Chapter 5

**The Red Bird**

Day 2

Jason woke to the sound of birds chirping outside his window. He left the window open last night because the room had gotten extremely hot. Now a grey pigeon was sitting on the open sill pecking at the old wood. Jason rolled out of his straw bed and shooed the bird away. He closed the shutters and gathered his gear.

Downstairs in the tap house, he received a breakfast of oats and a weak ale. The oats weren’t half bad when he added some honey to his bowl.

Outside he retrieved Skippy from the stable boy. He noticed that the donkey’s hooves and coat were clean and he looked well so he tipped the boy a quarter copper. The boy thanked him in what Jason guessed was Hessian, “Jalak.”

Jason nodded his head back not sure what to say. The boy smiled at him then went back into the stables. Jason didn’t have anything else to do in Exton so he headed toward the gate he entered. As he was passing through the city circle he’s stopped at a large map. It wasn’t very detailed and only showed the surrounding areas between Exton and the Capitol to the East by the sea. There were a few rivers jutting along the map and it seemed like the roads followed them. Jason found the closest village to be about a half days walk to the east right after a river crossing.

He led Skippy out of the city and followed the road to the village. The walk was very uneventful, Jason passed a few large groups of peasants laden with produce and livestock. While they smiled as they crossed paths they still kept their distance from Jason. As the sun reached the middle of the sky he could see a few huts about a half-mile down the road across a fast-moving river. Jason was surprised that he didn’t encounter any enemies on the road and he was starting to question if there were monsters in the game. He brushed the thought aside when he entered the village.

It was relatively small with only about twenty small huts along one main road that connected with the highway. He did notice pastures surrounding the village full of sheep which gave him hope. The streets were mostly empty and he assumed that most people were off working in the fields or pastures. Jason saw a middle-aged woman watch him as she was feeding chickens in front of her home. He walked over to her and asked, “Hello, do you know if there is anyone here trying to sell wool?”

She turned away from him without a word and went into her home. Jason could hear the thud of a wooden bar fall after she slammed the door. That was weird, he thought, and rude. He noticed a few kids too young to be working playing with marbles in front of another house.

“Hi kids, are your parents nearby?” They looked up at him and froze. Their eyes were wide and unblinking.

“Adam, Jane,” a heavyset woman ran over and picked the children up by their collars. “Come inside, do not talk to strangers.”

“Wait,” Jason called to the woman’s back before she could get her kids inside. “I just want to buy some wool.”

“Go to the fields and talk to the men,” she spat out, she was probably only helping him to get him to leave. He took her advice and led Skippy towards the nearest pasture. The animal seemed happy about being clean and his attitude was more subdued than it was the previous day.

There were two small buildings that turned out to be a storehouse and a cottage along the pasture’s fence. A man sat on a bench brushing off his boots as Jason approached. A dry chunk of sheep manure broke off the shepherd's boot. “Hello,” Jason called.

“Mmm,” the man said not lifting his eyes from his boot.

“I was wondering if you had some wool to sell, I’m a trader.”

The Shepard spit a glob of mucus on the grass. The sticky puddle foamed on the ground. The man stared at Jason and it felt like he was inspecting him, “You ain’t no trader, you a peddler.”

“Well yes I guess that’s right,” Jason stammered.

“Don’t go round telling folk what you ain’t. I’m a Shepard,” he held the ‘ard’, “I ain’t go round telling folk I’m a herder now. That’s jus silly.”

“Yes, yes, I’m very sorry.” Jason was getting tired of this town, “regardless I’ve got silver to buy wool.”

The man eyed Jason up and down some more. He had freckles and balding red hair even though he couldn’t be that far into his thirties yet. He spat again, “Jeb,” he yelled out.

“Aye,” a voice yelled back from in the storehouse.

“Got a licker over herr who wants to buy some of our here wool.”

A man nearly identical but with even less hair came out and eyed Jason up. “23 copper a bag boy,” he offered.

Jason did a quick mental check of his inventory to see how much money he had left. He found he only had 2 silvers and 16 and a quarter coppers. He had been hoping to buy a lot of wool, but the previous day had taken a larger dent in his purse than he expected.

“I’ll give you a silver piece each for 2 bags,” Jason countered. Jeb stared at Jason for a moment then waved his head.

“Deal.”

**Skill rank up: Appraising (Beginner II) +75 Exp.**

**Skill rank up Bartering (Beginner III) 1.5% boost when buying or selling +100 Exp.**

The Poop Boots went into the barn and started hauling out the bags. “Where you heading feller,” Jeb asked.

“I’m on my way to Exton.”

“You ain’t from herr, you tawk different.”

“Yeah,” Jason mumbled starting to feel uncomfortable. Jeb had started to pick at his cuticles with a short knife. The other brother helped Jason harness the bags onto Skippy and Jason almost died from the heavy scent of animal feces on the man. When the donkey was loaded Jason offered his hand and said, “thank you, I’m going to be off.”

Jeb nodded his head but didn’t reach out to shake Jason’s hand, “well be off, be seeing you around boy.” Jason didn’t like how Jeb said boy but acted as if he didn’t notice the comment. Without any more farewell, he led Skippy back to the road. He hurried through the village proper and avoided eye contact with any of the villagers even though there still weren’t many around. He didn’t feel comfortable until he was back on the highway. It was like leaving a thick invisible fog and once he was out he could breathe clearly again.

The early afternoon sun was full and warm. Jason nibbled on a ration of dried fruit and was feeling good. At 1 silver a bag he would make at least an 11 copper profit on each bag if he went back to the warehouse he sold at yesterday or he could try getting a better price somewhere else with his improved barter skill. There were apricots, prunes, and apple slices in the leather pouch. He didn’t really enjoy the prunes so he would toss them to Skippy, the donkey would gladly nibble on the snack. If Jason didn’t offer the fruits fast enough Skippy would playfully neigh and try to lick Jason’s hand. A notification blinked quietly in the corner of his view. “Here Skip,” he said sticking out another fruit for the animal then he read the message.

**Animal Bonding Level Increase: Bond with owned animal, Skippy, has reached: Comfortable. You may now call him by yelling his name, as long as he can hear you he will approach. Verbal Commands remaining: 1 of 2.**

**Note This: There are several levels of animal bonds, the higher your bond with an animal the more verbal commands you can teach the creature. Certain animals can only learn certain commands, however, all animals learn “Summon” upon reaching bond level “Comfortable”. The skill Animal Bond decreases the time needed to teach a new verbal command. All animals are different and the time and effort to increase your bond with them is unique for each animal.**

Jason ruffled Skippy’s ears and the animal let out a happy cry. I like you too buddy, Jason thought. After another hour of walking, Jason stopped along the brook of the river to let Skippy drink water. The river was a few yards off from the road and separated by some trees. Jason heard a snap and turned his attention from the water to the trees. Standing ten feet away from him was Jeb. Jason quickly turned his head to the right and saw the other brother, Poop Boots.

“Hey there licker,” Jeb said.

“What do you want?” Jason yelled, his ears started to fill with blood and his chest began to boom like a drum.

“Just walk away boy,” Jeb spit a ball of mucus onto the leaves, “no need for anyone to get hurt.”

“What?” Jason yelled out and before he could react Poop Boots rushed him and tackled him to the ground. He punched Jason twice in the face and Jason’s vision began to go fuzzy. By the third punch, he couldn’t feel anything his body was so numb. “Ah,” Jason croaked.

Jeb walked over stared down at Jason. He drew a long snort and spit the accumulation onto Jason’s cheek. “Idiot,” Jeb mumbled and walked to Skippy. Jason meekly reached out an arm in a failed attempt to stop Jeb. Poop Boots moved back to Jason. He wound his foot back. Jason didn’t even move to protect his face when the crusty boot flew towards him. He blacked out in a piled of blood and spit.

*****

Jason lifted his head and it felt like a thousand cannons were firing simultaneously inside his brain. His vision swooned, the sun’s reflection on the river water created a light show for him. He teetered and fell back into the mud, blacking out again.

*****

Jason’s eyes slowly cracked open. He didn’t dare to move his head. He rubbed his face with his hand and it was thankfully dry but when he put his hand in front of his eyes he saw dry blood and mud. Jason slowly lifted his head, his head still raged with pain but he was able to sit up.

Skippy was gone obviously, along with the wool. So was his money pouch, dagger, and all his supplies in Skippy’s pack. At least they left him his bag of fruit.

Jason looked at the sky and saw he probably only had about two hours left of sunlight to walk the remaining four hours back to Exton. He forced himself up and stripped down so he could wash off the blood and mud in the river. As he was straining the blood and dirt from his hair he thought of how he could get his stuff back. Thinking only made him angry because it made him realize he had no chance of fighting the brothers. Jason really wished he’d been given a fighter class.

I should be angrier, Jason thought. Who would even consider this a game, its hell, worse than the real world? Ahhh I should have just taken that COO offer at McDonald’s. Never mind, I have to get Skippy and my stuff back. I can’t do anything out here in the wild except get molested by a bandit or eaten by wolves so I got to go back to Exton. Hey, I have a notification.

+1 Constitution. You survived a loss of 90% of your health.

**Note This: Repeatedly losing health will not earn you more stats points, non-training stat gains are random events based on when the system believes you have grown.**

Thanks, game.

When he was clean he got back into his clothes and made his way onto the highway. He saw a few empty-handed villagers returning home from the city. Eventually, the sun set and he started to feel tired. He could see a few miles ahead of the lights of Exton he knew he still had a lot of walking to go. At points, he was starting to fall asleep while walking. He would take a step forward, shut his eyes, and next thing he would be falling face first towards the dirt. Each time he had to catch himself it was like getting punched all over again. Eventually, he gave up and sat on the side of the road.

Jason laid flat on the grass and stared at the night sky. The star painted a mural of lights and for a moment he forgot about his pain and fatigue while he soaked in the beauty. I could die here. Let some animal maul me while I’m asleep. Might as well respawn feeling better, it’s not like I have a lot of stats to lose. Or I could even log out and be done with this stupid game. All of a sudden one of the stars flickered and shot across the sky. Jason shook his head in surprise, is it a shooting star, he thought. He had never seen one before. He searched the sky for the star and eventually found it. The dot of light was slowly getting larger and larger. When he could tell that the thing was actually crashing in his direction he jumped up and ran away.

A little above where he stood a bullet of flames crashed into the trees smoldering a hole in the foliage. Jason stared at the site but nothing moved so he moved closer. He followed the scorched path through the woods until he came to an ashen crater. Hot embers flickered in the pile. The ashes started to levitate and then swirl like a tornado slowly coalescing into one form. The pieces had combined to create a small red bird that seemed to burn like it was aflame. The creature stared at Jason then spread its wings. When it flapped its crimson wings a warm gust of air slapped Jason causing him to cover his face. When he unshielded his face the bird was gone but in the crater was a small red gemstone. A notification appeared in his view:

You have witnessed the rebirth of a Phoenix: +1 luck and 1000 exp.

Jason looked at the gem, the crater was still hot enough to burn him, but he deftly reached down and swooped up the stone. He inspected it:

Phoenix Shard (Light-Fire) [Single Use]: Use this to resurrect one fallen being as long as the death occurred less than 24hrs prior and all parts of the deceased are within a 15-meter radius. If the player dies with this in their possession they will be resurrected automatically. This gem is not affected by any magic abilities and is destroyed on use.

Jason’s mouth dropped in awe. Well, I guess I still have a little bit of luck.