The next morning began like all mornings: breakfast and getting ready for the day.

Drew was determined today to get a job. “I gotta find Bethany. If I want a job in line with managing the town, she’s the best person to go to.” He got up and got dressed and searched for her. He first went to her apartment; there was no answer. “I wonder if she’s already in the cellar.” He made his way there. He found Bethany going to the entrance. “Bethany! I need your help.”

She turned but kept walking. “With what Drew? I want to get this finished today. I’ve almost got everything catalogued.” She continued walking undisturbed.

“Well. I want to get a job. And I want it to be with city management. You’re the best option here to learn from being a Bookkeeper.” She turned and raised her eyebrow at Drew. “Well. You are. If I’m going to help John, I need a job that will help me run a town. I’m sure some of the skills you have will help.”

Bethany sighed. “If you don’t mind me working while we talk, then yes, I’ll help you. Come on.” She waved him down into the cellar as she entered.

She rummaged through a crate and emptied the contents on the floor. Drew helped her organize the different items into piles. She talked while she worked. “I only have three skills unfortunately, but they help me quite a bit. They will probably help you to a degree. I’m using two right now.. Enhanced Organization and Enhanced Memory. While they look like just piles thrown together, I’m able to quickly organize my thoughts into coherent data for my books. It comes into play moreso when I’m writing the information down. Enhanced Memory allows me to pull the information I’ve previously gathered at any time. For example." She pointed at a basket. “That basket has 14 dried and salted fish in it. That one has 12. That one has 12.” She looked at him. “Understand? I don’t need to count them every time. Unless someone comes in and messes with stuff. The children seem prone to wanting to anger me.” She smiled.

“So how do I get them? The skills. And how do I know I’ll get the job I want?” Drew continued to organize the items on the ground.

“Well. You’re already assistant mayor by position. The job you get should be something related to that. Unless you have some other skills already.” She shrugged. “You may be a Bookkeeper at first or an Assistant Mayor. Eventually you’ll get new skills with practice. And that’s how you have to learn the ones I have. Practice. Memory games. Organizing things. But games seem to be the easiest.” She began placing the items from the crate into small bins along the wall.

“Ok. I get that. Just like when I got my few combat skills. I had to practice. What’s your last skill? If you don’t mind.” Drew handed her items not wanting to mess up her system.

“Improved Communication. Basically, when needed I can sound hoity-toity in the right situation. Or I can dumb it down for common folk. It’s come in handy a few times, especially when it came to working with other merchants who had sticks up their bums.” Bethany smiled wide.

Drew laughed. “How do I get that skill?”

“Read books, different kinds of books mind you. You’ll learn different dialects. Different ways to say things. This one will take the longest.” She stopped, dusting off her hands. “All of these skills are based on your intelligence. So if you don’t have much intelligence, they won’t help much. Sorry. That’s the way of things.”

“Do you happen to have any of those games? Or books? I borrowed one from Virgil but it dried out my eyes. It was so boring.” Drew closed the crate for her.

“I have a few. The children may have some too. They’re pretty common because that’s how simple folk can gain some skills. Help me with these other two small crates. Then we’ll go see what I brought with me.” Drew nodded.

They finished a short time later and went to Bethany’s apartment. She handed him a small box containing a game. The game consisted of a book and a puzzle. It’s almost like a whodunit kind of game. I love those. The other item she handed Drew was a book called The Flowers of Mira. He looked at the book, flipping through it.

“Will this give me some kind of herbalism skill too? I don’t know much about anything right now,” Drew stated.

Bethany laughed. “No silly. It’s a romance novel set in the eastern part of the kingdom. It’s one of my favorites. It’s got a lot of that hoity-toity speech I talked about. It’ll help you. If you can get through it.” She showed Drew to the door. “Don’t forget to ask the children. As a matter of fact, why don’t you make up some games and play with them. They’ll love that,” she replied, smiling. Drew nodded his thanks and left. “And it’ll keep them out of my hair for a while.” She chuckled to herself.

Drew would spend his morning reading, playing the whodunit game, and maybe playing games with the children. If it helps it helps. I just hope it doesn’t give me some job that isn’t complimentary to what I’m doing. But I guess if I get the skills, the job won’t really matter. Like being a swordsman even though I use a bow. “Status.”

Drew Cooper

Level: 1, 12%

Class: Swordsman level 1, 12%

Job: none

Attributes

Vitality

10

Health

100

Strength

10

Health Regen

10/hour

Endurance

10

Stamina

100

Agility

8

Stamina Regen

8/minute

Intelligence

13

Mana

130

Wisdom

12

Mana Regen

12/minute

Trait

Timid

10% decreased accuracy while in a fight. Can be changed or removed

River's End: Citizen

Position: Assistant Mayor

Job Perks

Combat Perks

Skills

Expand

Spells

My vitality improved. And I got 12% for killing the deer. And my combat class. I should be happy I guess. Drew sighed. Better get to studying. If it’s anything like learning with Willis, it’ll take quite a while to get these skills. Drew opened The Flowers of Mira and began reading.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

John ate a sandwich as he walked to the stable. He’d need a horse again today to drag more logs to his tower. “Hmm.” He got the blueprint for the tower out of his vest pocket. He mumbled to himself. “One log will give me a vertical piece and a support. So four total. No. I need eight supports, not four. So 12 total pieces. Six logs. Right? I’m starting to think I’m not as good at math as I thought. I’ll take one and see what I get. This is going to be a headache.”

He arrived at the pile of logs that had been stripped. He had asked Lenz to get him some smaller, thinner trees for this job for the supports. Lenz didn’t disappoint. He quickly roped one and attached to the rig the horse would pull it with. He led it back to his build site. From a distance, anyone could tell the poles weren’t straight in the air. But that’s how he planned it. Like a stunted pyramid. In between the poles sat a wagon with its cover removed. With the added height, he would easily be able to reach where he wanted to build the platform

“They look like they’re leaning more? Nah. Saul quickly hardened the ground around the posts. They couldn’t have moved.” John tied the horse to the nearest item which happened to be a barrel. He shrugged.

The platform would be about four meters off the ground and be about two meters square. He rolled the log to the side to cut it. He sawed two fairly even 2.5 meter logs in about five minutes. He created notches where the pieces would fit snugly against the post, to lesson side-to-side movement. “Now to get it up there, hold it, and drive the spike through.” He looked around for help. “I didn’t think this through.” He saw Nathan a short distance away watching the farmers. “Hey. I need your help. Hey Nathan.” John whistled.

“Can’t sir. I need to keep an eye out, watching the farmers and the south. Sorry.” Nathan smiled. John looked impatiently at him.

‘I’ll help,” came a voice behind him. It was Gerard. “You just want me to hold it right?” He was climbing onto the wagon, his hair in his face.

“Yes, I do. Thank you very much,” John said loud enough for Nathan to hear. “Will you be able to hold it above your head? It shouldn’t take much. I need to drive this spike the rest of the way through and into the pole. Then do the other side. I can hold the side I’m working on if you will hold the other.” Gerard nodded. Together they picked up the piece. It was just above Gerard’s head. He was visibly straining to hold it. John had prehammed the spike into the support, so while he held the log with his left, he drove the spike through it and into the pole. Then he hammered the protrusion into the wood on the other side. He let go. It held. “Oh thank god.” John laughed, not noticing Gerard beginning to buckle.

“A little help here,” groaned Gerard, whose knees were bending.

“Shit sorry!” John quickly moved to the other side. “Hand me that spike would you?” Gerard gave it to him, and he again drove the spike through the support and into the other vertical pole and then bent it so it couldn’t work its way out. “Sorry for cussing. Force of habit.” Gerard shrugged. He was breathing heavily. “Rest a moment while I get the other side piece. Then we’ll work on the support, uh, support beams. The plans say to make an X on the sides to support the vertical beams. Um, yea.” John threw Gerard his flask of water and hopped down to get the other piece.

The team did the same for the opposite side vertical beam. John thought out loud. “Two meters across. About four tall. Doing some math, mm mm. I need one part of the side X to be 4.5 meters. Sounds about right.” John smiled at Gerard who looked back at him like he was weird.

“You sure you know what you’re doing? You don’t seem like it.” Gerard sat, filling up on water.

John gave him the stink eye and held up the blueprints. “These don’t lie. I just, well, I’m not making it quite like it says, so I have to eyeball it. Shush.” John hopped back down and measured the log. “I have enough for what I need, but the rest will be scrap.” He whispered to himself, “Better make it a little longer than I need or Gerard will laugh if I mess up.”

John cut the log and hoisted it up. Gerard held the log while John fitted it under the vertical piece. John groaned. “Not quite.” He scratched on the wood with the spike where he’d need to cut. He shoved the piece and let it drop, scaring Gerard. “Sorry.” He smiled.

He chiseled the end so it would fit squarely against the pole and the beam. They tried again. This time, it fit almost too snugly. John had to beat it into place. He then drove two spikes through to hold it. “One done. Three more to go! I’ll be back. I’m going to drag another log here with the horse.” Gerard waved him off and laid down while John left to get another. “That one’s rotten too.” John smiled to himself.

In quick order, John had returned. He measured and cut the same, but this time, where the two pieces would cross, he made notches so that the cross supports would also fit together. John rubbed his hands together and prayed. He lifted the other beam while Gerard held it study. The supports just fit together. He drove spikes through, bending the ends up, one from each side. “One side done. We do the same on the other side. Then all we have left is the deck! But sadly, we don’t have any flat pieces to use. I’ll have to see what I can come up with. Oh and a ladder. And a railing,” he rattled on.

Gerard just rolled his eyes and sat back down to rest.

An hour later, they had finished the other side. John hung from one vertical beam and Gerard hung from the other, swinging their legs. “I can’t believe this is actually holding,” Gerard said, amazed.

“I know right? I feel like I need to put some supports under these sides too, but then we won’t be able to get a wagon under it. As long as no one jumps up top, it should be good, don’t you think?” John nodded to himself. “Alright.” He let go and fell to the ground. “I think we’re done for the day. I need to make a ladder, and we need flat pieces for the decking and railing. Thanks for helping Gerard. Get some rest. You earned it.” He held up his hand to give him a high-five. Gerard looked at him confused. He quickly held his hand to shake it. Gerard hopped off the wagon and headed for food, occasionally looking behind him at John with a befuddled look.

John was gathering the tools when he heard a shout. “Riders! We got riders coming! I count three coming from the south!” Nathan was screaming at the top of his lungs pointing.

John spun on his heels. “Shit! Ivan! Get over here! Nathan! Get everyone you can find to the camp! Gerard! Run to the camp. Gather everyone together!” John ran to his left, to where the wall ended towards the east, waiting for everyone who could wield a weapon to join him. He wielded his dagger and the hammer. He took a fighting stance ready for whatever came.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The small group waited. They totaled 13. They stood in silence as the horsemen approached. As they got closer, the riders slowed even more. They stopped a good distance away. One dismounted and walked towards the group of villagers.

“Good afternoon!” he shouted, still quite a distance away. “Who may I ask is in charge here?” No one replied. “We’re not looking for trouble.” He put up both hands. “We’re simply travelers by way of Innsbruck. There were stories of a group of people settling out here to the west. We couldn’t believe it, so we had to check it out for ourselves.” He waited. Still no reply. “I’m Guthrey. These are my brothers, Logan and James. May we approach? We’ve ridden for four days. And while we haven’t run into any trouble, we’d like a place to rest in safety.”

John looked to Ivan. “What do you think?”

“I think you, me, and Mani approach. While the archers, including Monty, keep their bows trained on them. The guards stay here.” Ivan’s eyes were squinted, focused on the three strangers.

“Mani, you’re with us. Everyone else. Eyes open. Weapons drawn and at the ready. Wait for my signal.” John held his sword in his hand, pointed towards the ground. “Thanks for grabbing this for me Ivan. Let’s go.”

The trio stopped about halfway to the strangers. “I’m John Mitchell. I’m in charge here. If you’re truly from Innsbruck, did you meet anyone on the way here?” John questioned them.

“Yes. Two riders. It only confirmed the stories that people had settled out here.” Guthrey turned to his brothers, then back to the trio. “They stopped us and questioned us. Then we parted ways.”

John eyed them suspiciously. “How do I know that you didn’t kill them and rob them? How do I know that you’re not bandits? Would you let us search your horses and your persons? I’m sure that would make us a little less nervous here.” John stood, irritated.

After stalling for a few moments, Guthrey replied. “I’m afraid I can’t grant that request, John Mitchell.” He had a sneer on his face.

“Did you kill them? If not, where are they?” John was irate. The others were becoming more hostile.

Guthrey sighed. “I’m sorry John. That’s the way of the land out here. You know how it is.” He unsheathed his sword. His brothers dismounted and did the same. “When we heard there were settlers out here, fresh for the picking, we couldn’t resist. And then I read your letter, to the Baron, about the ore? I mean, really! The possibilities! We couldn’t pass this chance up! We c--”

Woooshhhhh. Guthrey turned, shocked, and yelled. An arrow was sticking out of Logan’s shoulder. He grimaced in pain. “We were going to give you a chance to work for us but now! You’re dead now! Dead!” Guthrey screamed at the trio and charged with his other brother. Logan was on his knees grasping the arrow.

Another arrow was let go, and another. The two brothers dodged easily at this distance.

“Don’t shoot! They’re too close!” A shout arose from the back.

John released a primal roar. “You killed our friends! It’s not us who will die today. No. You will regret ever meeting us!”

John and Guthrey’s swords met midswing at a full run, causing both to stumble. John lunged at his stomach with his dagger. Guthrey easily evaded. “This asshole’s mine! You two take care of the other!” Guthrey recovered. He punched John in the face while he was distracting, bloodying his nose. He spit blood to the side as he stalked around his enemy. He feinted with his sword, trying to slice at his unprotected side. He scored a quick slash on Guthrey’s upper arm with his dagger.

They continued to circle each other. Each feinting and withdrawing. John lunged with his sword, another feint, but again, Guthrey was ready. He spun through the sword lunge, tripping John, and swiping his sword vertically cutting him across the back as he passed. John’s eyes were pained. He sweated profusely. But he didn’t relent. John cut up with his sword as he advanced. He cut from left to right, right to left, not giving Guthrey any pause. He lunged with his dagger towards Guthrey’s head. He quickly blocked it with his arm, but that gave John an opening to slash his thigh with his sword, causing him to hobble.

“Not bad. Barely got me. But I’m better.” John, infuriated, swung his sword in a vertical slash. Guthrey blocked, spinning into John. He elbowed him in the side of his head, making John fall. “You’re nothing.” He spit on John and laughed.

John looked up, fire in his eyes. He threw his dagger as hard as he could. Guthrey easily knocked it away. But John was already running at him, plowing his shoulder into his midsection causing them to roll to the ground. They rolled several times, each losing their sword. Guthrey ended up on top. He grabbed the nearby dagger that laid on the ground. Using both hands, he brought it down. John caught his wrists, the blade inches away from his throat. “I told you you were nothing. And now you’ll die in front of all your friends. And then they’ll die.” He held an evil grin. He put all his weight into the dagger, slowly moving it closer to John’s throat. John’s face was red, veins sticking out, holding with all his strength. “This place will be ooophh--” Guthrey’s eyes went wide.

“That’ll be enough of that.” Ivan stood above them. His axehead was embedded in Guthrey’s back. “I know you said it’s your fight boy, but I couldn’t let him keep yappin’.” Guthrey rolled off John, reaching behind to try to remove the axe. “You shouldn’t have gloated so much, because now look at ya.” Ivan got in his face. “And look at your poor brother over there. If he really is your brother. What was his name? Jamie? Justin? Poor fella’s missin’ his head.” Guthrey grunted in pain, only able to make gurgling noises. Blood seeped out of his mouth. “Oh damn. I must have hit a lung. Bad luck.” He stood, removed the axe from his back, initiating a gurgled scream, and helped John up off the ground. He also handed John his sword. “I think you lost this.” Soon after, Guthrey breathed his last breath.

“Th-thank you.” Ivan put his arm under John to hold him up. He motioned for Monty to help. By this time, Mani and the guards had surrounded Logan who was looking worse for wear.

“Tie him up. But first, break off the shaft and pull it through. He deserves a little more pain for what they did here.” Ivan ordered everyone around. “Strip ‘em. Find the letter. Bring their horses in so they can be searched.” He was interrupted by a scream. He smiled and continued. “One’s wandered over there. We’ll bury the bodies even though they don’t deserve it. We don’t need scavengers runnin’ round here. Get to it!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

John laid next to the fire on his bedroll on his stomach. They’d made a makeshift tent out one of the canvases from a wagon. Gert came by frequently, changing the herbs and dressing on his face and back. Through silent screams, John had endured his back being cleaned and stitched together. Gert had applied a liberal amount of medicine and herbs they’d brought along. He wouldn’t be moving for a while. Ivan had continued to order people around through the night.

Once everyone was in the camp, Ivan spoke to the entire group. “We knew it would be dangerous here. But I’ll be honest with you folks. I didn’t expect bandits; I thought it would be wolves, or pumas, something of that nature. And I seriously doubt their story that they came from Innsbruck. I don’t want to worry you, but there may be more. So here’s the plan. There will be no arguing.” He stood, arms crossed. “No one is to leave camp except to farm or log wood in the east. And even then, everyone must carry at least a dagger with them at all times. Everyone else will help build the wall. We will have rotations watching the south all hours. I will hand-cut wood myself to finish John’s tower for the sentry.” He stopped, to take a breath, less serious and more worried.

“John here almost gave his life to defend us. I couldn’t allow it. I wouldn’t. No one says you have to fight fair, and you remember that. Let it sink in. Because you damn well know they wouldn’t if given the chance. You take every opportunity you're given. We killed two men today. And gravely injured another. I’m not proud of that. But unfortunately, sometimes it’s the only choice.” He paused again. “Monty and I, and our families talked before you all came. He will ride at first light to Innsbruck. He will ride through the night by moonlight if he has to. He knows the risks. The Baron must know what’s happened. We plan to hire more guards as well. And bring more people. More weapons. We will be better prepared. I promise you.” Ivan finished, holding his fist in the air. No one argued. No one said a word. Instead, they finished eating in silence, sticking to their small groups.

Ivan walked away from the group and entered John’s tent. “It’s done. I’ve scared ‘em enough that no one will be doin’ anything alone for a while. Hell. We may even get the wall done faster!” Ivan sat on the ground. “How you holdin’ up?”

“I’m fine. I’m fine. Physically, I’ll be ok with time.” John’s face was still red, but not from exertion. “I failed you. I failed them all. I couldn’t even beat one guy. How can any of them still trust me to protect them?”

“Because you did what you’d say you would do. You fought for them. You would have given your life for them. But it wasn’t your time. I told you. I’ll always protect you, even from yourself. I brought someone with me. If you’re willing, he wants to talk to you.” John nodded, and Ivan opened the canvas.

“Hello John. Willis, if you don’t remember.”

His accent is almost middle-Eastern. “I remember. How can I help you. Keep it mind it’ll be limited.” John tried cracking a smile.

“You mistake me my friend. It is I who wishes to help you.” Willis smiled, and John looked confused. “I watched your fight. You have lots of skills. I could tell. But you don’t know how to use them. When you are ready, I will teach you how to fight. How to move. How to confuse your opponent. Oh yes. And how to not let your anger affect you. To be frank, it was troublesome watching you stumble through. He got in your mind. He beat you before you even started.” Ivan nodded, agreeing. “So, I will teach you. Like I did your friend Drew. We will spar, and I will beat you, and I will humiliate you.” Willis smiled. “But in that I will teach you humility and how to focus your anger. There are always those who are better. I will make you better.” Willis bowed and left the tent.

“He’s right. All I could see was red. It clouded my thoughts. All I wanted to do was avenge Simon and Richard.” John was beginning to get worked up again.

“Calm down. We did John. We did. Monty will head out tomorrow to Innsbruck as fast as he can. We pooled more money. We’re hiring more guards. Going to bring more people here to help. It will take a bit, but we’ll do it.” Ivan patted his shoulder.

“What of the other?” John asked. “The one who survived. Has he said anything?”

“He’ll answer those questions tomorrow. Whether he wants to or not.” Ivan smiled. It wasn’t a friendly smile. “We’ll go through their belongings too. There has to be clues as to who they were. And if there are more.” Ivan replied, worry in his voice.

“That’s fine. That’s fine. I’m sorry, but I can’t keep my eyes open. I think Gert slipped something in my water a bit ago. She said I need to sleep a lot and not move around.” John closed his eyes.

“Good night boy.” Ivan stood and stopped at the canvas. “We will continue here ya know? A couple little rats aren’t going to stop us.” He walked out.