand on her husband’s shoulder. A shoulder that Jarrod could see was shaking now. Whether from upset, from fear or from rage, he wasn’t sure.

“Bed, now boy. We’ll talk about this tomorrow after I get home from my shift at the dungeon ate. I expect you to have completed all the tasks required around here and we can discuss who you will be marrying and settling down to keep both the family name going, as well as keeping your current and new family safe in both the short and long term. Go. Now.”

With that clear dismissal his father didn’t even turn to look at him, leaving the room and ignoring any utterances or protests. His mother turned and regarded him with a small sad smile and simply asked

“Why? Why can’t you just work with us Jarrod?”

With a final look, tears glittering in her eyes, she too turned her back and left him for her bed.

Looking at the roof, wanting to scream in frustration and settling for a sigh

“Is it me? Am I the abnormal one here? I just have no interest in the whole settling down yet, I haven’t even seen another town, let alone another shard. Why does no one understand me”

With the age-old utterance of all young men, Jarrod left for his bed as well, determined to get a good night’s sleep, with his mind fairly made up now, onwards on his own would be the only real option left for him if he didn’t want married off and kept here by promises he had no desire to make.