Chapter 131

Nothing Worse Than Me.

My head hurt for at least 4 days. It was horrible. I thought that drinking water would have let me absorb all the skill books at once without issue. I’d been horribly wrong.

“Never again,” I muttered as I rose with the sun.

My bedding was made of hay and I brushed pieces off myself and left the shed. I took a deep breath, stretched, and rubbed my eyes.

Leaves fell from the trees.

It was one of the coolest mornings of the summer so far. A morning filled with the smells of smoked fish. My stomach grumbled.

The door to the cabin swung open. Hawkin appeared, stretched, yawned, and then rubbed his eyes.

“Morning, BarnacleEyes,” he said.

“Yup,” I said. “You too.”

“I’ve got some tea coming down from a boil.”

“I’m gonna walk down to my boat. Just to check on things. I’ll meet you in the brewery after.”

“Deliveries are tonight,” he said. “Are you ready?”

“Yup,” I said and made my way down to the coast.

Leaves fell.

I smelled the sea when I was halfway down the trail. The smell was different. It was older than yesterday. Saltier. Colder. A gentle breeze came through the trees. The leaves rustled. More fell.

When I came upon the port, I saw the Mist Hidden wall still there. The base glowed blue and the mist took on a partial glow of blue as well.

I walked upon the docks and listened to the sea wrestle with the pilings. My boat of barrels bobbed. Banged against the dock.

With the new information I’d learned from my skillbooks, I realized that my boat of barrels wouldn’t last through the winter. I needed to build my sloop before then. There was just one problem. I needed materials. Thick planks of wood that I could hammer together with some basic tools. Hawkin would help me for sure. He was good with that axe.

I brought my thoughts up when I helped him brew more goblin spit beer later that morning.

“I’d be delighted to help,” he said. “We can pick out some trees this afternoon. I’ll start cutting planks for you.”

“I’m still going out to get Meatfist and Zik,” I said.

“Yup. Pour them each a mug of the key beer. Then guide them through the mist to the port. Have them lower a gangway and pick up their beers after they pay you. Afterwards, guide them back through the mist.”

“Sounds easy enough,” I said. “I’m glad Thrush handled that big month’s worth of deliveries. I did not want to manage all that.”

After we brewed for the day, Hawkin took me to the ethereal plane and we planted onions and garlic as he’d promised. I’d have to water them everyday, and he gave me half a barrel to put in my inventory to carry water with from the river.

I felt the weight of the barrel and water, but it was only as much as carrying a small rock. In return for Hawkins help gardening, I helped him transplant some cowbell roots and plant vegetables. We didn’t talk much. Never usually did on the plane. There was an unspoken calmness that came over us whenever we were there. Sometimes Hawkin napped. Sometimes I explored on my own without fear of getting lost.

Afterwards, I accompanied Hawkin while he picked out some trees and produced a bunch of planks from them with clean swipes of his axe. I was only able to put 20 in my inventory before I really started to feel the weight. It was hard to walk and I had to withdraw a few after I couldn’t make it more than 30 feet. Thrush helped me carry all the planks down to the sea and stack them where the sand of the coast began.

Before I knew it, it was late afternoon and time to sail out. Thrush and I made our way to the port. I sipped a key beer and returned it to my inventory. Then I hopped onto my boat and cast off through the mist. After a few seconds of thick mist, I emerged on the other side and found myself at the nose of the massive goblin fleet. Orc ships were anchored in a half circle at the agreed upon area of entrance. Two closer ships were waiting. Zik’s and MeatFist’s.

Each of them dropped a line with a bucket tied to the end. Each bucket held a vessel. I poured only a sip of Hawkin’s key beer in each one and signaled for them to hoist the buckets. We made a vague toast and each took a sip. Then I guided them through the Mist Hidden wall to port. I moored and watched them lower their gangways.

Thrush emptied his inventory of all the due barrels, evenly divided. I greeted both goblin and orc before moving on to count the shipment, take their money, and happily add it to my inventory. The delivery went smoothly.

We cast off once more, and I guided both ships back through the mist. Hawkin had been adamant that I guide them all the way through to make sure none tried to sneak their way back in. Thrush happily stood guard on the dock until my return.

With both ships successfully escorted all the way through the mist, we waved to each other and I performed a turning circle for fun before heading back to port. I paddled hard, but stopped when I spied something in the southern distance.

There was a figure standing upon the water. Standing.

I put my paddle down, crawled to the starboard side and shielded the sun from my eyes with my hand. I squinted to comprehend the figure. A figure I slowly recognized the harder I stared.

It was the woman. Standing on the water. She was still, but her dress and hair flapped in the wind. No matter how the sea behaved, she stood like a rock. Every other moment that I stared at her, I second-guessed what I was seeing. I thought maybe she was driftwood or something.

But no. It was the woman. She began walking toward the coast.

Stupid, dirty, human!

I attacked the sea with my paddle and coasted back through the Mist Hidden wall.

When I docked, Thrush approached me.

“Something wrong?” He said.

“No,” I said.

“You’re upset.”

“I’m fine.”

“Did MeatFist say something to you? Did Zik?”

“No, they know the drill.”

“What happened?”

“Promise not to say anything if I tell you?”

“I’m still working on my first ever promise,” Thrush said. “I don’t want to take on anymore promises.”

I grunted that I understood. “I’m just… I’m glad we’ve got a base now,” I said. “Who knows what’s out there?”

“Nothing worse than me,” Thrush said with a chuckle.