Chapter 8: Rocholn

Dew stuck to his face, Theo got up as soon as he awoke to keep himself from falling back to sleep. It would be awkward to drag down a group of travellers he barely knew, so he did his best not to get left behind. Shaking his limbs and doing a few stretches, he got ready to leave.

Looking around, this part of the forest was impossibly yellow. It was more like a wheat field in the shape of trees and foliage. They had camped under an alcove of dirt and vines and he hadn’t realized until now. He couldn’t help but be aggravated by how unsafe the camping spot was. If skills were the standard here, he knew how little it would take to make the overhang collapse on their heads in the middle of the night. Theo had no real survivability against offensive skills with the exception of jumping away.

I need to be more aware of my surroundings. If I screw up, it can hurt big time.

“Ready to leave?” Chris asked Theo, to which he nodded in reply.

The tents were down and packed so they all hit the trail. Over the course of five or so hours, by Theo’s guess, they encountered three groups of animals. With Theo’s participation, they easily dealt with them but they left most of the spoils behind, only really keeping the claws. No use in grabbing the rest, Chris had said. The price to weight ratio for pelts wasn’t worth it.

Along the way, Theo did his best to practice his skill. It seemed he could control its power fairly easily. The problem was when he was in mid-jump. His muscles tensed up and moving around was very jerky and awkward. Sarah said that a trait might help him.

“Traits like [Agility] or [Control] help when using a skill,” she'd said. “But be careful, points can’t be taken back once used.”

I figured, but I didn’t know if points were reversible so it was best to ask. I’d love to put points in [Agility], but it just seems like an easy way to cut back on practice… Besides, I remember reading somewhere that people who become complacent or too comfortable are more prone to making errors. I don’t want to end up regretting my jumps so a handicap might be best. I bet I’ll be happy that I didn’t invest my points into something so superficial later anyway.

The few hours until they reached Rocholn went by very quickly. Soon, they'd arrived at a tall gate where three guards were out on duty. Conway seemed to be friends with one, as he started talking with the man.

“Hey, Peter!” he called out.

“How’d the hunt go?” Peter replied. He didn’t seem to take his guard post very seriously, Theo remarked to himself.

“Oy, Conway. Who’s the kid?” he interjected.

“His name’s Theodore. We found him lost in the woods,” Conway replied smugly.

I found you, you hypocrite… Way to make me sound like a wild animal.

But Theo couldn’t be bothered enough to complain.

“That’s right: your dad was asking for you, Sarah, and the man looked pissed,” Peter said.

Her eyes widened. “That’s gonna take some time to explain, won’t it?”

As the conversation carried on and became less about him, Theo lost interest and looked around. The gate had a height of up to a dozen feet and was part the town wall. The base of the walls were made of cobblestone but the rest was sturdy timber. Given how it was built, Theo figured it had no ramparts. The builders even seemed to have positioned the wooden guard towers on the inside of the wall instead of integrated into it. Maybe they were mostly used for keeping watch.

I can easily jump the wall... What’s the point of even having one?

The gate was a double door design reinforced with iron that could probably be barred from the inside. Through it, he could see small houses built similarly to the walls and keeps. Some had wooden roofs while others were only made of thatch. Many people moved about inside, some in armor or luxurious clothes and some in peasant gowns.

Why are there so many finely-dressed people in such a small commoner town? They can’t all be merchants and their escorts, can they?

He didn’t wonder for long, because the group had finished talking. As they passed through the gate, the guards didn’t bat an eye at Theo and he had no complaints.

“We’ll head to the hall to turn in our task. Theo, you should get yourself a room at one of the inns. Go visit George’s shop to sell whatever items you got while hunting,” said Chris. He pointed to a building nearby with a green sign.

“We don’t have much to share in the way of money or equipment, so good luck without us,” said Conway. “Let’s go get our rewards, guys.”

“See you later, Theo,” said Sarah as they went off into town.

I wanted to be alone, but they left me way too easily. It almost makes me feel bad. Well, whatever… I’d better get moving. The sun won’t stay up even if I want it to.

Theo shook his head and noticed a few peculiar things. The unusual amount of guards for one, but there also seemed to be a common crest among them too: a black soaring bird in the center of a half white, half orange background. The city guards all wore the crest and its colors on their capes, surcoats and shields. A few of them wore purple or green instead, but the majority wore orange. Theo assumed it to be the color of the lord here if this place worked with nobility and fiefs.

I might as well sell off all this heavy junk. Off to the shop I go.

The warped green door opened with a slight creaking as Theo entered George’s small establishment. Animal skins and strings of claws hung from wooden poles around the shop. Not much else was present except for an old grey carpet and a lingering smell of lavender.

“Welcome to my shop, young man,” said the chubby behind the counter. “I’m George. What can I do for you?”

“Yes, hi... I’m... looking to sell some stuff. Mostly claws.”

“Alright. Show me what you’ve got, then.”

Taking his gym bag off his back, he put it on the counter and unzipped the main compartment. George counted as he took the claws out, one at a time. Theo had just decided to bunch them up in fours if he ever decided to claw hunt again before George announced the total to be 129 Fire Claw claws and 38 rabbit claws.

“Claws from the Fire Claws are one copper each because of the cinnabar inside them, but basic rabbit claws are only worth half a copper. Most claws, such as these, are used by alchemists to make simple health potions. So... twenty copper to a silver... here’s…7 silver and 8 copper? Yes, that’s right. Anything else, young man?”

20 copper to a silver, huh? I think it’s reasonable to assume that 20 silver is worth one gold, if gold coins exist too. Maybe it goes as far as platinum? I probably won’t ever get to touch one of those if they exist. Oh, yeah. Remind me not to drink health potions; I think I’m about to barf.

“I have a few pelts, but I doubt they’d be worth your time,” Theo replied. “Good day, sir.”

Theo gathered the coins into a small pocket of his bag. He nodded politely and turned towards the door, but George spoke before he could leave.

“You’re new around here, I take it?”

Should I lie? Probably doesn’t matter.

“Yes, sir,” he replied.

“I figured, from your clothes,” George continued. Dark jeans, red shirt and a black jacket. A decent style if Theo said so himself, only accented by black and white sneakers. A lot of black, but the colour went with everything so most of his wardrobe that wasn’t clothes was black.

“You’ll want to go to the Blueboard Inn. One room for one night is a silver but add breakfast and it makes it two. Be careful how you spend your coin, because guards won’t let you sleep in the streets.”

“Couldn’t I find someone who would take me in?” Theo asked George, whose eyes widened slightly.

“I wouldn’t count on it. The town’s on the lookout for a thief, see,” he replied, shaking his head.

“Oh,” Theo said. “Thanks for telling me. Then I guess I’ll take my leave now, sir.”

He turned and exited the store without looking back, feeling George’s stare behind his back even without [Sixth Sense].

The midday sun welcomed him a bit too brightly. Counting things had taken a fair bit of time and Theo’s eyes had adapted to the dimmer indoors. Blinking one last time, he headed deeper into town.

Quite a few buildings were two stories tall, most being shops and the like. Theo was walking down the main road that went through Rocholn so he had the chance to view most of the important establishments in very little time. He sat down on a patch of grass outside the tailor’s shop to decide his next move.

I have a bit of money, my gym bag with a few pelts, my staff, my clothes and my shoes. I figure I can camp outside in this clear weather even without overrated camping supplies, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to get some food. I bet my socks smell great right now, too. I’d better find a way to clean up before being forced to take my shoes off. I guess I should get a room tonight, to at least get washed up for the next few days.

He thought about what he should do.

If I want to be able to sleep in a room, which is probably the best current objective I have right now, I have to make money. Conway said something about rewards; maybe I should find this “hall”...

Getting up lazily, Theo set off on the search for the building. It didn’t take long for him to find the large administration complex. It was mainly built out of oak, but spruce was used to shingle the roof. The hall had a few surfaces painted blue to please the onlookers and Theo had to admit it worked.

Theo entered the hall and looked around. Dozens of people were eyeballing papers on dozens of billboards. Most of them were dressed in armor, but a few had the exotic aristocratic attire he’d seen earlier. Since there didn’t seem to be any rules for queuing, he went to check out the nearest billboard. On closer inspection, the papers seemed to be requests, announcements and advertisements for the locality. The papers were currently being scanned by a short kid.

As he looked around at the requests, Theo quickly found one that he liked.

[Extermination Request] (Open)

Rabbits are ravaging Gulliver’s crops! Clear his farm of rodents and return with the evidence of their demise. You will be rewarded with one copper coin for every kill, and you may keep the spoils. Gulliver’s farm is ten minutes south of town.

Task: Return with the proof of your rabbit kills

Rewards: 1 copper / rabbit, spoils

Theo was again assaulted by thoughts of why this place seemed so familiar. Why would the people here, in a very different world that was clearly taken out of a fantasy setting, have normal modern names? Measures and directions were also the same, using words like “minute” and “south”.

He shrugged it off for the moment, having other things to worry about currently.

He noticed the administration desk so he headed over. The old man sitting behind it was all smiles and efficiently got Theo organized.

“You want to participate in Gulliver’s request, young man?” he asked.

“Yes, if that’s at all possible,” Theo replied. No use being snotty with the higher-ups.

“Surely. The request is “Open” so anyone can participate without even getting registered. In this case, bring proof here of how many rabbits you've exterminated and we’ll reward you accordingly. Try to turn in your kills soon, though. No one knows how long until the request will be taken down. Looking at my log of events, it seems not many people are working on it so you’re in luck.

Anything else, young man?” he asked warmly.

“No. Thank you, sir,” said Theo.

He left the building. No use in staying put when he had something concrete to do. The request said he could keep the rabbit spoils so that solved his immediate food problem. He could also collect all eighteen claws without having to split them up between four people. Besides, wouldn’t the farm be a kind of fantasy-like dungeon? An experience farm?

Theo headed south, feeling happy for the first time in a while. He smiled.

Time to get some levels.